by Randi Darren
Tiffany nodded quickly.
“Of course. Sure. Yeah,” she said, opening the door and getting out.
“I’ve never seen her so quick to please someone,” Wren said. “She normally fights, attacks, or kills anyone in her way.”
“Didn’t give her much choice,” Sam said. “Her mind was incredibly strong, though. She’s acting the part of a very loyal beta right now.”
“Yes. She’s the single strongest and scariest Were I’ve met,” Wren said. “I always lose in our spars.”
Nodding at that, Sam didn’t respond. He sighed and then leaned to one side, resting his head on the glass of the window.
“I don’t have an apartment here, so we can go once I finish up my job,” Wren said.
“Oh, that’s right. You’re a hitman,” Jes said. “Do you primarily take jobs for other criminals, or…?”
“Both criminals and normal people,” Wren said. “Job is a job.”
“No more of those types of contracts,” Jes said firmly. “As long as you’re mine, you’ll only be going for criminals. We’ll be a force for good. Or at least as good as I can make it.”
Snickering to himself, Sam couldn’t help but wonder how in the world he’d gotten saddled with a Goody Two-shoes for a Succubus.
“Okay,” Wren said. “My last contract isn’t very hard. Once I finish it, I’ll run them by you going forward.”
“That’d be grand. Thank you, Wren,” Jes said. “What was your last contract?”
“I need to eliminate a witness. I was going to take care of it tomorrow, but I can do it tonight,” Wren said.
“Lovely. After that, we can head back, finish the contract, and go home,” Jes said. “Irma will be happy to meet you and Tiffany.”
“Irma?” Wren asked.
“Oh, Irma is Sam’s First Imp. He’s a planar lord,” Jes said.
“You… he… you’re a planar lady, I thought,” Wren said.
“I am,” Jes agreed.
“And he’s a planar lord?” Wren asked.
“He is. He’s my partner,” Jes said.
“You’re both planar lords, and you’re working together?” Wren said.
“Yes,” Sam said, butting in. “And yes, I know it’s strange. But Jes is… different.”
“They say a planar lord is usually as strong as they are old… How old are you?” Wren asked.
“I had sex with cavewomen,” Sam said. He was somewhat bored, but the conversation wasn’t terrible.
“A week, I think?” Jes said.
“I… I don’t… okay. Okay. I’m… okay. Yes,” Wren said. “Cavewomen. A week.”
Sam imagined she was having difficulties with the idea of his age. Cambion were creatures bred for a purpose.
Breeding and fighting.
He didn’t need to peek into her head to know she was probably grappling with the compulsion to get pregnant with his child immediately.
Poor creatures. It’s a wonder how the lord of the Angels allowed such a thing. It isn’t as if the Demon Lord has been around.
Even the majority of his armies fled with him.
“Do we have to kill the witness?” Jes asked.
“I need to complete my contract. It was given to me by Marin—that’s the Vampire in control of the den in Saint Anthony,” Wren said. “That or get her to remove the contract. I can’t afford to just break it.”
“Why not?” Jes asked.
“Because if I fail the contract, they’ll probably go after my family,” Wren said. “You asked me to sign on with you, and I did. I’m asking you to respect this so I can protect them.”
“That’s fine, I’m sorry. I was just curious,” Jes said. “Where’s this witness then?”
“Outside of the city. She lives alone with her two daughters,” Wren said. “She’s apparently a witness to something Marin did. Don’t know the details. I just know Marin wants her gone. I have the address in my pack in the back.
“Shouldn’t take long to drive out to her place and dust her.”
Sam sighed and closed his eyes. He already had a deep suspicion of who Wren was supposed to kill.
“Is her name Alison?” Sam asked, lifting his head up and looking at Wren in the rear-view mirror.
“Huh? Uh… I can’t remember. Let me look.” Wren turned around to her pack in the back of the SUV.
She started to go through it, looking for whatever instructions she’d been given.
“You think it is?” Jes asked.
“I do,” Sam said. “Because that’s just my luck so far on this one. And I can’t seem to shake it.”
“Ah, got it,” Wren said. “And… yes. Her name’s Alison. Lives out of the city, two daughters, only a kill contract on Alison. The girls can live.
“Which is the only reason I was willing to take the contract. I don’t kill children.”
Sam closed his eyes again and laid his head back into his hand. He didn’t want to think about this anymore.
The amount of work he was putting into this contract was far in excess of what he was collecting from Alison.
Damn Abigail. Damn Alisa.
Stupid… stupid me. I’m such an idiot.
The door opened and then shut.
“All done. They’re dispersing. Apparently they’re going to head out west to the coast,” Tiffany said. “Apparently they didn’t want to stick around any longer than they had to. They were pretty damn happy to go.”
“You smell like blood,” Wren said.
“Well, most of them were pretty damn happy. One of them wanted to fight me for leadership, so I killed him. After that, they all took off,” Tiffany said. “No muss, no fuss.”
“Great,” Sam said, not opening his eyes. “Because we apparently have another problem. Though it’s not exactly a new one.
“Wren here is contracted to kill my client. So now I need to go find this vampire… What was her name again?”
“Marin,” Wren said.
“Yeah, Marin,” Tiffany agreed.
“Marin the vampire. Cute.
“Right, so, find Marin and pull her head off or glamour her into the ground. Because there’s no end to my misery on this contract,” Sam said. “If this were any other woman and not the blood of Alisa, I’d have her paying me with her body for days on end. Daily at the least for an entire year. This is just… this is just too much.”
“Hm. Let’s call Alison and see what she knows. Then maybe call Irma and see if she has anything to add,” Jes said. “Back to Tiffany’s place?”
“Sure. I don’t have a better plan,” Sam said, then put the SUV in reverse. “Your plan it is. We’ll have Wren a few more time, figure out dinner for them, call Alison and Irma, and go from there.”
“Have me again?” Wren asked.
“Uh huh,” Jes said, leaning over to kiss Wren’s cheek. “Probably three or four times a day till we’re tired of eating from you. Then we’ll move to Tiffany, and then you can alternate back and forth.”
Wren only nodded her head, not making eye contact with Sam.
Poor Cambion. Her instincts are probably driving her wild.
Ah well, off we go.
Seventeen - Empty Net -
Sighing, Sam picked up Tiffany’s phone and then began to tap in Alison’s number.
It started ringing at the same time Sam turned to look at the three women in the living room.
Jes was grilling both of her new mercenaries for information. It sounded like she was trying to get what they were good at out of them.
Mission planning, I guess.
Seems like work.
“Hello?” asked Alison on the line.
“Hey, it’s me,” Sam said.
“Oh, hello. Is… is it all done then?” she asked.
“Almost. Ran into a new problem. Did your ex ever mention a lady by the name of Marin?” Sam asked.
“Mar… oh, oh, yes. I—he did. I met her once… She was with a young lady. Tom needed to talk to her about something,”
Alison said. “She seemed rather angry about him showing up. I just figured it was something for work and… and didn’t think anything more of it.”
“Right… hm. The young lady she was with, didn’t recognize her or anything?” Sam asked.
“No,” Alison said.
“Could you describe her?” Sam asked.
Jes had moved on from asking questions of both of them to opening a portal straight to Sam’s personal plane. The two women were looking through to the other side and seemed amazed at all they saw.
“Not really. I only saw her for a moment,” Alison said.
“…a damn castle,” Tiffany said, pointing off into the distance.
“Sounds like whoever you saw her with, you weren’t supposed to. Marin has a contract out on you. She wants you dead,” Sam said. “Which means I need to go even further on this deal and get rid of her next.
“You wouldn’t exactly keep the claim on your house if you were dead.”
“Oh heavens, Tom. What’d you do to us?” Alison muttered. It sounded like she was having a rather hard time of it right now.
“He did what he felt he had to, and screwed up,” Sam said. “Personally, I don’t think I’d be able to get into such a risky venture with a child involved, but I’m not exactly human.”
“Yeah… yeah. Alright. Do you… do you need me to do something? Do I need to… to pay you more, or… I don’t know,” Alison said. “What do I do?”
Sam pressed a hand to his forehead and somehow managed to reign himself in. “No. I agreed to this at the price set. I’ll finish it at the price set. It’s just unfortunate, I guess.”
“Thank you, Sameerixis,” Alison said. When she said his name like that, it sounded a lot like Alisa.
Unnervingly so.
“Right. Anyways. Gotta go,” Sam said. “If someone shows up at the house, don’t answer the door. If anything, hide. Do you have a gun?”
“Yes. A shotgun,” Alison said.
“Good. Load it, keep it handy. Just in case. Maybe send the girls to a sleep-over or a relative. Anyways, I’ll try to get this wrapped up today as quickly as possible,” Sam said.
“Okay, I understand. Thank you. Bye for now, Sam,” Alison said and then hung up the phone.
Sam looked back to the living room.
“All set,” he said, meeting Jes’s eyes.
“Good,” Jes said. “Tiffany, can you get yourself and Wren dinner? Sam and I are going to eat real quick while you get that going.”
Tiffany looked slightly unnerved, but she nodded.
“Alright,” said the small Were.
“Great. Come on, Wren. Time for another set. We’ll go again when we get home, and then maybe again just before bed,” Jes said, taking the Cambion by the hand and leading her out toward the guest bedroom.
“I-I-I… okay. Yes. Okay. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much sex before,” Wren said.
“You’ll get used to it, I promise,” Jes said, leading her into the hallway.
Sam followed with a smile and caught Tiffany staring at him.
“Be eating you later,” he said with a nod of his head to her before leaving with his partner and Wren.
***
Staring up at the fanciful entrance, Sam wanted to just break into Marin’s apartment and get her in her sleep.
He could hear a deep thumping coming from inside, and he already knew it would be impossible to hear anything in there.
Had to be a night club.
How absolutely cliché.
Then again, I suppose a vampire could flourish in a place like this.
Dark, loud, a lot of people looking for sex in the wrong way—or acceptance.
If you own the club, run it with feeding in mind, and give people special privileges, like… say a backroom party to separate people you’re interested in out of the crowd.
Hm.
I suppose I could make it work. But then again, I don’t really need to.
Wren and Tiffany were waiting in the SUV.
Jes and Sam had both felt it would be too revealing to have the two of them coming along. It might even spook Marin.
They needed to catch the vampire alone. From there, Sam would glamour her brain to mush.
If that failed, he’d just crush her skull with his Essence and then plane jump to Alison’s house.
That option was a last resort, though, as it would take a rather large expenditure of Essence.
And any loss of Essence that could be avoided was key right now.
There were a lot of things Sam would rather spend it on, even going so far as to improve his plane.
Like bringing over hundreds of humans and letting them live on the plane, all feeding me with their lives and deaths.
I’ll not get caught again without a backup.
I wonder if I can create a sort of naturalist colony, one that’s dedicated to non-carbon emission and green technology.
Hm.
“…can’t let you in,” a man said calmly to a group of people standing at the front of the night club.
The man in front of the group made some comment and walked away.
Shaking his head, the man who was clearly a bouncer folded his hands in front of him and went back to standing guard.
Glancing down at himself, Sam felt prepared. He was a bit more dressed up than usual, in a tight-fitting dark polo and slacks with designer shoes. It was all part of the plan.
Jes was next to him in what he could barely describe as a dress; it felt more like a strip of cloth sewn into a tube that went from her breasts to her hips.
Standing side by side, he was sure they would get everyone’s attention.
“I’m sorry I ca— Uh…” the bouncer stopped dead when he looked at Sam and Jes head on.
“What are you sorry for?” Jes asked, giving him a wide smile.
Sam smiled at the man as well, waiting for any type of response.
“That, uh… Sorry, I didn’t catch your names,” the man recovered.
“I’m Jes, and this is Sam,” Jes said, touching Sam’s arm. “Can we go in?”
“Course, uh, sure, yeah,” said the bouncer, looking incredibly flustered. He grabbed the gate and hurriedly pulled it open. “Go on in. Welcome to Vermilion.”
Smiling, the two sex demons walked past the man, and it was only then that Sam realized the bouncer had been staring hard at Sam.
Sorry, friend, I don’t go that way.
Though I’ll wish for everyone’s personal enjoyment and your happiness as well.
Sam and Jes walked arm in arm through the door and came into a small antechamber-like room, then proceeded directly into the club.
Sam felt like he’d been struck physically in the chest with how heavy and hard the music was pounding.
Jes said something with a small frown on her face, and it was obvious to Sam that she felt the same way he did.
Shrugging his shoulders since he couldn’t hear her anyways, he kept moving inward.
Jes stayed near his side but didn’t seem to need to cling to him.
To be fair, any Succubus was at least several times stronger than a power lifter.
It paid to have a body that wasn’t mortal or truly physical.
Drifting through the press of bodies dancing to a beat that was too fast for Sam and far too loud, the pair made sure they were visible while viewing others.
They wanted to be seen by Marin, and hopefully she was in house right now.
Otherwise, it might be a long night of nursing drinks in a corner, looking standoffish while speaking to only a select few.
Jes pulled Sam’s head down and pressed her lips to his ear.
“Let’s get a private booth. That might make it easier for Marin to notice us,” she practically shouted in his ear.
Unable to fault her logic, Sam nodded. If they wanted to get noticed, that’d be a pretty good way of going about it.
Especially if Marin was paying attention to her club.
Je
s sauntered over to the bar with Sam in tow. He could feel the desire on everyone’s mind either for Sam or Jes or both of them as they moved through the crowd.
It wasn’t unexpected, of course; they were made to physically please and feed from others. If they weren’t attractive, they’d be pretty terrible at their existence.
Though he knew firsthand that he himself was one of the more handsome Incubi, and Jes was definitely an extremely well-put-together Succubus.
You know, this could be a terrible idea. I’m sure we could handle ourselves, but a crowd of humans is a problem for anyone… even the strongest would have issues with a crowd.
Bouncing up to a bartender, Jes tilted her head to one side, then shifted her weight to one hip and leaned forward.
The man had almost no chance against her, even before she glamoured him. Jes was quickly developing into a very talented Succubus. It was mildly infuriating at times to Sam. It’d taken him a long time to really come into his own power.
Sam felt only a whisper touch of power from Jes as she glamoured her way into getting a private booth and service.
All more than likely comped without a hint of payment offered. Standing there next to Jes, Sam continued to look around. With any luck, he could spot their target before she spotted them.
Then again, there was always the possibility they wouldn’t have any luck.
Marin might not even be here.
Keeping a cool and calm countenance, Sam tried a sardonic smile and kept his eyes moving.
Image was important with things like this. And right now, he had to keep to what he and Jes had agreed on. Two upper-echelon pretty people demeaning themselves to go to a club.
Let’s… hope she shows up.
***
Lounging against the sofa, Sam was done.
They’d been sitting in the club for a number of hours, entertained a number of attractive people they’d offered invitations to, and had a number of drinks brought over.
All at no charge, of course.
And yet Marin hadn’t shown, despite there being a number of Vampires having come and gone. A few had even come to check on Jes and Sam. Both as employees and just club-goers.
