Save My Soul (23 page)

“You actually met the devil?”

He laughed. “Not literally, no. The jury is still out on that one, I’m afraid. When I died I was told I showed no remorse for my sins. I’d had my last chance and would never gain entrance into Heaven. Then they turned me into a demon.

“After that, the only time I felt anything was when I was feeding and killing. Until Beatrice. She put a spell on me that made me love her. It made me feel human again. And now I’m this . I still can’t go to Heaven, but I can’t enjoy being a demon anymore.”

Her nose wrinkled as she looked up at him. “Um . . . sorry? I don’t know what else to say. I don’t think Hallmark makes a card for that.”

Luc laughed, the warmth for her bubbling out of him. “I love you.”

Anna jumped from his arms and this time moved back to the chair she’d started in.

He moved to get up, his hands held out in a be reasonable gesture. “Anna, I didn’t mean . . . ” But he had. He’d just stupidly blurted it out, and the look of fear in her eyes told him he’d pushed too far.

“Yes. You did. Don’t come any closer.”

He nodded and sat back down. What else could he do? Arguing the issue was pointless.

“Have you had more dreams about me?” she asked.

“I have only had a couple. My dreams haven’t been as forthcoming as yours. I suspect your mind is more naturally closed. You suppress things and won’t let them come out. How can I have dreams about what you avoid thinking about?”

“I need space. I need you to back off. Let me come to you. I feel like all my options are being cut off, and it makes me feel backed into a corner. I don’t like that.”

He didn’t blame her. It wasn’t as if she’d volunteered to have a demon for a roommate. A demon who had been slobbering all over her almost from the moment she’d arrived. She hadn’t asked for any of this. Anna seemed ready to bolt when he stood up again.

“I want all of you, but I’ll take whatever you have to give. I’d rather have small stolen moments with you than nothing at all.” It was as good of an exit line as he was getting, and he used it to excuse himself from the room. He needed to find Olivia and help her through her withdrawals again anyway.

***

Anna sat for a few minutes, stunned. She wanted to run after him, but she couldn’t. He was giving her everything and she was giving nothing. What was her problem? It wasn’t like the women he’d killed hadn’t died happy.

Did I really just think that? This was exactly why they couldn’t be together. She was going to lose her soul anyway if she found a way to rationalize things. He’d been bad as a human and had been given the freedom to be that forever. Until Beatrice had leashed him and taken it all away.

She showered and grabbed a Pop-tart. It was no longer her breakfast of choice, but Luc wasn’t her cabana boy. She couldn’t just snap her fingers and expect him to make her meals.

When she arrived at Sally’s, the harem had just finished setting up the candles.

“You’re a convenient riser,” Maria said.

Anna started to bitch back, then realized there was no venom in the taunt. Whatever she decided to do, she couldn’t blame the girls. She’d chosen them for Luc, and if she didn’t like him sleeping with them, she had only herself to blame.

“Anna! Just the woman I wanted to see.” A heavy brunette, wearing a bright red top and jeans, stepped out from behind a beaded curtain.

“Hi, Sally.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t been by to see me before now.” She held her arms out, and Anna stepped into the hug.

“Oh, well, you know . . . I’ve been battling demons and dealing with gypsies and priests and alternate dimensions and evil curses. It’s hard to find the time sometimes.”

Sally laughed. “You always were a very witty girl. Listen, I was just speaking with Tam. The flower shop next door is closing. I own the building, so I thought if your candles do well here, maybe you’d like to open your own shop.”

“I told you not to ask her. She’s done enough,” Tam said.

“I’ll think about it.” It was a good idea. Anna wasn’t taking profits off the business; she was just doing it for something to do. This was nickel and dime stuff. But it could really help Tam. And with a bigger store, the girls would be able to make some money.

Being away from Atlanta had caused them all to gain a lot of confidence. And pride. They were going to start getting upset about being kept women , especially kept by Anna. The whole thing was just too sordid. Once they got Luc out of the house they’d be going their separate ways, and Anna would feel a lot better if their separate ways didn’t end them back up on street corners.

“I’m going to grab a bite to eat from the coffee shop. Tam? Wanna come with?” Anna said. The breakfast pastry didn’t have staying power. Her body had started getting too used to being fed real food.

They left the girls with Sally and crossed the street to the coffee shop.

“I’m sorry about putting you on the spot there. I don’t think you exist to finance my business,” Tam said after they’d ordered.

Anna rolled her eyes. “Oh, please. Like I even care about that. I’m completely rolling in it. I could buy the whole town if I wanted to. That’s not why I brought you over here.”

“Oh?”

Anna just smiled and raised and lowered her eyebrows a few times.

“OH!” Tam said. “With Luc? How was it? Was it hot?” She leaned across the table, her hands clasped under her chin.

“We didn’t actually sleep together, but it was . . . yeah.”

After she filled Tam in, she waited for judgment to fall, but it didn’t.

“So what’s the problem?” Tam asked.

“You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope,” she said, finishing her chicken salad.

“He. Is. A. Demon,” Anna hissed. A few patrons turned to stare at them.

She didn’t bother including the part about the Beatrice dream. From her vantage point inside his head, Anna knew how much it had cost him to kill her. And in a way the bitch had had it coming. She’d set the trap. It had been suicide by demon. He’d been the victim in that one. No, the issue was his previous crimes, not the ones he hadn’t been able to help.

“He’s reformed.” Tam waved a hand as if turning from your ways erased centuries of murder and mayhem.

Anna felt something prickle over her skin and looked up. Standing across the coffee shop was one of the most attractive men besides Luc or Cain she’d ever seen. She didn’t know if she was developing demon radar, but she knew the man staring at her was another incubus.

Damn. How had she just sailed through life and not ever noticed there were demons floating around masquerading as humans? There couldn’t be that many incubi in the world without huge unexplained death tolls, unless most of them didn’t kill their prey. But Cain did. And Luc had.

The incubus across the room was trying to use the mind tricks on her. It caused the scar on her hand to flare to life. She mentally pushed. The demon took a step back, a look of surprise on his face, but he didn’t leave the coffee shop.

“Tam, incubus at nine o’clock,” Anna said.

“My nine o’clock or yours?”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Just look.”

Tam turned around. “Dear Jesus, he’s hot.”

“Yes, and a killer. Let’s try to focus and remember that part.”

“Right.” Tam turned away from the temptation, a look of resolve on her face.

Anna doubted the demon would try to hurt anyone in broad daylight. It seemed unlikely their kind had lived below the radar for thousands of years being careless. And he didn’t look hungry. Not that he wasn’t looking at her with that special brand of predatory that said he wouldn’t refuse a snack, but he seemed in control of himself.

A preppy t-shirt clung too tightly to his body, outlining lean, sinewy muscles. Not too beefcake. He was definitely working the Abercrombie look. Anna was sure, anytime before all this, she would have thought he was a regular human college boy with more magnetism than most.

She turned to speak to Tam again, but the seat across from her was empty. She wasn’t sure where her friend had gone, but suddenly she was worrying about just how long she’d been staring at the demon, oblivious to her surroundings. She’d thought it had only been a minute or two.

Anna took a deep breath; she wasn’t going to sit there all afternoon playing chicken with a demon. Her heart was in her throat as she approached him, and she had to physically fight her reaction.

His eyes hardened in frustration. He was really trying. It was clear he wasn’t used to receiving anything less than complete acquiescence from the women he stalked.

Electricity curled the air as he tried and failed to touch her, bouncing back as if a force field had wrapped itself around her. At that moment, Anna felt very much like a superhero. He can’t touch me. Why not taunt him a little?

“Hi there,” she said, smiling.

The demon rubbed his hand on his jeans as if it had been burned, and eyed her warily. “I can’t believe it. You’ve been marked.”

“I bet it’s really killing you to find out you aren’t all that. You probably existed for centuries under the delusion you were just so hot no sane woman could resist you. Nice updated look, by the way. It’s very J. Crew.”

He stared at her a long time, cocking his head to the side. “Bizarre.”

“Well, if you’ll excuse me . . . ” Anna started around him, but he blocked her path. She shrugged. He couldn’t hurt her, but she’d already hurt him. She shoved him out of the way, and again the barrier forced him to back up to let her pass.

Moments later, the demon was outside, matching her stride.

Anna sighed. “You can’t touch me, I don’t know why you’re following me,” she said, feigning boredom.

He couldn’t touch her against her will, but she wondered if he could if she let him. He was still trying to hypnotize her, and she was still pushing him away. She worried what would happen if he broke through her mental defenses.

Then again, she couldn’t lie; she was feeling pretty kickass right about now. She was going to have to buy some black leather pants. You couldn’t be kickass without black leather pants.

“I have my orders,” he said.

In the bright afternoon sun, red scorch marks glared against his skin from where she’d touched him. Anna couldn’t help smirking. She’d spent over a week alternately feeling safe and terrified, and now she was at least safe from everyone but Luc, who didn’t seem interested in hurting her. That’s right incubi of the world. Watch out.

The temptation to abuse her new power a little more was too great. She turned and leaped at him, holding her hands out like claws. “Boo!”

He jumped back, an annoyed look on his face. “I might not be able to touch you, but I have to follow you. Those are my orders. I’m Jackson, by the way.” He offered a hand as if to shake, then, remembering his new crispy critter look, pulled it back hurriedly.

“You guys are all so very polite until you’re sucking the life out of some poor, starry-eyed girl. I don’t care what your name is. Who told you to follow me?” If it was Luc, she was going to be pissed. She didn’t need or want a bodyguard.

“Cain.”

Luc had mentioned Cain had minions. It was just that normally when one heard the word minion one thought of gross, sewer-dwelling creatures. Not potential underwear models.

He was still eyeing her as if she were a sideshow freak. “I haven’t seen a woman marked by my kind in a long time. We don’t do it. Fucks with your mind. No one wants to fall for their food around here.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe Luc did it.”

“He did it to protect me from Cain. And his minions .” She gave him a once-over. “How many of you are here?”

“Just me and Cain. The rest are in our dimension. We don’t need an army for this.”

Army for what? The word army put a damper on her superpower excitement, but she kept moving.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m going to church. I don’t know where you’re going,” Anna said.

He visibly flinched at that. Interesting. Holy items had no effect, but the church itself might be a different story.

When they arrived, Jackson didn’t follow her inside. “Allergic?” she asked.

His eyes glowed in irritation. “Churches are consecrated ground. A sanctuary. It’s like a mirror of Heaven, a place we cannot enter.”

“Okay, well bye now." She smiled brightly at him and disappeared inside the building before he could regale her with more fascinating demon history.

Within moments of shutting the door, her mood shifted. The church was too quiet. It was only a few hours before Friday night mass; someone must be there.

“Father Jeffries?” She hurried down the empty hall, trying not to be spooked by the sound of her shoes echoing in the silence. Shadows danced along the walls in flickering candlelight. The demon was outside, so why was she so uncomfortable being inside?

“Hello?”

She found him in his office and mentally berated herself for not checking there first.

He looked up from a disorganized pile of papers on his desk and removed a pair of reading glasses. “Anna. Have you decided?”