A Demon Bound

by Debra Dunbar

  Chapter 15

  We sat outside in the parking lot of some local restaurant called The Lamb waiting for Wyatt and Candy. I was hoping from the name that they had Greek food, but it didn't have the usual d?cor of a Greek restaurant. Maybe they did English food and specialized in mutton? I was starving and we'd been waiting here for quite a while. Candy must drive like a ninety year old lady on her way to church because there had been no sign of them. I thought about calling Wyatt on my cell phone, but was trying to be subdued and careful around Gregory. Just in case he was wondering whether to finish chewing my arm off.

  "Fix yourself, or you're not going in," the angel commanded again.

  Back home, it was typical to see those of my kind looking like they'd had the shit beat out of them. It was a point of pride. When someone higher up the hierarchy chose you for a fun romp, they conveyed their status on the energy signature in your wounds. Displaying them showed your peers that you'd been found worthy of someone higher up the food chain, and that you were tough enough to survive it. The more battered you were the better. Limbs dangling by a tendon, chunks of flesh burned off; all that revealed that you were tough and powerful. Leaving a significant sexual encounter with just a few flesh wounds was embarrassing. It meant that you'd been found to be uninteresting, or too fragile to enjoy properly.

  Here though, looking beat up just marked you as a victim. Especially if you were female. A guy could pull it off by implying that the other participant was just as damaged, or claiming to have been in some kind of vehicle accident. No one believed the lies if you were female, though; everyone knew you were covering up domestic violence. Going into The Lamb looking like I did would probably result in the police being called and Gregory taken in for questioning. I liked the idea, but given our last encounter I didn't think it would turn out well. Gregory didn't seem to have any problem taking out civilians when necessary. He'd proven that he wouldn't shy away from murder when it came to thwarting an escape attempt.

  I sat there as if all the spirit had been crushed out of me; channeling the submissive, obedient servant. It wasn't easy. I didn't own any submissive people, I liked the fight and challenge too much and submissive humans were boring. Slowly, I fixed myself, taking some time to do it as if I barely could manage even this. It was painful, repairing my wounds this slowly, but definitely in keeping with the wounded, broken spirit I was trying to portray.

  "Do your clothes, too," he ordered. "They're torn, dirty, and covered in blood. You're not going in looking like that. It will cause too much attention, and I've got enough to think about without having to enthrall all the humans in the restaurant."

  My shirt was a disaster. The jeans weren't too bad, especially since torn and tattered jeans were in style right now.

  "I can't do clothes," I told him truthfully.

  He stared in disbelief. "What do you mean you can't do clothes? That should be ridiculously simple for you. Even I can do clothes."

  Implying that he couldn't do much else beyond clothing? So angels weren't good at matter conversion? They were legendary at energy conversion, and they had unparalleled skill when it came to manipulating dimensions and creating gates. I knew they couldn't do the physical form conversion to the extent we did. From what I'd seen so far, their human form was pretty pathetic. I'd just assumed that converting inanimate objects would be a skill they would have. Perhaps that wasn't where their talents lay.

  "We don't wear cloth back home," I replied. "If we're cold, we just make ourselves furry or up our metabolism. If we have a humanoid form at the time, it's always naked. We do sometimes skin another creature and wear it like a trophy, but we don't create cloth. Here, it's just easier and quicker to buy it than learn to make it. Especially these weird blends with altered petroleum molecules in the fibers." I looked at my tattered poly blend shirt fondly. Humans were actually pretty clever. I predicted amazing things from them in another hundred thousand years. If they didn't manage to wipe themselves out before then.

  He made a motion as if he were going to take his shirt off and give it to me. I wasn't sure how he was going to manage that maneuver in the confines of my car. That I wanted to see. And I did want to see him without his shirt on. Crap, I bet he was ripped beyond belief. Yes, crazy me. The guy pummels me to bits and vows to kill me and I'm all revved up to see him semi-clad. Of course, the shirt wouldn't come close to fitting. It would be huge on me; bigger than Tinkerbell, even.

  "They won't let you in the place without a shirt on," I told him reluctantly. "It says there right on the sign."

  He paused and looked around the car as if he expected a shirt to appear out of nowhere. Nope, none in the glove box or under the seat either.

  "Put on a shirt from the bags you had back at the hotel."

  "They're all in Candy's car," I told him. "My trunk is really small and full of beer, so we put them all in hers."

  He sat for a moment contemplating his options, then opened his door. "There's a gift shop in there, they've got to have some novelty t-shirts for sale. Stay here." He got out then paused. "In the car," he added, leaning in to look at me sternly. "And the car stays right here in this spot in the parking lot. You and the car don't move."

  I had to bite back a smile. He learned quick, this angel did. To hide my amusement, I trembled a bit and tried to look properly cowed. I even tried to squeeze out a tear from big soulful eyes. Gregory frowned at me. "Do you feel sick? Do you need some crackers or something?"

  I shook my head at him. So much for my acting skills.

  While the angel was doing his shopping, Candy and Wyatt finally pulled up and parked beside the Corvette. Wyatt practically launched himself from the car, running around my car to pull open my door and inspect me.

  "Are you okay?" he asked, his face tight with worry. "You're shirt is torn and bloody, what did he do to you?"

  "We had an incident," I said vaguely. "I'm okay, though," I lied. I was reluctant to let Wyatt know all the details. My arm still stung from the bite, and it was in a place where I couldn't really see it without a mirror. I was glad it was my right arm, and Wyatt couldn't see it from where he stood. I really wanted to get a look at it first. When I fixed myself, it hadn't repaired. I could feel the red purple strands of it snaked throughout my body down deep into my personal energy. It worried me. I didn't want to check it out with Gregory in the car, but I was desperate to see what the fuck was up. What had he done to me?

  "She drives so slow," Wyatt said, looking at Candy with frustration. "You took off, and I knew something was going on. I kept trying to get her to drive faster and she wouldn't."

  "She's smart," I told him. "No sense in you both getting yourselves killed in the crossfire."

  Wyatt reached in the car and brushed my hair back from my face. I appreciated the gesture.

  "Come on, get out of the car," he said gently, as if I were a child or an invalid.

  "I can't," I told him. "I have to stay here, in the car, and the car needs to remain right here in this spot in the parking lot."

  "What has he done to you?" Wyatt asked. I sensed his agitation.

  "Wyatt, you need to get out of here," I told him. "I'm going to give you my car keys. Sneak out when we're in the restaurant and get as far away from here as you can. I mean it. Things are getting really bad, and I want you to be safe." He had to know it was bad if I was willing to let him drive my car.

  He glared at me. "I'm not leaving you, Sam. I won't abandon you like that."

  "You are way out of your league, here," I told him as gently as I could. "Fuck, I'm out of my league, here. I'm trying to get away as soon as I can manage it, and I'm really worried that if I slip out of his grasp, he'll take it out on you. I've seen what he can do. He will hurt you, Wyatt. He won't lose any sleep over killing you."

  At that time, Gregory came back out of the restaurant with a little bag. I quickly slipped my car keys into Wyatt's hand, and tried to resume my subdued mien. The angel nodded at Candy and Wyatt and seemed pleased to s
ee me with my butt rooted to the seat of the car as when he had left me. I yanked my torn shirt off as he tossed me the bag.

  It was a small pink tank top. Really small. You'd think he would have had a better idea of my size from crushing me against a building. I snapped the tag off and unfolded it, pausing a moment when I saw the design. A stylized geometric angel in gold with a triangle body, triangle wings, circle head and a halo was featured prominently on the front, filling the shirt from neckline to waist. I hadn't realized Gregory had a sense of humor. I had to force myself not to laugh as I pulled it over my head. Submissive, meek, obedient, I chanted to myself in my head.

  The shirt was outrageously tight. It molded against my breasts and the outlines of my abs. My cleavage burst above the neckline like my boobs were trying to escape the confines of the shirt. I looked less like an angel and more like a Hooters' waitress. Wyatt's eyebrows shot up when he saw the effect, and he glared at Gregory in suspicion and jealousy. Jealousy? Now that was funny.

  When we walked into The Lamb, I saw the reason for Gregory's fashion choice. And the reason for the name. The whole gift shop was awash in angel and Christian religious items. I was actually grateful he hadn't gotten me a "Jesus is my co-pilot" shirt, or the one with the blond, blue eyed, Germanic Jesus praying to what would have been my left boob if I'd had the shirt on.

  The hostess sat us near the buffet, casting adoring glances at Gregory the whole time. There were crosses on the walls, and scripture verses on the placemats. I wondered if I should oblige them and burst into flames or something. None of the employees seemed to notice the irony of my presence here. It would have been great fun to have Wyatt pretend to exorcise me, but I doubted this was the appropriate time for those kinds of antics. Maybe we'd come back in a week or two. If I was still alive then.

  Wyatt and Candy began telling Gregory what they'd discovered on Wyatt's tablet. They'd found a campground nearby and snagged us a cabin; not easy to do since we were at the height of the summer holiday season. Candy placidly avoided looking at me, while Wyatt shot furious glances back and forth between me and Gregory. Great. All I needed now was Wyatt to get testosterone filled and start a cock fight over me. If a .50 caliber bullet didn't harm the angel, I doubted Wyatt's fists would do much except piss off Gregory enough to snap his neck.

  "I need to use the bathroom," I announced. Gregory hardly gave me a glance, and the others ignored my statement.

  I actually did use the bathroom, mainly to delay looking at my arm. Finally, I could avoid it no longer. I took a breath and pulled the armhole of the overly small tank top down, raising my arm to the mirror. Fuck. The tattoos of angels' wings on the werewolf victims were small and tan. They looked like tiny birthmarks, or skin discolorations from too much sun and too little sunscreen. You wouldn't even notice them if you weren't looking for them. This was over three inches long, in black and deep red purple. It was vivid and clear; a sword with detailed angel wings curving up as guards from the hilt. Gregory's sword, tattooed in his color. Surrounding it was a round area of reddened raised skin. Like a hickey. I wondered why I hadn't been able to fix the hickey? I wondered if I exploded myself out and recreated my whole flesh from the DNA pattern if the tattoo and the hickey would go away? I doubted it. Besides, a burst that big would bring a furious Gregory barreling into the women's room to beat my ass.

  I carefully ran a finger along the hickey mark and the tattoo, feeling with my energy as well as my skin, and just about dropped to my knees. Lust poured through me and I shook with desire. Great. Just touch it and I was ready to hump the sink faucets. I felt it more gently, trying to explore it without triggering the sexual stimulation. The tattoo, the very color of it, thrummed and vibrated within me. I ran my finger over the hickey and felt the same humming, although it was more flesh centered and not as deep. The hickey mark seemed to have a direct line to my genitals, where the tattoo poured its red purple streaks down into my personal energy. The tattoo was just as much a sexual stimulation as the hickey mark, only different in that it turned on the non-human, non-corporeal part of myself.

  Well, this was just splendid. I now had a super sensitive erogenous zone on the under part of my arm. No need to get in my pants, just run your fingers up my arm and watch me melt. Or lick it. I envisioned for a moment how that would feel, and my whole body trembled. Mmmm. Maybe I could ignore my hunger for food and just lock myself in the bathroom, drive myself to ecstasy for a few hours.

  Tempting as that was, I lowered my arm and concentrated on trying to explore the weird red purple stuff that had invaded my very core. It was like a network of roots, of tiny little hairs driven deep into my personal energy. It was solid, cold, impersonal. I tried to probe it, to feel it out, to determine what it did and how it operated, but couldn't discover anything. It resisted all my attempts to explore it.

  Next, I tried to push it out, to gather it together into a manageable mass, or even cut it into sections, to no avail. It just sat there like an uncomfortable alien presence imbedded inside me. I couldn't imagine how I'd ever get it out. I doubted I'd be able to absorb it or neutralize it, and it seemed to resist any attempt at removal. Maybe Gregory could get it out. Not that he'd care. He'd stuck it there and the only way it was probably going to leave was with my death. Which would no doubt be soon.

  Pulling myself back to more constructive thoughts, I wondered what the purpose was of the tattoo and the hickey. I didn't think Gregory intended to put a sexual brand on me. He was furious when he'd done it, not remotely in an amorous mood. I couldn't imagine what it did beyond turn me into even more of a horn dog than I had been before. Common sense would lead me to believe that this was either some kind of punishment or a method to track, find, and control me. I doubted even the most ignorant angel would think sexual stimulation would be punishment to a demon, so it must be the latter. Strange, because I really didn't feel like I was under his or anyone else's' control.

  Unable to withstand my hunger any longer, I walked out of the bathroom and grabbed some food from the buffet on my way back. It was typical country fare, and I loved fried chicken, backfat green beans, and corn casserole.

  Candy remained her placid self at the table, picking at her country ham, but Gregory looked furious. He was practically grinding his teeth and had his napkin balled up tight in a fist. I looked at Wyatt in alarm. Wyatt looked back and shook his head. He clearly didn't know what was going on either. I sat down and scooted my chair a few inches away. Gregory took a deep breath as I sat down, and let it slowly out. I felt him glare at me as he struggled to relax. What the fuck was wrong with this guy? I told him I was going to the bathroom. I didn't sneak out the window, I didn't use any energy, did no conversions. Why was he so mad at me?

  "What is your problem?" I asked, unable to resist confronting him. He'd smacked me around, chewed up my arm, stuck a bunch of his whatever into me and added to my already heightened libido. He had no reason to be so pissed at me. "I didn't try to get away, I didn't kill anyone. I was just in the damned bathroom. Why the fuck are you so pissed off?"

  Candy kicked me under the table and mouthed "shut up" at me in desperation.

  "She doesn't need to shut up," Wyatt snapped at her, coming to my defense. "It's your fault. You and your stupid werewolf problems. And you," he said turning to Gregory. "She's not hurting anyone. Your angel buddy is the one who attacked us. You have no right to treat her this way."

  Now I was alarmed. Gregory looked at Wyatt as if he were barely restraining himself from killing him right here in the busy restaurant with everyone looking on.

  "I have every right, you miserable demon toy. This is not any of your business. You shouldn't presume to interfere in the affairs of higher life forms."

  The angel began to glow slightly and I tensed, ready to dive in front of Wyatt if I needed to.

  "Don't believe your silly folk tales," he continued. "Being human is no protection against me. I'm allowing you to live because you are useful to me at this moment. Cease to b
e useful, or become too much of an annoyance and I will not hesitate to kill you."

  Wyatt did not look like he was about to back down. Admirable, but stupid. I knew Gregory fully meant what he said, so I grabbed Wyatt's hand under the table and squeezed it. He looked down at me and I could see him struggling to retreat. I got the feeling Wyatt had never backed down from a fight in his life, and this was terribly hard for him. I could sympathize, but in this instance it was either back down, or die.

  Candy distracted Gregory with some discussion on strategy as I smiled at Wyatt and rubbed my thumb on his palm. This was going to be hard trying to stay alive, escaping the clutches of this angel, and keeping Wyatt's knight-in-shining-armor impulses from getting him killed. I needed to keep a lid on my stupid mouth and go back to my meek and submissive routine if I had any hope of success. Somehow I managed this throughout dinner, and even crammed up against Gregory on the drive to the campground.

  The cabins were tiny and the ranger wasn't pleased that we were squeezing four people into one. There was no other cabin available though, so he let it go. The campground had winding loops of dirt roads leading to areas for tent camping, RV camping, and finally the cabins. Our section had ten cabins, spaced about an acre apart and surrounded by woods. Each cabin had a grassy patch in front of it, kind of like a lawn that reached from the porch to the road. The road widened in to form a parking area where campers were expected to carry their belongings across the lawn and into the cabin. Worn paths showed where hundreds of campers had lugged their gear back and forth for years.

  Rough hewn logs made up the exterior and interior of the cabins. Electricity service ended with the street lights, and Wyatt grumbled that he would need to charge his electronic devices through the cars. There was no television, no phone, no coffee maker, and no vibrating bed. There was no bathroom, either. We'd need to walk down the road about a quarter of a mile to a shared bathroom that thankfully had propane heated showers. There was a woodstove in the cabin; not that we'd need it in August. Hopefully, the woods would help cool things down in the evenings and we wouldn't miss the conveniences of air conditioning or fans.

  As soon as we got in, Gregory announced he had some things to do and left. I was shocked he actually left me behind. Perhaps the meek and submissive routine was working? I doubted it. Of course if the tattoo thing was a kind of homing device, then he wouldn't really need to have me within eyeshot every waking moment. He'd be able to locate me within seconds. The thought was depressing.

  No sooner had Gregory left then Candy's placid air disappeared and she rounded on me. "You are going to get us all killed! I manage to get him calm and cooperative, then five minutes with you and he's ready to go on a massacre with that sword of his."

  "I'm just trying to keep myself from getting killed."

  "If you were helpful and stopped making him so angry, he might let you live."

  "What planet are you from? His sole purpose is to kill my kind. And he has a perfect kill-ratio, so far. If I don't get away from him soon, it's game over for me. Do you seriously think he's going to decide I'm not so bad, after all, and let me go? Trust me, it's not gonna happen."

  "He's an angel. He's supposed to be merciful and on the side of law and order. If you toe the line, he'll probably just banish you and let you live," she countered. Clearly she'd forgotten Gregory's ominous speech to Wyatt in the restaurant.

  "No fucking way he's going to let me live," I told her vehemently. "They don't banish us, because we keep coming back if they do. They kill us, every single time. The only mercy I'd get is a quick death, and I seriously doubt he's got an ounce of mercy in him."

  "He's not like you," she insisted. "He's good and you're evil."

  "The fuck he's not like me. You go ahead and swallow the Kool-aid propaganda they've doled out over the centuries. He's just like me. He killed a fucking cop today just to keep me from getting away. An innocent cop who was doing nothing but his job. He's probably got a wife and kids, and that fucking angel didn't think twice about it." That gave Candy pause.

  "You've seen what the angels have done to your own kind - to your werewolves. Althean is on a killing rampage, and Gregory cares only to cover it up and subdue Althean before he gets caught and Gregory gets his ass nailed by some higher up. He doesn't give a shit about humans, werewolves, anyone but his own kind. I killed your pack mate in self defense. I've been here forty years living as a human and you don't see me enacting some genetic cleansing program, do you? I may be a tough bitch, but I'm not killing pregnant women and cops." Well, there was that one cop in Atlanta, but she didn't know about that.

  Candy paused, considering my words. "All right, so he's not what popular culture has made angels out to be. He does seem to be more like you than unlike you, honestly. I don't just have my life here to think about, though. I've got the future of my species. I know this sounds callous, but I'm trying to figure out what course of action to take that will result in the best outcome for my kind." She looked at me sympathetically. "He's cleaning your clock, Sam. He may be the better bet here."

  Wow, that was brutally honest and I actually appreciated it. I had suspected Candy was calculating and ruthless, and these were qualities I admired. I could hardly fault her for them. Besides, Gregory was cleaning my clock. Hell, I'd throw my bet behind him in her place, too. The odds were much better.

  "I know this sounds crazy, but I don't think he truly wants to kill you," she added with that shrewd look in her eyes. "I don't think he really hates you, I think he feels something else for you. I think he's attracted to you in his own way," she said carefully.

  Well, that wasn't the right thing to say in front of Wyatt who'd been silent up until then.

  "I knew it. Did he make a pass at you Sam? Is he trying to Own you?"

  Angels don't Own, but I got what he was saying. And maybe, in a way, that's what the strange red purple stuff was. Some sort of ownership mark. "Mine," that voice deep within me announced, silently and unexpectedly. As if I were the one trying to Own, trying to take possession. That was weird. I shook my head and chalked it up to the unnerving events of the day.

  "No, he doesn't have any attraction toward me at all," I replied. "He's not trying to Own me. He beat the crap out of me and did this." I showed them my arm, which I had been keeping carefully glued to my side all evening.

  They both gasped, and I was taken by the drama of the moment. Candy actually paled. "What does it do?" she asked.

  "Is that a hickey?" Wyatt said, practically foaming at the mouth. "He gave you a tattoo and a hickey?"

  "I think the hickey is just a byproduct of the tattoo." I needed to be careful with Wyatt. He was on the verge of going on a kamikaze attack, and I really didn't want to see him die. "I don't know what it does." I lied. I knew one thing it did, which I assumed wasn't its intended purpose. I hardly wanted Wyatt to know Gregory had put a big 'fuck me' spot on my arm.

  "It looks like a brand," Candy said. "Like maybe some kind of tracking or homing device?"

  That's what I was assuming, but it wouldn't need to be rooted so deeply within me for that. Wyatt came over to look closer and before I could stop him, he ran a finger around the outside of the sword tattoo, right over the hickey. Lust rushed through me in a hot wave. "Don't touch it," I hissed between clenched teeth. If he did that again, I was liable to knock him over and screw his brains out.

  "I'm sorry," he said. "It must hurt."

  Hurt. If only. I looked at Candy and she had the one eyebrow, wise Spock look going on. Didn't fool her. She might be a total prude, but she knew exactly what had happened when Wyatt rubbed the mark.

  Slowly, she walked over and held my arm up to examine the tattoo and hickey closer. "Don't touch it." She'd get the lesbian shock of her life if she did.

  Instead, she leaned in and sniffed it. I hoped my deodorant was still working. Not that it mattered with a wolf's sense of smell. Letting my arm go, she looked at me thoughtfully.

  "I like you," she said slowly.
"You're amoral. You screw anything you can hold still. You don't care about anyone beyond what they can do for you at the moment. You're nasty, irritating, crude, and reckless. You'd sacrifice us without a second thought, even him," she gestured to Wyatt, "to serve a selfish purpose. But in spite of this, I like you. Let me know what I can do to help you get away, to help you live, and I'll do it. Within reason," she added hastily.

  Wyatt nodded in agreement. "You know I'll help you anyway I can, Sam."

  This was odd. I wasn't used to others volunteering to put themselves in harm's way for me. I could see Wyatt doing it, humans did all sorts of weird things under the influence of friendship and sexual attraction, but Candy had no such motivation.

  "There's no way I can make it all the way to a gate with this thing on my arm. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't make it out of town. I'm trying to think of a plan, though. I may just need you to distract him for a moment." I told Candy. "In the meantime, if you could keep him more focused on the trap for Althean and less on beating the shit out of me, I'd be grateful."

  I turned to Wyatt. "See? This is why I want you to leave. You heard what he said to you in the restaurant. He won't hesitate to kill you. Please take my car and go home."

  "I'm not leaving you, Sam," he said stubbornly.

  I sighed. I had a feeling this wasn't an argument I was going to win.

  "Well, at least go out and get me some cold beer. Please," I added. "That shit in my trunk is probably skunked by now with this heat."

  Wyatt ran out to get beer for me. He even took Candy's car without pestering me to drive my Corvette. I appreciated his running out for me since I had a feeling I was under house arrest. Besides, I was trying to show Gregory what a good girl I was. See? Branded, domesticated, staying within the confines of my enclosure.

  Candy decided to sleep on the couch since she didn't want to share with anyone and there was only one bed. I told Wyatt to go ahead and go to sleep, figuring I'd make some excuse to sleep on the floor later. I couldn't take another night of straightjacket torture, and if he accidently rubbed my arm during the night, then that erection of his wouldn't go to waste.

  I sat on the porch for hours listening to the chorus of night bugs, drinking beer, and lining up my empties on the railing. If this tattoo really was some kind of homing device, then Gregory would know it the minute I made a bolt for the border. I'd never make it to one of the major gates before he caught me, and I doubted Althean's killing pattern would take him near a major gate in the next few days. I could try to stall the project. Althean would probably head near a major gate eventually. I didn't think I'd be able to foil his capture for that long, though. Besides, even if I did, Gregory would just decide I wasn't helping, that I was in the way, and I'd be dispatched.

  The wild gate at Sharpsburg was about half an hour away at speed in the Corvette. I didn't think Gregory knew about that gate. I'd heard that angels didn't even sense the wild gates. Normally, he'd never expect me to head there. With this thing on my arm, I suspected that he'd find me wherever I went, and know if I strayed more than a certain distance from him. I needed to somehow get us closer to Sharpsburg so Candy could distract him and I could be through the gate before he knew I was gone. I'd probably be ripped to shreds in that crazy wild gate, but at least I had a chance there. Staying here, I had no chance whatsoever. I'd look at Wyatt's projection of the killings in the morning to see if we circled back down into Maryland. If so, I'd have to work hard to make the trap at Waynesboro unsuccessful. Anything to get us closer to that gate and my last chance.

  I finished my beer, and started to put the empty on the railing with the rest. It was a pretty reddish brown color, as most beer bottles were. It had been molded through a rather cheap and sloppy process, and there were a few bubbles and imperfections in the glass. Humans often applied only the minimum of effort necessary to suit their needs. They were satisfied with this beer bottle as long as it didn't stick them with sharp edges, kept the beer contained and temperature consistent, and was fairly sanitary.

  Many of my kind were this way, too. Why apply excess time and energy if less would get the job done? The elves were different though. Everything for them had to be perfect and artistically formed. Everything was an opportunity for art and expression. Their homes, yards, stables were filled with intricately embellished functional items. They would never have been satisfied with this beer bottle. Its very presence would have grated on them.

  Changing my mind, I took the glass bottle back off the railing, melted the glass and pulled out the air bubbles and tiny bits of debris marring the glass quality. I needed to keep a thin buffer of cool between my human hands and the molten glass as I pulled and rolled. Looking at the blob of clean glass in my hands, I was suddenly inspired, stricken with the urge to create. It was an urge that demons occasionally had. I warmed the glass again, twisting and shaping it. When I was satisfied, I let it cool in my hands. It was now a small brown glass horse in gallop with mane flying and nose to the sky. I ran my finger down the glass muscles in its back and smiled to myself.

  "That's beautiful," a deep voice said behind me. Gregory. His tone was that soothing rumble. I got the impression he'd been there watching me for a while as I'd been engrossed in my glasswork.

  I looked up at him. His black eyes were hard to read in the moonless night, but at least he didn't appear pissed off. Maybe whatever errand he'd run had allowed him to relax and recover his control.

  "Back home, I'd gift it to the one of the elves," I told him.

  The elves loved art, but they were not often satisfied with their own creations. I thought their art was beautiful and perfect, but they deplored the lack of emotion and feeling. They were always grateful to get something we had made, and they frequently invited us to their social events. We annoy them, but they've always tolerated us like we were crazy eccentric relatives.

  "You know elves?" Gregory asked in wonder. "You actually see them socially?"

  Oh yeah, the prodigal children. The elves as a race had always been doted on and favored by the angels. They had originally sided with the angels during the war, but became increasingly disillusioned with them as the fighting dragged on.

  To everyone's surprise, and seemingly against their own best interests, they ended up pulling themselves from the conflict and declaring neutrality. The angels had been winning before, but after the elves pulled out, we reached a stalemate and thus the division of the realms and the treaty. I'm not sure what caused the elves to come to our turf, but they carved out their own space and refused to enter this realm. The whole reason the angels had created the big stable gates was in hope that their beloved species would come to their senses and join them again.

  "Yeah. They ward their land heavily against us, and their adults are kind of stodgy and boring, but their young are fun and playful. They sneak over into our land and play pranks on us, and we reciprocate. It's all in good fun. We sometimes perform services for each other. If we establish a business relationship, then it results in being invited to their social functions."

  "Do you go? Are you invited?" Gregory asked, sitting beside me.

  "Occasionally. I've performed some services for one of the high lords, and he invites me to holiday functions, and the occasional great hunt. Honestly, I think I get invited to the hunts because I ride like shit and they all get a huge laugh at seeing me hit the ground regularly."

  I handed him the glass horse and he examined it carefully.

  "I saw you pull the impurities out of the glass. Why did you bother?" he asked, sending strands of himself into the glass to better feel its structural integrity.

  I wasn't sure how to respond. Elves would have said that things of beauty should not be marred, that they should attempt to approach divinity in their perfection, that sloppy imperfect work was an offense against nature and the forces of creation. Perhaps the elves had just rubbed off on me?

  "I don't know," I replied shrugging. "I didn't have any particular reason, I just did it."
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  "It's perfect," Gregory handed the horse back to me. "And it has such feeling and expression to it. That I expected, but I would never have expected this level of detail from a demon. Honestly, I would have expected you to shoot the bottles off the railing or twist them into a horrific mass. Not create this delicate thing of beauty."

  "There is equal beauty in the things called horrific. The act of destruction is an expression of beauty, too. I destroyed the bottle to make the horse. Is a pretty glass horse worth the loss of a bottle, but the sound of shattered glass and bits flying through the air isn't? Is transformation only worthy if you approve of the end result?"

  Gregory stared at me in silence for a while. I think I shocked him. He'd probably expected me to say "fuck that" and blow up the glass horse or something. Well, I wasn't always a stereotype.

  He reached out a hand to me and I tensed involuntarily expecting him to blast me with that white stuff or pop my head off. Unfair, I know, since he was calm right now and we hadn't exactly been arguing. Still, after today, I was leery of his intentions toward me. And it's not like he'd necessarily have to be angry with me to kill me. The whole process could be as emotionless as pinching the top off a dandelion. Gregory paused for a second then gently took a piece of my hair and carefully rubbed it between his thumb and fingers.

  "Your human form is perfect too," he said, half to himself. "Down to the last cell. Your energy is so tightly contained. You don't leak like so many other demons".

  He leaked. The power flowed off him in waves. It was like sitting next to an open oven. And his form sucked. It was so weird with the strange skin and faint glow. He blurred at the edges sometimes, too.

  "You don't have the slightest imperfection in your form," he continued. "I could walk right by you on the street and not know what you are. I could be in the same room with you for hours and not know."

  "You did," I told him. "Last week in The Wine Room. I was there when you came in looking for me and I managed to sneak out the back door."

  He looked at me in surprise. "You were? I wasn't looking for you. I was there to find Candy in an attempt to gain any information the local werewolves had on Althean. I could sense she was there, but she got out the back door while the humans were smothering me with adoration." He rolled his eyes, as if the reaction of the humans was both amusing and annoying. "I didn't know you were there at all. You were a few yards from me, and I didn't even sense your presence?"

  "You weren't looking for me?" I asked. "But you must have sensed me. You were at that werewolf's house a few days later. The one I killed with the electricity."

  He shook his head in confusion. "What are you talking about? I had no indication of your presence until you blasted Althean at Robinson's house."

  Damn. Candy had lied. She'd made up the whole thing to manipulate me into doing what she wanted. All my panic, this whole madness with Candy had been because I'd thought he was on my trail. He hadn't even known I existed, that I was right there. He hadn't been after me at all. I could have just gone about my life and he would have never known.

  He continued to rub my hair between his fingers and I felt him push his energy in once again to examine me. It was pretty rude. He'd examined the glass horse with more consideration. Poking around like this at me was so annoying. I knew I wasn't strong enough to force him out, so I returned the favor and poked back at him with my personal energy. It didn't have the same effect. He brushed me off repeatedly without effort, and certainly didn't get the hint on how disrespectful this sort of thing was. I was nervous he'd find out how much raw energy I had stored within me and tried to compress it tighter, but he was careful to avoid contact with it. The rest of me was fair game though. It was like having someone root through your underwear drawer.

  Without warning, I felt him snatch hold of the red-purple within me and pull violently.

  "Owww," I yelled and punched him as hard as I could in the arm. It was like hitting a cement block. "Asshole. That hurts. Cut it out."

  He stopped and I felt his surprise, but he didn't let go and didn't remove his energy from me. I sat there and braced myself for more pain, but he released and gently pulled back to himself. Silence stretched on between us, but it wasn't awkward. If someone had told me a week ago that I'd be sitting on a porch next to an angel listening to the locusts sing at night I would not have believed it. I was fully aware of his strength and the enormous power imbalance between us, but for some reason I felt a sense of peace.

  We continued to sit there in silence for several hours, and then I put the glass horse on the railing beside the empty beer bottles and went in to sleep. My intention was to grab a blanket and curl up on the floor, but I looked longingly at Wyatt snoring softly in the bed. I might not be around much longer. As much as I dislike having someone crush me all night, I really wanted as much closeness with him as I could. I wanted to feel his warm flesh against me. I didn't want to regret missing a moment of that. Filled with longing, I pulled off my clothes and climbed under the covers with Wyatt. He immediately sensed my presence and turned to face me, wrapping his arms tight around me and twining my legs between his. Seconds later and I was clamped against him. There was nowhere I'd rather have been.

  I slept some, and woke in the morning to the now familiar feel of Wyatt's erection against my thigh. As if that weren't bad enough, Wyatt ran his one hand down my back to cup around my ass and brought the other up to the side of my breast.

  "Sam?" his groggy voice asked. "Why are you naked?"

  I'd forgotten about Candy's presence and her edict regarding night wear.

  "I always sleep naked," I told him.

  He caught his breath. "Do you think Candy is a light sleeper," he whispered, his hands roaming across my skin. That morning erection of his had gained focus and was now a hard steel pipe on my leg.

  "I'm a very light sleeper," a stern voice from the sofa announced. "And there will be no sex going on while I'm here."

  "Can you leave?" I asked her hopefully.

  "No. Sam, get up and put some clothes on and go outside while Wyatt calms certain parts of his anatomy down. I've got some bottled water for us to brush our teeth with. We'll wait for our orders from Gregory, and then hopefully we can grab coffee and breakfast on our way."

  Candy was very organized for such an early hour in the morning. I would rather have had slow thorough sex with Wyatt then snooze while Candy ran out to fetch coffee and donuts, but that was clearly not going to happen. Reluctantly, I got up and dressed in yesterday's torn dirty jeans and a clean shirt.

  When I went out to the porch to stretch my legs, I noticed the glass horse was gone. All the other bottles were still lined up on the porch rail, but there was a conspicuous empty spot where I'd put the horse. I was oddly delighted that he'd taken it. It must have been him. No one else had left the cabin, and it wasn't likely that some prowler had come around, especially with Candy's werewolf hearing. I was glad he liked it. Hopefully after he killed me, he'd look at it and remember me fondly.

  I grabbed the empty bottles and one at a time threw them off the side of the porch against the trunk of an oak. The first bounced off without breaking, so I put a bit of energy behind the next one and was gratified when it shattered with that lovely breaking glass sound. The others quickly followed, and I ended by blasting the remaining whole one as it lay by the base of the tree.

  "I can't quite see how that was a thing of beauty, but I'll allow you to have your differing opinion on the matter," Gregory's amused voice announced.

  I turned and was surprised by the incongruity of seeing him holding a drink carrier with Styrofoam cups and a bag. Judging from the smell, the cups contained coffee.

  "You brought coffee?" I asked.

  He shrugged. "I know humans are basically useless without this morning beverage, and I assumed you'd be the same."

  At that moment, we were interrupted by Candy, who burst through the door brandishing a broken remote control.

  "I'm not paying for th
is," she told me, waving it at my face.

  I immediately threw the angel under the bus. "It was him," I said pointing at Gregory. "He broke it off the chain and I was just trying to hide the evidence."

  Gregory raised his eyebrows at Candy and handed her a cup of coffee.

  "Oh," she said in confusion, taking the coffee. "Thank you. I mean, no problem. I'm sure it was an accident."

  "No," he told her. "It was no accident. I purposely broke it."

  Candy turned bright red with embarrassment and sputtered something about how it was no problem at all, vanishing back into the cabin with her coffee. I grabbed a cup for myself out of the holder and laughed.

  "You're mean. I like it. Especially when it's not directed at me."

  He handed me the drink holder and the bag along with an address on a slip of paper.

  "Meet me at this address in half an hour. We've got a long day ahead of us. If you're late, I'll turn your car into a useless ball of metal."

  Without waiting for a reply, he gated away. I assumed that meant the camaraderie was over and we were now back to our former adversarial relationship. The thought made me rather sad.