???'s POV Pandemonium was the palace that sat at the very heart of Tartarus, the lowest levels of the pit. It resembled an inverted gothic cathedral, making its roost at home in the stalactites of the undercity with spires facing down over the endless abyss the whole thing sat above.I'd flown down to one of the balconies that graced such a building, ones specifically designed for sitting in such a fortress and spotted my dearest friend.Lucifer was drinking tea, or perhaps it was tainted ambrosia. The bit was out of their mouth, which meant their voice was free to be heard. I knew it wouldn't hurt me, often we'd found these days that we canceled each other out. I could create no more than he could destroy and vice versa, forever at an equilibrium. They smiled sweetly, fair lashes never stopped gazing directly at the Throne, but the blush that suffused their cheeks let me know they'd seen me enough."To what do I owe this pleasure?" The world warped and faded with their voice, the br
There's only one thing I hated more than Monday mornings, and that was a mound of paperwork first thing to start off my day. That thought only solidified when I heard a knock on my office door right before it swung open with Shelly, our office secretary, standing in the doorway."Morning," she greeted, coming over to slap down a pile of folders onto my desk, drawing a groan out of me. "These just came in."I grabbed my lukewarm coffee and swirled it a few times before downing what was left in the cup. Smacking my lips, the taste of tar on my tongue, I set the cup down again and gave her a glowering look."Did Jeffery not get my note?"She shrugged at me. "That doesn't answer my question.""I don't know what you want from me," she said, putting her hands on her hips. "I'm simply the messenger."With that, the bottle blonde turned on her heel and walked out of my dingy little office, leaving my door wide open. How tempting it was to throw my empty cup at her bac
I ended up taking half my case files with me just to spite Jeffery and his ridiculous demand. Since he was my boss, I couldn't exactly tell him no… but there was a small sliver of rebellion I could get away with as long as I wasn't too outlandish about it.Before the sun even rose, I left Poughkeepsie. Since the drive to D.C. was just under six hours away, I wanted to make plenty of headway before I got stuck in the inevitable commuter traffic. I hoped to hit Virginia by the time noon hit, but something inside me was telling me my goal was a little out of reach.It wouldn't stop me from trying, though.My first stop was at a gas station next to the highway to grab some snacks for my drive. I'd taken a few trips out to D.C. before—most of them consisted of providing more hands for case files and sifting through the actual trenches of complete disarray that seemed never-fucking-ending. I couldn't imagine working for a city as busy as D.C. and the surrounding Maryland
TW: THREATS OF ASSAULT & SEXUAL VIOLENCE; MISCONDUCTIt wasn't until we were outside of the club the hot flashes started. My entire body felt like it'd been connected to a live wire, shocking me with pleasure every few seconds and dragging strained grunts out of me when I tried to wiggle out of Talon's grip.It hadn't occurred to me to check my drink for drugs, mostly because I'd never had someone be that bold before and bring it directly to me. Typically my magic was good at beating through normal street drugs. They'd make me feel woozy, of course, but nothing like this.That meant whatever they'd put in my drink was something off the black market. Aphrodia more than likely.Fucking shifters.What, they couldn't find willing girls to go back and gangbang them, so they had to drink me, a random out-of-towner? What kind of pack was this? Clearly, not one with a sound hierarchy or a Luna in place. I jolted on Talon's shoulder when one of them smacked my
The pounding in my head was the first thing I noticed when I finally came to. My body was wrapped in something warm and soft, reminding me of soft fur or plush of some kind. Opening my eyes slowly, I winced when a sharp pain that rocketed through my forehead."Ugh…"Untangling my arm from my cocoon, I pressed the heel of my palm into my brow bone. The added pressure of it relieved some of the tension stored there, but it wasn't enough to completely take away my pounding head. That aphrodisiac was no joke. I'd never had that stuff before, but I could see why coming down from it was a popular subject among habitual users. When I went to open my eyes again, I focused on the darkness surrounding me. It wasn't pitch-black wherever I was, with some kind of dim light source bathing the ceiling in a faint blue tone. I watched it for a while, letting my body slowly wake up along with the rest of me. All of my limbs felt heavy and out of place, weighed down by an invisible anvil
He let me go.The action rang loudly in my head.He let me go… Why?We'd barely shared any parting words when he'd taken me down the nineteen flights to ground level, where a car was indeed waiting for me. I'd been completely flabbergasted to realize he lived in the penthouse at one of the most expensive highrises in the D.C. area. Even the doorman had greeted him by name. It'd left me baffled as I'd gotten into the car and soon headed off, leaving the demon I'd been searching for a figure who slowly grew smaller out the rearview window. It couldn't be that easy… right? Finding him, where he lived, and him not sucking my soul from my body… it wouldn't be handed to me without any kind of karma attached to it, right?It seemed close to impossible not to look this gift horse in the mouth. The desperation to figure out why he hadn't harmed me, coupled with wanting to complete this damn mission and go home, were both equally pressing matters.
I followed them a good twenty feet behind. How good Zaine's senses were when he had his prey entwined in his web, I wasn't sure. Testing it wasn't on my list of to-do's, however. He nodded to the bouncer manning the roped-off section before skating by easily.Honestly, it kind of impressed me with how easy it was for him to scoop someone up and then take them off to meet their death. I'm surprised more people hadn't put two-and-two together yet about him and the dead women he'd left behind. I waited until they disappeared into one of the curtained rooms before heading over to the bouncer and flashing my ID. "Got a suspect I'm looking into."He raised his brow at me, snatching my ID out of my hands. "Suspect? Who?"I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him. Humans were so fucking nosey."Classified.""You with the government?"Technically, I was. Just not his."I'm a P.I.""Oh shit," he quickly handed my ID back to me, pulling back th
I ran hard and fast back to my motel room. What did I do? What the fuck did any of this mean? Why hadn't he killed her?The questions screamed inside of my head for the entire block. That woman had been blissed out of her mind but she'd been far from dead and it hadn't looked like Zaine was interested in killing her. If he wanted to, he wouldn't mid-orgasm, right?Fuck. I should've dragged her out of there when I had the chance. I couldn't be certain that he wouldn't kill her after he was done getting off and sucking her dry. How stupid I was to assume he'd been done when he'd propositioned me for my services. He could've wanted us both drained—a two for one special.I took the key to my motel room out of my pocket and jammed it into the door with shaky hands. I needed to call Jeffery for some kind of backup and get another agent over here to make sure I didn't become a sex demon's next meal. What the hell took incubi down anyway? Nothing traditional from wha