The Demon Side by Heaven Liegh Eldeen Read Free Book Online Page B

of my abilities took their place. Over the centuries, this home has been torn down and rebuilt more than a dozen times, but it never changed the type of people that moved in, moved out, or died here. So, short story longer, I’ve been here ever since, stealing the souls of the tainted and wreaking chaos on the innocent.”
    In a roundabout way I’d just told Etta I had not only killed people, but helped almost eradicate an entire race. She didn’t need to know that I hadn’t physically killed them, but my hand had certainly facilitated their deaths. Relief came over me when Etta showed no signs of fear. I couldn’t have resisted my desire to take her any longer if the sweet odor of her fear filled the room.
    “Did losing your wings hurt?” Etta dismissed everything I’d just told her with a shrug of her shoulders and ducked under my arm.
    “Though I don’t remember the exact day I lost them, I do know it is a pain you could never imagine. But I have something else I want to discuss with you.” Etta’s body tensed up. Her breathing became labored and her heart raced. The smell of her fear drifting across the tight attic made me drunk with pleasure. I gritted my teeth down, trying not to get overwhelmed by my hunger, and promptly turned my thoughts to what had truly frightened Etta. Knowing I’m a Demon and that I’ve assisted the demise of so many for centuries didn’t frighten her. All I had to do to scare her was to tell her I wanted to talk or ask her questions about herself.
    “I’ve got to go. My dad will be checking on me soon.” Etta walked toward the access in the floor. I flashed in front of her, blocking her exit. I’d told her everything she had asked for. It became time for her to do the same.
    “The other Demon did those things to you, didn’t he?” I demanded.
    “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Etta attempted to duck around me. Clutching her arm, I could feel her pulse rise. At the rate her heart raced, I was surprised she didn’t go into cardiac arrest. I needed to calm her if I planned on getting anything out of her, but the sooner I knew everything, the sooner I could get everyone out of my house.
    “You know exactly what I am talking about. The rapes and the molestations I saw in your head, he did them. Not a human, but a Demon, the same Demon that followed you here?”
    “I don’t know what you think you saw, but you’re wrong.” Etta tried feebly to pull her arm from my grasp. The look of shame on her face told me I’d hit the nail on the head, but also that there was more to her story than I was able to gather from her thoughts, something she buried so deep that her subconscious hadn’t kept a record of it. That could only mean one thing.
    He was an Incubus.
    Incubi and Succubae are the worst kind of Demons. It’s not that they are more powerful or wicked than a Demon, they’re just driven by the sadomasochistic sexual desire to breed with the human world. Their half-breeds are unreliable and volatile. They have no concept or understanding of our rules of engagement and formed an uncontrollable plague walking the Earth, often drawing the attentions of the Arches. Not that I worry about upsetting the Arches. They are a weakening force in a world that no longer believes. But every slaying of the half-breed children tips the delicate balance of our worlds in favor of the Heavens, which isn’t good news for my kind.
    “How long did you wait until you aborted?” I asked.
    Etta’s eyes widened. She thought long and hard before answering. “I didn’t abort. I was on my high school softball team. During a game, I slid into home on my stomach. I lost the baby the next day. I didn’t even know I was pregnant.” Etta sounded upset. But through her choked up tone, I could sense she was lying about how she lost the baby.
    “How far along were you?”
    “Eight weeks.” Etta chewed her fingernails.
    “Consider yourself lucky. Most women don’t know until it’s