The Devil's Due (The Earthwalker Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  I hissed at the sight of him, rage boiling up inside me. “Aidan!”

  The demon smiled and took a careful step to address me slowly, though it lacked the usual cloying insincerity that often tainted his comments. “I missed you too, pet. Our last encounter was most unfortunate. Luckily for you, my sister was there to intervene.”

  “I should rip your throat out!” I spat at him, crushing the spray bottle in my hand. “How can you be so arrogant after what you did to me?”

  “Because I’m stronger than you and you know it. It’s not arrogance if it’s truth,” he responded, laughing in a way that was both horrible and beautiful at the same time. “You couldn’t take me on if you wanted to. I taught you everything you know.”

  I eyed him with disdain, refusing to take the bait. “I don’t have to listen to you anymore. You and I are done. Stay away from me! Do you understand? Stay away!”

  Aidan smirked behind his chiseled jawline and said, “You should be preparing for your next task instead of wasting your venom on me. One day soon you must battle. Do you really think you’re ready for that?”

  I took a step towards him, balling my hand into a fist, and stumbled when my senses overtook me and I was whisked away in another vision. The sensation was becoming familiar and recognizable to me now, but I still had no way to control them. A pull from behind my eyelids brought me to the sight fate had in store, and I viewed the scene in front of me.

  It was a yellow room with an expansive balcony opening out above a city. All the furniture was black and modern, the arrangement itself a tasteful statement. I stepped forward, peering through the glass doors of the balcony to see the Eiffel tower in the distance.

  Paris. Why am I in France?

  As if in response to my unanswered question, the door flung open and my mother came storming in from outside — Aidan was right behind her. My gorgeous mother, who was still locked in her endless slumber at the hospital in Mobile. She looked so young and full of life, but a lot had happened since then. It was odd seeing her walk about, when I knew she was asleep, but for time being we both existed in this parallel reality.

  In the vision, she wore an expensive dress that cascaded down her body in an attractive manner and hugged her feminine curves. Her raven black hair hung down in loose waves across her back, and she was flushed after returning from a party.

  “You’re going back to the States?” Aidan demanded angrily. “I thought you were settling in quite nicely here.”

  “Of course I’m going back! That’s the point of all of this, to show them how they were wrong about me.”

  “I can’t believe after everything, you’re still pining after him.”

  She harrumphed in his direction and started taking pins out of her hair. “Will loves me. When I’m done with Cordon Bleu, they’ll have to accept me as good enough for him. Then he and I can finally get married.”

  Aidan smirked and crossed his arms against his chest. “Do you think you’ll be happy cutting yourself down to fit into the small-minded hole his family wants you to be? Drinking sweet tea in pastel dresses and gossiping about the locals? That isn’t you, Michele.”

  “What do you know about it?” she told him angrily.

  “You think he ‘loves’ you?” Aidan asked her in disbelief. There was something different in the way he looked at her, a side of him I‘d never seen before, that showed genuine affection. “Will doesn’t know the first thing about the Whelan family or the truth about you. How can you expect him to love you when you haven’t shown him who you really are?”

  Mom pursed her lips as her green eyes narrowed, and fumbled with the back of her dress, trying to find the zipper. Aidan watched her move with a primal hunger in his gaze, then came up behind her to place his hand against the small of her back. She made no effort to move away from him; their contact was unsettlingly familiar. He lifted the drape of her raven hair and kissed along the nape of her neck. “Will doesn’t see you the way I do,” he breathed against her neck, unzipping the back of her dress. “You’re fierce and beautiful. That kind of tenacity should be celebrated instead of hidden away for no one to see. I admire your strength and ambition, your … resourcefulness. I worship you,” he told her, “and if you came back with me, you would be my queen. Forget the mortal and move on to better things. He’ll never be able to treat you the way I do … or love you the way I can.”

  She and I both blushed, she turning to face him with her naked back exposed. “How many other women have fallen victim to your wiles?”

  Aidan rolled his eyes, but his voice was calm and measured as before, “I’m several thousand years old, Michele. If you think in all that time I haven’t taken a lover from time to time, your view of me is painfully naïve. Though I will admit, it was never quite like this. This has been a singularly remarkable experience.”

  Mom blushed at his declaration and said, “How do I know this is real and you’re not just saying what I want to hear?” Her voice was soft, and cooing when she spoke as color flooded her lovely cheeks.

  Aidan used his pale, spidery fingers to tilt her chin so that she was facing him and looked her in the eyes. Gently, he brushed his thumb against her lips and leaned in to whisper against them as she let out an involuntary sigh, “You don’t.”

  She smiled nervously, unable to rip her eyes away from his beautiful, dangerous face before he claimed her with his mouth. I turned away, embarrassed, and saw that behind them, the door they’d come through was painted red.

  Then just as abruptly as the vision started, I was pulled away again and brought back into the gym. Seeing them together like that made me feel dirty — the way he put her on a pedestal like that, it wasn’t right. That was not the base for a healthy relationship. The way he gazed at her and spoke to her, Nadia was right, he’d been in love with her. Except, I didn’t really consider that to be “love” — more like obsession.

  I gritted my teeth together and sneered at him. “This was never about me, was it? You were never going to bring my mother back.”

  “Now why do you say that? I’m a man of my word. You still haven’t fulfilled your end of the bargain. I said you had to embrace your demonic powers, come back with me into the Demon Realm and stop fighting against yourself.”

  “Why do you keep saying it like that? I never agreed to serve you in the first place — I asked you train me, and you did. We didn’t shake on it, I didn’t sign any contract, my obligation to you is done.”

  His eyes were dark as thunder, and the tension in his jaw had not eased up the slightest. Aidan scowled at me from across the room, and a thought occurred to me.

  “I didn’t sign a contract, but my mother did,” I muttered softly. “Is that why you still haven’t woken her up from the coma? You’re trying to punish her for not doing what she said she would?”

  Suddenly, it all made sense. The reason she made that bargain with him to begin with was so that she could marry Dad — that was a horrifying discovery — but Aidan took too much pleasure in it for it to not be personal. When I saw that vision of the beach, he said he offered her his kingdom, but that that wasn’t good enough for her so now he wanted her to suffer. I remembered that conversation as clearly as if it were yesterday.

  “Are you going to help me or not?” she demanded angrily.

  “Oh, I can help you,” Aidan crooned. “But it’s going to cost you the same as anyone else.”

  Mom swallowed hard and she asked him, “What do you want?”

  He whirled on her in an instant, stopping only inches from her face and spat, “For you to suffer. I offered you my kingdom, my heart, but that wasn’t good enough for you. If you want me to help you be with him, and get the wife out of the picture, then you must give up the most precious part of him in exchange.”

  “How…?”

  “The child,” he insisted cruelly.

  I was that child.

  He demanded me as sacrifice for helping them get together, it was her punishment for breaking his
heart. She promised to Aidan, but I was still alive and fighting back, which meant her promise had not been filled.

  I smiled at him thinly as my confidence grew. “You fell in love with her back in Paris, didn’t you? And when she chose my father instead, your precious demon heart just couldn’t handle that kind of rejection. Then she didn’t follow through on her promise — you wanted to lash out at her one last time.”

  Aidan scoffed. “We had a deal. There are consequences for a breach of contract.”

  “Yeah? I bet you couldn’t wait to deliver them. Did you send one of your minions to collect her payment, or did that warrant a personal visit? When Nathan found her, she couldn’t have been there for more than fifteen minutes. It must really sting that after all this time you still don’t have what you came here for — I’m never going to serve you. Especially now.”

  “Why are so you interested in my past?” he sneered. “I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with me.”

  “I don’t, but you should know she was holding all the cards. You were her mistress, not the other way around. All she had to do is snap her fingers, and you’d come running — that’s pathetic. The big, bad Lord of Pride being reduced to a flimsy boy-toy.”

  “I warned you what would happen if you refused me, but you didn’t listen. What happened to Elyse is regrettable, but you brought it on yourself.”

  I roared with fury, releasing the glamor on myself as I went flying across the room towards him. Intense pressure erupted from my back as the pair of enormous, leathery wings ripped through the fabric confines of my shirt. My knuckles crashed in his leering face as I teleported across the room and sent the demon sprawling against the floor. I stood on guard to assess the damage as he pushed himself up from the ground, holding a hand against his cheek and said, “Okay, I deserved that. I let you get in one free shot, but you know I’m right.”

  I lunged at him again, blinded by my rage, and went straight for the diamond earring that twinkled from his earlobe. I wasn’t habituated to my demonic form, but it was stronger, and I wanted to make him suffer. My talons almost caught hold of the platinum setting as I tried to rip it from his head, but he swatted me away like he would a fly or particularly aggressive kitten. He easily stepped past with a hint of a smile on the ridiculously handsome face of his, and set his feet apart in a fighting stance.

  Changing tactics, I scowled at him, as I built up a pulse of energy inside my hands and waited for his counter attack. Instead of any lunge or windup, Aidan disappeared from where he stood and then materialized right beside me, swinging his leg to trip me by the ankle. I fell to the ground immediately and released the energy bubble I’d been harnessing. My supernatural efforts were already leaving me winded, but the glamourous, arrogant demon neatly and effortlessly deflected my efforts and performed an acrobatic flip off the wall.

  Even after all that, Aidan’s hair was perfect, his suit and vest immaculate. “You think I’m pathetic?” he told me acidly. “Look at you getting all confident because you caught a small glimpse into my past. Ah yes, don’t think I hadn’t figured out your little secret. You should have told me about it sooner, then I could have taught you how to use it properly. And here, you’ve already forgotten everything I taught you. That’s why you’ll never defeat me.”

  His assessment caught me off-guard for a moment as I realized the devious plotting that had fueled every interaction we ever had. I knew Aidan was clever, but he was clearly one step ahead of me, because he was right. I could never beat him using the same tricks he’d taught me to begin with, everything I knew was from my apprenticeship to him. He’d been laying groundwork for this to happen since before he set foot in my life. I should have assumed he had a plan B … and a plan C … and even a few more after that.

  I looked up from the ground where I had landed as he came towards me, my head swimming from working through his manipulations and trying to calculate his next move. My eyes grew wide for a moment, then his hand came down on top of me, and I went crashing to the earth. The world went black.

  ~ * ~

  “Wynn? Wynn, you’ve got to wake up!”

  I groaned as the feminine voice tried to rouse me from lying crumpled on the floor. Something about the sound of it made me feel safe again … complete. My head was killing me from when I fell, and I groaned out a response, “Ugh, what time is it?”

  “Nine-thirty,” the voice replied. “It’s okay, you’re safe now — Aidan’s gone.”

  My eyes snapped open at the mention of Aidan’s name, and I sat up in surprise. There was a delicate shimmering of light in my peripheral vision, and I turned at the flutter of angel wings. “Elyse!” I gasped in shock. “What are you doing here? How are you?”

  She sat quietly on the mat beside me, my raw emotions came bubbling to the surface. It was the same girl I’d grown up with, but she was different now. Her entire being resonated with love and a powerful, commanding presence, with new eyes that shone the miraculous, angelic blue. I always knew she was beautiful, but dressed in angelic robes and with her hair uncharacteristically bound back and twisted out of her way, she was breathtaking.

  “The Elders sent me to check on you when they heard Lucifer attacked. Strictly speaking, I’m not a Guardian, but they’ve allowed me special privileges since we’re related.”

  I had to brace myself against the desk to keep from falling over when she spoke — the room was spinning. Delirious from shock and disbelief, I cried and let my head fall back against the wooden desk. My fight with Aidan was all but forgotten and the gym was completely vacant. It was just the two of us. “Of course, you were,” I laughed out dryly. “Does that mean you know?”

  “That you’re a demon? Yes,” she answered calmly.

  Horrified and embarrassed at the thought of her finding out this … this horrible secret I’d been trying to keep from everyone, I told her, “Elyse, I’m so sorry! I tried everything I could to save you, I just wasn’t fast enough. I ruined everything!” My cheeks flushed with shame when she looked at me. I didn’t want her to see me differently.

  Elyse shook her head, searching me with renewed vigor in her blue, ethereal eyes. “Wynn, I died protecting you, and I’d do it again,” she told me earnestly.

  “You died because of me.”

  “No, I had the chance to come back. Didn’t Caleb tell you?”

  I whirled around and stared at her in shock. “Tell me what?”

  “I chose to stay.”

  Caleb knew? Oh, that scoundrel.

  I pulled away from her and wiped the tears from my eyes, reeling from the bombshell she had dropped on me. If Elyse had the opportunity to come back, then why didn't she? She had so much more to offer the world.

  “Wha — why on Earth would you do that?” I asked her in awestruck wonder. “You had everything to live for, you had a family and friends who love you — you were about to get married! Two months ago, you were planning a wedding and spending the rest of your lives together and now—”

  Elyse swallowed hard and nodded. “I know. Believe me, I know. I stayed because I was able to meet my mom,” she whispered in a solemn tone. “My real mom. I can help you fight back. Sathanus and Aidan crossed a line by bringing me into this,” she responded acidly. She was colder, her eyes flashed a more brilliant and icy blue behind her measured façade — a not-so-subtle reminder of what she’d become — that would take some getting used to.

  I breathed out in a daze, seeing her in a whole new light. Never again would I underestimate her. It had been wrong of me to do so in the past, and I would not be foolish enough to make that same mistake again.

  She cleared her throat and glanced down nervously. “How is Kevin? Is he holding up okay?”

  I barked a laugh and wiped some tears away on the edge of my sleeve. “No, he is most definitely not okay. I don't think he'll ever be okay again.”

  She nodded sadly. “I wish that I could tell him that I love him, just one last time. In the beginning, I stayed by h
is apartment, but my presence there only seemed to make things worse so I had to leave. He’s miserable.”

  “I think he still comes by the house sometimes to help with yardwork, but I’ve been out here since July so I don’t know.”

  “Could you check in on him for me? I’m worried about him. The last I heard from one of the other Messengers, things were not … good. It would mean the world to me knowing that someone on this side was looking out for him.”

  “Yeah, of course.”

  She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. “Thank you.”

  Her eyes went glossy for a moment, and I knew they were calling her. “Do you need to go?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Unfortunately, yes. You should talk to Caleb, though. He’s been trying to get in touch.”

  I reached down to check my phone and Elyse shimmered out of sight before I had the chance to ask her another question.

  There was a missed call from Caleb, and I swore to myself internally. Crap, I was going to meet him for dinner. I quickly grabbed my backpack from the side room and clocked out. My heart rate was rising steadily by the time I finished locking up and ran down the hall. It was eerily quiet, and I thought at one point something flickered down the hall. I paused momentarily then remembered Caleb was waiting for me.

  “I don’t have time for this,” I grumbled, opening the door to the outside. My fingers were trembling as I found his number in my contacts and started calling. It rang a few times before he picked up the other line. “Hey, I just tried calling to let you know I’m running late.”

  “Yes, I saw that,” I told him calmly. “There was an incident at work, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it.”

  “Oh?” he asked me a little deflated. “What’s going on?”

  I clutched feebly at the handrail, groaning as I made it up the steps around back, eager to see him after the long and tiring day. “I had another row with Aidan,” I told him honestly. “Then … Elyse stopped by.”