Defying Instinct (Demon Instinct Series) (6 page)

Curse
the day we put in two desktop computers for public use in The Bookstore.  It
seemed like a good idea at the time.  It had even been mine.  I had no idea
they would be such a source of annoyance.

Laying
his hands over one of mine on the keyboard, I only resisted the urge to yank away
for half a second.  The bearded man I was assisting grabbed the computer mouse
from under my grasp next, touching my other hand, making me wrench away
immediately.

He
rasped, “Wait, wait.  You’re going too fast.”

Which
in turn—and for the fourth time since they set up shop at the computers—made
his surly wife screech, “stop being an idiot, Howard.”

“She’s
going to mess up what I’ve done.”

“Why
would she do that?” another screech.

Howard
sputtered, his eyes down sheepishly.  “I-it took so long to…I-I don’t have time
to…”

Ignoring
their words, I formatted the man’s document as he’d asked when he finally
removed his hands, all the while imagining thrusting out my arms in opposite
directions and elbowing them both in the mouth.  As I worked, the man made
strained noises, but thankfully made no more moves to stop me.

My
demon instinct whispered I could strangle them with the computer wires and no
one would be the wiser.

“Is
that how you want it to look?” I asked, customer service smile doing its job
perfectly.

Minutes
ticked by, or at least what felt like minutes to me, standing between a
bickering married couple openly snapping at each other and scrutinizing the
simple things I did as if I weren’t standing there listening. 

When
smoke-and-fire got stronger in my mind, I said, hoping I could make a getaway,
“Let me know if there’s anything more—”

“No. 
Wait.  We have…” she trailed off, squinting from behind thick glasses that
badly distorted her eyes, as if squinting was going to make her understand
technology that had clearly passed her by a decade ago.

“If
you have something specific you need help with, I’ll be glad to assist you.”  I
took a step back.  “Otherwise, I need to get back to work.”

Tomorrow,
I was hanging a sign that said the staff was not here to help with the
computers.  Or maybe I’d just listen to the suggestions in my head and take a
baseball bat to the monitors.  That would take care of that problem.

When
she said nothing, I left, certain I’d be standing between them again before
long.

Once
my demon half’s aggravation with the humans fizzled and my discomfort over the
bearded man’s touch faded, my thoughts were on Benn again, like they’d been all
day.  I kept wondering what I could do to make things okay again.  I’d been
awful.  He’d been a true friend and I rewarded it with lies.  Maybe I didn’t
deserve a friend.  Maybe I didn’t deserve someone like Benn in my life.

“We
must teach you not to project your emotions, girl,” Rowan grumbled as I walked
by him.  I didn’t bother acknowledging his comment.  There had been one too
many condescending remarks like that from him today.

Grayson
and his brunette Hammer, Cyrus—who bowed when we were introduced, which was too
weird—shared a couch and appeared to be discussing stratagem or whatever it was
demons on sentry duty discussed with each other.

Rowan
stood by the front door, even though each time it opened, he visibly shivered. 
Demons hated the cold, but apparently weren’t willing to do anything about it. 
I was so tempted to force him into a coat, but a funny voice in my head told me
not to.  He wore another sweater like yesterday, soft cashmere the color of
sage.  The green looked fantastic with his light hair, eyes, and tanned skin. 
The way the supple material clung to his—

More
than a few times, I had to snap myself out of those kinds of thoughts.

I
didn’t know why I couldn’t control them at first, but I suspected it was a
Tempter’s presence that was screwing with me.  Even without trying, having
Grayson around was starting to saturate the store with a scent like candy and
spices, and something I wasn’t experienced enough to define.  It seemed to be
affecting all the females who entered the place. 

When
I looked at Grayson, he looked good too.  He wore his average glamour, but
every now and then, a flash of crystal blue diamonds would draw my gaze. 

Did
it explain why, even when I felt Grayson’s Incubus stare, could smell that
intoxicatingly luring scent in the air, my attention kept returning to Rowan’s
entirely unfriendly sneer?  I couldn’t figure it out, and I didn’t want to
think about it more than I had to.

Things
were unusual right now, and I could still have that concussion.  I clung to the
hope.

My
sentries disappeared one by one to feed themselves throughout the day.  I was
curious where they were going and what it was they were eating.  Most foods
didn’t taste like much to me.  I had to add strong flavors to everything I
ate.  I wondered if demon food would have more taste.  Except I wasn’t feeling
friendly with any of them.  I also wanted to ask why all three of them were
here when I’d asked them to make sure Dad and Benn were safe too.  But I didn’t
mention it.  That they hadn’t taken my request seriously didn’t surprise me in
the least. 

My Dad
was at the university, surrounded by students, faculty, and assistants.  Benn
was there too, equally surrounded by people.  I was reasonably sure they would
be okay out in the open like that.  Besides, Dad said he’d stop by after his
class was over, even though tonight wasn’t one of his scheduled visiting days. 

Though
he‘d never say it, Dad was worried for me.

But
when Benn walked through the door, making Rowan shiver and Grayson and Cyrus
turn, probably because of whatever my emotions projected to them, I exhaled
like I’d been holding my breath all day.

There
was a moment he did a double-take toward the demon standing by the door.  Whatever
it was, if it was even anything, Benn shook it off and walked up to the
counter.

He
stared at me for a minute, his blue eyes bloodshot, but otherwise as kind as
always, and I opened my mouth to say something but didn’t know what.  I was
just so glad to see him, I didn’t care if Rowan and the others could feel it
loud and clear.

“No
more lies,” the severity of his words striking my central nervous system like a
bolt of lightning.

“All
right,” I bowed my head and closed my eyes.  “Then we need to talk.”

If
there weren’t going to be any lies between us, I wanted to get it all out. 

“I’m
gonna go shake hands with a Tempter,” the gleam in his expression making me
smile my first real smile all day.  “Coffee after closing time?”

“Definitely,”
I said, grinning and imagining what it was going to be like to tell him.  It
would be a first for me.  I was excited.

The
idea of telling Benn, having a true confidant about every detail of my unusual
life was a gift I’d never expected.  I wished I could go back in time and make
all the right decisions with him.  I wished I’d found the nerve to tell him
what I was years ago.

Before
Benn made it across the room to where Grayson and Cyrus sat, red flashed before
my eyes.  A creature stood before me on the other side of the check-out counter. 
He hadn’t walked in from the frosty afternoon air. 

He
just appeared. 

Red
smoke wafted up to the ceiling, making me suspect it had something to do with
the sudden appearance.

If
Sorcerer demons had the ability to use glamour, then this one was choosing not
to.  It clarified why when he ambled up to the counter like any old patron in
the place, uncommon shock forced me to hit the telepath panic button.

“Greetings,
Savannah Cole, Daughter of Iliana,” the Sorcerer said, his voice abrasive, like
metal grinding on stone.

Classic
images of the Devil flashed through my mind as I stood frozen.  This full-caste
demon had waxy, red flesh and beady, onyx eyes.  Black, jagged horns took the
place of hair on the top of his bald head.  A mouth filled with yellow, pointed
teeth, like a piranha’s, a forked tongue and I was willing to bet a forked tail
too, topped off the image of true evil.

All
I could manage to say was, “Hi.”

It
delighted the creature.

I
was in danger.  I could feel it burning into every instinct, human and demon. 
This thing, this Devil was not here for a social call.

My
eyes darted to where I knew the three demons who had been tailing my every move
since last night for this very reason were supposed to be.  Why hadn’t they
intervened?  Why hadn’t they tackled this black-eyed Sorcerer and gotten me out
of here?

“Your
guards cannot help you,” he said, either watching my eyes or literally reading
my thoughts.  At this point, I couldn’t rule anything out.

Benn
and the three demons frantically punched and clawed at an energy field around
me and the Sorcerer.  Each blow radiated a distortion in the field and rippled
outward all around us.  I wondered if they could still see me or if whatever
the Sorcerer was doing to keep them out meant they thought I’d disappeared.  

Either
way, they kept fighting, all four of them, making zero progress.  It made me
feel a fullness in my chest, but I didn’t know what it was.

My
first panicked telepath must have gotten through, but nothing else I tried reached
them.  My attempts were met by a painful
ping
each time I tried.

Rowan?
...
PING.

Can
anyone hear me?
...
PING.

After
the third try that felt like my head was being split in two, I gave up.

“Who
are you?” I asked.

“I
am Hadrian,” he announced like his name should mean something to me.

When
I human-like shrugged, unimpressed, Hadrian bared his piranha teeth and spat,
“I created you.  This unfortunate human you see in the mirror each morning.  I
am the brilliance behind that face.”

Masking
the trickle of alarm I felt with words of calm, I muttered, “then I owe you twenty
years of grief.”

Whether
it was my calm, or the bold words, I appeared to have pleased him.

“There
is hope for you yet, Daughter of Iliana.”

Impatiently,
I tapped my fingers on the counter, channeling Benn and his human fidgetiness.  “You
must be here for a reason.”

Hadrian
made a sound, and it could have been a sharp laugh.  “You know what I have come
to do.”

Yes,
I did.  He was what my three sentries were trying to warn me about.  He was the
one they needed to protect me from.  Yet, here he was.  And I was no more
emotional than I’d ever been.  I didn’t want to die.  But I couldn’t find the
feelings inside to go along with it.  Human instincts told them, fight or
flight.  Demon instincts told them, reason or ruin. 

All
I did was stand with my hands on the counter, waiting for what was to come.

“If
you’re here to destroy me, can we get on with it?” I said, annoyed by my lack
of whatever fundamental thing I’d lacked all my life.

“With
pleasure,” the Sorcerer pulled his red, waxy lips away from his yellow teeth in
a wicked smile.

Something
crackled in the air around us, trapped within the protective shield the
Sorcerer cast.  The smell, the taste, the awful power of malevolence surrounded
me, got inside me.  Finally, I felt a semblance of what I should have been
feeling all along.  Terror.

Agony
ignited.

It
forced me forward against the check-out counter.  My skin froze and burned,
stretched and crackled like flesh wasn’t meant to.  I couldn’t see through the
brightness of The Bookstore lights.  I was suddenly so sensitive, the feel of
my clothes, my hair, even the dust in the air landing on my skin was
excruciating.

“Why
are you doing this?” I grated out, knowing the irrationality of my pleading
words considering the view of evilness looking down at my crumpled form.

“Nothing
personal,” another bolt of pure agony.  “Highest bidder wanted you unhidden.”

Only
then did I realize what he was doing.

It
occurred to the part of me that could still comprehend logic even while I writhed
in relentless pain that I should have seen this coming.  Shouldn’t it have been
obvious?  Why didn’t I know this was inevitable?  Maybe a part of me never
fully believed the way I looked was a glamour.  After all, wasn’t it more
likely I was naturally ugly?  Part of me resisted the hope of ever looking
socially acceptable. 

Did
I even want to look different?  What if I were pretty under all my ugly, like
that blonde human Holly had said?  I wouldn’t know what to do with such a
thing.

There
was a reason there weren’t half-castes walking the streets, why I’d never met
another like me.  Most were too obvious in their otherness.  Demon genes were
too dominant.  We had no natural glamour to hide from it.