Chapter Two

I thought that would be the end of it. I thought it was over and done with. Imagine my surprise when I got home and found a familiar figure lounging on my settee in my living room. I walked around the couch and sat across from him, shrugging off my jacket as I went. I crossed one leg over the other and looked at him.

"Father. What brings you to my humble abode?" I smiled. Dear old dad was everything you could imagine the devil to be, but not at the same time. He was a beautiful man with dark hair he always wore a little too long and dark eyes that were sometimes blue and others brown. Tall and muscular, built like a Grecian god and reeked of sex and all things evil. People imagine him with horns and a pointy tail, but he was once an angel after all and because of that he was beautiful and charming.

"My daughter." He said with easy affection. "I came to see you. Why would I need a reason to visit one of my favorites children?" he asked me with a wide grin showcasing his winning smile. He was lying though.

"I adore our visits, as you know," I told him truthfully, because yes, he was the devil himself, but he had always shown me affection and the daddy's girl in me adored it. "but I have a strange feeling this is not a purely social visit; you usually bring ice cream for those." I pouted playfully.

"I knew I was forgetting something. I will bring double for next time. Death by Chocolate, your favorite." He looked away from me then and off to the side. "The truth is, I did wish to see you and had planned a visit, but something has been brought to my attention that I felt took precedence." His words made me sit up more and I looked to him with a frown, when his eyes met mine again, I felt a chill roll down my back. "Constance and Devin are dead." I jerked back in my seat at his words. They were my father's two children before me.

"How is that possible?" I asked him, feeling true fear roll down my back this time.

"That is what concerns me. I do not know. You are one of my only remaining children in this realm now. I know that you will not go with me back to Hell. The other, he is new and has not met me yet. I need you to find him, bring him in and keep him safe. I do not know if it is by chance or if your siblings were targeted specifically. All I know is they are gone." His face drew up with grief. I stood up and poured myself into his lap, drawing him in for a hug. Physical affection wasn't entirely common for demons like me, usually, it was about the feed, thankfully my father was immune, and he didn't affect me either, which allowed us to be affectionate without it getting weird.

"Don't worry Father. I am sure it will be alright. I met him already, the kid had no clue. Two birds with one stone and all, I can keep him safe and teach him not to make a fool out of himself." I rubbed my father's back comfortingly and gave him a quick squeeze before I slipped off his lap next to him.

My father's face was still tight with worry, but he gave me a nod and a smile, trying not to let me see the full extent of his worry. "I am leaving a few of my men here with you. I know, I know" he put a hand up to stop my objections, "You can, of course, take care of yourself, but I would feel better if they were around. Humor your old man, will you?" he asked me, giving his own version of a pout, one that made me cave every damn time and he knew it.

"Fine. They can stay, but the moment they cramp my style I will be sending them back to you in the most painful way possible." I grumbled at him and I stood. "I'll go track the kid down, it hasn't been that long since I saw him, so it should be easy." I grabbed my jacket and slid it back on. "By the way, it's not attractive for the devil to pout to get his way, what will your council think?" I smirked, hearing his laughter filter behind me as I walked out the door.

Two hours later I finally found the kid's apartment where he lived, and I made my way up the stairs. I came up to the door and I knocked on it. It was coming up on 3 am, but I didn't care. "Little brother, open up," I called through the door before knocking again. I could feel him inside, but there was something else too, someone else. I wondered if he had found a new meal to take home with him, or perhaps he had a roommate. "I get it, I wouldn't want to open up either, but I am not going away, so you might as well open..." There was a grunt and a loud yelp on the other side. "Kid? You okay?" Another grunt and the sounds of a scuffle. I huffed a bit and stepped back, looking down the hallway before I pulled my leg up and with all my strength I kicked in the door. It swung inwards off its hinges.

My new found little brother was lying on his side, his hands bound, and his mouth gagged. Someone in all black stood over him, a gun aimed at his head. The person's face was covered in a mask, but I could see striking green eyes peering back at me. I walked in the room, not too worried about the gun itself.

"Well, this wasn't what I was expecting. Please tell me this is some kinky shit and not the real deal?" I looked down at the kid on the floor. "You okay kiddo?" he was glaring at me, I guess because I wasn't reacting as a human would. "What? Don't give me that look." I finally looked up into the green eyes of the would-be attacker and he was looking at me. I let my magic leak out of me, not holding it in as I usually did. It took some time, this guy had plenty of will power of his own, but I was stronger.

"Hey, big guy." I softened my voice "Why don't you take off that mask?" He resisted for a moment before he finally relented and pulled the mask off his face. He was, well handsome. I was expecting someone much uglier underneath. He had a chiseled face, those green eyes glinted like emeralds back at me, he had long dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail that I hadn't noticed poking out of the bottom of the mask. He had a layer of stubble on his cheeks, adding to his looks. He was tall, like at least 6'5, and was built like a guy who worked out every day. He looked like he belonged in a magazine, not here in my brother's living room.

"Tell me, handsome, what are you doing? What did my little brother do?" I asked him, moving closer to him as I spoke. He was fighting me; I could tell by how his jaw clenched.

"He owes money. I was sent here to get it." He told me through his teeth. I moved closer and rested my hand on his cheek. His whole face softened, and he leaned into the touch. I reached with my other hand and tugged the gun from it and tucked it into the waistband of my pants.

"Much better. Who sent you to get the money?" I asked him, keeping my voice soft and sweet. I hadn't even noticed that my brother had managed to wiggle over to me, he startled me a little as I felt his face touch my leg. Oops, too much magic in the room. He was rubbing his cheek against my leg and I cringed a little. I stayed focused on the guy in front of me as best I could.

"Garrison, Jonah Garrison sent me." The guy told me with a soft sigh. I knew who Jonah was, and I would have a chat with him later. He was a big crime boss here in New York, he had his fingers in a lot of different pies, but the biggest being gambling.

"And what's your name?" I asked him

"Jaxson. What's yours?" he asked me a little dreamily.

"Amari," I told him, keeping my hand to his face and his eyes closed. He repeated my name, but it fell off his full lips like a prayer. Oh, I was keeping this one. I hadn't had a human pet in a long time, but this one was attractive, and he didn't just cave to my magic. Even my half-brother wasn't immune as he was still rubbing his cheek against my leg affectionately. It wasn't exactly sexual in nature, but it was still uncomfortable. I didn't know the kid after all.

"Okay, Jaxson, how about me, you and my brother go to my place? We can hang out there for a while. I'll call your boss and get this whole mess sorted. How does that sound? Hm?" He blinked at me for a moment and then his gaze fell down to my brother for a moment, he had forgotten he was even there before his eyes met mine again.

"Whatever you want." He finally told me earnestly, and I smiled wide, giving him a nod. I moved my hand and for a moment he looked so forlorn at the loss of contact. I leaned down and untied my brother, pulling the gag from his mouth and helping him stand. He fell into me, wrapping his arms around me tightly. I hugged him back for a moment but then tried to pull his arms off, he wasn't letting go. I just patted his head and intended to let him ride out the rest of the effects my magic had on him.

"You're so pretty. I have the prettiest sister ever, and so smart and strong. You're amazing." He told me, rubbing his face against my shoulder like a cat. I sighed and finally pushed him away from me with a real effort. He let go and I smiled at him.

"You're damn right about that kid. Come on, let's get going. I don't want to be here if the cops show up about the door." I looked over at Jaxson who seemed to be confused, looking around the room like he couldn't decide what he was doing. "You to Jax, let's get going." I led them both out of the room and down to the elevators. Both of them still riding on a dopey little love cloud. "Oh yeah, what's your name kiddo?" I asked my brother. Forgetting for a moment that I never asked it of him, generally content to just call him kid or kiddo.

"Oh, It's Aaron, Aaron Crews." I nodded once and once we made it to the lobby area of his apartment building, I walked over to the manager's door and knocked. He opened it quickly. I explained what happened, or rather what I wanted him to think. The tale I spun was that my brother and his lover, being Jaxson, had been roleplaying and I thought it was serious, so I busted down the door. I paid for the damage, he wasn't too mad about it thankfully and we were on our way.

It didn't take us too awfully long to get back to my penthouse. I had to stop a few times for Jaxson, who was resisting me a little. I know, I know, I shouldn't take them against their will, but I mean come on, the guy was hot, and I wasn't hurting him, nor would I. So, it's all good. Besides, I was about to get permission to keep him. I put both guys on the couch and perched in front of them to make the phone call I needed to.