by Lucinda Dark
Forty-Two
Barbie
I came awake slowly, floating on the feeling of nothingness. My eyes lifted and almost immediately, I knew it wasn’t the real world. Clouds drifted past my head, white and fluffy. That wasn’t the abnormal part. It was the deep red sky beyond—like burned wine had been spilled across the vast expanse—that told me this wasn’t reality.
“You’re an interesting one, I’ll give you that.” The raspy, sexual voice startled me, jerking me up from the ground as I darted a glance around. My mouth dropped.
If I had ever before wondered what beauty incarnate would look like, this would be it. She would be it.
One eye the color of a gorgeous summer sunset, the other as crystal as the ocean waves. Her skin was a roadmap of patches, some brown, some white. And yet, somehow, they seemed to be stitched together to create the most lustrous of figures. Her lips were full, pouty. Her hair, long and untamed. Wild, curled, a tangled web that fell to her waist. It wasn’t the kind of beauty that one saw on magazines, it was a beauty that stole the breath from someone’s chest or made them stop and stare. The kind that wouldn’t be forgotten years following even if all I’d ever glanced at was an imitation.
But I didn’t just get the imitation. I got the full frontal effect as she hopped off of a large boulder and strode right up to me, bending low and offering me a hand. I stared at it.
“Well, are you gonna take it or what?” She tilted her head.
I did the same. “Thanks, but I think I can get up on my own steam,” I said, rolling to the side and moving first up to my knees and then my shaking legs.
She watched, the smile never leaving her lips. In fact, it widened. “Suit yourself.” She rocked back on her heels—or rather her bare feet.
“Where am I?” I demanded.
She looked away, out over the grassy field that we were in. “Nowhere special,” she said lightly. “Just your soul.”
“My what?” I blinked at her.
With a grin, she turned back to me. “Your soul, silly. You broke my amulet.”
“I’m sorry?” What the hell did that have anything to do with where we were? I shook my head, weakly lifting my hand to my face. Just as I was about to shove a chunk of my hair back, I spotted it—the marking on my palm. “What the fuck is this?” I shoved my hand towards the woman, glaring at her as I showed her the crescent moon and cross combination that was etched into my hand.
She laughed, a sound like wind chimes rising in the distance. I started and looked around. What the—“That’s my mark,” she answered.
I waited a beat, but she said nothing more. “Okay, how the hell do I get rid of it?” She laughed again. “You’re starting to piss me off. I’d suggest you stop fucking laughing.”
Her eyes flashed, the gold one dilating as she leaned forward. “You’re different from the other one,” she said. “Much more … brash, I think. There’s a core of strength in you. Perhaps you can actually make life a little fun around here.”
“What are you talking about?”
The woman flipped around, tossing one heavy mass of curls over her shoulder as she walked away, heading straight back to her boulder. I stared with a mixture of awe and confused irritation as she climbed up on the mossy mound and turned to look at me.
“Alright kiddo, listen up. That mark isn’t going away; it’s mine and so are you for the foreseeable future.” I clenched my fists, but she powered on. “My name’s Satrina and that amulet you destroyed was my eternal resting place. My last hurrah, if you will. Whoever possessed my amulet allowed me to see through their eyes, to use their body as my own. Those with less than adequate resistance turned over almost all willpower to me. The last girl was rather…” The woman, Satrina, tapped one delicate nail against her lip. “I don’t know how to say this nicely, so I won’t.” She lowered her finger. “She was weak and as I exert a lot of effort to possess someone, possessing her made me hungry.”
“The hearts—” I started. If Rachel had been possessed by this creature, this demon, then she had made her take the victims’ hearts. What had she done with—
“The hearts of man are willful and easy to consume,” Satrina said, answering my unspoken question.
“Consume. You ate them?” I gaped at her.
She shrugged. “Elizabeth Bathory bathed in the blood of virgins. I eat the hearts of men.”
“I’m not going to let you do that,” I warned her.
Her smile, when she turned it back on me, was vicious. Beneath her full lips were razor sharp teeth. I blinked. They hadn’t been that sharp a moment ago … had they? If she was a demon, perhaps she could change her appearance.
“That is yet to be seen, darling,” she said. “As it stands, in breaking my amulet and stabbing yourself with the shard—”
“I didn’t stab myself with…” I stopped, trailing off. I had felt a sharp pain in my hand as I’d blacked out. Thinking nothing of it, I’d put both palms up to stop my downward fall. I must have accidentally put one over a broken piece of the amulet.
“You did,” Satrina continued. “And as such, you’ve kind of taken away any opportunity to get rid of me.”
“What?” No. That couldn’t be right. There had to be a way to get rid of a demon. Exorcism. Something.
“To keep me from possessing something before, all one had to do was remove the amulet. When you shattered my amulet to pieces, I jumped ship and the only available lifeboat was you.” She pointed at me with one long nail.
My mind worked through that. Remove the amulet, stop being possessed. “Rachel only wore it at parties,” I realized. Even though I hadn’t gone to them, that must have been the reason why she was mostly normal at school but had attacked me in the bathroom and then tried to kill Maverick.
Maverick. My head jerked up to the sky as if, instinctively, I knew that was the way out. Was he out there? Had I made it in time? Was he alive? What about Torin?
“Hmmmmm.” Satrina’s hum jerked my attention back to her. She watched me with big eyes, her lashes fanning across her unwrinkled cheeks. “I think I know exactly what you’re feeling, darling…” Her eyes lit up as she licked her lips, a small pink tongue darting out to swipe across the lower one. “And I like it.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.
“Sex,” she said simply. I sucked in a breath. “Arousal. Attraction. I’m not just any demon, darling. I’m a succubus. The best of the best. Strongest of the strong. What you desire is not unknown to me.”
“I don’t desire anything except vengeance,” I defended.
“That too.” She waved a hand absently through the air and from the air a glass of wine appeared. Putting the rim of the glass to her lips, she drank from it. Once she had downed half of the contents, she released it, letting the glass fall from her grasp. Before it hit the ground, however, it disappeared—as if it had never been there in the first place. My eyes were rooted to the spot where it should have landed for a moment and then she spoke, once again demanding my focus.
“I have nowhere else to go and it appears you’re stuck with me. I don’t want my human body to die and leave me without any sort of portal to enjoy myself—”
“Portal to enjoy yourself?” I repeated. “What do you mean?”
She huffed, crossing her legs as she folded her arms over her abundant chest. “I am a demon,” she reiterated slowly. “Demons are relegated to the lands of Hell. The underworld. Purgatory. Whatever you wish to call it, it’s home.” She growled, her hands clenching on her arms as she continued. “And because of a stupid little treaty with those white-feathered fuckers from up above, I’m not allowed to travel outside the realm of my home. At least, not in body.”
“So … what are you doing here then?”
“I’m a mimicry,” she answered. “An impression left behind by my last jaunt on Earth. And for hundreds of years, that amulet has remained safe—passed from person to person. But oh, no, as soon as you show up—it’s d
estroyed.” She threw her hands into the air and leveled me with a glare. “So, like it or not, we’re going to have to make a deal.”
“I don’t make deals with demons,” I said stiffly.
The world changed. The ground fell out from beneath my feet and I found myself descending down into a long dark pit. It was so fast, I didn’t even have a split second to scream. As soon as I realized I was falling, I was already landing. Hard.
I grunted as my back slammed onto hardwood floor. With a fall like that, I should’ve shattered every single bone in my body, but this wasn’t reality. I rolled over onto my side as a door opened in the distance and Satrina came striding in on blood red heels, clicking sharply—the sound piercing my ears like daggers. I struggled to my feet, feeling woozy and off balance as I tried to gather my bearings once more.
This was an … office? A large mahogany desk spanned several feet in front of me. As I looked out past it through a glimmering window, out over several buildings far beyond, I blinked in confusion. Satrina strode around me and the desk, taking a seat in the plush leather chair and swinging her gaze my way as she waved her nails and a thick pile of papers fell from nowhere, landing right in front of her, a black-feathered pen in her hand.
“Here’s the dealio, kiddo,” she said sharply. “You need me. I need you.”
“I don’t need you,” I snapped.
She sighed, laying her pen down across the papers and steepling her fingers beneath her chin. “You’re in a lot of trouble, Barbara Steele.” I started at my full name. “You just don’t realize it yet. I’m a demon, but more than that, I am the spirit of a demon. I know a lot. When I go through the spirit channels to get to my portal—previously my amulet, now your body—I pick up information, and I’ve heard about you.”
“What have you heard?” I demanded, narrowing my eyes as I stepped up to the desk. “From who?”
She tsked and shook her head. “That’s not how this works,” she said lightly. “The fact of the matter is, I know you—I know what you’ve done. Who you’ve killed and who you’ve…” She trailed off looking to the side. Unintentionally, I followed her gaze, my mouth falling open at the sight of a wall of mirrors emerging from the blurry edges of the office.
It was me—or rather, my body. Maverick was covered in splatters of blood as he tried to wake me. Torin was behind him, staring down—his eyes glowing red as his hands clenched. “Come on, Barbie. Wake up. Wake the fuck up!” Maverick shook me, his face etched in panic. His eyes were wide, darting all over me, his grip on my arms tightening and loosening as he lost his cool.
“She can’t die,” Torin said quietly as he bent next to Maverick. “She can’t…” He reached for a lock of my hair. An unnamed emotion squeezed my chest as he sifted the strand between his fingers, his head bowed in defeat. “Please…”
“We have to get her to a hospital,” Maverick said, lifting me up in his arms, my body hanging limply—devoid of life.
Torin nodded. “Go, I’ll take care of things here.” Maverick didn’t even look back.
The image faded, leaving me feeling hollow. “As I was saying,” Satrina started again. “I know a lot. You’re in danger. You’ve killed vampires and there’s a new power among the bloodsucking crew that won’t take too kindly to that. He’s got big plans. So, here’s the proposal I’d like to make.” I turned to her, giving her my full attention. “I will act as your protection. If and when—because let’s be honest with each other, it’ll happen—I feel that your life is being threatened, I will possess you. Your weakness will be my opening. I don’t want to be stuck in here completely, so you will allow for conversation.”
“Conversation?” I repeated with a lifted brow. “What are you a teenage girl at a slumber party?”
She shrugged, a grin rising to her lips. “I get bored,” she said. “But essentially, the deal is, I protect you, you let me possess you.”
“Nothing is ever as simple as that,” I replied, shaking my head. “No. I won’t just let you possess me whenever you want.” I reached out and clamped my hands down on the edges of the desk. Bowing my face forward, I sucked in a breath and spoke. “I want power,” I said. “I want the ability to defeat my enemies. I’ll take your protection, but it’s a no on the possession.”
“You can’t have something without giving anything in return, Barbie,” Satrina said, her smile widening as she reached for the stack of papers, turning them towards her. She plucked the top one off and scribbled a few lines before turning it to me. “I am allowed full possession only in cases of emergencies,” she stated, tapping the end of the pen against the paper. “You will keep a channel open—you should anyway since it’ll allow you to pick up some of my own abilities—for conversation. At any point, if I feel your soul has weakened, however, you forfeit all of the restrictions I’ve put on myself.” She lifted her eyes to mine, the different colors shining with challenge. “Grow weak and I will take over. Utterly. Completely.”
“I won’t grow weak,” I stated, reading the paper before me.
She gestured to the paper and set her pen down in front of me. “Then sign.”
Did I dare? A deal with a demon? Protection. The power to find and kill the one responsible for my family’s murder. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right. You didn’t get something for nothing.
I slapped the paper down on the desk and plucked up the pen, scribbling my signature across the dotted line before I flung it back in her face. Her hands lifted, fingers snapping and the whole orchestrated room dispersed.
“And so the deed is done,” Satrina said. “I hope you know what you’re in for, kiddo.”
I swallowed and lifted my gaze, meeting hers head on. “Underestimate me,” I challenged. “That’ll be fun.”
She laughed. “I think I’m going to like you.”
“I think you’re tolerable.”
Her laughter dimmed into a wicked grin. “Oh, and just in case it wasn’t clear, you’ll need sex.” She paused, letting the announcement linger on the air. “Soon.”
I choked. “What?”
Shrugging lightly, she kept her eyes on me. “I’m a sex demon, what did you expect? My powers will grow within you, but the more you take on, the harder it’ll be for you to control. You need to relieve the tension—ergo—sex.”
“Fuck me,” I muttered.
Satrina’s smile was the last thing I saw as she faded from existence, but of course she had to have the last word. “That’s the point, darling.”
Forty-Three
Torin
Never before had I felt such bloodlust. This time, however, it wasn’t due to hunger. No. I wanted retribution. Anger pulsed in my veins as I stalked through the front doors of my home. Katalin lounged in the living room. In the back of my mind, I recognized that seeing her do something so mundane as painting her nails was out of the ordinary. When I entered, she looked up, stopping.
I didn’t pause.
I didn’t hesitate.
In a flash, I had my hand around her throat and her back pinned against the opposite wall. My fangs were on full display.
“You knew there was a fucking demon in that amulet!” I yelled.
Katalin blinked at me. “Did you defeat it?” She could have been asking if I had passed my last History exam for all the concern she showed.
“It’s been dealt with,” I growled out, clenching my hand around her neck. Barbie had been rushed to the fucking hospital. The authorities had been called. Rachel likely wouldn’t remember a thing when she came to, but I’d used what little mind control capabilities that I had to convince the officers who’d arrived on the scene first that she’d lost her mind. Sweat beaded on my upper lip with the strength I was exerting. I’d already used too much to push my suggestions into the officers’ heads. As it was, Rachel would likely be sent to an institution for the criminally insane. The demon had likely ripped through the girl’s mental defenses and she’d nearly fucking killed Barbie in the process. I couldn’t find it
in myself to feel pity.
Mate! My vampire prowled in my mind, a caged panther—hungry and wrathful. I ignored him. Focusing, instead, on my sister.
“I trusted you,” I gritted out.
Katalin sighed, reaching up. Her delicate looking fingers closed over my wrist. What started out as a light touch soon became a crushing grip as she pried my hand from her throat. I didn’t cry out or flinch even when the bones in my wrist cracked and broke. “Trust is for children, Torin,” she said coldly. “You are a pawn. Never forget that.”
She dropped my mangled arm and strode around me, picking up her nail polish and disappeared up the stairs. I turned and pressed my spine against the space she had once occupied. Black spots dotted my vision as I slid down the wall.
Tonight, my fears had been realized. Barbie was weak. Maybe not in mind or spirit, but her body was fragile. Breakable. The further down the path of vengeance she went, the lower her chances of survival. I didn’t know if I could live with that.
Epilogue
Barbie
Harsh fluorescent lighting and even more aggressive scents intruded before I even realized I was awake. An annoyingly repetitive beeping sound rose in volume and then lowered again a moment before my eyes opened. Turning my cheek, I spotted the source of the noise at my bedside. A small square flat screen on a pole. A heart monitor. Which left me with one crucial piece of knowledge, at least. I was in a hospital. I groaned lightly.
“Oh my goodness, Jon!” Beth’s cry made me flinch. The noise was too much. “She’s awake, come quick!”
There was a flurry of movement and then Beth was standing over me, a tissue clutched in her hand, tears in her eyes. A moment later, Jon was at her side, his arm going around her waist. “Oh honey.” Beth sniffed, reaching for my hand and squeezing it in one of hers.
