The Demon Queen of Hell

"It's... impossible for me to explain to you."

"I'm too dumb?"

"No... it's impossible, Mercer. Trust me."

"No, you're the Demon Queen of Hell. Trust you, is exactly what I don't do."

"How about this? I shall explain everything to you, Mercer, but I'm not ready yet."

"Fuck no," I told her. "Maggie is growing up, Nina. She needs a mom. You fucked up my chances with... Brianna, and I liked her a lot. So did Maggie."

"She has a mom."

"You? Get real, Nina. You're the Demon Queen of Hell. You don't have time to be her mom. She needs a mom who lives with us, who loves us and cares more about us than you're capable of caring about anyone."

She looked at me as if I'd slapped her. Tears filled those gorgeous eyes and ran down her cheeks. "What?" I asked. "I get that you're like eternal, and shit. I'm not. I don't know about Maggie. You don't tell me shit, and she doesn't know. I love her with every cell of my body, and she loves me. Don't tell me you're going to explain everything. You've had years to 'explain,' and you've never made the slightest effort."

"Mercer... you don't know what... I never wanted... I don't think you're capable... Shit! You fucked up everything when you summoned me! You had no idea what you were doing; you were your usual bumbling adorable self, and I..."

This was weird as fuck. I'd never seen her at a loss for words. I didn't think demon queens ever were. She gained her cool aplomb back, quickly.

"I'm not doing this now. I told you I'll explain everything. I will. Give me six of your months, Mercer. You won't regret it, I promise. Have I ever lied to you?"

"I have no idea," I told her. "You're a demon, Nina. Isn't that what you do?"

"I've never lied to you," she said.

"Okay, whatever, but what happens in six months? Fuck that shit, Nina. I'm not holding my breath. It's been years. You've never bothered to tell me anything. I'm not your slave and I'm not holding my breath. You don't know what time means, do you?"

"I understand the behavior of clocks," she said.

"Well, people aren't clocks. Are you staying for dinner?"

"Yes, I'll help you cook," she said. "What are we having?"

"Chicken," I said.

*****

A week later, she asked me to take her dancing. "What will Maggie do?" I asked.

"She'll stay here with Riam," she said. "He'll look after her."

I had to admit that he would. She had told me he was as smart as some humans, and so he proved to be. He learned English like he was super-human. Not that he could speak, but he understood what we said. I was very nervous around him for a while, but he was very affectionate, and almost obsequious to me.

Maggie was his goddess, and he worshipped at her altar. They played rough as fuck, but he was very careful never to hurt her, if she could be hurt. I never saw her hurt. She took tumbles that would have killed me, but she never even skinned a knee. He would be as good, or better, a babysitter as any human I knew.

"Baby, do you think you and Riam could stay here and entertain yourselves while your mother and I go out?" I asked.

"Like on a date?" she asked. "You're going on a date?"

"Umm... I guess you could call it that," I said.

"Oh, yes." She came and hugged me. "I would like that, Daddy. We'll watch TV and look at memes. Riam likes cat memes." She leaned in to whisper in my ear. "She loves you, Daddy."

I had no idea what to say to that, so I just kissed her on both cheeks and her nose.

I changed into some black slacks and a jacket, and when I came out, Nina was dressed. She took my breath away. She hadn't changed a bit since the first time I saw her. She was still a magical sexy demon.

I took her to a new club that had just opened, and every eye in the house was on her. People asked her to dance, constantly, and she turned them down politely, rudely if they were persistent. It was a great night, and when she poofed away, it was with the taste of her lips lingering on mine.

That set a pattern, and over the next six months, I had no idea when she had time to do demon shit, because she was either with me, Maggie and me or had Maggie out with her somewhere. I wondered what was going on, and I asked her several times. She was evasive, and when I asked Maggie, she wouldn't tell me anything.

"I can't say, Daddy," she told me.

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because I promised. Daddy. If I promised you I wouldn't tell something, would you want me to tell anyway?"

I hugged her and her tail wrapped around my arm. "No, Baby. I won't ask you anymore."

She didn't have anything going on that weekend, so we went to the "ranch." On Saturday, in the afternoon, we were out at this ravine on our property. The previous owners had dumped old major appliances there, there were two derelict cars and a bunch of other metal junk.

Maggie had an old washing-machine she was going to explode. Riam was off doing hellhound shit, and I felt weird. It felt like my hair was standing on end, and I looked at Maggie. Her pounds of curls WERE standing up. I'd heard that happened when you were about to be struck by lightning, and I panicked until I realized there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Maggie stood up and looked around.

"Daddy..."

She didn't have time to finish whatever she was going to say. That familiar ruby flash shocked our eyes and Nina was about 10 feet away. "Maggie, Mercer, you must come with me," she said.

"Where..." I didn't get to finish.

"You must trust me," Nina said. "No time to explain. We are in danger."

She extended her hands; I took one and Maggie the other. I was blinded by the flash and when I could see again, we were... somewhere else. The landscape seemed unstable. I swear, there were giant boulders floating around about two inches off the ground. I had to grab Maggie and move before one crushed us.

I heard a shout, and there were two 10-foot towers of spikes and angles approaching. They appeared to be metallic, and those spikes looked sharp.

"Shit," Nina said. "They were too close."

She made a gesture, and a jagged piece of the rose-colored sky fell on the spikey guys. It didn't do them any good, and they were crushed to the ground. I breathed and watched as they began to rise. I started a warding.

"Don't," Nina said. "Leave it to us."

She turned to Maggie. "I have taught you well, Mag'dra'ruth," she said. "They will destroy your father, then attempt to destroy us. We will not allow this to happen."

Maggie's eyes flashed a feral yellow and she... changed. My cute little cuddly demon girl became something glittery, hard and impossible to focus on directly. Nina became something... else. They flashed toward the spikey guys and suddenly, Riam was there. The attack of a hellhound is something you never want to see, if you're the object of the attack.

There was a bewildering dance of motion and a tremendous explosion of sound. Spikes flew, and the metallic guys seemed to be trying to avoid the three hell-spawned attackers and get to me! I prepared to run. This was a little out of my league, especially since Nina didn't want me working any protection.

One of the floating boulders was about five feet to my right, and I climbed aboard the rocky steed. There was still a cacophony of sound and blinding flashes coming from the group, three struggling to contain the two trying to get to me.

I reached out to the rock and discovered a... will, of sorts. The damn thing was like the feel of an animal in my mind. I exerted myself, directing it toward the combatants.

Maggie and Riam had one of the spikey guys down, and when we reached them, I yelled. They sprang away, and I rode my stony steed over the top of Mr. Spikey. I looked back and he was scrap.

Maggie and Riam joined Nina, and the other one was torn to bits before my eyes. I realized I was being taken away from them, so with a thought of thanks, I jumped off my rock.

It was over. Nina did some demon shit, a beam of ruby fire blasted into the remains, and they were a puddle. I snatched up Maggie, and Riam was at our feet.

Nina turned to us. "We must leave." She did her portal thing, and we were back beside our RV.

"What the actual fuck, Nina?" I shouted. "Sorry, Baby." I squeezed Maggie.

"It's over," Nina said.

"What's over, Mama?" Maggie asked.

"What I told you about," she said.

"Well, you didn't tell me shit," I said. "What is going on here?"

Maggie kissed me. "It's okay, Daddy. We're going to be a real family now."

"What... how... Nina!"

"I have abdicated," she said. "I have been working at this from the moment I knew I loved you, Mercer. I'll tell you everything. Can we go inside? I would like some Kool-Aid."

"Yes, me too," Maggie said. "Riam is hungry."

I stood there with my mouth open. The absurdity of the situation overwhelmed me, and I started laughing. I laughed until I couldn't stand up and collapsed on the steps.

They stared at me as if I'd lost my mind, then they both began to laugh, too. They flung themselves on me and I was buried in an avalanche of gorgeous little demon girls. We laughed, cried and my emotions were raw as fuck.

When I recovered the ability to stand, we went inside. Riam went away on pest patrol, and I made them Kool-Aid. They snuggled me on the sofa and Nina began to explain.

"Mercer, I have loved you since the time we tried sleeping for the first time," she said. "You changed me, made it impossible for me to ever return to what I'd always known. Demons aren't supposed to love, you know."

"I love you, Mama," Maggie said. "I don't care about 'supposed.' I love Daddy, too, and Riam, and my friends."

"I know you do, Mag'dra'ruth," Nina said. I squeezed them both. "That's why I brought you to your father. I knew you would love him, and he, you.

"When I left you, Mercer, it wasn't supposed to be this way. I would return, abdicate and come back to you. I knew I was pregnant with Maggie, and I needed to be with you. There were... forces at play. Hell is a... chaotic place. I had to settle the succession. It took far, far, more work and time than I had hoped.

"There was a faction. You wouldn't understand all the interweavings. Those two were the last of the faction that opposed my abdication."

I was trying to take it all in. I had spent years hating what she'd done, ripping my heart out, abandoning Maggie, just thinking she was off doing her own selfish demon shit. All the time, she had been working her little ass off, in tremendous danger, so we could be together.

"I couldn't tell you," Nina said. "I couldn't keep Maggie with me. She would have become a pawn to be used against me, but I knew she would be safe with you. I couldn't let anyone know I had an interest in you, either. I had to stay away from you. It tore my heart out, but I have to keep the two of you safe. It was only as I destroyed the forces arrayed against me that I could start coming around. I thought I had lost you, Mercer." Big tears rolled down her beautiful face. "I never intended it to be like this or take this long, and you were becoming so hostile toward me. Tell me you understand and you forgive me, or I will never be whole again." Those huge amber eyes tugged at my soul, and I could feel my anger at her, the hurt I'd felt, beginning to crumble.

Our affair had ended, so I thought. Was a new one beginning?

"Daddy?" Maggie's tail was tugging on my shirt.

What, Baby?" I shook my head, trying to clear the cobwebs.

"Do you think we could go explode the washing-machine now? Mama can help."

I laughed. "Yeah, let's do that." I took my little demon girls by the hands, and we went to blow some shit up.