Good Intentions (65 page)

* With the shooting over and the danger passed, those less able to defend themselves made their escape. Confused, frightened people who had only a short while ago been live refreshments found their belongings and clothes in a few scattered rooms. They hastened to depart, many of them rushing to their cars without pausing to get dressed again. Al they remembered was a spooky, kinky costume party that ended in genuine violence and fire. There were still people hanging around the wrecked mansion with guns, which only encouraged their flight. Rachel effortlessly carried a bench over from the porch, setting it down near the bushes where Lydia lay under several watchful eyes. Lorelei was there, held up by Drew’s strong arms until the bench was settled. Then Drew helped her sit down upon it, smiling and shrugging a bit as she thanked him. “I wish I could just heal you,” Rachel frowned. “I’l be fine soon enough,” Lorelei replied. Drew sat down where she could lean on him. “You could heal me,” Jason suggested dryly. Lorelei looked to him curiously, then pursed her lips and looked away. The young man’s face still bore the red mark of Drew’s slap, complete with al five fingers. “Or you could not,” Wade smirked. His kept his gun gun leveled in Lydia’s direction, but his posture became a bit more relaxed. Rachel smiled playful y. She looked to Jason, gesturing in Wade’s direction. “Head Motherfucker In Charge there says you get to live with it.” Jason sighed, glancing at Wade with a frown. “Jerk.”

“I simply haven’t the words for how grateful I am to al of you,” Lorelei said quietly. “This is twice now. And at such risk.” Taylor sat down next to Lorelei opposite Drew. “We’d do it again,” she said, gently slipping an arm around Lorelei and kissing her cheek. “Yeah,” Wade nodded. “Got off really damn easy, if y’think about it. Only real casualty out here’s mah truck.” “I will gladly buy you a new one,” Lorelei told him. “Any number of horrors could have been inflicted upon you had this gone poorly.” Wade just shrugged. “First time since ah’ve been home ah didn’t feel bad ‘bout bein’ discharged,” he said. “Maybe you were needed much more here at home,” Rachel suggested quietly. “Maybe so. Be glad to go back to livin’ a normal life at this point, though.” “You’ve a far better chance for that now,” Lorelei noted. “Centuries-old monsters and bands of unscrupulous sorcerers don’t grow on trees. You may not see the effects yourselves, but what happened here tonight will cause a dramatic shift of power in the city and its environs.” “You think they’l come after us?” Jason asked. “Look for revenge?” Lorelei shook her head. “It’s a rare predator indeed who goes out looking for a fight just for the sake of inflicting harm. Isn’t that right, Lydia?” she asked. “You’ve surely awoken by now.” “If you think I’l grovel, you are mistaken,” Lydia said as she sat up in the grass. The blonde succubus brushed herself off, looking at each of those assembled around her in a semi-circle. Behind her were only bushes and the side of the mansion. There was no escaping this. “I care not,” Lorelei shrugged. “That deep chasm of weakness you feel within yourself is from the loss of your master.

Baal is dead, slain by mortal hands in his own realm. Harrow is dead in the Pit at the hands of an angel. You know as well as I that such deaths are permanent. There will be no regeneration. “Baal’s lands are in disarray. Your al ies here in this city are either dead or scattered in fear, having fled for their very lives.” Lorelei’s voice was tired but matter-of-fact in her explanation. “My love walks free. I remain at his side. Alex could claim you as his right now, though I assure you that the prospect would disgust him.” Lydia spat at her. Utterly unbothered by it, Lorelei wiped the spittle away with a weary smile. “Tel ing you this brings me every bit of joy that I expected it might.” “So, uh,” Wade asked, “what do we do with her?” “I’ve got that covered,” Rachel answered. Her eyes were on the prisoner. “I told you what would happen if you fucked with either of them.” “You would lick the hand of the Angelic Hosts?” Lydia sneered at Lorelei. Lorelei tilted her head at the insult, but did not bristle. She calmly reached out to Rachel, taking the angel’s hand in hers. Rachel gasped in shock and unexpected arousal ran through her as Lorelei’s tongue slowly, sensuously took one of Rachel’s fingers into her mouth and sucked on it. The succubus kept her unperturbed eyes on Lydia while she worked the finger in and out of her lips a few times, plainly savoring the motion each time. Rachel whimpered. Lorelei released her hand gently, unsurprised when the fingers lingered where she could easily take them up again. “I hope to lick a great deal of this one,” she said coolly to Lydia. “Uh,” Drew blinked. “Wow,” Taylor breathed. “Can, uh,” Jason mumbled, looking repeatedly back and forth from Lydia to Lorelei and Rachel. “Can I get a replay of that?”

The angel shook herself, forcing her expression back into a scowl before she looked back to Lydia. “I should take care of this. She attacked a mortal under the protection of the Hosts. She needs to be judged.” “Wait a moment more,” Lorelei said. “We need to let the others catch up. Alex should be given his say before anything is decided.” * “I’m not mad at you for not tel ing me,” Onyx decided finally. She walked between Molly and Alex as they picked their way through the debris-strewn foyer to the demolished entrance. “I mean, I kind of am, but I’m irritated by the situation, not by you. We were both keeping a big secret from one another. More than one.” “It really means a lot to me that you thought I was in trouble and wanted to help,” Alex told her. “And then when you saw how bad it was, you dove right in after me. We’d be dead without you. And it’s not like…I mean, Friday was really special, and you’re really special, but it’s not like I could expect you to put your neck on the line for me just from that.” “We like helping people where we can,” Onyx shrugged. “Granted, this is way more than just looking for a lost pet or helping someone get over the flu quick, but it’s something Molly and I agreed we want to do with our lives…just hopefully without al the crazy violence. And anyway, we had to confront these other asshole wizards sooner or later. You don’t have to make it out to be something personal.” Molly nudged her hard. “Yes, he does,” she grinned. “Okay,” Onyx sighed, “Alex, I’m completely hung up on you. There. I’ve said it. I’ve said it in front of both of you. I want to keep seeing you. I don’t want anything serious, but I don’t want to just walk away, either.”

He didn’t know whether to be thril ed or to feel awful. He felt a little bit of both. “Wow. Onyx…I feel the same way. But you see what my life is like.” “Yeah? So?” He didn’t know how she could be so mel ow about it. “You don’t think it would be amazingly complicated?” Onyx just snorted. “Have you met Mol y?” “Hi,” Molly waved cheerful y. “Permanent complication. Break her heart and I’l turn you into a drooling, retarded, leprous mutant.” “I’l admit it’s crazy to think you can see anyone else when you’ve already got three girlfriends,” Onyx conceded. “Uh. Two.” “Lorelei, Rachel, and that other girl, right? Taylor?” “Taylor’s not my girlfriend.” “You’re her best friend and you’ve been sleeping with her. That’s still a complication.” Alex had to grant that. He shrugged while Onyx continued. “But apparently you’ve got the stamina for it since your demon girlfriend helps you with that. I just don’t know where you’re going to find the time. But I’m not asking for a deep commitment here. I just want to keep seeing you and let things go wherever they go. My bet is it’l be pretty great.” He considered mentioning that Taylor seemed more interested in Lorelei than she was in him, but that seemed tangential. “Onyx, I real y…god dammit, I really like you. More than just ‘like.’ But I’m already…I mean this is insane. To top it al off, I can’t really be sure if you really like me for me or for the things that Lorelei’s done to me, and that’s just not fair to you.” Again, Onyx smirked. So did Mol y. “What?” Alex asked. “Seriously, every time I think a girl is attractive, she looks

back at me like she’s going to jump me right there. And half the time I can’t even resist! I’m a pig! And I’m probably doing it to you, right now, and I can’t even control it!” “You’re not a pig,” Molly snickered. “You’re more like a dog. A loving, happy, cuddly, horny, dirty, dirty dawg.” Alex slapped his hands over his face. “Oh my God, it’s happening right now. You’re totally giving me a pass on al this because I’m having that effect on you ‘cause I think you’re hot, too.” Molly and Onyx smiled broadly at one another. “Real y, now?” “Yes! Oh my God, Mol y, you’re smoking hot! I’ve got a horrible crush on you! Onyx, I told you before, I was in that cemetery taking pictures because I figured it’d give me something to talk about with either of you. I didn’t know you two were a couple. I just figured I’d…oh, man, this sounds really lame, but I seriously would’ve been happy to go out with either one of you.” The witches burst out laughing. “Why is that funny?” “Alex, your magic sex hormones or whatever don’t work on us,” Onyx managed to tel him. “And sure, what you did with the graveyard was kind of juvenile and stalkerish, but it sounds like you weren’t gonna go farther than that. But we, um…we’ve been talking about you almost since the semester started weeks ago.” He blinked. “What?” “Onyx and I have kind of been open to a dating arrangement for months now,” Molly explained, “but nobody interesting came up. And then there you were, and it’s just been a matter of making sure everyone’s feelings were settled first.” “Your little ‘effect’ on other women doesn’t work on us because we know how to ward ourselves against things like that,” Onyx said. “I asked you out on Friday because I won the coin toss with Molly before we went to school that morning. Otherwise she would’ve hit on you.” Alex looked at her with his jaw hanging open.

“In fact, if we’re al really coming clean here,” Onyx added, looking at her boots sheepishly, “I, um. I cheated.” “Huh?” “I kinda cheated on the coin toss,” Onyx said in a small , guilty yet amused voice. “Magic.” “You bitch!” Molly exploded. “I’m sorry,” Onyx offered with utter insincerity. “What do you mean?” Alex blinked. Molly looked at Onyx in exasperation as her lover tried not to giggle. Eventually she turned her attention on Alex. “Wow, you really are dumb sometimes, aren’t you?” she asked him. “Yeah, kinda,” Alex shrugged. He was completely surprised when Molly pul ed him into a rough, hungry kiss. Behind her, Onyx just laughed. When the assertive redhead finally let him go, Alex just breathed, “Oh.” “Onyx and I are really in love,” Molly explained. “We also really like sex. We’ve talked about enjoying some alternate plumbing if we found the right guy.” “There’s some rituals that work a little differently depending on the equipment,” Onyx added. “But mainly we just thought you’d be a lot of fun.” “You, um,” Alex blinked. “Real y?” “I just didn’t expect to get al emotional about you,” Onyx shrugged. Molly hadn’t let go of him. “I don’t really mind. I think I can see how that’d happen” “You’l see better once you’ve had a chance to really get to know him,” Onyx predicted.

“You’re really okay with everything?” Alex asked. “You caught the part about my other girlfriends feeling it when I have sex, right?” “Yeah, we’re not asking you to bring them along,” Onyx said. “Yet,” Molly interrupted with a mischievous grin. Onyx frowned a bit, but her frown was unconvincing. “It does sound like a good way to make sure they don’t feel left out.” “And the part about women throwing themselves at me?” The amusement shared by the two women was unmistakable. “Sounds like a terrible burden,” Molly said. “Yeah. That’s a real curse,” Onyx murmured. She leaned in to kiss his neck. “The Curse of the Guy Who Gets Laid a Lot,” Molly suggested. Onyx snickered. “Yeah. But it’s not your fault you’ve got a hungry sex demon to feed. What kind of friends would we be if we weren’t understanding about your domestic chal enges?” “Wow. Are you listening to yourselves? You honestly think that I’m not having that effect on you two right now?” “Meh,” Onyx shrugged. “Worse things could happen.” Molly gradually pul ed off of him, clearly thinking of claiming more later. Onyx looked like she was about to take her place. Then they heard Drew’s voice behind him say, “Hey, pimp daddy. Your other girls say they need you outside.” There were blinks of embarrassment from both Alex and Onyx. Molly shamelessly chuckled at them both as she took Onyx by the hand and dragged her away. Alex fol owed, but was stopped by Drew’s hand on his chest. “I got somethin’ I gotta say,” Drew said firmly.

“Um. Okay?” “I see what’s goin’ on here.” “Uh…yeah, I know it’s weird, but they’re al cool, and—” “Alex. I’m sayin’ I ain’t stupid.” “I know you’re not. You’re one of the smartest people I know.” “Right. So I see what’s goin’ on here, know what I’m sayin’?” “…maybe?” “If you ever. Ever. Come near my momma or my sister with your dick—” “Woah! Drew!” Alex threw his hands up. “I’m totally not gonna do that!” “Ever!” “Drew, it’s cool! I’m not gonna hit on your mom! I would never do that!” “Oh, are you sayin’ my momma ain’t fine?” Alex blinked. He was horrified. “Drew, I love your mom, she’s like my mom, too! I would never do that!” He buried his face in his hands again. “Oh my God. Drew, you’re my best friend. I’m not going to try to sleep with your mother or sister. Holy shit, I’m so sorry about al this.” When he finally pul ed his face up again, however, his friend was grinning at him. “Got you,” Drew said, then hugged him.

“Jesus. You’re a bad man.” “I am,” Drew laughed, “I am.” He pul ed back. “But if you ever. Ever.” “…what about Jason’s mom?” Drew grunted. “Shit, you don’t know about me an’ Jason’s mom?” Alex winced and started walking. “I’m sorry I even brought that up. You took that way further than I was gonna go.” Drew fol owed. “Took Jason’s momma way further than she meant to go, too.” Groaning al the way, Alex found the others gathered around Lydia. He couldn’t help but make a face as he saw her. “Technical y,” Lorelei said, “Lydia now belongs to—” Alex held up his hands to stop her. “Ew. Gross.” He saw Lorelei’s unsurprised nod, then looked to the others. “What can we do with her?” “How about we not just shoot this prisoner?” Jason asked aloud. “Wasn’t even considering it,” Wade said. “But thanks for making me feel like a jackass again. Jackass.” “I can take her to a place where she’l be judged,” Rachel offered. “This chick has transgressed like a motherfucker. She’l face a fair trial and then it’s the swift, sure boot of divine justice right up her fucking ass.” “Sounds good to me,” Alex shrugged. “We should take our leave, then,” Lorelei suggested, “though we should also take some care to obscure the evidence here. There are good reasons to hide such events from the mortal world at large. Whatever the resources of the vampires and the Brotherhood were, they will not be in good order tonight.”