Candy Kisses

Candy Kisses

Chapter Four

“I Never Claimed To Be A Hero
And I Never Said I Was A Saint”
--Billy Joel

“Sugar Hearts. How can we seduce you?”

Nicholas winced as he recognized the voice on the other end of the phone. When he called, he’d been hoping to get Margaret, or one of the salesgirls. Not Marzi. Not the man whose sister kept spinning around in Nicholas’s head, turning all his thoughts into a confused puree. But there was nothing for it. Having got Marzi, he would just have to deal with Marzi.

“Hey, Marzi. It’s Nicholas. I don’t think I can come to work today.”

“Nothing serious, I hope?”

“Not really. It’s just a mild sprain.” Feeling guilty, Nicholas shifted his weight off of his supposedly injured ankle -- which had, in fact, stopped hurting even before Pepper finished driving him back to his apartment. His first lie. Nicholas wondered if he should be worried that it had slipped out so smoothly. “I twisted my ankle. Pepper said that she’d tell you about it.”

“Pepper?” Marzi sounded surprised. “You met Pepper?”

“She stopped by the store last night. I don’t think she expected anyone to still be there, but I took a long time to close, and hadn’t left yet.”

“Excuse me for a moment, Nicholas. I need to talk to someone.”

A long silence followed. Despite Marzi’s claim, Nicholas couldn’t make out the sound of any voices. Then, just when Nicholas had begun to think that maybe he’d gotten disconnected, Marzi spoke again. “I see. At least, I think I do. We’ve never really gotten to know each other, have we, Nicholas?”

“Um. No.”

“Well, stay home today, and take care of that ankle. When you’re feeling better, we should do something together. Have a few drinks after work. Alright?”

“Alright.”

“Great.” Apparently satisfied, Marzi hung up.

Nicholas gave the phone a reproachful look, blaming it for the complications which kept invading his life. But the phone refused to show any signs of remorse. Sighing, Nicholas set it down. Then he put on his jacket and went down to the front of the apartment building to wait for his ride.

But calling Sugar Hearts had taken longer than he’d expected. By the time Nicholas emerged from the lobby, a sleek black town car already idled beside the curb. When Nicholas got closer, one of its rear passenger doors swung open, and a voice addressed him. “Nicholas Foster?”

“Yes.” Nicholas stooped over, peering into the car’s dim interior. He couldn’t see the driver. But in the further passenger seat, he glimpsed a woman dressed all in white. A white veil spilled down from the rim of her white hat, concealing her face, except for her eyes, which could be seen through the webbing like two blue gems glimpsed through a frosty window. For a moment, Nicholas almost balked. He wasn’t sure he wanted to share a confined space with something so obviously unearthly. But as soon as he confirmed his identity, the woman beckoned him into the car.

“Come on, then. We don’t want to keep Raedy waiting.”

Nicholas hesitated. But he’d come too far to back out now. Resigned to his fate, he climbed into the empty seat, and tugged the door shut. Immediately, the car pulled out into the street. Craning his neck, Nicholas watched the apartment building dwindle behind them, and it amazed him that something so alien could still feel familiar and comforting, compared to the unknown encounter which faced him.

“So,” Nicholas’s companion began, as if making the most casual sort of conversation. “You’re human?”

In all his life, nobody had ever asked Nicholas to confirm his humanity. It felt like someone demanding to know if the sky floated over his head, or if the ground rested under his feet. What other alternatives were there? None. Unless the world suddenly turned upside down. Unless he suddenly found himself in the company of creatures who were so much more than they appeared to be. “Um. Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

The woman’s veil rippled as she cooed in delight. Clearly, in her mind, being human was a wondrous and privileged thing. “And Raedy is going to help you, isn’t he? With his aid, you can defy the whims of a spiteful creator and claim your own destiny. You can be truly free.”

“Um.” Nicholas hadn’t thought of his actions in terms of some grand rebellion. Outrage wasn’t what drove him to turn his back on heaven. Instead, he’d made a choice based on the principle of supply and demand. Since God refused to grant him the thing he most desired, he’d decided to check out the competition. He’d decided to deal with demons. However, Nicholas didn’t want to offend his companion, so he didn’t correct her. “Yeah. I guess so.”

“Wonderful. You won’t regret it.”

Nicholas wished that he felt so sure. But he didn’t speak his doubts. Instead, he stared out the car window, watching as the neighborhood deteriorated, until they entered a deserted slum. After experiencing the luxury of his new apartment, Nicholas had assumed that demons must live in grand style. So it surprised him when the car traveled down a narrow alley, and then came to a stop behind one of the decaying buildings.

“We’re here,” his companion announced, stepping out of the car. “Follow me.”

Obediently, Nicholas allowed himself to be led through the café’s back door, and then into a stark room, furnished only by a table and two chairs. As Nicholas entered, he saw that a man already sat at the table, absorbed in the study of several scrolls. The man wore a suit the color of ash, accented by ruby cufflinks which caught the light like burning embers. Dark glasses hid his eyes. Raedeman, Nicholas guessed, Duke of Hell. And he couldn’t help feeling a bit relieved that the demon lord had decided to appear in human form.

“This is Nicholas Foster,” Nicholas’s companion announced, crossing over to Raedeman.

“Well done, Lily.” Setting aside his scrolls, Raedeman stood, and pushed aside Lily’s veil. Nicholas’s breath caught in his throat when he saw the mangled visage which lay behind it. But Raedeman seemed unbothered as he placed an affectionate kiss on the Lily’s lips. “Why don’t you go reward yourself with a drink while we conduct our business?”

Lily nodded, and departed through the room’s other door. Suddenly alone with the powerful demon, Nicholas couldn’t keep from fidgeting. However, Raedeman remained gracious as he sat back down and gestured at the empty chair. “Nicholas. It’s good to finally meet you in person. Dealing with intermediaries is tedious, but often necessary. Especially for someone in my position.”

Nicholas inched forward. But even when he sat in the chair across from Raedeman, he found it hard to look directly at the demon, and instead, his eyes wandered over the scrolls. Most were stained and torn, in addition to being written in languages Nicholas couldn’t even begin to recognize. As Nicholas stared at them, the symbols seemed to awake, writhing about on the paper like the shadows of damned souls.

“Do you believe in prophecies, Nicholas?”

Startled, Nicholas flinched, like a schoolboy who had just been caught daydreaming. “What?”

“Some of them are quite fascinating. Take, for instance, this one I was just looking at.” Raedeman lifted one of the scrolls and read from it. “She, who will come, will come twice. First born from a woman, then born from a man, she is the triple goddess – mother, sister, and daughter to herself. Neither of heaven nor hell, she will come. And she will decide.”

Raedeman tilted his head. “What do you make of that?”

“I...” Nicholas had no idea what to make of it. He was just an ordinary man, who hadn’t even known about demons until a month ago. Who was he to tell a Duke of Hell how to interpret prophecies? But Nicholas didn’t want to offend his host, so he tried his best. “I’m not sure. It doesn’t seem possible, does it? And what, exactly, will she decide?”

“Sadly, the prophecy doesn’t specify. But it must be quite important.”

“Whatever it means, I don’t suppose it will ever affect my life,” Nicholas confessed. “I’m not anyone special. Prophecies aren’t written about people like me.”

“Hmm. You never know, Nicholas. The drop of water that causes a river to flood is just a drop of water -- but it’s the right drop of water.” Shrugging, Raedeman pushed the scrolls aside. “However, I didn’t summon you here to discuss my hobbies. We need to talk about your mission. How did last night’s drama play out?”

“Ah.” In his lap, Nicholas’s fingers twisted restlessly, locking together and pulling apart like nervous lovers. He didn’t want Raedeman to catch him blushing. But whenever he thought of Pepper, he still felt her kiss on his lips, and his body responded in ways he couldn’t control. “Things didn’t go exactly as planned. Marzi wasn’t the one who rescued me. His sister was.”

“His sister?” One of Raedeman’s eyebrows arched high enough to be visible above the rim of his dark glasses. “You’re sure?”

“Well, she said that she was. And she did look a lot like him. Except for being a girl, of course.”

For a moment, Raedeman seemed puzzled. “Pretty girl? Bright red hair?”

“Beautiful,” Nicholas confirmed, with a bit more emphasis than he intended. “But no red hair. Hers was long and mostly brown, pulled back by a red ribbon.”

The corner of Raedeman’s mouth twitched, and he made a noise that might have been the beginnings of a chuckle. However, before Nicholas could be sure, Raedeman brought his hand to his mouth, and drowned out the sound with a loud a cough. By the time he returned his attention to Nicholas, his expression had regained its seriousness. “Yes, his sister. I see. Well, you’re not to blame for getting rescued by the wrong person.”

“About Pepper. She’s not involved in all this, is she? Because I...” Nicholas bit his lip, acutely aware that Raedeman could probably snap his spine like a twig. But the fiery resolve which fed his passion for singing had spread to encompass one other thing. “Because I really like her. And I don’t want to do anything that might get her hurt.”

“Not to worry,” Raedeman soothed. “I can honestly say that Kale wants nothing to do with her. As far as he’s concerned, this is about Marzi.”

“Okay. Good.” Nicholas didn’t feel great about betraying Marzi, but for the sake of his dream, it was a deal he could still live with. On the other hand, the thought of turning against Pepper made his stomach hurt.

“Very well, then.” Raedeman rose to his feet. “For now, your instructions remain the same – stay close to Marzi, earn his trust as completely as you can. When I have anything to add, I’ll summon you again.”

Nicholas recognized a dismissal when he heard it. But he didn’t get up. As much as he lacked world experience, Nicholas realized that dealing with demons could be a slippery proposition. So, before he went, there was one thing he needed to know. One thing he needed to be absolutely sure about.

“Um,” he ventured. “About my voice. If I follow your orders, you’ll give me what I need to be a great singer. Right?”

“That was our deal, wasn’t it?” Raedeman circled around the table. Pausing beside Nicholas, he reached down, stroking the underside of Nicholas’s throat, as another man might pet a cat. The demon’s fingers seemed to burn with a heat far beyond any touch Nicholas had ever felt. “I imagine that your voice is already developing some of what it lacked. By the time all this is over, it will be magnificent. You have my word.”

“But Nicholas?” For a moment, Raedeman’s fingers tightened, until Nicholas could barely breathe. “If you try to break our little agreement, I’ll take back what you owe me. And that’s more than you might imagine.”