Beauty Bride 2

by Gen Phan

  "I mean, there's nothing really remarkable about you." She sneers at me. "You're human, you're weak, and you're way too sweet for him. What could you possibly have that makes you a better fit than me?"

  I stop and think for a second. "A better rack?"

  Her eyes narrow. "Lucky draw on the genetics card."

  I shrug. "A sense of empathy? A bigger brain? A soul?"

  She sneers against and waves her hand dismissively. "All things that prove your weakness. If you were a real queen of Hell, you'd be just a ruthless as Lucifer."

  My annoyance boils over. "You mean sink to your level? Pass."

  Her eyes shoot wide. "My level? I'm not the one following him around like a homeless dog begging for scraps."

  "At least I have enough spine to put Lilith in her place!" I counter.

  She pales for an instant, shocked that I've admitted having a strength she lacks. I smile to myself again. Latifah may hate me for marrying her crush, but there's not much she can do to his queen and a woman able to stand up to Lilith. I may be human, but I've got more balls than she'll ever have.

  Latifah recovers and dismisses my attack. "She's Lucifer's right-hand girl. She may not like you, but she can't do anything to harm you. Lucifer would go ballistic."

  "So you have the right to harm me, but Lilith doesn't? I'm sorry, but where exactly did you get that entitled thought?" I stare at her coldly. "I don't think Lucifer would appreciate it if either of you harmed me."

  "I'd be doing him a favor. Once his pesky little human is gone, he can look for a real queen." Her smile turns reptilian, and a shiver races up my spine.

  "A real queen? I hope you're not referring to yourself. If you were queen, this whole place would crumble within days." She's talking about supplanting me and taking my crown and husband. Now I'm pissed. "Besides, what makes you think Lucifer would even want you?"

  She glares at me, offended and confused. "Why wouldn't he?"

  I laugh softly. "Honey, he's spent the last few days with me. We've fucked on nearly every surface in that room, and we've even pierced each other." In a moment of brazen boldness, I pull open the sides of my robe and let her take a good look at Lucifer's attempt at marking his territory. "See? He's mine and I'm his. Deal with it."

  She pouts for a moment, and as I pull my robe back around me, I silently hope she's given up and waved her white flag. Instead, she lifts her head and glares at me, the corners of her mouth tilting into a cruel smile.

  "You're right," she purrs, "He does have you."

  Uh oh. This is going downhill fast. Back away! Back away!

  CHAPTER 51:

  She makes the first move and takes a step towards me. "So maybe, if I can't make him fall for me, I'll just use you."

  She reaches out and grabs my shoulder, jerking me forward. Before I can pull way, her hand slides up to cup the back of my neck, holding me in place as she closes the distance between us and kisses me.

  My first instinct is to scream like a banshee and claw her face off, but as the kiss goes on, my head starts to swirl and my hands go numb. The room starts to spin, my knees give out and I can't breathe correctly. Latifah is falling with me, and the two of us collapse to the floor. She's got a death grip on me, but I can feel her fingers slip a bit. My entire body is numb, and I lose the ability to think completely.

  I take one last breathe before the world goes dark and I hit the floor.

  My head aches. My body still feels numb. My thoughts are jumbled. And I'm still starving.

  What the fuck just happened?

  I groan and gingerly push myself up from the floor, looking around to survey the damage. There's no massive crater in the wall or burn marks streaking up the marble, but Latifah is gone and I'm reeling from whatever magic trick she pulled on me.

  Get up. Find Lucifer.

  I nod and crack my finger, trying to rid my hands of the numbness. It works, so I roll my wrists and ankles, hoping to gain back enough strength so I can walk again. The pins and needles fade away, and I smile. I can get going and figure out just what the hell happened to me.

  Alright, time to get your ass in gear and find Lucifer.

  Nodding to myself, I push against the cool stone floor, using every ounce of my strength to try to stand. I fail and crumple to the floor again, panting. I'm not ready to move yet, so I sit down and rest for a bit until my body has recharged enough so that I can move. In the meantime, I sit back and listen to the screaming souls again, relieved to know I'm not completely alone in my misery and confusion.

  I look up for an instant and freeze. Before me is a small puddle of rainwater that's seeped down through the cracks and pooled on the marble floor. In the puddle is a reflection of Latifah, her red hair a mess and her yellow eyes bewildered. She stares back at me, looking as confused as I feel.

  What the fuck?

  I reach up to cup my aching head and freeze again. Latifah moves when I move, the reflection showing a mirror image of what I'm doing. Dread pooling in my gut, I reach up and trace my lips, watching as the reflection copies me perfectly.

  I scream and scramble backwards, pressing my back against the wall. My breathing is panicked, my heart bursting from my chest. I'm Latifah! How the fuck did this happen!

  ...So maybe, if I can't make him fall for me, I'll just use you...

  I think back to her numbing kiss. She must have used her evil bitch power to switch bodies with me. She has my body and I have hers, which means she can finally accomplish her goal of having Lucifer. With my body, he'll never know she and I have switched and that the woman he's with isn't me.

  Tears sting my eyes. No, no this can't happen. We were just starting to break ground with him, just beginning to open him up. And I was just starting to actually love him. I can't lose him now, not yet. Not to her.

  As much as I want to cry and scream and yell, I can't. That will just do more harm than good. Forcing my natural instincts down, I shake off the despair and pain, focusing my mind on anger. Crying about it won't fix the problem. I need to find Lucifer and explain what's happened, then find Latifah and get my body back.

  Gathering my strength again, I shakily haul myself to my feet and pull my now red hair away from my face. I glare down the massive corridor, knowing that's exactly where Latifah has gone. I take a tentative step forward, then another, slowly but surely making my way toward my bedroom. I swear once I find that woman, I am going to tear her head off with my bare hands and serve it on a silver platter.

  The screams fade away as my mind slows down and focuses on my goal. My sights are set. I'm going to find Lucifer. I'm going to tell him what happened. And I'm going to find Latifah and get my body back.

  And this time...I am gonna kill Bill.

  CHAPTER 52:

  That bitch. I'm going to fucking kill her.

  I make my way down the main hall as quietly as I can, ducking into the shadows at the slightest noise. I may be raging out of my mind, but I'm still in Latifah's disgusting body. No demon will know I'm really their queen and may question why a simple succubus is wandering the main hall unaided. That bitch knew exactly what she was doing: switching bodies with me gave her all the power she wanted and left me to navigate a demonic world alone.

  I hate that woman.

  I continue to skittishly walk down the hall, determined to stop her from taking over my life. Knowing Latifah, once she solidifies her new bond with Lucifer, she'll make up some stupid excuse to have me killed. I'll never bother her again and she'll have my husband all to herself without him ever finding out. She's an evil bitch, but a crafty one.

  There's a sudden burst of noises behind me, signaling a new flood of demons entering the hall. I panic and dart to the side, squeezing into an enormous crack in the wall so I can hide. I stay completely still, hoping that no one will notice. Seconds later the hall fills with demons, all of them caught up in their own lives and oblivious to the world around them. Thankfully, I've squeezed myself far enough into the crack that I'm completely hid
den by the shadows and out of sight. I'm safe for now. I just have to wait until the crowd dissipates and I can move on.

  I watch the crowd silently, waiting impatiently for them to leave. After three minutes the hall's still jammed and I'm getting antsy. The longer I wait here, the closer Latifah gets to stealing my husband away. I shift on my feet, anxious to get out of thus crack and rip that woman's head off.

  A soft tap on my shoulder nearly breaks my vow of silence. I spin around and stare into the darkness, barely able to slap my hand over my mouth in time to stifle my scream. The sconces out in the hall cast a few flickering strands on light into my hiding place, illuminating an enormous bisected abdomen and eight long, slender legs dangling above me in the shadows.

  I nearly faint. I hate, absolutely loathe spiders. They're disgusting, evil creatures that bite and crawl uninvited around my house. And now, there's one the size of a Volkswagen Bug hanging a few feet above me. This is Hell.

  "Easy now." A deep, rumbling voice cascades down from the creature. "Believe me, my dear, the last thing I want is to harm you."

  Slowly, the eight legs start to move, crawling down the wall and carrying the spider's massive bulk with them. As it descends, I can see startling patterns of red, blue, green and gold hair swirling around the abdomen. They're quite beautiful, but I shake my head and remind myself that this thing is still a spider. Pretty as it is, it's still horrifying.

  Finally, it crawls down the last few feet of the wall and turns to stare at me. Eight black eyes pierce through the darkness and watch me. A monstrous mouth with dozens of toothed parts move silently, and thin lines of saliva drip from two main fangs. My stomach twists itself so tight it almost bursts, and I let out a soft whimper.

  First Latifah steals my body, and now a spider is going to eat me. I'm fucked.

  The spider raises one thing leg towards me. "Easy. I've told you I mean now harm, Lisa."

  The mention of my names stops my cycle of fear. How does it know I'm Lisa and not Latifah?

  "How...how do you-" my voice is shaky, but slightly relieved. Not everyone is fooled.

  There's a glimmer of a smile inside its eyes. "I saw the cause of your current misfortune. Luckily for you, I was crawling across the ceiling at the time of your argument with Lenya. I watched her switch forms with you and run off, while you remained unconscious on the floor. Had I been able to move faster, I would have taken you back to my children until we could decide what to do."

  Relief washes over my entire body. This spider, disgusting as it may be, is a witness to my predicament. I force down most of my fear, determined to have it help me. It may be the only hope I have of getting my body back and saving my husband.

  I swallow loudly and clear my throat. "And you would be..."

  The spider laughs. "Oh, of course. Forgive me. That was very rude of me not to introduce myself to the queen. I am Kerion."

  Kerion!

  Another bubble of relief rushes through me. Claire's friend, thank God! He's a spider, but a good one that's helped out another human before me. I'm definitely safe with this arachnid.

  I let out a soft sigh. "Thank God."

  "You're quite smart to have hid in here. If anyone had seen you, they'd have sent you back to the harems."

  I nod. "I didn't want anyone seeing me. I need to find Latifah and kill her."

  Kerion nods. "I understand. Truth be told, you're not the first person in hell to want her gone. That woman has been a thorn in nearly everyone's side."

  I cock my head, staring at him. "So why haven't they gotten rid of her."

  He sighs. "She's a wily one. Once she wants something, there's almost no stopping her. You're also not the first person she's switched bodes with to get out of a tight spot."

  I give a disgusted sigh. "So she's been a super-bitch from the get-go."1

  "Yes. She's always had a difficult time understanding where her station is. She's too ambitious for her own good."

  I steal a glance towards the hall. It's still packed, and I start to worry she's sleeping with my Lucifer as we speak.

  "What if she's already got him?" I wonder quietly.

  "She won't. Lucifer will be in meetings all day. We have a few hours to recruit help and get you back to normal."

  I look back at Kerion. "But what if she gets to him before we can?"

  "The good thing about Latifah is that she's a terrible actress. Lucifer may fall for her act of playing you for a few days, but she can't hold it for long. After three or four days, he'll notice the woman he's married to is acting strangely and investigate why."

  I stare at him. "She can't hold a character?"

  Kerion shakes his massive head. "Latifah's too self-centered and lazy to keep up an act for long. Besides, playing you will mean she'll have to change her entire attitude and pretend she cares about someone other than herself. A few days of that and she'll be barking orders like she always does. At that point, Lucifer will know something is wrong."

  That makes me feel a little better, but not enough to erase every fear I have. "What if, in the few days she can play him over, she orders my execution? She's walking around in my skin. There's nothing stopping her from trying to get rid of me once and for all."

  Kerion laughs again. "Smart girl, but you have nothing to worry about. While we are a ruthless bunch who live in a ruthless world, we do have a few bureaucratic roadblocks to jump over for anything drastic to be done."

  "Meaning?" My anxiety -- a happier, less frightened type -- sparks up again.

  "If Latifah were to order your execution to keep you out of the way, the decision would have to go through the Counsil first. Latifah's track record would have to include some very grievous charges to allow her execution. Although most find her annoying and snake-like, Latifah hasn't done nearly enough to warrant her death. That, and the process takes a minimum of a week to be cleared. By that time, Lucifer will have noticed his queen isn't completely normal and we will have had plenty of time to recruit help."

  I nearly collapse from relief. Even if she wanted to, Latifah couldn't just order me dead and move on. She'd have jump through a few flaming hoops first, and that would give Lucifer enough time to notice the flaws in her plan and allow me to seek him out and explain what happened.

  Hell? Yes? Completely unfair? Not really.

  CHAPTER 53:

  I look at Kerion again. "Once he did notice there's something wrong with me, do you think Lucifer would know where to look first?"

  He nods. "Lucifer's had a few demon women chase after him, but Latifah's been the most aggressive. If he ever though someone's messed with his queen, he'd chase her down first."

  My twisted gut has relaxed itself a bit. I've got a few safeguards on my side until I can get my body back, and Lucifer is far too intelligent to be fooled by Latifah's charade for very long. Once I catch her and get my old self back, I'll beat the shit out of her and toss her to Lucifer. But I have to hurry. Latifah must know I've awakened and figured out what happened. She knows I'm gunning for her, so she'll be trying to make the first move before I have a chance to kill her.

  Silently, I shudder to think what will happen to her once she's been found out.

  Behind me, Kerion sighs. "This isn't working. They should have left by now."

  He's right. The hall is still swarming with demons. It should be barren by now, but they're staying for some reason and it's making me nervous. I shift on my feet, my gut twisting in anticipation of being discovered.

  Kerion sighs again and inches forward, gently brushing against my arm as he crawls forward. "Come. We don't have time to wait for them to leave. There's obviously something keeping them here, and we'll never get your body back in time if we try to wait them out."

  I freeze and stare at him. "I have to go out there?"

  He nods. "I'm afraid so, your highness."

  On cue, my stomach completes another back flip. "But what if someone notices that I'm not..."

  He turns to look at me. There's a
smile in his eyes that clams me a bit. "Latifah might be overly-ambitious, but she's smart enough to know her place when the time comes. She's still in training to become a full-fledged temptress, and all training succubae hold their gazes down when walking through the halls. Until they graduate to the likes of Babylon's whore, they're not allowed to make eye contact with higher ranking demons."

  "Oh." I give a relieved sigh. If keeping my head down and my mouth shut will keep my alive, then that's a task I can easily accomplish.

  "Just keep your head down and speak only when spoken to. You'll be fine."

  Cautiously, he steps forward, barely stepping one slender leg into the mass of demons. He looks back at me and nods, ordering me to follow. I nod and take a deep breath, ducking my head and pulling an invisible zipper across my mouth. Kerion nods one last time and steps out into the crowded hall. I race after hum, bursting into the main corridor and instantly overcome by the noise.

  Everyone is talking, and I can't make heads or tails of who's saying what. I shake off my momentary confusion and step up behind Kerion as he makes his way down the hall. I stay right behind him, staring at the marble floor as I follow Kerion through the crowd. He's obviously got some respect in this world; the demons that see him coming step out of the way and smile at him. Their smiles fade to frowns when I pass by, but I'm relieved to know they're not angry at me. It's Latifah they hate -- I'm just wearing her skin.

  "Kerion," I risk a whisper. "Where are we going?"

  "To Lilith. She's the only one that can help us."

  I nearly screech to a halt. Lilith? She's going to help me? I hold back a burst of laughter. Lilith would never help me! She hates me too much to care about what happened with Latifah. With my luck, she probably planned the whole thing.

  I scowl at the ground, seething that we have to ask Lilith for help. I'm honestly a little upset with Kerion, even though I know he has my best interests at heart. I don't want to see Lilith. Once we tell her what happened, she'll probably laugh at me, or attack me or-