Bad Angel

by JC Andrijeski

  She’d come in here to do it alone.

  She stood there, crying, facing the door, one hand on her forehead, the other on her heart, like she was trying to hold something in. Each breath was like a wracking effort, either from her trying to hold it back, or because some deeper part of her hurt.

  He stared at her, feeling that pain in his own chest grow unbearable. He bit his tongue, some part of him wanting to call out to her, to beg her to stop crying⏤

  He had no idea how long that went on.

  In the end, she brought herself slowly back under control.

  He saw it, like a physical, tangible thing, as she pulled it all back inside.

  She exhaled, an almost angry sound, and then, before he realized she intended to⏤

  She turned.

  She came to a dead stop.

  She stood there, staring, her eyes reflecting light from the skyline through the window.

  Dags realized she could see them.

  She could see him.

  Her eyes had adjusted to the dark.

  He glanced at the window in front of him, and realized the light from the street was falling right on him and the woman, Daphne, with the red hair, who lay on the table under him, who still had her hand on his cock.

  That light was falling right on his face.

  The shock of the other woman’s recognition hit at him like a blow.

  Then she sucked in a breath.

  Before he could recover, before he could say a word⏤

  She turned away from him, moving almost in a panic. She practically ran to the door, and began fumbling frantically with the handle.

  “Phoenix!”

  His voice came out loud, shockingly loud in the quiet room. It felt like he shouted it, blurting out her name, even as he held out a hand, standing up so quickly, he nearly knocked the other woman off the table.

  “Phoenix! Wait. Wait a minute, goddamn it⏤”

  But she’d gotten the door handle to work.

  She managed to make it work by then.

  He watched her twist it sideways, then jerk open the red-painted door. She opened it just enough to slip through the opening.

  He watched her disappear.

  Then she was gone, without once turning her head.

  Chapter 9

  Demon Convention

  He was still buttoning his shirt as he pushed his way through the red-painted door.

  He didn’t let himself think about how it looked.

  He stalked back into the main room of the indoor bar, looking for her even as he fumbled with the remaining buttons and button-holes along the front of his chest.

  He didn’t think about the fact that the shirt was untucked. He’d managed to re-fasten his pants and re-loop his belt buckle before he jerked the door open, but he still looked like what he was, an asshole who got caught fucking someone in a back room.

  He was scanning through faces in the crowd when someone grabbed his arm.

  Dags turned sharply, sliding into a near-fighting stance before he recognized the man standing there.

  Uri blinked at him, clearly taken-aback by whatever he saw in Dags’ face.

  The Russian held up his hands, a silent apology, taking a half-step back.

  “Sorry, man. I’ve been looking for you…” Uri trailed, looking Dags over for the first time, like he just realized his old pal from school was partly undressed. “Jesus. That’s where you were? Fucking someone in the bathroom?” He snorted. “You have changed.”

  Dags gave him an irritated look, but barely glanced at him before he was back to scanning faces in the room.

  “Who are you looking for?” Uri said, following his gaze. “She run out on you?” His expression brightened then, right before he looked back at Dags. “Hey! Did you see that movie star was in here? The smoking hot one… with that amazing ass. Phoenix. Phoenix X. I swear it was her. It looked exactly like her, and me and Jade just saw her new movie like three nights ago. I thought I must be hallucinating at first⏤”

  “Where?” Dags growled, tearing his eyes off the room to look at Uri. “Where did you see her? Was it just now?”

  “Upstairs,” Uri said, looking taken aback again, and now puzzled. “Well, on the stairs. And yes, just now. Minute or two ago maybe. She was going up when I was coming down. Then I got down here, and saw you…”

  He trailed, a dawning understanding blooming on his face and in his aura.

  “Jesus. You weren’t making out with her in some back room, were you? Doesn’t she have some famous, movie-star boyfriend? That guy who takes his shirt off in all those stupid romance movies? Karver-something? ‘Cause that dude’ll probably kick your ass, man.”

  Dags winced, fighting a sudden urge to snap at his friend.

  Clenching his jaw, he swallowed it.

  Staring down at his fingers, he finished with his shirt only to realize he’d missed a button, that the two sides of his shirt were misaligned.

  Unfastening the last four buttons, he redid them swiftly.

  He was just finishing up when Daphne walked up, glaring at him, her own shirt still half unbuttoned, her lipstick smeared, her skirt sitting off-kilter on her hips. Her eyes and expression held a mixture of fury and open disbelief.

  “Asshole,” she hissed, smacking him with her purse.

  Dags winced, jumping back a half-step in instinct.

  “Figures you’d have a hard-on for that cunt.” Daphne’s voice grew louder, even more furious, right before she hit him with her purse again. “Fucking men. Is there a single one of you that isn’t utter garbage?”

  Dags stared at her, unsure how to answer that.

  Her mouth twisted into an angry but weirdly smug smirk. “And color me surprised she’s a cheating whore. I mean, who could have possibly predicted that?”

  Dags flinched, but didn’t respond.

  So much for Daphne’s warm feelings towards him post demon-expulsion.

  He’d managed to annihilate the last of that feel-good glow.

  “Aren’t you going to defend your whore?” Daphne hissed. “Nothing? Really?”

  Dags felt his jaw harden, in spite of himself.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about⏤” he began in a growl.

  “Yeah.” She laughed humorlessly. “Sure. Well, good luck. I hope you both catch something.”

  Conscious of eyes on them now, of people staring as her voice carried across the bar, he stepped closer to her. The last thing he needed was her telling everyone in creation that he and Phoenix X were having an affair.

  “Just calm the fuck down, all right? I don’t know what you think happened, but⏤”

  Daphne barely seemed to hear him.

  “Whatever, Dags,” she said, making air quotes with her fingers. She folded her arms, still gripping the purse in one hand. “I just hope Karver finds out, and ditches that skanky cunt finally.” Glaring at him, she added, “Better hope he doesn’t find out, by the way. He’ll kick your ass. He’s a black belt, you know.”

  A scowl came to Dags’ lips.

  He couldn’t help it.

  When he only stared at her flatly, she hit him again, that time in the arm with her fist.

  Dags slid backwards and to the left before she could hit him again, but she was already turning away. Glaring at him a last time, she walked angrily away on high-heels.

  “Asshole!” she shot over her shoulder.

  Dags stared after her.

  It occurred to him, as she walked away, he could have made a really bad mistake.

  This really could get back to Karver, depending on who Daphne knew.

  Hollywood could be a surprisingly small town.

  “Damn.” Uri laughed, punching him lightly on the arm. “What the hell, Jourdain? I see you still have your knack with the ladies.” Grinning, he hooked a thumb in the direction of the retreating Daphne. “What have you been doing in here? I thought we were here to work… you know. Look for Jade. Not sleep with every crazy Hollywood chick
who passes by.”

  Dags winced at that, too.

  He felt Uri’s eyes on him as he continued to pull himself together. His friend watched as he finished tucking in his shirt, adjusting his belt. When he’d more or less finished, tugging on his sleeves under his coat, Uri spoke up again.

  That time, his voice had lost its humor.

  “We are here to look for Jade?” he said.

  Dags looked over at that, frowning, feeling that pain in his chest briefly return.

  He nodded to Uri, once.

  “Yes,” he said. “We are.”

  They went upstairs.

  Dags was reluctant at first, but he knew it was the better vantage point. According to the bartender, Simon, most of the club’s regulars hung out by the pool and the bamboo bar.

  They found a table on the northern side of the pool, and Dags told Uri to look for anyone he recognized from the night Jade disappeared, especially that guy, Alvin. Dags still had some hope the guy might show up here again, even if he was possessed by a demon.

  Most demons weren’t that bright.

  They also tended to not have a lot of impulse-control.

  Clubs, bars, and strip clubs were among their favorite hunting grounds.

  It struck Dags as a little too much of a coincidence that the woman, Daphne, just happened to hang out here, too. If Dags hadn’t been so fucked up from seeing Phoenix, he might have thought to ask her when she’d last been here.

  For all Dags knew, this was some kind of demon hangout.

  Which begged the question of what the hell Phoenix was doing here.

  Scowling at the thought, Dags glanced over at a cluster of wicker lounge chairs. The thirteen or so people who’d taken over that part of the deck were all talking over and under one another, drinking and laughing loudly. They were maybe fifteen yards from where Uri and Dags had found a table on the opposite side of the pool.

  Uri and Dags sat with their backs to the railing around the edge of the roof, almost directly across from the stairs. Their position gave them a near-perfect view of everyone who came up here.

  Not Phoenix, of course.

  Phoenix herself made sure of that.

  She’d seen Dags when he emerged from the stairs.

  Dags saw her stare right at him.

  Hell, knowing her, maybe she even felt him.

  Before he could make eye-contact long enough to convey anything, Phoenix stood up, turning her back to him deliberately. After Dags and Uri found their table, she moved again. Without looking at Dags for more than a heartbeat, she walked around two other lounge chairs, sitting so that her back aimed squarely at him.

  She faced the edge of the roof, and the view of Sunset Boulevard.

  Dags stared at her anyway.

  He stared until Uri nudged him, pointing to another part of the room.

  “Hey! That’s him,” Uri said.

  Dags turned, following Uri’s gaze towards a man who had just come up the stairs. He was blond, like Uri had said. He walked across the roof like he owned the place, wearing dark red pants, a black shirt, a dark red tie, a black jacket.

  “He looks different,” Uri said, frowning. “But that’s him. I remember his face. He’s the one who kept dancing with Jade. She knew him from somewhere. Work maybe.”

  Dags watched as “Alvin” made his way across the deck area by the pool, heading for the bamboo bar.

  “Jade knew him?” Dags said, still staring. “You didn’t say that before.”

  “I forgot.” Uri pulled out a cigarette, tapping the filter end nervously on the table. “But I remember now… when he went up to her, he said something. They were talking. I know Jade. I could tell she recognized him. Like she knew him, but maybe didn’t like him very much. Like she was trying to be nice, but also to get rid of him.”

  Dags frowned, leaning back in the deck chair.

  He folded his hands on his solar plexus as he watched the man lean on the bar, standing a few feet away from a flaming tiki torch. Alvin said something to the bartender, laughing as he pulled a wallet out of his back pocket.

  He didn’t look as desperate as Dags had imagined.

  He looked confident.

  Even laid back.

  “Yeah,” Uri said, almost like he heard Dags’ thoughts. His voice grew doubtful. “It’s him, but the vibe is all wrong. The guy I saw was wasted. Messy drunk. Loud. More stupid-acting. He wore an earring… diamond, maybe. This one, maybe it’s his twin brother. He’s like the brother who has some style, you know? Some class.”

  Dags felt his jaw harden.

  From what Simon told him, “Alvin” acted strangely that first night too. Had the demon been new to Alvin’s body then? Drunk off a kill?

  Or had he simply refined his approach?

  Dags needed to get closer to even verify the guy had a demon inside him.

  He also had to be careful; if he got made, things could get ugly, fast. The last thing he needed was a fight with a demon in the middle of a crowded club. For one thing, there were probably a hundred cell phones with cameras up here.

  Even that wasn’t the main reason, though.

  Demons had no problem at all with collateral damage, and the railing around the edge of the roof wasn’t that high.

  This was definitely not the place.

  He needed to find Jade. He refused to contemplate that she might be dead, not without something concrete. He flat-out wouldn’t go there. He told himself it was much more likely the demon gave her body to one of his demon pals to possess.

  He was about to rise to his feet, to walk closer to the bar, when Uri grabbed his arm.

  That time, he grabbed Dags so hard, his fingers hurt.

  “Jesus,” Uri said, sitting up straight, staring. “Jesus F. That’s Jade. That’s Jade.”

  Dags turned sharply.

  A woman in a micro-mini dress, pure white, wearing white, spiked, fuck-me pumps, left the area of the staircase and sauntered onto the pool deck with long, languid strides.

  It was definitely, unmistakably Jade.

  Five muscular men, all of them wearing expensive suits, trailed in her wake.

  Dags saw red irises flash on at least one of those men. Black and silver smoke coiled around and through their collective auras. Moreover, those auras seemed strangely entangled in Jade’s, like she was somehow the focal point of their little group.

  She smiled around at the stares she got, her mouth painted a pale pink, her deep black hair clean and long and hanging straight down her back. The dress was both low-cut in front and high-cut down below; her legs flashed out from under it, drawing the eyes of just about every male on the upper deck.

  “What the fuck…?” Uri muttered.

  He’d already risen to his feet.

  Dags grabbed his arm, pulling him back down to the deck chair. He held him there, his fingers iron around his friend’s muscle and bone.

  “Wait,” he muttered to Uri. “Something’s wrong. You know something’s wrong.”

  Uri looked at him, his face utterly astonished.

  “You think I am not going to go to her? It’s Jade, man! Don’t you see those goons around her? Let go of me, Jourdain⏤”

  “You need to trust me,” Dags growled.

  Dags turned his head, watching Jade make her way around the pool.

  He watched her face, then Alvin’s as the man turned from the bar to smile at her. Alvin focused on Jade alone, Dags noticed, ignoring the males escorting her. Leaning his elbows on the bamboo, Alvin waited for Jade to reach him.

  That time, Dags saw it in Alvin, too.

  He caught the flash of dark red in the ring of Alvin’s irises.

  He saw the smoke in the other male’s aura too, which resonated and vibrated at the same frequency as the demon-possessed humans who escorted Jade.

  Tearing his eyes off Alvin, off the transformed version of Jade and her strange demon escorts, Dags looked back at Uri, meeting his friend’s gaze directly.

  “I’m going to
have to handle this alone, Uri,” he said, blunt. “You should go. I’ll give you money for a cab⏤”

  “What?” Uri stared at him, even more wide-eyed. “No fucking way, man. I’m not leaving her here. There’s obviously something wrong with her!”

  “Exactly,” Dags cut in, holding up a hand. “There is something wrong with her. Which is why I need you to leave. I need you to trust me on this, Uri.”

  The Russian was staring at him though, his mouth hard.

  “You know,” Uri said, his words an accusation. “You know what’s wrong with her.”

  Dags hesitated.

  Then he nodded, reluctant.

  “I might,” he said.

  “You might? What the fuck is this, brother? What happened to her? Is it drugs? Hypnotism? Who are those fucks in the suits? Is this Alvin guy drugging and raping her?”

  “Closer to hypnotism,” Dags said, wincing a little at the last part, but choosing not to address it directly. “I’ve seen it before. It might be related to a case I worked recently.”

  “Is this that Hollywood Jack fuck?”

  Dags exhaled. “I honestly don’t know. To be perfectly frank, I don’t much care right now. The important thing is Jade. We need to get Jade away from them safely. That has to take priority, Uri. After that, well… if you still want me to, I can look into the rest of it. I can find out who they are. Get the police involved.”

  Uri opened his mouth, but Dags held up a hand, even as he lowered his voice.

  “Uri, I can’t take them in here. Not in the club. If I try, there’s a good chance they’ll get away. Or someone will get killed.” His voice turned grimmer. “Maybe Jade, Uri. Maybe you. I need to follow them out of here.”

  “Why?” Uri demanded. “Why, Dags?”

  Dags exhaled. “If we try to take her from here, there’s a good chance people will think we’re kidnapping her. If I’m right, it’s like she’s in a trance. She won’t know you. She won’t know me. She’ll probably fight us, or scream, if we try to take her by force. And it could cause that guy Alvin to run with her. We could lose her if that happens⏤”

  “But why would these fucks bring her back here?” Uri said, frowning. “That makes, like, zero sense, Jourdain. If it’s some kind of trafficking thing, wouldn’t they take her out of L.A.? What kind of moron brings her back to the club he took her from? That’s not how trafficking works, Dags. Believe me, I know⏤”