Z

by Larissa Ione

  “A trip?” She perked up. She loved to travel. She just never had anyone to travel with. “To where?”

  “To see a wizard in Los Angeles.”

  “I like L.A. Not so much wizards.” Vex poked at one of the sandwiches. Looked like some sort of lunchmeat and cheese on wheat, but she’d seen what passed as meat in Sheoul. “I wanted to be an actress when I was growing up. My mom said I couldn’t because I wasn’t human, but my dad said that half the people in Hollywood are demons anyway, so I shouldn’t give up.” She plucked a grape off the plate. The fruit looked safe enough.

  “So why did you give up?”

  “Who says I did?” She tossed the grape into the air and caught it between her teeth.

  “Well,” Zhubaal drawled, “I don’t see Channing Tatum down here making deals with Azagoth to sell souls to make money.”

  Smartass. She popped the grape and chewed, buying some time while she decided whether or not she should fuck with him.

  Yeah, she should.

  “I haven’t hit it big yet.” She plucked another grape from the plate and grinned. “But I’m finding that the porn industry is a great place to start. Maybe you’ve seen me in something recently?”

  She couldn’t tell if his expression was one of judgment, disgust, or curiosity. “Ah, no.”

  “You’re missing out,” she purred. “I have an idea. Why don’t you bend over, and I’ll pull that stick out of your ass.” She winked. “We can make it fun. With a little lube––”

  “We aren’t starring in one of your pornos.”

  He seemed more than a little irritated, which cracked her up. “What’s the matter? Are you lacking an adventurous spirit?” When he didn’t answer, and in fact, looked a little flustered, she took advantage, coming smoothly to her feet to face him. “Are you Mr. Missionary Only?” She moved toward him, noting how his eyes shot wide, his nostrils flared, and his breaths came faster the closer she got. “Or are you into some kind of secret kink?”

  He stood his ground, tensing and widening his stance, as if he expected a battle. “You are out of line.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m not...available.”

  She halted in front of him and reached out to drag one finger playfully down his chest. “Oh, come on. You can’t tell me you’ve been celibate for nearly a century.” His only reaction was a twitch in his cheek, but it was enough. “Seriously? You haven’t been with anyone since Laura died?”

  “I swore an oath to her.”

  Holy shit. “But she died. Twice.”

  “Our oaths weren’t meant to be broken by death,” he said gravely.

  What the hell? “So you’re trying to tell me that even though she was reincarnated, you expected her to somehow remember an oath she took in a past life? Do you really believe that while she was alive the second time, she was celibate, as well?”

  “Yes.”

  She laughed. Like, full-on belly laugh. Zhubaal was either naive or delusional. Maybe both. Poor, poor male.

  “Some part of her would know,” he insisted, irritation making his words fall like stones. “She might not remember me or our oath, but I’m sure she would have felt that she needed to wait for the right person. Had she not died, I’d have found her, and I would have been that right person.” He glanced at the two remaining glyphs on Vex’s arm. “Turns out, she found me.”

  Seriously delusional. “You think she somehow knew I’d end up in Sheoul-gra, so she hitched a ride here with me, just to see you?”

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  That much was true. But God, he looked so sure, and yet, so sad. Vex, who had never been in love, who had never loved anyone except her parents, felt her heart break a little for him. Zhubaal might be delusional, but he felt deeply, and he was hurting.

  Vex didn’t have a lot of experience comforting people, but in this, she knew she could help. More importantly, she wanted to help. Zhubaal had taken care of her and kept her safe even though he didn’t have to, and it was time to pay him back.

  Reaching up, she cupped his cheek, following him when he tried to turn away from her touch. “Do you want to feel her?”

  “What?”

  Heart pounding, she stepped into him until her breasts were pressing into the hard planes of his chest. “Use me. Feel her.” She lifted her face to his. “Kiss me.”

  He scowled down at her, wariness flickering in his eyes. “Why would you do this?”

  “Because you and Azagoth are helping me.” And because I really want to kiss you. Yes, she wanted to help, but she wasn’t completely selfless. She wanted to feel his body, his mouth, against hers. “Let me return the favor.”

  For a long moment, he hesitated, his gaze locked on hers. Then, slowly, he dipped his head and captured her mouth with tentative pressure. The kiss was light, unsure, but she felt the sizzle all the way to her soul.

  He wants Laura.

  Of course he does. That’s what this was about. Laura.

  His tongue flicked across her lips, and she opened for him, inviting him into a deeper connection. Their tongues met, tangling together as he hauled her hard against him. Everything in her body lit up like fireworks, as if this was meant to be.

  It’s Laura. She must have sensed him, because all of a sudden, Vex’s heart was beating in a spastic rhythm that didn’t make sense. And then, as her heart beat even faster, practically throwing itself against her rib cage as if it wanted to break out and get to him, the reality hit her.

  Her heart was beating for him.

  A vague sense of love and need and loyalty wrapped around her like a warm blanket. It felt so foreign, yet so good and right. She’d never experienced anything like this, and her first thought was that her life had been so empty.

  But this wonderful sensation didn’t belong to her, did it? It belonged to the spirit inside her who she was beginning to hate. Zhubaal’s precious Laura didn’t even have a physical form, and yet she commanded fierce devotion from him.

  Panic welled up, and she tore away, stunned to realize tears stung her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she rasped. “I can’t do this.”

  But then she looked at him, at the blazing heat in his eyes, at the barely-controlled way he was breathing, and in an instant, they were tangled in each other’s arms again.

  Zhubaal backed her up, putting her spine against the wall and his erection against her belly. He kissed her hard as he rocked his hips into her, the ridge of his fly rubbing her through the fabric of her skirt. The friction was delicious, but it wasn’t enough. It wouldn’t be enough until they were naked.

  She lifted one leg and hooked it around his thigh, moaning at the way his erection caressed her aching sex. His hand slid between them to cup her breast under her shirt, and she loved the way her skin tingled under his touch, little pops of ecstasy that made her gasp, especially when he pinched her nipple between his fingers.

  “Oh...my,” she moaned, arching against him.

  “Is she in there?” he breathed against her ear.

  “She?” Vex was so lust-punched that it took a heartbeat before she realized what he was asking. “ Laura?” She rotated her hips, increasing the pressure between them, and that lovely, bone-melting wave of love washed over her again. “Yes. And she wants you. She wants you so badly.”

  He shuddered against her, trembling even harder when she dropped both hands to his incredibly firm ass and squeezed before sliding her fingers between his legs from behind to tease his balls.

  “It’s been so long,” he murmured between desperate kisses against her throat. “So long since I’ve felt you against me.”

  “Too long,” she agreed, not even knowing what she was saying or why she was saying it. But it felt right.

  Which was wrong.

  She frowned. There was actually something very wrong about all of this. The mincemeat tea must be working, because she couldn’t feel the evil soul inside her...which meant she shouldn’t be able to feel the lesser soul, either. Bu
t somehow, love and affection for this male filled her.

  Had the evil soul lessened its grip on Laura’s spirit?

  “Zhubaal,” she gasped. “We have to find Azagoth. Now.”

  His head snapped up, and if she hadn’t felt the need for urgency, she’d have stripped him naked right then and there. His lips, kiss-swollen and glistening, beckoned to her, and she couldn’t help but imagine them forging an erotic path down her body. And his eyes, God, his eyes, they were pools of the kind of lust a male reserved only for his lover. How she knew that, since she’d never been on the receiving end of that kind of intensity, she had no idea. All she knew was that in this single moment, he was her world.

  And she was his.

  Except she wasn’t. Laura was his, and Vex was merely borrowing her emotions.

  “Let’s go,” she pleaded. “Please. Hurry.” Before I decide to keep Laura’s soul so I can experience this feeling every day. “I think he can exorcise Laura now.”

  There was a split second of hesitation that made no sense, but then he took her hand and dragged her out of her room and down to the common area.

  As they started across the courtyard toward Azagoth’s palace, a griminion scurried past them, its little chittering noises muffled by its hood. Deep inside her, the evil spirit stirred, probably sensing the griminion’s ability to collect souls. Shit. SuperEvil was going to grab Laura and hold her hostage again, and although a small part of Vex wanted to hold on to Laura as long as possible, it wasn’t fair to Zhubaal or herself. What she was feeling for him right now wasn’t real. It was on loan from Laura.

  With a cry of frustration and sorrow, she jerked away from Zhubaal and summoned every ounce of willpower she had to expel the souls inside her, knowing the griminion would gather them up.

  And miracle of miracles, she must have caught SuperEvil by surprise, because the other spirit broke loose and shot out of her body in a cloudy wisp. Instantly, the griminion wheeled around and captured the spirit with one bony hand. It shrieked as it struggled against the griminion’s hold, but Vex knew from experience, from witnessing hundreds of griminions capture souls, that the spirit––presumably Laura––didn’t have a shot of escaping.

  Inside her, SuperEvil tore around, punching and biting and clawing, letting loose a psychic volley of anger and pain that nearly drove Vex to her knees. She swayed unsteadily, but Zhubaal caught her around the waist and braced her against his big body.

  “There.” She pointed at the griminion and the wildly flailing soul. “It’s Laura. I don’t know why she’s not materializing as solid. You said in Sheoul-gra they have physical bodies.”

  “Yeah.” He stared at the spirit, which had taken a vague humanoid shape. “But only in Azagoth’s office and the Inner Sanctum.” Still holding her against him, Zhubaal looked down at her. “You okay?”

  Caught off guard by his concern, she nodded dumbly, and he released her, but only after making sure she wouldn’t do a face plant. Cautiously, almost hesitantly, he moved to the spirit and reached out to it with a trembling hand.

  Vex held her breath as his fingers passed through the cloud-like shadow. His shoulders fell, and she knew.

  “It’s not her,” he choked out. “It’s not Laura.”

  His devastation hit her like a seismic landslide. The concussive blast of anguish struck her in an almost physical blow, knocking her back a step.

  But even as she recovered from his pain, a sick sensation bubbled up in her belly. “Laura must be the evil soul inside me.”

  “That’s not possible.” He sent the griminion away and turned to her. The devastation she’d felt from him showed in his face, and her chest hollowed out. “No matter what species of demon she was reborn as, she couldn’t have been so corrupted. Not Laura.”

  Not Laura. He was so blind when it came to that stupid female, and Vex sighed. “I know you want to believe the best of her, but I’m telling you, the spirit inside me has to be her. I can still feel her affection for you.” She lifted her gaze to his and fell right into those gorgeous eyes as if she’d always known them. “There’s only one soul left inside me, Zhubaal. Evil or not, it’s her.”

  “No,” he ground out. “She would never––” He sucked in a sharp breath, and his eyes shot wide. “Oh...oh, damn.”

  “What?” The way he was looking at her freaked her the fuck out. “What is going on with you?”

  “There’s not one soul inside you,” he said. “There are two.”

  She jammed one hand on her hip and held out her arm, which clearly bore only one soul-glyph. “I think I’d know if there was more than one––”

  Abruptly he was in front of her, his hands gripping her shoulders, his gaze drilling into her with so much intensity she couldn’t look away if she wanted to.

  “There are two souls inside you, Vex. The evil one...and yours.” With no warning, he kissed her. Captured her mouth in an erotic assault that brought tears to her eyes and joy to her heart. Her soul sang, like a violin that had finally found its bow. When he lifted his head and gazed into her eyes, she knew the truth before he even said it.

  “It’s you, Vex,” he said hoarsely, and her breath left in a rush. “You’re Laura.”

  Chapter Eight

  Holy fucking shit.

  Zhubaal couldn’t believe it. After all this time and after all the false leads, he was looking at Laura. And he’d found her inside a flirty, brash, foul-mouthed emim who wasn’t anything like the angel he’d pledged eternal faithfulness to. Not that he was going to complain. She could have been something far worse.

  I’ve found her!

  He dragged a ragged breath into his lungs and tried to let it all sink in. Laura. His heart thumped excitedly in his chest, but she didn’t seem as thrilled. If anything, she seemed stunned, her body taut, her amethyst eyes glazed over.

  “I know this must be a shock.” The words fell out in a crazy rush. “And I know it sounds insane––”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Shaking her head, she stepped away from him, and as much as he wanted to grab her, to hold onto her so she never left him again, he let her have her space. She hadn’t had decades to prepare for this moment the way he had. But now that the moment was here, he realized that nothing could have prepared him for it. “I can feel it,” she rasped. “God, I can feel you.” She swallowed. “It’s freaking me out.”

  On impulse, he reached for her. “Laura––”

  Wheeling out of his reach, she hissed. Actually hissed at him. “I’m Vex, not Laura.” She jabbed an angry finger at him. “Let’s get that straight right now. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, and I don’t care what kind of stupid damned oath Laura swore to you. My lips did not speak the words.”

  Ice filled his chest cavity. He’d fantasized about this meeting, and while he’d considered the possibility that she wouldn’t remember, in no imagined scenario had he thought she might reject who she was.

  Fool. Did you think she’d give up her entire life to run into your arms? He broke out in a cold sweat as a horrifying possibility popped into his head.

  “Do you have a mate?” he blurted. “A lover?” Because he’d have to kill the guy.

  She folded her arms across her chest and glared. “Do you really think I’d offer to pull a stick out of your ass if I had a boyfriend?”

  “Well, since I don’t have a stick up my ass, I figured the offer wasn’t genuine.”

  She shrugged. “I’ll try anything once.”

  He had a feeling she was messing with him, and it left him off balance. He was used to Vex’s unpredictable behavior and odd sense of humor, but now that he knew it was coming from Laura, it was throwing him.

  Except she’s not Laura.

  But she was in there somewhere. Vex had admitted it when she said she had feelings for him.

  “Look,” he said, still reeling from all of this, “let’s go to my place and talk. I have sweet mead. You used to like it.”

  “I don’t know what the fuck y
ou’re talking about,” she said crisply. “And Laura was a dolt. That shit is nasty.”

  Son of a bitch. His dreams of being reunited with Laura had not gone like this.

  “Z!” Razr jogged toward them, and Zhubaal hated that he was relieved to have something other than this awkward situation to focus on. “I summoned that contractor you asked for. He said he can get the human cable channels you want. He said HBO comes in fuzzy, but––”

  “Hey,” he said, clapping Razr on the back to shut him up before Vex figured out that Z’d asked for more channels after she complained. “Thanks. Tell him it’s all good. And will you take Laura––ah, Vex, to my quarters and stay with her? I need to talk to Azagoth.”

  Razr agreed, but Z didn’t give Vex a chance to respond or argue. There was too much to say, and they both needed time for this to sink in. Especially Vex. He’d been searching for Laura for nearly a century, but obviously, she hadn’t even known she was lost.

  He should have expected that, should have expected how much it would hurt to find her and yet, somehow, to have lost her.

  A knot of emotions tangled up inside him as he jogged to Azagoth’s office. This should have been the best day of his life, but instead of being ecstatic, he was confused as hell, hurt, and angry.

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this. She was supposed to have remembered the oath, even if only on some subconscious level.

  When he reached his boss’s office, he threw open the door and strode into the center of the room. “You could have warned me.”

  “And you could have knocked.” Azagoth sighed and looked up from the ledger he’d been writing in with a quill. “Warned you about what?”

  “You know what,” Z growled. “You could have told me that Vex is Laura.”

  Very slowly, Azagoth put down the pen and pegged him with a hard stare. “I told you Laura was inside Vex.”

  She’s inside Vex. Okay, yeah, he’d said that. But it wasn’t the same thing. “You said she was inside Vex. You didn’t say she was Vex.”