by Amber Lynn
In the kitchen, Clyde is sitting in front of the fridge staring at it. No one was in the living area when I walked through, which is a bit odd.
“What do you want, Clyde? Didn’t Uncle Walt come out to feed you while Mommy was distracted?” I grab a ham steak for him, put it on a plate that I take from the cupboard, and then set it on the ground. First task complete, I get to work on my bacon.
“Technically, he wouldn't have to touch you with skin,” Sebastian says bringing me back to our bizarre conversation about Sebastian trying to talk me into letting Alex, I assume, explore my southern hemisphere with his tongue.
“I am good, really. I touched him intimately and that is about all you can expect out of me today.” I flip my pieces of bacon and wish that I could find a way to cook them quicker. I love me some bacon, but it takes the longest time to cook to the perfect crispness.
“Sorry, Sebastian,” Alex says joining us. He has thrown on a pair of jeans and has a towel draped around his shoulders. “I knew better than to push her for anything else. Her mind had a giant red stop sign flashing.”
“You have trained him so well,” Sebastian tells me in response. “I will let you get on with your morning, but wanted you to know security is in place and every spell I can come up with to keep demented succubi away has been cast. She won’t be getting me anytime soon.”
“I am glad to hear that. I patiently await your return,” I tell him as I place my bacon on a paper towel to absorb some of the grease. My mind is moving on from the conversation with the mounds of bacon in front of me.
“You have been reading the antonym part of the definition of words again. There is not a patient bone in your body.”
“Very true. I am fighting hard not to eat while I continue this conversation. Do you think we can say we love each other and talk in a couple of hours?” I ask.
“I love you, too. Enjoy,” he says and cuts the call. Smart man, realizing more words would tax my system at this moment.
I grab my plate and head towards the living room to get comfortable on a couch. I left enough bacon for Alex to grab his own and if he doesn’t want it, the fridge is full of other food he can make for himself.
“Nice of you to emerge from your bedroom,” Jake says from the couch I choose not to sit on. Walt is sitting with him.
“We weren’t in there that long. I am surprised you made yourself scarce,” I get out before my first slice of bacon meets my mouth. Nothing is said while I enjoy my treat.
“Now that Walt is here, I don’t have much choice in the matter. Your uncle doesn’t think I should hear you having intimate relations with your mates.”
I think I will have to buy Walt a new gun for his insistence. “Have I told you that you are my favorite uncle?”
“From what I gather from your father, I am your only uncle, so I don’t know how great a compliment that is.”
“If Nyx says your name and favorite in the same sentence, you better believe that is a high compliment,” Alex says finally joining us with his plate of bacon. “So, are you heading to the office today?”
“I was thinking I would go in and do some research on more varieties of demons. This is the second one we have run into in a relatively short amount of time and I want more information.”
“Who is the second one?” Jake asks lost in the conversation.
“Sebby has a succubus stalking him. Do either of you have any experience with one?”
“No, thank God. At least not that I am aware of,” Walt answers.
“I haven’t either, but I hear it can be a very interesting experience,” Jake adds his two cents.
“The controlled eagerness in your statement makes me want to immediately find a charm to keep you out from under one of their thralls. I think we are going to have to make a pit stop at SpellBinders. If a succubus were to get a hold of you, I have a feeling decades would be taken away from your life and you would never get the opportunity to grow up,” I say as I grab Alex’s plate and return them to the kitchen.
“Have you thought about asking his evilness for help in this matter?” Alex asks.
I should have, but I try not to turn to Ben for everything. “Ben, can you hear me?” I say aloud. I haven’t really summoned him before, so I am not sure what I have to do.
“You have reached Benjalarico's voicemail. He is not available at this moment in time. If you want to leave a message, tough titties. If this is my pretty little baby maker and you are ready to share a night with me, tickle your palm and I will be right there,” a computerized woman’s voice echoes through the apartment.
“I guess you will have to try him later. I don’t think we are desperate enough for you to ‘tickle your palm’.”
“I concur. Is everyone coming with me? I take it is Jonas’ turn in the sleeping cycle.” I start wandering towards my bedroom to get dressed. Without a lot of choices in my wardrobe, I quickly put my knives, guns, and clothing on.
“Yes, Jonas will be up in a couple of hours to keep an eye on you. I am going to go hit up my contacts for some anti-succubus spray. If she isn't able to get to Sebastian, she may try other methods to get to him.”
Like coming after me. If I knew how to eradicate the bitch, I would welcome the confrontation. Sadly, I don’t currently even know how to banish her ass. It is the first item on my list of things to do at the office today.
“Sounds like a plan. If you get bored, come keep me company,” I say giving him a quick kiss on my way to get Clyde’s leash.
“Thanks for my wake up gift. I will return the favor in the near future.”
“And just maybe I will let you,” I reply. Jake and Walt join me and Demon Dog in the elevator and we are off for a little walk to ParaNorm Inc.
Chapter 9
No visitors allowed
After letting Clyde water three nearby buildings, we arrive at our destination. There is a bouquet of flowers sitting outside of my door and I am not amused. If they were from Sebastian or Alex, they would be inside the building. I am not sure how they work that out, but each time they have sent flowers they were sitting on my desk waiting for me.
“Jake, do you mind grabbing those?” I ask while I fish my keys out of my pocket. I don’t even want to touch the flowers. They are dark purple roses that would greatly appeal to me if they were from the proper individual.
“Two guesses whom they are from,” he replies after getting a good look at them.
“No one important,” I say making my way into my office. I am here to do research, not worry about flowers.
I sit down and start my computer. I want to get a look at what the Collective has on Candace. I hope there is more information on her than there was Ben. After I hack into the system, I am rewarded with a more thorough biography.
Name: Candace
Race: Demon
Subspecies: Succubus
Summoning name: Krindlecane
Background: Candace is a mid-level succubus that is well known for keeping her victims in her web until they are dead. She prefers male targets, but has been known to go after exceptionally strong female prey. She can be protected against with a simple charm that any low level witch can cast.
Current location: Emerald Town
Aliases: Candy and CeCe
Associates: Unknown
Distinguishing features: She is able to change her appearance, but tends to take the guise of a tall blonde. She has the mark of a raven just above her belly button.
I don’t really like the raven being involved. That is Ben’s symbol and if she is one of his minions, I am going to be extremely pissed at him.
“You have a visitor approaching at a fast clip,” Jake announces to snap me out of my rapidly approaching fit.
I look up and can see Will walking in the door. I don’t want to know how he found me. “I think you made a wrong turn somewhere, mortal.” I glance down to see if Clyde is going to sic the human for me, but he is fast asleep. He can be a lazy little jerk some days.
“If they were purple roses, yes, they were waiting for me when I got here. I am sure they are very nice. Now that you have assured yourself a hoodlum didn’t come by and steal them, you can go about your business elsewhere.”
“I am guessing the news hasn’t reached you, but our leading lady was found dead this morning in her trailer. I was hoping I could convince you to reconsider being in the movie. We don’t really have time to find someone else without getting way behind in shooting,” he says settling in one of the chairs I reserve for customers.
“Jake?” I ask wondering if he has heard anything since he saw her just last night.
“News to me. She was definitely breathing the last time I saw her.”
“I am sorry for your loss, but I don’t act,” I inform Will. He doesn’t seem broken up at all by his costar’s death.
“What can I do to convince you otherwise? I think it is a role you would be perfect for. There is a little bit of fighting you can do when you get kidnapped and you look the epitome of a damsel in distress.” I know we haven’t spent very much time together, but does he seriously think that statement is going to make me change my mind?
“Look, Will, you seem like a nice guy, but I can tell you right now that you probably should not be sitting where you are at this moment if you want to keep your dick,” Jake says from the other room.
“He is referring to the fact that I have a crossbow trained on your privates as we speak,” I say cluing the guy in. “I think I proved to you yesterday that I am anything other than a damsel in distress. I believe my demonstration should have also made the point that I don’t play well with others.”
“I did get that vibe from you, but we are in a bind. I think having a non-human in the movie will also earn some publicity that we are in need of for this movie. The series is starting to get a little played out, but if we can advertise that our leading lady is a paranorm, we might be able to give it a boost,” he says trying to plead his case.
I should have hit him harder in his head yesterday. It might have knocked some sense into him. “Still not happening. Now, if you don’t mind, I do actually have a lot of work to get done today. I have my own problems and to me they are more important than you needing to find a replacement girl.”
“Arm up, Sweetie. We have one of those bigger problems getting ready to enter the building,” Walt says and I leap over my desk and Will to get to the waiting room immediately.
“Holy shit,” I hear Will mumble.
I look out the window to take inventory of our trouble and see Frank and a group of other Collective agents heading towards my door.
“Fuck.” There really isn’t anything else to say. I pull out my Beretta and wait for them to enter. I don’t think taking this meeting out to the street is a wise move on my part.
Frank enters and signals for the rest of his crew to wait outside. “Hello, Nyx. You haven’t stopped by for our weekly dinners for a while now,” he says as he stares down my barrel.
He looks no different than he did when I last saw him a couple of months ago. He is in his seventies, but doesn’t look any older than Will, who I am guessing is in his late twenties. Frank is 6’2” with a fair complexion, not as light as mine, but pretty close. He has short blond hair and moss green eyes. His nose is bent slightly out of shape from not being properly set after a mark hit him with a brick.
“When I found out you had been lying to me my entire life, I decided to take them off my calendar. What are you doing here?”
“There seems to have been an incident with one of the human females in town. One of your flunkies has been seen spending a lot of time with her and we are here to bring him in for questioning. You are welcome to come along. You have been greatly missed at the Collective.”
I glance over to Jake to see how he takes Frank’s statement. I know he didn’t have anything to do with the girl’s death, so as far as I am concerned, he isn’t going anywhere. Jake rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
“What evidence do you have that indicates Jake was involved?” I ask turning back to Frank. My gun has remained trained on his chest. “All I have heard you claim is based on hearsay, probably from humans, so it doesn’t prove anything.”
“She was attacked by a wolf. There is no questioning that fact. The witnesses are not only humans. We have had Collective people watching the humans closely to try to make sure the filming goes smoothly. Jake has been seen frequenting the trailer the woman’s body was found in. Someone even stated he was there just last night. I think those facts indicate he needs to have a little sit down with us, if nothing else to prove his innocence.”
“And I say your witnesses are full of it. When was she killed? Jake was home by midnight. He was not freshly showered and wasn’t covered in blood, nor did he carry the smell of death.” For me, I have found the recently departed smell of fish guts. In my line of work, it can be hard to avoid the smell and I am happy that it hasn't always been there for me.
“The signs indicate that she was killed just after dawn, but I still would like to have a chat with him. He might have seen something that will help us with our investigation.”
“You can ask him your questions here. You don’t have to take him back to your dungeon. I have seen how you have worked over suspects before and I am not allowing that to happen to one of my people,” I assert.
“I prefer not to, but for now you can have it your way. If I decide later that I have more questions, I will bring him in.” Over my dead body, I think to myself.
“Will, you should probably be on your way. Things might get a little uncivil and I would hate for you to get a bad impression of paranorms,” I say wanting him out of here as soon as possible. There are no assurances guns won’t eventually be fired.
“Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. You know where to find me if you change your mind about what we discussed,” he replies scurrying to get around Frank and out the door. It seems he isn't totally stupid.
“You can have a seat if you would like,” I tell Frank still refusing to lower my gun.
“I am guessing you are not going to join me, so I will stand. Jake can you tell us about your evening last night?”
“Sure. I will go over all of my movements from yesterday, just to prove I am cooperating. I woke up around six at night. Jonas and Walt were already awake, so we had a quick meal together. Nyx, Sebastian, and Alex woke up not much later and joined us. Around eight or so, Nyx got a delivery from Tango Charlie. The order was messed up and she threw one of her usual fits. We went down to the movie set in time for her to exchange orders with them before anyone got hurt. We went back to her place and wished Sebastian farewell as he set off for a business trip.
“After he left, I got bored and ticked everyone off enough that they gave me a few hours of free time. I headed over to Stacy's and engaged in some mildly boring coitus. When I was spent, I didn't hang around any longer than needed and went back to Nyx's, where I remained the rest of the night. I believe Nyx was correct in saying that I arrived before midnight. I am sure the security tapes will show me entering around 11:45,” Jake says finishing off his long ramble.
“And you noticed nothing suspicious when you left Ms. Lehman's?”
“No. Everything was pretty quiet. The humans seem to keep daytime hours for their shooting schedule, so I think most of them were already asleep.”
“Can I get you to come in so we can take some DNA samples and bite imprints?” Frank asks still trying to get Jake on Collective property.
“Screw you, Frank,” I say answering for Jake. “You know damn well that you already have his DNA on file. With that, you don't need to do any teeth measurements.”
“He is still our number one suspect. He could have left your place any time before dawn and you may no
t have noticed it.”
“If you aren't going to do the job you are pretending to do, then I will get you a better suspect. I will hand the real killer over to you within two days,” I say ready to just shoot him for being a dick. He knows Jake isn't involved, but is messing with us anyway.
“Really? You think you can solve this case before I can?”
“Sure. I figured out where Nathaniel Rogers was within a month of being outside the Collective. I bet you still haven't found him.” It is a low blow, but he deserves it.
He gives me his badass stare. It doesn't impress me and I let that show on my face. “I wasn't aware you knew of that name.”
“I didn't know it. It just goes to prove what a charmed life I live.”
“You wouldn't happen to want to tell me where I can find Mr. Rogers?”
“”No, I think I will keep that information to myself. I do hear it tends to be a beautiful day in his neighborhood, though.” I don't watch TV now, but as a kid, it was force fed to me at times when they couldn't find anyone to babysit me. That might be part of the reasoning behind my disdain.
Frank chuckles softly. “Cute. I will give you your two days to try to uncover a better suspect. If you cannot do it within that time, I am coming back for Jake. If that happens, my friends won't wait outside,” he says and then turns to leave. “Oh, if you still have Tommy lying around somewhere, I wouldn’t mind getting him back. He showed a lot of potential.”
Potential of being a psychopath. Sadly, I do still have Tommy sitting down in my dungeon. Alex and Sebastian are not satisfied with the information he has provided, so far, and they are keeping him from me. I think if they would just let me do half of the things I have planned for him, he would be singing like a canary.
“I think you better bring more people if you want to get out of here alive,” I inform him, but he doesn't take the bait and comment back. He leaves the building and his minions follow in his wake. I guess he figured out my thoughts on handing Tommy over.