Night of the Demon: Paranormal Romance (Devon Slaughter Book 2) (15 page)

When I got home from the funeral, I took a hot bath, without
taking off my amulet. Making an X with Scotch tape, I taped it to my chest, before
crawling into bed.

The old hurt was inside me. I could relax with Valium, and
curb my OCD with Zoloft, but there was no medication that had ever taken away
my inner pain, without knocking me out.

I didn’t want a tranquilizer. I just wanted to be happy. Or
rather, content. No one was happy all the time. I thought of how my mother
gazed at the stars. “Without the dark, we wouldn’t see the stars,” she said. It
was a popular quote, and who had actually said it first, I wasn’t sure. But my
mother was the one who said it to me.

I knew it was true. You couldn’t experience true joy,
without knowing deep pain. You’d have nothing to measure it by.

As I lay there, curled on my side, listening to the patter
of rain, I tried to remember the last time I’d felt joy. I didn’t like the
answer I came up with. It had been the other night, dancing … with Devon’s
memory.  

Where had he gone?

Scarlet had encountered Devon too, I felt sure. He existed
in the flesh. I knew he was
there
in the pages of my memory, and yet, I
couldn’t piece together what had happened.

Why?

And why did Zadie always seem to be there too … between us?
Who
was
she?

I tossed and turned on the sheets, trying to get Zadie out
of my mind. If I could block her from my thoughts, maybe, just maybe, I could stop
the crazy train from rolling down the tracks.

But Zadie wouldn’t let me be.

I dreamed of her.

I dreamed she broke into my apartment, along with her friend
Inka. They were touching my things, playing my records.   

They made chocolate martinis. The scent of vanilla vodka
wafted under the covers.

I heard them talking. Their voices came closer.

The door to my bedroom creaked open. I tried to open my
eyes, to get out of the dream, but my lids were so heavy. My body felt pinned
to the bed.

I moaned.

“Oh, look at her dreaming,” Inka said. She had a low voice,
almost masculine.

“I think we should shave her bald,” Zadie said. “Make her
pretty for Devon.” She cackled.

Their footsteps crossed the floor. My fingers curled around
the sheets.

Wake up, Ruby. Wake up now
.

The comforter was lifted back. Cold air rushed over my skin.

“Shit
, Inka! Come look at this.”

“What now?” Inka said. “Oh dear, I see. She has an angelite
crystal. Is that tape?”

I tried to open my eyes again. I saw a blur of color and
movement.

Someone snapped their fingers. “Wake up, Ruby. Hello there …
rise and shine.”  

At last, my lids lifted. Zadie’s face came into focus, and
then, Inka’s. They peered down at me, curiously, as if I were a new baby.

It was no dream.

I reached up and covered my amulet with the palm of my hand.
I felt my heartbeat thumping.

Why is this happening? Won’t they leave me alone?
 

I wished I knew prayers.

Dear God, please help me
.

“Darling, you simply must lose the necklace,” Inka said. “It
isn’t you.”

Zadie chuckled.

“You cannot leave your room, until you get rid of the amulet.
Think about it. No food. No drink. Perhaps, we will turn off the heat too.”

“Oh, and the lights,” Zadie said. “We’ll cut her power.
Sensory deprivation. She’ll go insane.”

Go insane
…
insane
…

When they left the room, I strained to listen. They talked,
and argued. Zadie wanted another martini. “Ruby is a weak thing,” Inka said.
“It won’t take long to break her.”

They put on a record,
Alice in Chains
. Music drowned
their voices. I figured they would keep true to their promises. I had to get
away.

I went to the window and pulled back the curtain. Dawn burgeoned
on the horizon. The sky was gray, tinged with pink. I was seven stories high. Vertigo
swept over me.

I turned from the window to scan the room in the dusky
light. I found my boots. I put them on without socks. For once, no clothes had
been left on the floor. I couldn’t take time to rummage in my closet, so I had
nothing to throw over my nightgown.

I slid open the window, and stepped out onto the fire
escape.

Goosebumps rose on my arms in the cool air. I remembered how
I used to feel like I was way up high, unable to resist stepping off into thin
air.

Holding the metal railing, I began to make my way down.

“Ruby! Oh, Ruby. Where do you think you’re going?”

I looked back, against my will. Zadie leaned from the
window.

I gasped. Terror gripped me.

I teetered, before taking the stairs two at a time. My steps
clanged. I pushed on, seeing only the metal rungs beneath my feet.

When the fire escape jerked, I fell, grasping at the
railing.

I looked down to the alley. The fire escape stopped at the second
floor, and Inka hung from the metal rungs, her legs swinging, as she caused it
to jerk again. And again.

“Come on up, little rabbit,” Zadie called. “Before you fall
to your death.”

ANGEL SOLDIERS had raided Queenstown, when we found it. The
bar, Babylon, where demons made connections, was burned to the ground.

A statue of Ishtar, the goddess of sex and war, had fallen
on her face in the ashes. Her wings pointed at the trembling sky.

For the first time, I believed Zadie was dead. I felt it in
my bones. 

Claudia put her hand on my arm. “They’re not all slain,” she
said. “There’s no way. Demons are more adapted to the human world. This is
their land, and they have the advantage, like guerilla fighters.”

But demons weren’t guerilla fighters. They had no weapon to
kill their enemy. Demons could only run and hide. 

As we made our way north, it looked as if Claudia was wrong.
If there were any demons left, we saw no sign of them.  

We ran on the beach, and swam for miles across the ocean,
leapt off rooftops, and ate tamales wrapped in banana leaves. We drank pink
champagne and danced under a strobe light. We sat around a campfire to beat
bongo drums.

Claudia flew. I saw her wings, shadows against the moon. 

She was in love with the human world, and humans. We charmed
our way into swanky hotels, where she took human lovers.

“No glove, no love,” I reminded her. But without being
inoculated, she was vulnerable to anything and everything. I worried about her if
we were in a market or on the street, and someone sneezed. 

When left to my own devices, I hung out in libraries, and
cafes, art galleries. I was full of Claudia’s spirit. In that regard, she was
strong. I had no need to prey on unsuspecting humans.

I searched books and the internet for information on demons.
I wanted to get intimate with the monster inside me.
Know your enemy
.

There were plenty of other sources of energy, besides
humans. I could glean sustenance from the elements. The full moon would keep me
going for nights on end. Lightning storms were a better high, but didn’t last
as long.

I could also
ask
. What a novel idea. Confess my
neediness, and ask a nice person to share some of their life force. Sarah
should have known this was possible.

Had she? And kept it secret, in order to get rid of me?
Fucking
Sarah
.

It was my favorite lament, but the truth was, I wouldn’t do
anything over differently. Going to the realm had changed me. For the better.

One of the most common ways, I discovered, of gleaning
energy was going into crowds to steal little bits of energy from lots of
different people, so as not to drain one person … to their death, like I’d
almost done to Ruby. 

I didn’t like the last idea.
Because
of Ruby. If I
got started stealing even the smallest amounts of energy, things might get out
of hand. The last thing I wanted was to become the vampire I’d been before.

I thought often of the story about the girl who fell in love
with a fiend. I turned it over and over in my mind, until it was almost a plan.

I liked to lay in some big bed, in a grandiose hotel room,
slightly decayed, with azure tiles and oil paintings on the walls, and think of
Ruby, with her angst-filled eyes. I envisioned coming to her aid, instead of preying
on her. The fantasy ended the same as the story. Ruby asked me to stay with
her. (She begged me.)  

I got up and went to Claudia’s room to tell her about it.
She was buried under the covers.

I sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey,” I poked her. “You awake?”

She moaned. “No, Devon. I am
not
awake. I am the
opposite of awake. I am deeply asleep. Go away.”

I went down to the plaza to look at portraits of Mexican
wrestlers painted on paper bags, placed around the square.

It was late afternoon when I went to Claudia’s room again.

She liked to get up around noon, and have coffee on the
balcony, while reading a magazine like Vogue. She’d  spend the afternoon this
way, in a negligee or a silky gown. At dusk, after ordering up a large meal,
she dressed for the evening.

Outside her door, I felt the stillness inside. I told myself
I’d missed her. She’d gone out already. And yet, I knew.

She was still in bed, in the same position.

“Claudia. Hey,” I pulled the cover down enough to see her
face. She radiated heat but her teeth chattered.

“Claud,” I stroked her cheek. She flinched. 

I couldn’t bring her an aspirin to lower her fever. It
wouldn’t work. I couldn’t call a doctor. There was nothing a doctor could do.

I wet a wash cloth with cold water and put it on her
forehead.

Tears slid from the outer corners of her eyes. “I need to
go,” she whispered.

We had been headed to San Francisco, though slowly. Claudia
liked Mexico, especially Oaxaca. She wanted to stay a while. She never wanted
to hurry, like she might run out of time.

I wondered how long she had, if we could still make it to
‘the city.’ God, it felt like a lifetime ago I’d met her in the realm. And it
was—her lifetime.

When it got dark, I carried her out of the hotel, down to
the beach, so she could see the stars. She stayed in my lap, her head resting
against my chest, her arms around my neck.

I listened to her heart, as it slowed. 

“Claudia, damn it.”

I lowered my head, when she took her last breath.

* * *

The humming came from far off. The sound was soft, at first.
It got closer and louder, until the sound of beating wings filled the air.

In a burst of light, Claudia’s body was gone from my arms.

A shooting star arced across the sky. 

“COME HERE, Ruby,” he said.

I stood in front of him. I couldn’t see his face. He was
too tall, and something blocked the light. His face was blacked out, like a
doctored photograph.

I reached up to touch his chest. His skin was smooth,
almost burnished. My hand moved over the taut muscles on his stomach. I sucked
in my breath.

He grabbed the front of my bodice and yanked. Cool air
rushed over my skin. He laughed. A giddy feeling rose up inside me. “Now
these,” he slipped a finger inside my panties. The sound of tearing cut the
air.

He carried me to the bed.

I became aware of small details, the dampness on the
sheets, the salty taste of his skin, my own slick sweat, the slow hard beat of
his heart.

I stopped breathing.

His open mouth was on my throat. I felt his teeth scrape
my skin. And then he was inside me. His breath deepened. There was only his
movement, his breath in my ear, the slow, sweet friction, sweat pooling between
my breasts.

My body went slack.

His hair was on my lips, filling my mouth and I saw a red
glow outside the window, as the sun fell low in the sky.

THE MOON was a few nights shy of full. It drifted in the sky
and cast a pink light through wispy clouds.

I walked down Ruby’s street, hands in the pockets of my
jeans, thinking of the first time I saw her—crazy dress, big cloud of magenta
hair.

Of course, she wouldn’t remember me and I wasn’t going to
introduce myself. I just wanted to check on her. I was worried, if you want to know
the truth.

Worrying was pointless, but finding Sarah’s obituary hadn’t
been fun. Christ, it was worse than reading my own. I sure as hell didn’t want
to come across Ruby’s. Not when I could watch over her for the rest of her
life.

What else did I have to do?

When I got to her house, I noticed the change right away.
The yard had been manicured. Roses bloomed. A rope swing hung from the arm of
one of the old Oak trees.

Ruby didn’t live here, anymore.
Obviously
.

Where was she?

I headed downtown, to the 24-hour café, to use one of their
computers. I didn’t carry gadgets anymore. It was a pain in the ass, but
electronic devices sucked too much energy.

Ruby’s new address came up immediately. She was right around
the corner, on Irving, across the street from my old building. Where Sarah had
taken her fatal fall. Which I didn’t like one bit.

I’d become highly suspect of coincidence, lately.

It was just a couple of blocks to Ruby’s building. Envisioning
its striped awning, I was there in seconds flat.

From the sidewalk, I gazed up. Her apartment was 7P—the
penthouse. Light spilled from the windows.

Relief flooded over me. For a minute.

Something wasn’t right. The curtains were wide open. Ruby was
a cave dweller. Unless, she’d changed, which she probably had, a little. I’d
left her with Henry Thorne. Maybe old Henry had loosened her up. I hoped he
made her happy … or at least, made her feel less lonely.

Was he there? With her now?

Someone walked across the room. I saw movement through the
vista window.  

I cocked my head, honing in to hear what was going on
inside. Not spying, I told myself. I’d have no problem walking away, as soon as
I was sure Ruby was safe.

I heard voices—female … arguing.  

One voice pricked the back of my neck.
Was it—could it be
?

Zadie
?

The wrongness of Zadie inside Ruby’s apartment didn’t strike
me. I’d crossed half a continent, believing Zadie dead, thinking I was the last
demon on earth.

I longed to know what had happened to Zadie when she disappeared,
and even more, I wanted to know what had happened to me. Surely, Zadie knew. If
she didn’t, no one did.

My mind was full of Zadie, with no room for anything else.

I leaped the stairs, taking each flight in a single bound.

I landed in a corridor, dimly lit, with a green and gold rug
over the polished floor. It was so hushed, so insular in its opulence, I was
disoriented.

I had the strangest feeling I’d fantasized not only Zadie’s
voice but everything in my life, up till now.

When the door of 7P swung open, my mind clicked back into
gear. I braced myself.  

The woman who stood in front of me was a demon. I detected
her with my built-in radar, immediately. Our eyes met. She
knew
me. I
felt it in my bones. I also felt a kind of dread, the way I had in Nicaragua,
the night Zadie disappeared.

“I told Zadie you would come,” she had a low, throaty voice.
She reached for my hand, and nearly pulverized it.

Heat raced up my arm. I noticed her beauty, suddenly, as if
she had
made
me notice. Her face was perfect in its symmetry, her lips
sensual. Her eyes promised adventure in all ways a man would desire. She had
immense power. It coursed through my veins—the knowledge of her ability to
decimate.

She released my hand. “
Dearest
, Devon,” she came closer,
and kissed my cheek. “I am Inka. Your sire.”

Red flooded my vision.

Jesus.
Just the bitch I’ve been looking for
.

What the hell was she doing to Zadie?

My
Zadie.

I had all but forgotten Ruby.

And then, I saw her.

Zadie
.

She lit up the doorway. Her smile claimed my heart, like
before, when I’d found her in Venice, and wondered why we had ever parted. Tears
glistened in her eyes. “Devon?” her voice was small, disbelieving.

I pulled her against me. She felt so right. “Zadie …”

Inka retreated.

I crushed Zadie’s mouth with mine. Our tongues collided. She
pushed me against the wall.  

God, oh God
.

I was so caught up in how we used to be, it came as a shock
to realize she was a demon.

No.

Not my Zadie.

I bit her lip, in surprise. Blood gushed. I tasted it. She
reeled back and covered her mouth. When she took her hand away, the blood was
gone, as if it had never been.

Our eyes locked. Hers were hurt. “Why’d you do that?” she
said.

I touched my own lip, where there was a single drop of
blood. “Oh, Zadie,” I shook my head.

She made a sound in the back of her throat.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know … what you’d become. How—how did
it happen?”

Her scream pierced my eardrums.

She flew at me and pummeled my chest with her fists. I
remembered Sarah doing the same, and I knew Zadie (or Inka) had killed Sarah.

I thought of Ruby, at last. Too late, I was afraid.

I pinned Zadie’s arms, surprised by my own strength. I wasn’t
sure which of us would be stronger.

I stared into Zadie’s face, confused. She was a stranger. “
Where
is Ruby?”

Zadie’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Ruby? Ruby
who
?
Fuck
you, Devon.” She spit in my face.

Inka poked her head out the door. “Now, now, children.
What’s this? A lover’s quarrel?”

I shoved Zadie away from me, and wiped off her saliva.

“Come inside,” Inka said. “Both of you.”

My gut coiled.

The apartment was trashed. Empty champagne bottles covered a
granite counter, record jackets lay strewn across the floor. A vinyl record had
been smashed to pieces. Clothes littered the furniture; lacy negligees, black
dresses, sweaters, all too small to fit Zadie or Inka.

My mind veered over the possibilities. Did Ruby have a
meltdown? Maybe she wasn’t even here. I prayed she was in a hospital somewhere.
At least she would be safe in the psych ward.

Unfortunately, I suspected otherwise.

My eyes sought a hallway, leading to a shut door. I strained
to detect Ruby’s heartbeat. Inka broke my concentration. “Ruby is alive, Devon,”
she said, quietly. “We have saved her for you.”

My fingers curled into fists. “I need to see her.” Christ, I
sounded like a hostage negotiator.

There was a rush of movement behind me. In the next second,
pain cracked my skull. Glass shattered. “Ow …
what
? ” I whirled around.

Zadie held the jagged neck of what was once a bottle of
Cristal.

“That is
quite
enough, Zadie,” Inka said. “Go sit
down. I mean it. Get your shit together.” But a smile curved at her lips, as if
Zadie was rather amusing, like an impish toddler.

“He’s in love with a
human
,” Zadie said. “He’s only
here because of her … not because of
me
.”

Inka raised an eyebrow. I knew what I had to do, and it made
my skin crawl.

“
She will hurt you
,” my mother’s words came back to
haunt me. I figured they would for the rest of my life. Which could end brutally
… tonight. If I didn’t wise up.

“Zadie,” I touched her cheek that was as soft as I
remembered. A terrible sorrow engulfed me. She was pitiful. She’s not Zadie
anymore, I reminded myself. “Don’t be mad. I’ve been looking for you. For so
long.”

She took my hand and kissed my palm.

“There,” Inka said. “See?”

I mustered the gumption to play along, though it sickened
me. I had to, for Ruby’s sake. Images of what they had done to her reared up in
my imagination. I squashed them.

“Have you fed, Devon?” Inka said, like a party hostess.

I was full of the moon’s rays, but I said, “No. Not yet.”
Let them think I was weak, if they could be so easily fooled. No need to show my
cards.

When Inka looked past me, at Zadie, my gaze scanned the
kitchen, and landed on an empty wine rack. If worse came to
worst
, I could
break the rack and salvage a broken shard. To use as a stake.  

“Shall we show him Ruby?” Inka said to Zadie.

A shadow crossed Zadie’s face. She glanced at me. I made my
expression blank. I even put my hands in the pockets of my jeans, acting
nonchalant.

“Perhaps he can help us,” Inka coaxed. “Take him to Ruby,
Zadie.”

I followed Zadie down the hall, aware of Inka close behind.
My heart hammered.  

Zadie pushed open the door, and I gasped, in spite of
myself.

Ruby was huddled on the floor, clutching at a silver chain
around her neck. I wondered what she held in her fist. A cross? She wore a
black gown. Her feet were bare, her hair ratted. She shivered so hard, her
teeth chattered. Mascara made black rings around her eyes. She looked up;
unseeing. She was in shock.

How long had she been there?

“She’s a bad girl,” Inka said. “She tried to get out on the
fire escape.”

Zadie snickered. “Don’t feel sorry for her,” she said.
“She’s a pain in the ass. Holding us hostage.”

“Holding
you
hostage?” I said.

“Yeah, we can’t fucking leave. Or she’ll get out.”

“Why—why don’t you kill her?” I said. It was an obvious
question.

“Someone gave her an angelite crystal,” Inka said. “She’s
using it against us. We can’t touch her.”

“We
could
have killed her,” Zadie said, her tone
bitter. “Nights ago. The first time we saw her.”

Nights ago
.

“You can get the amulet away from Ruby,” Inka said. “Can’t
you, Devon?”

Ruby’s eyes were squeezed shut. Her lips moved, as she
whispered to herself. I have done this to her, I thought. There was no reason
for Zadie and Inka to hone in on Ruby. Except to get to me.

I crossed the room. Ruby’s frenzied pulse raced in my veins.
“Hey, Ruby,” I said. Her eyes snapped open. She withdrew, scuttling backwards,
never letting go of her necklace.

“She doesn’t remember me,” I turned to Inka. “She’s warding
me off too.”

It was true, Ruby had no idea who I was. She barely knew who
she was. But I wasn’t evil. I meant her no harm. I could have easily reached
down and yanked the chain from her neck.

Inka crossed her arms. “
Really
?” she said. “I’m
surprised.”

I shrugged.

“Well then. We’ll have to think up a new plan.” Her eyes
bore into mine. She was angry.

“
I
have a plan,” Zadie said. “Let’s just turn up the
furnace and leave Ruby here to die.”

“Right,” I said. “Easy peasy.”

Inka glared at me. I’d quickly shot to the top of her shit
list.

Zadie took my hand. “You want to, Devon?”

“It would be the kindest thing to do,” I said.

Zadie squeezed my fingers. “We’ll put Ruby out of her
misery.”

Inka hadn’t decided if I was on the up and up, but she
turned and headed down the hall, which was what I wanted.

I closed the door to Ruby’s room. I hoped to God it wasn’t
the last time I’d see her.

Inka waited. I sensed she was agitated, turning over an
internal conflict in her mind (me). Yet, by all outward appearances she was
calm.

It was clear she had Zadie under her power. But I was an
unknown entity.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Zadie said. “Can we get the
hell out of here or what?”

“I think we need to have a visit with Devon,” Inka said. “Aren’t
you eager to hear where he has been, Zadie?”

Zadie smiled at me. I realized I
didn’t
want to learn
what had happened to her. Looking into her golden eyes, I felt it was a sad
story … about someone I hardly knew. 

“Of course I want to hear
all
about Devon’s
adventures,” Zadie said, and something flickered in her eyes, something of the
old Zadie. “Just not here. Maybe later, in bed. Over a cigarette,” she winked.

Inka wasn’t impressed. “Where have you
been
, Devon? I
would not like to be the last to know.”

“The realm.”

Zadie sucked in her breath. “You got captured?”

“I went there on purpose. To find
you
, Zadie.” I
turned my gaze on Inka. “And to find out what the fuck happened to me.”

Inka’s lips parted.  

I thought of the years I’d walked the earth alone, lost. Why
didn’t Inka come to me then? I would have been putty in her hands.   

As it stood now, she was not only at the top of
my
shit list, but my first priority. I had no choice but to take her out. It had
just occurred to me that the virtual demons I’d slain in training were much
faster than a live one.

I leaped over the counter and landed a karate kick to Inka’s
face. It was a good square blow, and I felt her bones crack. She was stunned,
giving me time to yank the wine rack from the wall and break off a piece. The
end was jagged and sharp.

Zadie keened; a monstrous sound.

I spun around, as Inka staggered toward me. Blood spurted
from her nose and mouth. The whites of her eyes were red. Her hands, with their
long red talons, reached for me.

In one swift move, I stabbed her in the throat, like I’d
done a thousand times in the realm.

Her ashes dusted my hands and my eyelashes, my hair.  

Zadie whimpered. I glanced at her. She was backing away, her
eyes huge, her face white. I watched her slide down the wall to the floor. She
crouched, covering her head with her arms.