by Amy Sumida
The nymphs sat docilely on cots lined up along the walls. Over forty men and women, each one of them completely naked but primped with makeup, oiled skin, and flowers in their hair. Their stares were empty and their postures limp. They barely blinked when the group of men entered and stepped up to them.
“Please, have a closer look.” Philip waved his hand toward the nymphs. “Feel free to thoroughly inspect the wares. I want you to be certain of your choices when you bid at the auction.”
My stomach clenched as the men spread out, immediately groping the nymphs with greedy hands and giving them curt orders. The nymphs complied with every command. Pants were unzipped and penises shoved into every opening to be had. Masculine grunts melded with wet, slurping sounds. These men weren't shy about testing the products in front of each other.
I looked away, my hands clenching in fury as bile rose in my throat. If I threw up would it be invisible too? Yes, I was about to lose my mind as well as the contents of my stomach. Luke squeezed my shoulder; there was nothing we could do now. Not unless we wanted to fight all of these men, including Philip Demos himself.
Fuck it. Why not? I had come to start a war. I might as well take down the top dog when I had the chance. Why wait for him to get angry and come after me? That was just stupid. Take the advantage while you can. Start the battle with a bang.
My love, breathe slowly. Close your eyes and concentrate on calm. This is not the way we want to do this. If you kill Philip here, it will implicate everyone onboard, including Baron Samedi. Do you want to do that?
No, I growled.
We'll get this fucker after we get the nymphs out of here, RS added. Concentrate on that, El. Focus on what we'll do to him later.
Then Philip Demos undid his pants and bent a male nymph over a cot. As soon as he penetrated that man, he was as good as dead. I simply couldn't stop the rage that rolled up my throat.
Fire burst over my fists as I roared in fury. How had I ever thought that I could do this and keep a cool head? I was a creature of fire; the Goddess of Light and Fire reborn as the daughter of a fire witch. Flames were in my blood. Heat drove me. I'm a passionate woman; prone to love as deeply as I hate. I'm not good at keeping my cool. Never have been.
Lucifer yanked away from me with a hiss of pain. He started shouting at me, but I was too busy burning. Demos went first, his shocked expression blackening in seconds as he went from a solid man to floating embers. Too fast to be satisfying. I turned toward the other men. They started to scream, clutching at their clothes while fumbling for magic and weapons. The nymphs just went back to sitting on their cots calmly, staring straight ahead at nothing while chaos erupted around them. The satyr guard rushed in to help, gun raised. He went next.
A few of the men tossed magic at me, but Lucifer deflected their attacks with blasts of light. The rest gave up and tried to run. I burned them to cinders while Lucifer, RS, and Kyanite all shouted at me to stop. But it happened so fast; my fire too hot and concentrated to take its time. I burned them in seconds. Only cinder remained, but that charcoal snow only made me more furious. Like burning a candle to its base; the wax was gone, but a flame still consumed the wick. I needed more fuel before I turned to ash too.
I was about to walk out the door and go looking for more satyrs to kill when Luke stepped in front of me, grabbed my shoulders, and shook me.
“Elaria, sing!” he shouted as he shifted into his true form. “Unite your magic and focus on me. Focus on this man right here before you. Concentrate on my eyes; see the love inside them. See me, my vicious. I'm here. I have you. And I know that you don't want to do this.”
Lucifer yanked me against his chest and covered my mouth with his. As soon as his tongue touched mine, I jerked as if he'd hit me and pulled away from the kiss, but it had done the trick. It shocked me back to myself. I gasped through the crippling grip of my anger and tried to push it down with a softer emotion. Love glowed in Lucifer's eyes, but I couldn't focus on that as he wanted me too. It brought up too many other emotions, feelings that wouldn't help me now.
Instead, I looked at the nymphs who I'd come to free and focused on the fact that I had killed the men who had assaulted them. I was so close to saving the nymphs; I tried to hold onto that. Kindness. Sympathy. Justice. The feelings rose inside me, but they weren't enough. I began to tremble as my skin heated. No! I needed to save them, and I couldn't do that while I went on a rampage.
Deep breaths, my love, Kyanite said in a steady voice.
Deep breaths?! RS shrieked. She's not having a baby, she's trying to control her magic, you moron.
She needs to calm herself, Ky growled.
I moaned, the fighting inside my head was only making things worse. If I didn't get control of myself soon, I'd burn the whole damn ship.
“Sing, my vicious!” Lucifer shook me again. “You need all of your magic working together, remember? Sing!”
I have you, my love! Kyanite cried.
The hesitant smack and pluck of “Between Wind and Water” by Hael sounded around me and my body flinched with awareness. I choked the lyrics out past my constricted throat and then lost myself to the story they told. A woman floundering in the push and pull of her lover's games. Craving. Falling. Burning. She knew that she was in trouble, but she couldn't find a way out. The words cut me deep, baring my own battle, but the chorus was just what I needed. I latched onto the brutality of the song as a storm picked up around Lucifer and me. A whirlwind gathered, lashing frigid raindrops over my skin, cooling my temper as well as my fire. I droned through the lines, beginning to feel as numb as the nymphs looked. But numbness was a blessing. It cleared my mind, scraping away the anger so I could embrace other emotions. Serenity. Righteousness. Determination. I was here to save these people, and that's just what I would do.
The flames dancing over my fingers winked out, and I fell forward with the last lines of the song.
“My vicious,” Lucifer whispered in my ear as he clutched me tightly. “Are you well?”
“I'm fine,” I panted against his chest. Then I caught the acrid stench of burned flesh and feathers. “What about you? I burned you.” My hands hovered over his arms where streaks of red were starting to fade.
“I'm a god,” he reminded me as he stilled my fluttering hands. “You haven't hurt me beyond what I can heal.”
The words rang false in my ears, but I ignored the guilty ache they brought.
“You saved me again.” I straightened and stared up at him. “I thought I was ready for this.”
“You were. You are,” Lucifer assured me. “You just lost yourself to your rage. It happens to all of us. Even the most composed person will react poorly when faced with an atrocity like we just witnessed.”
“So, you're saying that I'll never get over this? I'll never be able to fully control myself?”
“Of course, you will.” His hands steadied me as much as his words. “The more you battle your emotions, the easier they are to bear. You will always feel them—without them, you aren't alive—and some feelings are harder to deny than others but that doesn't mean that you aren't in control. Control is about conquering something, and a conqueror must fight to stay in power. It will be difficult, but I have faith in you.”
Lucifer's gaze went soft. We stared at each other as my heartbeat slowed, and I willed it to keep winding down. I could battle these emotions too, just as he was doing. I could ignore the desire between us.
Lucifer's hands slid away. “This was an extreme situation. Even I was having trouble controlling my rage. You gave me something else to focus on; something else to feel to help me push back my fury. I merely returned the favor.”
I nodded because there was nothing else to say.
“Let's get the nymphs to Kyanite,” Lucifer suggested. “More guards could come looking for their boss at any moment.”
“Okay. Yeah. Let's finish this.”
“No, my vicious, this is the start of something, not the end.” Lucifer shifted his
stare from me to the nymphs.
Chapter Fifteen
After we got all of the nymphs safely to Kyanite and placed under the Terrencal brothers' care, Lucifer and I decided to replace our illusions and go back to the yacht. I wasn't going to bother returning, but he pointed out that our disappearance would be noted. We needed to be seen leaving the ship at the end of the night.
“Wait.” I grabbed his arm before he left. “You can look like anyone.”
“Yes.” Lucifer frowned and then suddenly grinned. “I can pretend to be Philip.”
“At least until we dock.” I nodded. “Then you find an empty room and fly back—”
“Hold on,” he held up a hand. “I don't know what other business Philip was conducting tonight nor do I know the name of any of his men.”
“You know Evan.” I smirked. “And you'd be the boss. You don't have to know anyone's names; just point and order them around. If anyone dares to ask you when you plan on taking your next meeting, tell them you've had a change of plans.”
Lucifer grinned at me and then shifted into Philip Demos. It was such a perfect transformation, down to the cuff links on his shirt, that automatically I flinched back.
“Wow; that's damn impressive.”
“Thank you,” he said in Philip's voice. “I'm good at impersonations too.”
I laughed and wound my arm through his. “I think Philip has just managed to seduce Elise away from Lucas Raven.”
“Poor Luke.” Lucifer waggled his Philip brows at me and pulled me into an embrace. “Shall we head back into that private room we used earlier?”
“Good idea. And don't bother with the wings.” I held up my traveling stone. “I got this one.”
I took us through the Veil and back onto the yacht. Specifically into the room where Lucifer and I had gone invisible earlier. Once we reformed, Lucifer lifted his head arrogantly, puffed out his chest, and escorted me from the room with a smug, satisfied expression that hinted at a scandalous rendezvous.
Three satyrs were striding down the hallway toward us. They exchanged knowing looks when they saw me on Philip's arm but as we approached, they schooled their expressions and stepped to the side of the corridor to respectfully let us pass.
“My business below deck is concluded,” Lucifer said sharply to the men. “Tell the others to stay out of the hold. My customers are still inspecting the merchandise.”
“Yes, Sir!” the men said and then hurried off to spread the word.
“Nicely done,” I whispered as we made our way out to the party.
“Thank you, Elise.”
We glided out into the main room, beneathers immediately scurrying up to fawn over Philip. Lucifer handled it all beautifully, speaking with perfect arrogance and cutting off anyone who started to bring up subjects he didn't know about. I spotted Samedi and winked at him when he gave me a worried look. He gaped at me but didn't approach us. I'd probably have to explain things later but for now, it looked as if even Samedi was fooled by Lucifer's illusion.
It was a grueling trip down the river; smiling and nodding to people as I served as Philip Demos' new arm candy. Lucifer couldn't introduce me to anyone since he didn't know their names, but that fit with Philip's persona anyway. He was just the sort of man to disregard his date and fail to introduce her to his friends.
No one asked to speak privately with Philip nor did his men bother us. Just as I thought, Philip called the shots and if he didn't instigate something, it simply wouldn't be done. The only time we were approached by one of the satyrs was when they came to let Philip know that we'd be setting anchor soon.
“Very good,” was all Lucifer said to the man, and that seemed to work.
We set anchor close to where we'd begun; in front of the hotel. We'd made a trip down the Bosphorus Strait and back again; just enough time for Philip's guests to examine the auction items and for him to conclude his business. I stood with Lucifer while he bid goodbye to Philip's guests, and then he waved one of the satyrs over.
“Yes, Sir?” the man asked eagerly.
“See to it that Ms. Reynolds reaches shore safely,” he instructed the satyr as he brought me forward. “Escort her there yourself. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.” The satyr bowed his head. “I'll make sure no one touches her.”
“Good.” Lucifer turned to me. “Goodnight, Elise, it was an... enchanting evening.”
Lucifer was so good at Philip's slimy demeanor that it made my skin crawl, and I had to brace myself for his kiss on my cheek.
“Goodnight, Philip,” I purred and then went with the satyr.
“Step aside, please.” The satyr cleared a way for me straight to the front of the line of guests waiting for the speedboats.
“Where are you going, Jack?” Another satyr stopped us.
“Bosses orders; I have to see Ms. Reynolds here to shore safely.” Jack gave the other man a pointed look.
The man looked me over with a smile that said he knew exactly what I'd been doing with his boss to warrant such special treatment. His second look said he disagreed with Philip's decision to let me leave.
“Of course,” he finally said. Then he turned to some men waiting at the railing. “Boss wants Ms. Reynolds on her own boat. See to it.”
The departing crowd gave me respectful but annoyed looks as I was taken ahead of everyone and down to my own private speedboat. I grinned to myself as I settled into a seat and then glanced back at the yacht to see Lucifer leaning against a rail on the Captain's deck, watching me. I gave him a little wave as we sped to shore. This was the plan we'd made between small talk with strangers. I'd leave first and then Lucifer would head into an empty room and travel back to Kyanite. RS had kept the others updated, and they would head back to Kyanite too, just as soon as they received word that I was on my way home.
I thanked my escort and sashayed up the walk toward the hotel as if I had all the time in the world. I strode into the gleaming opulence and found a restroom. The janitor would be scratching his head later when he found a locked stall with no one inside, but this was my best option. I didn't want to risk one of the guests seeing me use my traveling stone outside the hotel. So, I went into a stall and locked the door. At the last second, I unlocked it and just held it shut as I used my stone. If I didn't have to make some innocent person's night harder, I wouldn't. I traveled away, the door slowly swinging open without me to hold it, and reformed in my tower living room in Kyanite.
“There you are!” Slate exclaimed in relief and pulled me into a hug.
“Did they suspect you?” Gage asked as my husbands closed in for a round of relieved hugs.
Lucifer appeared beside us in a column of light. He was back to his old self; all shiny and sparkly and feathery. He grinned nearly as brightly as his wings. “We did it!”
“We did,” I confirmed. “And no, Gage, they didn't suspect anything. You didn't have any trouble getting away, did you, Lucifer?”
“Not in the least. I went into our room and flew here.”
“Your room?” Torin asked with a frown.
“The room we used to go invisible and as a point of return when we traveled back to the ship,” I explained.
“Well, they'll figure out that Philip is missing soon enough,” Cerberus pointed out.
“Yes, but he was very visible on the Captain's deck, waving at me as I left,” I said. “The guests won't be suspects.”
“Of course, they will be,” Cerberus argued. “Philip Demos disappears the same night of a huge party with all of his criminal friends? Every one of them will be investigated.”
“Several of his guests will also be missing,” Darc noted. “They'll probably be the prime suspects. Especially when the nymphs are missing too.”
“From what we've seen tonight, I think it's safe to say that none of Philip's men act without his orders,” Lucifer said. “Those satyrs won't know what to do on their own. They'll probably spend most of the night looking for Philip.”
“They won't be on their own for long.” Kasteo gave his brother a grim look.
“No,” Kosmos said simply.
“Once it's been confirmed that Philip is missing, the family will send someone to oversee things until they can vote for a new Kerata,” Cer said to the questioning looks on the other men's faces.
“Kerata?” Darc asked.
“That's the title they give the head of the family,” I explained. “It means; horns.”
“How poetic.” Darc rolled his eyes.
“Before they install a new kerata, they'll have the funeral,” Kosmos mused. “Istanbul will be overrun with satyrs.”