by Debra Dunbar
Two bars ran the span of the converted warehouse on either side of the dance floor. Mahogany and gilded marble covered the bar, the walls, the floor. It was a strange mix of modern and classic, of rich natural materials and steel girders. Everything jarred visually in a dizzying confusion.
I strolled with confidence up to the center of one of the bars and pointedly ignored the bartender. He immediately raced over to take my order. As he went to get my chilled, herb-infused vodka, I eyed the other patrons. The women nearby were trying hard not to stare at me. They’d glance and then turn back to their companions whispering. A few eyed me boldly. The men were even more amusing. They stared with a combination of lust and fear on their faces. I wondered if I’d overdone it in choosing this form. Maybe it was just too intimidating? Beyond reach of most human’s confidence?
Picking up my drink, I meandered around the club, noticing how the humans carefully stepped away from me and then followed me with their eyes. I wasn’t sure what trouble I could get into. I didn’t think that making them all want hot wings would attract the vampire’s attention. I could try making them all want sex, but that wouldn’t be out of place in a club like this. An orgy was beyond my skill. I wasn’t exactly a Succubus. A brawl? Or maybe I could throw some electricity around and explode all the light fixtures in a shower of deadly sparks. Lost in my thoughts, I screeched to a halt and stared as I noticed the man about ten feet away dancing with a dark-haired beauty. He looked like Wyatt. He looked a lot like Wyatt.
Suddenly the predator in me reared after years of careful control. I wanted Wyatt, had wanted to Own him ever since I’d met him, but I’d restrained myself. I couldn’t allow myself to Own Wyatt. I knew that destroying his physical form and gathering his being within me would be a hollow pleasure. I cared for Wyatt so much that having him constantly with me, but not individual, not autonomous, would destroy me.
I needed to Own. It’s what we demons do. I hadn’t Owned a human in so long; the craving was almost as painful as the craving to kill, to devour. This man right in front of me looked so much like Wyatt that he might make a good substitute. Might ease that aching hole of need inside me, not just to Own Wyatt, but to Own any human I could. And it would certainly piss off the vampires, throw them into a tizzy. It was perfect.
But Owning was on Gregory’s forbidden things list. The vampires should be able to cover up my planned kill tomorrow night, but they might not be able to cover up an Own. Plus, I wasn’t sure how much Gregory could sense with all this fucking shit of his networked throughout me. Reluctantly, I turned and walked away. I made it five steps.
Fuck it. I’m a demon. And getting the crap beat out of me by Gregory and the angels was probably a whole lot better than what Haagenti had in mind for me. This guy was mine.
I sent out the suggestion, light and airy into the room. Others around me caught the ambient effects and began to look at the humans beside them with a hunger, with an interest. I pulled and the man who looked like Wyatt turned to me. Want, want, want, I called silently. I tried to keep it gentle, tried to keep it subtle. The man excused himself from his dance partner and approached me.
It was so easy. So simple. I danced with the man, let him buy me a few drinks, let him take me to his place. Owned him. Killed him. I made it pleasant for him; one of the best sensory experiences he’d ever had. I’d kissed and fondled him, letting him do the same to me. I’d carefully sent tendrils of my energy in and heightened an orgasm through the lovely bundle of nerves in his genitals. He’d looked at me unseeing, with the glazed look of ecstasy, as I pulled and firmly ripped him from his very cells and into my being. I don’t think he even realized I had him, ever realized that he was dead.
I should have been satisfied. I felt worse, collapsing on the floor, overcome by the empty ache I had never in my whole life been able to fill. This was a terrible mistake. It made me long for Wyatt even more. It made me feel strangely guilty for betraying the promise I’d made to Gregory. I felt hungry, unfulfilled, ashamed.
After some time, I managed to pull myself together and gather my thoughts. I could easily cover this up. I Owned the man. I could assume his form, let the security cameras see me leaving the room, go pick up some other person and allow the security cameras to record him or her leaving alone, framing them for the murder. But then the vampires wouldn’t know I’d done it. Plus, I just didn’t care. I left the room as the tall blond and went right out the door of the secure apartment building. It’s not like the humans could do anything to me. I was going to be in a shitload of trouble with the vampires though. And Gregory. He’d forbidden me, and here I’d just done it. Maybe he wouldn’t know. There were three other demons in town. I could blame it on one of them.
Going to a nearby casino, I stripped in the bathroom, tossing my dress and popping into a small, familiar shape. Scurrying along the walls, I made my way outside and hugged the building fronts, heading toward the casino where I had transformed from my Wyatt look-alike into the blond woman. It was dicey going through the revolving doors without being smashed, and I was momentarily concerned when one of the resort workers looked pointedly at me, as if considering whether to squash me with his shoe or not.
“Stan,” the guy called out instead, turning from me. “Those cockroaches are back. You need to get pest control in here again pronto.”
It wouldn’t do much good. I could feel the pesticide from the spray a week ago and it was the wrong kind. It burned slightly, but wouldn’t harm a real roach, let alone me. Making my way to the bathroom, I popped into the naked Wyatt-look-alike and promptly locked the door hinges. I didn’t want anyone walking in on me naked while I retrieved Wyatt’s clothing from the air vent and dressed. No one even attempted the door, and moments later I strolled out, looking just like Wyatt without the time share bag.
“This wasn’t the way the evening was supposed to turn out”, I thought as I walked casually back through the casino and up the elevator to my room. What the fuck was wrong with me? I’d snuck out and stuck it to the vampires. I’d caused chaos on their watch. And I’d Owned someone. I hadn’t been able to do that since Samantha Martin. I should feel good. Why was Owning not as satisfying as it had always been? What in the world would I do to ease that horrible need within me if Owning no longer did?
The strange gnawing in me continued unabated. I hadn’t felt this way since I was a child. I’d put all that desperate need, that broken feeling behind me long ago. I was a demon, one with skills, one who had a promising future. Maybe demons were not meant to live this way, as humans with human feelings and emotions. Maybe the last forty years were taking a toll on me and I really did need to go home.
I opened the door to the room and saw Wyatt sitting half dressed on the bed with his laptop. A surge of very un-demon-like feeling swept through me. Seeing him there on the bed took my mind off the terrible, hollow feeling inside me. I removed Wyatt’s clothes and quickly popped into my Samantha Martin form.
“Oh, sorry,” I said, remembering too late. “You wanted me to be the tall blond woman tonight, didn’t you? Does it bother you that I Owned her when she was eighty-six though? I thought I better ask before you got too wrapped up in lust.”
“Sam,” he interrupted. “You’re busted. That vampire woman came by here. I tried to stall her, make up some story about how I went out and came back and that their cameras must not have seen me, but she didn’t buy it. She’ll probably be here any moment.”
Sure enough, there was a knock on the door. It was Kelly with the cold mask firmly in place.
“Baal, I hope you had an enjoyable evening, although Mario could have directed you to some of the better spots in town had you given him the chance. It saddens me that you didn’t turn to him or me if you felt the need for entertainment.”
She was good. I didn’t see a spark of anger at all in her stance, in her eyes, although I’m sure she was pissed as all hell at me.
“What do you mean? I haven’t left the room all evening,” I lied. Sh
e wouldn’t believe me, but it was still worth an effort.
I watched as Kelly opened the large purse and pulled out a series of pictures, laying them in sequence on the table. One of Wyatt coming into the room, one of me/him leaving, one of me/him entering the bathroom of the other casino, one of me as the tall blond leaving, one of the tall blond in the club with my victim, one of us in the elevator at his apartment, one of me leaving, one of me/Wyatt leaving the bathroom of the other casino, and one of me just a few moments ago, as Wyatt, entering my room. That one was still warm, as if she’d ripped it right off the printer in the security room and ran up here. Fuck, she must be fast.
“Very impressive control of the human form, Baal. Especially your toy here. I’ve never heard of a demon who could assume a form that he or she didn’t Own.”
Kelly looked at me with that friendly politeness that didn’t reach her eyes.
“We do not want to curtail your enjoyment or impose on you in any way, Baal. We only want to provide the highest degree of service to you, and we can’t do that if you don’t allow us. Luckily, I was personally watching security footage, and noticed you leaving your room in your toy’s form. We carefully followed you, not to interfere, but to ensure your safety. The human snack you enjoyed this evening was a rather notable local business man, but we have disposed of the remains and provided necessary false leads for the human law enforcement.”
Silence stretched on as I looked at the photos with interest. So they had followed me the entire time? I hadn’t realized that. This Kelly woman was good. These vampires were possibly going to be more of a problem than I had hoped.
“Angels can’t help but notice the activity tonight,” Kelly said. “Covering up your actions from the inept humans isn’t the difficulty here; it’s ensuring the angels don’t catch you. We pride ourselves that we’ve never lost one of our guests; I’d hate to have that perfect record broken, especially on my watch.”
“Yes, it would really suck if I were taken out by an angel.” I thought of Gregory. I probably was going to be taken out by one eventually, just not the one she was imagining.
“We only wish to serve you, Baal. We only wish to earn your gratitude.”
I got the message. I’d slipped their minder, been a bad girl, but they’d cover for me, overlook it if I behaved from now on. Right. Not likely.
“I am grateful.” I grabbed her in an enthusiastic hug. She stiffened with alarm, but tolerated it and promptly left.
“Sam?” Wyatt asked, looking down at the photos. “Why does the dead guy look like me?”
Fuck.
Chapter 22
I kept things low-key the next day, although I was interested to note that Mario either did not swim or did not relish a frigid dip in the ocean. He watched me with anxiety from the shore, trying to keep me in his sight. I was tempted to assume my tiger shark form and give him the slip, just to watch him freak out. I wondered if Kelly had punished him for his inattention last night. I doubted she’d be forgiving if he lost me again.
Kelly met me early that evening to go over my choices of prey. No doubt the candidates were individuals who had offended the vampires, fallen behind on “contributions” or refused to sell businesses to them. There were two individuals who were heads of a local drug business, and the CEO of a waste management company. At least the drug dealers would probably be armed and pose some challenge. I didn’t think the CEO would be much fun.
“You can select one of them.” Kelly showed me a page of profile information along with pictures. One? That sucked.
I picked one at random and Kelly began to go over the guy’s schedule and detail exactly when and how I was to take him down. This was going to be no fun at all. I was regretting that I’d arranged it. I should have just gone solo. I would be in enough shit when Gregory found out about last night though. One human dead and Owned. He’d have me in Aaru so fast my head would spin. This kill might be boring, but at least it was safe with the vampires covering it up.
I was supposed to walk into the guy’s house and rip him to bits. Then I would walk right out. Everyone else would be carefully busy elsewhere. I’m sure the dead guy would be a good example of who not to piss off to the rest of the gang, and his vampire-picked successor. This was all to take place at exactly eight o’clock this evening, two hours from now. Boring.
“Can I at least stalk him a bit first?” I complained. “Or possibly kill his dog? There’s not much satisfaction in just killing something, you know.”
Kelly looked surprised. “I thought that’s all you demons wanted.”
She looked at her notes briefly and I could see her struggling between the desire to provide fulfilling entertainment for me and the risk I’d pose if I deviated from their plan.
“Maybe you could go there thirty minutes early, although he’ll probably just be watching TV. I don’t see that he has a dog.”
“I’ll be there at eight. Am I to assume one of your guys is going to come along and watch?”
Kelly shuddered. “No. Mario will meet you later. Is an hour enough time? We’ll send in a clean-up crew, too.”
I agreed and told her I’d meet Mario in the casino at nine.
The dealer was indeed watching TV when I’d arrived. I unlocked his back door using my special skills and snuck quietly through his house, yelling “Surprise!” and jumping into the room like I was at a birthday party. He shot me, which, honestly, was the highlight of my day to that point.
It was a good shot, right into the gut. Hurt like fuck. I was very impressed. What guy watches Friends reruns with a loaded pistol in his lap? A paranoid drug dealer, I guess. He was paranoid enough not to trust the shot to take me down, either. Diving behind a rather solid looking coffee table, he upended it like a shield, then fired another shot that ricocheted off a metal wall hanging and embedded harmlessly in the drywall.
I ripped the ugly metal object off the wall and held it in front of me. We were fairly close in this living room and I really didn’t want to take a chance that he’d blow my head off. He popped off another shot at me and I bounced it off the decoration. My arm vibrated with the force of the bullet, going slightly numb. Fixing the gut wound, I thought about a plan of attack. This was turning out to be a far more interesting evening than I had thought.
The next shot managed to snake through the gaps in my improvised shield and tear through my shoulder. Four shots? Or was it three? I couldn’t remember and it really didn’t matter. I had no idea what type of gun he had and what the clip held. Wyatt could tell me. Wyatt could sneak a millisecond glance at a portion of the gun and tell me exactly what type it was, what year it was manufactured, what caliber and how many bullets the clip held, as well as what movies the gun had been used in and what the various state laws were concerning the firearm. I felt a sudden surge of admiration for my human, but he wasn’t here right now and I had a drug dealer to disembowel.
The guy popped his head above the coffee table to better take aim at me and fired off a series of fast shots. I took advantage of the target and flung the wall decoration at him like a huge metal Frisbee. It would have taken his head clean off, but it bounced slightly on the edge of the coffee table and flipped upright, smacking him in the forehead and dropping him backwards. I ignored the two additional shots in my chest and dove over the table, landing on him with all my weight.
He was prepared and managed to punch several more bullets into my chest. I actually felt the heat of the gun muzzle burning into my flesh. Grabbing his shoulders, I flipped us over so he sprawled on top of me. In an effort to balance himself, he pulled the gun from my gut and reached out to brace against the floor with both hands. Mistake. I hooked one of his legs with mine and shot an arm across the front of his neck to grab his shirt at the shoulder. Scissoring my legs, I flipped him again, straddled him, and put weight on my forearm across his neck. With his attention on my choke hold, I grabbed his hand and, with a flash of energy, snapped his wrist. The gun fell to the floor with a thud from h
is limp, useless hand.
“It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me, you stupid bloodsuckers,” he gasped. I put pressure on his neck, using it as leverage to pull myself more upright while still straddling him.
“I really don’t care what you’ve done or not done.” I slowly extended horns from my head and let red fill my eyes. “You’re paying the price, regardless of how blameless a life you’ve lived. And somehow I doubt your life has been all that blameless.”
He looked at the horns and my inhuman eyes with a sudden flash of knowledge. This guy knew about vampires, and he knew about demons. I wondered what he’d done to piss them off. Not that it mattered, but curiosity gnawed at me.
“It wasn’t me,” he insisted. “She set me up. If you spare me, I’ll let you know who really pulled the deal off and you can go get them. That’s who the vampires really want. There are four of them. Why kill just one of me when you can kill four humans and let the vampires know they have a traitor among them?”
I paused. She? Could it be that minx Kelly that set him up? Oh, she was good! And four? I hadn’t had a kill like that in a century.
“Talk to me,” I encouraged, still straddling the guy.
“Uh uh.” He shook his head. “You have to promise to spare my life and then I’ll tell you.”
Easy enough. “I’ll not kill you,” I told him with a hand upraised. “Scouts honor.”
“Jack Hennet, Brad and Phil Johnson, and Abel Mallory,” he said, promptly ratting out his buddies. “They worked with that pretty female vampire, Kelly, to divert the shipment and fake the manifest, cutting the other vampires out of the deal. They made it look like I’d arranged a break in to the warehouse and took the goods myself. All the drugs in this region come into an import/export warehouse which acts as a front for the operation.”
Wow. This was good stuff. Kelly screwing over her own family and, no doubt, intending to do the same to her human accomplices. She would have rocked as a demon.
