by Amy Sumida
“How do you do?” I used my new voice.
Philip lifted a brow as he straightened and gave me another perusal as if I'd surprised him with my manners and tone. “We'll be casting off soon and then I'll have other commitments to attend to. Why don't we get to our business now?”
“Excellent.” Luke stepped forward without me.
The plan was that Luke would distract Philip while I searched the ship for the captive nymphs.
“Oh, you must bring your lovely girlfriend,” Philip drawled. “You can't leave her out here with the sharks. You might return to find her riddled in bites.” He laughed again.
“I'll be fine, I'm sure,” I protested.
“I insist.” Philip took my hand and wrapped it around his arm, walking off with me and leaving Luke to follow. “I'll make sure to find you later, Sam.”
“Sure thing,” Sam called after us.
Luke stepped up on my free side and took my hand, sliding it over his arm as Philip had. “No offense, Demos, but I don't allow other men to escort my lover around a party.”
Philip made a sound of amused disbelief and relinquished me to Luke. “No offense taken. I like a man who protects what's his. It shows backbone.”
“Oh, I have backbone aplenty.”
“And yet, you would have left her behind,” Philip noted as he moved ahead of us.
“Elise only allowed your familiarity because you're our host, and she has impeccable manners,” Luke said. “Otherwise, you would have received a polite brush-off. She can handle herself.”
Philip stopped and turned to look at us with laughing eyes. “Is that so? You would have rejected me outright, Elise?”
“I would have rejected anyone who wasn't Luke,” I replied smoothly.
“Sounds as if you found a good one, Raven,” Philip noted as he resumed navigating us through the corridors of the yacht.
“The best,” Luke declared with a soft look my way.
“Here we are.” Philip opened a door and waved us inside a suite.
The main room had bench seating along the far wall with a resin-coated wood table extending before it. The decorations were minimal and tasteful; a tiny Monet on one wall, an enamel vase in a secure nook. The carpet was plush and wall to wall and a door at the far end of the room was ajar to give a glimpse of a bedroom. The bed had cardboard boxes piled on it and the table had black jeweler's trays with pills, powders, and vials of liquid on display. Philip locked the door behind him and a burly satyr stepped out of the bedroom. A shiver of unease coasted down my spine.
“We're good, Evan,” Philip said to the other man. Then to us, “Please, sit.” He waved a hand toward the bench. “Have a look at the products.”
I slid in first, gliding past an array of beneather drugs. Luke pressed in beside me, and Philip took a chair from along the wall and set it across the table from us.
“I'll get right to it,” Demos said. “I looked into you, Raven. You're legit. Why would you want to risk that to get involved in this?” He waved a hand at the drugs. “This can get dangerous. Not only with the human police but also with your customers. You run the risk of robbery or property damage by patrons high on drugs.”
“I can handle my customers,” Luke said with a smirk. “And I do all right with danger. It sharpens the mind.”
“Nicely put.” Phillip nodded. “And if you're willing to take the risks, you'll reap the rewards.”
“That being said”—Luke held up a hand—“I'm not looking for a product that will encourage violence. What do you have that will loosen people's inhibitions as well as their hold on their wallets?”
Philip laughed boisterously. “Oh, I like you. You're smart. Bring in only the sweet stuff.”
“Drugs wander in on their own.” Luke shrugged. “This way, I'll control what comes into my clubs and make a profit from it as well.”
“Indeed.” Philip slid a look over his products then tapped a pink pill. “I'd recommend that you start with this one. We call it Euphoria, U for short. The Andinne make them.”
Andinne, otherwise known as Incubi and Succubi. If they made that pill, it was almost certain that it would affect the libido. Combined with the name, I was certain of it.
“I assume this is a sexual aid.” Luke peered at the pill then looked up at Demos. “What kind of effect does it produce?”
“It's a beneather version of MDMA,” Philip said. “Its effects are slightly stronger.”
“A version of Ecstasy? So, increased energy, empathy, and pleasure,” Luke mused.
Internally, I was impressed that Lucifer knew so much about human drugs. I made a note to praise him later; he'd done his homework.
“Correct,” Philip nodded as if he'd expected nothing less than a knowledgeable client. “And once you get them hooked on U, we can talk about easing them into this.” He tapped a vial of bright, purple liquid. “This is called Bliss. It's ten times stronger than U and highly addictive. But it's an injectable and most people shy away from needles if they aren't already an addict.”
“Highly addictive?” Luke asked.
“With the first shot, you're practically guaranteed repeat business. If they do decide to go without, withdrawals can last around a week. But here's the greatest part of Bliss; the withdrawals are nearly as fun as the high. Even if they ween themselves off, they'll likely return for another go. You won't have any disappointed customers.”
“What does that mean exactly?” Luke asked.
“The high will make the customer incredibly aroused; enough to turn a nun into a whore. The withdrawal hits about twenty-four hours after the drug wears off and puts the user in a constant state of heightened arousal ten times as powerful as the original high.” Philip slid a sly look my way. “You basically have to fuck it out of your system. I've done it myself twice now. It's glorious.”
“Other than that, are there any lasting damages?” Luke asked.
Philip raised a brow. “You care about your clients?”
“A happy customer comes back and spends more money.”
“That is exactly what I believe.” Philip smacked the table with delight. “Which is why I test all of my products extensively. Bliss has no lasting side-effects. Beneathers come through withdrawals fully restored. Don't give this shit to humans, though, it'll kill them.”
“Got it.” Luke nodded. “How much for the U?”
“Five hundred dollars for every hundred pills with a minimum order of ten thousand pills. You can charge twenty bucks easy for each.”
“I assume you offer bulk discounts?”
Philip chuckled. “Order over a hundred K, and I'll drop it to four-fifty per hundred.”
“I'll start with the ten thousand and see how that goes,” Luke said shrewdly. “Then we'll see about a hundred thousand and then perhaps I'll try your Bliss.”
“Evan will take down the address for delivery,” Philip said as he stood and offered Luke his hand. “Payment is expected at the exchange.”
“Very good.”
They shook on their deal, and Philip claimed my hand for another kiss.
“It was lovely to meet you, Elise. I hope you both enjoy the party.” He straightened and headed for the door. Once there, he paused with his hand on the handle. “I look forward to a prosperous business relationship with you, Lucas.”
“Thank you. Likewise.”
Philip Demos grinned like a snake and slipped out into the corridor. I discreetly wiped my hand off.
Chapter Thirteen
“You were brilliant,” I whispered to Luke as we left the drug display room. “Except now we won't know when Philip is distracted enough for us to search the yacht.”
“He said he has other business to attend to. Maybe one of us could watch him while the other searches for the nymphs.”
“I have a better idea.” I pulled Luke down the corridor and when a couple of Demos satyrs strode past, I clung to Luke's arm and giggled as if I'd had too much to drink. “Excuse me,” I stopped the
m. “Is there anywhere private where I could lay down for a few minutes?”
“Of course, Miss,” one of the men said. “I'll show you to a vacant room.”
The other guard left while his friend led us down the hallway and opened a door for us. A tasteful guest room was revealed.
“Take all the time you need,” the satyr said. “We've only just started the trip downriver, and we're going at cruising speed. It'll be another four hours before we make it back to the hotel.”
“Thank you so much,” I purred and stroked his shoulder.
Luke pulled me away from the man as if he were a jealous boyfriend. “Yes, thank you.”
Luke nodded to the satyr, and the guard nodded back with a knowing grin before hurrying away. Luke closed the door, locked it, then looked at me expectantly.
“What's your idea?”
“Now that we're aboard and have an idea of what we're dealing with, I think we could risk going invisible,” I said.
“I don't know.” Luke frowned. “The corridors are narrow.”
“So, shrink yourself a bit,” I suggested. “I'll lose this appearance as soon as I lay another spell over myself so I'll be a bit smaller too. If we come across anyone in the hallways, we can just press flat against the wall.”
“It would be easier to search if we were invisible.”
“We could just follow Philip,” I suggested. “We know that the main reason he had this party is to show off his captives. He'll probably want to get that done as soon as possible.”
“So, we trail him to the nymphs and wait for him to leave?”
“Then we transport them to Kyanite.” I nodded.
Transporting over forty nymphs was going to take awhile but it sounded as if we had four hours to get it done. Hopefully, Philip wouldn't take too long showing them off.
“All right,” Luke agreed. “I can cloak myself so don't worry about me.”
“Just give me a few minutes to sing.”
Luke nodded and sat on the bed to wait.
“RS, can you update the others on the new plan?” I asked.
Already done, she said. They're not too happy about it.
“There's nothing I can do about that,” I grumbled. “Ky, how about 'Invisible' by Anna Clendening?”
Lovely choice. Although, present company may find that it hits too close to home.
The jagged chords started seconds before my intro so I didn't have time to consider Kyanite's words. But as I sang, I realized that he was right. The tempo was upbeat but the lyrics were melancholy; a woman in love with a man who didn't see her as she wanted him to. She felt utterly invisible to him while his virtues were glaringly evident to her, and she just continued to fall more and more in love. I looked at Luke in horror as I sang. His jaw clenched but his stare stayed steady on me as the words wound between us.
The song continued to pour out of me; would this man ever see what he did to her? How easily he broke her heart? Or would she be invisible forever? I felt like a traitor for singing those words; as if they weren't mine to sing. As if I had torn them from Lucifer's chest and thrown them back in his face. Thankfully, the magic swirled around me and bent reality to my will, turning me invisible. Luke wouldn't be able to see my embarrassment. I could still see his tense shoulders and wounded eyes but that lasted only a moment before he went invisible too.
“Elaria?” Lucifer's voice led me to him.
“Here.” My palm hit his chest, and I slid it down to his hand. “You ready for this?”
“More than ready,” he said grimly as he pulled me toward the door.
“Luci, I'm sorry if that song—”
“Don't call me Luci!” he snapped. “That's a nickname given to me by your replacement. I don't want to hear it on your lips.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“No talking unless we have to. I'm going to head out to the side deck and look for Demos. Squeeze my hand if you spot him.”
“Okay,” I said again lamely.
We headed into the corridor.
“It didn't occur to me that the song might make you uncomfortable,” I tried again. “Not until after I started singing it. I'm sorry.”
“Elaria, you make me uncomfortable,” Luke said wearily. “But I'd rather be uncomfortable with you than at peace without you.”
Don't you wish you'd kept your big mouth shut now? RS snickered.
Yes, actually, I do. Thanks so much for making this easier on me.
Holy shit! You like him! RS screeched.
You'd better not have said that in everyone's heads, I snarled.
Come on, I have more sense than that, she huffed.
If you say so, Kyanite muttered. Then to me he added, My love, you cannot form an attachment to Lucifer. Even if you wished to add him to your men, he would not agree to it. He wants you to himself, remember?
Yes, I remember, and I don't want to add him to my men. I just... feel bad for him.
Bullshit! RS shouted. Your heart beats faster when you look at him. You find him attractive.
He is attractive. So are a lot of other men.
But other men don't make your heart race, Kyanite said grimly.
Lucifer doesn't make my heart race, I protested. I love the men I have, and I don't want anymore.
But the vajayjay wants what the vajayjay wants, RS declared.
Please, don't ever use that word again, Kyanite begged.
I thought you'd prefer it to the alternative, she said smugly. I was trying to be classy.
You were created to force others into sexual slavery, Kyanite said snidely. You're the spell version of Philip Demos. And just like Demos, no matter how much you try, you will never be classy. Money can't buy refinement and sharing a space with an ancient jewel won't help you either.
You're an ancient asshole, RS countered.
Can we table this argument? I asked. I'm kinda busy here.
Sure. Just admit that you want the Devil to go down to your Georgia, RS said.
That doesn't even make sense, I grumbled.
Confess that you want Satan to snatch your snatch, she went on. You want to boink Beelzebub. Lick Lucifer's lightsaber. Get dicked by Diablo—
I'm attracted to him, that's it! I screeched inside my head. I don't want to have sex with Satan.
He's not Satan anymore, Kyanite pointed out dryly. And I think that may be the problem.
Now, that, I can agree with, I muttered as I let the ex-Devil lead me through the corridors of the Demos yacht, his hand warm and strong in mine as we hunted a true villain.
Chapter Fourteen
The nymphs weren't the only auction items previewed on the yacht. Stolen paintings and sculptures were set out around the deck while priceless pieces of jewelry and antiques were carried about on silver trays. This worked in our favor since most of the guests were there specifically to check out what Philip was selling. They congregated around the pieces, and Lucifer and I were able to navigate around them easily.
After spying on Philip Demos for over half an hour, watching him laugh at his own jokes, show off his stolen treasure, and visually undress every woman onboard, Luke and I finally caught a break. Philip gathered a group of men and headed inside. I wasn't surprised that there were no women in the group. Not that I didn't think women were capable of buying slaves. It was more that I knew Philip Demos was incapable of seeing women as equals and would never think to invite a woman to peruse a collection of sex slaves. Not unless she was his date, and he intended to use the viewing as an aphrodisiac.
We hurried after Philip, hanging a bit back from his crowd but keeping close enough to catch any doors that they might pass through. Demos led his guests into the bowels of the ship, past the luxurious rooms until the bones of the vessel were laid bare. Rivets and caged lights and chipped paint. Their aggressive footsteps echoed hollowly on the metal floors, masking Lucifer's and mine. Philip went through an oval door and down a slender staircase into the hold. A single satyr stood guard outside anoth
er oval door. He nodded to Philip as we approached then pushed down the heavy handle and opened the door for us.
They didn't seem concerned with security but then no one in their right mind would try to steal from the Demos Family and even if they did, they'd have to get a group of nymphs all the way to the top of the ship before they could attempt to get them to shore. Unless, of course, they had a traveling charm. In which case, it would still take time to transport all of the nymphs. And as far as the nymphs themselves, they were likely to be broken and wouldn't go anywhere without being told to. This was confirmed when we stepped into the room.
