Demon Aura

by Lisa Deerwood

  Julian turned his thoughts to the matter at hand. Usually, the motive to raise a demon was for profit or revenge. If he could figure out the person who would benefit from the deaths of the three men murdered on Route thirty-five, then he’d find the demon master. All he had to do was figure out what the three victims had in common. Unfortunately, up until this point, his research had come up one hundred percent empty. Hence today’s stop at city hall. The passing of Julian’s Great Aunt Rosemary had given him the perfect excuse. While he waited in surrogate court, the enforcer demon could search for leads.

  The demon master narrowed his eyes. Hineker was taking too long.

  What trouble had the demon gotten into now?

  “Hineker, get back here,” he growled.

  Responding to the command, the enforcer demon strolled into the waiting area a few minutes later, walking side by side with a black female police officer on his arm. Both demon and human were smiling and laughing, the couple acting as if they were on a date, instead of in city hall.

  Recognizing the officer from the previous night, the demon master rolled his eyes. He should have known that Hineker would seek out the brown-eyed beauty.

  Hineker claimed the seat next to Julian. “Sit next to me,” the demon purred, guiding Officer Fatu into the seat next to him.

  Julian shifted in the chair again, waiting for his turn. When Hineker was in this kind of mood, there was no point in interrupting. The demon master half-heartedly listened to the enforcer demon pump the officer for information, while seducing her at the same time.

  Julian shook his head at the demon’s antics.

  Well, at least Hineker was making himself useful.

  ◆◆◆

  Hineker placed his hand on the back of Charmaine’s neck and rubbed small gentle circles. The action was meant to both soothe and relax the woman before him.

  “Tell me, my sweet, how long have you worked on the force?” he asked.

  “It’ll be six years next June,” she said.

  “Have you ever worked on any murder cases?”

  “We don’t get too many murders in Raspville,” she said. “But there have been a few over the years.”

  “What about recently?” He trailed his fingers down the woman’s neck, across her shoulder, and down her arm. Charmaine leaned into the gentle touch.

  “We haven’t had any murders recently,” she said.

  Hineker’s fingers touched the bare skin below the short sleeves of the officer’s uniform and began tracing random designs on her forearm.

  “But there have been a lot of car accidents recently. Especially on Route thirty-five,” he prompted.

  “Three men in the past two weeks,” she confirmed.

  With the woman relaxed, the demon leaned forward and whispered in her ear. “A bit unusual, isn’t it? Three victims, all died the same way,” he observed. He felt her body tremble when his teeth grazed across her ear.

  “Yeah,” she agreed with a sigh. “I know the media reported that the deaths were accidental, but I couldn’t resist looking into them myself. Just in case something was missed.”

  The demon smiled. His mouse was the curious type. Perfect.

  Charmaine pulled out her notebook. “I captured anything that’s been reported in the news to see if I could find anything in common among the three victims.” She began to recite her personal notes. “The first victim was a bus driver who left behind a wife and twelve-year-old son. The second victim worked a completely different job, he was in pharmaceutical sales. He was divorced and left behind two eight-year-old daughters, twins. The third victim was an electrician, unmarried, and had no children. Their ages ranged from thirty-six to fifty-four years old. The only things in common were that they were all men, and they all died in car accidents on Route thirty-five from a broken neck.”

  The demon moved his hand to stroke the officer’s cheek. “So smart,” he praised, his voice low and deep. “So beautiful.”

  Encouraged, Charmaine continued a recap of her findings.

  “I did a records search at the precinct but all three men were clean. I even conducted a few interviews but couldn’t find anything else to connect the victims. They never went to the same clubs, never lived in the same towns, and they weren’t even born in the same states. They didn’t have any common friends or enemies that I could identify. No bad habits, no money owed to drugs or gambling debts.”

  Hineker pressed a kiss against her cheek. “Nothing in common then?” he asked.

  “Not that I could find,” she confirmed. “It looks like the media was right. The deaths really were accidental.”

  Hineker kissed her again, pleased that his mouse had been thorough with her research. It was a pity that there was nothing connecting the three men except for the street they died on and their gender.

  The demon smiled at the black beauty next to him. Maybe this visit to the courthouse wouldn’t be a total waste after all.

  ◆◆◆

  Julian moved in the uncomfortable plastic chair and cursed under his breath. Not only had their lead reached a dead end but also the sexual tension between the demon and the woman had thickened. At the current rate, it wouldn’t be long before Hineker’s roaming hands began undressing the police officer at his side. Subtlety wasn’t in a demon’s nature.

  It would be best to send Hineker away before he had to add dealing with a case of public nudity to his legal team’s to-do list.

  “Hineker, go find a room,” Julian ordered.

  “An excellent idea, Master Julian,” the demon said. He rose out of his seat and Charmaine followed the motion. Her eyes darkened with lust and anticipation. “My break has only twenty minutes left,” she said.

  Hineker grinned wickedly, “Then let’s make the most of it.”

  Julian watched the demon lead Charmaine out of the waiting area. Hineker grabbed the officer’s ass during their departure and Julian smiled, his thoughts turning to Raelyn.

  The petite beauty was like no woman that he’d ever met before. Normally, women who met Julian were only interested in one of three things: power, looks, or money. And the demon master had it all.

  He’d only spent a short time with Raelyn, and already Julian could tell that she was different. She wasn’t the ladder-climbing power type from the business world, she wasn’t a put together gold digger looking to hook up either, and she definitely wasn’t the society type who’s so wrapped up in their own world that they know nothing about what it’s like to have to work or struggle.

  Raelyn was straightforward and real. It was something that he found extremely refreshing.

  During their date she never tried to hide any of her flaws or to deceive him, and she answered all of his questions. The few times that he’d seen her, her outfit had been simple and uncomplicated. Even for a date she’d kept her clothes casual. The only difference was her hair, which was worn wild and loose; the disheveled look only added to her natural beauty.

  Then there was her voice.

  Julian smiled at the memory. Raelyn’s voice was honey-sweet, with a southern drawl that made his skin prickle. She was passionate about the things that she enjoyed, and when she talked, her entire face lit up, vibrant and full of life. It was something that he had found surprising for someone who was always surrounded by death. When she’d suddenly confessed that she liked him, her wide eyes and flushed skin heightened his curiosity. He couldn’t resist getting a quick taste of those soft, luscious lips. That’s why he’d kissed her.

  He’d seen the heat flare in her eyes after he brushed his lips against hers in a light kiss. It made him want to do more than lightly kiss her. Raelyn had captured his attention. She stirred something in him that he’d never felt before, and it worried him. He couldn’t risk forming an emotional attachment to her. He remembered what happened to his parents, what happens when a demon master stops focusing on his duties and grows attached. His father’s early death had destroyed his mother and released the family curse onto his only so
n.

  Julian rubbed the back of his neck. He’d promised himself that he would never make the same mistake. He could go out on dates, have fun, a few laughs, and some hot sex, but he didn’t do serious relationships. Everything he did with a woman had to stay casual, easy, and simple. In the end, he went one way and she went the other.

  Julian frowned. With Hineker’s investigation with the cop leading to a dead end, the demon master was back to square one on what to do. Without a solid lead, he wasn’t convinced that they would find the demon master this time. It was unfortunate, but it had happened before.

  The real threat was the demon, and that part had been taken care of. While it wasn’t ideal to have a human running around who knew how to summon demons, few had been foolish enough to summon a demon a second time. Experiencing the pain and agony of the demon master’s mark once is more than enough for anyone’s lifetime. Julian guessed that only an insane person would willingly go through that process twice.

  However, he would stay in Tennessee for a few weeks, just in case. Occasionally, they’d stumbled upon their missing demon master by nothing more than random chance.

  The mark of a demon’s master radiates demonic energy. Hineker was able to shield Julian’s energy, thus preventing Julian from being detected by other demons. It was a skill unique to enforcer demons, a necessary precaution to protect the identity of the enforcer demon’s master. The demon master they were searching for would be easy to detect, if they happened to get close enough.

  Besides, Julian now had another reason to stay. His time with Raelyn might be limited, but that was no reason for him to deny himself the pleasure of her company. The demon master was eager to see if the blue-eyed beauty carried the same passion she displayed on their date into the bedroom.

  Chapter 10 - Raelyn

  That was the problem with having a best friend that’s a ghost. As a wandering spirit, it comes and goes as it pleases. While Trinity was usually pretty good at appearing whenever Raelyn needed her best friend, occasionally the spirit wandered far enough away that she couldn’t hear Raelyn’s call. When that happened, Raelyn simply had to wait until the spirit returned on her own. With no one to talk to about her date, Raelyn focused on her work, enjoying the silence and routine of the embalming process.

  She removed the suction hose from the body and sewed up the incision. She washed and dried the corpse, covered the body with a blanket, and began combing their hair. While she worked, Raelyn reviewed her to-do list. She had one more corpse to embalm today. She also had to dress and casket the body that she’d embalmed yesterday. The viewing was scheduled for tomorrow morning.

  Raelyn quickly fell into a rhythm—mix the fluids, set the features, gently flex the arms, legs, and fingers to remove stiffness and rigor mortis, cut an incision, run the embalming machine, massage and wash the body, treat the body cavity, close all the incisions, wash the deceased again, comb the hair, and finally add cream to the face to prevent dehydration.

  She was just finishing up when her phone chimed. Hoping it wasn’t a notice about another body needing her attention, she removed her gloves and tossed them into the bin for biohazard waste. She went into her office, and raised her eyebrows at the screen, it was a new text message from Julian.

  Busy?

  Delighted at hearing from him, she typed a quick reply.

  Yes.

  Her eyes locked onto the screen. The one word answer seemed cold and impersonal. Her fingers hovered over the keys, hesitant. Normally she didn’t give someone the real details about her day. Her work wasn’t exactly a great conversation starter. But Julian was different. She hurried to type out an explanation, before he could take offense at her brusque reply.

  Embalmings are done. Still have to dress and casket one more person before I’m finished for the day.

  His reply was immediate.

  JULIAN: How long til you finish?

  RAELYN: Two hours.

  Raelyn winced. Here Julian was reaching out to her and all she’d done so far was focus on herself. Her fingers flew over the keys.

  RAELYN: How’re you?

  JULIAN: Waited at surrogate court for an hour and a half to file a will.

  RAELYN: Yikes, that’s a long wait.

  JULIAN: Yes, it was. Spent the rest of the afternoon making phone calls, mostly waiting on hold.

  RAELYN: Sounds like a boring day.

  JULIAN: I know something that would make it better.

  RAELYN: What?

  JULIAN: You joining me for dinner.

  Raelyn leaned back, moving away from her phone as if the device had suddenly grown teeth and tried to bite her. He couldn’t be serious, after all, she just went on a date with him that morning. Or could he?

  She decided to test the waters.

  RAELYN: It’ll be late by the time I finish.

  His response was immediate.

  JULIAN: You’re worth the wait.

  Raelyn blushed at the compliment. He was certainly bold and confident, she’d give him that. The embalmer glanced down at her outfit. She was tired, sweaty, and most definitely not dressed to go out in public on another date. But she’d been so busy that she’d forgotten to eat lunch and now she was starving. A good meal with a hot guy was really, really tempting. Especially if the food was brought to her. Except, could so do it? Be bold enough to invite a guy over to her place on only the second date?

  As if sensing her hesitation, Raelyn’s phone chimed again.

  JULIAN: I can bring something to you. I’ll only be in town a few more days. Have dinner with me.

  Raelyn stared at the phone. He did have a point. She guessed Julian would only be in town for another week, maybe two. And she wanted to see him again. Her stomach growled loudly in agreement. Taking a deep breath, she typed back the two letters that would change her entire evening.

  RAELYN: Ok.

  JULIAN: Awesome! Pizza, Japanese, or Mexican?

  Raelyn laughed out loud at his dinner options. Well, if he was only going to be in town for a short time, then she should probably give him a taste of what small town country life was like, right? Loosening up, she smiled and typed her reply.

  RAELYN: None of those round here, City Boy.

  JULIAN: What do you suggest then, Country Girl?

  She smiled at the nickname.

  RAELYN: Anna Lee’s Country Kitchen. It’s a few blocks over from the funeral home. I’ll take a meat and three.

  JULIAN: A what?

  RAELYN: Exactly as it sounds. You pick a meat, and three sides. I’ll take the country ham. All of the sides are good, surprise me.

  JULIAN: Ok. Anything to drink?

  RAELYN: Sweet tea.

  JULIAN: Dessert?

  RAELYN: The banana pudding is excellent.

  JULIAN: Ok. See you later, Country Girl.

  Raelyn returned her phone to the desk and squealed in delight. She was going on a second date with Julian!

  ◆◆◆

  Excited to see Julian again, Raelyn found the next few hours flying by while she finished dressing, cosmeticizing, and casketing the body for the next day’s viewing. The corpse she’d been working with in Viewing Room Two had been a bit of a challenge and she was glad to finally be finished.

  The man had died at the age of seventy-six from falling down a flight of stairs at his apartment building. His left eye socket had shattered, requiring Raelyn to spend a lot of time recreating first the basic shape, and then refining the details around the eye area. She stepped back, pausing to assess her work.

  The facial reconstruction came out perfectly, the damaged eye socket looked as good as the undamaged side. The shading and coloring looked fine too. The combination of pink overhead lighting and carefully applied make-up gave the corpse a natural, life-like appearance.

  To Raelyn’s expert eye, everything about the body in front of her looked perfectly fine. Yet, she couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that washed across her skin like a wave every time she looked down at the deceas
ed.

  Something felt off about the elderly man but she couldn’t figure out what it was. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, analyzing her subject. If she didn’t know better, Raelyn would have guessed that the corpse was surrounded by a faint aura.

  Concentrating on the body, she leaned forward and adjusted the man’s tie. Her finger brushed against his neck, the brief contact of skin on skin reacted like the flip of a light switch from off to on. Startled by the sudden flash of color, Raelyn pulled her hand away quickly. A fuzzy haze surrounded the corpse. Plum mixed with a dark and muddy gray, the edges rimmed in black. A new sensation crawled across her skin before buzzing through her entire body. It was dark and sinister and like nothing she’d ever experienced before.

  It was hateful.

  No, that wasn’t quite right.

  It was evil.

  Raelyn stood transfixed by the sight in front of her. The rest of the room faded away. The only movement came from the rapid shifting of the darkened colors as they blended together. She struggled to make sense of the swirling storm of colors and emotions. The onslaught overloaded her senses. She blinked to clear her head and the vision was gone.

  Raelyn stepped backwards away from the casket. She’d worked on hundreds of bodies over the years and none of them had ever made her feel like that. She’d never seen an aura like that either.