Night Marks

by Amber Lynn

  “Over the last couple of decades I have started feeling a paternal desire. I have been trying every method I can think of. I have used this form, my true demon form, others' bodies as vessels, women of different ages, women of different species, and the combinations go on indefinitely.” He pauses momentarily to sigh. “No matter what I try, my DNA just won't take. I am hoping that you may make the difference.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but you might have noticed I was talking to my boyfriend just a second ago and I don't think he would like me having some stranger's kid. Not only that, but I don't plan to become pregnant. Ever.”

  I do believe this conversation is starting to border on the insane. Of course, at least half of the conversations I have had this month follow along those lines, but eventually that has to stop, right?

  He is quiet for a few moments and I start hoping he has given up and left, but a quick glance shows he is still back there. He looks rather pensive. A demon deep in thought is probably not a good thing. Wanting him to just leave, I don’t initiate further conversation. I focus on the road and try to implement the old saying “if you cannot see it, it doesn’t exist”.

  “What species is your boy toy?” he finally asks. Drat. The saying is a bunch of hogwash.

  “Sebastian,” I say not liking the boy toy comment, “is a vampire, so, as you can guess, babies aren't in our future.”

  “First, let me say I am happy to hear you like older men. Sebastian isn’t exactly a spring chicken, so things are looking up for me. Secondly, if you were just a vampire, I would agree with that statement, but we both know you are something far more complex. Your tri-supernatural gene pool makes you very unique. Vampires don't generally have babies because they only fornicate amongst themselves and the poor females of the species are barren. We both know that you, however, are very fertile. I believe it is your womb that I have been looking for all these years.”

  Oh God, that is creepy. I shiver from just the thought of him implanting something in my womb. That thought has moved to another of my many top ten lists. This one is the one that lists things I never, ever want to happen and will do anything possible to prevent it.

  “As fertile as this womb may be, nothing is getting planted in it, so you can take your crazy little notion and leave.”

  “Nyx, we have an incantation that will hopefully cast him out of the vehicle,” I hear Alex say in my head.

  About time, okay maybe there is one good thing about us being mentally connected. I ponder that for a second and decide that there still isn’t anything good about it. I am almost home and Demon Boy will probably be ejecting soon.

  “Oh goodie, an incoming transmission. It would seem you have connected with the furry part of you. Two mates from species that don’t get along, I imagine holidays are great fun at your place. Tell him to calm down. I am leaving, for now, but there is a third side to you that may need a mate one of these days and I am hoping you will think of me,” el creepo says from the peanut gallery.

  “Sorry, that third side is not demon, so I think you are out of luck.” Oh please, don’t let me be part demon. We have assumed that other part was human and they don’t need specific mates.

  “No, not demon, but nevertheless it is paranormal and I believe I am compatible with it, so keep me in mind. Until then, if you need me the name is Ben. Just give a shout and I will come running. Enjoy the parting gift,” he says before vanishing.

  A searing pain hits the palm of my right hand. “Son of a bitch,” I yell, taking my hand off the wheel and at the same time try not to drive off the road. Looking at my palm I see a burn of an intricate design start to take place. “Shit.”

  “What the fuck is that?” Jonas asks unfrozen and looking around for a threat before settling on my palm.

  “Sorry, he is long gone. And this,” I say waving my hand around, “after the somewhat short, one-sided conversation I just had, I am afraid is marking me as a demon’s whore. If said demon shows his face again, I am going to torch his ass.”

  I don’t know what the thing that is still forming on my hand is, but I hope it can be removed. Otherwise, I am fixing to lose some skin carving it off myself. It is bad enough I have marks carved into me by one bastard. I don’t want to have some weird demon’s calling card.

  My cases had better not all turn out like this. It was supposed to be simple, find the girl and make her call home. Not find the girl, attract her horny demon possessed boyfriend, and get fricken marked by that asshole.

  Chapter 14

  The creepy truth about sculptures

  As I pull into my spot, I see my two very worried mates waiting for me. I get out and walk over to Sebastian, giving him a quick hug. I am hoping he will find this latest travesty somewhat amusing.

  Looking up at his face, I can see my guess is dead wrong. Caged violence lines every cell of his gorgeous mug. I think I was right about the done wrong by a demon in the past thought. Now, the question is whether it was a male or female demon. I can just imagine some bitch of a succubus getting him hot and bothered and then leaving him high and dry. I will have to remember to interrogate him later.

  “This is extremely serious, my love. Demons may be somewhat lesser paranorms in our society, but they are the most dangerous. Let me see the mark so I can see what it says.”

  What it says? I thought it was just some drawing. Shows what I know. It is good to know I have someone on my side that reads demonese.

  I extend my palm to him and show him the now blackened mark. I feel Alex shift to stand behind me looking over my shoulder. His heated presence releases a feeling of calmness through my body. Stupid wolf hormones, I don’t want to be calm. I want to be pissed.

  We all concentrate on the design. All I see is a wicked looking raven centered in a ring that has an outer ring around it. In between the two rings are a bunch of little scribbles. I am guessing they are probably some demonic language now that Sebastian thinks words are involved.

  “It’s not as bad as I expected. I have seen some real doozies as far as these marks go. I am concerned about the raven, though. Each demon has their own symbol. The raven is well known to belong to the demon Benjalarico. He is a very old reaper demon. For him to take interest in what Alex has described to me, based on what he overheard in your mind, is quite confusing.”

  “Yeah, good old Ben wants to have himself a little baby. I informed him I wasn’t interested, hopefully, that closes the case. Now, what do the scribbles say?” I ask wanting to know what horror is ahead for me. The fact that Ben is a reaper demon means he has been taking time out from his busy soul-harvesting schedule to make his attempts at fatherhood.

  “First, there is the protection from other demons. That one is mainly to mark you as his as far as his kind goes. Having to deal with only one isn’t so bad, from our point of view,” he adds to his explanation. “The next is a tracker. I am not very happy about that one. He can now pinpoint your location at any time. It will also block any kind of charm I would have tried to protect you with.”

  “That is just great news. Do we have the ability to at least charm the bathroom so he doesn’t just pop in while I am in the shower?” I ask starting to get pissed even with Alex trying to calm me. He places his hands on my hips to try harder. Sorry bud, it ain’t working. I am not even going to ask why his presence may cause a change in my mood. I have enough stuff to piss me off, for the moment.

  “Yes. The building itself will be protected, I hope. We will also try to charm the vehicles. Your personal one may be an issue since he has already been in there, but we will make the attempt,” Sebby responds.

  “At least that is something,” I reply glumly. This might mean I need to trade the old girl in. “Do the scribbles do anything else?”

  “The last part gives you the ability to summon him at any time. I am guessing he gave you instructions on how to do it. It looks like his summoning name should be here, but it is missing.”

  “He just said his name was Ben a
nd to call him anytime I needed him.”

  “He must have made it so you didn’t need the official name. Demons rarely give them out, so it isn’t surprising. There isn’t anything here that formally binds you to him. It is just protection and ways to get in contact.”

  “Did Alex also hear that good ol’ Ben says I have some other kind of paranorm gene beside the two we know of?” I ask tilting my head back to get a glimpse of Alex’s face.

  “He did,” Alex responds speaking of himself in the third person. “If it is true, it isn’t anything we have encountered and the Collective didn’t know about it either.”

  “Whatever it is, let’s hope it is like a vampire and doesn’t have a predestined mate programmed into it. Having to share you with someone else is already hard enough. A three-way share would be impossible,” Sebastian says taking my hand and leading our group inside.

  Yeah, but if the demon possesses one of them is it still considered a three-way share? The possibility horrifies me.

  At my floor, we file out and I give a quick wave to Venus and David.

  “They can’t wave back,” Jake points out. He must really think I am a moron.

  “If I ever decide to lift the curse, they could possibly wave. It should give Venus her arms back,” Sebby states as if it is no big deal.

  “Wait. Hold the phone. Those two are actually real people?” I say skidding to a halt.

  “Of course. Most sculptures of people you see are just curses. As they are passed around over the centuries, the incantation to reverse the curse is sometimes lost, but I know both of theirs. I can release them at any time.”

  “Are they aware in there?” I ask. I can just imagine the cultural shock of waking them up if they have been encased for hundreds of years.

  “I couldn’t say. It all depends on the being that laid the curse. Some want their victims to know what they are missing, others just want them out of the way.”

  The idea that they are real people boggles my mind. It also terrifies me that people are out there capable of doing something like this.

  “So, I am guessing a witch is behind this kind of thing. How worried should I be about pissing one of them off?”

  Sebastian full on laughs. I didn’t think the question was that funny. “A witch couldn’t dream of anything this complex,” he says after calming down. “No, my love, the only being able to do something like this is one like your new found friend. It be a demon curse.”

  I wonder how many times I have thought “great” to myself today. I imagine I am going for some kind of record because I am thinking it again.

  “Don’t worry,” Alex says pulling me along and depositing me on the sofa. “We will protect you from the big, bad demon. We’ll also make sure you are clothed at all times. I know you would hate to be a naked sculpture.”

  “Jerk,” I hiss as I punch him in his shoulder. He just laughs and takes the seat next to me.

  “It doesn’t sound like being forever immortalized in stone is what he has planned for you,” Jonas kindly points out.

  “No, he has much grander things in mind,” I say with a huff. “So, one case done, I am hoping to head into the office to see if I have any more prospects. Any complaints?” I glance between Alex and Sebastian who have taken places beside me on the couch. Neither looks happy about my idea.

  “It hasn’t been warded yet,” Sebastian provides.

  “True. I don’t think the demon who shall not be named has plans to get me pregnant immediately,” I respond. I have decided actually saying his name aloud is a bad idea. He might think I am summoning him. The day that I do that, will be a very frigid day in Hell.

  “I would feel better if you wait until it is protected. Even if he doesn’t go right ahead with his plan, he can still do a lot of things to make life tougher for us.”

  “And just how long would that take?” I ask. “Can you send someone and have it done by the time we get there?” Usually, that is all it takes. Sebastian makes a call and it is done.

  “It doesn’t work that way. It will take me about a week to make sure all the glyphs are in the right places and find the best charms to use against this particular demon.”

  “I am not staying away for a whole week. Are you joking?” I screech.

  “Of course not, love. If I was joking, I would ask what you do with an elephant with three balls.” The joke is a well-known one of his. The punch line is you walk him and pitch to the rhino, of course. “That would be how long it would take. If you can work from home for the day, I can probably do at least some of the rudimentary glyphs and then tomorrow you should have some protection.”

  “I need my computer to work,” I reply getting really piqued. Alex reaches over and grabs my hand. Where did all this calming energy come from all of a sudden? I think it is moving up my list of things aggravating me at the current moment. I turn to glare at him. I am finding my glare makes guys smile, so maybe I will have to start doing reverse psychology glares. I smile at him sweetly and that catches him by surprise, causing him to narrow his eyes a bit. Good.

  “You can use one of my laptops to login into your system from here. The apartment has a general ‘keep demons out’ charm, so you shouldn’t get any unexpected guests.”

  “So, the amulet charm you prepared for me won’t do any good at all?”

  “No, his tracker runes are top of the line. I don’t know anything offhand that will counter them. He evidently thought it was very important that he be able to find you. I have seen other spells that are a lot easier to circumvent.”

  When Sebastian doesn’t have an answer for something like this, it tends to worry me a bit. I imagine if he is having an issue guarding against just one of the spells, asking if there is a way to remove it altogether is a waste of breath.

  “Sorry, Babe, but you would be right. Demon marks can only be removed by the demon that gave them, or by one stronger than them. In those cases, the stronger demon puts their mark over the existing one, so you are still bound to one of them,” Alex whispers through my mind.

  Well shit. “You have been awfully quiet about this whole thing. Do you have any other words of wisdom to add?” I think back to him, using our connection for the first time actively. Well, other than that time I flashed a kinky vision at him to distract him.

  “I am trying to fight the urge coursing through me to tear something to shreds. Calming you and being quiet are working, for now. Any higher functioning will push me over the edge,” he replies. “I don’t want to ruin your nice apartment.”

  Now that I can understand. “Fine. For today, bring me a laptop. Me and the guys will hang out here while I check emails and file the paperwork for the Willard case.

  “I am sure I won’t find anything new, but I want to spend some time researching reaper demons, my reaper demon in particular, and their marks. I won’t leave the building unless a life or death case comes in. If it does, you will not be able to stop me from leaving.”

  I get up from the couch and go to my bedroom so I can change out of my jeans and into my more comfortable work attire. Looking at the clock, I see it is just now four o’clock. Most days I wouldn’t even be awake at this hour. I decide that any other human cases that come in are going to have a stiff fine for having to be awake before twilight. Hopefully, that will detour them from hiring me in the first place.

  Chapter 15

  Message from the flipside

  When I return to the main living area, a desk has been set up with an office chair, laptop, and printer. What good service I have. Doubt any humans could have made that happen, no matter how much money they have.

  I settle into the plush chair and bounce around a little before starting up the laptop. The chair is a bit comfier than the one I have at work. I may have to “borrow” it for my office.

  Jake and Jonas are spread out on separate couches. Everyone else has cleared out. Jake looks like he is trying to work a little nap in. Our schedule is royally off today and the vamp guards are u
seless in daylight hours, so I imagine exhaustion is setting in.

  As much as I hate breaking in new personal guards, I think we might just have to promote someone. There are a couple that I have sparred with that would make decent guards. I like my personal guards to at least be somewhat up to my level of fighting ability, so it is hard to find anyone good.

  The login screen on the laptop pops up, allowing me to enter in my credentials. My desktop loads quickly and I launch my email client. I usually try to keep up by checking on my phone, but today I just haven’t felt like it. If someone really needs to get a hold of me, my number is all over my website and can be found on my storefront.

  The newest email in the list arrived only minutes ago and it is from a Rick Goode. The subject line is blank, which I absolutely hate, but I click it anyway because every once in a while something good comes from it. This seems to be one of those times.

  Nyx,

  Daughter, I was just told the very distressing news. Attracting a demon is a very bad thing in your case. If word gets back to your mother that you are alive and well, things are going to get very difficult.

  After I found out you existed, I did everything I could to make it appear you were someone other than that innocent baby left to fend for themselves at the hands of the Collective. Since she hasn’t come for you, I have to believe, so far, I have succeeded.

  If a demon were to let out the secret of what you are, I have no doubt she would hear about it and come for you. You, of course, know nothing about her, but your mother is a bitch in every sense of the word, except literally. (I know that last statement doesn’t really make sense, but in my mind it does.) If she were to find you before I come out of hiding, the entire paranorm community would be in great danger.

  I don’t have everything in place just yet, so please try to stay safe until your birthday. If I hear there is movement from her side, I will come to you, but it will be at a risk to both of our lives. We may be able to secure a visit for you to where I am hiding, but those are rarely doled out.