Demon Lord 4: White Jade Reaper Page 18

  “Nothing a muzzle and paper sack wouldn’t fix,” I said. Though to be honest, I’d lost interest in fucking her. Her loss, of course.

  “She’s a leech,” Izumi said. The only reason someone would send her after you is to drink your lifeforce and kill you.

  She’s an assassin.”

  “Not the first one to come after me in recent days.” I shoved the tip of my blade right up to where it almost touched her face. “Who sent you?”

  She closed her eyes, clamping those teeth together. Leeches were like succubus, but they didn’t drink your soul with a kiss. They bit into your flesh, drank your blood, and sipped your lifeforce from the gaping wounds. Someone had intended this fate for me.

  I wanted a name.

  “Look,” I said, “We can do this the easy way, or I can go out, buy a blow torch, and we can play Fire-and-Ice until what’s left of you is allowed to die. Your choice.”

  TWENTY-ONE

  “Who else are you going to call when you need help

  burying a body in the desert, no questions asked?”

  —Caine Deathwalker

  “I have left behinds those whose lives depends on me—hostages to fortune,” the leech said. “For their sake, I can’t tell you anything, so you might as well kill me.”

  “This isn’t a paying gig for you?” I asked.

  Elena shook her head no, but clamping lips in a refusal to say anything more.

  Give me her soul, my sword demanded. I’ll give you her answers from the other side of the grave.

  I seriously doubt that.

  The sword doesn’t just take custody of souls, it consumes them, adding to its power. I needed another way. I was quite capable of torture in a good cause. But this wasn’t a professional assassin, just someone being used. Making an example of her wouldn’t deter my fey enemies. I’d dismembered a storm fey assassin already, and killed a few other types in quite grisly fashion, and still these guys kept coming.

  Perhaps, it’s time to think outside the box.

  I looked at Izumi. “Toss me the bloodstone and step outside for a few minutes.”

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  I let my eyes show the dead, deep abyss that lay hidden within me. “Better you don’t know.”

  She tossed the necklace my way. I caught it. She passed me in silence and left the room. I grew aware of Elena’s terrified gaze on my face.

  I smiled.

  She shivered.

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m not going to kill you.”

  The smell of her fear sharpened. Apparently, I’d not reassured her.

  I lifted my head and spoke into the air. “Selene?” I knew the Red Lady was watching. She always watched. I was her passionate obsession. My inner dragon her soul mate. Still, there was risk in asking for her help. An immortal, shaped by a more savage age, she was a cosmic power. And willful.

  Hot as hell, she appeared before me, a coalescence of red star-points that became a red-haired woman with pale, creamy skin and red crystal eyes. Her hair was a wet mass, a dark cascade of blood that fell down to the small of her back. Her skin was jeweled with little drops of water. Naked, she held a big fluffy towel, red of course, covering her private parts in a pretense of modesty.

  “I was in the shower,” she complained.

  Like it isn’t a rare thing for you to come when I call.

  “I appreciate your willingness to help me out. It shows goodness of heart. One of many reasons I love you.” Actually, I love all my possessions, especially the dangerous ones. A woman attains her true purpose in life when owned by me.

  Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. “I like the flattery, but what do you want?” As if just noticing my prisoner, Selene turned toward the bed and displayed exaggerated surprise at the person shackled there by ice. “Oh, are you sure you want me interrupting?”

  “The lady was sent to kill me.”

  The Red Lady’s eyes filled with raw energy, becoming red stars. Little curls of lightning hazed her face with crimson light. “Would you like me to rip out her heart and eat it?” Her tone of voice was dead serious.

  “Ah, no. I’ve decided to let her go.”

  What! My sword yelled.

  “What?” Elena said.

  “Why?” the Red Lady asked.

  I remembered what the Old Man had said about my needing to learn to command through loyalty. “I can make better use of her as a double agent. She can spy for me.”

  “Sure,” Elena said. “I’d be glad to. Just get this ice off me and I’ll be on my way.”

  I looked at Elena. “I know you don’t mean that, not yet, but you will.”

  She shook her head in denial, her voice heavy with defeat and despair. “I can’t. Byrist has my children. If I betray him, they will die. If I return in failure, we all may be killed anyway.”

  Byrist. I filed the name away.

  I slanted a look at Selene. “Forced to kill for others to save her children. How sad. Doesn’t it just tear at your heart?”

  “Like you care.” Selene shrugged back a lock of red that strayed from place. “Why am I really here?”

  “You’re the one who lives outside linear time,” I said. “If this wasn’t important to our future, you wouldn’t have come to my call. Now stop being a bitch and help me out here.”

  She glowered, turning to look me fully in the face. “Fine, but you owe me.”

  I looked at her in astonishment. “Is true love supposed to keep track of favors owed”

  “Dearest treasure of my heart, don’t ask stupid questions.” Possibly forgetting that she was fully naked in back, she turned toward the captive on the bed.

  “Fair enough,” I said.

  With difficulty, I tore my gaze away from her delectable ass and directed my thoughts to my demon sword. Don’t be grumpy. I do have a little snack for you. I swung the bloodstone near the blade. There’s a soul in here you can have. Stone touched black steel. The red haze of the blade washed over the rock. There was scream in my head, and then the stone was empty. A small wash of pleasure from the demon blade kicked a bit of extra power into me. That chore done, I banished the sword to my armory in Malibu.

  Now on with my plan. “Selene, I’ve seen the modifications you make to living things on the Red Moon. You are a skilled

  artist.”

  She shrugged off my praise, but pride swelled her already formidable chest.

  I continued. “Do you think you can make her beautiful, but enspell this bloodstone so it makes her look like she does now?”

  “Hmmmm.” The Red Lady gestured to the bed and it levitated, spinning slowly so she could evaluate the woman from all sides. “Not as beautiful as myself perhaps, but there is much I can do with this. It’s been a while since I’ve unleashed my creative muse in such a way.”

  The door to the room opened. Grace stuck her head in the room. “We got the adjoining room near the stairs. Madison wants to send out for pizza and Coke. Do you need…” I turned to her. Grace’s eyes were wide with surprise seeing two strange women in the room, one of them tied to a floating spinning bed. “Uh, never mind. I can see you’re busy.” She fled.

  Izumi stuck her head in the door and quietly took in the same scene. “Pizza sounds good. Let me know when you’re done. I’ll bring you a slice.”

  I shot her a wicked smile. “You could stay and join the party. What’s one more naked babe in floating bed?”

  Without another word, she backed out, closing the door behind her. Whatever she told the others, it was bound to help my reputation as an insatiable stud.

  Without taking her eyes off Elena, Selene said, “You’re such a tease.”

  “I know. When you’re done with the makeover, and enchanting the stone necklace, do you think you could go back with Elena to Fairy and bust her children free? You can drop them off at the demon clan house in L.A.”

  “You want a quiet rescue, or can I rain fire from the sky?” the Red Lady asked.

&
nbsp; “We need quiet. Leave changelings in place of the children so this Byrist thinks Elena is still fully in his power. That way, she can collect information for me, and let me know when new assassins are on the way. Also, we can find out which fey Lords and Ladies are plotting my death.”

  Elena spoke from the bed, looking a little sick from the motion which was speeding up. “And if I don’t … work for you? You … will kill my children?”

  “No. Your children will be safe under my protection. You can visit them and see they’re well cared for. And when you’ve served your purpose, you’ll find I’m generous to those who have been faithful to me. You can rejoin your family among my demon clan, or in my fey kingdom, holding a high place of honor. Here’s an advance payment.”

  I shifted my stare back to Selene’s wonderful ass and shapely legs. “Do it Red.”

  Red lightning crackled, making her a human eclipse.

  I noticed the bed whirling faster. Elena screamed.

  The door opened behind me. I turned to see who it was.

  The manager stood there, two-hundred pounds of blue-haired granny in a hundred-pound sack. Her tight-fitting top was a chaotic blend of violet and jungle green, a palm-leaf print. Her reading glasses balanced precariously at the tip of her snout-like nose. Her lipstick was an even more violent red than I remembered. The blue eyeliner was just as heavy. “I’ve had complaints about gunfire and whores coming in and out of here. This is a family establishment, and we—”

  Her stare passed me, taking in Red and the whirling burning bed where Elena screamed shrilly.

  “Sorry,” the manager said, “I didn’t realize you were in the middle of a satanic sacrifice. Make sure you clean up the blood when you’re done.”

  I smiled. Sure. “No problem.”

  She left, closing the door very softly behind her.

  I turned back to see how things were going. The bed was slowing like a carnival ride at the end of a run. The bed settled back into place with a small thump. The ice restraints were gone. Elena’s long-nailed hands clawed the sheet she lay on. She was still naked, but looked like she’d endured intensive body sculpting. Her breasts were fuller, the nipples perky and pink. Her skin had a golden glow that might have come from a tropical sun. Raven black hair formed a cloud under her head. Wide with terror, her eyes were topaz crystal. Her full lips invited kisses. Her hips were rounder, the pelvic tilt a little more pronounced.

  “You like?” the Red Lady asked.

  I wasn’t sure which of us she was talking too. Playing it safe, I didn’t answer.

  Elena rolled off the bed and broke into a tottering run. She reached the bathroom and gripped the sink, hunching forward as she stared into the mirror. She straightened. Her hands felt her face as if she were certain her eyes deceived her. From where I stood, I could see a black, prehensile tail had been added. It ended in a cute little arrow. Spouting from her shoulder blades were foot-long, leathery wings, a bat-like element.

  I looked back at Selene. “You made her into a succubus?”

  The Red Lady spun and jounced over me, her towel forgotten, left on the floor behind her. “Her essential nature is still the same. I just changed her feeding method. Biting people is icky when it’s not in the heat of passion.”

  “That’s really me?” Elena demanded, her sexy voice low and husky. “I’m beautiful!”

  The Red Lady draped her arms around my neck, rubbing against me. “Of course you are. I do good work.”

  Further comment came out of the bathroom. “My teeth are small, human. How am I going to feed?”

  “Same way a succubus does,” I said, “with a kiss.”

  “Good idea.” Selene locked her lips to mine, fierce and demanding. Her tongue stabbed into my mouth, coiling around my own. She groaned in need, pulling her face back. “I need you to fuck me. Right now.”

  It was a cost for magic I didn’t mind paying.

  Suddenly, a second naked body was thrown against us. Elena turned the passionate embrace into a group hug. “Thank you, thank you!” She moved to kiss me.

  Selene put a hand in Elena’s face, stopping her. “So you’re going to drink his soul?”

  Elena froze. “I wouldn’t!”

  “Not on purpose,” I said, “but you’re not used to the changes yet.”

  Elena drew back, touching my arm in apology. “Sorry. You are still going to save my children?”

  The door to the room opened again.

  “What is this, a running gag?” I broke free and turned to see who it was this time. Onyx stood there, his eyes on the ladies. His tongue all but dragged the floor. He ogled thoroughly, finally shifting his stare to me. The lust in his eyes was displaced with admiration.

  I lifted an eyebrow, sign language for: What the hell?

  With a whispery sigh he said, “You are a god.”

  Selene’s hand wound around me and found its way to my engorged cock. “This certainly is. Some of my best work.”

  I spun in her arms. “What? I was born with that.”

  She laughed. “Like you actually remember. I live outside linear time. Remember? You said so yourself. How do you know what I may or may not have done some dark night in L.A. while the prepubescent you lay asleep in his cute little bed with the Batman bedspread.”

  That couldn’t be right. Could she have really popped in during my childhood and tweaked my DNA a little to add girth and length? Wait a second. I did used to have a Batman blanket. Son of a bitch!

  She smiled widely. “Ah, now you believe me.”

  “What right did you have to—?”

  She kissed my words away. Our tongues dueled. At last, a lack of air broke the lip-lock. She said, “If you don’t like it, I can make it smaller—”

  “No! That is, there’s no need to make a fuss.”

  She growled, her eyes devouring me. “Well then, you’d better drive that idea out of my head with a couple hours of exhausting sex.”

  “Onyx,” I said. “Go away.”

  His voice spiked with eagerness. “But there are two of them. You’ll probably need my help.”

  “No,” I said. “I won’t. Oh, by the way. Tell everyone else that the next person through that door—besides Izumi—is going to get stabbed through the eye.”

  TWENTY-TWO

  “Paying for what you want is overrated

  though often a necessary evil.”

  —Caine Deathwalker

  I woke up alone, on the floor, in the wreckage of the bed. I had bruises and bloody scratches, feeling strain in every muscle. My cock was well-drained and exhausted but incredibly happy. With a groan, I rolled off my back and shoved myself off the floor. A hot shower stung my wounds but brought me to the edge of functionality. I shaved, dressed in slacks and a red silk shirt, and considered where I wanted to go to for breakfast. With all the activity of the night, I’d used up a lot of energy that needed replacing. I found my satchel and made sure my weapons were inside and all was in order. This time, the case would go in the trunk of my car.

  I went out, locking the door behind me, and made my way to the parking lot. A quick stop at my Mustang provided a bundle of cash from my hidden mini-safe. Armed with cash, I made my way to the office. I went in and stood by the counter, waiting. Granny came from the back. Her blue-gray hair was the color of cigarette smoke. Her dress was as eye-searing as usual; magenta and gold paisley shapes on a field of navy blue.

  “I’ve had more complaints,” she said. “You got an alligator up there fighting with lions?”

  “No, of course not.” I dropped a brick of cash in front of her. “There has been some damage to the room however. I’d like you to fix everything up. And keep the leftover money for your trouble. All right?”

  She stared at the stack of cash. Stirring from shock, she

  reached out and reverently gathered up the offering. “Not a problem.”

  “I hope you’re not going to kick me out. I like it here.”

  Clutching the money to her sagg
y bosom, she backed out of reach as if I might change my mind about the cash. “Stay as long as you like.”

  I smiled. “Thanks.” Yeah, green is the color of forgiveness.

  I went back outside, upstairs, and went to the girls’ room. I tested the knob. It was unlocked. “Anybody could just walk in.” I did. The first few feet were gloomy. After that, the air went opaque. It was like being in a cave miles below the surface where darkness has pressure, a presence.

  I stopped before tripping over the furniture. “Onyx, what the hell?”

  “Oh, you’re up. Good. I’m going out of my skull, metaphorically speaking. The things I’ve had to listen to all night! I shudder at the horror.”

  “Hanging out with three chicks has proven educational, huh?”

  “I’ve discovered that not all education is good.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, down through the ages men have discovered that there is a hell of a lot of bliss in ignorance. If a man gets empathically sensitive, women expect him to actually show it in public.”

  “Why do men put up with that?” Onyx asked.

  “It’s because women have a monopoly on vaginas and a controlling interest in their use.”

  A sleepy, Russian-tinged voice peeled out. “I heard that.”

  “The vampire princess is still here, I see,” I said.

  I felt a ripple in the surrounding darkness, maybe a shrug. “She stayed all night. We had pizza. She bit the delivery boy. He really didn’t mind. Vamps get away with murder. There was a pillow fight. They ganged up on me and wrestled me to the floor. I didn’t mind that. But then the gossip started. The comparative qualities of boy bands was discussed. And Grace wouldn’t stop blathering on about Fenn. We all watched a chick-flic on TV, ‘cause they wouldn’t let me change the channel.”

  “You have my sympathy,” I said.

  “We got Dominika’s life story out of her. Seems she’s a direct descendant of that Rasputin guy.

  She didn’t want to be turned into a vampire. She had a bone disease or something and had made peace with dying. Rasputin didn’t give her a choice. She was kinda hoping we’d all forget she was going to burst into flames this morning at sunrise. Madison said it was her right to end an intolerable existence. Grace told Dom that she needed to convert to a Protestant religion first so her suicide wouldn’t be a mortal sin, keeping her out of Heaven. You know—”