Death Is My Soul Mate (Book 5) *ON HOLD*

Chapter 4: The Loyalty of a Raven

            I stared at the opposite side of the alley, my eyes glazing over.

            "Hello?" an impatient male demon barked above me. They had a square head and shoulders that were too wide, and had been yelling at me for about twenty seconds. I hadn't been listening to a word they were saying. There were many other important things to think about.

            "I said: this is our territory, demon whore," a buff, square-headed demon. "Get your pretty ass up and get out of here."

            I looked up at the man, my upper lip sneering slightly. "No," I said defiantly, counting my money again.

            "No? Who the hell do you think you are?"

            I tried to hide my identity by moving back into the shadows. Nobody had recognized the Redeemer yet, and I didn't plan on it happening anytime soon. I had no idea what they would do to me if they knew I had the purest soul to ever exist. I was the one who could break the Angel of Death's curse through sacrifice, and turn the world entirely evil. Capturing me would put a hell of a lot of power in someone's hands.

            His men were on me in a heartbeat, so fast that I wasn't able to defend myself. They kicked me with their heavy shoes, hit me with their fists, and clawed at my skin. At some point, I fell to the ground and took in a mouthful of oily water. I pathetically threw up, emptying the contents of my stomach as the men laughed through their sharp fangs and beer breath.

            "Stupid whore. You should have left while you could."

            My face felt like it had been hit with sixty soccer balls, and my insides felt inflamed. The men laughed vociferously at me as I tried to get back onto my feet. My eyelids were practically swollen shut, tongue too thick and injured from biting down on it in pain.

            Suddenly the men were screaming until their throats went raw. I heard the cries of angry birds, the flaps of their wings slicing through the air. I had no idea what was happening, my eyes were too swollen to open. Demon blood and gore splashed on my face and in my mouth as I tried to crawl away from their screams. Holding down a gag, I swallowed the contents in my mouth and the blood miraculously stared to heal me. The swelling in my eyes and my face subside. A raven land on my stomach as I turned over onto my back. I held my breath, frozen in fear. It turned its head to the side to watch me with one beady black eye, then oddly fluffed up. Behind it, the demons who had attacked me were retreating down the alley, with a hundred or so ravens pecking and ripping at their flesh, throwing pieces of their skin to the ground.

            Minutes later, I could no longer hear the men's screams. Just the pounding vibrations of my heart in my chest. The ravens came in a swarm back down the alley, cawing and spiraling rapidly in a tornado formation, morphing together until a man stood in their place. The man started to stroll towards me, his limbs and joints seeming to bend and crack in odd directions.

            I got up off the ground inhumanly fast, and the raven on my chest flew upwards, landing on the criminals shoulder. I retreated a few feet before I tripped over a body, hitting my head so hard on the pavement. I blacked out.

            I came back to the present and continued to stare in horror at the dead man at my feet. It was sure as hell the head of the pack of demon's who had attached me. At first, I was having trouble finding my voice, but as Malphas started to come towards me, I straightened my spine and put a good amount of distance between us.