Missing Pieces (The Pieces Series Book 1) (22 page)

“Yes. I own a few houses here and there.”

“I think I want to lay down and rest. You want to join me?”

My eyes roam her body. Make-up sex sounds fantastic. It feels like weeks since I have been in her. “Sounds like a great idea.”

We make love, but it feels different. I blow it off to stress, and we fall asleep in each other’s arms.

I wake to find Gabby already up and out of bed. I find her in the kitchen, cooking breakfast. She doesn’t seem to hear me come up behind her. So I grab her around the waist and snuggle against her neck, nibbling. She jumps, then melts into my embrace. I notice that she smells different. She must have bathed in something different today. We eat and spend the rest of the day in bed. She likes it a little rougher than I remember.

We wake up the next day and head to the beach. Gabby looks so hot in her purple bikini. It is hard to not drag her back inside and spend all day in bed with her. I watch her walk out toward the water, dipping her toes in. She walks in deeper until it’s at her waist, then turns toward me. She waves her hand at me to come join her. I run towards her and she swims farther out. I catch up to her and she jumps on my back. The bathing suit top is so thin, I can feel her hard nipples. I instantly become hard and take a sharp intake of breath. I swing her around so she faces me. She rubs up against my hard length and moans, kissing me hard, which only heightens my arousal. I slip her bottom to the side and slip in, making her moan even louder. We are on a private beach so we have miles just to ourselves. We make love in the ocean, and on the beach, and on the couch before we make it to the bed. We do this same routine for three more days.

On the seventh day, I wake up before her and make breakfast. I get her iPod out of her purse and put on Halestorm. She walks in to the living room already dressed in a red tankini and sits at the bar. “Who is this? I need to download it to my iPod.” I can’t tell if she is joking or not.

“You’ve never heard this band before? You should see them perform live. They are amazing.” Her eyes turn black for a split second, long enough for me to realize my mistake. I knew something weird was going on. I place her plate in front of her.

“Well, maybe you should take me to see them.”

“Maybe I should. I am going to go get dressed.”

I head to the bedroom and retrieve my blade that I keep hanging on the wall. Any normal person would think it’s decoration, but I like to keep stuff handy. Thank god the bedroom is behind the kitchen so I can sneak up behind her without her noticing. I quickly cut off her head, which turns back to an ugly red head with a scar across her face. Shifter demon?! But how? They are supposed to be extinct. I throw her head into the fireplace and light it up, watching it burn to ashes. I will take her body back and destroy it at home. That’s when it hits me. If I’m here, what is going on at home? Gabby. Oh god, Gabby. I flash home as fast as I can, forgetting the body.

I land in our room and there is someone asleep on our bed. They didn’t hear me come in. I step to the bed and stare at a mirror image.
Two
shifter demons? What is Lash up to? I quickly kill it and call for Derrick. No answer. Weird. I run down the hall, not waiting to see what the demon really looks like. I come to one of my guards. “Where are Derrick and Gabby?” Please let her be ok.

He looks at me strangely. “They escaped. We haven’t found them yet.”

“You need to explain what is going on around here. We were tricked by shifter demons. I have been away for a week with what I thought was Gabby!” He looks stunned. “Blood for blood!” I yell. It’s our code phrase for when something goes wrong.

He explains everything. I fall to my knees when I hear what happened. I would never lay a hand on her! Never! I don’t care if she is a full demon. I love her and she thinks I did that? I feel sick.    Derrick, too? My best friend?
Thank you, Gabby, wherever you are, for saving him
. I pull out my cell and dial Derrick’s emergency line. Besides his family, I am the only one that knows it. I say two words: “Brother be”. It’s our code for “I am in trouble and I’m sorry”. I tell my guard about the body in my room and at my condo. I instruct him to destroy them. I need to look for Gabby.

I flash to her apartment. I can smell her sweet perfume so I know she has been here. I see her suitcase packed, but still sitting on the floor. I look around and find nothing. My phone rings. Derrick. “Oh, thank god, you’re ok. It was shifter demons. I need to find Gabby.”

“How long where they here?” He doesn’t even question me. We trust each other that much.

“Meet me at Gabby’s.”

Within minutes, he shows up. “The last time I was here, I told you I was taking Gabby away.”

“So it was the
demon
that came back and told me you had changed your mind because she had wings, and you wanted to know what she was.”

“Seven days. Why did it take me so long to figure it out?”

“Don’t blame yourself. I didn’t figure it out, either. I just watched him hurt her because she wouldn’t leave. I knew there was something wrong, but I never thought that it
wasn’t
you.”

“My track record is that I have always picked my job over any woman in my life, so I don’t blame you. Gabby is different. She makes my world right. I would quit torturing and killing demons if she wanted me to. Furthermore, if she wanted me to step down as a leader, I wouldn’t hesitate. She is my missing piece.” I grab my chest. “That’s what this tattoo means. Shit, that’s what Lash told her. He has her. I bet you
anything
he has her. Now I just have to find a way into hell. I need to find the Oracle.”

“Yeah, it had to be him who sent the shifter demons, but what does he want with Gabby?”

“Exactly what you said. She is the missing piece.” I turn to see this beautiful woman with the exact same hair and nose as Gabby.

“I am her mother, and your way into hell.”

I know my mouth must be wide open. “You’re alive? Why the hell did you leave your daughter alone?!”

“I never left her. I was always looking out for her. I couldn’t live on earth, and she is part demon so she can’t live in heaven. I didn’t want her in hell with her father so we decided on a human family.”

“How could an angel like you be with a demon? What do you mean you are my way into hell?”

“Love finds its way to everyone. I can get you into hell, but it is not going to be easy or soon. I want her out of there. It is an awful place.”

“How do I know I can trust you?”

“You feel it in your heart.”

“Who is Gabby’s father?”

“He is a very powerful demon by the name of Damon.”

“What do we call you? I know who Damon is.”

“You can call me Willow.”

“What do I need to do to get Gabby back? When can I kill Lash?”

“It’s not that easy. I need to get in touch with Damon so he can help us.”

“I don’t need a demon’s help. A demon
did
this.”

“You are going to have to get over your hate. You are going to need the help of some if you want Gabby back. That is just how it’s going to be.”

“Whatever. I just want Gabby. There is no telling what he is doing to her right now.”

“We will talk again, as soon as I hear from Damon. Don’t do anything stupid, please. I will be back. I just can’t give you a definite length of time.”

Before I can say anything, she disappears. I look at Derrick, who still has his mouth wide open. I shake my head at him. “Close your mouth, dude.”

He takes his hand a pushes his chin up. “Sorry, but she was the real deal. I have never met a true angel.”

“It’s not that big a deal.” I shake my head. “She left Gabby to fend for herself and didn’t even warn her about what she is. I don’t know if I can trust her.”

“We have to. It is our only way into hell. You’re not going to find just any demon that will let you in and show you around. We need to be smart if we are going to get Gabby out and survive.”

“I know. I don’t want to wait, though.” We head back to the house to see what other damage the demon caused.

Y
esterday my world came crashing down and all I can do is sit and wait. I have punched holes in the walls, and destroyed the punching bag in the gym. Everyone is staying away from me because they know I am unstable. I have to do something, anything. I grab my weapons and decide I need to hunt down some demons. I can ask questions and take out some of my anger at the same time.

I reach the armory to grab a few more things I may need when Derrick shows up beside me. “We hunting demons?”

“Yep.”

“About time, man. I was about to go crazy.”

We don’t need to say anything else. We gather our things and go on the hunt, finding our first demon preying on a girl in the alley. Demons drink blood just like vampires but, unlike vampires, they sometimes eat their victims. Now, not all demons drink blood and eat humans, but most do. I have never seen one that didn’t. I need to take out my anger more than I need answers at this point so I walk up and slice the demon’s arm off. The girl drops to the ground, dead. The demon turns on us, but before he can do anything, I attack, cutting his other arm off. I then slice right through his neck and watch his head fall to the ground. I call the clean-up crew and head to another hot spot. I am not even close to being finished.

We walk around for about thirty minutes before we find two more just mingling in the streets. Derrick and I both grab a demon and flash us to the back alley. This time, instead of using a weapon, I use my fists, hitting his face until I can’t make any out any of his features. He is still able to breathe so I ask him if he knows anything about Gabby.

“Oh, your precious woman is being devoured by Lash every minute she is with him. He is torturing her with pleasure, and she is enjoying it. She doesn’t want you anymore, especially since you almost killed her.” The demon laughs.   I can’t take it so I stab him in the heart. Derrick calls it in this time. What the demon said has set me off. I need to get to Gabby. I can’t live without her.

We find more demons and, instead of asking questions, I just slice them up and move to the next. I do this until the sun comes up. I flash back home and jump in the shower, rinsing all the blood and gore off. I haven’t stopped thinking of Gabby in pain, and her thinking it was me causing it. She needs to know I would never do anything like that. Hell, my people are looking to me, waiting for me to find her. They need her, too. Everyone here loves Gabby. She just has that way about her. I break down in the shower, letting the water wash away my tears. I can’t make it without her.

When I’m all cried out, I climb into my empty bad. The sheets have been changed so they don’t have her smell. I burned the ones that were on here with the demon. I get up and grab her bathrobe. It still smells strongly of her. I place it on my pillow and pass out.

I wake up and mope around until the sun sets. Then I get ready, and Derrick and I head out. More demons go down, but we don’t get any new information. It’s just the same old story. She hates me and never wants to see me again. I am losing my mind, worried about what he is doing to her.

I
t has been a month since Gabby’s mom came, and I am getting tired of waiting. I have dealt with everything the demon messed with, and changed every password we have. There is no telling how many of those shifter demons he has, but I haven’t run into any on my nightly demon kills. I walk into my closet and see all of Gabby’s clothes. I grab her favorite dress and smell it. It is then that I remember I haven’t put her ring in her jewelry drawer. I walk out and grab it off the dresser, where I’d put it after I took it off the demon’s finger. When I take it and go to place it in the drawer, I see a piece of paper with my name on it in Gabby’s handwriting. I put the ring down and grab the note. I don’t know if I want to read it. I’m not sure when she put it in there. It could say she hates me, or never wants to see me again. I open it slowly.

Dear Neeko,

I know that you were not you when you were hurting me. That was not the real Neeko I fell in love with. If you ever get to being the real Neeko again, which I hope you are since you found this note, find me because I still love you. I can never
not
love you, my real Neeko.