by Beverly Rae
“Where are the bells coming from?” Myra’s question drifted over my shoulders. I didn’t respond, but kept my attention glued to Blake.
“George likes bells.”
I grinned, knowing George grinned, too.
Demogorgon wrenched back and forth as if his body was stuck to the ground. He growled, but he couldn’t shuffle even a single foot forward. A snarl formed on his lips and his tentacles whipped around his head.
And the bells grew louder.
Blake took two tentative steps away from the High Demon Lord before turning and dashing over to where George, Myra and I now stood. He drew me into his arms, giving me the emotional and physical support I needed.
The joyful sound continued and a peaceful sensation passed over me. Peaceful, however, was not the sensation Demogorgon felt. He thrashed his tentacles about, striking himself in the eyes, on the head, and at his bleeding penis. His body jerked. Spasms racked him, shaking his blubber. Shouting curses, he finally broke free and wobbled toward us. Our hardy little group planted our feet, ready to face whatever he would throw at us.
The ringing bells escalated until they were the only sound in the world. I couldn’t hear my own words, so I told Blake I loved him by laying my head on his chest. If we had to die, at least we’d die together.
Yeah, sometimes I can be such a drama queen.
With a shout, Demogorgon stopped and fear settled over the anger in his face. His eyes bulged from their sockets and his body swelled up like a blowfish. Opening his mouth in a soundless screech, he exploded.
Clumps of blubber landed on us, sliming us with blood and sickly green-black pus. Myra cried out even though George covered most of her with his bulk. The rain of fat spread out, covering Mrs. Wippingpoof and Mrs. Hardgrave. Ghouls fell to the ground around us, dissolving into gray dust.
At last the terrible deluge ceased and the bells stopped ringing. I glanced at my pus-covered clothes and hair, and lost it. “Oh, come on! Isn’t biting his dick enough? Now I have to get covered with his shit?” I looked around me at my friends and grimaced.
George, who’d gone from Big Foot to Big Human, seemed to take the whole thing in stride. “George doesn’t think this is shit. George thinks this is―”
“No!” Blake, Myra and I yelled at him, cutting off his last remark before he could say anything to make this whole thing worse. He pouted, however, and Myra ignored the filth covering him to hug the big galoot.
“We’re sorry, George. But we don’t want to know what it is.”
Holding onto her man, Myra sent me a pointed look. “Blake, George and I have a favor to ask you.”
I have to admit I was a bit irritated at my friend. Hadn’t Blake just saved their butts? And she wanted another favor?
“What do you want from him, Myra?” I wanted to tell Blake to forget it, but something about the way Myra stared at me with a plea in her eyes stopped me cold.
“We want you to make George human. He doesn’t want to stay a Sasquatch. Please, Blake. We, uh, we want to have babies some day. Mortal, normal babies.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. She wanted Blake to help George with the one wish Blake had refused himself in order to save us? “No. George, I’m sorry, but you’re asking too much. He used the Bracelet’s power to save us. Now it’s his turn to use it on himself.”
Tears sparkled in Myra’s eyes and I had a tough time steeling my heart against her. But Blake came first.
“I’ll try.”
I wheeled on Blake, stunned at his agreement. “No. You can’t. You’ve already used a lot of power from the Bracelet. If you use too much, it won’t replenish and you won’t get to change yourself.” I wanted to hit something, someone, but could only clench my fists.
“It’s okay to think of yourself. Of Jenny, too.” Mrs. Wippingpoof linked her arm through Mrs. Hardgrave’s and nodded her agreement. “You could wait and see if full power comes back to the Bracelet. Then you might be able to change both of you.”
“She’s right, Blake. Give it time to recharge.”
Blake took my hand in his and diffused the ire within me. “I have a sense I’ve already used too much of its power for it to fully recharge. I don’t think waiting will do any good.”
“But what harm is there in waiting?” I knew Myra might hate me for what I said, but I didn’t care. Blake’s mortal life was at stake.
“No. I know it’s too late. Don’t ask me how I know, but I do.” He gave me a soft smile. “I have to help him, Jenn. How can I not?”
Easy. Just don’t. But I couldn’t bring myself to say the words. Instead, I nodded.
After a squeeze of my hand, he let go and held up the Bracelet in front of George’s face. Remembering the bells and how loud they’d gotten, I placed my palms over my ears and prepared myself for any eventuality.
Yet nothing happened. Nothing except a small popping sound.
“What happened? Did the Bracelet run out of power? Did it blow a fuse?” Myra bit off the end of a fingernail and chewed on her lip.
“I think it was the sound of the Sasquatch in me leaving my body.”
“Wait a sec. You said ‘I’ and not ‘George’. What does that mean?” Myra placed her palms on his chest and searched his face.
Something was different about George. Although I couldn’t see the difference, I could sense it. “George? Do you―are you human?”
George, the former Sasquatch, picked Myra up and answered her question. “I’m human! I can feel it.” Whirling Myra around, George the human shouted his joy. “I’m human! I’m a man!”
After George and Myra calmed down, the rest of us congratulated him on his mortality. Although part of me was angry with them for using the power instead of Blake, I couldn’t stay upset for long. I watched the happy mortal couple walk off with Mrs. Wippingpoof and Mrs. Hardgrave. If Blake couldn’t return to his human form, then George becoming human was the next best thing.
I took a deep breath before facing my demon husband. “You didn’t have to do what you did, you know. No one would’ve blamed you if you’d changed yourself instead of George.”
Although his eyes held a sadness in them, a gleam of pleasure for his friend leapt out and he shrugged off my comment. “Let’s go get cleaned up.”
I agreed, taking his hand to start our march out of the cemetery. We walked without speaking, sensing we both needed this short time to think about all we’d experienced. Nearing the gate, two black vans squealed to a stop next to my Jag. “Ah, hell. What now?” Blake slid the Bracelet into his pocket and planted his feet. I gave him a quick look of support. Within seconds of the vans stopping, several men in black jumpsuits poured out of the vehicles and raced over to us. A young man halted the men’s advance and scanned us. I was half-tempted to say we were aliens from the planet Slimeball. “Uh, Jennifer Randall?”
I raised my hand and stepped in front of Blake. No way did I want this group to realize he was a demon. Hopefully, they were what they looked like: newly commissioned Protectors who did backup duty for seasoned Protectors. “I’m Jennifer Randall-Barrington.” At some point, people had to start using my new name.
He searched my face, obviously wanting to find something in it to verify my identity. “Uh, Ms. Randall-Barrington? Your Partner sent us a distress message. He said you needed a posse. He said you’d circled the wagons against the biggest baddest outlaw around.” The young man raised his eyebrows, obviously hoping for an explanation of Partner’s odd choice of words.
“I sure did.” I waved a hand to indicate the goop on my body. “And yes, he was biggest, baddest and yuckiest outlaw, er, demon around. But you’re a tad late for the showdown.”
“Yes, ma’am. I guess we are.” He shifted his weight from one side to the other. The boy was definitely a nervous newbie.
“What’s your name?”
“Uh, Sherman Shanks.”
Sherman? I wondered how often he’d gotten beaten up in school. I hated it when parents named their kids s
tupid names. “Okay, Shermie, listen closely.” Not that I didn’t like making their names sound even more stupid. “We risked our lives and saved not only your ass but everyone else’s in the world, and we got a tad dirty doing it. Therefore, if you don’t mind, we’re going home to take a long hot shower.”
His expression said he agreed with the necessity of a shower, but wasn’t sure what else he should do. “Uh, ma’am?”
“Call me Jenn.” I batted my eyelashes for his benefit. “Yeah, Shermie?”
“Uh, the boss said you might have something we should take to headquarters.” He gave me the once over, checking for a clue to what that something could be. Obviously Mac hadn’t filled him in on the details.
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get it there.”
He didn’t appear too sure of my decision, but didn’t want to push it. “Uh, okay. I guess.”
The kid sure said “uh” a lot. “It’ll be fine. But while I’m taking care of headquarters, here’s what you and your buddies are going to do. We left quite a mess in the cemetery. In fact, if you think we look bad, check out the guys who lost the fight. They’re falling to pieces―literally. You lucky guys get to clean ’em up.” I laughed at their expressions of disgust. Hey, we all have to pay our dues, right? “Get to it, men.”
Tilting my head to the side for Blake to follow me, I led my demon-killer hubby toward our vehicle. Blake slipped his arm around my waist and tugged me to him. Even with demon guts all over him, he mesmerized me with his touch.
“So, Jenn, how about it?”
“How about what?” I recognized the playful tone in his voice and faced him. Surely the man didn’t want to get it on here? With this yucky stuff on us?
“Don’t you think saving your life earns me a reward?”
“A reward?” What was my sneaky hubby up to? “Are you forgetting how long you waited before you used the Bracelet to save me?” Come to think of it, why did he take so long? “Were you choosing between me and mortality?”
Blake pulled me to him, trying to persuade me out of my sudden ill mood. “Not at all. The truth is I enjoyed watching you wrestle with his giant ding-dong. That’s a sight few husbands ever get to see. Besides, you looked like you gave as good as you got. No sexual innuendo intended. At least until he grabbed you around the neck.”
I took a moment to consider his explanation and realized it made sense. At least, it did for my Blake. “Oh. Then I guess you’re off the hook.”
“Great. Now let’s talk about my reward. How about letting me drive?”
“Drive? You mean, you drive my Jag?” When I started to object, my gaze fell on my precious car and I realized I had a bigger problem than letting him drive. Either one of us getting into the car would mean getting this awful gunk on my seats. Demon gook on my perfect, smooth leather interior? Uh-uh. No way.
“Blake, I’m not letting either one of us dirty up my car. Which begs the question—how are we getting home?”
He laughed and whispered his solution in my ear.
Was this a joke? A quick glance said it wasn’t. “Really? But what if someone sees us?”
“Then they’re damned lucky, aren’t they?”
I giggled and started stripping my clothes off.
***
“Try it again, Blake.” I couldn’t believe it, and I wasn’t ready to give up, either.
Blake shook his head and handed me the Bracelet. “It’s no use, Jenn. The power is gone. Taking out Demogorgon zapped it of most of its power. Then changing George into a mortal used the last bit of it.”
This wasn’t fair. Blake was the one who deserved mortality. Nothing against George, of course, but I wanted my hubby to have his dream. I wanted him mortal again. After everything we’d gone through, after losing his brother, he needed this more than anyone else. “You can’t give up.”
“I can and I am.” He stood and moved away from the couch where we’d both spent the better part of the morning trying to coax a miracle from the Bracelet.
After driving home in the nude last night without being seen by anyone―except, of course, Partner, who had had a field day whistling at me until Blake had silenced him by removing his power source again―we’d scampered upstairs and hopped into the shower together.
By silent agreement, we locked up the Bracelet in our safe and didn’t say another word about it. I think we both hoped a night of not using it might give it time to regenerate. Like charging up the battery on a cell phone─albeit without the power cord. Besides, it’s not like the local electronics store would carry chargers for the Bracelet. After a sensual time in our shower, we’d made love and fell into a deep sleep, spooning each other until the daylight woke us.
We hadn’t mentioned the Bracelet until this morning. And now our hopes were gone.
“I don’t want you to give up.” I couldn’t let it go. Not for his sake and not for mine.
Blake stood looking out the front window, his back stiff and straight. I sensed he was trying to physically fight off disappointment, but I never expected he’d say what he said next. He pivoted to face me. “Tell me, Jenn. Since there’s no way I’m going to change into a mortal man, do you want to stay with me? Tell me the truth. Can you handle having a demon for a husband?”
I tossed the Bracelet onto the coffee table and was up and moving toward him before he’d finished his last word. “What are you saying? Do you think I don’t love you now? Do you think all I could offer you was conditional love?” I stood toe to toe with him and slapped him on the shoulder. “Damn you, Blake. Why don’t you just call me a heartless bitch?”
“Hey! Watch it. I’m still sore from yesterday’s party.” He went from rubbing the spot where I’d hit him to taking my hands in his. “I need to be sure, is all.”
His eyes met mine and I knew he had to have the reassurance. “Blake Barrington, you’re my husband. For better, for worse. Mortal or otherwise.”
“But wouldn’t you rather have a chance at a normal life? One with a mortal man who could give you mortal kids?”
I know he didn’t expect me to giggle, but I couldn’t help myself. “Are you kidding me? First of all, we’ve never discussed kids before. The whole idea, whether they’re mortal or not, scares the bejeesus out of me. But I think you may be able to persuade me to have one or two rug rats. Later. Way later.” I giggled again. “And secondly, I’m a Protector, for God’s sake. My life has never been normal.”
His body relaxed and he brought me into his arms, leaning his chin on top of my head. I put my ear to his chest and listened to his heartbeat. “I guess this means my membership to the Otherworld has been revoked.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Closing my eyes, I kept my face against him, enjoying the warmth of his body next to mine. “I guess you’ll have to find another organization to join.”
“What’s the old saying? Oh, yeah. ‘I wouldn’t join a club who’d want a member like me.’ Or something like that.”
The idea struck me, nearly knocking me over in its simplicity. Hell─excuse my use of that word─I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it sooner. I let go of Blake’s waist and took his face between my palms. “I’ve got the greatest idea. This is perfect.” His mouth opened to speak, but I never gave him the chance. Instead, I whirled around to scoop up the Bracelet and, tugging him along with me, hurried out of the house.
“Where are we going?” Blake hopped into the passenger’s seat and moved Partner to the floorboard.
“Excuse me. Didn’t we have the discussion about this floorboard thing, Jenn? Are you going to let him keep throwing me on the floor?”
“Better get used to it, Partner. If I have my way, Blake’s going to ride shotgun for me all the time.”
Damn, I love my little Jag. Not merely because it’s beautiful, but because it’s fast and easy to drive. Going into automatic driving mode, I brainstormed, working out the kinks in my plan. We made it to the Society’s headquarters in record time.
Once there, I took
Benita, the Society’s faithful garage attendant-slash-security agent aside, out of hearing distance for Blake. Using my best persuasive powers, I talked Benita into letting Blake enter the building without setting off any alarms. It took some doing, but, eventually, she gave in. Besides, I had a secret weapon. I knew Benita was a sucker for love and, once I’d told her a shortened version of what had happened, she agreed to let me escort Blake to Mac’s office. Still, I was willing to bet she’d alert the guards to Blake’s presence.
I herded Blake into the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.
“What’s going on, Jenn? Why are we at an insurance company? Are you thinking of taking out life insurance on me, then bumping me off for the payout?”
Blake had taken the whole drag-you-out-of-the-house act with grace, but I could see his patience dimming in the way he clenched his jaw. “Funny man. Blake Barrington, you have entered the home office for the Society. We’re going to see my boss.”
“Hey, hon, I trust you and everything, but have you forgotten how much Protectors dislike what I am?”
The elevator doors opened onto the foyer and I took his hand in mine. “Don’t worry and follow my lead, okay?”
He blew out a nervous breath and stepped out with me. “Whatever you say, Snooky Poot.”
Waving to the guards who I knew were watching through the security cameras, I pushed through the big mahogany doors into Mac’s office. This time, however, I didn’t worry about how dirty my shoes were. Once Mac saw what I had to give him and heard the idea I was about to spring on him, he’d give me a big promotion and one helluva raise.
Either that or he’d can my butt.
Mac swiveled around in his leather chair at the same moment the burly security guards rushed out of the elevator. I held up my hand and shouted for them to halt. They skidded to a stop with weapons pointed at my husband.
“Is this your husband?” Mac stood and came around his desk as if he had all the time in the world. Which, I guess, he did. “Your demon husband?”
I heard the click of weapons being readied, but I kept my attention on Mac. “Yes, it is.” Nodding toward Mac, I started the introductions. “Mac, this is my husband, Blake Barrington. Blake, this is my wonderful and brilliant boss, Wilson MacNamara.”