by S. L. Wright
“Nah, that’s already old. Did you see how she got shot in the chest?” the other retorted. “Blam! Left a hole through her that big.” He gestured with his hands.
“What if they flatten her with one of those steamrollers?” somebody else suggested. “Would she inflate like an inner tube and spring back to life?”
“You guys are sick,” a voice said over my shoulder. “Have you no respect?”
I turned at the same time I realized my mouth was watering. It was Savor, in a guise I had seen only once before—a young woman with pale silvery blond hair and waiflike features. She could be a coed from the art schools, pampered by an elite existence, yet somehow more vulnerable because she was untouched by the rigors of life.
The first time I’d seen Savor in such a disingenuous guise was a few nights ago, when she told me she was a double agent for Glory and Vex.
With one look at her, the guys tried to excuse their crude speculations, but Savor wasn’t having any of it. She sniffed in disdain, moving down to the back end of the bar.
Ram was watching her closely, though she didn’t know it. He still looked a bit like Theo Ram, with changes that reflected his true nature. He no longer wore the gear of a tradesman, but was dressed in thoroughly forgettable dark clothes with his face more weathered and taxed by time and experience. If Savor knew he was here, she was doing a good job of hiding it. I tried not to look at him over her shoulder as he graciously lost his pool game and gave up the table.
“Another beer,” he said, coming up to the bar. I poured it for him and smiled politely when he over-tipped. He retreated to the wall around the storeroom, far enough away that Savor didn’t notice him, but close enough to listen in.
I poured a glass of wine for Savor, at her request, and took her money. I wasn’t going to be comping her any time soon. I still hadn’t found out if she was telling the truth about Revel, but Plea’s memory of her last encounter with him was damning enough. Maybe my instinct not to trust Revel all these years had been based on that, as well as the fact that he had seduced me on Vex’s order and made me fall in love with him.
He could have changed since then. But I wouldn’t know that until I knew if he had shot my bar and nearly killed Pepe.
Savor was looking at me as warily as I was watching her. I poured a couple more drinks, then drifted back down in her direction. I needed information.
“What does Glory think of Lash’s defection?” I asked her quietly.
“You don’t know?” Savor’s fragile voice matched her demeanor. “Glory left. She closed down all of her property and flew out with everyone this evening. When I went by, servants were packing up their belongings for shipping. One of them told me the house would be on the market by next week.”
I couldn’t believe it. “Glory left New York? Where did she go?”
“Dubai.” Savor was glum. “She thinks the real estate opportunities there are prime, with the city only bound to grow as Middle Eastern influence broadens. Until another cheap source of energy is developed, they hold the balls of the world. Dubai has a foot in the modern day and another in the Islamic past, so they’re perfectly positioned to take advantage of both.”
I wanted to sit down. “Glory’s given New York to Dread. There’ll be no one to hold him back.”
“Not unless your boyfriend takes a stand against him.” Her voice was the barest whisper. “He did kill Vex, after all.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.” I tried not to look at Ram, but I was sure he could hear us. “What are you doing here, Savor? Why aren’t you going to Dubai with Glory?”
“She abandoned me. She found out that I told Dread about your deal with her.”
My mouth fell open. “You said you didn’t tell him! You liar.”
“I had to tell him something juicy or he wouldn’t have trusted me. That’s part of being a double agent.” Savor huffed as if misunderstood. “Glory never cared about the little things before.”
“She’s probably afraid you’ll keep working for Dread. He’ll have you as his eyes right in the middle of her camp. I wouldn’t let you come if I was her. Why risk it?”
“Lot you know. You can’t burn bridges with these high-powered demons, Allay. They never forget a grudge. I would have gladly gone with Glory and been loyal. I don’t want to get mixed up in this nonsense that Dread has cooked up.”
“You’re saying that because you know I think it’s awful what he’s done.”
“You should consider yourself lucky that I’d like to form an alliance with you, Allay. I’m now unencumbered by other associations.”
“You’re Dread’s spy, Savor. Why would I want to get close to you?”
She waved one hand, reminiscent of her Sebastian-guise. “Because you know that’s only my day job. I’m not really on his side.”
I had to laugh. “Minions at work ...”
“I’ll prove to you how valuable my friendship can be. I have information you’ll want to hear.”
I leaned forward, encouraging her to lower her voice.
“There’s something strange going on with ‘Elude,’ ” Savor murmured. “Dread moved her from the Prophet’s Center at the same time he installed Lash in a suite at the Beaumont Hotel. I talked to Goad, but he can’t figure out where they’ve taken her. Zeal keeps popping back in from God knows where, but whenever I try to follow her, she manages to lose me.”
I nodded thoughtfully, hoping I looked suitably intrigued. “Dread’s probably afraid of Ram getting to her, so he’s hidden her.”
“Dread is holding her prisoner.” Savor’s voice lowered again. “That wasn’t Cherie at the big Fellowship circle tonight. Goad was there. He said Zeal was impersonating Cherie. What if Cherie has already gone off the deep end? She could be raving about demons, and Dread can’t let her out in public anymore. I tell you, this thing is bound to come to a messy end. He can’t keep it up.”
“That’s the best news I’ve heard all day.” This time I met Ram’s eye. His expression was carefully blank, as if he was refusing to reveal what he was thinking. If I didn’t know any better, I might think he had something to do with this.
Savor slid off the stool, ready to leave. “You might want to think twice about working with me, Allay. I could be very valuable to you.”
Yeah, right. The most informative thing Savor had told me was that she was talking a lot to Goad. The last thing I wanted to do was align with someone who was friends with Goad.
16
I was saved from answering Savor by the approach of a familiar, if now rather irritating, signature—a vortex sucking me down.
“There’s Crave now,” Savor said, lifting her head. “So I guess Glory didn’t forgive and forget.”
I ignored her, going to the door of the bar. I couldn’t tell if Bliss was with him, because his signature was so strong. And I couldn’t see very far because of the busy streets. Savor came up beside me, but Ram stayed unobtrusively in the back of the bar.
I didn’t have long to wait—Bliss blew in like a movie star, radiant and inhumanly gorgeous. She was wearing a tight sequined cocktail dress and extremely high heels. “Hi-dy, hi,” she said breezily. “Why is it like a morgue in here?”
I broke off my initial pleased greeting. “We’re watching the news.”
She wrinkled her pert nose. “Whatever for? Let’s get some music on, get the party going. Woo-hoo!”
Like an answering echo, guys all over the bar called back, “Woo-hoo!” A long wolf whistle and a few not-so-sotto-voce comments about the hot chick who had wandered in also came back.
Crave grinned like he was the proud owner of the red Jaguar parked in the driveway. He had long since dropped his “Mark Cravet” guise, but he was still in that general mold—a smooth Latino with fierce passions boiling beneath the surface. He was the seducer in pure form, strolling in and meeting every woman’s eyes in the room, including mine.
Bliss slinked through the bar greeting the regulars she’d met yesterday, and say
ing hi to everyone else. She practically draped herself over a couple of young NYU guys, making their day as she ruthlessly sucked energy from them.
I corralled her and brought her to the back end of the bar. It was the only empty spot where she wouldn’t harass my patrons, but it did put us within hearing range of Ram. He was sitting with his back to us, apparently watching the pool game and nursing a beer.
Savor clung to us like a barnacle, fascinated. She took a stool right next to Bliss. She had found Bliss to be distinctly unimpressive when she met her the day before yesterday, but Bliss had been a newly minted copy of me and was busy working the bar rush like a good employee.
“You’re all grown-up,” Savor told her. “What’s your secret, darling?”
“Living la vida loca,” Bliss said.
Suddenly Savor was looking older and less vulnerable. She wasn’t trying to win me over at the moment; instead she was focused on getting a handle on Bliss. It showed me exactly why I couldn’t trust Savor. She was in it solely for herself, all the time.
“What have you been doing?” I asked, trying to regain Bliss’s attention. I didn’t want her to get caught up with Savor. That would be almost as bad as Savor dating my bartender Lolita.
Bliss rolled her eyes to the ceiling as if overwhelmed by the question. “Too much to tell—that’s for sure. We started out by going to this club—you don’t know it, Allay—called La Trapeze. Did you know people go there to get naked and have sex? It’s the most a-maz-ing thing I’ve ever seen.”
“You’re only three days old, Bliss.”
“That includes everything you’ve ever seen,” she added.
I cringed under the weight of the memories she had. She was probably the only demon in history to retain a full annotated set of her progenitor’s life.
Well, I had changed, or so Shock kept telling me. So it wasn’t like Bliss still had a spy cam looking directly into my soul.
Bliss was prattling on about their night. “Then we met these two couples from Germany who were exquis-ite. We went back to their hotel room and had sex until dawn. Insatiable. I didn’t think anything could beat a demon’s thirst, but this one woman, she wanted to orgasm over and over again, endlessly.” She sighed as if it had been heavenly.
Savor was veering into his Sebastian mannerisms. “Honey, you ain’t seen nothing yet. I could take you to some parties that would knock your boobs off. I mean literally. The best ones are for men only.”
Bliss’s eyes lit up as if Savor had waved catnip in front of her nose. She was ready to pounce and bite. “Yes! Can we go?”
“It’s too early,” Savor said blandly, avoiding my glare. “I’ll come by later to get you.” She hesitated, looking at Crave. “You’re invited, of course, Crave. Maybe you’d like to celebrate your liberation from Glory?”
Crave was leaning against the bar, the amused, sophisticated boyfriend. “Glory ran away. My shop was emptied out today, but I managed to grab a few gems posing as one of the real estate agents.” He patted his pocket as if there were jewels in it. “She tried, but she hasn’t robbed me of anything. I’ll be bigger and better than ever.”
“Glory’s merciless,” Savor agreed. “Like a volcano. It’s abominable what she’s done to you. If you need a place to stay, my apartment is open to you night or day.” She pulled out a card and handed it over. “You can call me anytime.” She handed another one to Bliss. “You, too, scrumptious.”
Crave wasn’t buying Savor’s flattery. Clearly he didn’t know Savor had worked for Glory as a double agent; his sneer said he only knew her as Dread’s messenger.
“I thought you were leaving, Savor,” I said pointedly.
“Sure, sure.” She turned to Bliss. “I’ll drop by around midnight to see if you want to go out. There’s one party that’s only on Friday nights—you won’t want to miss it, love.”
Bliss agreed with a laugh. “Come on, let’s go upstairs, Crave. I have something to show you.”
They left before Savor did, but they were so intent on each other that they didn’t say good-bye to anyone. They also didn’t notice Ram sitting six feet away.
Savor watched after them, thoughtful. “So Crave doesn’t know about my work with Glory. You won’t tell them, will you, Allay? Dread would kill me if he knew.”
“So that’s why you came here.”
“Believe what you want, Allay. I’d like to have an alliance with you. But if you’re not interested, it’s no skin off my nose. As long as you don’t tell anyone my secret, then I owe you a big one.”
I shrugged, trying not to look in Ram’s direction. “I don’t want to cause any problems for you. But what about Lash? Doesn’t she know?”
Savor stared out the back windows of the bar. “I don’t know. ...”
“I’d be more worried about her than me, if I was you. That woman would do whatever it takes to save her own hide. She went over to Dread’s side faster than it took to drive to Brooklyn.”
Savor raised her brows. “I guess I won’t know until my flame is snuffed.”
“That’s the spirit.”
I went back to my work, wishing I could tell Savor to not come back for Bliss. But who was I to tell Bliss what to do? She was doing better for herself in a few days than I’d done in a decade. It was a little embarrassing.
The faint rhythmic bumping of the daybed moving upstairs echoed down. I looked up at the ceiling, rolling my eyes. Ram was smiling slightly, watching me, but I ignored him and tended to my neglected customers.
Happy hour swung into full gear, but the place never really got hopping. There was a tension in the air—in the subdued, worried voices and in the sudden arguments that kept breaking out between friends and strangers over Cherie’s miracle. It upended everything—it was the fountain of youth suddenly made possible. Joining a church and chanting together every Sunday seemed like a small price to pay to live forever. Even the loudest skeptics were awed by the very idea, almost as if they longed in secret to be proven wrong.
I served drinks as I kept one eye on the news reports. The twenty-four-hour love affair with the story was now souring, as usual. Reporters and analysts were busy picking apart every bit of evidence amid a snowballing chorus of voices declaring Cherie’s resurrection was a hoax. She had canceled all interviews today and missed her scheduled appointments for additional medical testing.
I was delighted to see a frame-by-frame dissection of the evening’s Fellowship circle led by Cherie/Zeal. Facial recognition software detected a number of deviations from Cherie’s features; nobody had been more documented from the time she was sixteen years old, and all of those images were consistent. They also found deviations in the footage of the beheading. Cherie’s idealized face, thanks to her malleable demon physiology, was different in fundamental ways from her former image.
I touched my own cheek, wondering what I would really look like if I had remained human. Even though I had tried to be faithful to my original appearance, this face was a version of myself that I wanted to be.
Along with pseudo-scientific explanations that proved the beheading had been faked, the big sticking point was the fact that Cherie had idealized her features before she was beheaded. There was no evidence of her transformation from crone to beauty. I wondered if Dread had tried to make her resume her old appearance, as she really was at the time she was possessed. That would have made a much bigger impact. But having met her, I couldn’t imagine her doing it. Her perfection was everything to her.
But I couldn’t think about Cherie, not with Ram watching me.
As if reading my mind, he came down to the front end of the bar, where the hinged flap was leaning up against the wall. I was standing there watching the TV during the lulls.
“What do you think of this?” I asked him, heading him off.
“I think Zeal did a poor job of impersonating Cherie at the Fellowship circle. It was a bad decision on Dread’s part because it’s proof that his scheme is falling apart quicker than he had hope
d.”
Playing along, I asked, “Why would Zeal risk it?”
“Dread must have felt he had no choice. Cherie couldn’t perform her role, for some reason. Maybe she’s grown unstable very quickly. That happens with older humans when they’re possessed.”
I shook my head doubtfully. “I saw her up at the hospital, and she looked like she was holding it together just fine. She was talking to the doctors as reasonable as you could want. Albeit in an insanely fanatical way.”
“Maybe she ran away from Dread. He could have Goad’s horde out looking for her now.”
I didn’t like that thought. I hoped Mystify wasn’t in danger. “But why would she leave him?”
“What did you do when you were possessed?”
“I ran,” I admitted. “Like I was on a three-day acid binge. I ended up raving and tied to a gurney at the psych ward.”
He didn’t take it as lightly as I’d said it. His gray eyes seemed to draw me into him, and he lightly stroked the back of my hand, as if to reassure me that he was there for me.
It threw me. It was just what a lover would do. Someone kind and giving.
I pulled back, clasping my hands in front of me. I barely managed to keep myself from nervously wiping down the bar. I was already revealing too much to him. Why did he remain a mystery while I was clear as glass? Fear the unknown man in the shadows.
“Why did you hide from Bliss and Crave?” I asked.
“Savor was still here, and you didn’t introduce me to her, so I remained concealed.”
“You expected me to introduce you?”
“It’s your bar, your call. I can protect you better if you don’t, but you said you wanted me to come here openly. So I’ll wait for you to decide which demons know who I am.”
“I don’t want Savor to tell Dread you’re here.” I grimaced. “But I didn’t expect her to spill her secret.”
“Too many people know about her and Glory by now. It’s bound to come out. And Savor knows it. If anyone can walk across coals, it’s that one.”
“You won’t tell anyone?” I asked.
