I made sure Erin was safely tucked into the back of a pearly, new Escalade with a promise that she would be delivered unharmed to her mother's house. It was kind of a cop out to let Thomas roll her into forgetting the past couple of days, but I was on a time crunch here. I'd just have to send her a gift basket or something later. She might not know what it was for, but at least I'd have a clear conscience.
I sent the yetis with her. They rode in the center row of seats, smashed in what looked to be rather uncomfortable positions, but they assured me they were fine. I wanted them there to protect her, just in case. Whether she could see them or not didn't matter, I knew they were there. I made them a promise before they left that I would do my best to save their home. They were more than nice about it, really, and I added them to my gift basket list, too.
The rest of us (don't know why everyone had to come along, guess I was popular) piled into a limo that I would have sworn was the one that I'd been in before. That is, if it hadn't had been blown to smithereens. With me inside. I shuddered and snuggled closer to Levie. I tried to pretend that was exactly what I wasn't doing, but the look on his face told me that he didn't believe me.
The ride was tense and quiet and what little dialogue there was consisted of Fuerella and Helena having an argument (apparently, they were lovers). Thomas and Lunen held hands and rubbed each other's knuckles, making me wish for the same with Levie though I was loath to ask. I felt bad for Lunen though; I did. Getting kicked out of the family business for being gay was pretty screwed up, but I didn't bring it up. I was fairly certain that the last thing Lunen needed was a reminder.
I sighed and tried to squint out the tinted windows at the scenery. The view was terribly unimpressive, and I ended up focusing back on the group in front of me. There was certainly some family tension between Levie and his cousin, but the two of them did seem to genuinely like each other. Maybe I could get Levie to persuade the Devil to take back his son? Then Levie and I could date, and I wouldn't have to worry about him prodding me to make demon babies for him. Gross. I glanced up at his smooth chin, his rounded biceps, his leathery wings. Or maybe not so gross. At least not the making part.
I was certain that sex was like potato chips. Once you'd eaten one, you couldn't stop. I really, really didn't want to stop. I couldn't wait for my second time. It was worth it to keep Levie around at least for that. Even if I was still pissed. And I was. Truly. But the fire had gone out of my conviction. I was getting ready to forgive him.
A window purred as it was rolled down by Helena.
“This is it. Driver.” Fuerella pressed a button to her right and asked him to stop. We pulled up to the curb slowly and were greeted to a scenic view of ash and rubble. Nice. The sphinx, who had been curled up on the floor during the trip, stretched and yawned.
“Where do the weary find peace?” We all ignored him.
“Well,” Helena began, glancing around the limo as if this were our last goodbye. “The sphinx can't travel to Hell without Hahti's permission, so we're going to have to take him with us. I assume that's where you're headed after?” Levie nodded confirmation, and I swear, I saw the sphinx start to pout. He had wanted to come. I reached down and stroked his head, itching him gently behind the ears. I was actually becoming quite attached to the furry little guy. Or big guy. Or whatever.
“You know where we are if you need us. If you find anything else out, call us. And Ginger ... ” Lunen bit his lip and glanced at Levie. “When the two weeks are up ... ” I didn't let him finish.
“Got it,” I said, reaching for the door handle. “And thanks.” I would take care of this. I would. And then I was going to sleep for a hundred years. Dying and being resurrected is tiring.
Levie and I stood in silence while the 3rd Century Realty group pulled away in their fancy limo and left us standing in the middle of the empty sidewalk. I turned to him and watched as his face squinched in concentration.
“This may not go well,” he said to me as the wind ruffled the edges of his hair. “When my uncle finds out you lost the genie ... ”
“I didn't lose the genie,” I argued fruitlessly. I'd have to save my debate for the Devil though I doubted I could affect his decisions. “She lost me.”
“True,” Levie said. “But he will be angry nonetheless. He was expecting something out of this.” He leaned down and grasped my shoulders. “Ginger, perhaps I could send you back to my parents' house? If you decide to stay put this time, you will be safe. I will search this area and report to my uncle. You have broken no rules. As of now, you are firmly back under contract. You needn't worry about the genies.” I shook my head.
“No. Your uncle offered me a deal if I did this for him, right? I free the genies, and I'm off the hook, period. For my wish. For my soul. For everything. Even though I'm not dead anymore, that still stands doesn't it?” Levie glanced down at the sidewalk.
“Your soul was promised to me, Ginger. I am not sure if I could give it up so easily. You are the first person, human, demon, or otherwise that I have ever had a connection with.” What he said was frustrating, but the way he said it made my sides ache. In a good way. Or in a very bad way, however one wanted to put it. I was suddenly caught up in a very nasty cycle of thoughts that featured Levie and I jammed in between two of the nearby buildings, pants down to our ankles.
My thoughts must have shown on my face because Levie didn't hesitate in grabbing my arm and pulling me tightly against him. His kisses were rough and fervent, delicious.
“We have to search for ... ” His mouth was traveling down my neck. “For ... clues.” He paused, glancing back up at me with a smile on his face.
“If you wish to stop ... ” Levie pretended to pull away, and I grabbed him, dragging him into a nearby alley. It was empty except for a couple of old boxes, and the air was dead, silent. This area was mostly abandoned anyway, and if we happened to come in contact with a couple of drug addicts, well, Levie was a fire demon.
We didn't waste time with pleasantries or even foreplay for that matter. He dragged his zipper down and freed himself before slamming me into the wall and tugging my pants down to dangle naughtily from one ankle. I almost forgot about the condom again. Almost.
“Levie,” I said, one leg pulled up against my chest and resting over the crook of his arm. He silenced me with a kiss and flourish of his hand. He produced the little silver square from his pocket. He'd been carrying some around in his pocket, the sneaky little bastard.
He tore the package with his teeth and slipped it on expertly. Not that it was a difficult thing to do, but this was coming from a guy who'd never even heard of the damn things until a few days ago. I was absolutely ready to beg for it when he finally thrust into me. His cock was warm with the heat of his magic, and the nearness of his body helped me to forget that I was outside, half naked with my skin pressed into a wall of cold bricks.
I tried to stifle my moans by biting his shoulder. It only succeeded in causing his moans to increase until the two of us were eating at each other's mouths and his hips were slamming me into the building.
It didn't last nearly long enough in my opinion, but lucky for me, I was able to have my second orgasm right there in the middle of an abandoned business district. Levie came soon after, and I had to admit that I was rather impressed by his increase in stamina.
“Do all demons get this good this fast?” I asked him, nibbling an earlobe before allowing him to pull out. “Or are you just that special?” Levie chuckled before releasing me and pulling up his zipper.
I made a moue of disappointment and scrambled around for my pants. I sort of felt ... well ... like we'd rutted like a pair of mating cats, but it would have ruined the mood if I'd said anything, so I kept my mouth shut and tried not to act as embarrassed as I felt.
“What do we do now?” I asked him, trying to avoid the look of confidence and contentment that he was giving me. Searching for clues now kind of seemed ... pointless. The building wasn't just burned down; it was incin
erated.
“Now?” he asked. “Now we go to Hell.”
The Devil pondered our information for several moments, one hand rubbing the tip of his tiny horns as he concentrated. Levie and I waited, silent and still, in the center of his plush, black and white skull carpet. Vae stood next to his right shoulder, one arm hanging loosely, her other hand lightly resting across her wrist. Suffice it to say, the temperature in the room was unbearable. I waited as long as I could before being forced to rub an arm across my dripping forehead. My movement snapped the Devil out of his reverie, and he turned his eyes up to glare at me. It was as if the whole genie kidnapping scenario had been my fault. The bastard.
“Okay then,” he spoke slowly as if to speak any faster would set off the fount of rage within him. “If Infernix wants to screw with my family business. We'll screw with his. You.” He pointed one of his black nailed hands at me. “Get dressed. You're going to be doing a little role playing.”
Levie and I exchanged a glance. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had no idea what he was talking about.
“Uncle?” Levie queried, relaxing his wings to the floor so as not to appear threatening. Neither of us wanted to set him off. It wouldn't be pretty. The Devil waved a hand dismissively and leaned back in his chair.
“Oh shut up, Leviathan. I was planning on explaining.” He opened a drawer on the front of his desk, and when his hands reappeared from inside, he was holding a rainbow slinky. He moved it back and forth between his hands as he spoke. “We recently acquired a new … ” He paused for a moment, and when he continued, the next word was drenched with a healthy dose of sarcasm. “Secretary.” Levie's forehead tightened slightly, but I had to give him kudos as he gave no other sign that the word bothered him. “She was originally set on working for Infernix, but we gave her a better package.” Lucifer tilted his head to the side and grinned. The way his lips pulled back over his teeth, it looked suspiciously like a lour. “Prescription drug benefits and double the sick days.” He gave us this erroneous tidbit as if it would cause us to rally to his cause, no questions asked. “Anyway … ” He waved his hand again. “They'd already issued her an employee number and assigned her an office.” He waited, the tension building as Levie and I, and even Vae it seemed, strained for the twist in all of this.
“So. You, my new niece-in-law … ” I squinched my face up but neglected to comment. “Are going to play the part of an Infernix employee.” Levie's mouth opened to protest, but the Devil stood, pointing a menacing finger at him. “Don't speak, nephew of mine, or they will be the last words you ever say. Your little pet there has screwed up royally, more than once, and threatened our business in a way Infernix never would. Now, I'm giving you both another chance. Do this for me and Levie … ” The Devil returned to his seat and squeezed the slinky in his hand until the plastic snapped in several places. “You will retain your spot in my will, and you and your little pet can take over the business for me.”
I wanted to protest. I wanted to tell them both that I hadn't made up my mind about what I was going to do with Levie, but the excitement in his eyes stopped me. He looked … well, there really was no other word for it but ecstatic. I couldn't erase that look from his face. I just couldn't. It was in that moment that I finally realized it. It felt stupid to admit it. I hadn't known him very long. He was my first … uh, sexual experience but I … I …
“I love you.” I said it out loud, but I hadn't meant to. I clamped my hands over my mouth and tried to force the blood that was rushing to my face back down to my legs so that they could run me away from there. Fortunately, obliviousness seemed to run in the family. Levie glared at me out of the corner of his eye, and the Devil smiled.
“I love you, too, cupcake.”
Just a few more favors and this will all go away. I took another stiff legged step forward and smoothed down my navy pencil skirt. Just smile and act nonchalant.
“Name?” The Cyclops asked, his one brown eye narrowed and focused intently on my right eye.
“Prudence Feterbean,” I lied through clenched teeth, hoping I had pronounced my new last name correctly. I forced the corners of my mouth up and hoped I looked pleasant enough. Harmless. Not like a spy for a rival company. Oh Gods, please let this go well. The Cyclops was running a sausage sized and very hairy finger down his list. He nodded once and handed me a plastic security badge. I snatched it with more than just a little relief and squeezed through the turn style, flashing the badge at the next uniformed Cyclops security guard. He opened the front door for me, and I gasped at the rush of heat. The entry hall had been cool and pleasant, but the lobby was hotter than Hell Inc.'s offices. I wiped at the sweat on my brow and tried to remain invisible as I squeezed past demons and other unmentionables.
My office was exactly where they had said it would be, down the first hall and to the right. I pushed open the door slowly, carefully. I didn't know what I had been expecting. It was an office. Oak desk and bookshelves, leather computer chair, and that same ridiculous navy carpeting. I sighed and set my briefcase down on the desktop. I didn't even get a chance to snoop around before a girl sporting pink and white spiraled horns and a skirt so short, I could see the Hanes logo on her underwear, slammed a pile of papers onto the desk. I stood up on my tiptoes and gave her a, “What the hell am I supposed to do with these?” look.
She smacked her gum a couple of times and twirled some hair around her finger. “The boss needs these on his desk before five.” She stared at me for another minute and continued to chew like a deranged cow. The boss. Terrence. Or Teranopolopalis. Or whatever his name was. I swallowed nervously. The glamour covering my face suddenly felt transparent. What if he saw through the six foot tall, tan, bleach blonde demon facade to the nervous, pale skinned Ginger Malloy? I'd be dead meat. For the third time. It didn't sound appealing. Not to mention I had no idea how the Devil would react. He'd been so giddy dressing me up in my designer suit that I was now twice as terrified as I'd have been had he been sullen and irate.
“Okay, sure,” I said and waited, hands clasped behind my back for her to leave. She smacked her gum again and then shrugged, retreating back into the hall. I sat down in the rather luxurious brown leather office chair, rubbing my hands along the mahogany arm rests. Infernix had way too much money to blow. The bastards. I grabbed the first document off of the stack. It was like a Facebook page pulled right off of the Internet; there was an excessive amount of personal information like birthday, height, and blood type, along with several photographs. I turned the paper over, but the back was blank. I had no idea what I was supposed to do with it.
I decided to put it aside and grabbed the next page off of the stack. It was the same thing for a different person. And so was the next. And the next. I separated the stack in half, but it was just more of the same. I sighed.
I checked the hallway, but the Hanes girl was already gone. Several other people passed by me, and I tried to smile like I expected a demon should, full of mystery and danger. I'm sure I only succeeded in looking like I had had some sort of muscle numbing facial surgery. I ducked back into the office before anyone had a chance to look too closely at the lovely new Prudence Feterbean and began to rummage through the other furniture in the room.
The bookshelves were full of useless crap like How to Win Over Humans with a Smile and Thirteen Ways to Strengthen your Wings at your Desk. The desk in question was even more useless. Most of the drawers were empty except for a scattered assortment of blue ballpoint pens and paperclips. I took a deep breath and switched on the computer. It immediately prompted me for a password. I sighed and clicked the 'I Forgot my Password' link.
The operating system beeped cheerfully and pulled up the security question.
“What was the date of your last pap smear?” I read aloud and blushed. I punched the power button on the monitor with more force than was really necessary and sat slumped over in the chair. The Devil hadn't given me much information, and the real Prudence Feterbean had been even less
helpful. She'd stared at me, who at that point had already been glamoured to look like her, and gaped like a fish. Her mouth opened and closed for several moments before she'd been able to get out even a few words of advice. I didn't know if she'd been shocked at my imitation of her likeness or by the Devil's heated presence, but if I'd known what I knew now, I would have made sure to ask her more in-depth information about her lady parts.
As it stood, I was getting nowhere fast. I sighed and stood up, smoothing my skirt down in the front. I needed to take a look around the office. If I could just find Hanes girl again, maybe I could wrangle some more information out of her gum smacking ass.
I sauntered into the hall, trying to keep my shoulders back and my chest out. Like Levie. My heart thrilled in response to the thought of him. It both bothered and exhilarated me. I was making a pretty big commitment on very little information. But I was excited. He'd been excited. In the few moments we'd had between our meeting in the Devil's office and my subsequent glamouring by Vae, I'd tried to tell him how I felt.
“Levie,” I'd said, my finger tracing the little whorls in the wood on the Devil's desk. “About what I said earlier ... I'd kind of meant to say that to you.” Levie had stepped close to me and pulled me into his arms. His skin had been warm but not with the boiling heat he had when he was angry, just an enveloping warmth that spread gently through the places where our skin was touching.
“Which thing, Ginger?” he'd asked softly, placing his lips against my forehead. I'd shivered in delight and tried to say it again. My lips had felt stiff, like the words were so difficult to say that they had seized up in anticipation. When I finally felt a rush of courage, Levie's hands traveling down my back in a very deliberate path towards my ass, the Devil had burst into the room, the navy skirt suit in hand. He'd made a lewd comment or two about demon babies that had set me into an irate, spluttering mess and the moment had passed me by.
Hell Inc. Page 27
