Penance_An Imp World Novel

by Debra Dunbar

  Was she asking me? She wanted my approval on how to handle my friend’s body? Why did she care what I thought or felt?

  “I thought you would just throw her in a dumpster or out in the woods.”

  “That’s what the men would have done.” Leethu wrinkled her nose. “I knew that would disturb you, that you wouldn’t think that a respectful way to handle human remains. I don’t really understand these human customs of honoring decaying corporeal forms, but I will honor them.”

  I thought for a second. “Cremation is acceptable. But the ashes should be buried somewhere. And there needs to be a marker with her name—a big marker. A monument.”

  It seemed kind of silly to ask for this. None of us could afford a huge stone gravestone. And it was unlikely any of us would be in a position to go visit Deena’s grave. Even if we got out of here, we’d all scatter back to our homes. Go back to the lives we had prior to being taken. We’d never see each other again. Sugar would find a new pimp. Baa and Lacy and Tasha would be flown back to their countries. Pillow would return to Cleveland to wait for her father’s release from prison. Pistol and Kitten would be reunited into the loving arms of their families. Me… I looked down at my arms, at the clear, perfect skin. I guess I’d go back to shooting up.

  None of that was acceptable. The happy family reunions, yes, but the rest of it, no. And I didn’t like the idea of us never seeing each other again. We had a bond. We were sisters. We were family.

  “I can do that with her body.” Leethu’s expression was intent. “Would that please you? Such a thing would ease your sad heart?”

  She was doing this for me? She cared about my grief and wanted to please me? This had to be the most surreal conversation I’d ever had. A demon wanted to please me.

  “You helped her, didn’t you?” I asked, realizing that the guards were right. “You helped Lacy escape.”

  “Her name is Lai.” Leethu stepped closer to me then reached out to run a finger down my cheek and along the edge of my jaw. “And she is a very smart girl. I am forbidden by the terms of my contract from helping any of you to escape, but there was nothing prohibiting me from being otherwise occupied while the girl left an unlocked room and snuck out as those fools were off smoking or sleeping.”

  “So you didn’t help her?”

  “I am forbidden to help any of you escape.”

  It was a lie couched in a truth. “But you did. Somehow you found a loophole and helped her escape.”

  Leethu smiled, that enigmatic smile that made her seem otherworldly. “Of course not. I merely went into the room to retrieve something and forgot to lock the door upon leaving. These things happen, you know. I have been known to occasionally leave other doors unlocked and even ajar. It’s a failing I readily admit to.”

  “Why?”

  The demon tilted her head, regarding me with those dark eyes, her fingers lightly caressing the side of my face. “Why what?”

  “Why did you do it? You didn’t help Deena, the other girl. You didn’t help anyone else. Why her?”

  “It had nothing to do with her.” Leethu’s thumb brushed across my bottom lip and slid down to gently pinch my chin. “There are ways to creatively interpret every contract. Humans aren’t as smart as they like to think they are, and even this summoner wasn’t as thorough as he should have been.”

  “And there were no loopholes to keep you from helping me when that guard was raping me? Or when they beat Pillow, or Deena?”

  Her eyes searched mine. “I did not try very hard to take advantage of loopholes then, I was too busy feeling angry and sorry for myself to bother about any of you.”

  “Then why Lai?”

  “You were angry about the other girl. You want to protect them all, to keep them safe. I can’t help you with all of them, but I thought if maybe I helped with one, you might forgive me all I must do to the rest of you.”

  “But you said you would help us when you could.” My words were breathy, her fingers against my skin, the nearness of her making it hard to think, let alone speak.

  “I will do all that I am able to do.” She sighed, her thumb once more brushing against my lips. “I wish things were different, Red Bird. I wish the summoner were dead, and I could have you for my own—my own human toy for as long as you live. I would cherish you, pretty Red Bird. I would save the lives of all these girls just to see you smile. But I cannot. I am trapped, and you will be sold to some human tomorrow morning. And then I will never see you again.”

  I didn’t want to be her toy. I wanted to be more than a toy. As seductive as she made it all sound, I got the impression what she was envisioning wasn’t too far off from what whoever bought me tomorrow would have in mind. It would be a gilded cage of pleasure, but a cage nonetheless.

  But here, in this building where we had seen pain and fear and death, this seemed to be a lifeline. It wasn’t, but how bad would it be to have a moment of joy, to indulge in desire before everything went to crap, before I most likely died trying to get these girls to freedom?

  She leaned forward, her body so very close to mine. “Humans are so difficult. It’s rare that I find one I truly enjoy being with instead of just seducing them for their sexual energy. I would enjoy being with you, Red Bird. I would love more about you than just the sexual energy you gave me. There would be more with you than the usual seduction.”

  I was entranced, and the realization didn’t particularly bother me. The heroin might have held me tightly in its grip, but I got the feeling no matter powerful this succubus, she lacked that ability. I was stronger now, different than I’d been before. But what this demon couldn’t do with her sexual wiles, she could do with her heart. I knew right then if she ever offered me more than just sex, I’d be lost. Because it was my heart that was weak, my heart that was desperate for a partner to salve the ache, to fill that gnawing hole of need.

  Her lips brushed my cheek, then hovered tantalizingly over my own. I waited for her to close the distance, to kiss me, but she hesitated.

  I didn’t hesitate. Leaning that fraction of an inch closer, I felt the softness of her mouth against mine. It was a chaste kiss, gentle and lingering with a shared breath, but it lit me up inside. I drew in a shaky gasp, missing her lips the moment they pulled away, wanting again to close the tiny distance between her mouth and mine.

  “Human energy is so sweet,” she whispered. “And they can be quite a lot of fun. Such creative sexual fantasies. Such enthusiasm. But afterward, I am done with them. I seldom want to repeat the experience once I have tied them to me.” Her voice was soft against my cheek as she leaned closer. “It’s a rarity that I meet a human I want to do more than have sex with, one I want to have with me all the time, to be my own special toy.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be your toy, or your special plaything,” I told her. “I can’t do that. I need more.”

  She pulled back and eyed me. “But you are attracted to me. With you it’s different than the other humans. You want more than just the fulfillment of your fantasies. You want me. It draws me like nothing has ever done. I’ve never had someone truly want me. I’ve never known someone outside of my foster siblings who wanted more than sex or favors. Am I wrong? You do want me?”

  I squirmed, growing uncomfortable with the conversation. “I do, but that doesn’t mean I want to be a demon’s toy.”

  “You would enjoy it,” she said confidently. “Humans always do.”

  “How many human toys have you had?” I asked, oddly stung that I wasn’t the only one she’d made this proposition to.

  “Two.” She smiled. “I’m not very old—just over a thousand years. And as I said, I do not often find a human I want to be mine.”

  “But you have relationships with demons, right?” The idea made me feel a bit hostile. “Humans are prey or toys, and any partnership-type relationship, where you treat the other as an equal, is with another demon?”

  She took a step back, breaking the spell between us. “Some demons do that. T
here are difficulties. We are very much alike, and long-term demon romantic partnerships often end in the death of one of the partners. Instead we form short-term alliances that are sometimes based on a breeding contract, and are sometimes based on the strategic necessity of combining households. My household is part of the Iblis’s, the Ha-Satan’s, right now, not because of any romantic interest but because I needed her to shelter me when I ran into some trouble with the elven high lords.” She shot me a mischievous glance. “Elves do not like to have intimate associations with us. Not only did I do so, but I formed an elven/demon hybrid with one of their royalty.”

  I thought my eyes were about to fall out of my head. “You had a baby with an elf? You seduced an elf, fed off her sexual energy, and impregnated one against her will?” Suddenly I had a whole lot less sympathy for this demon. I wanted her, but I should never forget that she was a demon, with a completely different idea of morality than what I and the other girls held.

  “Oh no, it was not against her will at all. She came to me and asked me to sire a child. Some elves have great difficulty in becoming pregnant, and demons can bypass these problems. I was thrilled to sample elven sexual energy, although our agreement did not allow for me to tie her to me or take more than she gave in that one instance. Oh, but it was quite the experience. Elves are far more passionate than I ever would have expected. And there was a bit of fear to our encounter that made it all the more tantalizing.”

  Why was I suddenly so angry? She was a demon. Of course she did this sort of thing. Did I have some stupid, foolish idea of how noble and good she was underneath? Was that why this story upset me so? Or was I…was I jealous?

  “It wasn’t long before rumors spread,” she continued. “The elven woman was put to death. I would have been put to death as well, but the Iblis sheltered me. And the child is protected by one I trust, one who loves her. She is here, hiding as a human in the human world. Even the elves would not be able to find her among seven billion humans.”

  My anger faded, only to be replaced by sorrow. She didn’t care about that elven woman. She didn’t have any romantic interest in the head of her household, this Satan character. She had only had two human toys in over a thousand years. Was she lonely? Did she just lack the ability to form a long-term meaningful romantic connection with any other being?

  Why did I even care?

  “Have you met your daughter? Do you see her often?”

  Her shoulders slumped. “No. It wouldn’t be safe. The elves know that I sired a half-breed. Now that they are here among us, I’m sure there are those who watch me. I do get reports from Irix on her, and sometimes will carefully be nearby to just look at her.”

  This time it was me that moved closer to her. “Your own daughter. Does she even know what you look like?”

  The demon shook her head. “She thought she was human until a few years ago when her powers began to reveal themselves. It was too dangerous for either me or her elven mother to meet her. Someday I would like to get to know her better.” The demon smiled, admiration and affection written across her face. “I hear she is a remarkable being. She is everything I hoped her to be, the best of the elves and the best of us demons.”

  I reached out to touch her shoulder. “Thank you. Thank you for helping Lacy, and for offering to bury Deena.” I wanted to thank her for so much more. She wasn’t just some monstrous demon. There was a complexity to her that attracted me like no other had.

  “You are very welcome, Red Bird.” She stepped into me, enfolding my body against hers. Then she kissed me.

  It was soft and gentle, like the other but far from chaste. Her lips were soft and tantalizing against mine, her tongue exploring with a sweetness I hadn’t expected. The kiss was lingering, her mouth clinging for a brief second before it left mine. We froze, sharing a breath as we came to terms with what had just happened, as I came to terms with the heat roaring through me.

  “May I have you, Red Bird?” she asked softly. “Will you be mine, if only for this moment in our lives?”

  There was only one answer I could give to that question. And the answer was “yes.”

  Chapter 18

  I nearly ran into Pillow and Sugar as I exited the bathroom. The others were there too, only a little farther back away from the door. Kitten blushed bright red when she saw me. Tasha grinned and fanned her face. Baa quickly smothered a giggle with her hand while Pistol openly laughed.

  “Busted,” Pistol said.

  “Who, me, or all of you?” I teased.

  “Both. Damn, girl, that takes sleeping with the enemy to a whole new level,” Sugar replied. Then they all fell silent as Leethu walked out behind me. It was awkward. I knew they weren’t sure how to treat the demon. Was she a comrade and no longer the “enemy”? Or was she just the female equivalent of the guards, getting action using her succubus magic instead of dragging us away and forcing us?

  “We’ll talk later,” I told the girls. “Right now, Leethu is going to bury Deena.”

  “Bury her how?” Sugar asked. “Dig a hole in the concrete floor?”

  “No. I will find a human cemetery and mark the spot with an appropriate stone,” the demon told her.

  It was very clear by the expression on Sugar’s face that she didn’t believe Leethu. “How do we know you aren’t lying? She was one of us. Deena was family. I’ve been friends with her for years. I don’t want her body tossed in a dumpster or out in the woods somewhere.”

  “Me either, but I don’t really want to spend the next twenty-four hours in the same room with decomposing remains,” Pistol said. Everyone eyed the sheet-wrapped body warily, no doubt imagining that experience.

  “I’ve given my vow,” Leethu told them. “And I will cremate the body before transporting it.”

  “No,” Pistol took a step back, her hands raised. “Oh my God, no. You’ll burn the place down. And…I don’t want to be graphic, but there’s a reason those crematoriums are out in the middle of nowhere. You can’t do that here.”

  “I’m not truly burning it. I convert the molecules. I break them down and reassemble them into something else all in a fraction of a second. It’s a skill that demons have. That’s how we can change our form, and alter physical items. That’s how I ‘fix’ your injuries. I’m taking the damaged flesh and recreating it using the existing molecules as a pattern.”

  It wasn’t truly creation, making something from nothing, it was change. It was the formation of something new from something destroyed. And I had no idea how I knew these things.

  “Turning water into wine,” Sugar mused. “Or lead into gold.”

  “Those are both far more complicated than they sound,” Leethu told her. “Actually lead into gold would be easier than water into wine. I’m a succubus, so my skills in this area are limited. And it all requires energy—energy that is in somewhat limited supply here in this world.”

  “But it’s magic,” Kitten commented. “Can you magic the door so it doesn’t lock? Magic the guards’ poles so they turn into streamers or something? Magic the guards’ feet to stick to the floor?”

  “She can’t harm or kill the guards,” I told them. “And she can’t actively help us to escape.”

  “But she can passively help us to escape?” Pistol’s eyes lit up with hope.

  “I have promised to do everything within my ability, as long as it doesn’t go against the vow I took upon my summoning, to help you all to freedom,” Leethu replied.

  “Damn, Red. You must be one hell of a good lay. Well, except for exploding that one guy, that is.” Sugar reached out to cuff me on the arm.

  “So with Deena…” Pillow glanced over again at the sheet-wrapped body. “It will only take a second? And she will be ashes? And it won’t set the room on fire with us trapped in here?”

  “It will be instantaneous from your perspective. And no, the building will not be on fire. And I will ensure there is no unpleasantness in terms of odor or what you see.”

  Tasha took a step
toward the demon. “But you say these things take energy, and energy here is not much. This will make you tired, no? It will make it so you have less energy to help us when you are not-helping us?”

  “It will deplete my energy, yes,” Leethu replied. “But this is important to you humans, and it is important to my Red Bird, so I will do it. Plus, the things I am limited to in passively assisting your escape aren’t likely to require much energy.”

  I looked around at them all. “Are we agreed? Is it okay for her to use her demon skills to reduce Deena’s body to ash, then bury her remains in a marked grave?”

  One by one the girls agreed. We all followed the demon, forming a circle around the cot. Each one of us said our goodbyes, then I nodded to Leethu and we all stepped back.

  It was rather anticlimactic. One second there was a body wrapped in a sheet. One later it was gone, the sheet collapsing around a lump of ash. I stepped forward and carefully pulled the bottom sheet from the cot, tying it into a knot around the ashes, then handing it to Leethu.

  “Promise you won’t just ditch it in some alleyway,” Sugar said, her voice choked with tears. “Promise me.”

  “I vow on all the souls I Own that I will bury these ashes with respect in accordance with human customs, and provide a marker to identify the location of the remains.”

  It sounded solemn, formal, and binding. The words satisfied Sugar, who took a step back.

  Leethu picked up the bundle easily, giving me a quick backward look as she headed for the door. “I would wait on any attempts to escape if I were you. The one guard has returned, and they are both in the main warehouse area. They’ll see you if you try to leave this room.”

  “Thank you,” I told her. And I meant for a whole lot more than the warning. She was on our side. And having a demon on our side meant everything to me. Having this demon on our side meant everything to me.