Natural Consequences (23 page)

“Yeah, Alex,” Jason agreed.

“Seriously?” Alex frowned at his friend. “You, too?”

“Well, it’s not like I knew you were gonna do what you did,” shrugged Jason, “otherwise I might’ve told you it was dumb to begin with.”

“I’m not telling that story.”

“I know you’re not,” Onyx teased. “I just wanna hear whatever lie you plan on telling people instead.”

Lorelei slid in with the group. “My love, do you require a rescue here?”

Alex looked up with hope in his eyes. “Yes! Yes, I do!”

“Very well. Ladies,” she said, looking to Molly and Onyx, “shall we go powder our noses?”

“Sure,” Onyx said after a wordless query to her girlfriend. “Probably about that time for us.”

“Wait, what?” blinked Alex.

“Girl talk,” said Molly, sticking her tongue out at him. “Amber, you coming?”

“I’m good, thanks,” she answered.

Thinking of Rachel, Lorelei forced herself to let Amber stay behind. She led the two other women through the crowd.

“I thought all you women were supposed to go to the bathroom in a pack?” Jason asked.

“I never fit in with that,” she shrugged. Her head tilted. “Alex, what’s wrong?”

He turned to look in every direction. A frown grew ever deeper on his face. “I just lost my dates,” he complained, more to himself than anyone else. “
Both
my dates. How the hell did I manage to lose
both
my dates?”

Behind him, Wade tugged on Drew’s sleeve. As they leaned together, Wade asked, “Y’all notice the two different guys on opposite sides of us who keep taking pictures with us conveniently in view?”

“Uh. No,” Drew admitted. “No, I haven’t.”

“Ninja at eight o’clock. Spider-Man at two o’clock.”

Drew smiled broadly and waited a beat before glancing in that direction, doing his best to be subtle about it. “Sure you aren’t being paranoid?”

“Nope,” Wade shook his head. “Of course, ah’d ask maybe one of our supernatural
buddies t’ check it out, but they all just took off.”

“Ninja looks like he’s leaving now,” Drew said, noting how the two both turned their backs to head out. “You wanna follow? Or talk to Spidey?”

“Let’s follow the ninja,” Wade said. “This turns out all wrong, ah’m gonna feel terrible for punchin’ out a childhood superhero. Hey, Alex,” he called, “Drew an’ me are gonna go check somethin’ out.”

Alex blinked. “Okay?”

“Stay with Jason an’ Amber,” Wade advised as he and Drew headed out. He had no time for anything more than that.

Alex watched as the pair disappeared. He turned to Jason and Amber
, who stood just out of earshot. “Where’d Drew and Wade go?” Jason asked.

“Bathroom or the bar, I guess?” Alex shrugged. “This party br
oke up fast.”

“Aw, don’t worry,” Amber assured him. “We’ll stay with you.”

Jason winced. As soon as Amber looked away, Alex held out his hands in a plea and mouthed out, “Sorry!”

* * *

Rachel didn’t go far. She only needed to ensure no one would see her fade out of sight or touch from mortals. Then she immediately spun 180 degrees and stomped back through the crowd, literally passing through people on her way.

No angels blocked her path. Most of the guardians hovered above the crowd, watching their charges for as long as they could spare, then flying off to look in on other charges in other locations. Others lingered. A given guardian angel had to split his or her attention between many charges, and had to prioritize appropriately. Some guardians took a hands-off approach. Some guardians intervened more than others.

A few guardians were wet blankets. “Daniel!” Rachel snapped as she found him looming over Jason and his date.

“Oh, now she wants to talk,” huffed the other angel. He folded his arms across his chest and frowned to show his indignation.

“Now? What the
fuck
, Daniel?”

His brow knit together in further disapproval. “Must you be so coarse?”

“Yes. Suck it up. Daniel, you could’ve come talk to me at any time. Anyone can. You know that. Open door, like I told everyone when I got the job. What’s with the fuckin’ attitude all of a sudden?”

“You might have been a little more pro-active.”

“I’m pro-active about all sorts of shit! Daniel, my job is to watch over the city as a whole, not tell you guardians how to do your jobs. Every fuckin’ one of you has more experience at your job than I’ve got at mine. Besides, is my management style what you want to talk about right now?”

“Perhaps it is,” came the other angel’s sour reply.

“Oh, get off my ass,” Rachel scowled. “I know damn well you can’t be comfortable with
that
.” She pointed to Amber without even looking at her. The young woman had her arms draped around Jason’s neck, fingers knit together as she pulled him away from the group’s table. Alex followed.

Daniel glanced at his mortal charge and huffed again. “Yes. Well. I can’t say I didn’t
see anything like this coming after everything your mortal boyfriend and that hussy you’ve shacked up with have already put my Jason through.”

“Wha—! What the shit, Daniel? Are you gonna explain what’s up or just take cheap fuckin’ shots at me all night?”

He grumbled and shifted his stance and fought with himself over what to say. “It’s the sort of thing that we must leave to mortal hands.”

“Spill!”

“She’s an undercover agent. Jason represents a lead on her case. She’s posing as a classmate to get close to him and his friends.”

“Yeah, I got that much from just looking at her, thanks,” fumed Rachel. “Who’s she work for? Jason’s not even dirty enough to have gone anal on those bimbos he was with last month—“

Daniel’s eyes fairly bugged out of his head. “Can we please not discuss such things?”

“—let alone commit crimes, so what’s she after? And who’s her guardian?”

“I am,” came a voice to Rachel’s side. She stood almost a head taller than Rachel, with dark hair hanging to her shoulders and a stern, proud look in her eyes. The angel looked Rachel up and down, giving no hint of approval with her expression. “Theresa,” she said.

Rachel stopped herself, taking a breath to control her emotions. “Sorry we’re meeting like this.”

“Indeed,” nodded Theresa. “I was told that you do not require guardians to meet with you upon entering your dominion?”

“No,” Rachel shook her head. “I don’t micro-manage. You guys know what you’re doing.”

“Excellent. I’m glad you understand this.”

Rachel blinked. “Okay, I don’t want to read you wrong, so I’ll just ask: are you unhappy about something here?”

“You seem quite unhappy yourself.”

“What, apart from my friendly banter with Daniel?”

“Huh. Friendly banter,” Daniel repeated sourly.

“I’ve heard
a good deal about you,” said Theresa. “I haven’t liked much of it.”

Rachel’s jaw slowly clenched. “Oh, for the love of fuck. Please tell me you weren’t spreadin’ ‘em for Vincent, too.”

“Hardly. I’ve more sense than that,” Theresa replied. Rather than wait to see if Rachel caught the veiled insult in her comment, she continued. “You know full well that your actions are not lauded by everyone, regardless of the opinion of your council. I am happy to know good things arose from your fiasco. I am not entirely comfortable with the way in which that happened… or how certain vital standards have been allowed to slide in your special case.”

“Nice,” Rachel sighed. “Well, welcome to Seattle and all that bullshit. Guess we can skip trying to be friendly. What the fuck
is up with your girl?”

Theresa’s gaze turned on Daniel just long enough to stare a few daggers at him. “I’m sure our associate here has told you more than enough already.”

“Like fuck he has. Who does your girl work for, and what’s she investigating?”

“I’m not sure it’s best for you to know, Rachel,” Theresa replied. “You are quite close to the situation
. Your direct involvement has compromised these mortals enough already, hasn’t it?”

Rachel’s eyes flared. “Oh, holy shit, you
’re gonna walk into my city and piss all over everything that’s happened in the last month before you even take a look around? Is that your plan? I am way more careful with my involvement than you are with your fuckin’ attitude, stranger. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Is that an order?” Theresa asked. Her cool tone relaxed somewhat, but not so much as to signal an apology.

“No,” answered Rachel. She forced herself not to growl. “Call it a request for professional fu—courtesy. Professional courtesy,” she repeated, though her glare showed nothing of the sort. “I’m worried about Jason ‘cause he’s my friend and I care about him, and I can see plain as day how mixed up about him your girl is. But that’s
her
emotional train wreck to live through, and yours. I wanna know if this is small-time bullshit or if it’s something serious.”

Theresa held her gaze, but again, her tone stepped down a notch. “You will hold your interference to what is in Heaven’s interests?”

“Chica, I want my guys to live their lives and go to Heaven when they die just like everyone else here,” Rachel said, gesturing to the angels floating up above. “If they gotta fall down and go boom, I’ll fucking weep, but I’ll toe the line and let nature take its course just like every other angel’s gotta. Even with Jason. Even with Alex.”

She stepped in closer, her stare growing deathly cold. “But if this situation brings in a whole bunch of vile supernatural bullshit into this city that I’ve been busting my ass to clean up, and if I find out you could’ve warned me but didn’t, I will pull every feather off your wings and cram them up your ass one by fucking one.”

“So thanks again for getting us tickets to this, by the way,” said Molly as they slipped through the crowd at the ballroom entrance. Plenty of partygoers occupied the hotel’s passages, but not so many as to make movement through the hallways difficult.

“It is my pleasure,” Lorelei shrugged. The demon leaned in and said, “Please stay close to me and do nothing to draw attention. We can speak with one another, but keep a thought toward being unobtrusive. I have some talent for
hiding in plain sight as long as no one does anything unusual.”

“Is that how you make it through a crowd when you look like that?” asked Molly with a bit of a smile.

“Normally I prefer to be noticed,” Lorelei nodded, sharing her grin. She reached out to touch her two companions, both on the hand and only fleetingly, but the two witches both sensed the enchantment. “I draw pleasure and some small energy from the lust of others, but my interests are not on random strangers tonight. You have my full attention. I am glad to have yours.”

With that, she turned and led them away. Onyx nudged Molly forward, making the redhead blink away her reverie. Molly turned to find a knowing smirk on her lover’s face. “She knows we’re both staring,” Onyx murmured.

“Yeah. Well.” Molly took Onyx’s hand, squeezing it as they followed Lorelei. Her eyes went straight to Lorelei’s swaying hips. “There’s a lot to stare at.”

Onyx didn’t reply; she just squeezed back and nodded.

Lorelei felt their stares and their lust. She knew better than to acknowledge either… yet. “The ladies’ rooms will doubtlessly be occupied,” she said, turning toward the elevators. She pressed the button to summon one. “Fortunately, I’m the sort to plan ahead.”

“You rented a room?” Onyx asked. “You live less than a mile away.”

“I always prefer to keep privacy readily available,” Lorelei smiled. Once inside the elevator, Lorelei ushered her companions inside and pressed the button for the fifth floor.

“I must ask,” Lorelei said now that they were truly alone, “are the two of you on your guard tonight?”

The witches shared a serious glance. “Our defenses are up, yes,” nodded Molly. “They don’t exactly confiscate wands as weapons here, either. We’re prepared for trouble if it comes up. You think there’s going to be any?”

Lorelei shook her head. “Nothing immediate or violent, no,” she frowned. “No one who would harm any of us would
expose themselves in such an open environment, and we should see them coming, anyway. But I thought I should ask.”

Molly’s eyes slid toward Onyx. The other young woman shrugged. “I kinda figured I should have my eyes open extra-wide. Most supernatural types would stick out in a crowd to me tonight. Magic, werewolves, all that. I never make guarantees, though.”

“Of course. I have perfect faith in you,” Lorelei assured her. The door opened. She led them to a room close to the elevator. “Did anything about Amber seem odd to you?” she asked, slipping the card key out of her top.

“Jason’s date?” Onyx asked.

“Only that her costume looks bad ass,” Molly said as Lorelei brought them inside and closed the door. She turned to see the demon looking her up and down, and felt her breath catch under that gaze.

“
Not to sound catty or put her down,” Lorelei said coolly, “but if we’re to talk of costumes, I
much
prefer yours.”

The redhead in the sea witch dress blushed. She looked down at her tentacles and her fishnet skirts. “Thanks, but I want hers, too.”

Onyx had never seen Molly blush before, let alone made it happen. It would have given her a tiny stab of jealousy, had the moment come from anyone else. Instead, Onyx just grinned at Molly’s reaction and logged it as something to tease her about later, and opted to stay on Lorelei’s chosen subject. “What’s on your mind?”

“She’s inquisitive but shares little about herself,” Lorelei explained. She crossed the room to take
one of the seats at the small table near the window. “While that alone would not raise my concern, she seems quite guarded. Careful. Always aware of her surroundings.”

Molly leaned against the dresser. “Has she known Jason long?
Was she friends with anyone else in the group before they met?”

Lorelei shook her head. “He has known her for only a week. He clearly wants to push things further along with her. I would be happy for him, but the events that brought us all together aren’t exactly matters I’d want him to share with someone when they haven’t moved past casual dating.”

“Kinda have to run that risk with all of those guys, though, don’t you?” suggested Onyx. “Molly and I know enough to keep supernatural stuff quiet, but… You
have
talked to them about that, right?”

“
Of course. Moreover, they all have some inherent sense of it. They know how hard it would be to explain certain aspects of their lives. No, I am less worried about Jason deliberately revealing too much, and more that Amber suspects something. It would explain her wariness.

“I want to like her. I can see why Jason is attracted to her, and she seems to get on fine with everyone, but…”
Lorelei’s voice trailed off. “Trust does not come naturally to me. I am quite practiced at establishing a friendly atmosphere, and at maintaining a friendly tone, but actual friendship is… new. I am unused to it.”

Onyx broke the silence
that followed. “We’ve never talked about that. The other night at your place was nice and all, but that was all small talk and business. Nothing personal.”

“No,” Lorelei agreed.

“So, on that note,” Molly spoke up, trying to smile through her trepidation. “Onyx and I want everything to be above-board. All of it. We dig Alex, he’s said you’re okay with fooling around, but…”

“But there is a difference between hearing that from him and establishing an understan
ding with me,” Lorelei finished, “and presumably Rachel?”

“We already talked to her,” Onyx nodded. Molly snorted, and then the two both found themselves giggling. “That was an experience.”

Lorelei smiled knowingly. “She always is. I trust she was as reassuring as she was jarring.”

“Yeah, you could say that,” Molly smirked.

“But you wish to know where I stand, and to hear it from me directly.” Lorelei paused. “Unlike Alex, you have some understanding of supernatural matters. You have embraced them. You know that not everyone or everything lives within ordinary mortal sensibilities.”

“Ordinary mortals don’t always do that, either,” frowned Molly.

“No, indeed,” Lorelei smiled warmly. “I have very few friends. I wish dearly to count you among them—regardless of what passes between you and Alex.”

Onyx felt her girlfriend’s eyes on her. Though Molly shared many of her concerns, the redhead t
ook things as they came. Ultimately it was Onyx who needed everything out in the open from the start. “What if it gets serious?” she ventured.

“I am inclined
say that is likely,” replied Lorelei. “So far you’ve only discussed this as a casual exploration. As a matter of adult play. If that is all that comes of it, I don’t believe anyone will be disappointed… but I don’t believe it will end there. You all mesh too well for that. Onyx, I
felt
the two of you make love. I trust he has told you that is part of our bond? Yes. Full disclosure, of course,” she nodded. “I would not presume to compare my experience to yours, but it was wonderful.”

“Is that why you want this?” Molly asked. “Because it’s good for you? I mean, you’re not just ‘okay’ with Alex seeing us. You actually want it, don’t you?”

“I do,” Lorelei admitted. The briefest of smiles played at her lips. “Full disclosure is no more natural for me than friendship or trust. I have laid my soul bare only to Rachel and Alex, and there are sureties there…”

The younger women listened. Onyx sat down on the edge of the bed
facing the demon. Molly came over to sit beside her, slipping her hand in her lover’s. Always the more observant of the two, Onyx noticed how Lorelei’s words slowed and her voice dropped. Whether Molly had caught on or not, Onyx couldn’t tell, but it hardly mattered; both young women felt increasingly aroused by Lorelei’s natural allure.

“Alex is my lover
, my friend
and
my victim. His natural appetites are strong even for a healthy young man, but mine are well beyond natural, and we are bound together. If I truly had all I wanted of him, all to myself… he would be worse for it. We would become disconnected from the mortal world, to say nothing of the eventual damage I would do to his health and well-being. Involving others goes some way to mitigating that. It takes the edge off, so to speak. It helps to satisfy the curse without putting him directly at the mercy of my needs.

“
This is no sacrifice or chore for me. I want him to indulge with other women because I enjoy it. I share his sensations, I draw power from his dalliances, and I find him all the more attractive for his success with other women. Call it a kink or call it an instinct; either way, I am drawn to these habits. Most succubae are. What made me different from the rest was that they encouraged their victims to employ deceit and treachery to satisfy their desires. They relished the strife and chaos wrought by selfish promiscuity.”

“But you didn’t?” asked Molly.

“I was indifferent,” Lorelei shrugged. “I will not pretend to have ever been a whore with a heart of gold, but… I didn’t change for Alex. I
wanted
to change long before we met. He and Rachel provided an opportunity that I never had, and indeed had never imagined, but they did not do so intentionally.

“
Make no mistake: I am still a succubus, and Alex is bound to me. I care nothing for this society’s inhibitions and its harsh judgments regarding sex. Temptation and lust will find Alex even if he does not seek it out, and I will gladly enable his indulgence. I mean to show him pleasure as
I
define it… not as it is defined by the prudish sensibilities of this era.

“You wanted full disclosure. Accept this as part of who he is.
Alex would lock himself in a prison and throw away the key rather than cause harm in pursuing his desires. I mean to show him that such denial is not necessary.”

The demon cracked a wry, soft grin. “I do not tell you this to rationalize or justify my desires
, or his. Alex carries genuine feelings for you. His desire for this—for you—is real, and so is mine.”

Molly waited for Onyx to chime in again, but heard nothing for a few beats. She decided to take the initiative. “So if
we’re all fine, do we need to talk boundaries, or… or…” Her voice trailed off as her attention was drawn to her side. She saw Onyx staring at Lorelei with wide eyes, her mouth slightly open and her breathing heavy.

Then Molly felt it, too. Her appreciation for Lorelei’s beauty and sensuality had been there all night long, of course—and every other time they’d interacted—but
now things changed. Lorelei was no longer an abstraction out of arm’s reach.

The demon rose out of her chair.
She slowly stepped up close enough to touch.

Molly found her voice, and understood then what had left Onyx stunned. “You really said that, didn’t you?” she asked.

“I asked if you were guarded in part so that you would know your feelings are your own,” Lorelei said softly. “I wouldn’t want you to think I have used some supernatural power of compulsion upon you. As I told you, I can read desires. I draw power from them. I have felt yours all along… and shared them.”

Her hands slowly reached out. One gently traced along Molly’s chin. The other glided down Onyx’s black curls. “
Alex is my prey, but it is not only through him that I find pleasure or satisfaction.”

Onyx all but lost her voice. Butterflies took over her stomach as Lorelei knelt in front of the bed between the two young women. Onyx
felt Molly’s presence beside her, and thought back to all the offhand conversations they’d had about the undeniable sex appeal of their new associates and hall passes and what they’d do given the chance… but that had all just been idle talk until now.

“I thought…” Onyx tried, and swallowed, and tried a
gain. “I thought we came up to talk… uh…” That hand came down her curls again, only now Lorelei’s fingertips trailed across her collarbone. She shivered.

Lorelei’s other hand was on Molly’s thigh. Onyx saw
it out of the corner of her eye, and found it every bit as exciting as the one that touched her now.

“We came here to establish an understanding between us,” Lorelei smiled.

“Uh. Thuh,” Molly blinked away her shock, and felt like a fool for stammering, only to open her eyes again to see Lorelei looking back without the least bit of reproach or mockery. She liked the way the demon looked at her. “The party?”

“We don’t have to be long,” Lorelei assured her, “but you brought up boundaries. You should know mine.”

*   *   *

Event security diligent
ly checked guests in and out. They patted people down as they entered and reminded costumed partygoers about stamps and re-entry when they exited. They also ensured that nobody left with a drink in hand. Passing through the security guards posted at the bridge between the hotel and the parking garage across the street, Wade and Drew negotiated said check with little difficulty or concern.