Night Lurks (17 page)

“We got things here, go get her,”
Alex commands as he gets his clone pinned to the floor. Well, if he says so. I take off in a run trying to follow the strongest smell of root beer. She is the second demon I have met and she still doesn't smell like sulfur. I don't think I like the fact that they are different for me.

I follow the smell up a set of stairs and to a closed door. “Candace, why don't you just give yourself up?” I hear many footsteps coming up the stairs and I am a little surprised at the fact that the guys have finished off their fight, but it isn't like I hang around with second fiddles. 

No sounds are coming from the room that I am pretty sure Candace is hiding. I check the knob and I am not zapped by anything. That's a good sign. I turn the handle and find it unlocked. I motion the guys with my free hand to stand back and fling the door open before moving to position myself to the side of the door jam. Nothing comes flying towards me, so I peek around the corner. It looks to be the room I have seen Sebastian kept in on a couple of occasions now. Candace is up against a wall holding him with a knife to his throat. Yup, I would say it is the same room.

I start walking into the room and stop when I get within ten feet of the duo. It is a much larger room than my dreams led me to believe.

“I could have just zapped me and Sebastian out of here, but I think killing him in front of you is the better idea now. Then I can just vacate the building while you mourn over his body.” Demented is too kind of a word for this chick.

I raise my knife up and take a good look at it. I haven't studied it yet and I originally thought it was just like any other blade, but words are swirling around on it. I think they are words, anyway. I don't understand them. I continue to look at the blade and say, “I bet you will be in for a real shock if you thought our bond was surprising. I happen to be in possession of a blade that I was told would kill anything.”

“You are lying. No one gets access to the Panoptic knife. It is just a myth told to lure people to their death in order to find it.” She may say that, but she does look a little worried. Her jitters are causing her to press a little too hard on Sebby's throat and I see a bead of blood make an appearance.

I just need to get him away long enough to throw the magic bag at her and then this can all be over, as long as Hilda didn't add a little something extra to her batch. I cannot actively tell Sebastian to duck because I think she can pick that up as a demon, but I can think about it. If Sebastian is smart, he will figure it out. The idea has been thought, but he isn't dropping. He had better hope she just has an extra tight grip on him and he isn't ignoring my brilliant plan. Yes, him dropping to the floor would be brilliant.

Fine. We will do it the hard way. I start taking steps closer to them. The ball is ready to be thrown, but I try to keep my focus on the knife. I want her to believe that it is the only thing she has to worry about. Alex and the guards stay back and let me do my own thing.

“I think you are close enough there. I am glad you wanted to get an up close shot of your mate dying.” A second knife appears in her left hand. If she has the ability to conjure stuff up like that, I can think of a lot of places she could have used it to engage me in a real battle. So far, I am finding this whole situation a little boring. Until of course she takes that knife and stabs it into Sebastian's side.

He makes no noise, but that is more than enough to piss me off. I take another quick step and throw my freeze ball at her feet. Sebastian makes a pretty good shield for her and her little toesies are the furthest thing away from his body.

Alex sees the action and hurries over to grab Sebastian out of the she demon's grasp while she is trying to figure out what is going on.

“I cannot move my legs. What have you done?” She tries to lurch forward, but I watch as some pretty pink colors swirl up around her body and hold her in place. The colors stay there showing me the spell is working. That is a nice little addition I am sure Hilda added for effect.

“Sorry, I am pretty sure I already mentioned that you were the only one that was going to be dying today. If I forgot to let you in on that little secret, I cannot really say I feel bad about it. Is he okay?” I ask turning to check on Sebastian. Candace isn't going anywhere at the moment, so I can take a minute to make sure nothing permanent was done.

“Thankfully, she wasn't using the knife you claim to have. Just how in the world did you find it?” Sebastian says from the wall opposite of where Candace is frozen. Alex has him seated and is looking at his stomach.

“You have missed a lot, mate. If you didn't spend so much time blocking me out you would be all caught up,” I say leaning down and taking his face in my hands to give him a nice thorough kiss. It hasn't been that long, but I did really miss it.

I pull back and rub my nose against his before standing back up. “I was only blocking to protect you. I didn't want her going out to find you and bringing back another prisoner.”

“You should know I can handle myself. I am a kick ass paranorm, after all. Finding out that I am part angel only helps matters. I don't know what super powers I will end up getting from that strand of DNA, but I am sure they will be epic.”

“Angel? Really? Are you sure about that, because that wasn't on the list of possibilities?”

“I had a nice short chat with a guy claiming he was one and he had gold wings that matched mine. The annoying one over there also mentioned it when we were introduced,” I say nodding my head in her direction.

“I will say you keep things interesting, love. Why don't we finish up here so we can get home and figure out exactly what that means,” he pushes Alex away a bit and moves to stand up. The process doesn't get very far and he chooses to remain seated. Candace's knife may not have killed him, but he isn't healing instantly like he normally does. He is going to need some tender loving care and I know just the person to give it to him.

First things first, I turn around and walk over to Candace. The pink stuff never made it up and over her head, which is too bad. She can still talk if she wants. Right now, she looks to be busy trying to figure a way out of her predicament. I have a perfect solution for that and I roll the handle of my knife around in my hand ready to use it.

“Buttercup, I thought we agreed to meet at the bar. I showed up and you were nowhere to be seen,” Ben says appearing in his annoying way. Doors people. They were invented for a reason. He takes a look around the room and his eyes focus in on the succubus. “It looks like I have really missed a lot. How in the world did you not only find Candy, but also manage to subdue her. I know quite a few people who have tried and no one has succeeded.”

“Benny, you are here. Thank you Lucifer. This stupid angel freak is trying to kill me. You are stronger than me, do something about her. Then if you would be so kind as to release me, we can have a great time killing her and her stupid friends,” Candace says trying to wriggle out of her hold. It isn't working out too well for her and I am overjoyed by that fact. I hope that Ben notices just how much she likes me.

“Ah. Candy, you aren't supposed to be able to tell her she is an angel. The only way that is even possible is if she received a visitor without telling me. Really, Buttercup? This is where our relationship has ended up. You don't call to tell me that you found out the biggest news of your life. I thought we were closer than that.” I am pretty sure he is the one that just sent us off last night without an explanation on why he was staying behind. If he missed out on the big news, it is his own fault.

“What are you talking about Benjalarico? You cannot honestly be on friendly terms with an angel. Are you serious? Are you making plans to bring her home and introduce her to the Great Ruler? I really want to be there to witness that one. She needs to be taken care of. Something like her shouldn’t be allowed to fully mature. It cannot be long until she comes into her full powers. If that happens, we won’t be able to stop her.”

It seems like these two are fine running their own conversation. I cannot say I am thrilled to hear Candace’s side of it, but I am a little bored from not even getting a good fight in and they are somewhat amusing. If I didn't need to stick around to make sure the succubus doesn't leave the room, I would gather my gang and head out.

“Candy, I would say we can discuss this further later, but sweetheart, you finally messed with the wrong girl's boyfriend. I don't know Nyx's plans for you and I don't know that I will be able to help you out of this,” Ben says as he walks over and gives her a kiss on her forehead. The look in her eyes indicates Ben wouldn’t be living if she could shoot fire from them.

“What the fuck is going on here? She has the Panoptic knife and is fixing on killing me dead with it. Dead, Benny. As in never being able to play naughty prisoner to your big, bad prison warden ever again. You aren’t just going to stand by and let her get away with this. We have something special.” At least she believes me about the knife now. I didn't need to hear about their make believe prison games.

“You are something very special and a real gem to our kind, but sadly I cannot go against what Nyx wants. I need her to be kept happy. Buttercup, is there any way you would be willing to let her go?” he asks.

I look over at him and I don’t feel the need to even answer that question. I am lucky that my people didn’t take any more damage and he wants to know if I feel like sparing her life. She needs to pay for those stab wounds and for causing me a day of grief.

“Even if I attempted to call in my favor? I do understand where you are coming from in this situation, but she is one of my underlings, so I have to at least make an attempt to save her. I wouldn’t be a good leader otherwise.”

“If you called in the favor, I would have to ask for the second alternative and I would pick the alternative even if it was stripping down naked right here and letting you poke me with your love stick. I don’t think I can let her walk out the door. She is a menace and the fact that you think she is a gem has me thinking about taking you out at the same time.”

“That’s what I get for not thinking before I speak. I was trying to comfort her because I know how you are and I know how this is going to end for her. Demons aren't really familiar with death. We cause it, but we don't tend to experience it, so I can imagine the turmoil going on in her head right now,” Ben answers and moves away from Candace. “I should probably leave the room for this. Even if you don’t believe it, I do have a heart.”

“We have known each other for a while now, and I cannot believe you do the things she does. Before you go, I would like to know if you do the same kinds of things. Is torturing and killing innocent people the way all demons get off?”

“Oh Buttercup, there are some questions that you really don’t want to know the answers to. I am a reaper demon and I work very hard to convince people that they should sell me their souls. Granted, I give them something in return for their troubles, but it is essentially my job to corrupt the innocent.”

“Nowhere in that description did I hear you say you cut their body parts off to see if they will regrow on a whim. You didn’t say anything about using your powers to make them believe they are having a good time while you shoved your fist up their back holes.” I haven’t had that last part confirmed as something Candace has done, but it actually sounds mild for her. A broken wine bottle would probably be more up her alley.

“You are right. When I engage in that type of fun, I restrict my partners to other demons. Demons are a different breed than the good guys you are used to hanging out with. I know you don’t forgive easily when those around you are wronged, but I really wish you didn’t feel the need to try a permanent solution to your aggravation.”

My knife is weighing heavy in my hand. I really see no problem with killing Candace even if Ben has received an influx of estrogen. I look over to Sebastian wanting to verify this is his desire. It is mostly the crimes against him that Candace is being tried for.

“I won’t bother trying to keep the conversation just between us. We all know the demons would hear what we say. I am tired of looking over my shoulder. It took her years to come up with this plan and I won’t let her go off to make new plans that may affect you. I think me resisting her is going to pale in comparison to what you accomplished here today, love.”

Good. We are in agreement. “You better step out, Ben. You know I have to protect Sebastian. I don't even have a choice in the matter.”

“We had some great times, Candy. I am really sorry things ended like this.” He blows her a kiss and then starts walking as if he is leaving. Holy cow, it looks like he is actually going to attempt to use a door. The world must be coming to an end. I will have to alert the media later though because vengeance is knocking on the door and I am here to welcome it with open arms.

Chapter 21

Surprises attack from every corner

“Well, well, well, what do we have here? My favorite reaper demon hanging out with my newest mark. I find that quite amusing. Ben, have you been keeping secrets from me?” a blonde woman says appearing in the room in my general line of vision. Just what I don't need, another blonde that I am sure is going to start causing trouble. Not only that, but another person just popping in here does not make me happy.

“Of course not, your evilness. I mentioned Nyx to you before. Well, maybe I didn't say her name, but I did mention I thought I had found someone special,” Ben says bowing his head to the waif of a woman. His exit out of the room and my movements towards killing Candace are drawn to a halt by the arrival of the newcomer.

Aside from her blonde hair, she looks to be about my height and like she has spent her whole life in a shadow bubble. Her skin is so pale I can see bluish purple blood moving just below the surface. It is really nasty, in my opinion. I guess it lets her know she is alive, but I wouldn’t want to have to stare at it all day.

“What do you mean you mentioned me? I thought you said you were keeping me a secret,” I say a little ticked off that Ben would rat me out to another demon. I thought we had some kind of understanding. Even if he didn't mention my name, telling another demon about someone “special” is like waving a red flag in front of their face. This development is not helping my already sour mood.