Night Lurks (16 page)

“Okay, Jake, go pick yourself up a she demon. We will move into places we can observe from after you have established yourself as a loner. I figure fifteen minutes should be long enough for the girls to be all over you,” I tell him.

“Funny. I was thinking maybe two minutes. I will try to prolong their desires so you don't miss anything fun,” Jake responds and then drives off.

The car stays quiet exactly three seconds before Will opens his mouth. “While we are waiting to get in position, I have to ask, how often do you have to do things like this? I know that you are a P.I., but since I have known you, you seem to be moving from one crisis to another. How do you even get a chance to sleep at night?”

I don't feel like mentioning that I have spent way too much time unconscious lately for reasons not of my own doing. I hope to be able to ease him into that part of my life. I am not even going to pretend that I won't find myself laid out from blood loss again in, most likely, the near future.

“I work hard all night and by morning I have no problem getting my head to meet a pillow. I don't let what I do for a living dictate my sleeping habits. Well, at least most of the time I don't. You have lived a sheltered life as a human, but I have seen all the things wrong in this world and I don't have a problem taking them on as I can.”

“And now you have found out you are going to be an angel. Are angels really like what I have read about in the Bible? I haven't been a firm believer in the greater power out there, but it was mostly just from lack of proof.” Will has a lot to learn as far as going out on missions with me goes. I am going to have to sign him and Phee up for classes on when words should be avoided.

“On that subject, I know as much as you do. Angels exist. That has always been a given for me because demons are out there. You cannot have the good without the bad. The world would be utter chaos if either of the forces were totally in control. Who exactly the angels answer to, I cannot say. I haven't met the person, but they sure must have a lot of power to be in control,” I reply. “Maybe after I am done with this ascension thing, I will be able to fill you in on all the good stuff.”

“Can we save the theology talk for later? It isn't a subject I am comfortable with,” Dante says from his place in the backseat.

“We need to get moving anyway. Leaving Jake alone for too long is probably not a good idea. Plus, if Ben shows up, he may screw up our plan,” Alex says starting the car and leaving before anyone has a chance to agree.

I didn't really think about what would happen if Ben, or anyone that knows Jake, decided to stop and have a long conversation while Jake was waiting for Candace. That could really be a mess.

Alex picks a spot in the Gulliver parking lot that is about as far away from Jake's Caddy as possible. Jonas follows suit with the Jeep.

When the engine turns off, I start to focus my hearing towards the bar to see if I can hear anything. We were far enough away before that trying to tune in would have been a headache of way too many conversations at once.

I can pick up a lot of conversations, but so far nothing from Jake. The Caddy is still here, so he should still be inside. We are parked in a position where I can see the front door. If Candace hasn't showed up already, I will be able to watch her enter. It would be nice if it were me sitting in the bar waiting for her right now. My hand has been itching to slap her for a couple of days now.

I know she isn't going to be as strong of a demon as Ben; I do worry about little tricks she may have and just how well the charms the guys are wearing will work against them. Her thrall should be neutralized, but Ben can do things like freeze people and who knows what else. He can make things just show up and I doubt a little necklace could stop that from happening.

Everything I have read indicates the she demon should just have extra abilities to draw sexual partners in and I hope the person that wrote
The Big Book of Succubi
wasn't a succubus trying to deceive the rest of the world. The book doesn't really exist; I was making it up in case anyone was curious.

“That her?” Alex asks bringing me out of my jumbled thoughts.

I had just been thinking about how great it was to be able to see the door and I am not even paying attention. Bad Nyx. Alex has seen Candace in my mind, so he shouldn't have to ask. I think he was only doing it because of my lack of focus. The woman he points out is the one I remember. Today she is wearing skintight red leather from head to toe. I am guessing demons don’t have to breathe because it would be an impossible task in something like that.

“Affirmative. It is a little strange that I haven't heard lover boy at all. I would have thought he would be establishing himself as a customer and ordering drinks at least.”

I pick up Jonas laughing from the other vehicle. “Oh Princess. You are lucky you didn't figure out what noises coming from the bar were being made by him. I would say he didn't have any issues establishing himself. I have heard the sounds enough to know when he picked out a girl and met her in the bathroom for a quickie. Smelling of sex might be a good idea. It will let her know he is virile. That should be something she looks for in a guy.”

That news is not surprising at all and I concur that it is a great thing I cannot pick out the sounds of Jake having monkey sex in the bathroom amid all of the other noises. If I ever am able to pick out his grunts and other weird noises that happen during the act, I think I might have to kill myself.

We sit quietly waiting for anything to happen. I am not great at this part, but I trust Jake won’t keep us waiting long.

“Don’t even bother,” I hear the female voice I am waiting to hear say. That doesn’t sound good. “I am too much of a woman for you?”

“Doubtful, but I am sure you are more of a bitch than what I was hoping to find tonight,” an unknown male voice replies. I am pretty sure he is replying to her. The voice is from the same general distance, but there might be fifty guys gathered around her by now.

“You are lucky you are such a weak paranorm or you would be finding out how big of a bitch I really am.”

“Is there are problem here?” I hear Jake ask.

“Hmm. I think things are looking better. Why don’t you have a seat?” Candace says. Jake didn’t seem to have a problem picking her out. Maybe taking care of business in the bathroom cleaned the cobwebs out of his brain.

“I haven’t seen you in here before, are you new to town?” Small talk. Blagh.

“You could say that. Are you offering to show me around?”

“I have a place I would love to show you, but I have a friend visiting and I don’t think he would like to listen to me making you scream.”  I guess the small talk is over. Sadly, the sex talk is starting. I don’t think I win listening to either.

“Are you sure you can live up to that promise? I can be difficult to please.” I highly doubt that. She just has to get a guy in her thrall and she is ensured a good time.

“I come with a money back guarantee. No one has ever left my bed dissatisfied.”

“Very bold words. I know you’ve already given some girl in here a tumble. It is making you smell delicious. You think you would be able to go again so soon?”

“My stamina is legendary. You got a place close by we can experiment with it?”

“You don’t think the bathroom will work, isn’t that where you took your appetizer?”

“Sure. I just thought you might be a little bit classier than that. If you are game, I have a stall already picked out.”

“You are so cute. Let’s just go back to my place. You promised to make me scream and I am a bit of a screecher to begin with so privacy would work better.”

The conversation comes to an end. It only lasted about five minutes. I have never tried to pick someone up at a bar, but I would think there would be a little bit more to it. Don’t you want to do a little more research on a potential sexual partner?

I see Jake and Candace walk out of the bar with her draped around him and she is nibbling at his neck. I almost thought that a visual would have made the sitting around waiting for action less boring, but I don't think I would have been happy seeing just how well their conversation was playing out.

They walk over to a small black convertible that Candace hops in. Jake follows suit and she quickly starts the engine and peels out of the parking lot. She must be a little hungry to be in such a hurry. Alex waits a couple of seconds and then he sets off after her. The chase is on.

Chapter 20

It isn't a fight unless the clones show up

The chase only ends up lasting a few blocks. Candace doesn't like to go far for her food. We slow down a little to watch them get out and go into a two-story home. Alex circles the block and parks in front of a house a few lots down. I cannot tell if Sebastian is close, but he mentioned there was some kind of spell or magic trick that kept him in the room he was stuck in and that could also keep me from using all of my senses. If he would just drop his wall, this search and rescue business would be a lot easier.

“I haven't caught your name my little wolf. It would be nice to know what to yell when things start feeling good.” There is no slowing down the hungry succubus.

“I will be sure to tell you it once you tell me why you just grabbed that knife. I can tell you right now, pain isn't going to be involved in this little romp,” Jake replies. Not good. It is time to move in. I open my door and draw my gun. If I need to break doors down, it is more likely to assist than a knife. I have enough huge guys around that they can probably complete the task for me, but they are running a little slow.

“I don't think you have a choice.” I hear Jake scream and pick up my pace. Okay, maybe he didn't scream and it was more of a quiet groan, but it did indicate he was in pain. “Who is about to come in here after you? I know they followed us from the bar.”

“Eat shit, you freaking psycho. Stabbing me is just going to bring yourself more pain.”

Great. We have a guy wounded. I don't bother with the gun or getting someone bigger to take care of the door. I just bulldoze right through it. Without knowing what kind of knife was used I am really worried about Jake's welfare.

“Oh don't be so dramatic,” Candace says as I halt my progress and find her and Jake in the living room of the house. A quick visual check on Jake shows him bleeding from his forearm and no knife sticking out of him. He shouldn't have a problem recovering from that. He is sitting on a couch and she is in a chair next to it. “As you have ascertained, he will be fine. You, however, probably won't be. If I were placing bets, I would guess you are Nyx. I found out your name today and I was going to swing by your place to check you out. You are so thoughtful for saving me the trip. Now, I can just kill you in front of Sebastian and watch the pain in his eyes as you die.”

“Keep dreaming, Candace. The only person dying here today will be you,” I tell her and feel the air change as the rest of my crew gathers behind me. This many people rushing in at once causes a nice gust. I grab my new knife and put my gun away. As I am doing that, I sneak a Candace no move ball out of the holster. I don't want to totally show my cards just yet. Not that she would particularly know what was in the small packet, but I really want it to be a surprise.

“And just what are you going to do? You are a very sick angel with all of that dog and vampire running through you and you aren't even of age yet. Your powers are strong, but they aren't enough for a full strength demon.” She stands up from her chair and starts walking closer to me. “You know my name, so I can only assume you know what I am. Showing up with this many guys must mean you are all protected against my charms. Too bad. There are a couple of your friends that I wouldn't mind testing out. The wolf hovering at your back would be my first choice.”

“You already had the fun of sampling one of my mates. Even if it was years ago, you aren't getting another opportunity,” I tell her knowing that it is Alex she is talking about.

“I think you are confused. I am not aware of anything here that will stop me from just killing you and then having a really fun party with the guys before I eventually take out the rest of the garbage.”

I roll the ball in my left hand. I really want to throw it, but I am afraid she will move. I need to get close to her and either hit her with the freeze ball or just knife her. I kind of wish I would have been thinking ahead and brought a paintball gun. The ball looks like it would fit in one and shooting it at her instead of throwing might work a little better.

“Just like when you underestimated the bond between me and Sebastian, you are wrong again.” A quick look of surprise appears on her face. She changes to her nonchalant look so fast I might have missed it.

“You guys have been playing in dream land. I should have thought of that, but I really didn't believe you were that connected even if he claimed you share an unbreakable bond. No matter. Let's not stand around here all day. Odds are looking a little against me, so let's have some fun.”

She waves her hand and Candace clones start appearing. A quick count reveals ten of them and the original.

“Alex, I hope you actually packed a weapon this time,” I whisper and try to focus on the real Candace. She and the clones have started moving around. In this instance, having a large space to fight in is working against me. I tend to prefer big fighting spaces, but when it allows my opponent a chance to confuse me, I am not happy.

“Don't worry. I think the clones are more for distraction than combat tools. We will take care of them and you go after the real prize.” I feel the air current around me charge and then hear a loud growl. I guess his weapon of choice is wolf teeth.

Once his change is complete, the melee begins as he leaps on to the nearest Candace. Jake being the closest and only person behind the real she demon tries to jump on her, but she throws him across the room instead. He hits the wall hard, but bounces back up. One of the clones sees a moment of weakness and starts attacking him.

I figure if I can take care of the real Candace, the clones will stop bothering us. She thinks with the clones causing havoc, which they are, it would be a good time for her to exit the room. At least that is my take on it as she starts inching closer to the door and takes off in a run when she hits the doorway. I look around to make sure the guys can handle the fake demons. Everyone looks to be doing okay.