Succubus Diaries 03 - My Fair Succubi

by Jill Myles

  He brushed my hair off my shoulders, regarding my face. “Find Zane. That’s what you’ve wanted to do for a while now.”

  I stared at him, uncomprehending. “What are you talking about?”

  “You still miss Zane. Find him. Choose him over me, if you must. But in the end, you must choose.”

  Oh lord. This was a guilt trip over the sex. “Noah,” I began warningly. “You didn’t hurt me. Quit playing the martyr.”

  His mouth thinned, clearly disbelieving. “I might not have hurt you, but I used you. Punished you with your curse. I don’t like that person I became. I don’t like who I am around you, sometimes.”

  That hurt.

  I pulled out of his arms. “I see.”

  “You don’t,” he said just as calmly, pulling my hand into his again, and kissing the back of it. “But I do. And that’s enough. So you are going to rescue Remy?”

  “I have to.” Then a thought occurred to me. “What if I bring the halo back here and offer to trade it to the Serim in exchange for your freedom? Our freedom?”

  Noah’s face darkened. “I don’t know if that’s wise, Jackie. If the Serim are sentencing you for a minor infraction simply because they want to use you, we can’t trust them with Joachim’s power. Look at how it has corrupted Remy. Imagine that in Ariel’s hands.”

  He was right, Ariel would become more than a creepy rapist. He’d become a super-powered creepy rapist. I eyed the small marking on my wrist. “Gabriel offered me a deal as well.” I held out my wrist so he could see the marking. “But I don’t know what this means.”

  Noah took my hand and studied my wrist. “He has given you his word,” he agreed. “This mark is proof that he has offered you truth and a message of good faith. They’re rare markings. He will wear it as long as you do, until the deal has been decided or discarded.” Noah held his wrist up, showing a similar tattoo I’d seen before.

  “So who did you promise something to?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  His look became shuttered. “No one you know. It is not important.”

  “Well, maybe I think it’s important—”

  “Must we argue about this right now, Jackie?” Noah shook his head, a sleepy look crossing his face—a look that I’d seen plenty of times before. Nightfall must be coming soon. The Serim would all hibernate shortly. At the sight of it, my heart tripped unhappily. I wouldn’t be able to take him with me after all. Not if I wanted to get away.

  Tears pricked at my eyes. “We’re going to see each other again, right? Promise? You’re not going to just leave me out there alone?”

  He got up from the bed, slowly, the onset of hibernation already affecting him. With gentle hands he pulled me close, cupping my face and turning it up to his. “I could never leave you alone, Jackie. I’m doing this for your own good—for the good of both of us. Just trust me to fix things. All right?” He pressed a soft, gentle kiss to my lips.

  I kissed him back, needing him desperately. I didn’t want to leave him here with the others. And I’d have no one to help my Itch when it returned in two days.

  I mostly didn’t want Noah out of my life, and this felt like a good-bye. So I kissed him back with all the passion and longing that I felt, until he began to pull away. I caught his lip with my own, sucking on it even as he tried to pull free.

  “Jackie, you must go. This is the best time,” he said softly.

  I nodded, hugged him close, and then exited the cell without looking back.

  I didn’t entirely believe that this big separation was simply to work on the Serim council. Was Noah right? Were we not good for each other? Did Noah feel that having master powers was such a slippery slope that he needed time to regroup and mentally check himself?

  It was so unfair.

  I hurried down the hallway, noting that my pulled muscle seemed to have recovered, thanks to my supernatural healing ability. Ethan waited at the end of the hall outside my old cell. His face seemed to be permanently flushed and he would not look me in the eye.

  “You’ve been gone awhile,” he said in a choked voice, then dropped his gaze to the floor.

  “Noah’s not coming with us. It’s just going to be you and me.”

  “I see,” he said, then glanced at my eyes. He straightened with relief at the sight of their bleached color. “It was kind of him to … help you.” The flush began to creep back over his cheeks.

  “You heard that, did you?” It was sad that I couldn’t even muster a hint of shame that innocent Ethan had probably heard endless minutes of bodies slapping, grunting, my sobbing cries of passion …

  Okay, I’d managed to muster a bit of shame just thinking about it, after all. “Don’t worry. You’re safe from the big bad succubus for a few days.”

  He regarded me with a stiff expression. “If you needed help, I would have offered.”

  “That’s sweet … I think,” I said, then patted his hand. “Come on, we have to wake up Ariel.”

  We swiped the badge and entered the room. Ariel remained where I’d left him, his red-orange hair sweeping over the dusty concrete tile. I was happy to see that his “excitement” had dimmed with sleep.

  I wasn’t gentle when I rolled him onto his back, but he slept on, oblivious. I hesitated before touching him. Did I want to use this opportunity and get into his mind? See what he was thinking?

  Ugh, not really. I already needed a shower, and reading Ariel’s thoughts would only increase that need. So I slapped him on the forehead, maybe a little harder than I should have. “Wakey wakey.”

  He stirred immediately, eyes unfocused and blue as he came to. His hand reached for me, but I skittered away to the far side of the cell.

  Ethan stepped in front of me, brandishing his bo, and I let him take charge. “Ariel,” Ethan said in a somber voice. “I am leaving with the succubus. It is the right thing to do.”

  Ariel wobbled slowly to his feet, his eyes barely creeping open a slit. His body teetered as he struggled to fight the aftereffects of my touch and the onset of the Serim hibernation. “You … are … making a mistake … Ethan.”

  “It is the right thing to do,” my bodyguard repeated. He swung out his bo staff and swept Ariel’s legs, and the fallen angel went tumbling backward onto the narrow cot.

  He was asleep before his body even bounced on the mattress. The sound of heavy breathing filled the air again, and his eyes stayed closed even when I went over and poked him.

  “Nightfall is fast rising, and I imagine he will be most unpleasant when he awakens,” Ethan said, staring down at Ariel with distaste, then back to me with an almost equal distaste. “Shall we go?”

  I nodded and headed for the door. With Ethan at my side, we escaped the cell and out went into the night.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  We returned to the archaeological camp. Ethan seemed to have good direction sense and we were able to make it back to Yuxmal late in the evening.

  I climbed out of the Jeep. “Stay here and guard the Jeep, Ethan,” I said, tossing him the keys.

  He hesitated.

  My heart sank. “You’re not leaving me, are you?”

  He straightened. “No, I will remain here for you, Jackie Brighton.”

  All I needed to hear. I gave him a thumbs-up and raced across camp, hitching my shorts around my waist to keep them up. Noah had broken the belt, and they tended to keep falling around my ass.

  Since it was after dark and work had come to a halt, I knew where the workers would be. The scent of barbecue and the sounds of conversation came from the far end of the camp, and the portable spotlights shone on the folding tables lined up for dinner. The team liked to eat together. I wondered if they’d sent out anyone to check on Noah and me, or if they’d assumed we were off on an impromptu trip like irresponsible lovers.

  I wasn’t going to stop and ask. No time.

  Our tent was just as we’d left it. My forgotten box of Pop-Tarts sat in the metal chair and the silver wrappings had flown all over the tent, tossed a
bout by the breeze from the rotating fans. Our table was still set up for a romantic dinner. It was like the last two days of hell had never happened.

  Couldn’t think about that now. I needed my passport, ID, and some money to go back to the States. I’d leave a note for my boss, Dr. Morgan, to let him know that I had a family emergency and had to leave the dig early. The thought of leaving Yuxmal and the ruins behind broke my heart; we were just making headway on the dig.

  But Remy was my best friend. I would always put her well-being before some musty ruins. She’d done the same for me time and time again, after all.

  I twirled the lock on the safe and opened it, digging out my paperwork and wallet. My credit cards had a nice chunk of emergency money stashed on them, thanks to Noah. It was good to be the girlfriend of a rich guy. Seeing the ring box, I felt a new wave of guilt. I reached for it, then wavered. Should I take it? Leave it behind?

  In the end I took it, shoving it into my pocket. I wouldn’t wear it. But I’d feel like the biggest douche bag in the world if something happened and Noah wasn’t able to get it back. Resolved, I went to shut the safe and … stopped.

  The painting—my own face, clad in shepherdess gear—stared back at me. Oh, hell. I grabbed the painting and stuffed it into a shoulder bag. Then I added some clothes hastily, trying not to think about Noah, left in slumber back in the holding cell. Dammit dammit dammit. I wouldn’t think about that.

  I shut down the fans, penned a quick note to Dr. Morgan, and pinned it to the front of the tent. From the cluster of tents in the distance, I heard voices talking softly and saw lantern lights burning. People were still awake. I wasn’t in the mood to try to explain myself to anyone so I snuck out of camp, abandoning the job I’d fought so hard for.

  It was difficult to keep a regular job when you were supernatural. Something always came up; I was learning that the hard way. Remy had tried to warn me, but I hadn’t listened. And now Remy was paying for my headstrong actions.

  Well. No time to dwell on the past. Too much was going on right now for me to sit and mull over regrets. I fingered the gift ribbon on the ring box, thinking hard as I returned to the Jeep where Ethan waited.

  “Are we ready to leave, Jackie Brighton?” he asked.

  I held the red velvet ribbon out to him. “I’m ready. And you’ll need this.”

  He took it from me with a bit of confusion on his face. “I am not understanding your reason, Jackie Brighton. Men do not wear hair ribbons—”

  “Call me Jackie, and I know that men don’t wear hair ribbons.” Though the thought of Ethan with his long, silky black hair in a pert red bow made me giggle. “That’s for your bo. We’re going to make it look like a gift, not a weapon.”

  “Staff,” he corrected me, with an offended look. “It does not wear hair ribbons, either.”

  I got in on the passenger side of the Jeep and shut the door. “It needs to if it plans on going through customs.”

  Clearly, Ethan was not familiar with flying coach. Either the Serim flew first class or chartered their own planes. He scowled at every person who came down the aisle. “I do not like this,” he murmured as a large man entered the plane and moved to the back. “This is not a defensible position in the slightest.”

  “Sure it is,” I said, not looking up from the newest issue of National Geographic that I’d found in the seat back in front of me. “We’re in an exit row.”

  “My knees are touching the seat in front of me,” he whispered with something akin to horror. “How am I to leap to your defense if I am pinned in my seat?”

  “Calm down,” I said, flipping pages in the magazine. “It’s a long flight and it’ll go a lot faster if you sleep.”

  “I do not sleep.”

  Right, I kept forgetting that. I was usually the only one that didn’t sleep. The plane began to roll forward on the tarmac, and Ethan’s hands clutched the seat arms so tightly that I thought he was going to rip them off. “Why don’t you tell me more about Enforcers?” I said.

  Anything to distract him before he got an air marshal on our cases.

  He gave me a frustrated look, but his hands relaxed a little. “We serve the Serim council with our lives. What more could you wish to know?”

  Obviously, Ethan was still working on his social skills. “How old are you, for starters?” I would bet that he wasn’t thousands of years old like Noah and the other Serim. He didn’t have that weary cast to his eyes that the others did.

  “I am twenty-eight.”

  I eyed him for a moment, curious. “So what cool stuff do Enforcers get from their parentage? Did you get super-strength?”

  “I am stronger than a succubus, yes.” He frowned at me as if I were asking him what color his underpants were.

  “Dur. Everything is stronger than a succubus.” I leaned in close as the plane tilted back and we took to the air. “Did you get the curse? You know, the two-day sex thing?”

  Ethan looked scandalized. “You should not ask me such things, Jackie Brighton.”

  “Why not? I’m curious. Your boss wanted me to carry an Enforcer bun in my oven, the least you can do is tell me about your kind. I didn’t even know you existed.”

  He ignored me, jaw clenched.

  When the plane leveled out, he murmured, “We require good deeds.”

  I glanced up. He seemed a little more relaxed now, he’d lost his death grip on the arms of the seat. “I’m sorry, did you say good deeds?”

  He gave me a stiff nod. “Good deeds.”

  “Like … a Boy Scout?”

  He looked puzzled. “What is a Boy Scout?”

  Good lord, where had they kept him for the past twenty-eight years? “Never mind. So … good deeds, huh? How big of a deed?”

  He shrugged, clearly ill at ease with discussing the topic. “As big as it needs to be. Small deeds fuel me for a small time, larger deeds for a longer time.”

  Interesting. “So … that’s why you’re helping me? This is a really big good deed?”

  “I am helping you because Noah Gideon asked me to assist you. Just because I require good deeds to survive does not mean I am immune to the plight of others.”

  So Noah had already figured out an escape route for me. I wasn’t sure if I should be irritated or touched that he’d thought that far ahead.

  My companion still glared down at me with a wounded look, and I gave him a meek half smile. “Sorry, Ethan. Didn’t mean to make you sound like a junkie. So you owe Noah a favor, huh? What for?”

  Ethan’s expression went blank. “That is a private matter between Noah Gideon and myself.”

  Ethan had shut down; I wouldn’t get any more out of him. “Well, whatever your reason, I appreciate it.” I patted his hand, but when he flinched, I pulled back. “You okay?”

  He nodded, his eyes wide as he stared at the flight attendant who rolled the cart down the aisle a few inches, then halted. “I am not used to so many people so close.”

  Yeah, about that … “Where did you say you grew up, again?”

  “In a sanctuary. Many of the Serim have hidden from the outside world, choosing to spurn its evil, licentious ways. I am a guard there. Or I was until Ariel called me to duty.” He didn’t seem pleased by that.

  So Ethan had grown up in some sort of monastery. Was that where he’d met and worked with Noah? “So did a lot of people live in this sanctuary?”

  “Just the Serim.”

  “Just the Serim?” I raised an eyebrow. “You must have had a few chicks there at least once a month.”

  He gave me a stiff look. “The others went to town on regular excursions. I did not. My needs were served at home.”

  Not all his needs, if I wasn’t missing my guess. Just what I needed to rescue my ass: an oversized, blushing virgin.

  Several hours and a trip through customs later, Ethan had his beribboned staff back in hand, I had my satchel, and we were back in Wyoming. I breathed in the crisp air. In Yucatan, the temperature was constantly in the ninetie
s. Here it was a brisk 40 degrees and breezy. Brrr! In my shorts and T-shirt it was damned chilly, but stopping for new clothes seemed frivolous.

  I rented a car and drummed my fingers impatiently on the steering wheel as we waited in traffic. It was bizarre to return home and see all the people drinking lattes and wearing springtime scarves that fluttered in the strong breeze, while I was tanned and in shorts with a very wary seven-foot virgin at my side.

  At Noah’s urging I’d given up my apartment six months ago, just before going on the dig. My stuff had been packed up and half sent to storage at Remy’s place, with my everyday stuff moved into Noah’s house. It felt weird to not have an official “home” to come back to. I turned the car onto the freeway and headed toward Remy’s place on the outskirts of the city.

  Wealthy, thanks to her lucrative adult film career, Remy Summore lived in a gated neighborhood on the posh side of town. I waved to the security guard at the gate as I pulled up, and he let me through. The red hair was an automatic giveaway; they always remembered me.

  “Do you think the succubus we pursue will be here?” Ethan asked me, staring out the window with a stoic look on his face.

  I shrugged and turned down a street. “Even if she’s not, one of her servants might have an idea of where she went.”

  If they weren’t dead.

  I pulled the PT Cruiser into the driveway, frowning at the mansion. The lawn was immaculate thanks to the lawn service, but no cars were in the driveway and no lights were on. That wasn’t totally weird, given that it was past noon, but I’d expected her home to look a bit more inviting. Maybe it was just my imagination.

  I parked and got out, my palms clammy. Ethel, Remy’s housemaid, normally parked her little Toyota in the garage and left the door up when she was in. It let Remy know if she was in the house when Remy got home, since succubi often kept weird hours. But the garage door was down. Ethel wasn’t around.

  Odd.

  I glanced at Ethan, who followed close behind me, his bo staff at hand. “I don’t suppose you have any holy water on you, do you?”