Demons LLC (Damned and Cursed Book 7) (37 page)

As much as Alex liked tallying up the dollars, watching Kylie slowly heal was worth more.

On the other side of the dance floor, Alex finally spotted Zoey.

She was dancing with a guy not much older than her, maybe two years at the most.
 
Her clothes were meant to impress, although she had trouble filling them out.
 
Her black leggings were loose on her thighs, her blouse not quite fitting right.
 
The dancing was suggestive, with her partner grinding up against her from behind.
 
The stranger had his arms around her waist, with Zoey leaning her head back onto his shoulder and grabbing the back of his hair.
 
He wondered if it was the person in Zoey's story, the one Kylie didn't approve of.

At first glance, Zoey simply seemed to be cutting loose.
 
She hadn't been taking care of herself, nor letting anyone else take care of her.
 
She'd spent weeks in her basement, had mourned Kylie's death, and was finally ready to live life once again.

Alex couldn't help but feel there was more to it than that.

"Kylie!" he shouted.

They didn't hear him at first, and Alex had to shout several times.
 
Finally, the pair looked up at him and waved.
 
Their faces turned serious when they saw him pointing.

His curiosity piqued when Zoey and her companion stopped dancing.
 
She whispered something in his ear.
 
Her words brought a large smile to his face.
 
She grabbed his hand and led him through the crowd, toward a door near the back.

Alex vanished, drawing a startled gasp from the man next to him.
 
He walked through the railing and fell to the first floor.
 
His form merged with a group of women dancing.
 
He could feel their skin, tissue, blood, organs.
 
It wasn't a pleasant sensation.

"Alex?" Nate called, pulling Kylie with him.
 
"What's going on?"

"It looks like Zoey is leaving.
 
Let's go."

The trio had no trouble moving through the living.
 
They caught up to Zoey as she left the club through the back door with her friend.
 
She was laughing and walking close to the man, their arms around each other.
 
The door led outside, and Alex was relieved when they left the music behind.

They were in an alley.
 
The lighting was very poor, with trash and litter spread about.
 
The back of a strip mall was on one side, a large fence on the other.
 
Zoey and her friend walked slowly, without a care in the world.
 
He tried to let his hand drift below her back, only to have it smacked away.

"No, no," she said.
 
"Save something for later."

Alex followed closely behind with Kylie and Nate.

"Jesus," Nate said.
 
"This isn't exactly romantic, is it?"

"Do you know him?" Alex asked.
 
"Ever seen him before?"

"I don't think so."

Alex and Nate walked ten more steps before realizing Kylie had stopped.
 
She glanced at her surroundings.
 
The brick wall to her right, several trash cans to her left.
 
There was a light pole with a burnt out bulb.
 
A shattered window leading into the back of an abandoned laundromat was just over her head.
 
A look of fear crossed her face.

"I've…been here before."

"You're remembering something?"

Her pain and frustration were obvious.
 
The shadows of a memory death had stolen from her, so close to the front of her mind.

"No.
 
God, this pisses me off."

Alex turned to see Zoey continuing down the alley.
 
They were holding hands now, and the man was singing.
 
Badly.
 
The alcohol was taking its toll.
 
Kylie jogged to catch up.

"You know, I just thought of something," the stranger said.
 
"I don't even know your name."

"Don't worry.
 
You don't need my name for what I have in mind."

Kylie frowned and wrinkled her nose.

"That ain't Zoey."

Nate stared.
 
"Uh, it looks like it to me."

"No," Kylie said strongly.
 
"I've known her since middle school.
 
That's not her.
 
She wouldn't act like such…."

"A whore?" Nate finished.

She eyed him dangerously, but relented.
 
"Yeah," she said, adjusting her glasses.
 
"The alley's going to hit a wall up ahead, and turn right."
 
She gripped the sides of her head.
 
"Owww…."

Nate reached for her.
 
"Kylie?
 
Are you okay?"

"My head hurts."

She was right.
 
They made a right, and spent several more minutes walking the alleys of Stewardtown.
 
It was almost like a maze.
 
Alex kept a close eye on Kylie.
 
She kept up, but he could see her in distress.

"My feet are starting to hurt," the man complained.
 
"Where the hell are we going?
 
You said you wanted to party.
 
Well, this don't look like no playground to me."

Zoey suddenly kicked a trashcan out of the way and pushed him up against the wall.

"We can have our party right here," Zoey said.

The air rushed out of the stranger's lungs, but he smiled.
 
He adjusted his shirt as she invaded his personal space.

"It's a little dirty back here, isn't it?"

She wasn't deterred.

"You don't want to get a little dirty?"

Kylie fell to one knee, and Nate rushed to her side.
 
Alex wasn't sure where to look first.
 
Zoey made out with the stranger enthusiastically.
 
He tried to lift her shirt, but she resisted.
 
Kylie's leg gave out from under her, sending her to the ground on her side.
 
Nate paid no attention to the romantic show before them.
 
His focus was entirely on Kylie.

Alex knelt next to her, but kept his gaze on Zoey.
 
He knew their kiss wasn't going to end well.

"Alex," Kylie said.
 
She grabbed his arm.
 
"This isn't right."

Zoey forced the stranger's head back and kissed his neck.
 
He moaned in delight.
 
She licked and sniffed his flesh.
 
Alex recognized the ecstasy, and something else.

The signs had always been there.
 
Hiding from the daylight.
 
No longer eating and drinking.
 
He'd missed them all.

"Yeah, I know."

Alex stood up and shifted back to the living realm.
 
He pushed forward, but wasn't fast enough.
 
He caught a glimpse of Zoey's fangs and red eyes as she reared her head back.
 
In one smooth motion, her head snapped forward, latching onto the stranger's neck.
 
Kylie and Nate gasped.
 
There was nothing sexual in her movements now.
 
She grabbed the stranger's hair with one hand, shoving his head against the wall, and pinned his wrist with the other.
 
His eyes went wide with shock, but then euphoria took hold, and finally arousal.
 
He put up no resistance as the blood left his body.

Alex recognized the sight of a vampire out of control.
 
Zoey took deep, full drinks.
 
She let out a noise that was part growl, part moan.
 
She wasn't going to stop until the stranger was dead.

He slipped an arm around her neck and grabbed her wrist.
 
He tried to pull her back, but even as frail as she was, she was much stronger than him.

"Stop," he said.
 
"You'll kill him."

She shrugged him off easily, forcing him back a step.
 
Whirling in place, she struck a single time, a punch to Alex's chest.
 
He sailed across the alley and landed in a heap of trashcans.
 
Pain shot through his back.

The stranger was holding a hand to his neck.
 
His senses returned to him, despite the erection.
 
His panicked eyes drifted back and forth from Zoey to Alex.

"Run!" Alex shouted.
 
"Get out of here!"

He did as he was told, without a word, and Zoey didn't pursue.
 
Her gaze was fixed on Alex.
 
They still glowed red.
 
Her fangs protruded past her bottom lip, dripping blood.

"Zoey," Kylie said, off to the side.
 
She struggled to climb to her feet with Nate's help.
 
"You…killed me, didn't you?"

It took effort for Alex to pull himself to one knee as well.
 
He needed a moment to catch his breath, but wasn't sure if that moment existed.
 
He held up a palm.

"Just wait a second.
 
Zoey, listen—"

"You fucking bitch!"

It was Kylie.
 
She stood upright, her balled fists at her sides.
 
Nate tried to calm her down, but that wasn't possible.

She charged.
 
An unrecognizable scream escaped her lips, and Alex thought the nearby windows rattled, only for a second.
 
Diving through the air, she passed harmlessly through Zoey and landed on the ground.

The distraction was enough, but not in Alex's favor.
 
He barely registered that the vampire was moving.

He got his arms up in time before Zoey was in his face.
 
She snapped her jaws, like a canine, and barely missed his nose.
 
With an arm lodged under her throat, it was only just enough to keep her back.

His instincts told him to vanish, but he pushed them aside.
 
He needed to talk to Zoey, and he couldn't do that from the spirit realm.

"Zoey," he said.
 
"Listen.
 
You're in the middle of bloodlust.
 
You have to fight it.
 
Or you'll hate yourself for the rest of your life."

She said nothing.
 
She leaned back, and for a moment, Alex thought he'd gotten through to her.
 
He couldn't have been more wrong.
 
She cocked her arm behind her and raked him across the face with a hand that was no longer human.
 
Her fingers were elongated, her nails razor-sharp.
 
It was only sheer luck and Zoey's clumsiness that she didn't rip half his face off.
 
Still, the swipe connected, and he felt blood running down his face.

The sight of the crimson nectar excited Zoey even more.
 
Her eyes opened wide as she lunged forward again.
 
She stretched her tongue as far as it would go, eager to lick the only thing a vampire could ingest.

Alex stopped her with his arms, and two more appendages she didn't see coming.

His wings shot out from his back, knocking over another garbage can and tossing aside a bag of trash.
 
He hooked the claws on the tips of his wings into her shoulders and forced her back.
 
His wings were far stronger than his arms, easily capable of protecting him.
 
She shrieked in pain.
 
He could have easily tossed her, like she did him, but he resisted.
 
He was surprised at his composure, considering blood was running down his face and borrowed shirt.

"No," he said.
 
"
My
blood.
 
You can't have it."

"What the hell is she?" Kylie asked, barely standing on her feet.
 
"She's a vampire, isn't she?
 
Like Victoria?"

Nate shook his head.
 
"I don't know.
 
She's
nothing
like Victoria."

Zoey's expression softened at the voice she couldn't hear until Alex allowed her to.
 
Just his wings touching her was enough for her to see into the spirit realm.
 
Her eyes were still red, the fangs present, but she found her voice, and the craving for blood stalled.

"Kylie?" she said, glancing left and right.
 
"Is that you?"

Her voice was slurred due to the fangs.
 
She contorted her body, staring behind her, and ripped one of Alex's wings from her shoulder as a result.
 
Tears escaped as she struggled to breathe.

"Yeah, it's me."
 
Her tone was icy and even.
 
"But it doesn't look like you're
you
."

Zoey pulled away from Alex and fell on her hands and knees.

"Kylie, I'm so sorry.
 
I didn't mean—"

She looked up, but saw nothing.
 
Breaking contact with Alex left her alone with him in the alley.
 
But Kylie still looked down at her old friend with anger and disappointment.

"Well," Kylie said.
 
"I guess we know what happened that night."

Alex said nothing.
 
A new voice shouted from Alex's right, further down the alley.

"Don't move!"

He turned to see Detective Lisa Nash, running in a half crouch with her gun drawn.
 
She stopped twenty feet away and took aim at Zoey.