“The heck, Evan?” Jaxon sputtered.
“Which one?” Malachi snarled, his eyes filling with Hellfire before he shook the other man. Jaxon’s head snapped back and forth as he wastossed on the couch. “Tell me!” roared the demon, growing more impatient with each second delaying him from confronting the Knight of Hell who wanted his Chuck dead.
A pair of strong arms wrapped around him from behind to keep him from grabbing Jaxon again. He could easily break Nathan’s hold, but his awareness of Chuck’s panicked shouts broke through his red haze of anger. Wilting in Bennet’s arms, head dropping, chest heaving, he waved him off. “Sorry, I got a little crazy. I know better than to confront her head-on. But… we’re so close. I won’t let her hurt you, Kelly.” He lifted his head and stared forlornly at her, the pain and fear bright in his gaze.
Closing the distance, she put a hand on his cheek. “I know, Malachi, I understand. But we have to be level-headed about this. And if you kill Jax, he can’t tell you, can he? And you’re not about to take on a Knight of Hell alone, are you?”
Shaking his head and dropping his gaze to the carpet, he pouted and grunted one salty word. “No.”
“What the hell, Chuck? Why is your boyfriend attacking me? And what is this about a Knight of Hell? And,” Jaxon’s voice wound up both in volume and pitch until he nearly shrieked, “why did you call him Malachi? You got some sort of weird obsession with that dog!” He crawled upright on the sofa, looking ready to spring away from them any second as his eyes rolled wildly between them all.
“Ah fuck,” Malachi muttered. “Guess we might as well read him in before he loses his shit.” Glancing at Chuck, she nodded wearily. “Okay, listen close and shut up, Jaxon. This is going to be hard to follow, but you need to stick with me here, alright?” Rubbing his chin, he closed his eyes and thought about where to start. “My name isn’t Evan, and I’m not Malachi’s former owner. IamMalachi. I’m the dog, and the person. I’m actually a demon, and I was trapped in that dog’s body and was Chuck’sK-9 partner until Glenda, who is a witch…” He paused and pointed at the bubbly woman who waved cheerfully from the chair where she perched, watching the drama unfold. “Yeah, the good witch freed me from the spell, and I got my human form back. Actually, you saw this version of me the next day. That’s why she was getting me clothes. And she gave me that awful name, Evan.”
Malachi paused and glared at Chuck for that, and she rolled her eyes before throwing her hands up in disgust. Chuckling, he turned back to Jaxon and studied the man. He looked a little green, but was following along quietly so far. “Right, so anyway, we figured out I could change between the dog and human, so I kept up my appearance as the dog.”
Suddenly jumping to his feet, Jaxon moved closer to Malachi. “You were the dog the whole fucking time?” His voice was low and quiet.
“Yeah, dude, I was.” Malachi grinned unrepentantly. Which was short-lived, as Jaxon reared back and punched him in the mouth. “What the fuck?” he sputtered through the blood that was dripping now.
“That’s for pissing on my shoes!” Jaxon yelled, pointing at Malachi before laughing. “I knew there was something off about that damn dog. Always rolling his eyes and shrugging his shoulders like a smart ass.”
Waving a hand and healing his injuries, Malachi glared at Jaxon. “Never, lay another finger on me unless you want me to bite your head off,” he warned on a low growl.
Scoffing, Jaxon curled his fingers in a ‘come on’ gesture and held up his fists, snapping, “Bring it, bark boy!”
“Jax, don’t—” Chuck tried to warn him, but she was too late.
Ruckus, Chaos, and Handcuffs
“Ijust wanted to scare him, I didn’t think he’d pass out like a little punk-ass bitch,” Malachi complained with heavy judgment in his tone. At Chuck’s glare, he tossed his long hair over his shoulder and held up his hands, tipped with wicked talons. “Alright, so I hoped he would, but he hit me!” He gestured down at the prone form of Jaxon as he lay on the floor where he’d fallen like a sack of potatoes after his eyes rolled back in his head. Staring down at the man, Malachi shrugged. “Okay, so maybe I could have eased him into my demon form, but again, I reiterate, he sucker-punched me.”
Sighing in annoyance, Chuck waved him off and grumbled under her breath about showing off.
Grinning, Malachi leaned down and tapped her shoulder. As she glanced up, his smile grew larger, and he let his hair slide silkily over his arms so it would brush hers, knowing she wouldn’t be able to resist it. “But you love me,” he reminded her quietly.
Wrapping a lock of his hair around her wrist, she pulled him lower so she could place a soft kiss on his mouth. “I do,” she whispered, before raising her voice. “Which is why I’m going to forgive you, but earlier you were in a hurry to confront this other demon, and now we have to wait for Jax to wake up to tell us which apartment it was. You can’t just go bang on other doors looking like that and not cause a ruckus.” She waved her hands to indicate his demon form.
Pointing at his chest with indignation, Malachi arched an eyebrow. “Demon. Ruckus is practically my middle name. I live to create chaos.”
Shaking her head, Chuck groaned. “No, not anymore. You’re team ‘good guys’ now, remember?”
He opened his mouth to protest, then thought better of it.If you promise to handcuff me later tonight, I promise I’ll avoid causing any ruckus until then.
Watching the slow rose color creep up her neck while her halo flashed red, he cheered in his head at the success his deal was gaining. He realized the advantages of being ‘good’ could bring him even better rewards than he originally thought.
“Deal,” she whispered with a sultry smile. Her attention then turned back to Jaxon as he moaned and stirred.
“What happened?” Jaxon muttered and blinked slowly at Chuck. “Oh damn, Chuck, are you alright? I had the weirdest…” his voice trailed off as he caught sight of Malachi in his demon form looming over her shoulder. Scrambling back against the foot of the sofa, Jaxon’s breathing sped up, and his eyelids fluttered again. “D-de-demon!” he pointed with a trembling finger.
Crouching down from his considerable height, Malachi leaned towards Jaxon and snapped his massive fingers in the other man’s face. “Stop it!” he ordered, pushing some of his influence into him. “Man the fuck up rightnow, Raifson. You’re a cop, and you can handle seeing a demon in the flesh. Now sit up, take a deep breath, and tell us which unit that bitch Amaryllis is in.”
Sitting quietly, Jaxon’s trembling stopped, and his shoulders rolled back with the confidence Malachi had given him. Nodding once, he answered, “Right. Sorry. She was in the unit just to the right of the stairs. Apartment 2112.”
Smirking, Malachi patted him on the shoulder. “Good job, Jaxon. And look, are we square on the pissing on the shoes thing? You did have it coming, and well, I was a dog then. Haven’t pissed on you since I got my other forms back.” He shrugged.
“Yeah,” Jaxon mumbled. “We’re good. Just uh… don’t do it again, huh?”
Holding out his massive hand, claws and all, Malachi flashed his fangs as he offered to shake on it.
