Rufus cried out in anger but it was too late. With a puff of dark smoke, Jinx was gone. Banished back to hell. Safe but gone forever. Leaving nothing behind but his hat and the collar. For some reason, his bracelet appeared to have gone with him and I was absurdly moved that he had something to remember me by.
I let out a sob of grief and didn’t even care when the first punch landed.
Chapter twenty-seven
Iscreamedasmyhand was forcibly stretched out again. One eye was swollen shut, but I didn’t want to see anyway. The pain radiating from where my little finger had been was unbearable. White hot agony clawing at my mind. How could pain like this exist? It was extraordinary and unlike anything I had ever experienced.
They were about to take another finger. I sobbed and tried to will myself to unconsciousness. There was no way I could cope with anymore. Stefan was filming me with his phone, no doubt as a cautionary tale to others who might be thinking of pissing them off. I knew I must look a pitiable sight. All bruised and bloody, naked on the floor with three of them holding my hand flat against the seat of a wooden chair.
Distantly, I heard Rufus’s pleading for my life. He even offered money, as much as Jinx would have made them. Which, by what Rufus was saying, was an awful lot. I had no idea Rufus was that rich, or that brothels made that much money.
But the gangsters ignored him. They were intent on torturing me. Nothing else seemed to matter to them. I entertained a foolish hope that Rufus would come to his senses and obliterate them all, or release me so I could do it.
Or that the gangsters would just kill me. I thought of trying to piss them off so much that they lost their temper and ended me, but I wasn’t brave enough. I’d probably fuck it up and just encourage them to hurt me even more.
I was screaming before my mind consciously recognized the pain. The sickening crunch of the pliers cutting through my bone made my stomach heave. Dizziness washed over me and for a hopeful moment I thought I was going to fade into black.
“That’s enough!” snapped Rufus forcefully.
“We have your cat, remember?” sneered one of the men.
Rufus immediately fell silent. The idiot had given up Mr. Fluffykins as surety that he would not turn on the gangsters. Despair filled my soul. Rufus would never choose me over his cat. I was flattered that he had even surrendered him temporarily on my behalf. But Rufus would not sacrifice any more, and I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t want any innocent animal tortured in my place. Especially Mr. Fluffykins, I loved that cat.
I was as good as dead. I could only hope death came sooner rather than later. It was the only mercy that was going to be offered to me. The only thing I could hope for. The only glimmer of light in the darkness that surrounded me.
An ominous boom shook the room and black mist rolled in. I wondered if I was finally dying but then scents of sulfur, smoke and spice filled my nose. I looked up out of my one good eye to find Jinx’s brother, the Prince of Hell staring down at me.
The gangsters gasped and scrambled back, cloth rustling as they all reached for their weapons. Magic tingled in the air as Rufus called on a protection spell.
The demon prince frowned and then clicked his fingers. The mobsters and Rufus didn’t even have time to scream before they disintegrated to dust. I held my breath for as long as I could. I really didn’t want to breathe anyone in.
The thought should have grossed me out far more than it did. But only one thought was occupying my mind. Jinx had sent his brother to save me. My heart did a little happy cartwheel. He wasn’t too angry at me to care. He might not ever forgive me for banishing him, but he didn’t want me to suffer. It was wonderful and surprising. I wondered how Jinx had convinced his brother to help me. However he had managed it, I was grateful for it.
The prince was powerful enough to come and go between realms as he chose. He wasn’t confined to Hell for eternity like Jinx. That was why he could come and Jinx could not. I sobbed.
The reality that Jinx was really gone and the sheer finality of what I had done, hit me like a sledgehammer. The pain of it took my breath away and far surpassed all my physical injuries. Jinx was gone and he was never coming back. I had sent him away for his own good but still the knowledge that I was the one who had ripped us apart, was unbearable. It was all my fault. I had no one to blame but myself.
Jinx was all alone in hell and I’d never see him again. And I hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.
“You are bleeding an awful lot, human,” said the demon as if I was doing it on purpose to personally offend him.
His words dragged my attention to the here and now and the extent of my injuries. Pain throbbed everywhere. I didn’t think there was a part of me that was not bruised and there was a lot of blood seeping into my bedroom carpet.
“Sorry. Thank you,” I mumbled, clutching my ruined hand to my chest and curling up into a ball on the floor. The physical torture was over. Somehow it was over. Relief was making me tremble.
“Don’t thank me. I was indebted to my brother due to him finding Ezekiel.”
I huffed. That explained a lot. Demons and their promises and debts. Jinx’s brother was an ass. But he had saved me and I would always be grateful.
I opened my mouth to thank the prince again but couldn’t. Darkness swarmed at the corners of my vision. I was finally going to pass out. Far too late to be of any use.
A last urgent thought clamored through me. Bright in its intensity, in its importance. Nobody else could be hurt because of me. It was imperative. There was nothing more I could do for Jinx, but there was someone else who needed to be saved.
“Mr. Fluffykins!” I called out desperately, forcing my voice to work. “Save the cat!”
As last words go, I was pretty proud of them. They were very altruistic. If I never woke up, people would remember me fondly because of them.
Chapter twenty-eight
