by Debra Dunbar
“So what’s on our agenda today?” Irix nuzzled my neck at I munched on a donut.
“We’re going to visit Boone Valley and Santor Winery, and then we’re going to try to track down a pair of plague demons.”
I’d spent some time while the coffee was brewing thinking about the attack on me last night. Hallwyn was still my top suspect, her possible motives both revenge on the slight I’d delivered to her, and my disgusting half-elven parentage. But I couldn’t completely discount that others might have motivation to both take me out of the picture and ensure the vineyard, and Hallwyn, failed. Another elf who wanted her job—perhaps the one at Santor or Boone who was looking to change employment, or plague demons who had an axe to grind with DiMarche management. Or maybe a sorcerer, although since I hadn’t seen any indication of a magic-wielding human, that one seemed a remote possibility.
“Or instead of touring wineries and hunting down plague demons, we could just stay in bed and have sex.” Irix reached out and examined the spot where my head wound had been yesterday. It was healed, but he clucked over it like a mother hen.
Staying in bed all day with my lover was a tempting idea, but I knew something Irix would like better. “Or after we tour the wineries and look for these demons, we could go hunting together.”
He grinned. “Oh yeah. Do you want to drive separately so people don’t suspect we’re in a relationship?”
“No, I don’t just want to hunt together, I want us to feed together. Do you think we can make that happen?”
We’d hunted together, but we’d always gone our separate ways once we’d found our partners for the evening. The closest thing to feeding together had been in New Orleans when Irix had arranged an orgy for my own personal pleasure, but I’d needed to leave before anything interesting had happened to take care of a supernatural problem.
He tilted his head, lifting an eyebrow. “Seriously? I will absolutely make that happen if you’re game. Do you want to tag team, or threesome, or side-by-side?”
Wow, this was so sexy. “What do you want to do?”
He chewed on his bottom lip as he thought. “Tag team. Two and two then switch, although it might wind up just being the four of us together.”
“Fun,” I breathed, getting turned on just thinking about it. Watching Irix work his magic right beside me, then switching mid-game, or combining it all together would be seriously hot.
“It might take us a while to find the right pair, though,” he warned.
“So, like swingers?” I asked. “We each take one of a couple?”
“Yeah, but one step further. We have sex in the same room, and if we can manage it, we switch halfway through or merge the action.”
Kinky. “Let me clean up and get dressed, and we’ll head out.”
I ran into the bathroom while Irix went through my clothing, asking me what I wanted to wear and pulling items out of the closet.
“Think we can actually get brunch, too?” I called out, scrubbing as fast as I could. “I didn’t eat much yesterday and mini donuts aren’t going to stick with me for long. We have all these diseases and pests in the vineyard and that elf woman is worthless. I was so busy that I didn’t get much of a chance to breathe, let alone eat lunch.”
“Do you think it’s one of the pestilence demons?” I could hear the worry in his voice. “It might be due to any number of causes. A sorcerer? Perhaps a disgruntled employee or a rival vineyard hired a sorcerer to produce a spell.”
I wasn’t ruling any of that out. Now that the elves had migrated from Hel, the humans had suffered a rude awakening about magic as well as the existence of beings who had powers they’d never imagined. Dragons. Elves. Trolls. Mermaids. And with the elves, several sorcerers from Hel had decided they could expand their operations this side of the gate and find customers willing to pay top dollar for a spell. It used to be that a mage’s only career option upon escaping from slavery and running from his elven master across the gates would be as entertainment at children’s’ parties. But the world was now a different place.
“I don’t know. It could be a natural phenomenon. I mean, with all the pesticides and lack of biodiversity, the humans have set themselves up for a perfect storm of chemically resistant diseases and pests. Maybe their luck has run out, and vineyards are the first to be hit.” I hated the thought. I’d almost rather have found out a sorcerer had cursed the vineyard than think there were a dozen fungus and bacteria strains along with an equal number of insects that would be near impossible to kill. Vineyards first, food supply next. If that was the case, the human race would be looking at a serious famine and food shortage in the near future.
It would be more than one young half-elf could handle. It would most likely be more than a hundred thousand elves could handle. Hopefully it was a spell. Spells weren’t easy, but at least they could be broken. And when they were, the damage stopped.
“Confronting a plague demon is going to be tricky. I’ll expect you to stay as much in the background as possible and let me do the talking, if we can even manage to find her, that is. They’re not the brightest bulbs in the pack, but I don’t want her to realize what you are.”
He was right. I was playing a dangerous game here. Harkel thought I was a full succubus with an Owned elven form. Hallwyn thought I was a human that bore a slight resemblance to a low-level elf. The elves in Hel had thought I was a full elf. I wasn’t sure how to play this with the plague demons. And I wasn’t sure that Hallwyn’s pride-fueled blindness would extend to the elves at Boone Valley and Santor.
“Do you think the other elves are going to know what I am?” I worried. “What am I going to do, Irix? There will soon be a hundred thousand or so elves spread all over the world, working side-by-side with humans. One is going to figure it out sooner rather than later, and I’m scared that I’ll end up with a price on my head. My mother hid me here to protect me, but now even hiding among the humans isn’t safe.”
He sighed. “I’m hoping by the time an elf figures it out, you’ll be strong enough to defend yourself, or have valuable allies to shield you. Right now the elves are completely off balance. They came here expecting to rule and establish their own kingdoms with the humans as slaves, and instead the angels have shoved them onto an island and forced them to bend to human culture and society. Right now they feel powerless and confused, and I don’t think they’d do more than start a rage-fueled catfight.”
“I’d totally win a cat-fight,” I told him.
“Yes, you would. Even if Hallwyn or these other two elves find out, what can they do? Most of them can barely speak the language or drive a car. They wouldn’t attack when they are strangers in a strange land, and you obviously have grown up here and know your way around this confusing human life. What worries me is that elves are patient. And they’re not above pooling their money and hiring a demon to take you out.”
So I’d have time if I was discovered, but how much time? I was so sick of hiding and living in fear. I’d grown up thinking I was a human, that the worst thing that could happen to me was dropping my iPhone in the toilet. This knot in my gut every time I saw a demon or an elf was driving me nuts. And it seemed I’d be seeing demons and elves a whole lot more than my mother had ever planned.
“Here.” Irix handed me a soft cotton dress in navy blue. He was naked and edging beside me to grab a washcloth. I wiggled past, giving his delectable ass a quick squeeze on the way out of the tiny bathroom. By the time I had the dress on and had slipped my feet into some strappy sandals, Irix was out of the bathroom, devastatingly handsome in a pair of distressed jeans and a snug T-shirt advertising the happiest place on earth.
“Seriously? Do you plan on changing your shirt before we hunt?”
“No. Why?”
Silly incubus. But he was the expert when it came to seduction. “You’re going to try to pick up a swinger couple with a Mickey Mouse on your shirt?”
He nodded. “It’s quirky. Hot guy. Beloved cartoon character. The perfe
ct combination.”
I had a feeling he was right, as usual. Irix was sweet, fun, devoted. He was also smolderingly hot, sexy as anything that ever walked the Earth, and outrageously good at what he did. No sex demon hunted like Irix. I couldn’t imagine that even my own succubus sire, Leethu, was as accomplished in seduction and pleasure. He had an uncanny ability to hone in on what people wanted that lay deeper than just their sexual fantasies, and his one night with them satisfied everything—emotional needs as well as physical. He tied his humans to him, but the tethers were so intricately woven that the humans were able to love and continue a healthy life, never forgetting that stranger who in one night made them realize that they were more than just a body.
I admired him. I hoped that one day I could come close to his level of expertise. I’d come so far in the last year. I’d gone from denying who I was, starving my succubus side, to embracing it and trying to refine my technique so that my encounters were as beneficial to the human as they were to me. But I had a long way to go, and I was thrilled to soak up every lesson Irix gave me.
We headed out in Irix’s stolen BMW, windows down as the warm morning sunshine bathed us in light. The road out of our little trailer park for the DiMarche field hands went past row after row of vines, all in neat rows, their huge green leaves waving in the breeze. It was beautiful, but even from the car I could feel the diseases. I closed my eyes, sending a net of sensory awareness outward, and saw it all like a color-coordinated map. There were hot spots of infestation, and large areas of healthy plants. The sick vines seemed to be clustered near roadways, the equipment sheds, and the tasting room and winery. I would have expected it to be more random, or to have at least infected the vineyard in the depths of the fields as well as the outskirts, but the portions far from the roadways were the healthiest. Clearly this wasn’t due to heat or wetness or another natural cause. The pattern once more made me believe that someone had come along the roadways and either sprayed a biological component to infect the vines, or cursed them via a spell, or rubbed their plague-demon fingers all over the nearby leaves and trunks.
I resisted the urge to have Irix stop the car so I could get out to heal some of the plants and instead tried to plot a course of action for today. The plague demon was one thing. Irix could help with that, and I could either play the human expert or a young succubus. The two elves at Boone Valley and Santor were another thing. Should I pretend to be a concerned and helpful scientist-type human? A demon? If the other elves and Hallwyn were friends, no doubt my co-workers would soon hear about the elf-looking blonde woman who showed up asking questions. I’d pestered Hallwyn too often about the infestations to remain anonymous, and after calling her a fraud, I wouldn’t be able to slide under the radar.
I didn’t have long to ponder my plan, because the first place Irix pulled into was the neighboring Boone Valley.
“They’ve got a good brunch tasting,” he explained. “And I think you need some solid food and an alcoholic beverage or two before we go tracking down Apixt and her sister.”
I took a deep breath to steady my nerves, and smoothed my dress as we walked up to the tasting room. The place was packed, their sign advertising a brunch buffet with a crepe station and a wine pairing all for one low price.
Irix paid at the door, the cashier’s eyes wandering up and down his body with open appreciation, snagging on his T-shirt. “Did you go down to Disney?” she asked.
He leaned over the counter on his elbows, biceps bulging as he gave her a slow smile. “The one in Florida. I don’t think I’ll have time to visit Disneyland this trip, but maybe next time. I’ve got a fondness for the Magic Kingdom.”
She giggled, her face flushed. “I’m more into anime, but I wouldn’t kick Mickey to the curb.”
“See, I’m a bit old-school.” Irix’s voice was like dark chocolate on a sweet strawberry. “Disney. Scooby Doo and the Hanna-Barbera crowd. Yogi. Banana Splits. Josie and the Pussycats.”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?” she asked hopefully. “Johnny Quest?”
“Totally.” He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze, his fingers lingering against hers. “Are you working tomorrow?”
She caught her breath. “Yes. Noon to close.”
His smile was warm, conveying every intention of fucking her senseless. “I’ll swing by around close and maybe we can grab a coffee?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “Oh, yes.”
I bit back a smile, staying quietly in the background so the woman didn’t suddenly see me and think she was breaking the girl-code. Irix had lined up an easy score for tomorrow, and judging from the energy pouring from this woman right now, it would be a very satisfying experience for the both of them.
“I’ll be here.” He met her eyes as he brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it, nipping the skin at her wrist before releasing her. Then he turned away, but not before giving her one last steamy glance over his shoulder.
“I so want to fuck you,” I told him as we walked into the tasting room and found our table. “I worship at your feet, oh incubus master.”
He snorted. “At nearly twenty-two you’re damned skilled. By my age, you’ll be Mata Hari, or Helen of Troy.”
“Fuck that. Mata Hari, maybe. Or Cleopatra. I don’t want to be some beautiful trophy-wife that gets kidnapped by a pretty-boy and hauled away against my will.”
Irix laughed. “I pity the fool that tries to kidnap you. And Cleopatra wasn’t as powerful as legend would have it. Women back then were pawns to a patriarchal society. Except for prostitutes. Skilled concubines have always ruled the world. Sex, my dear elven princess. It’s what makes the world go round’. It’s what brings powerful men to their knees.”
I looped my arm in his, waited while he pulled my chair out for me, and let him scoot it in after I sat. We enjoyed savory chicken and mushroom crepes with an amazing flight of white wines and a sweet Riesling to finish. Irix had been sending sultry looks toward the guy who was clearly the manager, but backed off once he realized the man was more interested in me than him.
The manager came over to see how our dining experience was, and I let loose a curl of pheromone. Irix might not need to turn on the demon lures as often as I did, but I was inexperienced compared to him, and this was important.
“I loved the Chardonnay,” I gushed, blinking big doe-eyes up at the man. “Are you open for tours? I’m a recent graduate with a botany degree, on an internship at DiMarche for the summer, but I’m trying to get as broad an experience as possible about the best grape varieties for this type of soil and climate, as well as styles and branding of the local wineries.
He glanced over at Irix. “Maybe a short tour.”
“You go.” Irix leaned back in his chair, swirling the wine in his glass. “This is so not my thing, girl. I’ll just have another glass of this…whatever it is, and you go look at the wine stuff.”
The manager looked quite a bit more excited at the prospect of a tour without the incubus along. I slid out of my seat and put out my hand. “I’m Amber.”
“Sean Bell.”
Sean led me through the retail store, and into a small-scale production facility that had been the original site of the company’s wine-making enterprise, but was now used for specialty wines and these tours. Unlike the much larger DiMarche winery, Boone Valley specialized in Chardonnay, Riesling, and Pinot with some award winning small-batch dry Rieslings.
“How’s your harvest looking this year?” I finally asked. “Quite a few of the larger vineyards and orchards in the state are really struggling with black measles, leafrollers, and other blights.”
He shot me a quick, nervous glance. “You’ve got a botany degree. I’m sure you realize that agriculture is a constant battle against pests and diseases. Boone Valley has been forward thinking and hired an elf to assist us in keeping our vines healthy and producing the highest quality harvest. She’s out in the field now, working her magic on our vines.”
I shrugged. “I think it�
�s all a bunch of hype. Elves, angels, dragons…pffft. Are they really doing any good, or at the end of the day are you going to discover that the chemicals are doing a better job than the pointy-eared dude with the glowy hands?”
“Well, between you and me, I have my doubts.” Sean grinned sheepishly. “Party line is that we’ve got an elf and everything is going to be pristine. Reality? I don’t think she understands our crops and the issues we’re facing. She tries. She is helping, and I think she’s probably doing a better job than the pesticides would, but the elf is no miracle cure.”
“But everyone is going to hire one now, because shareholders will demand it.”
He nodded. “Yeah. It will be the new quality control trend. TQM, ISO9000, Six Sigma, elves.”
I laughed. “Okay, isn’t it kinda weird that this year all the big vineyards are having horrible problems with blight and pests? The very year elves are available to save the day for only one small fee?”
Sean snorted. “What are you calling small? She’s costing us a freaking bundle, not including the recruiter fee. It’s not like we had a choice, though. Even if she doesn’t miraculously cure every spot on our vines, the pressure is already on to have an elf on the payroll. Even the commercial farms have jumped on the elven-bandwagon. Three orchards, two vegetable farms… I’ve even heard a few of the hospitals have brought elves in to help battle antibiotic resistant bacteria and other infections.”
Interesting. This Magical Interventions company must be making a bundle on placement fees. For a second I wondered if they could be behind these outbreaks, but then why continue them after the elf was hired? It would be in their best interest to have the elven employees seen as miracle workers. I mulled it over as we’d made our way back into the retail store. Knowing I should do something to show appreciation for the manager’s time and attention, I pulled a couple bottles of wine off the shelf to buy and thanked Sean with a warm smile.
