“I need to talk to her.”
“Who? I don’t see anyone.”
“Her… uh, I don’t know. There was a woman over here.” He reached the corner and looked around it, but nobody was there. He swore under his breath. “I am really messed up tonight. I’m seeing things.”
“Who did you think you saw?”
“Somebody, I–I’m not sure.” He frowned hard. “I thought I recognized her, but I have no idea who she is.”
“Sure, that makes sense.”
It didn’t make any sense at all, which was why he was starting to get more concerned about his current disoriented state. Maybe he’d been drugged or bespelled. But who would do that to him? And why?
Something was off, and he had a feeling it had to do with the woman he’d seen — or, rather, that he’d
Women. More trouble than they were worth. Especially the ones here in the Netherworld. For all he knew, it was some apparition sent to lead him to his doom.
He glanced around the unfamiliar street. The Netherworld had the appearance of the human world, depending on where you were. You either got this type of urban setting — always night — or you got the inferno. And, no matter your location, it always felt like the hottest day of summer.
He didn’t tell anyone, but he preferred spending time in the human world. At least there was a little more variety up there.
This area didn’t look familiar to him. It was deserted. A lot of the Netherworld was very busy, bristling with activity, but not here.
This didn’t feel right. At all.
Darrak turned around in a circle, trying to see something that might strike a chord of familiarity in him, but nothing did. “Talk to me, Theo. Tell me where we are.”
“We’re exactly where we need to be.”
“And where’s that?”
“You could call it a waiting room.”
He hissed out a breath of frustration. “A waiting room for what?”
Somebody tapped Darrak on his shoulder, and he turned to see the two male fairies from the bar standing there.
“What are you doing here?” the taller fairy asked. The edge of his razor-sharp teeth could be seen under his upper lip. “What are you looking for?”
Good question. He wished he knew.
“Who wants to know?”
“We do.”
Darrak snorted. “And who exactly are you?”
“We’re the neighborhood watch for this area making sure dumb demons don’t wander off and get themselves hurt.” The fairy jutted his thumb in the direction he’d been headed. “Go down there and you’re in big trouble. You won’t be coming back.”
Okay, this was turning out to be a bit amusing. “Down there?” He nodded at the street where he thought the redhead’s apparition had disappeared.
“Yeah.”
“See, you saying that I can’t go down there makes me want to go for a nice long walk. Down there.”
The fairies exchanged a glance. “Then you’re even stupider than you look.”
Darrak clenched his jaw. “I’m not stupid.”
One of the fairies gave him a head to toe assessment. “Incubus, right? I can tell by the brainless, shiny surface.”
“Archdemon, actually,” he growled.
“Former incubus, though, right?” They both laughed knowingly.
Assholes. “You two should walk away. No reason for this to turn into something.”
“First we need to know why you’re here.”
“He’s here because there’s nowhere else he can be now,” Theo said. “He’s on the list.”
Darrak frowned. “The list for what?”
“So what’s the delay?” the shorter fairy asked.
“All good things come to those who wait, boys,” Theo said. “Patience is one of my seven favorite virtues.”
“You said you’re neighborhood watch?” Darrak asked.
“We are. Nothing happens around here without our knowledge.”
“Then you should probably know there are a couple of wraiths standing right behind you. They’ll probably bring down the property values around here.”
He’d never seen fairies roll their eyes before. It wasn’t pretty. “Don’t be ridiculous. Wraiths never come this close to the hole.”
The hole? The area wasn’t upscale, but it was an odd nickname for it.
Darrak shrugged. “Could have fooled me. Because they’re here anyway.”
They began to look uneasy. It seemed as if they didn’t want to move their attention away from Theo and Darrak, but they still swiveled, as if in unison, to see the two dark forms lurking behind them.
The wraiths were cloaked, their faces unseen, swathed in shadow and something that turned the hot night around them much colder. Darrak knew that they revealed their faces to you just before they sucked you dry, and that they were the most beautiful women in the entire universe — a sight which helped to freeze a victim in place, shocked that something so alluring could be so dangerous. By then it was too late.
He didn’t see any beauty at the moment. All he saw were two gloved hands with pale, slender fingers dart out from each of the wraiths, fastening around the fairies’ throats, drawing them closer for the kiss.
The fairies didn’t even have a chance to scream before the cloaks surrounded them and their entire forms were consumed by the wraiths.
That was all Darrak really needed to see. Self-preservation was a powerful motivator. He wouldn’t say he ran away, but he moved quickly, very quickly, along the path the redhead had taken before she’d disappeared.
“Theo,” he growled. “You either tell me what the hell is going on here or I’m going to beat it out of you.”
“You think so, huh?” Theo strolled next to Darrak, his hands casually clasped behind his back.
“I know so.”
“Think back, Darrak. When was the last time you saw me? If you can answer that, then maybe you actually have a chance. Let’s see how strong your survival instinct is.”
Darrak normally had a joke or a quip for every situation, but this wasn’t the time or the place. Something was horribly wrong here, and he couldn’t figure out what it all meant. He’d woken up in a bar with no idea how he’d gotten there. He couldn’t remember anything recently, apart from a fuzzy recollection of being summoned to the human world by a power-hungry witch. When was that? What had become of her?
He remembered talking to Theo, agreeing to be his business partner in overthrowing Lucifer and taking over Hell. But that felt like such a long time ago — centuries, even.
No, wait. He remembered something else. Something much more recent.
Another bar. Another meeting with his demonic best friend. Looking at him as a threat, rather than an ally. Having differing opinions of how to deal with an important situation.
There was another demon lord — Asmodeus. Theo worked for him now. It was all a part of Theo’s ultimate plan to defeat Lucifer and take over his throne, to take over Hell itself. Asmodeus — he needed a body. He had set his sights on Theo’s, a powerful archdemon that had the desirable appearance necessary to contain the essence of the Lord of Lust.
Darrak’s voice was quiet when he spoke. “He destroyed you. Asmodeus, he burned you away and stole your body. Then I destroyed him.” Darrak raised his wide gaze to look at his friend. Yes, it was true. Theo was gone. Despite their disagreements, he’d been a true friend, trying to save Darrak from a huge mess he’d gotten himself
