Diabolic Intentions: Demon Guild Books, #1

By K M STARR

In a world haunted by demonic possession, Rae Quill yearns for normalcy. But fate has other plans. After a near-death experience, Rae finds herself thrust into an ongoing war she has managed to stay out of. Rae crosses paths with the rugged, yet enticing Eddy Riggs, who is Prime Protestas at the Hunters Guild. Eddy claims he is there to guide her, but she knows the Guild only cares about their own bottom line. In this gripping tale, Rae's journey tests her strength, challenges her loyalties, and reveals that sometimes, what appears evil may harbour unexpected alliances. The fate of humanity rests in Rae's hands as she embraces her destiny and fights against the diabolic darkness threatening to consume the world.

 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Makaka Press
• Release date: Sep 30, 2023
• ISBN: 9780645898019

K M STARR

K M Starr is an Australian Wonnarua woman. With a passion for storytelling and a deep connection to her Indigenous roots, she weaves captivating tales in the fantasy genre. Diabolic Intentions marks her debut novel, introducing readers to the enthralling world of The Demon Guild Book series. K M Starr holds a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology, Archaeology, and Aboriginal studies. As an adventurer at heart, K M Starr's love for exploration and discovery finds its way into the pages of her novels. With Diabolic Intentions as her debut work, K M Starr invites readers on an unforgettable journey through the shadows of a world filled with demons and supernatural powers. Prepare to be enthralled by her unique storytelling style and her ability to blend elements of fantasy, adventure, and compelling characters that will leave readers eagerly anticipating the next instalment of The Demon Guild Book series.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Rae knew what happened after someone died. She hadn’t been dead long enough to find out if there was an afterlife. But her heart stopped beating long enough to experience a dark void cocooning her soul.

Only three hours earlier, Rae had been living her life just like every other young adult did on a Saturday night. The music fired up, causing the ground to shake. It sent vibrations up her legs. Being busy helped to stop any dumb thoughts from seeping in and occupying the usual space in her head. Copious amounts of alcohol running through her veins allowed her to be numb. Funny how one little substance can have so much impact on a person.

‘Do you want a drink?’ Rae asked.

Her best friend and partner in crime, Millie, was hard to hear over the deep beat of the bass. Rae concentrated on Millie’s perfect, red-stained mouth to decipher what she was saying. Once Rae figured it out, she grabbed Millie’s hand and dragged her toward the bar. The pink neon sign hanging above the bottles had the name of the club, Fancies. A stupid name for a club, but it would not stick for long. The club had a transient name.

The girls ordered two vodka shots and a bottle of water each. The aerobic workout they got from dancing felt as strenuous as a day at the gym. Not that Rae went to the gym, like ever.

Millie elbowed her and pointed to the entrance. ‘Why are they here?’

Rae’s eyes settled on two muscly men; their chests glowed blue. Typical for Guild hunters.

Whenever the Guild showed up in the centre of Helvella City, it meant there was trouble. Humans had always known demons existed, but apart from a few possessions here and there, they didn’t really affect anyone. Before Rae was born there was an imbalance between worlds. A demonic uprising occurred, and wars raged across the world. Somehow a group of select people managed to fight the demons back and they formed the Guild of Hunters. As long as Rae could remember there had been an uneasy but liveable solution. From what she had heard in her history lessons, without the Guild, life would probably be horrible. 

Except for a few demons Rae had seen in her life, she didn’t really know much about them - nor did she know exactly what the Guild did. But if they were here, that meant there was probably some demonic form skulking about.

She pulled an elastic out of her sparkly clutch bag and pulled her long black hair into a bun. The cool air from the ceiling fan refreshed the back of her neck.

Millie threw back her vodka, careful not to spill any on her sage skirt and crop top combo. ‘Let’s hope they are just out for a good time too. Where’s Jack gone?’ She pushed her blonde locks out of her eyes.

Rae searched through the dark figures on the dance floor. She couldn’t spot him. She hadn’t dated Jack for long, but their relationship had passed its expiry date. It was silly, but she was a serial dater. She dropped guys as soon as the excitement wore off.

‘No idea.’ She chased her shot by chugging down her water. ‘I’m not in a hurry to find him.’

Millie chuckled. ‘One of these days you’re going to find the most amazing man only for him to have commitment issues.’

Rae wasn’t too worried about this premonition. Didn’t all guys have commitment issues? Well, at their age. She wasn’t in any hurry to settle down.

Besides, Millie was no better in that department. Although she didn’t only like guys, anyone was fair game if she found them hot enough. At least Rae kept them around for a few weeks. Millie kicked her conquests out of bed the next morning and never saw them again.

Rae ran her hands over her short gold sequin dress. It twisted as she sat down.

They scored a couple of free drinks from some random guy and his friend and listened to several more songs. She hadn’t caught the boys’ names, but their dancing was so bad Rae didn’t bother to find out. One of them kept tracing strange patterns on her bare arms with his finger as they moved with the music. It creeped Rae out. She yelled out over the music to remind him she had a boyfriend.

Fancies announced the last drinks and Rae still hadn’t seen Jack. He was a big boy though; she would not miss her train to go looking for him. He’d be mad, but she had work in the morning. If she missed this train, another one wouldn’t come for three hours.

She clenched her jaw and swung her bag over her shoulder. Jack was flaky.

Rae followed Millie and two of her new friends to the station. As she walked, she pictured getting home and falling into her soft bed and snuggling up with her pillow. The buzz from the alcohol didn’t last and her feet ached from being squished into heels half a size too small.

Millie and Rae were childhood friends. They had a ride-or-die type friendship. She was the only family Rae recognised. Without Millie, she didn’t know where her life would have gone.

The boys they had spent the whole night with were hot, but the two of them became rowdy on the trip home and their dance moves on the handrails embarrassed her. Rae stood as the carriage screeched to a stop. She fell forward but braced herself on one of the boys. His muscular arm was a solid reinforcement for her. Thank God she hadn’t face-planted in front of them. Her dress was way too short for that to happen.

Rae moved towards the doors ready to get off, Millie booed her. ‘Keep partying with us.’ Her mock crying made Rae laugh.

‘Nah, I can’t. But are you sure you’ll be okay with them?’ Her eyes swung to the boys.’

Millie’s eyes narrowed. ‘I’m a big girl, I’ll message you when I’m home safe.’

Rae wasn’t too happy about this, but Millie wouldn’t listen anyway ‘I’m not working next weekend though.’ Rae squeezed her friend goodbye as the doors opened.

Millie’s eyes lit up. ‘An entire weekend free!’

Rae smiled. ‘Yep, I’m all yours next weekend.’ She stepped onto the platform, wobbling on her shoes. ‘I may even be single by then.’

As the doors shut, she heard the boys cheer at this. It’s not like Jack had been with her all night, so it wouldn’t surprise her.

After the train continued onwards, Rae left the platform and headed onto the street. The streetlights there shone brightly. Further on, it would be darker. Nobody ever replaced blown bulbs in the lights there. This part of the city wasn’t a priority for maintenance. Would it kill them to replace them?

Rae’s apartment was in one of the rougher suburbs. The name Bayswater Ridge sounded pleasant and classy, but it wasn’t. But beggars couldn’t afford the north side, and this was in her budget.

She took off her shoes to relieve her sore feet. Now they stung from the rough bitumen. She didn’t put them back on; she didn’t want her heels to make the click-clack noise on the road as she walked. Nothing says a serial killer victim like a lonely pair of footsteps at three in the morning.

She cursed herself for wearing these shoes. When she’d lived with her mother, she could afford more luxurious items, but the trade-off was too much for Rae. Living with her mother had been hell. In fact, her entire childhood had been. Her mother was convinced Rae’s spirited nature was a mental illness. Years of being told there was something wrong with her had given Rae so much anxiety.

The moon was a white sliver in the sky. It didn’t give off enough light to brighten the way when the streetlight’s glow disappeared behind her. Rae’s coffee-coloured skin wouldn’t be visible in the dark, and she was grateful for it. Millie would stand out like a beacon for ships in the night. She always joked that Millie’s white legs were so reflective she would blind people.

Rae’s apartment block wasn’t too far away, though she was exhausted. A slight headache had started on the way home and it migrated to a throbbing pain radiating down her neck. There was a shortcut through the park, but now, in the middle of the night, it was a dodgy prospect.

When she got to the path that would lead her through the trees and across a playground, she hesitated. It was strange how, under the blanket of darkness, kids’ playgrounds became the stuff of nightmares. Swings creaked with every gust of wind and merry-go-rounds shook as if ghost kids jumped off and on.

Rae shivered, scaring herself. She bit her lip and told herself to stop being a chicken. The pain in her feet and legs outweighed any common sense. What the hell? She stepped onto the path.

Chapter 2

Every sound prickled the hair on her arms. The warm breeze did nothing to stop the spread of goosebumps along her skin. Rae’s chest tightened and she increased her pace. Her breath became ragged. 

Damn, she was unfit. She wasn’t super-skinny, but she had a healthy-looking body despite her bad eating habits. Besides, Rae loved the curves she had. She worried the older she got, the harder time she would have to keep her figure the same. She’d read a study once where it said metabolism slows down with age. Of course, she had all the things age does to look forward to. Rae had intended to stick to the path, but out of the corner of her eye, a flicker of light blinked. Strange, why were there lights in the middle of the trees?

Leave it alone and walk, Rae muttered in her head. The glow intensified, it pulsated blue and orange, like a mini star. 

Despite her better judgement, Rae’s curiosity got the better of her. She veered off the pavement and into the garden. She winced from the pain in the soles of her feet. At least the footpath had been flat.

‘What is the moral of all those fables?’ she whispered to herself. ‘Oh right, don’t stray from the path. Idiot.’ She swallowed an irrational giggle that threatened to escape her throat. 

Rae pushed the low-hanging branches out of her way. She held her shoes in one hand, but the brush was thick and she needed both of her hands to squeeze through. She sat her shoes beside the trunk of a tall paperbark tree. She’d grab them on her way back. 

She got closer to the light; she knew for certain it wasn’t a torch. The light hung suspended in the air in a small clearing. She crossed her fingers and hoped this wasn’t an alien abduction-type situation, although it was probably something the Guild would deal with. That would be just as bad, the Guild dealt with demons–not something Rae wanted to mess with.

She stepped out of the bushes and into the clearing.

Rae reached inside her bag without looking. She needed her phone to take a photo of this. It always annoyed her when people claimed they’d seen UFOs but didn’t manage to capture any images of them. Everyone had high-tech smartphones these days. How didn’t they video them?

Little sparks flicked off the bright centre of the light as it pulsated, like a giant sparkler. Her phone beeped a warning. Damn, the battery was low; she’d taken way too many selfies at Fancies.

She tossed her phone back in her bag. When she looked up, the sphere moved right towards her. 

Rae swore and ducked. The light zoomed over her head. She turned to face it; it swung like a pendulum back towards her. 

Oh, hell no! Rae legged it; she would not be attacked by a mysterious ball of whatever the hell it was.

She raced out of the other side of the clearing, holding her arms up to protect her face from the branches that smacked at her. They were like the devil’s hands trying to hold her in place. The ground was hard underfoot, but she wouldn’t return to her discarded shoes now. They were lost to her forever, even though they were the most expensive pair she owned.

Rae glanced over her shoulder. The orb hovered right behind her.

She turned to bolt in the other direction, but two arms grabbed her and pulled her to the ground. She sensed it was a large man. Then the scent of rotten meat hit her, and she gagged. She whacked behind herself and tried to break out of his hold. Damn, this stinky guy held on tight.

Rae pulled her arm forward and then swung her elbow back into what she hoped was the guy’s gut. A grunt let her know she’d hit her target, and arms loosened enough for her to wiggle away.

She got up. In the dim light, her eyes faintly made out the shape of the man, but something wasn’t right. Oh, hell no, he looked like a zombie. Bits of flesh dripped from his dishevelled body. She’d heard of demons that make a body appear to be the walking dead, but she’d never seen it for herself.

Where was the Guild? This was clearly their bag of crazy.

His face contorted into an expression of both pain and anger at once. His eyes were wide open. He stared straight ahead as if in some sort of trance. What little hair this thing had left appeared matted with blood. Dried blood blackened the skin around his mouth like someone had tried to burn him alive.

Rae backed away. She tried not to disturb him, she didn’t want to snap him out of his stupor. His rancid odour drifted on the breeze towards her. She didn’t want to wait around and confirm her suspicions. No way was she turning her back on this thing. Nope, she wanted to make sure he stayed down.

Her feet hit the asphalt again. Thank God. Rae breathed out a sigh. She whipped her head around for some sign that someone else had seen the light or her attacker. The orb still levitated there, but it had fractured itself in two and both orbs headed for her.

Crap. She realised too late these lights weren’t the orb that had chased her—they were car headlights. The wheels squealed as the driver tried, but failed, to stop in time. Pain shot through her as her body crumpled from the impact of a truck as it crashed into her. The air rushed out from under her as she flew backwards towards the side of the road.

Her stomach dropped, much as it does on a rollercoaster when gravity pulled her back to Earth.

Afterwards, the world grew hazy. Some details she could remember, like hands grabbing at her, shoving her onto a bed. Rae remembered they cut her dress off... and her mortification when she couldn’t remember if she’d worn underwear that night or not. 

Her eyes were open, but the darkness closed in on her, and her limbs went numb. The last thing Rae heard was a voice saying, ‘She’s  crashing.’

Chapter 3

Two swirling masses of a smoky-looking substance barrelled towards her. They were large, but how large she couldn’t guess with nothing around them to compare them to.

Stunned, her feet felt encased in concrete, unable to move. The smoke moved closer to her and her anxiety would have risen through the roof if there had been one.

When the smoke came close, she could almost touch it. Rae faintly smelled sulphur. It was enough to unstick herself and allow her to bolt away from it. She had no idea where she was going, but she planned to create distance between her and it.

Rae hadn’t got far before something slammed into her back. Knocked forward, she put her arms out to brace herself. She winced when her knees hit the ground. She dusted herself off and realised someone was yelling at her.

‘Rae, Rae, can you hear me?’ the voice echoed through space.

She moaned; her words weren’t disappearing anymore. Her mouth was dry like it was full of cotton wool.

‘Marshmallows on my spaghetti, please,’ Rae said. She knew that wasn’t what she’d meant to say, but her brain was sluggish.

She thought she heard a chuckle.

‘Glad to see you are back with us,’ came a voice from above.

Rae blinked; her eyes stung from the bright lights in the room. It took her a few hours to make sense of anything.

RAE FELT THE SOFT WARMTH of a hand on her arm and the weight of another heavy blanket wrapped around her shoulders. She knew that Millie had been by her bedside every chance she’d had since they’d wheeled her out of the emergency room after the accident. And for the two weeks of agony since.

The incessant beeping of the computers and monitors was like a hammer to Rae’s skull. She yanked the wires monitoring her vitals from her body, causing an alarm to sound in the hallway. Nurse Jackie rushed into her room, tsked with disapproval and quickly reattached the cords. Despite all of Jackie’s strictness, she still had a soft spot for Rae and often gave her extra cookies as a treat.

Not long after, the doctor finally ambled into the room and cast a wary gaze over Rae’s battered body. He carefully prodded her ribs and surveyed the multiple lacerations that spanned her arms and legs. After a few moments of examination, he solemnly announced his findings— two fractured ribs, a mild concussion, various cuts, and bruises that stained her skin in shades of yellow, blue, and purple. He said it would take time for Rae to fully heal, but she was lucky—things could have been worse.

Later, Millie snuck back in with a coffee for her. A proper coffee, not the hospital crap.

After gratefully accepting the hot drink, Rae sighed. ‘So what’s the word? Am I right to go home?’

Millie looked out the window and Rae’s stomach sank. ‘The staff doesn’t think it’s a good idea just yet.’

‘But that’s not fair, I’m fine.’ Even to Rae her voice sounded whiney.

‘Rae, you actually died. You were dead. D E A D.’ Millie stomped her foot, they had already had this argument.

‘Okay, Millie, got it? I was clinically dead for two minutes. No need to keep reminding me.’

Millie rolled her eyes, but Rae kept talking.

‘Look I know it was serious. But I’m alright now. I should be able to continue recovering at home, right?’

Millie smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes ‘That’s what I thought too, but the nurses disagrees. They want you to stay here.’

Rae grunted, ‘Seriously? Do I just resign myself to this stiff and unforgiving hospital bed?’

‘I know it’s frustrating, but maybe it’s for the best. They’re just being cautious.’ Millie reached over and squeezed her hand.

‘Yeah I guess so.’ Although Rae didn’t really understand at all. Shouldn’t she have some control over where and how long she stayed?

Later that day, Rae slurped down red jelly and watched the news on the tiny TV hanging on the drab yellow wall. At least she had a room to herself. She guessed that was one of the perks when you were brought back from the dead. 

The window in her room looked over a strip of grass, slightly browning from the summer heat and the car park. Not a five-star view. 

The morning shift nurse helped her into a wheelchair and she sat beside a big hallway window. Rae had spent the morning dreaming about her escape from this place, but also watching bees collect pollen from the small garden outside. The flowers seemed miserable, droopy and lacklustre in colour. 

A small tree in the circle-shaped park had no leaves. What, had the gardener planted a dead tree?

Rae dozed off. The sun streamed through; it was pleasant compared to the air-conditioned room. 

A twig snapped and her eyes flew out to the garden. A raven had perched on a gnarled branch and was staring at her. She tilted her head and stared back; she had never lost a staring competition.

The charcoal eyes were a soulless abyss. The absence of any light reflecting in them made the raven appear dead, like a taxidermied animal.

A hospital siren went off and Rae jumped in her seat. She held her side. Ouch, not a great idea to move too quickly. She glanced out the window. The raven flapped its enormous wings to take flight. Oops, she’d lost. Point to Mr Raven.

She was getting bored; the nurse must have forgotten about her. She waved at one of the other hospital staff members walking past and grabbed herself a ride back to bed.

After drinking lukewarm tea and eating stale biscuits, footsteps sounded down the hallway. Rae’s eyes widened as Jack walked into her room. She hadn’t even turned her phone on since the accident, so how had he found out she was there? Millie had contacted Rae’s boss for her, and except for Millie, she didn’t need anyone to