Lucifer's Daughter (8 page)

Auric brought up the rear, and a perverse part of me hoped he was checking out my ass. I gave my booty an extra wiggle, just in case.

When we got to my apartment, Auric took the key from my hand and went in first. I could feel Charon beside me, shaking in silent mirth. He"d known me too long. I nudged him and whispered. “I think it"s cute, so can it. I"ve never had anyone want to protect me before.”

“I know,” whispered back Charon. “It"s just...does he know who you are and what you can do?”

“He knows who I am; as for what I can do, hell, I don"t even know myself sometimes.”

“All clear,” Auric called from inside.

Charon and I entered my small apartment, even smaller now that Auric loomed in it. I was suddenly glad I"d tidied up the place today before going to work. I"d hate for him to think I couldn"t cook and sucked as a housekeeper, even if it happened to be the truth. I had other skills.

“Can I offer you guys something to drink?” I asked. I didn"t wait for an answer as I took off my coat and threw it on a chair before walking into my tiny kitchen. I opened the fridge and grabbed a couple of cold beers–recent events called for alcoholic sustenance. In the drawer with the bottle opener, I eyed an array of emergency tools–I kept them stashed all over the place as a „just in case." I palmed my silver needles–deadly and decorative–and used them to fix my hair up into a loose bun on top of my head. Contrary to popular films, long hair flinging about in a fight was never a good idea.

I carried the beers out to the boys, who swigged them with thanks. Downing a good portion of my own, I wandered into my bedroom to arm myself with a few more toys. Opening the hidden compartment in my headboard, I pulled out my braided unicorn hair whip, and placed it on the nightstand. It burned demons and other nasties better than holy water. It also reassured me that while I might be a lot of things, demon wasn"t one of them--the whip didn"t hurt me. I also added a few more daggers about my person. I might have magic, but only an idiot went out armed with only one weapon.

Coming back out to my living room, I found Auric and Charon staring at each other; at least, I assumed Charon was staring. It was hard to tell with his hood and all.

I flopped into my chair and took another swallow of my beer before talking. “Okay, Charon, spill.”

Charon jerked his hood at Auric.

“I"m not leaving, so say what you need to Muriel.” Auric looked like an immovable wall–and a stubborn ass. Both traits I happened to admire, as I held an abundance of those qualities myself.

“It"s okay, Charon; I"m pretty sure he can be trusted.”

Auric looked offended by my remark, but hey, I"d only known him all of, like, three days. He hadn"t had time to earn my full trust–or my heart–yet.

“Have you heard about the movement to overthrow Lucifer?” asked Charon.

“When isn"t there a movement to overthrow him?” Seriously, it had been happening since the beginning of time, or so I"d been told.

“Well, this time, whoever is attempting it has managed to pull together some real muscle.”

“Who is it?” And why hadn"t my father told me?

Charon shook his hood. “That"s just it, we don"t know. There shouldn"t be anyone strong enough to attempt it. Your father has always been very careful about that.”

“Speaking of whom, why did Dad send you, instead of coming himself?”

“Yes, well, there was an incident that temporarily incapacitated him.”

I jumped up from chair. “What?”

“Your father"s okay,” Charon hastened to assure me. “But he had to take care of this little problem, so he asked me to come check on you and warn you. He wanted to send a guard or two, but he knows how much you hate that. To be honest, they kind of have their hands busy right now.”

“I should go to him,” I said. Daddy needed me.

“No!” Charon almost shouted; unusual for this usually mild mannered man–er, thing, or whatever Charon hid beneath the robe. “Your father wanted you to promise that you wouldn"t go to Hell. Promise me, Muriel.”

“Fine.” I slouched back down into my chair, sulking. Figured Dad would still treat me like a little girl. “So what am I supposed to do instead?”

“Stay safe. Your father will come speak to you when he can. Oh, and he had another message for me that didn"t make much sense.”

“What was it?”

“He said you were so grounded.”

I laughed. When Auric looked at me, puzzled, and Charon cocked his head, I howled even harder, „til tears streamed down my cheeks.

“I don"t suppose you"ll share with us what"s so funny?” asked Auric.

I tried to stifle my laughter, not an easy task. I"d always had an odd sense of humor. “Remember how I told you I"d been forbidden to see you?”

“Yes,” said Auric. Then I laughed again, as his face went slack with understanding. “Damn,” he muttered.

Charon just shook his head, and got up. “Kids. Anyway, I"ve passed on the message, and you seem to be in good hands. I"ll be off now. I"m sure my son"s managed to do something stupid to the boat by now, and I have a feeling it"s going to be busy at the river in the next little bit. Good luck, Muriel.”

“Bye, Charon,” I waved as he opened a dimensional portal and stepped through it.

“Well, I can certainly say there"s never a dull moment around you,” mused Auric.

“It"s all part of my charm,” I said with a bright smile.

“So Satan warned you about me did he?” asked Auric warily.

“I assume he meant you, since he never actually used your name. Just „that man." He told me to stay away from you, or else.”

“Or else what?” asked Auric frowning.

“Oh, please. I am not a little girl anymore, and my dad can"t tell me who I can date or not. So if you"re worried about it, don"t be. And if by chance he should show up and threaten you, let me know?” I said darkly. King of Hell or not, I would not allow my father to ruin this for me. I could do that all on my own.

“Speaking of showing up, shouldn"t we be preparing this place a bit more, in case demons come calling?”

“My place is safe. No demons in or out unless I invite them through that door. Well, except for Dad; you can"t keep him out from anywhere,” I grumbled.

“Why all the hardware, then?” he asked, his eyes taking in my shiny new accessories.

“Just in case I need to leave quickly. Speaking of leaving, are you still determined to stay?”

“I"m not going anywhere, Muriel,” he said looking at me steadily. His words gave me an erotic thrill; sure, I knew he meant tonight, but for a moment I allowed myself to fantasize that he meant forever. “So, does your bar have the same magical shield as this place?”

“No. And how did you guess the bar was mine?”

“Please,” he said, rolling his eyes. “The way the staff defer to you, the office out back, the fact you open it and lock up each night. And let"s not forget the biggest clue, the fact you"re a walking no-magic field. Doesn"t take a genius to figure it out.”

“Oh.” I added observant to his list of qualities. “Yeah, well, given the nature of my clientele, I couldn"t disallow portals or demons inside. They"re great tippers when they get drunk. Of course, you have to make sure they don"t steal the waitresses, but other than that, they"re actually well behaved, especially compared to some other species.”

“I get the impression the bar is your baby. I take it Daddy,” Auric almost choked when he called Satan „Daddy," which made me smile, “didn"t have a hand in it?”

“Nope, the Nexus is all mine; and by this time next year, I hope to have a flat screen and a karaoke machine.”

“Karaoke?” Auric laughed.

I tapped my foot and glared. “What"s so funny about having karaoke? I happen to love it.”

“Sorry,” said Auric, trying to stifle his chuckles. “It"s just the thought of some of your patrons singing, well, let"s just say I"d almost pay to see it.”

I wanted to scowl some more, but he had a point. Didn"t matter. I wanted karaoke in my bar, and dammit, I"d get it.

Auric moved closer to me, and it occurred to me we were alone again--and that made the kisses from earlier flare up in my mind, making me flush. I had to get away from him before I did something foolish–or erotically interesting. “I"ll get some blankets and a pillow for you and setup the couch,” I said turning to escape.

Auric chuckled behind me. A sound that sent shivers down my spine, the good kind. “Muriel, I can"t protect you if I"m not in the same room as you.”

I whirled around and found myself facing his very broad chest–a chest I was tempted to touch. I looked up and saw him smiling at me crookedly, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“I told you, we"re safe here,” I said, backing up a bit and licking lips that suddenly went dry.

“Says you,” said Auric stubbornly, crowding close to me again. “What if you"re wrong, and something gets through? The time it takes for me to get to you could be deadly. Nope, I sleep where you sleep.”

I wanted to stamp my foot in frustration. “We are not sharing a bed. I told you before, I am not giving up my virginity „til I find true love.”

“Who said anything about sex?” he said, widening his eyes in innocence. “I just said I needed to be in the same room as you.”

“I–.Um.” I shut up. Stupid man. He"d flustered me again. Hey, didn"t he want to have sex with me? “Wait a second. You don"t find me attractive?”

“Muriel, Muriel, Muriel,” he said, chiding me before tilting my chin up. He kissed me lightly.

Just one brief, butterfly touch before he moved away. “I want you. But I"ll respect your wishes. I won"t have intercourse with you. Unless you ask me to,” he said teasingly, before stepping back out of reach.

Smart man, because my fist had already begun to swing. He grabbed my clenched hand with a chuckle, and pulled me up against his hard body. My body flushed with heat, especially when I remembered some of the fantasies I"d masturbated to the night before. I now knew first-hand my imagination hadn"t done justice to what it would feel to be pressed up against the length of his solid body. The erotic pleasure that engulfed me at this simple touch frightened me–but even more, it excited me.

His arm curled around my waist and lifted me up so our lips were even. “You know,” he whispered, his warm breath making me shiver with desire. “There are things we could do that would still leave you a virgin.”

Surely the moan I heard wasn"t me. My mind and body were intrigued at his words. True, he had a point; but the thing I feared was in the heat of the moment, I"d forgo my vow and indulge in pleasure for the sake of lust.
And would that be so bad?
wondered my horny inner voice.

I would have loved to retort, both to him and myself, but my nose suddenly twitched with a familiar smell as something pounded at my door.

“Demon,” I said unnecessarily, for Auric had already let go of me and turned, placing his body in front of mine as a shield. A second later, he unsheathed his sword--not the one I"d felt pressing against my lower belly, unfortunately.

I found his protectiveness cute, but he seemed to have missed one key point. “Um, Auric, he"s not in the apartment.”

Auric growled in reply. Seriously. I walked around his bristling body and went to the door.

Flinging it open, I was very careful to stand back from the threshold.

I heard a familiar chuckle, and a demon I unfortunately knew stepped into view in front of my doorway. “Hello, Satana.” Eerie black eyes flicked to look over my shoulder, and the demon"s next words weren"t so jovial. “I see you"ve found yourself a protector.”

Auric"s strong presence at my back gave me extra confidence and cockiness. “What do you want, Azazel? Did my father send you?” I asked Satan"s lieutenant, and my former suitor.

Actually, suitor depended on how you looked at it. Azazel wanted me; I had just never wanted him. Something he still had a problem grasping, hence my caution where he was concerned.

“Lucifer is on his last legs. A new power is coming, and it will sweep your father from his throne, and a new order will prevail in Hell.”

“Traitor,” I hissed. Knowing my father"s trusted lieutenant had betrayed him made me see red, and I fought an urge to step through that door and punish him. However, Azazel was a high level demon, thus a thread of sanity and self-preservation held me back. But being smart didn"t mean I wasn"t still pissed. “You"ll pay for your change in loyalty,” I promised. Perhaps it was my glowing eyes, or the nasty smile that curled my lip; either way, Azazel took an unconscious step back.

As if realizing he"d shown weakness, Azazel puffed up his chest and blew smoke out his nose.

“You do not have the power to hurt me, Satana. I, on the other hand, can cause you a world of pain.” Behind me Auric growled, and I put my arm up to prevent him from coming forward.

Azazel leered, revealing sharp teeth. “I"ve come to offer you a deal, Lucifer"s daughter. Leave with me now, as my concubine, and you can live.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then you die.”

I laughed. Sorry, the whole ultimatum thing...it just didn"t work for me.

“Listen, Azz; I told you before, and I"m going to tell you again. Not even if you were the last demon on earth. So you can take your offer and shove it up–”

I never got to finish my sentence, because, with a scream of rage, Azazel came rushing towards me, only to hit an invisible wall. The magic around my apartment, which even my powers couldn"t undo, stopped him; that and the sword point Auric shoved into his belly. Even Azazel, an old and powerful demon, could be hurt when blessed metal sliced into him.

Auric, with a grim look, pushed me aside and shoved the length of blessed steel deeper into Azazel"s flesh, then stepped out into the hall.

“Auric! No, come back in here,” I cried, worried he"d get hurt. Auric, of course, ignored me.

Azazel grinned evilly, the wound in his belly painful, but not incapacitating. Azazel reached for his weapon. With a shrug, I stepped out into the hall, too, and laughed at Azazel"s look of frustration; for his magical blade wouldn"t appear in my presence, and being overly confident, he hadn"t thought to bring a real one for backup.

“Get back in the apartment,” Auric grunted, trying to pull his sword up the demon"s body to eviscerate it.