Demons Prefer Blondes

by Sidney Ayers

  “Only when I’m in—”

  “Yeah, yeah. You said that already.” Wow, she wasn’t that forthcoming with information? “What’s your real name? Bathsheba? Jezebel? Salome?”

  “Infernati’s most wanted,” Mrs. Whatever said. She snapped her fingers, her plump elderly muumuu-sporting body morphing into a tall, lithe, vivacious brunette. Her long wavy hair cascaded in rivulets down her back. Tight black leather leggings clad her too-perfect legs. Clunky brown orthopedic shoes were now red spiky stilettos. Adjusting the clingy bright red sweater that broadcast all her assets to the mortal world, she smiled. “Ahh, much better.”

  When your sole purpose was sex, you had to look the sexpot. There was no mistaking the succubus in her. “If you’re into the whole ‘come fuck me’ look, I suppose.” Duh! She probably was.

  “Oh, you have your father’s wit! Wonderful!”

  Father? “You know my dad?”

  Mrs. Sex-on-a-Platter gnawed on a perfectly manicured nail. “Hmm. I can’t say too much, I’m afraid. Belial’s lackeys may still be lingering.” Concern sparked her golden eyes. “Where’s your protector?”

  “Protector?”

  “The one who put up the enchantment.” She kept raking her fingers through her luxurious mane. Didn’t she know she already had the big sexy hair thing down pat? “If Belial weren’t so strong, it might have worked.”

  How many demons would come out of the woodwork? Demons, demons, everywhere. And how did she know this woman was one of the good guys? After all, look at Kalli. She’d up and left just like that. Lucy couldn’t trust anyone. Heck, she couldn’t even trust herself.

  She wasn’t ready to spill secrets. “So what brings you here? Obviously not pedicures.”

  The brunette threw back her head in laughter. “You’re a smart one too. Then again, I always knew that.”

  “Always?” Great, she had demonic stalkers too.

  She grinned. “I wouldn’t go that far. Oh, and call me Lilith.”

  “You all need to teach me that trick.”

  Lilith arched a brow. “What trick?”

  “The whole mind-reading thing. Or at least tell me how to block it.”

  A frown creased her lips. “Only a few of us can do that, and even fewer Paladins. Tell me they didn’t send her.”

  “Kalli?”

  “Kalliope.” She scrunched her nose. “How much has she told you about herself?”

  “Not much.” Lucy crossed her arms. “But if you’re worried about her protecting me, there’s no need to worry. She isn’t the one they sent.”

  Lilith nodded. “Who did they send?”

  “Me.”

  Rafe’s voice teased her ears, her heart pounding. She loved that voice. She spun around to lock gazes. He stood tall, his hand resting on his waist. Was that a sword strapped to his side? “Where’s your fuzzy little friend?”

  “Squeaky is protecting the chest, at your house.”

  The demoness smirked. “Rafael Deleon, how lovely to see you.”

  “Lilith.” His voice lacked emotion as he stalked next to Lucy. “What brings you here?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Where were you while Belial attacked your ward? Lucky for you, I was in the area and came to Lucia’s aid.”

  “She was in capable hands.”

  “Capable hands that have since wandered off,” Lilith bit back with a huff. “Kalli? You know how she despises our race, yet you leave her to protect Lucia?”

  “Kalli’s changed.” Rafe drew his mouth in a straight line. “She’s proven herself many a time to the Paladin cause. She won’t fail us.” His eyes swirled in a look of determination. It drew her to him. It made him seem almost human. She wanted to wrap her arms around him… comfort him. What could cause such despair?

  In a flash the glimmer of sadness morphed into his usual stony façade. “I’ll ask once more, Lilith. What brings you here?”

  Six degrees of demon separation? Or was it the six hundred and sixty-six degrees? Was there a demon that didn’t know one another? “So I suppose they have succubus and Paladin mixers in Hell?”

  Rafe blew out a disappointed breath and groaned.

  “We live in Limbo, thank you very much.” Lilith crossed her arms in front of her. “Lucifer and his princes, along with Belial’s Infernati and the damned, reside in Hell.”

  Rafe nodded and popped a squat, never once taking his glare from Lilith. “Why is one of the Sexubis’ most prominent figures protecting a common succubus?”

  Common? Screw him. Even when she was still 100 percent human, she was anything but common. She balled her hands into tight fists. “What the hell am I? Chopped liver?”

  “No Lucy, you aren’t chopped liver.” Rafe reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist and hauled her toward him. With gentle force, he sat her next to him.

  Shocked, she could only gape at him.

  “You’re special, I can feel it.” He ran a tender finger along her cheek. What the hell was happening? He angled his gaze toward Lilith, who stood there with mouth equally agape. “And since the High Priestess of the Succubi takes an interest in you, that only confirms my suspicions.”

  Lilith arched a perfectly manicured brow. “I’m not allowed to show an interest in one of my subjects? I’ll have you know, I’m a real people-person.”

  Rafe smirked. “I suppose you want to take over her training?”

  “She needs to learn the ways of a succubus. And since I’m one of the oldest, who better to instruct her?”

  She wasn’t lacking confidence. She stood there, all six feet of her, with her hands on her hips. Pride sparkled bright in her glittering amber eyes. Lucy liked her better as Mrs. Gunderson than this over-confident stack of steaming sexpot. “Kalli and Rafe will teach me all I need to know.”

  Lilith rolled her eyes, a sarcastic laugh rolling from her lips. “They aren’t succubi. They can’t train you.”

  “I know how to screw, fuck you very much.”

  Lilith huffed. “I made a promise to your father that I would protect and train you if you were to ever come into your powers.”

  Lucy attempted to bite her tongue, but she was too damn angry. She didn’t care what this woman had to say. Louis Gregory was her father. This incubus was only a glorified sperm donor. Never mind. Nothing like that should be glorified—ever. “My father died ten years ago.”

  “How wrong you are.” Lilith flashed a cryptic smile.

  “Try me.”

  Rafe sucked in an uneasy breath. “Is all this animosity necessary?”

  “It’s the way of the Sexubi. We’re very territorial by nature.” Lilith sauntered toward where Lucy sat and crouched down to face her. Taking her hands in hers, she smiled. “I don’t plan on infringing on your space. I’ve already got my own territory to satisfy.”

  Lucy controlled the snort that threatened. Satisfying? From what she’d read about succubi, there wasn’t anything satisfying about it. Unless you enjoyed having the energy boinked out of you. “So, where’s your domain?”

  “Las Vegas.”

  She snorted out a laugh. “How appropriate. Sin City. I bet you make a killing there.”

  “I don’t kill my victims. Only those who’ve joined the Infernati do.” Lilith huffed. “I suppose I’ll let your father explain everything to you. I’m making a mess of things.”

  “That’d be a good idea.” Lucy narrowed her eyes. Hopefully her gaze threw daggers at the sexpot. “But my real father died ten years ago. I don’t deal with demon sperm donors.”

  “Lilith, why not come back later, after Lucy’s had time to deal with everything?” Rafe shot the sexpot a pleading gaze. He had that expression down pat.

  Lilith nodded. “I see that you care for her, Rafael. I’ll honor your request.” Cared for? What the hell did she mean by that?

  “I’ve been sworn to protect the chest, and with it… her.”

  Lucy’s heart sank. Was he only doing this as a duty? At least Belial, even with the stenc
h of rotten eggs and cloying spices, seemed genuine. Genuinely concerned with himself, her inner conscious challenged. Then again, he tried to kill her. “Oh.”

  “Good, Rafael. Just make sure she doesn’t end up like all the other females in your life. I heard your sister has taken residence in Belial’s palace?”

  Rafe’s eyes blazed, his jaw twitched. “You’ll keep your mouth shut, succubus.”

  “Pardon me, I forgot your ineptitude of protecting the fairer sex was such a touchy subject.”

  Clenching his fists, Rafe rolled his tongue over his lips. He opened his mouth to retort, but the busy jangle of bells cut him off.

  Kalli and Frankie burst in the room on a gust of air. Kalli scanned the room, her eyes narrowing on Lilith. “What is she doing here?”

  “I’m here for Lucy. I’ve been watching over her.”

  With a sarcastic snicker, Kalli shrugged. “I’m glad they’ve put her in such capable hands.” She scrounged around in her coat pocket. “I’d like to know why there are so many succubi in one single town. Two I can chalk up as a coincidence. But three? That kind of throws the coincidence theory out the window.” She pulled out a photo and handed it to Lilith.

  “Oh dear,” Lucy’s would-be mentor murmured. “Not good.”

  Rafe jumped to his feet. “What is it?”

  “Nothing for you to concern yourself over, Rafael.” Lilith handed the photo to Lucy. “Do you know this woman?”

  Lucy blinked. Gerardo and Frankie hovered over each of her shoulders. Their gasps in unison lightened the tense situation, but only slightly. She looked again. There, her tightly wound blond hair in a severe bun, suited up in a dark blue Armani pantsuit that put Hillary Clinton to shame, stood Larissa Harding, Josh’s fiancée—the one who’d stolen him from her. “But she’s so boring!”

  “An act, I’m certain.” Kalli wrinkled her nose. “Why she chose to single you out is beyond me. You’re only half succubus.”

  Sidling next to Lucy, Rafe snatched the photo from her hand. “There’s more to Lucy than you all realize.” He turned the photo over. His silvery eyes swirled, his breath caught. That look of despair and agony ripped through him again.

  “Rafe, are you okay?” Lucy asked with concern. For some bizarre reason, she reached to take his hand. Strangely enough, he didn’t pull away. He gripped tighter.

  “This can’t be.” His voice cracked. “She’s dead. I saw her die.”

  Kalli flung her dreadlocks behind her head. “I wish I had better news, Rafe.”

  “There has to be some mistake.”

  Lilith shrugged. “No mistake, I’m afraid.”

  “But she was innocent.” Rafe’s eyes clouded as he stared at the photograph.

  “You know Larissa?” Lucy asked, her eyebrow arched in wonder. She wrapped her arm around Rafe’s bulky shoulders.

  Rafe jerked away and stalked to the far corner. “Her name was Amanda Newell and she died in my arms almost two hundred years ago.”

  Chapter 13

  What sort of trickery was this?

  Rafael’s jaw twitched. Two hundred years of repressed memories threatened to rise to the surface. She’d died; he’d felt her soul leave her body.

  “She’s my ex-boyfriend’s fiancée,” he heard Lucy say through the myriad memories wreaking havoc in his mind. “Aren’t succubi supposed to be… you know… sexy?”

  Rafael spun around to face Lucy. “She is… was a beautiful woman.”

  Lucy gnawed her lower lip—a rather delightful quirk. He stiffened. How could he dwell on Lucy when the woman he thought he killed had come back to haunt him? Then again, maybe he deserved it, as punishment for his attraction to Lucy.

  “Sorry, Rafe. I didn’t mean she’s not beautiful.” Lucy balled her hands into tight fists and paced in front of her shiny shampoo bowls. “I mean, she’s not the most outgoing of people. From what Josh says, she’s not that adventurous, if you get my drift.”

  “Oh, she’s an adventuress, that’s for sure. At least she was.” Lilith stretched out her long supple legs, stilettos scratching across tile. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Rafe, but your prim and proper Regency miss wasn’t that prim and proper.”

  Lunging at Lilith, Rafael leaned over her and grabbed her shoulders. “What do you mean?”

  “She’s one of Lamia’s now.” Lilith spoke the name as if it contained venom. “She’s always been under that traitorous bitch’s spell, even when she was a mortal.”

  Rafael turned to Kalli, who stood there with stony silence. “Am I as weak as the Fore-Demons seem to think?”

  Kalli shook her head. “No, but remember why they sent you there in the first place.”

  “They believed it was an incubus attack.”

  Lilith nodded. “Miss Newell was bait.”

  “For me? Why? I’m nobody.” Why did Lamia have to hold a grudge?

  He angled his head toward Lucy, who winced and shook her head. “Oh, shut up. You are somebody.”

  “You weren’t the prey originally.” Lilith pulled at her sweater to readjust it. “You’ve improved your grip over the years.” She lounged back and crossed a long leg over the other. “Now where was I? Oh, yeah. They were trying to trap my brother.”

  “King Lilu?”

  Kalli nodded. “The one and only.”

  “Lamia?” Lucy blew out a deep sigh. “More demons for me to remember?”

  “I suppose you didn’t tell Lucy about her?” Kalli smirked. “And before you ask, yes, the Sexubis have an affinity for names starting with the letter L.”

  Lucy shrugged. “I didn’t pick my name.”

  “But you aren’t complaining either, are you?” Lilith punctuated her question with a chuckle.

  “I was named after my father. Dr. Louis Gregory.” She crossed her arms, a defiant spark in her hazel eyes. “So I’m very proud of it.”

  He allowed his lips to curve upward. She’d give Lilith a run for her money. Rafael hid his smirk. It was about time someone put Lilu’s sister in her place. And from what he’d seen, Lucy would be more than happy to do it.

  Sisters. How could he forget Coby? His own sister lay at the mercy of Belial’s men. Belial was becoming stronger. He’d been able to journey to Earth. He’d seen Lucy. He’d be back. Rafael wouldn’t put another death on his conscience.

  ***

  She shook her head. Mrs. Sex-a-lot was the king’s sister? Interesting. Then again, with the arrogance she possessed, she should’ve known better. Lucy steepled her fingers as devious thoughts of comeuppance raced through her mind. She would enjoy knocking the woman down a few notches.

  She glanced up at Rafe. His grin had once again straightened and the sparks in his silver eyes faded. His hands balled at his side. What had she done now? Talk about hot and cold.

  She had enough. “What the hell is your problem? Do I disgust you that much?” With as much force as she could muster—more than she realized she possessed—she grabbed Rafe’s arms and wrenched him to face her. “Well?” Sure she wasn’t as pretty as Larissa-slash-Amanda-slash-stupid bitch, but she sure as hell wasn’t boring. Her dad always told her she was extraordinary. He even called her his little demon. Maybe he knew something no one else did. He was a smart one, her dad.

  She heaved a huge sigh. All the pain came back threefold. Anger, despair, and worst of all, guilt. She always blamed herself for her father’s death. And now to find out he might not even be her father? The pain gripped her heart and twisted. God, how she missed him. Especially in winter. Not because of the holidays, but the kick-ass snowball fights.

  “Oh dad,” she muttered under her breath. “I’m so sorry.”

  She picked a wonderful time to go all emotional. She refused to cry in front of everyone. Her tears had since dried up. Where’d all this emotion come from? Rafe?

  “It’s not your fault, Lucy.” Rafe’s tender voice soothed and comforted. His strong arms wrapped around and pulled her closer to his heated chest. Whoa! Here they went again on the
wild roller coaster ride that was Rafe.

  She rubbed her eyes. “I just want to get out of here for a while.” She wanted to go somewhere she’d dreaded going for over ten years—her mom’s. If this whole sex demon thing was true, then one thing was certain, her mom felt guilty too. Maybe that’s why she was so overly enthused earlier?

  Her decision made, Lucy raised her chin and stalked to the coat rack. With a determined yank, she pulled the coat off the hanger. “I’m going to my mom’s. She needs me.”

  “How far is it?” Rafe grabbed her arm, sending shivers of heat racing through her. If he kept it up, she’d be taking him to the privacy of her own home instead.

  “Three blocks from my house,” she said, zipping her coat. Living in a small town, it was virtually impossible to avoid family completely. Yeah, she could’ve moved, but then she wouldn’t have the salon, or Frankie, Gerardo, and Serah to harass. She didn’t want it any other way. Besides, her house had a key. She could always lock her mom out.

  “You aren’t going alone.” Even though she just met Rafe, there was no mistaking his succinct tone. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. “I’ll go with you.”

  Time with Rafe? Yummy! Her internal naughty girl reared her now not-so ugly head. “Fine with me.”

  Lilith wrung her hands and gazed around the room. Another person—uhh—demon hiding something? Not surprising in the least. She paced the ceramic tiled floor, tracing a finger along a silver-plated flat iron. How she was supposed to slay a demon with that would remain a mystery to her.

  Lilith shrugged then arched her lips in a knowing grin. “Sizzle and burn.”

  Did these women enjoy rubbing their demonic talents in her face? Would she ever learn hers? Did she even have any to boast of?

  Lucy rolled her eyes. Just what she wanted, all these demons knowing her deep and dark fantasies. Heck, the way Kalli looked like she was ready to burst into chuckles, she already knew.

  “Reading thoughts is overrated,” Kalli said, flashing her apparent nemesis a sidelong glare. “I’d rather have the kung fu moves I heard you used on Belial any day.”

  “It’s not that I’m jealous or anything.” She bit a fingernail. “It kind of violates my privacy.” Then again, kind of was a big understatement.