by Melody Rose
“I figured bringing her would make up for the fact that I won’t let you put me in a dress,” I smirked.
Lindsay scrunched up her nose and stuck out her tongue. “Well, it does! For now.”
“So, what’s the plan for tonight?” Siena grinned.
“We’re going to fix Myrcy’s faded hair, look hot, and then I want to go out, get drunk, and dance with my best friend.” Lindsay began swaying like there was music and grabbed my hand, spinning me around. “And whoever else happens to catch my eye.”
“I like that plan,” the red-skinned sex demon purred. I laughed and headed for the bathroom where she’d already set up a semi-professional hair dye station. Our apartment was almost all wood floors except for the bathroom which had off-white tile floors. I was never sure if they were meant to be off-white or if there was just that much discoloration. It was better than the tiles in the shower, at least, which were tinted yellow, and I knew that wasn’t intentional. The light in the bathroom was bright, almost way too bright, which made me laugh. I hadn’t been around to buy lightbulbs, so Lindsay must have bought some stronger ones. It made the light color of the bathroom look even more sickly in comparison to the dark navy blue shower curtain and towels, almost like one of those gross filters they put over semi-paranormal-suspenseful thrillers in the 2000s.
The rest of our apartment wasn’t much to speak of. We had a small kitchen that just barely had all the necessary appliances, most of which we’d saved up for and bought ourselves, and a counter we used as a dining table. From the counter, we could see the tv in the living room, which made mornings together just a little louder. Of course, we both liked the background noise. We used to drink coffee and watch the news at breakfast until Lindsay said that made her too depressed, so we’d switched to morning cartoons instead. I never thought at twenty-three I’d watch so much SpongeBob SquarePants, but my best friend found it relaxing, so I put up with it.
Our rooms were small. With my dresser, nightstand, bed, and chair, there was barely any room to move around, but I made it work. It was cozy enough. It was a little awkward coming back to such a small room after living in other worldly mansions and castles as a Queen, but given that I’d lived in shitholes most of my life, there was still a level of comfort to it.
I sat down in the chair in front of the sink, and Lindsay and Siena crowded into the small bathroom that was certainly not meant to hold extra furniture and more than one person at a time. Everyone chatted while Lindsay washed and coated my hair with purple dye. Siena, who had never done something so trivial when she could change her appearance with a glamour, was ecstatic to watch and participate in this very human ritual.
Once they’d covered my hair in the dye and put a cap on to contain my long hair while it absorbed the color, we filed out of the bathroom, and I wandered into my small bedroom, which was also quickly taken over by the succubus duo.
“Okay, so what am I wearing this time?” I mused, opening my closet.
“Well,” Lindsay hummed as she followed me, dragging Siena along with her. “I know how much you liked the last outfit I picked out for you even though you never got to wear it, so I’ve been going through your clothes all week to find something perfect! I was thinking about this!” She pulled a hanger out of my closet that had a loose black metallic crop top dripping from it. The shirt was practically a ‘v’ the way it was slit down the middle. “And I thought you could wear your jeans… with…” she trailed off as I stared at her with a dumbfounded expression. Finally, she rolled her eyes. “Fine! I knew that one was a long shot.”
“If she doesn’t wear that, I will,” Siena grinned, taking it off the hanger and holding it against her chest.
“Go for it. It’ll look ten times better on you than it ever would on me,” I laughed.
Lindsay pouted. “Fine. Oh! Hold on!” She rushed out of the small space, and I heard her on the other side of my wall in her own room. Sharing a wall with my best friend was fun and led to lots of late-night shouting and giggling, but it was a nightmare on the nights she had male company. The girl was a screamer. I heard her banging around in her closet and cringed. It was never good for me when she dug through her own closet.
Meanwhile, in the middle of my room, Siena peeled off the gold strip of fabric on her chest and replaced it with the crop top. I blushed and made sure to look away, not that the demon was shy in the slightest.
“Wow. You look hot,” I smiled after the fabric settled over her body. She modeled it in my mirror and grinned at herself. I knew no one else at the club would see it the way we did, but the stark contrast between her bright red skin and the shimmery black fabric was very attention grabbing.
“Here!” Lindsay smiled, walking in with a black silk and lace camisole in one hand with the other behind her back.
“Linds,” I rolled my eyes. “That’s practically not even a shirt. You think I’m going to wear that-”
“Hold on!” She grinned, thrusting the tank into my hands. She pulled a deep purple blazer and pantsuit out from behind her back. “Would you wear it with this?”
I stared and felt my jaw drop. “Wow… that’s gorgeous!”
Lindsay beamed with satisfaction and handed it to me. “Put it on! Here, let me get dressed.” She pulled Siena to her room with her to give me some privacy, which I was thankful for. I pulled on the purple pants, smiling in the mirror. Reluctantly, I decided to put on the camisole. It actually looked kind of cool.
“Okay, Linds, tell me this doesn’t look stupid,” I called, stepping into the living room.
The pair poked their heads out of Lindsay’s door and squealed, rushing out to hug and fawn over me. “You look hot!” Siena clapped.
“Now, this looks like something a Queen would wear!” Lindsay beamed.
I rolled my eyes but hugged my friend tightly. “Thank you, honey. This is perfect.”
“It’s the least I can do!” She hugged me back and kissed the side of my head. “I’ve meant to talk to you about this. I’ve seen the way the Kings of the Night dress, and everything about them demands respect, not to mention makes them look so hot all you want is for them to pin you to a wall.” Her eyes betrayed that her mind was wandering, and I laughed, snapping to bring her attention back. I wasn’t jealous, of course. If anything, I agreed.
“Okay, now that I know you want to bone my Kings, what was the point of this?” I teased.
Lindsay blushed but smiled. “My point is that you’re a Queen now! You have got to start looking the part! You won’t let me put you in a skirt, I know that, but you’ve got to start dressing like someone who commands respect the way the Kings do.”
I cocked my head, my brows knitting together. “I don’t think how I dress is that important, is it?”
“She’s right,” Siena broke in. “Not that I’m suggesting you’re not naturally commanding, my Queen, you are!” I gave her a look that very clearly said, please do not call me Queen ever again. “But the way you dress can say so much more to the people who don’t know you than you think. What was the first thing you thought when you saw the Kings?”
I remembered back to that day I’d first met them. I was on my way to my first shift at Shea’s Coffee Shop, the coffee house Lindsay and I both worked at. I parked in the back of the building and saw two towering figures that I considered to be giants speaking in the alley, each adorned in a cloak. I’d nearly bumped into them, but I didn’t. That was what had caught their attention. They were under the same glamour that disguised spirits from human eyes, the same glamour that I had been able to see through my entire life. When I went out of my way to go around them, they noticed, and we made eye contact. Everything about them was intimidating but also drew me in. Of course, I knew now that I was drawn to them because I was the completion of their triad.
“I guess they did seem intimidating at first,” I admitted, smiling at the memories. “So, what’s your point? That I need a whole new wardrobe?”
“Yes!” Linds beamed. “E
xactly! And I want to be your royal seamstress! I want to design everything you wear! Whatever I can’t thrift, I’ll find, or I’ll make! You’ll be the picture of hot, sexy, refuses-to-wear-a-dress Queendom!”
I laughed and shook my head, but honestly, the idea wasn’t bad. It would be nice to have one other thing that would encourage people not to look down on me or cringe every time they had to use my title to address me. “Okay, we’ll try it. You can start with like, one or two outfits. And if they look as killer as this one and that leather outfit you got me last time we went out, I think you have yourself a deal.”
She squealed again and threw her arms around me; Siena quickly followed suit. I winced and hit their shoulders playfully. “Ladies! The dolphins, seriously!”
“Ooh, okay!” Siena grinned. “I think it’s time to wash out your hair!”
We filed back into the bathroom. I made sure to leave the purple blazer in my room, and we covered my shoulders and neck with a towel to protect the camisole while they washed the dye out. My hair looked nearly black when it was wet, so once they were done, Lindsay turned on the blow dryer and got to work, insisting I not see my hair until the finished product.
When it finally got gasps from the sex demons, and they both gave their seal of approval, they allowed me to turn to the mirror and look for myself. I had to admit it was impressive. I hadn’t dyed my hair since before meeting Daath and Syrion, so the purple had been light and slightly silver for months. I’d almost forgotten how bright and vibrant it could be when it was freshly dyed. The way they’d blow-dried it had given me some sort of soft, voluminous curls that were still a little drastic and big for my taste, but I loved the color too much to care. It was rich and deep, like what you’d see in a purple crayon.
“You two are magical. Thank you both!” I hugged them tightly.
After twenty years, Lindsay and I knew each other well enough to know when to pick our battles with one another. She knew not to push too much when it came to extravagant clothes or makeup, and I knew not to fight her on letting her do my hair. Siena, however, was the wild card neither of us expected, and she didn’t take no for an answer. After another hour, she’d talked my best friend into wearing something even more revealing than she’d originally planned, and had insisted on cranking up the volume on everything about my appearance. Within half an hour, I was caked in a full face of makeup with a dramatic smokey eye and lipstick to match, and I couldn’t recall ever feeling grosser.
“Hey,” Lindsay said as Siena excused herself to the bathroom. I’d taken up residence on the edge of Linds’ bed while she did her makeup in her vanity, and I had apparently been zoning out too obviously. “Is everything okay? You just seem a little distracted. I know it’s more makeup than you’re used to-”
“No,” I sighed, shaking my head. “It’s not that. I’ve just been… I’m just worried about a few things.”
“Like what?” she tilted her head. She set her makeup brush down and sat next to me on the bed, reaching up to play with a strand of my newly vibrant hair.
“The whole… the whole world, I guess. Minerva’s gone, and that’s good, but things aren’t going to fix themselves. I need to find a way to help.” Honestly, this had been haunting me for the past four days. I couldn’t just declare myself Queen of the world and start enforcing rules and laws the way Syrion and Daath could in the Underworld. Whatever I did had to be tactful, it had to be subtle, but I had no clue where to begin. And I had no idea how the fae realm fit into any of it.
“You’re really going to try to fix the whole world yourself?” the succubus smiled in amusement.
“I don’t have much choice…”
“What are you worried about?” she frowned.
I bit my lip. The last thing I wanted to do was tell her about what I’d seen. Luckily, at that moment, Siena emerged from the bathroom, singing a very haunting melody. “What did I miss?”
I smiled. “I’m just telling Lindsay that I have no idea how to be Queen of the world.”
The horned demon laughed. “Yes, I don’t exactly envy your position in all of this.”
“I just don’t know how to fix things without drawing attention to myself or other supernatural beings.”
“Oh, that’s the easy part,” Siena smiled. I cocked an eyebrow, and she looked to Lindsay for backup.
“She’s right,” my best friend shrugged. “That’s what the glamours do. They hide the things we don’t want people to see. I’ve been a succubus my whole life, but you never had any idea until you could see for yourself.”
“We all have things we can do that seem obvious, but humans are blind to a lot of it!”
I tilted my head. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
The sex demons exchanged a glance with one another and smiled slyly.
“Just… watch us tonight.”
Soon, we were in a cab on our way to a club downtown. I would have preferred a bar. Well, I would have preferred staying home and watching a movie, but if we were going to go out, a bar was infinitely preferable. Siena insisted on a specific club, however. Besides, I did still owe Lindsay for our girls' night the wraith had ruined a few months ago.
From the end of the block, I could see that the club was loud and bright. I felt the music pulse, and while it was faint, the fact that I could hear it from at least a hundred feet away was telling. The glass on the windows was tinted so you couldn’t see anything except the bright laser spotlights as they danced in and out of view, not to mention the neon sign above the door that read “Club Thunderstorm” in a font so distorted I wouldn’t have been able to read it if I hadn’t already known the name. We could tell it was full before we even got to the door from the dissonant chorus of voices that mixed with the music. I started to pull out my wallet for the cover charge, but Lindsay grabbed my hand, smirking. Siena stepped up to the man at the door and lowered her voice below what I could hear, leaning in to whisper in his ear. I looked at Lindsay, who just gestured for me to watch. The bouncer’s eyes faded in and out of focus as the sex demon cooed to him. When she was done, she kissed his cheek, and he smiled like she was his childhood girlfriend and opened the door for us to go inside.
“What the hell was that?” I chuckled as we walked in. Siena started to answer me, but she was quickly drowned out by the music. That explained how Lindsay was always able to get us into places we weren’t necessarily supposed to be or couldn’t afford.
I followed the succubi to the bar… well, one of them at least. Just inside the door, there was a lounge area with a bar on two different walls. I couldn’t tell from where I stood, but I thought I saw another one across the dancefloor. The whole club was scattered with elevated tables on four-foot-tall platforms, cocktail tables, and luxurious looking alcoves with leather booths. Most of the lights were neon primary and secondary colors and rotated around the building. It looked larger once we were inside than it had from the outside, which only bothered me because of how easy it would be to lose track of Linds and Siena. Then again, that would make it even easier for me to slip out of their sights if I needed a break from the noise. Siena and I sat at the bar closest to the door, and I watched as Lindsay performed a similar ritual to Siena’s on a man sitting a few seats down.
“So, what exactly are you doing when you do that?” I asked the red demon. “Is it some kind of magic?”
She shrugged and shook her head. “Not really. It’s more of an instinct. It’s what we are. We can sense at any moment what someone’s specific fantasy would be. It doesn’t work on everyone, and some people are less swayed by sexuality. But some men and women are weaker.” She giggled as she said that.
“What’s it like for them? Whenever you do that?” I watched as the man Lindsay spoke to seemed to almost swoon right there, and nearly worried he would pass out. He definitely looked several years older, maybe mid-thirties? He had no idea what he was getting himself into, but he certainly didn’t look like he was about to complain.
“The gla
mour around us helps that,” Siena explained. “They don’t remember the specifics of what we say, just that they feel attracted to us. It has a lot to do with hormones flooding their brain that act as a distraction.”
I contemplated this as the man paid for three drinks for us without Lindsay having to do anything in return. I’d seen her do things like that dozens of times, but I’d always assumed she was just really good at flirting. It made sense, though; once, I asked one of her boyfriends how the two of them met, and he couldn’t remember. He just knew that it happened at a bar.
Lindsay handed me a tequila shot. If I ever started off with something strong, it was because I didn’t plan to drink the rest of the night, and that definitely rang true this evening. I wanted to watch my friends as much as possible. Obviously, the way a sex demon attracted a partner worked vastly different, but perhaps I could learn something about the subtlety of it. Mostly, I felt like I needed to decipher how to use my strengths and abilities to the advantage of others. I didn’t know exactly how helpful hellfire could be, though.
In between their helpful demonstrations, the three of us actually had a good time dancing. It was highly preferable to the last time I’d been out at a club which I’d only just remembered was the night my entire life had changed. It was the night I really met Daath and Syrion, the night I killed the reaper…
Anytime I got too distracted by memories or thoughts like that, however, Lindsay and Siena were quick to shake me back to the present, literally. After they both found partners to dance with, I took the opportunity to sit and have some water.
