Chapter One Hundred Sixteen

“Help, help!” I threw my fists at the window panically. In the building’s empty parking lot, there was no one to hear my distress-filled screams. I tried the door handle again, but it wouldn’t budge.

Benedict’s demons had me cornered. Nothing was off limits for them. The fact that Alistair was on the enemy’s side was a greater shock than finding Desmond’s truth. I believed Xolmon because he acted so normal. I should have known better. Why did I agree to meet him, knowing very well that demons could look and behave normally?

“Save the screaming for when we torture you, girl,” Hepzibah, the demoness, taunted. Her sharp claws gripped my shoulders, pulling me out of my seat. I struggled and shrieked. Even though it was pointless, I called Desmond’s name. The monster of my nightmares had caught me. Who would save me now? He was the only one I trusted after God.

As I was kicking my feet, everything became a blur. I could hear the demons snickering at me. It all faded slowly. I had passed out? Or was it just a bad dream?

Someone violently splashed water on my face.

“Wake up, princess!”

I slowly opened my eyes to find Xolmon standing with some young woman before me. They had me tied to a chair. My hands and feet were burning from the tight rope around them. I looked around to find an empty white room. What was that place? Were we in a mental institution?

“Why are you doing this to me?” I spoke as my mouth wasn’t gagged. “What did I ever do wrong to you or your masters? We are innocent.”

The woman smacked her lips. “Well, I wouldn’t call you innocent. An innocent woman doesn’t whore herself out to a demon.” Her mannerisms were identical to Hepzibah’s. It must be her human form.

Ignoring the demoness’s derogatory comments, I turned to Xolmon.

“Why did you lie to me?” I cried. “I thought you were my friend. Why are you hurting my family?” Xolmon remained silent. I could sense some guilt on his face. Was he helpless? “Why are you serving Satanists when you can be free? If they are holding you here against your will, Desmond can help you.”

His apologetic expression changed to a wicked one. “Who says I am doing this against my will? I may not have a reason to hate you, but your enemies provide me well. Power is everything, and you lack that.” He paused to laugh. “You have only one thing to offer. Don’t get me wrong. It’s tempting, but I am not as simpleminded and controlled by my carnal desires as your demon.” My blood boiled. He was just as bad as them. Demons like him gave their species a terrible reputation. “Aw. You can call me Satan himself, and it still won’t matter to me,” Xolmon mocked me. “I have better things to do. My job is tiring enough, and your phone less boyfriend made it harder for me. I will have to go there personally to inform him about your kidnapping. Do us a favor by teaching him something, but it’s too late for that, so never mind.”

“You’ll never get away with this!” I yelled. I had at least a thousand profanities prepared just for him. They must have read my mind because Hepzibah gagged me.

All I could do was glare at them as Alistair made a video of me. I wished him hell and death. Desmond would kill him on the spot after seeing what they had done to me.

“All done. Perfect shot to show your macho boyfriend.” Xolmon smirked at me. “Hepzibah, you know what to do until you know what.”

“Of course. I plan to have a little fun for myself.” Hepzibah stared at me with wicked intentions.

Xolmon disappeared, leaving me alone with the shadow demoness.

“Well, well. I like this.” She slowly advanced toward me like a predator. Her gait was scary, but what scared me the most was what would happen in Voocrod after the news of my kidnapping got out. “Really?” Hepzibah’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re not scared of me?” The definition of her body blurred until she was nothing but a shadow. I closed my eyes. She was still more terrifying than anything I had ever seen. Probably because she was full of mystery. Her appearance was pure darkness, and her actions were unpredictable. “Look at me.” Her razor-sharp nail poked my cheek. “We are old friends connected in more than one way. I am a frequent visitor in your dreams and have wanted you since I entered your room. Someone always took you away from me, but now no one is between us. I can do whatever I want to this porcelain skin of yours. I am an artist and use my claws to show my creativity.”

A painful, muffled scream exited my mouth when Hepzibah’s nail pierced my skin. I was pretty sure that those were my last moments. Someone pounded at the door, and she stopped.

Hepzibah giggled. “Looks like it’s your lucky day, girl. Master is here to see you.”

By Master, did she mean Benedict Astor or some other demon?

Out of curiosity, I daringly opened my eyes. The door opened slowly, and the person who emerged from there wasn’t even in my guesses. It was someone I didn’t expect to see at all.

“Greetings, Madame Astor,” said Hepzibah.

I watched Jane walk towards me with broadened eyes. Nothing about her spoke victim to me at that moment. She had a look of anger and hate for me.

“Remove the gag from her mouth,” Jane ordered the demoness.

“Pleasure.” Hepzibah removed it with a single nail. She was still in her eerie shadow form, but I couldn’t care less. Aunt Jane had come to show me her true face. Desmond was right about her all along.

“So this is what you are? A fraud? A wolf in a sheep’s disguise?” I started as soon as the gag came off. “Why do you hate us so much? What did my father ever do to you to deserve death?”

“Quiet!” Jane charged at me and slapped me across the face. “Your tongue is so sharp, exactly like your useless father.”

The slap was nothing to me. The pain of the truth and so much undeserved hatred were a thousand times more.

“You can inflict as much physical pain on me as you want, but you won’t silence my voice,” I yelled, quivering with emotion. “Your brother is gone. He was a loving, innocent man. Why are you still after us? What did me, my mother, and siblings do to you?”

“You think your father was an innocent man? You all are the victims, and I am the villain. No!” Jane violently shook my chair. There was madness in her eyes. “Just because I admitted to one crime doesn’t mean I was never a victim. I was still the girl whose parents never loved her because they preferred their son. I found a way out of that hellhole by running away with Benedict. With him, I found power, affection, and a place to belong.” Jane moved away from me and kicked the air. “Out of the kindness of my heart, I contacted John to let him know about the benefits of Satanism and witchcraft. And your little snitch of a father turned my entire family against me and came to fight my husband. That’s not even all because my parents tried to burn me alive after finding out about my practices.” Her face became cold and emotionless. “I tried to forgive them, but they kept on interfering in my life after years, so I had to kill my parents, eventually my brother, and now I wish to do the same to you all. Your mother wouldn’t leave me alone after John’s funeral, and I know how to keep a grudge.”

The cruelty and self-victimization sickened me. She was delusional and without a heart. She deserved death more than her husband.

“Kill her as soon as Xolmon returns. I am in no mood to forgive.” Jane ordered Hepzibah.

“No! I cried but was silenced by Hepzibah’s claw over my mouth. Jane left me there without mercy. Her wickedness scared me.

“Quiet.” Hepzibah put a gag over my mouth. “Don’t fight death, girl. I can kill you now with one claw, but I wish to make it fun for us. I have a torture device just for you. Wait here while I polish it for you.”

The demoness kicked my chair and exited the room, leaving me to cry in helplessness and despair. That wicked woman killed my father, and I was about to meet the same fate if Desmond didn’t come to rescue me.

I prayed to God for what felt like an eternity. I had begun to lose hope when I heard Desmond’s soothing voice. “Cass. What happened to you?”

Was I hallucinating? I moved my gaze around to find Desmond standing in the very corner of that room. Tears swam to my eyes. It was him. He had come to save me again when there was no chance of him knowing where I was.

My hero rushed to untie me. He touched my cheek where Hepzibah had poked a hole. “I will make them pay for this,” he said.

Someone violently threw open the door from the outside. “You have stepped into your grave, fool!” Hepzibah thundered, charging at him.

Desmond deflected her attack, and she hit the wall. She struggled to move as her entire body was glued to the wall.

“I could say the same about you,” Desmond retaliated.

“How did you find out where we were?” The demoness asked angrily.

“GPS tracker on Cass’s phone.” A corner of Desmond’s mouth lifted. “Who is far from technology now, bitch? Game over!”

I was utterly impressed. He had put a tracker on my phone without my knowledge. I would be dead if he hadn’t done that.

“Jane Astor is nearby,” I informed Desmond.

“I know. They will all get what they deserve now, Cass,” he assured me.

A blinding white light filled the room. Once it disappeared, we were all standing in Rothslor Manor’s great hall. Cloaked men were holding Hepzibah and Xolmon back on the left. On the right, Jane and Benedict were lying on the grand stairs, too weak to fight back.

“Cassidy!” Mom’s voice came from behind. I turned around to find her standing there in the flesh. We ran to each other and hugged tightly.

“Mom, what are you doing here?” I asked, kissing her cheek.

“I brought her here,” Desmond replied. “You wanted her to decide the Astor family’s fate. Mrs. Black, what do you want me to do to them?”

I placed a hand on Mom’s shoulder, but she pushed it away, bravely approaching the people who had ruined her happiness and murdered the love of her life.

“John was a virtuous man. He was better than you in so many ways. Your jealousy drove you to madness and ruined everything for you and everyone close to you. You’ll never find happiness and succeed in building a life for yourself,” Mom said to Jane.

Jane smiled weakly. “The joke’s on you because John will never return. I have already gotten what I wanted, slut.”

Mom’s body trembled with anger. I expected her to punch Jane right in the face, but she surprisingly pushed down her feelings and turned to Desmond. “I want death for them. Make them disappear from Earth and make it look like they died in a house fire.”

“Take them,” ordered Desmond. Two cloaked demons appeared at the stairs and began to drag them upstairs. Benedict screamed and begged for his life, whereas Jane remained silent. There was something seriously twisted with that woman’s brain.

Hepzibah and Xolmon were also taken away. We contently watched our enemies helplessly fall to their dooms.

“They will do as you say. Mrs. Black,” said Desmond.

Mom nodded nervously, putting an arm around me.

Ear-splitting, agonizing screams came from every direction of the manor. The noise was a lot, but it was for the good. It all came to a halt soon.

“It’s done. The war is over. We have won, and Jane and Benedict Astor are dead,” said Desmond.

Mom and I jumped in joy and hugged with overwhelming tears of happiness while Desmond watched us.

“Come here.” Mom signaled him to join us. Desmond came forward, and she squeezed him in our group hug. “Thank you. Thank you for everything you have done for our family. I was wrong to judge you. I will never repeat this mistake. You are part of our family now, and I wholly accept you as Cassidy’s partner.”

Mom joined my hand with Desmond's hand, encouraging us to show affection. I jumped on my demon, wrapping my legs around his waist, and kissed him.

He was my genuine hero, love, friend, and anything else I could ever wish for.