“You have no powers, Lupercus. They’re gone.”
“It’s not true,” he whispered. “It can’t—” He looked down at his hands and then at Judas.
“Go ahead, try and throw a lightning bolt at me. Call down fire from the sky. Direct the winds. Make the elements obey you.” Judas paused. “You can’t, and you know you can’t because you’ve already tried.”
“I thought it was the atmosphere here,” Lupercus said softly. “I thought all the good in the air was making me weak. I thought…” His evil gaze cut toward Judas. “All right,” he said, “maybe my powers are gone, but even without them I know enough of the gods’ secret incantations to control her. And who knows, after her will be another, and another, and another!
“You’re willing to become a runaway god to serve this evil master? Tell me, Lupercus, why her? I’ve seen you play with many in your reign as the Wolf God. What’s so special about this one?”
“Look at her,” Lupercus said as he turned to her. His eyes raked over her lasciviously. “She’s a glorious creature, don’t you agree? In her evil, she’s beautiful and wild. Darkness radiates from her now, and her eyes are constantly filled with a predatory gleam. I can hardly believe I created her. She’s mine to command, to do with as I see fit.” Angling his evil gaze toward Judas, he went on. “After a bloody kill, when the evil inside her has been satisfied, she becomes soft, like a kitten. The blood on her body is like a vintage wine. I lick it off her, driving her insane with desire.” Lupercus glared at Judas as he delivered the final blow. “Perhaps she will even bear me a son, a half-breed like you. Look at her. She couldn’t have anything but a beautiful child, even more beautiful than you. Her two sons—”
With an anguished cry, Judas yelled, “You bastard! Release her! Release her from your prison of blood! Your hell!”
“Judas, don’t be so dense. Why would I release her when she fills my needs so well? No, I will release her only when I have grown tired of her. Perhaps when she grows into an old hag, which will be many years from now.” He cast Judas a black-layered look. “Even without my powers, I can still defeat you, Judas, so I warn you now. You and that degenerate priest stay out of my way, or you will both meet your doom sooner than you expected. You can do nothing to save her, nothing at all.”
* * * *
Lupercus talked freely with Judas because he thought Sugar had fully mutated and was beyond understanding anything except bestial things.
To hunt, to prowl, and to tear at human flesh.
But he was wrong.
She understood every word.
She watched both of them, listened, learned. Yes, she already knew that Lupercus was a devil in a priest’s collar, a god gone mad, but now she knew something else.
He was mortal.
Her mind went back to the night of Cristo’s death, when she had bellowed at the moon, at whatever and whomever was responsible for her misery. He had heard her and come. Not to hear her pleas or release her from her torment, but to draw her even deeper into his evil, twisted moon-games.
By the time she had learned who he was, she was under his power and could do nothing but obey him. She had come to depend on him for blood. He treated her like an addict, kept her coming back by allowing her to drink from his wrist. Not a lot, just enough to make her follow him like an animal follows his master. But the worst was when he whispered vile things in her ear, causing her to go into a wanton, whorish rage.
And then he took her.
Savagely and without restraint.
As he lapped up the blood on her neck and breasts, his words were flavored with mumbled obscenities and promises that one day she would be free.
It was all lies! The bastard had no intention of freeing her. He wanted to keep her just as she was. His soft, soothing words had been for nothing, his promises of release, empty.
Well, she had also made a promise on the night of Cristo’s death.
Now she looked up at the moon, resisting it, hating it, seeing his vile face etched on it, hearing another empty promise whispered to her from that cold, death-like surface.
It, he, couldn’t have her tonight.
No, she had to stay focused.
She tried to think abstract thoughts like, how many fathoms, no leagues—
She frowned and then asked herself simply, how deep is the ocean, how high is the sky, how many balls of string would it take to circle the earth ten times? How much blood would it take to fill—No! she told herself. Don’t think about blood, about killing, about the warm, spiced taste of—
Suddenly the moon’s rays grabbed her, forcing her to look up at it.
No, she argued, you bastard—
Oh God, another question. Is the moon male or female? She’d always heard that Lady Luna was the goddess of the moon. She shifted her eyes toward Lupercus. How did it all work? Did everything have both gods and goddesses controlling them?
She pictured the goddess in her mind. White, sparkling, and beautiful while lying in the hook of a quarter moon and looking down upon the earth. Help me, Lady Luna, she cried inside herself. Free me from this monster who calls himself a god! She struggled, the prayer being said over and over again to keep her mind off—
No! She must resist!
At last, she felt herself wilting down the column, her eyes closing in sleep. Now only one thought filled her mind. She had done it! She had managed not to mutate!
She opened her eyes just wide enough to see Lupercus looking at her with an evil smile twitching at his snake-like lips. She smiled back as if the two of them were the greatest of friends. He didn’t know that her smile was as false as his priest’s collar. He also didn’t know that tomorrow night he wouldn’t be smiling.
* * * *
Lupercus saw Sugar’s smile and tried to rush past Judas to release her, but Judas jumped into his path. “Leave her alone.”
Lupercus glared into Judas’s eyes. “You almost had me believing those ridiculous lies of yours. She’s mine, and she will remain mine. If you want proof that I am a god, then be at the far end of Gypsy Reef tomorrow night at midnight. I’ll put on a show you won’t soon forget, and the finale will be your death.”
“I’ll be there.”
Lupercus’s eyes narrowed with a sinister twinkle. “How does it feel to know you are going to die in twenty-four hours?”
“You tell me.”
Lupercus’s smile fell from his face, and with a whirl, he turned and hurried out the door, saying simply, “Tomorrow night.”
Chapter 26
The next night…
The rays of the large silver moon painted the hardwood floor of the studio with sparkling moonlight. Like a carefree child, Sugar stood within the moon’s glow and giggled as she whirled around and around. Happiness she hadn’t felt in a long time flowed through her. She opened her Chinese silk robe to the breeze and felt it tickle her skin as it slipped from her shoulders and draped her arms. She breathed deeply at the fragrant night air. It was warm for this time of year.
Perfect for a bloody rendezvous.
The moon shadows played naughty little games along the soft lines of her naked body as she looked at herself in the antique wall mirror. Surrounded by a roomful of votive candles, the undulating flames revealed how pale her face appeared beneath the carefully applied makeup. The milky whiteness of her neck spilled down across her shoulders and continued down her bare chest until it was shaded between her alluring breasts. The nipples of each one swirled into a pink bud.
Tonight she felt at one with the cold moon, the predatory gleam, the killing rays, and the power that changed her into a prowling animal. She’d fought it in the past, but not tonight. Tonight she welcomed it. Tonight, she would succumb to its powers without a struggle.
Her eyes shifted and she saw a lone figure walking along the beach road that was otherwise deserted, and for just one moment, a second, a stab of alarm quickened inside her. Ghostly sounds of faraway traffic intruded upon the silence of the haunted lan
ding, and the vaporous headlights that swept through the fog-shrouded trees gave the night an eerie look and feel.
The setting was perfect, but was she ready for it?
She walked to the snack board that lay beside a pallet she had laid out. Wine, cheese, fruit, and mushrooms sautéed to perfection. She picked one up to taste it and closed her eyes. Perfect.
She stiffened.
She knew the moment he entered the dark house and headed up the stairway. She could feel the throbbing in the air, smell the dampness of cemeteries or basement dirt. The smell followed him. She never knew what it was before, but tonight she did. He smelled of death, of the grave.
The night was windy, and it seemed to follow in his wake, flowing over the banisters and crisscrossing his path. She fidgeted. Was she foolishly taking on more than she could handle? Had his powers truly left him, or would even the elements bow down to him?
Almost as if a warning voice had whispered in her head, she looked and he was there, filling the doorway with his evil. Never flinching, she remained graceful in her stance, her breasts spilling out of the silky robe. Although misgivings whirled within her, she lifted her hand and held it out to him in silent invitation. She was determined not to be weak and forced herself to maintain a single-minded determination that appeared to him as an innocent, childlike stubbornness.
He walked in slowly. “Hello, Sugar,” he said as his eyes raked over her. He immediately rolled up his sleeve to feed her.
“No, not tonight,” she whispered. “Tonight I have something for you.”
He looked down at the serving board on the floor, at the pallet where they would make love, and at something else. Ties, velvet ties, and a blindfold. “What are these?” he asked suspiciously.
“It’s a surprise,” she said, excitement in her voice.
“Are they for me or you?”
“For you, my love.”
Uncertainty crept into his expression. “I don’t like surprises, Sugar.”
“It’ll be fun, don’t you think? A pleasant diversion.”
He gave her the kind of look that told her she was a child playing at a game she didn’t understand. “Sugar, if you don’t know what you’re doing, this could be dangerous.”
“Oh, don’t be such an old fuddy-duddy. It’ll be fun. I’ve always wanted to try it.”
“Put them away. I’m not in the mood for games.”
She contained her shock. “Why?”
“Do what I tell you,” he dictated, his voice as hard as steel. “Put them away.”
Her heart pounded. “My God, I think you’re afraid.”
“I’m not afraid, but neither am I a fool!” he shouted. “The moon is full and climbing. Control in the wrong hands could be deadly, especially since Spice will be making an appearance. Do you think for one moment she would hesitate to kill me?”
“Kill?” she said with a nervous chuckle. “It’s only a game. You’re my guardian, my keeper. I couldn’t survive without you. Do you think I’m fool enough to kill my protector?”
“When you’re like that, you don’t know what you’re doing. Besides,” he continued, “it’s not up for discussion. Now put the damned things away.”
Composure was a fragile shell around her. Her eyes nervously slid to the ties and blindfold. He wasn’t going to cooperate. What would she do? After giving it only a moment’s consideration, she had only one alternative, his ego. Like any man, it was fragile, but with him that was true at least ten times over. She also knew that in addition to being egotistical, he was a male chauvinist. It would make her job easy. “I understand your fear—”
“I’m not afraid!” he bellowed, his loud words echoing a ghostly ring in the silence.
“What else am I to think?” she said almost timidly, her gaze angling up at him. “Unless, of course, you’re having some other kind of…problem?”
His eyes widened as he jerked his head around and looked at her. “Are you referring to—”
“It’s all right…I mean…it happens.”
A swift shadow of anger swept across his face. “I am not impotent!”
“Then you must be afraid. There’s no other explanation.”
His eyes blazed. “Of what? A woman?”
“What else could it be? Surely you can’t think I could ever be a threat to you. Even as Spice I’m not your equal. You know that.” She could see him begin to swell with pride, so in soothing tones she continued to feed his ego. “Now tell me,” she crooned. “What could a weak little woman like me do to a great big man like you? I mean…I’m just a puny little female with hardly a brain in my head. Surely you can see that, can’t you?” She cut her cunning gaze toward him to see if he bought it.
“It’s true, of course,” he said arrogantly and began nodding his head. “All right, we’ll do this, but only on one condition. The moment you feel yourself changing, I want them off.”
“Of course. If that’s what you want, then there’s no problem.”
She struggled to remain casual, not allowing him to see or guess at the excitement building inside her. She had conceived her plan to kill him the night before when Judas very shrewdly gave away his secret. It was the answer she had been looking for, and even now the words rang in her ears.
“You’re not a god…You’re mortal…You bleed. Your powers are gone…taken away by the gods that gave them to you. Don’t you see? You wore it like armor, and now it’s gone. Without it you’re as vulnerable to her as any man would be. What if she turns on you? It’s not unheard of, you know. What if some night, beneath the shimmering moon, you become her prey?”
With a hidden smile, she sat beside him, responding to him as he gently pushed her backward on the pallet, his hands and lips raking over her.
“Oh, Sugar, you and I were meant for each other. Together forever beneath the moon. Think of all the years ahead of us.”
There they were, the words that sentenced her to a lifetime of pure hell. His words created a storm of anger inside her, but instead of giving in to it, she fought for a calm, steady voice. “Yes, I know, love, but let’s not talk of that now.” Careful not to make any sudden movement, she stealthily reached for the ties. “Lift your hands.”
“Sugar, why do we have to do this?”
“You promised,” she said, looking at him with what she hoped was hurt in her eyes.
He sighed and lifted his hands, letting her tie them to a sturdy pipe.
Next came the blindfold.
“Sugar, I really think—”
“Shhh!” she said as she tied it over his eyes. Once she was done, she straddled him. With angry hands, she grabbed and tore at his shirt, popping the buttons, and jerking at his belt.
“You’re so rough,” he said. “I like it.”
“Do you?” she answered as she traced her fingers along his muscled body. “You look wonderful without your clothes on.”
Lupercus smiled. “Yes, I keep myself in shape.”
“Time to begin,” Sugar whispered as she stoked the gently growing fire with her fingers and her lips.
As the seconds passed, he began to writhe and moan with the involuntary tremors of arousal. “Sugar,” he rasped, the sound of desire in his voice. “I must touch you.”
“Not yet,” she whispered in his ear. “I want you wild with desire.” Lifting herself upward, she touched his mouth with her own, lightly.
He responded like a man starving for water. “What are you doing to me, Sugar? I must have you. Loose me from these ties so I can ravage you.”
“Soon,” she answered as she studied his lean, dark-skinned face, hating every line. Her eyes shifted toward the moon arching high in the sky, its magic budding and building. It wouldn’t be long now. She leaned over him and whispered in his ear, “Do you really want to fuck me, Lupercus?”
“More than anything.”
“More than drinking blood?” she said, her voice suddenly laced with acid. “More than chewing the guts out of a human body?”
> He drew in a sharp breath. “What? You sound…Sugar, I demand you release me this instant.”
“Dream on, you bastard!” she growled and then lifted a hand and slapped him hard.
The stinging slap spiked Lupercus’s anger. “What in blazes—?”
“Just part of the game, Lupercus,” she said softly, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
With that her fingers lowered until she found his nipple and pinched it.
“Ouch!”
“Can’t you feel your desire mounting? Wonderful game, isn’t it?”
“You tricked me, you little witch! Untie me now!”
“Shut up, you sick bastard, and get educated. I even became pregnant and bore another a male child. A child that later became stricken with the same curse.” Putting her fingers on his other nipple, she caressed it gently as she continued in a sickeningly sweet voice. “Enjoying our game, Lupercus?”
“What the hell are you doing to me?”
Ignoring his words, she continued. “On the night of my son’s death, I challenged you. Remember? I dared you to come out where I could confront you.” She chuckled. “Oh, you came all right, but coward that you are you came in the humble clothes of a priest. You didn’t even have the nerve to face me as yourself. You’re not a man, Lupercus, you’re a filthy, lily-livered, mud-crawling snake! A rebel god without anything to command.”
“Rebel god? How did you know—?”
“Last night, Lupercus, when you thought I was out of my mind, I was listening. I know everything.”
“No,” he wailed and then called out, “Sataaaan! Save me!”
She leaned her lips close to his ears. “And then, to top it all, when my son died from your miserable curse, you didn’t even have the balls to stop. You kept on going and put your curse on me.”
“I couldn’t stop! It’s what I do, don’t you understand?”
Sugar and Spice Page 18
