Pandora's Demon Book Four

By Odette C. Bell

Oh bother. The end is here. And Ruby and Blake simply won’t be ready. For the end needs to break them apart, steal their rings, and throw them into the dark embrace of the descended forevermore.
But Ruby isn’t the kind of half-breed to let that happen without a fight. When she breaks free from Hell and takes the fight right to her cousins, she brings her formidable history with her. But something more. Something far better. The eternal future she can create with one handsome, barrel-chested, quick-tongued demon lord.
They were meant to be together, apparently, and nothing – not even Armageddon – can break them apart.
...
A light-romance urban fantasy, Pandora’s Demon follows a prince and a half-breed battling to save the universe. If you crave your fiction with action, humor, romance, and fun, grab Pandora’s Demon Book Four today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.
Pandora’s Demon is the 2nd My Better Devil series. A witty, action-packed, light romance world where Satan’s sons must find love, but only after it sticks a ring on their finger. If you like your urban fantasies packed full of charming smiles, arrogant demons, and sprinkles of romance, dive in today.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Odette C. Bell
• Release date: Jan 25, 2023
• ISBN: 9781005501099

Book preview

Chapter 1

Blake

And there she was. Just as Red had promised, and just as my heart had promised too, Ruby had made her way out of her trials and back to me. The last bit was up for debate. She’d made her way back to Malik, her way back to the fight, and her way back to the palace to save everyone. The me part was optional. It wasn’t, however, to my arms. They wrapped harder around her middle. And I won’t tell you what happened to my heart as she turned her head up and looked at me once, a smile, pure and simple, spreading over her equally pure and simple lips.

Why had I ever thought I’d needed more? More power, more privilege, more than Ruby? Yes, it was because I hadn’t technically had Ruby yet. And Malik, the monster, was going to make that point promptly.

He thrust toward Ruby’s throat, but Red got there first. He floated forward and flapped his wings once, a mighty gale suddenly picking up from underneath them and shooting in front of him in a powerful vortex.

The next chance I got, honestly, I would pull Red aside and demand to know who he was. I wouldn’t care if the furtive little demon didn’t answer. I’d remind him of everything going on in Hell, and if that didn’t work, beat him over the head with my tail. That plan, however, would require me getting out of here.

I heard a hiss from behind me and realized the exorcists were still around. I’d assumed I’d done a number on them when I’d destroyed their primary nest, but some must’ve survived. Now I inclined my head over my shoulder and narrowed my eyes through the gloom to pick up 10 of them. They were all of the unnecessarily muscly variety, their arms practically bulging out of their simple white robes. I could hear their exorcist wards from here, and the song they played was a dark and dangerous one. Together, they whipped their hands in front of their bodies and cast mandalas. The mandalas spun once to the left then the right then shot toward me.

Red, I cried.

There’s only so much I can do. Leave the actual fight to me. You go take on the Boy Scouts behind us.

I’d never thought I’d hear those words coming from Red’s lips, considering his proclivities. When he wasn’t hiding behind Ruby’s voluminous hair, he usually hid in the ring. But I had to know my limitations. And I had to get Ruby somewhere safe. Lord knows what they’d put her through, but she smelt of something utterly unmentionable, was covered in pond slime, and though she didn’t appreciate this, had precious little energy left.

Though my only desire was to sweep her up in my arms, I had to contend with something far, far more powerful. Ruby’s desire for me. She yanked on my hand and dragged me forward. She’d lost her own metal wings some time ago. The only thing she had was the raw power in her legs combined with the grit in her heart. What have you got left? I’m out of weapons, and I can’t use Pandora’s box until my snake friend is comfortable again.

There was a lot to unpack there. Snake friend? I felt my question rumble down into her body as I tightened my arms around her, picked her up, and decided to fly, sparing her legs even though it cost my weak wings.

I don’t think I would ever be the same demon after this.

And perhaps that was a good thing.

Do you have a weapon? Ruby asked in a timely fashion as we reached the exorcists and they revealed they certainly had their own weapons. More than enough to wage war on a small country, in fact.

The exorcists at the lead suddenly produced a massive whip with… a gun on the end, and you read that correctly, even though it took a while for my eyes to adjust and confirm that startling fact. One wouldn’t think a whip with a gun on the end would be a particularly effective weapon, but one clearly hadn’t met these desperate fools. The exorcist cracked the whip, and the gun started firing off malicious bolts in every direction. Why did I refer to the bolts as malicious? Easy. They did two things. Not only did they slam into the walls and start to digest them faster than the destruction virus, but they actually hurled insults our way. They weren’t random but rather well-placed, for as one sliced by my ear, it somehow accessed my deepest fears and snarled them at me. Weak boy. Boy who never grew up, they promised. Destined to fail and lose her.

I hoped like Hell Ruby wasn’t paying attention or had her own problems to deal with, but I should stop hoping on my crumbling home. Who says I’m going to lose to anyone? she asked in a decidedly dangerous tone.

It wasn’t directed at me, which meant my stomach was free to tingle with expectation.

Where had this woman been most of my life? And what exactly could I have achieved by her side? I suppose I would simply have to find out.

Ruby had pressed me to find a weapon. I didn’t have one, but Ruby was awfully fond of taking when she lacked something she wanted. She shoved her hand down and… well, gulp, how do I put this kindly? She grabbed my tail. I think I’d described two things to you previously. Demons didn’t like to be touched unless the person in question knew what they were doing. And tails were personal things. They were also highly innervated things. It was the same with any animal. If you expected to use your tail for balance or to communicate with others, you had to move it quickly and well, which meant you had to feel it. Completely. And don’t you worry, I felt Ruby’s tender but firm grip as she twisted my tail around. Can I use this like a whip, too? she mused.

Ruby, I said in a voice that sounded like I’d just hit puberty again.

Okay, this is what I’ll do, she muttered to herself then tightened her grip and forced a bolt of hellfire down into my tail.

I almost became too giddy to fly, but Ruby got the desired result. Her hellfire combined with my own to produce a sheet of power that slammed into the exorcists’ combined attack. Both attacks were equally powerful, but Ruby had a secret weapon, apparently. She could catch bullets right out of the air. She didn’t care how much damage they’d do to her hand, and apparently she knew exactly what these exorcists needed.

I forgot that she was gripping my tail and using it as a glorified gun. Ruby, be careful, I roared.

Too late. She’d already shoved her hand up and caught one of the bullets. That’s when I noticed how very damaged her hand was. It looked like she’d voluntarily shoved it into a volcano for a manicure. Her fingers existed, but that was all that could be said about them. I couldn’t see the pink flesh – just charred remains. They still worked, however, and she bravely and stupidly caught the bullet. She tightened her grip around it, then pitched it right back at the primary exorcist like it was nothing more than a baseball.

A little ash crumbled off her hand. Immediately I reached around, cinched my fingers against her palm to stem further damage, and held her close. It won’t— I began.

Work? she asked with an arched eyebrow and a slight smile playing over her lips. I don’t know how she managed it, but she looked up into my eyes with light playing in hers. Had Ruby paused during our epic fight for the universe to rush off into some starfield, gather up the brightest examples, and cram them into her skull? Or had she simply always had the ability to absorb my focus with nothing more than her own?

I should’ve paid more attention to the fact that her attack, despite the odds, worked. I didn’t hear what the despair bullet said to its master, but it couldn’t have been kind, because suddenly the exorcist’s hood fluttered up, and I saw his lips wobble with deep emotion.

It gave me an idea, even though the only idea I wanted to hold onto was the same woman in my arms. To prevent her from fidgeting her injured hand out of my grip and catching more bullets, I used my tail instead. My wings got in on the act, too.

Meanwhile, behind us, Red did something to the general. I couldn’t tell you precisely what that was, however. Both demons stood in front of each other, and it accentuated just how short Red was. He barely came up to the general’s shin. That was irrelevant. He produced that second mandala I’d seen when he’d been tortured. It was brighter than any I’d witnessed as if he had access to some pure realm of power. And he used it, maneuvering his hands back and forth, creating circles with them then forcing them to the side. He looked like an elegant and very irritated tai chi practitioner. Malik had also produced another mandala, but this wasn’t from his own body. He gathered the power from the throne, channeling it as he wrapped his tail around one of the carved golden legs.

I distinctly recalled destroying the throne, but the general had clearly reconstituted the parts with magic. Now he stole that magic again, and I could see a few familiar cracks trying to reform in the armrests.

Just how stupid was Malik? Just how much power would he waste on looking like a king? I suppose the answer was everything. Because it was his only chance of ever becoming a king. When you can’t get what you really want, at least you can alter your life to make it look like you have it.

That’s it, Blake. It’s working. I don’t think the exorcists have the stomach to deal with their own negativity, Ruby assured me as, her soft grip on my chin, she turned my head around to refocus me on the immediate and far more dangerous fight.

Indeed, it was working. I caught more bullets and threw them back at the exorcists, and the fools finally figured out it was a bad idea to keep shooting their despair guns if they couldn’t deal with the consequences. One to my left suddenly fell to his knees, clutched his face, and whispered, I’m sorry, Mommy. Sorry I’ve been so naughty.

Naughty was an understatement, but from the man’s tortured face, the despair bullets were wending their way into his psyche, moving past his usual mind blocks, and accessing an older part of him. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them fell to their sides and started sucking their thumbs soon.

Don’t just stand there, Red roared, get rid of the rest of them. Stop the destruction virus. It’s the only chance you’ll have to escape.

Escape? I thought we needed to save Hell?

We will. Let’s stop the destruction virus first. The rest will follow next, Prince.

It wasn’t a good sign that Red had become politer than usual. Okay, he was spitting his commands. There were certainly other ways he could say them politely. Not my point. He distinctly called me prince.

I wasn’t the first to react, even though a shot of adrenaline blasted through me. Ruby grabbed hold of my face suddenly. My stupid mind told me she was about to lean in for a much overdue kiss. She didn’t. She locked her hand flat against my jaw and temple and closed her eyes.

Ruby?

The only way to stop the destruction virus is to find its root. Or at least I’m assuming that. It’s not like I know much—

You know enough about this world, I assured her as I interrupted, then locked her hand harder against my cheek. I would never live this down. If any of my brothers saw it, they would no doubt take footage of it and splash it all over Hellscape.

But living this down could come when I actually survived and started living again. I pressed Ruby’s hand harder against my cheek, finally realizing she was combining our power.

I closed my eyes, regardless of how dangerous it might be, and I think I proceeded to have one of the strangest but sweetest moments of my life. It’s one thing to carve out peace between you and a partner under a starry sky, far away from civilization, huddled around some campfire. It’s another as you sit peacefully by one another, watching the glowing dawn. In those circumstances, peace is a natural consequence of the fact you’re not running for your life. Now I had to carve out the time, the space, and importantly, my heart and perhaps even the heart of the universe. I had to convince it this moment of sweet release wouldn’t be a waste of its time, especially while it was fighting for its very existence from inevitable heat death.

It somehow worked. My heart found the space and time to enjoy this, and though perhaps I was making this up, it allowed our power to combine more effectively. Ruby’s eyes suddenly blasted wide and swiveled hard to the left. There. I think I can feel the spell root. It’s about two floors up.

She tilted her head up. From memory, the palace up there was completely destroyed, but I didn’t question Ruby. I trusted her senses, especially combined with my own. I secured her harder against me then momentarily glanced over at Red. Before I could tell him to keep up the good fight, he twisted his strained neck and snarled at me, Go. You’ve got a minute.

I hoped like Hell Red wasn’t good at estimating time, or he was underestimating how long he could hold on. A minute was nothing. I felt every single pressured second of it as I shot through the ceiling.

Ruby kept her hand on my face. When it looked like I would head in the wrong direction, just as I’d done with the phoenix, she tugged me ever so slightly to the left. And speaking of the phoenix, while it had held back during the fight, now it joined us. It shot up from some recess deep in the bowels of the building where it had presumably been fighting for its last banana stocks.

It called softly in Ruby’s face. She reached out and touched it.

Less than a minute, Ruby. We have less than a minute— I reminded her.

We’re gonna need less than a minute, she assured me cockily.

What exactly had happened to the universe – and me – that Ruby was now the cocky one? I was the shaking one, the terrified one, the one who knew we’d surely lose, but as I flew to the right level and found just a single patch of floor, Ruby bravely fidgeted