Brotus doesn’t move. He’s frozen, eyes never leaving mine. I feel his breath on the tips of my fingers, as if he’s shuddering. And then a second later, his eyes drop to my own lips. And he leans forward.
I meet him halfway, drawn to his warmth, drawn to the comfort that is him. Wanting to escape the pressure I feel, I focus on losing myself in him.
Brotus doesn’t hesitate. As soon as my tongue darts out to meet his, he growls with the ferocity of a man in desperation, pushing me onto my back. He kisses me with such hunger, it makes me wonder just how long he’s been waiting for this moment. But I match him, tongue for tongue.
Then, I feel his hands on my body, running up my side, slowly reaching for my breasts.
“You could have kept the shirt off,” he grunts.
“That would have been too easy,” I give back. It sounds like I’m struggling for air, like whatever Brotus’ hands and lips and tongue are doing have somehow managed to suck the air from my lungs. Right now, however, it’s not air that I need. I focus on drowning in the pleasure his body brings mine. His lips trail down my neck, biting kisses wherever they pause. I arch into him, murmuring his name with hollow breaths. Brotus seems bolstered by that. His hand palms one breast, his mouth going for the other.
Fuck, that feels so good. I rake my fingers through his hair, unable to help the urge to bring him closer to me. Brotus continues to nibble away until I’m writhing beneath him.
“I’ve been wanting to do this ever since I first saw you,” he whispers, lifting his head. Lust, pure and simple, shines back at me and without warning he reaches lower and cups my pussy. With the heel of his palm, he works dizzying circles at my center. I hold on to him, fearful that I’ll fall and fall and fall, with no way of regaining composure if I let go.
Brotus crashes his lips against mine once more, kissing me with more passion than I can describe. Keen fingers slip between my skin and the fabric of my panties and ever so carefully, Brotus ventures lower. Every strained breath that leaves my lips when he rushes a finger over my clit is a breath Brotus catches on his tongue. I raise my hips, giving him room to slip my panties to my ankles.
“You’re so fucking wet, Melody.” He grunts the words through clenched teeth and the arousal behind them is enough to send me spiraling. Hiking my legs up so that they’re now settled on his shoulders, he has free range to do with me as he pleases; to punish me and please me in ways I’m sure I don’t deserve.
“So fucking wet,” he grunts again, driving his long fingers even deeper inside of me. His other hand joins in and with his thumb he runs circles around the rim of my asshole. I suck in a deep breath, holding onto it like it’ll be the last one I’m capable of taking and when Brotus slips his thumb inside of me a mountain of pleasure causes stars to flash behind my eyes.
“You said you were inexperienced,” I pant.
“You assumed,” he corrects. “But I’m always happy to prove you wrong.” With those words, he drops lower and now it’s his mouth that renders me useless. Legs sprawled wider than they’ve ever been, I moan and scream and make a mockery of myself. He’s not shy about lapping away at every drop of moisture my arousal produces. Brotus’ tongue and fingers work in unison to power me to the cliff of ecstasy and when he touches his thumb against the rim of my ass again, there’s nothing that stops my climax from rocking me out of control.
“Brotus,” I gasp.
“Melody,” he smiles then makes a point to rearrange his cock in his pants. I don’t need to touch him to know that he’s rock hard.
“This is as far as I take you,” he says. There’s a smile playing at his lips. It’s both cynical and sexy as hell.
“You’re saying that like I’m the one who got the short end of the stick.”
A small chuckle passes my lips. “I’m saying it like I’m the one who has more self control. I’m saying it like I’m pretty sure I can handle you, but I’m not so sure you even know what you’re getting yourself in with me.”
“Oh.” I widen my eyes, seriously impressed at the size of his ego. The thing is, though, I’m pretty sure he’s one hundred percent okay backing that ego up.
“Oh,” he says on a sigh, then props himself up so that he’s sitting with his back against the headrest.
“You have to study.”
I sigh. He’s right, but it doesn’t get rid of my disappointment.
I pull the folder from the nightstand and set it on the bed between us. “I went through these on the plan with Luna,” I say, trying to keep my voice levelled. I take a handful of the first leaves of papers and hand them over to him. “Quiz me on these.”
Brotus nods, taking a moment too long to wrench his gaze away from me and to the folder in my hand. I fight the urge to smile. “Alright.” His large hands take hold of the papers, fingers brushing mine. “Robert Kisaki?”
“Uh.” The name absolutely escapes me. Maybe I should have listened to Luna more. “Asian?”
“Yes.”
“Uh, middle age? Leader for … Arkansas?”
Brotus looks at me. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”
“Alright, forget it then.” I grab the papers away from him. “Give me some time to study them a little bit more.”
“Alright.” He makes a move to get off the bed, but I grab his arm.
“Where are you going? I wasn’t asking you to leave.”
“Oh. Right.” He settles back down.
I skim through the papers, allowing silence to fall over us.
An hour later, I’m ready for my quiz and Brotus quizzes me on all the names I never thought I’d have to learn. I describe them, state whether they are my father’s ally or enemy and give a few specifics on their lives.
By the time we’re done, I can barely keep my eyes open. “You should get some rest. Tomorrow’s a pretty big day for you.”
I blink wearily at him. “There are still a few I don’t know.”
“Melody,” he says. “You’ve already done enough. No one will blame you for not knowing every single Guild leader and their next of kin when you’ve only taken post yesterday. Get some rest. You’ll need a healthy mind for tomorrow.”
Without stopping to think, I rest my head on his shoulder. Brotus tenses, but I don’t move. He’s comfortable, and comfort is something I need right now. “Sure you don’t want to see about shoving the information in there? For good measure?”
After a moment, he relaxes. I take that as my cue to snuggle in closer. “And risk damaging you? I wouldn’t dare.”
I close my eyes, laughing softly. “Who said you couldn’t joke around, Brotus?”
“No one said that. You just didn’t know me.”
“I’m glad I do now.”
He doesn’t say anything to that. A minute later, I feel his arm wrap around my waist, embracing me. I fall asleep right after.
13
The meeting is held at the Missouri Guild, a hunk of silver metal and glass that cuts into the sky like a looming overlord. Luna and I arrive together. I run my hands over the fabric of my black peplum dress, trying to cover the way my hands tremble. As much as I hate the feeling, it’s no surprise that I’m nervous. I am indeed about to be in a room filled with the most powerful hunters in the United States.
I continue putting one foot in front of the other until I’m inside. The lobby is wide and filled with janitors, taking care of the final preparations. A woman behind a wide white desk comes to her feet as we approach, hands clasped before her. She steps around her desk and addresses Luna. “We’re glad to have you,” she says. “Everyone is already present.”
“Thank you,” Luna says, then steps back, gesturing to me. “This is the stand-in Guild leader for New York, Melody Black.”
The woman’s eyes rove over me. If she sees something that displeases her, her face doesn’t show it, but she does take a moment too long to answer, with only a simple, “I see.”
She swivels on her heels, then clicks away. We follow her to the elevator whe
re she presses a black button with no numbers or letters on its surface. A panel opens up below the button and she places her hand on the green surface. It scans her palm and another panel opens up, this time revealing a red button with the letter ‘C’. Extending a perfectly manicured finger, she presses that button and starts our movement through the building.
The ride goes by in silence. Both women stare dead ahead and so I try to do the same, finding that it’s a struggle to keep myself still for long. Just when I think I’m about to break the silence, the door opens.
The woman steps out and onto the burgundy carpeting. She sweeps her hand out to the left. “Here we are,” she announces and both Luna and I step ahead of her.
The room we enter is big. At its center, a large but thin oval table takes precedence. Some of the Guild leaders are already at the table. Others are standing by the bar to the right of the room, while others are to the left, talking. All heads turn when we walk in.
The woman retreats back into the elevator, leaving us in the den of lions. Luna whispers to me, “Brace yourself.”
Even with that warning, nothing can prepare me for the riot of noise that erupts in the room a second later. I try not to flinch in surprise and instead walk with Luna up to the head of the table. This must be Mr. Black’s seat. I don’t sit. I stand, lean over the table, spread my fingers and try to sort through the many things being shouted at me.
Basically, they’re all shouting the same thing, demanding to know why they have been called away from their states.
Luna stands next to me, not saying a word. If we were back at our Guild, she would have attempted to calm the masses, but now she leaves it in my hands. I should probably try to speak to them calmly, address them with respect. I have no doubt she’s hoping that I will. I also have no doubt that she’s expecting me to bark at them instead.
I go for something in between. “Wow,” I drawl, loud enough that they can hear me despite the ruckus they’re making. “For a group of people claiming to run a Guild, you sure do act like a bunch of children.”
Half of them sputter in disbelief, the other half grunt in anger. All forty-nine of them are definitely not impressed with me.
Still I face them, glad that at least now the noise is over with. “I’m sure you know who I am.”
“I know you’re Mr. Black’s little runt of a child,” sneers a man I recognize as New Jersey’s Guild leader, the infamous Damon Thwaites. His stats nearly rival my father’s. In fact, according to the notes Luna gave me, they really were rivals, though Damon never cared to admit it.
I nod at that, not giving him the satisfaction of my anger. Not yet. “Melody is the name. Pleased to meet you all.”
“Get on with it,” Trumann drones. “Unlike you, we have more important things to do than sit here and listen to you speak. If you’ve called such an urgent meeting, then you need to hurry and tell us what it’s all about.”
“If you’ll keep your briefs unknotted, maybe I’ll get the chance.” I look away as he growls. Beside me, Luna stiffens. Bracing herself, no doubt. “Alright, since you all don’t want me to fake manners with you, then here it is. Mr. Black is missing.”
I don’t miss the way Anessa Justin, Louisiana’s Guild leader, rolls her eyes. “You called us here for that?” she drawls in her lovely Southern accent. I resist the urge to cringe.
“If he had gotten up and left without telling anyone then of course not. But that’s not what happened. He was taken. We suspect it might be by demons.”
“So?” a woman with pearl earrings asks, crooking a single brow. Her name still escapes me. “Why should we care? We’re all at risk of being attacked by them, you know.”
“Not in the way he was. He was taken forcefully from his office, not on a mission. And you all know Mr. Black. The likelihood of a demon coming onto Guild premises just to take him, instead of killing him, without us even knowing that it was there is not a risk that anyone of you, Mr. Black included, would have expected to undertake. And whoever took him left a note. It said, ‘Cut one head off, another will grow.’”
It seems my words finally get through to them because silence settles over us for the first time. I go on, “I called this meeting to alert you to the fact that any one of you could be next. Whatever did this isn’t just trying to attack the Guild, it has a plan. A plan we’re yet to uncover.” I almost go on to say that we’ll need their help to find Mr. Black – just as Luna had suggested – but I don’t. They won’t help. They don’t care to help. I know that more than anything right now. So, I go on to something I know they’ll be interested to hear. “If we want to make sure that nothing like this happens again, we should band together. We should devise ways of protecting ourselves from things like this, from demons that are capable of coming in and out of the places we hold dear, the sacred places they shouldn’t be able to set foot on. Whatever took Mr. Black is to be feared. Because whatever it was wasn’t afraid to march right into our home. To risk barging past a sea of hunters. Whatever took Mr. Black did so knowing it wouldn’t get caught.”
No one says anything for a few moments, then the Guild leader for Nevada, Joseline Boyce, speaks up. “I think I may have exactly what we need then.” Her eyes sparkle, red lips curved into a smile.
“And what’s that?”
“I was contacted by the Guild in Western Cape, South Africa,” she says, and my heart sinks. Oh no. “They’ve found a way to get rid of demons. For good.”
“Why would they contact you?” Trumann asks.
The woman with the pearl earrings speaks over him. “Get rid of them for good? Meaning they won’t be reborn?”
“Oh no, they’ll be reborn, but as something unnatural. They’ve found an item, a stone, that has the ability to turn them into zombified versions of themselves before they wither and die.” Before anyone can ask, she adds satisfactorily, “Dies permanently.”
“That’s impossible,” someone gasps but I don’t look to see who it is. My eyes are on Joseline, watching her lips curve even wider.
“They’ve tested it and seen it work with their own eyes. They’ve embedded pieces of the stone into their weapons, and are hoping to get in contact with the other Guilds in order to make this more widespread.”
“They want to start another uprising.” I’m hardly aware of the fact that I’m the one who said that until they look at me. Joseline nods.
“That’s the plan. And with this whole Mr. Black disappearing thing, the timing couldn’t be more perfect.”
“One stone won’t be able to cover every weapon we have, though,” I say, hoping she’ll appease me with the holes in the plan, some indication that maybe they don’t have this all sorted out. That the demons – that Lucifer – has a chance.
“No,” she says and the way she accompanies her word with a smile makes me very, very nervous. “But that isn’t all they have. They’ve found other items as well, items that will turn demons into zombies. According to them, with the things they have, the possibilities are endless. I’ve already seen what they can do. There’s no denying it. With those, our demon problem will be taken care of in no time. I’ve pledged allegiance to the uprising.”
A flash of Lucifer’s previous agitation and anger races through me and I struggle to school it from my face, especially when Joseline pins me with an excited, albeit wary gaze. “Melody Black, with your father missing, I’m sure you won’t hesitate to join us. Do we have your pledge?”
I’m suddenly aware of every eye on me, of the lack of air in the room, of how loudly I’m breathing. I can feel Luna at my side, a silent bystander though I’m sure she’s expecting me to say yes. For once, Luna expects me to do the thing she hopes I will, the thing I should do, and I can’t bring myself to open my mouth. The old Melody would have jumped at the chance to get rid of the demons. But I can hardly get the words past my lips. I’ll be agreeing to starting a war against Lucifer, against his race, against Merlidon and Brotus.
But I have no choice. I nod,
my joints stiff and painful. “I do.”
14
The rest of the meeting is filled with fevered plans to rid Earth of demons. Voices rise and fall as they all discuss what they should do, how they should go about it, not one of them questioning or rejecting the idea. They focus little on how to find Mr. Black, and more on how to find Lucifer, how to cut the head off the snake. I’m too sick at that last part to even care about the fact that they are neglecting one of the reasons for this meeting in the first place.
I manage to stick through it though, ignoring Luna to the best of my abilities though I’m sure she can tell that something is wrong. I’m too quiet, and the old Melody would have joined in with them, cursing the demons to high heaven. But I can’t attempt faking that right now and just hope that she’ll leave her questions for another time when I’m more equipped to deal with them.
I have no luck with that, however. “Are you okay, Melody?” she asks as we spill out the elevator onto the first floor. The woman at the front desk doesn’t pay us a single glance.
“Yeah,” I choke out. My voice is as weak as a newborn kitten. There’s no way she’ll believe me.
Luna narrows her eyes but doesn’t say anything straightaway. She waits until we’re safely in the car and away from the other Guild leaders. “I know when something’s wrong with you, Melody. And something’s wrong. You’ve been really quiet since the meeting.”
“I just wasn’t expecting that fast a solution that’s all.” Definitely not a lie. I almost forgot the reason Lucifer had gone to South Africa in the first place. To hear that they’re making moves, that they’re already ready to begin the uprising, is more than I was expecting to hear.
In fact, I don’t know what I was expecting. Overbearing hunter leaders, attempting to convince them to join us, sure. But what else? I had no plan. I had no information. Other than the fact that Mr. Black is missing, and that I suspect angels to be behind it, there’s nothing more I could have stood before them to say. I’m painfully aware of that now.
Hunting Light: Hunter her Lovers (Demon Hunter Book 2) Page 10