by Michael Todd
“Screw you!” Ella snatched her arm away. “I don’t have to go anywhere with anyone.”
“It’s that, or I cut your head off right here.” Stephanie pulled out her knife. “Your choice.”
“You are a sick bitch.” Ella folded her arms indignantly.
“Come on,” Stephanie repeated, grabbing her by the ear and pulling her to the plane. “I want to get home.”
Katie just watched, trying to hold back a laugh as Stephanie led Ella onto the jet by her ear. It was something her own mother would have done when she was a kid. Katie sighed and turned back to John.
“Sorry I’m handing you a mess.” He ran a hand over his face in exasperation before holding it out to Katie. “I’m John, the leader of the Wyld Jokers.”
“Katie.” She shook his hand again. “We’ve heard the stories about New York.”
“I’m sure.” He chuckled. “You own the company, don’t you?”
Katie pursed her lips and looked around, then leaned in and whispered, “Isn’t the first rule of the company that we don’t mention the company?”
Katie patted her blades and lifted her eyebrows, straightening up. He raised an eyebrow and looked down at his knives. Katie noticed that he had picked the ones with silvery handles, just like she would have. They were good knives.
“You like them?” She found herself unable to refrain from asking at least one question.
“They are freaking awesome,” he told her. “I haven’t really had a chance to use them yet with so much going on, but I plan on going out tonight and giving them some real-world experience. It’s a good thing you have here, and I want you to know I have your back when it comes to the government. Secret kept one hundred percent. I’ll remember the rule next time, too.”
He chuckled, his square chin and deep dimples sticking in her mind. Katie smiled and patted her hands together awkwardly, looking around the hangar bay. She knew she should be more sociable, but it really wasn’t her thing. He looked frustrated and gazed down at his feet, and Katie wondered if he was talking to his demon.
“So, next time you are in New York, let me take you out, all right?” he asked. “Las Vegas has lights, and we have action.”
“That would be nice.” Katie smiled. “I can see some New York-style demon-slaying in action.”
Pandora laughed. Hey stupid, I think he meant on a date.
“Or just to dinner.” Katie blushed.
“Or we could do both.” He laughed, now more at ease.
He continued talking about the places he loved in New York, and his time in Las Vegas. Katie tried to pay attention, but she really had no desire to hear it. She just wanted to get back home, and on top of that, Pandora had started spouting shit again like she was a bitch in heat.
That man is scrumptious as hell, Pandora rambled. I mean, look at those muscles! He’s a bit older than I normally go for, but what the fuck. I’m not getting any younger.
You’re not HELping, Katie sang in her head.
Hell, I think I saw bats flying out of your rosey posey just the other day.
Can we NOT discuss my vagina right now?
I bet I could fit at least half a dozen donuts on his dick, and I’d eat them all while I…
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, Katie mentally shouted, trying not to roll her eyes in front of John. You are aware that it wouldn’t be you doing this, right? You’re in MY body! Besides, this man is not my type.
No man is your type. Pandora scoffed. Why do you think I have a problem in here? No action, no flirting, no foreplay… No play, period. It’s like living in a nunnery.
I like men just fine, Katie countered. I just don’t need them like you do.
I DO NOT need men, Pandora snapped. I just like to have them around. What is so wrong with liking pleasure, huh? And don’t give me some religious bullshit about it, either.
Nothing is wrong with it in moderation, Katie replied. But you are like a succubus.
I am nothing like those dim-witted idiots. She sniffed. Mere shadows.
Is that why you keep going on about how donuts are the perfect design? Katie asked. So, you can slide them on?
No, though it does sound like something I would say, Pandora replied. And I am really impressed that you thought that highly of me. Donuts are the perfect food, though, and they have the perfect shape, so it wouldn’t be that far off to really get things done. You know, make it fun for a change, instead of so heavy and deep. Humans take sex way too seriously. Just get it in, get yours, and move on.
Wow, you are so romantic, Katie exclaimed.
That’s what I’m talking about, Pandora replied. Leave romance for the dinner. Sex should be fun and exciting.
You are a demon, Katie mused. I guess you don’t get romanced often enough to appreciate the importance of it.
Maybe not, Pandora replied. But I do know that in my very long time in existence, I have only met one man who truly gave two shits about romance. It’s for the girls, to make us want to open our legs. I am sure some man created romance a long time ago to make it easier to get in a girl’s hooha.
Katie looked at John and said her goodbyes, needing to get herself out of the situation fast before Pandora blew up inside her, leaving the walls of her mind soaking with the explosion of her pent-up desires.
When she climbed back onto the plane, Stephanie was sitting in her chair calmly reading a magazine while Ella cursed and groaned, rubbing the side of her head.
She was going to be an interesting one to train.
Chapter Ten
Katie sat quietly on her bed reading a book, her mind going in and out of the most recent events. She still was struggling with losing a teammate, and on top of that she wanted to kill T’Chezz for taking her precious baby—her car. She looked up when there was a knock on the door, putting her bookmark in and walking over to open it.
“Hey there, priest guy.” Katie smiled at Damian. “What can I do for you?”
“I was wondering if you could come over and speak with Ella,” Damian requested. “We are having our fair share of issues with her. She is not very happy to be in this position, and Stephanie seems to believe the only solution is ‘a firm hand for a lazy child.’ I am thinking there might be another way.”
Katie laughed, imagining Stephanie shaking her finger at Ella. She nodded and tossed her book back on the bed, closing her bedroom door and following Damian downstairs to the examination room.
When she entered Ella was telling Stephanie off, and Stephanie looked like she might just attempt to take Ella over her knee and beat the shit out of her ass. They both stopped and looked at Katie.
“Oh, great! Let me guess…you are the good cop,” Ella growled.
“Uh, I don’t think anyone has ever called me that before.” Katie laughed and glanced at Damian, who was chuckling under his breath. “Maybe a cop, but never the good one. I just came to see what the hell this was all about. I could hear you yelling all the way down the hall.”
“This is bullshit! Just take the thing out of me and let it go,” Ella snarled, pouting.
“Folks?” Katie looked at Stephanie and Damian. “Could you give us a second?”
“Be my guest.” Stephanie waved and walked out of the room.
Damian smiled and winked as he left, shutting the door behind him.
Katie turned back to Ella and watched her body language. Her hands were pressed together nervously, her eyes were on the floor, and her cheeks were bright red. There was something more going on than just being pissed at the situation.
“What did you do back in the City?”
“I worked at Starbucks,” she mumbled.
“That’s cool, though I would rather get my coffee from someone small and local.” Katie shrugged.
“I know, right?” Ella agreed, looking up at her. “Those yuppies come in and out all day and all they want to do is ‘recycle, reuse, rescue,’ and whatever else they can come up with, but they buy from a multinational corporation that bleeds the env
ironment dry.”
“It’s gross.” Katie shook her head. “So, any good friends? Boyfriend, maybe?”
“No.” Ella shrugged. “Just my parents. I can’t believe I am saying this, but I actually miss them. I mean, I know I can’t see them again, but I don’t want it to be that way.”
“I had a really hard time with that as well,” Katie told her. “I had a mom who loved me to death, and friends. I was in college. I had a hard time even thinking about letting that all go. I guess when you are left with no other choice, you just kind of do it.”
“What did you do?” Ella asked.
“Well, at first, nothing,” Katie admitted, leaning against the examination table. “Until my demon confessed that she was locking down some of my emotions because they were too much trouble to deal with. After that I was able to get them out, you know? I was able to grieve the losses. It was strange to know that I was the dead one, but I was missing my family and friends like they had died. I guess I missed them for missing me. It was really rough. I really thought I was tough-skinned until I came here and broke down until I was pretty much a shell. But then I built myself back up, with the help and support of my team.”
“Did it take long?” Ella wondered.
“No.” Katie tilted her head and looked at Ella. “But mostly because I didn’t have long. I was called out on my first incursion just a couple days after I got here. I had to toughen up or die. The first step for you, though? You need to cry. I know it sounds stupid and hokey, but everyone here,” she waved a hand in the general direction of the building, “the guys and girls, they have gone through that. Once you let the emotional part out, you will be able to come to terms with what has happened to you. It’s not easy, I won’t lie. You go from your normal life to being this capsule for evil, but you’re being asked to do good with it. Meanwhile, everyone else in your life has disappeared.”
“What happens when you’ve come to terms with it?” Ella asked.
“Well, then you get some awesome training,” she enthused. “Play with some really cool toys and then kick monster ass like you are in the movies, hopefully without dying. If possible, during all that you want to try to have a relationship of sorts with your demon. It won’t do you any good to fight it, although you don’t want to release yourself to it, and they can give you some valuable assistance that can help you survive. My demon helps me all the time, but most of the time I keep it to myself. Sometimes, though, she helps me with something so huge that it gets covered up so people—even the other teams—won’t get freaked out.”
“I’m scared to talk to him,” Ella admitted.
“Don’t be. At this point, you hold all the cards,” Katie advised. “You are in control of the situation. You know what? I have an idea. Hold on one second…let me talk to my demon.”
Do you think you could communicate with her demon? Katie asked.
I can sense that this one is a big motherfucker. Pandora sniffed. I’ll do it, but I want something in return.
Okay. Katie sighed. Like what? A year’s supply of donuts? All the Italian you can eat?
Nothing like that, Pandora chirped mischievously. I want another car.
Oh, lord, Katie moaned.
And not just any car, one just like the one you had, Pandora explained. I really enjoyed riding around in that thing, top down, the sun on your back. Just cruising. That is, until Ding-a-ling Demon showed up and ruined everything.
And if I promise you we will look for another vehicle—no promises on the type—you will talk to Ella’s demon? Katie asked. The girl is having a really hard time with this change. and I think if the demon will talk to her she will feel more comfortable with the whole thing. Right now she is terrified, and that is going to get her killed fast.
Yes, I will talk to him, Pandora assured her.
All right, Katie agreed. Another vehicle coming up…sometime.
Katie took a deep breath and sat down in the chair, leaning back and closing her eyes. Pandora would take over her vocal cords, which was a very strange feeling.
Pandora was preparing to contact Ella’s demon; she could tell because there was a sense of concern that Katie did not typically feel. She thought about asking her what was up, but she figured it was best that she just let her do her thing.
She didn’t need a distraction.
“Melneck?” Pandora spoke through Katie’s mouth. “I thought your scent seemed familiar. Why are you hiding in there?”
“Small world.” Melneck scoffed, speaking through Ella and scaring the hell out of her. “Oh, sit still, child. It’s not that bad,” he told the girl.
“She’s new. Give her some space,” Pandora advised.
“Since when did you become sympathetic to the human plight?” he asked.
“Not really sympathetic, but it’s easier if they calm the hell down,” she told him. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“Shouldn’t I ask you that?” he asked. “Never expected to see someone from the Eight slumming up here.”
“I was tricked by my asshole brother-from-another-mother,” Pandora growled. “He tried to get me out of the picture and into a form he can kill easier. At least he thought he could kill me easier, but that doesn’t seem to be how things are working out for him. Silly demon…always thinking he can one-up me, never thinking about the fact that I am fucking smarter than him most of the time, and way older.”
“Well, I guess that makes two of us, then,” Melneck replied.
“What do you mean?” Pandora asked. “What does T’Chezz have to do with you and this girl?”
“Nothing to do with the girl,” he assured her, “but I came here under orders from T’Chezz as a final payment for a favor I owed him.”
“Bet you’ll think twice next time about asking for a favor from that jackass.” Pandora scoffed.
“Yeah, never again,” he agreed. “I heard someone speaking to my previous host’s dead body after I switched over to this kid. They told it, ‘Seems like I won’t have to kill you after all. T’Chezz will be happy.’ She was being moved to a blacked-out SUV when it happened. I couldn’t see who it was since my human had completely collapsed, but I could tell the sniveling voice was someone from below.”
“That does not surprise me at all.” Pandora chuckled. “I think T’Chezz underestimates the power we have in our human hosts. I also think that he was trying to do that to me, or rather still trying. He doesn’t want me in the picture. He knows that his demons would follow me in a heartbeat, though I don’t really want to be a leader. I don’t see what he would get out of killing you, but he never did make much sense with that shit.”
“Well, either way, I know he wants me dead,” Melneck agreed. “He sent someone up to follow me around and then kill me off as soon as I was done. It serves T’Chezz right that his effort failed to turn a Damned, anyway. He has very little faith in humankind, that’s for sure. He believes them to be a lot weaker than they really are, and it’s a shame. I’m not saying I’m on their side—I’m on my side–but they could give him quite a fight. He doesn’t even realize it.”
“I think he is starting to, if he is sending you up here to do his dirty work,” Pandora suggested.
“I don’t really know why he thinks it would matter if I went back to hell?” Melneck mused. “It’s not like I’m not headed back there anyway.”
“Yeah, but this is a little different,” Pandora told him. “I know the demon you are talking about, and when he kills, you either go way down into the depths of the fire not to resurface for centuries, or maybe to a true death.”
“A true death?” Melneck paused a moment. “I thought that was a myth.”
“Not a myth.” Pandora shuddered. “I’ve seen it. Demons can have a true death, their souls completely extinguished and their bodies turned to dust. There is no coming back from that. I am not sure how that happens yet, but I am not willing to test it. I might get bored down there in hell, but I’m not looking to completely disappear.”
“This is bullshit,” Melneck yelled angrily, raising his human to her feet and forcing her to pace. “Seriously, this is complete and utter crap. I had plans, and now every one of them is going to have to be put on hold. Talk about annoying! This is the epitome of it.”
“At least you’re still alive.” Pandora shrugged Katie’s shoulders. “Anyway, just try to help your human out. Think of it this way: the stronger she is, the longer you live. If she dies, you die. When it’s time you can get free and go back, but right now this might be the safest place for you. They think you are dead, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try to kill your human. Lay low for a while; build something with her and make her more confident. You’ll get your moment.”
Pandora released Katie’s vocal cords and Katie rubbed her throat. She looked at Ella, who had stopped pacing and was doing the same thing with a look of terror in her eyes. She forgot to prepare her for that, but she seemed to have taken it at least somewhat well.
“Sorry, forgot to tell you that part.” Katie smiled.
“Yeah.” Ella shook her head.
Her demon is named Melneck, Pandora explained to Katie. He is one of the tightest-assed demons I have ever met. I knew him down below, and seriously…if he ate coal, diamonds would come out when he took a shit.
That is disgusting.
No one down there likes him, because he is a presumptuous ass, Pandora replied. The good news though is that he found out T’Chezz was planning his death, so he isn’t loyal to anyone but himself right now. I told him to help Ella; that the more he helped her, the longer both of them would stay alive. I am pretty sure he agreed, and I don’t think she will struggle too much with it.
Good work, Katie told her.
“Ella,” Katie began, moving back over to the girl, “I need you to start working through your feelings. We are all a family here. We’ve all been through the process, and we are all here to help you with anything that you need. There are also counselors on the team, if you’d prefer one of those. However, after talking with Korbin and Damian, we know that your priority is to begin training. Training is one of the most important things we do, and it’s not just for workouts and tiny waistlines. It’s for survival, because right now you are weak, so you run the risk of dying permanently.”