“But at the same time, I wasn’t going to give it you.”
“That’s why I had it stolen, I needed insurance. I had doubts you were going to pledge your loyalty to me. I needed your sword, ideally in your hands serving me, but not aiding Lucifer and his plans.”
“What made you think I was going to bow down to you just like that?”
“Because I warned you about what was to come at the hospital, and offered you a way out, and an opportunity to become a person with great power once I rule in his place.”
“I was kinda high on meds…”
She chuckled. “You were pretty amusing at the time. The concert invitation was a means of me offering you one last chance to join me. And then…”
“And then I told you all to get fucked.”
“And then you killed the one and only demon that was going to assist me and ran off with the blade…
“You attacked me!”
“I gave up on you when I saw you weren’t going to be an ally.”
“So, what changed? Why are we standing here having this lovely conversation now?”
“I changed my mind after I did some thinking. I can’t risk you fighting him alone, there’s too great of a chance of him killing you and claiming your katana. Then we’ll all be doomed. You can’t beat Lucifer alone. I might be able to with your katana, and with you and me working together with your katana, we can defeat him and his faction. So yes, it is your problem, because that katana of yours will leave this place under two conditions, in my hands because I had to do something horrible to you, or in your hands because you choose to serve me and save your world.”
I laughed at her speech for a solid minute, pushed away from the railing and examined her face. It was straight, sincere, she was serious. At least she wanted me to believe so. “So, let me get this straight, either I help you take over the world using my katana, or you kill me and then take over the world… using it for yourself?”
“Lucifer is plotting to rule this world one way or another if we don’t stop him.”
I crossed my arms in an unimpressed manner. “So why don’t we just kill his ass and leave it at that?”
“Because I didn’t rebel against him to buy myself freedom alone. The rest of my kind must experience it as well.” Her seductive and devious smile said it all. Fight evil with another kind of evil, one that wants its reward in the end. “Which outcome would you prefer, Reika? Millions of possessed humans waging a global war that will take the lives of millions more? Or peaceful coexistence with my kind.”
“There’s always a catch.”
Humanity had no guarantee that Lexi would be a better ruler than Lucifer. She talks about coexistence, but knowing the human race, someone will object and rise up. Then what? Mass executions? Crackdown on people suspected on not supporting her rule? Just as many human lives, if not more, could be lost with her plan, just it would take longer to see it come about.
“Lives are saved if I get what I want; lives are lost with Lucifer’s victory. Had I been an Umbral demon lord like Lucifer, things might have been different.” She walked over to me with bedroom eyes shifting up and down my frame as the full moon was upstaged by thick clouds that rolled into the backdrop. “Pick a side, Reika, because, like it or not, you will be the key that will lead one of us to victory.”
“The only key part I want to play in is seeing all of ya’ll get the fuck out. I’m having a pretty stressful month right now if you haven’t figured it out yet, and I owe it all to demons.”
She invaded my personal space drawing her body closer to mine. I winced and backpedaled as memories of the mind fuck earlier flooded my head. “I never expected you to be like this,” she said as my back was pinned against the corner of the railing, effectively putting an end to my backpedal.
“Tough luck.”
“My blood flows within you.” Her hands clamped onto my shoulders, a long eye to eye staredown began. I felt the warmth from the flames in her hands tickle my skin, it was a nice feeling given how cold it was out there. “My blood demands loyalty to those that receive its gifts,” she added.
I thought back to the possessed demon she sent after me at the concert. Lexi used her blood to contaminate his soul, and then used her talents to blow me and her minion through the air. Said minion got right up, didn’t ask any questions, just mindlessly fought until I took my blade back and ended him, a fierce sign of loyalty right there, and bad planning on Lexi’s part, I doubt she expected me to walk away from that.
Why she didn’t just contaminate more bodies with demons loyal to her was another question. She did, however, use my blade to draw her blood… wouldn’t be surprised if there was a connection, perhaps that was why having the katana was so important. It was more than a weapon. I had serious doubts I was going to get more information out of her at that point, she was already looking flustered due to my resistance. Maybe if I caught her in a better mood…
A light dusting of snow tumbled from the skies onto us. The heat from her hands sizzled as the snow fell upon it as it melted and vaporized into steam. The two of us couldn’t help but look at her fishnet-gloved hand work its magic.
“My talents seem to be limited to fire,” I said to her. “There a reason for that?”
“You’re still a novice when it comes to the art of magic.” I felt her grip loosen and the heat of her body create a distance between us while our previous negative moods blew away with the cold winds that flicked our hair about. “With experience, you will be able to master all of the elements; though I’m sure you probably gathered that by now. I can teach you if you wish to assist my goals.”
I snorted. “I’ll take my chances if that’s what it’s going to come down to.”
“Regardless, whether you choose to do things my way or your own way, you will need to learn how to better control the development of your powers.”
I watched Lexi back away from me and leave me alone on the balcony as the snowfall picked up. Her young body slipped back inside behind the wide glass windows, attending to dirty kitchen pots and pans from her dinner. It was like watching a snow globe in action in which a succubus witch took center stage.
My eyes remained locked on her figure as I stood there in the cold, not thinking about her words, though what she said was true.
I needed to get stronger.
I need her to guide me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
I awoke the next day with renewed energy and clear thoughts while my talents returned nearly to full power. My bed rest gave me the chance to consider the new options my captor Lexi presented to me.
Lucifer and his faction needed to be taken care of, period. He had Schubert, cult members, and lesser demons at his disposal, all while wielding the power to bring more into the world via soul contamination. This wasn’t going to be a case of send the national guard to stop them, the powers of him and his demons would make them shit beneath their heel. Only Lexi and I stood a decent chance of bringing him down and preventing the rest of his backup from possessing more bodies.
And I was nearly killed by two of his gunmen back at Schubert’s place.
If I was going to do this, I needed to not be the weakest link. I also needed to see if there was a weakness to Lexi herself. Once Lucifer was out of the picture, she would become the new threat, a threat I alone would have to deal with.
I met up with Lexi on the lightly snow-dusted rooftop patio balcony during the early morning sunrise having agreed to allow her to train me and join her cause. It felt like a terrible idea, helping a demon achieve their goal of world domination by preventing another one from doing it. I had to keep reminding myself it was for the greater good, and that one day, I will stab her in the back.
We both entered our fire-based stance, the oh so familiar feeling of fire slithered across my form and hers. She gave me a good look. “Your flames, as you might have noticed, aren’t as vigorous as mine.”
She was right, her flames were stronger and brighter,
her arms looked almost as if they were made of pure fire. “Why is that?” I asked.
“Our powers are fueled by energy siphoned from the Umbral into our souls. The more Umbral energy your soul has, the stronger your flames become.” Lexi’s elemental stance switched to air, replacing her coat of flames with thunder bolts, and blowing wind that only affected her. “The same can be said for each element, Umbral energy is the fuel, if you run out of that fuel, the elemental coat that protects your body will fade, and without it you cannot use your powers until you’ve replenished your Umbral energy.”
I held up a fireball in my hand and watched as it expanded outward. “Umbral energy is our fuel… so I guess it’s a consumable resource then?”
“Correct, only replicable by bed rest… or perhaps siphoning it from a target if you’re a succubus like me. Each time you use your powers, your elemental coat reduces in effectiveness. That fireball in your hands was formed by gathering a portion of the flames burning off your body. Excessive use of your powers will force your coat to wither away.”
It explained why my talents were so inconsistent at times as I had been using them freely without knowing there were limits. “And I can’t use my talents without it.”
“It’s not an issue when fighting targets that can’t wield magic, but when you do face someone with magic, things can take a turn for the worst instantly.”
“Explain?”
“Remember the water jet I dowsed you with?”
I remembered the fiasco clearly as it knocked me the fuck out. “That put out my flames…” And I had remembered Emily threatened to use water ninjutsu on me during our first encounter.
“Without your flame coat or another other elemental one, you lose your powers until you recover. Every element has a weakness; every element can easily counter another. Water puts out fire, fire burns the earth, earth can ground electrical thunder bolts, water and electric don’t mix and so lightning strikes from the air will counter water.”
And just like that I felt weak and powerless. I couldn’t freely change my elemental stance since I never learned how to use talents outside of fire. I supposed that’s how battles against talent users were won. Whoever had learned the most talents had the advantage. Thank my lucky stars that most of the demons I had fought were like me, and only were able to wield one or two elements.
I waved the fireball in my hands away. “And what about the last element?”
“Spirit, there’s no way to attune to that, you can only tap in to its handy gifts.”
We spent the better half of the morning using our talents over and over, honing our skill as if the patio was a shooting range. I had a chance to play with the new wind-based talent I had acquired, and boy what an anti-climactic moment that was. Lexi mentioned it was lightning based, I was expecting to summon a big fuck-off bolt of thunder that would make Odin himself impressed.
What I got was a brief discharge of small lightning bolts dancing along my fists. That’s it, my fists when my body attuned to the wind element became a fucking taser. It may come in handy if I need my target alive, but I really wanted something flashy. Lexi assured me that over time my wind and water element will grow like my fire-based ones did, which will eventually lead to me possessing the remaining element, earth, and learning neat tricks from the spirit element.
The afternoon sun set while I sat down on a patio chair to take a break and review what I had learned thus far. Lexi was astounded at how quickly I picked things up. She held my shoulder from behind, and it sent blissful vibes into my body and mind, I won’t lie, I liked the approval she was showering on me. Plus, it opened my eyes to a potential weakness, she was lonely.
“How soon do you think I’ll be able to use other talents for the elements?” I asked her.
“The fastest means of growing your powers is to kill and obtain experience from your opponents.”
I cringed and tilted my face up to gaze at her. “Eh, come again?”
She sat down next to me. “Each time someone is slain by your hands, fragments of their memories are absorbed by your soul. Some of those memories contain combat experience.”
I looked at my hands and recalled the many battles I’ve fought since becoming what I am. My talents did in some way get stronger, the incident at the concert saw me gain a whole lot of new talents. I killed Lucifer’s first host prior to that, and then his second one during the attack, those victories must have led to my talents growing in power.
“Take the pistols you wielded earlier,” Lexi said. “Have you ever fired one?”
“I’ve held guns before, mostly for protection but…” I was always packing heat when I was rolling with the Yakuza. I never shot anyone though, hell I had never been to a firing range, let alone pointed a pistol at someone, until the attack at Schubert’s place. I held that pistol with accuracy and confidence, experience I never had when I first stepped foot into that house.
“While I was able to protect myself from the bullets you shot me with, they were fired with perfect aim.”
Killing the two gunmen brought me closer to becoming an experienced firearms expert. Killing possessed demons with talents will bring me closer to mastering magic. I laughed internally at the discovery.
The two of us ended our break and returned to creating a spectacular fire show atop her tall condo, one nobody from below was able to see. Lexi guided me from behind like a ballerina instructor, holding my arms, correcting my posture, ensuring I utilized the correct form and stance for certain talents.
“My apologies if my methods of forcing you here were rash,” she whispered into my ear.
I stopped and faced her, the confusion that hit me was distracting. “What are you talking about?”
“I made you my prisoner.”
“You did?”
“Ah,” she muttered with a smile. “Never mind.”
Prisoner? When did she say that? I admit my mind hadn’t been reliable during and after my recovery, but as I recalled, Lexi rescued me, taught me how to heal, and now was teaching me to better myself as a user of magic.
She never mentioned me being her prisoner. She would never do such a thing, we needed to stop Lucifer. We needed to trust each other.
Right?
Our training became a daily routine as did the strengthening of our powers, while I dreamt about her every night when I slept. Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner became a regular thing together, the smiles we shared, and the laughs. I won’t lie; I ended up developing a certain level of respect for her.
She always started the day with some sort of joke about me being her prisoner. Not sure why as I never was one to start with. I was free to leave at any time provided I left my katana with her. I just chose not to leave, I think.
The radio played some enjoyable tunes as we prepared to wrap up practice session for the day. I thought about Ryan… for the first time in days, I almost forgot about him. The news didn’t have much to report on other than hospitals were starting to get full because of the quake victims, meaning he was safe for the time being, me staying here with Lexi no doubt ensured that. I made a mental note to return to him one day when this madness was over, assuming he didn’t leave me for another woman already… fuck, why can’t things be simple?
I sat down with Lexi at the kitchen bar while she presented us with the most unusual snack after training. Ice cream, vegan-friendly ice cream, and wine, the same one she offered when I first came here; a chardonnay. I shot her a confused glare as she poured us both a glass of the white wine. “Ice cream and wine?” I asked.
“They can pair well if you do it right.” She yanked out a tub of ice cream from the fridge, butter pecan flavored ice cream to be exact. “If I recall this should match up.”
She dug into the ice cream, serving myself and her a generous portion to nibble on with our drinks. I wasn’t one to indulge in fancy stuff like this. “Thanks, but I’ll pass.” I hated butter pecan with a passion anyways.
The melancholy in my voice c
aused her face to tilt as she looked at me with concern. “What’s the matter?”
“The radio reminded me of Ryan, damn I miss him.”
Lexi stood up and gently stroked her hand across my cheek. A warm surge of bliss entered my head, erasing what was bothering me at the time. I sat there, listening to the music and its positive vibes, not realizing Lexi had been calling my name.
I shook my head, snapping out of the trance the music put me in. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” She removed her hand and sat back down. “Who is Ryan?”
“Ryan?”
“The man you were talking about, you said you missed him.”
I thought long about her question, digging deep into my memories for a person named Ryan. There was that guy I used to work with at the pizza joint… but that was it. We were never a thing, didn’t have his phone number, never been to his place. Honestly, I couldn’t remember why I would have mentioned I missed him.
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” I assured her.
“Ryan is nothing to you.”
“And never was.”
She grinned. “I’m glad to hear that.”
She pushed a cup of ice cream and wine across the countertop over to me. I wasn’t one to indulge in fancy stuff like this, but damn, it made a nice treat to end our daily routine. I gave my wineglass a swirl then sipped it. Butter pecan ice cream only enhanced the experience. “I wasn’t aware demons were into ice cream and wine pairing.”
“We aren’t, but my host was.” She scooped a sliver of ice cream onto her spoon and slipped it into her mouth, then slowly slid it out along her tongue. “You see, when we possess a body we inherit their memories, experiences, and deepest desires.”
“So, in some way Lexi has become one with you?”
“That’s… one way to put it.”
“What would happen if you were to leave her body?”
Her charming smile formed into a down in the dumps frown as she returned to her drink. I’d hit a sensitive spot. Fear of returning to her world of the Umbral I figured. What she told me succubus and incubus had to go through was brutal. She’d have to give up the nice luxurious lifestyle she took from Lexi. And give up ice cream. I doubt you could find that anywhere in the demon world. Shit, I’d be depressed too if I was forced to live in a world like that.
Kiss of the Demon Girl Page 17
