by Lola Taylor
It was hard imagining someone like Delilah as desperate and lonely. She was practically a living mattress, never seeming to struggle for companionship.
“Besides,” Damien said. “Killing them was like sport to me.” He smiled. “But you, especially, were enticing. You had my two favorite qualities in droves. So desperate for approval, to be wanted by someone. The taste of your loneliness was exquisite because it was laced with innocence. The fact you were a succubus made you all the more attractive, like a walking contradiction. It’s what attracted me to you.”
“I’m not that girl anymore.”
He chuckled. “You may have buried those traits, but they are still there, angel. No one can change overnight.”
“Why didn’t you just take me the night you fought off that vampire? Or in the bunker?” I asked.
He grinned, flashing his very sharp teeth. “I told you, I’m like a dog with a bone. I enjoy the chase as much as the kill.”
I cringed, reminded of the predator he really was.
“As for the bunker,” he went on, sounding bored, “I could sense my father coming, and didn’t want him to suspect it was me. Assassinations are so much trickier without the element of surprise.”
Damien lowered me to the ground, hovering over me like a dark angel. He caressed my face. “Are you ready to finally accept your fate and be mine, Sally?”
I mustered up enough breath to spit, “No,” at him, looking him defiantly in the eyes.
Sharp pain lit up my cheek, followed by something warm drizzling down the side of my face.
“Doesn’t matter,” Damien purred. “Your compliance is not needed.”
I couldn’t describe what exactly he did next. It was like he was suctioning my soul out of me, pulling and tugging me apart while I was powerless to stop it.
They say your life flashes before your eyes as you die, but I only saw one face.
Hector.
And I wanted so desperately to stay, to see him again, that I would have done anything to fight my fate.
The pulling sensation gradually ebbed, and Damien tensed. “What is this?” he snarled. “How are you resisting me?”
Hell if I knew. All I knew was that with Hector filling my mind, my heart, I felt no fear of this place. Or of Damien. I laughed. “Is that what I was afraid of?” I rasped. “A wimpy demon who’s down on his game?”
Damien roared with fury, backhanding me so hard I was sure he’d broke my jaw. He stood, towering over me, those red eyes burning against the darkness. “No matter. Others have resisted. And they too fell eventually. You will be no different.”
“Don’t count on it, buddy.”
Damien grinned. “All you need is a little… persuasion.”
The world shifted beneath me, and I cried out as my mind was assaulted, like thousands of needles were being inserted into my brain. I clenched my eyes shut, trying to block out the pain, when it abruptly stopped, and I opened my eyes.
And gasped.
I STOOD IN FRONT of a sleek black desk, so shiny it might as well have been a mirror. And that’s exactly what the handsome man sitting behind it was using it as.
He didn’t even look up after I’d walked in, too concerned with adjusting his hairstyle to notice me. I shifted my weight, wondering if I’d been wrong in thinking he’d like the makeup I’d taken extra care in applying this morning, or the beautiful curls that had taken half an hour alone to style. My new outfit didn’t seem to draw his attention, either, though I’d been so sure it would, considering it was the type of clothing girls he was into wore.
Maybe I’m just not his type, I thought to myself. Eric Walters is on a totally different playing field. What chance did I think I had with-
He looked up - and his jaw dropped.
I froze, suddenly aware of how much of my curves the tight dress revealed. “Um, I,” I blubbered, backing away toward the door, “I’m just, uh, dropping off the report you, er, requested.”
I could have crawled in a hole and died. Smooth, Sally, said a snide voice in my head.
Eric stood and gave me a hundred-watt smile. “I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”
Yes, you have, I thought. I get your coffee every day, and you never spare me a second glance.
But none of that mattered now that he was paying attention to me. I smiled brightly. “Sally.”
He smiled and shook my hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Sally. What happened to that frumpy girl? I don’t remember firing her.”
My smile stiffened. Admit the truth? I think not. “She, um, quit.”
“Oh,” was all he said, and that saddened me. Was I really that forgettable?
Not according to the suggestive trace of Eric’s fingers down my arm. “I’m sure we’ll get along quite nicely.”
The memory blurred, rushing forward through time in a swirl of color and light that left me nauseous by the time I was deposited in the next memory. Or more like, a series of memories. They followed one right after another; me making out with Eric, me losing my virginity to him, my desperation at noticing he was growing bored with me and was starting to look elsewhere.
My stomach twisted with dread as I recognized the memory the demon had summoned.
No, I thought, no, anything but this. Not this nightmare again.
I might as well have been screaming into the wind. I was forced to watch my most humiliating memory, from the time I entered Eric’s office, to when I started what I thought wasn’t a bad striptease.
“Look at the camera, you idiot!” I screamed at myself. “He’s going to ruin you!”
But that naive girl kept dancing, kept thinking she was charming her way back into the heart of a man who didn’t have one to begin with. Only when I had crawled in front of him, on my hands and knees, and had blown him did he kiss me once and dismiss me, telling me he was busy with a smile. If I’d been paying attention, I’d have noticed the hint of frost to his gaze. I’d have noticed when he’d turned me away a little too soon. But no, I didn’t even know something was amiss until I saw the video the next morning, sent out in an email to all the office staff.
“Don’t Make ’Em Like They Used To!” the headline read.
I watched in horror as every graphic detail of what we’d done together in his office that day was aired before eyes that were never meant to see it. The memory ended with me running crying from the office.
I watched in horror as I ran outside and across the street before looking both ways. A car slammed into me, and I rolled onto the hood and slammed into the windshield before tumbling off the side onto the street, lying there like a broken doll. I watched numbly as passersby got out and called for help, but my memory-self was unconscious. The ambulance arrived and carted me to the hospital. After numerous X-rays, they stitched me up and put me on a morphine drip in a private room. Slipping in and out of consciousness, I didn’t realize I had company until hours later when I came to, and there stood the most beautiful man I had ever seen beside my bed.
Elias smiled. “Hello, Sally.”
I didn’t pay that much attention to the rest of the memory. I knew what had come next, and besides that, I’d gone numb. It was my self-defense mechanism, to block out the pain. I watched his mouth move as he pulled up a chair beside my bed and sat, knowing he was telling me he could make this all go away. And I’d clumsily accepted, longing for any way to get rid of this heartache.
The next instant, my body lit up in flames as my soul was reclaimed, and I was molded into something else.
I GASPED FOR AIR, like I was drowning in an ocean of hurt and pain. “You… prick,” I managed before Damien started laughing.
“I do say, that was very entertaining, some of the most delicious memories I’ve yet uncovered.” He grinned. “And now I can sense it…” His talon trailed a bloody rivulet along my collarbone. “You’re weaker. More susceptible. Now you have no way to keep me from claiming what is mine.”
I tried moving, but it was as if I had been drained
of energy. Unable to do anything but lay there and wait for death, I refused to close my eyes as he drew closer, his mouth opening wide as those terrible fangs of his grazed my neck.
A flash of orange from behind us lit up Damien’s features, and he hissed, throwing up his hands at the blaze of light. “What is this?” he roared.
I could crane my neck just enough to see the flaming figure standing behind us. Then I forgot how to breathe.
“Hector?”
Chapter 20
I HAD TO BE DREAMING. Or dead. Because there was no way Hector could possibly be here.
And yet as he came closer, the heat of the flames coiled around him like snakes, warming my skin and chasing away Damien’s icy demonic aura.
I smiled softly. At least I got to see my beloved again, one last time, before I died.
“What trickery is this?” Damien hissed.
Hector gave him a menacing smile, his usually warm brown eyes glowing like hot coals. “No tricks. Here, let me show you.”
A flame whip lashed out, ripping a bright red welt in the demon’s scaly skin. Damien howled with fury, rearing and clutching at his arm as black blood dripped to the ground.
My eyes widened as I stared at the growing puddle beside my head. Impossible…
When Hector knelt beside me, he was glowing almost too brightly for me to look at. His face tightened with worry as he looked me over, then caressed my cheek.
“Sally, look at me,” he said.
I forced my eyes open. Tentatively, I reached up with a shaking hand and felt his warm fingers.
He was real. He was actually here, with me.
“How is this possible?” I whispered, tears welling in my eyes.
Hector’s hand closed around mine. His mouth opened to answer, but then his gaze snapped upward as a veritable vortex of icy wind swirled around us.
Hector drew me to his chest, shielding me from the brunt of the subzero cold as his fire burned brighter, fighting to keep us from freezing.
Damien laughed. “You are strong, I’ll give you that, warlock, but I am stronger.”
As he said it, the temperature dropped further, and I felt my extremities start to go numb. If we didn’t do something, we were done for. And I’ll be damned if I was reunited with Hector only to be separated from him again.
“Kiss me,” I rasped.
Hector flinched for a moment, his fire ebbing briefly at the distraction. “Gorgeous, I’d normally oblige, but I’m a little busy at the moment.”
I gripped his shirt and hauled myself up, bringing my mouth next to his. “I’m too weak. He… did something to my mind.”
Hector’s fire flared as he growled.
“But I can help,” I said. “I just need an energy boost from you.”
He looked at me long and hard. I thought history may repeat itself, and he’d argue about me getting hurt, but to my surprise, he leaned forward and kissed me. Fire wrapped around us, warming my skin and thawing me out but not burning me. Soon as our lips touched, I felt my energy start to replenish itself. Good grief, Hector was so strong, a great deal stronger magically than I’d originally thought. Thank God we were both the same creature, or this never would have worked. Being a succubus and incubus, we could take energy off one another, thus healing ourselves, without it killing us. It was a win-win situation.
The ground rumbled as Damien stomped toward us.
With reluctance, I broke the kiss. I could have stayed in Hector’s arms all day, but one, I wanted to get out of hell or wherever we were, and two, there were some things Damien and I needed to discuss. And by discuss, I mean me-beating-the-shit-out-of-him.
I gave Hector a wicked smile. “Thanks, sweetheart. What do you say we teach this asshole a lesson?”
He smiled back. “Gladly.”
Summoning transformations was easy now, a mere afterthought for me. My body tingled for a few seconds, then before I knew it, I was face to face with Damien.
His shock registered on his odd, human-like face - a face I knew now mirrored my own, considering I’d copied his shape. The only way to tell us apart was whereas his skin was an ashen gray color, mine was scarlet.
I popped my neck. “You just messed with the wrong succubus.”
With a roar that didn’t sound like anything of the human world, I charged.
Damien’s eyes widened as I slammed into him, knocking us both back. His feet dug into the earth, digging trenches as I clawed, hit, bit, and mangled anything I could grasp or chew. Soon, my mouth was filled with the taste of blood. Demon blood had a weird flavor to it. It tasted like how graveyard dirt would, if I’d known what that even tasted like.
Damien sneered at me. “I’m not going to spare you any pain now. I will rip the flesh from your bones.”
“You have to catch me first.” Then with a move straight out of self-defense 101, I delivered a swift kick to his groin.
Damien buckled over, groaning in pain, and I followed up with an uppercut to his jaw. He went sailing backward, landing in the dirt and sliding a short distance before dragging himself up and running forward.
I continued ducking, dodging, and punching, my attention mostly focused on the battle.
Behind me, Hector was muttering something in a language I didn’t understand - Latin? - and the ground around him lit up in a red pentagram. Symbols formed within the star, the ancient symbols for earth, air, fire, water, and finally, spirit.
He looked at me and pointed to the circle.
I understood. I needed to drive Damien toward it.
My looking at Hector had cost me a punch in the face. Wincing, I popped my jaw and said, “Cheap shot,” then proceeded pummeling Damien. Him drawing me into that nightmare memory must have weakened him, because he wasn’t nearly as intimidating as he’d been a moment ago. His movements were definitely more sluggish than the lightning-quick moves I’d seen earlier.
Slowly, I drove him toward Hector. A tunnel of light shot up to the sky from the circumference of the pentagram, casting a red glow over everything. Damien was so focused on me that by the time he realized what I was doing, he already had one foot in the circle.
Shrieking, he grabbed me, trying to claw his way out as the light began to pull him in, like a vacuum. “No! This cannot be! It isn’t possible!” he wailed, terror on his face.
Hector wrapped his arms around Damien’s waist. “Tell that to the little box you’ll be calling your new home.”
With a swift motion, I kicked Damien square in the chest, pitching him fully into the circle. I had just enough time to dive in after him, changing back to my normal shape as I did, and the light beamed us through time and space.
There’s nothing quite like the sensation of traveling between worlds. It felt like every cell was being stretched and reformed, and pressure built in my head as we neared the blinding light at the end of the tunnel.
It sounded like a thunderclap as the portal split apart reality back at Elysian, and I pitched forward hard on cement, scraping my chin and palms. As the ringing in my ears dulled, I became aware someone was screaming, and the air was filled with an odd humming sound, like bees.
No, not bees. Chanting. Human voices.
My eyes opened as my vision went from doubles back to singles, and I recognized the courtyard I’d left only minutes before.
It was the biggest pentagram I’d ever seen. It completely encased the courtyard, at least one hundred witches and warlocks forming the circle.
And in its center stood a royally pissed off demon.
Hector stood nearby, chanting with the others. He looked a little worse for wear, considering the scrapes the icicle storm had taken out of his skin, but he didn’t let that deter him from helping.
Angela and Yasmine stood on either side of Damien. Yasmine was lit up like a lightbulb, glowing with pure white light, while Angela’s skin sparkled with heavenly symbols and a beautiful pair of wings made of light rose above her.
She was magnificent. It brought tears to
my eyes.
Damien’s form flickered in and out of existence as Angela held the box up to Damien. He clawed at the air, trying to escape as he was slowly sucked into the box, but it was no use. Right before his head went in, he looked at me and shouted, “Salllyyyyyyyy!!!!!!”
His voice cut off abruptly as Angela snapped the box shut, and Yasmine bound it with a spell.
A shockwave seemed to emit from the box, nearly leveling all the surrounding supernaturals.
Hector caught me, balancing me as the blast of energy passed. For several shocked seconds, no one moved. Hell, it didn’t sound like anyone was breathing. We were all waiting, watching the box warily, as if expecting Damien to reappear.
But nothing happened.
It was peaceful.
The first cheer rang up, and then everyone joined in. Yasmine looked relieved and exhausted, and Angela caught my eye and winked.
I smiled back at her, my face hurting because my smile was stretched so wide.
I was free. It was finally over.
“Hector, I-”
He didn’t give me time to finish. He scooped me up, dipped me low, and kissed me until I couldn’t think anymore.
Chapter 21
THERE WAS MUCH KISSING to be had after defeating said demon. No one paid attention to the smooch Hector laid on me, because they were too busy kissing everyone else. It was like that famous photograph of the soldier catching the nurse by surprise when he kissed her upon hearing the war with Japan was over. There was also a lot of drinking. Who knew witches and warlocks loved their booze?
The party lasted well into the early morning hours. It didn’t seem to matter that I was a student; in fact, my status as “peon” had seemed to upgrade into “demon-slaying-ass-kicker.” Everyone wanted to talk to the succubus who’d single-handedly fought Damien. Hector proudly introduced me to his peers, though we both had to put on a show that we weren’t together-together. Which was becoming harder and harder the more alcohol I had.