“Let me have your hand.” The tone of his voice told me not to argue.
His hand wrapped around mine, firm and soft. My lady bits moistened.
My stomach clenched. My breathing came in short gasps, chest rising and falling beneath his intense gaze. I bit my bottom lip imagining the feel of his velvet lips on mine, his expert tongue delving deep, his firm grip tugging my head back as I surrendered to his need.
He pulled out his torture device and scribbled a phone number on my now sweaty palm.
The ink smeared.
“I thought I told you to turn off your Charm.”
He flashed me a devilish smile and leaned in close. He smelled like forests and sky, the salty sea, and something else I couldn’t put my finger on.
But not brimstone. Which should have been impossible. Sheol reeked of it, so every demon reeked of it. I usually had to take a few showers to get the stench off me anytime I returned from there.
“I’m not using it.”
Well, damn. Apparently, he affected me more than I wanted to admit.
I transferred the smudged numbers to a pad of paper. I should have just let him write it down on the paper first. I didn’t like the fact that when he said jump, I jumped.
I needed to get a grip before it got me killed.
“What happens if you’re not on Earth when I find her?”
Sheol didn’t have cell phone reception. Or telephones. A little behind the times. They’d tell you it was part of the curse bestowed by the angels, but really the infrastructure is a bitch to support.
And fiends weren’t the only demons that were lazy.
“I have business in this realm. I’ll be around.”
I snorted. Incubi only had one kind of business.
“Does that business have anything to do with lonely housewives?”
At this point, I had it up to here with incubi, succubi, and horny cambions. I was going to join a nunnery after this case.
He flashed a smile full of dirty promises. “Are you jealous? I suppose I could include the sexually repressed PIs of the world should they be so inclined.”
Why did everyone keep asking me if I was jealous? I ignored the ping in my stomach.
Incubus bad.
Maybe if I kept up that litany, my body would stop betraying me.
“No worries, Miss Trenton. I have my eye on something a bit more challenging than a housewife.”
His eyes said me, but he couldn’t mean me. “Good luck with that.”
“You could help.”
I rolled my eyes. This ought to be good. “How?”
“I could use a recommendation.” He licked his lips, then bit the bottom one. Slowly dragging his teeth over the plump flesh, his eyes roamed my body as if I was his slave. “Know anywhere good to eat?”
“Anywhere or anyone?”
“Offering?”
He just didn’t know when to give up, did he? “Not on your life.”
He gave me an elaborate bow meant for royalty and not a broke ass PI.
“Then I bid you adieu, Miss Trenton.” His smile softened, losing the seduction. In that instant, he seemed to transform from a pervert to a gentleman.
Why then did I ache even harder?
He reached down for my hand and pressed it to his lips. I shivered.
“Call me when you find her, or don’t find her.”
He left, leaving me staring after him like a dumbfounded idiot. Again.
Demons. Such a pain in the ass.
I regained my composure and went and opened the door to the back office to see how Flora was doing. No doubt she’d overheard that entire exchange. Maybe she had some ideas on what the heck we were going to do.
My room isn’t very big. The queen sized mattress with no box spring or frame took up more than half the space.
My sheets were a tangled mess, and images of Wes and Flora in the throes of incredible passion invaded my mind. Better flip the fucking mattress. I would rather sleep on a coffee stain than Wes’ unborn children.
Thinking about them was like ice water to my libido.
A single opened window and a broken lamp from the sixties completed the look of a broke loser. Flora would have stuck out like a sore thumb.
If she’d still been in the room.
Chapter 11
The mid-morning sun beat down on my shoulders. She could have been gone for hours. Shit. I should have checked on her or something.
I hadn’t expected she’d be dumb enough to run. Maybe Wes had scared her off.
The streets around me were empty. Odd for this time of day. A chill ran down my spine.
I had a bad feeling about this.
A coarse man’s voice reached my ears. “Well, ain’t you a pretty one. Can’t wait to see what’s inside of ya.”
My eyes snapped open, and I torpedoed my way toward the aggressor’s location. I had a hunch the pretty thing was Flora, and the aggressor wasn’t making a sexual come on.
I skidded to a stop. They weren’t hiding. Had I just jogged a few more blocks down the main street, I’d have found them.
A burly linebacker gripped a claymore that looked like it had a steroid problem. The metal of the blade gleamed, littered with handcrafted runes that emanated a gentle glow, not unlike Gladys.
Angelic runes. Shit. That could only mean one thing.
His friend, shorter but no less bulky, held a less impressive weapon. A large caliber Glock. Against a demon like Flora, it would barely tickle.
Flora was pressed against the stone building with a sign that proclaimed the best hot dogs in the state like that was something worth advertising.
The streets around them were empty. No one in their right mind would try and take on two sentinels.
I gripped Gladys’ hilt and held her in front of me. “Hey, dick heads. Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?”
They turned in my direction. I puffed out my chest and stood on my tip toes. I was still probably a foot shorter than beefcake.
I lifted my chin toward the bigger threat. “You know what they say about a man who has a sword the size of yours?”
The beast narrowed his eyes and hocked a wad of spit to the side as if I’d filled his mouth with a foul taste. “Let me guess. Something about overcompensation?”
I grinned. “The bigger their weapon, the dumber the weilder.”
He gave an unamused grunt. “Oh?”
“Yeah. See your friend there? He’s the one I’d have to worry about.” I cocked my head to the side, pretending to be studying them. “That is if he’d been smart enough not to bring a gun to a demon fight.”
“Bitch,” Tiny muttered, raising his cannon of a weapon and pulling the trigger.
I danced around the first shot, closing the distance between myself and the sentinels. His weapon would be slow, easy to get out of the way of the bullets.
But still, I had no chance of winning this fight. All I needed to do was get Flora and then get the hell out of Dodge.
All without getting shot or cleaved in half.
Massive swords, like this dickhead’s claymore, had incredible reach but were slow as fuck. I only had to get in close, and I’d be able to gut him without getting a scratch.
I continued my game of you can’t touch this, keeping the asshole’s attention on me.
Sentinels started life as a human but whatever transformed them into the super-powered freaks was a tightly held secret. They had the strength, speed, and recovery abilities to rival lesser demons. Oh and magic. Magic is a bitch.
Going toe to toe with a sentinel, especially for someone like me, was a death wish.
Usually. These two were making the whole outfit look incompetent.
Sentinels are considered the peacekeepers of the human realm. They took care of the threats the mundane police couldn’t.
In reality, they were just licensed killers. Demons weren’t allowed a trial or the benefit of the doubt. They were assassinated on sight.
Th
e only demons that ventured into the mortal realm had some illusion to protect them. Like incubi and succubi.
I couldn’t help but wonder what Flora had done to attract their attention.
Not that I was safe either. Cambions weren’t looked upon too well. But at least we had some rights. They weren’t supposed to kill us on sight. We were allowed to live our lives, just away from the good people, stuck in slums, kept apart. Equal but separate.
Yeah, right.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Flora walk down the closest alley. If she were smart, she’d go back to my office where it was safe.
I didn’t have a good feeling about that, though.
Making sure Flora got away distracted me and one of Dickhead Two’s bullets grazed my upper arm. I winced and growled. Being a big enough pain the ass so that Flora could get away was the easy part.
Now I had to figure out how to lose these losers before the Stormtrooper’s aim improved.
I circled, still dodging bullets like Neo from the Matrix and staying two steps ahead of the blundering idiot with the sword that he was clearly overcompensating with.
I don’t have supernatural speed or anything. They were just really bad at this. Newbs then. Guess it was my lucky day.
“Shit, dude. Where’s the fucking demon?” the big one said.
“Go find her,” Tiny ordered. “I’ll take care of Miss Can’t-Keep-Her-Nose-Out-of-Our-Shit.”
The giant turned and bumbled in the wrong direction. I didn’t correct him.
Tweedle dumb down, tweedle dee to go. By my count, he was down to three shots.
“It’s just you and me, sexy,” I purred. “Why don’t you put down that gun and we can get all close and personal?”
He faltered. “Why you sticking your neck out for some demon? You Charmed?”
Charm didn’t work like that. A sentinel should have known that.
“What can I say? I could never say no to a pretty face.”
I lunged forward, taking him by surprise.
Three.
One on one was closer to a fair fight, not that I would kill the sentinel. The hellfire that would rain down on my head would engulf everything around me, including Wes.
The sentinels were vindictive fucks. They wouldn’t stop until they had someone in a noose. They took care of their own.
I swept low, aiming to cut him off at the legs so I could run away. He dodged. Faster than a speeding bullet, this one.
Two.
I continued my assault, but this time he was the ballerina. I didn’t even get a scratch on him.
One.
He pulled the trigger over and over, only getting a loud click each time. Dumbass should have been counting his shots like I had.
Sweat rolled down my forehead and into my eyes, blurring my vision. If I didn’t get away soon, his partner would be back to screw me with his giant stick.
With his gun out of bullets, and no other weapon visible, I could lose him if I was fast enough. I feinted to the left, then spun and sprinted away to the right.
The fireball missed my head by a scant inch.
The heat from the flame scorched the top of my head, and the smell of burning hair filled my nose. If I was lucky, he only had one of those up his sleeve. It all depended on just who he’d used to power up his rune.
I risked looking back. Dickhead lobbed another blazing fireball at my head. I ducked, and it crashed into a tree, lighting it up like it was Christmas.
I turned down an alley and then took another right at its end onto a new street. I kept throwing looks over my shoulder as I ventured down yet another alley.
No one followed but being paranoid and all, I didn’t stop looking for a pursuer.
I should have been paying more attention to what was in front of me.
I crashed into the arms of every girl’s fantasy. Dickhead number uno. Before I could do more than think shit, he caged his arms around my body, squeezing me like a lost lover.
I brought my knee up to his groin, but Roid Rage only grinned in response.
“We all make sacrifices for the greater good,” he whispered.
What the hell did he mean by that? He had traded his balls for what exactly? Chills ran down my spine, and something in my back cracked as he tightened his grip.
“Found the bitch?” a voice said behind me.
Great. Both of them. Why the hell was I out here again? I should have been curled up in bed getting much-needed beauty sleep.
The smell of day old sweat and beer and ashes hit my nose. My throat tightened. My knees weakened. And I had the unmistakable desire to mount this bastard and ride him to ecstasy.
Well wasn’t that fucking grand.
Roid Rage’s grip on me loosened. His pupils were dilated, and he looked at me like he wanted to stick me good. Not with his sword, though. We dropped to our knees.
She blasted us with Charm, weakening us into whimpering slaves. I needed to tear my clothes off, be touched, touch, be consumed. Anyone would do. Anything. Just fucking touch me.
An orgasm ripped through my body, leaving me shaken and hollow. Tears streamed down my face as my body primed for another climax.
And still, the succubus fed.
It shouldn’t be possible. Charm didn’t work that way. Charm would make you beg, would make you sell your soul for one kiss, but demons can’t feed off Charm. Charm is their date rape drug. They still had to do the raping.
But still, Flora fed. She lit up the night, and our screams of pleasure turned to screams of pain.
“Stop. Please,” I begged, barely able to speak. “You’re killing me.”
She didn’t relent.
I glanced up and saw Flora in all her naked glory. She glowed like a firefly. Her arms were raised above her head, and I swear her feet didn’t even touch the ground.
She knelt at the big sentinel’s side, cupped his face in her hands, and closed her mouth over his.
He melted against her, unable to fight the hunger consuming his soul. His pathetic whimpers filled the night air, a lonely sound that pulled on the heartstrings.
I pitied him. I can’t say I’ve had my sexual energy sucked out of my body, and while most accounts said it was the most euphoric experience one can experience, what I witnessed in that dark alley was something else entirely.
I would never forget it.
His gaze caught mine as her lips traveled down his face. The desperation and terror in his eyes shook me to the core. Tears ran down his face, and he struggled to breathe.
This wasn’t euphoria. This was death.
His skin paled, his eyes shrunk in the back of his head and right before my eyes, she devoured every part of him, leaving him nothing but a husk.
She pulled away. His corpse hit the street with a thud. She looked at me, a smile on her blood red lips.
Shit, I was next.
Flora prowled toward me. She didn’t have to go far. Her soft hands caressed my cheeks. I pulled toward her, trying to bring my lips to hers. I would know oblivion in her love. I had never craved anything so much in my life.
Just as her lips brushed against mine, I plunged the tip of my blade through her gut.
Chapter 12
Flora’s face twisted, not in pain but anger. Her mask, the illusion all succubi wear to appeal to their prey, slipped, exposing the grotesque, demonic visage that was as effective as a cold shower on the libido. Charm broke. I could breathe and move again.
She lunged forward, elongated, pointed fangs dripping saliva. I lurched back, avoiding getting a love bite that would do severe damage. Her eyes glowed, and a small smile blossomed on her lips. This was fun for her.
At this point, I had no idea if the Flora I had known before was the same demon as the one in front of me. How much control did she still have? I raised Gladys, hoping it would be enough for her to back off.
Her smile widened.
She lunged again, but this time I didn’t try to flee. I stabbed forward, aiming for her hea
rt.
I missed.
She flew over my head. She hadn’t been aiming for me. The crash of bodies echoed down the alley.
A scream.
I turned. She had pounced on the other sentinel, her mouth tight around his throat, worrying the flesh like a hellhound.
The sentinel stopped screaming.
Stopped moving.
Stopped living.
Flora finished gnawing on him. She turned to look at me and my stomach dropped.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” I said, trying to sound as calm as I could in this fucked up situation. “I’m your friend.”
I kept Gladys just visible enough to show some fang but made no move to attack. Probably not bright, but I didn’t want to hurt her.
Killing her was the last resort.
She circled me like a lion stalking its prey, blood dripping down her pale chin.
Desire hit me like a sledgehammer.
I gritted my teeth, ignoring the pulses of need through my body. I pressed the pad of my thumb against the edge of Gladys’ glowing blade, slicing the tender flesh. I winced, but it accomplished what I needed it to. My mind cleared, the pain distracting me from her Charm.
“Please,” I whispered. “I’m your friend.”
Doubt flickered in her glowing orbs. She stopped circling and crept closer. It felt like we were trapped in slow motion. Terrified me, unable to do anything. Her, the hunter enjoying the thrill of the hunt.
She straddled my lap, pressing her breasts into my chest. She rubbed her body against mine like a cat in heat. Her blood, still flowing like milk and honey, burned my skin.
She pressed her forehead against mine.
“I hurt,” she mumbled.
She wanted to feed to heal. Flora hadn’t been in control before, but now she was grasping at her sanity, asking instead of taking.
I wrapped my arms around her shivering body, holding her like a mother does her babe. I stroked the silky strands of her black hair and whispered soothing words in her ear. Her Charm faded, allowing me true choice.
I couldn’t let her feed. I didn’t trust that she would stop. But she did need help.
“I know someone, but we need to go.” I didn’t know how long we had before more sentinels showed up. Someone had to have heard all that screaming.
Descent: A Trenton Investigations Novella Page 5
