by Eve Newton
“You know that you need bed rest,” Slade snaps at me and then shuts his mouth as the doctor gives him a scathing look.
“Fine,” I snap back, finally losing my patience with this bullshit. If the two men who were supposed to be waiting for me aren’t going to swoop in and help me, then this bitch needs to get a fucking move on and rescue myself.
“If you will not allow me out, then I want some entertainment. Get me an afternoon’s worth of fortune-tellers lined up for today. I want five or six of the best in the county.”
He gives me a suspicious look that nearly makes me squirm. “You’ve never paid any interest to that nonsense before. Why now?” he asks suspiciously.
“I’m bored!” I yell at him.
“Uh…” Dr. Dang-He’s-Cute-When-He-Frowns mutters, but I shush him with a hiss that makes his eyebrows go up.
I need a being that has some sort of mystical energy attached to it. Dr. Dimples here isn’t a host, so he is out.
As near as I’ve ever been able to tell, there is maybe one out of every twenty bodies that is host material. This is my best shot.
“Trixie,” Slade says, but I’m adamant, and defiantly shake my head.
“This afternoon,” I bark with finality.
“Okay,” Slade agrees reluctantly, and with a pointed look at the doctor, he says, “I’ll go and arrange it now.”
As Slade leaves the room, I half expect the doctor to leave with him, but he sits down on the bed and leans in close to me. I can smell his aftershave and the seductress in me makes me tilt head up to his as if expecting a kiss.
He smiles down at me and whispers, “Lacey? Lacey? Can you hear me?”
Err, what now?
I pull my head back and give him a deep frown. What is he doing?
“Lacey, my love, come out,” he says more insistently.
My astute mind puts it all together quickly and I’m almost impressed with my weak, pathetic host. It appears that Lacey has let herself loose long enough to grab herself a man. And a pretty, fucking hot one at that. But, seeing as Lacey is nowhere to be found at present, there is only one thing a bored, wicked, temptress Demon can do.
I bat my eyes and give Dr. Devious a soft look and whisper, “I’m here.”
He leans in further to press his lips firmly to mine. Of course, I take full advantage of the come-on. I shove my tongue into his mouth, gripping his chin roughly with my hand and enjoy this illicit kiss way more than I should.
Our tongues grapple with one another, but then he pulls back licking my lips in a sexy manner that has me panting and wishing for more. He is ripe for the picking, I could corrupt him, kill him and damn with very little effort on my part.
“We don’t have much time,” he whispers. “It won’t be long now, my love. This baby is almost ready and then we can be together.”
I nod excitedly as I take in that piece of information. Lacey has been a bit of a sly dog and has gone up in my estimations by several hundred notches! She’s bagged a man who understands her situation, and she is letting Trixie have this child, but then it’s every woman for herself, it seems. Is Lacey really going to push Trixie away and leave Slade as a single father so that she can run off with the handsome doctor?
“I can’t wait until we leave this place,” he murmurs. “I need to be with you.”
Yes, it seems that is exactly what is going to happen! I’m so delighted that my old host has finally found her balls.
What I don’t get though, is why Lacey is hanging around here letting Trixie take over her life when she could be with the man of her dreams. I mean, who does that?
“Me either,” I murmur back as he looks at me expectantly.
“You should go now,” he whispers, giving me another kiss. “It won’t be long now.”
I nod and close my eyes, pretending to disappear back under Trixie’s personality. I have no idea how this works and I don’t really give a shit, but I’ve convinced the doctor that I’ve appeared to him as his love.
When I open my eyes, Dr. Deceitful is standing on the other side of the room writing notes in his little notepad. He gives me a swift smile and then packs up his bag.
“Slade is worried and only trying to help,” he says kindly before he leaves the room. “Try to cut him some slack.”
“Whatever,” I mutter, rolling my eyes at his retreating back. Why does he care? All he wants is Trixie to expel this child so that he can run away with his precious Lacey.
Well, it’s been an interesting few minutes for sure, but now I’m back to reality and my precarious situation. I take a brief moment to wonder why Luc hasn’t shown up here yet to take me away. Can he not sense me? Or is he reluctant to come to Earth to search for me? Again!
I know that there is an issue with his presence here, but I was sure I’d meant more to him than that. It depresses me, until I shake my head and get it back in the game. I don’t want to return to Luc. I’ve been freed from his ritual and now I have to concentrate all of my efforts on getting free from this body and finding Evan and Dashel so that I can give them an ass kicking for abandoning me.
Luc
“Where is she?” I bellow at the terrified creature in front of me with Axelle’s face. The female hasn’t said a word, only whimpered, in the entire few hours I have been interrogating her. I would’ve ripped her to shreds ages ago, except I can’t do that to this body. Not to mention, Axelle needs somewhere familiar to go when she comes back to me. She has to come back to me. She just has to.
“It’s useless,” Jezebelle remarks, sidling closer to the female. “She is in shock or something. Just let me take her form.”
“Never!” I snap at her and grab the woman, dragging her behind me as I storm off. “Axelle will return. This is just a…” What the Hell is this? “…a mishap.”
“Mishap?’ Jezebelle snorts, her pretty nose turning up in mockery. “She wanted to get away from you. Whatever your silly ritual is about, she wanted no part of it.”
That gives me pause, although I keep the woman behind me. I don’t trust Jezebelle as far as I can throw her, and since I can’t get a hold of her, that isn’t very far at all. She doesn’t know what the ritual is for. She must not have been floating about when Axelle had her meltdown in the dining hall. Well, good. The last thing I need is my ex begging me to try again. I know without a doubt that she would jump at the chance to conceive my child now, but if she failed before, she will fail now. Simple as that.
“Why don’t you just fuck off,” I seethe as I have to make another attempt to stop Jezebelle from trying to enter this form.
She giggles at me and flicks her long, chestnut hair over her shoulder as I hold up my hand and flex my fingers until my hand aches.
“Dammit!” I curse. Any normal Demonic essence would have been evaporated by my power, but this bitch isn’t normal. She never was.
I let out a sigh and turn to face the woman again. “Who are you? Can we start with that, at least?”
Her blue eyes look up at me, but in an instant, she has lowered them again. My evil power is too great for a mere mortal to gaze upon me for very long. It is one of the many reasons why I cannot be on Earth for any length of time: it’s the rules, I scoff to myself. Fucking rules. I am the greatest evil, the most powerful creature to have walked this plain. Well, one of them. The other one sits up there on his cloud, no doubt gloating that I’m so bound by my own damned fate.
“This is ridiculous,” Jezebelle suddenly snaps. “Why can’t you just go to Earth and find her if that is what you want so badly.” She gives a sniff and crosses her arms like a pouty child. I really wish that she didn’t possess the ability to know me so well that she knows where my thoughts have gone.
“I can’t,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Why not?” Jezebelle asks curiously.
I sigh again. “It has been only a mere eight months since I set foot on Earth. The destruction…it’s…” How can I even begin to explain it to her? Any human who set
s eyes on me, even for the briefest time, will be damaged beyond repair and wherever I walk, death and darkness follow me. Only the Demonic form in which this strange female resides, is keeping her from crossing over.
Don’t get me wrong, of course, it is my greatest desire to bring forth the end of all goodness and light, but there is a time and a place for everything and before I bring forth the Apocalypse, I need my child in situ. I cannot be seen to be defying the ‘rules’ until I have everything in place. I have better things to do than have a pissing contest with the Almighty over my return to Earth so soon after the last time. That last time I went fucking looking for Axelle.
“Damn her!” I roar again, my temper getting the better of me. “Who the fuck are you?” I shake the woman until her teeth rattle, and she cowers and starts to cry again. But in between the weeping, she whispers, “Lacey. My name is Lacey.”
“Wonderful,” I say calmly. “Now we are getting somewhere.”
“How are you here?” Jezebelle interjects, floating over to us with her hands on her ghostly hips.
I glare at her for interfering, but the Lacey creature answers her, “I was forced out of my own body and into this one. By Axelle.”
I narrow my eyes. “How do you know about Axelle?” I ask her.
Jezebelle leans intently forward.
“I was her host,” Lacey says to our utmost astonishment. “For two years, she possessed me.”
“Two years?” I choke back. That stupid, little bitch! What was she thinking? No wonder this woman seems to know exactly who and what Axelle is all about. She had time to figure it out and remember. Demons are supposed to exchange their hosts every few months or so. Two years is unheard of. I need to find out how this slipped through the cracks. Someone’s head is going to roll. Figuratively, of course. I would rather just incinerate their essence to make my point.
“On and off,” Lacey continues now starting to babble. “She would come and go, stay for a while and then leave for a few weeks and then come back…”
I tune her out. Now I get it. I knew she was cunning, but this takes the cake. Playing by the rules but breaking them at the same time.
“Why you?” I interrupt her with a bark. “What makes you so special?” I peer at her and she cringes, forcing herself into a corner and dropping to her backside so that she can bring her knees up to her chest.
“Yes, you don’t seem to be anything amazing,” Jezebelle drawls.
“Answer me!” I yell at her, fast losing my patience now.
“I don’t know,” Lacey stammers into her knees, shaking her head fiercely. “I don’t know.”
Hmm, interesting. I stroke my chin as I try to figure this out. She must have something that Axelle likes. But I’m getting off topic. I draw my attention back to the cowering mess in the corner.
“Where can I find her?” I ask quietly. If I am going and bring her back, I need exact coordinates so I can get in and get out. It won’t do to be roaming the Earth looking for the silly wench, causing destruction and mayhem in my wake.
Although…
No! I shake my head to clear that tempting thought. It isn’t time yet.
“She will have jumped by now,” Jezebelle says.
“Not necessarily. There is something about this woman that appeals to her and they seem to have a rather strong connection,” I say, hoping I’m right.
It is at this point in the proceedings, that a sledgehammer slams into my chest and I breathe in sharply. Three essences. That is what the Dark Oracle said. Three essences all vying for this form.
What I didn’t take into consideration was that the essences weren’t fighting over the form, but over Axelle. It suddenly becomes as plain as day to me. The Dark Oracle was talking about me, Evan and, I’d be willing to bet, that Angel fucker wants a piece of my Demon Bound.
This female is going to be the end of me. I just know it.
I sigh. I need to fix this, right now, before everything I have worked for with Axelle goes to ruin and I, not only, have to wait several more lifetimes for another chance for this ritual to work, but I end up losing the only woman that I have ever needed in my life so desperately, it hurts.
“Tell me where I can find her,” I say in a voice so deathly quiet, that even Jezebelle freezes on the spot.
DEMON FREED: BOUND SERIES, BOOK TWO
BY EVE NEWTON
~ CHAPTER ONE ~
Axelle
I take the hand of the fourth psychic that Slade has lined up for me and close my eyes.
Nope.
Dammit!
There are only two more to go after this one and I can’t very well ask for more without Slade getting suspicious. He is already hovering on the other side of the door, probably putting two and two together and coming up with Demon.
“Next,” I call out, not even waiting to hear what this one has to say.
I’m running out of time.
I’ve deduced by now that Luc must’ve caught up with Evan and Dashel and that’s why they haven’t come to rescue me yet. I need to get out of this situation on my own. Now.
The shunned psychic backs off, insulted, and lets in the next one. She is dark-haired and olive-skinned with brown, almond shaped eyes. A real beauty if you like that sort of thing.
“Come here,” I say, feeling my skin start to prickle. I grin wickedly and, with caution, the woman steps closer to me.
I grab her hand and with a gasp, I feel the body open up to me. She is a host and a pretty powerful one at that. I can feel the magick bouncing around the host wanting to get free. I draw on that magick and it gives me enough strength to drag my sorry essence out of Lacey’s body and into the psychic host. A painful rendering that makes me grunt, but not able to make any other noise while I shudder and settle into the new body with violent seizures as she fights me. But she can’t defeat me. I want this too badly.
I breathe in deeply and open my new eyes to stare straight at Lacey’s catatonic body.
Her eyes are wide open, and her mouth is agape, her arms lying loosely at her sides. The body is completely empty of a soul, or a being acting as a soul, and is therefore unable to do anything. Oh, it will carry on breathing and the heart will still beat, but until the host houses an animate being, she will remain lifeless.
I smile to myself briefly before I let out a loud scream.
Slade races into the room and I scream louder as I point a shaky finger at the unresponsive body.
“Trixie?” he yells and grabs her hand, but Trixie isn’t there. Nor is Lacey, and now that I’ve jumped ship, well…
I run from the room screaming, keeping up the pretense of being traumatized by Trixie’s sudden and weird coma.
“Wait,” Slade calls after me. “Wait! What happened to her? What have you done?” He thunders after me, but I just keep running. I find the keys to this host’s car in the small purse I’m carrying, and head straight for it.
As I reach the old Ford pickup, I get winded by a colossal kick in my guts…from the inside. The host’s soul is struggling with me, fighting for control, but I cannot let her win this. I need to make my escape while I still can. I straighten up and heave in deep breaths as I scramble to get into the pickup. I start the engine and slam it into reverse, just as Slade comes running out of the house.
“What happened?” he shouts.
I stomp my foot down and drive, screeching around the corner before Slade can take another step.
I blow my curly dark hair out of my sweaty face and grip the steering wheel even tighter.
“Fuck,” I breathe and increase my speed as I stare into the rearview mirror. I need to get out of this town and into the next one before Slade tracks me down.
Twenty minutes later, I relax my firm hold on the steering wheel and slump down into the seat. There is no one on my tail, but I’m certain that the cops will be looking for this car, and me, pretty soon. I need to ditch the car and then this body as soon as I can.
I pull into the next gas stati
on and park up.
With a cautious glance all around to make sure no one is looking, I sidle away from the pickup, leaving it abandoned in the parking lot. Next, I twist my long, and very recognizable dark locks into a tight bun and strip off the flowing cotton jacket, stuffing it into a nearby trashcan. I fumble around in the small purse, and come up with a pair of sunglasses, which I shove onto my face.
As disguises go, it is as lame as they come, but I’ve altered my appearance as much as I can for now. All I have to do now is jump on a bus to the next town over and lie in wait. There is a nightclub there that fits the bill perfectly for my needs and what better place to find a new host than a place swarming with bodies?
Luc
I glare down at this increasingly irritating female. No one has ever dared to ignore my requests before. Is she stupid or just plain ballsy?
“I’d answer him, dearie,” Jezebelle says, squatting down in front of the woman. “He is getting pretty mad.” She looks back up at me with a sassy smile and I grit my teeth together.
Two seconds.
This bitch has two seconds to tell me where to find Axelle.
“One ten Hunter’s Close,” Lacey whispers and then starts to keen again, burying her head into her pulled-up knees.
I narrow my eyes at her. Hardly helpful. There could be a million Hunter’s Closes on Earth.
“What town?” I snarl at her, beyond pissed that I had to ask.
“R-Rosemont,” she whimpers.
I relax. I know the area. It is where I found her the last time. I should be able to get in and out without too much disruption to the greater scheme of things.
Jezebelle floats over to me again. “Go,” she says. “I will keep the bitch company until you return.”
I grimace at her. Does she take me for a fool? “I don’t think so,” I say derisively. “You can stay here. She is coming with me.”
Lacey starts to whimper again, and I lose my temper with her. I haul her to her feet and give her a resounding backhand across the face. She falls to the floor and I clench my fists to stop myself from giving her a swift kick while she is down. I don’t want to do anything to damage Axelle’s form any more than it already has been by her absence.