Her hand curled, and I instantly moved my hips back. Although grasping my cock and twisting was her favorite pastime, I’d found it trite and a bit annoying. I dropped the card to the floor and Nemi scrambled for it like a dog. I cocked my eyebrow at LaDressa who glared at me. She so wanted to fuck me.
“Now, I’d love if you’d bring her back for me. Please call her.”
“Why would I do anything for you?”
“Because then I don’t need to go out to find dinner.”
LaDressa stepped back and examined the card with Nemi.
“What do you think she wants?” LaDressa asked.
“I’m not sure. I don’t even know how she would have heard about Damarion.”
“Could we use this to get him back sooner?” LaDressa cooed, and I sighed in annoyance.
The last thing I needed was that bastard coming back around. Why not just kill me now? Suddenly flames shot upward in the fireplace and a loud thump sounded.
“Mail call,” I called and waved my fingers at Kanga to retrieve it. No way in hell was I touching that flaming pile of shit from Lucifer the fifth. That guy was an asshole…but aren’t most best friends that way?
I was still not sure if LaDressa truly believed her brother to be oblivious of her whereabouts or not. It was fun to mess with her and to see her assume she had the upper hand. At some point I might just feel bad when her brother comes here and kills her in front of Damarion, or Damarion in front of her. The details of who would do what to who were still in the rough draft stage.
“You can put out flames as well as she can,” LaDressa challenged.
“That’s not what your cunt says,” I moaned into her ear. “Admit it, you burn for me. Does it ache when you wake from dreams? It needs a release.”
She did not speak. She didn’t need to. We both knew she declared her love of Damarion too strongly lately. I was the one invading her dreams. Better yet, if I were to enter her bedroom at night, she’d accept me, unable to separate the dreams from reality. I looked over her shoulder at her bodyguard Masako and winked.
Masako returned my gesture of kindness with a scowl. Pity.
“I’ll be off…we all know those messages, while meant for my eyes only, are truly for you, my love.” I snatched another piece of jerky and turned, only to run into an invisible wall. LaDressa did want me around.
“You are to answer it,” she stated. “Stay and serve the only purpose there is for you in this coven.”
“I am but your humble servant happy to lap at your feet.” I sighed and went to the living room to crash on the couch.
The case containing Lucifer’s latest orders was bright orange as the iron casing somehow stayed intact. Ingenious really. I did like Lucy’s style. Of course he hated when I called him that…so I kept that, like most things about our relationship, close to the breast.
After ten minutes of patiently waiting Nemi did her job and retrieved the case from the fireplace. She had cooled its scalding encasement so I would be able to hear the wonderful words of my leader.
My finger flicked the lock a vision of Lucifer filled the area above the table.
“The whore is still at large.” He groaned.
“That would be you, I assume,” I said as I turned my head slightly toward LaDressa. “Or your mother…he really needs a thesaurus, maybe for his next birthday.”
Lucifer’s message continued. “Her absence has caused a rift that is tearing at our lands. Dangerous times are ahead as my demons prepare to rise at the next closing but we are unsure of the timing.”
“Have you been playing with that old book you found?” I teased her holiness sarcastically. “You know girls aren’t supposed to read. It slows them down with all those thoughts running around in their brain.”
“Why are you still alive?” Masako asked me.
“My ability to make a woman cum in four languages.”
“That doesn’t even make sense,” she snarled.
“To one who never has…perhaps not.”
“I’ve heard word that Damarion has been resurrected. If this rumor is true my sister may be with him. Find him and return him to the state he was in before. Finally, I’ve heard your request for additional Deumos to help in retrieving the bantlings. This will not be possible. All of my efforts are being expended on securing the safe return of my dearest sister.”
With a puff of smoke and a few shards of shrapnel the case was gone along with LaDressa’s hopes for additional Deumos for her coven. In one way, I was thankful. If she had any more boots on the ground she’d have even less reason to keep me alive. In another way…
“All right, who’s gonna fuck me?” I slapped my hands on my thighs, then stood. “Prince Charming isn’t sending me a Deumos to dispense into. Someone here better drop to their knees and open wide.”
* * * *
Detective Vincent DeTello
Meegan Yap strode into the police station without even being stopped. What the hell? We had an area that required being buzzed in. When did Yappy get an all-access pass? Had she started delivering pizza or something?
“I had a nice little chat on the phone with Damarion Juarez’s sister,” she said as she leaned on my desk and folded her arms across her chest. “She was in tears when she spoke of him. Is he dead?”
“I haven’t found a body. His case is still open.”
“What about the truck stop?”
“What about it?”
“She said you asked about him being there.”
“The bus stops there.”
“That’s not what she thought you meant,” Yappy continued. “I spent a few hours out there.”
“They have a great chicken fried steak. I don’t know what they put in the gravy, but it’s my first stop when I need comfort food.”
“The truckers admitted something strange.”
“The Jell-O?”
“A decrease in the featured entertainment out there.”
“Did they stop carrying pull-tabs?” I retorted. “I know they don’t generate money, but the food they sell when the guys buy them has to balance it out.”
“Have you ever heard the term ‘lot lizard’?”
“Not in front of a woman.”
“A woman used it,” Meegan bemoaned. I guess I’d lost my charm factor. “The male truckers say the number of available prostitutes has dwindled.”
“Wouldn’t that mean the police are doing their job?”
“The police have never cared before. Not you, not the county, and not the state police. Why the sudden drop?”
“Have you checked the local community colleges?”
“Something’s going on, Vince. Why won’t you just tell me what? Are the women in this town in danger? What does Damarion Juarez have to do with it?” Meegan steadied herself. “Quit treating me like a child and talk.”
“I’m not treating you like a child,” I confessed and looked around the squad room. Jones and Marz were watching me from the far corner. I stood up and Meegan followed me to the coffee pot. “Yappy…Meegan, I am limited on what I can and cannot say during an open investigation.”
“There is an investigation then?” she whispered as I handed her a cup of hours-old coffee.
“We’re the outsiders here. I’m sure if you asked the workers at the truck stop they wouldn’t say anything. To them, there’s never been a lot lizard issue. They are a good stop with no whoring going on. You can search our police records…” I looked over my shoulder. Jones and Marz had gone back to talking to each other. “We’ve never had a prostitution charge in the town. Even the county boys avoid it. The only reason drug busts happen is because being high tends to cause other problems. Hookers, not really.”
“What about assaults? Have the girls ever filed charges?”
“There’s a mutual agreement it seems between them and the cops. They don’t hook and their johns don’t hit or rape. If they start making charges, it tarnishes the
city and…”
“People don’t want to admit it happens here.”
“Exactly. Initially the girls were just going away for a few days while their bruises healed. Now they just go away. The girls that finally contacted us about their friends missing caused a crackdown.”
“Because people don’t go missing here. They don’t run away…”
“Commit suicide or sell their bodies.”
“Can you pass me a cup?” Jones asked as he approached. “A to-go one, I don’t have the luxury to sit at my desk and sip from my own cup.”
“Yep, I’m the glamour god of the precinct, just sittin’ on my ass all day long.” I smiled as I poured the last of the stale coffee in a brown foam cup. “Meegan is writing a day in the life piece about me. Now I’m going to show her how an ace detective makes coffee for all the patrolmen to drink in between taking down people who roll through stop signs.”
“You’re hilarious, DeTello.” Jones had an unnerving way he’d say my name when annoyed. Every syllable had a sneer to it. At least he was too thick to think up a good nickname for me. That’s sad really. Bullies usually only have that in their wheelhouse. With a tilt of his head he nodded to Meegan. “Yappy.”
“You all call me that, don’t you?” she asked when he walked away.
“It’s catchy, and it’s not like Jones thought it up.”
“Well, duh.” She looked around the now-empty squad room. The only other person in the area was our secretary who busied herself with the latest conspiracy gossip rag about Berlin, some socialite people swore hadn’t actually died. I’d taken to calling her the new Elvis. “Spill, Vince. I promise to not write about anything until I have the full story.”
“They’ll never print it anyway.”
“They might not, but the AP always likes a good news story.”
“We’re both talented at making enemies, aren’t we?”
“We both don’t like bullshit.”
“Fine, this is what I’ve found out so far.”
I laid it all out for her. The missing girls, the dead ones, and the latest what I would call a victim. How the man taking them was usually an expert. The girl in the alley a few days ago was a mistake. Something happened to disrupt him. I held back about Kiriana, Bruce, and Esther. I’m not sure why. Kiriana George should have come up when she investigated Damarion, but she didn’t, so I took it as a sign. My gut might just be wrong about her and her involvement. If it’s not, I don’t want to sic her on them. At least not yet.
* * * *
Esther Benson
Vincent lifted my chin with two fingers outside of Bruce’s trailer. His lips touched mine and I melted against his body. The smell of his cologne trickled into my lungs. My breasts ached as he pressed me against the barn door.
“You taste so good,” he groaned as his lips trailed down my neck.
Tangling my fingers through his thick hair, I got lost in the sensations running between my legs. His thickness pressed against my hip and we tumbled into my bed. With nimble fingers he unbraided my hair and then looked down at me.
“Leather?” My father’s voice echoed from Vincent’s lips. “Are you a whore?”
I shot up in my bed. A wetness between my legs made me rush to the bathroom. Had I wet the bed? No. When I returned to my bed it was dry even though my panties were soaked. Stripping them off, I tossed them into the hamper, followed by my nightdress, and entered my shower.
Scrubbing the dream from my body I tried to focus on the task at hand. I’d only slept for a few hours. Hunting wouldn’t start for another three. Between now and then I could dress and pick up the tracker Zarmina was making for me. As long as I was prepared for the hunt, that was all that mattered.
As I descended the staircase I came upon a doorway that was new. Our compound had more than the ability to be hidden: it shifted to accommodate the wishes of those that dwell in its walls. What would take several permits and months of construction for humans can take us but a few hours of shifting.
When I approached the door I saw a sign stating the simple word in on a small hook. This must be Kiriana’s office. Did she really think people need counseling? The group meetings garnered no fruit except from those who were newer. Maybe that was the issue. The younger generation did not understand the power of prayer as I do.
Still…I knocked.
“Come in,” Kiriana absently called.
She was leaning back in a cushioned, leather office chair with a book open and a highlighter at the ready.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Kiriana.” I replied as I kept one hand on the doorjamb.
“You can come in if you want.”
“I know,” I said and softly closed the door to the office. “Why don’t you just use the library?”
“I like the intimacy of this office for one on ones. Is that why you’re here?”
The room was warm and inviting. Deep reds and rich browns filled the office. My thoughts traveled back to the dream and more importantly the wetness. Perhaps Kiriana could explain. Then again she wasn’t the type of person I would have been allowed to engage with when I was younger.
“I don’t know.” I circled the perimeter of the room. My fingers traced along the shelves of textbooks and self-help books. So different than the compound library with its works of fiction and ancient texts. “There’s no couch.”
“No, I’m not a fan. I figure a comfy chair is enough.”
“I see.”
“You’re free to sit down.”
“No, thank you. I haven’t decided if I’ll be staying.”
Kiriana kept her eyes on me, but I couldn’t read her. Strange, during group sessions her emotions were always on display. She might as well be an open book. Her focus returned to her book. I continued to look on the shelves. Maybe I wouldn’t have to speak. I could study the books and ideas of people with more experience.
“How did you come to be with child?” I asked her.
“Nye and I had sex before our sealing.”
“Why would you give your body to a man prior to marriage?”
“It’s more common than you think.”
“Common does not make it right. A woman’s body should be cherished…” My father’s words came to life in my mind. A woman’s body should be cherished. Yours has but one purpose and it is unholy. You are my punishment for sins. As God tests my strength you will not win.
With a snap, Kiriana closed her book, and I jumped.
“You’re done for the day?” I asked, a bit disappointed. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to speak to her. In all honesty, I had no idea how to express my thoughts to her.
“Nope. But I really need a snack. You up for an orange? I need to stretch in the garden.”
“Okay.” That was a delightful thought.
She tucked the book under her arm, and I relaxed because she wasn’t going there to pull out my feelings, just feed herself. I followed her through the hallways with only the sound of our footsteps breaking the silence of the house.
We entered the greenhouse. Kiriana picked a few big navel oranges from a tree, then leaned against the trunk. She held her hands out to me. I helped ease her to the ground and sat in front of her. The greenhouse was beautiful and I never knew who was going to be there. Now I understood what the small office offered—safety. In there I knew who might come upon us. Here…not so much.
Peeling an orange, she broke off a piece and passed it to me. She opened her book and rested it on her pregnant belly. “You know, being from California, I would have never thought I could get an orange this good in the middle of Iowa.”
“We only got oranges at Christmas,” I confessed, popping another slice in my mouth. “Two in our stockings. It was so hard to not eat them both in one day.”
“But I guess it was a fun thing to look forward to. Our neighbor had a tree in her backyard. Funny, I was so burnt out on them until I got here.”
“Too much of a good thing can make one forget the blessing of it.”
“I hope not. At least not as far as Nye and I are concerned.”
“I do not believe it will be a problem for the two of you. You will have trials, but who doesn’t?”
“Didn’t you grow up in the seventies? Did you grow up in Alaska or something?”
“No, why would you think that?”
“Oranges are pretty common.”
“Now. I lived in rural Montana in the sixties and seventies.”
“You were twenty-four when you were Frozen?” She passed me the last slice, then began peeling another orange.
“Yes.”
“Hmm…we’re practically the same age, physically at least.”
“I suppose. Well, I must get back.”
“To what?” Kiriana’s velvet brown eyes were open and inviting. “You don’t have to tell me what happened or why you chose to end your life if you don’t want to. I saw the scars on your body last time you were fighting with Berlin. They can be covered, but not fully. And the ones on the inside can’t be healed until you purge the thoughts.”
“Purging demons. You sound so much like my father.”
“Did he catch you hurting yourself?”
“Why would you think I hurt myself?” I snapped, then steadied myself. “Yes, I took my own life, but it wasn’t my choice.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have assumed.”
Pressure built in my head as acid burned up my throat. My hand ran over the scars on my hip that I’d tried to forget. The ones I controlled. Memories slammed against my skull and visions of the devil from my nightmares swirled together with them. The ones that haunted me and caused me to scream out in the middle of the night. Possessed. Inhuman beast. Jezebel.
No longer in my control, my arms flailed and I stood. The ground beneath me seemed like a barrier holding me down and I paced as if the action would help me take off. I’d seen Nye fly from one place to another and suddenly yearned to.
“You couldn’t understand,” I told Kiriana. “You are one who indulges in vices. Gorging yourself so you no longer see the beauty of God’s blessings.”
Stolen Redemption Page 5
