Demonic Passions

by Marks, Rena

  “Please. Let me just talk then.”

  “Talk about what? You and I are done. There is no love, there’s no anything. I wish you well, good luck to you and your family. Those kids, remember?”

  “Keara, just a few minutes of your time. Please.”

  She took a deep sigh. “Ten minutes, Dean. That’s all you deserve and then you are out of my life, got it?”

  He nodded eagerly. “I have so much to tell you, baby. Ten minutes is going to shoot by.”

  Keara looked pointedly at her watch and forked a bite of salad into her mouth.

  “Thing is, I will never stop loving you and I realize that now. Well, I’ve always realized that but I felt like I had to stick it out for the sake of my family.”

  “Then why are you here?”

  “Because I realize I made a major mistake. I can’t live without the love of my life. There will never be as pure a love between a couple as what you and I had.”

  “It really wasn’t pure, was it?”

  Dean looked confused. “Of course it was. We loved each other unconditionally.”

  “I loved what I thought you were. What you tricked me into thinking you were. But somehow, you knew exactly what I craved in a partner and gave it to me. How did you do that?”

  “I…don’t understand. I can’t read minds, baby. I simply was what you loved.”

  “No, you weren’t. You pretended to be the caring, romantic family man in order to lure me in.” Like her father. To give up everything he ever knew for her mother.

  “That’s ridiculous, baby.”

  “No, it’s not. How amazing that you took your food prepared like mine. That you enjoyed the same music as me. That you loved exactly the things I loved.”

  “We were meant to be together.”

  “Or a little too much of a coincidence. You knew what I wanted and played it up.”

  “No, how could you even think that?”

  “A little birdie told me you’ve sold your soul, sweetie. That your entire mission was to ensnare me.”

  There was complete silence on his end, and Keara took another bite of her salad impatiently.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I do know I have a lot of making up to do. But that’s what I want. I want to make it up to you for the rest of our lives. I want to take care of you. Prove that I’m the man made for you. We could travel, just like we planned. Remember? Make love in every country before we die of old age?”

  He stared at her earnestly. She continued to eat her salad. Had he not heard?

  Dean sat back and folded his hands across his midsection expectantly. Smiled at her with his baby blue eyes, the way he always did.

  His eyes would crinkle at the corners. A happy dimple would appear next to his sensual lips. And Keara realized that she would have fallen for it. In the past.

  She would have forgiven him and chalked it up to a misunderstanding on her part. Maybe she expected too much of him. Perhaps Natalya lied about him.

  And he fully expected the same reaction now.

  “Is that it?” she asked coldly.

  His perfect smile faltered. “What do you mean?”

  “Is that all you have to say? Because I’ve pointed out everything I’ve learned.”

  “Do you want me to beg? ‘Cause I’m willing. I will beg for you, Keara. Want me to say I’m sorry? I was wrong? I’m all of those and more. I made a mistake, I’m human.”

  “Yep. You made the biggest mistake of your life. I was too good for you but willing to settle for a loser anyway. And almost did.”

  He was such a disgusting mess she didn’t have time for. Last night the demon in her arose and sucked the soul of Caleb, and here was Dean whining about his life mistakes?

  “Hey, my love,” she leaned in close enough to kiss him. The way she used to. But she didn’t. “I’ll call you. Sometime.”

  With that, Keara rose and left, leaving him to pay for her salad with all his millions. She hoped his money bought him some happiness somewhere down the road.

  She headed directly to the bar, where she knew she’d see Caleb. Wondering how she felt about Caleb now that she’d seen Dean in person. Of course, she also wondered what it would be like to see Caleb now with guilt clouding her vision.

  Once she got to the bar, she pondered where to sit.

  “Keara?”

  “Rod. Hi, how are you?” She knew of course, regretfully he was her minion and she would always know his mind now.

  “I’m great. Mike and I are…you know.”

  She smiled at him. “Yeah. That’s good.”

  He smiled back. “We’re happy. So what are you up to?”

  “Waiting for Caleb.”

  “Are you seeing him?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Good. You deserve someone to make you happy. I was so unhappy being a divorce attorney and I didn’t even realize it. Life is about balance, isn’t it? It’s so much easier to deal with the nastiness at work now that I can leave it behind me when Mike and I are together. He’s meeting me tonight, we’ll shoot some pool.”

  “Business is good, then?”

  “Booming, as always. The divorce rate is up, you know.”

  “Does it ever go down?”

  Rod laughed. “Not really. The success comes in what kind of clientele you can snag. Everyone wants high end clientele and I just reached a pretty high. A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from someone who’d heard about my reputation. She knows her husband is a rat bastard and suspects he had an affair on her, but can’t prove it. As soon as she can, she’s taking him for everything he’s got. All we need is a clue as to who the other woman was and we can search her phone records, emails, etc. The good news is, they’re a multi-millionaire couple. She’s already kicked him out of the house and filed for divorce, so it’s just about the fight over the money, now.” Rod rubbed his palms together gleefully.

  “Got a name? You know how many men I run across.”

  “Well, it’s unethical for me to share this much of my client’s story. But if you just smile at me, I’ll know where to look to service her.”

  “Okay.”

  “Her name is Angela Williamson.” He paused, waiting for Keara’s reaction. The reaction was slow in coming, she just stood frozen, looking at him for long moments.

  “Hmm. If my name was Angela, I’d shorten it to Annie.”

  Surprise stole across Rod’s face for a moment, followed by happiness. “Not many people would associate Annie with Angela. Would you happen to know her husband Dean?”

  Keara smiled. This time she’d listened to her instincts, knowing something was up when Dean had come crawling back. Now she knew why. He didn’t decide their love was too great to throw away.

  His wife had left him.

  Bastard.

  Red hot rage boiled over her body and threatened to let loose the glow of her eyes. One lone voice broke through it, soothing her, like a familiar loving caress.

  “Keara,” Caleb said calmly.

  “Okay, then, take care,” Rod said before turning on his heel with a look of disgust at Caleb’s arrival. Thankfully missing the reaction.

  Keara turned to see Caleb, grateful for the distraction. He looked good in his black dress shirt that unbuttoned at the throat, exposing sexy male flesh.

  Sexy male flesh that was unmarked by the love bite she’d left him with earlier.

  Puzzled, she stared at his neck where it should have been.

  “What’s wrong?” Caleb asked.

  “Where’d the hickey go?” she asked softly. As if she wasn’t sure if he was tricking her somehow.

  “What hickey?”

  “The one from me.”

  He laughed. “You’ve never left me one. And I’ve never left you one, silly. Besides, it’s been a while since you visited me,” he murmured. “If you’d like to get together and leave one, I could be talked into it. If it’s somewhere discreet.”

  Not been together in a while?
Did he not remember?

  “What’d you do last night, Caleb?”

  “I just worked. Like I always do.”

  “Did I come into the bar?”

  “Not last night. What’s going on? Are you okay?” he asked, suddenly concerned.

  Keara forced a smile. “I’m fine.”

  “Sure?” he said, looking into her eyes.

  “Yes,” she responded, with one last look at his neck. She had marked him last night, hadn’t she? She had made him fall in love with her? Right? Did he love her? As much as she loved him?

  Oh, hell, where the hell did that come from?

  Keara walked from the bar, quickly. Glancing over her shoulder, her mind still on Caleb. She got out the front door when the wind hit.

  Followed by the painful thrust between dimensions.

  She landed on her knees before Enishka’s raised threshold, where he stood sparring with the Rot Demon.

  “I am getting really sick of being sucked through the portal by you,” she said.

  “Bitch!” screeched the Rot Demon as he kicked at her. “Show some respect for our lord and master.”

  Keara glared hotly at him as she gripped her thigh. The spot where he’d kicked still burned and would bruise tomorrow. She focused her gaze on him. He took a step back as he watched her eyes glow.

  “My child. How kind of you to visit,” Enishka called.

  Keara was distracted enough to turn her bright blue stare toward him. “I didn’t request a visit,” she pointed out.

  “And yet you can’t refuse,” he smiled.

  Keara sighed. “Why am I here?” She took a look around. Enishka was naked from the waist up, for once his legs in his original form. Mighty and muscular, huge towering powerful thighs, necessary to carry the rest of his bulging body. Speaking of which, she looked at the rest of him. His chest and biceps were powerfully built and gleaming of sweat from the practiced swordplay.

  As she watched, he cut the sword in a pattern through the air.

  Simply a show-off.

  “Why am I here?” she repeated.

  “It occurs to me you were never tested along with the other children at Luciekynokus. I have no ideas what powers are held in that half-bred body of yours.”

  “I was never tested because I was considered different from the others. Human. Aren’t I a little too old for testing? That’s done before puberty.”

  “Normally. As demon lord, I have the right to know of which powers each demon has inherited.”

  “But I am a half-breed and no longer of your dimension. If I’m injured or killed during testing, it violates the Human Protection Act.”

  “Oh,” he grinned. “I’ll be ever so careful not to kill you.”

  Keara knew exactly what a caged bird felt like. Better yet, a gladiator. Forced to fight and in a life-or-death situation, who knew what powers might be revealed?

  Enishka angled his sharp blade slowly toward her cheek, daring her to flinch.

  She didn’t.

  When he struck, he sliced across her cheekbone. Bright red showed before it dripped down the side of her face.

  “Eeww,” muttered the Rot Demon. “She bleeds red. Like the humans.”

  “Exactly my point,” Keara said.

  Enishka narrowed his eyes. “You will fight, Keara.”

  “Or you will be punished for harming me, master,” she retorted.

  Fury blazed in his watery, reddened eyes. With a frustrated screech, he jumped before her, and thrust a nine inch blade deep into her belly.

  Keara stood absolutely still, the handle of the dagger protruding obscenely from her abdomen. Plugging the well of blood that should be pouring from the wound like a waterfall.

  There was a gasp of horror somewhere. Dismay over the idea of upcoming punishment from the actual harming of a human. A direct violation of the law imposed upon them by the ancient Greek council. And they’d been known to punish the demons as a whole for the actions of the demon lord.

  A look of confusion, followed by fear, ran fluidly across Enishka’s face.

  “Bitch,” he muttered. “You did that on purpose.”

  Tinkling bells rang, louder and louder, but Keara wasn’t aware if it was her imagination or actual ringing. Lightheadedness had hit, like flashing stars behind her eyes as her blood pressure dropped.

  And then they appeared.

  Protection Fairies. Tiny, winged beings with a golden glow circling around their heads. They buzzed, wings fluttering so quickly they were but a blur. Round and round they flew around Enishka, who paled. Some laid tiny fingers on Keara. In an instant, the knife was no longer there.

  Nor the pain.

  That was when Keara realized why Enishka paled. The pain would be magnified on the blade now. Tenfold.

  And it was being handed off to her.

  The smallest fairy buzzed at her. Keara tore her eyes from the dagger she’d reached for, and focused on the fluttering fairy.

  She was the queen. Her flaxen hair was the length of her entire body, floating in the wind. Her voice was light and flowing, like a summer breeze.

  “Lex talionis.”

  “Mirror punishment?”

  The queen nodded. “An eye for an eye.”

  “Thank you,” said Keara softly.

  “For your compensation, human. Free passage back to your world, for the painful way you were dragged here.” The creature continued. She then flew up and kissed Keara on the forehead. The spot tingled for a moment, then penetrated like a kiss of peppermint oil.

  The swamp was quiet and still when Keara turned to face Enishka. Without warning, she plunged the dagger into his abdomen in the same spot where he’d stabbed her.

  An eye for an eye.

  He let out a long, torturous howl.

  The fairies immediately flew around Enishka, making sure he suffered the torture he’d doled out first, but refusing to allow him the reprieve of death.

  Crazy with pain, Enishka swatted at the winged beings, earning a tsking sound from them. Keara’s clotted cut disappeared from her cheek. In trade, Enishka’s cheek split open.

  He howled and stomped, certainly not taking his medicine like a man.

  Keara smiled grimly before nodding to the fairy.

  The kiss on her forehead tingled again before her body winked. The dimension around her faded, replaced by the figures of her own dimension as she materialized there.

  Enishka’s throne was replaced with a bed. He lay in it, dark circles under his eyes.

  Gently, Tobias changed the bandages on his abdomen.

  “Will it scar, Tobias?” Enishka asked tragically.

  Tobias studied the angry gash Keara had made with the blade.

  “Yes, master,” he said quietly.

  “Not that, you idiot,” Enishka screamed. “My face.”

  Tobias glanced up quickly. What would one more scar matter on such ugliness?

  “That bitch,” Enishka muttered without waiting for his response. “I’ll enjoy watching her suffer when I get her here.”

  Tobias wondered if she’d be the one to suffer. Truth was, Enishka wasn’t in his right mind ever since his twenty-five year banishment. He was still powerful, but mentally unstable.

  Keara was more than a match. Mentally, she was whole. Physically, no one quite knew her strengths or weaknesses.

  She reminded him a lot of Natalya.

  Chapter Nine

  The Bitter Taste of Betrayal

  Keara was exhausted the next morning. Short tempered as though she hadn’t slept. Obviously she had, for she had the dreams to prove it. In fact, it felt like she hadn’t slept in quite a few days instead of just last night.

  She was run down and crabby. And more than a little guilty. Confused. Bewildered.

  Was it any wonder that she picked a fight with the man she loved? She needed her space and how else did a demon obtain it?

  It didn’t help that he wanted her to relive another damn issue with Dean. Why did she have to go thr
ough that? It was pointless, dammit. What’s done was done.

  It wasn’t like she wanted to fall in love. He was just supposed to love her.