Lucifer Damned (Morningstar Book 3) by Percival Constantine (list of ebook readers TXT) 📕

“So…you got that door open yet?” Andrew asked.

“Sorry, give me a sec,” said Haley. “This lock’s a little tricky, I keep telling the super to fix it, but he just says he’ll get to it soon.”

The man was coming closer to them. And now he looked up, making eye contact with Andrew. It could have been a trick of the light, but something seemed strange with his eyes. There was almost a kind of flash Andrew could have sworn he saw, as if the eyes had glowed for just a moment.

The man broke contact and continued on. Andrew let out the breath he’d been clutching and turned back to Haley. It was just paranoia, nothing more. He had to get himself together, didn’t want Haley to think he was some pussy who’d flinch at the first sign of a stranger.

“Hey.”

Andrew’s body stiffened when he heard the sound. He turned around and saw that same man walking towards him. The guy came closer, almost towering over him. Andrew swallowed hard and reached for the pocket that held his wallet, willing to just hand it over quickly.

The guy’s hands were in his pockets. Slowly, he pulled one of them out. Andrew started to shrink down, fearing that it might be a knife or maybe even a gun. But what the man pulled out instead was just a pack of cigarettes.

“You got a light?” he asked. “Think I dropped mine.”

“Oh!” said Andrew, both surprised and relieved. “Sorry, I…uh…I don’t smoke.”

“Prob’ly a good idea, bad habit,” said the man. “Anyway, you have a pleasant evening.”

“You t—”

Andrew’s response and his relief were both cut short when—much to his horror—Haley turned and pounced on the man with a noise that could not have been human. Instantly, her fingers were tipped with razor-sharp claws that tore open the stranger’s jacket and raked across his chest. He fell back on the ground and lay motionless. Haley turned to face Andrew and he was horrified when he saw the fangs in her mouth.

“Holy shit!”

“Hey, hey, easy,” said Haley, holding out her hand as her fangs and claws receded. “Look, okay, yes, I’m a vampire.”

“So…that’s what this all was? You were just trying to lure me back to your place to bite me?”

“What the hell kind of attitude is that?” asked Haley. “Oh right, just because I’m a vampire, that must mean I’m going to kill you?”

“Well…yeah!”

Haley scoffed. “Believe it or not, I actually like you—well, liked. Before I found out what a racist you are.”

“Hold on, you’re actually offended by my reaction?” asked Andrew.

“You’re a young white guy, wouldn’t you be offended if I assumed you were a serial rapist?”

“That’s…that’s not even close to being the same thing!”

“And after I saved your life from that creep, who by the way had been following us ever since we left the bar,” said Haley. “Y’know what, maybe you should just take your bigotry and go home.”

Andrew’s mouth hung open in disbelief. “This is…insane.”

“Maybe next time you shouldn’t judge people based on what you’ve seen in movies!”

Haley slammed the gate behind her and went into the building, leaving Andrew just standing out there alone. He looked down at the body and jumped, almost forgetting it was still there. “Great, now what?”

He turned back to the mouth of the alley and started walking towards it.

“Uhhh, goddammit!”

Andrew’s body froze. That voice was the same as the guy he just saw Haley killed. Slowly, he turned around and saw the man get back to his feet. He looked down at his tattered jacket and sighed. Then he glanced at Andrew while gesturing to the jacket. “You believe this shit? Brand-new fuckin’ jacket…”

“What the hell is happening?”

“Apologies for all that.”

This was a new voice that came from above. Andrew looked up and saw a man perched on a nearby garage. He hopped off and landed flawlessly on the ground. He was tall and bald, dressed in a long coat.

“My associate over there was just supposed to follow you, not engage,” said the new arrival.

“And who are you?” asked Andrew.

“My name is Belial,” he said, then nodded to the other guy. “That’s Erik.”

“And how is Erik not…dead?”

“I’m a lycan, kid,” said Erik. “Or, y’know, ‘werewolf’ if you wanna go with the normie description.’

Andrew’s eyes went large at that. He turned to Belial. “So, does that mean you’re also a…a…”

“A lycan? No. I’m just a demon,” said Belial.

“Wh-what the hell is going on tonight?” asked Andrew.

“The vampire was just some bad luck,” said Belial.

“Yeah, sorry about that, kid. I thought she was actually going to bite you, so that’s why I stepped in,” said Erik.

“So you guys are what? Monsters hunting monsters? Trying to protect humanity in an attempt to redeem yourselves or something?” asked Andrew.

“No, actually, we’re here because you made a deal about six months ago,” said Belial.

“This is about what I owe? So you’re saying you’re supernatural loan sharks?”

“Basically, yeah,” said Erik.

“A service was performed for you. You were given six months to pay what you owe,” said Belial. “I’m here to claim what’s due.”

Andrew sighed. “C’mon, man. Can’t you just give me a little more time?”

Belial removed his gloved hands from his coat pockets and cracked his knuckles as his eyes flashed yellow. “Do I look like a patient hellspawn, Mr. Greene?”

Andrew sighed. “I mean…it’s just…things are rough out there…”

“Perhaps you’d like to know what happens to deadbeats in Hell?” asked Belial. “I can show you, though I doubt you’ll find it a pleasant experience.”

Andrew sighed and took out his phone. “Okay, just give me the account details…”

Erik took out his own phone and walked over to Andrew. “I got you covered, kid. Let’s settle this now and then you can go home.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

As the two performed the digital transaction, Belial looked at the apartment building Haley had retreated into. Vampires looking for actual one-night stands, sorcerers performing spells on demand, demons and werewolves acting as loan sharks. This was definitely a unique world he’d found himself in.

“Okay,