Chapter 17
Irrational. Hysterical. And needing to unleash her wrath. On someone.
Poor Shane.
Her mother murdered by a filthy seer. Her father reduced to a worthless shell of his former self who might never recover. Worst of all, Shane had stood by and watched as everything unfolded.
Shane. Who could have prevented this.
But she needed time to extract her revenge. So after they flew back to the States and set Abaddon up with twenty-four hour care at one of their mansions, Nara resolved, for the time being, to take her father’s place in the family and run their empire until—or if—he recovered. She thumbed through his reports: a demon drug dealer trying to defect, a rogue demon defaulting on a debt, and reports of compassion from a demon running an angel orphanage in Russia.
“Kill the first two, and I’ll deal with the third one in person.”
“Of course, Miss Ambassador.” The two underlings retreated in haste from her father’s ornate office.
****
Shane never asked where they were going or why as they boarded the plane to Russia. She needed to continue her father’s work and punish Shane for not coming to her aid in Costa Rica. It was time to beat her name, and her name only, into his thick head. Her demon instincts and years of training in the family’s businesses focused her on the task.
Two downers slipped into Shane’s beverage worked well to make him complacent as their driver took them to her father’s orphanage, and she read over the file on the demon that needed to be reprimanded. She was paying back a two-year debt by managing one of the many Russian orphanages he controlled. Abaddon had expensed this demon’s tuition for law school, and she was one of their top criminal lawyers, with a ninety-eight percent success rate in freeing demons on technicalities.
The complaint read, “Too easy on the children! I’ve caught her holding them, coddling them, and once even wrapping one in an extra blanket. I’m sure she is slipping them extra food as she has asked for her rations to be increased.” The report was made by the demon who delivered supplies to the orphanage three times per week.
Completely unacceptable. Unless it’s Shane’s baby…
These babies, all of them angels, were to be stunted physically, emotionally, and psychologically. They “fell” in adulthood to transitors without any effort from demons. Many even committed suicide, which sent them right to the pit. This system had worked nearly perfectly in the last century and catapulted Nara’s family to heights of respect and servitude from other demons.
When Nara flipped to this lawyer’s family history, Shane began to stir.
“Where are we?”
“Somewhere you’ll never forget,” she said, closing her paperwork.
The black, ten foot gate surrounding the orphanage was fortified with electricity to keep the older children from trying to escape. It opened automatically as the limo slid past it. Nara smiled seeing the abysmal disarray and debris that littered the winding path. At least the new manager wasn’t trying to clean up the place. The dead grass was strewn with broken glass and old newspapers. The trees were barren as eternal winter painted the forlorn landscape. Dirty white bricks covered the main house. Bars covered most of the windows sealing up the prison. Faint golden orbs dotted the windows watching their arrival.
Inside, the place was dimly lit. Nara’s designer heels clacked their way over the cracked linoleum that was patterned in a diamond brown and gold repeat. Her shoes and impeccably taylored suit provided the only elegance. She rapped on the manager’s office and attached living quarters only to be met with silence. The nursery was housed in the basement by the kitchen and Nara was pleased that the infants’ continuous crying wouldn’t be a distraction to her while she conducted her business.
Finally, the demon emerged from the office with a gust of warmth and quickly shut the door to the building’s only heated area. She was tall to the point of gangly with slender boyish hips. Her dark hair was pulled back in a loose knot and she wore black leggings, fur-lined boots and a wool sweater. She emitted a thick demonic air of superiority that needed to be squashed.
“What?” she asked with a glint of power that lit her glowing scarlet eyes.
She extended her hand to the woman. “Hello. I’m Nara, Abaddon’s daughter. He is currently…working elsewhere…and sent me to assist you in any way I can. Liza, is it?” She smiled coolly.
The woman balked and appeared instantly sheepish at the mention of Abaddon’s name and looked down at the floor. “Everything is fine here. He needn’t have troubled himself or your great family by sending someone all the way here.”
“Let me be the judge of that.” Nara lightly touched the woman’s arm and saw that she had been slipping extra food to the children and holding the infants after their requisite feedings were complete. “Oh, I see we have some work to do here, together, to change your compassionate mindset.”
The women shook her head. “No, I—”
“Shut up,” Nara ordered.
The limo driver appeared in the doorway, with Shane’s slumped form over one of his massive shoulders. “What should I do with the transitor and your luggage?” he asked.
“Why is he unconscious?”
“He was getting mouthy. Sorry, Miss Ambassador.”
Nara raised an eyebrow at the manager, who was staring at Shane with what appeared to be disbelief. “He’s mine. Isn’t there a dark room here with irons where I can keep him?”
“Y-Yes,” Liza stammered, “right below my office.”
Nara motioned for the driver to go. “Are you staring at my transitor?”
She shook her head.
Nara raised an eyebrow. “Well, don’t look at him again. He is here to be punished. As. Are. You.”
The demon shrank back against the door of her office.
Nara laughed. “Oh, don’t worry, dear. I’m sure we’ll get your heart in the right place before I leave. I’ll be sleeping in your room, by the way.” The driver had returned from the lower level and stood, his arms crossed, as if waiting for his next instruction. “Go get my luggage and put it in her quarters.”
“But where—”
“I hope you’ll enjoy your new accommodations. Wait,” she said to the driver, “before you go out, put her next to Shane and make sure they are both chained.”
The demon was on Liza in an instant. Nara sauntered into the office and put her feet up on the desk, while listening to Liza scream as she was dragged down the stairs.
Damn—I love my job.