Her Black Wings (The Dark Amulet Series Book 1) (7 page)

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

Amalya

Hairs on the back of Aba’s neck rose. His jaw twitched under his skin. Amalya was ready for him. He glanced over his shoulder.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Master! Master!” A young demon hopped from one hoof to the other in the doorway. “You must see—”

Amalya screamed. “What the Hell! Don’t you knock?” No coverage was available to her as the bedding had been booted off the bed hours ago.

The slave paled, his eyes wide. Aba grabbed Amalya as he released a shockwave, toppling the cloven-footed idiot. He lay sprawled out.

Aba leaped from the bed in a blur and rushed the one who dared disturb him. The goat dangled by his neck.

Awk.

“You were saying?” The demon lord’s words dripped malice.

Awk.
“
Uhhh
…I…
uhhh…
a-an…gel.” His eyes fluttered and rolled back.

Thud.

Crack!
The master stepped on his neck. Blood spread out beneath the demon’s broken carcass.

Spinning around, Aba met with Amalya’s wide-eyed ashen face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean for you to see that.”

She blinked, staring at the odd angles of the corpse’s limbs. She trembled.

“It interrupted us. Our private time.”

“So you just…
killed
him? You really didn’t have to—”

“I didn’t! But an example must be set!” He threw his hands up.

“An example for whom? There’s only you and I.”

“Amalya, you have to understand, this is what’s it like here. One slip-up from me and…chaos. They must be ruled and punished accordingly.”

“Well, don’t kill anyone on my account.”

“He’s not
dead
!”

The bed vibrated. She moved toward the center. “He’s not?” she asked softly.

Aba took a deep breath. “No,” he said matching her tone. “Like I told you before, there’s only one way to kill my slaves.”

“Oh yeah, I remember now. I forgot. This is all new to me.”

He placed a knee on the bed. She smoothed the red satin sheet and looked up when the mattress depressed.

“You’re correct, and I’ll try and remember that too.” A smile lifted the corners of his mouth. A mouth she wanted on her. All over her.

“What’s this look on your face?”

“What look? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She giggled.

“I think you do.” A low chuckle escaped his throat. Her body fell back. He slinked up to her breasts, swirling his tongue around a pink bud. They fit so perfectly together, her and Aba. She’d never had what she would consider a good lover. The drug addicts and thugs she’d been with didn’t take their time, didn’t take care like this man did. As he slid into her she wondered if one could call him a man, as he actually had horns. Whatever he was, it no longer mattered. She never wanted to leave his arms.

Sometime later they were lying in bed. She was about to doze off.

“My queen, you can’t stay,” he whispered.

She sat up, her pulse quickening. “What? Why? But I want to.”

“I understand, but you don’t belong here.” He splayed a palm out.

“Who says?”

“He is called Deus.”

“Who?”

“The opposite of me.”

Amalya scooted off the bed and started the task of wearing a rut into the marble floor. “What does that mean? Who is he to decide?”

“All that is light.”

“Who? What?”

“Exactly,” he laughed.

“What if I want to stay here…with
you
?” Tears made her eyes shiny. He held his arms out to her. When she didn’t go to him, he exhaled loudly.

“Is this what you wish?”

She paused her pacing. “Yes. Of course, I do.” He held his arms out again. She jumped for the bed. He caught her and they crashed onto the mattress in a tangle of legs and arms.

“Then it is done. You can stay,” he smiled.

Just like that?
“But I don’t understand.”

He nuzzled her earlobe. “Does it matter?”

No it didn’t. She didn’t want to go anywhere and she could stay. The reason wouldn’t change her desire.

CHAPTER TWENTY

Elliott

Elliott stood leaning with his back against a wall biting his nails. Once his strength returned, he tried to leave the room to find Aza’zel. However, he was trapped inside and met with a resistant energy force. He charged it, took a running jump at it, and tried to will it away, which was idiotic, that never worked on anything important.

Clack tlot clack tlot…

He couldn’t bear to even look at another one of Satan’s slaves. Whoever was coming better be Aza’zel. Elliott wasn’t sure how he might react. He would try control himself until the demon told him the way to the portal, then he would unleash on the bastard.

Clack tlot clack tlot…

Not the stealthiest of creatures. The hooves stopped outside the room’s entrance. Elliott waited behind the door, hoping he could take whoever came for a visit down before they summoned reinforcements. The door swung open.

“Angel—”

Aza’zel grunted as he was attacked from behind. Elliott threw the goat on the floor and straddled his waist. The slave’s arms were pinned at his sides by Elliott’s knees. The angel jabbed him with fist after fist until blood saturated the goat’s face. An eye was already swollen shut, and a lip cracked and bleeding. He tried to get traction with his hooves to push the angel off but kept slipping on the floor.

Pain erupted on Elliott’s thighs. Claws curled around his knees when the goat managed to turn his hands. Elliott jumped up and back.

The sub-demon labored to his knees, spitting blood. “Angel, it is Aza’zel. I’ve come…”

Elliott ignored him, too pissed off to listen just yet. Too broken and empty to care what he had to say. “You betrayed me.”

“No. This is not true,” Aza’zel said with downcast eyes. “I told you to wait—”

“And exactly where was I going to go chained to a wall?” Elliott’s nostrils flared. The slave wouldn’t meet his stare. He remained perched with his knees on the floor, hooves planted. His submission calmed the angel.

“What did you come for?”

“To tell you I’ve asked around and…there’s a f-female here…with our mas…ter,” he panted.

“Yeah, I know. I’m leaving without her. She deserves this place. You said there is a way out of here. Show me.”

Aza’zel drew a map on the dusty ground. He explained that a natural portal opened up when the space between the two realms thinned for a short period of time.

Elliott moved toward the doorway, testing the energy force. The field gave way or was interrupted by the slave’s presence. He stepped over the threshold and out into the hallway. The goat followed closely behind.

The angel turned back. “You won’t be going with me.”

“What about our deal? I go with you. You promised to show me grass.” The demon actually had the nerve to look like a lost puppy.

“Don’t think so, deal’s off.”

“Why?”

Unbelievable.
The angel flashed his wing wounds.

“I noticed that. Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t—” This demon was wasting Elliott’s time. Many years had passed on Earth since being sent to Netherworld. He needed to get back.

“The others…cut off your wings?” The demon put his hand to his mouth. Aza’zel had told them not to mess with the angel, only to take him to the room and seal it.

“I
didn’t
do it to myself.” He swept the goat-footed horned demon’s feet out from under him.

Thud.
He landed with a grunt. His head hit the wall in the narrow hallway. Goats loved their horns almost as much as angels suffered without their wings. Elliott stood over him then leaned down and with both hands cracked the twin horns clean off his head, removing not only horn but bone as well. Aza’zel screamed and clutched where they’d been, blood seeping through his fingers.

Elliott slid each spiral shaped horn into the back pockets of his jeans.
Now we’re even.
He gaped at the hornless demon. The creature wept. For all the torture he’d endured, a tiny twinge of guilt picked at his heart. But now was not the time to get all mushy.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-ONE

Aza’zel

The goat demon, Aza’zel, lay on the stone. Unfortunately, he didn’t know anyone whose horns had been broken off, therefore, he didn’t know if they grew back or not. He rolled to his back and stared at the curved ceiling. Silently, tears spilled from his eyes, down his temples, and onto the floor. Putting his hand to his scalp, he felt the jagged bones where the horns had been less than five minutes ago. He should hate the angel. Instead he found himself still wanting to help him. Of course, a lot of that had to do with needing to see green grass and taste clean cool water. Still…

Aza’zel knew goat-demons were forbidden from entering the Earth realm. The reason always seemed clear to him in the past, but honestly he wasn’t sure now. He lumbered to his cleft hooves, weakened by feelings of loss. The sorrow over the missing horns would have to wait. He could mourn more later.

Right now, Aza’zel needed to spread the word regarding the escapee, in hopes the other demons would find him and slow the angel down. He had to find the wingless one before he left this realm. The demon had to hurry; the angel would move fast.

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

Amalya

Amalya lay awake on the oversized round bed. She stretched her arms straight over her head and her legs toward the edge of the mattress. A silky robe was folded next to her. Holding the fabric between her fingers, she’d never felt anything softer.

Aba had left her a while ago, insisting she get some rest. She stood on her knees and tried the robe on. Her skin thanked her for it, but she wanted to be naked when her lover returned, if he would ever return.

Screw this, she wanted to see him.

The robe dragged behind her while she scooted off the bed. After a minute of groping around she discovered it didn’t have a belt. She wrapped the sides over her front and held them in place with her hands.

As she reached for the door knob of the bedroom, she dropped to the floor in pain, the intensity frightening enough to make her wonder if she had been stabbed in the back. She tried to sit up. Another acute attack stung.

“Oh my God. Oh my God…”

More pain tackled her. Sweat beaded on her brow as she gasped and sobbed.
What is this?

Then the agony stopped.

She stumbled from the room calling for her lover.

“Aba!”

Out in the hallway, she bumped her hip on the wall in front of her. Listing forward, she yelled. “Aba!”

The sounds of voices could be heard up ahead. Continuing her search, the voices grew louder. She approached a door at the end of the corridor. The cadence of the voices sounded female and human, and there were not just a few of them, but many.

What the
hell
?

Amalya put her ear up to the closed door. So many were talking at once, she couldn’t decipher individual conversations. They were having a good time though. Glasses clinked, someone laughed. She pressed her palm against the wooden panel. Her eyes watered. Envy spiked inside her gut. Female companionship had always eluded her. She could never understand why. Girls just didn’t take to her.

She fell into the room when the door flew open, landing on all fours. Some of the women recoiled, some laughed, while others shouted insults at her.

“Must be the latest,” a blonde near her spat.

Another woman picked her head up from between the thighs of a ginger. “Brunette…oh man, you guessed right this time, Suzie.”

“Not much meat on her. And short.”

“Yeah, too skinny.”

“I call that bony, myself.”

Amalya scanned the large room. Something was seriously wrong. Gads of nude women were lying on wall to wall large pillows covered in red and black silk. Most were reclining in various positions. They were either on their sides, backs or stomachs. Some were even chained to each other or to a wall. That wasn’t what freaked her out the most. Many had small, twisted horns sticking up through their hair, a tail, or wings like a bat.

What the hell is this place?

She turned to run and a group of them blocked her escape route. She spun around looking for another way out. They laughed collectively.

“Lose the robe, sweetheart. He doesn’t want us to have any barriers.” A mousy brown haired girl pulled the silk from her shoulders. Amalya tried to snatch it back but was too slow. The robe was thrown to the crowd. Many of the girls swarmed around it, each grabbing a piece. They shredded the fine fabric in seconds.

Amalya began to cry. What was wrong with her? Ever since her death, all she did was cry and worry about things she wouldn’t have given a second thought about before. A tightness in her chest made breathing difficult. She felt her left hip. The skin where she had a tattoo tingled. The ink she had done for her sixteenth birthday was the symbol from a pendant she’d lost. No one could ever tell her of its origins. Maybe Druid…the tattoo artist had suggested.

Suzie brushed the snacking girl off. When she stood, she stretched skin covered wings out. Amalya’s eyes widened and she shuffled backward. A girl behind her snaked her hands around the front of her, cupping her breasts.

The girl’s large breasts smooshed into Amalya’s back. She yelped. “No, no, no…” The groper let go, cackling in her ear as she pulled her arms away.

“This will happen to you too,” Suzie said.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“He didn’t tell you?” Suzie crinkled her nose.

“Tell me what?” Amalya tried to take deep breaths except she wound up panting instead.
Breathe…you need to get out of here…go find Aba.

Suzie snickered. “Go find him. Tell him you found his dark, dirty secret.” She stalked to the door. “Coming,
queenie
?”

Amalya wanted out of there, so she came forward. Bat-girl opened the door and shoved her out into the hallway. Air whooshed past her as the door slammed shut.

Bitches! Aba will hear about this…

Standing about twenty feet or two fire pits away were four goat-legged demons. She screamed and their beady eyes zeroed in on her. Amalya spun around toward the door, pounding the heels of both fists on the door.

“Help! Oh my God! Lemme in!” Her world slowed down. She was conscious of every heartbeat, the pain of her hands beating on the door, and the jeers on the other side.

Clack.

Clack.

Clack.

Clackclackclackclackclack…

“Oh God! Noooooooo!”

They charged. They seized. And hoisted her over their heads.