Vein of Love (Blackest Gold Book 1) (19 page)

MOLLY EYED HER
text messages.

MICHAEL

12:06 P.M.

Hey! How are you?

MICHAEL

12:07 P.M.

Haven’t heard from you in a while. Is everything okay?

MICHAEL

3:54 P.M.

Molly?

Her heart sat in her throat, pounding. She gripped the shot glass and downed it, savoring the burn.

“Just text him back.” September ate a peanut from the bar.

Molly wanted to rest her head on the countertop, but it was covered in sticky dried alcohol and peanut crumbs. She resorted to throwing her head back. “I can’t. He thinks I’m in a relationship, and I heard from Tina he’s been going out with Bonnie. I just can’t be around him right now.”

September chewed another peanut, smacking her lips—one habit she’d never gotten rid of, no matter how many times Molly pointed it out. “Well, like my Italian grandma always says, you can never eat too much pasta. So text him.”

Molly brows shot up. “Because that definitely makes sense and applies to my situation right now.” She shook her head and glared around the dive bar. “All I need is more pasta in my life.”

“Grandma G knows where it’s at.”

“So have you talked to Illya at all?”

September choked on her peanut. “What?”

Molly shrugged. “You guys seemed to hit it off. He couldn’t stop staring at you.”

“Whoa.” September took a deep breath and looked firmly at Molly. “Whoa,
no.
He’s a demon and I do not do crossbreeds. I love D&D, but nooo—nooo forbidden romance for us two.”

Molly drummed her fingers along the wooden bar top.

September reached out and stilled them. “Just don’t think about it. Have fun tonight.”

“I can’t. I could lose my job. They pulled me aside and told me that if I don’t get my act together, I’m out. No job, no money, no apartment.”

“We’ll find you a new job.”

She also needed to tell September the new plan.

“And I had an idea…” Molly paused, thinking before saying it aloud. “To talk to Tensley and see if he’d be willing to destroy the contract.” Now she’d just need the confidence to approach him.

“Uh,
what
?”

“I was talking to Cree, and he said he’d talk to the others, but I think it could work if Tensley and I both were on the same side of trying to get out of this.”

“Okay, well, maybe? I don’t know. I guess you’ll just have to ask and see?”

Molly had wanted September to jump for joy at her idea, but her hesitation made her doubt herself. Molly sighed and scooted off the high bar stool. “I need to use the bathroom.”

After she’d struggled to pee without sitting on the seat, Molly found a woman mopping in the corner as she went to wash her hands.

“Uh, hi,” she mumbled, rubbing the soap between her fingers. She only responded with a nod.

As Molly dried her hands with a paper towel, water splashed on her shoes from the woman’s mopping. She gasped, startled, and the woman in the blue jumpsuit shrugged.

“Sorry, I get carried away when I’m cleaning,” she explained, a hint of laughter in her voice. She smiled, awkwardly shaking her drenched foot. “It’s okay.”

The woman studied her, the ghost of a grin displaying her uneven, yellowed teeth. “Here.” Her feet moved fast and she bent down in front of her, wiping the water off her shoes with a rag from her back pocket.

“No, it’s okay—it’s okay,” she told her. Her hair was greasy and uncombed.

“You allergic to the light or something?” She gestured to the sunglasses.

She nodded. “I’m very sensitive to light.”

The woman’s large, buggy eyes scanned her legs before moving up to her face again.

“I have to find my friend. She’s probably looking for me.” Molly stepped around her, walking away as calmly as possible.

She waved his hands. “Wait,
wait
.”

She turned and saw her hands shaking.

She licked her lips. “She left.”

Molly furrowed her brows. “She left?”

“I told her you left, that you got fed up and left.” Her head twitched and a horrible, twisting sensation began in Molly’s chest. “Everyone left.” She could still hear the music blaring loudly outside the door.

“W-what?” Molly’s stutter came back full force as she tossed the damp paper towel in the trash. “I’m g-going to leave.”

The woman grinned. “No, that’s not an option,
daemon
.” 

Shit times a million.

“Abaddon sent you, didn’t he? You’re one of his familiars.” Molly edged farther away and she followed each step.

Crap! This isn’t good, not good at all!

“Correct.” She stretched out a hand. “Now, do I have to use force or are you going to come willingly?”

She swung at her, but she grabbed her wrist and wrestled her body against the mirror, shattering the glass on impact. The woman clasped a hand over her mouth, trapping the scream inside her dry throat. Her grip tightened, squeezing all the air out. Molly’s teeth gnawed at her hand, and she only laughed. “Barely hurts.”

“Hey, dick!” a voice roared from the side. A fist collided hard with familiar’s cheekbone and Molly shoved her away. In front of her stood September, lips curled into a glower, eyes razor sharp as she observed the familiar. Molly coughed hard as September punched the familiar again, this time crying out in agony.

“Oh, fucking shit, that hurts!” 

The familiar turned fully to face September, eyes scanning her contorted features. “You hit me.”

“What the hell is your face made out of? Concrete? Jesus-fucking-Christ.” She moaned as she shook her hand out.

“Humans don’t attack demons,” she hissed.

September froze. “A demon? Oh fuck no.”

The familiar’s hunched shoulders morphed and grew, features warping into defined cheekbones and black, greasy hair like a raven’s.

The familiar pounced, gripping September’s neck and pinning her to the wall.

“Get off of her!” Molly slammed her fists into her side, willing her superhuman strength to arise. It didn’t. With a flick of her wrist she shoved Molly so hard she tripped and fell into the nearest stall, slamming into the toilet paper dispenser. September started gagging and her eyes rolled back as the familiar choked her, repeatedly beating her head against the tiled wall. 

Molly stumbled to her feet, removed her sunglasses, and rushed the familiar again, swinging her entire body onto her back as she curled her fingers around her throat. The familiar choked and elbowed her in the side, but she didn’t let go.

“You bitch!” She released one hand from September’s neck and dug her nails into Molly’s thigh, drawing blood. She cried out as the familiar swung her against the wall, now trapping both girls by their necks.

Her eyes met hers and she froze.

Yes!

Her grip weakened, and she made sure to blink as little as possible.

Molly opened her eyes wider. “Leave. Us. Alone.”

The familiar released them and backed up. September fell to the ground like a sack of stones.

“Now get out—” Molly was suddenly thrown to the ground, a strong hand pressing her face to the filthy floor. Molly struggled, trying to twist her head so that her eyes would capture whoever was currently trapping her.

“Stop moving!” another woman’s voice demanded, lifting Molly’s head only to collide it with the floor again.

Pain shot through her temple as white spots raced across her vision, and all Molly could hear was her own shallow breathing, September’s muffled cries, and the ringing in her ears.

“Kill the human. I’ll take the daemon to Abaddon.”

No!

“Fuck no.
I
got her,” the first familiar hissed.

“I was the one who distracted everyone!” the second countered, tightening her grip on Molly’s hair.

Molly closed her eyes and let her body relax.
Focus. Focus.
She could feel the female’s fast heartbeat through the palm pressed to her temple, and she let her body unwind.

A jolt of strength rushed through her veins.
Yes!
Molly arched her back, elbowing the woman in the gut and twisting to see her. The woman stilled, mesmerized, and Molly yanked her up by the neck, a loud snap echoing in the tiny bathroom. Molly stared at the woman’s unfocused eyes and slackened face, and released her hand.

The woman fell to the ground with her head at an unnatural angle.

September’s shouts of pain snapped Molly from her thoughts, and she stumbled to her feet, reaching out toward the familiar currently clawing at September’s throat. “
Stop!
”

A shadow burst through the washroom door, quick and flickering. It threw the familiar against the nearest wall.

Illya glanced over his shoulder at Molly.

Thank god!

“Illya?” Molly croaked, relief immediately radiating through her.

Illya stood on solid feet and glared darkly across the room as the familiar gathered herself, then lunged with ungodly speed at the demon. They wrestled back and forth, pinning each other and busting a stall off its hinges as they collided with it. Growls and hisses erupted from Illya like nothing she’d ever heard, and Molly couldn’t believe he possessed such a side—demonic and aggressive, like Tensley.

“
Illya,
” Molly repeated as she moved closer to try and help. His eyes flickered to hers for a moment.

“Stay back,” Illya snapped. He released a feral yell and used his body weight to fling the familiar up and around, flipping her onto her back on the floor. Illya pushed his foot down onto the familiar’s veiny, thick neck. 

“I’m not going to kill you,” Illya spoke, face bloodied and eyes the darkest Molly had ever seen them. “Send a message to Abaddon.” The familiar’s face went blue, and she clawed feebly at Illya’s ankle. “Tell him to forget about the daemon or we will go to the court and let the Princes judge him for breaking one of the Six Laws of Babylon. I’m sure they won’t be too kind.”

The familiar nodded and Illya released her. As quickly as she had appeared, she sped away, vanishing out the door in an instant.

Molly leaned against the wall, her hands unclenching.
We’re safe.

Illya tried to catch his breath. “You girls okay?”

Molly pulled her dress down to hide the cuts on her right thigh. 

“Other than the near-broken neck, I’m great,” September groaned, her voice nearly gone and eyes bloodshot.

Illya laughed and bent down, resting a few fingers on her collarbone. “Let me see,” he whispered. “I can help.” September bit hard into her bottom lip, struggling to hold in the pain. “Only if you want my help, of course.” Their eyes never parted.

September nodded once and swallowed.

Leaning in, his fingers slid up her neck, and his eyes danced across her features. September, for once, was silent. His lips hovered over her bruises and his mouth met her sun-kissed skin. Heat came in waves over Molly’s cheeks, and she folded her arms and debated whether she should look away. Illya’s lips claimed the damaged skin, a soft kissing noise filling the empty room every time he removed his mouth. September grasped his shoulder, but didn’t stop him. She moaned in utter delight.

Awkward.

Illya stopped and sat up, lips puckered, ears red. The bruises were already fading from September’s neck and collarbone.

“Uh, thanks.” September’s hand fell from his back and she looked away.

Illya stood, turning to Molly. “Are you okay?”

“Just a bit stunned,” she muttered, eyeing the quickly decaying female familiar. “I—I didn’t mean to kill her. My strength—”