by Lana Kole
The twinkle in his eye told her he knew where her thoughts were going. “We didn’t. It’s true we’re demons, but we’re demons of concept. We aren’t demons of lore, who are humans who’ve died, gone to hell, and been corrupted by the darkness below. We’ve always just... been. So we weren’t born.” He paused, looking to Misery for help.
Misery, who sighed before mumbling through an explanation. “Since we weren’t born, we can create our forms when we materialize. But we can only do it at certain times. Such as... escaping Pandora’s jar and becoming flesh again.”
“So, how you look now, you haven’t always looked this way?”
“No. To be honest, I’ve forgotten how I looked so long ago, but I had an idea at least of how I wanted to look.” Truth motioned to himself again. “How did I do?”
Heat flooded her cheeks but she refrained from commenting, instead turning to Misery. “Did you come preloaded with any tattoos?”
“Preloaded? No. I plan to get some though.”
She winced. “Why? It’ll hurt. You could’ve just poofed them into existence with the rest of you!”
He sent her a droll stare. “Of course I could have, but there’s no fun in that.”
“Do you even know how to have fun?” she teased.
“Well, no probably not. But having a needle pierce my skin over and over again sounds like a good start.”
Well, now she wished she hadn’t asked. But had she expected differently?
Shaking her head at him, she let the subject drop, and focused on the pizza she had left. It didn’t take long for the memory of the night before to creep up and latch on with determined talons. She’d really thought Andrew was a nice guy—or at least… not the worst she could have chosen to take home.
What a mistake that was.
Isn’t that the truth?
A light bulb went off and she jolted with the idea. “Truth!” she shouted, and sat up, just scant millimeters away from dumping her pizza on the carpet.
“Yes?” he answered calmly, clearly not as excited as she was as he returned to his seat with an arched eyebrow.
“Andrew told the truth about all the stuff he told me, right? Else you would have said something.”
“Yeah, I would have mentioned it.”
“Well if this cult’s mission is to… find Pandora’s bloodline, then they know about the curse, which means they probably knew you were with me. He had to tell the truth so as not to set off any warning bells.”
Misery turned a half smile her way and nodded, following along. Truth seemed to feed off her excitement and practically bounced in his seat as he leaned forward, his eyebrows rising as he understood where she was going.
“We can track him down using what he told us.”
“I say we start with his workplace.” Daria placed her mostly empty plate on the table and sat back, her appetite gone in the face of her excitement. “He always came in the bar a little after seven, so I think it’s safe to assume he works normal hours… ”
Glancing at the time, she noticed it was just before the five o’clock happy hour rush.
“Guys. Guys!” she repeated when they didn’t answer, and they jerked their heads up in her direction. “If we go now, we can catch him at work. Maybe he’ll lead us to the cult.”
Truth arched an eyebrow before standing. “Do you often have stalker tendencies?”
Her cheeks flushed but she rolled her eyes to cover it up. “Oh, hush. Let’s go before he leaves work.”
“This is a lot less exciting than I thought it would be,” Daria groaned as she slumped down in her seat.
They were parked underneath a tree across the street, eyes trained on the entrance to J & J Marketing, the company headquarters Andrew was stationed at. They’d circled the building to find that the only three cars left were parked right in the front. One of them belonged to Andrew, and now all they had to do was wait. And wait some more.
“How late does this guy normally work?” Truth asked.
Daria rolled her head to the right to look at him. “You know about as well as I do. He always came into the bar around seven.”
Misery scoffed from the back seat. “Yeah, and it’s already eight. What’s taking this guy so long?”
“This always looks a lot more interesting in the movies,” Daria complained.
“Everything looks more interesting in the movies,” Truth teased. It was a long moment of staring at the swaying trees before he backtracked. “I take that back. Not everything.” Daria turned to Truth with an eyebrow cocked, but his expression stopped her. “I can think of quite a few things worth experiencing in the flesh.”
Is it just me or is the demon of Truth flirting with me? On a stake out? Of the guy I was gonna sleep with before he killed me?
“Uh-huh?” The lilt on the end of her question disappeared into a different octave—a squeak instead of the casual coolness she aimed for. Because, fact of the matter was… Truth was hot. He had long blond hair that belonged on a surfer, and blue eyes she would’ve loved to swim in. Broad shoulders that tapered to a lean waist. An ass meant for grabbing and lips meant for kissing.
Daria was torn between scoffing, and jumping up and down to volunteer as tribute.
No. You have a fucking job to do. Focus!
But the longer Truth stared at her, the longer she wanted a distraction from… everything, and found herself swaying closer under the force of his gaze.
“Uh… guys, I think that’s him.” Misery’s dull voice broke through whatever trance Daria was in, and she jerked her head around to see Andrew finally exiting the building.
“It’s about damn time,” she grumbled, trying to erase the lingering pull she felt toward Truth.
All three of them watched intently as Andrew slid inside his car and started the engine. Daria waited, barely, until he’d turned out of the parking lot before following. Her hands tightened against the steering wheel, nerves getting the best of her. What if she lost him on the road by not following close enough? Or worse, what if she strayed too close, he noticed, and freaked out?
“Stop worrying so much,” Truth told her.
Daria risked a short glance at him before returning her gaze to Andrew’s Civic two cars in front of them. “How’d you know?”
“I could practically hear it from over here,” he teased.
Ignoring him, Daria focused on following Andrew. It wasn’t so hard, if she ignored the panic that bubbled up every time a car between them changed lanes and brought her just that much closer to him. When they pulled off the highway, Daria turned down the radio so she could focus better in the dark. She hated driving at night. And it didn’t help that this wasn’t your average joyride. The tension in the car was high, her hands were sweaty with nerves, and she didn’t know if it was the excitement over confronting Andrew, or the almost-miss between her and Truth.
With her luck? Probably both.
As if they could sense her anxiety, both Truth and Misery kept their mouths shut as Andrew pulled off the main road into a cul-de-sac.
“Turn the lights off,” Truth warned.
She didn’t even argue, even though she feared it would make them look even more sketchy, driving around this family area with no lights on.
Not suspicious at all.
But no one came out onto their porch to see who it was, no one yelled at them to stop, so she kept going. Past family homes, bikes abandoned in yards, sprinklers left running from the fun in the sun. The smoke of a barbecue lingered in the air and Daria’s nerves intensified as they drove deeper into the neighborhood. They rounded the corner just in time to catch Andrew’s brake lights cast their red glow across his concrete driveway as he pulled into a garage. He lived at the end of a half-developed suburb.
Please don’t tell me he has a family!
They rolled to a stop next to one of the empty lots, pulling around to the other side of an excavator to hide their car.
Lights flicked on inside Andrew’s house, and thr
ough the thin curtains, a shadow walked past and continued on in the rest of the house. The first light clicked off, and another clicked on within the second story of the home.
Truth eased out of the car and Daria followed suit when Misery mimicked him. They shut the doors carefully and quietly before peeking at the house.
An oddly familiar pressure returned to her chest and she frowned before pushing it away.
“This seems so out of character. Why does he live in a family house if it’s just him?” Daria’s brow knotted in confusion.
“Cult life must rake in the big bucks,” Truth quipped.
Daria grumbled at that, seriously considering changing her life plan as she eyed the two-story mountain stone home.
Not that I had a life plan in the first pla—oh we’re moving! Okay, yep.
Truth and Misery took off across the street, and Daria gasped, following close before she was left behind. They landed against the far side of the garage, pausing to listen for any signs that they’d been caught. When a moment passed with no alarms or shrieks of intruders, they tiptoed around back.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she grumbled. In the backyard was a white picket fence encircling a pool, with a patio and glass doors that opened into the kitchen.
“I need to go into the cult life, apparently,” she joked.
Stalking along the side of the fence, they came to the gate, which by some turn of luck was unlocked.
“Wait, wait!” Daria jerked Truth back from swinging the gate open when the kitchen lit up, showing Andrew in nothing but a pair of boxers as he grabbed a beer from the fridge.
As if he heard her, Andrew’s shoulders stiffened as he turned to glance out the glass doors, surveying the pool and backyard area. Daria fisted a hand in the back of Truth’s shirt as she feared discovery, her breath catching in her throat as they waited.
Eventually, Andrew turned back around and abandoned the kitchen, the light flicking off, showing darkness. Seconds later, a flashing light bounced around the room, and she realized it was TV from the living room, past the kitchen.
“Okay, I think we’re good,” Truth mumbled before swinging the gate open. The hinges didn’t even squeak or grind, and she sent up another silent thanks for their luck.
“Are you okay?” Misery asked her. When she turned to him with confusion evident on her face, he nodded to her chest. It was only then she realized she was rubbing at the weird tension behind her breastbone.
Dropping her hand, she shrugged it off. “Yeah, it’s nothing.” Once again, they eased up to the siding of the house before peeking in, and she tried to see through the kitchen and over the counter. “What is he watching? How are we gonna… you know, surprise him?”
Misery chuckled suddenly, and Daria turned to look at him, the sound so out of place her mouth dropped open. “Are you… laughing?”
The sound abruptly cut off before he cleared his throat, pointing through the window. “I think the guy’s plenty distracted. He’s watching porn.”
Daria gasped and turned to look. Sure enough, from what she could see of the TV, a too-well-lit scene showed a blonde woman with glasses staring innocently up at a man as he traced her lips with the tip of his cock. Daria cleared her throat, her cheeks flaming red. “Yeah, he’s gonna be busy for a while.” Her hand flapped toward the door. “Shall we?”
The sliding glass door was silent as they pulled on the handle. But even if it had made a sound, it would have been drowned out by the moans and grunts from the overly enthusiastic couple on the screen.
As they entered the kitchen, Daria almost missed the side entrance that looped back around to the living room. When a figure cloaked in shadows caught her eye, a flash of metal reflecting in the night, she risked no chances. Before Truth or Misery even knew what was happening, she’d thrown herself in front of them as recognition flashed across the shadow’s features. But it was too late. He’d already pulled the trigger. Daria jerked, falling into Truth’s side.
“What the—” Truth’s mumbled curses were drowned out by the sudden growl filling the room.
Horror spread across Andrew’s face as he stepped forward, staring at her as if she were a ghost. She blinked, and Misery was a flash of black across the kitchen, a growl catching in his chest as he decked Andrew. He went down with one hit while Truth lowered her to the ground. She didn’t get why, at first, she was on the ground, but then she glanced down and saw the blood spreading out across her chest. The pressure had been replaced with a bullet.
“Oh,” was the most she could say in the moment. “Again?”
As Truth palmed the back of her head and gently let her rest on the ground, she glanced at him upside down.
His mouth was cut in a slash across his face, anger stamped across his features as he gazed down at her. “Don’t do that again, boo.”
“Boo?” she questioned, confused. But then again, everything was confusing right then, because her vision was getting darker.
His lips quirked. “Yeah, get it? Cause you’re like a ghost. Keep dyin’ on me.”
Daria wanted to laugh, really. But she couldn’t, because her heart stopped beating.
S’what happened when you got shot in the chest. And died.
Again.
TRUTH
As soon as the life escaped from Daria, again, he exploded up from the ground, charging across the kitchen to the unconscious bastard who dared harm her. Again!
Instead, Misery grabbed him around the waist as he passed and gripped tight, keeping him from moving forward. “Hold up, big guy. We have questions for him, remember?”
Truth knew he was right, but he’d be damned if he could listen to reason just then. “He fucking killed her!”
Misery squeezed tighter, knocking the breath out of his lungs. “Yeah, but she’ll be back. It doesn’t work that way with him, so if you kill him now we’ll never know where they took the guys.”
Finally shrugging him off, Truth made no move for Andrew, although Misery planted himself between them as if he’d plow through him just to beat the unconscious asshole.
“It’s fine. Let’s just give it a bit and see who wakes up first,” Truth grumbled, and bent down to brush a few dark waves off Daria’s face.
“My money’s on Daria.”
“You don’t have any money.” Truth smirked but didn’t look up at Misery.
“Not the point.”
Truth chuckled before nodding to Andrew. “You grab him and I’ll situate her on the couch.”
“Why do I always have to move the bad guy?”
“Oh, shut up. You’d find something to complain about even if I had asked you to move Daria.”
“Doubtful,” he muttered, but did as requested and dumped Andrew in a chair in the middle of the living room. With a search of the garage, they found some rope to secure him with. They weren’t gentle with the knots. By the time they tied him up, the couple on the television had moved into full on intercourse, and Truth shut it off right as they reached climax.
Andrew came to only a few moments later, his dark eyes blinking up at them in confusion.
Truth watched the asshole’s memory kick in, stiffening before he began struggling against his ties. Then his gaze connected to Daria, who was still dead on the couch.
“Holy shit,” he whispered, disbelief coloring his tone.
Truth stepped into his line of sight, shielding Daria from his view. At the glowering look Truth was sure marred his features, Andrew sunk into his binds and stayed there.
Spotting the gold wrappers and the glimmering bowl of candy on the coffee table, Truth snatched a piece and popped it in his mouth. The sweet sugar hit his tongue and he grinned as he spoke. “Let’s cut to the chase, Andrew. I’d really like to have this whole matter situated and taken care of before our girl here wakes up.” At his words, Andrew’s eyes grew wide, the whites showing the panic Truth was sure bubbled in his veins. As it should.
“Wake up? She’s dead.”
Misery crouched down at his other side. “Yeah, I’m sure you thought that last time too.”
“So, who pays your mortgage for these fancy-ass digs you’ve got?” Truth wasted no time.
Andrew gave no answer, or even any hint that he’d heard the question, just stared forward and refused to make eye contact with either of them.
Misery tilted his head at Truth, seeking permission. With a nod, Truth granted it, and winced as he placed a hand on Andrew’s shoulder. Honestly, Truth could just force the information out of him, but he’d killed Daria. Twice. He deserved some pain.
It was some brutal shit, Misery’s namesake was. Truth didn’t know how he lived with it most days, but then again, knowing the truth wasn’t always that great either. But he sure as hell didn’t want to trade places with Andrew just then. The little bitch let out a bloodcurdling scream, a millisecond before Misery slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle it.
Now, with two hands on his skin, Andrew felt the full force of Misery’s power. There was no light, or bright colors fluttering around, but by the shaking of Andrew’s body, it was doing its job.
“Okay, ease up,” Truth told Misery, and clacked the candy against his teeth.
Misery removed his hands from Andrew’s flesh, and he slumped forward in his binds, his breath rasping past his lips in broken gasps.
Butterscotch.
Truth pointed to the bowl. “Misery, you should eat some candy. It’s delicious.”
Eyes wide, Andrew looked at Truth like he was crazy. As soon as he caught his breath for a second, Truth asked, “Who do you work for?”
They obviously knew the truth, but it was better to let him assume they were lost. It would make Andrew feel like he had an advantage over them, even though he was clearly the one tied and tortured. He’d relish taking that advantage away.
When he didn’t answer, Truth decided to get a little personal, his fist snapping forward to deck him across the face. A small groan slipped out when his head snapped to the left, echoing the blood that poured from his nose, but he remained silent otherwise.