Savior (The Keepers of Hell Book 1) by DANIELLE JAMES Page B

spun around but no one was there. She moved through the house looking for an intruder, but found nothing. She shook it off as remnants of the dream and gave up on sleep entirely. Instead, she headed for the kitchen.
    ***
         Shax watched the doctor with a pleased smile on his face. So the little doctor was a murderer. Nice. Now he would have his cake and eat it too.

CHAPTER TWELVE
         Ash walked briskly through the caverns of Hell. He really wasn’t feeling like dealing with minions. He could hear them scampering after him, hiding in the corners. He could hear them whispering and grinding their teeth. To think, he had almost made it here for the rest of eternity.
         Before his near death experience, Ash thought he was prepared to face his fate. Not anymore. Not since he laid his lips on one lovely woman. He knew that he could never really have her, but he could watch her from a distance. Not something he could do if he were busy being filleted by various hell dwellers.
         Again he had to shake her from his mind. She was becoming a distraction, and in his line of work, he couldn’t afford distractions.
         It didn’t take him long to find the demon he sought. He was just closing a door that led to one of the many realms of Hell. This one was named Brillos. He was tall, but not taller than Ash, with olive skin and black eyes. His midnight black hair fell over his shoulders, and essentially, he appeared human. Ash knew he was anything but.
         He wasted no time. Ash crept up behind the demon and pulled a blade from his boot. Just as he was reaching for the fucker’s neck, it spun around on him. The demon’s hand squeezed Ash’s throat to the point of nearly crushing it. As Ash struggled to pull air into his lungs, he grabbed at the hand that was slowly strangling him.
         “What do you want?” the demon spat.
         “For… you… to… die,” Ash ground out. With his free hand, he pulled his knife up and shoved it into the demon’s stomach, ramming it upward into his chest cavity.
         The demon paused, but didn’t release Ash. In fact, he grinned. “You’re one of Shax’s lackeys, ain’t ya?” he asked. “Well, I got news for you. That pretty little knife of yours isn’t gonna kill me.”
         Ash’s head was swimming. First of all, who the fuck was Shax? Second of all, who was this demon that didn’t die like it was supposed to? And third of all, Ash was going to die if he didn’t get some oxygen in his lungs, quick.
         His survival instinct kicked in and Ash let go of his knife. He jerked his knee up into the demon’s groin and then punched it in the eye with his free hand. He kept punching. Blood was spurting from its nose before it finally let go of Ash’s throat.
         Air rushed into his lungs and Ash relished the burn. He would not be dying today. As he dropped to the ground, Ash kicked his leg out and connected with the demon’s knee. It buckled under the force and the demon howled. Ash kicked again, this time at its ankle. He heard a satisfying crunch as the bone of the demon’s ankle broke.
         As the demon went down, Ash snatched up his knife and leapt on top of it. He sat heavily on the thing’s chest and wailed on it with a flurry of fists. When he was satisfied that the demon wasn’t going anywhere, Ash raised his blade.
         “You can kill me,” the demon choked out, “but there will always be more. Shax will never let you have peace.”
         Ash paused. Demons lie, that was no secret, but now that he could think clearly, Ash thought Shax was the demon he had been working for. The same that he promised his soul to. The same one that sent him after this guy. And yeah, he already knew that his boss would never allow him peace. “I know that.”
         “But did you know he has you killing his competition for the throne?” the demon grinned through bloody teeth.
         Ash didn’t know what