Made in Hell 2 Chapter 10

I followed the trails of vampire and demon blood through my darkened manor, and it appeared as if the majority of the fight had occurred on the stairs and in the kitchen.

“Ashe?” I called out as I stared at the bloody staircase, but she didn’t answer.

The more my fury overtook me, the more the Infernal flames in my palms continued to grow. It had spread from my hands all the way to my wrists now, and it started to singe the material of my jacket, but I didn’t give a shit.

I checked the bathing room and noticed the fresh tub of water, but from the temperature of it, it seemed like the water had been sitting there for a while, and the tub was only half full.

A sign that Ashe had been in the process of filling it before she became distracted.

I left the bathing room and decided to search the second floor next. I took the bloody stairs two at a time, and I checked out every room in the top floor of the manor, but Ashe was nowhere to be found.

I stormed back down the steps and I worked to ignore the potent scent of the vampires while I tried to track down my demon lover instead. She could have been taken by the vampires, but I had a feeling it was more likely Ashe was still locked in the middle of the fight, and that she was somewhere in the vast forest that surrounded the Grimmway by now.

“Ashe!” I yelled as I ran into the grounds outside the manor.

“Sir?” a high-pitched voice came from behind me.

I spun around to see a tiny, blue imp standing a few feet away. A thick sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and he was breathing heavily.

I was about to ask him what the fuck happened here, but then another voice broke through the night.

A voice that I had been dying to hear.

“Good evening, my lord,” Ashe purred.

My huntress strolled up behind the imp with her hair a mess, her dress practically torn to shreds, and blood painted across every inch of her icy skin. Despite how shocking the sight was, she skipped over to me in an almost merry way, and she threw her arms around my neck while she chuckled wickedly.

The fire in my hands instantly simmered down as relief flooded my sinews, and I clutched my lover tight against me.

“Fuck, I thought…” I sighed. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Ashe snorted. “I’m fucking fantastic! You should have seen me!”

“I am seeing you,” I muttered and stepped back. “You’re covered in blood. So is the house.”

I looked over her entire body and turned her around a couple times to assess how bad the damage was, but then Ashe batted me away and rolled her eyes.

“I’m fine, as always,” she chuckled. “The imps came over to help, too.”

I gave the small imp a silent and stunned look, and the little guy nodded his head.

“Yes, master,  sir, we heard the commotion from the wagons,” he quickly replied. “Thought we’d come and stand by your woman in this fight, but she had already defeated them at that point. We took her back to the wagons to assist with the wounds. She heals quite quickly, sir. I think she must already be fine.”

“Thank you,” I said in earnest. “I appreciate your loyalty.”

“Always, sir.” The imp bowed his blue head.

“But you said ‘defeated them,’” I continued. “How many vampires showed up?”

“There were four, and I killed every one of them!” Ashe snickered and tossed her silver-blue hair over her shoulder. “Come on, you have to see the corpses! We stowed them near the mining shack so the stench doesn’t ruin our evening.”

I couldn’t help laughing at her excitement, and I followed her through the trees in the direction of the mining shack while the little imp ran off to return to his wagon.

We came to a stop a short while later in the darkened woods and just like Ashe had said, four vampire corpses were waiting in a small clearing of the trees. Some of them had been beheaded, whereas others had been obviously tortured by her claws all over the place. They’d still been sliced through the head to kill the brain at least, so their icy skin had turned gray, and their deep red eyes were dulled to a more maroon color.

I smiled a bit as I counted how many bubbling, venomous gouges there were before me, but I lost track after I found a single gash that ran the full length of a vampire’s inner arm.

Ashe really was a talented little murderer.

“Well done,” I praised my beautiful fiend. “This is fucking gruesome.”

“Thank you.” She winked. “I was going to leave them and their heads all over the manor so you could really appreciate the scene, but the imps thought their master’s home should be less corpse-ridden. From here, though, I couldn’t decide what else to do with them. The black fairies did mention us covering our tracks better, and considering all I’ve said about the incubi, I think they may be right.”

“Hmm,” I muttered.

I took in my surroundings and mentally worked out where we were. The magical mining shack wasn’t far away, and neither was the great wall. I’d watched the imps creating a hole in the wall to bring their crates of orbs through, and that gave me an idea.

“Why don’t we have the imps put them through the wall?” I suggested. “I’m sure there’s a creature out there that would happily chow down on a bloodsucker, and no one of importance is going to find them out there.”

“Ooh, I like that idea!” Ashe grinned.

I was still furious that the vampires had entered our property without an invitation, but the excitement of the carnage in front of me started to overpower that. Not only had Ashe easily defeated all four of these assholes alone, but we could now offer a tasty treat to the undead unicorns and ogres that lived beyond the bricked barricade.

The whole situation was turning out to be incredibly satisfying.

“What started all this?” I asked. “Did the vampires just appear?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Ashe nodded and swiped some blood from her cheek. “I was getting the bathing tub ready for when you returned, but then I caught onto their awful scent. I knew there couldn’t be any plans for them to come over for another purchase, so I grabbed your sickle, ran up stairs, and then stood back and waited in the dark to see what kind of game they had in mind.”

“You’re right, we didn’t have any arrangements with them,” I growled.

“I didn’t think so after that shit they pulled with our imps,” Ashe replied. “So, the vampires pushed the main door open like they owned the damn place, and then one of them called out saying that he was here to have a meeting with you. Again, I knew this was bullshit, so I played with them a little. I was very polite and said to come upstairs, and that you were waiting in your office, and as soon as they did, I obviously jumped their asses. Fucking idiots.”

“Fantastic.” A proud smile spread across my face, and I wished I’d seen Ashe tearing the assholes to shreds. The vampires had obviously managed to get a couple hits in, but Ashe had completely recovered from her wounds, whereas they were a little worse for wear. “Remind me to reward you for all this at the earliest opportunity.”

“Oh, I will,” Ashe sighed lightly. “But you should have seen me, Atticus! At one point I had one vampire through the blade of the sickle, and my claws completely embedded in the chest of another while I kicked a third vampire in the dick! Now, I know I didn’t personally deliver the killing blow to the demon yesterday, but something about battling that fucker has got me on top of my game! I’m fucking unstoppable!”

“You always have been unstoppable, my love,” I purred, and I beckoned her closer with a flick of my hand.

Ashe smirked with pride as she sauntered straight to me, and I brought her mouth into a heated kiss.

My beautiful fiend whimpered with pleasure as I rewarded her as well as I could with our clothes still on, and she was like putty in my hold when I released her lips to admire her blood-smattered face.

I was thankful that Ashe hadn’t been seriously injured, and I was more than proud of the slaughter she’d delivered here tonight, but the whole circumstance still didn’t sit right with me.

Sure, we could keep killing any bloodsucking assholes who had the balls to show up in my grounds, but I didn’t intend to let another one even try it. The vampires had no fucking idea who they’d pissed off this week, but the remaining members of this coven would soon find out.

“Since the night is young,” I said as I stroked Ashe’s bloody cheek. “Would you fancy joining me on a little adventure?”

“Mmm, what do we get to do?” Ashe asked with a wicked smile.

I looked her straight in the eyes as I sensed her carnal appetite already building just like my own.

“We’re going to slaughter a coven of vampires,” I murmured and kissed her softly on the lips.

Ashe’s jaw dropped and the sheer ecstasy was clear in her pink eyes.

“But we’re going to have some fun with it,” I added, and I gestured for her to follow me further into the trees toward the mining shack.

“Wait, do I finally get to see the operation?” she gasped and ran after me.

“Of course,” I said with a grin. “You’ve been a very, very good little demon this evening.”

Ashe squealed with excitement as I led her onward, and I just hoped I’d be able to get into the enchanted shack as easily as the imps told me I could.

I needed to practice using the magical orbs we mined, and tonight felt like the perfect time to do it. The imps had given me some instruction and mentioned focus was of the utmost importance, and right now, I was feeling pretty fucking focused on murdering my enemies.

We continued through the trees until we came across the large boulder in front of the hidden shack.

“Okay, focus between those trees, and picture a shack in your mind.” I repeated the same advice the imps had given me.

I could already see the wooden shack with the glowing handle, but Ashe’s eyes squinted as she tried to focus on the small building. Then she gasped a minute later.

“I can see it!”

“Good,” I chuckled and took a hold of her hand to lead her over to the shack. “We’re eligible to enter, so the glowing should stop as soon as we touch the handle, and since you’ve found the shack now, it’ll soon feel like this building is easier than anything to find.”

“This is so fucking cool,” Ashe snickered.

“Cool?” I asked as I raised an eyebrow to her.

“Hmm…” She frowned. “That’s… a word from my ancient memories. When I was…”

“A mortal?” I finished. “Funny. I also remember using that word. Perhaps we are from the same mortal plane? I know you do not wish to speak of your memories, but—”

“Master,” she sighed. “I love you. I’m yours. Forever. But… can I keep these thoughts to myself for now?”

“Of course,” I answered.

“They aren’t very pleasant for me,” she continued as we walked. “ As I’m sure yours aren’t. After all, we are cursed because of what we did. Can we return to our task? This place is quite interesting.”

“It is,” I said with an eager grin.

The demon huntress gasped again as we entered the shack, and I took her on a quick tour to explain everything the imps had told me from the empty crates that were waiting for tomorrow’s mining session, to the crates that were full of orbs. I noticed that a few of the crates had some paper attached to the side, and I showed Ashe how the parchments detailed who had ordered the gems and how many they expected to purchase.

Then I brought her closer to the crates that hadn’t been purchased yet, because this was my illegal mining operation after all, and I would damn sure dip into my own reserves when I needed them.

“Pick your poison,” I offered, and Ashe rubbed her hands together as she peered into an open crate.

I picked a blue orb while Ashe plucked out a yellow one, and I made a mental note to let the imps know so they could keep their shit organized.

“This should do,” I sighed, and then we left the shack and shut the door firmly behind us.

With the gems safe in our pockets, we ran past the vampire corpses and back to the manor with the intention of collecting a weapon or two, but as we arrived, I noticed that four imps had decided to clean up even more of the mess for us.

They had a bucket of water between them, and the four imps scrubbed away at the blood-stained floorboards with tiny brushes.

“You didn’t need to do this,” I said as we walked into the house.

All four of them jumped as I spoke, and I had a feeling our sudden arrival must have spooked the tiny creatures after all the excitement of the evening.

“It’s okay, sir,” one replied. “It’s only right for the kindness that you’ve shown us, and a man of your stature shouldn’t be scrubbing on his hands and knees.”

“Well, don’t spend too much time on it,” I responded. “I know how early you rise, and we’re more than happy to clean it up ourselves.”

The imps all nodded their heads, And I picked up my sickle from the floor and wiped the vampire blood from the blade. Ashe ran upstairs in search of her own weapon, and she returned with the sapphire sword in hand.

“Oh, I’ve taken two orbs from the shack,” I told the imps.

“Of course, sir,” an imp replied in his squeaky voice. “You’re free to do as you wish with them, and it’s not our place to say whether you can or cannot take one.”

“Well, we’ve borrowed a blue and a yellow one,” I said with a grin.

“Very good, sir,” the imp said. “We’ll be sure to sort it in the morning.”

“Excellent,” I replied. “Shove those vampire corpses through the great wall while you’re out there, too. The undead unicorns should be quite pleased.”

“Certainly, sir.” Another imp smiled and nodded.

We thanked the imps once again, but then we quickly left the manor house to begin the night’s festivities.

My body buzzed with the need to destroy these vampires, especially the leader. I couldn’t wait to see his head roll, or to watch his eyes pop from their sockets. His icy blood was going to coat my skin by the time I was finished with him, and I kept this image in my mind as Ashe and I picked up the pace.

The marketplace was still bustling when we passed through, and the banshees danced, the elves smoked, and the bonfire continued to burn. I wondered what they’d think about our current plans, but if their reactions from earlier were anything to go by, then they’d probably give us a round of applause and a pat on the back. I knew that the vampires were in with the incubi, but I had no idea what the neighbors thought of the bloodsuckers. We could have been doing them a favor getting rid of the vampires, or maybe it would cause some hostility to soak through the village.

Either way, I’d already made up my mind, and I didn’t really give a shit about the fallout at this point.

Four vampires had shown up at my manor house uninvited this evening, and if my demon lover was forced to defend herself against them alone, then vengeance would be paid.

In full.

Ashe and I made it into the farther trees of the Grimmway without anyone really noticing, but I knew that at this hour, the vampire manor would be alive with bloodsuckers going about their nightly duties. The last time we’d been there to check out the area and gather more information about the group, it had been during the day, so our chances of being spotted were slim.

Now, we had to handle things more carefully.

The vampires’ enhanced senses could pick up on our scent, or they could hear someone approaching if we didn’t creep quietly enough, and I didn’t intend to give them any time to prepare for an attack.

We slowed down now that we were nearing the thicker woods beyond the wagons and shacks, and I considered the blue orb nestled at the bottom of my pocket. Nothing would make a smoother arrival than an orb that gave us the power to transport without being caught, but Ashe only had the yellow orb. She had the ability to let off a thick, toxic wall of gas around us, but she couldn’t transport herself along with me now.

“You know the way to the manor, right?” I asked quietly.

“Yeah, I remember it.” Ashe replied. “But even if I didn’t, I’m sure their scent would help guide my way.”

“In that case, I’ll announce our sudden arrival and catch them off guard.” I grinned. “Then you can jump out from the trees and have your fun scaring the shit out them even more.”

“It’s what I’m best at.” Ashe smirked in response.

“It is,” I chuckled. “Ready to show these fuckers what happens when they ambush a woman of mine?”

“More than ready, my lord,” Ashe purred.

I pulled the blue orb from my pocket and took in the tiny, intricate details of its makeup. There was a slight swirl in the center divot where I placed my thumb, and my violet eyes shone off the smooth glass to make it seem almost indigo in hue.

I closed my eyes and focused on the task at hand, and I thought about transporting myself to the vampire’s manor. I pictured exactly how my body would look appearing at the coven’s dwelling, and as the idea of my transportation blazed in my mind, a strange sensation ran through my veins, but it wasn’t what I expected.

I couldn’t pinpoint the exact feeling, but it travelled through me like a tidal wave, and I felt like I was empty yet full at the same time. When I opened my eyes, the blue stone was glowing in my hand, but I hadn’t portalled anywhere. I was still standing in the same spot in the forest, and Ashe was in front of me.

“I don’t think--” I cut off my words there because my voice sounded like an echo, and I got the sensation there was a thick wall between myself and Ashe even though I could see her perfectly clear.

“Ashe?” I tried.

My demon lover shifted her cape to retrieve her sword, and she had a determined look that crossed over her beautiful face, but she didn’t reply to me. Then she turned and sprinted onward through the trees as if she couldn’t hear me at all.

Maybe the orb had worked after all, but I couldn’t decide why the hell I still hadn’t portalled.

I began to run after Ashe either way so she wouldn’t be left alone at the coven, but as soon as I picked up some speed, another strange feeling occurred to me. Every step I took was like running on ice, and my feet slipped beneath me, but my speed somehow increased. I skillfully passed every tree and low-hanging branch without any effort, and I comfortably overtook Ashe so that within seconds, the vampire’s manor came into view in the distance.

The windows of the house were lit up by candles, and a dark cloud swam across the bottom of the building, like the steam that billowed from a pot of boiling water.

None of the bloodsuckers left the house to investigate as I neared the place, which told me that they hadn’t caught on to my arrival. I was completely untraceable to everyone around me, and I decided the added speed was a bonus, but I was curious to learn more about the other advantages of this blue orb.

I wondered if I would have been able to communicate with Ashe if she’d used a blue orb as well, or if we’d both enter these strange dimensions separately. I also couldn’t help but think about the strength of the stone. Perhaps it would increase in functionality the more I used the orb, like my hell powers did, and maybe I’d be able to transport between places quicker if I knew exactly what I was doing.

But this thought made me pause as something drifted into my mind.

The image was blurry, so I knew it must have been from eons ago, but I could just work out the pictures in my mind.

A strange, square image that glowed, a joyful tune, and four options for me to pick from: Beginner, advanced, master, and expert.

I couldn’t decide what the glowing image was coming from, and I shook my head back to the present, but I wondered if I’d used orbs like this before, some time in my mortal life. I hadn’t seen any glowing square images glowing in the mining shack.

Either way, I hoped that the more I used the orbs, the higher I would progress in power, and I decided this was my new goal where they were concerned.

To reach optimum power.

As soon as I neared the front door of the vampire’s manor, I lifted my thumb from the orb and placed it back in my pocket. The wave of strange sensations immediately left my body, and life seemed to have reentered my bones within seconds.

Then I walked right up to the door and knocked on the wood with my sickle held behind my back.

The door opened less than a minute later, and a look of shock and outrage covered the face of the vampire in the doorway, but I didn’t give him a chance to speak.

“Hey, I heard you guys wanted a private meeting with me,” I said with a shit-eating grin.

Then I grabbed a hold of the vampire’s sleek, blonde hair and slammed the asshole against the wall beside him.

I’d used all of my strength, so I immediately heard the exciting crunch as his spine splintered in several places, but I still yanked him back around to hurl him across the entryway for good measure. Unfortunately, as my hand pulled back with his hair in my grasp, his scalp ripped clear off his head.

The vampire still went flying and crashed onto the floor a few feet away, and he wheezed out a sound that would have been a scream if his spine wasn’t fucked right now.

I dropped the flap of skin and hair to the floor, and I chuckled as I strolled over.

“While I’ve got you here,” I said and crouched down. “Mind if I just…”

The vampire twitched helplessly while his red eyes bulged up at me, and I plunged the blade of my sickle through his bloody forehead. His brains were destroyed in a matter of seconds, and I grinned while I watched the lovely sight of the life leaving his fucking eyes.

“There we go,” I sighed, but then I stood up because another two vampires had just arrived in the entryway.

Both were armed with a sword, and they snarled and curled their lips back to reveal their shiny, white fangs.

“It’s going to take a hell of a lot more than fangs to spook me out,” I informed the pair. “Here… I’ll show you how it’s done.”

Smoke instantly billowed from my mouth as I let my lips spread into a ludacris grin, and my eyes glowed twice as bright while a demonic chuckle rippled from my ashen throat.

“Give it your best shot, fuckers,” I growled.

The vampires actually seemed to pale even more, but they hastily aimed their weapons at me. Before either of them could swing a sword, though, I caught a flash of blueish-silver in the corner of my eye.

Then Ashe pounced right through the open door and onto my enemies.

She had her sword ready to go, but her poisonous claws had ripped through the tips of her fingers, so she slashed her silver talons across the jugular of the first vampire she came to. Then she carried her swipe through and caught the second fucker in the same way, and judging by their frantic screams and terrified eyes, I guessed they hadn't anticipated a second demon would show up just then.

Now, their throats boiled with hellish venom, but while the poison had weakened the vampires, it wouldn’t be enough to completely incapacitate them. It sure was a hell of a sight, though, and Ashe snickered and retreated to my side.

“Oh, this is my little fiend,” I explained to the staggering vampires. “She’ll be slaughtering you with me this evening.”

“Try it, bitch,” a vampire gurgled through his boiling throat.

“Gladly!” Ashe laughed.

The vampires both snarled at her wild grin, and they became a blur as they launched themselves toward us. I had my hand in my pocket and my thumb against the orb before my vampire had the chance to reach me, and when my body became light and airy, the bloodsucker ran right through me. Apparently, I couldn’t touch anything when I was in this form, nor could anyone touch or see me, but I could certainly get into the perfect position to attack.

My target frantically looked around the entryway while he swiped his sword out all around him, and I stalked up behind the creature’s back. The moment I let go of the orb, I snatched his neck in an iron grip, and the vampire attempted to turn around and rip his neck from my hands. He sliced wildly at me with his sword, but the angle I had him in meant that he was only hitting the air, and I smirked as I forced both of my hell powers into my hand.

A laugh peeled from my smoky throat, and lightning and fire began to surge stronger the tighter I squeezed.

The tips of my fingers began to burn as small flames ignited. Black spots began to appear on the bloodsucker’s skin beneath my fingers as the flames left their marks, and blue lines erupted on the vampire’s icy skin. Then smoke quickly followed, and the strong scent of burning flesh overpowered the evil that coated the manor.

I reveled in the vampire’s roars of pain for a moment, but while I let my victim suffer for a bit, I glanced over to check on Ashe.

The beautiful fiend held her sword to her opponent’s throat, but he had his in the same position. Fresh, blistering claw marks split through his face, and the venom had already started to seep into both of his blood red eyes and down his neck. His skin curdled in response, and judging by the way he was shaking, I doubted he could focus well enough through the pain to even strike properly at my demon lover.

Ashe really could have ended his life within seconds, but I knew she liked to play with her prey a bit before she put them out of her misery.

I was the same as her, and I let my fury feed off the glorious sight of watching these two icy fuckers struggle to survive. But I was greedy for more. I wanted to see the color leave their eyes and for my hands to become painted in their evil blood.

The fire in my hands continued to grow, and my victim was pretty much going comatose from the waves of thunderous energy I’d been forcing into him. He was smoking and his skin was blistering in my hold, and one last round of thunder finally shattered the vampire’s skull.

A mound of brain matter and steaming blood exploded all over me and the surrounding area, and my opponent sunk to the ground in a smoking heap, followed closely by Ashe’s prey.

My demon lover’s silver-blue hair had streaks of red through it, and her face somewhat assembled my own. We were both equally splattered with the insides of our victim, and Ashe’s vampire looked as though he had been trapped in a ring with a tiger from all the scratches that riddled his body.

But it was the head that really impressed me.

Not only had Ashe used her sword to take the final swing, but she’d aimed her hit perfectly so that his head was cut in two with a neat line that ran from his scalp to his chin. His white shirt was drenched in red, and the floorboards under him weren’t visible beneath the pool of his blood and venom.

“Nice,” I snickered and wiped some brainy chunks from my shoulder.

“Yeah, only three vampires, but it looks like a fucking slaughterhouse in here,” Ashe laughed.

“Still one more to go by my count,” I pointed out. “I can smell someone else alive in this place.”

“Just one?” she asked with disappointment.

“Afraid so,” I sighed. “Based on the smell, the number chairs we saw through the window the other day, and all the bodies we’re piling up tonight… I’d say only one vampire is left.”

“Then it has to be the leader.” Ashe’s smile twisted deviously, and I gestured for her to lead the way.

Ashe and I stepped over the three corpses and made our way toward the grand staircase. The wooden banister had been painted in gold, and a royal blue carpet ran down the center of the stairs.

“It’s not a bad house,” Ashe mumbled as we took in the finer details. “Maybe we could take over this one, too.”

“You certainly deserve a place as lavish as this,” I snickered. “But unfortunately, this house isn’t quite what we’re after. The incubi would sniff us out instantly, especially when they get the news about the vampires not making all those deals around Rengfri.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Ashe agreed. “As nice as it is, we’d basically be handing ourselves over on a silver platter.”

I chuckled at her casual nod, and then I followed her up the plush blue steps. Our boots left bloody footprints all the way up to the landing, and I briefly glanced back to enjoy the carnage below from this angle.

Then I started sniffing out the final bloodsucking bastard.

A vampire’s scent always changed slightly once they died. It wouldn’t be noticeable to most creatures, but a demon’s sense of smell was so heightened that we could pick up even the most miniscule difference where our prey were concerned. I picked up on the lingering notes of the vampires that were no longer in the manor, and I could separate this from the scent of the dead ones downstairs, which made it much easier to pinpoint the leader.

The floor we were on only held a hint of his presence, but there was another set of stairs, and the leader’s scent traveled further up the house. It surprised me that he still hadn’t come out to assist his fellow vampires in slaying us, but that made me think about who this leader really was.

He must have been scared shitless after hearing the screams of his coven members moments ago.

We followed the scent trail upward into the heights of the manor, and it ended at a room with a closed, oak door. It was locked, of course, but one firm boot to the handle sent it crashing open, and the room on the other side looked like some type of office. It reminded me of my own in our manor, with the grand desk in the center, the bookshelves that lined the walls, and a few paintings hung on the walls. The paintings were of old buildings with lofty spires and some oddly cheery floral displays, but nothing gave away what the buildings were, or if they connected to the vampires in any way.

I didn’t pay much attention to the images, though. I strolled into the room with my bloody sickle in hand, and I stared down the leader of the vampire coven.

The bloodsucker was sitting in the leather chair behind his desk like there was nothing amiss in his house, and his black hair was pushed back behind his shoulders. I knew vampires didn’t age, but based on the look of his face and his steady demeanor, I guessed he had been on the surface world for ages.

“You found me,” the vampire said in a calm, polite tone.

“It wasn’t exactly a challenge,” I snorted. “You are terrible at this game.”

“Why, I wasn’t trying to play a game,” he replied, but he kept his eyes on Ashe instead of addressing me directly.

“Just waiting for all your men to die so you’re the star of the show?” Ashe asked.

“No, I only wanted to witness your beauty for myself, my dear.” The ancient bastard winked at Ashe. “My, my, my, you’re far more beautiful in person. You might be interested in finding someone new to prowl around with. Someone with better connections than your mauling boyfriend over here.”

I knew the creepy fucker was just trying to piss me off, but I doubted he realized all this would only make his inevitable death more satisfying for me.

“You know, sucking mortal blood really isn’t my thing,” Ashe responded with a sarcastic smile. “I’d rather just fucking shred my prey into little bits and be done with the mess.”

“Pity, it would’ve been fun.” The vampire shrugged.

“Not as fun as watching your lifeless body collapse over that desk,” I replied.

“Probably the only person who’s been on that desk,” Ashe mumbled under her breath, and I snickered at her little smile.

“You do realize the incubi will be all over you when they find out what’s happened here,” the leader said in a completely smooth tone. “I am indispensable to the incubi, and their wrath will descend on you before you can even celebrate this victory.”

“Don’t tell me you think those horned fucks are actually a threat to us,” Ashe snorted. “Look into our eyes, asshole. We were forged by the Dark King himself. We don’t fear incubi. We are war demons. We devour the souls of lesser beings and feed them to the titans of the Hellscape, and we laugh while we do it.”

A hint of fear wafted around the room, and I could see by the lead vampire’s pursed lips and twitching fingers that he knew Ashe meant every word.

“Even the incubi know not to fuck with us,” I said and shot him an evil grin. “And yet, you thought it’d be a slick trick to come after my business, but I’ll tell you what. Since you’re so enamored with your filthy fucking incubi, I’ll make sure to describe every detail of your death to them when I see them.”

Instead of replying, the vampire stayed stock still for a long moment. Then he slowly stood from his chair, smoothed out his hair, and adjusted his velvet coat like he wanted to be presentable for this.

It didn’t matter how composed he tried to look. I could smell the stench of his fear overpowering even his icy and evil scent. He was terrified to be blocked into this room with us, and he had every reason to be.

Then the lead vampire smiled at us both in the creepiest fucking way, and he launched himself over the desk at Ashe before I could blink. His body was a blur of velvet as he tried to snatch Ashe’s arms, but as soon as his hands were outstretched, I brought my sickle high and sliced it through one of his limbs.

The blade of my sickle broke straight through his bone without an issue, and his arm was disconnected at the elbow.

The vampire let out a sudden shriek of pain as his trajectory faltered, and his boots hit the floorboards before he stumbled aside with blood spewing from his arm.

Then Ashe whipped her leg around in a high kick to crack his jaw open.

My demon lover certainly didn’t hold back, and her strike dislocated the entire bottom half of the vampire’s mouth. He spun full circle while his bloody jaw dangled from his screaming face, and I sliced off his other arm on his way back around.

The vampire’s next scream was a gurgling hiss, and before he could collapse onto the desk behind him, the tip of Ashe’s sword pierced through his chest.

Both of us were laughing like the Dark King himself as I closed in, and I used the perilous tip of my sickle to draw an excruciatingly slow line down the center of his face. A thin river of blood oozed from the opening in his icy flesh, and the vampire twisted desperately to escape the torture, but he was only forcing our blades deeper.

His bleeding, stumpy arms pummeled our sides with all his strength, but we stayed rooted in place until I finished dragging my blade under his dangling chin, down his throat, and to his chest.

Then Ashe tore her sword out with a greedy snarl, and I knew what was coming next.

My beautiful fiend plunged her blade into the vampire’s stomach five times while he flailed in pain, and her pink eyes burned with delight as she finally used her final strike to wrench his innards from him. The stringy insides of the icy fucker poured from his gaping wound, and a lump of organs fell to the floor with a squishy splat.

The vampire’s eyes had already started to lose their glow, but I knew the man wouldn’t really be dead until we’d destroyed the brain.

I steadied my sickle on the crown of his shaking head while it lolled on his shoulders, lifted the weapon up slightly, and then brought it down into his skull. The bloody line down his face acted as a marker for me to follow, and once the sickle had arrived at the base of the vampire’s throat, I forced it further until it reached the slice that Ashe had made.

The leader’s body was gaping open from his head to his stomach when he finally collapsed into a pile along with his dismembered arms, blood, and guts.

“Damn, that’s it?” Ashe panted, and I turned to gawk at her undeniably pouty expression.

“How are you not satisfied with that?” I scoffed. “I let you stab him a ton of times, I split the fucker in half--”

“I forgot to use my orb!” she whined. “I was all caught up in the blood and the screams…”

“Look at those arm stumps!” I laughed. “He was fucking flailing with bloody stumps at the end. He was helpless and entirely locked in our torturous clutches! You know you loved every minute of this.”

“Yeah, but… ” Ashe shrugged. “I can’t help it. I already want to kill him again.”

I chuckled while my demon lover sent me a cheeky smile, and then I roughly caught her in my arms, threw her over my shoulder, and hauled her bloody and perfect ass out of the mansion of dead vampires.