Devil's Punch cs-4

by Ann Aguirre

  From the crowd, Heartsblood began the applause with loud, deliberate slaps of his oversize palms. Part of me thought I should be shocked at the monstrous faces staring back at me. I was at a ball full of demons, acting like it was no big deal. Deliberately I shut that voice down, but it was a little harder each time; the human girl gained purchase each time I let her in. Others joined the ovation until the room rang with unwilling approbation. Greydusk rose and accepted his due with a nod.

  “Before I release you to enjoy my hospitality, I present to you the king consort, Chance Yi.” A rumble of mixed reactions ran through the crowd. I spoke over them. “Thus the succession is secured. There may be an heir on the way, even now.” I touched my belly for effect, noting the way Chance tensed beside me. “Now enjoy the party!”

  The newly minted Baron Greydusk cued the players at the far end of the room.

  When the musicians sounded the first notes, I stepped into the first turn with Chance. The court let us dance alone for a few moments in a gesture of respect and then they joined us on the floor. Tension buzzed along my skin as he spun me. I registered the dark looks and speculative, watchful eyes.

  “So,” he said conversationally. “At what point did you plan on telling me you’re having my baby? Oh, wait.”

  His knife-edged disrespect, laced with anger, secretly amused me, but I leveled on him a stern look. “The queen controls all such matters.”

  “I’m just a sperm donor, then?” A tremor ran through his hand, where it held mine. He twirled me in time to the music, his face pale. “Is this really happening?”

  I’d spoil him with such behavior, but I answered anyway, in an undertone, “Not yet. It would be unwise to bring our heir into such an unstable situation. I merely used the possibility as an agitant.”

  “I can’t even follow your train of thought anymore,” he admitted, his voice low.

  That didn’t trouble me. My chosen male didn’t need to be brilliant, or even capable. He only needed to be virile and loyal. By comparison, Chance was surprisingly adroit in every respect. He would sire a fine daughter to rule in my stead someday; and perhaps his divine blood would compensate for my human deficiencies.

  “Those who have the most to lose will actively strive against a firm succession,” I whispered.

  That was all I needed to say. He understood my plan and approved it with a quick nod. But he still looked shaken. I might make his head explode if I didn’t consult him regarding our reproductive schedule when the time came. It surprised me that I didn’t entirely mind. If I’d had such a powerful bond with my consort when the archangel’s call came, I might have denied it. I might have resisted temptation. If I hadn’t assented in my own destruction and accepted the pull, none of this would have come to pass.

  That was my deepest shame. I had abandoned my people for a seductive summons—for a taste of new, intoxicating power. And it cost me everything.

  This time it would be different.

  The band played on. Drink followed and laughter outpaced the whispers. They had forgotten the glamour of a queen’s court. I’d spent an hour in here before the ball, leaving little traces of magick to make the night gleam a little brighter, encouraging frolic and recreation.

  Shannon waved to me from across the room; she was dancing with Greydusk, surprisingly enough. At least she had the sense to keep away from the Luren. One of them would have her naked in an antechamber before she knew what he was doing. She looked lovely in a black gown with blue accents. I lifted a hand from Chance’s shoulder as he spun me. When we twirled, she left my sight.

  “Thirsty?” Chance asked eventually.

  “A bit.”

  Waiters circulated with trays of shimmering golden wine, but I led him over to the crystalline bowl filled with an effervescent red liquid.

  He eyed it with skepticism. “What is that?”

  With a half smile, I indicated the room, full of monstrous company. Some had wings and horns, odd-colored skin; others looked more or less human, apart from extra bits like tails or claws. And others were more beautiful than any human could hope to be. Such a diabolical assembly—and they belonged to me, one and all.

  “Devil’s punch, what else?”

  Chance laughed quietly. “What’s in it?”

  “Best not to ask.” I recited what had become a running joke with Greydusk.

  Before I took a sip, a capering Noit tested it for me. As queen, I had a taster, and this little idiot had volunteered. I watched for a few moments, but it showed no ill effects, apart from the bad manners of smacking its wide mouth and burping. “More!”

  “The rest is mine.” I took a sip, and the flavors burst on my tongue.

  After I drained the glass and Chance sampled it, he swept me back out into the dancing, mostly as a defense against the encroachers who inched closer while we stood idle. I found his protective nature…delightful. Other consorts had proven less than concerned about my welfare.

  I did not dance with anyone else that night. And so I was in Chance’s arms when the hammer fell. The ballroom filled with wintry mist and beneath the fog lurked cold shadows hunting me—oblong smudges of darkness with icy hunger at their hearts. They hated the living and they drank our energy like a fine wine.

  I knew who had sent them; I didn’t know how they had gotten past my wards.

  Traitor. The word whispered in my head, even as the guests screamed and fled. A panicked Noit tripped a Luren female in a lavish gown, which tangled about her graceful feet. She fell to her knees and a shade consumed her. Her ivory flesh went blue and then crackled with ice. Soon, it shriveled and went dry like a husk, and when the shade drifted on, it had gained form and solidity. Across the room, an Aronesti took flight, sailing above the crowd toward the doors. A shade rose and swallowed the demon. First came the muffled screaming, and then silence, which was worse.

  Quickly I cast to counter the freezing fog, making it harder for the shades to find living bodies to drain. Even demons lived; these creatures did not. They came from someplace darker and colder than Sheol, and that sent a chill straight through my body. The shades were new monsters, ones with which my pitiful human half had more experience than I. The Saremon had sent them; of that I had no doubt.

  Warm steam filled the room, confusing the shades. Darkness swirled amid the white, steamy bursts. The guests fought one another to reach the exits, maddened by danger and terror, skills and magick made unreliable by too much liquor. Across the room, Greydusk huddled protectively over Shannon, fighting toward the doors. His body rippled, and then shifted; the Swordwraith took his place, and he threshed the girl clear. My last sight of them came when she turned to lift her chin at me, an acknowledgment that she was safe; then Greydusk changed back and led her away.

  “I’m getting you out of here,” Chance said.

  I was torn. It would send a stronger message if I stayed and fought, but I already had several caste knights, including Heartsblood and Zet, and my Hazo guards battling the invading spirits. Staying meant risking everything for pride. While I weighed the factors, he took the decision from me. He swept me into his arms and pushed toward the exit. The Hazo saw the consort coming and cleared a path with their magickal axes; they didn’t seem to care who got in the way of their swings, and at the moment neither did I.

  Someone had betrayed me. There was no other explanation.

  I couldn’t count this, definitively, as an assassination attempt. Instead, it acted to shake my people’s faith in my ability to govern, since I couldn’t even keep my own perimeter secure. Really, it was a brilliant first maneuver in a guerilla campaign against me. I admired the executor, even as I considered the best way to eliminate him. I had to find Oz. And kill him.

  Kiss Me Like You Mean It

  In my chamber, I activated the preventive wards on the doors. They’d fry anyone who attempted to pass through without my permission. Butch raised his head and stared at the crackling gold energy and then yapped at me as if in question.
r />   To my surprise, I answered. “It’s a mess downstairs, but we’re safe in here.”

  That seemed to be enough reassurance. He went back to sleep.

  The next thing I knew, Chance was kissing me, passionately, furiously. He drew me against him, hard, his whole body shaking. For a few delicious seconds, I fell into his need, before setting my hands against his chest.

  “Flattering, my darling, but this isn’t the time. We must—”

  “You must stay safe.”

  Ah. The imperative to protect must be overwhelming him with sexual instincts. The Hazo, if chosen as consorts, were prone to such behavior. How interesting—a male as beautiful and elegant as Chance shared those primitive urges.

  “Please,” he whispered, pressing hot kisses down my throat. “Greydusk will alert us when the danger’s passed.”

  “And you propose we make love while monsters run amok in my demesne?”

  “Better than fiddling while Rome burns.”

  “But not by much,” I said softly, stepping away.

  A visible tremor shook him and he turned to brace his forearm against the ornate carved bedpost. He dropped his face against his arm and compassion sparked, a foreign instinct. For the first time, I saw what I was doing to him. I touched him lightly between the shoulder blades.

  “Is it bad?”

  He exhaled. “Yes. You consume me. I exist for you…and I don’t even know who the hell you are. Not Corine, that’s for damn sure.”

  “I was Corine. And I was Ninlil. Now I encompass us both, although not comfortably so. Does it trouble you?” I hadn’t given any thought to his feelings or his state of mind as I went about my business. That wasn’t the unusual bit; the odd aspect of this conversation was that we were having it at all.

  “It did. Not so much anymore. And that bothers me.”

  “Because you don’t loathe me? In your heart, you told yourself that you love her, not me—that you could esteem nothing in a creature like me.”

  “Yes,” he whispered.

  “And now?” His reply mattered.

  “You know the answer.” His face grew taut and desperate. He didn’t want to speak it aloud.

  “Give me a truthful response and we’ll go to bed.” Manipulative, certainly.

  “I love you,” he bit out. “You’re the same to me. These days I don’t care who I’m talking to, whether you’re fierce, ambitious, and powerful, or sweet and soft. I love both sides, and I feel like I’m losing my mind.”

  “You love me?” Shock reverberated through me. Consorts did not love the queen; they submitted to her will. They obeyed. They hoped for favor.

  But love? Never.

  Until now.

  “Awfully,” he said. “Endlessly. It’s a torment.”

  My heart shifted. Softened. The human woman pushed, pushed, until she surged forth, spinning me away.

  “Chance, it’s me.” I touched his cheeks with my fingertips. “I’m still in here. Just…she doesn’t let me drive very often.”

  “Corine?” His desperate happiness sparkled like polished diamonds.

  “I’m here. I love you.”

  “Thank God.”

  Before I could savor his mouth on mine, she shoved me back. This wasn’t union. It was a revolving door. Not what she’d promised.

  The other banished, I stripped him from his clever tailored suit and he tore away the layers of my gown with its spell-enhanced fabric. Once it came down to skin, we weren’t gentle. Primal impulses drove him, and I fed that fire with uninhibited response.

  Chance kissed me again and again, his hands frantic on my body. He backed me up, one hand curled around my head. Each step pressed us closer with a tantalizing friction. His hard heat drove me wild.

  “Not the bed,” he growled. “Like we almost did it in Kilmer.”

  A swirl of memory eluded me and then firmed. Held. Chance backed me into the bathroom, spun me, and pressed me up against the bathroom door. I felt every inch of my nakedness in contrast to his sleekly clothed muscles. He’d grown even harder since I left. When his mouth took mine, he didn’t ask if I wanted it, or if I’d permit it. Heat sparked between us like two live wires and I came up on my toes.

  The wall felt cool against my back when he pressed me against it this time, but I was different now. I was done turning him away. He was mine, and I’d never let him go. I curled a thigh around his hip, then he lifted me. In his ferocity, he was a selfish lover, hard hands on my hips, working in mad, deep thrusts.

  I urged him on with nails in his shoulder. In this position, I couldn’t move much. He was in control. He liked domination when the protective urge rose—and submission when it didn’t. In turn, I enjoyed him tied to my bed, but I also enjoyed the rare sense that I’d lost control.

  And then I did. I screamed and scratched, rational thought gone. He arched into me and came in hard pulses that left him weak. Both shaking, we staggered to the bed and collapsed on it. Chance wrapped his arms around me as if he couldn’t bear to lose contact with me for even a moment. I’d never permitted myself to bond so deeply with a lover before. He was in my head, my heart, down to blood and bone. Somehow, her feelings had become mine. She had gouged out a channel inside me that belonged to him alone.

  “Better?” I whispered, kissing his shoulder where I’d scratched him.

  Shivers still wracked him, but he smiled at me with eyes gone molten gold with satiation. “More relaxed, anyway.”

  “Are you sorry you came with her?”

  He ran his fingers through his hair as he considered. “No. I can’t claim I dreamed of reigning and having babies in hell, but it’s not terrible.”

  I nodded, curling into his arms. “Sheol has its beauties.”

  “Like you.” He kissed the top of my head. “I was so scared I’d lose you…and this time, there’d be no coming back from it, no chance to beat the odds.”

  “You mean because I’d be all Ninlil and no Corine?” That didn’t trouble me; he had loved her first, but he cared for me too. He was, truly, an extraordinary male.

  “Yeah.”

  “I didn’t want to destroy her. Only survive. The angels took everything from me…and I had harmed no humans. I seek no foothold there. My subjects come to earth in response to human ceremonies, complete with offerings and rituals!” Even now, the unfairness of it boiled my blood.

  “I don’t think most people realize that.” Chance levered up on one elbow. “Explain to me why angels and demons hate each other so much. They say you fell or something? There was a rebellion in heaven?”

  The question distracted me from what might be happening downstairs. Anger lanced through me. “That’s rubbish. If there is a heaven, the angels have never seen it. They create their own legends, every eon or so, and then update all the manuals.”

  “There are manuals?” he asked, a brow arched in surprise.

  “I don’t know. I was being sarcastic. The truth is, angels and demons are descended from the same lineage. They come from Sheol, just as we do. It’s not heaven or hell.…It’s just another realm.”

  “Interesting.”

  “There was a civil war, but it wasn’t over God or divine orders. It was so long ago that even our records are incomplete. I only know it had to do with a question of succession. It was before the first Ninlil took the throne, before the castes formed as we know them. There were only two types early in our history…the winged and the walkers. We were more beautiful then too, but once half our number left, it led to inbreeding, and you end up with monstrous creatures like the Noit and the Aronesti.”

  “What happened next?”

  “The demons won,” I said quietly. “We booted the losers out of our realm to yours, where they went to work interfering with the course of human history. Now they have a new tale, a new hierarchy, but it’s nonsense. An ancient ka, who calls himself an archangel, organizes their mythology according to his personal agenda.”

  Chance frowned; I had succeeded in rattling him. �
��Ka?”

  “In some old languages, it means spirit and that is an accurate enough name for us, what we used to be.” It hurt me to remember these things because then I had to consider how I’d learned them. The information I gave Chance had not come to me easily or without anguish.

  As if he keyed into my thoughts, Chance asked, “How do you know all this? You said the records are incomplete.”

  Hard to explain in words, but: “When the archangel summoned me, there was a moment of unity, where I knew him…all his thoughts and memories. Some of it stayed with me, after I was wrenched away and he bound me to the Solomon line.”

  “So you saw inside this…archangel?” I could tell he no longer liked the term.

  “Yes. He was very old. He would have been a king in Sheol with such power.”

  Chance nodded. “He might have led the revolt.”

  “If I ever knew, it was not one of the memories that stayed with me.” A half shrug in apology—I was not the queen I had been—but sometimes different didn’t mean lesser. Perhaps the kindness that came from my human half permitted me to see things in a new light, and would result in a brighter future for Xibalba.

  The light of debate sparked in his eyes. “You’re very critical of how the angels interfere in the human world, but how are demons better? So many are just so…evil.”

  I raised a brow. “So are humans. Am I to judge your race on those who prey on children and dismember their loved ones? You have not met every demon in Xibalba. Many are interested only in living their lives. Some enjoy pain. Others craft magickal trinkets. Do you see a pattern?”

  A wince revealed that I’d scored a hit. “You’re saying demons are like humans, some good, some bad, some neither.”

  “But I would, wouldn’t I? Especially if I’m an amoral, lying she-devil who only wants to steal your seed.”

  He laughed softly. “A pity I keep ruining the challenge by giving it to you. Why do you think he summoned you?”

  More anger, dagger sharp. “He wanted a general for their war against us. They bred among you in the early days and gave birth to the most brutal of their foot soldiers, the Nephilim. Since then, these angels have used humans as their pawns. I see nothing good in the way they kill, convicting their victims on blind faith.” I shuddered, remembering. “I loathe knowing she shared this body with one.”