Hell Inc.

by C. M. Stunich

  One of the Minotaurs stepped forward, grabbed me around the waist and threw me over his shoulder. His fur was coarse and scratchy, scraping my face with each jarring step. I thought about struggling, but then, he was a Minotaur. The odds were seriously stacked against me. Besides, Liam hadn't hesitated to kill my mother. He might have looked funny, but he was a real threat. See, this is why I had avoided this type of encounter my entire life. What had ever possessed me to think things would be different this time?

  I was carried down a boring hallway of white walls and bad wood paneling and up several set of stairs before being thrown carelessly onto a sofa in a dreary office. Plaques lined the walls in neat rows, and an Art nouveau desk covered in papers sat sternly in the center of the room. It was flanked by two pink Art Deco armchairs. Everything in that room was circa 1980. Very depressing. I glanced back at the Minotaur who had carried me there, not necessarily wanting to be around him in particular but desperate not to be alone with Liam. He gave me the creeps. But the cow man was already on his way out. He slammed the door behind him, and I don't think he even bothered to lock it. Either they thought I was no threat or a very, very big threat.

  I rolled onto my back and took a deep breath through my nose. My mother was dead. Why? Because I smelt like demon? And why did I smell like a demon? Hanging out with Levie maybe? That still didn't explain why Liam's magic hadn't worked on me. It wasn't like I was immune to it or anything. I was ashamed to say that I had been rolled by a vampire once before. It had cost me a job. I glared at the white popcorn ceiling and tried to piece together what little I knew. None of it made much sense to me. I rolled back onto my side and caught sight of an open window. I had a brief moment of sheer elation before I realized that I still had the whole bound at the hands and feet thing to work through.

  I surveyed the room carefully, looking for anything that might hold something sharp. I decided that my best bet was the desk. There had to be a letter opener or something in there at the very least. How I was going to open the drawers, find it, and use it without the use of my hands was another matter altogether. I decided to deal with one problem at a time and glanced over the edge of the couch. It might have only been a foot or two, but it looked like a thousand miles to me. This was going to hurt. I gathered up my resolve and shifted my weight forward. I hit the wooden floor with my shoulder first. For the second time in less than an hour, my vision went blurry as pain raced down my arm and into my fingers. I tried to scream against the gag but ended up choking instead. Several precious minutes passed as I struggled to regain control of myself. Once the dizziness had passed, I wiggled into the most comfortable position possible. Now my shoulder hurt like hell, too. Great.

  I started to scoot forward past the seashell shaped chairs and was nearly at the desk when my mother's murderer came to check on me. I watched as the door swung open and the most hideous, high heeled boots I had ever seen on a man or a woman strolled into the room. Liam stopped several feet short of the bed and paused.

  “After further consultation, Daddy – er – Nathaniel has decided you're a fake. My consolation on the death of your mother. She really was a good whore. I wouldn't have killed her if I'd known. Sometimes I'm a little rash, you understand, don't you?” I didn't really think he expected me to answer with the gag still in my mouth so I waited in silence, seething. I could pretend this was Jurassic Park, that if I didn't move, he couldn't see me, just like a T. rex. The thought was oddly comforting.

  Liam walked around the side of the bed, and my eyes traveled up his white tights (yes, he was wearing tights) to his unflattering, puffy legged pants and embroidered vest. I was sure I recognized the style, King Louie the something maybe, but I wasn't an expert on history. God, I hated vampires. Liam bent down and proceeded to untie my gag. When the sticky fabric peeled away from my tongue, I made myself sick with my own involuntary gasps for breath. It couldn't be helped; I was just glad that I could breathe properly again. Now I just needed to worry about staying alive long enough to make a wish.

  “Are all vampires walking period clichés?” I choked, hoping the ropes would come off next. Liam made no move to help me and stood up, adjusting the cuffs at his wrists.

  “Now that I know,” he said casually, turning and strolling across the floor, his boots squishing into the geometric patterned rug and then clicking across the wood floor to the window. “It's obvious that you're far too weak to be a demon. You just stink like one.” I scowled at his back, not that it would do me much good, but it made me feel better. He turned back around and smirked at me. His face was handsome but in a sleazy, backhanded sort of way. Even if he hadn't killed my own mother in front of me, I'd have hated him instantly. “I suppose that's to be expected, considering the company you keep. Though I still don't understand why you smell so strongly or why you are immune to me. What are you?”

  “A fairy fucking godmother. Now let me go, you piece of shit.” I admit, I was shaking when I said it, but words were my only defense really. Liam laughed and sauntered back over to me.

  “Aren't you the brave one?” he cooed, and the sound of his voice made my spine curl. “Was that whore really your mother then?” His head tilted to the side, and his hair slid over his shoulder like a snake. I pursed my lips and turned my eyes away. Don't think about it. Don't think about the sound of flesh like rotten fruit bursting in a pale white hand –

  I shook my head to clear it. Bastard. “She loved it when I fucked her.” He reached a hand out and brushed my hair back. I spat at him, but it only made him laugh again. “I'd love to talk business with you. I always get the most pertinent information from you Infernix lapdogs, but I think I'd rather fuck you. Pillow talk always seems to yield the best results.” A horrible feeling crept up my spine, and I felt a rush of adrenaline as my fight or flight response kicked. The vampire with the boy band goatee was going to rape me?

  What do I say? I wondered frantically, trying to figure out what wish would get me out of that room and not into another steaming pile of shit. Thoughts were being drowned in a river of fear. Not good. Not good at all.

  Liam lifted me up and threw me onto the sofa. He removed his vest slowly, his face twisted in a sickening display of lust before climbing up and lounging next to me. I knew my eyes were wide with panic, but I couldn't help it. The facade of bravery wasn't working anyway, and my mind was descending into chaos at the very thought of him ... I skipped over the words that my brain tried to supply. Stay positive, you can get yourself out of this. I turned my face away, but he grabbed it and forcibly turned it toward him. I was instantly greeted with a close-up of Liam's very hairy chest. Yuck. I hate hairy guys.

  “Now, why don't we cut to the chase and you tell me what you really are? I promise that I'll go easy on you if you do.” I closed my eyes and tried to focus on what I was about to say. I only had one wish left, and I had to get it right. My life depended on it. So much for selling your soul, Ginger. You got nothing out of it. Nothing but a dead mother and no job, but at least maybe you can make it out of here to live a few more miserable years ...

  When I refused to respond, Liam snarled and pulled me tightly against him. He grabbed my head and pushed it back to reveal my throat. I felt exposed and vulnerable. I wasn't used to feeling like that, and it made my head spin. His hot breath pulsed along the carotid artery in my neck. My body crawled at his touch, and my mind reeled at what was happening. This couldn't be happening, right? It just couldn't. Now, Ginger, make the wish now. I opened my mouth to speak, but Liam grabbed me by the throat, cutting off my air.

  His teeth sunk into my neck just above where he held me in an iron grip with his hand. The pain was bad, but it was nothing compared to the sickening rush of pleasure that came next. My entire body reacted to it like a drug. Sheer unadulterated panic overtook me, and I tried to scream through the terribly slow act of being suffocated. As Liam's other hand found my breasts, I forced myself to fight. If I was going to go down then I would go down struggling. The ropes made
it difficult though, and all I succeeded in doing was drawing myself closer to him by accident. The whole situation was infuriating to me. I couldn't even control my own body. It liked it, loved it. I needed to throw up. It might've gotten him away from me, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't even breathe anymore. The edges of my vision were going black.

  The crash of the door being flung open resounded in the room, and Liam pulled his mouth away from my neck with a start, tearing the skin in a way that would hurt later but felt good to my confused throat. Fucking vampire pheromones. I hate vampires. He relaxed his grip on my throat, allowing just the slightest bit of air to reach my lungs. I wanted to sob. This give a little, take a little shit did not work for me. I tried to see who was at the door but couldn't turn my head enough to get a view. All I could see was Liam's smirk and the glisten of my blood on the edges of his lips. “Seeing you explains a lot,” he said, finally releasing my throat. I rolled away from him coughing and hacking on the rush of oxygen, blood streaming down my chest and onto the pearly couch cushions. “At least it finally solves the puzzle. I hate puzzles; I've never been good at them.” Like that's a surprise, you dimwitted asshole.

  “I'm here for my client, Liam.” The voice was familiar, deep and warm. It flowed over me like chocolate. Angry, arrogant, chocolate. I jerked my head up to look, and there he stood. He was a little late, but he was here: a very irate, ethereally beautiful Levie. Flames danced around him much as they danced around the Devil when he was pissed. He strode into the room, wings stretched taut with rage and orange eyes narrowed on Liam. Relief washed over me like cool water, and I unconsciously flung my body towards him, only to be jerked backwards by Liam.

  “It's as we suspected all along, isn't it? Hell Inc. and Infernix are finally coming together under one roof.” Liam paused and turned towards me, licking the blood from the side of his lip. “I'm sorry, but I can't have you wishing anything terrible on me.” And then he punched me. It happened so fast that I didn't even realize what was coming. The impact was intense. It felt like my skull was shattering into a million pieces, and it might have, if Levie hadn't held back Liam's arm.

  “Quit speaking nonsense, you worthless imbecile. Shut your mouth and listen here: a man never forces a lady against her will, and only a man who has less worth than the flea on the back of a diseased rodent would even consider it.” He tucked his wings in tight, as if making sure they were as protected as possible. Levie was preparing for a fight.

  Before I could even blink the two of them had moved away from the sofa, and Levie had Liam's back smashed against the Art Deco laden wall. My demon rescuer slammed his nails into the vampire's chest with a burst of gore that made my stomach churn. The scariest part of it all was that Liam didn't look worried, just amused. You should incinerate him, I thought angrily as I watched Liam attempt to forcibly remove Levie's arm. It was like, excuse the stereotyping, watching A.J. from the Backstreet Boys duke it out with a 19th century librarian with wings. Kinda funky.

  Levie's other hand was locked with one of Liam's own, and I watched in horror as Liam pulled a knife from somewhere in his ugly, puffy pants so quickly that it was just a flash of silver to my eyes. I wanted to scream as he plunged it deep into Levie's gut, but my head was on fire and my throat was bruised as hell so I just laid there feeling weak and miserably useless. Levie grunted, but that was the extent of his acknowledgment of the pain. Just burn him already!

  As if the situation couldn't get any worse, Old Dude entered the room in his wheelchair. His power swept in and over me like a tornado, threatening to tear me from the cushions and fling me across the office. Levie's eyes widened when he saw him, and he released Liam abruptly, his body slamming against the wall and splattering blood everywhere.

  “Daddy – I mean, Nathaniel,” Liam stood up and wiped some blood from the corner of his lips. “I was hoping you'd show up. Our colleague here seems to be hiding some rather pertinent information.” Nathaniel smiled, and it wasn't pretty. He looked like a corpse, pale and bloodless with lips that were almost blue and high cheekbones sunk deep into the wrinkles on his face, leaving his cheeks hollow and filled with shadows. Levie backed carefully towards the bed until he was within arm's length. If my hands hadn't been bound, I would have reached out and grabbed onto him for the promise of safety he offered, whether it would hold true or not.

  Levie turned carefully, as if Nathaniel might let him go if he moved slowly enough, and grasped me about the waist, pulling me against him. “I'm afraid that you'll have to find someone else from whom to glean your information,” Levie said quietly, hoisting me into his arms. Liam moved to intercept him, but Levie reached out and slammed his elbow into Liam's goatee with a satisfying crack.

  “Son.” The word was a warning in and of itself. Liam pouted (yes, pouted like a whiny, little baby) and crossed his arms over his sparkly shirt. “Let him go. We don't play games with the Devil's advocate.” As if to reassure us of the power we felt rolling off of him in waves, Nathaniel wheeled his chair in front of us, blocking our escape route. It would've been funny if I hadn't just been bitten by a murderer/rapist/Daddy's boy.

  “Take your client and leave,” he said simply, a stiff smile still frozen on his face like he had rigor mortis. “I have all of the information that I need.” As Levie sidestepped around him, he continued talking. “And please, accept my condolences for the loss of your mother, dear girl. My son can be hotheaded at times. He reacts without thinking.” I turned my head away from him and tried to block out his words. This is ridiculous. They're just going to let us go after all of that?

  Levie, on the other hand, didn't seem to share my suspicions. He climbed onto the windowsill and paused. I closed my eyes as I saw how far below the ground was. We were at least four stories up. In the back of my mind, I knew Levie had wings, but I couldn't even begin to figure out how he could get enough air in them to keep us afloat. I felt more than saw them stretch to their full length and swell with air like a parachute. Then he jumped. That time, I did scream. We hit the ground hard but not hard enough to hurt, and I shut my mouth. Levie quickly adjusted me in his arms and took off running. Luckily, we didn't have to go far. Apparently, the seedy vampire drug house was located centrally downtown. Thanks for the zoning laws, City of Everett. At least there weren't people around at this hour to see Levie carrying me, arms still bound behind my back, both of us covered in blood.

  Once we were far enough away that Levie felt safe to stop, he set me down on a bus stop bench and untied my arms. I tried rubbing them together, but they were so numb that I ended up just fumbling around stupidly for several moments before Levie grasped my hands in his. The unnatural warmth of his skin was a welcome reprieve to the cold stiffness of my fingers.

  “What took you so long?” I mumbled, voice scratchy and barely audible, as soon as I felt well enough to speak. Levie sat down next to me and rubbed at the puce stain on his shirt.

  “I am sorry.” It was all he said, no explanation. Typical.

  “But – ” Levie turned and glared at me, stopping me in mid speech.

  “I came as soon as I found out where you were. Perhaps you should not run off on your own. I told you that was ill advised.” It wasn't a good explanation. Hell, it wasn't any explanation at all, but I didn't much feel like arguing. I felt like curling into a ball on my own bed and falling asleep. Levie stood up and winced in pain.

  “Levie, are you alright?” I asked, watching as he cradled a hand against his stomach gingerly. He was a demon so I figured it probably wouldn't be fatal, but that didn't mean it hurt any less. He ignored my question and reached down to help me to my feet. This time it was my turn to cringe in pain. My head felt like I'd been hit by a freight train, my back was stinging something fierce, and I'd been punched full force in the sternum. Not a good combo. I rubbed at the lump on my skull and hoped I didn't have a concussion. Levie took my arms firmly but gently and spun me around. He lifted up the back of my shirt and ran gentle fingers over the wound. It hurt
but not a lot. At least he hadn't seen the vampire bite yet.

  “Perhaps we should get you to a human hospital,” he replied wearily. I shook my head and turned back to face him.

  “I just want to go home, Levie. Do you have any money for us to call a cab?”

  “We don't need a cab,” he said simply, reaching under my knees and scooping me into his arms. I could feel his muscles bunching beneath him. With a rush of magic, like flames dancing lightly across my skin, we were airborne.

  I wanted to look. Trust me, I did. How often does a person get to fly? Instead, I squeezed my eyes shut and held back tears for a mother I would never know. I prayed that Levie wouldn't notice. I wasn't ready to share my feelings with anyone, especially not him. If he noticed anything, he said nothing the entire way back.

  As we traveled, I pretended that he wasn't a stranger, that his warm skin and steady arms were mine and that I belonged in them. It felt good, comforting, and I needed that more in those moments than ever before. Mom had kidnapped me. Mom had the sight. Mom was dead. It was a lot to take in.

  When we arrived at the apartment, I realized that I didn't have my keys or wallet anymore. The creeps had obviously removed them while I'd been knocked out. Somehow, he was able to open the door anyway and place me on my bed. I fell asleep immediately and had a nightmare of being raped by a faceless vampire with a really bad goatee. So much for sweet dreams.

  I woke the next day to the sphinx licking my cheek. It would have been cute had it not had the face of an androgynous human. “What inspires a starving father to give his last scrap of food to his child?” it riddled. I groaned and turned away from the edge of the bed only to roll into Levie. He opened his eyes immediately and sat up, removing an arm from underneath me.