“It’s the radio.” I shouted back to my mother but I could hear her climbing to my room. “Crap on a cracker.” Without thinking, I grabbed Amel by the hand. “Hide in the closet.”
He hurried across my bedroom and ducked inside but his wings stuck out the door frame. “I can’t fit.” He tossed me a daggered look over his shoulder. “And I won’t fit under your bed either.”
I paced back and forth. What would I tell her? My parents didn’t like me hanging out with demons let alone a mazzikim. John was the exception and look what he’d done to me a few months ago. Wait a minute. “Your brother has glamor. Don’t you?”
He extricated himself from the closet. “You want me to look human?” His tone made it clear he thought I was mad.
“I command you to look human before my mom finds a demon in here and tries to poke you with her chopping knife.” I narrowed my gaze. “And I’d order you to let her.”
Growling something under his breath, he shimmered.
My bedroom door swung open and my birth mom entered. “Oh my.”
I stared at Amel. “Oh my.” Hot digidy damn. “Uh, mom, this is Amel.”
“You’re not supposed to feed in the house,” she whispered without any force behind her accusation. “Not that I blame you.”
“Mom.” I twisted to face her.
She eyed Amel like a lioness on the hunt. I could understand. Under all that demon flesh lived something from my wet dreams. My mom finally pulled her gaze from the hunky male and met mine. “What? It’s my day three tomorrow. Maybe we could share.” She gave him a wink and left.
I didn’t know how long I stared at the empty doorway before Amel came to stand next to me. “I might be having a stroke.”
“I wish.” He crossed his cream, toffee colored arms. “So finding a half-naked male in your room is better than a demon.” His massive wings were gone so he appeared shirtless and barefoot in low hung jeans.
“A half-naked demon. Yes.” My people were once demons like Amel but we gave up our wings to appear more human so hunting would be easier. Since then, most demons spat on our kind. The feeling was mutual.
“Let’s find you some clothes.” Amel seemed about my dad’s size so it shouldn’t be difficult. I went to his room and rummaged through his drawers. When I returned, I found my bedroom empty. What the fuck? I raced to the bathroom praying I’d find Amel in a non-compromising position, but it was empty as well. Then I heard it.
The sound of giggling.
I followed the noise to the kitchen where I found my moms serving Amel a plate of cookies and a tall glass of milk.
He devoured them like, well, like a ravenous demon. Crumbs and nuts scattered across the table. The dessert never had a chance.
My moms, on the other hand, watched him like take-out had just arrived: all that bare muscled flesh, thick dark hair, and feral manners. If I left him here alone, I wasn’t sure who would survive the encounter. My money would be on my mothers.
I set the shirt, socks, and shoes on the table next to Amel. “Here you go.”
“What’s this?” He poked at the pile.
“If you’re going to hang-out with me then you need to dress. From my moms’ reactions, I doubt we’ll make it anywhere unmolested if you remain the way you are.” I eyed his six pack abs pointedly before he covered those babies up.
“Pia Marie, behave.” Estelle offered me the plate of cookies. “Lunch will be ready soon.”
I took a couple and winked at her. “Can I make a phone call without you molesting him? He belongs to Zur-Sin.”
At the mention of the vampire the smiles vanished from my mothers’ faces. It was for their good. Flirting with a human appearing male came naturally to them but Amel could hurt my moms. They needed to keep their distance.
Amel pulled the shirt over his head and grabbed another handful of cookies. Everyone should behave while I left the room. Hopefully this call would be short.
I entered dad’s office for privacy and dialed Cecile’s number. She was Val’s prime wife and queen bitch of the universe. She had the tiara to prove it. If I called her from my cellphone, she’d ignore me. By using my dad’s phone I had a fifty-fifty chance she would answer. One didn’t ignore Lake City’s co-ruler.
“This is Cecile Hunan.” Of all Val’s wives, she hated me the most. She controlled the shipments of vials to Val. All his other wives sent them to her first that way she could make sure no one was shirking their responsibilities.
“Please, don’t hang up on me. This is important.” My words flowed quickly, almost coming out as one, so she’d be forced to hear me out.
“What is it, Ms. Blyton?” Cecile sighed. She ran her own company on the West Coast and had little patience for someone like me.
“I know you hate me and I’m sorry for that but you shouldn’t punish Val. It’s dangerous to withhold vials. He might hurt someone.”
“What are you talking about?” For the first time since I’d met her, she actually sounded interested in what I had to say.
“Val hasn’t been receiving any vials.”
“That’s impossible. I just sent a full box three days ago. It should have arrived by now and supplied him for a month.”
I hesitated. Was she lying? Did I have the balls to accuse her? Not really. “Maybe it got lost in the mail?” I took a shaky breath and whispered, “He almost killed me yesterday, Cecile.” I let those words sink in. “Do you have any idea what my father would have done to him if he had?” I did. He would have handed Val over to Sin, who controlled a certain demon who hated our kind. The powerful alliance between our strong families would be dissolved and Cecile loved power more than anything.
“This is ridiculous. I have the tracking number, Pia.”
“Then give it to me and let me figure out what’s happening to the shipments.”
“I can handle it from here.”
“Fine, but you seem like a very busy person and I don’t have anything else to do.” I wish she could understand I only wanted to help. And stay alive.
“Very well, do you have paper and pen?”
Restraining a squeal of delight, I scrambled around my father’s desk until I found what I needed. “Go ahead.”
She read off a long series of numbers that I copied on my paper, and then I read it back to her.
“I wouldn’t withhold Val’s feedings. No matter how angry he makes me. He knows this. We’ve suffered through worse than this silly engagement and I never once let him go hungry.”
“I’m sure he knows, but where are the vials going then?”
A moment of silence answered me. “True.” She paused again. “How is he feeding then? You can’t possibly be doing it all by yourself.”
“I’m not.” Val was going to kill me but she had to know. “He’s buying vials off the streets until we can figure this out.”
She hissed.
“At least he isn’t sleeping around. It could be worse.”
“In my opinion, he’s already betrayed us in that respect.” She meant me. “I’ll send a new package today.”
“We’re engaged, Cecile.”
“I hear you still haven’t set a date for your engagement party. How is that respectful to our family?”
“We’re—”
She hung up.
Chapter Eleven
I stared at the dead phone in my hand. Why couldn’t she just give me a chance? The small note paper in my hand felt heavy and I stared at it. Maybe she had when she relinquished this tracking number. How hard can it be for the shipping company to find our package?
Locating the closest office on the internet, I scribbled the address next to the tracking number. I could have just called but I did my best work in person and I really needed whoever was working to find this box. My life depended on it.
The sound of giggling reached my ears again as I left dad’s office and headed toward the kitchen. How furious would my mothers be if they found out Amel’s real identity? I probably would ne
ed to take a trip out of the country. Especially with how moody they’d been. This would send them over the edge. I pushed the door open and found they’d laid a feast in front of Amel.
He shoveled homemade corned beef hash into his mouth.
“Doesn’t Sin feed you?” I folded my arms over my chest.
“Not like this.” He never even lifted his gaze from the food.
I didn’t want him around, even with the necklace, but I couldn’t leave him here either. “I have to run some errands. Let’s go, Amel.”
He rose swiftly to his feet as soon as the command left my lips. I could really have a lot fun with this kind of power. Why would Sin ever trust me with it? Amel didn’t let go of his plate or fork as he marched out of the kitchen. Hatred arrowed from his glare. I wasn’t sure if it was because of being forced to follow my orders or because I took him away from my moms’ cooking.
I gathered my coat and stared as Amel exited the house in only a t-shirt, jeans, and running shoes. “Aren’t you cold?”
“No.” He stared at my car as I unlocked the driver side door. “I’m not getting in that thing.” He handed me his empty plate. “That was good.” Then he belched and pointed to the sky. “I’ll follow you from up there.”
“So you could terrify all the humans as I drive through the city? I think not.”
He snarled and stomped to the passenger side. “They wouldn’t see me. I can glamor myself from them.” With a little creative yoga, he squeezed his almost seven foot frame in my Bug. “Am I not punished enough? Must I be seen in this atrocity?”
“Shh.” I rubbed the dash. “He didn’t mean it, Baby. He’s just a nasty old demon.”
Amel stared out the window, his frown growing deeper. “I’m not that old.”
“Then stop acting like you are. There’s nothing wrong with my car.”
He snorted. “I have wings. I shouldn’t have to travel in a metal box.”
I geared the car into drive and headed toward the city resisting the urge to order Amel into my trunk. Knowing the demon, he was acting this nasty to piss me off and feed from my anger. Then again, he always acted like an ass with a master’s degree in jerkology. We got on the freeway. The shipping store was downtown. Hopefully we wouldn’t hit any traffic.
Amel looked out the window with a sullen stare. “Has my brother contacted you yet?”
Blind reflex kept my car on the road as I tried not to shit bricks. I cleared my dry throat. “Why?”
“I can sense he’s close. He has to be back in the city. The little snot.”
“I forbid you to do him any harm, Amel.”
He repeated what I said in a high pitched whiny voice. “Zur-Sin already beat you to that command so you can save your breath.”
“He did?” What was going on with that vampire all of a sudden? If he kept this up, someone might think he was turning into a nice guy.
“Something about getting tired of feeding you so much and John can finally pick up the slack.” Oh, not so nice after all. Tired of feeding me? He wanted to bump hips just last night.
I tossed Amel a glance and spotted a slight up-turn to his lips. “You’re trying to piss me off on purpose.”
He grinned at his reflection in the window. “I’m hungry and you’re so easy.”
“Doesn’t Sin provide you with sustenance?” I tried not to imagine how. The vampire usually had a mean streak.
“Yes but it’s always energy caused by pain. I could use some variety.”
I could relate. I had similar issues. “You should consider becoming a divorce lawyer. I think you’d get variation and never starve.”
Twisting in his seat, he faced me and appeared pensive. “One of my cousins does that. He does seem happy.” Amel shook his head. “But I can’t stand humans. I’d end up slaughtering my clients.”
“I met a devil who works for the IRS.”
Amel chuckled. “Too boring.”
“What did you do before…?” I glanced at the demon who sat inches from me with a terrible temper. This wasn’t the time to bring up—
“Before you gave Zur-Sin my real name and enslaved me forever?” His voice sounded light but his eyes darkened like a summer storm. “I lived off war.”
“Oh.” I barely heard myself and kept my gaze fixed to the road in front of me. “Lots of variety there.” Pain, grief, torture, and rape to name a few. Finger licking good for Mazzikim demon. “Too bad you didn’t know Sin when he was a warlord.” Thank god, I hadn’t.
I pulled up to the store and tried to ignore the hulky demon in hot male glamor stomping after me.
Inside, a clerk stood behind his desk at the computer. When his gaze rose to meet mine it sparkled with interest as he smiled. Then it traveled to Amel behind me and the sparkle fizzled.
Even in human form he was a buzz kill. I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Can you wait in the car?” I’d get better service without killjoy as my shadow.
“I can’t protect you from there.”
“Then wait outside the door. Unless you think you’re too slow to get back inside incase the clerk decides to staple me to death.”
Amel scowled. “It’s cold.”
“Stop trying to piss me off.” The cold didn’t affect him. He hadn’t complained once on the car ride here. He was a demon for goodness sakes.
His scowl turned into a smirk. “Too easy. Too easy.” He left the store but watched me through the front window.
Shit, I fell for it again. He kept feeding off my anger like I was his afternoon snack. With a shake of my head, I turned my back on him and approached the counter.
The clerk’s Adam’s apple moved as he visibly swallowed. “Can I help you?” He brushed the long strands of his brown hair off his forehead. Thin and gangly, he appeared no older than his early twenties.
I set the paper with the tracking number on the counter and slid it toward him. “This package never arrived and I’d like to see where it is.”
He stared at me, not even glancing at the paper. This happened on occasion with humans who weren’t used to being around succubi.
Twisting one of my autumn colored curls, I waited. Being noticed was nice. When constantly surrounded by highly attractive women, I often forgot I was one of them.
The clerk sucked in a deep breath as if he’d been holding it. He blinked and glanced at the paper. “Let me check online.” Typing on the keyboard, he kept tossing me shy looks. Then whatever was on the computer screen drew more of his attention until I didn’t seem to exist anymore. “I don’t understand.” He rubbed his chin. “It was delivered but in New Harper yesterday.”
My eyebrows shot up. “To who?” That was quite a screw-up.
He shrugged. “I can’t give you that kind of information. I can’t imagine how we messed up that delivery so bad as to send it to other side of the country. Are you sure you have the right tracking number?”
It was my turn to rub my chin. “No.” Calling Cecile again to double check my number was the last thing I wanted to do. It would only strengthen her belief in my incompetence. I snatched the piece of paper it was written on. “I’ll go double check. Do you have a website that I can do this from home?”
The clerk grabbed a business card and wrote something on it. “Here is the site’s address and my phone number in case you need some help.” He gave me a shy smile once more as a blush bloomed across his cheeks.
I took the card. “Thanks.” I wanted to tuck him in my pocket and pull him out whenever I felt bad about myself. Human males really could make a succubi’s day. They were the ones I should be hunting but that was a slippery road for me to travel. Been there, done that. I had to surround myself with supernatural jerks.
Outside the store, I paused next to Amel and stared at the tracking number. I had repeated it to Cecile when she’d given it to me. Either she gave me the wrong number or someone else got our package. My heart sank. Both of those things were bad.
New Harper was a city in the southwest. How the
hell did our package get there and what could I do about it? I wish I knew who received the box so I could just call and ask for it back.
“Trouble in paradise, Pia?” Amel almost purred my name. He enjoyed my anxiety now. Mazzikims were such a pain in the ass. My heart sank lower. I wonder if John fed from me in the same manner but kept quiet. Not that I’d mind, I fed from him, but at least I asked permission.
Demons.
“Wait a minute.” I glared at Amel. “Your brother is good with computers.” It’s what he did for a living. He hacked all kind of sites and caused mayhem. That’s how he usually fed.
Amel shrugged.
I took out my phone and dialed John. Did he still use this number? When Val tried calling him last night it had gone straight to voice mail.
“Hello?”
“So you still have this cell phone.”
“Pia?”
“Did you even listen to all the messages I left you when you vanished?”
John sighed. “I thought you had forgiven me.”
“I thought I had to. Apparently not.” I glared at Amel who seemed more pleased as I grew angrier. “I need a favor.”
“Anything if you’ll stop being mad at me.”
“Baby steps. I’m trying to locate a missing package. It’s been delivered to another address but the shipping company won’t give it to me.”
“Okay, and what do you want me to do?”
“Find it for me. Do your hacking thing. I need that package. Here’s the tracking number and the shipping company’s web address.” I read off the information to John.
“I can’t promise anything but I’ll do my best.”
“Thanks, John.”
At the mention of the name Amel straightened from leaning against the store. “Is that my brother?” He roared out the question. His glamor flickered and I caught a glimpse of the vein pulsing face of his demon form.
“Pia!” John shouted on the other end. “Are you with my brother?” Incredulity filled his voice.
Amel grabbed my cell phone out of my hand. “Where are you maggot? Do you have any idea how much I’ve suffered since—” He paused. “Hello?” Then handed it back to me. “He hung up.”
Sinful Cravings: Erotic Paranormal Romance (Lake City Stories Book 2) Page 8