Asmodeus: Demon of Lust---Part One (Princes of Hell) (9 page)

“I know you’re frightened but you have to listen to me. As long as you wear the Ring of Solomon you are in grave jeopardy. There are parties who are willing to stop at nothing to retrieve it.” His expression was grave but tenderness laced his voice. “I don’t want to see you get hurt, Kai. Please, give me the ring.”

Nausea swamped Kai and everything started to spin as lust was swiftly replaced by primal fear. She had to get out of here.
Now
. Without thinking, she spun on her heels and ran out of the house as fast as she could. Her heart pounding in her chest, she pushed open the front door and ran down the porch steps into the driving rain.

With rain stinging her face, she slipped in the muddy driveway and fell to her knees, barely feeling the tiny rocks as they cut into her flesh. She scrambled to her feet and stumbled toward the car when she realized she didn’t have the keys. They were in the house in her bag. Kai let out a strangled sob, glancing over her shoulder toward the house, but Aaron was nowhere in sight.

She swiped strands of hair from her eyes and squinted against the sheets of rain. Lightning streaked across the sky, lighting up the property and bringing the barn into focus. Weak with fear and shaking with adrenaline, Kai ran into the barn, yanked the door closed and with all her might, pulled the lock down tightly.

Kai spun around and leaned against the barn door. She squeezed her eyes shut and as sobs wracked her fatigued body, a familiar voice floated through the barn.

“He’s a demon, you know.”

Kai’s eyes flew open at the unexpected sound of Ben’s voice. She looked frantically around the now spotless barn in search of him. Movement to the left caught her eye and as another crack of thunder and lightning erupted outside...she saw him. Dressed in his impeccable suit, with not a hair out of place, he stepped out of the shadows and moved toward her slowly.

“Ben?” Kai barely recognized the sound of her own voice. It was small, scared and shook with all the fear she was feeling. She looked him up and down and noticed he was dry as a bone. It was pouring outside and he didn’t have a drop of rain on him. Her face twisted with confusion as the ring began to burn against her skin. “Wh—what are you doing here?”

“Did you hear what I said?” Ben’s voice, calm and even, filled the barn. He continued to move toward her. “His name is not Aaron Miles. It’s Asmodeus and he is a demon. I knew there was something different about him when I met him last night because, as I’m sure you noticed, he has no aura. But I wasn’t entirely certain of who he was until you touched him with the ring.”

“The ring?” Kai said absently. She blinked as the room started to spin and for a moment she worried she’d faint. Digging her fingernails into her palm, Kai struggled to keep herself together.

“Yes.” Ben spoke softly as he inched closer. “The ring removed whatever spell he was using to hide his true nature. He was sent here to kill you and take the ring back to the Underworld but you mustn’t let him have it, Kai.”

“Kai!” Aaron’s voice boomed loudly from the other side of the door as he pounded on it. “Let me in,” he shouted. “Please, let me explain.”

“What are you talking about?” she whispered. “This is crazy.”

“You need to come with me.” Ben extended his manicured hand as an insincere smile bloomed. Quicker than a snake, he grabbed her by the wrists and yanked her to him. “Or you could just give me the ring and be done with this whole mess.”

Ben’s mouth hovered dangerously close to hers and though Kai struggled to get away it was no use, his grip was iron clad. He breathed deeply along her neck and made a low growling sound.

“Let me go,” she ground out. ”Give me the ring,” he seethed as his fingers encircled her wrists to the point of pain.

“No!” Kai shouted as she struggled against him. “Ben, please stop. I can’t give it to you or anyone. It won’t come off.”

As bolts of pain whipped up her arms, somewhere in the back of her mind she remembered a self-defense class and the acronym S.I.N.G. which stood for solar plexus, instep, nose and groin. These were the sensitive places on the body to attack when being attacked.

Ben grabbed her hand and tried to pull the ring off. Pain shot up her arm and she screamed in agony, as it felt like her skin was being be torn from the bone. Then, with every survival instinct she had and her last bit of strength, Kai stomped on his instep. He grunted in surprise and leaned forward, just in time to have his balls come in contact with her knee.

As he released her, Kai stumbled backward and a thundering fireball exploded as the door of the barn shattered into splinters of burning wood and smoke. Struggling to catch her breath and with her hand feeling like it had been put through a shredder, Kai looked over to see Aaron or Asmodeus or whoever he was, standing in the doorway, and he was quite literally wrath incarnate.

“You will not lay one hand on her, you fucking fairy.” Eyes glowing, muscles straining and with the storm raging behind him, Asmodeus stepped into the barn with his burning gaze fixed on Ben. Kai probably should have been terrified, but to her great surprise she felt nothing but relief. Without taking his eyes off Ben, Asmodeus extended his hand. “Come with me.”

“I don’t think so, demon,” Ben seethed. He raised both hands, uttered a language Kai had never heard and she watched in horror as his aura flashed and a shock wave of yellow light rippled across the room and slammed into Asmodeus.

Kai screamed and watched as Asmodeus was thrown back outside like a ragdoll. Ben ran toward Kai and grabbed her arms. Kai screamed and kicked at him as rage, confusion and outright fury filled her.

Struggling against him, she placed both hands on his chest and let out a primal scream as a gargantuan surge of power shot through her body and into Ben. The force sent him flying across the barn and slammed Ben into the wall, dropping him to the ground in a limp heap.

Shaking and crying, the ring cooling against her skin, Kai leaned against the wall for support as her body tingled with new-found power. She let out a startled cry as Asmodeus appeared suddenly next to her. Before she could say a word, he pulled her into his arms and held her against his chest as she sobbed with terror and confusion.

“I killed him.” She kept repeating the muffled words over and over against his chest. “What’s happening? Oh my God. I killed Ben.”

“He’s unconscious, Kai, he’s not dead. But we will be if we don’t get out of here now.” Asmodeus took her head in both hands and kissed her forehead, his lips hot against her skin. He pulled back to look her in the eye. “Come with me and I promise I’ll explain everything.”

“What happened?” she sputtered. “He—he had fucking laser beams shoot out of his hands. And me—I—”

“Ben is Fae...and so are you.” He lifted one shoulder. “Well, half.”

“Fae? I’m a fucking fairy?” she said with no humor in her voice. Her brow furrowed as she recalled the words written on the crate. She flicked her eyes to his, her voice was edged with urgency. “The box—the box that I found the ring in. It said Custodians of the Light.”

“I’ve never heard that expression before,” he said as a deep line formed between his eyebrows and his voice dropped low. “But I promise we’ll find out what it means.”

Kai stilled and her eyes wandered over the strange tattoos that covered now covered his arms. “Is it true?” she whispered in a quivering voice as raised her eyes back to meet his. “Are- are you what he said you are?”

“Yes.” His mouth set in a tight line and the muscle in his jaw flinched with tension. “But I am not here to harm you and I won’t allow anyone else to hurt you either.”

Shivering and wet, with his strong, warm arms encircling her, Kai searched his eyes, which were once again the cool, pools of blue and all she saw was concern. She glanced at Ben, still passed out in the corner, and then back to Asmodeus. He may be a demon, or a Dark One, but in the short time she’d known him, he’d done nothing but be kind.

Ben moaned and stirred.

“We have to go.” Asmodeus’ grip on her tightened and his eyes once again glowed red as he leveled his burning gaze in Ben’s direction. “When he wakes up, he’s going to summon others.”

Kai said nothing but nodded and swiped at her teary eyes. What could she say? Her life had just gone from a little bit odd to completely insane in less than an hour.

“Of course he will.” A slightly hysterical laugh bubbled up and she shrugged. Tears stung at her eyes and she wished now, more than ever, that she could speak to her mother. The old familiar ache in her chest, the hole that was there since her parents died, opened and threatened to swallow her up.

She stepped back as Asmodeus got on the Harley. He started the bike and revved the engine, waving for her to join him. She walked over, almost in a trance, wondering if perhaps this was merely a dream and she’d wake up any minute, laughing at her subconscious but as the heat of the engine blew over her wet, bare legs she knew it was all too real. Feeling exhausted, frightened and with few options, Kai swung her leg over and settled in behind him.

“Hold on tight,” he said as he pulled out of the barn. “But do me a favor and try not to singe me with the ring. It hurts like hell.”

“Aren’t you from there?” Kai said with more than a little sarcasm.

Asmodeus smirked at her over his shoulder but said nothing as Kai wrapped her arms around his waist, careful to avoid touching his flesh with the ring. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pressed her cheek against the broad, muscular expanse of his back and held on for dear life as they rode down the dark, Idaho highway and into an uncertain future.

To Be Continued.....Look for Part 2 in July!

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