by Beth Hendrix
“Ethane that's the guy who did this to me. Don't let him leave. I am going to go get the guys.” I was pissed and felt my body start to heat up, which I had noticed was a telltale way to know that I was gonna light shit on fire. What I really wanted to do was beat the shit out of him. He had a lot of nerve showing his face to me again. It might be an attractive face now, but I could change that. Asshole. I had to force myself to get off the bed and leave the room. I was fuming by the time I made it to Barrett’s room and started beating on the door. I could see the small sparks coming off of me. That was not good. I would have to attempt to calm down, but dammit I didn't want to.
“Better come to my room.” I yelled through the door to whoever was in the room. Being too mad to stay and wait on them,I moved over to Donovan's room and did the same thing. I was not waiting on them before I talked to this guy, especially because they would want an explanation and I did not have one yet. I would though, and soon. Let’s see how this guy liked the newfound powers of mine that he gave me. I am sure I could get creative on which body parts to burn.
Taking a deep breath that failed to calm me down, which was what I was hoping for, I headed back into my room. Ethane had moved demon guy to the desk chair and had tied him to it. I could hear the guy talking, but I was still too pissed to process anything that he was saying. I had to calm down. I went into the bathroom to splash some water on my face, avoiding looking at myself in the mirror. I knew that if I did, that whatever small calming effect the water had on my face would be voided.
“Gwen, You are gonna have to calm that sweet ass down or your going to light this place up.” Ethane yelled from the bedroom. He really wasn’t helping anything. I just needed some time to cool down. I mean, damn, they had the guy tied down. It wasn’t like he was going anywhere.
Taking a second for some deep breathing, trying to find the calm that came with it, I put on my serious face. I needed answers and he might even be able to help find the missing kids. Walking out of the bathroom, I noticed all the guys had made their way over here and were sitting on the edge of the bed. I sat on the edge of the bed closest to the man who had changed my world.
“So, I think you have some explaining to do. I want to know everything, and I am willing to get the information from you in anyway I can.” I was a little shocked that my voice had come out so steady and commanding. When in all actuality I was anything but those things. He had changed since our so-called “deal”. He now had light blonde hair and warm brown eyes. His lips were full and his nose perfectly sized for his face. I hated that he was as attractive as he was. Wait! I just hated him in general.
“My name is Canio. I had to find you and warn you. The other demons are coming. This conscience thing is killing me. As soon as I switched us, I was brought down with some emotion that I was unfamiliar with. I had to watch you and know you were okay. So I waited in the bushes and followed these men back. I wanted to wait until you had acclimated better, but I had to warn you. There are only a few female demons across this realm, and word has spread about you. The tattoo shop down on Broadway is a known hangout for earth side demons and they were talking about you.” He spat out as quickly as possible. His brown eyes pleading at me to do something about what he was saying. However, I was having a very hard time processing what he was telling us. Earth was a realm? Demons knowing about me? What the fuck?
“Wait. You are gonna have to slow down. One thing at a time please.” I was frustrated that I was having such a hard time comprehending all of this. I needed time to process and figure out my next steps.
I could feel myself trying to get lost in thought as he rambled on. “There are male demons that are looking for you. It is rare for us to give birth to females and the only way to have a purebred demon is to find a female demon. Some of these demons may try to charm you, but most will just take what they want. I am so sorry for what I have done to you, but I had to get out of there. In the underworld there is a hierarchy, and I was a lord. I wasn't super high up, but I wasn't on the low end either. I came across some other lords who were bringing over slaves from this realm. If they hadn’t been children I wouldn't have minded. When I brought it up to the duke of my sector, he had me hunted down. I barely escaped with my life. I was trying to keep the last girl from being taken and failed. When you followed me into the woods, I found the opportunity to save myself. I tricked you into a deal with me and you became a demon and I became human, which got the other demons off my back. Who in their right mind would refuse to help a little girl? So that was the form I used.”
“Hold the fuck up! How is it that you look like this now then? What the fuck is wrong with you?” I interrupted him and didn't give two shits if it was rude. The more he spoke the more I wished that I could gut him right where he was sitting.
“After leaving the woods I became unconscious, and when I woke up this was what I looked like. I am sorry, but I didn't have any other choice. It was a very dirty way to go about it but it got the job done.I do want to continue to help though.I have to! My human body is strong and I know about the demons. Maybe between the six of us we can stop it.” He looked at me with his piercing brown eyes and for a few seconds I actually felt sorry for him.
“One, you have no choice but to help with the investigation, and you are not leaving till I know everything. Just know that we will never be partners and do not compare yourself to these men beside me. Two, how do I keep the male demons off me? And three, I realize that you were trying to do a good thing. However you made me into this and I will never forgive you so don't even try it.” I replied, but by the end of it I was shouting. I was just so angry. I know that he had done it out of necessity, but my world was now completely upside down. At least we had a lead on the kids.
“I am sorry, miss. If I could go back I would change it, but alas I cannot. You will have to show your dominance over the male demons who try to force you. That is the only thing they respond to. You need to go see Alyanna at the Fire Heart tattoo parlor. She will know more about the female demon thing. She has kept them off of her for over one hundred years. No one bothers her now. Concerning the children, I know where the demons will make their next move. Before I left the underworld I got some information from one of the serfs that works for the Duke. They are gonna hit in two days over in the Hillview apartments. There is some special blood condition that they have found with each of the children. I have no idea what they are up to, but I know we need to stop it. ” He looked me over as he continued to spout all these things at me. My brain instantly started to work out the best course of action for what he had just said.
“Do you know which apartment they are gonna hit?” Draven asked Canio. I hadn't noticed till now but Draven’s vampire marks were on display. Really, all of the guys were giving Canio a look that if looks could kill he would have done fallen over dead. I had a feeling that the only thing keeping him alive was the fact that he had insider knowledge and we needed to get the children back. Now, I think the first thing I needed to do was to take some of the guys with me and go talk to this Alyanna while the others called in the info to Paraoffice and started to set up surveillance. Finally, a plan of action to get the children back.
“Yes, it's number 333. Please let me help all of you finish this. I have a lot of things I need to atone for.” He pleaded, looking at me like I was gonna actually let him be a part of this. Yeah, he was barking up the wrong tree. If it was up to me he wouldn’t even be in this room right now.
“I will think about it, but really the one you need to convince is Barrett. He is the one who is the lead of this group. However, first thing I am doing is going to see this Alyanna. Draven and Donovan I would like ya’ll to go with me. Barrett, you and Ethane, y’all can handle finding the apartment and the Canio issue. I gotta leave now because I can’t listen to him prattle on anymore or I am gonna hurt him.” I made this declaration while looking at Canio with disgust. I just needed to get out of here as soon as possible. I needed to do something. I was tired of sitting ar
ound and listening to his bullshit. I was gonna snap if I had to hear it much longer, and I had a feeling that would not be a good thing. Barrett’s next words proved that he understood me already in the short amount of time we had known each other. It was a heady feeling.
“That's fine. I got this. You be careful.” Barrett said before pulling me into a kiss that not only shocked me but was way too short for my liking. My heart was pounding as I looked up at him. I could really get used to this type of goodbye. That thought not only made me happy, but scared the shit out of me.
“Um. Yeah, I’ll be careful. Come on guys.” I replied back to him knowing that my face was on fire. That was quite the send-off. Now, on to get some answers from some random ass demons. Giggling to myself at the fact that twenty-four hours ago I would have thought I was insane. Damn, it's been a long ass morning and I had a feeling that it was just gonna get longer.
12
As the elevator opened, Donovan and Draven walked out both looking around for me. I had transported myself down. Plus side to being a demon, no more elevators. Granted, when I landed down here I fell and scraped my knee. I would have to work on being more graceful, can’t look like a badass when you’re falling on your ass all the time.
“Either of you know where this place that he was talking about is?” I knew absolutely nothing about this area so I was out. I was directionally challenged anyway so there was no way I was getting us anywhere. Hell, as I was trying to find the SUV, Donovan had to turn me around because I went the wrong direction. One of these days, I was gonna work on that. Today was not that day though, so I followed behind them. I could say that was the only reason, but damn they did have nice asses.
“It's only a ten minute drive. I have it pulled up on my phone.” Donovan said to me, which broke me out of my dirty thoughts. He held up his phone that had a tiny map on it. It might as well have been in a foreign language because I didn’t have a clue what it was telling me.
“Lead the way then. What are you thinking about Canio?” I asked making conversation, and secretly hoping to know if they thought less of me after all that he had said. I nervously waited for their response knowing that if they answered with disgust or pity I would be devastated. I may not have known them long, but I knew that their opinions mattered to me no matter how much I wished they didn’t.
“What he did was extremely fucked up. He is lucky we need him or I would have tore him to shreds. I get why he did it, but he definitely should have went about it a totally different way. I mean he completely ruined your life. Now you have to learn to be this thing that no one even knew existed. I still like you though, either way, and want to stick around for as long as you will let me.” Draven said opening the door to the SUV for me. I looked at him to say thank you and that I needed to hear that when he stole my breath by kissing me right there in the parking garage. It was once again way shorter than I would have liked, but we did have places to be. And with that kiss he proved that he accepted me for who I was and didn't care that I was also in lust with the others.
“I am glad you feel that way. I would like to keep you all around if I can, and I still haven't figured out how I feel about the whole demon thing.” I said back as I started to climb in the passenger seat only to have Donovan stop the door from shutting. Grabbing hold of my waist, Donovan turned me around to face him.
“I feel the same way as Draven. I liked you before you became a demon and I still like you now.” Donovan declared, then kissed me. These sudden kisses were phenomenal and something I could grow used to. I hate to admit it, but it really did make me feel better about the whole I-am-now-a-demon situation. He broke the kiss and shut my door only to slide in behind my seat and the SUV took off.
“I think the best thing for us to do is scope the place out first. Then decide what is the best way to go in. I am pretty sure that there will be demons that I am gonna have to fight. I need to do this on my own though so just keep the others off so it is one on one if it comes down to that.” I stated as confidently as I possibly could, because on the inside I was a giant mass of nerves.
“We will do whatever you need us to do.” Donovan countered from the back seat. I looked over to see that Draven was also nodding his head in agreement. Man, having their unwavering support made me feel a lightness in me I had never had before, and never thought I would get. Once this case was over, I just hoped that they wouldn’t leave me. I knew if that happened that I would be completely and utterly crushed. Which just so happened to be the reason that I tried unsuccessfully to keep my distance.
The rest of the short ride was done in silence as each of us were lost in our own thoughts. We finally pulled on the side of the road across from the tattoo parlor. If you didn't know any better you would never know that it was apparently a nesting ground for demons. It was a lone grey building. You could see all of the neon signs through the front windows.I could see people coming in and out, but honestly none of them looked like a threat. You would think that demons would have some kind of symbol that said “Demon here” or some shit.
“We should just go through the front door, I wanna get this over with, but I also want to avoid a huge brawl if at all possible. So we are gonna walk in there like we own the place and hope we look like we belong. ” I was so uptight right now I honestly had no idea what I wanted. I just knew that either way, this was something I had to do. Then I could put all my focus into finding the missing children.
“Alright. We will be right behind you watching your back.” Donovan touched my shoulder before getting out of the SUV. Taking a deep breath, I climbed out and started to walk across the street. I could feel myself being propelled towards the shop. It was probably one of the strangest feelings I had ever felt, but I couldn't stop myself even if I had wanted to. I could feel a dark vibe coming from the shop, like it was vibrating through my body. Hmm... demon calls to demon. Luckily, I trusted the guys behind me with my life and knew that they would protect me from whatever we had to face. Which if I was being honest with myself was a super weird feeling because I had never felt that way about anyone.
Opening the door, everyone's head turned towards us. All of their eyes gleamed red, and I knew that this was gonna be fun. I was so on edge. There was one lone woman in the shop who stood when I walked in. She had long flowing red hair that reminded me of blood. I stilled completely when our eyes met, and before I knew it I was standing in front of her even though I didn't remember moving. I was honestly shocked that no one had tried to attack, because that was what I had been waiting for. The woman in front of me pinned them all with a look before settling her gaze on me. This must either be a neutral place or the woman was even more powerful than I thought.
“You are gonna have to work on your control. We don't teleport in public, ever. You must be the new demon that everyone keeps talking about. I wonder how it is that you came to be in my shop? Canio must still be out there somewhere.” She said while walking around me with her hand trailing across my shoulders. It was very invasive, but for some reason I felt stuck there. I could feel the tingles that her hand sent down my body, which did nothing but completely confuse the shit out of me. I had never been attracted to women, what in the world was going on with me? Draven and Donovan moved in closer, so close that I could feel their arms touching my sides.
“It's hard to work on control when you have no idea what is going on or what you can do. It's not like this came with a handbook. Canio told me that you would be here and might be able to help me.” I sounded pissy, but the confusion coursing through my system made me lash out. I was beginning to think that coming here was not the best idea. Now I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get the green eyed she-demon out of my head. Feeling the guys behind me helped, but I still felt drawn to her for whatever reason and I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
“He sent you to the right place. I will do what I can to help you. There are so very few of us females that we need to stick together. It took me two hundred years to be ab
le to walk around without the males either drooling all over me or trying to beat me into submission. So I will teach you things that will keep that from happening to you. I can tell already that we are going to be good friends.” She once again invaded my personal space to grab my hand and started leading me to the back of the shop. As quick as I could, I reached out and latched onto Donovan's hand. I wanted to make sure that no matter what, until I knew what was going on, that I wasn’t alone with her. I could hear the tattoo guns buzzing as we moved past the doors to wherever it was that she was taking us. Finally coming up to a big red door, she let go of my hand and opened it for us.
“We can discuss everything in here without having everyone's eyes on us.” I guess she thought she needed to explain why she brought us back here. Walking into the room, it was way bigger than I had expected. It looked like a training room. There were blue mats all over the floors and padding on parts of the walls. I didn't know whether to be impressed or a touch worried because she had brought us in here. Why did I keep just letting her lead me around? I was gonna have to make sure to try to keep my distance from now on so that I could think with a semi-level head.
Stopping in the middle of the room, she looked at me and said, “I was like you once, tricked into becoming something I knew nothing about. The only difference was that I was alone. However, I learned quickly that I had to figure out my abilities and learn to fight. Until I did I was forced to submit a few times before I figured out how to defend myself. The first thing that you need to know is that you are in a semi-demonic state. You have not unlocked all of your powers yet, and if I were you, I would try to keep it that way. I killed a man by accident and that is what unlocked my full succubus powers. There are many different types of demon that you could turn out to be, but it’s best to try to stay away from doing things that could unlock your powers completely. I have some blood ink here that will help you conceal your identity from others of our kind, so that is the first thing I recommend doing. Then we will see the extent of your powers that you have. I think with just a bit of practice you will be able to control everything.” She walked around the mats on the floor to open a secret section of the wall that held a tattoo gun and what looked like blood all around it.