Page 92 of Demon Demands

He appeared out of nowhere, standing at the front edge of his horde. Nowhere. He didn’t come from the Void. Hannibal was only a step behind him, the elder hellsteed’s fear sweeping through the air, invading my senses. My demon and I needed that fear, but not yet. We’d have more than enough in twenty minutes or so.

In his sooty gray demon form, Satan stood taller than Stone’s seven foot demonic stature. His horns curled down and away from his forehead, two spikes ready to gouge his opponents in an attack, but also low enough to impede his vision.

There was a sharp barb at the end of his tail, and unlike mine, I knew his was a weapon. I briefly wondered what his human skin would look like, but it didn’t really matter. He wouldn’t live to see another day.

“Mmm, the newest devil has made an appearance. I feel so special,” Satan cheerfully announced to the horde, the gravelly tone of his voice making my eyes narrow. “How did you find me?”

“It doesn’t matter. You wanted us, now you’ve got us.” I smirked, staring at my nails like they were the most fascinating thing I’d ever seen.

From the corner of my eye, I watched as his head twitched to the right, meeting his rising shoulder.

It would seem that I’d found a trigger. Disrespect was something that Satan clearly didn’t get very often.

Good. I wanted him to be angry.

As quickly as I possibly could, I reached down, snatched the single blade off my chain, and flicked my wrist, throwing the tiny magical dagger at Satan. He batted it out of the air the same way a human swats at a fly, nicking his hand in the process. But that was all Lil needed.

Calling the blade back to me, I waited for the cool obsidian to touch my palm. Once it was in my grasp, I pushed it straight to Lil, begging my magic to get the dagger to her.

Pushing was definitely different from pulling objects to me, and it wasn’t something I’d ever tried to practice. I was hoping that it was just a case of opposites, like Palmer had explained.

I brought my attention back to Satan just in time to see him lean his head down as he charged at me. Those horns would hurt, but if Lil got the dagger, then I’d only have to die once.

If she didn’t… I couldn’t even comprehend the possibilities. She needed his blood to work her magic. Beyond that, I didn’t know what her plans were, just my own.

Satan crashed into me with the full force of his weight, and I did nothing to defend myself. His horns ripped into the skin, muscle, and bone on the left side of my chest and shoulder. Hot blood spilled down my body as I swayed on my feet.

Standing through his attack only served to piss him off further. With his head still against my chest, he grabbed my arms and slammed me to the ground, pulling his horns out of me in the process.

He backed away, swiping crimson off his forehead with his thumb, then licked at the digit suggestively. I wanted to gag as I dragged myself from the desert sand, both from the pain and Satan tasting me.

I threw a weak ball of fire at him, and he caught it as he built his own, muttering under his breath the entire time. I hurled flame after flame at him, never putting my all into it but doing just enough to make his ire grow.

The orb of fire and fury in his hands was the size of a beach ball before he stopped adding to it, and I swallowed hard when I realized what I was about to be hit with. I’d never seen hellfire and holy fire mixed together the way he’d done, but I had seen Lil and Lucy show off a time or two.

I had a split second to slide into Franklin’s mind, letting him know that I needed him to warn everyone and showing him exactly what was about to happen. “Show them, Franklin, and let them know it may take me a few extra minutes to heal from this.”

Time slowed as Satan's attack whirled through the air. I could have dodged it, but that was never my intention. The amount of power he’d just expelled was a necessary evil.

Lucifer couldn’t withstand the hellfire without significant damage, and neither he nor Papi could regenerate as quickly as my mixed blood allowed me to.

Thank the gods Lilith wasn’t taking the hit, because the holy fire… I didn’t know what it would do to her, but I was sure it wouldn’t be good.

As I stood facing my death, I used my right hand to push my battered left shoulder back. Rolling my right shoulder to match, I let my hand drop to my side after I straightened my posture. I winked at Satan as his attack caused my body to ignite, burning inside and out until I was nothing but ashes.

The funny thing about my plan — or shitty, depending on how I looked at it — was that while I wasn’t technically dead or alive, I was aware. I could still feel everything.

The pain numbed into a cold, detached discomfort, and I waited.

All the microscopic bits of me floated in the breeze, and I waited.

Satan walked through the dust of my body as my ashes settled in the sand of the Lilk desert, and still, I waited.

Patience wasn’t a virtue of mine, but I gave Satan five full minutes to focus his attention elsewhere. To attack my family, my mates, my friends…

Then I slowly began to pull my body back together.

And it fucking hurt.