A Demon Made Me Do It (5 page)

I don’t care.

“
You’re my friend.
My
best
friend.
You’re supposed to support me no matter what—”

An urgent howling in the distance
diverts Bones’ attention from my futile argument. The same one
we’ve been having for over five years. “That sounds important.
Sorry, I gotta go…you gonna be okay?” He looks at me with concern.
He is so sweet when he wants to be. Damn him.

I nod. “I’ll be fine. Boring night,
collecting taxes. Not gonna start any demon wars, I promise.” I
give him a shaky smile and a quick a peck on his cheek before
stepping away.

His body convulses violently for a few
seconds until he falls forward on his two large paws. He gently
nudges my leg with his long nose, and then takes off
running.

I cross the river of fire to join my
family.

******

The entrance to Demon Bar looks like
an ordinary boulder to anyone who doesn’t know better. Located deep
inside the inner forests of Dryndara, directly above the nexus of
the Source of Energy, it’s the one place where all demions and
demons in the territory come to replenish.

The rock protects those who enter it,
and as I press down on the hidden lever I take several deep breaths
to calm myself down. Violent demons looking for a fight aren’t
allowed inside the enclave, and even though my anger isn’t directed
at anyone there, the guard won’t care. Only passive demons are
allowed in. And I need to drink, badly.

A small door opens, and I pass on
through. I descend a flight of steps to another door, this one
guarded by a young demion named Ivy.

Ivy looks sweet enough; her petite
build and pale blonde hair give the impression of a helpless
ingénue turned cheerleader. But she has the power to stun her
victims into submission with one painful glare of her baby-blues.
And if she’s in a less-than-generous mood, she’ll leave them in a
permanent vegetative state.

“
Hey, Lucky. Damn girl, you
look hot,” Ivy says with an approving grin. “I’m surprised Bones
even let you past him.”

“
Hey, sweetie…thanks.” I
lean against the doorway and casually glance inside the smoky room.
“Bones had to bail on me…”

Ivy flips her golden mane
over one shoulder and leans closer. “Well, if you
are
looking for some fun,
our mystery guy from the other night is inside playing cards with
the Deveni brothers. Go check him out and give me the
scoop.”

I raise an eyebrow. “What about Cody?”
Ivy and Cody have been an item for as long as I can remember. With
the exception of their occasional nuclear battles, they’re perfect
for each other. She shrugs to hide the wry smile spreading across
her lips. “Someone’s being naughty.”

“
No harm in living
vicariously through my single friends, is there? Besides, I’m
curious about him. He shows up from out of nowhere, and no one
really knows anything about him. But he always seems like he’s
looking for something or someone. He tries to act all nonchalant
but I can tell he’s doing it.”

I have to laugh at her suspicious
tone. Despite the fact that the Bar is swarming with demons, it’s
probably one of the safest places in the realm. But I figure she
must get so bored standing out here just watching all of us all
night. Nothing like a good mystery to fuel the fires.

“
Hmm. Better not let Cody
know you’re spying on a sexy stranger, and with him standing just
twenty feet away.”

Ivy shrugs. “Can I help it if these
eyes see everything?” she asks innocently, as they turn a startling
shade of sapphire.

I quickly avert my gaze from her
cherubic face. Sure we’re friends, but with demions you can never
be too careful.

“
Maybe he’s a vamp?” I make
a face. Vampires are the lowest of the low in our culture. Many
centuries ago, some rogue demons had tried to create an army by
reproducing with corpses of Sapies. The result was a living-dead
creature that could only survive off the energy of living beings,
as they couldn’t produce any of their own. They’re weak, stupid,
and contribute nothing other than stinking up the joint for all
eternity.

“
No, he’s definitely a
demion. He’s just playing cards with them, for whatever reason.
There’s no accounting for taste.”

“
Cool, I’ll have to go
check him out,” I say, even though the absolute
last
thing on my mind at the moment
is scamming on some new demion. I don’t want to be rude.

Jefferson Airplane’s
White Rabbit
blares from
the jukebox. “What’s your poison, Lucky lady?” Cody smiles as I
take a seat in front of him. He’s probably the friendliest demion
in here, and one of the few in the room who isn’t openly gawking at
me. He wouldn’t dare. Not with the pair of deadly eyes trained on
him from the other side of the door.

“
Any of my three favorite
men will do.”

Cody nods and pours me a tall glass of
whisky on the rocks. I always start my evenings with Jim Beam, Jack
Daniels or Jose Cuervo. I gulp down the first glass, but sip the
second one. Pure demons can ingest their Energy undiluted, but as a
demion I need mine infused with alcohol. It’s the only way my
modified body can process the magical elixir. Without my daily fix,
my blood thickens and feels uncomfortably cold; my muscles get
stiff and achy and my powers weaken. It’s even worse when I’m
agitated, like now.

“
You okay, Lucky? You
seem…tense.” Cody chooses his words carefully. Years of dealing
with unpredictable demons has taught him well.

“
I’m fine. Just need a
pick-me-up. Been a rough couple of nights.” I swivel my barstool
and survey the scene. The usual crowd mingles around. All of them,
like me, forced to come here and drink from the Source.

I’ve always found it mildly amusing
that even in Demon Bar, the occupants tend to cluster according to
type, rank, and status. A group of pure, highest-level demons are
playing pool in the back corner, swigging their beers. Although
they look human, unlike the demions who age and eventually die,
demons never do either. Immortals, all of them, they look exactly
the same as they always have for many millennia.

A table of demions —doctors, lawyers,
CEO’s of major international corporations, several famous movie
stars and even a former President and Vice President of the United
States—sit on the other side of the room sipping champagne and
keeping to themselves. The creatures—demons and demions blended
with animal DNA—huddle by the fire pit telling each other raucous
tales of mayhem and murder. And as usual, the vamps are gathered in
the back, away from the rest of us.

All of them my tribe. My
family.

Cody says something, but my
attention is fixated on Ivy’s mystery man who is staring at me
intently. She noticed him a few nights ago and has been curious
about him ever since, but I’d been too busy with the Amazèa to give
him much thought. Now that I’m looking at him I think it’s time to
reconsider my indifference. This guy is
hot
, even by demion standards where
beauty and perfection are the norm. I could use a
distraction...

“…
And you’re not even
listening to me, are you,” Cody lightly swats my arm. “Something
interesting over there?” His eyes have a mischievous
gleam.

I return my attention to
him and take another drink. “Nothing
that
interesting. What’s
up?”

“
I was just saying how
there’s something going on around here that has some of us on edge
lately.”

“
What do you mean?” I
glance over my shoulder to give the sexy stranger a small smile,
but his back is already turned.

Cody leans closer and drops his voice.
“I don’t want to be spreading stories, but I want you to be extra
careful out there. I’ve been hearing whispers of some
trouble.”

“
Like what?” He has my full
attention now. If anyone has gotten wind of my hunting the Amazèa
I’m in unspeakable danger. Other than Tatiana, only Bones knows
what I’ve been up to. But I trust him with my life.

“
Some funny stuff…some
things that no one can put their finger on exactly. Unexplained
disappearances of a few demions, some Sapies found murdered in Pine
Canyon. And there were three border battles in the last week alone.
I dunno. It just seems like something’s up…nothing
good.”

I relax slightly and take a few more
sips. Cody is so sweet, but he has a tendency to overreact, usually
out of fear. He’s one of the few demions in existence who, for
whatever reason, never received active physical powers. Bones and I
both agree that this flaw makes him more jittery than the rest of
us.

“
Doesn’t sound like much to
be alarmed at. Demions are unpredictable and often go underground
for one reason or another. Pine Canyon is thirty miles away from
Dove Creek, and Sapies murder each other all the time. And I’m not
surprised at the border skirmishes…I’m only surprised it was as
quiet as it was for so long. Besides, if there was any real danger,
Bones would have said something to me. In fact, he was complaining
about being
bored
.”

Cody reluctantly nods and pours
himself a drink. “S’pose you’re right. I dunno. Things were just
kind of quiet ‘round here for so long, then all of a sudden things
started happening. It just doesn’t sit well with me, is all.” He
takes a few nervous gulps.

Poor Cody. It must be awful
being so helpless. He may as well be a pure Sapie. “I’m sure it’s
nothing. Besides, isn’t it a little weirder that we
weren’t
fighting with the
border tribes? I mean, come on, we’re
demons.
It’s amazing the peace
agreements lasted as long as they have.
”

For centuries, various demon factions
had been at war with one another, each for their own reasons.
Whether it was for control over a territory, personal slights, or
just to fight, the tribes had been battling it out for years. But
after decades of carnage with no end in sight, the Legionare—the
highly skilled militia unit for the Demon Empire—separated the
clans into territories. Now each is forbidden to cross over into
another’s land without express permission. But only in
Thiberoux…the world of Man is still fair game and open to
all.

It has worked surprisingly well, with
few skirmishes in recent memory. Anyone violating the treaty is
dealt with by the Legionare, a punishment no demon wants to
endure.

Still, I’m not bothered by Cody’s
concern. Most demons agree the treaty is an unnatural act and it’s
only a matter of time before it’s broken. Many of us, myself
included, long for war; it’s in our blood. Having the Legionare
come after a few of us is one thing, but when entire clans are
involved it’ll be a whole lot harder for them to single out a few
troublemakers.

I turn to the fresh glass
of whisky Cody has placed beside me. One last drink and I’ll be
ready to get my game on. Out of courtesy for
Her
—well, more like Tatiana’s strict
orders—I have to limit my drinks to three, maybe four if I’m really
fired up. And I always drink early in the evening so it has time to
metabolize by the time
she
awakens. But I wish I could drink all night, like
other demions do. Unfortunately for me, as soon as Liora turns
human again the alcohol in our system will affect her the same way
it would affect any other girl who is five foot seven and weighs
one hundred and ten pounds.

Reason number ten thousand,
eight hundred and thirty three why it’s
so
annoying having to share my body
with a Sapie.

I let out a long suffering
sigh. I couldn’t be any
less
amped about my evening. No Amazèa to hunt, and
Tatiana didn’t even bother to point me in the direction of any
other demons I could slay instead. I
need
to destroy something tonight, if
only to take the edge off. Otherwise, if one of the dumb Sapies I
collect the tolls from even so much as
looks
at me wrong he’ll become
nothing more than a messy stain on a wall. And I try not to kill
humans. Actually, Tatiana has forbidden it…says it would make
stupid Liora go crazy or something.

Reason number ten
thousand, eight hundred and thirty four…

Cody leaves to tend to some other
patrons and I remember my mystery man in the back. I spin my seat
around to get another look and my knees bump into something,
stopping me mid-turn. A few drops of Jack splash in my lap, but I
don’t care.

I don’t care because I’m looking into
the most beautiful eyes I’ve ever seen in my life.

******

I have to hurry. The three moons of
Illyria have nearly become one, signaling first dawn in Sapie
world. I squeeze my legs tightly, urging Diablo on. He grunts and
presses his head down.

After collecting the tributes, I’d
managed to find some fun after all, killing a few rogue
paranoia-demons working the streets of New York City. Afterward,
I’d hit up an underground rave party to dance away some of my
remaining aggressions. It hadn’t worked, but I love dancing and
lost track of time.