Zoey Rogue (4 page)

He went to the bar and motioned the bartender over. A few seconds later, his regular drink sat before him. He sipped it as he leaned back against the counter, his eyes roaming over the women. He saw several familiar faces he knew to be call girls on the arms of wealthy men and a handful of college-aged girls who probably stumbled upon an invitation to the exclusive club because of their looks.

They had the arrogance and innocence of youth that made them sweetly saucy, combined with supple bodies, ripe for the picking. He watched the group of eight girls, scouring their features and bodies for the one he wanted. His selection made, he set his drink on the bar and stepped away. With
an Incubus’ power over women and a Cambion’s philosophy that sex was his for the taking, he was relentless in his pursuit of getting what he wanted. He never struck out. Ever.

Sex energy tugged at him. He didn’t notice it enter his senses, until it was too late to resist. The Incubus froze in place, unable to identify the source of magic. He knew Succubus magic; he’d bedded his fair share of them. It wasn’t that of a Succubus, whose telltale magic was cool, like a fan turning on over his head. This magic was warm and charged.

“Buy me a drink?” the female voice carried a husky note, one that grazed his skin and made him shudder.

He turned, not expecting the woman before him. Succubae were all six feet tall and slender, with bodies and features that made men stop in their tracks. This woman was not a Succubus, but she radiated a Succubus’ power; she
could only be a Halfling, a half-Succubus. The Halfling seated at the bar was not quite five and a half feet, with a sweet face and blue gaze. Judging by her toned, shapely body, she was a Hunter, a Halfling charged with killing Cambions. Though far from plain, she was just as far from the stunning beauty of a full-blooded Succubus.

“Of course,” he said finally.

Whatever hold she had on him increased when he approached the bar. He found himself gazing at her with longing, his eyes caressing the golden skin of her décolletage. Her breasts were large and straining against the tight dress, and he almost drooled at the idea of suckling them.

“I’m Julius,” he said and sidled next to her, close enough for their bodies to brush.

“Nice to meet you, Julius.” She tilted her head back with a smile. There was something … odd about her gaze. It was almost empty of emotion.

This isn’t right
. He shook his head, unable to clear the magic enough for his own instincts to warn him.

“And you are?” he prompted.

“Zoey.”

“You are a Hunter,” he said, intrigued. “I know your name well. You’ve slaughtered a great deal of my Cambions.” His interest increased tenfold; there was a price on her head, a reward for the Cambion or Incubus who captured or killed a member of the Sucubatti’s top hit squad, Team R.

“You create them, I kill them,” she said with a shrug. “Doesn’t mean you and I can’t enjoy a night together.”

Another warning bell sounded in his mind. Hunters had one mission: to kill. The instinct caught no traction as more of her sex energy overwhelmed his senses, disarming any objection he had. Julius needed to be closer to her. He rested his hands on her arms and let them travel downwards, breathing in the scent of her hair. She twisted on the barstool to face him, her knees parting for him to lean between them. He traced a finger down the side of her face and between her breasts, gaze going to the tightness of her dress around her hips and thighs. His mind was already there, between her legs.

“It’s forbidden by both of our ruling Councils for full-bloods and half-breeds to fuck,” he whispered, the words sending a thrill through him.

“Then walk away,” she replied. She stood and kissed him, while one hand went to the ridge in his pants. She stroked his erection, and Julius’s arms circled her, pulling her against him hard. She tasted of something unfamiliar, not the alcohol she’d been drinking, but something bitter.

One of his hands went to her breast, and he stopped himself, ready to strip her and fuck her in the middle of the club. She withdrew and took his hand with a grin.

“Come with me!” she exclaimed in the husky voice that drove his desire up a notch.

No part of him was going to resist, especially not with a woman who contained so much sex energy. He’d feed off her for days then turn her over to the Cambions. No one would miss a Hunter, and especially not this one, whose name was muttered with grudging respect among the Cambions she routinely slaughtered. That he, one of the weakest Incubuses in their society, was going to be the one to capture her made him overlook the route they went.

The door she led him through didn’t go anywhere he was expecting. It opened to an empty, cement garage that smelled of oil and metal. There was nowhere for them to lay down, aside from the dirty cement. Before he was able to question her odd venue for sex, he felt the hand she thrust down his pants. Sex energy swam through his senses. Nothing but achieving his release mattered.

Julius didn’t hesitate. He pressed her against the wall and freed her breasts while she stroked his penis in a way that drove him mad.

“How do you want me to please you?” she whispered.

“On your knees, with your mouth,” he ordered gruffly and pushed her to her knees. She looked up at him with a smile that didn’t reach her blank eyes.

Julius tore the zipper of his slacks in his hurry to get rid of his pants and closed his eyes. She flicked the bulging head of his dick with her tongue, and he groaned.

Succumbing to the influence of her sex magic, he didn’t see his death coming. Pewter knives appeared in the hands of the Hunter. She stood, the blades arcing to claim his life. It only took one coordinated strike of the two knives to slice through the throat of the Incubus.

Within seconds, Julius lay dead on the floor of the garage, his blood mixing with the oil on the floor.

The assassin mechanically straightened her clothing. She cleaned her knives as she walked away from the slain Incubus and exited onto the dark street. She examined the surroundings expertly, as she scoured the busy intersection nearby. A form emerged from an alley across the street, signaling her.

She crossed the road at a trot and ducked into the alley, where two people waited for her. Instincts made her draw a knife at the sight of the man with one brown eye and one blue one. He was a Cambion – her natural enemy.

The second person was a beautiful woman with dark hair, held up a manicured hand. Tall and willowy, she was dressed in tight leggings, a sweater and high heels that pushed her height close to six and a half feet.

“No, Zoey.” The full-blood Succubus spoke in a low voice with an elegant British accent that drew the undivided attention of the man. “This is one Cambion you can’t kill.”

The assassin’s grip on her knives eased.

“Yet,” the Succubus added with a sultry smile. The demure flutter of her long eyelashes would have tricked any other man, but the one in the alley with her knew what she was capable of.

“You’re certain the Halfling is unaware of us?” he asked.

“She’s completely oblivious,” the Succubus assured him. “We were able to modify the initial batch of sex energy you gave us. We’re still working on perfecting the formula, but in the stage Zoey is in now, she won’t remember anything in the morning.”

“Incredible. As of tonight, I consider us allies, Olivia,” the man replied. “How can this little half-breed be your best fighter?” Fascinated, he motioned to the assassin, who stood silently, awaiting orders.

“She killed a full-blooded Incubus, didn’t she?”

He circled the Halfling Hunter. Shapely, but small, she appeared innocent and unassuming, aside from the sex energy she radiated. It compelled him closer and made his blood race. She looked nothing like the other Hunters, who resembled the gorgeous, tall Succubus beside him.

“Your Hunters keep getting stronger,” he said. “A few of them have bounties on their heads.”

“I’d like to think Hunters like Zoey have the right genetic tweaks,” Olivia said. “She can track and feed off the sex energy of Cambions, Incubuses and Succubae. Instead of storing it, as your kind does, she uses it as a weapon.”

“Intriguing.”

“Unfortunately, Hunters are difficult to stabilize. The life expectancy for a Hunter is barely above twenty,” the Succubus continued.

“If I don’t kill them,” he added.

“Paul, even you can’t keep up with Zoey.” The haughty note in her voice made him frown.

“Maybe not, but you need my help to make them more effective,” he pointed out. “I’m aware of your massive recruitment efforts, just like I know you’re losing more than you’re recruiting. You don’t stand a chance against the Incubatti Enforcers, without greater numbers.”

“We chose to weaponize them, but it came with an unexpected price,” the Succubus admitted. “The girls short out much younger than before and we permanently remove them from the line of duty.”

Paul
crossed his arms, his gaze lingering on the silent assassin. The Halfling was like a zombie; still, silent, staring. Whatever Olivia’s scientists did to the sex energy, it seemed to work. Stuck in close proximity between a Succubus trying to manipulate him and a Hunter with no control over the magic flowing off her, he was finding it very hard to think straight.

“Now that you see what we can do when we combine my Hunters and the sex energy your kind steals, I think it’s time to pay up,” She gracefully held out a hand with maroon nails, whose hue resembled that of blood in the dim light of the alley.

The Cambion paused in his visual inspection of the assassin. Creating super-human Hunters was a good idea. In theory. He knew better than to trust the woman before him. He came armed with only three vials of the stuff she wanted, knowing she was able to overpower him in the way of a Succubus.

“We do have a deal,” he said thoughtfully. “I want to add to it.” As he spoke, he withdrew the vials of concentrated sex energy and placed them in her outstretched palm. “I want to take her home with me.”

The Succubus considered him for a full minute.

“When this is over, you can have her,” she said at last. “Not tonight. I can’t have anything going wrong.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re having cold feet.” Did he sense unease in the Succubus?

“Why settle for a Halfling when you can have a full-blooded Succubus?” she purred. A flare of sex energy filled the air around him.

Bred to collect the energy, the Cambion’s eyes lit up. He moved towards her, unable to control his response to the magic consuming his senses. The Succubus laughed softly and motioned him closer.

“Zoey,” she said to the assassin. “Go home.”

The assassin turned away and strode onto the street once more. Unaffected by the cold drizzle, she walked the five miles back home alone.

Chapter Three: Zoey Troubled