The Morning Star

by Debra Dunbar

  There was no fucking way I was letting the adorably young “Kitten” go. She was very aptly named, I noted, even though she was quite skilled with a firearm. “Leethu! Where’s this Red person? I’m here to free you.”

  “Free me?” She blinked. “Ni-ni, what in the name of Hel are you talking about?”

  “This is a rescue operation. I’m here to kill the sorcerer. Or mage. Or woman who got the spell off the internet and figured it would be nice to get laid on a regular basis by someone hot who knew what the fuck she was doing in bed. Whoever summoned you.”

  “The human who summoned me is dead. My Red Bird killed him. I live here with her and my human sisters.”

  “They haven’t compelled you to stay here? Or to say that?” This Kitten was beginning to squirm in my arms, and I wasn’t sure whether to threaten her or release her. The other girls hadn’t let go of their guns, so I wasn’t inclined to do the same to Kitten.

  “No. Ni-ni, please let Kitten go. And all of you,” she turned to the other girls, “put your weapons away. This is the Iblis.”

  I let go of the young girl, who shot me a scowl and elbowed me in the stomach before running back to her friends. Leethu strolled up to me as the girls watched, eyeing me with a warm smile. “You came to rescue me? You found me and had come to rescue me?”

  “Of course I did, idiot. I’d figured you could handle this guy on your own, but you had been gone for a long time, and I thought you might need a hand.” I glanced around at the girls and the fortress-like security system. “Clearly you don’t need rescue. Sorry about that. Next time check in occasionally so I don’t make a complete ass out of myself.”

  “I thought you weren’t coming.” Her voice was soft, with a sentimental note to it. “You’re busy being the Iblis and all that, and I thought maybe you hadn’t noticed how long I was gone, or couldn’t bother to come for me.”

  I felt like a total shit. Damn it, I was the worst head-of-household ever. I was the worst foster-sister ever. Overwhelmed was the best word to describe how I’d been the last few years, but there was no excuse for ignoring the fact that a member of my household had been MIA and I’d made no more than half-hearted attempts to find her until recently.

  “I did notice how long you were gone. It took me a while to track you down, but honestly I didn’t prioritize it and I’m sorry. You’re so fucking badass, especially for a sex demon, that I never once thought you couldn’t handle whatever asshole was summoning you. I don’t see you as a demon ever in need of rescue, so it really didn’t cross my mind. I’m so sorry, Leethu.”

  She launched herself at me, and for a second I wondered what the fuck she was doing. Then her arms came around my neck and I was squashed against her amazing body in a tight hug.

  “Thank you, Ni-ni. Thank you for coming to my rescue, even if you’re too late.”

  What was that about? This gratitude when I’d clearly dropped the ball big-time. And a hug?

  “Uh, yeah. If it happens again, I’ll be more prompt.” I pulled back and again looked over at the girls who were still staring at us. They were pointing their guns downward, but still eyeing me as if they were ready to lock and load with one false move.

  Leethu waved the girls back into the house with a smile, then turned back to me. “Let’s walk some distance from the house so we can discuss things.”

  Huh. I fell in behind the succubus, noting that she disarmed several magical wards on our way out as well as stopping to type in a code on a box attached to a giant metal gate. This place was a serious fortress. Who was this Red Bird and why was she so paranoid?

  “It’s the girls,” Leethu told me as the gate beeped and swung open. “All this makes them feel safe. Plus, they’ve been a bit trigger happy after that demon tried to assassinate Red a few days back.”

  “Assassinate? She’s a terrorist?”

  The succubus laughed. “No, silly. She’s an angel—an archangel to be exact. That poor demon was quickly killed, but the girls have taken it upon themselves to be an angel’s protector. It’s sweet. They’re proficient fighters, and I have no doubt that they could take down a lower-level demon should one choose to attack us.”

  There was a pride in Leethu’s voice that I took note of. Then I realized what she’d said and my jaw dropped. “Uriel? You’re holed up in this place with a bunch of teenage girls and Uriel?”

  “Yes.” The succubus’s lips curled up in a sappy smile. “She’s strong and protective, and smart. Her household, the inner circle, are these human women who have been forged by life’s fire. I’m so honored to be included. And I’m equally honored that she’s expressed an affection for me.”

  “Affection?” Holy shit, what the fuck had happened? The archangel goes away for some hair-shirt penance and returns with a sex demon on her arm and a whole host of female teenagers who know how to handle a gun.

  “Yes, affection. Of course we have been intimate, both in our physical forms and in the way angels do it, but I wonder sometimes if her feelings for me go deeper than just pleasure and friendship. I know mine do, and I was quite surprised about that.”

  I shook my head, still shocked by the concept of Leethu and Uriel. “You joined? Because angels don’t do that sort of thing casually, at least not more than once. If she’s regularly angel-fucking you, her heart is already in it.”

  “Oh, I hope so. I wanted to tell you this away from the others, because I don’t think they quite understand our relationship. They are all experienced enough to know that we have a physical bond, but not quite the extent of my feelings for my beloved Red Bird. I wanted you to know, Ni-ni, so you understand why I do not return to Hel or your domicile with any frequency from now on.”

  “Yeah, I’d guess you’d want to live here with Uriel.” I still struggled to wrap my head around this. Leethu and Uriel. I never would have imagined it, but now that I knew, the pair seemed oddly right for each other.

  “Stay here with us for a few days,” she said with a charming smile. “You can become better acquainted with my Red Bird and my new sisters. It will be fun.”

  It did sound like fun. If only I didn’t have a fallen archangel to kill and a baby angel to safeguard.

  “I’ve got to grab Dar and take him to Oregon so we can interrogate a warmonger about his part in a plot to kill angels. Maybe in a few months when things settle down?” Or years. Or centuries.

  “What?” she laughed. “Since when do you need Dar to help you interrogate a demon?”

  “Since there’s a good chance said demon is going to run out the back door while I’m cutting through his household in front.”

  Her face softened in nostalgia. “I haven’t seen Dar in a long time. How is he?”

  I snorted. “Whipped. That angel of his says ‘jump’ and he’s ten feet off the ground before the word finishes leaving her mouth. And that baby angel of theirs? I get the feeling that number two isn’t far behind.”

  “Oh!” Her eyes sparkled. “Maybe my Red Bird and I…”

  Maybe. Sheesh, we were all turning domestic here.

  She smiled. “Shall I will go with you tonight? It will be like old times, you and Dar and me.”

  “You’re welcome to come along,” I told her, knowing both Dar and I would be grateful for the extra help. Sex demons didn’t have a lot of offensive ability in battles, but Leethu was shrewd and could be a vicious fighter. Plus, having a succubus there gave us the element of surprise. No one expected to encounter a sex demon in a battle. The shock factor might buy us a few much-needed precious minutes.

  “It won’t be all that exciting,” I warned her. “I’m going in the front, basically trying to fight my way through as many as fifty demons without dying in the process. You and Dar would be keeping watch at the perimeter, grabbing Caramort if he attempts to escape.”

  “Caramort?” Leethu suddenly began to laugh. “You’re trying to grab Caramort?”

  I stopped walking and turned to face her. “Yeah. Do you know him?”

&nbs
p; “Carnally. A few decades ago we were at a party in Dis and we spent some quality time together. He’s been sending me breeding petitions ever since—exclusive ones, wanting me to be his consort and promising me all sorts of absurd things if I were to agree.”

  “Did you?” I eyed her in surprise. Leethu was quite the catch, but most demons wouldn’t want to limit their breeding incidents to sex demons, or wrap themselves up in a consort contract with one. Whatever had happened at that party a few decades ago, Leethu had clearly rocked this demon’s world.

  “No. I like to keep my options open. He was quite enjoyable, and I did find his attentions flattering. Every few years, whenever our paths cross, I’ll give him a quick ride, just for fun.”

  I was getting an idea. “You wouldn’t happen to have a way of contacting him, would you?”

  “I know his steward’s ID by heart. It’s been on every single breeding contract.” Leethu pulled a cell phone from her pocket. “I think I even have his number from last year when I ran into him outside Dallas. Assuming he still has the same number, I could just text him.”

  “Text him and say you heard he was in the Pacific Northwest. That you’re up in Seattle, heading down the coast into California and wondered if he’d meet up with you for a quickie on the beach somewhere.”

  Leethu pursed her lips. “Ni-ni, I do not enjoy sex on the beach. It’s a delicious alcoholic beverage, but the actual act leaves sand in uncomfortable places.”

  “Then a hotel room, or the back seat of a car. I don’t care. Pick a place near Eugene, Oregon. Make something up. See if he’ll meet you at nine tonight. Sex him up big-time. Make it so he won’t refuse.”

  Leethu narrowed her eyes. “I am always sexy. And Caramort would never refuse an offer from me.” She typed into the phone as we turned back toward the house. “But you mentioned a plot to kill angels? Is this…do you think there will be war? Between the angels and the demons?”

  The contents of Samael’s note ran through my head, as well as Doriel and Remiel’s interest in wrestling this world from the angels. But they were Ancients. Take them out of the equation, and I wasn’t sure the demons would bother. Demons would be pacified by an equitable deal this side of the gates. It was these fucking Ancients and their revenge that would do us in.

  “I don’t know,” I lied. “There’s a lot going on right now. Who knows?”

  “Do you really think it will come to war?” Leethu pressed. “I think…I think I might be falling in love with my angel and I don’t want this to bring difficulties.”

  “I don’t think we’ll ever get to where things were millions of years ago. There will be demons, Ancients, and two Angels of Chaos that will be working with like-minded angels to bring us all together. It’s just going to be a matter of making sure the others fall in line—whether they’re rebellious angels, or Ancients who can’t forgive old grudges. Eventually it will all settle out, because unlike the last time, there are many of us dedicated to a peaceful future between us.

  “I hope so, Ni-nI.” Her phone buzzed, and she read the text with a smile. “It seems I have a date for nine-o’clock Pacific time with Caramort. He does not want to meet me at the hotel I suggested. Instead he has given me the address to what looks to be an old abandoned granary.”

  “An abandoned granary?” Caramort didn’t have a fucking clue when it came to romancing a succubus. Did he actually expect a classy demon like Leethu to fuck him in a dusty old storage facility?

  She shrugged. “He’s always been a bit on the kinky side as far as locations go. That party in Hel…it was quite the creative evening. I’m actually intrigued by what he may have planned in an old granary.”

  I eyed her. “Sure you’re not thinking of accepting that breeding contract after all?”

  Her smile was enigmatic. “There is only one being I am wanting to create with at the moment, and she has feathered wings. But, Caramort can be quite useful—to both of us. I would suggest you try to avoid killing him.”

  I grinned. “Not promising anything, Leethu, but I’ll do my best.”

  Chapter 13

  “This place is a pit.” Dar kicked at a broken table. Half a dozen little black spiders scurried out from under the rotted wood and ran for cover. “You’d seriously fuck a demon in a place like this? You’d seriously fuck anybody in a place like this?”

  Leethu gave him her best Mona Lisa smile. “There’s more to sex with demons than cocks and vaginas. Let’s just say that Caramort has interesting ideas of pleasure.”

  And sexual energy was sexual energy to a succubus, whether it came from some demon licking her feet or more traditional activities.

  “Well, I wouldn’t fuck in here. Look at this. What is this? You’re fucking kidding me. There’s a dead groundhog over here.”

  “So if I offered you a blow job right now, you’d turn it down?” Leethu asked.

  Dar spun around, a spark of lust in his eyes. “Are you? We’ve got time. He won’t be here for another ten or twenty minutes.”

  “Get your rocks off later, Dar,” I told the demon. “After I catch this guy and interrogate him. And somewhere I don’t have to watch.”

  “Not like I could anyway,” he replied moodily, turning back to kick at the rotted wood once more. “Asta gets pissed off if I even look at someone else—demon, human, that siren, the troll up in Wisconsin. Drives me crazy, although I’ll admit, she’s totally hot when she’s jealous and mad at me, and the sex is fucking out of this world when she’s pissed off. Problem is I can’t really walk right for a few days after. Took me eight hours to even get out of bed last time.”

  I so didn’t need to hear this, but Dar’s overshare brought up an interesting question.

  “How does Uriel deal with your need for sexual energy?” I asked Leethu. Sex demons could never be celibate, but in my experience, angels tended to be rather possessive of their partners.

  “She understands that what I gain from others is merely enjoyable food, that nothing I have with them approaches the level of intimacy and bonding that we share when we are together.” The succubus winked at me. “Angel sex is everything you said it was, Ni-ni, especially when combined with physical intercourse.”

  And now I was imagining Uri getting busy with Leethu, which was a far more stimulating scenario than thinking about the succubus blowing Dar. I hoped Gregory was in the mood when I got back tonight.

  “So what’s our plan here?” Dar asked. “Please don’t let it involve me crawling around on this filthy floor and hiding under something.”

  “Like a rat?” I teased. “No, I want you and Leethu outside, around the perimeter. Just like I was originally going to have you do. I’m facing this guy one-on-one, but I want you guys nearby in case he somehow tries to get away.”

  In reality, I didn’t want Dar and Leethu to hear what Caramort might say to me. I’d not told them both that Caramort was working with an Ancient claiming to be Samael, and besides that, if there was something specific, something hurtful, I didn’t want it getting out into the open. I couldn’t trust that Leethu might not share something with Uriel if it affected the archangel directly. And I couldn’t trust Dar at all. The demon was a horrible gossip. He wouldn’t just tell Asta, he’d tell everyone in a ten-block radius, as well as put it up on the internet.

  Dar and Leethu went outside, Leethu making sure to coat the place with enough pheromones that I felt like I was in the middle of an orgy. Once they were safely out I sat down and waited. And wondered if I had enough time to quickly rub one out before Caramort got here. Probably not. After a few minutes of practicing my intimidating posture, I gave up and sat down to play video games on my phone.

  Caramort walked into the old granary with a big shit-eating grin on his face only to jerk to a stop and look around the empty space eagerly. Then his gaze landed on me.

  “The bitch set me up.”

  Yes. Yes, she did.

  I purposely ignored him as I paused the Age of Zombies game I was playing on my
phone. I’d just scored a Zombie T.rex and was in the middle of battle, but I was pretty sure this guy wouldn’t stand there and wait while I finished killing the undead.

  “I’m getting pretty good at this, you know.” I stood and shoved my phone in my back pocket, letting my newly-revealed wings brush the filthy ground. “Good at killing zombies. Good at tracking down demons who piss me off.”

  He looked at my wings, then at my empty hands. I hadn’t summoned the sword yet, but it was clear this guy realized I could have it in hand and mid-swing before he was halfway across the room.

  “What exactly did I do to piss you off?”

  Caramort was holding back and talking rather than just attacking me or trying to make a run for it. It made me wonder how much of a warmonger the guy really was. Most of the mid-level ones could barely form a coherent sentence and tended to talk with their claws and fangs. It was only the higher-up warmongers who seemed to get the whole strategy thing. Either way, I’d need to be careful with this guy.

  “You cannot participate in any operation that massacres angels or humans,” I told him. “Even if the killing is not directly by your hand, you cannot be actively involved in plots to murder humans or angels.”

  “Why not? They sure as hell don’t have any problems killing us.”

  “They are not allowed to do that either. Unless a demon is slaughtering humans, they are not to be killed. Any other infraction, anything that does not pose an immediate risk of mass human casualties, is to be brought to me to handle.” In theory. Who knows what the Grigori were doing after the change in policy? With seven enforcers dead, I couldn’t see them being reasonable and lenient when confronted with any demon.

  “Right. What they’re allowed to do and what actually happens are two different things.” Caramort sneered. “They’ll lie. They’ll make up any excuse to kill us. It’s us or them. It always has been and it always will be.”

  I shoved my hands in my pockets and took a step closer. “No, it’s us and them. Working together. And anyone who doesn’t get with that program, whether they’re angel or demon, is a problem. I hear you’re a problem, Caramort. That’s why I’m here.”