Descent: A Trenton Investigations Novella

by Felicia Beasley

  He was slightly more helpful. He pointed.

  When you hear the word slave, I’m sure you can conjure some idea of the conditions they lived in. I know I did. Usually involved vermin, filth, and dried blood.

  When I entered the room Flora kept, a touch of envy slipped into my heart.

  Her living space made mine look like a closet. And not one of those walk-ins.

  It was gauchely decorated with more of those torture pictures, only these all starred the same raven haired beauty.

  Smiling.

  She enjoyed the pain inflicted on her body. Unlike the other slaves I’d come across in this house, she was older, maybe a few years older than my nineteen years.

  I looked closer at one of the pictures. Pure pleasure radiated from her face as if she’d achieved ecstasy in the monster’s touch.

  Incubi have special powers. Between their Charm that made saying no almost impossible and their magical sex that was more addictive than heroin, it wasn’t beyond the realm of possibility that poor Flora here was under his thrall.

  It didn’t make me feel any better. Thrall never lasted long. After, there was nothing but pain.

  The hairs on my neck stood up, and I had the distinct feeling of being watched. I turned, catching my reflection in the mirror.

  I looked pale in the mirror, paler than usual. And scared, my green eyes as wide as one of those creepy dolls my dad collected.

  Nothing in front of me, nothing behind, and yet that feeling persisted, like an itch right in the spot on your back that you can never reach.

  I felt a presence behind me, close enough I could feel fire scorching my skin.

  No pain accompanied the heat. No stench of burning flesh.

  An illusion.

  A slender black specter appeared behind me like a scene from a horror movie, its graceful features almost feminine in nature. It was close enough to do some real damage with the claws on the hand it extended in my direction. Before I could react, its fingers gently moved my red hair over my shoulder, exposing my neck. Red eyes like hot coals stared at mine through the mirror, expressionless, like a robot.

  A single claw raked down my neck. I twitched, the movement tickling rather than inflicting pain.

  I pulled out Gladys, whipped around, and aimed for the stomach.

  It was gone before Gladys made contact, shifting to the opposite side of the room.

  “You are going to get yourself killed,” it said, no emotion in its girlish voice. I couldn’t tell if it was pissed at my attempt or amused.

  “I know how to use it,” I said defensively.

  “I meant your stab first, ask questions later attitude.”

  I sheathed Gladys. It-she?-was a fiend. My sword would be useless. Incorporeal, unless they chose not to be, and immortal even if you managed to do some damage, fiends were tough sons of bitches. They were also mostly harmless.

  Well, as harmless as a demon could be.

  I noticed a thin ring of silver around her neck marking her as owned.

  Fiends are highly coveted by the powerful. They were able to be invisible at whim and could phase through any locked door. Rumor said they had the ability to find anything or anyone.

  The only reason they didn’t rule Sheol was that they had zero motivation to.

  Their vice? Sloth. Lazy bastards. Never did anything they didn’t have to.

  “Did your master send you?” Maybe he’d changed his mind about helping me.

  She nodded, still staring at me. I shivered, the desire to flee strong. Fiends were creepy little shits.

  “Why did you try to touch me?” I wasn’t a fan of groping, especially from strangers.

  She cocked her head to the side, like a confused cocker spaniel. It was almost cute.

  “I wanted to see what makes you so special,” she said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

  Special? Who thought I was special?

  Something was off about this situation. I felt like I was being played.

  What had Killian said before? Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth?

  “Do you know where Flora is?” I asked going out on a limb.

  If she could find anyone, that would be a great help.

  “Yes.”

  Well, that was easy. “Why haven’t you said anything to your master?” He shouldn’t need me if he had this creature at his mercy.

  “He never asked.”

  My brow furrowed. Something was off. My neck itched. If Leab owned this fiend, why hadn’t he asked? He should know her abilities better than I. What had I gotten myself into?

  “Will you tell me where she is?” This was my only lead. Beggars can’t be choosers.

  “Yes.”

  A straightforward demon? What was the catch?

  “What do you want in exchange?”

  She floated over. Fiends have no legs, just billowy tendrils of smoke. I felt her heat again as she got closer, smelled the brimstone on her body.

  And apples. She smelled like apples. Only apples don’t grow in Sheol.

  Curious.

  I wanted to try and stab her again, even though I knew it would have no effect. I really didn’t like how close she was getting.

  She grabbed my hand and raised it to her throat. I trailed my fingers along the smooth metal around her neck. Cool to the touch but wrong as well. It emanated power. The power felt familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on where I’d felt it before.

  A powerful demon can capture and enslave a fiend with their magic, compelling the lesser demon to do its bidding. Most incubi are not that powerful. The fact that the master of the house controlled a fiend didn’t bode well. He was more than he seemed, that was for sure.

  Or I was wrong about who her master was.

  “What’s your name?”

  She pulled away. “Does it matter?”

  I shrugged. “Would be nice to know what to call you.”

  She didn’t say anything for a long minute, continuing to stare at me with her unblinking, blank eyes.

  “I have no name,” she said.

  Well, that was sad. “Fi, then. I’ll call you Fi.”

  She cocked her head to the side again, like she didn’t get it.

  “Cuz you know, you’re a fiend.” It wasn’t funny if I had to explain it.

  She looked unamused.

  No sense of humor, this one. “Where’s the girl? Close?

  “In an alley, six blocks from here. I will show you.”

  She phased through the wall, leaving me behind in the bedroom I’d sell my mother to have. Like I said, they’re lazy.

  No one stopped me as I walked out the front door. She was waiting for me outside.

  “What took so long?” she asked.

  I ignored her question and followed as she led us down the street, still crawling with demons. You can’t take two feet in Sheol without running into one.

  I didn’t trust that this creature wasn’t leading me into some trap at the behest of her master. But I followed, alert to my surroundings.

  She stopped and turned back to glance at me. Saying nothing, she disappeared, leaving me standing at the mouth of an ominous alley. I stared at the spot she was just at like a dumbfounded idiot.

  Quite rude, if you ask me.

  Fiends are a pain in the ass. A lesson I would learn many times over.

  Why anyone would want one is a mystery.

  Chapter 5

  I glanced down the inky black alley. I could have used a flashlight. Some demons could see in the dark without issue. I couldn’t. And I knew that I didn’t want to bump into whatever ugly was making this its home.

  A loud scream pierced the air. No one stopped what they were doing. Screams were so commonplace here that they probably didn’t even register the noise. I hoped I never became that deaf.

  My legs moved of their own volition. Keeping my hands extended in front of me, so I didn’t careen into anything too nasty, I rushed down the narrow, pitch-dark path.
/>   Measured grunts and flesh slapping against flesh stopped me in my tracks. What I had mistaken for cries of pain was nothing of the sort.

  My eyes adjusted to the lack of light, letting me make out two shadows rhythmically moving.

  The woman had her back pressed against the wood building, her fervent cries filling the air as her lover pounded her body without mercy.

  I couldn’t know for sure that Flora was the one on the receiving end of some demon’s meat stick. Could be a succubus whore just doing her job. Or two forbidden lovers with nowhere else to go.

  I almost felt sorry for interrupting.

  I pressed the tip of Gladys against the small of the thrusting demon’s back. He didn’t notice until she pierced his flesh. He stopped, and the woman moaned in frustration.

  “Mine,” he growled, keeping his hand gripped around his victim’s throat. A stab of ravenous hunger forced me to my knees.

  My body trembled as his magic assaulted my senses. Killian’s Charm earlier that day had been little more than a coy smile in comparison to the hammering of desire ripping through my body. I was on the edge of madness, satisfaction centimeters from my grasp. Just one pet and I’d explode.

  I couldn’t move, couldn’t alleviate the need, as the incubus began thrusting again even harder than before. Like now he had an audience, and he wanted to make sure I enjoyed the show.

  I needed to be handled, to be violated, to be taken with such force it would kill me. An envy stronger than I have ever felt strangled me. I hated the woman he pleasured. I wanted to tear her apart.

  I gagged as my mind rebelled against my body, as I struggled to regain myself. Tears came unbidden to my eyes, and I realized I was begging, whispering please over and over again as the incubus ignored me.

  The woman’s cries changed. No longer being consumed with pleasure, she gasped between what was quickly turning into sobs. I watched, helpless and shamefully horny, as he impossibly quickened the thrust of his hips.

  He was killing her. Feeding so deep that she’d be nothing but a husk at the end.

  Most incubi don’t kill. If they’re really that famished, they’ll take a harem over a single lover. Through the Charm, I could feel that this wasn’t about food. There was a darkness to his hunger, fury in his magic. He fucked to hurt, to destroy. And when he was done with her, I’d be next.

  Sweat covered my body, soaking my clothes. Heat licked along my bare arms like a lover’s teasing touch. I focused on the fire distracting me from the overpowering lust. It was Fi, or some other fiend, using their magic to dampen the effects of the incubus’ Charm.

  I regained enough of myself to move. This time I didn’t tally with foreplay. I drove the tip of my sword through the base of the asshole’s skull. His body convulsed as midnight rivulets of blood dripped down my blade. He slumped at my feet, like a folded up accordion. The consuming craving ended.

  I hurled up my breakfast.

  Once I regained control over my stomach, I went to the woman now curled in a ball crying. She was naked, and I had nothing I could offer to cover her up. I knelt, careful not to touch her. She was still high on the effects of his Charm and weak from his frenzy.

  “Flora?” I asked, somewhat hoping I was wrong.

  She looked up at me, and even in the darkness, I could see her pale blue eyes glowing. I lurched back, not wanting to be near. The incubus hadn’t been the only one feeding.

  “Who are you?” I whispered, afraid that she would hit me with her Charm.

  The succubus wrapped her arms around her body but stopped shaking. “How did you know my name?”

  Chapter 6

  Talking to a terrified succubus in the dark with no way of knowing if something was sneaking up on me was the least of my concerns. Still a concern, but I had bigger shit to worry about. Like how a missing slave is really a succubus. And what game the prosecutor was playing.

  Oh, and what the hell was I going to do with her?

  I needed to get her to talk. Easier said than done, especially since no words were coming to my throat.

  First thing first, we needed to get out of here, somewhere safe.

  “Can you stand?” I asked, standing myself and offering her my hand.

  She grabbed it. I lifted her to her feet.

  She smoothed her hair down and straightened her back, looking poised and proper.

  “Thank you,” she said, with as much dignity as she could muster after the ordeal she just went through.

  “This place isn’t the best for a chat. We should go.”

  She lifted her hand and cupped my cheek. I was getting pretty annoyed with people touching me. She stroked her thumb across down my cheek and over the sensitive skin of my mouth. Gentle tendrils of desire snaked through my body. This felt less like a violation and more like an invitation.

  I knew I shouldn’t be offended. She was weak and needed to feed.

  I shoved her hand from my face and backed up. “I’m not your lunch.”

  She withdrew and looked down. “My apologies. That was no way to thank you.”

  The back of my neck itched, and I turned expecting to see Fi. Which was stupid considering she is a black cloud in a dark alley.

  All that greeted me was darkness. Next time I saw the little fiend, I’d tell her thanks for saving my butt. It had to have been her. No other fiend would have wasted the effort.

  “Lead on,” I said. Her eyesight was better than mine. Plus I wanted to make sure nothing snuck up on us. Would be a pain to have to rescue her again.

  I kept a tight grip on Gladys as I followed her. I wouldn’t be able to relax until I was back in my office, safe behind a locked door.

  I let out a snort. Safe. What a lie. I’d just killed an incubus. If that came back on me, no locked door would save me.

  There was no such thing as self-defense in Sheol.

  We stepped out of the alley and back in the light of the busy street. Now I could see Flora in all her glory. The pictures of her did her no justice. The only word that came to mind was perfection.

  I’m not generally attracted to women. Don’t get me wrong. I can appreciate the delicate beauty of the female form. But the fact that she had this effect on me was unnerving.

  She noticed me watching and tried to reach out again. I maneuvered around her hand. This time she didn’t try to bamboozle me with her Charm. Instead, she laughed.

  I didn’t like being the butt of her joke. “If you’re hungry, I can take you to a McDonalds. I’m not a Big Mac.”

  “You’d enjoy it,” she said with a devilish smile. “Very much.”

  “And regret it in the morning. I’m not interested.” I softened my voice. “It’s not personal.”

  Her smile widened. It didn’t look like a friendly smile at all. “You belong to another?”

  “What? No. That’s not it.” Arrogant succubus. What did she think? That the only reason I didn’t want to be her snack is because of monogamy?

  Flora had attracted the attention of the other demons milling around the streets. Most eyed her with unbridled lust. The rest with hatred. Either way, we were in a bad situation.

  “We need to get out of here,” I said, eying the gathering crowd. I raised my blade chest level, just in case one of these douchebags tried anything.

  Flora ignored them, eyes still studying me. “I’m still at a disadvantage. I don’t even know your name.”

  Did she want to chat right now? With violence descending on our shoulders more greatly second by second?

  I needed to keep my focus on the threat around us, but I was unable to look away from her. “Flora, I need to get you home.”

  She narrowed her eyes, a flash of suspicion in her still glowing blue eyes. “I’m not going back.”

  I sighed. “No, my home.”

  She gave me a coy smile like I was a hare caught in her bunny trap. “I don’t go home with strangers.”

  Oh for fuck’s sake. “It’s Lex. Can we go now?”

  I glanced
around. Tension swallowing us like a whale had Jonah. We were still a spectacle, but none of the demons came closer. For now, they left us alone.

  Maybe it was Gladys, still dripping with fuckboy’s blood.

  “Lex what?”

  So there it was. She wanted to know my family affiliation. She was smarter than she looked.

  Then again so am I. “Trenton. Lex Trenton.”

  She nodded, accepting my words. She would have never heard of a Trenton. It was my human mother’s name.

  “Lead the way, Lex.”

  No one tried anything as we made our way to the closest waypoint.

  Once we were back in the mortal realm, I stopped feeling like I was going to throw up.

  “That was easier than I thought it’d be,” I muttered.

  Flora was still naked. Now I had to get her to my office before we were arrested for indecent exposure.

  “Your blade was dripping with blood, my dear. You might as well have ‘I kill demons for a living’ tattooed on your forehead.”

  I had meant it’d been too easy to find her, but it was also a surprise none of the demons tried their luck. “You think they’re scared of a little blood?”

  She laughed. “Scared, no. Just lazy. You look like too much effort.”

  “At least I’m not easy,” I mumbled under my breath.

  Chapter 7

  Fifteen minutes later we were back in my office.

  Flora had been mesmerized by everything, the people, the stinky alley, the full moon hanging in the sky.

  It was like watching a two-year-old discover play dough for the first time. Her excitement was palpable, and for the first time since I’d met her a half an hour ago, I didn’t think of sex when I looked at her.

  We got plenty of stares on the way. Humans weren’t used to seeing a beautiful naked woman cruising down the streets.

  Flora was wearing some of my clothes. Since she was both taller than me and much thinner, they looked ridiculous. The yoga pants that fit me like a glove (and made my ass look fantastic) looked like the parachute pants MC Hammer wore during “You Can’t Touch This.” My tank top looked like a sports bra straining to contain her large assets.