The Demon and the Succubus (25 page)

Levi shook his head. He tried to muster anger toward Lilith for her manipulations, but he understood the need to survive, and her information so far had shed new light on who he thought he was. He’d always believed Caldriel had targeted his father specifically, had used the man just to establish herself in the human realm.

He’d never allowed himself to see it before, but in hindsight that wouldn’t have been much different than the marriage mart that was common practice in those days. But finding out they’d met at social functions and had fallen in love threw an entirely new light on things.

His mother was still a manipulative bitch, and a demon, but maybe he hadn’t given her as much credit as she deserved.

That was a sobering thought considering the only contact he’d had with her over the past few hundred years was summoning her recently and demanding help or answers.

God, he really was the arrogant ass Amalya had pegged him for. Thoughts of her made him realize that Lilith’s sudden information about his past had sidetracked him. He’d meant to find out when he could see Amalya as soon as Lilith came to see him. “How is Amalya?”

“I go to see her next. From what her sister Jezebeth has told me, she’s still asleep. Nearly dying three times in so many days has taken its toll.”

He wanted to see her, to sit by her side until her lovely eyes fluttered open and her welcoming smile curved across her lips. But she hadn’t seen her sister in seven hundred years. He wasn’t sure Jezebeth would welcome his intrusion, and he wasn’t sure he had the official right to even ask for a visit . . . yet.

All the information he’d just learned from Lilith made it imperative for him to visit his mother and Ashford House. He had to come to terms with his old life before he could start anew.

“What are your plans now that you’ve met the terms of our agreement?”

“It looks like I need to find myself.”
And put things right in several cases
, he added silently. He started to ask what terms would be needed for him to continue in Amalya’s life but stopped as he checked his wristwatch. His ten minutes were up, and that question, and the associated bargaining he would tackle when he returned.

Jezebeth’s voice broke through the heavy sleep that held Amalya and as excitement slid through her, she forced open her eyes.

Her sister’s lovely chocolate brown eyes were the first things she saw. “Jezebeth?”

When her sister pulled her up into a bone-crushing hug, Amalya laughed into the silky mass of her sister’s hair and hugged her back. “I thought I’d never see you again. Any of you.”

With a final squeeze, Jez pulled back, leaving Amalya sitting up. Jez gripped Amalya’s upper arms as if afraid Amalya would disappear if she let go. “I had begun to think I’d be the only one who made it back.” Tears glistened in Jez’s eyes and she swallowed hard.

Amalya took a long moment to study her sister. Physically, she looked the same. Long chestnut brown hair that flowed down to her ass, lovely features, and a dimple that winked in her left cheek when she smiled. Concern traced her expression, but there was something else, a contentment about her sister that Amalya had never sensed before. She remembered hearing that the horror writer, Noah Halston, had accompanied Jez back to Lilith’s lair. Perhaps feelings had grown between the two of them?

For her sister’s sake, she hoped so.

“Any word on Reba or Galina?”

Jez’s lips hardened into a line. “The escort Lilith sent for Reba was found dead, but from everything we can find out, it doesn’t sound like he ever made contact with Reba.”

Worry churned inside Amalya’s belly, and she shoved it away. “If any of the four of us are likely to survive on our own, it would be Reba. What about Galina?”

“No word at all. It’s like she fell off the entire supernatural radar about five hundred years ago.”

“Is she . . .” Amalya couldn’t bring herself to say the word “dead.”

Jezebeth moved her grip to Amalya’s hands and shook her head. “No. She’s alive.”

“But how do we know if she hasn’t been heard from—”

“Lilith has heard from one of the Archangels that even though no one can locate her, Galina is still alive. Somewhere.”

The worry inside Amalya’s gut lessened slightly at the news. After all, if anyone would know, the Archangels would, although why they would confide the information to Lilith, she didn’t know.

She glanced around, finally realizing she was back inside her old quarters inside Lilith’s lair. It had been seven hundred years since she’d last left this room, and she was surprised to find it unchanged. Compared to her sumptuous room at Sinner’s Redemption this was larger but definitely a step down. Amalya missed all the women she’d worked with over the years, and even a few of her regular customers, but looking at her surroundings, she wouldn’t choose to go back. She belonged here with her sisters and with Lilith. An insider at long last rather than an outsider looking in longingly and pretending she didn’t want to belong.

There was only one thing missing. Or one person, actually.

“Where’s Levi?” She bolted out of bed, ignoring the cool air that hit her naked skin as she stumbled onto the smooth stone floor covered intermittently with throw rugs. A wave of light-headedness made her sway and she closed her eyes against the nausea that roiled inside her stomach.

“Amalya!” Jez caught her as she nearly fell and gently guided Amalya back to sit on the edge of the bed. “Take it easy, you nearly died. Three times in the span of a few days. It’s going to take some time to recover.”

Amalya closed her eyes and sucked in several deep breaths, welcoming the slow relief that added oxygen brought. When she was sure she wouldn’t faint or slide off the end of the bed without help, she slowly opened her eyes and glanced up at her sister. “Where’s Levi? Is he all right?”

Jez picked up a robe off a nearby chair and wrapped it around Amalya, her expression carefully neutral as she knelt in front of Amalya and took her hand. “He’s alive. Lilith is with him.”

Amalya stiffened and tightened her grip on Jez’s hand. “What does Lilith want with him?”

“I don’t know.”

Amalya tried to stand, but Jez held her in place. “Don’t forget, he knew Lilith before you even met him, so they most likely have unfinished business.”

Amalya gritted her teeth against the vivid images of Levi and Lilith together that flowed through her mind. Most of the time unfinished business with Lilith meant a payment for services rendered—usually in the form of sex. She wasn’t naïve enough to assume Levi’s deal with the queen would be any different.

Besides, no matter what emotions she might have developed for Levi, Amalya knew she still belonged to Lilith, and without Lilith’s permission, she might never see Levi again.

Panic fluttered inside her stomach starting as a group of butterflies and growing into a full-blown colony of bats. She swallowed hard and tried to suck in several breaths to keep the sudden reaction at bay.

She’d let herself believe Levi cared for her, and the thought of him in Lilith’s bed ripped at her. Jealousy burned through her like acid and she fell back on the bed, her legs dangling off the side as her overpowering emotions threatened to overwhelm her.

Three sharp knocks on her door pulled Amalya’s attention back to the present and she struggled to sit up and thread her arms through the armholes of the robe Jez had wrapped around her shoulders. She managed to stand long enough to wrap the thin material around her before she sat down heavily. Even the thin shield of cloth would help her feel more in control at this point. “Come in.”

The door opened and Lilith stood in the doorway just as beautiful as Amalya remembered. She started to slide off the bed to bow before Lilith when the queen stayed her with a quick gesture.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but since we’d also have to pick you up off the floor, maybe that can wait until later.” Lilith walked inside Amalya’s room and motioned for Jez to leave.

Jez cast a quick glance toward Amalya who forced a smile. They were both Lilith’s creatures, and even if Amalya wished Jez would stay, neither of them dared override Lilith’s directive.

Jez slipped quietly from the room and the door made a quiet snick as it closed behind her.

Lilith approached Amalya and held out her hand, which Amalya immediately accepted. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you, my queen.”

When Lilith sat next to Amalya on the bed, the bed dipping slightly under her weight, foreboding curled through Amalya and she snapped her gaze to Lilith’s. Lilith had always been caring in her own way for those under her, but she’d never been one to comfort or coddle.

If her sisters were all alive, then that meant . . .

No!
Denial curled through her and she swallowed hard to keep her swirling emotions from escaping in front of Lilith. “Levi?” The one word was all she could manage before her throat closed with tamped down emotions.

“I thanked him for returning you and he left.”

“Left?” Pain and panic filled her, tightening her chest and threatening to crash over her in overwhelming waves. She fisted her hands to try to keep them under control. “Without saying good-bye?” The words came out like an accusation and Amalya winced at her own carelessness.

The queen cared for her subjects but wasn’t known for her patience with disrespect. So Amalya was surprised when Lilith nodded. “Before you think I disallowed it, Levi left of his own free will.”

Amalya stiffened. “Did he receive his payment?” Thankfully her words came out sounding flat and emotionless, although she mentally cursed herself for asking the question at all.

Lilith laughed, the smoky sound filling Amalya’s senses as if it were a separate living entity. “He did not. His payment was no longer needed by the time he fulfilled his side of the bargain.”

Amalya burned to ask for further details but knew better than to test the queen’s patience.

Lilith reached up to her neck to pull a black cord attached to a red amulet with intricate markings off over her head. “The only one who can stop Semiazas is Lucifer. You and your sisters must approach Lucifer and ask for his protection. I wish I could do this for you, but I cannot. All I can do is give you this amulet. Wear it at all times until you and your sisters approach Lucifer and it will give you both some measure of protection and entry into his lair.” Lilith ran her thumb over the mysterious markings before laying the necklace in Amalya’s palm and closing her fingers over it. She stood and turned to go. “I’ll send Jezebeth back to you. Rest and we’ll speak again when you have recovered.”

“Did Levi say where he was going when he left?” Amalya hated both that she’d been unable to keep from asking the question and that her voice sounded so wounded.

Lilith turned back only enough to glance at Amalya over her shoulder. “He only said he was off to find himself.”

Amalya stared up at Lilith feeling as though she’d just been sucker punched. They’d just survived demons, dying, and a slew of other encounters, and Levi was off to fucking find himself?

Was this some late supernatural midlife crisis?

Anger slid through her veins bringing with it solid determination. She was at least thankful this new emotion had chased back all the others that had threatened to make her a crying, swooning idiot.

As soon as the door shut behind Lilith, Amalya stood, testing her balance, and when she could stand with only a tiny wobble she set her jaw. “You arrogant, selfish bastard. Just wait till I find you.”

Levi
materialized just outside the gates to Ashford House and stumbled as the unfamiliar sensation left his stomach wrenching and twisting as vertigo slashed through him.

He sucked in large breaths as he tried to calm his stomach and convince it not to empty the contents of the meager breakfast he’d had back at Lilith’s lair.

If dematerialization and rematerialization felt like that every time, he wasn’t sure how the supernaturals stood it on a regular basis. He swore to himself he would avoid a repeat experience at all costs. But he was glad Lilith had made the offer to help him transport anywhere he’d like. It did save time, if not his dignity.

“Your Grace?” A tentative voice from just beside him startled Levi and he glanced up to see a pretty thirtyish woman wearing a business suit, her short bob cut framing a pixie face. She gasped when she saw his face but then regained her composure. “Are you well?”

Levi nodded and swallowed hard as he forced himself to straighten. It wasn’t done for a duke to be seen with any kind of weakness outside his own chambers. He sighed at how easily the rules of this society came back to him. “Yes, very well. Thank you.”

“You should come inside the gates before you attract the attention of the shades, Your Grace.” She gestured toward the fog that had begun to coalesce in the middle of the road that ran in front of Ashford House.