Page 49 of Demons & Damnation

With a dead Keith and a pub half full of customers with more expected shortly, Kyla couldn’t exactly drag his body out, chop it up, and dispose of it. She would have to make a call and ride it out, hoping and praying that whatever Azazel had done to kill him wouldn’t be pinned on her.

Azazel stuck around but made himself invisible, sitting on the countertop in the far corner of the kitchen, watching the drama unfold.

Kyla called the emergency services then cleared the pub out, asking people to leave in respect of Keith, which of course they did. By the time the paramedics arrived, only a few stragglers remained, hanging around on the street outside.

Kyla stayed in the kitchen, near Azazel, watching the two female paramedics work on Keith, trying to revive him. Her heart pounding and her body covered in a cold sweat, Kyla couldn’t help but gnaw on her nails as her anxiety bested her. The thought that they just might bring the old pervert back to life worried her beyond belief.

Ten minutes later, they called time. “I’m terribly sorry,” said the younger of the two ladies. “But he’s gone. Does he have any family?”

Kyla shook her head.

“Ok. We’ll call the coroner and sort things out. Are you ok? You look very pale.”

Kyla nodded. “I’m ok. Do I need to stay or can I go?”

“Let me take your details first and then you can go. Is there someone to lock this place up?”

“I can come back later and do it.”

The lady nodded before handing Kyla a small black notepad and a pen to write her details down on. Without a further word, Kyla ran out of there, her entire body shaking and her mind whirring with endless possibilities.

Azazel reappeared at her side as she stepped out of the back door. “Are you ok?”

“No,” Kyla replied. “I’m really not.”

Azazel grinned at her. “Is now the right time to say I told you so?”

Kyla turned and glared at him. “About what exactly?”

“I told you how you would feel about it, didn’t I?”

Rolling her eyes, Kyla fished the keys for Sam’s car out of her pocket and marched around to the car park at the front. “It’s not that,” she said, keeping her voice quiet. “It’s the hand marks around his neck I’m worried about. That they’ll come back and pin this on me somehow.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” Azazel said, giving her a mischievous smile. “His autopsy will find he died of a heart attack and that’s that. Case closed.”

Kyla stopped next to Sam’s car, scanning her eyes over Azazel. “Just like that?”

“Yep. Just like that. Trust me.”

Kyla snorted. “That’s a funny enough phrase coming from a human, let alone a demon.”

“We’re not all bad, you know. The media never portrays us nicely.”

“To the media, you’re fictional.”

He took a step closer to her, his eyes locked on hers. It was impossible to ignore the hitch in her breath and the instant spike in her heartrate as he invaded her personal space. Lowering his voice to a deep husk, he whispered, “Do I look fictional to you?”

Kyla pressed her lips together, her legs trembling, her heart racing like a herd of wild horses, and her mind running riot with the thought of kissing him again. She couldn’t help but think of what she knew he was hiding in his trousers and how amazing he would feel inside her.

“No,” Kyla breathed, unable to take her eyes from his. “Definitely not.”

Azazel took the last of the space between them. He reached out and settled a hand on her hip, teasing up the edge of her shirt and brushing her skin ever so softly with his thumb. “Did you like what you felt earlier?”

Kyla licked her lips, a piercing throb settling straight between her legs as she thought about that moment. “Yes,” she whispered.

Keeping his eyes on hers, Azazel took a second to poke around at her energy, feeling with his mental tendrils for weak spots in her mind, any softness where he might squeeze in and flood her consciousness with his thoughts.

As Kyla stared into his jade green eyes, mesmerised by the tiny gold flecks swirling around like gold dust, she found herself relaxing, a sense of warmth and happiness flowing through her.

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