3 Straight by the Rules

by Michelle Scott

  William’s frown deepened. He didn’t want to be reminded that I’d slept with Tommy. “I still fail to see how his mother is your problem.”

  “His mother is a hoarder, so he can’t move in with her. And he doesn’t have anywhere else to live.” I shrugged. “Besides, it’s a small favor. All he wants me to do is use my demon to convince his mother to clean her house.”

  William’s eyes widened. “No! Promise me you will not try that.”

  I hadn’t expected him to like the idea, but his vehement disapproval surprised me. “Why not? I mean, I might as well use my evil powers for good. Besides, it’s not like I’m going against my contract. Helen couldn’t punish me for it.”

  “Attempting to use your demon like that would infuriate her!”

  “But… ”

  “Listen, even if you did use your succubus to convince this woman not to hoard, she’d return to her behavior the moment you left her alone. Our demons’ persuasion doesn’t last very long. You know that.”

  Unfortunately, he was right. The effects of our temptations were very short lived. I’d tempted my ex-husband into buying a French horn for our daughter, and I’d even once used my allure to make Ariel clean the bathroom. Yet, my temptations hadn’t outlasted the day. Tommy was a special case; although, I had no idea why.

  “So what do you think I should do?” I asked.

  “That’s easy. Burn her house down.”

  I was horrified. “Are you kidding me?!”

  “Acts of charity have never been my strong suit,” he admitted, “but it sounds like the place is a health hazard. If you make sure the woman and her pets are safely away from the house, burning it may be the best option. It would certainly give her a clean start.”

  “But losing all that stuff in a fire might make her worse.” I chewed on a cuticle. “Could you at least visit this place with me? Please?”

  His eyes sparkled. “Give me a kiss, and I’ll do whatever you want.”

  I chastely kissed his cheek.

  “That’s not what I meant!”

  I leaned over to kiss his cheek again, but at the last moment, changed my mind and nipped his earlobe. “That’s all you get. For now.”

  He put a hand to his ear. “You’re a tease, Lil.”

  “That’s why you like me so much.”

  He frowned, but his eyes were smiling.

  William took one look at Doris’s house and said, “I’ll get the gasoline. You go find some matches.”

  I punched his arm. “Stop it!” We stood in the doorway that opened on the junk-strewn yard. In the top shelf of a weatherworn bookcase, paper wasps crawled over a nest the size of a human head. A pair of dragonflies darted over the scummy surface of water that had collected in a rusting, red wagon. “Besides,” I said, “I wouldn’t have to clean the entire thing. Maybe I could just do one bedroom and the bathroom.”

  William looked pained.

  “Don’t be so pessimistic,” I said.

  “Be reasonable! You could hire fifty men and still not make the place livable. It’s disgusting, filthy, and toxic. Do you really want your friend recuperating here?”

  “You’re probably right.” My shoulders sagged in defeat. “Can you believe that out of twenty-six otherworld doorways, only two aren’t blocked by garbage?”

  William blinked. “How many?”

  “Twenty-six. That I could see anyway. Who knows? There could be more buried under all that junk.”

  He studied the yard with renewed interest, his lips moving silently while he counted. “What about doorways to Heaven? Can you see any of those?”

  I’d been so focused on the state of the house I hadn’t thought to check. Otherworld doorways to Heaven are impossible for normal demons to see, and very difficult for me to find. Once I concentrated, however, I realized there were as many heavenly passages as there were ones leading to Hell.

  When I told William this, his eyebrows went up. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He grabbed a hold of my arms. “Do you have any idea what this is?”

  I shook my head.

  “You’ve stumbled upon a nexus!”

  “A what?”

  “A nexus!” His eyes glowed. “This is amazing! I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never seen one before.” He regarded the house with new appreciation.

  I remembered the newly sprung entrance in my own living room. “Did this happen because Doris keeps blocking the doorways?”

  William nodded. “There’s something that opens those otherworld entrances. Something so powerful that if a doorway is barricaded, a new one opens up nearby. That’s why you’ll find multiple doorways inside of older buildings. If an entry gets blocked off when someone remodels, a new doorway goes up in its place.”

  “I wonder if every hoarder’s house has this problem.” I imagined nexuses all over the country.

  “Not necessarily. This only happens when there’s a lot of supernatural traffic. If an ordinary spot has its doorway closed off, it can go unnoticed for decades.” He rubbed his chin, thinking. “It’s no wonder Tommy’s mother is a lunatic. Being exposed to this much cosmic energy every day can create cult leaders and serial killers.”

  “Cult leaders?” Tommy already had an obsession with the spiritual world. What if the energy fanned his passion into something more sinister? “You’re right,” I said. “Tommy definitely can’t stay here.”

  “You’re finally talking sense.”

  “And neither can Doris.” I wouldn’t wait to discuss this with Tommy. The situation was far too dangerous. I would get his mother safely out and find her a hotel room or some other place to live while I figured out the next move.

  As I headed towards the doorway, William grabbed my wrist. “Don’t!”

  Annoyed, I shook him off and stepped through.

  Immediately, wind buffeted me from every side while opposing vacuums sucked so violently that I thought I’d rip into two pieces. A roaring noise blocked out all sounds, and my hair whipped into my eyes. Something struck me hard in the cheek and caromed into one of the nearby doorways. Bits of paper, caught in the sudden squall, flew across the yard.

  My feet were swept out from under me. I frantically grabbed onto an old tractor and hung on for dear life. The suction ripped one of my shoes off and pulled it through the closest door to Heaven.

  My succubus went crazy. Terrified, she dug into my psyche like a shipwrecked sailor clinging to driftwood. Oh, the pain! I grit my teeth against a scream. Let go, I begged her. Let go!

  William reached through the doorway, grabbed my ankle, and tried to drag me back into the safety of Hell. With the nexus pulling from one direction and William tugging from the other, I felt like a piece of taffy.

  “Let go of the tractor!” he shouted.

  Terrified that he wasn’t strong enough to keep me tethered, I continued to hang on.

  “Lilith! Let. GO!”

  The maelstrom sucked my shirt up over my head. With a yelp, I let go of the tractor and yanked my blouse back down. If William discovered the color of my bra, I’d never hear the end of it.

  Now that I’d released my death grip on the tractor, William could drag me back into Hell. With a vicious yank that nearly separated my foot from my ankle, he wrenched me into the hallway where I collapsed against him, breathing hard.

  He was panting as well. And furious. “You damned, stubborn woman! What were you thinking?”

  My legs shook so hard that I had to cling to him for a moment before standing. “I was thinking you were exaggerating.”

  He took a deep breath, struggling to remain patient. “When it comes to the otherworld, you can never be too careful. Understand?”

  Chastened, I nodded and straightened my clothes. “What happened out there? I was nearly ripped to pieces.”

  “There’s a lot of energy flowing across that place.” He glanced uneasily through the doorway. The backyard had fallen quiet once more. “The humans can endure it because they�
�re mortal, but when an otherworldly force enters it, the balance is disrupted.”

  “So my demon upset it?”

  He nodded. “Now promise me you won’t try that again.”

  I shivered. “I promise.” My succubus finally felt safe enough to loosen her hold. Without her mental talons digging into me, my mind relaxed. “But I still have to get Doris out of there.”

  “Call your young man and make him deal with his mother,” William said. “But you stay out of it.”

  “I can’t do that. Sorry.”

  “You’re not one damn bit sorry,” he muttered.

  Ah, William. He knew me so well.

  Chapter Ten

  I met my dad in the lobby of the Roma Café, a restaurant that lay like a forgotten jewel among the abandoned factories and vacant lots in the decaying heart of Detroit. Both the menu and the décor of the Roma are firmly anchored in the 1970’s, so when I stepped inside the old building, a wave of nostalgia washed over me.

  Even though the weather remained warm on this mid-August evening, my dad wore a lightweight suit with his Rotarian pin in the lapel, and a discreetly patterned tie. Evelyn did all my dad’s shopping, but he wore clothing well.

  When we were seated, I said, “I’ve been craving eggplant parmagiana since you called.”

  “Good!”

  Despite my dad’s apology over the phone, we remained awkward with each other. He told me again how much he loved the tea I’d given him, and I filled him in on Jas’s job interviews, but soon the conversation lagged. Finally, he brightened. “Have I ever told you that the Roma is the oldest restaurant in Detroit?”

  I smiled. Every one of our birthday dinners had come with a history lesson about the restaurant. “Once or twice.”

  His shoulders slumped. “I suppose I have.” Until tonight, we’d never had a problem finding things to talk about, but by the time our salads were served, we’d lapsed into a strained silence.

  I picked at my food, and my dad kept pulling at the sleeves of his suit coat. Finally, I set down my fork and said, “Dad” at the same time he said, “Lilly”, and we both laughed.

  “Ladies first,” he said.

  I took a deep breath. “You were right yesterday. I haven’t been myself lately, but I’m trying very hard to improve.”

  Instead of looking relieved, he frowned. “Parents oftentimes don’t realize their children have grown up. They want to see them as eight-years-old forever.”

  An ironic statement considering he’d taken me to my favorite childhood restaurant. “I’m not eight,” I said. “Not even twenty-eight.”

  He sighed. “Your problems were so much easier to manage back then. A dish of ice cream almost always made you smile.”

  If only things had remained so simple.

  Our main courses arrived. I picked up my knife and fork and cut the parmagiana into tiny pieces without eating any of it. My dad stared at his fettuccini.

  Suspecting where his thoughts were going, I said, “You know I would never abandon Grace like Carrie did to me.”

  “Of course I know that.” My father pushed away his plate. “But yesterday, when you were at our house, I saw how Tommy looked at you.”

  “Which was how?” I asked, very carefully.

  He loosened his tie and drank some water while he gathered his thoughts. Finally, he said, “When I met Carrie, I had just passed the state bar and was working almost eighty hours a week at the firm. I spent so much time in my office that I oftentimes slept on the couch, and I kept spare clothes and a shaving kit in my desk drawer. But your mother changed all of that.” He took off his glasses and cleaned them. “Carrie beguiled me. There’s no other way to describe it. Everything about her was intoxicating. For six weeks, I stopped working and nearly lost my job because I couldn’t bear to leave her side.” He put his glasses back on. “That’s how Tommy looked at you, Lilith. Like you were the only thing in the entire world that mattered to him.”

  “I’m not intentionally leading him on!”

  “I’m glad to hear it.” My father picked up his fork and poked at his dinner. “I swore that your mother’s allure was supernatural, but now that you have the same magnetism, I’m not sure.” He frowned. “In any case, it’s brutal to those in its power.”

  I had been very young when Carrie left my father, but I remembered his pain. He’d never purposely showed his grief to me, but more than once, I’d heard him crying behind closed doors.

  My father’s expression grew wistful. “After Carrie left us, I lived for those times when she returned to see you. Any attention I received from her kept me happy for days. If she smiled at me, I was in heaven, and if she kissed my cheek…” He put his hand to his face as if still feeling my mother’s lips there. “But after I married Evelyn, I dreaded those visits. I love Evelyn very much, yet when Carrie was around, I had a hard time remembering that.”

  Poor Evelyn. I’d always thought she’d hated my mother because Carrie had abandoned my dad and me, but now I realized there was more at stake. Competing against a succubus must have been horrible.

  “I never once cheated on my wife, of course,” my father said. “Not physically at least. But in my mind…” He stopped talking, suddenly aware that he was saying too much. I squirmed, willing away the vision of my buttoned-down father having the hots for my crazy, over-sexed mother. “I prayed that Evelyn never noticed, but I’m sure she must have.”

  I reached over and patted his hand. “You don’t have to worry, though. You’re a terrific husband.”

  My dad smiled faintly. He wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead with his napkin.

  “Are you all right?” I asked.

  He nodded. “These past few days have stirred up a lot of emotion. Evelyn had me clean out a closet last week, and I ran across this.” From the inside pocket of his jacket, he removed a manila envelope and placed it on the table. Written on the front were the words, ‘For Lilith’. Even though I hadn’t seen my mother more than a dozen times over the course of my life, I immediately recognized her handwriting.

  “Carrie asked me to keep this for you,” my dad said. “She wanted you to have it when you were old enough.”

  I picked up the envelope, not daring to open it. “Did you look inside?”

  He nodded. “I apologize, but I did.”

  I thought my heart would stop. “And?”

  “And it confirmed what I’d suspected all along. Your mother was a troubled woman.”

  “And by ‘troubled’ you mean?”

  “Mentally ill.”

  Mental illness would explain a lot of my mother’s strange behaviors. In fact, if I hadn’t become a succubus and met Helen Spry, I might have reached the same conclusion. However, knowing what I did made all the difference.

  “You think I’m mentally ill, too, don’t you?”

  He pressed his lips together, his eyes brimming with tears. “Mental illness oftentimes runs in families, but there are treatments.” He took my hand. “And you know that Evelyn and I would help you in whatever way we can.”

  I had to tell him my secret. If I could convince him about the reality of succubi, I could ease his guilty mind about the infatuation he’d had with my mother. Unfortunately, the news would stir up a whole new level of worry about me, but at least he’d know the truth. I took a deep breath. “Dad…”

  Delilah appeared in the otherworld doorway across from our table and frantically waved her hands to get my attention. I ignored her urgent plea. It wouldn’t kill Helen to wait. And if it did, I’d be the happiest succubus in the universe.

  “Dad, this is going to sound unbelievable, but…”

  Our waiter came by with the dessert tray, and my dad winked at me. “Now that we’re both adults, we can have dessert even if we didn’t finish our dinners.”

  Although my toes curled with impatience, I smiled and chose tiramisu. I started my explanation a third time, but got distracted when Delilah continued to fuss at me from the otherworld. She tapped her
wristwatch and frowned. I frowned back. This was my birthday dinner, for crying out loud.

  “Do you remember the first time you and I celebrated your birthday here?” my dad asked.

  “No.” I ordered my eyes to remain focused on his face, but they kept wanting to slide away to watch Delilah.

  “You were four years old, and you were sitting in a booster seat. It hadn’t been properly fastened to the chair, and you fell out. You weren’t hurt, but you were furious. When the waiter rushed over to see what had happened, you pointed at him and said, ‘My dad’s a lawyer, and he’s going to sue you for that!’ I think you had them worried because they paid for the meal.” He laughed. “When I heard you call me your father, it hit me: I now had a daughter.” He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “I’m so proud of you, Lilith.”

  “Don’t you dare make me cry,” I said. But, of course, it was too late. I used the napkin to blot my eyes, leaving smudges of mascara on the white linen. My capricious, irresponsible mother had struck gold when she’d gone prospecting for a man to raise me. I couldn’t have picked a better father for myself if I’d tried.

  Although I hated to leave my dad, Delilah was still furiously attempting to get my attention. Like it or not, I had to see what was up.

  I pretended that my phone had buzzed. “I have to go,” I said. “Jas just texted me that Ariel threw up.”

  “I understand,” my dad said, but his shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Do you want your dessert?”

  “Take it to Evelyn. She’s a terrific woman and deserves something sweet.”

  My dad smiled. “She is a terrific woman.”

  I stood up and gathered my purse. “Thanks again for dinner, Dad.”

  “Before you go, you have to tell me where you bought that tea,” he said. “I need to get more.”

  “More? But, I gave you nearly a pound of it!”

  He laughed, embarrassed. “I know, but I’m addicted to it. I’ve always loved that blend.”

  After years of struggling to find the perfect gift for my dad, I was delighted that I’d found something he really liked. “I’ll get you more,” I promised. I kissed his cheek, determined to bring him all the tea in Hell if it would make him happy.