The Devil Inside

by Lana Pecherczyk

  “Okay, so I’m flattered that you want to spill your guts to me, but I’m on a schedule. So out with it.”

  “Wait, wait, wait. Something’s not right.”

  “Your attitude?”

  “You’re funny, Little Red, but no. That’s not it.” I waved at the bottles lining the wall behind her and then perched on a stool. “You’re a bartender. Pour me a drink.”

  Her brows winged over her perfect brown eyes. But she acquiesced and turned on an angle to view the selection behind her, nearly exposing the naked curve of her rear end. I tilted slightly to the right to try to get a better view.

  “What do you want to drink?” she asked tapping her chin.

  “Tequila.”

  “Which one? There’s so many?”

  “That one up the top. Yep. Top shelf. No, actually, bottom. The one on the very nice bottom,” I said absently.

  “This one?” A bottle flew off the shelf as though an invisible hand moved it and landed on the bench in front of me, rolling gently on the wooden surface.

  When I looked up, she glared at me with a triumphant smirk.

  “You need to get some new material, Marc. That’s one of the oldest tricks in the book.” She snorted. “As if I’m going to bend down.”

  “Yes, well, not everyone is telekinetic like you.” I simpered for a second while she poured a shot of Tequila.

  “Come on, out with it. I haven’t seen this level of sexual harassment since we first met. You can normally hold it in. Something must be on your mind.”

  “Spoil sport,” I added before I slammed the liquid down my throat. “Ahh, that’s better. Liquid courage. Aren’t you going to have one?”

  “What’s the point? Alcohol burns through us too quickly.”

  “You still get a teensy-tiny buzz, especially if we drink the entire bottle. Go on. Admit it. You know you want some.”

  She smiled tightly and then poured herself a shot, slammed it down and then licked her lips. “Okay, now really, out with it. If we don’t get back soon, Jed’s going to go postal.”

  “Don’t worry, he thinks you’re in the change-room and we all know how long women take in those things.”

  “Marc,” she warned.

  “All right.” I sighed dramatically. “I ate this hot-pocket earlier and I think it’s repeating.”

  She raised an eyebrow.

  “Fine. I visited the Librarian to get information about our mate the hunter, and she treated me like a second rate nobody. I mean, me, can you believe it?” I was stalling, avoiding my real purpose for being here, but what I said was true. Ever since the Librarian, I’d felt a bit useless. “I haven’t cared about what anyone thought for a long time, but she unnerved me.”

  “And what did you do there, check out books?”

  “Don’t be daft. The Librarian checks your memories out.”

  “Oh, wow. Okay. How does that work?”

  I explained the process.

  “So, maybe you discovered something that bothered you, maybe it wasn’t the Librarian, but what she found?”

  I thought back to my newly emerged memories. I didn’t think they were anything special. There were no secrets revealed, no great eureka moment. All in all, it had been a rather disappointing experience. So why did I feel so down about it?

  “Do you want to talk about it?” Falling into old bartending habits, Roo wiped the bench down.

  “No.”

  But then it hit me. I’d promised Sephie to protect her creations—the Simons. I’d spent the last few millennia doing so while she’d kept herself sequestered and unmoving back at the Empire. This was now my planet. My responsibility. And something dark was coming. Something dark was already here. I could feel it.

  It was more than that. I missed her. My friend.

  “I miss her,” I confessed.

  “Who?”

  “Sephie—the Queen.”

  “That must be tough.”

  “You have no idea. We grew up together. We overcame our oppressed parents together. We discovered cheese together. I chased her through fields to catch her pig-tails. Where she went, I went. And then… nothing. It’s like our friendship wasn’t enough to bring her back. All she cared about was the bloody hunter, and then when it finally seems as though she’d forgotten him, this happens.”

  “He turns up.”

  “And I’m afraid what it means when I go back to tell her.”

  She was silent, her aura flickered with sadness. I knew it wasn’t for me. She, too had feelings for the bloody hunter.

  “You’re afraid that despite all the work you’ve been doing for her, you will go unnoticed,” she said.

  “Maybe.”

  “Marc, you’re amazing. You don’t need anyone’s validation for that. The least of all, some queen who doesn’t even know your true worth. Behind that womanizing exterior, there’s a heart of gold.” Roo reached over and squeezed my hand. Her simple touch was all I needed to shake out of my stupor. But then she said, “I see you,” and I think I fell in love.

  We stared at each other, eye to eye, for what seemed like an eternity.

  I blurted, “I think I’m being followed, and it’s… it’s… never happened before.”

  “Okay.” She pulled back. “What can I do to help?”

  “Well, nothing, actually.”

  “Pardon?”

  I shrugged. “I just wanted to see if I traveled across the world, that the feeling would follow. It’s like I’m in one of those television thingies being watched by people I can’t see. Perhaps you’ll feel it too, and I’ll know I’m not going barmy.” I paused. “I don’t know why I’m telling all this to you. It’s not like I need help. Are you sure you’ve told no one about you being able to travel through the in-between with me?"

  “Yeah, I mean I’ve only told Cash. I don’t even think Jed knows, but he’s on our side.”

  “Who’s Jed?”

  “Oh my stars, you are slow today. My ex-probation officer. He thinks he owes Cash a debt for killing Tommy, even though he was bewitched at the time, and even though Cash is now Tommy, so if you think about it, he’s gone but he’s not gone? So, anyway, he’s pledged to Cash’s service. He’s right outside the change-room if you want us to go back and get him.”

  “No. Don’t tell him I’ve been here.” Although, someone had been leaking information about Cash being the lost enforcer to the enemy. If it had filtered down to Jacine that the boy was special, then it’s possible they had a mole in their camp. “Have you told Jed about our mate’s secret identity?”

  “You make it sound like he’s a superhero—well, I suppose he kind of is.” Roo caught herself in a snort. “No, I haven’t told anyone.”

  “But this Jed bloke, he lives with you, yeah? Is it possible he’s overheard you two talking? I mean, what’s his special ability, does he have super hearing like your mate, the hunter?”

  “Marc.” Roo threw her hands in the air, exasperated. “Stop it. Jed’s with us. He’s one of the good guys. I don’t even think he has any ability, he said he’s pretty low grade for a Player, he’s only got a small star map, besides, there’s no way—”

  “Shh.” I held up his hand, cutting her off. I fe
lt the slippery chill again. “It’s here.” I flared my eyes at her. “I’ve got an idea. Let’s play a game. Let’s pretend that I turned up here with some information about… oh, I don’t know… The Heart Scarab. Tell your mate, Jed, that I’ve found the device that can hide the darkness of one’s soul, and that we need your Book of the Dead knowledge to unlock it. We’ll see if the information get’s back to the enemy. Then we’ll know who the mole is. Bonus points if you add something contrived like turtles, or coconuts. You should tell the hunter to keep a look out, too.”

  “Okay, sure, but maybe it’s better coming from you. Cash hasn’t been home all week. Unlike you, he’s avoiding me, I think it’s because I disobeyed orders but I’ve been trying hard and I’m a little worried. Then again, maybe it’s the whole Soul-Eater thing—what?” Roo asked when she caught the look of sheer amazement on my face. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

  I pulled a cardboard coaster across the table to me and created a pen out of thin air. I wrote my name on the cardboard, then slid it over to her.

  “Eg—”

  “Don’t say it!” I held my hand up.

  “What is it?” Her adorable brows furrowed.

  “It’s my true name. Memorize it.”

  “Okay.” She made an over the top point to inspect the coaster. Seeing her lips form the shape of my name made everything inside me go tight.

  “Got it?” I asked.

  She nodded.

  I sent my power into the paper to ignite it in her hands. She squealed and dropped it.

  “Only a handful of people know that name, love. Speak it if you have a dire need of me. If I’m on this earthly plane, I’ll know. I’ll come.”

  A flush rushed her cheeks. “Marc, I’m honored.”

  “You should be.”

  She laughed.

  I couldn’t help but join her. “Love, you know I’ll always be there if you need me. I won’t ignore you.”

  Her eyes seemed to glisten. But then—

  “Do you feel that?” I asked. The air electrified in the confined space and the lights flickered.

  Roo gave me shifty eyes and whispered. “Yeah. You’re right. It’s like we’re standing too close to the TV—like a two way TV!”

  “I knew I liked you for a reason. Cheerio, love.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Cash

  OVER THE NEXT week, I had managed to avoid returning to my loft by taking two more hunting jobs and translating the glyphs on the back of the scarab which had returned from the lab useless. The glyphs were close enough to a spell from the Book of the Dead. Not the real one of course. I’d texted a picture of the script to Roo and asked if it sounded familiar—she said no, which meant the scarab was a human knock-off. Close but no cigar.

  When Roo enquired to my whereabouts, I blamed James’ condition for not being able to return home. It was half true. I stood vigil at his bed nightly, and the boy wouldn’t wake up. There wasn’t much I knew to do but show up because, I figured, when you had no one, then having anyone there was good.

  I shifted in the seat at my desk and squinted at the beetle brooch in my hand. The team I sent back to the site turned up nothing. The man I’d left tied up had woken at some point and found a way to end his life. So all I had to go on was the scarab. Probably a red herring and worthless.

  The results had come back from Bertram; my healing was on par with a human. At this rate, with my hungry paranormal abilities, I’d be dead within the next twelve months.

  Some part of me welcomed that idea. I was tired. Beyond tired. I felt like I’d been fighting my entire life. The memories had been slowly seeping in, saturating my mind.

  This bullshit drove me mad—constantly having to decipher the meaning of ridiculous and outlandish things for a shred of direction. At the start, finding my way through the Game had been incredibly vexing without an aligned House to guide me. I hadn’t grown up being taught the rules, and I’d spent a short few years under the tutelage of a mentor, and that was Urser. As soon as I’d discovered his House’s blatant disregard for life, I’d separated myself from him, but it left me lonely, confused and weak. Just like Roo was. And now, I was leaving her to the same fate I suffered. Anger brewed inside until I ditched the amulet against the wall. It hit with a thud and broke into pieces. A vial full of black liquid rolled back along the carpet and hit my toe.

  I picked it up and twisted it in my fingers, inspecting the object. Possibly the substance James injected. Enveloping the tiny evidence in my hand, I resolved to take it to the lab myself and get it tested. There simply must be answers swimming in its viscous liquid.

  In my haste out the office, I almost ran into a flustered looking Nell as I opened the door.

  “Is it James?” I asked.

  “Actually… it… uh.”

  “Spit it out.”

  She jumped, eyes widening. I softened my expression and tried again.

  “What is it, Nell?”

  “The phone.” She ran back to her desk and picked up the receiver to hand to me.

  With a frown crunching my brow, I accepted the handset. “Yes?”

  A hell of a racket blared at me.

  “Cash?” came a crackly voice.

  “Roo?”

  I couldn’t quite make out what she said between the interference and more loud crackling.

  “What the fuck is happening?” I shouted redundantly because the line went dead. “Roo?”

  I stared at the handset as though it would come alive and start explaining, but it remained silent.

  “Did you hear anything?” Nell asked, with a tightness to her words.

  “No, it went dead. Do you know what that was about?”

  “Ah.” She avoided eye contact as though she had something to hide, and her heart beat faster than its usual pace.

  “You can’t lie to me,” I stated.

  “I’m sure it sounded like she was under attack. There was a definite hostile feel to that call.”

  My chest constricted. “Shit.”

  I handed Nell the sample. “Send this up to the lab, expedite the results and have them call me as soon as they get in.”

  I made a dash for the elevator, forgetting my car keys, then doubled back. I shoved anything relevant into my arms, and bolted to the exit. Fuck! I’d only been gone for a few days and if she’d gotten herself into a mess…

  I halted inside the elevator as the doors whooshed closed. My breath came fast and my pulse boomed in my ears. A cold sweat tickled down my neck to my spine at the thought of what could be happening to her right now. Who was attacking? Where? My house?

  Shit. I tried calling her mobile phone. No answer. I pumped the basement garage button and then sent a message to my tech team to trace Roo’s phone. She could be anywhere.

  As I closed the door to my car, I heard an ear piercing scream come from my loft.

  Roo.

  I bolted to the portico, waved my electronic key card and entered the complex through the wrought iron gate. My heart pumped in my throat as I rounded the building corner and neared my apartment door. When I arrived, I stopped in my tracks, nostrils flaring, lungs heaving.

  What the—?

  I placed an ear against the cold wooden entrance door. I could hear a woman panting and moaning. I heard flesh pounding against flesh. It sounded almost…

  A female gave a long, drawn out moan.

  That wasn’t from pain, that was from pleasure.

  I sniffed at the doo
r, unable to comprehend what happened beyond the door. Mingled sweat. Moaning.

  Sexual?

  Not a conflict of some sort. No enemy.

  My heart thumped in my chest. I’d expected to find a massacre, a disaster or at least something I could fight with my fists. But this.

  What was this?

  I dropped my forehead to the door and clutched my chest, rubbing the fabric near my heart. This ache I had inside was wrong. It shouldn’t be like this. I closed my eyes and had flashes of indecent suggestion of what happened behind the doors. It pulled pure animosity to the forefront of my emotions. I was too late. I’d taken her for granted and now she was with someone else. All at once, I thought of how it felt when Roo hugged me the morning I woke from my nightmare. The day I’d almost killed her by crushing her throat. She’d felt so right. She’d come to me, comforted me, accepted me. That felt right.

  This—more suspect sounds filtered through the door—this was wrong.

  Without thinking any further, I slapped a hard palm on the door. It burst open, busting the locks from my unnatural strength. I strode into the living area, napalm coursing through my veins, but when I stepped into the open plan area opposite the in-house gymnasium, I went cold.

  Roo lay on the floor fully clothed in fitness attire. Jed massaged her bare shoulder. PG not X-rated. It wasn’t what I expected. The ache in my chest eased a little, but still… Jed’s hands slid over her skin, kneading, rubbing.

  Touching.

  Her.

  Jed glanced up and smiled innocently in greeting.

  “Get off her,” I growled. Anger burned the back of my throat. I strode over in two giant steps and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt. I lifted him off Roo and crushed him to the wall.

  Jed blinked, eyes unfocused as his head hit the surface with a thud.

  I breathed heavily through my nose. Words wanted to come out. Red pain wanted to be inflicted, but a sound and her scent restrained me. I shoved him one last time before I let go. I moved to Roo and bent down to gently guide her up. She grabbed her shoulder and winced, flinching back from me, resisting.