Creed

by Marie Johnston

  “Well, that’s done.” Quution stepped forward, spread his arms out. He made them appear different lengths while hunching over. Sparks flew from his fingertips like little energy bolts. “There you have it, citizens. It appears we still have only one opening on the Circle. Meladonna has ascended in Bita’s place.”

  Melody straightened over Bita. Her calculating gaze on Quution. He’d basically announced she was on the Circle. Technically, she’d taken Bita’s place and not Hypna’s.

  The spot left in the thirteen was still an opportunity for his team and Quution and Stryke to maneuver their own choice into power. Had Melody intended that? More importantly, would she be a member they could work with, or would she be corrupted by her power?

  Melody’s gaze swept the crowd to land on Creed. She made the most human move and tossed her hair over her shoulder. Her horns arched themselves over her head like they were brushing him off, too. She slid her gaze off him and addressed the crowd. Creed could do nothing but listen. He’d been dismissed.

  She thrust her arm out and roamed the clearing as if Quution wasn’t there. “I want you!” She indicated all the non-pure creatures around her. They instantly perked up. She had them all wrapped around her claw-tipped pointer finger. “I want you to back one second-tier to claim this spot.”

  Names were shouted. These beings must’ve hypothetically planned for the day they would rebel, having already broken into microgroups that plotted together.

  Melody’s gaze repeatedly flickered to a specific spot in the chamber. Her own second-tiers were giving her signals.

  Were they vetting the names that came in?

  One of the Circle stood, towering over them all. Creed ran through the names he knew and the quick descriptions Fyra had given his team.

  Was this Malachim, the demon that had possessed Calli’s father? He’d slunk back to the underworld and they hadn’t had to deal with him since. Though Demetrius would jump on the chance after the heartbreak the demon had put Calli through.

  His voice shook the stalactites jutting from the ceiling. “I will not stand for this.”

  “Looks to me like you’re standing,” Melody shot back.

  He took a menacing step toward her. Vines sprang up from the floor and he stopped where he was, unwilling to get a foot cut off at the ankle.

  How had she done that? Commanded with enough strength to render someone limb from limb.

  Huh. She had before. Only this time it was intentional.

  Melody squared her shoulders.

  She grew taller.

  “What the hell?” Creed breathed, his words getting lost among the murmurs.

  She grew in size and proportion until she surpassed Creed and matched Malachim.

  Creed glanced at Quution. From the male’s expression, he hadn’t been expecting this development, either.

  “I know Santi’s power when I see it, human.”

  Quution nodded. “She’s an illusionist,” he whispered to Creed.

  Relief had never felt so sweet.

  Until Melody smirked. “Are you certain, demon?”

  Malachim’s sneer faded. “I’ll not serve on the Circle with half-breeds.”

  “Two positions open.” Melody shoved two fingers in the air.

  “No.” Malachim eyed the room. “You will obey us.”

  “Why should we?” a male shouted from across the room.

  “You’ve done nothing but fail in your mission,” a female added.

  One glare from Malachim silenced the haters. “We’ve made great progress in infiltrating the higher ranks of vampires. We have several prime hosts ready for us to inhibit at our command. You think you can do better?”

  “Your attempt at scoring a new host within the team that protects vampires failed miserably, costing you an informant.”

  Malachim’s rangy, goat-faced skin paled. New information for him. His eyes darted around, touching on Creed, swinging over the audience, then back to Creed. He inhaled deeply.

  A smug smile highlighted his ugly face. “You were so kind to bring one of the vampires to me.”

  Quution’s shoulders tightened and Creed moved next to him. Might as well make it seem like he wasn’t afraid. There was no way for this to end but badly.

  The praying mantis demon swiveled to face him, along with other members of the Circle. Creed drew himself up to his full size. On his realm, he was taller than average. Down here, he was almost a runt.

  Malachim swaggered forward and Melody didn’t stop him, her brows pinched. The illusion had faded, she was back to her normal size, but with the muscles. Were they like her claws?

  “Sorry-not-sorry,” Melody said casually, showing no hint of trepidation. “He’s my free pass to the human realm.”

  Displeasure rippled through his face. “Not if we kill you first.”

  She held up a finger. “One, Bita tried and look what happened. Two, don’t get cranky with me because you couldn’t bag your own prime vampire.”

  He snarled like he wanted to jump her, but her horn aimed in his direction and cowed him back.

  “Free pass, you say?” the mantis spoke. “How does this work?” Her voice surprised him. Rich and cultured when he’d expected raspy or gurgly.

  “Information costs you. Next.” Melody scanned the room. “Well, go ahead and send a message through Santi when the next Circle meet and greet is. For the rest of you, I’m taking applications for the next forty-eight hours for my team of second-tiers. Benefits are: I won’t torture you if you don’t try to screw me over. Later.” Her chin kicked up.

  Santi and Rell moved in front of her and the crowd parted around them. No one wanted to mess with her horns or her vines.

  He strode behind her with Quution. “How did Hypna not rule the underworld with those powers?”

  “She was too greedy. Thought too much like a pure-blooded demon. Our Meladonna is a big-picture demon.”

  She was not theirs. She was not a demon.

  Yet he couldn’t argue with what he just saw. Her actions in the ring were not a put on. Parts of it might’ve been a show, but she’d done more than set out to prove to them all she was more than capable of handling her new powers. She’d take her own chunk of the underworld, and he feared she wouldn’t let it go.

  ***

  Melody flowed through the corridors, Santi and Rell leading the way. Her skin burned where Bita’s acid spit had nailed her. Throbs and aches coursed over her body from the many gouges and cuts she’d gotten in the fight. She’d chalk it up to first timer’s luck that she’d taken Bita as easily as she had. All of them had underestimated her. All. Of. Them. The remaining Circle demons. The second-tiers. Vampires. Humans.

  But she’d done it!

  She winced as her excited inhale irritated bruised ribs. If only her physical pain decreased her acute awareness of Creed. The male followed her with Quution. She could smell him. The scent made her remember his taste, the feel of his hard body thrusting into hers.

  She missed him. It’d only weaken her to deny it. She missed their time together when he seemed to accept the idea of them, even if it was only temporary.

  No time to dwell on that. Her cavern neared and she had a ton to plan. She’d have to talk to Rell and Santi about moving closer to her. They’d given her ideas on who to recruit next. Traps had to be set. She wasn’t foolish enough to think the other— How many were left? Hypna was gone and Melody replaced her. Bita was gone. So the other eleven demons she served with would sit back and let her live and serve with them. Of course, they didn’t see their rule as a service to all the demons of the underworld. They saw it as power and prestige, everything a good—or very bad—demon should strive for.

  It also hadn’t been enough for them, hence the meddling in her realm—rather, her former realm. And led to the neglect of the beings in this realm.

  She turned into home sweet home and was cloaked in the smell of roses.

  “Whoa,” Creed murmured.

  She smiled secretly
to herself while no one could see. Santi and Rell had filled her in on underworld politics and she’d tested her powers by growing blooming flowers in the cave to cover the sulfur-sewage smell of the realm. It’d worked, in a way. The brimstone was much less prominent, and she didn’t feel like she was wallowing in shit.

  “Nice upgrade,” Quution commented.

  “Thanks.” Melody spun around and flounced down on the slab that served as a bed. Would Quution smuggle a down comforter here for her? Could she learn to do it herself?

  Intriguing. She rather liked the get-’er-done girl she’d become.

  Creed looked around, the expression on his face disbelieving. Of her digs, or that she’d just showed the Circle who the fuck they were messing with?

  She yawned. Seriously, when was the last time she slept? “What can I do to help you gents?”

  “Help us? Melody, we’ve been running around trying to help you since the power exchange. Then you go off the radar and…and…”

  “Own it?” She was going to get up and prowl around, but nope. She had nothing to be ashamed of. “No, I didn’t ask for these powers. It’s admirable you all feel guilty for dragging me into this mess, but I’m done. I’m Meladonna, and you’ll accept it or not. Either way, I’m done waiting on people looking to change me into who they wanted me to be.”

  Creed stared at her. She met his gaze with her unwavering one.

  He really did have tranquil eyes. Her days of staring into them while she rode his hard length were likely over. Part of her wanted to weep. The rest of her was too practical. She couldn’t debilitate herself by wishing her circumstances away. Her lifespan had grown seriously shorter as soon as she’d announced herself.

  Unease swelled, and she stamped it down with the same ruthlessness she’d used to face Bita. No, she didn’t want to die. But she wanted to live until her end came.

  “Melody…”

  Her resolve would not falter because he spoke with so much anguish.

  “Santi and Rell, leave us.” They started for the door and she sat forward. “Oh, hey, are you two, like, close by?”

  Santi answered. “We live by Hypna’s old cave. Shall we move closer?”

  “Immediately.”

  Santi inclined her head. Rell’s nod was imperceptible, and he watched in that way that made her think he just didn’t know about her. Like he expected her to morph into some heinous bitch and she hadn’t yet and he hadn’t decided if he could trust it, but he was going with it. He showed her more loyalty then her “friends.”

  The two siblings left.

  Creed folded his arms. Standing in front of her with zero clothes on, he made it harder to concentrate. “What exactly are you trying to prove, Melody?”

  She reclined back on her hands and said lightly, “I don’t believe I tried anything. I nailed it.”

  His gaze dipped to her chest, swept down her waist to the juncture of her thighs. Heat flared, and he lifted his gaze back to meet hers. He scowled, like he was irritated he’d been busted checking her out but wasn’t going to be abashed.

  They were, after all, mates. A subtle tug on her heart reminded her that she’d liked that turn in events. But she refused to be someone’s baggage.

  “Your next maneuver?” Quution asked matter-of-factly.

  “I should ask you two yours. When I left the realm, you were searching for a way to strip me of power.”

  “Because we thought that’s what you wanted,” he said.

  Well, there was that. Had she wanted it? Had they asked? She couldn’t recall an actual sit-down discussion. The adjustment had overwhelmed her, and she hadn’t known what she really wanted. Even Creed hadn’t been a constant there. She vacillated between wanting to destroy him and couple with him. Regardless of her mood swings, they hadn’t really tried to discuss with her what the plan should be going forward.

  “What I wanted, or what you thought I needed,” she shot back.

  Creed let out a frustrated sound. He marched over and planted himself next to her, his body heat snaking around her, his scent crowding out the roses. “I know what happened while I was gone must’ve been profoundly distressing—”

  She jumped up. Quution drifted toward the far wall, sensing an argument. The male certainly picked his battles.

  “You mean when the very people I considered the closest, most important people in my life either didn’t come and check on me or acted terrified to be under the same roof with me? You mean when they showed me how dependent I was on them? Do you know that I never regretted the turn of events in my life since the kidnapping until now? For the first time, I wished you’d never rescued me.”

  “I know—”

  She cut him off with a jerk of her hand. “No. I rolled with everything in my life, thinking I was the problem, but I’m not anymore. Look at me control myself. Look at me be Meladonna. If you don’t like it, stand aside.”

  “I understand, but, Melody—” it was like he used her name on purpose, to drive home that she should be human, “—you’re not safe here. You need to come back, stay at the compound. We’ll rent a room at a hotel, I don’t care. But you’re a walking target for ten of the thirteen who despise you, and countless second-tiers who aren’t on board with human heritage running the show.”

  She’d known that going into the fight. “No. I’m staying. This is my home.”

  “You’re not safe,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Quution”—she tossed over her shoulder—“are you safe?”

  “Ah… At the risk of stepping into the middle of this, no I am not. It comes with the territory.”

  “So why aren’t you asking him to run off with you?” she asked.

  Creed rose, towering over her. She could use some of Santi’s illusions now. What would Rell’s read on Creed’s powers be? Rell had been spot on with Vita and her puny nightmare creatures. Don’t let them bite you, Mistress.

  “Because he’s not you. Because I didn’t sit by his bed for two long, miserable weeks, doing nothing but worrying that I’d lost you.”

  His heartfelt words almost dissolved her resolve. Do not bend!

  “You didn’t lose me. I’m here. We’re bonded. What’s the real problem?”

  He stroked a fang with his tongue. The move was pure frustration on his part, but it was pure sexiness from her viewpoint. She steeled herself against his appeal.

  “I’m bonded to Melody. You’re not Melody.”

  Her aghast gasp echoed in the chamber. “How dare you?”

  “The Melody I bonded talks a mile a minute when she’s nervous.” He waved his hand toward her. “The Melody I bonded doesn’t wear blood as an accessory. She wears pink camo and hunting boots. She has a stuffed fish in her room.”

  Her mouth worked until she figured out an adequate response. “The fish is mounted. And I bonded Creed. The aloof IT guy who wears gaudy Hawaiian shirts and board shorts. Oh, wait, you were using that to keep everyone thinking you’re okay. Just fine. Nothing wrong with Creed.”

  His brows popped up. Not expecting her to lash back, eh?

  “Well, I guess that’s it then. You stay here and rule the underworld. I go back to my IT room and board shorts?”

  “I guess.”

  “What about the bond?”

  Her territorial instincts over the bond tightened like a vise within her. “What about it? It’s beneficial for both of us. I’m sure your people will want a way to monitor me, and you can just pop down.”

  “My people are your people.”

  She smiled, infusing it with as much sarcasm as possible. “Yes, they showed me just how much I’m a part of them.”

  He flashed fang. Like her, he didn’t like the arrangement one bit. Was he as possessive over the bond as her? It really would benefit them both. At least until he met his true mate.

  Her fangs extended.

  Best not consider any of that until the time comes.

  “Fine,” he said.

  “Fine.”

&n
bsp; Quution shuffled forward. “While I don’t truly think it’s fine, I agree that severing the bond would be a mistake.”

  They both looked at him, waiting for more of an explanation.

  He spread his hands apart, his claws twisted. They’d be painful if they were real. “You get only one chance to bond.”

  “Unless you’re Stryke and Zoey,” Creed said.

  Quution nodded. “Extenuating circumstances. Technically, they formed an alternate bond since Zoey had already bonded her true mate and he died. Why take the chance? Half the scramble in the underworld is finding a host to walk the realm. The Circle can’t rule your realm without all thirteen of them attaining a foothold.”

  Creed propped his hands on his hips, his expression grim. But his chest was oh so wide. She’d scored that expanse with her claws. Come on, Meladonna. Not the way to think and stay a badass. “Did she just give them the idea that they can seduce vampires and get a free pass?”

  “Oh, so it’s all my fault.”

  She kinda had.

  Quution chuckled. Then he outright laughed, his deep, rich voice bouncing off the walls. “I’d like to see that.” He stopped to wipe his eyes. “Seduction. Yes. Yes, I would.” He blew out a breath and calmed down. “In all seriousness, perhaps. How it would affect their grand plan? It’d certainly open the portal between realms like they wanted, but they’d have thirteen vampire yin to their demon yang. The nature of the bond would make it difficult for either party to completely control the other. You could sense what they’re feeling, any strong emotion. Duplicity would be difficult.”

  “There you have it,” she announced. She gave Creed a pointed look. “You can go. You’re not tied to the underworld.”

  Creed looked to Quution. The demon didn’t say anything. Creed swung his stern gaze to her.

  She clenched her jaw and forced herself not to waver. His presence complicated things and she had a lot to do down here.

  “Essentially business partners? You’re content with that?”

  She lifted a brow in challenge. “Yep.”

  He disappeared. She started, nearly lunging for the spot he’d been standing in.