It’s like the woman named Valerie has left my body, and someone else is in my skin.
I don’t know who she is, and why she’s so blistering mad, but I need to sit down and have a proper talk to her, because she prefers to think with her tits instead of her mind.
I sit down, holding a cup of hot chocolate one of the ladies here so kindly provided me. I stop caring that countless demons and humans have probably fucked on this couch. It’s actually a decently comfy sofa. My bottom sinks in nicely, and it melds with my frame. Club Belladonna is a few steps above Club Sin. The furniture is probably all designer, with decorations that look like they’ve been carefully thought out and placed. There’s a living room backstage, with a chandelier and ceiling fans that drip with false jewels. It’s almost classy, but the sex toys draped around the place give away its true nature.
My resolve slips away. I want to accept their blood contract, let them do what they wish to me. It’s my hormones that are making me think silly thoughts. But they hurt my brother, and that’s something I can’t forgive them for. Accepting the contract would be selfish, and I have to stay true to my commitment to Jared… right? Or maybe I’m only using him as an excuse, because Xeres is lord of the Underworld, and I shouldn’t associate with people like him.
Jared’s still making out with Diamond. He doesn’t know the meaning of restraint when it comes to chasing after women. Sylver, Xeres, and Vickal are standing across the room, discussing something with Belladonna. Once in a while, their eyes flick to me, and my heart skips whenever that happens.
I’ve found my release.
Then why do I still need them?
“You can cut it out now,” I tell Jared. The hot chocolate’s warm against my palms.
Diamond pulls away. She slumps into the couch and tucks a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. It doesn’t help with how messy she looks. Jared did a number on her.
“I think I’m in love,” Jared says. “Can we keep her?”
“Keep her?” I ask.
Diamond blushes. I still don’t trust her. She’s too dainty… precious… someone I can imagine being close to me under different circumstances, like Kylie. So, I can’t trust her because she’s too good to be true.
I miss Kylie. Not even a day has passed. I wonder if I’ll return soon. I shouldn’t have let that creeper who stalked her go. Hopefully he got the message and won’t come back to harass Kylie.
I roll my eyes. “You’re always in love,” I say to Jared.
“That’s the beauty of life.”
Diamond twiddles her thumbs. “Maybe if you ask Xeres to talk to Bella, she’ll let me go.”
I turn to her. “Let… you go?”
“Diamond doesn’t want to stay here,” Jared says.
“But she needs the money, yes?”
“She needed it. She has enough saved to start a proper life now.”
Diamond scratches the back of her neck. She stares pensively at the ground, leans closer, and whispers, “Bella doesn’t let any of her demons leave once they’re part of the clan. Once in, forever in. She makes me dance… amongst other things.”
“Other things?” A chill crawls through me. At Club Sin, we were encouraged to give up our bodies to keep the patrons coming, but we were never forced. We were allowed a sliver of dignity.
“Nothing too serious,” she quickly adds. “Just a little groping here and there. I’m not as open to it as some of the other girls. Many of them are succubi… while I’m just really good at telling lies, and maybe changing the color of my eyes.”
The gears in my mind click. She’s less demon than even Jared and me. I want to hate her, but there’s little use in being stubborn about prejudices. Still, I don’t want to warm up to strangers so easily. It’s just not what I’ve been trained to do.
“But I think she wants me to do more, and she’s getting impatient,” she continues. “That worries me. I’m used to the dancing. It doesn’t bother me as much anymore.”
“I’ll talk to Xeres.” Even if I can’t stand to look at him. He makes me afraid. Of myself. And that’s weird as hell. “But I’ll be surprised if he listens.” Because I still don’t see him as a man with any heart. The way he touches me, however, makes my body burn.
Diamond lights up. The way her face glows sends a twinge of worry through me, because I’m afraid I’ll let her down. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
Jared has an arm draped around Diamond. “It’ll be fine.”
“What are you going to do once you leave?” I ask her.
“I don’t know,” she says. “I never thought I could.”
“You could come with us,” Jared says.
I frown. “Us?”
“Vickal told me he’s bringing us to Hell, keeping us close for when more visions come.”
“And you want to go?” I don’t recognize Jared anymore. He looks like my brother, with his round eyes and short auburn hair, but he’s changed so much.
He’s putting too much hope in his powers. He thinks they make him stronger, and perhaps they do, physically, but he’s still too gullible, too positive. It makes him vulnerable.
He shrugs. “Hey, if it helps with the report, I wonder if he’ll let me bring a camera?”
“The report?” I ask.
“For metaphysical studies. I need to show my findings to my professor. Old dude might just die of a heart attack.” He chuckles.
“There no way Xeres is going to let you send a report to your professor.” I shake my head.
“Vickal might put in a word for me.”
Yep. Still so gullible. Has he been hanging out with the same guys I have? “Jared… please don’t trust everything Vickal says.” Vickal looks over his shoulder at us. Can he hear this conversation? I’m hearing snippets of theirs. “I’m worried we’re not even going to make it out of this alive.”
“We will.”
“And what makes you so confident?”
“I’m a glass-half-full kind of person.” He smiles at me. “You know that.”
I do. I’ve been the one gritting my teeth and trying to get us by, but Jared is my light. Some days I came home all tired, and there’d be breakfast shaped into smiley faces waiting for me. On Valentine’s Day, Jared laid out chocolates for me, and it felt like there was a meaning to every bite. Some days, when everything just felt like shit, I’d have nothing but complaints, but he distracted me with long musings about his studies, talking about how much potential it brought and what it could mean for the world. The sun shines on his face when he does that. It makes it all worth it.
But he can’t keep going on like this. Not in this world of demons and people trying to use him for selfish means. “Just… be more careful,” I say.
“They’re going to tug us along whether we say yes or not.” He shakes his head. “Might as well try and be happy about it. I’m remaining cautious, Val. That torture hurt like a bitch, and they didn’t even hesitate in carrying it out. They’re not the good guys. I’m aware. But you’ve gotta admit that taking a glimpse of Hell itself sounds pretty cool.”
I take a sip of my hot chocolate. It’s sinful, just like the three demons are. “I’m afraid that we’ll get more than a glimpse. Nothing good has ever been said of the place. It’s fire and torment and debauchery. How is that cool?” Who am I to tell Jared whom to trust when I was just frolicking with all three of them?
Jared drags Diamond closer to him. “Glass half-full. Probably a good place for some messed-up sightseeing.”
“Only you would think to go to Hell to sightsee.” I turn to Diamond. “You don’t want to join us, sunshine. Your life here might be dangerous, but it’s not any better with Xeres and company. We’re prisoners.”
“Prisoners?” Her eyebrows rise up her forehead. She presses her lips together. “Didn’t seem like it to me.”
I tilt my head in question.
“I thought you might have been something more.”
“Like?” I ask.
“I don’t know. Mates? Maybe? Some demons claim mates, though it isn’t like a soul mate kind of thing. Just a romantic title until they move on. ‘Husband’ and ‘wife’ probably sounds too lame for our kind.”
I stick my tongue out in disgust. “Me and Xeres? I don’t know why you have that impression. I hate him.” Xeres looks at me, having heard me with his heightened hearing. Now I’ve crossed both him and Vickal in this conversation. He doesn’t look pleased by my statement, but I’m not bothered.
“It’s just the way he looks at you.” Diamond pauses. “And the way you look at him.”
“And how do I?” I ask.
“Your thoughts seem to go somewhere else whenever you do. Like you’re hungry for something… Well, you don’t have to be mates. Maybe it’s that kind of relationship.”
I’m not certain what she’s talking about, but it grates me. Probably because it’s true, whatever it is.
“I’m hungry because I’ve had too little to eat today, and I’m grumpy for lack of sleep.” And Xeres, with his dark hair and strong jaw, is way too delicious. I make another mental note to not give in to temptation. Well, at least not again. I still can’t believe I got on my knees in front of him. I blame that on the aftereffects of Sylver’s incubus powers.
But making them beg… yeah, so far that doesn’t seem to be working. They haven’t said a word to me since my inner wimp took over and zipped out of the room. Next time… I’ll just act uninterested.
Good luck with that.
“You should get out of town. Do you have family?” I ask Diamond.
“None that I know of,” she replies.
“Find someplace cheap. Start a business or something. Or find a hobby if you have enough saved, so you don’t get bored.”
She drags her gaze over Jared.
“And forget about my brother,” I add.
“Hey!” Jared says.
“We want to stay together, though,” Diamond says.
I sip more hot chocolate. It sinks down my throat, making a calm sensation fizzle through me. “Say that after you’ve been with him a couple days.”
Will we even survive a couple more days? Everything is moving so fast.
Jared scowls. “We have something here. I’m sure of it this time. Diamond and I connect.”
God, he doesn’t even know her real name and he’s acting like he’s about to be wed.
“He’s always sure of it,” I say. “Don’t go latching yourself to him just because you don’t know what else to do.”
“I won’t hurt your brother,” Diamond says.
“That’s not what I’m worried about, hon.”
I look at Sylver, Vickal, and Xeres, who are still talking to Bella. Bella turns and regards me. She has a chilling gaze. Amber, almost golden eyes in an alluring almond shape. They look hazel in the colored lights, but I can make out their true color with my enhanced vision.
She tips her chin up at me. Electricity zips through me. I’m not certain whether she’s using her powers. My jaw stiffens at the sensation. She’s trying to warn me. That’s the only thing her piercing gaze can mean.
I shudder, and she smirks, before continuing her conversation with the three demons.
My demon powers might be kicking in, because I overhear snippets of their conversation, too. It’s disgusting, vile, abhorrent. Jared and Diamond are distracted by each other, but I focus my attention on Bella and the three guys.