by Jenny McKane
Holy hell on a cracker.
Sunny gasped at the realization, and the sound made the dancer spin around. Her eyes, which from what Sunny could remember had been blue. Or green. Or whatever slutty color she’d seen--were now illuminated like a fire was burning in them.
Sunny stared a half second at the realization that she’d just come face to face with Seumat herself. She was a deer in headlights for a moment too long, and Seumat seemed to have the same recognition that Sunny did.
Both moved at the same time, Sunny rushing forward while pulling her blade from its sheath. Seumat jumped from Gideon’s lap and faced Sunny, her beautiful mouth elongating unnaturally to show long, jagged teeth in her mouth.
Thank god for demon glamor, Sunny thought with a shudder.
Just as Seumat pulled her claws free to take a swipe, Sunny charged—just as she’d been taught. But instead of slashing Seumat in the throat for a killing blow (which would have been epic, by the way) Sunny pulled a Sunny and missed.
So instead of ending the assignment with Michael right then and there, she nicked the president of Satan’s sorority on the arm and allowed her to escape.
To be sure, the bitch was going to have one hell of a time stopping the spread of the rot as it moved, but it was such a minor cut, and she was such a powerful demon, that she’d surely have the ability to heal in a day or two.
Seumat ran from the VIP and kicked through a door just behind them, clutching her arm as small, inky tendrils of black clawed at her arm. Sunny had the choice then, to chase Seumat and finish her job as Michael instructed, or to help Gideon and get him out of the club before the other succubi realized what had happened.
She took a look at Gideon and her mind was made up. With a sigh and a prayer that Michael wouldn’t realize what she’d done, she reached down and slapped the hell out of Gideon’s face.
“Wake up, asshole!” She practically screamed in his face. “Lap dance is over.”
Chapter 23
Gideon’s glorious rescue went something like this: Having finally noticed that the woman he was supposed to keep his eye on the entire night had vanished, Enrique (who was also a part-time bouncer at this very club on any other night) knew exactly how to find the VIP section and arrived not long after Sunny slashed Seumat in the arm.
Sunny had been struggling to lift Gideon from his chair, as the drugged-out succubus victim hadn’t fully recovered yet. He was staggering and fighting like hell to clear his head. Whatever venom Sunny had gotten from the waitress was very, very different from what they gave their true victims.
One of the biggest burning questions Sunny had at the moment was how the hell he’d allowed Seumat to get the jump on him like that. He’d spent the past few days lecturing her at every opportunity about the importance of being aware and cautious, and he’d practically leaped off his chair when a heavily made-up Seumat crooked her finger in his direction.
Enrique had loaded Gideon into the passenger side of the car and given Sunny the keys he’d gotten from the valet. He bade her a good night and wished her the best of luck, clearly wanting no further involvement after seeing exactly what Seumat was capable of against someone as strong as Gideon.
Sunny drove the car like she’d stolen it because she knew Gideon would never let her do it again and because he was half knocked out from dirty, disgusting succubus venom and she was a little bit mad at him for it. Okay, a lot mad at him for.
What the hell had he been thinking?
Just as she was stewing, her phone rang. She checked the caller ID and frowned.
Why was Liam calling her well after midnight on a Friday night?
“Who’s calling you?”
Gideon’s lips formed the words, but his eyes were still closed, and he looked pretty much dead to the world.
“None of your damn business,” she snarled at him. She was mad. She could admit it now. It seemed like no matter how much headway they made or how close she thought she got to him, he always reminded her that she was eternally co-worker zoned. It hadn’t taken more than three or four words tonight, Sunny realized, as her cheeks burned and her anger flared.
“Is it that man from your class?”
She frowned at that.
“What do you mean, man?” she asked. She hit the “end” button to send Liam to voicemail, which was apparently the wrong thing to do because he called back immediately.
Gideon, being more nimble and faster than Sunny was prepared for, snatched her phone from her hand and squinted at the name on the screen with exaggerated movements. Thank god, the venom had slowed him a little, as she was able to grab it back quickly before he could answer it.
“Mind your business,” she snapped, irritated beyond belief.
“He’s a man, you know,” Gideon was saying, his eyes closed again. For a second time, Sunny hit the end button to send Liam to voicemail, hoping that he’d get the hint.
“He is not,” she said. “He’s only a year or two older than me.”
That made Gideon laugh out loud.
“He’s a grown man, Sunny,” Gideon said, holding his forehead in his hands. “There’s something not right about him.”
That did it.
“You’re not a reliable judge of character, fool,” she snarled. “One dash of fake red hair and you had Seumat riding your cock in less than a heartbeat. You should probably stay in your own damn lane, Gideon.”
The words were acidic, and they seemed to even take Gideon by surprise.
“You were jealous,” he said, the realization dawning on him.
“You’re drunk,” she said. “Go to sleep and stop talking to me.”
He had a sloppy grin on his face, and he reached across the center console to poke Sunny in the cheek.
“Jealous,” he said.
“Annoyed,” she countered.
Liam took that moment to call a third time, sending Sunny’s phone into a fit of ringing and vibrations.
“Do you like the man in your class?”
Gideon’s mood had darkened.
“Liam is a friend,” she said. “He helps me study.”
“That better be all he helps you do,” Gideon muttered.
When the phone rang a fourth time, Sunny moved to block Gideon from grabbing at her phone, but he outsmarted her by hitting the Bluetooth button instead, sending the phone call to the car’s speaker phone system.
“Sunny’s phone,” Gideon said, his voice chipper and fake.
Her eyes widened, and if she hadn’t needed to keep her eyes on the road to keep them from crashing, she’d have punched Gideon in the face for this.
“Knock it off,” she seethed at him, but Gideon seemed to be enjoying himself.
“Who is this?” Liam sounded less than amused. A little confused, but really not amused.
“Who is this?” Gideon countered, and Sunny slapped at his chest with her hand.
“Hey, Liam,” she said over Gideon, trying to take control of the conversation. “What’s going on?”
“Are you okay?” he asked, the concern in his voice evident.
Gideon scowled.
“I’m good,” she said. “Really annoyed and super tired, but I’m good. Thanks for asking. Did you need anything else?”
Liam was quiet for a moment.
“I just had a sudden bad feeling and felt like I needed to call you,” he said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“I wasn’t sleeping,” she said, as she moved the car onto the highway. “I’m apparently the designated driver tonight, as ridiculous as that sounds after two rum and cokes.”
“Do you need me to come pick you up?” He sounded sincere, but Gideon rolled his eyes.
“I appreciate it,” she said. “But I’m good. Thank you.”
Liam laughed at that.
“Still refusing to let me see where you live, huh?”
Before she could answer, Gideon had apparently had enough because he interjected.
“She isn’t g
iving you the grand tour of her house because it’s really my house,” he said. “She lives with me.”
There was a telling silence on the other end of the phone, and for a moment, Sunny wasn’t sure if Liam had ended the call or not.
“Is that so?” Something in Liam’s voice had changed. It had a deeper quality, more depth to it. It was almost as if Sunny could actually hear that “maturity” that Gideon had alluded to, and it didn’t necessarily have anything to do with age. Something just sounded suddenly very different.
“Yeah,” Gideon said, not towed by it in the least. “It is.”
“Who am I speaking to?” Liam demanded. Gideon puffed right up and sat up in his seat, as though he’d take on the disembodied voice of Liam if things got out of hand.
“It’s my coworker,” Sunny said, stopping short of saying Gideon’s name. She wasn’t sure what rules applied to names with half-demons, but she didn’t want to expose Gideon to any sort of trouble until she knew what she was dealing with when it came to Liam. It was painfully clear that he wasn’t just another community college student.
“Listen, Liam, we’re losing connection,” she said.
“Funny,” Liam replied quickly. “I can hear you just fine.”
“Okay,” Sunny said, her finger looking for the right button. As soon as she found it, she made a quick bid bye and pushed the button to end the call.
For a second, the two of them sat in silence as she drove them toward Gideon’s loft. What the hell had just happened?
“You like him, don’t you?” Gideon’s words were almost an accusation, and she frowned, looking over at him.
“You don’t get it, do you?” she asked, her voice small inside her chest. She was suddenly sad. It was sort of a game to Gideon, these feelings that he might feel once in awhile when she was dressed up nice and pretty. But to Sunny, Gideon wasn’t a game.
“Get what?” he asked, his eyes out the window, almost as if he’d lost interest in the conversation.
A jagged, raw wound opened up inside Sunny at that moment, and she wondered how long it would take to heal, or if it ever would
She wasn’t sure that she could call it love yet, but Gideon had found a way to worm himself into her very fiber, and now she wasn’t sure how to get him out. He certainly didn’t seem to be struggling with the same issue, and that was a jagged cut, too.
“How long until this venom wears off?” She knew he was still a bit tipsy on it. Her voice was resigned, and her heart was suddenly tired.
Gideon seemed to pick up on the change in her and turned to look at her, not saying anything.
“I’ll be good tomorrow,” he finally said. His voice was quiet, too.
Something had just shifted, and Sunny believed that she’d just gotten her first rejection and was now feeling her very first real heartache.
Holy shit, did it suck.
It wasn’t like she’d put herself out on the line and confessed to any feelings or anything, but the gamut of emotions she’d felt tonight at seeing Gideon carted off by another woman had been deep and impactful.
And Gideon’s reactions to some other guy calling her past midnight? Not much. He’d merely tried to annoy the guy and hadn’t shown much else in the way of jealousy or even interest.
“That’s good,” she said, her thoughts far away now.
Sunny wanted to be home. She wanted to be in her bed, and she wanted to forget all about Gideon Lafayette for a while, despite knowing how impossible it would probably be.
At long last, she pulled up to the building and hit the garage opener, pulling in and killing the engine. When the bay door closed again, she left the keys in the ignition, Gideon in the passenger’s seat, and went upstairs directly to her room.
She even passed by a confused-looking Plaxo who’d materialized on top of the kitchen counter to greet her. He’d taken one look at her face and put his hand down. He saw it immediately.
So why couldn’t Gideon?
In her room, with all of those restricting clothes off, Sunny washed her face and brushed out her hair, hoping that a good night’s sleep would make everything better in the morning.
But she knew better. Hell, Gideon had even warned her earlier.
They were after different objectives. They were completely different creatures who didn’t come from the same world, and as far as he was concerned, she couldn’t hang with the people in his world when it came to skills, seduction, or even surviving.
She gave a humorless laugh, realizing that she was probably a joke to Gideon.
Outside in the loft, she heard the door close as he came inside. Plaxo didn’t bother greeting him, and she heard the heavy footsteps as Gideon wandered into his room and shut the door.
And so it must be, Sunny assured herself as she closed her eyes and tried her best to sleep.
So it must be.
Chapter 24
Sunny slept terribly that night; she had expected no different. For some reason, coming to terms with the truth about her feelings towards Gideon, as well as the fact that it was a one-way street for her, had been like a double whammy. She had been exhausted when she hit her bed, but it didn’t help.
Plaxo had known to keep his distance and did not bother her. Within an hour of arriving home, she knew Gideon was fast asleep over in his room. Sunny could just tell. She fidgeted with her phone and scrolled through a few social media feeds, but nothing helped her sleep.
At one point, she sent a text message to Liam apologizing for earlier.
Crazy night to say the least. Sorry for that. Will call you later. Study?
She knew they had a standing date, in the loosest of terms, on Sunday night. She hoped that they still had one, despite what had happened over the Bluetooth in Gideon’s car on the way home last night.
As the sun crept through her curtains, Sunny had managed just a few measly hours of sleep. But she also knew that there wouldn’t be any more, and to lie in bed would be futile. She forced herself up and into the shower.
When she returned, Plaxo had appeared. He was on her bed, and beneath her covers. He was even using her pillow. He thought he was being funny, and it seemed he was trying to cheer her up with an early morning row--one they always had and usually ended with Sunny throwing a few pillows at him.
The thing was, though, she didn’t want to fight with him. She figured he was probably trying to make her laugh, or even get a rise out of her. But she didn’t want either. What she really wanted was to sleep, or maybe even to forget the whole night ever happened. She would have loved to have gone back to the gray area she had existed in previously, where the little touches and looks from Gideon had been exciting but had not messed with her mind or her heart.
Her phone vibrated with a text message alert. That was surprising; it was literally the crack of dawn. Why was Liam awake? She swiped it open to read it.
No apologies needed. Are you safe? Are you okay? It sounded like you were in the strange situation.
That got a chuckle out of her. Strange to say the least.
It is a strange situation. But I am okay. At least I have a paper and a midterm to keep me focused.
Sunny stretched her hands over her head. Her body hurt, and she was still a little banged up from not only Thursday night, but also from attempting to jump Seumat herself.
What the hell had she been thinking? Sunny finally got around to acknowledge in fact that there was a dream demon in her bed. She shot Plaxo a dirty look.
“Get your own bed,” she said. She had meant it to be funny, but there wasn’t much humor in her voice right now. She was tired and a little bit jagged in raw from everything that happened.
Plaxo rolled out of her bed with a thump onto the floor.
“There is word in the demon room that Lady Hunter attempted to kill the queen of the succubi,” Plaxo said. “Is it true? This was all the demons are talking about today.”
It really wasn’t what Sunny had been going for. In all honesty, she hadn’t even be
en thinking clearly, because if she had, she would have thought her attack plan through just a little bit better. She had been lucky, twice now, to walk away with minor injuries.
“It’s true,” Sunny said with a sigh. “It wasn’t much of a fight, but I scratched her enough with the blade that she had to reconsider, and she ran.”
Plaxo’s face was one of wonder.
“What?”
“It’s just that the queen of the succubi is one of the most powerful demons, and a powerful ally of Plaxo’s own enemy,” he said. “Even to send her away with an obsidian wound is a great accomplishment. Many of the lower demons will be singing your praises today.”
That almost got a laugh out of Sunny. One of the verses might include the fact that she was in a strip club? What about the fact that she had been drinking a watered-down rum and coke and had stubbed her toe on the carpet? Or how she had missed completely, despite hours of training earlier that day with the blade?
No, Sunny would just like to forget the whole thing.
“I hope dream demons like a good bedtime story,” Sunny said with a sigh as she pulled her shoes on. “Because anything good about that absolute disaster last night is just a fairytale. I’m lucky I didn’t get hurt again.”
Plaxo was shaking his head.
“No matter what Lady Hunter says,” Plaxo replied, “Plaxo knows the truth. Lady Hunter was brave. Lady Hunter is always brave. And very, very lucky.”
The truth, which it was, because Sunny was very, very lucky lately, made her smile.
“Thank you, Plaxo,” Sunny said. “I'm glad you’re around and thankful you’re my friend.”
Sunny could have ordained Plaxo the Prime Minister of England, and she doubted that she would have got such a bright smile as the one she did when she thanked him for being around.
“It is an honor, Lady Hunter,” Plaxo said. “They will write songs about Lady Hunter someday, and Plaxo, his name will be included as her faithful friend.”
Sunny didn't know how common friendships were in the demon world, as she was still learning so much about it. She had been so jaded in her thinking when it came to angels and demons, that she was finally awakening to shades of grey in this very complicated world. But to have to have Plaxo call himself a true friend of hers, well, she knew that meant something.