by Randi Darren
“I’m hungry, bored, and my ears hurt,” Jes said.
“Yeah, I’m pretty much the same,” Sam said. “Wanna get out of here?”
“Mmhmm. I do. Let’s go eat Wren, then go to bed,” Jes said, lifting her arms above her head and stretching in a quite fetching way. “I want to see you paint her face this time, though. I’ll just watch for a while. Then she can go down on me when she’s done with you. She needs to be used to really hit those high notes in her desires.”
Sam chuckled at that. “You just like bossing her around for me.”
“I do n—” Jes paused mid-sentence, then shrugged and let her arms fall back down. “I guess I do. I like bossing her around. Using her on you. Making her do what I want. I’m sure I’ll do the same to Tiffany.
“It… it isn’t the same as feeding from you, but I get a little bit out of them when I hit the right points in their head. Wren is especially easy. The need for her to carry a child is massive. Which means she really wants to please you. Couple that with being used by two demons, and she’s a puddle.”
“Poor, poor Cambion,” Sam said with a chuckle, getting up to his feet.
They quickly fled the night club, having nothing more to do and not wanting to wait any longer.
When they got outside, the line waiting at the door was significantly longer, and it was probably early in the morning.
Not waiting, Sam started walking back toward the SUV. They’d parked it in a garage nearby. A quick whammy on the attendant and they’d gotten a parking slip without a problem at all.
As they walked into the garage, Sam frowned.
He wasn’t the most situationally aware person in the world, but he could feel desire.
He’d be a terrible Incubus if he couldn’t.
“Oh, we seem to have an admirer,” Jes murmured, giving Sam a smile. “Shall we let Tiffany or Wren take care of them?”
“Probably best. I’d rather not use Essence,” Sam said honestly.
Jes nodded, and they kept walking back to their SUV. Thankfully, the parking lot was mostly empty by this point.
Tiffany and Wren would be likely to see whoever was following them long before they made it to the car.
“Hey,” called a feminine voice behind them.
Oh? They want to talk? That’s different.
“Hey yourself,” Sam called without turning to look.
Whoever it was had followed them out of the club. He wasn’t about to see who or what they wanted until he was closer to the SUV.
“I wanted to talk to you,” said the woman.
“About what?” Jes replied. “And which one of us?”
“Either one of you, since it was fairly obvious you were hoping to meet someone,” continued the woman. “From my point of view, it kinda seemed like you were hoping to meet Marin.
“Why else would you go to all that trouble just to sit there and look bored?”
Sam felt his eyebrows raise at that and turned his head partially to Jes.
She had a curious look on her face as well, but neither of them stopped walking.
“That’s a curious assumption,” Sam said. “Why would I want to meet this Marin?
“For all you know, we were waiting for someone who never showed up.”
“Because no one’s ever seen either of you in the Vermilion before. I asked around,” said the woman. “And no one as good looking as either of you would have gone unnoticed.”
Sam stopped next to the SUV and turned to face the woman who’d been following him.
It was a Vampire, curiously enough.
She was about medium height with an athletic figure, and definitely pretty. She had light green eyes and curly blond hair cut short. There was no lacking in beauty for this part of the Vampire race. They were often selected deliberately for their looks and little else.
They’d originally been chosen to be infiltrators—though in this timeline, in this place, that practice had died out.
Now, the rather large number of idiotic good-looking Vampires was often comparable to TV personalities at best.
“And why are you so curious about us?” Jes asked. She tilted her head to one side and took several steps to the left, putting the Vampire in a V between Sam and Jes.
The Vampire looked at Jes with a strange expression. She couldn’t seem to decide how to take the other woman’s action.
Then again, she probably didn’t realize Sam and Jes both knew exactly what she was.
Turning to Sam, the woman took in a quick breath and then let it out. “I’m Stacia. That’s my name. You seem to be looking for Marin, or that’s my guess.
“The problem is no one’s seen her since she gave a contract to a local hitman. With you showing up the way you did, it’s rather curious.”
“I’m deeply afraid you have the wrong idea,” Sam said, slowly walking away from the SUV. He and Jes put the vampire between themselves in a line. “And I think you might have possibly overestimated yourself.”
“I can take care of myself,” Stacia the vampire said. She sounded confident, but Sam had the impression she wasn’t really sure about that.
The SUV shifted and the doors popped open.
Out came Tiffany and Wren.
Tiffany was in her hybrid form, that strange mix of human genetics and a full Were body.
She was the same size she’d been previously, but she looked absolutely built. The muscles stood out under a light covering of fur, and her fingers had become claws. On top of that, her face had developed a muzzle. Her lips peeled back in a soundless snarl, displaying long, sharp teeth.
Wren shut the car door and flexed her hands, her eyes slowly growing lighter and lighter in color.
“Hello, Stacia,” she said, the red mist on her exhalation signaling her rising bloodlust.
“Wren?” Stacia asked, looking nervous. Her eyes flicked from Jes to Sam to Wren to Tiffany. “What…? No. You’re not just here for Marin for a meeting. You’re here to kill her.”
“Tch, well, that’s a shame,” Sam said, getting Stacia’s attention. “I can’t really let you run around with that kind of information in your head.
“So how about you just… stay still right there for me.”
Stacia became rooted to the spot as the glamour hit her.
“You’re… you’re not human. What are you?” she asked.
“Nothing you need concern yourself about,” Sam said, gazing into her eyes. He had her completely enthralled and under his dominion now. “Tell me, little Vampire. Why did you want to talk to us? And do you know where Marin is?”
“I wanted to talk to you because I want to be Marin,” Stacia said. “I don’t know where she is.”
“Do you perhaps have an idea of where she might be?” Sam asked.
“I think she’s hiding. Probably at a location she owns but doesn’t think anyone knows about. I’d probably start tracking her properties down,” Stacia said. Her tone was clear and her words precise, but it was obvious she wasn’t really there. His glamour was in full effect. “She’s not very bright. With so much heat coming down from everything, she vanished.”
“Mm. And that contract she put out on someone—do you know anything about that?” Sam asked.
Stacia nodded slightly, her green eyes wide and staring into Sam. “Marin had a high-schooler with her. Drained her and dropped her in the river some time ago. Body came back up recently, though. Made the news. The contract was on a witness.”
“Hmph, bad luck for Alison, I suppose,” Sam said with a shake of his head. “Alright. Let’s… wipe your memories and send you on your way, little Vampire. You’re still young; it’d be a shame to stomp you out.”
Sam smiled and then wiped her memories clear of the entire situation. He replaced them with the idea that she’d drunk from someone who was very stoned and she hadn’t known it.
Drinking from humans with certain medications running through their bloodstream was the only way for Vampires to experience a high.
> Slipping a simple “go back to work” command into her head, Sam motioned at the SUV.
“Everyone in the car. I’ll break my hold over her once we’re all out of sight,” he said.
The lovely Vampire began stumbling away from Sam and the SUV. She was following the command to go back to work, now having every memory of the situation cleared from her head.
Waiting until she was practically at the doors to the elevator, Sam broke his control over her and got into the car.
“That’d explain why we didn’t find Marin,” Jes said, turning in her seat toward Sam. She looked back to Wren and Tiffany and waved a hand at them. “No luck at all, in fact. Not even a hint of her being there.”
Wren nodded. “Okay.”
I do love how simple she is.
Tiffany looked bored and frustrated, her teeth flashing as she shook her head. “Damn Vamps. The whole world would be better without them.”
“Let’s call Irma,” Jes said, looking at Sam. “I think if anyone has the ability to figure out what properties Marin owned, it’s her. Maybe we should have Hillary join us, too.”
Not a terrible idea in either case.
“Right. Let’s do that,” Sam said. “Back to Tiffany’s. Call Irma, several rounds with Wren, sleep.”
“Good plan,” Tiffany said. “You forgot the part where we kill Marin.”
“Yes, and kill Marin,” Wren said, nodding her head.
Sam sighed. He wanted to do that, but it would be better to capture her.
Eighteen - Oil and Water -
Yawning, Sam rolled over.
Except there wasn’t much room to move.
The guest bedroom in Tiffany’s apartment only had a full-size bed in it. With him, Wren, and Jes all in it together, it was a sweaty, hot tangle of arms and legs.
It worked for sex, but sleeping was a bit more difficult.
Sam found himself face first in Wren’s armpit, one of her arms dangling around him loosely.
Carefully and as gently as possible, Sam pulled his legs out from Wren’s and then slid out from her grasp. Getting out of the bed, he flipped the covers up over her naked body and walked out into the living room.
Tiffany was awake, sitting on the couch and staring at her hands.
“Morning,” Sam said, walking to the phone. He was supposed to call Irma as soon as he woke up.
“Huh? Oh. Morning,” Tiffany said, looking up at him. Her eyes tracked down to his privates and back up.
“You alright?” Sam asked as he picked the phone up off the receiver.
“Yeah… yeah. Just… uh… just adjusting,” Tiffany said, shaking her head. “Just contemplating things. The cash advance Jes is paying us on the job is going to wipe out my debts. I’m going to be debt free. She said I could quit after two years, too. If I wanted.”
Sam thought on that as he dialed Irma’s phone number.
True. I was only going to kill her because she knew too much. After a year or two, it won’t matter anyways. She’ll be too deep to do anything.
And if she tries, Jes can just pull on her branding.
Just like Hillary, I suppose.
The line began to ring, and Sam pulled it up to his ear.
“That’s fair,” he said. “Nothing wrong with that line of thought.”
“Hello?” Irma mumbled on the other end of the line.
“Good morning, Irma,” Sam said, grinning at the sleepy sound in her voice.
“Uuuuugh. It’s way too early, Sammy,” Irma grumbled. “Do you even know the time?”
“No. I said I’d call when I woke up. I woke up,” Sam said. “So I’m calling.”
Tiffany started laughing from nearby. “It’s four in the morning. Your wife is probably pissed.”
“Who’s that?” Irma asked, having apparently heard Tiffany. “I’m not pissed, but I’m definitely not happy.”
“It’s Tiffany, the Were,” Sam said, looking at said woman. “I plan on taking a big, wet bite out of her in a few days. I think she’ll be extremely… flavorful.”
The Were blinked a few times at that statement, her cheeks coloring.
“Oh, stop it. You’re just trying to get a rise out of her. Stop playing with your food,” Irma said with a soft chuckle. “I couldn’t find anything on Marin, so I asked if Auntie could help. She said she couldn’t, but that she had a contact she could share with you.
“She’d consider it a debt; you’d have to give her something in equal trade later.”
“That’s fine. Contractors are just that way, though they’re not unreasonable,” Sam said. “Who’s her contact?”
“It’s Great-Uncle David,” Irma said. “I used to see him whenever we visited Auntie. We just called him Uncle Dave. He’s rather nice. Always gave me really nice dolls when I was a little girl.
“You have to be nice to him. Okay?”
“I can do that. Especially to someone who was kind to you as a child,” Sam said. “Your happiness is important to me.”
“Mmm. Thank you for saying that. I’m going to make sure to treat you when you get home,” Irma said. “Got a pen or a pencil? I’ll read you the address; then I’m going back to bed.”
“Yep, got one,” Sam said, pulling on the phone cord and moving several feet over to a pen and pad of paper.
This’ll be interesting.
Sam wrote down the address as Irma read it off, his mind partially distracted.
“Okay. I’m going to bed. I’ll call you if I get any info. Love you, Sammy,” Irma said, yawning.
“Yep, love you too. Sleep well,” Sam said, laying down the pen a moment before the line went dead.
“Do you?” Tiffany asked.
“Do I what?” Sam replied, putting the phone down on the receiver.
“Love her. That seems… beyond the normal expectations for an Incubus. That or I’ve been told a whole lot of lies,” Tiffany said.
Frowning, Sam thought on her question.
Truly, deeply, and seriously, he considered exactly what he’d just said to Irma.
“I suppose I do at that. I do far too much for her simply because I know it would make her happy,” Sam said. “I also go out of my way in fact to insure she gets what she wants. Against my own nature, I put her needs above my own at times.
“From my understanding of love, I do indeed love her.”
“Does the idea of her being with another man make your heart ache?” Tiffany prodded. “The idea of her leaving you leaves you with a cold dread?”
In the microcosm of a second that Sam considered Irma in the arms of another man, he felt a blinding bright rage come to life in his chest.
He snuffed it out as quick as it’d come on, surprised by its intensity. He was left with only a strange feeling of fear at the follow-up thought of her meeting someone else.
“I… I… yes. Yes,” Sam said. The feelings he was experiencing were uncomfortable to him. Uncomfortable and unnerving.
Tiffany was staring at him with wide eyes. As if he were a true demon.
Looking down at himself and then into a nearby mirror, Sam realized why.
He’d reverted to his original form. The form he’d been born into and hadn’t seen in the mirror for a while.
A very long while.
Horns came straight up from his temples into sharp points. His eyes were a black color with a red inner-glow. His wings were in full view, and his fingers ended in sharp claws. He looked very much like himself, just with a lot of demonic imagery.
“Oh. There’s a blast from the past,” Sam said, then removed all those features with a thought.
“I’m going to go wake up Wren and have breakfast,” he said. He could use a meal right now. Things weren’t what he expected them to be anymore.
***
Sam knocked on the door and folded his hands behind his back. There wasn’t much to do until “Uncle Dave” answered the door.
“It’s a beautiful apartment building,” Tiffany said from somewhere behind him.
/>
“I like the colors,” Wren said.
Jes wasn’t with them now. She’d stayed back at Tiffany’s apartment just in case Irma called with more information.
The door opened, and Sam found himself looking into a familiar face.
It was a middle-aged man, perhaps in his mid-thirties. Light brown hair and brown eyes with a bright blue ring around the pupils.
He looked like he’d just rolled out of bed.
“Ha,” Sam said with a grin. “You’re still kicking around?”
Glaring up at Sam, the man shook his head.
“Sameerixis Fidenis Xilin, why are you here, at this hour, at my doorstep?” said the man, using three of Sam’s eight names.
“Because Irma and Melody gave me your information,” Sam said with a grin. “Uncle Dave, huh? That’s a new one.”
Dave blinked owlishly, then sighed. “You’re Irma’s new boyfriend, aren’t you? Melody told me about you.
“Fine, come in. Come in.”
Dave flicked a hand over his shoulder after he turned back into his apartment.
Sam, Wren, and Tiffany entered after the man.
Sighing, Dave sat down in a tasteful and comfortable-looking couch.
“Are you at least being nice to Irma? You’ve had problems in the past with being nice,” Dave said.
“I’m being very nice to her. I’m apparently in love with her. It’s a new and enlightening experience,” Sam said, sitting down.
“Hmph, and who are these two? Were and a Cambion.” Dave gestured at the two women.
“Oh, they work for my partner. I just feed from them,” Sam said dismissively. If he didn’t have to bring them up to Dave, then he wouldn’t. There was nothing good to come from being known to this man.
Dave sighed again and looked at Sam. “Well? What is it?”
“Looking for a local Vamp. Marin. She put out a contract on a client. I’m just trying to make sure the woman doesn’t end up dead and can put her kids through college,” Sam said. Lying to Dave was a bad idea. He was one of the few entities probably older than Sam.
“Marin? Marin… Marin… Oh, that one,” Dave said. “She’s hiding out in a rental home. Just barely outside the city. It’s a Vampire den.
