The taste of Valerie on my tongue lingers. And even though I’m talking to Bella, the most powerful and beautiful succubus of the three realms, I find my thoughts wandering back to Valerie. For the first time, Bella doesn’t seem the least bit appetizing. Any other man would think me crazy. Bella has straight, long hair the deepest shade of black. Eyes that shine like rubies. A curvaceous figure that looks like it belongs to Aphrodite herself.
But yet I’d prefer Val. She’s sweet, like forbidden fruit.
I’m not one to concern myself with what’s forbidden or not. A demon like me takes everything in his sights. If it’s wrong, all the better. I can feel Valerie’s gaze lingering on my skin, prickling it. Her presence makes my body burn for release.
But there are more pressing concerns. I’ve scouted the area. The angels don’t know where we are. Not yet. There have been traces of them around the city. Their scent, lingering all over bars, and people wondering why they spilled too many truths. Angels are good at compelling people to speak truths.
The angels are searching fervently for us, and their numbers aren’t small.
Besides the few men from the Nightshade clan currently in the city, we don’t have anyone to back us up. We’re thoroughly outnumbered.
“You’re not welcome here anymore,” Bella says. She has her arms folded, and she’s tapping her index finger on her arm. A long nail sticks out from her finger, a violent red color. “I asked for payment and it was not given.”
Xeres sniffs. “I’m lord of the Underworld, not your personal plaything.”
Sylver’s looking at the ceiling. I know he hates talking to Bella, but I need him for this conversation as my bargaining chip.
She pulls her lips back, revealing her pearly-white teeth. “Nobody turns me down.” She looks uglier when mad. That’s when her true demon side shows and her pretty amber eyes change to black.
“We have something else that might be of use for you,” I say.
She places her hands on her hips. “I have everything I need here on earth. The lot of you are nothing but a nuisance—”
“Your club isn’t as large as it could be.”
She raises a brow.
“I’ve done my research.” At least, my subjects have. “You’ve been getting less clients this decade.” I didn’t think a demon like her would suffer such problems, but she’s just that weak. The Belladonna clan isn’t fit for Hell. It’s made of higher demons, but also the weakest of the bunch. They couldn’t survive in a pool of big fish, so they came to Earth to play with the small.
“I have other avenues,” Bella says. She presses her lips together. “You have nothing to offer.”
I smile. “But your club is failing. One would think a club with succubi would be successful, but it’s not doing well, is it? Stories from the last decade have turned people off. They say many men who come in here never leave.”
“A minor inconvenience.”
“They prefer to avoid this place. It’s a spider’s web. There are safer clubs out there that won’t make men go missing. And many of your girls here won’t give in. You have succubi, sure. Ten of them, perhaps? Men with them either keep coming back or get eaten alive, but the other demons you’ve recruited, they’re not the most interested in sex, are they? And they’re not like humans. Too strong-willed, less likely to give in. They don’t give the men what they need, and that’s another reason for customers not coming.”
Bella narrows her eyes. “I’m not reliant on customers.”
“Oh, but you want them here. You succubi need them for sustenance. And if they stop coming, that means there’s less prey to chase.”
“I’ve managed well enough.”
Xeres cuts in. “But you could do better.”
This is my bargain. But I keep quiet because I’ve been trained to let him have the glory. I always do the dirty work, and he comes in to smooth out the final creases, taking the credit, taking the power. It’s annoying, but it serves me well in the end, since I don’t like attention.
“Sylver can help you,” Xeres continues. He’s caught where I was going with this.
“Him?” Bella sneers.
Sylver frowns at us. “What do I have to do with this?”
“His powers extend far,” Xeres tells Bella. “Much farther than yours.” He’s implying that she’s weak. Rage flares in her pupils, but she keeps quiet. We have something she wants, and I know we have her hooked.
Xeres continues, “His powers can work as a beacon. Every man in this vicinity will feel the pull. They’ll come. And your girls… they’ll be willing. It’s difficult to resist Sylver when he truly stretches himself. People will talk about a good time. They’ll invite their friends. Business will boom, at least for the foreseeable future, and your demon girls will be broken in. They’ll know how to show the men the way a real woman works after this.”
“It takes a considerable amount of energy,” Sylver says. A deep crease is etched between his brows.
“But you can do this?” Bella regards him with curiosity.
“I can.”
Sylver has always been the laziest of us three. But he helps lead the Nightshade clan because of his raw power. It’s a power he always keeps hidden, because it’s too much of a pain for him to push it.
He has no ambition, but if he intends to, he can take the clan from Xeres. Luckily, he prefers to dwell with the demons of his past.
Greed fills Bella’s expression. She takes the bait. “I’ll help you get past the Belials and Beelzebub. I’ll summon my demons from around here, too. My clan is larger than you think.”
“I have the numbers,” I say, smirking. I know exactly how her clan works. I’m not incompetent.
“Good,” Xeres says. “We have a deal, then.” He extends a hand. Bella accepts it, and they shake. It’s almost strange how we’re treating this as business. Especially since, just an hour ago, Bella wanted nothing more than for us to strip and fuck her till she’s numb.
We decide on the details. The club officially opens in an hour. Sylver will send his powers out—a simple deed for him, and once it’s done, Bella and her team of higher demons will phase with us back to California, where she’ll help cut a passage for us to the veil. The angels won’t be able to get to Valerie and Jared in Hell, and the visions for the orb will be solely ours.
A good plan, should no issues come up.
We part. Xeres walks away first—he’s carrying a packet of powder in his hands. Sometimes I see him with it, and I have an inkling of what it is, but I never raise the question. He’s allowed to have his own vices.
Sylver’s out the door of Club Belladonna as soon as he gets the chance. I hope he doesn’t get lost—we’ll need him soon.
And that just leaves me to stay close to our little princess. Otherwise, she’ll be on the floor groveling in pain.
I turn toward Valerie. She’s already walking toward me. Her hands are closed into fists, and there’s fury in her eyes.
She stops in front of me. Her expression is angry, but she looks more sexy than intimidating. She can’t intimidate me. Not when she’s a few heads shorter. “Don’t make that deal.”
So, she overheard. Her top hugs her body tightly, and I think about grabbing her. I want to taste more of her. I want her to taste me.
I tilt my head. “And why should I listen to you?”
“The girls.” She looks at Diamond. She’s the new plaything Jared’s in love with. “They’re not your bargaining chips.”
“And that’s where you’re wrong. Everything is.”
“They don’t deserve this. Bella refuses to let them leave. They do their job. They entertain.”
“They’re not entertaining enough, apparently.”
“It’s wrong.”
“I think you forget who you’re talking to. We’re demons, pretty. This is nothing but a blip.”
“And why? Why do you do such things?”
“Because that’s who we are.”
Her jaw tightens.
“We lie, we steal, we do unscrupulous things to gain power.”
“Power isn’t the greatest thing there is.”
“It’s what we need to not get beaten down. The world doesn’t care for the weak.” The weak can’t be used. And things that aren’t of use are torn apart. Left alone.
Her expression is now one of pure hatred. She didn’t hate me when I was between her legs. Oh no, she loved it. My insides flare as I recall her intoxicating taste. She says she doesn’t want us, but her scent, her actions, the way she keeps licking her lower lip when our gazes meet, says otherwise.
“Find something else,” she says. “That doesn’t involve them.”
“This is the only choice. They will spread their legs for those patrons, just like Bella wants them to. They’ll be used for what they’re good for—”
A slicing sensation starts in my cheek and travels up my head. The pain disappears as soon as it comes. Nothing but an ant bite. Valerie slapped me. It’s not the inconsequential pain that bothers me, but the indignity of it. Perhaps I deserved it. My words sounded dirty when I heard them pass my lips. But I do unto others what others have done to me. I’ve tried to stop myself, but Zrako’s memory is in me. I can never shrug it off.
I put my arm around her waist and pull her close. Her sweet scent swirls around me, and her body is soft to the touch.
“Let me go,” she says.
I whisper in her ear, “Nobody, especially someone of your standing, lays a hand on me and lives.”
I can feel the beating of her heart. It’s quickening. She’s reacting to my touch. Her body tightens against me. It’s so small compared to mine—supple and smooth.
Her breath hitches. “Please… these girls, they’re here for the same reasons I was. But at least I had a choice with what to do with my body. I don’t want to sell it. I didn’t have to sell it to men I didn’t know. My skin crawls when I think of touching them. These girls have to keep their freedom.”
I see red at the thought of filthy, undeserving human men running their skin over Val’s body. Possessiveness spikes through me. She’s my toy to use.
I like the way she begs. Please, she says. I’d prefer it if she begged when on her knees with her eyes covered and lips open.
“No,” I say, stepping away.
She glares at me with sheer vehemence. The hatred shakes me in a way I didn’t think possible. Why? Why do I want to please her? I stand to gain nothing from it.
“If we don’t bargain with Bella,” I say, “we’ll have a shit time trying to get back to Hell. The angels are hot on our trail. We’ll be found, Bella won’t give us shelter, and even Xeres, lord of the Underworld, will find it tough to face.”
“But it’s not impossible, is it?” Val says. “It’s tough odds, but you can face it.”
“I don’t want to take the chance.” A less distasteful option would appeal to me more, but when backed into a corner like this, there’s little I can do.