Page 89 of Demon's Desire

Jackson knelt over me, putting his knee directly on my sternum and applying pressure. I winced. If he put much more pressure, the bone would snap. That would be a big problem.

He pulled back his fist, then slammed it into the side of my face. Luckily, he was nowhere near as strong as Tiernan. Plus, he hit my cheek, where there was at least a little bit of muscle to cushion the blow, so I didn’t get knocked out this time. It still hurt like hell.

He put a bit more pressure on my sternum and pulled back his fist again. I put my arms up to cover my face and scanned around the area to see if there was anything within reach. My eyes locked onto the crowbar once more. He had only dropped it, he hadn’t thrown it, so it was right there.

I thought of grabbing it and using it to hit him, but as I reached, realization settled over me and I remembered what Soul had told me a few days ago.

You can’t reason with someone who wants you dead. But there was another part of that Soul hadn’t mentioned. You couldn’t reason with someone who wanted the person you loved dead. This world, the one with demons and hunters and collateral damage, it craved blood. I wouldn’t let it be Soul’s, and he wouldn’t let it be mine. So it had to be someone else’s.

I grabbed the crowbar, wrapping one hand around the middle of it and bracing my other hand against the claw. Jackson saw me grab it. He just assumed I was going to hit him with it again, so he raised his arms up to protect his head.

The world tilted on its axis. And for a second, I could feel it. The planet was spinning, and then I sensed it as it began to slow down. No… that wasn’t it. I was just getting used to it.

This was what I’d wanted after all, wasn’t it? When I’d left home, I’d wanted change. I’d wanted a brand new world. I got it. A few months ago, I couldn’t have even imagined kissing someone I’d only just met. Now, I had performed a ritual binding myself to a demon. Hell, I’d slept with him, and in this moment, I was fighting to save his life. And I wouldn’t trade any of it for the old world I used to know.

I didn’t swing, but I did strike.

The sharp tip of the crowbar stuck in his chest. His arms fell, and I saw the look on his face. Pain. Shock. Death. All of them at once. The pressure from his knee on my sternum went away. Now he was just dead weight, so to speak. I pushed him off of me. He fell to his side and I stood up.

There was no time to take in what had just happened or come to terms with the man’s death that I had just caused. Soul was still in trouble. I looked over and saw him on the ground, Tiernan above him. They were speaking in their language again. Though this time, it didn’t seem as strange as before. I almost felt like I could make out some of the words. Hate, kill, family, exile, love. Something along those lines. But there was no time to waste trying to translate their conversation.

I remembered where I’d made Jackson drop his dagger and ran over to get it. I knew that I couldn’t kill Tiernan, only other demons or demon hunters could do that, but I could distract him so Suldeargan could gain the upper hand again. I picked up the knife and rushed over to where Tiernan was leaning over Soul, holding his fiery claws against Soul’s face. In their language, Tiernan said something about Soul’s eye, but before he could do anything, I took the dagger and shoved it into Tiernan’s back.

He froze for a moment. I saw Soul look confused, then he saw me. He looked panicked, still worried for my safety.

Tiernan slowly reached around his back, trying to grasp at the dagger. I didn’t let go of it and pulled it out instead. While he was still struggling with the pain, I put my foot against his shoulder and kicked him off of Soul. If he hadn’t just been stabbed in the back, I probably never would have gotten him to budge, but luckily, I did.

Tiernan laid on the ground, blue blood covering the ground beneath him. He grabbed the floor, trying to sit up. While he did, Suldeargan was able to stand. He still looked confused, but he had enough sense to grab the dagger from my hand and plunge it into Tiernan again, only instead of his chest, Soul stabbed him in his side, near the bottom of the ribs. As soon as he did, Tiernan stilled.

Suldeargan pulled the dagger out, then dropped it on the ground. He stared at the demon on the ground beneath him, his breathing heavy. Soul had what looked to be a black eye, multiple bruises, and several cuts, but none of them looked very deep.

“Where’s Jackson?” Soul asked, turning around. Before I needed to answer, he saw the body, then whipped around to face me. “Mia? Did you kill him?”

I nodded. I think there was a layer of shock that was starting to set in. It felt like the adrenaline was finally leaving my body and I was starting to run on empty. Still, there was no regret for what I’d done.

“I’m… I’m balanced now,” I murmured.

Soul stepped in and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. I closed my eyes, leaning into him. I felt safe, like I could relax. He leaned down and kissed me deeply, pushing my hair out of my face. “I should be dead right now. I would be dead right now if it weren’t for you.”

I reached up and pressed my hand to his cheek. “I didn’t mind dying for you. I just wished that I could tell you I loved you before I did. But since I’m not dead, and neither are you… I love you.”

He kissed me again, stroking my hair. “I love you, little one… But if you ever try to die to save me again, I’ll make you regret it.”

I laughed and wrapped my arms around him. “Same goes for you. I might not be able to kill you but I can make your life hell.”

“Ah… Mia?” He pulled back to look at me. “I need you to know–”

He froze and suddenly looked out the door. “There are sirens nearby. Police are coming.”

“Oh… shit.” I frowned, tensing up. “What do I say? I killed someone–”

He cut me off and grabbed my hands. “Listen. You tell them he’s a stalker. You just moved here, and you were exploring the city. He’s been stalking you for weeks. He chased you in here and you defended yourself. Stay right here. Look shocked. Look scared. Look sad.”

He dropped my hands and moved away. I took a step to follow him. “Where are you going?”

“Dead demons need to be disposed of,” he said simply. “I’m just going to move Tiernan’s body to the dumpster in the back. He’ll remain invisible to humans for three days. By that time, they’ll have cleaned this place up and he’ll be in a landfill. Stay here, talk to the police. I’ll be right back.”

I nodded. He grabbed the dagger and wiped the blue blood off of it, then picked up Tiernan and left through the back door. A moment later, I heard the sirens pull up myself. When I did, I walked to the front door, adjusting my face accordingly. There were two police cars and four officers getting out of the cars. I could see through the window that they looked relatively relaxed, but when I opened the front door and came out, they all grew serious, putting their hands on their weapons.