“Because I’m here,” he said. “It lights up when demons are near. It will also stop them from coming inside any room you’re in, unless you invite them.”
“Really?” This could be useful!
Sytrius nodded. “Yes, but you’ll have to be very careful; even saying the customary ‘Come in!’ when you hear a knock on the door would let them in. You only have to invite them into the room once, and they would be able to enter it anytime after. If it happens, your best bet is to run away as fast as possible and to find any other room, closet… anything, then keep them out until I get back to you.”
“Okay.” I nodded with full intention to follow his instructions and wrapped my fingers around the faintly lit cylinder, feeling grateful to have something, anything, against the demons chasing me. Suddenly, the thing around my neck didn’t look that unattractive and imposing to me anymore.
Another thought entered my mind.
“Did you steal it?” Willingly or not, I still remained his main moral guide for now and had to make sure that he moved in the right direction as he learned to understand and navigate the rules and customs of human society.
“No.” He shook his head, proving once again that he, indeed, learned fast. “I left the money inside the case where it was displayed. Should I leave a note or something?”
I thought about it for a second. “No, they’ll figure it out.”
Not all of it, though. Even if they had cameras in there, the way the secret shopper got inside would forever remain a mystery unless the owners of the shop knew enough about the products that they were selling to solve the mystery themselves.
“We’ll need to get you some breakfast,” reminded Sytrius, who was determined to maintain a regular schedule for my meals, consistent and punctual, like a daycare centre.
The sky over us got much lighter by now, and the coffee shops and bakeries in the area began to open.
“Okay,” I agreed, still holding on to the pendant hanging around my neck. I really could use a cup of strong coffee right now. “We are in a perfect place for that!”
We had a long breakfast in a small coffee shop with a colourful mural painted on the wall and waited for the rest of the stores to open. We then took a taxi to Dufferin Mall, which I thought would be a good place to buy some inexpensive clothes, shoes and other things for both of us.
We went through the clothing department of Walmart and picked up an armload of clothes each to try on before heading to the fitting rooms.
Surprisingly, I was done first. I just chose a few basic things suitable for a warmer weather and was done within minutes.
I got out of the ladies’ fitting room then and walked over to the men’s fitting rooms area, picking up a few other things on the way that I wasn’t going to try on, like socks, underwear and some toiletries. Sytrius still was nowhere to be seen.
I walked a little closer to the men’s fitting rooms and called for him, wondering if he’d left the room already, and I had missed him somehow.
“I’m here, Alyssa.” I heard his voice from behind one of the doors then he opened the door and walked out, wearing a pair of distressed jeans and a black short-sleeved t-shirt.
It was a simple enough outfit, except that on Sytrius, of course, it looked like he had just walked off a cover of a magazine. The t-shirt was stretched tight over his hard chest and broad shoulders, exposing the well-defined muscles of his arms. The jeans sat low on his hips and hugged his powerful thighs in all the right places.
“It’s been a while since I bought any clothes for myself. They all look the same to me. What do you think?” He asked and cocked his head, looking at me slightly sideways, without realizing that he’d just taken one of the most common poses of male cover models.
“Stunning!” I couldn’t hold a smile. He was so adoringly oblivious to his picture-perfect self! I put down my shopping basket and clapped my hands in applause. “Absolutely fabulous!”
“You like that?” He grinned coyly then rolled his shoulders back and took a wider stance, striking another pose, this time on purpose. “Do you want to see more?” he asked me seductively, getting on with the game.
“Oh yes, please!” I clapped my hands again and jumped up and down a few times in the exaggerated demonstration of delight, playing the part of an enthusiastic fan.
He walked back into the change room and walked out again, moments later, wearing another pair of cheap jeans and a dark, thin, long-sleeved sweater. He walked towards me in a slow sexy swagger, stopping right in front of me, then folded his arms across his chest and cocked an eyebrow at me. His face remained dead serious, and it made me laugh even more.
I noticed his eyes twinkle briefly, the white-blue sparkles mirrored the pattern of my laugh: he was skimming my merry mood. The thought of it didn’t bother me at the slightest. On the contrary, I actually liked the idea that he could, literally, share my laughter with me.
He went in and out of the room several more times, demonstrating other clothes for me. It was obvious there was no need for him to try any of them on. All clothes looked like they were custom made for him anyway.
It was not why he did it, though. Even as he was trying to mimic the severe facial expressions of male models, I saw the corners of his mouth quiver a little, fighting a smile ready to burst out at any moment. I also didn’t miss the fact that his eyes stayed on mine at all times. He was truly enjoying the game, but he was playing it to make me laugh.
I was too distracted by the fun we were having, more so by Sytrius himself, especially when he walked out wearing a pair of camouflage cargo pants paired with a sleeveless muscle tank in khaki colour that clung to his washboard abs and displayed his tanned massive shoulders to the whole world to see and swoon. Not surprisingly then that I didn’t immediately notice the small crowd that had formed around the fitting rooms.
Sytrius in any mood was a sight to behold, but the playful, sexy Sytrius was simply impossible to miss.
Customers and store employees, mostly but not exclusively female, stopped on their way through the store to admire the free show given by undeniably the sexiest man alive.
When Sytrius turned around to go back into the room to change, I heard a couple of comments from the women standing close to me that brought me back to reality.
“Holy Mother of God! You could bounce a quarter off that ass!”
“A quarter? I would bounce myself all over him!”
“Hey, toss him a toonie and see if he’d change his clothes right here instead of the fitting rooms, next time!”
The words popped my happy bubble, and I looked around to see the crowd for the first time.
Suddenly, it was no longer just the two of us playing and laughing, there were other people looking, leering, commenting. I should have expected it. We were in a public place, after all.
It wasn’t even about me feeling jealous this time. When I heard their comments, I rather felt offended for Sytrius. He played the game to make me laugh, not to become the object of their leering.
I felt responsible for getting him into it since I was the one who instigated the game to begin with. I felt a strong surge of protectiveness of him, suddenly needing to get him out of here as soon as possible, away from the people ogling him shamelessly.
Sytrius walked out of the fitting room again, smiling brightly at me. I kept a smile firmly planted on my face too for now, not ready yet to ruin his fun, however, he picked up on the change in my emotions instantly. Still not paying any attention to the people around us, he closed the distance between us and put his hands on my shoulders.
“How many clothes does one man need to cross the ocean anyway?” he asked, looking straight at me, the happy grin still on his face. “Let’s get out of here?”
“How about your clothes? Which ones did you want to take?”
“All of them?” He shrugged his shoulders, seemingly losing all interest in the clothes left in the fitting room. “None of them? You choose. I don’t really care.”<
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Sytrius and I ended up having a great day. We went to a couple of shoe stores to get a pair of running shoes each and a pair of ballet flats for me.
Then, I dragged Sytrius to a hair salon. My hair was long overdue for a trim, and I talked Sytrius into getting a trim too. I could have possibly convinced him to get a full haircut, but I really liked his hair a little longer, just the way it was.
I understood perfectly well the pleased smile on the face of the hairdresser as she ran her fingers through his hair over and over again, pretending that she needed to keep separating the strands under the hair dryer. The wonderful sensation of his silky hair running between my own fingers when his head was between my thighs was still very vivid in my mind.
We had lunch in the food court. I tried to get Sytrius to try some sushi I bought, but he flat out refused. He did try the pickled ginger, though, and liked it.
“The taste and colour reminds me of that feeling you have when I touch your neck like this,” he said, reaching out and lightly cupping the back of my neck with one hand, eliciting a rush of shivers along my arms. “Yes, just like that... Only there is also a little sweetness to that taste too, like a hint of honey…” He said skimming my excitement immediately, his eyes reflecting a low orange glow.
“Are you skimming emotions of other people in here today?” I asked, eager to change the subject before my hormones got out of control again. “I hadn’t noticed that many sparkles in your eyes.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Why not? With all the people around here shopping happily, I thought your eyes would be lit up like Christmas trees!”
“Well, I…” He paused for a second as if thinking about it for the first time himself. “I don’t want to get distracted. Skimming their emotions would give me a little extra sustenance here and there, maybe, but it would take a lot of my focus and energy to sift through all of them. Meanwhile, I would miss out on all the fun I’m having with you…”
My cheeks turned a much brighter colour than the pickled ginger, and a warm feeling flooded me.
“Me too,” I said. “I’m having a lot of fun with you too.” Then I added brightly, “Come on, let’s see if I can get you to have some bubble tea with me!”
Chapter Twenty Eight. Succubus.
I realized that I was stalling it in Dufferin Mall, delaying the time when we had to return to the hotel room, which I last saw littered with lifeless demon bodies on the floor. There was another reason why I didn’t want to leave the mall. It was simply nice being there with Sytrius. It was fun spending a day at the mall with a friend, like if I was a normal girl, having a normal life. Actually, with Sytrius by my side, it felt more like a date, and I was reluctant to put an end to it.
Finally, Sytrius convinced me that it was safe to go back to the hotel and that the three incubi would have left by now.
It was late afternoon when we got back to the hotel and Sytrius swiped the key card letting me into the room. Cautiously, I walked right in, looking for any signs of the men being still in the room, even though they were no longer on the floor, when I heard Sytrius clearing his throat behind me. I turned around to see him still standing on the other side of the open door, in the hotel hallway.
“You’ll have to invite me in, Alyssa,” he reminded, tipping his chin at the glowing amulet hanging just below my chest.
“Really?” I asked incredulously. “It works, eh?” I came back to the doorway. “You can’t come in?” I stood right in front of him and waved my hands between us, not seeing or feeling anything extraordinary.
He lifted both of his arms and put the hands flat in front of him. His hands seemed to encounter something invisible but solid, as if there was a glass barrier between us.
“No, I can’t come in. See?” He clenched one hand into a fist and smashed at the barrier with considerable force. There was no sound but his fist bounced off something invisible, and he winced, reminding me of the broken bones in his hands.
“Don’t.” I raised my hand to his fist. I could touch him through the barrier, as if it wasn’t there. It was just he who couldn’t get to me.
His fist opened, and he pressed his hand flat against the invisible divider again. I moved my hand higher and laced my fingers with his, suddenly feeling deeply disturbed by the fact that we were separated by anything at all.
“Come in, Sytrius,” I whispered, pulling on his hand. “Come here to me.”
He moved over the threshold in one wide stride and gathered me into his arms.
“I’m here.”
That night after dinner, Sytrius finally got the message that our passports were ready. I wasn’t looking forward staying alone in the hotel room while he went to pick them up by himself, but Sytrius promised that it was safer for me to stay here now that I had the amulet, so I didn’t argue with him.
After Sytrius left, I had a shower and got packed ready to leave as soon as he got back. There were still flights to London scheduled as late as 11:30 at night. Sytrius promised to return within an hour or two, so we could still catch one of the last flights out of Toronto since we already were practically at the terminal.
I was sitting on the bed, absentmindedly switching the channels on TV and waiting for Sytrius to return any minute when I heard a knock on the door. At first, I thought that it was Sytrius returning, that he lost the key or needed me to let him in again because the amulet wouldn’t let him enter for some reason, but then I heard a female voice calling, “Hotel Management!” from behind the door.
I got up and opened the door, holding it ajar with one hand. It was a woman. That’s what made me feel at ease. In all my time in the dungeon and in the days since the escape, I had never seen a female demon and had no reason to get suspicious.
“Hi, I’m Cynthia. From the front desk downstairs.” She pointed at the shiny nametag on the lapel of her perfectly tailored suit. “We have reports of water leaking from the ceiling in the room below yours. Would you mind if I take a quick look inside to make sure everything is ok?”
Her smile was warm and friendly, making me want to be her best friend instantly. I stepped aside to let her in past me and stopped short of actually inviting her in. Her smile didn’t waver, but her eyes shot to my middle somewhere and back so fast I would have missed it, had I blinked. I followed her eyes to the amulet hanging off the leather thong around my neck.
After Sytrius left, it lost its light, and the cylinder in the middle looked very similar to a piece of pale amber. It was glowing again now!
My eyes wide, I looked back at the woman in front of me, feeling more confused than scared. The smile on her face froze, and her beautiful emerald eyes narrowed at me. Not waiting for any further actions on her part, I stepped back and slammed the door shut.
With shaken fingers, I locked the door immediately and threw the brass door guard safety lock on for good measure, not caring that any lock would be useless if the woman on the other side of the door was, indeed, a demon. A female demon? How was it even possible? I went through everything I remembered Sytrius ever telling me about his kind, not finding anything about female demons. Why would she even be after me? Did the Council send her too?
I realized that my back was leaning against the door and jumped away quickly, just in case she was going to attack me through it. My heart beat loudly in my chest, echoing through my head, when I snuck back to the door quietly and peeked through the peephole. The woman was gone. The realization of how close I’d come to letting her in washed over me like a cold shower.
Quietly, as if she was still standing outside and listening, I stole back into the room and sat on the bed. Turning the TV off, I strained to listen for any noise outside.
There was a lot for me to hear, even at this time of the night. Due to the hotel’s proximity to the airport, there were people checking in and out any time of day and night. I heard them walk through the hallways, pulling their rolled luggage behind them.
I found the sounds of other people going abou
t their business comforting. They were free to walk and travel wherever they wanted, as far as the size of their wallet would allow them. They didn’t have to worry about demons lurking in the shadows, waiting for one small mistake on you part to attack you.
I jumped off the bed the moment I heard another knock and then saw Sytrius walking through the door without opening it.
“Why are you knocking?” I asked, sounding accusingly, despite trying not to.
“I didn’t want to scare you coming right through.” He said and looked at me closely. “Looks like I failed. What happened?” He took his parka off and walked to the bed. “You’re scared.” He sat down pulling me into his lap and repeated. “What happened?”
“Are there female incubi?”
“No. Only male.”
“Well, how come one of them just was here at the door fifteen minutes ago? She was a demon: the amulet lit up.”
“A succubus! Really?” He looked at me in disbelief, as if I had any explanations. “How did they get a succubus to come after you?”
“Why are they still after me at all?”
He shook his head, his brows furrowed.
“I don’t know. I knew they would take you if given a chance, especially since we are together. It was easy enough for them to kill two birds with one stone, so to say, but I expected them to focus on capturing me by now. I was actually convinced that you would be safer on your own and that I was keeping you with me for my own selfish reasons, endangering your life. I was going to come up with a plan for us to separate.” He looked at me with a sad smile. “As soon as I was able to part with you, that is. It seems to be a lost cause though. The more time I spend with you, the less I’m able to separate.”
“Do we have to? Separate?”
“No, not now. Not anymore. Now, it would be safer for you to stay with me. Sending a succubus after you required a considerable effort from Raim, the Grand Master. Succubae are a completely different group of demons. There are only about a dozen of them in this world. They don’t have much in common with incubi, except that our food sources overlap at times. Even that doesn’t happen often as we feed mainly off women and they mostly prey on men. Raim has no power over succubae. He can’t order them to do his bidding. He must have promised them something else.”
Demon Mine Page 22
