The time: early afternoon. Cole tossed and turned in his bed for what felt like an eternity. He tried to rest as Zafira suggested, but his mind flooded with anxiety, uncertainty, dread, even a little fear. He had come this far, and if Zafira delivered on her promise, he would know exactly what happened to Maria in a matter of hours.

Cole also thought about the journey getting here. To think, not long ago, he had no clue of the existence of demons or angels. Now they were his everyday companions.

He reminisced his time with Zafira. How they met; the ‘fun’ they had in the shower and with Stacy and Anariel; the ‘not quite as fun’ times in the park and in Penny’s apartment. While not always pleasant, those were among the most vivid moments of his life, and no matter what happened tonight, he could never forget.

Cole found himself unable to sleep. He drifted into his kitchen, made a pot of too-bitter coffee, and sat at the table piled high with Maria’s case files. He sifted through the files and photos one last time, more to pass the time than make headway. He had wasted too much time like this already.

If only he had met Zafira sooner…

Hours passed inexorably. Cole became stir-crazy and impatient the later it got. Sunset encased the apartment windows in darkness. Cole retrieved the jar containing the priest Gabriel’s heart from the refrigerator, along with the vial of virgin’s essence, and the angel feather. He eased into his living-room couch and placed the items on the coffee table, compulsively staring at them as he awaited Zafira’s arrival.

Cole’s heartbeat skipped at the familiar noise of his walls vibrating. She had finally arrived! A glowing gateway appeared in his living room and admitted the superbly sexy succubus Zafira, dressed in her short black summer dress, knee high boots, thigh high stockings, and leather jacket.

“It’s about time!” Cole growled impatiently.

“I needed the rest,” she yawned, staring at the coffee table. “I see you’re ready to go.”

“Yes. So, what’s going to happen? Anything I should know about?”

Zafira sat on the couch next to him. She crossed her legs languidly. “It’s quite simple, really. I perform the ritual and you ask Maria who killed her.”

“What?!” Cole shouted. “Ask her? Maria? She’s dead! You said yourself she was gone no matter what.”

“Yes, that’s true. Since she’s gone our ritual will bring her back.”

Cole looked at Zafira with contempt. “Do you mean to tell me, after all this time, this ritual is to desecrate my wife’s grave and resurrect her from the dead?”

“You’re over-thinking things,” Zafira laughed. “Let me be clear: we’re not ‘resurrecting’ anyone. Not even an Aspect could accomplish such a feat.”

Zafira turned to Cole and grabbed his hands. “Look. When Maria died, her soul became one with the planet. Over time, a soul will separate into smaller and smaller fragments until nothing is left. Fortunately, Maria’s death wasn’t that long ago, so her energy hasn’t dissipated yet. This ritual will summon those fragments back together to form an apparition we can speak to.”

“By apparition you mean… ghost?”

Zafira nodded. “More or less, yes.”

Cole collected his thoughts. “Will it… will it really be her?”

“Yes. However, you won’t have much time to get the information you require. The ritual consumes the soul energy of the one summoned at an accelerated rate. I estimate five to ten minutes before she’s gone forever.”

Cole’s heart ached at the thought of ‘gone forever’. It would be goodbye forever this time. In the back of his mind, Cole wondered if he would have the strength to see her fade into nothingness.

Zafira stood from the couch. “Are you ready? We need to go where she is buried, so I will let you drive us there.”

Cole collected the reagents from the coffee table. “Before we go — I just wanted to say thank you, for everything.”

Zafira shook her head. “You may not be thanking me after tonight.”

He looked at her, puzzled. “Why?”

Zafira paused. “Nothing. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.”

xxxxx

A dour rain pounded them on the drive to Evergreen Cemetery where Maria’s body was buried. Cole and Zafira stepped from his car and walked through soggy grass to Maria’s grave, their path occasionally illuminated by bright flashes of lightning.

“Is this storm going to be a problem?” Cole asked, pulling his trench coat over his head.

Zafira was completely unconcerned with the storm. Her long hair and thin black dress, completely soaked, blew wildly in the savage wind. “Actually, it will be beneficial. Lightning will hide our presence here. How much further?”

“It’s just over there,” Cole pointed.

The storm’s fury mounted. They stood before the headstone marked “Maria Harvey”. Fierce gusts slashed at Cole’s clothing as if some cautionary force was trying to warn him away. He braced against the storm, lest he tumble over from the wind’s wicked power.

Zafira knelt to gather the pile of dead flowers Cole had left and toss them to the wind. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

Cole nodded. “What do you want me to do?”

“First, I need you to place your wedding ring on the headstone.”

“My wedding ring?” he protested.”

Zafira scowled through her wet blowing hair. “I require something with a strong emotional attachment to her. Your ring is the obvious choice. Without it, we cannot proceed.”

Cole gazed at the ring on his finger, the symbol of the happiest moment in his life. He briefly pondered over how much he had to give up in order to find the answers he desperately sought. This was all that was left of her.

“Cole. The ring,” Zafira demanded.

Making his decision, he slowly twisted the ring from his finger and placed it on the headstone.

“Good. Now hand me the heart.”

Following her instructions, Cole handed over the small jar that contained Gabriel’s heart. She unscrewed the tight lid and held the raw bloody organ in her left hand. It seemed to smoke slightly.

Zafira chanted demonic words. Her bloody hand glowed in a faint purple light. As she channeled her magic, she squeezed the heart, drawing a pentagram-like symbol on the ground with congealed blood. The blood eerily stayed in place, never washing away despite the fierce storm.

“Now, the feather and the essence,” Zafira commanded, holding out her demanding right hand.

Cole passed her the items. Zafira grasped the vial in her bloody hand and dipped the angel’s feather in the virgin’s essence with the other. The feather sparkled and shone brightly, illuminating the dark cemetery in uncanny light. Holding the feather high, Zafira shouted more demonic verses as loud thunderbolts crackled.

Then, silence. She released the feather. It swayed slowly towards the ground, defying the gusting winds beating at Cole and Zafira’s faces.

When the angel’s feather touched the blood-soaked ground, the symbol she had drawn instantly sprouted flames as if the feather were a lit match and the blood were gasoline. The bright blaze burned with the intensity of Hell itself; rain droplets turned to steam long before reaching the glow. Zafira stood in the flames and held her fist high. She channeled simmering power into her bloody glowing hand. And, with a final abhorrent shout, she slammed her fist into the ground with such force it knocked Cole off his feet, sending him several feet backwards.

When Cole climbed out of the mud, only a gentle rainfall remained as the fierce storm subsided. The flames from the ritual were gone, leaving a charred symbol with a small crater in the center.

Cole walked to Zafira. The demoness was on her knees, panting heavily, shaking dizzily. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” she huffed, out of breath. The ritual obviously took a lot of energy from her.

“Is it done? I don’t see anything.”

“Give it… a moment.”

He stood in the now gentle rain while Zafira caught her breath. Several minutes passed — and no ghost. Zafira sensed Cole’s nervousness. She stood beside him and folded her hand into his.

“Be patient,” she said, squeezing his hand.

He appreciated Zafira’s attempt to comfort him. Her slender hand fit perfectly in his.

Several more minutes passed. Cole’s faith in the ritual started to fade.

Has all this work been for nothing?.

Just when all of Cole’s hope was lost, he saw a small light floating in the air. At first he thought it was a firefly, but the greenish hue of the light suggested otherwise. Several more appeared from all directions: the dark sky, the trees, even the muddy ground. Before long, Cole and Zafira were completely surrounded in a swarm of these pale green orbs, all seemingly gathering at the epicenter of Zafira’s ritual. The tiny lights swirled in a vortex, collecting together. They formed a larger orb that glowed so brightly Cole had to turn his head.

The light faded. Cole turned back around to behold the faintly glowing image of a naked blonde woman who floated just above the ground. He recognized that figure.

“Maria?” Cole called out.

“Cole?” the semi-transparent woman spoke in an ethereal voice, “Is that you?”

Cole released Zafira’s hand and darted for the ghostly specter. He stopped in front of her and smiled, unable to believe that his wife was once again with him. He quickly realized it was not all of her when his hand passed through her as if she was nothing but air.

“Yes, it’s me Maria. I’ve missed you so much!”

“Where am I? Am I really…”

Cole hung his head low, unable to look at her after such a question. “You’re at Evergreen Cemetery.”

“I see. So I’m really dead.”

Tears formed in Cole’s eyes. “I’m so sorry Maria. I wasn’t there to protect you. You were so good to me and-”

“Don’t blame yourself Cole,” Maria interrupted. “You know as well as anyone that these things happen, you see it all the time being a detective. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it.”

“I still should have been there! I could have-”

“Ahem,” Zafira coughed loudly, interrupting the conversation.

“Oh! Who’s your lady friend?” Maria asked.

“I am the demon who summoned you, spirit,” Zafira said coldly.

“Demon?!” Maria yelled. “Cole! What is the meaning of all this? What are you doing with a demon?!”

Cole frowned, tears running down his cheeks. “There are so many things I want to talk to you about, but we haven’t much time. You’ve been dead for two years now and I’ve not brought the person who did this to you to justice. I’ve tried everything, sacrificing everything but my soul. I failed you while you were alive; this is my last chance at redemption.”

“Cole, you don’t have to do this.”

Cole looked at Maria with a fierce expression. “Maria, please tell me what happened that night.”

Maria turned her back to Cole. After a long pause, she finally spoke. “I can’t.”

“You can’t?!” Cole shouted. “Why not? Give me something to go on! A description, an accent, hair color, anything!”

Cole noticed that even though Maria was only a ghost now, she was still capable of feeling emotion. She sobbed to herself, conflicted on what to do. She finally turned to him. “I can’t because I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Hurt me? How?”

Maria hesitated. “That night, I was waiting for you to get home. I heard a knock on the door, thinking it was you, but it was someone else. Someone you know.”

Cole’s blood boiled. “Someone I know? Who?”

Maria stayed silent, unable to look at him.

“Maria! There isn’t much time! Who was it?!” Cole shouted.

She turned to him. “F-Frank Wallace.”

Cole instantly saw red, pacing back and forth. Frank? Frank?! This entire time the son-of-a-bitch was right under his nose?! Unthinkable! How could he have missed it? The case! Frank was in charge of her case! He’s been covering things up since the beginning! Now that he has Clair in custody, he thinks he can get away with his crime forever.

Zafira stepped forward. “That isn’t all, is it, Maria?”

“Isn’t all of what?” Cole said through his clenched teeth. “What are you talking about?”

Maria stayed silent, sobbing among herself.

“Tell him!” Zafira shouted at her.

Maria shook her head. “Don’t make me do this, please!”

“Tell him! He deserves to know!” Zafira demanded.

“Tell me what?” Cole inquired, looking at Maria.

Maria wept heavily. “The baby,” she whimpered, “was his.”

Cole was struck dumb. Nothing in the universe could have prepared him for those words. It was not believable. No way would Maria cheat on him, and with Frank of all people. Impossible!

Cole laughed maniacally. “I get it now, Zafira! This isn’t Maria. This is one hell of a cruel joke you played on me. The game is over.”

Zafira looked Cole in the eyes, her expression one of complete sympathy. “That is Maria, Cole. She speaks the truth. Whether you choose to accept reality is up to you.”

“When I found out I was pregnant,” Maria explained, “I took a strand of your hair to have a paternity test performed. When I found out the results were negative, I didn’t know what to do. When Frank showed up that night, I told him about the baby and that it was his. He became furious, dragged me up the stairs, and tied me to the bed. After that, I only remember pain, gunshots, and then everything went black.”

Cole’s mind filled with rage, replaying that night’s events in his head. The moment the sick fuck found out she was pregnant, he decided to kill her, but not before raping her first. He raped her, shot her twice in the stomach, then ended her life with a shot to the head. Being a detective himself, Frank knew he could use ammonia to corrupt any DNA samples of his sperm, which he found plenty of in the cleaning solution under the bathroom sink.

“How did you know she wasn’t telling me everything? Did you know about this the whole fucking time?!”

“Not the whole time,” Zafira explained. “I stumbled upon it completely by accident when we went after Antonio Santana. Antonio and several police officers including Frank are on the payroll of that sex trade organization you’ve been tracking. You were getting too close to bringing their empire down like a house of cards. Antonio, who was Travis Dunham’s right hand man, tasked Frank with the duty of keeping tabs on you and, if need be, eliminate you. He came for you that night but instead was met by Maria, who then told him about the pregnancy. After the murder, Frank told Antonio everything. They planned to pin your murder on Markus anyway, so pinning Maria’s death on him made no difference. It gave them a clean getaway. That is, until you got me involved.”

Cole’s anger mounted. “You knew this and didn’t tell me? Why didn’t you fucking tell me Zafira?!”

“Would you have believed me if I tried?!” Zafira shouted back. “You needed to see this for yourself, to follow through with it to the very end.”

Cole felt a level of betrayal he never knew was possible. The void in his heart quickly filled with infinite vengeful rage.

“Why Maria?” Cole pleaded. “Why would you do this to me? To us?”

“I never meant to hurt you Cole. I loved you! But you were always on the job and I was very lonely at times. I would try to reach out to you, but your work always seemed more important than me. You rarely paid attention to me anymore. In the midst of my depression, I was seduced by Frank’s charms. He made me feel desired and wanted, taking me out to lunch several times while you were at work. He later kissed me. It felt so wrong — but I was too starved for attention that it didn’t seem to matter. I couldn’t resist making love to him time and time again. I tried to stop, but I was too weak.”

Cole brushed away his tears. “Nothing was more important than you. I would have given up my career to make you happy. I’ve been through hell, risking certain death, just to be able to talk to you like this. I’ve been lost without you and now I find out that my whole life has been nothing but a lie!”

“Cole! Wait! I-”

Maria was out of time. The particles that made up Maria’s spirit once again separated in a bright flash. The tiny orbs scattered throughout the cemetery then fizzled into nothingness.

Cole turned his back. “Good-bye Maria. May you rest in peace.”

“Where are you going?” Zafira asked as Cole stormed past her.

Cole gave no reply. He rushed to his car, driven by hatred so intense it had consumed him. Intending to finish what he began, he sped off, leaving Zafira behind.

xxxxx

Cole parked his car a few blocks from Frank’s suburban home. He reached into his glove box and retrieved his service revolver. After making sure it was fully loaded, he walked through the neighborhood to Frank’s house.

Peering through the front living room window, he saw Frank sitting on his couch, cheering at the basketball game on his TV. Frank seemed alone. Perfect.

Cole walked up Frank’s porch and knocked on the front door with the pistol concealed in his pocket. He knocked several times, and again, before Frank finally opened the door.

“Cole? Jesus man, you’re soaked! What are you doing here?”

Seeing the man who ruined his life face-to-face instantly transformed Cole’s usual cool-headed demeanor into that of a crazed madman. He pulled out his revolver, pointing it at Frank’s forehead.

“Back inside. Now!” Cole commanded.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” Frank shouted, retreating backwards into his house.

Cole shut the door behind him. “Did you really think I wouldn’t figure it all out?”

Frank looked at Cole, confused, “What the hell are you talking about? You’ve completely lost it, Cole!”

Cole’s free hand struck Frank’s nose with full force, making a loud crunch of knuckles hitting cartilage. “No more lies!” he said, striking him again, sending Frank to the floor.

With his revolver pointed down at Frank, he spoke with steely fury. “I know everything, you piece of shit! About your involvement in the sex trade, you fucking my wife in my own bed, and you raping and murdering her!”

Frank looked at Cole with utter shock. “I’m impressed.” He wiped blood from his face. “How’d you figure it all out?”

Cole sent a hearty kick straight to Frank’s ribs. “How, is of no consequence.”

Frank groaned. “I suppose not. Much like it is of no consequence keeping secrets anymore. I should have killed you when I had the chance, but no, Maria had to botch everything by getting knocked up. For a while, killing her turned out to be just as good. You were too busy moping to continue your investigations. But it seems you can’t just let sleeping dogs lie.”

Frank smiled sardonically. “I will admit — she was a fine piece of ass. She would cum time and time again as if she hadn’t gotten off a day in her life. For all I know, maybe she hadn’t. She was way out of your league. It took a real man to please her.”

Cole kicked Frank again. He pressed his foot down on the side of Frank’s head with all his might. “Real men don’t rape or murder women.”

Frank cackled amid his pain. “So what do you plan to do, huh? Arrest me? Good luck trying to explain this broken nose in court.”

Cole pulled the hammer back on his revolver and put the barrel directly against Frank’s temple. “Now isn’t the time to be smug, you arrogant prick!”

Frank laughed, “Go ahead, do it. I doubt you have the balls, though. And even if you do, either our fellow policemen or my organization will find you.”

Cole pressed the barrel hard against Frank’s skull. His hand shook from the anger and adrenaline coursing through his veins. In the beginning, he was content with justice; but now, only vengeance would suffice.

His tightening finger on the trigger stopped when he heard a woman’s voice.

“Think about what you’re doing, Cole,” Zafira said as she stepped through the front door.

“You stay out of this, Zafira!” Cole shouted.

Frank’s eyes peered up at Zafira. “Who the fuck are you?”

His face flashed ghost-white when he saw Zafira’s eyes glow bright red. His hand scooted across the floor against his will and stopped in front of his face. Slowly his index finger extended then instantly bent backwards on its own with a chilling sound of snapping bone. Frank screamed with agonizing pain.

“That’s who the fuck I am,” Zafira replied coldly.

“I told you to stay out of this!” Cole said over his shoulders.

Zafira shrugged. “By all means; kill him if you want to. Just do so knowing that you’re committing wrath, the worst sin of all. Your soul will become corrupt and we both know what that means.”

Cole grew tired of Zafira’s games. He stood above Frank, his gun pointed at the dirty cop’s head. He knew his future was forfeit if he killed him. If Zafira did not take his life and soul, the CPD would surely catch him, or the fuckers behind the sex trade. He had nothing left to live for. No family. A job he used to believe in that now was full of corruption. Maria was his life, and it had been fraudulent. All Cole had was this moment.

“Fuck being pure.”

Cole closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger, and again, and again. The sound of the gunfire was amplified by the small confines of Frank’s living room. The rapturous sound of vengeance was music to Cole’s mad ears.

With a deep sigh, Cole opened his eyes to gaze upon the aftermath of his revenge. To his surprise, there was no triumphant red mist. No satisfying silence. No dead body. Instead, the slugs he fired hovered in mid-air, frozen in time inches from Frank’s eyes.

“I can’t let you do that, Cole,” Zafira said with an extended arm, holding the bullets in place.

“God damn it! No! Let me have this, Zafira!”

Infuriated, Cole pressed the barrel of his gun against Frank’s temple. He tried pulling the trigger, but it was stuck, just like the bullets.

“No! Fucking die!” Cole shouted, tossing his gun to the side.

Cole’s mind fell into complete madness. His anger overflowed with the fiery passion of a thousand suns. He punched Frank’s face over and over again, beating him mercilessly. Zafira pulled Cole off Frank and held him tightly.

“Let me go!” Cole demanded.

“Not until you calm yourself! You’re hurting, I get that, but I won’t stand here and watch you damn yourself in a fit of rage.”

Cole struggled. “Why the fuck do you care?”

Zafira released him and spun him around. Her eyes locked on his. “Because you were right. You are more to me than just a plaything.”

Her words struck him to his very soul, snapping him out of his psychosis. “You… mean that?”

Zafira smiled, “Yes, I mean it. I deal in seduction, not lies. Remember? You are the closest thing to a friend I’ve ever had.” She held Cole in her arms again, this time not as tight. “Let me take care of him,” she whispered in his ear.

Cole looked at her with tear-filled eyes. “I want him to suffer, not have the pleasant send-off you have in mind.”

Zafira wiped a tear from Cole’s cheek. “Do you remember what I told you when you asked what happens when I take a soul?”

“Yeah. You consume their energy until nothing is left. So?”

“The process takes a very long time. Imagine being trapped in a cell for decades with no way out. In the cell, insects slowly eat away at your body, stinging and chewing at your flesh. Even when you’re nothing but bones, they continue to chew at you, and you feel every bite. That is precisely what it’s like when I consume a soul.”

Cole envisioned what Zafira’s scenario would feel like. It was not vicious enough, in his opinion. Still, it was far worse than anything he could do to Frank.

“Besides,” Zafira smirked, “who said anything about a ‘pleasant’ send-off?”

He did not know what she had in mind, but Cole knew from the wicked look on her face that it would be far from pleasant. “Fine,” Cole grumbled.

He knelt down and grabbed Frank by his bloody collar. “Enjoy your stay in Hell!”

“Fuck you!” Frank mumbled through his swollen, bloodied mouth.

After one last punch to Frank’s battered face, Cole stood, leaving him to his fate. Zafira’s eyes glowed red as she waved her hands. Frank was levitated in mid-air and then engulfed by a portal that quickly closed, removing him from the room.

“Where did he go?” Cole asked.

“My lair. This place is inadequate for my plans.”

Zafira turned to Cole. “Go home. You do not want to see what happens next. I’ll come to your apartment the moment I’m finished.”

“Just make him suffer,” Cole said coldly.

Zafira summoned a portal. “Promise me you’ll wait for me at your apartment.”

Cole nodded. “I promise.”

Zafira smiled. She stepped through the magical portal, leaving Cole to his grim thoughts.

Cole’s tormented mind had plenty to digest. He left Frank’s house for his apartment. He would wait for Zafira as he promised.

xxxxx

The magical gateway disappeared above Frank; he fell to the floor. He looked around, unsure of where he was or how exactly he got here. He had to find a way out, and fast.

Before he could get his bearings, Stacy, the red skinned devilkin, pounced on Frank and sank her razor sharp teeth into his arm.

“I see you’ve met my pet,” Zafira giggled over Frank’s screams as she entered the room.

“Help! Somebody help me!” he cried out.

“No one will hear you. This place is sealed by magic; no way in or out without my approval.”

Zafira snapped her fingers. Stacy released Frank and heeled at her Mistress’ side like an obedient Doberman. Frank struggled to move, writhing on the floor. Zafira extended her arm with an open palm. Frank rose off the floor and gravitated to Zafira’s hand, his throat docking in her firm grip.

She examined him clinically. “You look appalling. Cole did a fine job on your face. I’m sure he would have beaten you to death if I hadn’t stepped in.”

“What are you? What is he to you? Whatever he’s paying you, I can pay more. I know people, important people. I can get whatever you want. It’s yours — just let me go!”

“Cole is very special. I have spent centuries looking for someone like him. Nothing you have is more valuable than him.”

Zafira released her grip. Frank flew through the air towards the back wall of her lair. He slammed against the wall with a loud thud, helplessly pinned. Clothes shredded away from his body with a wave of Zafira’s hand as if his garments were only wrapping paper. Then, leather straps sprang to life, binding his wrists and ankles.

“Comfy?” Zafira asked, curling her lips in a vicious smile.

“Wha- What are you going to do to me?”

Zafira sashayed to the wall and gripped Frank’s quivering chin. “First, I can’t have you looking like this. Don’t mistake this as an act of kindness or mercy. I want your body pristine so that I can admire my handiwork when I’m through with you.”

Frank was not sure what she meant but he was certain it was not good. He watched the demoness put her palms together and murmur beneath her breath. Her hands glowed with pale light. She touched his cheeks. Bruises, gashes, and the broken nose miraculously healed within seconds. Even the index finger she broke earlier was back to it’s original condition.

“Now I must dress properly for this occasion.”

Zafira opened the Armoire beside her bed. She tossed her leather jacket on the bed and stripped off her rain-soaked black dress; her beautiful bare backside was clearly visible to Frank. She bent over, sorting through the Armoire’s bottom drawer. Frank felt an instinctive twitch in his loins as he viewed Zafira’s perfectly shaped ass and glistening peach.

Zafira found what she was looking for.

She sat on the edge of her bed and shucked off her knee-high boots. She reached into the drawer for a tangle of black patent leather and small steel chains. She wrapped a collar around her neck and donned a patent-leather bustier with an open bust; her large round tits protruded aggressively. The chains acted as shoulder straps when hooked to the collar. She laced up her matching thigh-high boots with steel-spiked heels and paired them with leather gloves that rose past her elbows. Finally, she secured her long raven colored hair in a tight ponytail.

Zafira stood. She glanced in a mirror and marveled at herself. “Ah! Feels good to be back in this outfit. Been far too long since I’ve tortured a human.”

Frank swallowed hard when he heard the word ‘tortured’. Despite abstractly knowing of his impending doom, Frank could not help himself — he sported a painfully-full erection at the sight of the dangerously sexy Zafira.

Zafira walked back to Frank. She grabbed one of her bullwhips off the wall and cracked it against the floor. She wrapped the whip around Frank’s neck, tightening it around his throat like a noose while firmly gripping his straining cock with her other hand.

“All your life you’ve been the dominator when it came to sex. That’s why you became involved in the sex trade in the first place, isn’t it? So you could act out your sadistic pleasures on helpless women, yes? Isn’t it strangely ironic how the roles are now reversed? You will do everything that I say, when and how I say it, or your death will be slow and agonizing.”

Zafira stood back a few feet. Frank’s eyes widened as she uncoiled her whip. With a quick jerk of her arm and a flick of the wrist the whip snapped across Frank’s naked chest.

“Oww, fuck!” he screamed. His bare skin beaded with cold sweat from the savage sting.

Zafira smiled wickedly. Oh, she relished the sound of his torment! The whip came across his chest again with a louder crack, followed by an even louder anguished scream. With each lash Zafira became more and more aroused, filling the room with her sweet-smelling pheromones. Each moment of his anguish was like erotic pillow talk to her. She whipped him until his chest was covered in weeping red welts.

The pain overwhelmed Frank to the verge of unconsciousness. Zafira held out her hand and released his bonds, sending Frank tumbling to the floor.

“Come over here,” Zafira demanded.

Frank could barely move. His body stung with every move he made as he hunched up to his hands and knees.

“Now!” Zafira shouted as she lashed his back with the whip.

Frank whimpered as he crawled toward Zafira. She gently flicked the whip at him; it wrapped around his neck like a leash. Frank gained a little speed as Zafira tugged on the whip, choking him towards her. He stopped at her feet.

“Lick!” she commanded.

Unsure of what exactly she meant, Frank stuck his tongue out, grazing the toe of her boot.

“Like you love it!” Zafira corrected, pulling on the whip.

Frank licked the toe and sides of both boots with long full licks. Zafira lifted her right leg, sticking the steel heel into Frank’s mouth. He sucked on her heel enthusiastically; he did not want it jammed down his throat, or worse.

She lifted her heel from his mouth and slammed it to the ground. “Very good. Now, higher.”

His tongue ran up the sides of her boots, occasionally kissing and suckling at the smooth leather. He continued past her knee, licking her inner thighs.

“Higher,” she jerked.

Frank’s tongue met the bare flesh above Zafira’s boots. Further up he went, his nose grazing her demonic nethers. He felt his engorged cock twitch as he inhaled her scent heavily, helplessly. She grabbed his head with a fist full of hair and pulled him away.

“Suck!”

Zafira smothered Frank’s face into her hungry pussy. He sucked on her swollen button and drank of her, unable to breathe. The sweet taste and smell drove him wild; he all but forgot the crisis at hand. Her hands held him mercilessly in place, not allowing him to draw a single breath. Dizziness set in. Just as he was about to pass out, Zafira released him. Frank gasped for air, his face covered in her Hellish juices.

“You’re not done!” Zafira scolded.

Taking the whip between her legs, Zafira pulled on it from over her shoulder, winching Frank’s face back to her pussy.

“Suck my pussy! No air until you make me cum!”

The whip choked the remaining life from Frank as he suckled Zafira’s clit with a newfound desperation. Her flavorful nectar melded with his strangled anoxia — an irresistible appetizer. He inserted fingers into her, hoping the added stimulation would send her over the edge before his lungs gave out. He sucked and jabbed in and out of her rapidly, clinging to his last ounce of oxygen.

His efforts paid off. Zafira let out a blaring screech as she orgasmed. She loosened her grip on the whip, allowing Frank to breathe as he tumbled to the floor.

“That was satisfactory,” Zafira declared, “but you’re not done sucking. Stacy! Fetch my toy!”

The red skinned devilkin grinned wickedly as she strolled to the back wall where all Zafira’s ‘toys’ hung. She knew exactly what her mistress desired; the ten-inch strap-on dildo. Stacy returned to her mistress with the strap hanging from her mouth. She knelt before Zafira and help slide the toy up her mistress’s leather covered legs, securing it in place over her mound.

“Good girl!” Zafira said, patting Stacy on the head. She glared at Frank. “Now then. Suck!”

Frank was hesitant. He never sucked a cock before, real or otherwise. Not even a homosexual thought in his life. He was not left with much choice. It was either do it, or be made to do it. He opened his mouth slowly and closed his eyes.

“That’s it, you whore. Suck my toy cock!”

The dildo entered Frank’s mouth. He lightly sucked on the head, then licked down the shaft.

“I said suck it!”

Zafira grabbed the back of his head and pushed him down the length of her toy, making him gag. She then pulled his head away, giving him a chance to clear his throat before shoving the dildo back in his mouth. He sucked more enthusiastically the second time, bobbing his head up and down. She thrust her hips, jabbing at the back of his throat.

“Keep sucking. Stacy, be a good girl and prep him.”

Frank could not focus on what ‘prep’ meant; his abused throat was stuffed with plastic cock. As he sucked, he felt something wet and wiggling moving on his asshole. He realized it was Stacy’s long demonic tongue. Her rimming of his tight hole felt surprisingly good; very fucking good! Her tongue slithered past his outer ring, darting in and out of him.

Frank’s pheromone-fogged mind released his inhibitions. He actually enjoyed sucking this plastic dick and having his asshole played with. Frank stroked his own cock as the two demons made him their filthy fuck-slut.

“I see you’re enjoying yourself now. Time for the big finish!”

Zafira moved backward and stretched her arm out. Frank was raised and suspended in mid-air, his back parallel to the floor. His arms were painfully stretched out to his sides by glowing purple magical chains that sprang from the walls. His legs, vertical and spread, were also bound by more chains that dropped from the ceiling. Zafira walked between his legs, resting the tip of her toy against his back entrance.

“You raped Maria before you killed her. It’s only fitting that I do the same to you.”

Zafira’s horns, wings, and tail sprouted from her sexy body, preparing to feed.

“Wait! No!” Frank cried out in terror at the sight of her demonic figure while he struggled against his bindings.

Zafira ignored his plea, stabbing through Frank’s tight asshole with her plastic cock. She made no attempt to be gentle. She speared his ass savagely, as rough and painful as she possibly could, grabbing his legs for leverage. Frank cried in vain, begging for a mercy that would never come. She drove into him with long fast strokes, making sure he felt every inch each and every time.

Before long, the pain turned to numbness and even perverse masochistic joy as Frank submitted to Zafira’s demonic will. Each time the head of her cock brushed against the thin wall by Frank’s prostate, he felt immense pleasure he had never experienced. His cock grew, standing tall, announcing his definite liking of what she was doing to him.

Zafira looked down at Stacy, who lay on the floor playing with her pussy. “You want to have some fun too, Stacy?”

Stacy excitedly nodded her head.

“Very well, help yourself.”

Stacy quickly stood. She straddled Frank’s head and squatted her molten hot pussy onto his mouth. Frank mumbled loudly into her dripping blistering sex while Zafira continued to vigorously fuck his asshole. He could not breathe, and her juices scalded his face.

Stacy enjoyed suffocating him. She mewled pleasurably and ground her pussy into his helpless face. The devilkin leaned forward and coiled her unnaturally long tongue around Frank’s throbbing cock. Her serpent tongue stroked him, covering his cock in her saliva.

“Time to finish this!” Zafira declared.

Stacy climbed off Frank; her lengthy tongue was still attached to his pole. He was very close to cumming, but Stacy’s tight grip delayed his release like a too-tight cock ring. Zafira pulled her strap-on out of Frank’s anus and perched her mouth above his member.

“You don’t deserve to die inside my pussy. Hell, you don’t deserve to die in my mouth, Frank. But alas, your life ends now.”

“Please! Don’t kill me!” he begged.

His cry for mercy fell on deaf ears. Zafira swallowed his cock all the way to Stacy’s tongue-grip of the base. The succubus vacuumed him with demonic strength, drawing vast amounts of blood to the tip of his dick. Her suction was painfully intense, but not enough to stop Frank’s final orgasm. When Zafira snapped her fingers, Stacy’s tongue let go, releasing a flood of Frank’s cum into Zafira’s mouth. She ingested everything; his cum, his life force, his soul.

Frank felt his very being separate from his shriveled form. He was drawn inside Zafira’s unholy body, tumbling inside a giant black vortex, flipping and flying helplessly through the void. His ears burned and bled from the roaring sound of countless souls screaming in agony.

The darkness that was now his prison took the shape of millions of flying red-eyed serpents. The creatures latched on to Frank with razor sharp teeth, seemingly leaving no wound — but their bite stung far worse than Zafira’s whip. He struggled in vain against them, desperately trying to escape the intolerable swarm of evil.

He realized this was only the beginning of his torment when he caught a glimpse of someone familiar: Travis Dunham, the owner of the club at the heart of the sex-trade ring. His ethereal body was chewed almost in half, leaving him in ceaseless pain. They made eye contact with each other for a brief moment. Travis then said something that sent Frank’s mind hurtling into the deepest pit of despair.

“They never stop!”

xxxxx

Cole sat on the edge of his couch in his apartment, waiting for Zafira as he promised. He popped the lid off his sixth bottle of beer, attempting to drown his sorrow. He felt a level of betrayal he never thought possible, as if his heart had been ripped from his chest and stuck in his face so he could watch it slowly stop beating.

His suffering mind clouded with anger that festered with each passing moment. Though he had accomplished his mission, he was deprived of any reward. He was not able to kill Frank to avenge Maria’s death by his own hand. But then, what was the point in trying to avenge someone who lied to you? It ate at him, knowing Frank had been fucking Maria; and now, even though he will die doing it, Frank would get to fuck Zafira too.

“That fucking bastard!” Cole shouted, breaking his fresh bottle of beer against the living room wall.

Cole looked at his pistol sitting on the coffee table. It was the intended instrument of his revenge. Now he wondered if it was his only escape from this hell. What did he have left to live for? A life of servitude to a demoness who keeps secrets from him? Some life that would be.

In the end, all the tears and spilled blood had been for nothing. The void in his heart had only grown. He held the revolver and checked the ammunition. Plenty there, though he only needed one.

A gateway flashed into existence on the other side of the coffee table and Zafira stepped through. For the first time, Cole beheld her scantly clad body and was not overrun with thoughts of lust.

“Nice outfit,” he drunkenly mumbled.

Zafira ignored his compliment and shed her dominatrix gear. “It is done.”

“How was he?” Cole snottily asked.

“I made him suffer as you requested. His soul tasted like burnt bread, if that’s what you want to know.”

“Did you enjoy fucking him? Like Maria did?” he grumbled.

Zafira scowled. “For your information, he only entered my mouth. If there was a simpler, less degrading way of taking his soul, I would have done it.”

Zafira looked at the revolver in Cole’s hand. “What are you planning to do with…?”

Her eyes glowed incandescent scarlet. She jerked the pistol from his hand and crushed it in hers. “Don’t you ever think again of doing that!”

“What does it matter to you, huh?” Cole shouted back, standing from the couch. “You said it yourself; you only care about your own fucking survival! You’re a demon, what the fuck do you know about love or compassion?!”

Zafira’s eyes glowed brighter than Cole had ever seen. Infuriated, she used her magic to jerk Cole across the coffee table. His head landed between Zafira’s hands. She glared into his eyes while pressing hard against his temples.

“If you’re going to kill me, do it!” he taunted.

Cole’s vision blurred as the pain in his mind escalated. His nose bled; the pain was infinitely worse than any migraine, even worse than Anariel’s “reading”. It was as if his brain was melting.

“Do it!” he shouted.

Zafira did not let up. The pressure she applied to his skull felt like a torturous vise. He rolled his eyes into the back of his head, accepting his doom. Cole’s limp body fell to the floor at Zafira’s feet.

THE END OF CHAPTER EIGHT