by Eve Langlais
“What missing women?” Luc asked.
“The ones she was ordered to ask you about.” Elspeth shook her finger at Babette. “That’s not nice. You let me think you came back for me.”
“I would have anyhow. Probably.”
Elsie raised a brow.
“I would have come back because your mother told me to watch your butt.”
“Yet fear of Mama is not why you returned. You came to Luc’s castle to grill him,” Elspeth accused.
“Yes.” Caught, Babette no longer denied it, and Luc listened carefully to glean as much as he could from the strange conversation.
“You lied to me. And I didn’t even see it coming.” Elspeth shook her head. Then laughed. “I knew you’d make a good bestie for a reason. It’s not easy to fool me.”
However, Luc had obviously fooled her. She thought they were friends, and yet he would still plot the demise of her kind.
Eventually.
He’d have to master the demigod Internet first. And the microwave. Damned fire-breathing machine. They’d already had an encounter.
Luc hadn’t won. In his defense, it was his first time. He’d thought it would be easy. He’d seen the machine used on the moving picture box. It seemed simple enough. He threw a lovely can with the red saucy noodles into its depths. Then he keyed in a sequence of beeping symbols and watched the light come on, and the carousel turn. The sparking inside proved exciting. The explosion after, rather unexpected. Worst part? The noodles were ruined, and it was the last can.
“Given you’re now treating Luc as a suspect, I guess we can’t use his castle as a base of operation.” Elspeth tapped her lower lip.
A full lip. A suckable lip. He blinked and looked away.
“We’re still staying here,” Babette declared. “This place is nicer than a hotel. And if he’s guilty of taking those women—”
“What women?” Luc snapped.
“—then we’ll find our best clues here. DNA and scent and maybe even some panties, eh, Luc?” The accusatory side-eye drove his shoulders back.
“I haven’t the slightest idea of what you speak.” At all. Not surprisingly, Luc couldn’t follow their logic.
“You say that, yet I know you’re lying about this being chicken blood.” Babette jabbed a finger at the ruined spell in the bowl. “I don’t recognize the smell. What is it? And why is it in a bowl? Holy shit, dude, were you drinking it?” Babette’s features pulled taut in repugnance.
Elspeth leapt to his defense. “Eating it from a bowl is much more sophisticated than the vampire method of chomping on some neck.”
“At least a neck nibble is intimate and special.” Babette waved a hand. “This is a little sloppy. I mean, where’s his spoon? Crackers? And is that a hair on top?” She shuddered. “That’s gross.”
The mere thought of drinking it had him retorting. “I am not ingesting the blood. I was using it to scry for someone.”
“Cry? Who died? Who were you crying for?” Elspeth reached over to him. Logic dictated he slip out of reach. Being near to her did something to him.
It seemed cowardly to avoid her, though; therefore, he allowed the hug. He just refused to enjoy it despite the warmth suffusing him.
She soothed. “Don’t cry. I’m here. You are not alone.”
Uncomfortable, he managed to mutter, “I was not crying. I was scrying. As in trying to divine the location of someone.”
“Who are you looking for? Another victim?” Babette accused.
“As a matter of fact, I was looking for you. I have questions.”
“Ask away,” Elspeth said. “Anything you want. It’s yours.”
He almost said, “I want you.”
Babette saved the day.
Chapter Fourteen
“Dude and his questions are gonna have to wait,” Babette declared. Despite being the shortest person in the room, Babette had no doubt about her importance.
“I, wait?” he managed an imperial lilt. “On the contrary, it is you who shall have to—ack.”
A flying hellion jumped on him, taking him by surprise and throwing him against the table, hard. She held him by the shirt and shook, a small ball of fury. “Speak!”
“And if I don’t?” he asked.
“Then you shall encounter my rage.” Babette shook, her entire body bouncing, not budging him a bit.
He sighed. “Are you done yet?”
Jumping down, Babette tossed her head. “Not quite. We still need to talk about the missing girls.”
“There is nothing to speak of. I am not responsible.”
“Says you. Boss says we have to keep an eye on you. Watch your every move until we can clear you as a suspect.”
“You plan to spy on me?” He seemed rather shocked.
“Spying is such a harsh word,” Elspeth interjected.
“No, it’s about right.” Babette’s lips curled into a smile, one that screamed: make war, not nice.
“You would blame me without proof.”
“Why not? You’ve already stated you hate our kind.” Babette tossed his words at him.
Arms crossed, Luc declared, “You are no better than your ancestors.”
“Oh, I am way better than them, dude. Want to see?” Babette crooked her fingers.
Luc’s expression darkened, and his forehead dimpled in two spots.
“Play nice, everyone.” Elspeth placed herself between them, breaking the eye contact. Handling two besties was like wrangling playschool children. Get between them before the fists flew. She’d liked that job, getting to be with the younglings all day long.
Pity she hadn’t kept the position long.
Letting a parent know she’d had a vision of their child riding a bike without a helmet and it not ending well saw her fired. Even worse? No one believed her, which led to Elspeth going off her meds for a few hours and slashing the tires on the boy’s bike. Because of her intervention, the boy bypassed his horrible fate. He lived and she was pretty sure he wouldn’t choose the future road where he turned into…no, best not think of that.
Babette pushed off a bookcase and stalked closer. “I don’t see why I have to play nice. There are people missing. Dragons. Which means he needs to tell us now what he’s done with the missing girls.” Babette squinted at Luc.
He glared right back. “Again, I am going to ask, what missing girls? It is just Alfred and me in residence at the moment. I don’t believe the cleaning crew is due until tomorrow.”
“Are you saying they’re dead?”
“Who’s dead?” he barked. “You are speaking in riddles.”
Elspeth could see his temper rising.
“He didn’t do it.” Elspeth rose to his defense. Her visions didn’t tell whodunit, but they did give her a fair certainty that it wasn’t him. Most of the time.
“Didn’t do what?” he said with utter exasperation.
“Stop it with the innocent act.” Babette shook a finger at him. “We know about the missing women. And given you kidnapped Elsie, you’re the prime suspect.”
He glanced at them, one after the other. “Are all your kind so mentally challenged? I have no idea of what you speak. Or whom. I’ve kidnapped no women.”
“But you like locking them up,” Babette accused, making Elspeth almost frown.
When she’d told her bestie about him pretending to abduct her, she’d emphasized the romantic aspects.
“Yes, I did initially imprison some of the staff upon my arrival. However, at Alfred’s insistence, I released them.”
“And buried their bodies so they wouldn’t talk!” Babette accused.
“Again, you’re talking in riddles, but if you’re implying I am to blame, you’re mistaken,” Luc said.
“Where are these people you supposedly released?”
He shrugged. “I haven’t the slightest inkling. Alfred helped me disperse them.”
“Alive?”
“I would assume. I didn’t oversee him personally, but you’ve met Alfr
ed. Very capable for a human.”
“Are you implying Alfred killed them?”
A snort emerged from Luc. “I highly doubt he could dispose of that many able-bodied specimens on his own.”
“Alfred is tougher than he appears,” Elspeth remarked.
“Since you can’t vouch for the staff’s continued health, who can?” Babette wasn’t letting go.
“I can.” Alfred entered the room, pushing a trolley with a steaming pot and cups, along with a plate of cookies. “Tea?”
“You saw these people leave alive, not as the walking dead or in body bags?” Babette asked, snaring a cookie before sitting and accepting a cup of tea.
“The master might lack some of the modern niceties. However, he is amenable to reason. When he realized there was no benefit in keeping them locked in the stalls, he told me to set them free. With severance.”
“How kind.” Elspeth beamed. However, Luc grimaced and rubbed his chest.
Heartburn? Poor thing.
Babette continued to scowl.
“Be careful about all that frowning. You wouldn’t want the wrinkles to stay,” Elspeth reminded her.
“I’m going to have skin like a baby’s ass well into old age. You, on the other hand, probably won’t live to know.” Babette shook a fist.
“You’re probably right,” Elspeth agreed.
“Are you done with your questions?” Luc asked.
“Not quite.” Babette eyed Alfred. “How do we know you’re not lying for your boss?”
The butler stood straight with a hint of a smirk around his thin lips. “Would you like the names and addresses of the previous staff? I can easily acquire a list.”
“That sounds great.” Elspeth beamed. “See how well things can go when we work together.”
“Don’t get too excited yet. Just because he didn’t kill anyone that could be traced back here doesn’t mean he’s not responsible for the others.” Babette glared, and Alfred, with a harrumph, left the room.
“Are we still discussing this?” Luc flopped into a chair.
“Yes, we are, because humans are missing in this area. And according to Elsie over there, who apparently has voodoo dreams, dragons have upped and disappeared, too.”
“Dreams?” Luc caught the word and glanced at Elspeth. “You mentioned that before. Do you have the true sight? The ability to see the future?”
“Only when I forget to take my pink pill.”
“I never met any seers during my life, but I was taught about those who have visions of the future. It was a rare and dangerous gift that, for my people, resulted in death.”
“Nice job not freaking her out, twat waffle.” Babette rolled her eyes.
“You misunderstand. It is not the sight that killed them. In my world, the suzerain consumed anyone with the gift of foresight first.”
“Hold on, shouldn’t they have seen it coming?” asked Babette.
Elspeth shook her head. “We don’t always see what we want. Our own death isn’t always clear.”
“Have you seen me?” he asked.
At his query, she almost blurted out her secret. I’ve seen you for a long time now. Just hadn’t known it was him. Had seen them together in a few possibilities.
She’d also seen death.
Chapter Fifteen
The expression on her face said it all. She’s seen me in the future.
Exciting, yet at the same time, suddenly, he wasn’t so sure he wanted to know what the future held. What if…what if he failed?
Luc had travelled to this dimension for revenge, but the more he learned, the less likely it seemed. How could one demon take on a world of billions?
What if he aimed lower and stuck to his original plan of dragons only? If he asked Elspeth, would she know if he succeeded? Would she have a vision of him eradicating all the dragons? Of killing her friends and family? It occurred to him that he never wanted her to experience that, even in a vision.
“You don’t have to tell me anything,” he said. He preferred not to know. To go into the future making his own decisions and not trying to manipulate fate.
“It wouldn’t matter if I did. There’re so many possibilities. Even telling you creates a new path.” Elspeth rolled a shoulder and pursed pink lips. The gloss on them a temptation he wanted to lick.
“Did you see my arrival in a dream?”
“Maybe.” Spoken in a drawl.
He couldn’t quite decipher the secret smile that lit her lips, but it warmed him.
Babette cooled his ardor. “She saw you coming, whoop-de-doo. I’m more interested in the fact that you arrived and people started going missing. Are you going to deny that you’d like all dragons to die because of a personal revenge plot?” Babette’s gaze lasered him in place.
“No, I don’t deny it. However, while I would like to take credit for the current missing dragons, alas, I have yet to truly embark on my vendetta. Probably because you are both the first dragons I’ve encountered since my arrival.” And he just couldn’t bring himself to kill them.
I’m weak. He knew his mother looked upon him with disappointment.
Yet, at the same time, he heard his father whisper, “You are compassionate.” He couldn’t kill two innocents. The irony now was in them accusing him of murder.
“You’re lying. You admit to being here to exterminate us. How many thus far?” When Babette would have stepped closer, Elspeth managed to body-check her.
“Talk with your lips, not your hands,” Elspeth sang to her friend.
“I’d get better results if you’d let me chat with my fist,” Babette grumbled.
Luc spread his hands wide as he shrugged. “Attacking me won’t change the answer. I haven’t killed anyone since my arrival.” To his family’s shame. “Not a single one. Contrary to your bloodthirsty belief, I do not go out of my way to murder things.”
“What have you been doing then?”
“Mostly acclimatizing myself to your world and customs. There is much that is different in our culture that I’ve needed to learn in order to blend in.”
“If you need help, I’ll teach you!” Elsie waved her hand, her smile inviting, bringing to mind her closeness to him in bed.
I know what I’d prefer she teach me.
“Since you obviously don’t have any real questions, now it’s my turn,” Luc said, turning away to focus on more important matters. “Explain to me more about your place in this world. According to Alfred, dragons have only recently announced their presence to the humans.” Which, given the news reports he’d listened to, had some seriously violent tendencies. He’d be hard-pressed to declare who was more dangerous, humans or dragons.
“The revelation of our kind started with the shapeshifters, actually.” Babette took on the role of teacher. “Some dude called Parker decided he was tired of living in secret and let the wolf out of the bag. Then, some other creatures kind of popped up to say ‘hello.’ The dragons meant to keep hiding. However, Voadicia began to act in the open and forced us out there, too. Now, everyone knows we exist, and it’s causing issues.”
Luc had no problem imagining that. “The humans want to kill you for centuries of subjugation?”
“Uh, no, they want to study us and create laws for us to co-exist,” Babette said.
Elspeth disagreed. “They just want to be our friends.”
“You are hopelessly naïve.” Babette rolled her eyes. “The humans hate us. It’s why we’ve hidden this long.”
Luc’s turn to frown. “You were hiding.” This didn’t jibe with his perception of dragons. Dragons took openly and without mercy. How bad were humans that the dragons feared them?
“We hid because it was the smart thing to do.” Babette prowled the office, checking out the shelves.
“You hid out of fear.” The very idea seemed astonishing to Luc. Dishonest, too.
Would he have to lie about whom he was to survive in this world? Would he, as the last surviving demon, be in danger?
“Sometimes, hiding is smart.” Elspeth took on a softer tone. “It’s a math thing, which, I’ll admit, I’m not good at, but even I can get large general numbers. Lots and lots of humans. Few dragons. We don’t want to do anything to spook them. The last time, with the help of dracinore—”
He interrupted. “The what?”
“Dracinore. Some kind of metal, not from this plane, that totally inhibits our ability to change.”
His lips flattened. “I think I know of what you speak.” He also knew what dimension it came from.
“With a stash of dracinore shaped into weapons, the humans almost managed to exterminate us.”
“We got rid of that shit when the dragon mages were banished,” Babette noted.
“Doesn’t matter. If the humans feel we’ve become a threat, they won’t need the dracinore. They’ve got the weapons now to annihilate us.”
“Did a vision show you that?” Babette asked, head canted at an angle.
“I don’t think that particular future will happen now that Remiel is in charge.” Elspeth’s eyes crossed. “As long as he’s around, an unwary truce will exist between dragons and humans.”
“Who is Remiel?” And why the sudden surge of anger at her evident admiration of the guy?
“He is our Golden king. The one foretold. Don’t you know the histories at all?” Babette asked.
“I am not from around here.”
“Luc is from the same place Voadicia emerged from,” Elspeth confided.
“You came here from the hell world?” Babette’s eyes widened.
“You know of it?”
“Yeah. My best friend Deka spent some time there with Samael. But they said that world was dead.”
“It is. I was hidden away in a dungeon by the suzerain’s minions. They needed one of the blood to access some of the spell books of my people.”
“You’re really from there?” Babette frowned as she walked around him, examining him. He kept his arms crossed and pretended insouciance. Let her look. She’d find nothing but perfection. His people might have lost many things, but their beauty was legendary.