Izzy's Fight: The Izzy Rose Chronicles Book 1 (2 page)

The moment she was outside, Izzy phased to her house in Hawaii and manifested all the things she had at the coffee shop. Days passed and though she began to forget about the mystery man, she felt like maybe he hadn’t forgotten about her. Day to day, she always felt eyes on her. Whenever she looked around to see who was staring at her, she found herself alone. She started to feel like she was crazy, but continued to push it aside so that she could deal with her real problems, problems she could fix.

“Izzy, baby, are you all right?” Will’s voice shook her awake causing her to push memories away from her immediate thoughts.

Looking up, she smiled and held her arms out to him. As he pulled her against his body, his arms snaked around her and held her close. He always acted like more than her best friend, but that could’ve been because he was also her lover. She found herself in his bed on lonely nights when she was in need of human interaction, or needed to feed.

Laying her head against his chest, she sighed and closed her eyes. When in Will’s embrace, all her worries seemed to disappear like dust in the wind. Life was good when he held her, and it made her wonder why she continued to push a relationship with him to the side. The more she thought about it the more she knew the real reason why. As a succubus, she hadn’t found just one person who was able to sate the lust that ran through her veins. Being that she knew she couldn’t be faithful, she always shied away from any relationship with people. She knew using Will was wrong, and no matter how much he told her it would be okay, she worried that one day it wouldn’t be okay because he’d want a commitment. When that day came, she was sure she’d end up losing her best friend.

“Izzy? Are you here today, or on another planet?” This time he sounded irritated that she was ignoring him, and she couldn’t blame him.

“Sorry, Will. I just keep getting sidetracked by my thoughts.” She looked up at him and gave him her best smile in hopes he would forgive her.

“What thoughts?” he asked, before leaning down to capture her lips in a kiss.

Seizing the moment, she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened their kiss. He didn’t fight her as he tightened his hold and continued to explore her mouth with his tongue.

By the time they broke apart to breathe, all thoughts of their previous conversation had escaped their minds. As she sat down in the sand, she pulled him with her. The two settled on the shore, watching the waves in front of the sunset, while the tide came in and lapped at their toes.

“Will, thank you for being such a good friend,” she whispered as she closed her eyes.

“You don’t have to thank me, Iz.” His words drifted off as she fell asleep.

In her dreams, she continued to see those eyes. The eyes of the man who had kidnapped her from the coffee shop and told her she would never figure out who he was. He was staring at her, and she wasn’t sure why. Every time she tried to speak, no sound would come out. It was like her vocal chords were fused together.

Huffing, she crossed her arms and glared back at the eyes until they turned red. At that point, she tried to find a way to escape the room she was locked in. Every surface that she touched was smooth and wet. Since there was no light in the room, she couldn’t figure out what was now coating her fingers.

“I told you that you would never figure out what I am. Now I’m telling you that you’ll never get rid of me. I promise you no matter where you are, I will be there—in your dreams, in your waking moments, every time you turn around. There is no escaping me.”

A sob was stuck in her throat, yet she still couldn’t make any noise. The tears silently fell and stained her cheeks. Reaching up, she wiped them away, knowing that it would do no good. Nothing good could come from being stuck in this room. The darkness that used to be her friend now taunted her with the unknown. If her mother really was behind this, there was no telling how far she’d go to torment Izzy. Curling up on the floor, she closed her eyes and tried to envision herself back in Will’s arms.

“Izzy! God! Isobel Rose, if you don’t look at me this instant I swear I’m going to go get some ice and dump it down your shirt.”

Opening her eyes, she looked up into the face of her best friend. Her eyes unconsciously focused on the stars just beyond his head. Blinking a few times, she tried to figure out why she was seeing stars until it dawned on her—it was night, and she’d fallen asleep on the beach. Carefully sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and turned to look at Will.

“Why are you so mad at me?” she asked, her voice heavy with sleep. She felt as if she could fall back asleep at any moment.

“Because you’ve been off on ‘Planet Izzy’ all day ignoring me. I understand you get lost in your thoughts, but you could at least warn me when you’re going to be like this because I’ve been fighting for your attention all damn day!” His words hurt, but she knew he was right. Standing up, she kissed the top of his head and walked to her house without a single word or glance back. She couldn’t help that her thoughts consumed her, or the fact that she felt like she was being stalked in her dreams and in real life. There was no way she could tell Will because he wouldn’t be able to understand. Will was a human and he would want to go to the police with her story. There was nothing the police could do besides getting themselves killed. Collapsing on her bed, she let out the sobs that she’d been holding in while she was with Will. Whether he meant to or not, Will had a tendency to say things that hurt her because he said the first thing that popped into his head. Will’s biggest problem with her was that she would never give him a chance to be her boyfriend. All she did was use him to get the sex that her demon craved.

“Isobel…”

She looked around and tried to see if Will had come into her room like he usually did. As her eyes scanned the room, she found no one.

“Isobel…”

She looked around again, only to find that she was still alone. Where was the voice coming from? Getting up, she walked to the window and opened it. The moonlight danced off the water, making it seem like there were a million little diamonds just under the surface. A soft sigh fell from her lips as she pulled her sweater on and walked outside.

The warm air embraced her like a lover’s welcome. As she inhaled, a smile played at the edge of her lips. She loved living in Hawaii and wasn’t sure why she’d left to live in New Orleans. She enjoyed life there, but here it was just easier for her to unwind and relax. There was no need for her to get up early in the morning unless she was going out to surf or take pictures.

“What are you thinking about?” a voice whispered in her ear as hands fell upon her shoulders.

Jumping, she pulled away quickly and turned to face the source of the voice. Looking into his eyes, she realized it was the man who’d been haunting her every thought since she first slept with him all those weeks ago. Every doubt of him stalking her vanished because she now knew he really was. The dizzying feeling she’d gotten when she had fed off him… it was a feeling she hadn’t experienced when she fed off a normal human being.

Backing up, she tripped over something and landed on her butt in the sand. Without hesitation, she scrambled away from him, trying to put as much distance between them as possible.

“Where are you going, Isobel?” He stalked towards her slowly as if he was a hunter targeting his prey, and she was his prey.

“Get away from me,” she demanded as she managed to get to her feet and continued to back away from him.

Her attempts to put distance between them failed as he continued stalking towards her. His steps were slow and precise, while hers were short and frantic. She was trying not to trip over herself again but she found it hard to keep her balance. Several times, she almost fell again.

“How far do you think you’ll get?” His voice was cold… calculated. He knew what he was doing to her. The colder his voice became, the more her fear grew.

“As far as I need to be to get away from you!”

She fell yet again, only this time—she grabbed a handful of sand and threw it in his face. While he tried to get the sand out of his eyes, she got up and ran for her life not even thinking of how she could phase and get further away from her stalker. She was screaming at the top of her lungs but felt as if no one could hear her. The further she ran, the harder it was for her to get air into her lungs. By the time she was halfway down the beach, she couldn’t breathe. Stopping, she bent over and tried to drag precious air back into her lungs. Looking behind her, she didn’t see him. She figured she was far enough away, causing him to give up his pursuit.

Falling in the sand, she laid back, closed her eyes, and counted her breaths. Slowly, they started to go back to normal. When her lungs were no longer burning, she opened her eyes. Standing above her was her stalker. There seemed to be no way for her to get away from him now. All he had to do was drop to his knees, and she was trapped.

“I said you wouldn’t get very far, now didn’t I?” he said, as a sadistic smile crossed his face.

She tried not to think of all the things he could do to her. She knew she was a halfling, but she wasn’t sure which of her powers she would even be able to use against him. She wouldn’t be able to get away from him without receiving some sort of injury, of that she was sure. She knew there was one way out of this situation that didn’t involve using her powers—powers that seemed to be locked again. But if she tried her powers anyway, she still risked getting hurt. Willing to take the chance, she wiggled up slowly, moving so that she could get herself better positioned.

“Where are you going?”

“Here.” She brought her foot up and kicked him as hard as she could.

As he fell to the ground, she managed to get away from him and pull herself to her feet. This time she wasn’t going to run from him. She stood her ground as she glared down at his form now writhing in the sand. “What the hell do you want with me?”

“That’s none of your business,” he managed to groan out as he laid on his back, holding himself.

“The hell it isn’t. You’re stalking me! Who are you?”

“No one and everyone!” He stood up and towered over her. “I’m not human if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m so far from human it’s laughable.”

“I’m sick of these cryptic answers you always give. I know you’re not a fucking human. I’ve known that for quite some time!”

Before her eyes, she watched as he shifted into what she assumed was his true form. Large, black wings came out of his back, and his skin turned black from head to toe. Here and there were spots of red, and a few looked as if they were tattoos, but she couldn’t tell for sure. His eyes were blood red, as were his teeth.

“This is what I am, Isobel.”

A small yelp escaped her throat. She’d known he wasn’t human, but she hadn’t been anticipating that. She backed away slowly, but this time, she wasn’t going to run. He was a demon, but not the type of demon she expected him to be. He was an assassin. There was no getting away from him this time. The only thing she could do was accept her fate and die with dignity. But, maybe she’d be able to stall him a little.

“Why are you after me? What did I do?”

“Your mother was displeased by how you were living your life, so she sent me to eliminate you. She figured it was easier to just take you out instead of retraining you. You’ve lived with humans far too long to become the goddess and demon your mother wants you to be.” His voice was deeper in his current form. His arms were crossed as he stared down at her.

“So, my mother wants me dead?” Her voice trembled a little at the thought of her mother wanting her only child dead, instead of helping her. Although, a part of Izzy wasn’t surprised.

“Yes, she didn’t even consult your father on the issue. She also wants me to eliminate him so there is no trace that you ever existed. She’ll find another male to father her next child.”

“What about Will?” She looked over in the direction of his house. “Or my other friends?”

“Memory wipe. They would go on to live their lives as if you never existed. No one but your mother and I would know about your life.”

His words stung as he told her what was to happen to her, her friends, and the only other family she had. Her mother truly had no care for what was to happen to her. All she cared about was that her only daughter wasn’t the daughter she wanted—the daughter who followed in her footsteps. Tears sprung to her eyes as she reached up and wiped them away.

“Are you really crying?” There was a hint of confusion buried in his voice as he cocked his head and looked at her.

“Yes! You’ve been following me for weeks now after you slept with me despite knowing your mission, and now that you’ve tormented me long enough you’re finally here to kill me. A person tends to get emotional over the fact that they’re about to die!”

“There really is no reason for you to be crying.”

“How do you plan on killing me? Where do you plan on doing it?” she asked, bombarding him with questions.

“Here, and I’ll be slitting your throat.”

She could tell by his tone that he really had no remorse for what he was about to do. The glint in his eye made it look as if he was excited to take her life.

“What will you do as soon as your job is complete?”

“Return home until the next job. I don’t have a luxurious life like you’ve been fortunate enough to have. I wait until a job is brought forth to me, and then, when I’ve carried out my orders, I wait until I am summoned again.”

A small sniffle came from her as she wiped her eyes. She hadn’t realized that she’d basically been pampered her entire life. The way he described his life sounded like hell. Do a job and then return home to his demonic realm until the next one. She stared up at him through tear-soaked eyes and shook her head.

“That’s a horrible existence.”

“It’s better than not having one at all. I know you don’t deserve to die just for not being the daughter your mother wants you to be, but that’s how it has to be, it seems. I can’t change that. I can stall a little. Tonight is my deadline though, so by midnight, you will be dead. We can take a walk if you’d like.”

It was a crappy choice. But if she could stay alive a bit longer, even a stroll with this hideous demon was better than the alternative. She nodded and wrapped her sweater around her body tighter. “Will you kill me without me knowing? I don’t want to know when it’s coming.”

He nodded and motioned down towards where the chase had started earlier. She turned and began taking hesitant steps down the beach. They walked in silence as she thought about her life. All the things she’d done—all the things she should have done.

Everything flashed through her mind. The first time she met Will, the first time they made love, all the fun they had together. None of the other guys she’d slept with came to mind, only Will, probably because Will was her best friend. The only one who hadn’t minded if she came to his bed for the night and then vanished the next morning.

“What’s on your mind?” came a soft, but rough, voice from behind her.

The beach was abnormally quiet for a warm night where surfers would normally be out trying to catch a few waves. Part of her wondered if the demon behind her had somehow managed to convince people to stay in for the night. Or maybe he’d been messing with her mind some more as he had been for weeks and made it appear as if the beach truly was empty.

Closing her eyes, she sighed softly before answering.

“My best friend Will. He’s done nothing but treat me right. Every time I cried, he held me. When I needed to rant, he listened. When we made love, he was always so gentle with me. Never did he rush anything or push something he knew I didn’t like. He was truly the better half of me. When I fell short, he picked up the slack.”

As she continued to talk about Will and all that he meant to her, she failed to notice that a hand was on her shoulder, pulling her to a stop. Slowly, a knife came up to her neck and started to press into the skin right where her jugular was.