Smoke swirls in the air around me as I tilt the whiskey glass to my lips. But just like the three glasses before, it does little to subdue my vexation.
Demons. The Tribunal was injecting their Reapers with the essence of demons like some little mad science experiment. Were they that naive to think that they could control them this time around or were they really just that stupid?
“I wish you wouldn't smoke in my bar,” Marco chides. “I don't let my regular customers do it.”
“I'm not a regular customer.” I smirk, exhaling another cloud through my nose. “And it's after hours. No one's here to complain.”
“I'm complaining, and the smell still lingers.”
“Maybe for you.”
I down the liquor in record time and he raises an eyebrow. “Long day at the office?”
I slide the empty glass across the bar top. “That obvious?”
“You're drinking like you're trying to forget.” Marco squares his gaze with my own. “Or like you're about to do something stupid.”
“Like what, leave again?” A snort sputters from my lips as I squash the cigarette out on the counter. “Yeah, that worked out so well for me last time.”
“C'mon, Ashe, did you really think they'd let you go?”
I cut him a glare. “I'm not here for a lecture,” I say, a scowl tugging at the corner of my mouth.
“Then what are you here for?”
“To drink.” I pinch the bridge of my nose as he refills my glass. Some answers might not hurt, either. “Marco, you get a lot of supernaturals in here. Have you heard any talk about a group called the Enlightened?”
“Is that some new-age garage metal band?”
I roll my eyes. “I'm serious.”
The bear scratches his chin in thought before finally shaking his head. “Can't say that I have, sugar plum. Why?”
“Apparently they've been causing a stir around the Fourth Ward. Digging up graves, coordinated hits on Tribunal property, illegal magic.”
“They sound like a fun bunch.”
“Well they've got the Tribunal on edge, and fear makes people do stupid shit.” I sigh as I swirl the whiskey around, watching the ice cubes clink against the glass. “They're trying to make cambions, Marco.”
He leans forward, intrigued. “I thought cambions were the result of demons mating with a mortal?”
That was the only way that it was supposed to happen, and the survival rate for the illegitimate offspring—or the human mother, for that matter—was dismal at best. The essence of the demon, absorbed by the zygote during conception, was often too much for the mortal vessel to handle and would tear her apart from within. The few women who did manage to survive a full pregnancy term ended up dying during childbirth; the fate of their half-breed children would prove to be just as tragic as their inner demon fought to consume them.
Hunting down abominations to serve as their enforcers never was enough for the Tribunal, though. Once unable to control them, now it seems they were determined to create them in their own image. What they would not do to keep their grip on the power they have enjoyed for centuries.
YOU ARE READING
Soulbound
Paranormal"Would it kill you to let yourself open up?" "No," I sigh, tilting my chin and fixing my gaze to the ceiling. I clench my fists, nails digging into my palms as I fight to stay grounded. "But it might kill you." ************* One is a half-demon with...
