by Jill Myles
It was a painting, encased in a polymer bag. Thin and oblong, it wasn’t more than a foot in length. My thumb skimmed over the corner, feeling heavy brushstrokes through the protective bag. An oil painting, though it was hard to make out in the light. What the heck was Noah doing with a painting in the wilds of Mexico? Suspicious of another “surprise,” I went into the sunlight—and sucked in a loud breath.
What. The. Hell?
It was me. Or rather, it was me before I’d transformed into a succubus. If I was dressed like some sort of Hebrew shepherdess, hung out in fields with sheep, and carried a crook, that is. The woman in the photo was swathed in long, colorful scarves, so it was impossible to tell if we had the same pudgy body that I’d had, but the face? Same round cheeks. Same too-large features and heavy brows. Long, curly, brownish-red hair hung over her shoulder, and she was smiling with innocent delight.
Her eyes were green, the only discernable difference. My fingers touched her face in shock, and I flipped the painting over. In a strange, loopy handwriting, words were written on the back. I couldn’t make them out, but I could make out a date and initials:
1506. N. G.
Who was this woman, and why was Noah painting pictures of her? I hadn’t even known that Noah could paint, but those were his initials. Yet 1506 seemed like the wrong time period for her clothing. I flipped the painting over again. Definitely not Renaissance; she looked like something out of the old Hollywood biblical epics.
Of course, this didn’t answer the bigger question: what was she doing with my face?
My satellite phone chose that moment to ring. Irritated at the interruption, I tucked the painting back into the safe and slammed it shut. Mr. “Innocent” Noah had a few questions to answer when he got back from town. I raced into the tent, grabbed the phone off my cot, and hit the Receive button. “Hello? Noah?”
Maybe he was ready to kiss and make up already.
“Sorry, my sweet, it’s just me.” Remy’s cheerful voice rang out over the crackling phone.
“Remy! Hi! How’s the shoot going?” The last time I’d heard from her, she was shooting a new porn movie in New Orleans—The Big Sleazy. She’d asked me to come visit to spend time with her and Delilah—a succubus convention of sorts. I’d declined, partially because I didn’t want to know what The Big Sleazy was about, and partially because I was enjoying the archaeological dig.
She chuckled. “Never better.”
“Glad to hear it. Did they give you a lot of, er, action shots?” I cringed at the thought. I had no idea how to make small talk about a porn flick. Were the fluffers good? Did your costar have a big wang? Any orgies in this one? I decided to change the subject. “How’s Dee doing, anyhow?”
Remy’s voice became a low rumble. “Who?”
I sat down on the edge of the cot, angling one of the fans at my face. “Dee. Delilah. Succubus? Kinda short and young? Bossy? Voodoo priestess?” When that elicited no response, I frowned against the receiver. “You’re staying in her house?”
“Ah, her.” Remy’s voice rasped a little. “She is unimportant.”
I frowned. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Never better,” she repeated.
That kind of gave me the creeps. “All righty.”
“I called to ask you a question,” Remy purred.
“Oh? What’s that?” And why did I have a bad feeling about this?
Her voice dropped very low. “I was wondering if you’d scream when I held you down and sank my fangs into your pretty neck.”
I swallowed. That didn’t sound like my bubbly BFF. “This is Joachim, isn’t it?”
Wild laughter erupted from the other end of the phone.
That bastard. “Joachim,” I said very slowly. “How did you get hold of Remy again? What happened to the charm?” When Zane and I had parted ways, he’d given me a special charm that nullified magic, and I’d given it to Remy to help her with Joachim’s possession of her. For months, she’d been fine. Now Joachim was in charge of her body again?
“That’s the sad thing about necklace charms,” Joachim said, clucking his tongue. “If the clasp breaks, all bets are off.”
Shit, shit shit. Remy was hours of plane flight away from rescue, and I was stuck in the wilds of Yucatán. “Joachim,” I said, trying a reasonable voice. “Why not leave Remy alone? She’s my friend and I don’t want you to hurt her.”
“But I want to hurt you,” she said, her voice silky. “A lot. I want to see you suffer like you’ve made me suffer for the past six months. Gag you. Bind you. Silence you. Won’t that be fun?”
Didn’t sound like it, no. “You’ll have to find me first.” Nothing like a good ol’ bluff to steel the nerves.
“You’re just outside of Mérida in Yucatán.” Her angry tone changed to bored. “Did you know that I’m back in New City? I’m sitting in your room right now.”
It suddenly became hard to breathe. “What? Where’s Dee?”
Remy chuckled, an evil laugh. “Dee’s such a stick in the mud. I left her for someplace new. And I sure like it here.” The evil voice dropped into a low purr. “There’s no one around to see what I do.”
I swallowed hard. “Joachim, let Remy have her body back.”
“Why don’t you come and make me?”
“Because I’m in Mexico—”
“Then it’ll be a shame if your friend dies, won’t it?”
A wordless squeak escaped me and I stared blankly ahead. What could I do?
“See you soon, whore.” Remy-Joachim hung up.
I immediately called Delilah’s house. Her machine picked up so I hung up and stared at the phone. Joachim wanted me to come after him, to confront him.
This was a trap—revenge. The last time, I’d trapped him in the guest bathroom at Delilah’s house, a thick line of salt across the doorway keeping him inside until I’d put the necklace on her neck and restored Remy.
It was my fault she was possessed. Remy and I had been fighting over the halo that contained his power. I lost my grip, Remy went down and absorbed the halo, drawing Joachim’s madness inside her. She’d been fine at first, but he soon overtook her. And now he wanted me. Goody.
I immediately picked up the phone and dialed Noah’s cell. With luck, he wouldn’t have it turned off.
Noah picked up on the first ring, his voice sounding odd. “Hello?”
“Noah, we have a problem,” I began.
“I know.”
That made me pause. “What do you mean, you know?” A little prickle of fear went down my back.
Oddly enough, I heard a low voice talking on the other end of the line, and then Noah spoke softly. “Come out of the tent, Jackie.” He sounded resigned.
The words were gentle, but my body recognized the command. Because Noah had created me, I was powerless in the face of a direct order. My legs stiffened, I began walking toward the door, and my mood went from “bad” to “destroyed” within moments. Using a command was a low, low blow.
The moment I emerged from the tent, I saw why he’d commanded me.
Noah stood between two men, his hands tied behind his back. One of the strangers held the sat phone to Noah’s ear and removed it at the sight of me. Both of them were the biggest dudes I’d ever seen. Noah was a little over six feet tall, and both men towered over him. Their shoulders were frighteningly broad, and both wore strange white robes.
One stepped toward me. He had beautifully dark eyes under slashing eyebrows, high cheekbones under buff-colored skin, and a long, silky mane of black hair that was pulled in a straight ponytail. He looked beautiful. And disapproving.
He frowned at the sight of me, as if he’d never seen someone like me before. “You are the succubus?”
Good lord, he even talked loud. “That’s me.” My gaze turned back to Noah. “What’s going on?”
I wasn’t panicking yet.
Noah didn’t seem frightened, but I was confused by the expression on his face. He seemed … sad? Chagrine
d?
“Succubus, you will come with us,” the samurai commanded.
I scowled and crossed my arms over my chest. I wasn’t a dog to be called to heel. “Now, hold on here. I’m not going anywhere until I know who you are and how you found us in the jungle.”
“Jackie,” Noah said patiently. “Come.”
I put my hands up like paws. “Arf arf.” My feet jerked forward again, and I didn’t protest when the samurai grabbed my arm. He studied my neck, then grabbed the gris-gris that hung from it and yanked it off. The cord snapped, and as I watched, he stepped on the small charm bag with a crunch. Just like that, I was without magical protection.
Great.
My eyes focused on Noah’s face. “Why are you working with them, Noah? What is going on?”
“We’ve been summoned.” He didn’t sound happy at all.
“Summoned? By whom?” Who on earth could possibly summon us in the middle of the jungle?
“The Serim council. We’ve been placed under arrest.”
CHAPTER THREE
I sat in a small, dark room, drumming my fingers. Hours had passed, and I knew instinctively that the sun had set and was getting ready to rise again. I could feel the cycle even if I couldn’t see it, just as I could feel the burgeoning desire growing in my body. The Itch had swelled with every hour that passed, and right now my clothes rubbed against my sensitized skin, making my body purr. Soon I’d be drooling at the sight of any man in the immediate vicinity.
This was not good. Not good at all.
My cell had smooth walls, and I’d spent all night running my hands over them looking for a window, an outlet, anything. The only way in and out of the room was through the door, and there was no doorknob on my side. I glared at the small sliver of light under the door.
As if on cue, the door opened, and the tall warrior glided into the room.
I tensed in my corner, flexing my hands. When he moved closer, he was going down. The thought made my body flush with warmth and need. Going down would be so sexy right now–
The warrior straightened, interrupting my dirty thoughts. “Succubus, if you think to use your powers on me, be warned that the rest of your trial will go very badly.”
I hesitated. “What sort of trial are you talking about?”
“I am not at liberty to speak.”
Of course not. “Where’s Noah?” Despite the fact that he seemed to be working with these other Serim, he had an unhappy look on his face. Not good.
“He will be present at the trial,” the warrior said.
I stood up and followed him out of my cell. “So who are you?”
“I am an Enforcer.”
What the heck was an Enforcer? “Gee, that’s nice. But I kinda meant your name.”
“I see.” He sounded a little puzzled, as if he wasn’t used to people addressing him. “I am called Ethan.”
Didn’t sound very war-like. “So what am I under arrest for, Ethan?”
His elegant brow furrowed as he looked down at me. “I do not know the details.”
Er, okay. “Then why did you nab me?”
“I merely enforce the decisions of the council. I am not a member.” His voice had taken on the stiff, regal tone once more, shutting me down. “Please withhold all questions until you are before the council.”
I resisted the urge to give him a smart-ass salute and followed him down the dank concrete hallway. It seemed like we were in the cellars or a catacomb of some sort. The occasional oblong fluorescent light overhead provided us with harsh, grayish-blue lighting.
A quick glance behind me (just in case I wanted to, y’know, run away) showed that the hall ended near my cell, and all the other doors lining the hallway were heavy metal and shut tight. I’d have bet money that they were locked, too.
The only way out was behind the mountain of Ethan that walked in front of me with elegant grace. He didn’t even look back to see if I was following, as if it didn’t even cross his mind that I would be stupid enough to try and escape.
He led me through a maze of hallways and then to an elevator. We waited in front of the double doors, as if this were a normal day at the office and Ethan wasn’t wearing some goofy cultist robe and had a big honking stick at his waist.
“So what’s the stick for?” I asked as we stepped into the elevator.
He gave me a puzzled look. “It’s not a stick. It is a bo staff.”
“Oh, well excuse me, Napoleon Dynamite.” I was rapidly losing my fear of this guy, despite his hulking size and blade-eyed glare. At times he seemed … nice? Which was weird, considering he worked for the bad guys.
Not that the Serim were really bad, not at all. Noah and his kind had descended from Heaven thousands of years ago, giving up Paradise for the love of mortal women. But then those women had died abruptly, and the fallen angels found out the hard way that exile from Paradise was a torture all its own. Some fell to the dark side and became vampires. Those who did not called themselves the Serim chose to rule “benevolently” over humans and lived their lives in a way that they hoped would someday return them to Heaven.
It tended to make them rigidly moral and impossible to deal with. To say that I wasn’t looking forward to meeting with the council was a bit like saying Joan of Arc wasn’t looking forward to burning at the stake.
I was concerned for Noah, though. He’d seemed very unhappy at the sight of the two Enforcers, and even more unhappy when he’d ordered me to go with them. He seemed genuinely nervous.
After all, my Itch was due pronto, and my guards didn’t seem like they’d be letting me go anytime soon. Though if they were willing … I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the mental image of a prisoner-and-guard sandwich. Now was not the time.
The elevator dinged loudly, startling me out of my thoughts. Ethan nodded at me and I stepped forward into another narrow cement hallway, faded linoleum lining the floor. It reminded me of an old hospital. Down the hall, though, I could see a door with sunlight pouring through the window. I could use my powers on Ethan, send him back down the elevator, and be out of this building before he had time to say “bo staff” again.
But that wouldn’t help Noah. And Noah had saved me so many times before that I couldn’t leave him here to face these jerks alone.
He needed me.
Just thinking about need made my body pulse pleasurably, reminding me that I needed him as much as he needed me.
So I sighed and said to Ethan, “Lead the way.”
He led me into a long, cold room. The walls were bare, with more of the cheerful concrete motif. One lone fluorescent light hung overhead, and a row of tables and chairs was neatly arranged across from two single chairs.
“Sit,” Ethan told me.
“I’m going to guess one of these lovely, inconspicuous chairs is mine, right?” I gestured at one of the loners in the middle of the floor.
His mouth tightened and he gave me a brief nod.
I sat in the chair provided, frowning. When the seats across from me filled, I’d be directly in front of the unflinching eyes of the Serim. Nervous, I ran a hand through my hair and tried to tame the curls that had slipped out of my braids. It felt like I’d been called to the principal’s office.
Minutes ticked by, and we were the only ones in the room. Ethan stood behind me, a massive mile of loitering warrior. I clasped my hands and crossed my legs, moving my foot back and forth in an anxious motion. After a moment, I decided bravado was the best tactic and tilted my head back to look at Ethan. “This isn’t going to take long, is it? Because my plate’s a little full at the moment.”
First item on the agenda: find out where Remy was.
Second item on the agenda: find out who this Little Bo-Peep in the painting was.
Third item: bitch out Noah and have make-up sex.
The Enforcer stared down at me, his face smooth of emotion, then he took a step backward. I realized I’d pretty much tilted my head all the way back, putting it eye level with h
is crotch, and it seemed Ethan was skittish. Desire flared, unwanted and unbidden, and I clamped my thighs tightly together. Damn. The Itch was upon me.
And just to make things more annoying, the door opened and the Serim council began to file into the room.
It was hard not to be impressed by the lineup; any woman would find them breathtakingly beautiful. They were once angels, after all.
Unlike the blond Noah and Uriel, the angels before me were a variety of ethnicities, from dusky dark skin to the palest silver-blond hair. All were unearthly beautiful and ageless.
Ruining the effect were the goofy long linen robes they wore and the scowls on their faces as they regarded me. They filed in and sat down without a word.
“Where’s Noah?” I asked when the door shut behind them and there was still no sight of my Serim master.
Ethan leaned in next to me. “You must not speak until spoken to.”
“The same goes for you, Enforcer Ethan,” one of the Serim said, his voice clipped, beautiful, and utterly cold. My gaze went to him and focused on his long, flowing red hair and the aristocratic, pale features of his face.
“My apologies, Serim Ariel,” the Enforcer said.
Well, that was a little unexpected. Ethan was huge and menacing looking. Ariel should have been scared of him, not the other way around. Still, I bit my lip to keep from smiling. Like the little mermaid Ariel? How unmasculine.
He noticed my badly hidden amusement and his mouth stiffened into a grim line.
Oops.
“Bring in Noah Gideon,” Ariel said smoothly.
A door opened behind me, and I twisted in my seat. Noah looked well, if a bit lethargic and sleep-rumpled. His eyes lit with relief at the sight of me.
He came to stand behind my chair, next to Ethan, and he laid one large hand on my shoulder. A unified front. Relief swept through me, surprising in its intensity. Noah might be mad at me at the moment, and I might be worried about the painting, but we’d stick together. I put my hand on his and squeezed.
“All immortals are assembled,” Ariel said, his eyes bright blue as they rested on me. “Bring in the priest.”