End Game by Holly Roberds

Fate’s a bitch.
 

Calan and I have been to hell and back, literally.
But everything is normal now...right?
 

Sure, if planning a wedding under a certain momzilla’s thumb, learning how to wield my new abilities, all while a new demon on the block is trying to sacrifice me to invoke his dark overlords is “normal.“
 

I'm plagued by visions of our world overtaken by the hell dimension known as the Stygian, but what truly terrifies me to my core is that every one of the nightmarish scenes ends with Calan’s death.
 

We thought we had escaped the prophecy, but maybe we’d never diverted from the plan destiny had for us.

 

Excerpt   

     The sound of a flushing toilet drew my attention. Counting Regina, Phillip, and my dad, no one was missing and Calan could only come home through the front door. Looking at Snarp’s cage, I noticed the door was hanging conspicuously open.

     “Oh crap,” I said, racing to bathroom.

     The toilet flushed a second time and as I walked in, a torrent of feathers floated in the air. Droplets of water hit me in the face.

     Snarp dove headfirst into the toilet water but was thrown out by the current of the flushing toilet, causing him to flap as fast as he could to get control of his trajectory to try again. Realizing it was toilet water that hit my face and lips, I wiped at them quickly. “Gah, Snarp! Stop trying to drown yourself in the toilet, you dumb demon.”

     Snarp regarded me for a frozen moment, our gazes locked in a standstill. I waited for a tumbleweed to blow by or for a Western whistle to play.

     Then Snarp jumped on the toilet handle again before taking another header in the toilet. I dove for the dumb parrot. My fingertips brushed his tail but failed to grasp him. Snarp took a sharp turn, smacking into the wall before furiously flapping the opposite direction. Changing direction, I tried to follow but only ended up with a handful of feathers. Fluff exploded off his body as he pinballed around the small bathroom. Snarp finally landed in the toilet again, spraying me full on in the face as he flailed in the porcelain bowl and tried flush himself again. The scuffle between us went on for several minutes until I finally managed to get my hand on his soaking body.

     Snarp protested, bobbing his head rapidly. “Give me snacksssss.”

     “You think I’m going to give you a treat after that stunt?” I asked, walking back into the living room. My father and future in-laws had varying degrees of surprise on their faces when they saw me. Phillip walked back in and shared the same expression of surprise. My clothes and skin were damp from toilet water and feathers were stuck to me everywhere. I couldn’t wipe off the glower as I stuck the dumb bird back in his cage and flipped the blanket down over his cage, though it couldn’t block out his wails of needing to die and needing Twinkies.

     “Well, you need to go get cleaned up and we need to catch our plane,” Regina said.

     “Yeah, you do that,” I said, hanging onto my cool by a single thread.

     As they reached the door, it opened and Calan walked in. His hair curled a little more than usual, dampened by sweat. The sun streamed in behind him, turning his skin golden and making his blue eyes pop. A true Adonis in the morning.

While yours truly got to play the part of drowned sewer rat.

His surprise at seeing our guests only doubled when he regarded me. Our parents made a hasty retreat with the promise they would be back in plenty of time before the wedding.

     The door shut behind him. Calan struggled to hold back the smile he’d been fighting with little success. 

     “It’s toilet water,” I said, screwing up my face in disgust and shaking my damp hands. “Snarp tried to kill himself via the toilet. No treats for him for a week.”

     The squawk of displeasure was almost deafening.

     “Looks like we both need a shower,” he snorted. An honest-to-god snort, from the ever-composed Greek god. Now I knew I was a hot mess.

     “Nooooossss nossss, mistresss nooooosss.”

     “Keep it up, bird brain, and it’ll be two.”

     The screech that came from the cage next to me nearly pierced my eardrums.

     “That’s it,” I said, jerking the blanket back up and opening the cage door with all the violence I could muster.

     Two strong arms wrapped around me from behind, subduing me. Calan closed the latch I’d just opened. “You can kill the bird later,” he said calmly.

     “Killllssss me now!” Snarp cried.

I tensed under Calan’s grip, but then suddenly I was airborne and over his shoulder. 

     “Hey, put me down. We are going to eat roast parrot tonight.”

     “Eattsss mee,” Snarp screamed in earnest delight from the next room.

Calan slapped my ass, causing a shot of lust mingled with shock to go through me. He walked us through the feather explosion in the bathroom and turned on the shower.

     “You seem stressed, and today is too beautiful of a day to be anxious.”

     “Yeah, well, you telling me to relax is the fastest way to get your ass kicked.”

     “Later,” he promised. “Right now, I plan on cleaning you up, then lapping between your legs until you go boneless and beg me to stop.”

     I went silent at that.

     What was I worried about again?