It’s not like my quest to destroy other demons stems from the goodness of my heart. If it wasn’t for the fact that Liora spends time in the Sapie world, leaving my vessel weak and vulnerable, I wouldn’t care less what other demons did.
But many demons out there can put her…meaning me…at risk. Some Paraste demon could attach to one of the kids at her school and make him go all Columbine or something and Liora could get caught in the crossfire. Besides, I need to stay sharp. On top of my game. The Amazèa may be gone for now, but one day they will return. And when they do, I’ll be ready.
Tatiana nods. “Very well. I have prepared the revealing powder for you.” She motions to the small satchel on the table. I can’t help but smile. She knows me so well. The special dust allows me to distinguish Parastes from regular Sapies and takes several hours to create.
I grab the pouch, bid farewell to Tatiana, and summon Diablo. At the Bridge of Kings I take a quick look for Bones, but there’s no sentry in sight. “Bones?” I call out. The night is eerily quiet. I try again, louder this time. “Bones!” Still no response. I cross the river and head to the Bar.
“Hey, Ivy…Bones here?”
“Hi, sweetie. Yes, he’s been here for about an hour. I think he’s waiting for you.”
“Yeah, I got held up a bit. Her…” I roll my eyes.
Ivy gives me a sympathetic smile and motions with her chin to the guy sitting in the corner. “Our sexy stranger is back again. Did you get the scoop on him or what? I saw you guys talking at the bar last night.” She sounds accusatory, as if I’m holding out on her.
I avoid her gaze. Yes, he’d approached where I was sitting, but only to order another drink from Cody. We’d exchanged “hello”s, and he’d commented on the music playing on the jukebox. Guess he really likes Led Zeppelin. But then he went about his business and I went about mine. I hadn’t seen him again…until earlier tonight in the alley. But I’m not about to replay this tidbit of embarrassing info to one of the biggest gossips in Dryndara.
“Sorry, Ives, we didn’t really talk. But I really do need to go speak with Bones,” I say as I spot him chatting with Cody.
Ivy gives a small frown, but doesn’t say anything, her attention diverted by a group of approaching demions.
I glance casually around the room as I make my way up to the bar. Cody and Bones are laughing about something, but I’m more interested in the back corner where the vampire brothers are entertaining their friend. As usual he’s facing away from me, his back to the room. Good.
“Lucky Lady,” Bones’ cheerful voice rings out. He pats the empty stool beside him. Two tall glasses of Jack on the rocks wait for me on the bar. Smiling, I shimmy over to him.
“Hey, doll,” I say, giving him a peck on the cheek. “Almost didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.”
He laughs, revealing two perfectly even tiny dimples on his tan cheeks. “Well, I’m sorry about that, but they have funny rules here. ‘Course we can always go somewhere a little more private and—”
I punch him lightly on his shoulder. “Seriously, won’t you ever stop trying?” Cody raises his eyebrows up and down suggestively, so I lean over and sock him, too. “You guys are ridiculous.”
They both chuckle, and Bones rubs his shoulder gingerly. “I think it’s bruised. It needs a kiss to feel better…”
“Oh, puh-leeze. Spare me.” I roll my eyes and sit down. But the truth is I love when Bones flirts with me, especially because he doesn’t have to. I’m not a natural conquest for him, for his demonic urges of seduction and procreation only extend to Sapie women. Something I am not. So whatever instinctual desires drive him, the way he flirts and plays with me is caused by something else entirely.
But as much as I love Bones, deep down I know it’ll never work for us to be anything but friends. Best friends. Nothing more. So he hits on me, and I pretend to hate it. It’s our way.
“Who’s the new guy?” I nod my head toward the corner, hoping I sound nonchalant. Bones is also the jealous type.
Summoned by patrons at the end of the bar, Cody leaves, so it’s Bones who answers.
“Can’t say. He’s passed by me several times; his scent is all right. He’s half Sapie, like you. Not sure what type of demon he is. Got a few different reads but none that caused any concern. Why do you ask?” He suddenly sounds wary.
“No reason.” I shrug and casually sip my drink. “Just wondering if we had another vampire in town, is all. You know how I loooove the blood-suckers.” I pretend to swoon.
“Yeah, I know you love killing them,” Bones smirks.
“I don’t love killing them,” I protest. “It was just that one group three years ago. They were feeding on children…what was I supposed to do?”
Bones holds up his hand cutting me off. “I know, I know, just teasing. Jeez, you’ve been so testy lately. So high-strung.” He begins massaging my shoulders; the warmth of his touch radiates down to my bones. Just as I’m feeling some of my tension release under his magic touch, he totally ruins it. “Ever since the Amazèa came back. It’s like you’ve let yourself go completely crazy …”
His words pour fuel to my already inflamed nerves. Jerking away, I jump to my feet, knocking over my glass of whiskey in the process.
“Shut up. I don’t want to hear it from you. They are not here now and I have to live with that fact. But they will come back. And when they do, I will kill them in the same sick and evil way that they killed Kayla and Michael. And I will laugh, like they laughed. And nobody is going to stop me. Not even you. And I don’t want to hear another word about it, got it?” Angrily grabbing what is left of his drink, I quickly down it before storming away.
I know Bones is right behind me, and as soon as I reach the door I start running as fast as possible. But if there’s one creature who can keep pace with my two legs, it’s Bones when he has four. As I streak through the forest—the trees and shrubbery nothing more than a passing haze of green—I glare at the enormous black hound beside me. But I can’t feel angry with him. He isn’t trying to stop me. He isn’t trying to talk to me. He’s just being with me. And something about that makes me feel safe.
Together we sprint through miles of thick forest, though a Portal taking us back to Sapie land. Safe under the cover of darkness, we fly along abandoned back roads and trails, over streams, and up hills. We sail over fences and cut across farms, together, racing as a silent blur.
It’s not until we reach the furthest outskirts of town that I ease my pace, and transition into a walk. Bones slows down beside me, still in his canine form. Finally, unable to hold it in anymore, I collapse with my face in my hands and cry.
No matter how fast or far I run, I’m never able to escape the nightmare that continually haunts me. I can’t outrun the feelings of anger, hopelessness and regret that plague my mind. I can’t hide from the shameful disgust that eats me up inside
It’s all my fault…everything that happened to Michael, Kayla, me and Liora…it’s all because of me…because I was weak. Because I was afraid.
Bones rests his head on my lap lovingly as I sob into my hands. Then he pulls away. A moment later he sits beside me, his naked body now that of a man. When he wraps his muscular arms around me, I weep freely on his shoulder. His skin is as soft as butter and he holds me tight, caressing my hair and whispering soothing words into my ear.
I cry and cry until I can cry no more.
******
After what feels like hours, I slowly raise my tearstained face and look in Bones’ eyes. “If you ever tell anyone about this, I’ll find a loophole in the immortality law and kill you. Slowly. And I’ll invent new ways to make it hurt first.”
He gently wipes away a tear trickling down my cheek. “Your secret is safe with me. Besides, who’d ever believe me anyway? That bad-ass Lucky has such a soft spot for some Sapies,” he whispers.
“They weren’t just any Sapies.”
“I know.”
He reluctantly lets me pu
ll from his embrace and I pace around, taking deep breaths, trying to regain my composure. My eyes burn, and I’m sure my make-up is ruined. But I don’t care. I spot an old tree with a massive trunk. Perfect. With all my might I push it until I hear a loud crack. I step back as the mighty tree tumbles to the ground.
“Feel any better?”
I don’t, but I nod anyway.
“I’m really glad you did that. That tree was giving me the heebie-jeebies.”
I swallow a smile.
“Where were you planning on going tonight?” he asks. “’Cause wherever it is, I’m going with you.” I turn to admire his beautiful nude form splayed against the rocks. Under the dull light of the moon he looks like a statue of a god.
“Dressed like that?” I ask with a hint of a smile.
He glances down and arches an eyebrow. “Right you are. Didn’t quite think this through. I do need to mate though. Badly. Suppose we could break into a house around here and ‘steal me something to wear…’” He adds air quotes, and I know he cares nothing about clothes.
“But if you need to, um, work, I don’t think you will find what you’re looking for where I’m going. It’s a nightclub, and not a very nice one,” I add in response to his quizzical look.
He nods, understanding. Bones has a very specific type of female he’ll seduce: Between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two, beautiful, healthy and intelligent. One who doesn’t smoke, drink, or use any drugs, and most importantly, a virgin who is at the peak of her fertility cycle. Girls like that probably aren’t hanging out at a seedy downtown nightclub in the middle of the week.
“Well, then, I’ll just search the nearby area. Find a partner in a home that is not brightly lit. Call for me when you’re done, and we’ll meet back up.”
“I’m tormenting a few regulars after. They’ve been let off easy the past few nights so I have some making up to do.”
“You gonna hit up Old Lady Sullivan?”
I nod.
“Cool. I’ll meet you there. I love watching you freak her out.” Of course he does. Mary Sullivan castrated eleven men before murdering them and burying their bodies in her backyard. So far the police and her neighbors have no clue what she’s done. But I know. And now she’s a regular.
“Okay.” I shuffle over to where he’s standing and give him a hug. “Thanks for being here…thanks for everything,” I whisper.
“No problem, kiddo.” His voice sounds thick. I pull back, touched by the compassion in his mahogany eyes.
“Go. You obviously need to mate. Get it out of your system.” With a smile, I gently push him away. I never want him to know how much it bothers me that he has to go do that. When he finds his perfect virgin, seduces her, and impregnates her with his seed—I know he has no choice. If he doesn’t continually reproduce with Sapies, his function as an incubus—one who is capable of assuming human form and being my friend—will cease to exist. He’ll become and remain a Hound of Hell permanently, forced to guard our sacred realm for all of eternity.
But it really bothers me. I hate thinking of him lying with all those women, flooding them with his intoxicating powers of romance and seduction. I hate knowing he gives them something he can never give me. I hate knowing—no matter what—I’ll always be forced to share his affections with nameless, faceless girls who provide him with a reason for existing.
And I hate myself even more for feeling this way. I am a Justice demon, for Satan’s sake! I’m supposed to be free from passion and operate only on reason and rationality, not be subjected to crying fits of anger and the discomfort of petty jealousies. What a crock of crap it is. Totally illogical. And pathetic. What do I expect him to do…sit around and pine over me night after night? Tell me he loves me more than anything else and can’t bear the thought of living eternity without me? That I’m his one true reason for breathing and without me his life has no meaning?
Yeah…dream on. Demons don’t work like that. Only Sapies get all wrapped up with their crazy emotions. Something that, thanks to Liora, seeps into my life where it shouldn’t. At least demons have the ability—and good sense—to shut off the feelings they don’t want to feel. Not Sapies, though. They seem to enjoy being enslaved by them.
But I can’t blame Bones for any of my madness. He’s just as incapable of ignoring his demonic desires as I am of ignoring my tainted-by-human ones.
“You sure you’re okay?” Bones asks, studying my face.
“I’m fine…promise. Tonight is just what the doctor ordered. Carnage followed by torment. Can’t wait.” I fake a small smile.
“Okay…well, I’ll catch up with you at Old Lady Sullivan’s. And be careful…don’t get too cocky out there,” he says with a wink.
“Yeah, same to you.”
For a brief moment we stare into each other’s eyes, both of us feeling what neither can say. Then, with a grin as sinful as the devil himself, Bones shakes and quivers, gracefully landing on two large paws. He lets out a lustful howl and sprints toward a remote farmhouse in the distance.
I take a deep breath and head toward the bright lights of the city.
******
About twenty miles from the club, I wave my hand at a passing motorist who instantly screeches his car to a halt. Now that I’m out in the open I can’t run anymore, not without attracting the type of attention we all try to avoid. It makes our lives easier to keep the Sapies in the dark about certain things. If they really knew what was going on right under their noses…
I pop my head inside the passenger window of the luxurious Mercedes. A well-dressed middle-aged couple sit side by side, both wearing the blank fixated look of someone under my spell. People are just too easy.
“Take me to the Galaxy nightclub on the corner of Fifth and Main,” I command the driver as I let myself in the back. The man instantly makes a dangerous and illegal U-turn and begins driving to my destination.
The couple remains silent, as I have no desire for them to speak. I stare out the window at the whizzing scenery and try not to think of Bones—what he is doing right now. I glance at the seat beside me; there’s a playbill and a bouquet of flowers. Aww, how cute. Is it date night? But this couple appears to be in their fifties or sixties; certainly they are not still subject to the ridiculous rituals of romance…
“Why are there flowers here?”
Both remain silent.
“You may speak,” I say.
The couple look at each other, unsure who should answer. I roll my eyes. “Man…answer me.”
“They are Irena’s favorite. I give her these flowers on the twenty-second of every month.”
“Why?”
“Because she likes them, and they make her happy. I like making her happy.”
“No, I mean why on the twenty-second?”
“That is the day we met. It is the day we were married. It is the day our son was born.”
How touching. “You do this every month?”
“Yes.”
“How long have you been doing this?”
“Thirty-seven years and three months.”
My eyes narrow. Surely this can’t be true. But under my spell Sapies are incapable of lying. This man is telling me the truth. “You mean to tell me that every single month for the past thirty-seven years you celebrate the day you met and got married, and you bring her her favorite flowers?”
“It is also the day our son was born,” he reminds me. “I missed one month because I was in the hospital. But then it was she who brought the flowers to me.”
My curiosity piqued, I lean forward. This man’s story intrigues me. I knew that some Sapies stayed together for long periods of time, but I didn’t think they actually liked it.
“Tell me, do you love your wife as much as you did when you were first married?”
The man stares straight ahead in a zombie-like trance. “No,” he replies.
I slump back in my seat. Yup. That’s what I thought.
“I love her much, much more,” he fi
nishes.
A strange, achy emptiness spreads over my chest. “Have you ever loved another?” I ask.
“That would be impossible.”
“Have you ever wanted to be with another woman?”
“Not for one second.”
A sense of bewilderment fills me. Surely this wasn’t possible… “Have you ever cheated on her?” I ask, somewhat desperately.
“I would rather cut off my own hand than touch another woman with it the way I touch my wife.”
I slink down lower in my seat. “Would you die for her?” I whisper.
“Happily. A million times over.”
Suddenly, I feel very sad. And very alone.
“Pull over,” I demand even though we’re still several miles away from the club. The man immediately obeys and screeches the car to a halt. As I get out, I give them one final order. “You never saw me, I was never here. You took a wrong turn, but now you are on your way home.”
The couple drives off, and I walk the rest of the way to the club. What is wrong with me? Why am I having such an emotional reaction to that man’s story? This is the kind of stuff she loves…she’s always reading sappy romance novels. I just saw one in real life.
So why do I feel so sad? Why can I feel Liora’s heart breaking inside of me?
I don’t like the answer that fills my mind, but I cannot deny what I know to be true.
I shake my head, trying to force the thought away, but it creeps back into my gut.
I’m sad because this will never, ever, happen for me.
Or for her.
We are destined to live without ever experiencing that kind of love.
This is our ultimate curse.
Chapter 5. Liora
Normally I dread the mile and a half trek through the woods to Dove Creek High. Not the walk itself—that part I enjoy—but the fact that I have a long day of misery ahead of me.
But not today.
Today, I feel more alive than any day in recent memory—as if all the mixed-up pieces inside me had miraculously rearranged and lined up in proper order. For the first time, I’m actually looking forward to school. Just knowing he’ll be there, nearby, makes me feel I can endure almost anything.