Fallen Gods II: Jaded Prey

by Lorie O'Clare

  “It’s okay, Marlita.” She gestured to Naomi. “This is my very dear friend, Naomi. You met her with Merco, I believe.”

  This was insane. The shopkeeper was part of them, too. Her world was caving in around her. Nothing was as she’d thought it was. And she wasn’t sure she could take learning much more.

  The older woman was small, with a motherly look about her. Long gray hair was wrapped in a tight braid wound into a bun at the top of the back of her head. Her skin was smooth, but when she offered a smile, wrinkles spread over her cheeks. Watery blue eyes showed her concern. Naomi guessed that the woman already knew the situation.

  “What is the coven of Hedel?” she asked, glancing from Bridget to Marlita.

  The men chose that moment to appear in the doorway, dwarfing Marlita as they gathered around her.

  “All of us are a part of that coven,” Merco answered her question, looking too damned good in the faded blue jeans he’d donned, paired with a forest green wool sweater. His dark complexion added appeal to the attire, making him stand out among the other men.

  Naomi felt her insides grow warm, in spite of the brisk outdoors. She took a sip of her tea, her mouth suddenly too dry. It was impossible to take her eyes off of that magnificent body.

  “How much are you going to tell her?” Birk asked, stepping around the men carrying a platter of sandwiches.

  “She will know everything.” Merco spoke with such conviction the group fell silent.

  And for once, Naomi didn’t think they were communicating with each other. They appeared to all be dumbfounded.

  “Bridget,” Merco said, turning his attention toward her. “You will tell Naomi what you did.”

  Bridget let out a sigh, nodding, but looking down, her long brown hair flowing around her face, masking her expression. Braze moved to stand behind her, rubbing her arms as if she needed support for some task.

  “Over a year ago, I discovered that the leader of all of the demons was responsible for stealing my memory. I hadn’t known who I truly was for quite a long time. When you met me, I thought I was just like you.” Bridget didn’t look up until now. Her soft green eyes were watery, and she smiled weakly at Naomi. Braze hugged her from behind, and Bridget sighed, continuing. “When I found out the demon leader had done this terrible thing, he retaliated. He stole you and took you into the hells.”

  “What?” Naomi couldn’t make sense out of any of this. Her stomach twisted in knots. Suddenly the cold air made it real hard to breathe. She was sure she had been asked to accept the impossible already. But this was pushing it over the edge. “Bridget. This demon leader, as you call him, he only started haunting me a few months ago.”

  “Listen to me.” Bridget stepped forward, but Merco moved in front of her, walking over to Naomi.

  “I know all of this is hard for you to believe. But knowing the truth is the only way you will be rid of him.” He’d never spoken with so much compassion.

  Naomi couldn’t stop her heart from pounding in her chest. She ached to reach out to Merco, seek the comfort she knew she would find in his arms. None of this made any sense. These people—her friends—were something more than human. Just when she thought she might not be crazy, and possibly could accept the unacceptable, they were throwing her a loop she just wasn’t sure she could jump through.

  “What do you mean he took me into the hells?” She hated how weak her voice sounded.

  Merco stood next to her, tall and powerful. Just his presence assured her she was safe. But this new information, on top of seeing her friends disappear and appear in front of her eyes, in spite of worrying how Merco accomplished his unexplainable actions, was simply too much. She felt like a fool, a weak and helpless nitwit, with this man, this perfect person looking down on her. Nothing on the cover of any magazine came close to his perfection, his dominating persona. And it made no sense that he was so interested in her. It made even less sense that any of this could possibly be true.

  “Naomi. He took possession of your body, of your soul, and took you with him.” Bridget laughed, although it was a hollow, unhappy sound. “Just how you saw us disappear. That day over a year ago, I watched you disappear.”

  Naomi shook her head. She couldn’t accept any of this. “I don’t remember any of that, Bridget. You aren’t making sense.”

  “I know you don’t.” Bridget wiped a tear that started to fall down her cheek. “And I swear I thought I was doing what was best for you when I wiped it all from your memory.”

  “You did what?” Not even movies came across sounding this bizarre. Naomi shook her head, doing her best to try and absorb all of this but simply wanting to deny it all. That would be so much easier. But something inside her told her that Bridget spoke the truth. “What did you wipe from my memory? How?”

  “Damn it. No one should have to witness the tortures of hell. It was an awful experience. But on that day, I destroyed the demon leader, too. Or I thought I did.” Bridget reached her hand out to Naomi, but when Braze wrapped his arms around her, she collapsed back into him, looking crushed. “I am so sorry, Naomi. It wasn’t until you told us what the creature looks like inside you that I realized what I had done.”

  “What you had done?” Naomi couldn’t make sense out of this. She shook her head, her heart so heavy in her chest the pain was unbearable. She was scared to ask, her insides so thick with panic that she could hardly breathe. But she had to know. She had to ask the right question that would make all of this clear. “What did you do?”

  “I cast the demon leader away. I wanted to punish him for taking my life, for stealing my memory. I didn’t even know who Braze was, and I’d loved him for centuries, then disappeared on him, leaving him searching forever trying to find me. Braze helped restore my memories, helped me see who I was. But when I realized the demon leader was responsible I told him to go away. I wanted him gone, out of my sight. And that is what happened.”

  Naomi just stared at her friend. She couldn’t think of anything to say. What she had just heard was worse than any morbid fairy tale. For years she had considered herself more open-minded than most, more willing to accept what most refused to even look at. But this—this story—was simply too much. Yet somehow, through the twisting knot that grew in her stomach, and through the dull throb that started at her temples, she knew what Bridget said was true.

  “You made him disappear so that you couldn’t see him.” Naomi suddenly felt like everything around her was spinning. She white-knuckled the handles of the chair she sat in, her legs cramping from how tight she’d been holding them together while listening.

  “That is what we’ve feared has happened,” Merco said, squatting down so that he stared her in the eye. His green eyes penetrated through her, devouring her with the intensity of his stare. He covered her hand with his, the heat from his touch rushing through her like smoldering lava. “Bridget banished him so that she couldn’t see him, so that he was gone from her sight, from her life. Her spell on him made it so that none of us could see him. But it didn’t make him quit existing.”

  Her breath came in gasps. Suddenly she couldn’t make her mouth work to speak. She pulled her attention away from his stare, needing to think. Looking down at his larger hand covering hers, she tried to steady her breathing.

  “And you think he lodged himself in me somehow?” she managed to ask.

  “You told us he was the figurine in Marlita’s shop,” Merco said quietly. “We can get him out of you. But Naomi, I need your trust.”

  Naomi looked up at him and noticed immediately that his green eyes had darkened. Something had stirred inside him, something raw, unleashed. Her heart fluttered, the warmth of his touch making her feel so hot all of a sudden, she didn’t want to think about any nasty creature.

  “I don’t see that I have much of a choice,” she whispered, knowing more than anything she wanted this demon creature, this leader of all the hells, to be gone.

  “Yes. You do.” Bridget shoved her hair over her
shoulder, startling Naomi with the quickness of her words. “Naomi. You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do. I can get that demon out of you. I promise. Let me try.”

  “You might be able to,” Merco acknowledged, turning his attention to Bridget briefly. But he then looked back at Naomi, his fingers starting a slow caress over her skin. “Or you can turn your trust over to me, Naomi. I will take care of you, if you will allow it.”

  There was something more to what he was saying. Naomi didn’t need powers to tell that Bridget spoke out because she was concerned, worried for her friend’s sake. And it was worry over more than just the demon inside her.

  “I can tell you that I trust you,” she said. “But how can I prove it? Words mean nothing. You say you will take care of me.” She pulled her hand out from under his, waving to the beautiful setting around them. “But a plush surrounding, not needing to work, none of that means anything. You can’t buy me, Merco. What are you offering in exchange for my trust?”

  And was trust all that he wanted? She looked into that handsome face, his expression so intent and controlled. Was he capable of love? A man with his incredible looks, capable of having anything he wanted, and more than likely anyone, would he be satisfied with someone as simple as her?

  If he read her thoughts, he gave no indication. He stared at her for a long moment, the others surrounding them silent, allowing the two of them that moment. She suddenly worried that she had asked too much. Merco was a being far too incredible for her to understand. More than likely he’d never worked, did whatever he wanted, had any woman that he wanted. For her to ask him to offer her anything in exchange for her trust was too much.

  She sighed, looking down, the chill of the day suddenly wrapping around her.

  “Come with me,” Bridget said suddenly. “I think I can work my way into where that demon is hiding.”

  Naomi looked up at Bridget’s extended hand. An emptiness swarmed through her when Merco said nothing. He stood slowly, a pillar of strength next to her, but completely unreadable. Damn it to hell. She had asked him to voice some kind of commitment to her, and he wouldn’t speak. It wasn’t fair that they could read each other’s thoughts, but she couldn’t figure out for the life of her what was going on in Merco’s head.

  She glanced at Ace and Morph, who stood silently watching her. Bridget had told her that Merco had unusual sexual habits. The demon had sworn that Merco would share her. Her heart suddenly raced at what trusting Merco might mean. But he wouldn’t hurt her. He wouldn’t do anything to her that she wouldn’t want. No matter that she couldn’t read him. She knew that. In her heart, she knew he cared for her, even if possibly she cared for him a bit more.

  “No.” She met Bridget’s gaze, but then looked up at Merco to see that he was watching her with an expression chiseled in stone. His gaze burned with a fire that set her insides to flame, though. She couldn’t look away. “I will stay with Merco. I trust him to take care of me.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Bridget was screaming at him. Merco ignored her, knowing her warnings were moot. She thought he would take advantage of Naomi, use her the way he had the many women he’d created in the past.

  That wasn’t going to happen.

  He turned to Morph. “Do you sense the demon inside her?” he asked with his thoughts, not wanting to alarm Naomi at this point, or alert the demon leader if he were somehow hidden where Merco couldn’t find him.

  “I need to get inside her, my friend,” Morph answered.

  Braze had guided Bridget from the terrace, preparing to depart with her. They would disappear out of Naomi’s sight. She had been through enough just now, enlightening her as to who possessed her and how he had arrived there.

  Naomi sat curled into that chair, her baggy shirt and long underwear unable to hide how beautiful she was. And how vulnerable. Her red hair fell like a shroud over her shoulders, sweeping around her full breasts. Blue eyes looked up at him, her long lashes fluttering down and then up again.

  Something tightened inside him, emotions swirling and rising while he gazed down at her. She trusted him. And he’d be damned if he would let her down.

  “I think you’ve had enough for now,” he told her, an ache growing in him while he stared down at her.

  He wanted to take her away, disappear from all of this and have her to himself.

  But he wouldn’t be alone with her. As long as the demon leader lurked within her, using her, abusing her, she would never be completely his.

  Naomi stood, placing her small hand on his chest. He fought the fury rising in him at the thought that something as despicable and disgusting as the demon leader degraded her. For her he would remain calm, smile reassuringly, assure her that with him all would be okay.

  Warmth traveled through him when she smiled back. Something he couldn’t identify. Something he’d never felt before crept through him, powerful yet simple. And although he had never felt it before, Merco accepted that he loved her. She would be his, and he would take care of her.

  After his watcher and Bridget’s watcher left, Merco guided Naomi into his living room where Ace and Morph lounged, the two of them in a quiet conversation about the concerns of the coven. The watchers would report to the coven. They had no choice. They would be interrogated repeatedly, allowing all to know what had occurred here so far, and speculate on what was about to occur. The lot of them could be damned.

  “We will worry about that later,” he told them, knowing the coven probably already disapproved of his interactions with a human. Like he ever cared whether they approved of his actions in the past. Wanting Naomi was surely not half as bad as some of the things he’d done in the past.

  “What is the problem?” Naomi ran her fingers through her long hair, parting it into thirds before she slowly began weaving it into a long braid.

  “Many of us feel that interacting with humans isn’t wise,” Ace told her.

  Merco glared at his friend, ordering him silently to be nice, but Ace waved him off, focusing on Naomi. Merco knew both of his friends were attracted to her. Hell. Who wouldn’t be? Either of them would be a hypocrite for condemning him for wanting her.

  Protective instincts surged through him when he sat down on the couch and pulled her down next to him.

  “But you two are here,” she was saying, her tone as relaxed as her body when she relaxed next to him. “And you are willing to help me.”

  “Yes,” Ace said.

  Morph nodded as well.

  “What do I have to do?” She looked up at Merco.

  Her warmth traveled through him, arousing him, making him hard with need.

  “Morph will enter your dreams. Ace will heal the damage the demon has done. And I will be your strength through all of this, offering speed to your recovery.” It was the simplest answer he could give her.

  She nodded, but her blue eyes clouded, showing her confusion. “All of you are strong in different areas,” she said, surprisingly understanding more than maybe even she realized.

  “We all have certain gifts, yes.” He pulled her closer. “Just as you do.”

  She smiled, and a soft flush spread over her cheeks. Her gaze darted to his friends, and then down to her hands. She was preoccupied with an anticipation of what the three of them might do to her. And it excited her. He knew she was nervous, but curious, too. She wondered what it would be like to have all three of them fuck her. It was so much more than that, but that was the level she focused on.

  The three of them entering her would make her stronger, bring out the natural gifts he believed she possessed. Each of them would leave a bit of their powers with her, making Naomi more in tune with her surroundings, and the ability to control her environment. She would never be a goddess, never an immortal. But Naomi had gifts. She sensed things many humans ignored. The three of them fucking her would strengthen those gifts.

  Merco knew if she trusted him, truly trusted him, he would offer her to Ace and Morph. And although
she’d voiced her trust and agreed to stay with him, he sensed her hesitation, the worry that ran through her. She needed time.

  But the demon leader wouldn’t allow her that much time. If he stayed inside Naomi too much longer, he might consume her. Merco wouldn’t lose this beautiful creature to such raw evil.

  “And what gifts do I have?” she asked, looking up at him.

  A sensual hue floated in her blue orbs, making his insides soar, his needs heighten. He would have to fuck her soon. If anything, to show her that he cared, that with him she would always find solace, that nothing like this would ever happen to her again.

  “You are strong and you aren’t scared.” He didn’t hesitate. There were so many other things that came to mind, surprising him. He could sing her praises all night long.

  Without thought, he ran his hand down her arm. She curved into him, looking into his eyes with questions, and a passion that stole his breath.

  “I’m terrified.” A shiver rushed over her.

  He ran his finger down her cheek, tracing a line over her soft flesh, so warm and smooth. If there was any way he could swallow her terror, give her the gift of confidence, he would do it without hesitating.

  So many times in the past he’d created his woman of choice for an evening, delicately creating her personality to suit his mood. That wasn’t an option with Naomi. She came to him, flesh and blood, her intricate nature so defined and alive. To alter her would be a heinous crime. He wanted her just as she was, hesitating yet strong, beautiful and intelligent, her free will such an attraction he wondered why he’d wasted centuries ignoring the real thing.

  “Are you sure you can make the demon go away?” she asked, glancing at his friends. “How will you do it if you can’t even see him?”

  “We will enter you, see what you see,” Ace told her.

  “But right now I don’t see him.” She shook her head, nestling further into Merco. She worked to make sense of it all. “Whenever I am with Merco, he isn’t around.”