by Vivi Anna
"You're my dessert now, sugar pop."
Panic flashed through me and I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I'd never felt such fear in my life. I couldn't catch my breath. Black spots formed in my wavering vision. I'd never truly harbored the thought that I would die. Except that I suspected Death was staring me in the face with his inky black eyes and cruel smile.
"Get off her!" Trevor launched himself at Thane.
The incubus raised one hand and smacked Trevor across the head. The impact sent him sprawling backwards.
I wanted to lift up to see if Trevor was okay, but I didn't. I stared at the demon sitting on me, his intentions clear. Death breathed its hot fiery breath across my face. I didn't want to die. He'd taken so much from me; I refused to let him finish the job.
Anger swelled like a tidal wave inside. Anger and the burning need and desire to live, to thrive. I could feel the change coming and I welcomed it. I let it fill me until it spilled over my edges.
"Now, back to..." Thane paused and really looked at me. "Huh. What do we have here?"
With everything I had, I pushed him away. I sat up and then lifted off the bed. Literally.
My back pressed to the wall, rising up, higher and higher. I wasn't floating like before but sliding up the wall to the ceiling.
Thane looked up at me, taken by surprise, but also amused, just as Trevor struggled to his feet.
"Oh this is good." Thane laughed. "You've been keeping secrets Trevor."
There was blood on Trevor's face. His lip was split and it dripped down his chin. I wanted to float down and lick it off his mouth. I wanted to kiss him until the blood, his essence, flowed down my throat. Jesus, I sounded like a vampire.
Trevor's aura flared wildly. The color made my skin tingle. God, would it always be this way, where I wanted him so much. I didn't know how I could desire him so much and not want to suck the ever living soul out of him.
This was just another reason to hate Thane.
The incubus got off the bed and stood, hands on hips, scrutinizing me. "I remember you now. You're that eager little girl from Boise. The one we dumped in the trash."
At the mention of what had been done to me, I sprang off the ceiling, talons at the ready. I came at Thane fast. He didn't expect it when I swiped at his face, splitting his cheek open, and then bolting to the other side of the room. I crab-crawled backwards up the wall again.
He wiped at his cheek, staring at the blood on his fingers. He turned and pinned me with his dark gaze. Then he started to laugh. It wasn't a harsh mocking laugh that I would expect from him, but one full of good humor and even joy.
The shock of it was enough to knock me from my rage-fuelled transformation. And I fell face first onto the rug. Again.
"Oh, I like her," Thane said between guffaws, "Full of sugar and spice and everything nice."
Trevor rushed to my side, and helped me to stand. He kept his arm around me as he glared at the demon. "Let her go."
Thane stopped laughing but there was still humor in his eyes. "Let her go? Are you kidding me? Do you know how long I've been looking for the perfect playmate? Ages, brother. This one fits the bill perfectly." He licked the blood of his fingers. "She's what your sister would've been if she'd been strong enough to live."
I sensed Trevor's movement before he made it, but I still wasn't fast enough to grab him before he was charging at Thane with murder in his eyes. The incubus was ready for him.
Thane punched Trevor in the face, then hand around his neck, he picked him up and slammed him down onto the coffee table, cracking the wood.
"I should've killed you months ago," Thane growled, "But Devon's too sentimental."
Trevor kicked and struggled but it was to no avail. Thane was too strong.
I came up behind him. I had to do something. I couldn't let Thane kill Trevor. "Stop it!" I screamed.
Ignoring me, Thane continued to squeeze Trevor's throat. His face was actually turning purple from the blood filling his head and the lack of oxygen.
"I'll do whatever you want, just let him go."
Quicker than I could see, Thane let go. Trevor sputtered and gasped for air. I crouched next to him and helped him up. "Are you okay?"
He nodded.
Thane loomed over us. "So, whatever I want, hey?"
Without looking at him, I nodded. Bile was rising in my throat from making the offer. What did I just get myself into?
"Awesome. I've always wanted a slave."
I stood. "A slave?"
He smiled. "Yeah, what did you think I wanted?"
I blushed hard. I looked down at the floor hoping he didn't notice.
But he noticed.
He laughed and it was cruel and cutting. "Are you serious? Oh, sugar pop, you're really not my type."
"I was your type when you nearly killed me," I bit out between clenched teeth.
He stopped laughing, and looked at me. Really looked at me, as if seeing me for the first time. "True. I am sorry about that."
"Excuse me?" I sputtered, "Sorry? You're sorry?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry you survived. You should've been all the way dead, then we wouldn't be having this conversation."
Astonished, I gaped at him. For a second, however briefly, I thought he possessed a shred of decency, an ounce of humanity. But he proved me abysmally wrong. He was completely devoid of anything resembling a soul.
Then it hit me. Why he did what he did. He sucked out other's souls because he never had or ever would have one of his own.
"Oh. My. God." He chuckled. "You actually look shocked. What did you think, I'd grown a heart or something?" he played his arms out to the side. "Please. I'm a heartless, soulless killer. That's what I do and who I am. Don't ever think otherwise. Because that would be a huge mistake on your part."
His arms dropped back to his side, and then he motioned toward Trevor. "Now, get your boy here and get out of my room. But I expect you back here at the ass crack of noon to start your slave duties."
I put my arm around Trevor and led him out of Thane's room. We returned to ours. Once inside, I helped him to the sofa, then got him a glass of water.
He took a sip, swallowing with difficulty, then set the glass on the table. "You see why I told you to stay out of it?"
"I couldn't let him kill that girl, Trevor. Period. Sorry if that bothers you, but I can't change it. Whatever he does to me, will be worth it."
He shook his head, then rubbed at his neck.
"You should be thanking me for saving your life as well." I slumped on the sofa beside him.
He smirked. "Takes more than that to kill me. I'm not fully human, remember?"
"Well, crap, how am I supposed to know? I didn't get the new cambion instruction manual."
He took another drink of water.
"You really need to tell me these things. I'm running around blind, deaf and dumb most of the time. I want to know everything."
"You're right. I've kept you in the dark thinking I was protecting you by not telling you anything."
I nodded, satisfied that he agreed with me.
"Ask away."
Biting on my lip, I really had only one question. "I want to know how to feed without killing someone."
He looked at me for a long moment, then back at the floor. "I'm afraid I can't teach you that."
"Why not?"
"Because I have no idea how."
"In all these months, you never tried to figure it out?"
He smirked. "It's not like I could practice on someone. ‘Oh hey, baby hold still while I try and stop from sucking the life out of you. Tell me when, okay?'"
He stood and went to the mini fridge. He opened it and took out two sodas. Coming back to the sofa, he handed me one.
"So this whole time, you haven't..." I popped the tab on the can to avoid looking at him, "ah, you know."
He took a sip of his drink. "Nope. You're actually the first girl I've kissed since."
"Oh." I sipped my sod
a not sure what to say to that. Thanks just didn't seem to be appropriate. "Well," I started, unsure, "We could practice on each other?"
"What?" he stammered, nearly spilling his drink all over himself. "Are you crazy?"
"Maybe. Been through a lot. Wouldn't surprise me if I am just a little."
"Just forget about it. It's stupid."
"It's not, Trevor. Think about it. Feeding makes us stronger. However much I don't want to, I vividly remember how feeding on Josh made me feel. I was strong, invincible even. Feeding could make us better equipped to deal with Thane and the rest of them."
He lifted his soda to his mouth and drained it. After setting the empty on the table, he looked at me. "Sounds like you just want to kiss me again."
I jumped to my feet, angry. "You know what? Forget it." I headed toward the bedroom. "Obviously you don't want to really do what it takes to end these guys."
I reached the door when he said, "Salem." It was more of a plea than a statement.
Without turning, I paused, my hand on the door handle. "What?"
"I'm sorry I said that about kissing me."
I glanced over my shoulder at him. "Don't be. It's true. I do want to kiss you. When I don't want to punch you in the nose. And not because I want to feed from you." I turned the knob, pushed open the door and went in.
I closed it behind me, and locked it. Without shedding my clothes, I crawled into bed, burying under the covers. Although I was beyond tired, I knew I wouldn't fall asleep easily. I had too many things racing around in my head. Like the fact that I had to report to Thane in the afternoon to do God knew what. Trevor also raced around in my mind. His face, his voice, the touch of his hands, the sensation of his lips on mine. And of how much I wanted to feel that again.
He was a stubborn jerk most times, but that didn't stop me from falling for him. The realization of that hit me like a bomb and I rolled onto my back biting down on my tongue to stem the urge to scream.
I was never going to get to sleep now.
Chapter 23
At half past noon, I knocked on Thane's door. My hands were shaking and my gut was roiling. I had no idea what to expect. What he was going to make me do. Frightening scenarios had plagued my dreams and I'd barely gotten four hours of sleep.
When I'd finally gotten up, I'd found Trevor sitting on the sofa, hands folded as if waiting for me. I'd expected him to make a fuss about going. I expected an argument, but he just nodded to me and told me to be careful. I'd been a little disappointed, until he said if I wasn't back in two hours he'd come for me. The way he'd said it sent the butterflies a fluttering.
I knocked again. Harder this time. After a few more seconds, the door finally opened. Thane was there, rumpled from sleep, his hair in disarray, shirtless and barefoot. He looked too normal for the circumstances. It unnerved me.
Yawning, he pulled the door wider for me. "You're prompt."
I entered, looking around for any sign of danger. Despite the incubus himself. "I wanted to get this over with."
"Fair enough." He shut the door, bolted it, then shuffled back to the big bed, dived in and threw the covers over his head.
I watched him warily. Was this a trick?
"Clean up, while I sleep some more."
After I took in the colossal mess in the room, it looked like a tornado and hurricane had met and danced for a bit, then gaped at him. "Seriously?"
"Yeah," he mumbled from under the covers, "You got a problem with that?"
"Why don't you let housekeeping do it? That's what they get paid for."
He flipped the blanket off his head, but still had his eyes closed. He snuggled a pillow to his chest. "Don't be an idiot. I can't have some maid sniffing around me and my stuff. Who knows what she'd find."
Exasperated, but truthfully a little relieved that this was all I had to do, I glanced around taking in the dirty clothes on the floor, and the empty beer cans and food wrappers on the tables, and thought it wouldn't be too bad. If this was it, I would do it without complaint.
But I looked back at Thane and his devilish appearance and didn't think it would really be that easy.
His eyelids popped open. "Don't just stand there. Get to work."
I eyed the pair of jeans at my foot and toed them with my boot. "I'm afraid to touch anything in case I catch something."
He grinned but it was humorless. "I think you already caught it, sugar pop."
Disgusted, I turned away from him and started picking up his clothing scattered all over the place. Jeans, t-shirts, socks, briefs strewn on just about every piece of furniture and over every inch of floor. The demon had more clothes then most girls I knew. It was odd. But it somehow made him more human. And that I didn't like to think about.
Had he been human once? Did some demon suck out his soul and make him this way?
I carried his clothes to the closet and dumped them on top of his two duffel bags. It was too bad he was in the room because I wanted to rifle through his stuff to see if there was anything Trevor and I could use against him. He had to have some kind of weakness. Even Superman had kryptonite. That's what I needed to find. Thane's green glowing rock of doom.
"You might as well shove them into that black bag. It'll be a lot easier to carry to the Laundromat that way."
I swirled around to glare at him. "I'm not doing your damn laundry."
"Sure you are." His eyes bled black. "Or would you rather I rip out your boyfriend's guts and feed them to Devon?"
I stared at him, my stomach churning, and my heart pounding. Fear prickled its way up my spine. For a moment, I'd forgotten how treacherous Thane really was. He was a killer, plain and simple, and just because he was making me clean his room instead of tearing me apart, didn't make him any less of one.
He grinned then shut his eyes again. "I thought not. I like fabric softener."
Slowly, I turned back to his pile of clothes, then feeling under them I found the zipper. I unzipped it. Pushing his clothes in, I probed inside for anything out of the ordinary. I wasn't sure exactly what I was looking for, but I was sure I would recognize it when it showed up.
Except there was nothing in the bag but more clothes, some socks, and a pair of runners, which again made the demon seem so normal. I glanced at the green bag. I unzipped it, and pulled it open. Holding my breath that he wasn't watching, I rummaged through it. There were tons of newspapers articles, cut out from various papers around the country. I caught a few bylines—one was over ten years old. Then my hand touched a rectangular wooden box. It was dark mahogany, varnished and inlaid with strange symbols.
Jackpot.
"I said black bag."
I looked over my shoulder to see Thane standing behind me. I flinched, pulling my hand back. My throat tightened and my mouth went dry. "Ah, I was just looking for more clothes. Might as well do them all at once."
He moved toward the green bag, zipped it up, and glared at me. "You have a lot of work to do. I suggest you get to it."
Nodding, I backed up, and then turned to go into the living room to pick up the garbage. Thane's gaze was on me the entire time. He suspected something but obviously it wasn't too serious, because if it had been, I wouldn't be walking around still able to toss cans and wrappers into the trash bin. I'd be a pile of blood and guts on the brown shag carpet.
About two hours later I dragged my ass and Thane's black duffel bag back to Trevor's room. He'd been playing Assassin's Creed but tossed the controller onto the table the moment I came through the door. He was on his feet and coming toward me.
"Are you okay? What did he do to you?"
I dumped the bag on the floor. "Made me clean his room."
Trevor made a face. "He did what?"
"Yeah, sick right? I mean I'm not complaining considering what I imagined he'd do to me. I just picked up his garbage, cleaned the bathroom, and now," I kicked the black bag, "I have to do his laundry."
He scratched his cheek, where the bruises from yesterday were almost gone. "
That's kind of strange."
"I know, right?" I collapsed on the sofa. "But I think I found something that may be useful."
He sat beside me. "What?"
"A box. There's something in it he doesn't want me to see."
"Like what?"
"I don't' know, but he was pissed that I was in his other bag. It's important Trevor. I'm positive."
"Okay, how do we get it?"
"I think I can snag it when I take back his stupid laundry."
"Too risky." He shook his head. "What if you got caught? You're already on his watch list."
"What then?"
"I don't know. I'll think of something else."
I stood and paced, too pumped up to sit still. "Don't be dumb. This is our chance. This is what you wanted, right? Me to find a way in. That's why you brought me here isn't it? Because you thought he'd take an interest in me because I'm an anomaly."
He stared at the floor for a few moments then looked up at me. His gaze was fierce. "It's not the only reason."
I didn't know what to say then. Something hummed in the room. I could feel the sizzle of electricity over my skin. The little hairs on my arms stood to attention. The butterflies in my stomach trembled awake.
Trevor stood and came close. I put my hands behind my back so he wouldn't see them quiver.
"It's not just about revenge. I care about you."
My mouth went dry and I licked my lips. "I care about you too."
He reached for me then, brushing his fingers across my face and tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear. I leaned into his touch.
"I was going crazy waiting for you to come back. I was worried that he was going to hurt you."
He cupped my chin in his palm and his eyes locked on mine. He leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against mine.
Oh. God. Every nerve ending in my body flared to life. In places I didn't even know had nerve endings. The butterflies were going crazy and my thighs tingled as if I'd just run ten miles up hill. I could barely keep upright. My knees were jiggling like jello.
His mouth covered mine again. This time I could feel his tongue against mine, enticing me. As he deepened the kiss, I didn't know what to do with my hands. They were fisted along his side but this time I felt a little bolder. The heat inside me ignited a fire.
