Demons Prefer Blondes (Demons Unleashed #1)(107)

She threw him a pleading gaze. Please, remain in control.

There were three emotions stronger than anger. Determination for one, courage for another. And, of course, love. And she had plenty of them all, especially love. She allowed each emotion to pound their way through her body. She had to survive. She needed to send the Arca Inferorum back to Limbo. She slid a gaze to Rafe’s sister. She needed to save Coby. Saving her would save Rafe.

“Hmm.” Her angelic voice lifted through the air. Coby scratched her chin. She turned to glance at her brother, her gaze empty. Rafe jerked his gaze away.

“See how he denies you, Jacoba?”

Lucy bit down hard into his wrist. “Don’t listen to him!”

“So who are you going to save, Rafael Deleon?” Belial threw back his head and chuckled. “Your flesh-and-blood sister?” He flung Lucy forward, his claws deep in her arms. “Or the succubus you’ve been f*cking?”

“Bastard,” she breathed under her breath.

“Yes, I am.” He hauled her against him, the hard planes of his body jabbing into her. The stench of brimstone and cinnamon engulfed her… swallowed her. Were those his lips? Sloppy, wet, and fetid.

Rafe roared, the sound echoing in the air. The eerie snap of the crossbow followed. Belial gasped, the arrow wedged deep in his shoulder. Lucy jerked herself from his grasp and tripped across the snowy ground. Hopefully Rafe could load another arrow as quick as he had that one.

With a sardonic chuckle, Belial ripped the arrow from his shoulder, the almost-black blood dripping steadily down his arm. In all the excitement, she’d failed to notice that blood no longer scared her. Maybe it was because he deserved to bleed.

“Jacoba, dear. Kill him.”

Lucy’s heart stopped and her stomach lurched. Screw the blood. He deserved more. He deserved to go back to Hell.

Jacoba reached behind her back and grabbed her dagger, aimed at her brother and ready to strike.

Rafe stood there, grief creased his face. His jaw locked. He clenched the crossbow tight, any tighter and the thing would split in half. “Coby, it’s me. Rafael.” Despite the thick tension in the air, his voice remained calm and clear. “Your brother.”

Jacoba narrowed her gaze, her nose scrunched. Silvery strands of hair whipped with the wind. Dagger poised and ready to fly, she took a long breath of air. “Some brother,” she muttered. With sheer fluidity, she traced her finger along the blade, like she was admiring its shiny surface.

That walking sack of demon excrement had pulled a number on her. Lucy had to act quickly or Coby would do something she’d regret. She took cautious steps forward, holding her hand out like she was approaching an injured doe. “Your brother loves you. He’s done nothing but support you.”

“Support me? Where was his support when I sat in the dungeons of Hell?” She clenched the hilt of the dagger, her gaze slicing.

“The Fore-Demons sent him here instead. Believe me, he would’ve rather been there rescuing you had he the choice.” She inched closer to Rafe, ready to defend.

Belial growled, his claws digging into Lucy’s arm. “Kill him now, Jacoba.”

Lucy pleaded through her pain, “Your brother loves you. He’s told me all about you. Don’t do it. You’re his sister, his flesh and blood. That’s got to mean something.”

A flicker of remorse flashed in her eyes. She bit her lip as a glisten of a tear formed in the corner of her eye. “Rafe,” she murmured. The dagger dropped to the ground, the snow enveloping it in a frozen cocoon. Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. There was hope for Coby after all.

“Lucy! Coby! Watch out!” Rafe’s voice, full of urgency, reeled her back in.

She swiveled around.

With a loud, garbled roar, Belial ripped out a long, serrated blade, the tips sparking against the ice and snow. “You worthless bitch! You failed me. Now you die.”

“So be it,” Coby mumbled.

In a literal flash, the blade sailed through the air. Lucy’s breath caught in her throat. She just stood in place, her head hanging low, ready to accept her fate.

Fortunately for Coby, Lucy wasn’t ready to accept that fate. And she had news for Coby: neither was Rafe. She sailed in the air, toward Rafe’s sister.

“Lucy! No!”

Rafe’s new phrase of choice. Regardless, she wouldn’t turn back now. There was too much at stake. She did this for him. She loved him. She couldn’t let Belial take his sister away from him.

Wind whizzing through her hair as she flipped through the air, Lucy smiled. She wouldn’t fail. With a not-so-graceful somersault, she dove for Coby. In a flutter of her heavy priestess robes, they tumbled to the ground, snow and ice flying.

“Aren’t you big and brave,” Belial seethed. Armed with a long, simple dagger, he flew at them. His golden eyes sparked like violent flames. Long gnarly horns ripped from his head. Anger and rage contorted his face, his tawny mane whipping around his head. A roar, deep and primal, ripped from his mouth as he continued his grotesque metamorphosis.

She could add shape-shifting to Belial’s long list of demonic feats. And it was only appropriate he’d shift into a lion. Then again, lions didn’t usually have horns.

In the distance, a bell tolled. Belial stopped in his tracks. Did someone invite Hemingway to this little foray? For her fear of old men and seas, she hoped not.