It took me grabbing her wrist and pulling away at the same time to break the contact. Madam Figueroa stopped screaming the second we broke contact. Her eyes shifted back to the faded brown color, and she slumped in her chair looking exhausted. She looked up towards me, and I could see the sadness in her eyes.
“You do not travel an easy path, Mr. Green. I don’t envy some of the choices that you have to make. Not everyone that stands by you will make it through this unscathed. Still, you need to gather more allies around you instead of pushing them away. Also, there is something different in you, a power I hadn’t sensed before. With it will come a great burden, but this you already know.”
I wondered if she was talking about Rain. Was she telling me that I shouldn’t have pushed her away? Maybe I did need more people on my side to help with what was coming. I’d noticed that my magic was stronger, but a hidden power inside me? I wasn’t buying that, not for a second.
Doing what I did for a living was a burden already. I carried it with an open heart because I saved people. Those I had condemned to the pit with my soul blade still haunted me, but I was starting to understand that it wasn’t my fault. I’d done the best I could have at the time. It wasn’t good enough, and those twelve souls deserved something better than what they received.
“Go now. I’m tired, and I need my rest,” Madam Figueroa said as she slumped back into her chair.
I reached out to touch her in thanks before leaving, and she shrank away from me. After the last jolt I’d given her, I realized just how stupid the gesture had been. I bowed my head in a sign of respect instead.
“Thank you for your wisdom, Madam Figueroa.”
She mumbled something and then shifted into a more comfortable position. By the time I left the room, she was sleeping soundly. I’d gotten what I had come for without even having to ask. In fact, I’d gotten more than I bargained for. My trips to visit Madam Figueroa were always interesting, and this was no exception.
Not that she hadn’t just dumped more onto my plate then I’d been expecting. I wanted to take some time to examine everything she said, but I didn’t have it today. Rain was already gone, and I wasn’t sure how to even begin mending that fence, or if it was even really a good idea to try. That really left me with Benny and David as my only allies. Depending on what was coming our way, I was going to need more.
Stepping back out onto the patio, I noticed that the rain had started to wind down, making it that much easier to see what was on the hood of my car. Lucille was curled up there looking through the window at David. She’d gotten bigger since the last time I saw her, and the red on her tail had deepened into almost a maroon color. My understanding was snakes of her breed didn’t normally grow this large, but the good lady of the house had her tricks.
This time, I walked down the stairs. Lucille wasn’t a big fan, and I didn’t want to do any quick movements that might upset her or draw her attention towards me. She had to be a good twenty feet long by now and rounder than I was in the middle. I was pretty sure she could swallow a full-sized adult by now.
Maybe that was how Madam Figueroa got rid of unwanted guests. Lucille turned towards me and opened her massive jaws. Two fangs descended from the top of her mouth, and she hissed in displeasure.
“Now, now, old girl. I’ll try and get David out here for you if you play nice.” Yep, it was a strange world when you could talk to animals like people.
Lucille stopped hissing and turned to watch David in the front seat again. I had no idea why this snake liked him so much, or why it wanted to see him. It was just something that was, and I doubted we would be leaving until he made an appearance. Opening the back door, I slid into the car, setting the bag Madam Figueroa gave me down next to my own. I held up the shirt for David to see.
“The good Madam had a gift ready for you.”
“Give it here, Boss,” David said, reaching into the back.
“Not until you go and make nice with Lucille. She’s been waiting for you out in the rain.” It was hard to keep the smirk from my voice. Better him than me.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” David grumbled.
“Chop, chop. I’ve got places to be.” I tried and failed to keep the smile out of my voice, and even added a little chuckle at the end.
David let out a sigh and opened his door. I swear I heard the snake purr as he approached it. Lucille flicked her tongue against his cheek a few times and then nuzzled him before slithering around his waist and down to the ground. David never looked worried, he only smiled as the snake slithered back into the crawlspace under the porch.
I held the shirt out into the front seat and started to shake it, bringing David’s mind back into the present. He grabbed the shirt, stripped off his tattered and bloody one, and then slipped into the new one. When he was done, he tossed the bloody remains of his shirt on the passenger seat before starting the car.
“Shall we continue our journey, good sir?” he asked eyeing me in the mirror.
It seemed like the fresh shirt had buoyed his mood. “Onwards to the Golden Rhino.”
The car slipped into drive, and David pulled back onto the street. “I thought you’d never ask.”
11
The Golden Rhino was a real shithole of a place. The six-foot, massive, golden rhino’s head over the front door was the main attraction. Well, that and the girls inside. Everyone thought the rhino’s head was a fake, but I knew for a fact that it was made out of solid gold. It was the center of Balthazar’s wards for the building. So, to the average person looking for a night out on the town, the Golden Rhino screamed dangerous and fun.
The inside of the club was much worse. I couldn’t put terms on a style choice, but I’d call it rustic goth with a bit of crazy tossed in. Plastic doll heads hung from the ceiling, looking down on the dancers and patrons alike. That and the purple velvet seats and the black painted walls made sure this place was like nothing else in town.
Over the bar was another rhino’s head; this one made out of bone. Again, this one was real and had warding built into it as well. I hadn’t yet figured out exactly what this one was protecting, but the amount of magic radiating off of it told me I never wanted to poke at those wards without a clear understanding of what would happen if I screwed with them.
David pulled into the parking lot, and I watched the front of the building as the golden lights flickered across the exterior. The outside seemed innocent enough, but I guess that’s how it was with most strip clubs. You didn’t make money selling the outside, and strip clubs didn’t have windows that a casual passerby could peer into.
The Rhino wasn’t all tits and ass, though.
Balthazar also had a separate bar that wasn’t internally connected to the club. This bar had the same motif, but instead of the dark purples of the Golden Rhino’s main room, all of the furniture and walls were draped in red. That was where Balthazar held court for the people that fell under his sway, but he wouldn’t be there tonight. Tonight, he’d be watching the girls as if he could sway me so easily.
David pulled the car up to the front, and a man stepped forward to open my door. I made sure that I had everything in my bag and the small cage with the Mezzoloth inside before I slipped out of the car. The man closed the door and accepted the five I held out for him. David waited for my nod and then drove the car out of the valet area so he could wait for me.
A few people waiting to get in jeered at me as the bouncer opened the door to show me in. I heard one of them say. “Dude must be a real freak to need all that stuff to get off.”
I wasn’t sure what they thought I had in the bag, but I was pretty sure your average stripper didn’t like it when a man walked into the V.I.P. room holding a bag. Then again, I could always be wrong. Maybe when they saw a man carrying a bag, their eyes got big as they thought about the payday that was about to come their way. Kink always cost more. At least that’s what I heard.
My personal experience had shown me that strippers were the ultimate sales people
. They had something you wanted, and they knew how to extract top dollar for their merchandise. The goal was to get as much money from you as possible with the least amount of touching. Seemed like a healthy business model really.
The door closed behind me, and another one of Balthazar’s men approached to lead me through the packed club. People moved out of the giant man’s way, not wanting to earn any of his ire. He continued through the club, the men and women parting around him like Moses had parted the ocean. His destination was a set of stairs built into the back wall of the club.
This was another area Balthazar and his men liked to frequent. It let them enjoy the view without having to rub elbows with the common folk. I’m sure running this place made him a lot of money, but it seemed like a lot more trouble than it was worth.
This monument to iniquity should be rendered asunder.
What in the fuck?
I heard the voice in my head, but the thought wasn’t mine. I’d no sooner burn this place to the ground than I would try and talk the women working here into a change of lifestyle. We all made our choices. Shit, most of these ladies probably drove a better car than I did. Who was I to judge how they chose to make a living?
I basically paid for my existence with gambling tips and a little thievery of the financially inclined. Seriously, killing demons for a living didn’t exactly come with the pay of an NBA star, but it also didn’t come with any of the hassle. I was anonymous, and that was just the way I liked it.
I’d spent my youth hunting down relics, the same way Zed did now. Once I’d bought the house and the land I’d wanted, I’d stopped selling them, preferring to keep dangerous objects out of the hands of mundanes.
The bouncer continued to lead the way through the club. I glanced at a couple of the dancers, feeling a stir south of the border as I did. Normally, they wouldn’t have been able to affect me like this, but seeing Rain the other night had awakened something in me, a need to touch and be touched that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. None of these women held a candle to her, though, and despite the looks I was getting, I knew most of them weren’t interested in taking it that far.
Shit, who was I kidding? None of them would probably take it that far. That was the mystery a place like this created. A whole lot of looking and no touching.
I slowed to watch the end of one of the dancer’s routines. I would have liked to say I was just putting on a show to let Balthazar think his choice of venue for this transaction was appropriate.
Sadly, it was the motion of the dancer’s body that held me captivated. She moved almost like a gymnast, or maybe it was more like a ballerina. Each step, each motion, in time to the music blaring from the speakers above. She turned as the song came to an end and fixed her gaze on me. She gave me a smile that threatened to break down even the deepest reserves of my willpower.
The only thing that kept me from pulling her into one of the private alcoves for a dance was the smirk on the bouncer’s face as he held open the velvet rope to the V.I.P. section. His look told me he was willing to cut me a little slack in the face of such beauty, but not without giving me a healthy dose of shit first.
She moved off the stage with the same kind of liquid grace she danced with. Her breasts barely even jiggled as she sashayed towards me. I tried to keep my eyes on hers, but it was a battle that I was destined to lose.
She brushed past me, and I felt her hand move towards my pocket. I was about to grab her wrist when I felt her leave something behind instead of trying to take something from me. Then she was gone, in a whiff of perfume and a sprinkling of glitter.
The bouncer hadn’t moved from his spot. I bent over to pick up the cage with the Mezzoloth inside, and he waved me forwards with a look of impatience. If Balthazar hadn’t wanted me to stop and look then he shouldn’t have built the stairs at the back of the club. I was willing to let the bouncer get away with a little disrespect, but if he pushed it, I’d make sure he couldn’t do the vertical mambo for months.
The bouncer looked past me watching the stripper walk away. “Katerina, she is captivating, yes?”
My senses had returned to me just enough that I managed to make it onto the stairs and responded with a truly witty reply. “Yes.”
The man shook his head and laughed for a moment before pointing up the stairs. “Balthazar is waiting for you in the lounge.”
I made my way up the stairs, banishing all thoughts of Katerina from my mind. I needed to be focused when I dealt with Balthazar. He would be looking to exploit any weaknesses I provided him.
Exploitation was in his nature and something that should be expected. The lounge was empty tonight—at least it was on this side of the doorway. Pausing for a moment, I set the cage containing the Mezzoloth down and pulled out my knife.
I cut my left index finger and placed it against the tattoo on my right forearm. I wasn’t sure what was going on here, but it felt like some kind of magic was at work. First, I had heard a voice, and then I had been distracted. It wasn’t like me to be so reckless when I was going to meet a man as dangerous as Balthazar.
Tucking the knife away, I picked up the cage and headed towards the giant black doors at the end of the lounge. Balthazar had a reputation as an information broker. He could pull information from inside of the veil if you had the right payment for him. I didn’t know anyone else that could do what he did. That made him somewhat of an anomaly, and it also made him dangerous.
Outside of the information game, he also had a reputation for taking what he wanted. More than a few deaths in the magical community had been heaped at his feet. Unfortunately for me, he wasn’t just my first choice for this information, he was also my only choice.
The doors opened as I approached them, and Balthazar stood from where he was sitting. It took a moment for him to unfold his tall frame from the low couch. He turned towards me, buttoning his suit coat as he came.
The man had a sense for fashion. The purple suit he wore wasn’t something I could pull off, but with his ebony skin it worked. The suit was cut to highlight his bulky arms and thin waistline. He moved towards me with eager purpose. His face seemed to swim before my eyes, distorting and then his eyes flashed red.
Demon.
Trying not to look alarmed, I moved into the room. The doors started to close behind me and Balthazar held out his hand. I held up both of mine to show him they were full and shrugged slightly, trying to show him it wasn’t personal.
Balthazar let out a hearty laugh and motioned for me to follow him to where he had been seated before. “It’s good to see you again, Bozley Green. You always bring me the most interesting things.”
I set down the cage on the small table in front of the seats and set my bag on the empty spot next to where I was standing. This time, I accepted Balthazar’s outstretched hand. When we shook, he jerked his hand away like he had been burned and then stared at me. His eyes glowed red briefly before returning to the dark brown that I was used to seeing.
Not a demon, at least not exactly. This man is still in control yet there is a demon inside of him.
I sat down, keeping my eyes focused on Balthazar while trying to see what I had seen before. It just wasn’t there. He had the same dark skin he had always had. One of his incisors was still gold, and as far as I could tell, despite his wealth, he still didn’t worry much about his personal hygiene.
The purple suit was a bit braggish, but a demon, well that was hard to believe. I’d had a long day, it had to be my overeager imagination running away with me. Still, the way he jerked away from me when we touched was odd, but not as out of place as the voice I was hearing in my head.
Balthazar sat down, but he never took his eyes from me. It was almost as if for the first time in his life he had sensed something more dangerous than himself, and he didn’t know how to handle it.
I figured there was one way to set him at ease. I needed to make him think he was in complete control of the situation. “I need your help.”
You
cannot put yourself in debt to a demon, I will not allow it.
I looked away from Balthazar’s eyes and down towards the ground. I had no idea what was going on right now, but something wasn’t right. I just needed to get this done and get out of here so I could figure it out. I couldn’t exactly start talking to myself in front of Balthazar so I tried to communicate with the voice inside of my head.
Well, fuck off buddy. This is my body, my soul, and I’ll do whatever the fuck I want with it. I hoped that was clear enough to get the message across.
“And what do you need my help with, Bozley Green?” Balthazar asked as he leaned back into his seat.
I was pretty sure he already had an inkling about what I needed and probably had a price in mind. And despite the fact that I was losing my mind, the voice was right, I didn’t want to be in debt to Balthazar. Which was why I brought gifts.
“A demon told me there is a darkness coming; I need to know more.”
Balthazar smiled. “Not an easy request, or a cheap one. My contacts across the veil are agitated at the moment, and will need something of worth to provide me with an answer to your question.” Balthazar motioned towards my things. “So, show me what you have brought me to offset the expense of such a request.”
The first thing I did was remove the black covering from the outside of the cage containing the Mezzoloth. It slammed itself against the cage when it saw me, clawing to get out. Balthazar placed a hand on the cage, and the beast quieted down immediately.
“It will take much more than this small token of affection to earn my help.”
Opening my bag, I pulled out the three jars Madam Figueroa had given me. I set each of them on the table one at a time. Balthazar reached out and picked up each of the jars examining them at length.
Balthazar smiled, which was either a good thing or a very bad one. “I’m surprised the old bitch gave these to you, especially if she knew you’d be trading with me.” He watched me closely trying to judge my reply.
Possessed (Bozley Green Chronicles Book 1) Page 10