Made in Hell 2 Chapter 2

The early morning sun filled the room as it pulled me from my sleep. The same adrenaline from last night continued to pulse through my body, and the images of the dead vampires constantly ran through my mind. It angered me that they had tried to steal the orbs, and kill the imps, but the excitement of slaying the bloodsuckers overpowered the sense of anger.

Ashe let out a soft moan as she stretched her body underneath the silk covers, and then her pink eyes fluttered open.

“Good morning.” I smiled.

“Good morning,” she replied.

Ashe curled up beside me and placed one arm over my bare stomach. Her fingers danced up and down my chest and then ran over the faint scar that had formed on my abdomen.

The night when we’d faced a trio of pissed off gorgons in the Shadow Quarters, one of the snaky sisters had struck me with the same onyx blade I carried now. The blade was infused with some kind of magic I still couldn’t identify, and from the moment the onyx struck me, my skin began to burn and bloom with angry veins.

Now, the gash on my abdomen had faded to a faint silverish-white, and the veins that sprawled from the angry ridge in the center reminded me of the lightning that often sparked from my fingertips.

Apart from this, I’d only gained one new scar since arriving in the Port of Rengfri. Eight large divots encircled my upper arm where the Dark king’s shackle used to be, and Ashe wore the same mark on her left arm as well.

“What are we going to do about the vampires from last night?” Ashe murmured as her fingertips continued to trace the outline of my scar.

“I don’t know yet,” I replied. “We can’t ignore it, so we’re going to have to do something.”

“Exactly, there are more vampires in that coven than only the four we killed, and they might want to try again,” Ashe said with a light sigh.

“Do we know how many there are?” I queried.

“I’m not sure,” she responded.

Every band of creatures in Rengfri had a leader, regardless of how weak or powerful they were. I would have known if one of the vampires last night was the leader, which meant he was still out there somewhere, along with more of his group. There could have been hundreds of them hidden in the trees for all we knew, but there was only one way of finding out.

“I think we should track down their headquarters,” I decided. “We could sniff out exactly what is going on, and who we’re dealing with.”

“We saw one vampire head into the denser trees of the Grimmway before, so it shouldn’t be too hard to work out where they lie,” Ashe agreed. “Shall we do it now?”

“I think that’s the best plan.” I nodded. “They won’t rise from their coffins until dark, so it’s easiest for everyone if we get it done now.”

With that decided, we both left the bed and began to get dressed. The elves had left an assortment of fine velvet jackets in the house, and I chose a red one from the wardrobe and found a white shirt that wasn’t covered in vampire blood.

Ashe, however, didn’t have the same option. Her favorite gray dress, which she’d worn yesterday, was splattered with blood, and the silk had torn down the sides during her fight with the vampires.

“Fuck, hopefully the shop still sells this design, becasue I’m going to have to buy some more now,” Ashe groaned as she did her best to slip on the dress without causing more damage to it.

“We can stop by the shop after we’ve finished in the forest,” I suggested.

“Could I buy a handful this time to save us having to return every few days?” Ashe asked with a hopeful smile.

I smirked and came over to pull her into my arms, and I let my palms slip up under her dress to settle on her perfectly toned ass.

“You know how many pieces I’ve got in this place?” I asked.

“Tens of thousands,” Ashe laughed lightly.

“That’s right,” I replied. “So, I want you to take as many of them as you want from now on, and buy as many dresses as you like.”

“Really?” Ashe’s plump lips curled into a greedy grin.

“Of course,” I chuckled. “If there’s anything you’re allowed to indulge in, it’s sexy outfits for me to tear off you.”

Ashe let out a soft purring sound as she tipped her lips up for me to kiss, and after biting at her tongue for a few minutes, I finally released my hold on her ass. Then I gave her a light spank and nodded my head toward the door, and the little fiend sauntered off in her bloody, tattered dress.

We both left the bedroom and headed downstairs toward the kitchen. A small supply of food had been left on the counter, which included some apples, the end of a loaf of bread, and a small chunk of cheese. It looked as though we needed to find some more food as well as more dresses, and I made a mental note to speak to Gyor as my teeth worked through the solid bread. I knew he’d be happy to restock our supplies if I gave him enough pieces for it, but for now, we could stop by at a stall and refuel our energy that way.

There was always something new and savory to try in these parts.

Ashe brought her apple with her as we left the house and locked the main door behind us. I slipped the key into my pant’s pocket and quickly double checked we had enough pieces at hand to buy everything on the list. Ashe had a small, velvet money bag attached to her belt, too, and I noticed the little fiend had packed it nearly to bursting now that I’d given her permission.

We passed the wagons and shack where the imps lived on our way through the gnarled trees, and when I peeked through the small windows, I noticed all the imps were still sleeping peacefully. It had been a rough night for them, but it looked as though work was going to continue on as normal, even though one of them had died last night. They usually left early in the morning to mine more of the orbs, but as long as they left before midday, I knew they’d still manage to get their tasks completed.

My imps were some hardy workers, especially now that they were paid for their efforts.

“I’d never seen a group react so badly to a death before,” Ashe whispered as we continued walking.

“I guess they’re a closer family than we first realized.” I shrugged.

“You’d think they were used to this by the way the elves treated them,” she continued.

“Well, according to the tabaxi, the dark elves recently brought in this new group of imps, but maybe the others weren’t killed off one by one?” I suggested. “This could have been the first time this group properly witnessed a death of their own.”

I’d always be thankful for the feline humanoid, especially for all the information he was able to give us when it came to the dark elves and the organization they ran.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Ashe nodded. “It’s difficult to really know.”

We stepped free from the trees and found ourselves on one of the small lanes. An endless string of magical lights ran along the tops of all the buildings and through the treetops as far as I could see, and the bulbs continued to shine, even when the sun produced enough light for us all to see by. The Grimmway was already bustling with life, and wavering music had started to play, a banshee had set up a roaring fire, and a green-eyed witch was boiling something in a large, circular, black cauldron.

The witch snickered quietly to herself while red steam billowed from her brew, and a harsh scent wafted over toward me. It made my eyes sting slightly, and I couldn’t help but wonder what the witch was boiling up today. Perhaps she was concocting a new potion, or a tonic she’d give to some poor, unsuspecting mortal. She never took her eyes off the cauldron as she cackled a few times, so we slipped past without her noticing our presence, and before she could test out her creation on us.

Then we meandered through every alleyway and lane that took us to the center of the Grimmway, and before too long, the fiery beacons that marked the entrance were seen in the near distance. When I’d first witnessed the vampire heading into this grove, he’d entered near the marketplace and continued deep into the Grimmway from there. I had no way of knowing just how deep he’d headed, but I knew we could pick up the familiar scent and use that as our guide.

“He went through there,” Ashe said as she pointed toward two stone houses, and trees clustered all around behind the buildings.

“He did, and the tabaxi mentioned that the vampires were in the deeper part of the Grimmway,” I replied. “So, I’d say this is the best lead to follow.”

I remembered the vampire we tracked had slipped past the buildings that night, but then he had travelled out of sight pretty quickly. I hoped he didn’t have any blue orbs on him at the time, or if they still had them in their possession now, otherwise there would’ve been no way of tracking them down. Tracking a vampire’s scent was one thing, but if they magicked themselves into thin air, then they could have gone anywhere, and even our powerful sense of smell wouldn’t be enough to follow their trails.

The two houses were so close together, it was almost a struggle for me to slip past. I kept my back up straight against one building, and the other brushed across my stomach the further I moved along. There had to have been another entrance to these trees, but because it was our first time tracking the fuckers, it was best for us to follow them step by step. Once we had a better knowledge of their location, we could look for an easier approach.

Fortunately, the buildings weren’t too deep, and once we had made our way through the tight space, the trees opened out into the northside of the Grimmway forest. The ground was covered completely in dry, crunchy leaves, and a few abandoned branches were littered around. Sun broke through the thick canopy above, and streams of light fell all around us. A small selection of birds had made themselves comfortable in the arms of the trees, but apart from this, we were alone in this quieter corner of the Grimmway.

Ashe and I broke off into two directions and sniffed the air to try and get a decent lead. At first, I could only make out the damp bark that coated the trees, but then I caught onto something as I walked slightly deeper into the woods. It was faint, and I couldn’t tell which direction it came from yet, but it was definitely the icy, carnal scent of a vampire.

Many vampires, in fact.

“Ashe,” I called quietly so as to not bring too much attention to us.

My demon lover stopped what she was doing and turned on her toes to face me. I gestured her over with one hand and then watched as she skipped through the dying leaves. The wooden debris flew up into the air as Ashe’s boots kicked them away.

“I think I’ve found something,” I said once she’d joined me.

Ashe lifted her chin into the air and sniffed around us just like I had done. Her eyes lit up, and a smile formed as she took it all in.

“That definitely smells familiar,” she agreed.

“Let’s go, then,” I replied.

I didn’t know how long we were walking for, but it was definitely a while. The sun was now higher, but the scent became much more pungent the further we went. Every so often, I would turn and peer behind me in order to add to the map I had created in my head. It looked as though the forest went on for miles and miles in this area, and it would have been easy to get lost in a place like this. The great wall could be seen in the distance, so at least I knew we were still in the safe zone, and I was pleased to know this coven in particular was nowhere near our own manor house.

I’d started to think we’d never find any headquarters, but then I spotted something far off in the distance. It looked like a manor, and almost similar to the one Ashe and I lived in, and the ripe scent we’d been trailing for a while now led directly to it.

Vampires were secretive creatures, and they liked to stay as far away from others as possible, so this manor in the backs of the forest would be the perfect place for them to reside.

The closer we got, the more details I could work out about the place. The building, which looked to be at least three stories, was made from gray stone, and it had black, wooden detailing around the windows and the main door. The windows were dirty and cracked, but the scent of evil and rust was so strong, that I was certain this was the place we were looking for. There were no trees directly around the building, and it looked as though some of the soil had been overturned, almost like the vampires had buried something underneath. I had once joked that their coffins were hidden underground, but now I wasn’t sure if that was actually the case.

Regardless of where their coffins resided, vampires were known to have heightened senses, and even though the vampires wouldn’t wake up for several more hours they could still possibly hear us creeping around. So, we trod as carefully as possible and as we crossed into their grounds, and then we crept around the side of the large, gray house.

We peered through every grimy window we came across, and there were no lanterns lit, but our eyesight was strong enough to get an idea of what was inside. The first room we came across appeared to be some sort of office with a grand, wooden desk, and a wall made entirely out of shelving. There were rows upon rows of books, as well as a few other items, but I couldn’t work out what they were.

The second room, toward the back of the house, had a large table in the center of it, and twelve chairs had been placed neatly around it. The base of the chairs were wooden, but the backs were made from what looked like green velvet, or another expensive material that had a distinct sheen to it.

“There’s twelve chairs,” I whispered to Ashe. “If that’s one for each of them, then we have another eight vampires to deal with.”

“Either that, or they take turns doing… whatever the fuck they do in this house,” Ashe responded.

“Leeching the blood out of their recent victims?” I guessed.

“Working out what to steal from us next?” the huntress replied in a low growl.

“Or, maybe they use this room to hold their meetings?” I suggested.

Ashe thought for a second. A faraway look coated her eyes. “Well, if that’s the case, then surely they’d want to all be at the meeting at the same time. There’s room for more chairs around that table, so my guess is there are twelve vampires in this coven. Plain and simple.”

“At least there isn’t another coven of them in the Grimmway,” I added.

The paperwork we had in my office kept track of exactly who bought the orbs and when, which helped us to realize the recent vampire orders were all from the same coven. There are plenty of vampires all over the surface world, but I wouldn’t have thought that two covens lived so close together. So we just needed to make sure this house belonged to the ones we sold the orbs to.

“Do you think that’s the leader’s chair?” Ashe asked a couple minutes later.

At the far end of the table was a chair with the same detailing as the others, but this was slightly larger and taller. I hadn’t noticed the size of the seat until Ashe had pointed it out.

“I’d expect so, yeah.” I nodded.

“Then I wonder if the leader is still in this house, or if he was there last night?” she queried.

“I was thinking about the same thing this morning,” I muttered. “I don’t think the leader would show themself like that, especially if it’s a simple robbery of some orbs.”

“Which means we’ll have a pissed leader after us when they find out what happened,” Ashe mumbled with a concerned look on her face.

It was slightly concerning, and we’d dealt with enough leaders in the past to know this, but as long as we were prepared, then I was certain we’d be able to handle whatever bullshit came up over all this. It was actually quite exciting. The carnage of last night still played on my mind in a very satisfying way, and my veins bubbled with pleasure just at the thought of repeating it all over again.

“I’d love to slaughter more of these bloodsuckers.” I grinned. “But only if they have the balls to take us on.”

“I kind of hope they do,” Ashe sighed.

The two of us exchanged devious grins, and then we turned away to creep back through the groves of the Grimmway.

The walk back into the village didn’t feel as long as the walk to the vampire’s headquarters, and the lanes and footpaths were alive with creatures, sounds, and various delicious smells that all came from the marketplace. An orc had some skewered hunks of meat roasting over an open flame, a male elf was wrapping up some bread in thin pieces of paper, and a goblin was setting up a selection of colorful bottles over the front of his stall.

“Shall we go and buy you some dresses?” I asked Ashe.

“Ooh, please.” She clutched my arm and smiled up at me. “But only if you don’t want to get food first?”

“Your dresses are more important, but only in public,” I said with a wicked wink, and I squeezed her firm buttcheek with one hand.

“You mean, you don’t want others to witness my beauty?” Ashe asked coyly.

I pulled my sinful huntress toward me and held her chin to keep her there.

“They can drool, but you are mine, and only I get to devour you. I plan on doing so very shortly.”

Ashe attacked my mouth with a heated kiss that left me painfully aroused, but as much as I wanted to, I didn’t allow myself to take her against a stone wall. One quick rendezvous wouldn’t even begin to satisfy my needs right now, and the way my demon lover moaned for me would probably draw the attention of every being within five streets of us.

We both pulled away reluctantly and then headed toward her favorite dress shop before I could change my mind. The shop was made from black wood, and it had green moss and tiny flowers from the ground up to the roof. I could already smell the intense scent that overpowered the shop, but I still hadn’t worked out what caused it. A few candles were set up by the windows, but it wasn’t that, nor was it the pretty elf who owned the shop. The scent was strong and harsh, yet floral, and it was unlike anything I ever would have come across in the Hellscape.

I was sure I’d work it out one day.

“Hello again,” the little elf welcomed up as we walked in. Her hair was long and light orange, and, like always, she had on a colorful outfit that consisted of a blue top with long, flowing sleeves, and a bright green dress made from real leaves.

“Hi.” Ashe smiled. “I’m after some more dresses. These ones didn’t last very long…”

A shocked look crossed the elf’s face, but she was somewhat used to us by now, so she really should’ve known Ashe always went through dresses quicker than most.

I left the two women to search the various options and glanced out of the windows as I waited. I watched another banshee, a different one from earlier, skip past the shop in the direction of an old, red wagon. The banshee had on a black dress that swept across the dusty ground, and her pitch black hair flew in the wind. When the banshee arrived at the wagon, she leaped up the two steps that led to the main door and knocked her knuckles off the wood. The door opened a few seconds later, but from the angle I stood in, I couldn’t see who owned the wagon.

“Atticus, what do you think?” Ashe asked once the banshee had stepped into the wagon.

I turned around, and my demon lover had what looked like ten dresses piled over one arm. I noticed the same shade of gray her current dress was made from, which made me think she’d managed to find the same one, but the other dresses were a mixture of red, blue, black, and even gold.

“You’ve been busy.” I smirked.

“But is this too many?” she wondered aloud. “I don’t--”

“What did I tell you?” I interrupted.

Ashe smiled coyly. “That I could buy as many as I want.”

“Is that as many as you want?” I asked, and the little fiend blushed under my gaze.

“Yes, my lord,” she purred. “But you have to promise you won’t rip every one of them to shreds by the end of the night.”

I spotted the light blush that bloomed on the elf’s cheeks. She seemed to be trying her best to ignore our conversation, but that was difficult in such a small shop.

“I cannot promise that,” I retorted playfully. “But you’re going to buy them anyway.”

Ashe bit her lip and smiled, and I could smell the arousal wafting from her already as she turned to hand over her selection to the pretty elf. The elf looked over each dress one by one and wrote something down on a piece of paper on the desk beside her.

“We don’t have these in your size, miss, but I could have them made up in two or three days, if that’s okay?” the elf asked.

“Sure,” Ashe agreed happily. “We’ll come back in two days, then?”

“Yes, I’ll have them ready.” The elf smiled at the paper she was working on.

“And shall I pay now, or when I collect them?” Ashe questioned.

“You can pay for them then,” the elf replied. “It’ll be two-hundred pieces.”

Ashe then turned to look at me and looped her arm through mine. “Do you think we can make this dress last for three more days?”

“Oh, I don’t know, it’ll be a challenge,” I murmured against her silver-blue hair.

“A challenge I’m willing to take on,” Ashe replied.

The blush deepened to a bright red on the elf’s cheeks, and an awkward smile joined it. She gave us both a small wave as we left the shop, and Ashe was snickering when we closed the door behind it.

The little fiend loved scandalizing the innocents who couldn’t look us in the eyes, and I loved helping her have her fun.

“So, food?” I suggested.

Ashe didn’t need to reply verbally. The dreamy look in her eyes was enough to tell me exactly how she felt. We’d barely eaten anything this morning, and the fight from last night had used up all of our energy. In these human forms, it was twice as important that we refuel constantly, especially since our kind tended to gather violent enemies easily.

This notion brought to mind something that Bennet had said yesterday.

“Bennet really did seem panicked over the incubi last night,” I muttered as we headed toward the marketplace.

“Of course he did, he’s a mere mortal.” Ashe flicked her hand through the air. “But think about the Blessed. We handled them just fine.”

“Easily,” I agreed as we approached an orcs stall, and I motioned for him to give us four legs of meat. “I’m pretty sure we slaughtered that band before they had time to warn the angels, too. We would have had more trouble from them by now otherwise.”

“You aren’t really worried about the incubi, are you?” Ashe cocked an eyebrow at me.

“Worried is a stretch,” I snorted, and I paid the orc before we grabbed our food and strolled off. “I’d rather not complicate shit for us here, though. Bennet said that the incubi and the vampires are pretty tightly knit, and I wouldn’t put it past their kind to make a huge scene over something this trivial.”

“Those fuckers are always so petty,” Ashe laughed. “But they probably won’t even know it was us that killed the vampires. The vampires thought they were robbing the dark elves.”

“That’s true,” I chuckled.

The two of us smirked at one another as we sat down on a stone bench to devour our meal, and I glanced at the strange beings who strolled all over the bizarre market.

Some residents of the Grimmway were still slightly wary of our arrival, and the ones who were often kept away whenever we were nearby, but at least they allowed us to sit among them without being bothered. I could never really tell which ones knew we were demons or not, but it didn’t much matter. We were as “undesirable” as they were in a place like Rengfri, so we got by just fine around here.

There were plenty of beings who didn’t seem to give two shits about our stark and glowing eyes, and others who we’d fallen in with naturally. The tinsel fairies were always sending us deliriously big smiles whenever they flew past, and quite a few orcs seemed to appreciate my appetite whenever I came around their stalls.

I’d just taken two bites of my first leg when I heard a pair of familiar and sultry giggles drifting closer, and I already knew who was strolling up before I glanced over my shoulder.

I glanced anyway just to enjoy the view, though, and I found two identical black fairies with light brown skin, dark hair, and large gray eyes leaning over the bench at my back.

“Hello,” I greeted the black fairy twins with a smile.

“Ahh, it’s you again,” Ashe added with a seductive look on her face.

We had formed an interesting relationship with these twins, and they always had one thing on their minds.

“We’ve missed you,” one twin said. She stretched out her arm and stroked the back of her hand over my cheek.

“Well, you somehow knew exactly where we were,” I replied with a pointed look.

“We may have been following you.” The second twin shrugged, and her black wings shook with eagerness behind her. “Again.”

“We can’t help it,” the other chuckled. “You’re so nice to look at.”

“And did you witness anything interesting today?” I asked.

“Hmm…” the second twin thought for a second. “We heard you mention something about vampires and incubi.”

“Of course, you did,” Ashe sighed. “Nothing is ever fully hidden from you lot.”

“Yeah, we just thought we should warn you,” the other twin cut in. “If the incubi come across those bodies, they’ll know a demon was responsible. All those pretty little scratches…”

“They were lovely,” Ashe snickered without remorse, and I joined in her amusement.

The signs of blistering venom would make the skin of the vampires foam over the next few days, but as I considered this, I noticed the black fairies weren’t smiling for once.

“It’s not so funny,” the first twin said. “You need to be careful with how you dispose of bodies. Unless you can prove otherwise, we all know you two are the only demons around here.”

Ashe rolled her eyes, and one of the fairies pursed her lips in disapproval.

“Okay, I suppose you make a good point,” I allowed. “But you’re implying that it would be a bad thing that the incubi know the vampires are dealing with demons.”

“Yes, it would,” the second twin insisted with a stern expression. “We… we wouldn’t want you two to end up in a bad way over this.”

“I wouldn’t worry yourselves about it.” I smirked. “If anything, it would make the incubi steer clear of us. Because they all know what we’re capable of doing.”

“Fine,” one twin said in a tense tone, and I raised my eyebrows as she huffily crossed her arms. “But don’t come running to us when you need our help hiding from them.”

Ashe and I exchanged a glance as the sexy fairy twins turned on their heels in a synchronized motion. Then they strutted off into the crowd, and while their gauzy wings fluttered in irritation, the movement caused their skimpy outfits to shift ever so slightly. It revealed the under curve of their asses to me, and I found my eyes drawn to that small glimpse of supple skin.

From the corner of my eye I saw that Ashe was staring just like I was. Her head was cocked slightly to one side, like she could get a better look from that angle. Her teeth pulled at her bottom lip, and a dark glisten sparked in her pink eyes.

I could smell how the sight of the black fairies’ bare asses caused Ashe to react, and it had a snowball effect onto me.

I cleared my throat gently, and it was enough to break Ashe from the trance she’d found herself in. A harsh blush covered her cheeks.

“Guess you’re not the only one around here who doesn’t care for undergarments,” I said out of the corner of my mouth.

Ashe couldn’t reign in her wicked grin, but then she took a casual bite of her meat.

“Don’t you have a pretty Red Witch to visit?” she reminded me.

“Oh, shit, yeah,” I muttered. “I’ll meet you back at the manor?”

“I’ll see you there.” Ashe nodded. “Tell her I said hi.”

“Oh, I will,” I promised.

I gave Ashe a long, lingering kiss that summed up how we both felt at the moment, but we pulled away before the need to work out our arousal became too much to bear.

Like Ashe had said, I had a pretty Red Witch to visit.