My eyes flashed. “I’m not answering your calls because you and I are no longer dating. We are not a thing. We aren’t even friends. What I do now is none of your concern.” I had to work to keep the growl out of my voice.
Yeah, I didn’t have sex with him. I didn’t have sex with anyone because it was never a conscious choice. I could pick any guy off the street and he would fuck me then and there if I wanted, thanks to dear old Mom. So, despite my nature, I didn’t fuck anyone. And this was what I got for it.
The boy actually had the nerve to take another step towards me. “This isn’t you, Ruby. I remember. I know you. You wouldn’t be with these”—he broke off, searching for a word that would suffice to describe the three stunning demons that were unlike anything this earth could produce. Even in his sub-conscious human mind, something registered that they were more than men—“people.” Someone snorted behind me, and I was pretty sure which one, given that only one of them had a sense of humor from what I could tell. The laughing stopped short when Josh said, “Come back to me.”
“Why on earth would you think I am ever coming back to you?” I scoffed. I probably would have laughed had the arm around my waist not tightened slightly as he let out the tiniest of growls. It was so low I almost didn’t hear it, but it was there. I looked up to see Julian.
My heart skipped a beat as I swallowed hard. My throat was dry and scratchy, but there was something so protective and feral about the way he looked at Josh that just made a girl wonder what a little taste of that might be like. To have a demon like Julian’s complete and utter attention…
Pure bliss? Or pure hell?
Somehow, I thought he might be a bit of both. They say pain is pleasure, if you know what you’re doing.
Damnit, Ruby. You need to focus. Now isn’t the time to be thinking like a sex-deprived maniac.
Josh cleared his throat, and I blinked. Shit. Did he say something? I glanced back at my stuffy ex with his posh ironed khakis.
“I made a mistake, Ruby. I’m sorry—”
“I gotta stop you right there. We both know you’re going to go home after this, screw Kendall, and then come back another day to ‘beg’ for my forgiveness. So, can we just skip all the unnecessary bullshit, and move on like adults? Because I’m really getting tired of her taking out her issues with you”—I pointed a finger at his weak chest—“on me.”
I had really hoped it would work this time. That being straight-forward would do the trick. Silly me, thinking that Josh could think with his brain and not his dick. He didn’t consider the words for more than four seconds before inserting his foot in in his mouth. Again.
“Ruby. Please. Let’s just talk this out. I miss you,” he whined. Damnit. Not the whining.
My patience was already running thin and he just stomped on the last layer that was positioned between him and the brutally frigid truth that came pouring from my lips.
“Go home and lay in the fucking bed you made. You cheated on me. I’m not coming back to you, and this is your last warning. Move on.” The pissed off look in his eye would have been funny, but I knew he’d forget about it soon enough. Then he’d be right back here on my doorstep, begging for something he’ll never have.
“I think it’s in your best interest that you leave now, while you still can.” The menace in this voice sent chills down my spine. I turned to the figure that came strolling up my driveway.
Holy. Hell. His hair was so dark, it looked black…but when the light from the streetlamps hit it, I saw flashes of pure, undiluted red. He was the tallest of the four, with fierce black eyes and a savageness about him that told people he was not one to be fucked with.
Josh took a single look at him and I thought he was going to piss himself. While they still scared the shit out of me, I’d shot one and they still haven’t killed me. That’s a pretty good reason to think they won’t. Josh didn’t have that courtesy, and if he continued to stay here running his mouth about our lack of a sex life, I might decide to say ‘fuck it’ and let Bandit at him.
“Don’t make me call the police, Josh,” I said, knowing it wouldn’t get that far. He was an idiot and a cheater, but he didn’t want trouble with the law.
After one particularly snobbish look around, he got in his car and drove off.
I couldn’t contain the sigh of relief as his tires squealed around the corner of my street, but that relief was short-lived. Only then did I realize Julian’s arm was still around my waist. I was becoming increasingly aware that I may have just traded one bad situation for another.
They haven’t killed you yet, I reminded myself. May as well get it over with. I stepped away from Julian, putting space between me and the four demons that sucked the air from my lungs.
“So, is this where you finally tell me who you are and why you’re following me?” They didn’t look at each other, but each of their faces was set in grim determination.
“I am Pestilence,” Rysten said.
No…
“I am Famine,” Allistair followed.
Devil save me.
“I am Death,” Julian continued in a cool tone.
It should have clicked with me sooner.
“My name is Laran, and I am War,” the fourth and final one said.
They didn’t continue because they didn’t need to. I knew who they were. Every demon in both worlds knew who they were.
“You’re the Four Horsemen,” I whispered.
Chapter 6
I was having a hard time wrapping my head around the identity of the strangers sitting in my living room. Even with a hot cup of tea and ten minutes to digest, there were some things that life simply can’t prepare you for. The Horsemen were one of those things.
They were four of the most powerful arch demons ever created, only usurped by one power and one power alone: the devil himself. Which begged the question: why were all four of his personal guard stalking me and not back in Hell where they belonged?
“So…” I started in a slow, weary voice, “did I do something? This isn’t about Kendall’s car, right? I mean, I feel like you would have mentioned it by now, but—”
“This isn’t about the car,” Allistair said. He watched me like a cat did a mouse. The feeling was unnerving, but it also made my stomach clench in all the ways that were not helpful right now. With his ankle propped on his knee and hand stretched over the back of the couch, I couldn’t tell if the small space he’d left between himself and Rysten was an invitation or pure coincidence. I averted my eyes to look away, but found myself staring at Julian instead.
“We need you to come back to Hell with us,” Julian said.
“Wait, what? No! Why?” I asked, skimming the others. He was kidding, right? He had to be joking. A half-breed like me wouldn’t survive in Hell. I’d be turned into some other stronger demon’s plaything, and that’s if I was lucky. My eyes landed on Rysten as I began shaking my head no. “Why?” I repeated, when no one gave me an answer.
“Because you’re Lucifer’s daughter,” Laran said. Rysten cringed, but didn’t deny it.
Allistair rolled his eyes. “Way to go, War. Why not just drop it on her even though we agreed—” I burst out laughing.
I laughed—no, I roared—so hard I was tearing up in the corners of my eyes. They thought—what? They thought I was Lucifer’s daughter? Oh, this was rich! Beyond rich. I laughed while they stared at me in stunned silence. Oh-ho-ho, they were here because they thought I was important! They didn’t kill me because they thought I was the devil’s daughter. Well, the joke’s on them! I’m just a half-breed succubus with an affinity for picking up trouble.
“Ruby…” Rysten trailed off. “Why are you laughing?”
“You think”— I cracked up again—“you think I’m the devil’s daughter.”
“You are,” he frowned.
“No, Rysten. I’m half-human,” I said kindly. I don’t know who told the Horsemen I was the King of Hell’s daughter, but whoever it was better be running. I doubted they would be pleased when they found out the truth.