Soul Stripper (28 page)

I
swung my car into a front space at the café. Lucien looked around, his face crumpling into a scowl. Which wasn’t too different than his normal face. “Why exactly are we back
here
again?”

“Because
I’m
behind the wheel now and
I
need a caramel mocha latte.”

“You
do
realize your life is at stake here, right?”

“Yup.”

“And that taking a coffee break isn’t exactly the best way to take down a murderer?”

“I’m aware of that.” I put the car in park and unclipped my seat belt.

Lucien sighed. “All right, well, as long as you’re okay with dying over a cup of friggin’ coffee.”

“You clearly haven’t had a cup of
our
coffee. It’s worth dying for.”

We walked in and ordered two lattes. I sat down at a table and kicked a chair out for Lucien. He stood above me, arms crossed. “Just what do you think you’re doing?”

“Relaxing,” I said, taking a sip of the steaming latte. “I need a moment to decompress before we go back to reality.”

“Let’s take these to go. We’ve got work to do.”

I took another long sip and put my feet up, reclining in the chair. “I’m staying,” I said, eyebrows arched.

He smacked my feet off the chair and grumpily sat down. After taking a sip of the coffee, his face softened and his expression raised to meet mine. “Not bad,” he said, surprised. “Not worth dying for—but not bad, either.” He sat there, eyes lowering to half-mast in a lazy way. “What are we doing here, anyway? Your boy isn’t even working tonight.”

I glanced around the café. Drew’s absence hadn’t escaped my notice. “Just drink your damn latte.”

After another minute of quiet, it became glaringly clear that Lucien was incapable of sitting in silence. “Let me see that necklace,” he said.

I slammed my mug onto the table. “Lucien! Can’t we just sit—”

“I just want to see it.”

I slipped it off from around my neck and handed it to him. “Here. Knock yourself out.”

He held it close to his face, squinting an eye shut as if this gave him a better look. Finally he dropped the necklace to the table. It hit, sounding like a marble landing on a wood floor. “I don’t even know what the fuck I’m looking for.”

“Can demons be diagnosed ADHD? Because you should be tested.”

“I’m sorry, kid—I’m just trying to keep you safe.” He slumped into his seat and muttered something indecipherable into his coffee mug.

I clipped the necklace back around my neck and grabbed my purse, digging around inside for my cell phone. I had to text George—see if he could take over Lucien’s job. He was driving me crazy. At the bottom of my purse, I found it along with Damien’s card he had given me back at the first crime scene. I pulled it out, staring at his name, remembering that smoldering gaze. “I have an idea,” I said, quietly at first. When Lucien didn’t respond, I smacked his arm. “I
said
I have an idea!”

“Uh-huh. I’ve heard that before. Does it involve another latte? Because, goddamn, this was good.”

“No, seriously!” I slipped the earrings out of my second holes and handed them to Lucien, a smile spreading across my face.

He looked into his palm where the little earrings sat and then looked up at me as though I had lost my mind. “Earrings?” he asked. Finally, a strained smile cracked his face as well.

“Why are
you
smiling?” I asked.

“Because you’ve lost your mind. And that’s what you do to the clinically insane—smile, so they don’t know you’re judging them.”

I rolled my eyes. “Here.” I handed him the business card. “This is a friend of mine—Damien. He’s an elemental. Give him the earrings—which broke off of the stone the other day—and see what he can get from it. Maybe he can tell us who this ‘Lilith’ actually is.” I leaned back, a sense of haughtiness and pride filling me and I crossed my arms over my chest, waiting for Lucien’s apology. “Well?” I said.

“Fine. Okay. That’s actually . . .”

“Clever? Brilliant? Ingenious?”

“I was going to say good. It was a good idea. But don’t let that admission go to your head.”

I smiled. He knew it was brilliant.

“All right then.” Standing, he pocketed the little earrings and Damien’s business card. “Let’s get going.”

“I can’t go!” I looked at the time on my phone. “I’ve got a date with Wills tonight.”

Lucien rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”

“I can’t cancel on him. We haven’t seen each other in a couple days. He’ll know something’s up.”

He sat back down, his face once again creased and grumpy. “Well, I guess this’ll have to wait. I can’t leave you alone.”

“Where’s George? He can take over.”

“He had to work.”

“Julian. Call Jules.”

“He . . .” Lucien caught my eyes, his expression softening slightly. “Hasn’t been reachable for the past few hours.”

“Kayce?” My voice was sounding small in my head.

He pressed his lips together, as though sensing my insecurities. “She was sent on some job tonight.”

I sat there, an empty feeling at the base of my stomach sending shivers through my body and tingles down my arms. “Everyone gave up on me.” I took a sip of my now-lukewarm mocha to give myself something to focus on outside of the emptiness inside. The coffee did little to nullify my suddenly dry throat.

Lucien’s hand rested on my knee. “That’s not it. Everyone has other obligations as well—even though I’m sure they’d all prefer to be here by your side.”

“Not Jules,” I said quietly. Kayce and George had jobs, I got that. Their lives couldn’t stop and revolve around me. But Jules? Right now, this was supposed to be his only focus. His mission was to keep me safe.

“What about Wills? He could keep me safe. We could finally fill him in on all this.”

Lucien shook his head. “I barely know the guy. I wouldn’t trust him to work in my club, let alone keep you safe.” He drained the last of his coffee with a swig. “Besides, have you seen his aura? The guy’s a sorry excuse for a demon.”

The bells chimed and the familiar sound of high heels and skin brushing together flooded my ears.

Lexi stopped in front of us, her short skirt allowing us a view of her pantyless ass. “Well, well, well . . . am I interrupting your little powwow?”

Lucien turned in his seat, giving her his full attention. He ran a hand down her waist and hip, stopping on her thigh. She gave just the slightest gasp, a breath catching dramatically in her throat. And I gaped at Lucien—I was pretty sure I had never seen him touch her before. He’d
been
groped by her, but never the other way around. “Lexi,” he said, circling his thumbs over her hip bone tenderly. “How are you, kitten?”

Her moment of shock corrected itself quickly, and she crossed her arms over her chest, eyes narrowing. “What do you want, Lucien?”

“Do I have to want something to touch you? Have a seat—Join us.”

She carefully took the seat next to him, her eyes darting back and forth between us. I wasn’t quite sure what he was up to either, but I knew he wouldn’t spend time with her of his own volition if there wasn’t a damn good reason why.

“Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? I can vouch for the lattes here; they are indeed quite good.” His charm was sickeningly effective. Had I not been immune to him, even I would have been a puddle on the floor at his feet.

“I—I was coming in to get a chai latte.”

Lucien leaned forward and took her hand in his, turning it over in his and rubbing her palm. “Monica—please get Lexi a chai latte.”

“But—”

“
Now.
Please.”

I shoved my chair out from behind me and stalked over to the barista bar. I waited there while they steamed the drink, preparing it for her
highness
. Lexi looked slightly uneasy, but the two sat together laughing and touching. Flirting. As though they were on a date. The taste of vomit suddenly rose to my mouth. I had seen a lot of disgusting shit this week, but this might take first prize.

When it was ready, I carried the chai latte back to the table and dropped it carelessly down in front of her. A bit splattered out the top, landing on the table. “Here you go.” I looked at Lucien, full of attitude. “Anything else I can get for you,
sir?
”

He ignored my sarcasm. “No, not right now, thank you.” I sat back down and he kept his gaze intently on Lexi. “So,” he said, “I actually wanted to ask a small favor of you.”

Her gaze turned icy and she wrenched her hand from Lucien’s grasp. “I knew it,” she said coldly.

Lucien ignored her and continued to lean forward, moving his hand to her knee instead. “I have to run an errand—but we need someone to keep an eye on Monica. Keep her safe while I’m out.”

I snapped my head in Lucien’s direction. “No!” I said a bit too loud.

She smirked in her bitchy way. “Well, that was going to be
my
answer.” She pushed Lucien’s hand off her knee. “But this could be
fun
. And please, don’t insult me with these pitiful displays of affection. We can all see right through them.”

He leaned back smiling, crossing his arms over his muscular chest. “Flirting with a beautiful woman is never pitiful.”

She gave him a sarcastic smile. “I’ll believe it when it’s more than just words. So, you need me right this second?”

Lucien nodded. “Preferably, yes.”

“Okay, then. Go on, get out of here. Run your elusive ‘errand. ’ ”

After draining the last of his latte, Lucien kicked the chair out behind him, leaning down to land a tender kiss to my forehead before leaving. Lexi’s eyes bore into mine, and a slow Cheshire grin spread across her face. “Well, well, well, whatever will we do to keep entertained?”

I stood, grabbing the empty mugs, and brought them over to the sink. “I don’t know what you plan on doing tonight, but I have a date.”

She clicked her tongue and tilted her head dramatically to the side. “And you expect me to wait in hiding until Lucien comes back?”

“Basically.” I turned to face her, hands on hips.

“You are a terrible hostess.” She grabbed her purse. “Come along, then.”

We made it back to my apartment in a matter of minutes. As we walked up my steps, she eyed my door curiously. After a moment she chuckled at the script, though faded, still evident on my door. “Whore,” she said. “You didn’t do a very good job washing that away. You’ve seemed to piss quite a few people off, haven’t you?”

I paused, my key lingering just in front of the lock. “Well . . . there is a psychotic murderer out to kill me.”

She clicked her tongue. “This was not written by the murderer, Monica.”

I froze, keys still in hand. “What makes you think it isn’t the killer who left it?”

I felt a chill from behind me and her frosty lips were on my ear, whispering. “Because, I would have remembered writing it.”

S
he clicked her tongue three times. “
Tsk, tsk, tsk
. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a couple of centuries, now. Waiting for just the right time to rid the world and the underworld of
you
. Hell’s own version of a double agent.”

A knife pressed sharply into my lower back. I bit back a moan and my hand trembled. I didn’t want to turn around and meet her eyes, but I knew I couldn’t just stand there in fear. I could open my door; let her into my home—but that seemed like an even worse idea. I could make a run for my car? She has more energy reserves and surely would catch me before I reached the bottom of the stairs.

“Let me guess what you’re thinking.... Fight or flight?” She cackled an evil laugh that sent a shiver through my bones.

I remembered the panic button hanging around my neck. I slid the key into the lock and cracked the door open slightly. If I can just fight her off until Lucien can respond to the panic button, I might get through this alive. With the other hand, I tried as discreetly as I could to reach it toward the necklace.

Her hand shot out quicker, grabbing it and ripping if from my neck. The chain snapped. I felt the rawness of the burn on my neck for a moment—but in the next my magic took over, healing it. I clapped a hand over it, hoping she hadn’t seen the small burst of energy. If she thought I had none, I could still use it to my advantage. The door was cracked open, and she pushed me through it into the darkness of my apartment.

I fell to my hands and knees, and she kicked me hard in the ribs. A cracking sound rang in my ears and Julian’s kiss on my forehead stung. I forced my body not to heal itself. I’d need to preserve whatever life force I had left in me from my stint as a porn star.

She turned on the lights in the house, not taking her eyes off me, and checked the blinds and doors, making sure they were closed to peering eyes. Tears were streaming down my face, and I slowly pulled myself up to a standing position, hunched over in pain. “So this—all these murders . . . it’s just some stupid vendetta over Lucien? A guy I’ve never even slept with?!”

She sauntered back over, the knife still in her hand. “Oh, that was just the icing on the cake.” She smiled, the curve of her mouth like the curve of a sharp blade. “I’m not the only one who wants you dead. This is simply a job.”

My mouth went dry. “You’ve been hired? Someone else wants me dead? But—but
why?
I fill my quotas well enough. I stay in the middle as much as I can. I don’t ever try to attract too much attention.”

“Yes, yes. You’re perfectly average. But your potential is terrifying to some of the higher-ups in Hell. Surely you’ve heard by now how strong your powers are.”

“My—my what? I’ve heard some gossip, but I never gave it much thought.”

She laughed again at this. “Well, maybe you should have.” She glided toward me with a fury I had never seen before in anyone. She was so fast, I stared in wonder. Faster even than any succubus I’d ever seen. She took my face, pinching it with one hand. “Oh, this is going to be fun.” She had me pinned against a wall. I prepared myself for the last bit of fight I had in me. I saw the panic button chain hanging off my entrance side table next to her purse. If I could knock her out in time to get to that, I’d have a fighting chance.

She raised the knife to my throat. I swallowed, not taking my wide eyes off of hers.

“Knock, knock.” Wills’s British voice called through the door while letting himself in. He held a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a box of chocolates in the other. “Monica?” He looked at Lexi, her knife to my throat, taking in the scene. “Lexi?” He dropped the flowers and the candy to the floor and shut the door quickly behind him.

“Wills!” I shouted. “Run! Get some help!”

“Oh, Pocket,” he said, strolling toward us, stopping to check his pocket watch before looking back to Lexi. “A little early, aren’t we? I thought we had planned to do this tomorrow evening.”

She shrugged. “An opportunity presented itself.”

A coldness filled his eyes. They were like two gray stones staring at me. “Very well.” He shrugged out of his suit jacket and hung it up on my coatrack, rolling up the sleeves on his pressed, white dress shirt. “Let’s get this over with, shall we?”