Hawk and Hero didn’t get much of a chance to talk to each other again before Hawk clocked out for the night. He did give Hero a small wave goodbye, though, receiving one in return. Once outside, he hurried to his truck, and climbed in, checking his messages.

Toji had sent the address and location of where he needed to go with a follow up message of, Keep it clean.

Hawk rolled his eyes. Didn’t he always?

Careful not to speed, he drove south toward the rougher part of town. He knew this area pretty well; he met Sumi here on occasion. Even the place he was being sent to was somewhere he’d been once or twice before. Not exactly for this particular reason, but he wasn’t a stranger either way. 

Once arrived, he made sure to park somewhere inconspicuous. His truck was a lifted black Chevy Silverado 2500 with a one foot lift kit, K-bar, custom lights, steel cattle guard, and decals, making it highly distinguishable. He may be familiar with the area, but he didn’t want anyone from work knowing he came here.

He approached the old warehouse from the back where a large man stood guarding the door. When he saw Hawk, he stood straighter, arms lowering to his sides. Hawk focused on his appearance, his eyes glowing as his pupils narrowed, one mark appearing from just above his ear to stretch down just past the corner of his eye. The man nodded and let him in. The mark receded but his eyes remained the same. The place was dark and he needed to be able to see. He may have more heightened senses than mortals, but the absolute darkness was still something he needed a little extra help with getting through.

He walked down the stairs and through a narrow passageway that curved to the left at the end. In that corridor were several doors that led to different rooms, and one that led to the main work floor that had been converted to an underground club.

He stepped through the door that was directly across from it, trying to ignore the steady beat and scratching of the music behind him. He knocked twice, paused, then once more. 

Charlotte Graves opened the door, her stoney face greeting him. “You’re early.”

“I just couldn’t wait to see you again,” he said, giving her a wide grin, his fangs slowly making an appearance.

She shook her head and moved aside to let him in. She closed the door and pointed to a couch against a far wall. “He’ll be here in a minute with your present.”

Hawk swallowed back the saliva that had begun to pool in his mouth, his hands shaking with excitement. How long had it been…two, maybe three months?

“I shouldn’t have allowed this after the little stunt you pulled last night,” Charlotte said, taking a seat in the high back armchair in front of him. She crossed one leg over the other and rested her elbow on the arm rest, her cheek on her fist as she stared at him.

“No one saw me this time,” he argued.

“This time,” she snapped. “I had to wipe that girl’s memory before she could tell anyone. It was either that or fire her, and she’s a damn good worker.”

Hawk averted his gaze. Felicia really was a good worker…

“Since it was only a tiny bit of magic used and you managed to keep it under control, I was able to convince Sumi to move forward with this. You really have improved a great deal lately,” she acknowledged. “Just remember, Hawk Helman, your contract is still in place. Go too far and you’re facing a century in chains.”

He would have snickered, but he’d done almost a decade suffering that punishment once. He was forced to watch as other demons got to do what he was about to while unable to share in the spoils. Of course, that was only a part of it. He swallowed and nodded.

“I got it,” he said under his breath.

She stared at him a moment, assessing him. “You made a friend tonight,” she said in a more friendly tone. “Two of them, actually.”

He glanced at her. There was absolutely nothing friendly about her gaze; it was more threatening than anything. Charlotte Graves was one of the most notorious when it came to torturing souls in Hell. She got a kick out of it, actually, something he had once admired but was now nearly sickened by. The fact she mentioned Hero and Elaine at all made his stomach clench.

She hadn’t done so out of pride…she’d done so as a true threat. Fuck up once, and they would pay the price, including Jordan.

Before he could respond, Sumi entered the room. He was a short, lean man with long dark hair that reached his waist. He was dressed in the traditional Korean hanbok style, his hair tied up, his olive skin smooth and his dark almond eyes possessing a deadly calm. When he saw Hawk, he gave a small smile and a bow.

“Good to see you again, my lord,” he said.

Hawk frowned and he worked hard to keep his eyes in place. “Sumi,” he replied.

The smaller man stood straight and folded his arms into his sleeves. “I wanted to chat with you a moment before I bring you your reward.” His eyes slid to Charlotte who got up and walked through the door Sumi had arrived through, closing it gently behind her. Sumi took her place in the chair.

“How have you been, my lord?”

“I’ve asked you a hundred times to stop calling me that,” Hawk said, his annoyance at the title clear.

“I certainly can’t call you by your name, now can I?” He wasn’t referring to the one Hawk had now. “You have earned that station and should likewise be addressed as such.”

“That ‘station’ was taken from me when I was exiled,” Hawk said. “I have no name, no title, no position of any kind, upper rank or not. It’s been that way for over a thousand years and isn’t going to change. Not ever.”

Sumi’s smile became more sinister. “And who’s fault is that, my lord?”

Hawk wanted to tear his head off.

“Again I ask you, how have you been?”

Hawk sighed. “Fine. I’ve been able to restrain my powers and keep control over my changes. I haven’t taken on my form since the incident.”

“Not once?”

“Not once.”

“In any capacity?”

Hawk averted his gaze. “A few slips, maybe, but nothing that couldn’t be contained.”

Sumi nodded. “As expected when in a heightened state of emotion or when you use magic for too long, I expect.”

“If I keep it under a minute, I’m fine.”

“I’d rather you not use it at all, my lord. It was but a fraction of that power that led to destruction and death for hundreds of people, recall.”

Hawk had nothing to say to that. 

“The power you have is intoxicating and unique, as you know.”

“So everyone keeps reminding me,” Hawk muttered. “I didn’t ask to—”

“And yet you are,” Sumi interrupted. “It is why it is more difficult to practice full restraint. The amount of power you consumed in your time of bloodletting is unparalleled. Demons even now don’t dare touch the level you achieved, not even the Devil Kings. Not even Lucifer himself.”

“So, you’re saying they’d do better in my position?”

“Likely so.”

Hawk folded his hands between his knees. The truth of the matter was, Sumi wasn’t telling him anything he didn’t know. He was aware, even back then, of how powerful and deadly he was. At his height, his own King had told him he could take Lucifer’s throne if he wanted to and no one could stop him. In fact, he had even joked he could dethrone God.

I almost succeeded in killing the bastard. 

“I’m trying, Sumi,” he said after a while. “I took your advice when we first started this thing and made friends, surrounded myself with people who could keep me leveled out, threw myself into activities to keep my mind occupied, even got a boring-ass job to keep me out of trouble.”

“You also whored around, drank to excess, consumed a copious amount of drugs, and even hurt a few people in the process.”

He squeezed his hands together. “At least they’re not dead,” he said weakly. He inwardly flinched at the lie, hoping Sumi didn’t catch it. 

“Fortunately for you,” Sumi nodded. He leaned forward in his seat. “Do better, my lord. For your own sake. Settle down, find a woman, have a family.”

“HA!” Hawk exploded with laughter. “Is that meant to be some sort of sick joke? Have a family, are you fucking kidding me? That would only make shit that much worse and you know it.”

Sumi chuckled. “Yes, you do have a valid point. True connections are simply not possible for one in your position. Especially since Redemption is denied to you alone.”

Hawk’s whole body seized as he fought against the urge to murder the mid-rank demon before him. He did not need to be constantly reminded that he would never go home. Every other demon and angel that had been exiled had a chance to atone for their crimes, but not him. Lucifer had made that abundantly clear when he was literally thrown from the Veil.

“It won’t be long before your mind finally breaks,” Sumi said, his voice smooth and mocking. “When you finally pray for the death you will never receive, when you have watched the very last person you will ever care for turn to dust before your eyes, I hope I’m there for that moment, my lord. The moment you return to your former self and destroy the world that has driven you mad.” His grin dripped of malevolence. “Only then will I get my own reward.”

Hawk could barely restrain himself as his eyes changed, his fangs protruded, and his facial marks crept in. 

Sumi stood and knocked once on a panel in the wall. “If you would be so kind, my lord,” he said as the panel opened and two men walked in with a man held between them, struggling and screaming behind the gag in his mouth, begging to be let go. “Do try not to get any blood on the carpet. It’s new.”

Sumi walked out of the room with the other two men, closing the door behind them, leaving the man marked for death alone with a very hungry demon.

Immediately, Hawk’s instincts kicked in and he pulled his hoodie off. It, too, was new. He smiled wide, his laughter insane and wild, his eyes now completely yellow, his pupils narrow slits. His entire body was covered in the black marks outlined in red, his claws were exposed and ready for use. A part of his mind went completely black and his core thrummed with a wild heat. Whatever humanity Hawk Helman usually possessed was now completely overridden, leaving behind a shadow of the demon he used to be, but still very dangerous. The man tried to run, to scream for help, begging for someone, anyone to let him out as he clawed the wall.

Hawk advanced on him, his veins throbbing with bloodlust. “Yes,” he growled. “I love it when they struggle and fight back. It makes it so much more fun for me.” With one good leap, he grabbed the man’s hair and yanked his head back, plunging his fangs deep into his throat, silencing his screams forever.

-*-