Blood roared in my ears. My jaw clamped down on my tongue so hard I could taste blood. My chest pounded harder and harder with every step as I climbed the stairs. The elevator was out, like usual. My bag felt heavy, smacking against my side.My hair whipped behind me, a brewing storm raging in the sky above, but even the thunder seemed to pale in comparison to how I felt inside. Everything I had worked so hard for, disintegrating. Destroyed. Like nothing I did ever mattered. It was all temperamental. Nothing was forever. Except for time.You could never get time back.The time I wasted trying to figure out what I did wrong. How to fix what was never broken to begin with, just a shitty relationship.When I made it up to my apartment, the door was open, Nova signing something on the mover's tablet. "You got the new address?" she asked, handing the tablet back.She hadn't seen me yet, dripping and soaked to the bone. "All set, ma'am. We'll head there right away," the ma

The only reason I woke up in the morning was because I felt a seagull peck at the strings of my hoodie. My eyes flew open and I shooed the bird. It squawked in surprise, cawing as a whole flock of seagulls flew off with it.The fuck?I looked around rapidly, trying to get a grasp of where I was. I felt dazed like the night after a bender. Dizzy and delirious in the head even though my body felt unbelievably satisfied. My scars felt less puckered. My skin was less tight.Relief cascaded through my bones.I was drenched, water lapping at my bare feet.Where were my shoes?My head went from side to side. Where was my purse? Slowly, everything began to come back to me. My manager offered me sex in exchange for my paycheck. Me pushing Nova out a window. Hitting rock bottom. Invoking a demon.Then getting so taken by seeing him again I ended up having sex with him, rolling around in the sand, saturated by rainfall. The grit clustered on my thighs was proof of that. My panties f

After what seemed like forever under his crushing weight, he propped himself up on his hands, staring down at me with wide, sated eyes. One of his fingertips brushed my hair from my face. Unusual warmth resonated in those honey depths I could never truly see in his human skin.He would have never let me in before.His glossy black hair hung past his shoulders, curved horns extending from between locks of hair. I reached up, caressing his horns, somewhat surprised he was letting me touch them. A beautiful shade of burnt umber. Unique patterns that looked more like carvings on stone than the natural groove of keratin rippling a ram's horns.Stroking the unique patterns, I murmured, "What do these symbols mean?"He hummed, vibrating against me before he answered, "It's a label, a branding of who I am and where I serve. It's in Primordial Speak.""Tell me about it," I asked, taking comfort in the crook of his arm.The corner of his mouth curled up. "Curious? Aren't we, pet?

I remembered the flat above the club. Even with the haze of alcohol and lust blazing hot through my body, I remembered it with startling detail. It came back to me as I took it all in. The wine-colored sheets. How the hard floor felt under my feet. Not incredibly large, but it told me more about Asmodeus than anything else ever could.The flat lacked a kitchen, but I suppose they didn't need to eat anyways. Bookcases packed with old books. Artwork adorning the walls. Different than I expected. He seemed to favor greenery by the plants hanging in the window.Still a mystery, but pieces were starting to fit together again. Who Asmodeus was. How he ticked. The energy was rampant between us. I could feel how his body thrummed, wanting desperately to touch me and feed himself. But he wouldn't. Not now. There was something he needed to say. I ached for him. Wanting to take as much as I give, but not before I know what he wants. Not until he tells me how bad he wants me."You k

I had chosen violence.Darkness. The path of indulgence. My body thrummed with power, excitement coating my bones. The uncertainty of my future appealed to me. The archangels arrived at the beach a few days ago, right in the spot I invoked Asmodeus, declaring myself in allegiance with him. A bright missile of light only we could see collided in the sand. Asmodeus knew the path they would follow. First the beach and the decimated book, then my apartment where proof of my rage was all over the sidewalk. Then to Maxine's where they'd find evidence of Asmodeus. Bill's violent death could only be the product of a demon's vengefulness. Oddly enough, it wasn't the archangels who found the club, it was the archdemons. Lilith's children. She could feel them miles away, giving us time to leave before they arrived.We didn't have much longer in Los Angeles. But I wasn't done here yet.The angels have tormented Asmodeus since the rebellion, and if they wanted him to go quietly