Lucifer's Daughter (11 page)

Sensing motion behind me, I ducked just as a meaty, clawed fist swung where my head would have been. Pivoting on one foot, I kicked out with the other into the creature"s knee cap, the force of my blow hitting with a loud crack. The demon fell with a cry as his leg collapsed under him.

My jaw dropped for a second. Either I"d gotten stronger overnight, or something weird was going on.

I rolled, instinct suddenly controlling my body, and slashed at the downed demon as he tried to grab me. With a howl, he clutched his burning hand to his chest, and I sprang up. I turned to face my first enemy, only to find Auric battling him. I whirled, looking for more danger, and saw Auric"s initial opponent in two pieces. A decapitation. Nice.

I swung back to watch the fight, my heart almost stopping when the ugly black demon raked his claws forward across Auric"s chest, tearing the cloth and skin, red blood immediately welling.

I found myself engulfed in fury–how dare they harm Auric--and without thinking, shouted out the powerful words that suddenly appeared in my mind. The force of them rang in the air, and I saw the demon"s eyes widen in horror--something I"d never thought to see on one of their faces--before he disintegrated in a shower of black ash.

But whatever I"d done had been too much, and I collapsed to the dirty asphalt in a faint.

* * * *

“Where am I?” I asked, trying to sit up.

Auric put a hand on me and pushed me back down. “On the couch in your office. Stay down for a minute.”

“I"m fine. What about the demons?”

“What demons?” asked Auric. “Whatever spell you cast turned all three of them to dust.”

I stared at him blankly. I"d done what? “Impossible. I can see, maybe, destroying one with the ancient magic like I did before, but three of that size? No way. No one can do that.”

“You did it.”

I wanted to call him a liar, but I knew he told the truth. It would also explain why I"d fainted.

The amount of magic involved... Well, let"s just say it had to be staggering. But where had all that magic come from in the first place? Had I reached some new magical plateau? Whatever had happened had left me weaker than a kitten, something I discovered when I tried to get up. My head spun in multiple directions and my legs buckled, sitting me back hard onto the couch.

Auric hovered over me, concerned. He placed the back of his hand on my forehead, as if checking for a temperature. I didn"t have one yet, but if he touched me a little lower... How I could think dirty thoughts when my stomach churned with nausea, I didn"t know, but suddenly I felt a little better.

“Let me up,” I complained.

“No, I"m not watching you fall flat on your face. Whatever you did, it took a lot out of you.”

I didn"t like being treated like an invalid. Annoyed, I pushed at him. I might as well have been pushing a humongous rock. He didn"t move, so I leaned back, sulking. Auric looking at me, sighed, and shook his head before sticking his head out the door and murmuring to someone. A second later, Christopher and Bambi came in.

“Why are they here?” I asked.

“Something happened outside. That magic you did, I could tell you didn"t quite control it. Look at what happened: instead of just destroying one demon, you took out three. And yesterday at your apartment with that other demon; I"m not blind, I saw the look on your face when you disintegrated it. Something is changing with your magic, and we need to find out why before you hurt yourself.”

I opened my mouth to deny what he said, even if it resembled the truth. I refused to admit there might be a problem with my magic or my control over it. Auric, though, saw the argument coming and dropped to his knees beside the couch I lay on. He kissed me soundly, effectively swallowing any protest or denials I would have made. He didn"t stop until Christopher cleared his throat and Bambi giggled. As for me, dazed from his embrace, I would have done anything he asked.

He smiled at me, stroking my now-swollen lower lip. “They"re going to ask you a couple of questions to see if they can figure out what"s happening with your magic. Be a good girl and answer them.”

His smart ass–totally male--remark annoyed me. “My magic"s gotten stronger, so what?”

“Just humor me, please.”

I glared at Auric. I wanted him to go away and leave me alone before something bad happened to him. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and have him kiss me silly again. I wanted to kill something again for hurting him. I wanted to tell him to go to Hell for making me love him when I couldn"t have him. Only one problem with the last scenario: if he went to Hell, I"d probably run into him there.

I sighed, looking at the three sets of eyes observing me. It looked like I wouldn"t get what I wanted „til I cooperated. “What do you want to know?”

“When did you first get your power?” asked Christopher.

“I"ve always had it.” I still remembered the first time I"d used it. It had been not long after the move into my dad"s palace in Hell. In an effort to socialize me, they"d brought a demon child in for me to play with. That hadn"t worked so well. The demon child had stolen my favorite dolly and taunted me. I remembered crying, and pleading for her to give it back. When she"d laughed at me, I"d gotten mad and wished she"d stop. Next thing I knew, the demon girl had flown through the air and smacked into a wall, and I got my dolly back. Everyone was a lot more careful with me after that.

“Has it gotten stronger over the years, or stayed steady?”

“I peaked a bit in my teens, but pretty steady since then, until about two days ago.”

“Anything changed for you? Diet? Sleep?”

I almost giggled as I thought of the one thing I was suddenly getting.

“What did you just think of?” asked Christopher, so much more serious than the first time I"d met him.

“I"d rather not say,” I replied, managing not to blush. However, Bambi gave me a knowing look, touched Christopher on the arm, and gestured to Auric; they went into a huddle.

“What"s going on?” I asked grumpily, as they ignored me and whispered frantically. I tried to listen in, but my head felt fuzzy, so I had to give up trying. But I"d recovered enough to complain.

“Hello?” I griped. “Over here. Mind telling me what you"re all whispering about?”

The three of them separated guiltily, and I glared at them.

Christopher cleared his throat. “Um, well it seems you"ve drained your reserve of magic, it"s why you feel so weak.”

“I think I already figured that one out, Sherlock. Not a big deal. I"ll rest up and get it back.”

“Yes, well,” said Christopher shifting uncomfortably. “Do you know how you build up your magical reserves?”

I smelled something not right here. Why were they all looking at me like I was a bomb about to go off? “I"ve never thought about it before. The magic"s always been there, just stronger since I hit puberty.”

“Um, well... Let me see how I should phrase this.” Christopher flushed, and stared at the wall above my head.

“Oh, by the hag"s hairy tit,” interjected Bambi rolling her eyes. “What this idiot is having a hard time saying is your magic is sexually based.”

Apparently this was significant. I just wished I got it.

Bambi spelled it out. “You need to be sexually stimulated to build your magic back up.”

I laughed. A laughter which died quickly when I saw Auric"s smug face, Christopher"s stunned one, and Bambi"s sad smile.

“No, that can"t be right because I"m a virgin...” I trailed off. A virgin who masturbated a lot and who, the night before, had her most intense sexual experience ever--and suddenly managed to destroy three demons at once. For the first time in my life, I blushed.

“Well then, lamb, now that you"ve got it, I"ll leave you and your man alone.” Bambi said with a wink, before she snagged Christopher"s arm and dragged him out of my office.

“Well, that was interesting,” said Auric.

I just glared at him. This was all his fault.

“Hey, don"t get mad at me,” he said, holding up his hands. “Not my fault you"ve got nympho magic.” Then he laughed.

I tried to stay mad. I did; but really, nympho magic. I laughed along with him.

When we both finally calmed down, he looked at me, his eyes serious. “I"m sorry I didn"t tell you what I was.”

“You should be,” I said.

“How can I make this up to you?” His green eyes gazed intently into mine, and I had to look away. I needed to be strong for the both of us.

“We can"t be together. You need to leave, Auric.”

“No.”

Stubborn man. “I don"t want to be with you,” I said, trying to sound hard and uncaring.

“Liar,” he said, kneeling beside me and tilting my face up. “I won"t hurt you, Muriel, or lie to you again. I promise.”

Why did he have to make this so hard? “You still have a chance to earn back your wings and return to Heaven. If you stay with me, you"ll lose that chance. I can"t let you do that.”

“It"s not up to you.”

“Why are you doing this?” I cried. “It"s not like you love me. How could you? You"re an angel.

I"m Lucifer"s daughter.”

“What if I said I love you, and have from the first moment I saw you?”

“I don"t believe you. You sure didn"t act like it.”

“What, would you have had me go down on bended knee and give you flowery speeches like Christopher, or give you big puppy eyes like David? That"s not me. This isn"t easy for me to say.

I"m not a man who talks about feelings.” Auric grimaced, and I wanted to smile. “Meeting you changed everything. I wasn"t looking for love. Then suddenly I met you, and it"s like I got hit by a truck load of feelings, all of them centered around you.”

My heart stopped. I wanted to cry out that I loved him, too. But my love would destroy him. I shook my head in denial. “You said yesterday you liked me.”

“I lied. I didn"t want to scare you off. You"d just told me you wouldn"t lie with a man „til you found true love. How would it have looked if I"d said it then? What would you have thought?”

“I would have thought you were trying to get in my pants,” I said grudgingly.

“Exactly.”

“This changes nothing,” I said. “We still can"t be together. You"re an angel of light. I"m the daughter of Satan. Talk about oil and water. I won"t corrupt your chance to return to Heaven.”

“Who says you get to decide?”

“I do. You can"t love me. I don"t believe you.”

“What do I have to do, to prove to you I love you and want to be with you?”

“You can"t,” I said, pushing out of the warm circle of his arms and standing up again. Feeling stronger–Auric packed a potent kiss--I walked to the door and left the office. Headed for the bar, I could feel him, a scorching presence at my back.

I pretended not to see him, and busied myself behind the bar with unsteady hands. But Auric refused to be ignored. I saw him walk out into the bar area and whisper something to Trixie, who headed off towards the jukebox.

The music blasting from the speakers stopped, as did the dancers who milled about on the dance floor in confusion. Auric walked swiftly to the center of the dance floor, which cleared at his approach; and he raised his hands to get everyone"s attention, including mine.

“Anyone who knows me will tell you I hate to sing. But my lady over here,” Auric said, nodding in my direction, “loves karaoke. So bear with me as I serenade her, will you? And Muriel,” he said looking right at me, “I"m not going to leave, and you can"t stop me from loving you.”

Then he sang to me, his low, gravelly voice playing my senses like a finely tuned violin. I didn"t quite grasp what he sang with the first few bars, but when he hit the lyrics I smiled, and I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks. Stupid angel–how I loved him.

He stared at me while he serenaded me to an eighties love song, “What Does It Take” by Honeymoon Suite. A song so apt, I had to wonder if he"d planned this. And when he finished to rousing applause, I found my feet moving towards him. I had no control. I"d tried to warn him.

I"d tried to save him, but I was my father"s daughter. Selfishness ran in my genes, and I couldn"t fight the pull Auric had on my heart and soul.

So be it. We"d be damned together.

I"m not sure how we made it to my apartment, because once we locked lips in the bar, everything else blurred. And burned...

We stumbled up the stairs to my place--a safer location, considering the bounty on my head.

Shutting the door behind me, Auric pushed me up against it and devoured my lips. My lust, held at bay so long, surged through my body like a ravening beast. I wanted to taste every inch of his body.

I pushed his coat off his shoulders and it fell in a heap, which he kicked to the side. Scooping me up easily, he strode to my bedroom, tossing me on the bed, his green eyes alight with passion as they watched me. He pulled the hem of his t-shirt up and stripped it off, baring his chest. There were three faint red lines marring his perfection, all that remained of his earlier injury. An injury I"d foolishly forgotten. With a cry, I went to my knees and leaned forward to touch the red welts, the skin lightly ridged as new scar tissue formed. Scars he"d gotten because of me. Calloused hands gripped mine and I look up at him, my eyes brimming with tears.

“How could I forget?” I whispered horrified. “You could have been killed. It"s dangerous to be around me. I can"t let you do this.” I tried to twist around him, to flee the love he so innocently offered me. A love I would surely corrupt, given my pedigree.

But I couldn"t escape. Auric wouldn"t let me. Instead, he wrapped his arms tightly around me and sat on the bed. He pulled me onto his lap and hugged me close.

“I got injured. Big deal. It happens a lot to me.”

“But this one is my fault,” I said against his chest.

His fingers grasped my face and he forced me to look at him. “Muriel, my body is covered in scars. So what? I healed.”

“This time. What about the next time? What if they kill you? I couldn"t stand that.” Now that I knew I loved him, the thought of his death terrified me.