Wolfluv: Thank you! How flattering XD I think after six years of trial and error novel writing I’m finally starting to get the gist of it.
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So I've been hoping the pacing is going okay. I'm always terrified I'm moving too fast or too slow. Anywho, finally getting into the really fun stuff. Soon I'm going to really get to show Luzi's character and I think I have too much fun writing Crowley. Thanks for reading guys!
---Alone---
I don’t know what I was expecting. Not a three story marvel of architecture and modern art. I also wasn’t expecting the baby blue pastel polo shirt. Maybe I was expecting to see a dank basement with a guy in a cowl and cloak. There’s a reason they tell you not to believe everything you see on tv.
The man that summoned me seemed just as surprised as I was. Maybe he was expecting the B-movie horror representation of the spawn of satan. The last thing he probably expected to see was a kid in jeans and shirt with a sad t-rex trying to do a high five with another t-rex. He raised a brow and I looked down at the shirt as I stuffed my hands into my pockets. “Tasteful, I know. If I knew how this criss angel magic shit worked I’d have shown up in something much stupider.”
His confusion was suddenly replaced by annoyance. He grumbled, “That little shit lied to me.” Fuck me, he thought he screwed up. Now that was just insulting.
I pushed my senses out against his circle. I’m not sure exactly what I was doing, it was all instinctual. The circle cracked under the pressure like an eggshell. I stepped out of the circle and shattered it.
His eyes widened in fear and he staggered back on polished travertine. For each step I took he took two steps back until he hit the sofa. I leaned in until my nose was inches from his and demanded, “Who told you my name?”
He spoke through clenched teeth. “Why would I tell you?”
I put a hand on his shoulder, my hand brushing over his skin. I sampled his soul to see what I could learn. He was scared and determined, but he wasn’t going to lie and he wasn’t going to spill. Pity.
His legs went weak from my touch and he caught himself on the back of the couch to keep from falling. Oops. He gasped, “What was that?”
“Just want to see if you were hiding anything. Now what do you want?” I took a step back, still mildly wary, even if he’d tasted genuinely scared. He was still a stranger and I was still in
his house.
He said, “What can you tell me about the Shadow People?”
“Really? You summoned me for that?” I started to turn away.
He said, “I summoned anything I could find, none of them would tell me.”
“Why?”
He pushed away from the couch, finding his courage now that there was distance between us. “They’ve been sworn to silence. They physically can’t say. So I found the highest name on the food chain that I could.” He hadn’t asked how I hadn’t known about this so-called rule. That meant my snitch was close to me, and there were only three demons in my life.
I growled, “Locke.”
He paled, “How did you…”
He had to be in the house. I couldn’t smell him, but he wouldn’t leave his master alone with me. Not after the reason he’d left. I crossed the distance to polo shirt quickly. I lifted him up off the ground with my hand fisted in his shirt. He yelped in surprise and I drawled, “I’m going to count to five.” I was angry. If I touched him now I might accidently kill him or knock him unconscious, and I wanted none of that. I wasn’t counting for dramatic effect, I was getting my anger under control.
I called out. “One.” Nothing.
“Two.”
Polo shirt rasped, “He’s not here.”
“I very much doubt that. Three.”
I waited another minute, and polo guy’s squirming increased. “Four.”
He said, “He’s not here.”
I looked up at polo shirt. “For your sake, he better be.” I said, “Five.”
I spoke to white walls. “Time’s up.” I roughly dropped him then pulled him forward into a kiss. It took all my concentration not to drain him, not even a little bit. It was just a taste, but to Locke it would look like I was killing him.
I felt the knife on my throat before I heard him. “Drop him.”
I let go and polo shirt crumpled. I couldn’t turn to look at him with the knife digging into my throat. I said, “What did you think would happen when you summoned me?”
“He insisted. I didn’t have a choice.”
“Sure you did.” I snarled and turned regardless of the blade. “You told him my name.” The sting of the knife was enough to reassure me that it was a shallow cut.
He flinched, his hand still holding the knife high. “I did.” He looked past me to polo. “What did you do to him?”
“Almost nothing, he’s fine.”
As I spoke, polo sat up with a grunt, his hand rubbing his head. “Ow.” He looked between the two of us carefully as he stood. “You know each other?”
“No shit, Sherlock.” I eyed Locke carefully. “You thought I’d kill him?” The look on his face told me all I needed to know.
Polo interrupted, “I get that you’re mad at each other, but I still have a question.”
I glared at him. “I can’t help. I don’t know much more than you do.”
“But you’re the son of Satan?”
I said, “It’s not all its cracked up to be.”
“You know nothing?” His rage sliced into his words. “You’re supposed to protect us, and you know nothing?!”
The urge to hurt him hit me like a sledgehammer. I curled my hands into fists. I hissed, “I’m my father’s chess piece at best. I know nothing. “
“So you’re just as useless as the rest of them.”
I fisted my hand in his shirt and hissed, “I’m tearing my soul to pieces for you ungrateful bastards. Just because I’m his son doesn’t make me invincible. I’m flesh and blood just like you.”
I let him go and stepped back. Locke hadn’t moved and polo was staring intensely. He said, “You really are just a kid, aren’t you?”
I frowned, “I’m 23.”
He said, “I’m sorry.” He wasn’t talking about my age.
“Don’t apologize to me. I don’t deserve it.”
I let out a quiet sigh and noticed Locke standing closer than before. He said, “You look awful.”
“Thanks. The only demon that can handle my feeding habits left.” He blushed in anger and embarrassment and looked away.
Polo asked, “What are you talking about?”
I snorted, “He didn’t tell you?”
“What?”
“I didn’t kiss you for your striking good looks, sweetheart. I’m an incubus.”
He blushed. “You don’t look like one.”
“Half an incubus.”
His eyes flicked to Locke in realization. “Oh.” His face got even redder.
I said, “It’s not what you think. It’s a lot more barbaric than it sounds.” I dropped my head to my hand and rubbed my eyes. I looked at Locke. “Why did you tell him my name?”
There was a flicker of fear. “I was angry. Alex asked.”
I looked at polo. “Your name is Alex?”
“What were you calling me?”
“Polo.” He looked down at his shirt with a frown.
I asked, “What happens if Crowley finds out?”
He paled. “You’re going to tell him?”
I sighed and leaned against the wall. “No.” I folded my arms. I had a feeling it would be much more complicated than that.
I asked, “Why did you summon me Alex? You wanted more than information.”
“The Shadow People took my wife.”
“I thought they only took souls?”
“They killed her.”
Locke didn’t seem shocked by this news. I looked at him and asked, “Why are you all lying to me?”
He looked away and said quietly, “I’m not.”
Alex asked, “Why
are you lying to him? Isn’t he…”
I bared my fangs in a flash of irritation and slid down the wall to the floor. “Welcome to my world.”
Locke licked his lips and chose his words carefully. “You’re far too important. You can’t die, and we can’t afford to let you-“
I finished his sentence for him. “Free. I’m a prisoner, that’s pretty clear.” I glanced up at Alex. “I’m sorry about your wife, but I can’t help you.”
He let out a sharp exhale and blinked rapidly. He cleared his throat and said, “You don’t look that important.”
“I don’t feel important.”
Locke said, “You’re wrong. You don’t know what you’re capable of.”
“Why won’t anyone just tell me what the fuck is going on?”
He said, “We aren’t allowed to tell you, and even then, I don’t know everything.”
I questioned, “You and Luzi?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Everyone.”
I asked, “When was that bogus law passed?”
“When you were born.” I felt dread settle in my stomach, but I wasn’t sure why. I stood and paced over to Locke. He started to back away, my predatory intent tied to my anger.
I caught him by his shirt before he could run and pulled him close. I repeated slowly. “You can’t afford to let me go? Why am I a prisoner?””
Locke stared back with wide eyes. “I can’t-“
“Then what
can you tell me?!” He flinched when I said, “Vos in ventas veri servitas.” It wasn’t something I’d known, it was something I’d learned through Locke when I devoured his soul. Latin still held power over our kind, I knew that instinctually, but I knew these words would hit home; the service of truth, that was the purpose of a familiar, and he was denying it.
He sank lower with a plea. “Please don’t. He’ll kill me.” The monster inside me saw to pounce on his weakness before the opportunity passed. I ignored the desire, but it took more effort than I wanted to admit.
Alex said, “Stop.” He stepped closer, unsure weather or not to get involved.
I growled, “This doesn’t concern you.”
“He works for me, I’ve every right to be concerned. “
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This anger wasn’t me; it wasn’t Locke’s fault. I let him go and opened my eyes with a whisper meant only for him. “I’m so tired of being lied to.”
I looked at the summoning circle on the ground with loathing. I didn’t want to go back there right now, but I wanted answers. If I went back right now, nothing would be different. If I ran or caused trouble, Crowley would find me. I knew so little about him I couldn’t be sure how he’d react, but I sure as hell wasn’t getting an answer out of Locke or Luzi.
I started for the front door. Alex trotted after me. “Where are you going?”
“Out. Away. Why do you care?”
“You’re not going to, um, go back to Hell?”
I said, “I’m yanking the proverbial chain.”
Locke followed Alex through either obligation or worry. He said, “If you run, Crowley will find you.”
I opened the front door, ducking my head and squeezing my eyes shut in the light of day. I growled, “That’s kind of the point.”
To say Alex lived in a nice upscale neighborhood would have been an understatement. My mini entourage kept at my heels. Alex out of rightly assumed fear for my actions and Locke for more or less the same reason. I said, “What do you even do anyway? You seem rich.”
“I’m a consultant.”
I snorted. “For who? Mt. Olympus?”
He explained, “People pay big money for advice from demons and information on where to find them and how to get one indebted to you.”
That was interesting, and it made a lot of sense. I could see how it would work out; Big company man pays to find a fear class to leech from his competitor to make them weak.
Walking down the sidewalk we passed a female jogger in pink sweats, her platinum blonde hair pulled up in a ponytail that swished when she passed me. She smelled like prey, her desperation and buried lust hitting me like a wall. I stopped for an instant, my demon pushing me to hunt her, to feed off her desperation and need.
Locke wasn’t a stranger to succubae behavior. He gripped my shoulder and hissed, “No. I have enough to worry about without you killing desperate housewives.”
“Isn’t that a show?” He scrunched his brow in confusion while I shook off the feeling and kept walking.
Alex muttered, “Is he stable?”
Locke answered, “No.”
I couldn’t argue with him there. I walked for another twenty minutes before Locke spoke again. “Going anywhere specific?”
I shook my head. “Nope. Just going to keep walking.”
He said, “Until?”
I said, “I find trouble.”
Alex asked slowly, “What kind of trouble?”
“The kind of trouble that would catch attention.”
There was an edge of real anger in Alex’s voice when he spoke. “Why the hell would you want to do that?”
Locke answered for me. “Because he’s stupid. He’s just going to misbehave until daddy notices him.” He added, “Crowley doesn’t punish lightly.”
“I don’t care. I have nothing to lose.” Whatever Alex heard in my tone sent a spike of fear through his scent and silenced Locke.
Turns out the world is full of evil.
I hadn’t even made it through the neighborhood when I felt it. It was a darkness that I hadn’t felt before, not even on the human from the warehouse. It wasn’t exactly a sound or a feeling or a scent. It was like a kind of silent scream of pain, the kind only damaged souls make. The succubus in me wasn’t interested for once. There was a kind of revulsion towards it that I might have felt towards biting into a rotting apple.
Locke asked, “What?”
The house I’d stopped in front of was done up Louisiana plantation style. Wooden shutters with a porch and rocking chairs. There were potted plants situated around a swinging bench. The house was painted white with a navy blue door shutters.
I asked Alex. “Who lives here?”
“Why?” There was a hint of alarm in his voice.
“Because I’m going to kill them.”
I took a step forward, but Alex had planted himself in my path. I narrowed my eyes in warning. “I wouldn’t.”
He said, “I’m not going to let you kill her.” So maybe he did know her, or he knew of her. His justice was misplaced.
Locke spoke before I could. He came up next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait.” He looked at me for the first time that day without fear or anger. “Why?”
“Her soul tastes like rot.”
His eyes widened. “You can feel that from here?”
I pulled my lips back from my fangs, my features leaking through with my growing desire to rid the world of her evil. “She has to die.”
Alex took another step closer. “No. I’ll call the police. You can’t.”
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
He hissed, “You can’t just pass judgment on people!”
Locke looked between the two of us. “Actually, he can.”
“What?” He rounded on Locke. “You’re on his side?”
He looked at me and answered, “Technically, he has the authority to do whatever he wants on this plane. And even if he didn’t, neither of us can stop him.”
He shook his head, his frustration outweighing his fear. “No. I can’t just stand here and let you kill someone.”
I mocked, “
Let me?” I started forward until I was almost standing on his toes.
Locke took Alex by the arm and tugged him to no avail. His voice was pitched with urgency. “Alex, I don’t want him to hurt you. Back off.”
He said, “No.”
I slipped my hand over the side of his neck and jaw. He sucked in a breath, his legs turning to jelly. He wasn’t a bad person, I knew he wasn’t, but when I was already so deep in bloodlust, it was difficult to only take what I needed.
Locke caught him the instant he collapsed and tugged him off the sidewalk behind a hedge. No one had seen him fall, the neighborhood was relatively empty.
Locke checked Alex’s pulse and glared up at me. “You didn’t have to take so much.”
“I didn’t. He’ll be fine.” He stayed with Alex while I started up the steps to the front door. I rang the doorbell and waited.
The woman that answered was in her late forties, her hair already brushed with silver. She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Can I help you?” I was blocking her view of Alex and Locke on her lawn, so she didn’t have a clue.
I nonchalantly turned to look at the road to make sure we weren’t being watched, then looked back at her with a forced grin. “You can.”
I slammed my hand down over her mouth and pushed into her house. I kicked the door closed with my heel. She aimed kicks at my shins, her hands tight around my wrist with muffled screams. I threw her down hard enough to wind her and stop the screaming, if only for a minute.
I put one foot on either side of her and crouched down. “You reek even more up close.” I let my wings flicker into view, my skin dying back to its original color. Her eyes widened in horror, scrambling to get away with short gasps. “You probably thought no one would suspect a kindly old woman? That there would be no consequences?”
I was loathe to touch her again, pieces of her soul slipping in like water cupped in my palm. She tasted like poison and it turned my stomach. I grabbed her by the throat and asked, “What did you do?”
Her expression twisted into one of defiance, denial and anger. She gasped, “They deserved it. They were horrible men! It was humane. It was just poison.” That sounded like a black widow. This one was too stupid to realize she was the monster. Maybe we had more in common than I wanted to think.
I snapped her neck with a wet crack. I straightened in disgust, the entire house saturated with an imprint of her soul. I backed away and said, “You don’t waste time, do you?”
Crowley made a sound in the back of his throat. “When a demon kills a human, I know about it.” He didn’t mention how or why. He asked, “Why kill her?”
“She deserved it.”
He walked past me and looked down at the woman. “You’re sure?”
I let my appearance fade into the background. “I’ve never been so sure of anything in my entire life.”
He said, “I was just having an interesting conversation with Luzi. So Locke told a human your name?” I figured Luzi would figure it out. It really wasn’t that difficult.
I turned and looked at him. “Leave him alone.”
He stared back. “He broke the rules. I can’t do that.”
“It concerns me, I don’t have a say in it?”
“Someone has to be punished.”
I said, “Then punish me.”
“Why do that for him, you don’t owe him anything.”
“Why do you care? Will you do it or not.”
He stared a long moment. “Fine.”
I added, “Don’t kill the human.”
He tilted his head, his tone testing. “He knows your name. He can’t be trusted.”
I pressured, “Don’t kill him. He didn’t mean any harm.”
“Fine.”
I turned to face him fully and closed the distance between us. “Tell me the truth.” He didn’t speak. “I’m not stupid, Crowley. You’ve isolated me, sometimes I get stared at like I’m a freak, you all lie.”
He didn’t blink or look away, his expression unreadable. Finally he said, “I suppose it doesn’t change anything if you know what you are. It might even speed up the process”
“What I am?”
He gently pushed my shoulder, the world twisting to take us back to hell. The silence was reassuring and thick, my eyes trained on Crowley. He said, “Your birth was an experiment. The Shadow People don’t have consistent physical bodies, but they have something resembling a soul. We found a way to break one apart and we put it inside you when you were born. The energy of the Shadow Person was too overwhelming for your soul and it devoured it. What was left over was something we couldn’t completely recognize. We don’t know why you survived, but at your core, you’re one of them.” I was the enemy? That wasn’t possible. I didn’t feel evil or different. But then, what the hell did I know? Apparently nothing.
“We let you grow up without any influences in the human world to make sure you weren’t a threat and to be sure the Shadow People didn’t try to take you. When we brought you here we finally started to see your potential.”
“So I’m just a fucked up science project?”
“The Shadow People have massive amounts of energy condensed to manifest themselves a body. That amount of energy inside you makes you stronger than even the highest bred demon. There’s still no telling if you gained their ability as well.”
I felt my stomach lurch at that. I was made. I was a thing, a weapon. I didn’t think it could bother me like this. Knowing that I was born without love I could handle, but being born for a single purpose without regard given to my life; that I couldn’t handle.
He took my face in his hands. His eyes searing into mine. “The Shadow People found you once, as a child. You wouldn’t remember, you were so young. They killed your foster parents and hovered around you in a swarm. They treated you like a leper, like a freak. They were going to kill you, but we got there in time to stop them. They didn’t see you the way we did; The potential, the miracle that you lived at all.”
I pulled away. I spat, “You make it sound so justified. I’m not a thing.”
“You belong to me. You’re my flesh and blood, my weapon.”
“No.”
He smiled, “I don’t think you understand. You don’t have a choice.”
“You can’t make me fight.”
He took one step forward for every step I took back. He said, “I don’t have to. Where would you go? You’re not human, you’re not a demon, you’re not one of the Shadows.” My back hit a wall. “Your place is here.” My heart was pounding. I was trapped. He moved his hand to my face. “Why are you afraid? You’re one of a kind. You’re special.”
I sounded less panicked than I felt. “You just told me I’m a thing.”
“So what will you do? Run?” He studied me. “No, only prey runs. You’re not prey.”
“Is this why Luzizi is afraid to touch me?”
He answered my unspoken question. “Only Luzizi, your mother and myself really know what you are. The rest of demonkind has an idea. They know you’re my son, they know you’re off limits, and they know to fear you.”
His hand slipped down my face to my neck and tightened enough for my breath to catch in fear. He said, “I’m the only one who loves you for what you are.”
I hissed, “You made damn sure of that, didn’t you?”
He smiled and backed away. “I am what I am.” He vanished in a flicker of space and I slid to the ground with a shaky exhale. My heart ached in a way I’d never felt before. I was alone. It was bone deep, a dread that shook me to my core. I didn’t belong anywhere, he was right; The humans were prey, the shadow people were my enemy and demons feared me. This prison was the closest thing to a home I was ever going to get.
