Wicked Games

by Kel Carpenter

  Warm arms wrapped around my shoulders, drawing me into a tight hug. I tried to open my eyes, but the mass of dark green hair blocked my vision.

  “I’m proud of you,” Moira said against my hair. Her voice was muffled and raw, with what I suspected were tears that she was trying to hold back. “Now let’s go move this bitch before she wakes up.”

  I cracked a smile for the first time in days. Despite it all, I’d done exactly what I said I would. I didn’t break. I didn’t crawl. I rose up to the challenge and I’m pretty sure I just beat her at her own game.

  Moira and I pulled apart, and I pretended not to notice the moisture in her eyes while she subtly wiped it away. “You know, I kind of hate you for making me cry,” she muttered. I chuckled under my breath.

  “Is that your way of saying you want the arms?” I mused, rolling the tray that held all my equipment out of the way.

  “And risk her flipping out and biting me if she wakes up? No thanks.” Moira walked to the end of the cubicle and grabbed Kendall by the ankles. She didn’t stir.

  “Ready?” I asked, taking both wrists.

  “Ready.” We heaved her off the table and started the slow trek towards the front door. She was surprisingly heavy for someone so slim. It couldn’t possibly be because she had anything upstairs. Must have been the boobs.

  We finagled our way around the front door without dropping her, although I did accidentally bang her head a time or two on the way out.

  Her car was a good fifty yards away, which was fine and dandy if not for the rain. Fortunately, I planned for that and had removed my sweatshirt to wrap around her face. Hopefully she wouldn’t suffocate in the ninety seconds it took us to cross the parking lot.

  Wind and water hit me simultaneously, and my chattering teeth turned into an all-out symphony. Rain drenched my thin t-shirt, putting the world’s hardest nipples on display for anyone that drove by. Luckily, no one did. I’m sure they wouldn’t have even noticed my freezing tits when we were swinging a body back and forth as we made our way to Kendall’s car.

  I held both her wrists in one hand and yanked the driver’s side door open, kicking it wide so that Moira could put her feet in first. I wasn’t sure if it was a blessing that this wasn’t the first time we’d done something like this, or a sign that we needed to find better, less illegal hobbies.

  Wrapping a slick hand around one of her slim shoulders, I shoved the rest of her body in the car and positioned her head upright before removing my sweatshirt. Her eyes were still closed and the bandages still dry. My sweatshirt, on the other hand, was a different story. I didn’t even try to fit the slopping material over me. I was more likely to freeze inside it than without it.

  “We good here?” Moira yelled over the rain.

  “One last thing,” I yelled back and pushed the wet strands of my hair away from my face. Moira cocked an eyebrow, and I pulled out the metallic silver sharpie in my back pocket.

  “What are…” Her voice trailed off as I leaned inside the cab of the car and wrote a message on her steering wheel. “Oh.”

  “Oh indeed,” I smirked while I capped the marker. Moira slammed the car door shut and let out a wicked cackle.

  “You know, Ruby, sometimes I think we were made for each other.” She threw an arm around my waist, tugging me close. I slipped my bare arm around her shoulders and strolled back to Blue Ruby Ink through the rain without a care in the world.

  It was nice being me some days, and other days it wasn’t.

  But I make the most of it by choosing to be happy as I weathered the storm.

  Chapter 11

  I sent Moira off to run an errand and I closed shop soon after. Now I sat huddled in my driveway, dreading the thirty feet I would have to walk from the warm confines of my car all the way to the living room where I was ninety percent certain that it was below forty degrees inside.

  Not that it could get fixed anytime soon, given the numbers Moira was quoted at. We made decent money at Blue Ruby. Not an outstanding amount, but enough to live and go out for drinks once a week…up until Pandora’s Box. After today, I wasn’t so sure that would be the case anymore.

  I’d taken the preventive measures to avoid any trouble with the law by calling in a favor to a friend of mine that was a cop. Really, he owed me one hell of a favor, so I figured this would be where I cashed in my chips. He won’t be able to keep me out of the woods forever, but he could at least buy me some time before they came knocking with questions. Still, the damage Kendall did to my reputation was already done. I had set off a tank of gas and knocked people out.

  Yeah, business was bound to be booming. Not.

  I loved my house dearly, and everything it stood for. At twenty-years old, I purchased it with money I was making from doing tattoos. That may not seem like much to everyone, but it was everything to me. It was proof that I, Ruby Morningstar, a girl that barely scraped by in high school, could still succeed. I didn’t take the traditional route and go to college. I supported Moira by putting a roof over our heads while she did.

  My life was changing. A lot faster than I wanted it to.

  And I wasn’t so sure where the house, the shop, or even I fit into it.

  Something needed to give if I was going to get through this.

  With numb fingers and a heavy heart, I reached across the passenger seat and pulled my phone from my purse. I scrolled through the contacts and hit call.

  It rang once.

  “Ruby? Are you okay? Where are you?” Oh man, Julian sounded pissed. Maybe I should have called Rysten instead.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Listen I—”

  “Where are you? I’m at your shop. There’s a horde of humans outside that are waking up and appear to be having some memory problems. No one seems to know why they’re here.”

  “They’re—I—I’ll explain everything when you get here,” I sighed. “I called to let you know I’m at home, packing up my stuff. Moira and I are going to move in this week.”

  “Would that have anything to do with what looks like the remains of a bomb that I cleaned up before anybody saw it?”

  Well shit. I knew there was something I was forgetting.

  “I plead the fifth.”

  “Mhmm. Pack up. I’m sending Laran over,” he replied. The line went dead.

  I scowled at the rain outside as I stored my phone and began the slippery walk up the steps. The rain pelted me relentlessly, not giving a shit that I was already soaked to the bone and freezing. The elements were uncontrollable and unforgiving that way.

  When I reached the top of the aged wood steps, I noticed that something wasn’t quite right. The front door was open just a crack. Like someone had closed it in a hurry, by the latch didn’t stick. I wouldn’t have noticed at all, if it hadn’t moved slightly with every whipping gust of wind.

  A month ago, I probably wouldn’t have thought anything of it.

  Today, I realized that Moira’s car wasn’t home.

  Someone had either been in my house or was still there.

  My heart thumped in my chest as fight or flight kicked in. It wasn’t really a question for me, to run or go inside, because I had reached the max on my bullshit meter for the day, and I’d hit that about six hours ago.

  I squared my shoulders, took two steps forward and brought my foot up, kicking the center of the door. It didn’t resist in the slightest as my foot and the wind carried it hard and fast into the wall behind it, slamming with a thud.

  My badassery was short lived.

  In my haste to get to Moira this morning, I put on the worst possible shoes for dealing with rain and slippery steps. I lost my balance and went sprawling as my feet went up and I went down. My ass compacted hard with the porch, pain spiking through me.

  No. No, this was not how this was supposed to go, damnit.

  I landed in a tangle of my own limbs with a bruised ass and bruised ego.

  “Well, well. Look what the rain brought in.”

  I squinted throu
gh the haze to see two demons staring down at me. They wore cruel smiles; a stark contrast to the otherworldly beauty they had. Like many of demon-kind, it was a harsh loveliness that straddled the edge of horrifying and magnificent.

  “Who are you? And why are you in my house?” My voice had just the right amount of uncertainty and distress. I played the part of a mouse well, and part of that was because I truly was terrified. Sweat coated my skin and my limbs shook from exhaustion. I took heavy, labored breaths while my lungs screamed in anguish.

  Inside me, something else writhed, but I held her back.

  “Look how she talks. So brave for a child,” the female noted. Her teeth shone black like cut onyx. Great. Not only are they the condescending types, I’m pretty sure those pointed teeth could do some serious damage.

  “Don’t antagonize the poor thing, Lydia. Let’s just get it inside and do the job,” the man sighed. Do the job? What the fuck was that supposed to mean.

  The chick named Lydia bent and wrapped a claw-tipped hand around my bicep. I frowned, kicking my foot underneath hers. She tried to catch herself from toppling forward, but I swiped a hand across her chest, throwing her to the ground next to me. I flipped my own body across hers, straddling her chest to pin her to the ground, slamming my forearm into her jugular.

  “You little bitch,” she choked out. I pressed down tighter.

  “Who are you?” I shouted.

  She smiled coldly and dread formed in my belly. Strong arms grabbed me by the shoulders and tore me away from her. I struggled with the male as he hauled me back into my own house, fighting my own rising panic. I needed to stay calm so I could trick them into giving me answers and not accidentally unleash the beast. That would just end in bloodshed, and quite possibly me burning down a section of Portland.

  I’d rather not give the police anymore reasons to arrest me or land myself on the FBI most wanted list.

  The man’s grip on me didn’t ease until he’d hauled me all the way into the house. The female came in after us and closed my front door behind her.

  “Savage little beastie. You surprised me there. I’m going to enjoy this one, Ryku,” she grinned maliciously. I gave her my best apathetic look and she cackled.

  “Just do the job so we can get paid,” the man behind me said.

  “And if I want to drag it out?” she said in the sappiest voice, pouting her full lips while she stared at him with a sensual longing.

  What the actual fuck?

  “I don’t know, Lydia…something’s just not right here. She doesn’t feel like the others.” His English was almost perfect, but there was a hint of something foreign in it. I just couldn’t put my finger on what…

  “Oh? Then what does she feel like?” Lydia said and crossed her arms across her chest. The dark fabric hugged her curves perfectly, and the gesture lifted her breasts in a way that could almost be played off as nonchalant.

  “I don’t know. She smells like a succubus, but there’s something else. I’ve never encountered it before. It just feels old. Like ancient magic.” I cocked my head slightly as the pieces started clicking together. The woman eyed me suspiciously and I knew instantly that look had nothing to do with their job, and everything to do with my nasty little habit of drawing men to me.

  “Well then. Why don’t we cut her open and see? The imp said he’d pay us double if we made it hurt.” Her words were impassive, but her eyes held a sneer. She reached the holster at her waist and pulled out a knife. This wasn’t just any knife. The handle was well-used and worn. If I hadn’t seen the flash of the blade, I would’ve thought it was just another hitman job. But I’d never heard of one that used an obsidian blade with glowing cobalt runes.

  Oh no. These weren’t just your run of the mill hitmen.

  They weren’t even demons.

  “You’re demon hunters,” I whispered.

  Every one of us had heard the whispers. Demon hunters. Magic harvesters. We knew they weren’t a myth. I never dreamed of actually running into one.

  “In the flesh,” she replied. The woman smiled, lifting her ceremonial blade to twirl it on her palm.

  “Sent here to kill me,” I continued, swallowing hard. The beast glared at me, silently urging me to fucking hurry up with my questioning. She did not like the look of that knife. Can’t say I disagreed.

  “The imp paid quite a nice price up front,” she grinned.

  Yeah, I bet he did.

  “Lydia…” the man behind me growled. He was getting impatient. I liked impatient. It made people foolish. Rash. I smiled up at her from my place on the floor. I was outnumbered and without weapons. My knees ached and my arms still trembled, but I was not afraid.

  “Did you ever stop to think why he sent you instead of coming himself?” I asked her. It was only in that moment that the gears seemed to turn.

  She narrowed her eyes and took a step forward. At that moment, a bloodcurdling scream came from down the hall.

  Oh no. Please don’t let that be what I think it is.

  She raised the knife in defense as Bandit came running down the hallway.

  “NO!” I screamed.

  Time slowed down. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t think. Yet I saw every single thing that was happening. It was sensory overload.

  A gun shot rang through the air and my newly fixed window shattered into a million pieces. My reflection glared back at me in fragments of my face.

  One moment my eyes were blue. The next they were black.

  I didn’t even register the change as the beast pushed forward. Only the desire to save Bandit fueled me as he charged fearlessly at this bitch to save my life.

  “You should have listened to your partner,” my entity snarled.

  Admiral blue and navy flames leapt to life at her feet, curling inward, licking at her flesh. Inside, I flinched from the gruesome sight as the fire burned brighter and her skin turned to ash, but the beast looked on without a care in the world. Black craggy creases appeared, spreading up her legs to her torso, then the arm holding the knife, and beyond. Those vicious cracks splintered and widened as liquid sapphire glowed from inside them. Her magic blade fell from dead fingers and clattered against the ground as her body erupted in a plume of crystalline ash.

  Bandit launched himself at the ash statue the moment it exploded. He landed halfway across the room, hacking like a maniac while I whirled on the man behind me.

  Except… he was already dead.

  A bullet wound right between his eyes. How that ended up there, I had no idea. Only that it probably had something to do with the window shattering. Someone shot him, but they didn’t stick around for the finale.

  The beast took this in within a matter of seconds. Listening for any hint of a beating heart in his chest, even though half his brains and blood were splattered across my living room wall. When no sound came but our own beating heart and Bandit’s coughing, she turned to the window in search of whoever fired the gun.

  Whoever they were, they were long gone.

  The only hint of an answer was the glint of silver too far in the distance.

  Chapter 12

  My living room door flew open and the beast turned with a hand raised to kill.

  “Ruby,” Laran breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me standing among the remains. It wasn’t his Ruby that stared back at him, and after Julian’s promise to keep me safe, she wasn’t pleased with any of them.

  Laran made it six and half feet through the door before his steps fell short. Bandit came up beside him and began tugging on his jeans. He did that when he wanted to be picked up. Was that because he liked him? Or was it because he saw what Laran hadn’t noticed? He paid no attention to my raccoon as his eyes fell on me, or my beast, rather. Her intense gaze locked on him like a cat with a mouse.

  “So tell me, War. How many Horsemen does it take to protect one girl?”

  There was no mistaking it. She was pissed.

  The only thing that was saving him was that she considered him
hers. We all were in some form or fashion. With Moira and Bandit, it was my love for them that gave her a sense of duty. She protected them for me.

  With Laran and the Horsemen, it was something more akin to desire and possession. She owned them, because they were hers. They always have been. They always will be. They were created for us. They were the only males that stood a chance, and the closest thing to a mate we would ever find. Except we had four of them.

  “What happened here?” he asked. His tone wasn’t subservient, and she couldn’t decide whether she liked that or not. It was angrier than Julian had dared get with her, and he was Death. What could War possibly possess that made him feel invincible?

  She smiled.

  “The answer is none because that’s how many of you are around when she needs you,” the entity sneered. Laran clenched and unclenched his fists.

  Please, please don’t get in a slugging match with War. I prayed, but not to god. Oh no, she would not hear these prayers spoken by the daughter of the devil.

  She was just as spiteful as him in that way.

  I prayed to myself, because here on earth, now that Satan was dead…my beast was the only thing that might possibly listen.

  “I didn’t know she was in danger. I would have—”

  “You would have what? Hurried? Ran faster? Not been so lax in the first place?” The blood rushed in my veins as my heart slowed. Steady, like war drums. My body was gearing up for a fight, but it wasn’t me in charge. She had complete and utter control.

  She took three steps toward him, closing the distance, desire fueling some of this exchange. It seemed we had little control when it came to them. I equally wanted to kiss them and throttle them most days. She had similar thoughts, if not more detailed.