Strife: Hidden Book Four Read online

  Christ, am I paranoid.

  The simple explanation would be that she’s Strife, better known as Eris, the spirit of chaos and discord, and snatching innocent women off the street causes all kinds of chaos as everyone scrambles to try to figure out what’s happening, as they become afraid, which only causes more chaos.

  But nothing is ever simple, and Strife has a bone to pick with me over the death of her buddy Enyo and my imprisonment of Ares, her other best friend.

  I don’t like her much, either.

  My team and I started walking down the street. There was no need to try to sneak or hide. They’d be able to feel us coming, especially Heph, E, and I.

  “Destroy immediately,” I muttered. “They won’t answer questions, so don’t bother. I’ll grab whichever one seems like the leader and see what I can learn from him or her.”

  They nodded, and Heph led the charge, sprinting up the front steps and bashing the oak door in with one slam of his shoulder.

  “After you, my Lady,” he said to me, and I grinned. Shouts erupted within the house. My imps were already there with us, and they ran through the house, scoping it out, bringing info back for the rest of us.

  “Demons in the kitchen and basement. Women tied up downstairs,” Bash said. “One more demon upstairs with a Normal,” he said, eyes blazing. Heph had heard.

  “Okay. They’re splitting us up. Stay with them. I’ll go after the asshole upstairs.”

  “You know that’s a trap, yeah?” Heph said. “For you or us.”

  I nodded. “I’m trusting you and E to keep them safe until I get back down here.”

  He nodded, then patted my shoulder and stalked toward the kitchen, where we could already hear the snarls and crashes that told us a fight had broken out.

  I wanted to follow him. I wanted to make sure my team was okay, that the trap hadn’t been laid for them instead of me. I shook it off. They were a bunch of badasses. I had my job to do, and so did they. I wasn’t their mom.

  As the fighting got louder on the first floor and in the basement, I sprinted up the stairs. All of the doors along the long hallway were closed, except for one at the very end. A lamp was lit inside it. I headed toward that, listening, opening my mind for the thoughts or emotions of anyone else nearby. I concentrated, and smiled a little when I picked it up.

  Definitely a trap for me.

  There was a Normal in the room at the end of the hall. I could hear her frenzied, terrified thoughts, feel her fear rolling through the house. She was tied to a bed, and the demons had threatened all kinds of sick things, but hadn’t followed through on them yet.

  I had to give Strife that. She did keep her demons on a tight leash. They’d kill if we didn’t reach them fast enough, if we didn’t play the game, but she didn’t let them do the kinds of things I would have expected, the kinds of things demons want to do. Nain had said it before: before he’d changed his ways, he’d acted like a typical demon, causing pain, killing without remorse. Worse. He’d admitted that with absolute disgust. And I knew that was what most demons were like. They fed off of pain and fear, and were strong enough to do anything they wanted against even the strongest human. My own demons, Elsoloth and the gang, would be doing the same things if they hadn’t sworn themselves to me, if I hadn’t made it absolutely clear that they could hurt all the bad guys they wanted, but if they ever harmed an innocent I’d hunt them down. They were like Nain. They saw a better way and wanted it. They wanted to be better, to be noble. To use their strength for something good instead of destruction and pain. As I thought of them, I reminded myself that I really needed to check in with them. It had been weeks since I’d last touched base with Elsoloth. I had to be better about that.

  I stood there and sensed. Seven demons in the closed rooms off to my left and right. One demon in the room with the woman.

  Okay.

  I pretended their little game had escaped my notice. I walked into the room at the end of the hall. There were no enchantments on me now, and I let my wings and eyes show. I’d found that it tended to terrify the enemy, and their fear fed me.

  I am, after all, a child of the Nether. My parents, demons, the Guardians; they were all created by Nyx, darkness itself. She’d created terrifying creatures, but also managed to create the only beings in existence capable of punishing even immortals, of serving judgment after death.

  So their fear fed me, and I headed into the room. The demon was wearing his true skin as well, deep reddish purple flesh, red glowing eyes. He wasn’t as big as Nain, or even Levitt, in that form, and I felt a bit of scorn.

  “What game are you playing, weakling?” I asked him, aware of the snarl in my voice that let me know my demon was being well fed, my lust for destruction increasing by the second.

  “We don’t play games, Fury,” he said, and even his voice sounded weak. Too high for a demon.

  “She certainly is scraping the bottom of the barrel, isn’t she? I’ve killed all of her strong demons, apparently.”

  He snarled, and, just as I expected, leapt at me.

  Stupid, undisciplined demons. This one was young. Not the leader.

  The second he jumped at me, I heard the doors in the hallway crash open, and the woman on the bed screamed as demons flooded into the room. I could hear them easily enough. (Seriously? Did she even bother training her people to shield their thoughts?) They were supposed to capture me. One of them had a needle, and was supposed to inject me with some tranquilizers.

  I laughed. Freaking pathetic.

  I held my hand out, and my flamesword appeared. I didn’t even need to use my powers for this.

  “Is she getting desperate or what?” I asked, turning to the one who held the needle in his hand. “I’m a fucking immortal. You can take that needle and shove it up your ass,” I said, and I felt surprise roll off of the other demons.

  And then they were afraid, really.

  Damn, it was good.

  They were dead in a matter of seconds, my flamesword making easy work of seven of them. I kept one alive, and I held my sword at his throat. I glanced toward the bed. The woman there had passed out; the sight of me slaughtering the demons a little too much for her to handle.

  I would have to take those memories away from her. That was too much to expect someone to live with. I turned back to my own captive.

  “Okay. Did she really expect this to work?” I asked him.

  He clamped his mouth shut. He was the smartest among them, and I’d seen clearly in the thoughts of several of the demons that he was the mastermind of this particular little plan.

  “Answer,” I snarled, forcing my will on him, enduring the pain that came with using my powers.

  “She didn’t know we were doing this.”

  “You’re hers, though.”

  He nodded.

  “I was trying to impress her,” he said, and I felt it from him.

  Oh, for crying out loud. He was in love with Strife.

  “We were supposed to do what we always do. Take some women, wait for you to come.”

  “She wants to taunt me,” I said.

  He didn’t answer. Then he leaned forward and impaled himself on the end of my sword, dying as the point pierced his spinal cord.

  I pulled my sword back in disgust. Then I went over to the woman and quickly made my way into her mind, removed memories of me and the demons. She was still out. I untied her hands and slung her over my shoulder, carried her downstairs, where everything was already quiet. Shanti, Levitt, Heph, and E were standing in the living room with the other two women. I remembered to bring up my enchantment again before I headed down the stairs. My nose was gushing, my ears starting to bleed, and I swiped my sleeve across my nose to clear the blood away.

  “That was too easy, boss,” Levitt said when I reached the bottom step. I nodded in agreement.

  “I don’t like it,” Heph said.

  “Me neither. Did you see her sign anywhere?”

  “It’s scrawled on the walls
in the basement, and Dahael said it’s also carved into those two trees in the front yard,” Shanti said.

  I glanced toward Dahael and she nodded.

  “These were weak fucking demons, boss,” Levitt said.

  “She definitely didn’t throw her A-team at us,” I agreed.

  “Diversion?” Heph asked, and I shrugged.

  “I have no idea. Let’s get them out of here.” We left the house, and I dialed Chief Jones and told him about the mess in the house. Nain or Jones always handled cleanup (removing bodies, getting rid of blood and other grossness. I had no idea what they did with the bodies and I didn’t really want to know) and I’d tried to be better about calling them when I made a mess. This was closer to Jones’ territory, so he’d deal with it.

  I hung up and watched Shanti, Levitt, and Heph get the three women into my car and drive off. They turned a corner, and I reminded myself to remind Levitt to watch the hell out when he was driving my car. He’d nearly sideswiped a parked car.

  I turned to E, and that was when I saw the mob coming toward us.

  “Company, E,” I muttered.

  “Oh, good. I was just thinking I hadn’t had quite enough stupidity for one night,” she said, turning around and watching them come. “I call the vampires.”

  “You are so weird,” I said, drawing my sword as the mob approached.

  “This from you is laughable, my friend,” she said, and I grinned as the mixed group of vampires, shifters, demons, and witches advanced on us. We watched as they surrounded us. We were outnumbered at least seven to one.

  “No problem,” I murmured to E, and I felt her humor in response.

  “Angel,” one of the vampires said. “How convenient. All we had to do was wait for those asinine demons to lure you here.”

  “You are a freaking genius,” I said. “Congratulations.”

  I sensed irritation from him. I somehow always manage to forget that I’m supposed to be afraid at times like this.

  “We are tired of you, Angel,” he said.

  I just watched him. I wanted to laugh at his bravado. The only concerning thing about his little display was that we were seeing, first hand, the way supernaturals were forming mobs to work against us. We’d only ever heard of stuff like this happening before. Now we had direct proof. And apparently, they were not pleased with me.

  What a surprise.

  “We tire of being under your thumb. You and the Nain Rouge. That bitch who calls herself our queen,” he scoffed, anger snaking its way through his emotions.

  “Aw. We’re not letting you maim and kill whenever you want to. Poor babies,” I said with a fake sob.

  One of the vampires hissed, and I laughed.

  “So I guess the question is, which one of you wastes of space wants your ass kicked first?”

  And that was when they started charging us. E and I stood back to back, fighting off the mob.

  “You really have a way with people. You know that, yes?” E asked me, and I laughed.

  This was a much stronger group than the demons we’d just faced. The vampires were old, much older than Shanti, and the demons among them were experienced fighters. The shifters were all wolves, and they snapped at E and I as we fought.

  “Witch,” I muttered to E as I felt the power around us spike. First signs of a spell.

  “I see her,” E said and I felt her arm pull back as she threw one of her knives. The power around us snapped out as the witch fell.

  “Nice one,” I said, slashing my sword out at the vampires who were currently trying to double-team me. They were all being very disciplined about this, attacking us in waves, watching how it went for the wave ahead of them. Once E and I messed up one group, another would take their place.

  “Are we done here yet?” I asked E.

  “Oh, we’ve already killed half of them. Let’s just keep going, shall we?” she said. She was panting a tiny bit, but I could feel from her that she was enjoying herself. “Keep your mind open.”

  I did. The vampires were always a little tricky to pick up. The shifters, especially when they were in their animal forms, were mostly nonsensical, full of rage and bloodlust. We’d killed the two witches already, but the demons were only getting stronger in response to all of the pain and anger. I made my way into one of the demon’s minds as I fought him back. I sifted through his thoughts as we fought. Memories of being given this assignment by another demon, a stronger demon. Part of a much bigger group.

  Crap.

  They were organized. More than we’d ever realized.

  “Are you in my head?” the demon snarled, and I smiled at him.

  “Empty place that it is, yes,” I said, and it enraged him.

  You can’t use your powers now. What if there are more in waiting? E’s voice in my head. She couldn’t communicate telepathically, but she knew I’d be able to hear her if she focused her thoughts.

  “I know. Sucks, huh?”

  “What?” the demon I was fighting asked, and I used his moment of confusion to slice him across the stomach. He roared, and it died abruptly as his body failed him.

  We were down to five opponents. E was minus both of her knives now.

  “Fly,” I said.

  “Only if you do.”

  I growled and kept slashing with my sword. “Wish I could use them,” I grunted, taking a stab to the arm and ducking away from one of the vampires who was looking crazed at the smell of all of the blood. Especially mine, apparently. The final demon and two of the vampires were facing off against me, while E faced the last two shifters. I heard one squeal, and then she was down to one. She could be damn vicious with nothing more than her bare hands when she wanted to.

  Nether was getting excited by all of the chaos, too, and I felt her struggling against my control, even as I tried to focus on fighting off the trio facing me. I managed to remove one vampire’s head from his body, and barely had a chance to watch him fall when I heard E grunt in pain. I looked over to see that the last shifter she was facing had clamped its jaw onto her arm. She was trying to kick it away, but it was huge and determined to hold on.

  I spun away from the demon and final vampire, pivoted and brought my sword down on the back of the wolf’s neck, and it fell over onto E.

  “Thanks dear,” she grunted.

  “You owe me one,” I said, bringing my sword up as the demon charged me. I got ready to swing out with the sword when I heard E shout my name, and I turned just in time to see the vampire leaping through the air. As soon as he had contact with me, he sank his fangs into my neck, and I felt him tremble, pleasure coursing through him.

  Freaking gross, I thought to myself. The demon was still there, getting ready to charge me again, and I saw E take to the air and then land on his huge shoulders, and soon there was a knife sticking out of his neck where she’d plunged it, severing his artery. She shoved him and he fell over. In the meantime, I got my sword arm out from under the giant mosquito sucking my blood and sliced across his stomach. He was sprawled out on top of me, which meant that I ended up slicing my stomach too.

  Only one of us would die, though.

  He released me in shock, grabbing at his stomach, and I drew my sword across his throat, ending him.

  I glanced around. E had several bites and cuts on her arms and face, her black pants shredded at the bottoms from the shifters’ teeth. The ground around us was littered with bodies. E stumbled over to me and raised her fist, and I bumped mine to hers.

  “Nice job, demon girl,” she said.

  “That would have ended in like two seconds if I’d been able to use my powers,” I said, trying to catch my breath.

  “Yes, but you can’t. We did well enough without them. And now it’s time to go in case another group is on its way. Can you fly now?”

  I nodded. “You?”

  “Of course. Let’s go. I have wolf slobber all over me.” I glanced down at the street again, then E and I rose into the air and headed toward my neighborhood.

>   When E and I arrived at my house, the lights were on inside and I could smell something cooking. Hamburgers, maybe. Levitt and Heph were always ravenous after a fight. Or any other time, really. E and I walked up the front steps, and the dogs greeted us, tails wagging. We each patted one of them on the head and went into the house.

  My team was all in the kitchen, Heph and Levitt cooking, Shanti sitting at the Formica table leafing through a magazine. They’d all cleaned up and looked relaxed.

  When E and I walked in they all stared at us.

  “What the hell, Angel? You went and had fun without us?” Levitt asked, and I grinned at him. I explained how E and I had been ambushed, what I’d learned from the demon’s mind.

  “So we’ve had this rule all this time about not patrolling on your own. Even more so now. At least two of you go out, no matter what else is going on,” I finished.

  “And that applies to you as well, right?” Shanti asked, looking at me.

  “No it does not. I can’t die.”

  She sighed, seemed like she wanted to argue, then let it go.

  “Can you fill Rayna in on this when you go back?” I asked her and she nodded. “Are you staying tonight?”

  She looked a little embarrassed, glanced at Levitt’s back. “I have somewhere I have to be,” she said. And she thought the word “Zero,” whatever the hell that meant.

  “Okay. Be careful.” I asked her, and she smiled.

  “I always am.” She stood up and gave me a hug, embraced E as well, and called a “see ya” to Levitt and Heph. I walked her to the door and watched her drive away.

  I told my team goodnight, then headed up to my room. It was well after one in the morning, and I thought about Shanti. She must be meeting another vampire. Normal people are not just starting to move around at this time of night.

  I stripped off my bloody clothing and threw them in the garbage. Disposable clothes. Someone needs to get on that, I thought to myself. I turned the shower on as hot as I could stand it and stood under the faucet, letting the water rinse the blood and gore from my body. As always, there was the desire to scrub my skin to the point of bloodiness, to try to wash away not just the new gore, but the memories of my time in the Nether. Months later, I still didn’t feel clean. I could still feel the gritty soil of the Nether, my blood crusting over my body, the way it had flaked away when I’d finally been able to move again.