Asmodeus: Demon of Lust---Part One (Princes of Hell)

Also by Sara Humphreys

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Tall, Dark, and Vampire (Read on for a sneak peek)

Asmodeus, Demon of Lust
Copyright 2013 by Sara Humphreys

Published by Sara Humphreys

Cover design by Hot Damn Designs

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For more information on the author and her works, please see
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Chapter One

Struggling with the skeleton key, Kai swore under her breath as she fought to open the attic door of her grandfather’s old colonial house. Her mouth was set in a firm line as she wrestled with the uncooperative lock and reminded herself it was now
her house
. For better or for worse, the enormous place was now
hers.

Kai hadn’t ever met her maternal grandfather and if it weren’t for an old picture her mom kept she wouldn’t even have known what Jacob Kelly looked like. Kai’s parents were killed in a car crash a couple of years ago, and not only did the jerkoff skip the funeral, he didn’t even call. Not a card, a note, a text. Nothing. Not a Goddamn word.

What a prince.

Then about a month ago, Kai received a call from Ben Flaherty. He claimed to be an attorney in Idaho and said that she was the sole beneficiary of her grandfather’s estate. At first she thought it was a joke or a scam or something, like one of those emails from the guy in Kenya who said you inherited a billion dollars. But after learning a few pertinent facts, she realized it wasn’t a joke.

Ever since her parents died it was like she’d been traveling under a dark cloud of shitty luck. Kai’s little tarot shop in New Hampshire went belly up last year, her boyfriend cheated on her—again.

Needless to say, life was sucking in a big, fat way. The only soul in the world Kai could count on was her Siamese cat, Zephyr, and she was a moody little thing. So, when Mr. Flaherty had laid it all out, the inheritance wasn’t easy to turn down.

The property was in Bliss, Idaho with a whopping population of about three hundred people, but when Kai heard that Bliss was located in Magic Valley, that was when she knew it was all going to be okay. She’d always been fascinated with all things mystical and, at a young age, had discovered she had a knack for reading people, or more specifically the auras that surrounded them. Tarot cards helped her get a more in-depth reading but, in most cases, she was able to get a solid bead on people by studying the color of their aura.

When she was little, she called it
the glow
and only her mother knew what she was talking about because she could see it too. Kai’s dad would chuckle when
his girls
yammered on about auras, inner light and so forth. Kai was relatively certain her father thought it was just a silly game but she and her mom knew better.

While Kai’s mother was happy to discuss it in private, she discouraged the idea of sharing their intuitive nature with other people. So when Kai opened the tarot shop, her mom was less than thrilled and worried that Kai might attract the wrong sort of people—the ones without light.

Her mother, Katherine, called them the Dark Ones and warned Kai they would come if Kai wasn’t careful about the kind of mystical practices she dabbled in. According to her mother’s stories, the Dark Ones were capable of stealing a person’s light—essentially they were soul- stealers. Her mother said that a Dark One could suck the soul out of a regular person but that it was even more dangerous for people who saw auras or light the way that Kai did.

Kai shuddered but quickly shook it off. She knew her mother was being overly cautious or perhaps just flat out made up these scary stories to keep her from using her powers too freely.

Kai scoffed as she continued to fight with the lock on the attic door. The idea of a person without an aura was ludicrous because it would mean they didn’t have a soul. Kai had never met anyone without light. Some people had auras that were darker or murkier than others, but everyone had a glow of some kind because everyone has a soul. Even animals have auras.

Kai let out a short laugh as she adjusted her grip on the iron key. Right now, she’d give just about anything for one of her mother’s lectures on the mystic realm...and one of her hugs. The hole in Kai’s heart grew smaller with time but there were moments the sadness and grief would surge and threaten to overwhelm her.

Not today. Today she would reclaim this house in her mother’s memory and in honor of the twenty-five loving years her parents had shared. Kai had come out here with the intention of clearing the place out and selling it, but once she set foot on the property, something inside of her, that swirling unsettled energy that constantly battled to be let out...stilled.

With a growl of frustration, Kai swiped sweaty strands of blond hair from her forehead.

“Old man,” she muttered through clenched teeth as she tried to force the lock. “This door is as stubborn as you were.”

Holding her breath, the key slippery in her sweaty hands, Kai leaned her shoulder against the white painted door and in one final effort, the lock gave way with a satisfying
thunk
. Kai let out a sound of relief and gave Zephyr a thumbs up, while, in typical feline fashion she sat in the hallway giving Kai a bored look.

“Well, you could at least give me a small meow or something.” Kai said between heavy breaths. “I almost had a stroke trying to get this door open.”

Zephyr let out a short mewling sound and promptly began licking her front paw, clearly unimpressed.

“Nice.” Kai laughed as she wiped sweat from her brow and tightened her ponytail. “Some help you are. It’s just the two of us out here in the middle of nowhere so you better behave yourself or I might let the coyotes get you.”

Zephyr meowed loudly and flounced over, rubbing her furred body up against Kai’s bare calf.

“Oh, I’m just kidding.” Kai scratched the cat’s head and brushed the layer of cat hair off her skin as Zephyr trotted down the hall. “Shit, you are shedding like crazy. I can’t blame you. It’s hotter than Hades in here but something tells me it will feel downright balmy compared to the attic.”

As if answering her prayers, a cool breeze from the open window at the end of the hallway wafted over her, providing momentary relief. Kai closed her eyes and reveled in the breeze but as soon as she tugged the attic door open she got a face full of thick, stale humid air.

Kai flipped the light switch on the wall as she tried not to breathe in the stifling air. To her great relief, the bulb dangling at the top of the steps still worked, so at least she wouldn’t be stumbling around in the dark. Steeling herself, Kai climbed the creaky wooden steps with a combination of excitement and trepidation.

On one hand, she loved the idea of investigating what hidden treasures might be up there, but on the other, was the irrational fear that the bogeyman was in a dark corner waiting for her.

As Kai gripped the weathered railing, she coughed as dusty air filled her lungs, and reminded herself that the Dark Ones weren’t hiding in attic corners. Darkness, true evil, lived in the hidden parts of people’s hearts and minds, and that was more terrifying than any bogeyman.

As one Converse-clad foot hit the landing she looked around in awe. The attic was a cavernous space that ran the entire width of the house and it was filled with years worth of stuff. Dust-filled rays of sunlight streamed in from two oval windows, one at either end of the room, and Kai let out an exhausted sigh as she walked around the box-littered floor.

“We’ve got our work cut out for us,” Kai murmured.

Zephyr rubbed against her leg again before trotting off and disappearing into the sea of clutter.

“If you find any mice, please don’t behead them and drop them at my feet.” Kai stepped over an old steamer trunk. “It’s gross and I’m already convinced of your bad-ass ninja like fighting skills. I don’t need anymore proof.”

Making her way through what looked like a path amid the clutter, Kai opened both windows, which made the space bearable. Between the open windows and the door at the bottom of the steps, a gentle breeze now flowed through the musty room.

Kai glanced over and saw Zephyr lying on top of a box in front of one of the windows, settling in for yet another nap.

“Your mouse hunting skills are rivaled only by your ability to sleep but I guess that’s why they call them cat naps,” she laughed. “Don’t mind me. I’m just jealous. But as soon as I get through this mess, I’m taking a nap of my own.”

Several hours later, Kai had managed to dig through almost every box and pile in the stuffy attic. Most of it was comprised of old clothes, blankets, books and records. There didn’t appear to be anything of any real value monetarily or emotionally, and it became abundantly clear she was going to need to have all of it hauled away. Little of it was even in good enough shape to donate.

She’d hoped that there would be pictures of her mom as a little girl, old photo albums or something, but no such luck. Kai chalked it up to the fact that Jacob, clearly hadn’t bothered with sentiment.

Her grandmother had died soon after Kai’s mother was born and Jacob was so distraught he removed all images of his wife from the home. Kai shook her head as she stood up and brushed dust from the back of her shorts. “Charming.”

A sudden gust of wind rattled the window and slammed it shut with a nerve-shattering crack. The sound had Kai jump about a foot in the air and sent Zephyr running for cover beneath a stack of framed prints that were leaning against the beamed wall.

“Holy crap,” she said with a laugh. Kai’s hand rested on her chest as her heart thundered rapidly. “That scared the bejezzus out of me.”

Kai stepped over a few boxes and went to inspect the window, convinced the glass must have cracked from the force of the blow. To her relief the only thing that had come off was a bunch of old white paint chips that were scattered over the blanket where Zephyr had been sleeping.

“Looks like your bed got dirty,” Kai said as she brushed away the flakes of white. She peered over her shoulder at the cat, currently hissing at Kai from her hiding spot. “Don’t be pissed at me. I didn’t make the wind blow.”

Kai turned back and noticed the blanket was covering a small crate. She pulled it off, coughing from a mouth full of dust. Beneath it was a weathered wooden box with faded symbols she couldn’t quite make out. The top was nailed shut, which only piqued her curiosity further.

“Leave it to you,” she said to Zephyr. “To find the most interesting-looking thing in the whole place. I’m gonna need a crow bar or something to open this one. Come on, girl. Let’s get it downstairs.”

Kai picked up the box and while it clearly had something inside, it wasn’t as heavy as she thought it would be. With Zephyr at her heels, Kai made her way down the steps and breathed a sigh of relief when she hit the much cooler air of the second floor.