Sexy As Hell (2 page)

When
Michael'd
first appeared at his side and offered him everlasting life, Seth didn't believe he was who he claimed to be. Even a millennium and a half ago, ideas of angelic messengers were
more grand
than they were in actuality. It wasn't until after he signed the contract and was instantaneously transported from his execution near the Dead Sea to a field in Southern France that he understood. It was powerfully real, if not showy.

"Michael," he muttered in greeting, pulling his sheets higher up his bare waist. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. I thought we'd talked about me taking a break after that last job. You
know,
a vacation? I’ve been in bed less than three hours. That doesn’t quite count."

Michael shrugged. Human weaknesses and frailties, such as the burning desire to go to Atlantic City for the weekend, were of no concern to him. He was relentless in his work and expected those in his employ, of sorts, to be the same.

"If I weren't immortal, you'd have worked me to death, Michael."

"And if it weren't for me, you'd have been dead in 523
anno Domini
and never would've known what Atlantic City even was."

He hadn't said that part out loud. "Get out of my head, man. I signed over my soul, not my brain."

Michael sat up straight in the chair and struck a seemingly sympathetic pose, albeit artificial. Angels didn’t have a very wide range of emotions. "I understand you feel the need to, uh, sow your oats."

"It's not just that. I'm tired. Fifteen hundred years of battling demons has caught up with me. I don’t even think a month in Vegas could help that."

"So, what?
Do you desire to be released from your contract?"

Seth frowned at the angel that had been issuing orders to him for as long as he could remember. "Released? Is that even an option? I'll admit I didn't read the contract very closely in the heat of the moment."

"It is a possibility, although I would hate to lose you, Seth. You're the best we've got. If the hellions got word that we'd lost our oldest and strongest warrior, we'd be
up to our elbows in trouble."

He could get out of it.
Out of it!
And no one had ever mentioned this fact before.

"I thought you understood the terms and simply enjoyed the work," Michael said calmly, despite plucking the angry words from Seth's head. "If both parties agree to the dissolution, and a period of no less than a thousand years has been served, the contract may be declared fulfilled and terminated."

"And what then?"

"You revert to the age and condition you were in at the time of contract and live out the remainder of your mortal life."

"
And when I die...?
"

"
I cannot guarantee you a space in Heaven. That is dependent on how you live out the remainder of your life. That said, given your line of work, Hell would not be a real option either. You've earned too many enemies down there.
At the worst, Purgatory.
At best, Heaven.
It’s your choice.
"

Just like that, he would be human again.
A human without a job or family, but
human
.
There had to be a catch. There just had to be. "And you're just going to let me out of it.
Right now?"

Michael watched him with silver-gray eyes that shone a bit too brightly in the dim room.
"No, not right now.
After this assignment."

Seth tried not to let the disappointment show, but he'd just been offered his life and had it taken away within a few heartbeats. "It figures."

Michael stood up from the chair and moved gracefully over to sit at the end of the bed. "I understand your frustration, Seth, but even if I wanted to, I couldn't give this assignment to anyone else."

"Oh, come on, Michael. If you're willing to let me out of my contract, it’s only because you have other people that can deal with this stuff."

"
We’ve got a succubus.
"

As usual, the archangel did not mince words. Seth squeezed his jaw tightly shut to keep in his knee-jerk response. Of all the things it could be, this was a temptation he could do without.
Especially in his current state.
A succubus was a female demon so intoxicating she was capable of luring any man to his death. They were vicious, relentless, and the sexiest thing Hell had to offer.

"
You’re the only one who can handle this,
"
Michael continued. His voice carried the authority of God’s general, and Seth knew better than to argue with him. He spoke with angelic conviction whether he was issuing commands or chitchatting about how things were going in the heavenly realm.
"
This one has come for you.
"

"
Me?
"
His brow knotted together in confusion. He’d never been directly targeted before. Michael’s warriors were deliberately kept anonymous. In the hellish realm, there were only rumors of immortals tasked with policing the earth. Few made the return trip to tell about it. Most of them were simply destroyed and failed to exist on any plane.
"
Wh
y would a succubus come for me?
"

"
Someone has been plotting. I’m not entirely certain who it is or where they got the idea. But they’ve gotten it in their heads that if a succubus wer
e to steal
your
, uh...
"

"
Semen?
"
That’s what they were typically after.

"
Yes ——
that
.
And with it, they would also steal your
lifeforce
, a
nd therefore, your immortality.
"

"
And do what with it?
"

"
What all succubae
do.
Provide it to an incubus to implant into an unwitting female and impregnate her with a
half-human, half-demon
cambion
.
"

"
And how will my immort
al spunk make it any different?
"

Michael scoffed at Seth’s crude words.
"
Aside from killing you in the process, we’re not entirely sure. But we’re afraid it might create a
cambion
that cannot be destroyed, as you cannot be destroyed.
"

"
Apparently, I
can
be destroyed,
"
Seth said bitterly,
"
but the
cambi
on
wouldn’t have that weakness.
"
A
cambion
, although born to a human woman, would have no heartbeat, wouldn’t breathe. It would appear to be dead if it weren’t for the fact that it walked and talked. But a
cambion
could also not breed, and therefore had no
lifeforce
to steal, like he did.

They couldn’t risk having something like that running around New York City.
Especially with Seth dead and unable to deal with the situation.
He was the most experienced in his work, Michael’s first recruit, and even he could have a hard time dealing with the kind of demons that were fairly easy to dispatch. How would someone kill an immortal demon?

"Even if we are successful in banishing this succubus and keeping you alive, it seems as though your cover is blown. You're a permanent target now. Whoever uncovered your identity and sent the succubus here intends to succeed. They will keep coming after you until they destroy you."

"
Which is the only reason why you're letting me out of my contract.
I’m compromised."

"Naturally."

You'd think that working with angels would be, well, heavenly, but there were days when Seth wished they had wings just so he could pluck out their feathers one by one.
Especially when they withheld information.

"
It gets a little more complicated.
"

Seth sighed.
Like that
. Wasn’t this complicated enough?

"
The succubus has taken your neighbor, Camille Sawyer,
as its host.
"

The images of his dream crept into his consciousness at the mention of the luscious blonde. She lived down the hall and drove him to distraction on a daily basis, though he doubted she was aware of it.
She’d kept a polite, neighborly distance from him.
"
Camille? That can’t possibly be right.
"

He’d just seen her the night before. Seth had spoken to her in the vestibule of their apartment building as he was on his way out and she was coming home with an armful of groceries. He immediately stopped in his tracks and offered to help her carry them upstairs. Camille had smiled and unconsciously flipped her hair over her shoulder in a way that sent a whiff of her perfume his way and made him absolutely crazy. He followed her back up the stairs, watching her lush curves sway back and forth in her tight pencil skirt.

If he thought she had the slightest chance of surviving in his world, he’d ask her out in a heartbeat. Camille was gorgeous, smart, funny...but certainly not possessed by a sex demon.

"
The succubus got out at dawn. She took Camille shortly after.
"

Seth wanted to insist there was a mistake, but he knew better. If a succubus had escaped Hell and taken a human host, there was no question Michael would know. It certainly explained the dream. The innocent fantasy was one of the oldest tricks of the succubus. The demon would invade a man’s dreams and cause him to become obsessed with obtaining her. It was like a love spell from a fairy tale, but with a nightmarish ending.

"
She should be in contact soon.
"

Seth had no doubt. The succubus only had twenty-four hours. She wasn’t going to waste any time.
"
I’d better get to it, then.
"

"
Be strong, Seth.
"

Be strong. Yeah. Sure. Before he could turn and say something smart in retort, the man at the end of his bed had vanished as quickly as he’d arrived.

Shit. The beautiful, sensuous star of his fantasies was possessed by a succubus. In twenty-four
hours time
, Seth would either be dead or mortal again. And if things did go wrong, Camille could completely lose herself to the demon inside her. There wasn’t much time to waste.

Standing up, he stretched and worked the kinks out of his muscles. He showered quickly and tugged on his favorite t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He tucked the chain with his silver Saint
Patroclus
of Troyes medal into his shirt and tugged his holster over his shoulders. He hastily surveyed the supplies that were tucked into the custom-made pockets. The previous night’s activities had depleted his provisions. He’d have to make a stop at his supply cabinet before he left.

He made a quick stop in the living room for his boots before unlocking the armoire with his equipment. He refilled his special holy water, blessed by a dead Pope, and grabbed a few syringes of sedatives, a tranquilizer gun, rope, and duct tape. His eyes lingered on the real gun and ammunition that still lay on his shelf. He closed the door and locked it, leaving it inside. No matter what happened, he couldn’t let himself shoot Camille.

As it was, the next twenty hours were going to be rough.

10:02 A.M.

The demon who called herself
Isra
sighed and stretched her new arms over her head. Great Lucifer, it felt good to be out. She padded barefoot across the hardwood floors and cranked up the air-conditioning. The cool breeze blew across her bare skin, causing goose bumps to rise up and her nipples to tighten. There was nothing on Earth quite like modern air-conditioning. Whatever punishment Hell would hand out if she returned from her quest unsuccessful would be worth it if just to experience AC for a few short hours.

That, of course, was only
if
she returned.

She had less than twenty-four hours to capture a man’s soul and extend her time on Earth. She had until sunrise the next morning, to be exact. If she failed, it was back to the fiery depths. She’d be assigned some miserable task to teach her a lesson. But if she were to conjure an incubus and pass along the immortal’s essence, when she did return to Hell, perhaps her success would earn her a more glorious place amongst the demonic masses. A man’s soul was simply a token.
A day pass
to stay on Earth a little longer. But the soul of the oldest immortal warrior was something else entirely.