The Others 03: The Demon You Know

by Christine Warren

  And since her stomach still insisted on fluttering and her heart on racing and her libido on shifting into overdrive every time she got near him, she figured it was a darned impressive gesture she was making, too.

  "We were never at war," Rule dismissed, seemingly oblivious to the tension and attraction she could have sworn sparked between them. Maybe it was all on her side, a kind of latent teenage attraction to the ultimate bad boy. Because Rule didn't look like he lusted after her. He actually just looked annoyed, especially with that muscle in his jaw twitching as if he were grinding his teeth together in irritation.

  "So why do I feel like we need to declare a truce?”

  "I am not qualified to speculate on your beliefs.”

  Abby felt her own jaw beginning to clench. "You know, I'm beginning to think that you want me to hate your guts, for some insane reason. That can't be possible, can it?”

  "It is none of my concern how you feel about me. My only concern is to see you safe and to keep the spell you carry out of Uzkiel's hands.”

  "Wow. I bet you have to beat the girls off with a stick, don't you?”

  "I do not believe it benefits either of us to discuss personal matters." His tone was cold and dismissive, but Abby saw something almost like anger sparking behind those pitch-black eyes of his.

  "You should have thought of that before you kissed me," she goaded, her eyes narrowing. " 'Cause that felt pretty personal to me.”

  Even before the words left her mouth she recognized them as a supremely bad idea, but by then it was too late to stop them. They fell between the two of them like an undetonated nuclear warhead. Abby could almost swear she heard ticking.

  "You humans have a tendency to read too much into simple tactics," he said after a moment in which Abby could have sworn the atmosphere in the room visibly thickened. "You had launched into a tirade. I simply chose an expedient method of quieting you.”

  Something prodded Abby to her feet, moved her like a puppet, and braced her hands on the paper-strewn desk, urging her to lean forward until her nose was just inches from his. She tried very, very hard to blame it on the fiend inside her, but that would have been a big, fat lie. And what was worse, Abby knew it.

  She knew very well that the only one to blame for the challenging quirk of her eyebrow and the teasing parting of her lips was her. But she did it anyway.

  "If all you wanted was to shut me up," she murmured, her gaze falling to his mouth and lingering there, remembering the heat of it over hers. The rich, spicy taste of it. "Your hand would have done the trick, and you know it. That kiss was either overkill... or undertow. Which one do you want to lay your money on?”

  As if in slow motion, he reached a hand out to her, curled it in the knit fabric of her top, and began to pull her inexorably closer. "By the light of the sun, I swear I tried to keep myself from this.”

  "This" turned out to be another of those searing, mind-bending, toe-curling, heart-pounding, brain-scrambling kisses, and all Abby could do was sigh her pleasure.

  The fact that he tasted so incredibly good to her, that his lips could make her knees melt and her stomach flutter, only served to reinforce what a bad idea this probably was. Anything that felt this good had to be a sin, she reasoned through a blurry fog of arousal, and at that moment she didn't care.

  His fist tightened around her shirtfront, tugging her across the polished wood of the desk, sending papers shushing to the floor, and ending with her tumbling off the edge and into his lap. She tensed for a moment, feeling suddenly trapped by his enormous body, his heavy, muscled arms closing around her. Nervous, she tried to ease back a fraction, but his lips just softened against her, teasing, beguiling, until she relaxed against him once more.

  Hard, gentle hands eased up the length of her spine, drawing shivers in their wake, before trailing back down in a long, fluid caress that left her sighing into his mouth. She leaned closer, let her tongue tangle with his, set her hands on his shoulders, her fingers kneading him like a cat. He made her feel as sinuous as one, as lazy and eager for petting.

  One large hand firmed on her back, slid down over the waistband of her jeans to cup around the curve of her bottom and pull her closer against him. She moaned softly, a deep throaty sound that took on a sharp edge of surprise when another hand slid up her rib cage to close with gentle purpose around her breast.

  This time, Abby didn't even bother to stiffen. Rule's touch felt nothing like the clumsy groping of the boy she'd slept with in college, the one and only other man to have touched her. Then, giving in had felt like an obligation. But this…this felt like heaven.

  It was Rule who finally lifted his head, staring down at her with those fathomless black eyes. "This is not wise, Abigail.”

  Shivering, his hands still holding her to him, warm and arousing at her breast and bottom, Abby leaned forward to nip at his chin. "I know. But wisdom can be highly overrated.”

  "As can my self-control," he muttered.

  His hands slid away to grip her hips and lift her away from him. Abby blinked, as if she'd been in a dark room and someone had just turned on the lights.

  She shivered. "What's the matter?”

  Rule set her on the edge of the desk and slumped back in his chair, running a hand through his disheveled golden hair. "Circumstances have thrust us together, but that does not mean we should allow ourselves to be ruled by these illogical impulses. We do not suit.”

  Abby's breast, still tingling where he'd touched it, begged to differ. "Why do you say that?”

  He leveled her a long stare. "First, because you are under my protection.”

  "Euphemistically speaking.”

  "Also, We come from two different worlds, quite literally. We can have nothing in common other than this…strange attraction.”

  Abby crossed her arms over her chest. "You make it sound like some sort of disease. And I'm sure we have to have something in common; otherwise I doubt we'd feel anything for each other but dislike.”

  "What could you possibly believe we could share?”

  "Well, I think it's pretty clear that both of us have a well-developed sense of duty," she said, wondering why she was trying to convince this man, this demon, that he was wrong about their incompatibility when she'd been reminding herself of it for nearly twenty-four hours. "And we both seem to find Louamides deeply annoying.”

  "Every living creature on every plane of existence finds Louamides annoying. It is hardly a foundation on which to build a relationship.”

  Abby blew out a breath and pushed herself off the desk to stand on her own two feet. There was something reassuring about the movement. "I don't believe I asked for a relationship," she dismissed, ignoring the niggling in her chest. "I'm not trying to convince you we're perfect for each other. I may be possessed, but I'm not insane…yet.”

  He looked up at her, his expression brooding. "Then what did you come here for?”

  "I told you. To apologize." She wrapped her arms around herself and took several steps away from the desk and the danger that lurked behind it. "Which I've already done. And to thank you.”

  "For?”

  "For helping my brother. I know he'd just been holding a gun on you, so I'm sure helping him get back here to the club when you already had me to worry about wasn't the top on your list of priorities. But I wanted you to know I appreciate it.”

  Rule shrugged. "He is human. It is my duty to protect him.”

  "See what I mean?" Abby's mouth quirked. "Duty. Why do you think I haven't found a way to scale the outside wall up to the roof and flag down a helicopter?”

  "Because you know I would stop you.”

  "No. Because every once in a great while, what you say almost starts to make sense. I figure if that starts to happen more frequently, I'll go see my doctor.”

  "Once we have dealt with Uzkiel and can be assured of the safety of you leaving this club alone.”

  Abby laughed and headed for the door. "Right. And stubbornness. Did I mention tha
t was another thing we have in common?"

  Rule watched the door click shut behind Abby and blew out a deep breath. Then he leaned forward and let his forehead thump down onto the heavy desk.

  Hard.

  What in the sun's name had he been thinking? Kissing Abby once had been bad enough, but to repeat the exercise clearly indicated he had the common sense and the self-control of a chaos imp. He must be going out of his mind.

  "Wow. When De Santos told me I might find you like this, I thought he was kidding.”

  Rule looked up to see the brother of his current obsession standing in front of the desk. The fact that Rule hadn't heard him open the door or approach the desk provided testament to either his skill as a soldier or Rule's doom as a single male.

  "I'll let you in on a little secret," Noah continued, his expression deadpan and his eyes twinkling. "You may not have noticed this, but Abby is a little... determined. The two best ways to deal with her are to either go along with her or to ignore her completely. I'm an advocate of door number two.”

  Right. And that had been working so well for Rule thus far. He pushed back into his seat. "Somehow I do not believe you have come in here to talk to me about your sister.”

  "Nope. I came to ask if you were up for shaking a few trees to see if our raccoon might just fall out.”

  The demon raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?”

  "A guy in my unit grew up on Avenue A. There's a bar down there he says gets a pretty interesting clientele. The exact opposite of the cream of the crop, if you know what I mean.”

  "Well, if we were going to find info about Uzkiel in a bar, that sounds as if it would be the perfect one. Perhaps we should pay a visit.”

  "Sundown's in two hours.”

  "Good. I think I'm suddenly feeling parched."

  The bar turned out to be every bit as unsavory as Noah's teammate had promised, a fact that he and Rule took an odd sort of delight in. Not because either of them was the type to hang out in seedy bars, though Rule at least had certainly been in worse, but because at this point, anything that smelled like a lead would be enough to get the Watchman as excited as a high school quarterback on prom night.

  The patrons of the low-ceilinged, badly lit room had obviously never heard of the city's smoking ban, but then, the owners had obviously never heard of soap and water, so Rule figured it might be a fair trade.

  He pushed through a haze of cigarette smoke and led the way to the bar with Abby's brother trailing behind him. The soldier had traded his fatigues for a battered pair of jeans borrowed from Graham Winters and a well-worn chambray shirt softened by many washings. He didn't look so entirely different from the other occupants of the bar, but then, neither did Rule, with his scruffy stubble, deliberately rumpled clothes and ball cap pulled low to disguise his features.

  It just went to show that appearances could be deceiving.

  They laid claim to a couple of rickety bar stools, and Noah managed to catch the eye of the hulking but less-than-enthusiastic-looking bartender.

  "Whaddayawant?”

  Noah met the man's sullen gaze with a steady one of his own. "I got a friend says your beer's good. Gimme two of those.”

  The bartender's eyes narrowed. "What's this friend's name?”

  "Billy. But mostly we just call him Badass.”

  Rule watched the man closely and saw when the tension about him eased just slightly. He also saw that the man had the kind of craggy, rough skin and thick, dense build that marked him as the descendant of a stone giant.

  "How is the bastard?" the bartender asked, his small, dark eyes watching Noah steadily. "He still got that stupid heart tattoo on his chest?”

  "Badass has a lot of tattoos," Noah said, "but the only one I've ever seen on his chest isn't a heart. It's a one-fingered salute.”

  The man's chin jerked in a nearly imperceptible nod. "Two beers. Get those for yas.”

  Rule waited till the bartender trundled off to the tap before turning to his companion. "A secret password of some sort?”

  "I guess. Billy didn't say anything to me about it, but he did say these guys don't warm much to strangers.”

  "I would wager.”

  The mirror behind the bar was spattered and dingy, but Rule could still make out most of the patrons scattered around at tables behind them. It was early yet, so the bar was mostly empty. Only about half-a-dozen regulars had shown up, and none of them looked familiar to Rule. More significantly, none of them smelled familiar.

  The bartender thumped two mugs down on the bar in front of Rule and Noah. "Anything else?”

  "Maybe." Noah wrapped a hand around the handle of his mug and met the bartender's gaze steadily. "Badass said there was a guy here named Crank who knows everything that needs knowing in the neighborhood.”

  "That's me. Whaddaya looking for?”

  "A who." Reaching into his shirt pocket, Noah drew out an enlargement of the grainy photo Missy's camera phone had snapped of Seth's human host in the park. "This guy look familiar?”

  Crank hesitated for a moment before leaning down to squint at the photo. "He ain't no regular, that's for damn sure.”

  "Have you ever seen him before?" Rule asked.

  "Maybe once." Crank looked from Rule to Noah and back again. Maybe the Badass blessing only extended to one friend at a time. "I mostly mind my own business, but this guy stood out. I mean, look at him. Not many yuppies bother to come to a place like this, you know what I mean?”

  Rule did, but he refrained from answering.

  "When?" Noah prompted.

  "'Bout three, four days ago. Got into it with a weird guy, Lenny, likes to sit in the corner of the bar and nurse shots of Jäger. Usually this Lenny fellow's real quiet, keeps to himself. But that night, it was like he was lookin' for a fight. Laid into the rich guy the second he walked in here. Eventually, I had to persuade them to continue their discussion outside.”

  Rule followed Crank's nod to the heavy wooden baseball bat prominently displayed above the cash register.

  "I'm sure you did," Noah agreed. "You see anything that happened after that?”

  "Nah. Two of 'em go outside, and next thing I know, the yuppie's gone and Lenny's propped up against my stoop sporting a couple of broken ribs, two broken wrists, and a cut nearly chopped his ear off. Paramedics loaded him into an ambulance and took him off right then. Ain't seen either of 'em since. And Lenny still owes me for the Jäger.”

  Noah thanked the man and waited until he moved to the other side of the bar before turning to Rule. "Sounds like Lou isn't the only one hopping around the city. I suspect the change in Lenny resulted from a possession by Seth that then transferred to the man we met in the park.”

  "I am not surprised. To remain undetected for as long as possible, Uzkiel and his minions would want to appear as normal humans, which requires them to take possession of human bodies.”

  "That'll make them damned hard to track down.”

  "I never expected much else.”

  Swearing, Noah pushed aside his beer and stood. "Well, shit. Sorry this turned out to be a dead end.”

  "It was not." Rule followed suit. They tossed money for the drinks on the bar and exited into the deepening night. "We have confirmed our suspicions of where the fiends are hiding, and we may have another lead to trace. If this Lenny person was taken to the hospital, there will be records. If he filed a police report after the possession ended, there may even be an investigation or a name of the other man, the one who was hosting Seth. It is more than we had to go on a few minutes ago.”

  "My, aren't you the optimist?”

  "It is never productive to give in to the belief that nothing can ever change.”

  "I used to think that way," Noah mused. "Then Abby learned to talk.”

  Rule shot him a sidelong glance. "What do you mean?”

  "Just that my baby sister is what physicists mean when they start talking about an immovable force.”

  "She seems very young t
o be so set in her ways.”

  "She was born set. And I'm not convinced the way our parents brought us up was much help in the flexibility department. They meant well, and they loved us both, but they're kind of old-fashioned. A little unbending themselves.”

  "I would not have called your sister unbending," Rule mused, thinking of the supple flex of her spine beneath his hands.

  Noah's eyes narrowed. "I'm going to pretend I didn't notice anything odd in the way you said that, Rule, because I like you. I'd hate to have to kill you.”

  "And I would hate for you to have to try. Rest assured, I have no plans to corrupt Abigail. She will always be safe with me.”

  For a moment, the only sound came from the light fall of their feet on the pavement. Then Noah glanced over at Rule, his mouth beginning to curve with amusement.

  "Hm. I wonder how long you're going to be safe with her?"

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  For the first couple of days, Abby just kept repeating to herself that it would all be over soon. Rule and Noah had teamed up in the quest to locate Uzkiel's hiding place, so at least someone was doing something, even if she wasn't. Even Louamides managed to leave her mostly alone, probably still traumatized by its run-in with Seth.

  During the next couple of days, the reminders stopped being enough. She took to wandering the halls of the club during the day, when it was mostly quiet, and pacing the confines of her room at night. If she kept moving, it seemed easier to control the frustrated scream welling inside her. Samantha and Tess took turns trying to keep her occupied with movies and games and girl talk, and even Missy stopped by after a couple of days to take a shift.

  The first time the Luna showed up, Abby had apologized.

  Missy dismissed it with a wave and a smile. "Honey, I'd have tried the same thing if I were you," she said. "In fact, come to think of it, I did try. Only let me tell you, it's a lot harder to stage an escape naked from an Alpha's bedroom than it is fully clothed in a public park with a military escort. You, at least, get points for planning.”