A Demon Made Me Do It (32 page)

Now, as I gaze down on his broken and
bloodied body, my heart suddenly breaks.

“
What can I do?” I
whisper.

Kieron hands me the flask and helps me
prop up Bones’ head. “Here, try to get some of this down his
mouth…at least enough so he can transform and drink the
rest.”

He opens Bones’ wide mouth, carefully
avoiding the razor-sharp teeth, as I angle the vial and slowly
dribble some of the liquid inside.

Bones’ eyes flutter open, and he
inhales deeply.

“
Bones, it’s me, Liora.
Remember me? You need to change shape now so you can drink the rest
of this and get better,” I say softly, stroking his wet
body.

A low growl rattles in his throat,
followed by another. Then a small bark, as he raises his head and
stares at me. His colorless eyes slowly brighten, as if a light
switch has been flipped on inside. He growls again.

“
Come on, you can do it…” I
urge.

I feel the shaking in my lap and watch
as the enormous black mass seems to disappear before my eyes.
Almost instantly, where before it felt like a boulder was crushing
me, there is lightness.

He’s a man.

He shivers and shakes, his tawny skin
welted and covered with blood. I unhook the clasp holding my cloak
and throw it over his nude and trembling body.

Kieron kneels beside us as I pour the
rest of the liquid down Bones’ throat. Some of it spills on his
chin, but most of it he eagerly gulps down until it’s
gone.

“
There, that’s better…” I
coo as if I’m speaking to a baby, instead of a demon
monster.

He angles his face to mine. I’d
forgotten just how beautiful he was. And he hasn’t aged a day.
“Liora?” he whispers.

“
Hi, Bones. Long time no
see.” I give him a small smile, but my heart is pounding, still a
little fearful.

He sits up and gives me a devastating
smile, then draws me in his arms hugging me tight. Despite myself,
I hug him back, unable to resist the soft strength of his embrace.
He kisses my cheek and I feel tingles where his lips press down.
“It is so good to see you. I’ve missed you.”

“
I-I missed you too,” I
say, even though until this moment I’d hardly given him a thought.
But being here with him now is bringing back a rush of memories
long since buried. Memories of my previous life, before I despised
what I was.

“
Are you okay? I know it’s
scary for you to be here…”

I have to laugh. Although his wounds
are not yet healed, he’s more concerned with me than with
himself.

“
I’m okay. How are
you
feeling?”

He pulls himself to his feet and wraps
the cloak around his waist, fashioning a loincloth. He glances from
me to Kieron. “I need to thank you…both of you. I know what you did
for me…”

Kieron shuffles his feet. “It was
nothing.”

I’m aware of Kieron standing beside
me, but I can’t bring myself to face him. He lied to me. He tricked
me. He deceived me. This whole time he acted like he was someone
else, when all along he knew the truth about what I really
am.

Bones appraises me. I’m shivering from
the cold, now that I’m without the cloak Lucky was wearing. I
glance down at what I have on and feel the heat rush to my cheeks.
I may as well be naked in this skintight cat suit. Why couldn’t she
have worn one of her dresses tonight?

“
We need to get you home,”
Bones says. “Do you want to take Diablo?”

“
I-I don’t know how to
ride,” I say through chattering teeth.

“
I can give you a lift on
my motorcycle,” Kieron says, “I did it with Lucky once
before.”

And just like that my heart officially
shatters. I feel sick.

“
I’d rather jump into that
frozen river than go anywhere with you,” I snap, my voice hard and
cold.

“
Well, we need to get you
home,” Bones says. “Um…I don’t know if you’re up for it, but I can
take you if you like…I’ll change back and you can hold on like you
did when you were younger…” He looks me up and down, and where his
gaze falls, my body warms instantly, as if heat lasers were coming
from his eyes.

I hesitate, but know I have no choice.
I nod. “Okay then, here you go,” he says, handing me the cloak. I
avert my eyes. “I’ll go slow, and grab onto as much fur as you need
to stay on. Don’t worry about hurting me; you can’t.”

He transforms, then lowers his massive
body. I mount eagerly. I lean forward and wrap my arms around his
neck, burying my face in his silky fur.

“
I’ll be following right
behind you,” Kieron says.

I lift my face and turn to
him. “Don’t bother. In fact, don’t
ever
come anywhere near me again. I
want
nothing
to do
with you. Understand?
Stay
away
!”

Bones takes off at a slow trot,
leaving a crestfallen Kieron behind.

******

We’ve travelled for a few hours at a
mild pace when Bones suddenly stops and crouches down. Confused, I
dismount and step away as his body twists and shakes. When I see
he’s becoming a man again, I lower my gaze…tempted, though, to
sneak a peek.

With my eyes closed, I hold out my
cloak and feel him take it from me.

He chuckles. “It’s okay, you can look
now.”

I open my eyes again.

“
Through those trees is the
Portal…I can’t go further as a beast, only as a man.”

“
How much further to the
cabin?” I ask, glancing around. I search my memory for this place,
but although it’s vaguely familiar, I know that once I exit
Thiberoux the scenery will change dramatically.

“
I’m guessing about ten
miles? It’s quite a walk…I can run and carry you in my
arms…”

I have to smile. “Seriously? You can
do that?” I don’t know if the idea frightens or excites me. Then, I
look into his eyes, and know I desperately want to be in his
arms.

“
I’ll be careful, promise.
We’ll be there in no time.” With that, he scoops me up as if I’m no
heavier than a feather and carries me over the threshold into a
different world. My world. Once again, I clasp my arms tightly
around his neck and squeeze my eyes shut. The blast of wind rushing
past my face tells me we’re travelling very fast, but I’m too
afraid to look. I bury my face in his chest, feeling his soft, warm
skin on mine.

Unfortunately, my ride is over in only
a few minutes. The rushing wind stops and Bones gently sets me
down. I open my eyes and see the cabin a few hundred yards
away.

I turn to him and smile. “Thanks,
Bones. I really appreciate it.” Impulsively I hug him, savoring the
sweet feeling of his arms around my body.

When he holds me, I want to
swim in his skin, and I take several deep breaths of his
intoxicating scent. Now that we’re here, I don’t want him to leave.
I can’t imagine not seeing him again, and I don’t want to blink for
fear he won’t be here when my eyes open. I want him to ask me to do
something,
anything
, just so I can have the pleasure of obliging him. I feel that
the whole reason I was born was so I could meet him and have him
look upon me the way he is looking on me now.
He
is the reason for my existence…he
is my
everything
,
always. If he leaves me, I shall surely die.

“
You take care of yourself,
girl. And don’t be such a stranger. I miss you.” He disentangles
from my eager embrace and hands me back my cloak.

“
Wait…please don’t leave
me…” I beg, reaching out for him.

But he’s already gone.

******

“
Oh, Liora, thank the gods
you’re all right. I have been worried sick.” Tatiana rushes at me
the moment I walk through the door. She angles her body away from
me awkwardly as she hugs me, and I remember I’m still wearing the
magical black diamond. I was warned as a child how it’s fatal if
any human, like Tatiana, comes into contact with it.

Yet for some reason,
I
haven’t turned to
ash.

“
It seems there were some
problems last night. Lucky got stuck in Thiberoux,” I say as I make
my way across the room to sit on the couch. A small fire burns in
the fireplace, and I’m so tired right now, I could sleep for
days.

Tatiana pours two cups of tea and
brings one over to me. “Yes…I knew you were there, but I couldn’t
see you. That worried me.”

“
It was…okay. Everything
worked out.” I remember Bones, but for some reason I’m not feeling
as swoony about him as I was a few minutes ago. Then I think of
Kieron and my heart turns to ice.

“
What’s the matter dear?
You’re upset, I can tell.” Tatiana sets down her gold-rimmed cup
and turns to me.

I take another sip. “Nothing. I’m just
really tired, is all. Tat, look, I know I agreed to finish school,
especially because I came back that day with my ‘one good thing’…”
My voice trails off as I recall the morning I didn’t want to go to
school, and Tatiana made me, saying if I couldn’t find ‘one good
thing about my life’ then she’d let me drop out. That was the day
Kieron showed up and took me fishing at the magical
meadow.

That was the day I started to fall in
love with him.

So, like an idiot, I’d told her of my
‘one good thing’, thereby sealing my fate to graduate high school.
But now that good thing was gone. Truth is, it was never there in
the first place...it had all been a complete and total
lie.

“
Yes, Liora?” she prompts
when I don’t continue.

I shake my head. This is too much to
process right now. I give a deep sigh, and look at her
compassionate face. “Nothing…I’m just tired. I really don’t feel
well. I know school’s starting back up, but I can’t go today. I’ll
go tomorrow, I swear.”

“
And you’ll graduate with
your class?”

I sigh again.

“
Yes.”

Chapter 20.
Lucky

“
C’mon,
Diablo…
move it
,” I
urge and squeeze my legs tight. He’s already racing at top speed,
but I can’t get to Kings River crossing fast enough.

I start shouting for Bones as soon as
I pass through Thiberoux’s Portal.

“
Bones!...Bones!”

Soon, I’m rewarded with the
sweet sound of his howl. The moment his black form emerges from the
shadows I leap off Diablo’s back, not caring that he is still
running at a gallop. I fly into Bones’ arms just as he regains his
human form, and hold him tight. “Oh, I’m
so
happy to see you. I’m so glad
you’re all right.”

“
Geez, if I’d known that
being shredded by some whorish hellhounds would make you act like
this, I would’ve done it years ago.”

I laugh and pull away,
appraising him. “You look so good. Perfect as always. Now, tell
me
everything
that
happened after I checked out. Don’t leave out a
thing
…” I pull him to a tree stump,
and we sit down by the river of dancing fire, watching the orange
flames swirl around themselves.

He stretches out beside me, fingering
the lace of my dress. “Liora handled it like a champ. So did
Kieron, I guess,” he adds, more as an afterthought.

“
Tell me.”

“
All I know is I was kind
of out of it for a while…when I came to, you…I mean Liora, was
pouring some Source Energy in me. It gave me enough strength to
transform, and after I finished the rest of it, my wounds healed
right away. Better than ever.” He flexes a perfectly shaped bicep
and kisses it. I laugh and roll my eyes.

“
Tell me about Liora…did
she flip out? Did she go completely nutso on everyone?”

“
Well…” he
hesitates.

“
Tell
me
!”

“
She didn’t seem too
pleased with Kieron. Do those two have something going on? And just
how exactly does that
work
? Talk about a kinky
threesome—”

“
Forget them.” I brush my
hand through the air. “What else…?”

He chuckles under his breath. “Okay, I
might as well tell you now. I was worried about her. I knew she’d
be scared and needed to get home safely. She was furious with
Kieron and didn’t know how to ride Diablo, and I know how she feels
about…our kind. But I needed to do something to put her at
ease…just so she’d let me take her home.” He has a devilish smirk
on his face.

My eyes narrow. “You
didn’t
…”

“
Just a little bit,’ he
says, pinching his thumb and pointer finger together. “Just enough
to get her to submit and not put up a fight. But you should’ve seen
her when I left her at the cabin. She was practically
begging
to have my little
demon babies—”