18
I
ended the call, turned off the phone, then put it back into my pocket.
This was going to be a royally screwed-up conversation and I thought it better to have it without distraction. Lilith applied her own method of preparation by clawing at the interior lining of my body, either to escape or make room. Both reasons were painful and I had to regulate my breathing to keep her calm. I had to keep
myself
calm.
“Tobias?” I whispered.
The smile he gave me was sly and devious as he took a seat at the foot of the bed. “Relax. I won't bite you. Yet.”
I studied every line and bend of his face, searching for some trace, some lost remnant of my friend. Everything looked the same: short, spiky black hair slathered in gel, thin lips, a straight nose with wide nostrils, and a square jaw with a thin patch of hair at the chin.
His eyes were brighter, a shiny penny with flecks of gold, but they lacked the playful gleam that came with Dougie's personality. Looking at him reminded me how the body was not the sum of our parts, but just a shell. “Is Dougie in there?” I asked.
“Yes. He's a tough one, too, a fighter. But he's not getting out anytime soon, so don't get too happy. He's my insurance policy. Just in case you go crazy with the olive oil or your mom comes out of nowhere and starts swinging again. What the hell was that anyway?”
“It's called breaking and entering,” I replied. “Is Dougie hurt?”
“No. He's unconscious, but he's trying to surface. Like when people fight to wake up from a bad dream, but this dream can last forever.” He stretched out, taking more than two-thirds of the bed.
I stayed to my little corner, curled up until my knees touched my chin. “What about Gunner? Is he gonna wake up from that dream?”
He chuckled, but his expression softened to something close to remorse. “Olivia has a lot of her sister in her. I was impressed. She'll do well in the world once she embraces everything she is, even the bad.”
At the mention of Olivia, my hackles rose. “You used her as a hostage. You're telling me you wouldn't have killed her once you'd gotten what you wanted?”
His head teetered from side to side as he weighed the issue. “Maybe. We'll never know because she struck first.”
“Where's Gunner?” I asked.
“Where most people disappear around here. The parkway. You're familiar with that place, aren't you, Flower?” His stare bored into me, forcing his point with bitter intensity.
I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something about Tobias that just screamed “jump me”. It didn't matter who he disguised himself as, or what “bodysuit” he wore, he worked with what he had and rocked it better than the original owner. True to his nature, he was an incubus, an instrument of pure lust sent from below to torment women on sight. That was the only reason that could justify the sudden heat on my skin, my shallow breathing, and my aching need to touch him. I shouldn't be looking at Dougie this way. It was borderline incest and all shades of wrong.
Tobias reclined on the bed and rested his weight on his arms. “Here's the thing, I need my body back and I need you to help me.”
I shook my head slowly. “Why me?”
“It's the least you can do after what you've done.” His voice was low and rolled down my arm and neck with a touch of silk, making it hard for me to concentrate.
“What I've done? Do you need me to go down the list of shit that you've done to me and my family?”
“Aww, poor thing. Careful, don't want to upset Douglas with your sad tale. He might become distraught and try to hang himself in his garage tonight. But before he does, he might visit Mia and give her a long kiss good-bye.”
With a deep breath, I uncurled my fist. The joints ached as the fingers extended, revealing indentations where my nails bit the palm. “You bastard.”
“I play to win, Flower. I told you I had a plan. Several. And you try my patience. Now here's what you're going to do. You're going to help me retrieve my body. They've been dousing it with oil, so I'm too weak to move. It's in a storage facility at the end of town. Century Storage, unit 521.”
“Well, go get it yourself.”
“If it were that easy, I would, but I can't,” he replied. “It's a state-of-the-art storage facility. Instead of padlocks, there's a security code on each unit. I could go in past the gate and maybe even get into the facility itself, but the unit is locked. Guess who has the key code.” He smiled nastily.
“Why don't you just âmystify' or whatever you do and creep under the door?”
He had the nerve to look at me like I was stupid. “I tried that. The entryway leading to that unit is covered with oil. I can't cross the threshold. And even if I could, how would I get my body? It's immobile. So I need another personâa humanâto carry it.”
“So why can't you use someone else's body?”
“Because that still leaves me without the combination. I need you to get it for me. That's the very least you could do.”
“This would be a whole lot easier if you hadn't shot the one guy who knows the code to get you out.”
He shrugged, uninterested. “I let the other two live.”
“Yeah, but the one who knows the code to the unit is the one you busted a cap in. Good job, genius. Why is the body so important to you? Why don't you just find a good-looking guy and possess him?” I shot a quick glance up his body. “Oh wait, you already did.”
“I don't know, Flower, how would you like giving up your body?” he replied bitterly. “It's mine. It's how I shape-shift, it's how I compel the elements, it's how I'm able to breathe and touch. It's a part of me, it anchors me to this world and it's still alive. I was born with it and I want it back.”
I shook my head, finding it hard to believe that something this evil had a mother. “Were you ever truly human?”
He hadn't expected that question and his features slackened. His brows knit together and his eyes wandered as he sifted through the junk pile of memories. “Once. Many, many centuries ago. I don't remember much about my old life, one of the costs of taking lives and adapting to cultures.” With another shrug, he dismissed the issue altogether.
“This isn't a deal, but a warning. You will help me get my body back and I will kill the demon mutts who did this to me. Business as usual.”
He got to his feet in a move too graceful to be masculine, or even human. “I'll expect the delivery tonight. If not, I'll have to take matters into my own hands, and those hands will be bloody by the time I'm done. In the meantime, I have a date with a Filipino hottie who hates waiting.”
“Don't you hurt Mia.” I leaned forward, but the object in his hand made me stop. I didn't even see him move, but then I wasn't looking at his hands.
Right under Dougie's jaw was a rugged and very nasty butterfly knife, the kind you'd see a guy doing cool juggling tricks with in a gang movie. I saw where it dug into the skin, not quite drawing blood, but that could change at any second. We really needed metal detectors in this school.
He made a tsk-ing sound and pouted. “Don't do that. Someone might get hurt. Then I'll have to shop around for a new body, and that's a headache.”
“If you hurt him, you hurt yourself,” I warned.
He blinked and gave me a look which seemed to say, “Is she kidding?” “Samara, my body has been sponge bathed in the demon equivalent of battery acid; you think a slit throat will hurt me? You don't know what pain is. But you will if you keep fucking with me.”
I started to tremble uncontrollably, a type of cracked-out tremor born from pure hate. Tears began to break, but I opened my eyes wider for the air to dry them. In that moment, I wondered if Tobias could still hear my tears in Dougie's body as he did with his own. It was one of his many supernatural talents and he could always tell from miles away if I was upset.
He must have at least seen them now, because he reached out and touched my face. I didn't move, and for a moment I wanted to lean into his hand and taste the energy vibrating underneath his skin. I seemed sensitive to it now, drawn to it.
His eyes were so pretty and his lips looked so soft. I absently licked my own to soothe the burning. I vaguely remembered the last time he kissed me. We stood outside in the rain near the back entrance of the cafeteria. He had asked me to run away with him and I would've shot to the moon with him if he asked. Then I remembered him disguised as Malik Davis and that bruising kiss under the bleachers. The simple contact of his lips was enough to break down any barrier Lilith might've built against him. Her mental block was useless against his touch, but where she was weak, I was strong.
“You are so innocent, Flower. It's all over your face. It is your face actually, like a delicate doll's. Yet you have this temper that even us demons fear. Lilith has met her match with you.” His face grew dark as if he was struck by a revelation. He leaned in, barely inches away from my face and inhaled deeply. “I can't call you Flower anymore, can I? Doesn't seem appropriate now.”
“It wasn't appropriate
then
.” I snatched away from him before our lips touched. “I told you I've made my choice.”
“And I told you, it doesn't matter. The result will be the same. He will still die and you will come to me.” His mouth hovered inches from mine and I couldn't move back any farther. I turned my head, but his eyes wouldn't let me look away.
“Bonding with that demon mutt won't change anything. We're still connected; we will always be connected in some way. A part of me is inside you and a part of Lilith is inside me. That doesn't just disappear. And when he dies, we can try again,” he whispered.
Was he serious? This guy just would not take a hint. “Tell me you're not doing this for love, or whatever it is you think you feel. Let's not cover this up with romance and call it what it is.”
“I'm beyond love now. I'm all about survival and vengeance. I need you to survive.” The deadened look in his eyes told me he wasn't kidding. Whatever warm and fuzzies he had for Lilith had gone cold and prickly. That ship had sailed as soon as she chose Capone, which meant I too was on his hit list.
I wasn't worried about myself. There were other people caught in the crossfire who needed cover. “There's no way Dougie is going to survive this, is there?” I asked.
“That, Samara, is entirely up to you.” He backed away from me and disappeared behind the curtain. I wasn't sure if he expected me to follow, so I didn't. It would do no good and I needed to catch my breath anyway. He'd said his piece, the rules of the games had been explained and the clock was ticking.
Â
At the final bell, I searched the halls for Mia. I covered her usual haunts: her locker, the bathroom, and the commons area before hitting the student parking lot. I wouldn't let the traffic of students slow me down and I threw bows at anyone in my way. I tried her on my cell, but all my calls went straight to voice mail. By the time I made it to the parking lot, her car was still there, but Dougie's Range Rover was gone.
Walking to my car, I tried dialing Mia one last time and I was actually surprised that she picked up.
“Hey, can I call you back? I'm a little busy,” she said, her voice thick with laughter.
“Mia, where are you?” I yelled. Obviously she hadn't gotten my text to meet me and stay away from Dougie, though a text wouldn't stop Tobias's influence.
“Chill, Sam. I'm okay. Dougie decided to skip practice today, and we're gonna grab something to eat,” she answered, still laughing.
I could hear Dougie's voice over the engine. “I'm starving and I could eat just about anything,” he said. “You should join us, Sam. How about you meet us at the rec park late tonight, around ten?”
“It's closed for the season,” Mia said, sounding confused.
“I know. More fun for us.” There was shuffling and I could hear his voice more clearly. He must have taken the phone. “Ten o'clock. See you then,” he said before the line went dead.
I stood in the middle of the parking lot staring at my phone as cars honked and rolled past me. The dizziness hit me again and I needed somewhere soft to land, so I stumbled to my car. Plopping inside, I put the key into the ignition, but I couldn't turn on the engine. I rested my head on the steering wheel and allowed the weight of decision and fear to crush me.
I thought of Dougie. For the first time in forever I actually thought of Douglas Emerson III. He was always just there in the background, blending into the scenery. Now the landscape felt naked without him.
We met in day camp when we were nine and he had that spoiled brat quality, like most boys at that age. But he was one of the only kids who didn't poke fun of my hair or call me zebra, or talk shit about my mother. He was a bit of a prep then, short and chubby like me, but in the eighth grade, he rolled up to school all “yo,yo, whazup” and that was the end of it. I figured someone had to be the token black in our group of friends, so why not him?