Her Darkest Devils by Ginna Moran
Chapter 12
DANTE
As the World Burns
I ACHE FOR Raven. And for once, it’s not my fucking nuts. The light of her soul remains dim, letting the darkness both Micah and Lucian left behind consume her. I despise their darkness and want nothing more than to annihilate it with my own. Raven knows that within the fiery pits of my being lies everything she craves—protectiveness. Obsession. The innate need to destroy anything that dares mess with her light in a way she doesn’t approve, want, or can’t handle. It’s my job as her future king to lift her up and hold her high above us all as our queen.
“We’re almost there, pretty soul,” I murmur, combing her billowing hair from her throat to kiss her cold, goose-bump ridden skin. I had planned to fly alone, watching Kase speed down the highway with her and Micah, but Raven quietly stepped into my arms, and I couldn’t deny her.
She whispers her response, her soft voice lost on the wind. Wiggling a bit, she adjusts herself and presses her face to the crook of my neck. Her body trembles, and I squeeze her tighter, rubbing my hot hand over her arm, trying to warm her up. Except she’s not shivering from cold. The cool trickle of her wind-kissed tears splash on my neck. And fuck. She’s crying.
I growl in annoyance but not at her. I’m fucking ballistic that Micah and Lucian have fucked up her mental state enough that she’s hurting. She’s experiencing the turmoil only the damned should ever feel. I don’t give a flying fuck if Micah apologized. He should’ve never put her in a position to ever doubt his intentions. And Lucian? That asshole just needs to return to Hell. He gave up his right to be graced by Raven’s presence when he tried to break her contract and proceeded to put us in this position in the first place.
Except doing anything other than being here for my pretty soul is all I can do besides punch some sense into the others when Raven’s not looking. It is her will to decide whether or not she allows anyone else into the light of her radiant being despite my opinion about them.
I hate to admit it, but I see the attraction kindling between Raven and Lucian the same as I see when she puts her sights on a savior. Her ability to shrug off the bad and see the good makes her so entrancing to a fault. I just hope Lucian quits being a monstrous devil, treating her as if she isn’t the brilliant, angel-kissed woman we need. He wasn’t always such a manipulative dick. He hadn’t let the sins of his making consume him before mingling his darkness with her soul. I used to suck Lucian’s cock for fuck’s sake, and not because he demanded it. It’s as sexy as his damn horns, and if he’d just get the burning stick of Hell out of his ass, we could resurrect our friendship that had us jumping from grace with the intent to bring balance to the universe. Before we created Hell, most souls were purely recycled—even the worst of them—and all that did was send humanity on a path of destruction.
“Dante, can you distract me? Make me a member of the Mile High Club or whatever the equivalent is to getting fucked by a devil midflight?” Raven clears her throat and tips her head back, capturing me with her glassy eyes.
I swipe my fingers across her cheeks, smearing the blasted tears for caressing her skin in a way only I should. “Oh, pretty soul. How I want to warm my dick inside your hot pussy right about now, but five minutes isn’t enough time. I doubt you want to soar around for at least fifteen minutes for a quickie that will only leave us both sexually agitated. One orgasm is not good enough.”
Her eyebrows shoot up on her forehead, and she laughs in exasperation. And fucking damn it, if it’s not the most melodious sound I’ve ever heard. “One orgasm is better than none.”
“Now it’s that kind of standard I need to continue working on fucking out of you,” I tease, bowing forward to brush my lips to hers, tasting the salt of her tears. “You will accept neither option. From now on, I’m putting a fucking five minimum orgasm rule in place.”
The smile she graces me with lights a fire right in my balls, and I consider how quickly I can stay true to my words during the descent to the apartment tower below. Kase’s red Ferrari’s brakes squeal as he drifts into the spot between two beater cars, his parallel parking absolute perfection.
“I expect ten when we get home, but only after I have a moment to love up on my soulmate. Maybe you can help me cuddle him up. He’ll never admit it, but he enjoys your bite as much as I do.” Raven blows out a breath, the sadness that was clinging to her now melting away with the heat of her rising happiness, knowing that Elias is finally coming home.
“You sure have a thing for pathetic, you know,” I quip, grinning with my words. “Do I need to stop putting in my best and get the shit beat out of me more often? Will that ensure your luscious lips caress every inch of me and you attempt to heal me with the power of your pussy? Because your light is truly addictive magic, and it’ll be worth the pain.”
“Don’t you dare get hurt on purpose. Elias is sick, and he’s been through a lot. I love you all psycho and possessive. It makes me want to sometimes challenge you for power and really discover how to get you on your knees.” She reaches between us and grabs my cock, rubbing the length of my shaft. “Do me dirty and take care of me after. That’s what I like best from you.”
I hum my contentment, flexing my boner in her fingers. “I accept your challenge. If you manage to dominate me and make me call out for your mercy, you can do as you please. I have a nice fucking strap-on for you that’ll give you pleasure as you bang me, channeling your spirit dick into real life.”
I chuckle, loving the fuck out of her expression. The idea excites her and we both know it. I’ve felt for myself how wet she gets watching me submit to Kase. She’s really coming out of her sexual oppression stemming from her relationship with the bastard Joel. He really fucked with her, making her accept that pleasure wasn’t intended for her.
Fuck that. Raven is the mother-fucking queen of my Kinky Kingdom.
“You know what?” she says, her smile widening. “It’s on. If you want me to gear up and show you what it’s like to be fucked by me, then I’m ready. I’m going to fuck you so hard that my light will make you see Heaven again. You’re going to take my spirit dick like the sexy beast you are until it’s you cumming across the damn walls.”
Oh fucking shit.
That dirty mouth is ensuring an eternal boner.
“My pretty soul,” I murmur, crashing my mouth to hers. “I am at your mercy already. Now let’s get your damn soulmate, so we can give him one helluva show. Maybe one fucking final bang to bring him to our kingdom.”
“Who knew I’d want that? Your kind of psycho has officially become my brand of pleasure. It really gives a new meaning of going out with a bang.” She clutches onto me, speaking against my mouth as I dive down, zooming toward Earth.
“I love you for it. Even pathetic bastards like him deserve to have a hot, sexy, beautiful woman fuck him to death. You truly are an angel for agreeing to it.” I slide my tongue into her mouth, letting her grind her body against mine through our clothes.
I land with a thud but refuse to stop until she’s had enough of me. With the way she sucks my lips and practically unscrews my barbells with her tongue in her desperation, I’m nearly certain it’ll never happen. I don’t fucking care if she wants to kiss me like this for the rest of eternity. I’ll adapt.
“Keep it up, and I’ll act on our deal right now, angel-girl,” Kase says, his hot presence warming Raven between us. “Spread those spankable ass cheeks open for me, Dante.”
I chuckle and do as he says, clutching her ass and spreading her wide open. “Sounds like a plan.”
Raven gasps and yanks my hair, pulling herself away. “Try it and see what happens if you dare try to enter without lube.”
“Back pocket,” I say, closing the space to her lips again. “I’m always fucking prepared.”
Her peal of exasperated laughter vibrates across my lips, and she throws herself away from me, landing in Kase’s arms. I fall in love with her even more than I already am with the way she grins at Kase while wagging her finger at me. I never knew such a thing was possible. I knew from the moment I saw her soul that I was obsessed with her. But love? Devils shouldn’t love anything besides torture and punishing people—getting justice for a soul’s bad decisions in life—yet here I am, psychotically, deeply, unfathomably in love with the woman in my best friend’s arms.
And then the current boner killer of our night growls, killing Raven’s excitement, knowing how close we are to bringing back the Jizz Master into her life. At least with Elias’s poor aim, Raven’s hair won’t constantly fall in her face or get in the way—natural gel. Fucking hilarious. I plan to throw his cock off course to ensure he never lives his nickname down for all of eternity.
“They’re coming for us. Zade was right. He’s here.” Micah explodes into his devil form, his monstrosity of a body towering above us. “Protect Raven.”
“He did not just command us to do the fucking obvious,” Kase mutters, tossing Raven in my direction.
She squeaks and heaves a breath near my ear, fear tensing her nerves. “Try not to—”
Micah launches at a man exiting the apartment building, smashing him under his massive hooved feet. She sucks in a breath at the sight of the man screaming as his legs and pelvis are crushed and his insides explode from the weight. And damn, he’s still ali—
Micah stomps on the man’s head, silencing his ear-piecing screams. “Those who defy the rulers of Hell will perish,” he says, his threat ringing through the air as two more jackasses exit the building and aim their puny weapons at him.
“I’m going to be sick,” Raven murmurs, gagging as her stomach heaves.
“Fly up and check the windows for wards. That’ll be the one Elias is in,” Kase says, whipping his tail at a man and dragging him toward him.
“God, please,” Raven murmurs, using one of her hands to cover her ear as she presses her head to my shoulder, trying to block the noise. “This is fucking brutal.”
“These assholes are our enemies, filthy-evil souls, and trying to block you from finding your soulmate. They deserve nothing short of ruthless punishment,” I say, adjusting her in my arms to take flight.
“Still nasty as fuck,” she mutters.
I don’t disagree. I’ve never truly studied Micah unleash Hell on a mortal and damn. He really doesn’t have an ounce of mercy left, slaughtering these bastards in painful ways to hear them suffer. Like sure, I’ll cut a cock off and shove it down a rapist’s throat and out his ass to repeat the process, but turning these flesh bags into gut pancakes one foot at a time? Eh, whatever. I don’t actually give a shit but will play along with Raven so she doesn’t think she has to suck it up.
I shift, blocking Raven’s view. “Messy too. Good fucking thing it’ll be Vincent’s job cleaning their remains since the wannabe ruler of this plane was too chicken shit to come out and fight himself.”
She gags again. “Ugh, hurry. It smells worse than Hell.”
I chuckle, watching an asshole flail his burning arms like an idiot, setting himself aglow with Kase’s power. “It’s because they’re burning before heading to the—”
Raven slaps her hand over my mouth. “Hurry up and fly Dante. I know you’re hesitating, so that you can fight at least one contracted soul. Stop it with your envy over this shitshow because Kase and Micah are having fun. We’ll have our own fun. But you have to get Elias first.”
She knows me so well.
With a sigh, I expand my wings and launch us into the air, soaring straight up to the top of the five-story apartment building. Most of the blinds are closed, disallowing us a view inside, so I have to rely on my Hell-senses.
“I need you to hold on as tightly as you can. We’re going to freefall along the building to test them for warding. It’s the fastest way.” I reposition her arms to encircle my neck and get her to lock her ankles across my lower back. “I need both my hands.”
She swallows her nerves, her body trembling as she squeezes me in a death grip. “Ah, hell. I hate these kinds of rides.”
I laugh. I can’t help it. She just equated me to a fucking ride at a theme park. “Should I count down?”
She gasps. “I don’t—”
I close my wings, the sudden drop stealing away her ability to even scream. My fingers graze the first five windows down, and I swoop my wings out and propel us back to the top. None of the corner apartments have been touched by Hell.
“Fuck,” she says, gulping a breath. “Fuck.”
I think the motion has stolen her ability to articulate anything. A smile crosses my face in amusement. I might enjoy her reaction a bit too much, because she sounds the same as she does during a good fucking.
Without waiting for her to get her mind to function, I drop down again, closing my eyes to sense for warding and Hell power. Even if it’s not used on a window, I’ll still be able to feel it from a short distance.
Nothing triggers my devil nature.
I catapult back to the top. “Three more rows on this side.”
Raven only groans and pierces my neck with her nails, leaving what I’m sure will be a hot mark along with scratches. If only they were from her getting banged by me.
I fly from the ground level and back to the top. Raven swears in my ear, bracing for the drop again, but one touch of my hand on the top floor window makes me hesitate. The hot sensation of Hell power rises from somewhere beneath us—the apartment a level below.
“Found it,” I say, spreading my wings to float a few feet down to the next window. “It’s this one. Get ready.”
Raven twists her torso, glancing at the window with a small etching of Lucian’s mark in the corner. I hiss and flick my tongue, extending my fangs. I nudge Raven out of the way a bit more until she clings to my side. I don’t want to accidentally get the heat of my venom mixed with Hell power on her—the combination capable of eating all organic materials.
Swinging my fist, I shatter the window with one punch and use my arm to clear away the glass. I ignore the few cuts from the shards managing to pierce through my sleeve. Raven reaches out and snags the blinds for me, ripping them from the window frame. A man hollers from the other side, preparing to shoot at us. But I’m too quick.
I hiss and spit my venom into his face, turning his angry holler into pure, torturous screams. He flails away, clutching his face, but there is nothing he can do as my power devours him. His body thuds to the carpet, the scent putrid enough to make even me hold my breath. I carefully help Raven inside and climb in myself, listening for any other threats, but the place is quiet.
“Let me lead the way, Raven,” I say, grabbing her by the wrist before she makes a run for the hallway.
She sighs and nods. I know she just wants to hurry and get to her soulmate. I can see her annoyance that I slow down even more before we get to the first bedroom. I can’t help it. This apartment may have been warded to imprison Elias, but he’s no longer here. I know it deep in the darkness of my power. No living soul inhabits the place—which means one of two things. He’s either been relocated again or we’re too late.
I clear my throat, trying to think of the best way to handle Raven. This could destroy her on a level I can’t fix.
“Dante, come on. I bet he’s in the master bedroom,” Raven says, allowing her voice to echo through the room. “Elias?” she calls. “You here?”
Silence greets her, and she tips her head to look at me. I’m too slow to control my expression, and she realizes something is wrong.
“Raven, I don’t sense him,” I finally mutter. “I—”
Using her Hell strength, she breaks away from me and bolts toward the end of the hall. Thrusting the door open, she smacks it against the wall and freezes. A strangled cry escapes from her throat. She stumbles into the hallway and hits her back on the hallway wall.
“Dante,” she says, clutching her chest. “Dante, is it him? Is it fucking him?”
I stride forward and past her, entering the filthy bedroom. Most of the furniture has been trashed, and garbage litters the floor like whoever was guarding the place ate in here. Slept in here, too. Showered in the bathroom? Nope. That’s where the body of a man lies, his hoodie yanked up, hiding his head. I haven’t memorized Elias’s body like I have Raven’s, so I can’t tell if it’s him from here. The build is similar, but long sleeves prevent me from seeing any recognizable tattoos.
“Dante, is it?” Raven asks again from behind me.
I steel myself for whatever the outcome may be. This could be it. This could be the moment that destroys an eternity of hard work and a future of paradise alongside the most spectacular soul in existence.
Grabbing the back of the dead man’s hoodie, I lift him up and arch his back to look at his face. Guts spill out from a long cut from his waist band to his ribs. Raven gasps and whimpers, her shock over the monstrosity left behind by Vincent, his mark clearly branded on the guy’s forehead, stopping Raven from grasping anything apart from how disgusting this is.
I drop the guy and kick him, rolling him to his back. “It’s not Elias.”
She blows out a breath in relief, a cross between a cry and laugh escaping her mouth. “Thank-fucking-Hell. I was so scared.” Strutting into the room, she closes the space between us and covers her mouth and nose, peering down at the body. “But where is he? How did they know we were coming?”
I comb my fingers through my hair and shift on my feet, getting a better look around. There was definitely a fight with the scorch marks across the carpet and broken furniture. “I’m not so sure anyone knew. This guy didn’t get slaughtered because they were hustling to relocate. He was gutted. There must have been an invasion.”
She purses her lips. “Another demon?”
I shrug. “I think human.”
Raven tugs at the ends of her hair and swivels around, searching the room. She shuffles a few feet forward and touches one of the scorch marks on the floor, pinching the remnants of ash between her fingers.
“Hunters,” she says, tilting her head to gaze at me. Her stare whips to something on the floor behind me. “They came for him. Look.”
Following her point, I spot the bloody dagger of a knife and pick it up only to scorch my fingers. I chuck the damn thing at the wall, sinking the blade into the plaster. My fingers sting, the sensation of heavenly power from touching a blessed knife annoying as fuck.
Swinging my fist, I punch the wall. “Fucking bastards!”
“I’m going to kill them all,” Raven says, baring her teeth in anger. “I swear to fucking God, the saviors, the universe, and every damned soul in existence. These bastards will suffer for this.”
Damn, she sounds so hot. My psychotic pretty soul.
“Fuck yeah, they will. At least we have an idea where to find them.” I stride toward her and snatch her off her feet and into my arms. Going to the window, I smash through it and launch into the air to fly to Kase and Micah.
The two of them tag-team, ripping an asshole in half before kicking him into a portal, finishing off the contracted souls.
“He’s not here,” I say. “He was taken by hunters.”
Micah’s eyes flash orange. “Hunters?”
“Fuck.” Kase summons red power between his palms, thrusting it at Vincent’s apartment building and home to his shitty, useless minions. It sparks across the siding and sets it on fire.
Micah follows his lead and thrusts a wave of Hell power at the building, adding to the destructions. “Let this be a message to Vincent and anyone who stands against us.”
“They will pay, and so will the hunters. I’m out of mercy,” Raven says, clenching her fingers. “I’m done.”
Me-fucking-too. I’ve had enough of these high and mighty hunters trying to mess with our plans. I’ve had it with lowly demons thinking they can create their own hellish kingdoms.
I will prove as much.
Their fucking world will burn.
