Penance_An Imp World Novel

by Debra Dunbar

  “Then you should have stopped him,” I snapped. “You’re a demon. You could have done something to keep him from beating her like this.”

  “I can’t,” she snapped back. “I told you I’m forbidden from hurting the guards. And I can’t help any of you escape.”

  “You could have protected her,” I argued. “You should have done something. Do you even care? Doesn’t it bother you that one of those men raped her and beat her to death? You could have done something to help her.”

  “I couldn’t.” Her voice rose. “I thought he was just having rough sex with her. I thought maybe he hit her a few times. I didn’t know he had done this.” Her eyes met mine. “I’m a sex demon. I’m limited in my skills, and the man who summoned me made sure I can’t use my strength or my enchantment abilities on them.”

  “You could have done something else. Locked the guard out of the room, put them both to sleep. Made yourself look like her and taken her place. You should have done something. You should have done something to help her.”

  I was shouting at this point. It wasn’t just Leethu I was angry at, it was me. I’d let them take Mess. Yes, I’d begged and pleaded and fought and tried to take her place, but I should have done more. I should have fought harder. I should have done something to keep Mess from them. Anything. And now they’d taken Lacy. Fear surged through me at the thought that she might return with similar injuries, no matter what Pockmarks had said, no matter how much she complied willingly with his requests.

  Leethu stared at me as if she was reading my thoughts, then she reached out for Mess. “I can fix her, but I can’t heal her. And with her injuries, what I do will only help her for a few days. I can fix her long enough to get through the auction, but that’s the limit of my abilities.”

  Get her through the auction. What kind of blessing would that be? Fix her up only to have her suffer more beatings and rape at the hands of whoever bought her, then die in a few days. It would only prolong her torture. Leethu was a demon, a powerful demon. She needed to do something. She needed to prove to me that she was on my side. She needed to heal my girl.

  I eyed her in disbelief. “You healed bruises and broken bones before. This can’t be too different. Heal her. Make her okay again. I don’t want her to die. She can’t die.”

  “This is more than a breast increase, bruises, or broken bones. She’s bleeding internally. She has swelling inside her skull. She’s too badly injured for me to help her.” Leethu gestured helplessly. “I want to heal her—to do this for you. But anything I do will be only temporary. She’s beyond my ability.”

  “What are you saying?” I demanded. “Are you saying she’s going to die? She can’t die. She can’t.”

  Her eyes met mine. “I can fix her, and maybe it will last a few hours, maybe it will last a few days, but soon what I do will give way. The swelling and the bleeding will start again, and she’ll die.”

  “Then we need to get her to a hospital,” I argued. “Please.”

  The demon shook her head. “They don’t care. They just want her to survive the auction, then whatever happens afterward they can say it was something the client did. There is no way they would ever allow her to go to the hospital. None of you all are leaving here unless it’s with a client that bought you.”

  Or in a body bag, I thought.

  “I’ll fix her,” Leethu told me. “Then maybe she’ll be okay. Maybe the client will let her see a doctor or take her to the hospital once she leaves here.”

  I knew a lie when I heard it, and so did Mess.

  “Please,” the girl whispered against me. “I don’t want to hurt anymore. I just want peace. I want to decide what happens to me. For once in my life, I want to decide.”

  I suddenly realized that both of them were relying on me. The injured woman in my arms wanted me to support her decision. She didn’t want to go through any more than she already had, but what if she didn’t make it through the night? What if she died? She couldn’t die. I couldn’t lose one of my girls. I couldn’t. Leethu had to fix her, to make her better.

  Although from what the demon said, she’d only be delaying the inevitable.

  Leethu… She could have shoved me out of the way and fixed Mess against her will. But she waited, looking for me to make the call, looking for me to tell her whether she should honor this woman’s request or not. I knew she was under the compulsion of some sort of summoning, but still she found the strength to defy the guards and defer to my decision.

  “Please,” Mess begged. Death isn’t so bad. Sometimes it’s a relief. Sometimes it’s the happy ending of a tragic life. And I’d rather it be now than continue on for days of additional suffering, only to meet the same fate. Let me go, Red. It’s your turn to take care of the girls. It’s your turn to take care of me.

  Tears stung my eyes, but who was I to question or judge another’s decision? She’d had a hard, hard life. Maybe it was time to put all that behind her, to find peace at last. I’d be with her every moment. I’d hold her in my arms as long as it took—whether it ended with her last breath, or a painful recovery. I would be there. And no auction, no buyer, no being human or otherwise would have the power to tear me from her side.

  “Do not fix her,” I commanded. “Leave her in my care.”

  Leethu did something between a nod and a bow, and turned to go, hesitating as she reached the door. “The other girl, Lai, if I can somehow help her…”

  I waited for her to finish, puzzled. Was she going to ask me for a favor in return for protecting the girl?

  The demon shook her head and gave me a sheepish smile. “Never mind.”

  Then she left, locking the door behind her.

  I was a bit stunned by her easy acceptance of my decision. She’d pay for it if Mess died or wasn’t perfect for the auction. Pockmarks, and the even more intimidating boss, would blame her. She’d suffer, perhaps far longer than any human could imagine. She was the brave one—she and Mess. Mess had been our protector from day one, shielding the other girls and comforting them. She was the glue that bound us together as a family. She was far more brave than I was. More brave even than any of us.

  And Leethu… The demon had the most to lose, and yet she let Mess have this final dignity, she let the woman have her autonomy, her choice, her decision regarding her future.

  “Come on,” I told Mess, carefully lifting her into my arms. “Let’s get you into bed.”

  “Deena,” she gasped. “That’s my name. That’s my real name.”

  I understood. She wasn’t One Hot Mess anymore, she was a scared girl with an uncaring, abusive mother. She was a homeless girl on the streets. She was someone who had been selling her body for almost a decade, just to survive. She was a soul in need of an angel.

  It didn’t matter that her blood was staining the sheets, that she was naked as I held her on the cot. Pistol pulled out one of the blankets and draped it over us. I held it inches from Deena’s battered body, cradling her with gentle soothing hands. She slept, her pain receding into a far horizon. Her body relaxed against mine, and as the night stretched on, I whispered all the things she should have heard in her life. She was beautiful. She was clever and smart. She was precious. She was loved. The memories of her life streamed into me, weighing down my soul, becoming my burden as they lightened hers. And when I finally carried all of her pain, all of her sorrow, all the agony of her heart. When her burden had fully become mine, she was free. It was then that Deena Lucille Hayworth flew away from her mortal shell into the arms of the Creator.

  Chapter 16

  The next morning the door flew open, Pockmarks and Catcalls running in, a sense of immediacy and alarm about their sudden appearance. They hadn’t brought Lacy back last night, and I was scared for her. The fact that she wasn’t with them now scared me even more. Had they killed her? Were they prolonging her torture? We’d reverently wrapped Deena in a sheet, trying to give some respect in the treatment of her body that the disposal surely wouldn’t have. We
were all disheartened over her loss, the energy and enthusiasm for our escape attempts dulled by the death of one among us. If they’d killed Lacy, all of our hope would die with her.

  The two guards looked around, counting and visibly relieved by our presence. I wasn’t sure why they thought we’d be gone. We hadn’t been able to make any progress on getting the hinges off the door, and all the drywall backed into cement block that would take us months to chip our way through.

  “Get the demon,” Pockmarks snarled. Catcalls scurried out of sight while the other guard counted again, somehow not noticing that one of us was dead and not sleeping. He grabbed the nearest one of us, which happened to be Pistol, and started shaking her. “Where is she? Where?”

  “Where is who?” Pistol asked.

  Pockmarks backhanded her across the face then shoved her back down onto the cot. “The Chinese girl. Where is she?”

  I stood, putting myself between him and the other girls. “How should we know? You two took her out of here.”

  Was Lacy gone? How had she managed to escape? A tiny ember of hope flamed to life inside me at the thought she might have made it out of the building and be bringing help to us right now.

  “She’s gone.” He grabbed my arm, his fingers digging painfully into the skin. “Where is she?”

  “The door is locked. It’s not like any of us could get out,” I told him. “And if we could, don’t you think we’d be gone too? We’d hardly let her escape then come back here and lock ourselves back in.”

  The logic seemed to sink into his tiny brain and he hesitated before yelling once more for the demon. When Catcalls and Leethu came in through the door, he let go of my arm and turned on her.

  “Where is she? What have you done?”

  The guard was practically frothing at the mouth, while the demon regarded him with a sort of tolerant calm, like she was watching a toddler having a tantrum.

  “Have you lost one of the girls? Is that what you are screaming about?”

  “I didn’t lose her,” he shouted. “I locked her in the room and went out for a smoke, and now she’s gone.”

  Leethu lifted an eyebrow. “And what do you expect me to do about it?”

  “You let her escape. You helped her escape,” he snarled.

  Her dark eyes were expressionless as she stared him down. “You know very well that part of my summoning forbids me from either harming the merchandise, or assisting any in escaping the building. Perhaps you forgot to lock the door behind you when you went out for your smoke.”

  He took a menacing step toward her, but the demon held her ground. “I locked the door. And when I went out, the girl was on the inside, sitting all nice and obedient on the bed, awaiting my return.”

  A bored expression slowly seeped into Leethu’s eyes. “Then perhaps she was not as nice and obedient as she pretended to be. Perhaps she knows how to pick locks. Either way, a valuable piece of merchandise has slipped away on your watch. That’s something you’ll need to account for with the boss, not me.”

  “He’s gonna be pissed if we have to move the sale and the girls.” Catcalls had drops of sweat on his forehead. “What if that Chinese girl goes to the police? We need to get everyone out of here. We’ll need to reschedule the sale, let everyone know we’re holding it in an alternate location.”

  “No.” The word cracked as sharp as a whip. “We’ll lose client trust if we delay and move the sale at this late a date.” Pockmarks rubbed a hand through his hair. “She doesn’t speak any English. She’s got no idea where to go, and no one who would understand her even if she tried to tell them. We’ll be fine for the next twenty-four hours, then all the girls will be sold and we can close up shop here and find a different spot for the next sale.”

  “At least we still have eight,” Catcalls said.

  Uh, no they didn’t. As if sensing my thoughts the two guards turned toward the cot with Mess’s body. Pockmarks swore, then walked over to check her. Then he swore some more and paced the floor. “I told you to fix her. Why the hell didn’t you fix her?” he snarled at Leethu.

  “Because, as I told you, there is a limit to my skills. I’m a demon. I’m not an angel. You beat one of them that severely, and this is what happens.”

  “I’m not taking the blame for that.” Pockmarks pointed at the body. “That is not my fault.”

  “No, it’s his fault. The Laotian girl escaping is your fault.” Leethu inspected her fingernails. “I hope the boss hires some reasonably competent humans after he kills the two of you, because this sort of thing is inexcusable. You’re both beyond incompetent.”

  Pockmarks snarled, taking a menacing step toward the demon. His hand balled into a fist, then he must have realized what he was about to do, because instead of hitting her, he turned around and flipped a cot over.

  “Very mature.” Leethu shook her head. “I hate working with humans. Such idiots.”

  “We only have seven girls,” Catcalls said, his voice high with panic. “We posted nine on the sale website. We were supposed to have eight at least. And now we only have seven.”

  “Basic math. Nice. I’m impressed.” Leethu’s tone was dry and sarcastic. It was a side of the demon I’d never seen before. She wasn’t an animal pacing the bars of her cage, slowly losing herself anymore. She was powerful, intelligent, and very much in control. The cage of her summoning might still restrict her, but she was getting obvious pleasure from the things she could do in the space between the bars.

  “Shut up,” Pockmarks roared, giving the cot a quick kick. “Shut up and let me think. Do we have time to go get another girl? One that looks like either the dead one or the one that got away? The boss is expecting eight. We need to have eight.”

  “We can’t grab a girl from this city, it’s too risky. And we don’t have time to bring another down from New York,” Catcalls said. “The sale is tomorrow morning. There’s no time.”

  Pockmarks paced a few more times, then kicked at the overturned cot while we all tried to stay out of his way and remain silent and unnoticed.

  “It’s your fault.” Catcalls jabbed a finger at Leethu. “You were supposed to fix her.”

  “I’m here to make them look pretty and sex everyone up, not clean up the messes you jackasses make,” she retorted. “You can’t keep your fists off the girls, that’s your problem, not mine.”

  “We ordered you to fix her.” Pockmarks stalked over toward the demon. “You were supposed to fix her enough to get through the auction.”

  “I did fix her,” Leethu lied. “She died anyway. I told you there were limits to my skills. Maybe you should have thought of that before you beat the crap out of our merchandise.”

  “You screwed up,” Pockmarks continued. “You did it on purpose. You let her die on purpose to get us in trouble. Well, it’s you that’s going to get in trouble. I’ll tell the boss that you refused to fix her, and that you let the other one escape. He’ll put you in a box for thousands of years.”

  “A lot of good I’d do him in a box for a thousand years,” she scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. “Demons aren’t easy to summon and hold. He needs me. I’m the valuable one here. You two, on the other hand, are completely replaceable.”

  “We’re fucked.” Catcalls began to pace. “We’re so fucked.”

  “You get rid of the body,” Pockmarks told the other guard, then he turned to Leethu. “And you go track down the girl that ran away. Find her and bring her back.”

  “I’m not a bloodhound.” She shrugged. “And I really think you should have me take care of the body. You’re in enough trouble without the police finding a corpse in a nearby dumpster. I’m sure they’re already sniffing around. All that runaway girl had to do was draw them some stick-figure pictures of what was going on, and lead them right back here.”

  “We’re fucked. We’re fucked. We need to move the girls and move the sale.” Catcalls was tipping over the edge into panic.

  “We’re not moving the sale,” Pockma
rks snapped. “The demon will make sure the police don’t come too close to the building. That’s part of her deal with the boss, right?”

  Leethu examined her nails. “Yes. I believe it is.”

  I bit back a smile as bits and pieces of her thoughts bloomed in my mind. Uniformed police, yes. Those not in uniform…well, all these human men look the same. How was she to tell if someone was a client or a law enforcement official not in uniform? And a female officer…the sorcerer had been carelessly specific about gender when he’d made the contract with her.

  She was on our side. I still didn’t completely trust her, but she was on our side. She’d somehow managed to help Lacy escape. She was riling up these guards. She’d find a loophole in her contract and help us when she could, regardless of what that might mean for her future. At this moment I could have run over and kissed her.

  Pockmarks ran a hand through his hair, then turned to Leethu. “You fix these girls up. Any little detail. I want them perfect. I want them to be every man’s fantasy. Then you get rid of the body. I’ll go look for the girl myself.”

  The two men left, leaving us alone with the demon. She smiled at us, a shimmer of gold scales on her skin. There was a power about her, a confidence, a defiance that was more seductive than any of her succubus skills. Her eyes met mine and I felt something snap in place, some sort of connection between us.

  She tilted her head as she regarded me, then inclined her chin toward the bathroom door. “Would you all mind terribly if I had a word alone with my Red Bird?”

  Chapter 17

  The others stared silently at the demon, then watched as the two of us crossed the room, entering the bath area and closing the door firmly behind us.

  “What are you going to do with Deena?” I asked the moment we were inside.

  “The dead girl? Incinerate her, most likely. Is that an acceptable form of body removal for humans?” Her dark eyes searched mine. “I am not very good at digging large holes in the ground. I could bury her ashes if you like.”