by Sam Cheever
I nodded, fighting tears. If I thought he cared for my sake it would have made me happy. But I had a strong suspicion he really only cared about the health of his court.
Maybe that would be all he ever cared about.
I guessed I’d need to start preparing for that. Problem was, how did one prepare to have her heart shredded?
Chapter Twelve
My Girlfriend’s Back!
She settled down he settled up, their love was meant to die,
Our heroine still rides the edge, but love may be the lie.
Slayer was waiting for me when I got back to my office. I blinked when I saw him sprawled in my chair with his big feet up on my desk. Up until that moment, his report had flown from my mind. It came back with a jolt.
“Hey.” I motioned for him to get out of my chair. “What’s up?”
Slayer dropped his feet and unfolded his long form from the chair. He slipped past me, way too close, and moved around the desk. He didn’t even take the opportunity to flirt with me.
That was when I realized he was upset.
He didn’t sit down, instead he walked around the office, looking at things on my walls and shelves. He touched some of the items without even seeming to know he was doing it, as if he didn’t really see them.
I dropped into my chair and leaned back, putting my much smaller feet on top of my desk so I could watch him squirm. I could have put him out of his misery but hey, part devil here.
Finally, after a couple of moments of pacing and the appearance of gathering his thoughts, Slayer looked at me and frowned.
“Spit it out, Slayer.”
He expelled a harsh breath and looked at the floor, his hands on his hips. “I think I know who’s behind the kidnappings and your poisoning.”
I sat up straighter. “Who?”
“She came to me about a week ago.”
“Crisanne?”
He looked surprised that I’d figured it out.
“Hey, I do watch the show, you know.”
He nodded. “I haven’t spoken to her for a couple of years.”
“I take it you used to have a relationship with her?”
“I did.”
“What happened?” I had a feeling the reason they’d broken up was important.
He glanced at me and looked away, seemingly reluctant to tell me.
“Hey, if it’s too personal…”
“It’s not that. I’m just not sure you want to hear the reason.”
I frowned. “I don’t want to hear most of what people tell me but that never stops anybody from layin’ it on me. So lay it on me.”
“She went through her Settling and came out the other side quite a bit darker than she went in.”
My stomach clenched at his words. It was my greatest fear. That my devil would gain the upper hand during my Settling. At this point my light and dark sides were head to head in brutal combat. The outcome of the fight was too close for me to call.
Unfortunately for me I hung out with all the wrong people.
With that type of constant influence there was a better chance I’d come through my Settling more devilish than I’d been when I went in.
“I see. And you couldn’t live with the new her?”
“We gave it a good try. But the first time she jumped on another guy in front of me and was surprised I didn’t want to join the fun, I knew we probably weren’t gonna make it.”
“Okay. So that sucks. And now she’s back? Is she trying to get together with you again?”
My question made him frown. “No. I mean, not really. I’m not sure exactly why she came to me again. She seemed…unsettled. I got the impression that she was mixed up in something she couldn’t handle.” He fixed an intense gaze on me. Worry brought out the black flecks, making his eyes look darker. “I think she was going to ask me to help, Astra. But, stupidly, I sent her away before she got around to asking.”
“Given your history, I don’t think that was stupid at all. If she’s in trouble, you don’t want to get dragged into it, Slayer. Believe me. I know how the devil’s mind works. She would have used you all up and left you to deal with the consequences.”
He nodded. “I know. Which is exactly why I threw her out. I don’t trust her and I’m certain her motives were far less than pure.”
I cocked my head, leaning back in my chair again. “So what’s the problem?”
He expelled a quick burst of air and dropped into my client chair. His gaze was nearly black when he looked up at me again. “I’m about ninety-nine percent sure she’s behind the kidnapping of the Puka King. I’m at least that sure she had something to do with your poisoning. And I’m dead certain she’s working with the devil’s advocate.”
Gulp. Well frunk me right to Hell.
“Tell me everything you know, Slayer.”
He stood and started pacing again. “I caught her magic signature at Mx. Davis’ house. It was faint, so I managed to convince myself I’d imagined it. And what would she be doing there anyway?” He looked at me as if he wanted me to respond.
I clamped down on a surge of impatience and shrugged. “Go on.”
He scrubbed a hand down his face. Such a handsome face. And oh so full of angst. Under the best circumstances I didn’t do angst well. It probably would surprise you to know that I’m not real compassionate.
No really.
I forced myself not to scream at him as he gathered his thoughts before going on. I could be patient when I needed to. I just hardly ever needed to.
“I sensed her again at the Diamon house, stronger that time. Really strong in the kitchen.” He slid me a meaningful look.
“Would she have been working with the bird demons?”
“Not with them…most likely she would have been controlling them. Crisanne is a very powerful Tweener, Astra. There’s an argument to be made that she’s even more powerful than you are. She comes from a very similar background. Her mother was an Archangel and her father was a powerful sorcerer who was the better part royal. She’s a dominator and has the ability to manipulate humans and magic users that is almost unparalleled.”
I thought of the booger driver with the blank gaze and the bird demon who flew into my power bubble and fried itself. “Okay, I can see where she might be involved with some of what’s happened. Why do you think she had something to do with my and Dialle’s poisoning…and Milc?”
“Because I sensed her presence all over Dialle’s court, Astra. Most strongly in Milc’s quarters.”
“Maybe she was just in there snooping around.”
“In his bed?” His face twisted with anger. “On his clothes?” He shook his head. “I smelled lust among the sheets, Astra. They’d been together. And if I don’t miss my guess they’re working together to oust Dialle from his spot on the council and replace him with Milc. And if that’s the case, you’re in a lot of danger, Astra. You both are. Individually, Milc and Crisanne are formidable opponents. Together they’re truly scary. And if he’s marked her…” Slayer shook his head.
“So you think Crisanne stole the poison from Astis and bespelled the Puka and a gargoyle to infect us with their claws?”
“I think that’s highly likely.”
I turned my chair to my thinkin’ position before I remembered I no longer had a window to stare out of. Frunkin’ hell! At least a booger couldn’t fly into the sewer and get me in my new office. “I’m inclined to agree with your assessment, Slayer. The question is, what do we do about it?”
“That’s simple. We need to divide and conquer.”
“Okay. Let’s start with Crisanne.” I gave him a grin that should have turned his knees to water.
Being Slayer, he just laughed and shook his head. “I’m almost afraid to ask what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking we need to find Crisanne again so you can convince her you still have the hots for her.”
Slayer turned gray around the gills. “I knew it was a mistake hanging around you, Astra.�
�
I threw him my handheld communication unit. “I don’t feel a bit sorry for you. I did warn you. But, as I recall, you insisted.”
“I’m a very stupid man.”
“On that, at least, we can both agree.”
* * * * *
The trees around the little house were overgrown to the point of being like a jungle. I stepped forward and almost tripped as a prickly vine wound itself around my ankle. “Ouch! Frunkin’ hell!” I reached down and tried to pry the vine away from my leg. I’d picked the perfect night to decide not to wear boots. “Are you sure she lives out here? We’re out in the flippin’ boonies. I’m pretty sure only bugs and green stuff live out here.”
Slayer’s aura pulsed bright and golden in the overcast night. He stood with his eyes closed and his hands lifted as he sensed the immediate area for life forms.
Fortunately he could multi-task.
“Ralph ran her, and this house was listed as her last and only known residence. Her air vehicle is also registered to this address.”
I ran a finger over the scratches on my ankle, which burned and itched at the same time. My fingertip came away with a drop of blood. “Just frunkin’ great! I’ll probably get some horrible disease from this.”
Slayer threw me a look. “You’re very cranky tonight, Astra. Something wrong?”
Not a thing. Except that my body screamed with the need to jump on top of anything phallus-shaped and pound it for about an hour. I alternately shivered and sweated with Settling-induced fever, and my skin was so sensitive it hurt. My panties were so wet it was a wonder I didn’t slosh when I walked.
It didn’t help that Slayer smelled like the equivalent of a twelve-course meal to a woman who hadn’t eaten in days. And he always looked edible.
My imagination kept flinging Slayer to the ground and stripping off his jeans. When I didn’t shove the thought away fast enough, the vivid movie in my mind showed me pulling his long, thick cock into my mouth and sucking hard, bathing his fine balls with my tongue as I tweaked the perfect brown buds of his nipples with my fingertips.
A wave of heat flowed over me, leaving me sweaty and shaking. Moisture slipped down my clenched thighs beneath my jeans. Hades! If I didn’t have sex in the next five minutes I was pretty sure I was gonna die!
Even I could smell my need on the air. Judging by the way Slayer’s gaze kept sliding in my direction, I was pretty sure he could smell it too.
I wanted to explain but…what was the use. He knew what I was going through. He’d gone through it recently too. So he also understood that there was nothing either of us could do about it. It was better just to try to ignore it.
Slam! Slayer hit the ground again inside my mind. My vivid imagination had me unzipping his jeans with my teeth when a familiar voice rang out of the darkness ahead of us.
We both jumped and matching power balls appeared on our palms.
“It’s about time you got here, my queen.” Brina emerged from a dense thicket wrapped in the same vine that had snagged me. Of course the vine left her unscathed as she shoved through. “I’ve been here for at least an hour. I’ve already been through the house.”
I let the power fizzle away from my palm and took a deep, calming breath. “How’d you know we were coming here?”
She snorted. “Please. You don’t think the very first thing I did was put an electronic tracker on the werewolves’ information units?”
Slayer slid a knee-melting look down her body and started walking toward the small, scarred wooden house sitting in a clearing. The house was temporarily bathed in weak moonlight as the clouds overhead parted.
I shook my head and followed Slayer, trying to ignore the way she sniffed the air as I passed.
The little house gave off an aura of neglect and appeared empty. Whatever paint the walls once had was faded and chipped, showing half-rotted gray wood underneath. The long, narrow windows were cold slashes of charcoal against the night, the glass too dirty to even give off a shine as the weak rays of moonlight skimmed them. The single door in the center of the sad building was open, and fabric danced in a slight breeze from the thin curtain hanging on the inside.
I glanced at Brina. “Did you leave that door open?”
“It was that way when I got here. The interior of the house has been destroyed.”
Slayer disappeared inside and I slipped in behind him.
Brina hadn’t exaggerated. Somebody had really done a number on the contents of the little house. Furniture was shattered, lying in pieces all over the floor, and glass littered the thin, dusty carpet. Jagged burn marks ripped across nearly every wall and scorched the ceiling, as if someone had cut the space with a power arrow. The guts of one wall spilled out in purple froth that looked like congealed blood in the dim light. Pillows and cloth from the furniture sat in thick piles on the floor, their contents skittering across the floor as we moved.
There was no sound except the insects singing and chirping outside. The faint odor of sulfur tickled my nose.
Slayer disappeared down a long hallway, his power throbbing around him in a protective bubble.
Brina climbed a worn and sagging staircase to the second floor. She looked bored.
I slid my gaze around the room, feeling out of sorts and off balance. It wasn’t only my Settling that was giving me the feeling. I’d learned long ago to trust my instincts.
A slight thickness in the air gave him away. I narrowed my gaze, recognizing his aura, and settled my own power bubble around myself. “Come out, come out wherever you are, Advocate.”
The air shimmered and revealed him with a final hiss, like air escaping through a tiny opening before an explosion.
I knew what the explosion would be.
The advocate was leaning against the wall, his long legs crossed at the ankles and his hands stuffed into the pockets of tight leather pants. “You look a bit jittery, my queen. Would you like me to assuage your needs for you?”
“Yeah, um, not. Just keep your magic libido on your side of the room, demon. What are you doing here?”
His black eyes sparked with anger. “I came to kill the bitch.”
Ah! Honesty. Refreshing. “So I guess you’re the one who trashed the place?”
“That would be me, yes.”
“Why?”
“She poisoned the king.”
“And me.” I knew I shouldn’t goad him but I was feeling devilish.
His thin upper lip curled upward in a tiny snarl. Almost imperceptible. I was glad to see I could still get to him. He inclined his dark head in a shallow bow. The silky curtain of his long hair slipped forward, hiding his expression.
Probably for the best.
“Of course, my queen. I live to protect and serve.”
I snorted. “Frunkin’ awesome. I was starting to think you didn’t like me.”
A power arrow exploded in front of Milc, pinging harmlessly off his protective bubble. I glanced toward Slayer as he strode angrily into the room. He held another power ball in his hand, ready to throw. “What’s he doing here?” He glared at the advocate, not bothering to hide his disgust. “Are you okay, Astra?”
“I’m fine. The Milc-man was just telling me about how he came to ‘kill the bitch’.”
Slayer lifted an eyebrow. “Interesting development.”
“Isn’t it.” I cocked my head at Milc, whose gaze had slipped to Brina. He barely managed to hide his surprise at seeing her. Only a slight widening of his black eyes gave it away. “We figure you’ve been working with said bitch.”
He swung his gaze back to me. “Why would I do that?”
“Power,” Brina offered. “You think you can kill the king and take his spot on the council.”
Slayer and I shared a look. Apparently we weren’t the only ones indulging in speculation.
Milc snorted. “It is true, the Tweener came to me and asked me to help her kill the king. But I spit in her face and she left. I haven’t seen her since.”
�
��Yet you immediately assumed it was she who poisoned Dialle.”
His black eyes flashed with ill humor. “That is correct.”
“Why?” Slayer didn’t look convinced.
“I don’t need to explain myself to you, Tweener bug.”
“But you do need to explain yourself to me…the other Tweener bug.”
He stared at me long and hard, hostility throbbing between us, before illuminating us further. “The creature had stolen the poison from the witch. She told me as much. She explained that she had as much power as you did…and that she and I could take the Royal Court and fill the Sovereign’s spot on the council.”
“That’s a pretty tempting offer, Advocate.” Brina’s pretty gaze narrowed on him. She didn’t look as if she believed his side of the story.
“It might have been. If I were interested in mating with a half breed.” His thin lips curled derisively as he looked at me. “But I am not. And I don’t believe she is as powerful as she proclaimed.”
“Crisanne?” Slayer snorted. “Stupid advocate. She’s every bit as powerful as she told you…and then some. Aside from Astra she might be the most powerful of our kind.”
I turned to him, my eyes widening in surprise. I caught Brina looking at him with deep speculation in her gaze. I figured she was probably wondering if Crisanne could mark a male too.
If so, Brina would probably have more luck getting the information from Crisanne. Since I had no clue how I’d done it.
Milc’s face was an unreadable mask but when he spoke you could almost hear his teeth grinding together. “It is of no import. I have no desire to usurp the king.”
“Uh huh.” I turned to Slayer. “Any sign of her?”
“No. It looks as if she’s picked up and left for good. No clothes, no food, nothing. Her magic signature is too old to follow. Sorry, Astra.”
I sighed. “That puts us right back to ground zero.”
My portable televisual bleeped and Bob’s face came online. Considering my current companions, I put him on mute and inserted an ear bud for privacy.
“Hey, Astra. I wanted to let you know that you have a visitor.”
