Springfield was a little further away than most of my other ventures, but ever since Lexi left my shop, I’d been itching for… something. A fight seemed as good an option as any. I briefly thought about calling one of the numbers in my drawer, but my suddenly moralmeat[17]suit rebelled at the idea. I was used to rebelling, but never against myself. It was a damn strange feeling, to say the least.
So I was fighting.
I’d already taken out two small groups, but there was another close by. They were using something to suppress their presence, making it difficult for me to pin down. Either that or I was really distracted, which was impossible. I didn’t get distracted by pretty redheads.
With fiery eyes.
And kissable lips.
Maybe I was alittledistracted. Itcouldn’tbe helped, though. Icouldn’t[18]read her soul, which made me highly suspicious of her arrival, but I wanted her. Not a single number in that drawer appealed to me like Lexi, and I’d be damned if I was going to fall right into that trap. One night of indulgence to satisfy my curiosity could cost me more than I was willing to risk.
But damn, her baking was good. Nine Hells, there were Michelin restaurant pastry chefs who couldn’t compete with such a level of perfection and decadence, even though they’d been simple household recipes.
It wasn’t the only reason I hired her, mixed though my feelings were. My reaction to her was cause for concern; it meant I was susceptible to whatever magic she wielded.
“Alarming thought,” I muttered aloud. Stepping out of the alley, I glanced around for any sign of enemies before I crossed the street. I tried to stay focused on my surroundings as I crossed through the small park to the next block of buildings, but thoughts of Lexi wouldn’t leave my head.
The girl was a massive power. While I used it as a cover, I would also keep her close and keep an eye on her. Young or not, I needed to nail down her capabilities before I nailed her. The potential to harm me if I broke her fragile human heart was much higher than most, so my natural instinct to flirt was going to work against me. I didn’t doubt I could take her, but if demons showed up while I was in any kind of weakened state from her attack, the chains were as good as on.
And she was also an unknown. I could identify most beings I met almost instantaneously, but she was putting off too many conflicting energies. It wasn’t like I could just put a checkbox on her application for Human or Demon. For all I knew, she was aligned with Abaddon, my betrayer. He was well aware of my vices and wasn’t above sending a beautiful temptation to weaken my defenses. I’d had something of a reputation both in Hell and on Earth, and he knew it well.
I needed to keep my distance, watch and wait and see what she would do. The savage depths of desire that had reared its head in her presence was unnerving. Someone who had so much effect on me was better left alone.
And that was how I ended up surrounded by a large group of soldier demons.
I put on my megawatt smile when I found the reason I’d had trouble tracking them. They had a commander with them, and around his neck, he wore a Hellcraft amulet. The blood orange stone was encircled by a bronze dragon, hanging from a matching chain, and had the unique ability to conceal energy. Apparently, Abaddon had resorted to handing out toys to get the job done.
That wasn’t the only reason for my smile, though. The commander knew that Abaddon was building something, a weapon of some kind. His excitement over the opportunity to capture me brought his hopes of promotion and potentially wielding this new weapon to the surface, where I could read them clearly.
This was useful information, but not enough.
“Hello, boys. You miss me yet?”
Aggravation still bubbled under my skin at my red-headed distraction, so I decided to fight the old-fashioned way. I fucking wanted to tear them apart with my hands. Or, rather, my claws.
Red scales erupted from my human flesh suit, fingertips sharpening into lethal black talons. Bones shifted and cracked, and as I changed into my dragon-hybrid form, the demons attacked. It seemed most everyone had lost the taste for common courtesy in a fight. By the time I completed the transition, standing a couple feet taller than my human form, two were down and three injured.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” I taunted. My clothes had ripped in the transformation, but I didn’t care. “Come get me!”
I flexed my claws and went after them like a man possessed. It’d been some time since I’d taken on this form and using it to rage on them was therapeutic.
I pictured Abaddon’s face and shredded through them like paper. My furious roar echoed off the surrounding buildings. Car alarms blared. A few lights flipped on and someone yelled out a nearby window, but I was beyond giving a shit.
All I needed was to feel their warm fleshsquish[19]between my fingers. To feel their bones crunch beneath my heel. Rip their heads off with my teeth. Heat built in my chest, Hellfire aching to be released. It was a near thing, but my conscious mind contained it.
Bodies laid strewn around me when I pulled myself back together, literally and figuratively. The dragon form—a gift from my Father when I fell from His good graces—had a tendency to drag me into mad places. I frowned at the mess at my feet; I was one body short. In the chaos, one had gotten away. The fucker likely ran to save his own hide and report to Abaddon that they’d found me. I needed to wrap up before he sent an army of fallen.
My dragon put off a decent amount of demonic energy, but luckily, I wasn’t the only one he was hunting. He would need confirmation before making any big moves.
Settling into my human form once more, I used the barest hint of magic to restore the shredded fabric on the ground as I turned and glanced around the area, then yanked the Hellcraft amulet from the commander’s disintegrating corpse. I needed to mask my power before returning to Boston, but something moved in the shadows. A man with black hair and pale skin approached. His glowing green eyes sparkled in the moonlight.
“Lu!” he called out. “It’s been too long.”
I gritted my teeth in annoyance. Not because I had anything against the man, but because he was one of the few who could mask his entire presence like I could. It was fucking unnerving to know there were others out there who could sneak up on me.
“Loki. Anyone ever suggest putting a bell around your neck?” I forced a friendly smile to my face, pulling back on my agitation. Loki was probably one of the only other beings in history with a smear campaign in the books as bad as my own, so we’d come to mutually respect one another over the years. He was a playful being, not nearly as malicious as the mythology would have everyone believe. Unless you got on his bad side, that was, which I hadn’t yet.
“One of my children did a few years ago.” Loki chuckled, then slowly circled around the demon bodies and whistled. “So, is this what you’ve been doing since they booted your ass?” He smirked at me. “Again.”
