A Demon Made Me Do It (8 page)

I have no choice.

Darting over to the
enormous grey trash dumpster against the back wall, I struggle to
lift its heavy lid. It falls on my fingers, and I have to bite my
lip to keep from crying out. I
have
to get in.

Finally, I manage to open it wide
enough to squeeze inside. “I’m so sorry, Lucky,” I whisper. I don’t
even want to think about what I’m sitting on, much less what Lucky
will do when she sees where I’ve left her. As the stench of rotting
garbage fills my nostrils, I take a last quick breath of fresh air
and close the lid.

Chapter 4.
Lucky

Oh sweet hell this place smells like
shit. Where am I? I can’t see anything. I have the money bag in one
hand, but the other is touching something squishy. And
runny.

I lean back on my arm and oozy goo
slimes through my fingers. I react instinctively, unleashing the
rain of fire coursing through my veins. Metal crashes against
pavement in a thunderous explosion, and I tumble to the ground
amidst a heap of refuge.

From the pale glow of the
street lamps, I assess my surroundings—I’m in the alley beside the
bank. Okay, that much I understand. What I
don’t
get is why I was in with all
the garbage.

Lovely.
Just freakin’ lovely
. “Dumpster
diving now, are we, you disgusting pig?!” I say aloud, hoping
somewhere deep inside she hears me. I don’t even care if she has a
good reason for leaving me in that filthy place. This is
unforgivable and she’s just
really
flippin’ lucky she ruined her own clothes instead
of mine
.

I’m busy cursing Liora’s name and
shaking particulates from my hair when I hear a man’s concerned
voice. “Excuse me, Miss, are you okay?”

A small group of Sapies
gather near the end of the alley, watching me. They must’ve been
attracted to the loud noise.
Great.
Rolling my eyes I swish my hands, still dripping
with goo, and mutter, “
Alieno.
Leave.” They instantly shuffle away, already
forgetting what drew them here in the first place. All except for
the one who continues to watch me with an amused grin.

Fan-freakin-
tastic.

“
What are you looking at?”
I ask, scowling in his direction. Of all the witnesses to my mortal
humiliation
he
has
to be here?

“
You have pepperoni in your
hair.” He points helpfully to my head.

I fight back the urge to
vomit and carefully pick out the moldy red disk.
Could this night
start
off any crappier
? Mustering any dignity is
impossible at this point, so I wipe my hands on my pants, grab the
money bag, and stalk past him. He tenses as I brush by. I’m
half-tempted to blow off the banking entirely, seeing as how it’s
more for Liora’s benefit than mine. I don’t care a whit about
money; I don’t care if it’s for some homeless, snot-nosed brats.
And since Liora has no problem leaving me in a dumpster like a
piece of trash…

But I know if I don’t get
the checks, Tatiana will be mad. And I make it a point
never
to get Tatiana
mad—at least not on purpose. But Liora will pay dearly for her
utter lack of respect of me, that’s for
damn
sure.

******

I throw open the door, nearly taking
it off its hinges. Tatiana is sitting on the couch waiting for me.
I angrily toss the bank checks on the table and storm into my
bedroom.

“
Do not be mad at her,
dear,” Tatiana calls to me. “She was afraid of exposure and had to
conceal herself to avoid a problem. She felt she had no choice. I’m
sure she is very sorry to do that to you.”

“
Whatever.”

Fifteen minutes later I emerge from
the shower. I run my hands through my wet hair, and the heat
emanating from my palms rapidly dries the long locks. I pull them
back in a low ponytail and my fingers briefly touch my Mark. To
Liora and other Sapies, the Mark burns hot to the touch. For me, it
feels cool…like ice.

This Mark on the back of
our neck is the reason Liora won’t ever wear her hair up; she
doesn’t want anyone to see it. Personally I don’t see what the big
deal is. It just looks like an ordinary tattoo—a simple red star.
Something anyone could get at any tattoo parlor. It’s not like it
spells out, “I am half-demon,” or anything. I swear, she’s
such
a demon
bigot.

After changing into an all-black
leather outfit—perfectly suited for my all-black mood—I charge into
Tatiana’s room. She’s stirring her cauldron, the cool steam curling
ghostly ribbons around her serene visage.

“
Find me some demons to
slay. Tormenting won’t cut it tonight.”

Since I’m forbidden to kill Sapies,
and fighting with other demons in Thiberoux is outlawed by Demonic
Decree, I have to find my fun elsewhere: The world of
Man.

Naturally, I never fight
with any from my own tribe, but there are
others…
many
others
who encroach on the surrounding towns and use the Sapies as
playthings. It’s these creatures that provide me with an outlet for
my natural desires. And right now—with the Amazèa out of
reach
again
—I have
a very big itch to scratch. And long, perfectly-manicured black
nails to scratch it with.

“
I feel your fire and know
you must hunt. If you want to stay close by, in Richmond there are
two Paraste demons working out of the Galaxy Nightclub. Or, you
could go back to New York, where there are several—”

“
I’ll take the Parastes,” I
say. I’d just been to New York last night to collect the tributes,
and besides, I detest these particular demons. They aren’t good for
anything useful. Unless you consider easing my itch useful. Which I
do. Once they attach themselves to a human body, they assume total
control and force their victims to do harmful things to themselves
and others. The host never survives for very long.

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.