Good Intentions 3: Personal Demons (2 page)

Leon scowled darkly. “I understand this situation perfectly.”

“Splendid. Whatever you tell yourself to placate your ego is not my concern.” She flicked her wrists again, forcing each man to eject the last bullet from his gun before dropping the weapons on her table. Then she lowered her hands. “Molly, our guests are leaving.”

“Cool.” Molly watched as the men stood under their own power. Neither Leon nor his friends seemed interested in retaliation. Leon barely gave Molly a glance as he led his friends outside.

Elizabeth noted Molly’s tense breath. “Take a moment. Let your heartbeat settle. This is over. We are both fine.”

Molly swallowed hard and did as Elizabeth instructed. The older woman’s even tone helped calm her down. “Are they gonna be trouble later?” Molly asked. The door swung shut at the front of the shop. Molly watched Leon angrily wave his followers into their cars.

“I think not,” said Elizabeth, stepping out to observe with her. “You may not have noticed, but I quashed every spell they attempted while I held them. They will not cross me until they attain a much greater degree of power. Since they came to me searching for such power, I doubt they will find it soon.”

“Is that what you were talking about? Sites of power and contacting the other side?”

“Yes. Take your ordinary paranoid Doomsday planners, add a handful of genuine Practitioners, and you get the Spartan Light of Unconquered Cascadia.” Elizabeth gestured grandly to the pair of SUVs rolling away from the curb. “Leon has divined the Apocalypse at least seven times since the turn of the century and has been disappointed every time. But still they believe, and still they prepare.”

“How do they plan to survive the end of the world?”

Elizabeth shrugged. “Mystic wards on their compound and a lot of canned food, I imagine. It sounds terrible to me.”

“Wait, you said they divined it. If they’re actual Practitioners, do you mean they did that with real magic?”

“I would imagine so.”

“But we’re still here. No Doomsday.”

“Ah. Yes. We have not talked about divinations since they are not your style. Different Practices argue about this sort of thing, but I have studied it closely and worked to shed my own bias.” Elizabeth smiled fondly at the younger woman. Though she mentored Molly, that didn’t make the redhead an apprentice in the strictest terms. They followed different Practices. Still, given Elizabeth’s long experience and knowledge, her guidance helped Molly learn and grow dramatically faster than she could on her own.

“The future is not written,” Elizabeth explained. “Divination draws upon collective intentions and expectations, you see. Auguries predict events because the magic gives a sense of what others
plan
to do and what they
believe
will happen. Get enough people nervous about a zombie uprising and you may see such a plague in your visions of the future…but it will not happen, because real zombies are not symbolic of disease like the creations of Hollywood.

“Leon clearly doesn’t understand this. I believe he pulls his divinations from limited sources of information. The course of global civilization is less obvious when you live in the mountains among fewer humans. Weather is easy to predict there. The animals know what to expect. But human events? If you live in an isolated compound of paranoid fools, you’re bound to predict the end of the world every day.

“I will clean this up. Thank you for watching the front, Molly. I am glad you are here.”

“So am I,” said Molly. “Um. We’ve got a customer over by the books. I’ll go check on her.”

The girl in the hoodie lurked in the far corner of the store. Molly found that intriguing. She also noticed how the girl’s posture stiffened as she approached, though with the hood up and her back turned, it wasn’t easy to tell much else. “Hey there,” said Molly. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Um…I’m okay, thanks.”

“Thought you might be. You’re over here by the good stuff,” Molly noted. The hooded head twitched. Molly grinned. “You knew that already, didn’t you?”

The girl turned until those pretty blue eyes emerged from her hood. “I’ve seen lots of good stuff in here.”

“Yeah. Still easier with someone to show you around. The service is free. Besides, I owe you one for helping me out with Creepy back there.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m glad I could help. I can’t stand jerks like that.”

Molly couldn’t wipe the smile off her face now if she tried.
Something about this girl
, she thought. “You’re safe here. I’m not scoping you out as a potential shoplifter or anything. You’ve just got this look like you’re not supposed to be here, and that’s not a problem for us.” She tilted her head toward the shelves on the wall. “Especially not anyone who knows to come to this end of the store. It’s not like we have an age restriction, either…if that wasn’t just a helpful line to make him back off?”

“For a couple more months, anyway. Thanks.” The other girl bit her lip before saying more.

The redhead held out her hand. “I’m Molly. You can give me a fake name, I’m cool with it.”

The girl hesitated, but when she accepted the handshake, Molly felt a cool electricity from her touch that had nothing to do with sorcery. “Call me Onyx.”

“I can do that. So what brought you here to the ‘
I Know Bullshit from the Real Deal
’ section?”

“I see things sometimes,” said Onyx. Her lips twitched with the hint of a grin.

“When you’re asleep, or when you’re awake?”

“Both.”

“Like faint shades of color around people?”

Onyx nodded. “That, too.” She paused. “I like yours.”

“What do mine look like?”

“Fire. Yours is redder and hotter than most people’s. It’s reaching out to me like Creepy’s aura did to you,” Onyx ventured slowly. “Only with you it’s more of a gesture and less like a grab.”

“Busted already,” Molly admitted, but she kept smiling.

“I’m not actually
sure
what it means,” Onyx conceded. “I only feel like I’ve got a faint idea.”

“No. You’ve probably got a very good idea.” Molly pulled a hardbound book from the shelf and held it out. “It all depends on your Practice. The basics are spelled out here.”

Onyx glanced down at the book. “I’ve got this one already.”

“Oh.”

“Bought it at the Circle’s End on Capitol Hill. I didn’t know if it’s legit, but it felt right. Righter than the others.”

“It’s legit,” said Molly. Her hopes rose.
Holy shit
, she thought,
is she like me?
“You’re on the right path already. I can tell you that much.”

Onyx nodded. “I tried one of the rituals this morning. It led me here. You guys aren’t listed online as an occult bookstore or I’d have been here before.”

“Yeah. I keep reminding the owner about internet advertising, but she’s dragging her feet.”

“For like twenty years?”

“She’s got different ideas about advertising…and time.” Molly shrugged. “What were you looking for with that ritual?”

“Answers. I have dreams sometimes. When I wake up, the dreams fade, but the feeling is there. Like I’m looking for someone.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“All my life.”

“Wow.” Molly’s eyebrows rose. “So you’re not looking for something, but someone?”

“More than just that. I’m looking for answers. How to figure out those dreams. How to make sense of the things I see and hear and feel. What to do with it all.” Onyx shook her head. “Lots of things.”

Molly’s smile simply wouldn’t die. She wondered if it ever would, or if she’d ever want it to. “Want some help with all that?”

“This is the scariest shit I’ve ever done.”

“Is it? You don’t seem all that frightened.”

“I’m putting up a brave front.”

The dark-haired woman in the front passenger’s seat glanced at Alex with a raised eyebrow. Even when dressed down for a casual domestic holiday evening, Lorelei looked fit for the cover of a glamour magazine. “I seem to recall you once literally went to Hell and slew a demon prince.”

“That was only like the front yard of Hell or whatever, right?” The young man at the wheel shrugged. “I didn’t have time to think about it. This has been coming for weeks.”

“For once, I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.”

“Yeah, me neither,” said Alex. “Funny, huh?”

“You’re that nervous? It’s only Christmas Eve with your family. You’ve had nineteen of them already. You aren’t a newcomer here.”

Alex returned her assurance with a skeptical frown. “It’s the ‘newcomer’ bit that I’m worried about. I’ve never brought anyone home for Christmas. Not that I ever had to ‘go home’ for Christmas in the first place.”

“You aren’t springing this on anyone as a surprise. You already told Michelle everything,” Lorelei pointed out. “Everything you could tell, at least. That conversation went fine.”

“Uh-huh. Listen, Mom had so much faith in my relationship with you that when she got a new place, she made sure it had a room for me. No, all I did with that conversation was add to her doubts. It was more weird than fine.”

“I suspect you wouldn’t joke if you sensed a serious problem. Our relationship is outside the common norm. It’s natural for her to be a bit unsure, yet she accepted it. She invited us. None of this comes as a surprise to anyone. Alex, everyone in that home loves you. It’s hardly the same degree of danger as fighting off demons.”

“Yeah, but I don’t have to give a damn what those jerks think about anything,” he grumbled. “Like who gives a shit if I disappoint Beelzebub or whoever with my life choices, y’know? He’s gonna hate me no matter what I do. Screw that guy. Stupid name anyway.”

Lorelei smiled. “You are not the first to make that observation.”

“Oh God, he’s really a thing? I thought he was made up for
Dungeons & Dragons
or whatever.”

“If Hell is a high school, Beelzebub is the entitled rich kid with no social skills and terrible body odor. Or so I would imagine. I’ve never been to high school.”

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that Hell is worse than high school. Narrowly.”

“Yes. High school eventually ends.”

Alex brought the Lexus to a stop two cars back from the edge of the intersection. The dark, wet streets were busy. Alex had expected that most people would be off work and at home with family by now.

His eyes wandered to a bearded man at the end of the concrete divider on his left. The man wore a tattered grey coat and a ball cap someone must have thrown away. Plastic bags at his feet probably contained everything he owned. His cardboard sign read, “Homeless. Disabled. Sober. Anything Helps. Happy Holidays! God Bless!”

“Aw man,” Alex muttered. Money had been tight through most of his childhood, yet he never faced these problems. Nor had any of the other men he’d once been. Memories forced upon him by cruel sorcery flitted through his mind as he looked at the panhandler: Memories of many, many wars. Memories of being abandoned in foreign lands, of losing everything he cared about time and again, of even being enslaved at least once. Yet in none of those memories had he ever been reduced to begging.

He didn’t wonder which fate was worse. Instead, he pulled the wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. Alex figured he needed the fifteen dollars in his wallet less than the homeless man did. “Every time I think I’ve got problems...”

“Hm? Oh.” With her gaze elsewhere, Lorelei didn’t understand her lover’s intentions until he lowered the window and waved. “There’s always someone in greater suffering,” she said.

The man quickly limped up to Alex, nodding in gratitude even before he took the bills. “Hey brother, thank you so much. Bless you.” He leaned down to make eye contact with the driver and the passenger. “Bless you both.”

“I only wish it was more,” said Alex. “It’s what I’ve got.”

“Aw, this is great!” the man assured him, looking at the bills. “This is dinner and breakfast for tomorrow! Thanks!” He looked at Lorelei again. “You’ve got a good man here!”

“Yes, I do,” she answered.

His gaze stayed on her. Alex was completely used to people forgetting about him when they saw his girlfriend. It happened all the time. “Good luck to you,” said Alex, his eyes flitting back and forth between the panhandler and the light.

“Luck? I’ve already had all the luck in the world! I don’t need luck now!”

The light changed. Alex held up his hand for one last wave. Traffic barely even crawled forward. He glanced at Lorelei again. “Sorry.”

“For what? Your charity, or your empathy?” She chuckled. “I like this. Let’s take a tour of all the qualities that brought us together as if we’ve forgotten them. We’ve already started with your courage. Now this.”

“I was going to say I’m sorry for bringing someone over to leer at you, but that sounds silly, too. It’s easy to forget that sort of thing doesn’t bother you. Part of being a succubus, right?”

“And the tour continues,” she said with a sly grin. “You have always seen me as a woman before you see me as a temptation. All too many men arrange their priorities differently. I may draw power from lust and desire, but context always matters.”

The car in front of theirs stopped at the intersection with its left turn signal flashing, creating another minor delay. “Polite leering is better than creepy leering?” asked Alex.

“When I’m paying attention to the source, yes.” Her hand ran over his thigh. “I may be more amenable to the world staring at me than ordinary women, but I prefer strangers to at least be subtle about it. Open leering is only welcomed on my own terms…or yours.”

“Christmas with my mother,” he muttered.

“Ah. Yes. My apologies.” Lorelei withdrew her hand with an amused smile. “Lust is probably not the best subject right now.”

“Oh I’m not complaining,” he said, though he already felt a mild tremor run through him. “Just gotta stay focused, y’know? Think about family stuff instead of sex. Wholesome domestic family tranquility bullshit.”

His eyes searched for things that would take his mind off of his urges, which meant not looking at the woman seated on his right. Alex caught a glimpse of the homeless man in the rear view mirror as they waited for the car in front of them to turn. A reminder of that sort of trouble could always kill the mood. Alex saw the man watching them go, then realized the way ahead was clear. He pushed on the accelerator and continued on.

He didn’t see the intensity of the man’s gaze, or the attention to detail, or the brief flash of red light in his eyes. He didn’t notice the way the man’s limp disappeared, or his swift rush off of the divider. By the time the homeless man darted into traffic, mortal eyes couldn’t see him at all.

“’Wholesome?’ Hopefully we won’t hear much of
that
sort of talk tonight,” said Lorelei.

“Yeah,” Alex agreed with a nervous sigh. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”

“I’m only teasing. Surely it won’t be a problem. The store is up on the left here,” she added.

“I see it.” Retail structures and offices shared the same sheltered parking at their destination. He found a space with little trouble. “Anyway, let’s hope.”

“Have no fear,” said Lorelei. “I’m sure things will be fine.”

Alex stepped out of the car to find himself only inches away from a lovely blonde in a thin white summer dress. The material clung damply to her thin, slender body. Broad white wings sprouted from her back. Her halo glowed as brightly as any of the overhead lights.

“How the fuck is it not snowing when it’s this cold?” she asked. “I swear I could
impale
a bitch with my nipples right now.”

Alex blinked. He skipped right past worrying about whether or not other people could see the angel in the parking lot. “Wha—wait, I thought you weren’t bothered by the cold?”

“Not like you are, no,” said Rachel. “I’m not uncomfortable, but I still feel it.”

“How long have you been following us?”

“Only the last couple of blocks. I thought about jumping into the back seat but I figured the surprise might cause an accident or something.”

His eyes still wide with surprise, Alex said, “Good call on that one.”

“Are your responsibilities resolved?” asked Lorelei, stepping around the car to greet Rachel with a brief yet unquestionably sensual kiss.

“Yeah, we’re good. Obviously I’m on call as usual, but things seem quiet.” Her blue eyes sparkled happily. “I should get changed.”

“I’ll be inside,” said Lorelei.

“Yeah, we’ll catch up,” said Alex as he opened the trunk. Beside bags of wrapped presents sat a small bundle of casual winter clothes for Rachel. He glanced around the parking garage. No one in the store seemed to be looking toward them, nor was anyone else in the garage. “Guess the coast is clear.”

“It’s fine either way,” said Rachel. “I’ve got this.” She ran her hands through her hair and shook it vigorously. Her white wings stretched out to their full glory to do much the same. A torrent of water splashed against the parked cars to either side.

Alex burst out laughing. “What the hell? Do you do that every time you come home out of the rain?”

“Nah, normally I go straight through the wall and it leaves a big wet angel-shaped stain on the other side,” said Rachel.

“Seriously?”

“Climb out of the window sometime and see.” Rachel winked. “I’ll catch you if you fall.”

“Now you’re just fucking with me.”

“No, the fucking happens when we go home. Best behavior tonight. Promise.” The angel’s grin was even wider than his. Rachel threw her arms around him—and her legs, clinging to him by the shoulders and hips and sending him bumping into the car behind him. “I’m so excited! I’m gonna have a real Christmas like a real girl!”

* * *

Infernal bargains and an ancient investment of demonic power granted Lorelei many magical advantages: supernatural durability, the strength of a champion weightlifter, sorcerous talents of illusion and manipulation, and above all her undeniable charms as a succubus. Beyond all that, Lorelei enjoyed all the benefits of three millennia of experience. She possessed skills and knowledge far beyond the common man’s reach.

None of it made her a faster shopper than any ordinary mortal. Even a demon seductress could have trouble with the Wine Snob’s curious shelving system.

The line at the registers suggested the staff didn’t expect such a Christmas Eve rush. Lorelei moved into the aisles on her own, knowing what she wanted but not exactly where to find it amid the wide, well-appointed shelves. Her search led to the back of the store, where someone had inexplicably decided to put the best of their imports.

She knew the evening’s guest list, but had only met two of the people on it aside from Alex and Rachel. Best to pick up something red and something white, she decided, picking out bottles from her favorite wineries. At least the store didn’t actively hide anything.

With several bottles set into her basket, Lorelei turned to walk back toward the registers. She stopped as soon as she saw the other person in the aisle with her.

He looked less haggard now than at the intersection. His grey coat bore no holes. Lorelei also saw now the shadowy features he’d deliberately hidden from her sight out on the street: small horns, a swaying devil’s tail, and wings. His eyes had become dark pits.

She shifted her feet, ready for this demon in human skin to do something rash, though violence seemed unlikely. Anything loud would bring attention and onlookers. Mortal witnesses tended to drain mystic power. Besides, if he’d wanted to attack, he would have done so already. He wanted something else.

The man bowed his head. “Lady Lorelei,” he said breathlessly.

“Do
not
call me that.”

“As you wish, m-m-mistress.” The stranger nodded, or rather bowed deeper than before. Something in his manner changed. He had the deep voice of a fully-grown man, but the posture and inflections of someone lowly and meek.

Lorelei felt her lip curl back. Her jaw clenched. So did her fist. “Who are you?”

“I am Bralk.” He bowed yet again, thankfully keeping his voice low. “You probably do not remember me, but we have met. I served many times as Lord Baal’s fetch. I saw you at his side long ago. I was there. But I was one of many. You would not have known little Bralk.”

He was right. She didn’t remember him. Still, his words sent her stomach rolling as she considered the memories he might hold of her presence in her former master’s court. Lorelei shoved that aside. His name and status presented other more immediate concerns. “How did you get into that body?”

“It was not easy, mistress. It cost us many favors. More than were owed to me alone. Many of your subjects helped pay.”