I take a step back. Fear fills the room, making my heart rate increase. Whimpers and screams go up around the building. Pastor Thomas pushes past us; he tosses liquid on the stranger.
“I cast you out, demon,” the pastor shouts. “By the power of God, I rebuke you.”
The stranger screams as if he’s in pain. I cover my mouth at the agony in his cries. Slowly, the screams turn into laughter.
“I’m fucking with you,” he says, grinning. “That shit doesn’t work on me.”
Pastor Thomas takes a step back.
Those black eyes turn to me. “You can make this easy, beautiful. Come with me.” He holds out his hand toward me.
It goes without saying that I’m going with him. Not because I want to, but if this being with his black eyes and billows of smoke can be summoned and save a dying baby, then it can most likely harm me. I’m not naïve enough to think he’s actually giving me an option.
I take a step toward him, but Jamieson stops me. He turns me around to face him.
“You can’t go with him,” he pleads.
“Just let her go, Jamieson,” my sister shouts.
I don’t even take offense to her statement. She’s just trying to stay alive. We have no idea what this thing is capable of.
Looking over my shoulder at the man, I turn back to Jamieson. “What do you think will happen if I don’t?”
“I can answer that,” the stranger says. “A life is owed, and I can take it from whomever I want.” He turns to face the pews. “Eenie, meenie, miney,” he points around the room. Every time his finger lands on someone, they cry or whimper. He turns back to face us. “Moe,” he finally says, pointing directly at Jamieson.
J, drops to the floor. His body starts to convulse and shake. Jamieson’s mom screams. His father takes a step toward his son. One look from the stranger has him stopping in his tracks.
Raziel turns those black eyes to me. “Make your decision, Beauty. Come with me, or I remove branches from your family tree.”
As I said, it was never a question if I was going with this demon. There was never really an option.
I look down at my convulsing fiancé one last time. “I’ll go. Don’t hurt him.”
The demon’s nostrils flare as he watches me. I don’t think he likes the fact that I asked him not to hurt J.
He waves his hand through the air. J quiets on the floor beside me. Before I could check on him, the demon was standing in front of me. He wraps his arm around my waist. I gasp at how warm his body is and how penetrating those black eyes are this close.
“You should’ve let him die,” he snarls as the black smoke coming from him surrounds me. Suddenly, the room grows cold and the feeling of falling has a scream ripping from my lungs.
chapter Four
Honeymoon
Raziel
“Please, Raziel. We were going to pay it back.”
I glare down at the three level two demons kneeling before me. I employ many demons and forsaken in my casinos and clubs. While not as anti-human as Khalid, I still prefer to work with my kind. Usually, I’m a bit more lenient when my workers fuck up, but today I’m not in the mood.
“You think I care about a measly two hundred thousand dollars?” I snarl down at the three. “I can make that money back in the blink of an eye. However, you dumb muthafuckers, broke my trust. I gave you a job on this realm where others wouldn’t, and you steal from me?”
All three whimper. I run my hand through my hair.
“You’re fired.” I say.
They all look at each other and hang their heads.
“We understand.”
