Demons Don't Always Tell The Truth (Kate Storm Series Book 3) (11 page)

"I've never lied to you, Asmodeus."

"You haven't told me the whole truth either." He shook me. "When were you planning to tell me about the curse or Morgause?"

Oh no. He was not turning any of this back on me.

"Don't you dare try to make me the bad witch here. You're the one who lied to me from the beginning."

"I never lied. I didn't tell you the truth, but I never lied to you."

That was a very thin line he was walking.

"Is that who you've been texting?"

"Yes. That's why your name was in the text." The flames along his shoulders flickered out. He rubbed the back of my head, leaned down to press his forehead against mine. "I've been traveling to different places, leaving a physical trail she could follow and check up on. Texting her from those locations in case she checked where I was."

"What about when you texted from here?"

Ash lightly pressed his lips to my forehead. I held very still. He sighed. "There is something about the geography around Dominion that creates a natural barrier. It works on both human and non-human technology and magic."

I didn't know that. I'd never been anywhere outside of Dominion.

"I couldn't find any trace of you before I entered Dominion."

"Why did you come here then?"

"Something drew me here." Ash moved back, cupped my face between his large hands. "I'd been searching for you and having no luck. But something kept pulling me in this direction." He slid one thumb over my jaw. "It was you, Kate. You were somehow calling to me."

I know magic. It's special and precious and beautiful and, well, magical. I've seen and done things that can't be explained by physical laws. I couldn't discount his words, but I couldn't embrace them either.

If there was any truth to what he was saying then Ash and I did have something special between us. But right now, I wasn't willing to admit or accept that. There was just too much to take in.

"How are you able to stay here if you are bound to the demon realm?"

"I've been making trips back. I can leave for a little while, but I am always drawn back."

Well, that explained all of his mysterious disappearances. His secrets. His hidden agenda.

I'd wondered why he would leave so unexpectedly. Why he couldn't tell me what he was doing. I'd never once considered it had anything at all to do with me.

I'd been so wrong.

"I'm telling you the truth, Kate. I did make a bargain with Morgause, but I've done everything I could since I met you to protect you."

I didn't know what to think. How to feel. My entire life had been torn apart and put back together upside down. First Morgan and now Ash. I'd worked my way through things with Morgan for the most part. Asmodeus had completely blindsided me.

Knocked me so far down the mountain, I didn't know where I was anymore. My belief in us, in myself, had been shaken so completely I didn't which way was up.

"I don't know what to think."

His entire body tensed, became a rigid cage for a moment before he relaxed. I could tell it was a concentrated effort on his part. Could see it in his eyes. Ash wanted to hash everything out right now. Sort through all the lies and omissions and move ahead. Put the bad things behind us and go forward.

I didn't know if there could still be an us.

"I think you should leave." Ash always messed with my thought process and my feelings. I needed space to try and sort though all of this.

I knew what my stupid heart wanted. I've always known. But now I wasn't sure if I could trust it.

"I'll leave if that's what you want, but I'm not giving up."     He pulled me in and kissed me hard. He moved back before I could even respond. I wondered if he was afraid I wouldn't respond. I wondered if I even had that power over him or if there was still more to the story he wasn't telling me.

"I won't ever give up, Kate. You belong to me. We belong together."

That sounded more like a threat than a promise to me.

The door closed behind him before I could decide if that was a good thing or not.

17. Advice From a Chihuahua.

I didn't sleep again. My mind just couldn't stop and let me rest.

A part of me knew that if I would just confront everything I  would at least have some answers and I could make rational decisions. Gain closure.

As simple as it sounded, it wasn't the easiest thing for a witch to follow through on.

1. Even though I had decided to put my useless ducking and dodging tactics behind me, certain habits are very hard to break. I'd lost all sense of direction in my new reality, clinging to an old habit was all I had. No matter how messed up it might be.

2. I'd just had an entire cauldron full of crap dumped all over me. Ash had finally come clean with his secrets and they were serious whoppers. In addition, my aunt knew I existed and was actively looking for me. Which completely ruined the one and only strategy I'd come up with in my plan to destroy her - the element of surprise.

3. Did I want closure? Did I want to permanently end things with Ash? He'd hidden some major things from me and while, given his upbringing in the demon realm, I could understand some of his reasoning, could I trust him now? Could I forgive him?

My entire life has been devoted to love in one form or another. Being cursed to Fail in Love has both inspired me and made me determined to find my own true love. I've created a successful business helping others find their true loves.

Was I so desperate to find my own happy ending that I was willing to ignore reality? I couldn't even say with one hundred percent certainty what reality was anymore.

Ash claimed he wasn't giving up on us. He also said he wasn't going to keep his original bargain with Morgause. How could he stay with me if he was bound to the demon realm?

It amazed me my head hadn't exploded at some point during the night. Although my heart still felt like it might.

Spirits, I needed a cup of coffee.

It wouldn't help my racing thoughts, but it would help keep my eyes open. And lying in bed wasn't accomplishing anything.

I stumbled to the kitchen counter. Tiny nails pitter-patted on the floor behind me.

"Yo, Doll. How ya doin'?"

I opened my mouth, realized I didn't want to lie to him and shut it again. I settled for a shrug.

Once the coffee started brewing, I picked him up and headed outside. Al laid his head on my chest and snuggled into my neck. For once he didn't try to make a move.

He finished his business while I studied my neighbor's tree. Afterwards I picked him up and we went back upstairs.

Al leaned up and placed his little paws on my face when I went to set him down. "Ya gotta talk about this, Doll. Ya can't keep avoiding it. I know you're hurt, but it's like taking a bullet. Ya gotta yank it out before ya can heal the wound."

On top of everything else, I did not want advice from my Chihuahua. I knew he meant well, but I was still trying to figure out which end of the broom to ride.

"If ya don't, the wound is just gonna fester."

I sighed, nodded and bent to set him down. Al dug his nails into my cheeks. "It'll start out slow - a nagging pain that won't quit."

"I know, Al." I tried to put him down, but he wouldn't let loose and I was afraid he'd fall if I just let go.

"Then it'll start to ooze puss."

A vision of my heart shot through with a large hole while a whitish, nasty fluid oozed out, popped into my head.

My stomach heaved warningly.

Al dug his hind legs in.

"The puss will turn thick and start to smell."

The vision in my head shifted accordingly.

I slapped my hand over my mouth. Battling both my stomach and my gag reflex.

I staggered to the kitchen chair and fell into it. Using the table as a perch for his little body, I tried to unhook his claws from my robe.

"Then it'll turn grayish black and by then it's almost too late. Gangrene will have set in."

My heart now lay in a shriveled-up lump in my chest. Its dull and rotting form emitting sluggish, intermittent beats.

I gagged.

"If ya don't dig it out, ya won't make it."

Now a large gaping maw of nothingness stood in place of my heart. Desolate. Empty. Lifeless.

I released his last claw, dashed into my bathroom and made it just in time. I hadn't eaten anything to speak of, so I just clung to the cold porcelain as painful spasms shook my body.

"I didn't know you were sick, Doll." He leaned against my leg as I heaved. "Ya shoulda said something. Ya need to go back to bed. I'll call Désirée and let her know ya won't be in."

After several long, painful minutes, my stomach finally calmed down. I hung there for a moment longer just to be sure then grabbed some toilet paper and wiped my mouth.

"Doll?"

I took a deep breath. "I'm okay, Al." My voice was a little rough, but my stomach was not in a complete upheaval anymore. "I'm not sick."

"Sure looked it to me."

I glared down at him. I lasted maybe six seconds. His chocolatey, wet, bulging eyes get me every time.

I picked him up and nuzzled his neck. "I'm fine."

He stiffened and growled, "Is this all because of Ass?"

No. My upchucking was entirely due to his exceedingly graphic explanation. I couldn't tell him that though. The hit-man was trying to be helpful.

"I'm working on it, Al. I may not be ready to confront everything right now, but I am working on it. I'm doing the best I can."

"Ya can't mull these things over, Doll. Ya gotta cut your losses. Didn't ya hear anything I said? If ya don't, it'll start to fester and . . ."

I pulled him tight into my chest, burying his nose and his overly descriptive little mouth. My stomach rolled over a couple times before it relaxed.

"Trust me, Al. I heard," and unfortunately envisioned in excruciating detail, "everything you said."

Garbled growling rose up from my chest. I relaxed my hold.

"So, what's the problem then?" He repeated his question.

Oh to be a hit-man with intimate experiences on gunshot wounds and a simplistic view on life. I almost envied him.

"I don't know if I want to cut him out of my life, Al."

His minuscule haunch actually made a
thud
when it hit my forearm.

"What? He lied to ya! He used ya! How can you possibly want to be with him?"

"Ash made a bargain with Morgause to find me in return for freeing him of his sin and his bond to the demon realm."

The fur on his neck rose up. "He what?"

"After meeting me, Ash started lying to Morgause. He's been telling her he doesn't know where I am. He's been protecting me."

Al growled, "And ya trust that lying demon?"

"Do you think I would be alive right now if Morgause knew where I was?"

Al's fur smoothed back out. He knew everything there was to know about my scary aunt. He'd even plotted escape routes just in case. "No. Ya wouldn't."

We sat there on the cold tile floor of my bathroom, staring at each, lost in our own thoughts.

At last I tucked him under my arm and got up. My stomach felt capable of handling coffee again.

I put Al on the table, grabbed a mug and his bowl and poured us each coffee with a lot of creamer.

Al lapped at his coffee several times before he sat down and looked at me. "Ass has been protecting ya? You're sure about that?"

I wasn't sure of anything. "He knows about Morgause and I haven't told him anything about her or the curse."

It went without saying that neither Al, Morgan nor my aunt would share that information without consulting me first.

"Huh."

His ears went back, but he didn't volunteer anything else.

I finished my coffee, put my mug and Al's bowl in the sink and went to get dressed.

"Doll?"

I stopped in the doorway and looked back at him, his tiny, furry body planted on my kitchen table. His watery brown eyes full of love and concern for me.

"Do ya love him?"

Did I? I thought I did. I'd held my feelings for him close to my chest, nervous and excited and scared. Hopeful.

What I felt was too new to be tested and yet that didn't matter. Life wasn't a fairytale. And a witch could only do what she could.

"I don't know, Al." I stared at him - my faithful friend, my stubborn Chihuahua, my reality resistant hit-man. I knew my words would hurt him and as much as I hated it, he deserved my honesty.

"I'm afraid I might. And I have no idea what to do about it."

18. Confronting My Secretary.

Désirée Norma-Sue was already behind her desk by the time I arrived at
Love Required
.

The bright cheerful yellow of her shirt gave me pause for a moment. A rather long moment.

There was nothing wrong with her shirt. It matched the new sunshine shade of her updo. And the flashing citrine earrings dangling to her shoulders.

All in all, Désirée looked sunny and upbeat and happy.

All the things I was not.

And in depressing contrast, I'd thrown on the jeans and shirt I'd found at the foot of my bed. I was pretty sure I was actually wearing the same shirt I'd had on yesterday.

I couldn't hold it against her. It wasn't her fault my demon boyfriend was not who I thought he was. And it certainly wasn't her fault I had a scary aunt who wanted me dead due to incidents I had nothing to do with. And I couldn't fault her because I was cursed to Fail in Love.

None of these things had anything at all to do with my secretary.

I knew all of this.

And yet her abundance of seeming happiness grated on my nerves. Rubbed them raw. Twisted them into a tightly coiled spring.

And made me feel like less of a witch.

I refused to allow any of my emotional mess rub off on Désirée Norma-Sue, so I slapped a wide smile on my face and sang out, "Good Morning!"

Désirée popped out of her chair like a champagne cork. She practically sprinted to my side.

"Sugar, how are you?" She clutched my arm as if afraid I might fall over.

My smile grew wider. "I'm fine, Désirée. Just fine. How are you?"

"Fine. Just fine."

We were such liars.

She patted my hand. I grinned like a maniac.

We stood like that for a while before we both realized the other was not going to give.

"Désirée." I wasn't exactly sure what to say. How did I ask if she had a stalker and had hired one of our clients as a hit-man to eliminate her problem?

I looked down to give my eyes a break from her unrelenting merriness, winced as I caught site of her chartreuse skirt and heels and reversed our holds so I could grip her arm.

"Let's go into my office." At least behind my desk I would only be bombarded by fifty percent of her good cheer.

I sat behind my desk, Désirée Norma-Sue grabbed one of my guest chairs and pulled it up to the opposite edge of my desk.

"We need to talk," I began.

"All right, Sugar. You can tell me anything you'd like."

"Not about me," I snapped. Damn it. I sucked in a deep breath. I would not yell at my secretary. None of this was her fault.

I sighed heavily and tried again. "What I meant to say was, is there anything you'd like to discuss with me?"

If I didn't know her so well, I would have dismissed the flutter of her lashes. The slight tensing of her shoulders.

Désirée Norma-Sue had been disguising her reactions for a long time. How long had she been hiding from her stalker?

"I'm good, Sugar." She gave a trickle of a laugh that didn't match the sunny mood of her outfit. "Don't you want to talk about . . ."

I cut her off. "No. I don't, but I do want you to tell me about the reason you hired Snake."

At my question, Désirée instinctively froze like a small creature being hunted. A small bomb could have gone off and she wouldn't have moved.

"He told you?" She paled. Her skin turning so white it was almost a painful contrast to all the yellow.

I reached across my desk and picked up her hand. Her skin cold to the touch. I wrapped both my hands around hers, lending her what warmth I had.

"I think Snake thought I already knew about your troubles. He couldn't get a hold of you and was worried." I squeezed her hand. "I'm worried."

She blinked back the tears that welled in her eyes. "Sugar, you are so sweet."

No. I wasn't. I was pretty sure I was avoiding my own issues by confronting hers. It didn't matter. Désirée Norma-Sue was my friend and she needed my help. Whether she knew it or not.

"Who's after you?"

"My ex-fiancée."

I blinked. "You were engaged?" I'm not sure why that surprised me. Désirée Norma-Sue was drop dead gorgeous, annoyingly skinny and totally awesome by any standards. Fae or human.

"Yes. My parents arranged the marriage."

I knew fairy roots went back a long, long way in history, but I'd thought their society had advanced with the current times. I had no idea they were so archaic.

"That still happens?"

Désirée nodded. "Not very often these days, but if a family wants to move up in society, marriage is the fastest way to gain social status."

I did know that, but I also thought arranged marriages went out with the horse and cart and the old witches' brooms made of twigs.

Arranged marriages brought to mind images of young girls in flouncy dresses paired up with ancient, wrinkled geezers with lots of money. I almost shuddered. If the humans had been so callous with their relatives, I wasn't sure I wanted to imagine what the HC would do.

Big-nosed trolls with dark, claustrophobic houses and deep pockets, vicious werewolves with lethal claws and sharper portfolios, cold warlocks with large bank accounts and dank dungeons.

I would have run fast and far myself.

"So, everyone was happy with the marriage except you?" I didn't blame her. I totally understood her disgust.

Désirée pursed her lips. "Not exactly. At first I was thrilled."

She was? She liked big-nosed trolls? Vicious werewolves? I couldn't see Désirée Norma-Sue putting up with a horrible match in exchange for wealth.

She shrugged. "It's not every fairy that gets engaged to a prince."

She'd been engaged to a prince? Maybe he'd been hideous?

"He's utterly gorgeous. Blonde, blue eyes, perfect body."

I sat back in my chair. She'd been engaged to a gorgeous prince?

"He sent me gifts every day. Took me to amazing parties. Told me how much he loved me."

I didn't understand at all.

"It was all a lie."

Now that I understood.

"He did and said everything right, everything to make a fairy think he truly loved her and none of it was true."

I didn't want to listen any more.

"A month before we were supposed to get married, I overheard him hiring someone to kill me on our honeymoon. He didn't want me. He wanted some of our land in the swamps. I guess we're sitting on some oil."

I caught myself rubbing at my chest as if it ached. I immediately stopped and sat up straight. Placed my hands on my desk. "What did your family say when you told them?"

"They didn't believe me. I didn't blame them. The prince is one slick fairy. I thought if I left, he'd leave me alone. Find some other venture to pursue." She sighed. "I guess there's
a lot
of oil under our land."

"When did all of this take place? You're sure he's still after you?" Surely a prince could find other ways to come up with some money.

"I've been on the run for almost a year now. He's almost caught me twice." She made a sound of utter disgust. "He's also extremely vain. Apparently I'm the first fairy to dump him."

Revenge and money. Couldn't find another more powerful motivator unless you counted love.

And I wasn't counting on love. Not at all.

"He's tracked you down to Dominion?"

Désirée nodded. "He's been in my apartment twice. Moved things around. Just to let me know he's found me. He's not very stable."

We both shivered. Her handsome prince was a total creep.

"I've had enough of running. That's why I hired Snake." Worry crossed her face. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

I reached out to grasp her hand again. "I'm not mad. It's probably best if we don't involve the clients in acts of murder, but I understand where you are coming from. I just wish you'd come to me first."

"I didn't want to involve you in my problems."

I turned a blind eye to her pointed look. We were discussing her messed up love life, not mine.

"First, let's take Snake out of the picture. Then let me work on a protection charm for you. And third, you need to tell Phil what's going on."

Open and honest communication in any relationship worked the best. Plus, Phil needed to be on his guard too. If the prince had already broken into Désirée's apartment, he'd be making his move soon.

"Then we need to come up with a plan."