The stainless-steel blades sliced through the air, but my reflexes were supernaturally quick, and I easily dodged the first blade. But I wasn’t fast enough to avoid the second knife as it sliced into my left arm. It didn’t hurt much, but it drew thick, black blood from me that oozed from my wound. By the time I looked back up, half a dozen steak knives were flying through the air faster than the first two.
I didn’t even try dodging them. I just dropped to the floor and covered my head.
Only two of the knives grazed me, but when I raised my head to see where Sybil was, her foot came up hard and hit me under my chin. As I rolled across the floor, something strange crossed my mind.
Even though she was kicking my ass, it turned me on for some reason. Half of me wanted to clobber her, but the other half wanted to take her upstairs and have hot demon sex as soon as possible.
I shook my head and tried to clear my vision as I got to my feet.
“If you can calm down for a minute, I can explain everything,” I said.
“You smell like him,” she said, moving closer to me, like she was stalking her prey. “But you don’t fight like him, and you sure don’t know how to use his powers. If you did, I’d already be dead.”
“Maybe I don’t want to kill you,” I said, walking backward. “Have you thought of that? Maybe I just want to talk.”
She leapt into the air and came down on me hard, body slamming me, then wrapping her legs around my torso, preparing to hit me again. I glanced over and saw Shadow sitting on the couch with a bored expression on his face as he watched us play.
“You weigh more than I thought,” I said as I reached up and placed my open hand on her chest, deciding to try the only power of John’s I knew anything about.
Maybe it was because my adrenaline was pumping and my anger was running hot, or maybe it was another example of John’s muscle memory, but for whatever reason, my hand landed directly on one of her magnificent breasts.
I closed my eyes and tried to jump into her body the same way I’d done with Paul.
Turns out, my little trick didn’t work on her at all. It only made her angrier.
She pulled back her clawed right hand, ready to slice my face to ribbons. I reached around and pulled her hair backward for all I was worth. Her head snapped back, and she screeched at me, as I used my leverage to flip her onto her stomach and pin her with my knee in the middle of her back.
I was breathing hard, but at least I had her under control, if only for the moment. I desperately tried to think of something I could do to maintain my advantage. And then I remembered something Ahriman had told me—about the leverage John had over the supernatural beings of Ashburn; he knew their true names. And even though I didn’t have that information, I was hoping Sybil hadn’t figured that part out yet.
“I’ll let you up as long as you stay calm so we can talk,” I said. “If you don’t, I’ll use your name to send you somewhere a lot less pleasant than this house. Are we clear?”
“You know nothing of my true name, imposter,” she said, her voice muffled by the carpet.
“You’re right about the imposter part,” I said. “I’m not John. But I am his replacement. Ahriman sent me to do his job, and he made sure I had the tools to do it. He gave me everyone’s names, including yours. And I have no problem using it if I have to. It’s your choice.”
As soon as I mentioned Ahriman, some of the fight went out of her, and her body relaxed.
“Fine,” she said. “If you release me, I promise not to eat your heart—yet.”
I counted to three in my head then let go and backed away, almost tripping over Shadow, who had decided to be social.
After a few sniffs, Shadow walked over to his water bowl, took a few casual sips and returned to the couch, collapsing on one of its leather cushions to watch us some more.
Sybil, still naked, sat on the ceramic tile floor, with her back against the kitchen’s center island.
“Ahriman replaced John?” she asked.
“That’s what he told me,” I said.
Sybil rubbed her forehead and exhaled hard.
“This can’t be good,” she said, without explaining what she meant.
“I agree completely, but here I am.”
“You’re too nice for this job,” she said.
“I have my own way of doing things.”
“Your way won’t work.”
“It won’t have to for very long,” I said, wiping sweat from my forehead. “Let me ask you, what’s the one thing you wish you could do right now more than anything else?”
“Besides eating your heart?”
I nodded.
“Getting the hell out of here,” she said.
“Then it looks like we have something in common.”
“If you just want to escape, why did you take this job in the first place? And if you’re in John’s body, what happened to John?”
“Ahriman tricked me into this situation, as demons will do—no offense. As far as where John went, I have no idea.”
“Not all demons are the same,” she said with a scowl. “I don’t trick people. I give men—and women—exactly what they want.”
I nodded toward Hill’s lifeless body.
“Is that what she wanted?”
Sybil shrugged and rolled her eyes.
“She got plenty of what she wanted before you showed up. After that, it was my turn—and I needed her heart to stay alive.”
I shook my head in disgust, horrified there was nothing I could do to help poor Hillary.
“I just want to leave Ashburn and get back to my old life,” I said as I looked around for my shirt. “If you want to help, I’ll bring you with me. If you don’t want to help, stay out of my way because I’m getting out of here as soon as I can.”
“In John’s body?”
“I’ll work with what I have,” I said.
“And you’ll take me with you, if I help?”
I nodded.
She sprang to her feet and stood in front of me in her full, naked splendor. She approached me, but more slowly this time—her anger replaced with sensuality again.
“John told me he used to leave Ashburn all the time—said he’d take me with him one day if I continued doing what he wanted. I kept my end of the deal, but he never took me anywhere. I should have known he wouldn’t.”
She averted her eyes and looked down at the carpet.
“He had me do a lot of horrible things for him, you know? Even by succubus standards.”
“I’m sorry about that,” I said as my anger and my libido waned, and my humanity resurfaced.
“Don’t apologize,” she said. “It sounds wrong coming out of his—out of your mouth. And stop being so polite and nice. You need to act more like him—more like a demon if you don’t want people figuring out who you really are.”
She gazed into my eyes, trying to seduce me, but it didn’t work. I knew she was only trying to distract me from the truth and that I’d hit a chord with her. She wasn’t used to someone treating her nicely, and she didn’t know how to handle it.
Instead, she fell back on what she knew best, moving into my space until her body was pressed against mine. The smell of iron from Hillary’s blood mixed with Sybil’s scent and filled my nostrils, making me lightheaded in both a good and a bad way as she kissed my neck.
I hesitated, but now that Sybil knew I wasn’t John, my guilt about deceiving her was gone. Even so, I was still shaken up by Hillary’s death.
“I’m not really in the mood after the whole eating the heart thing,” I said.
Sybil looked deep into my eyes and grinned.
“Oh, I think you are in the mood,” she said as her magic tugged at my insides.
I tried to resist her for about two seconds before her lips moved to mine. The next thing I knew, we were upstairs, kicking in the bedroom door, and falling onto the bed.
I raised my head from the mattress and looked in her glowing red eyes.
&
nbsp; “Maybe we should shower first?” I said, since both of us were still covered in dried blood.
She shook her head.
“I like things dirty.”
“What about Hillary?” I said.
“You want me to go get her?” she said, smiling.
I scrunched my eyebrows together and wondered if she’d just suggested bringing a corpse into bed with us.
“No,” I said. “Remember, I’m not John. I was just thinking it doesn’t seem right to leave her down there like that.”
Sybil laughed dismissively.
“She’s dead. She’ll be fine. Now get to work and no more talking unless you have something sexy to say.”
I moved to kiss her again, tentatively at first, until she drew blood from my back with her talons and the demonic part of me awoke in full force. Our bodies meshed, and I let my dark urges rise and take over my mind and my soul.
As we explored each other with increasing passion, Santana’s hypnotic guitar started playing in my head, followed by the singer lamenting over a black magic woman who was trying her hardest to turn him into a devil.
Needless to say, I totally understood where he was coming from.
Chapter 16
WHEN I OPENED my eyes, I was no longer in bed with a succubus.
I was back home in my home recording studio. For a minute, I felt a surge of happiness, and then I realized Ahriman was with me, writing the lyrics and the music for my songs and seizing control over everything else—even the videos and the cover art.
For the last two months, all I’d done was play his notes and sing his words. It felt like letting another man sleep with my wife—well, ex-wife—and being forced to watch. I grumbled here and there along the way, but each time, Ahriman soothed me with dark promises and told me this wouldn’t be my last album—that I was giving so little for so much—that I would soon be able to write as many songs as I wanted, after he’d taken my cancer away.
Like a mule following a carrot, I kept going, laying down track after track as Ahriman worked through me, using my hands and my voice like I was a puppet. Having him inside me, occupying the same space as my soul, was terrifying. There was nowhere to run or to hide because he was me, and I was him. The only difference between the two of us was that he was the one in control.
When the guitar and vocals for the last song were finished, I worked with Mark to refine the drum track until Ahriman was satisfied. He told me that rhythm was the key to the human heart, even as I saved the files to the hard drive and backed them up for the fourth time that night.
After we were done, I watched Mark leave, wondering if I’d ever see my drummer again. Before Ahriman came into my life, Mark had been the closest thing to a brother I’d had. As he said goodbye, I didn’t know whether to thank him for hooking me up with Duane or to tell him how much I hated him for it. In the end, I didn’t say anything, and it was probably better that way. After all, Mark had made the introductions, but I was the one who’d made a deal with a demon.
Alone in the house, I went back to work mixing the songs on the computer. Two hours later, I was still at the computer, sweetening the vocals and putting the final touches on the last track.
I listened to the finished songs all the way through and nodded, satisfied the album was at least produced well. The sounds were tight, but the lyrics—I cringed at the thought of them being published under my name. One of the songs, Calling You, was so filled with oohs and ahhs it reminded me of Yeah, Yeah and made we want to puke.
“I’m sure it’ll be a big hit in the karaoke bars one day,” I said out loud, although I knew Ahriman would’ve heard me just as well if I’d simply thought my words instead of shouting them.
I enjoyed taking a jab at the demon, but I wasn’t a fan of what he did to my internal organs a second later. My body seized up, and I doubled over, dropped to the floor, and screamed.
After fifteen minutes, the pain receded enough for me to sit up straight. Soon after that, I felt strong enough to get back to work. That’s how it was with him. Punishment followed by just enough comfort to be productive again. When I hit save for the last time and loaded a copy of the album onto a portable drive, I felt relief, but also fear. Ahriman didn’t need me anymore, and even though I wanted him to leave my body, I was afraid he’d go back on his word and let the cancer fully reclaim me. From what I knew of demons, it wouldn’t be the first time one of them had deceived a human. It was what they did best.
That night, I tried to sleep, but the anxiety and fear of possibly waking up with cancer riddling my body again kept me up most of the night. I finally dozed off sometime in the early morning, and when I awoke, I still felt okay, but Ahriman was still inside me.
I sat up in bed and heard his voice in my head.
“You have more work to do before you are free.”
I closed my eyes, and a tear made from equal parts relief and dread escaped my left eye.
Chapter 17
I WOKE FROM my dream in the pitch black of the bedroom, gasping for air. The fire that had consumed me earlier had been quenched by Sybil. But as I reached over, expecting to feel her bare hip, I found only cold sheets. My first instinct was to be concerned about her, but then I remembered who and what she was and what she’d done to poor Hillary. It was the rest of Ashburn that needed to be worried—not her.
If she had enough energy to go out after the night we’d spent together, then more power to her, but I was still tired as hell and tried to fall asleep again, even though I couldn’t get the image of Hillary’s heart out of my head.
When I awoke the next time, it was late in the morning, but I was better rested and thankful for the lack of dreams. I glanced to my left and saw Sybil’s naked back.
I turned on my side and took in the feminine strength of her shoulders as I replayed details from our night together. She’d been a true demon in bed, but there was something else about her—a dark humor mixed with a matter-of-fact way of looking at life that made me like her. After only one day of knowing Sybil, I was beginning to suspect John hadn’t deserved her as his girlfriend.
As I watched, she shifted in bed, and I caught a flash of the side of her face. I was expecting her high cheek bones and her slightly too-large mouth that gave her that killer smile. Instead, I saw a face made of dark red reptilian skin and a mouth lined with rows of deadly sharp teeth, like those of a shark.
I remembered Ahriman’s true form and the demonic faces from the pub, as my mouth went dry and my heart raced. All I wanted to do was get out of the bed and away from Sybil. The thought that I’d kissed those lips and wrapped myself around that inhuman body sent waves of nausea rippling through me. Then a fear struck me with the realization that my true form was likely just as hideous now that I lived inside a demon’s body.
As I shifted my weight to get out of bed, Sybil opened her eyes and her face returned to its regular beauty.
“That was a long night,” she said, her voice lazy and sultry. “I’m sorry I didn’t wake you up for more fun when I got home, but I was exhausted.”
Even though I didn’t respond, the expression on my face must have told her plenty.
“I don’t usually look like that,” she said, turning away from me. “It’s a good thing it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right? Isn’t that what the humans always say?”
She laughed, but I could tell it was forced and fake. The truth was, she was embarrassed that I’d seen what she really looked like beneath the human facade she maintained while awake.
“It’s not a big deal,” I said as I slid out of bed and walked over to the closet, hoping to find something to wear other than khakis. Luckily, I came across a pair of faded jeans. Those plus the dark blue tee-shirt from Chaz’s store, and I at least felt comfortable. It wasn’t the rocker image I would have chosen, but it would do for the time being. Even so, if I ended up staying in Ashburn for very long, I’d have to buy some real clothes.
“Get some more rest,” I said to S
ybil as I got dressed. “I’ll feed Shadow and make some coffee.”
“Fine,” she said, but she didn’t mean it.
Half-way down the stairs, the memory of Hillary popped into my head again, and I took a deep breath, preparing myself for the horror that was waiting for me in the living room.
I breathed through my mouth as I continued down the stairs, but when I turned the corner, the living room was empty, and Hillary’s body was gone.
At first, I thought Sybil had disposed of the corpse to spare me the experience. Then I heard a whine and a burp, and I saw Shadow sitting on the couch, licking his lips—the fur around his mouth and nose stained pink.
As I stared at Shadow, Sybil snuck up behind me and grabbed my ass, literally almost surprising the shit out of me.
“Nice outfit,” she said, motioning toward the I Heart Rock and Roll message blazoned across my chest. I looked like a dork, but she looked great in her skin-tight dark jeans, a fitted black tee-shirt, and classic black-and-white Chucks.
“It’s better than a polo shirt,” I said.
She raised her eyebrows and shrugged.
“Suit yourself,” she said as she plopped down on the couch next to Shadow and scratched him behind his ear. “I told you everything would be taken care of. You’re lucky to have this little guy around.”
“Do I want to know what he did?”
“Let’s just say he already had his breakfast. Speaking of which, I think you’d better let him out in the yard pretty soon, if you know what I mean.”
I didn’t really know what she meant, but I opened the back door anyway. Shadow slid off the couch and waddled out the door, his stomach distended and his eyes half closed.
I watched as he slowly found a place in the yard and did his business. It was both disgusting and impressive, but there was no way in hell I was going to pick up his crap. It could sit there for the rest of eternity for all I cared.
After he was done, the three of us regrouped in the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. The good news was Sybil had a coffee maker, but her beans were pre-ground and had been stored in a can on the counter, where the sun had likely baked them and severely compromised their flavor.
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