Going to see Micki had been a dangerous risk. He went straight to her house as soon as he dropped Alyx and Derick off at Expat. He thought he was in control, but once he saw her standing there, hungry for him and willing, he couldn’t settle for tame sex. Clutching the assassin’s athame in his fist and juiced up with Lucifer’s mojo, he was swept away with memories of his former life. His demon nature demanded dominance and fear. It took over the second she said yes. He couldn’t stop it from happening. He couldn’t walk away. He should have, but he didn’t.
And it was the best sex of his life.
Chapter 12: Unhappy Holidays
Three weeks later, Koivu was in Boston with Benn and Alyx. December in New England was snowy. He was miserable. He hated being cold. They all did. It was a leftover condition from their lives in the glorious warmth of Hell. Parked on the side of the road across from an apartment complex, they waited in the dark. Shivering inside his leather jacket, he tugged his black beanie over his ears, and slouched lower in the driver’s seat. Riding shotgun, Benn did the same. Alyx dozed in the backseat.
Stakeouts weren’t fun. Despite the training they’d gotten from Raphael’s Primani, they were still new at this. Tonight they were watching for a construction worker named Dominic. The man had just been released from the hospital after being in a ten-month coma. The newspaper story had grabbed Sid’s attention a couple of days earlier. After doing some digging, he felt sure this man was another transporter. Maybe he was. Maybe he wasn’t. There was only one way to find out.
Benn passed him a thermos of lukewarm coffee. “I don’t know about you, but I feel more badass with these sweet new weapons. It was cool of Lucifer to let us keep the athames.”
“Clearly he wants to keep us alive. He must have plans for us. Maybe he’s looking for a couple of new bodyguards. I wouldn’t mind working for him.” He took a swig and passed it back. The fine hair on the back of his neck started to twitch in warning. Swallowing slowly, he scanned the entrance to the complex and sat straight up, pointing, “There! Do you see him? He just materialized.”
“Well, now. This’ll make things more interesting. Looks like Dominic’s our man for sure.” Benn squinted into the darkness for a few seconds before tossing the thermos to the floorboard. “Got him. Let’s go, Alyx!”
They vaulted from the vehicle without checking to see if Alyx followed. Armed with his new favorite athame, Koivu was back to his cocky self. His warrior blood sang with its own personal battle hymn. He couldn’t wait to gut a demon or three. He and Benn melted into the shadows before sprinting in a crouch to the stairwell. Alyx caught up while they strained their ears for footsteps.
Koivu raised his arm, gesturing them forward. The rotten meat smell alone was a dead giveaway, but the throbbing tat was all the proof he needed. The damn thing glowed red with hellfire. The enforcer demon was close. With his back flattened against the wall, he edged around a corner and ran straight into trouble.
The flaming sword clipped the top of his beanie and sliced into the brick wall. Sparks flew from the impact as Koivu rolled back to his feet and palmed the athame with a dangerous smile. The enforcer spun around to find Benn blocking him from the other side. Benn’s athame glowed with the same light as his tat. The demon’s eyes bugged with shock.
Alyx hung back out of the line of fire. Unarmed and unprepared for any kind of fight with a demon, he was only there for moral support. Inching closer to the adjacent stairwell, he called, “If you’ve got this, I’m going up to the apartment.”
Koivu kept his eyes glued to the demon with the huge-ass flaming sword, but waved him on. “Go on up. We’ll be right there. This won’t take long.”
Benn burst out laughing. He raised his hand and waved it back and forth with a huge grin. “Do you see this?” He wiggled his hand and the eerie red glow lit up the hallway. “I’ve actually got hellfire on demand.” He wiggled it again and the light bounced around. “On demand!” He strode closer to the enforcer and announced to Koivu, “You can have the athame back. I’m keeping that sword. It’s cooler than this.” He waved the shorter knife around and grinned at the confusion in the demon’s eyes. “What’s the matter? Surprised to see us? Did you think you’d just shimmer in and snatch our friend without a fight? You’re not getting that bounty.”
The demon finally regained his composure and adjusted his feet into a fighting stance. His lips curled into a sneer. He gave the sword a couple of test swings and growled, “Fucking decani! You don’t have the right to touch weapons of Hell. Why doesn’t the hellfire turn you to ash?”
Benn snagged the demon’s undivided attention by lighting up the athame again and waving it around in a slow arc. “I’ve got hellfire in my veins, asshole. Did you really think that Carrick’s curse would wipe out our souls completely?” He turned off the glow and tapped the obsidian blade against his palm. The demon’s eyes were riveted. Benn’s voice dropped to a whisper that was beyond human hearing. “See you in the Great Abyss.”
Koivu’s athame took his head clean off before he could blink. The sword dropped from his lifeless fingers. Benn shot forward and kicked the head down the stairs. In another second, the demon’s corpse began to smoke on its way to its eternity.
Benn snatched the sword and jumped back just as the ash blew away. Grinning happily, he tested the sword’s grip and said, “Nice work!”
Koivu returned the grin and shoved the blade into its sheath. “All right, let’s go get our boy.”
“Lead the way.” Benn waved him ahead.
Dominic’s apartment was just around the corner at the top of the next floor. Alyx let them in before Koivu finished knocking. He was beaming with relief. “It’s Hayden! Dude, he has most of his memories. Not all, but enough to know who I am!” He whirled back to the human named Dominic and nearly shouted with excitement, “This is Benn and Koivu!”
Instead of rushing up to him, Koivu gave the poor guy some space. They had no idea what his mental state was or how he’d react to seeing his friends in different bodies. They were unidentifiable without their tats. It was, um, jarring sometimes. So far, each of them had had different reactions to the transition process. The fact that he’d been in a long coma only added another unknown. How much of his brain was neuron soup now? During mission planning, Benn had suggested they let Hayden check them out first, at his own pace. Kind of like letting the rescue dogs sniff their hands. Koivu was all for being sensitive, but he’d punch the guy if he bit him.
About the same height as Sid, he wasn’t a big man. Koivu guestimated he weighed an unhealthy 160 pounds. His clothes hung from his frame making him appear even smaller. He had black hair and dark grey eyes. Filled with uncertainty at first, those grey eyes lit up with joy when they landed on him.
Hayden exclaimed, “Oh, sweet Lucifer, it is you!” In three or four strides, he was bear hugging them both at the same time. Alyx joined the celebration with some undignified whoops and shouts. Sticking to the unspoken bro code, they broke contact at the ten second point. They were so relieved to have Hayden safe and sound they talked over each so fast they ended up cracking themselves up.
Eventually, Benn pulled Hayden into another room to debrief him. Koivu and Alyx killed time by cleaning the demon’s blood from the weapons. They’d been finished for an hour when Benn and Hayden finally emerged to announce he was riding to Expat with them.
“I need to talk to Nash before I can commit to working there. Dominic’s life is complicated and I can’t just walk out. He’s—” Hayden tapped a finger to his temple “—in here harassing me about stealing his body. Like I had a choice or something,” he winced with a sudden pain and groused, “I did not steal your body. For the millionth time, it wasn’t my fault!”
Koivu did a double take. Holy shit! The transporter was still in there? How was that possible? He twirled his finger near his head, and asked carefully, “Soooo, Dominic’s still in there? Why isn’t he gone? How can two souls occupy the same body?”
Hayden
winced again and explained, “He’s trying to hang on. There’s something wrong with his soul. Whatever it is, it’s so terrifying to him that he’s refusing to go.”
Benn leaned forward with his little shrink heart in his eyes. “Wow! That’s incredible! I’ve never heard of this happening. We’re going to talk when get you settled. This is fascinating!”
Alyx cleared his throat and said, “I don’t want to break this up, but we should get moving. It’s going to be really late when we get back to Brooklyn. Hayden, why don’t you just throw a change of clothes in a bag? If you decide to move into a room at Expat, we’ll come back and pack up your things.”
Hayden was pretty speedy for a guy who’d just gotten out of a hospital bed a few days ago, so they were in the SUV and pointed towards Brooklyn in less than half an hour. It suited Koivu just fine. It was getting colder by the minute and he was ready to get home. The mission had gone well, but it felt like a hollow victory. They were still searching for Tanner. What had happened to their last crew member?
When he braked for a traffic light, he stole a quick glance in the rearview mirror. Alyx and Hayden reclined in their seats gawking at the city streets of Boston. He envied Alyx’s ability to accept Hayden’s transporter so easily. It would take days for Koivu to get used to hearing his friend’s voice coming from this human’s mouth. It was a damn shame that, like the rest of the Trinity, Hayden’s strange face would never replace the one he’d lost when he was exiled. For the millionth time, he tamped down a growl of impotent rage; unproductive, that. He could be pissed off all he wanted, but it didn’t change his situation. He was still alive and living while others who were more deserving were dead and gone forever.
They hadn’t driven more than ten miles when Alyx smacked Koivu in the back of the head and said, “Dude, lighten up. My first mission as an Expat Security employee was a total success. I didn’t screw anything up, and Hayden’s alive and mostly well. We should be celebrating!”
“You think so? Tell that to Olli and Baun. I’m sure they’d love to do a shot; maybe order some wings.”
Stricken, Alyx jerked like he’d been slapped. His mouth worked, but no words came out. White faced, he turned and stared out the window.
Riding shotgun, Benn backhanded Koivu in the arm and snapped, “Nice!” before turning around to smooth things over. “It’s all right, Alyx. You’re not wrong for trying to find some reason to celebrate. Each of us deals with trauma and loss differently. Some people handle it with more emotional maturity than others.”
Benn stared pointedly at Koivu until he rolled his eyes and muttered, “Here we go.” This was the lead-in to another psyche eval that was not so cleverly disguised as a pep talk. Koivu was getting tired of Benn’s efforts to bring him around to acceptance. Fuck that and fuck emotional maturity. Whatever the fuck that was.
Benn reached into the backseat and clasped Alyx’s hand in a comforting grip. “Losing Olli and Baun sucks. They’re gone forever. We’ll never see them again. It breaks my heart to know that.” He dropped Alyx’s hand and gave Koivu’s shoulder a soft squeeze. “Even so, we have to appreciate the positives. I’m grateful we’ve managed to find so many of our crew alive. It truly is a miracle.”
Koivu grumbled under his breath, but tried not to be an asshole. “Alyx, man, look, you’re right. We have had some victories. We should be grateful, but here’s the thing. We don’t know who Carrick will send after us next. The bounty on us is still out there. The Da’vinRa’ are convinced we need to be sacrificed to bring their leader topside. Let’s face it. Our lives are fucking short up here. We have a better chance of winning the lottery than surviving another year.”
Benn’s lips thinned with annoyance. “Wow. Just fucking wow. Aren’t you a ray of sunshine? What’s your problem? You’ve got more to live for than most humans. You’ve got a job, a place to live, and a hot girlfriend who’s crazy about you. Everything isn’t perfect, but what else do you want right now?”
He accelerated onto the expressway before asking incredulously, “Crazy about me? Is that what you see? You’ve lost your mind.”
Benn snorted in disgust and replied, “Yeah, that’s what I see. Her eyes follow you. They get all soft when she talks about you. She’s pretty guarded with her feelings, but yeah, I’d say she’s into you bigtime, and I think you feel the same. You could make a life with her.”
“A life? A life? You’re insane!”
The tires slid off the roadway onto the snowy shoulder. Everyone hollered, “Whoa!” until he manhandled the SUV back to its lane without killing them.
Sucking in a furious breath, he steadied the vehicle and warmed to his rant. “We’re being hunted, cousin! If I somehow avoid being sacrificed, I still have to dodge bounty hunters trying to take off my head. If I manage to live through this bullshit, I’m going home.”
Benn tried to interject, “Koivu, you’ve got to accept—” The abject pity in his tone was the last straw.
All of the rage and frustration he’d been trying to keep under control erupted. He roared, “Fuck that! And fuck you! This conversation is over!”
Benn clamped his lips together and faced the windshield with a tic working in his jaw.
The heavy silence that filled the SUV lingered while Koivu tried to calm himself down. He felt like his head was about to explode. He wanted to punch something.
Alyx cleared his throat and cautiously leaned forward between the two front seats. “Uh, dude . . . What’s going on with your eyes? Is that normal?”
“Wha—” He broke off when he caught his reflection in the mirror. His irises shimmered with a hint of hellfire. “Sonofafuckingbitch.” He dragged his hand over his eyes and swallowed the urge to laugh. What had Lucifer done to him? He couldn’t run around with his eyes on fire every time he was pissed off. “Shit.”
“Soooo . . .” Alyx prompted with a hesitant smile.
Koivu rolled his shoulders to release the angry tension and blinked a few times to hopefully dull the light. “I don’t know what’s going on, Alyx. This happened after Lucifer tweaked our tats.”
Alyx sat back, asking, “Have you tried eye drops?”
Hayden snickered at the suggestion. Benn broke into a reluctant chuckle. Alyx looked confused and demanded, “What? It’s a valid question.”
Shaking his head at the absurdity of the entire situation, he tried to smile. “Good suggestion. I’ll go to the drugstore and find some drops labeled for burning demon eyes.” He paused and said somberly, “I was way out of line, Benn. I’m sorry for biting your head off, but stop pressuring me, man. I’m not making a life with anyone topside. I’ve got nothing to offer a woman like Micki. She deserves better.”
Benn leveled a stare and said sadly, “If you really believe that, you should cut her loose. It’ll hurt less now. You care about her, so get out of her life before she falls in love with you.”
Christmas was Micki’s favorite time of the year. Her mother and father thought they worked for Hallmark or something. Their house was a winter wonderland inside and out. As a little girl, she had counted the days until her mother brought out the Elf on the Shelf and hung up the mistletoe, so she could spy on her mommy and daddy kissing when they thought all of the kids had gone to bed. At the tender age of seven, it seemed terribly romantic and made her heart pitter patter with joy. As a teenager, she thought it was gross. As an adult, she found it terribly romantic again.
Her mother had scaled back on the decorations once the kids were grown, but she still put up the elf and hung mistletoe. Another tradition was baking cookies for the church bake sale.
“Micki! Get off the phone and get in the house! Your mother won’t start until you pick out the frosting colors. You know how she is.” Her father hollered at her from the porch with a glass of proper Irish whisky in his hand.
“Coming, Dad!” She stuffed her cellphone into her purse and let Leo out of the backseat.
Brody, her oldest brother and the black sheep of the family, caugh
t her around the waist and swung her into his arms, kissing her cheek and laughing at her useless protests. He grinned into her face, his wavy bangs in his eyes. “Come on, baby girl. Mom is waiting and you know how she gets when you’re late.”
“Put me down you idiot!” Kicking her feet until she connected with something, she shrieked with laughter when he tossed her over his shoulder and broke into a trot that nearly broke her ribs.
Always the helper, Danny shoved a couple of handfuls of snow down the back of her sweater dress. “Danny! You jerk!”
And so began the post-Thanksgiving and pre-Christmas Glass family traditions. By the end of the day, her and her mother will have decorated dozens of cookies, but first they had to get started. She let her brother carry her inside so she wouldn’t get snow on her new suede boots. Delirious with freedom, Leo bounded along beside them, barking and grabbing at her festive red gloves.
Her mother held the door, apron on, smile in place. “Bring the dog. He’s welcome to settle in for the day. It’s too cold for him outside.”
Still laughing at her stupid brothers, she hugged her mother and shooed Leo inside. After getting the first batches of sugar cookies going, her mother poured each of them a glass of Irish cream with a splash of whisky. She took a healthy sip and asked, “So, will we see your man for Christmas dinner?”
Koivu (Demons After Dark Book Three) Page 17