Personal Demons 2 - Original Sin (17 page)

There's no stopping it. I shove the table into him and grab his shirt as pizza and soda fly, throwing him out of his seat and onto the ground. “You'll stay away from her.”

The surprise clears from his face, and an amused grin replaces it. He picks himself up off the floor.

“And from the looks of it, an added bonus might be reversing
your
tag. All three of you in one fell swoop. That might be an Acquisitions record.”

I shake my head. “Not even close.”

Taylor and Frannie round the corner from the bathrooms and make their way over to us. When they reach the table, Frannie glances to the mess on the floor. Her eyes find mine. “What's going on?”

“Just a minor disagreement. Marc was just leaving,” I answer, glaring at Marchosias.

Delanie steps up behind Frannie. “You need help, Fee?” Her eyes slide between Marchosias and me, then to Frannie.

“No, we're okay,” Frannie says, stooping to pick up the empty pitcher on the floor. “Sorry about the mess.”

Delanie throws a towel on top of the puddle on the carpet and scoops the strewn pizza onto the dented aluminum tray, then looks hard at Frannie. “You're sure.” She shoots a glance at Marchosias.

“Yeah. Thanks, Delanie.” Frannie hands her the pitcher.

They stand and Delanie hurries back toward the counter, throwing one last concerned glance over her shoulder.

I throw a bill on the table then grasp Frannie's hand and squeeze. “We're leaving.”

“C'mon, Taylor,” Frannie says, turning back to her friend, and I see her face fall when she finds Taylor staring into Marchosias's eyes. He draws a finger slowly across her forehead and Taylor sinks into him.

Frannie looks desperately between me and Taylor. “Tay,” she says, reaching for her friend's elbow. “You said you'd come with me and Luc.”

Taylor pulls her eyes away from Marchosias's and her signature lascivious grin is back. “Change of plans.”

Marchosias raises an eyebrow at me, with a slow smile.

Frannie's eyes flick to me, pleading, then back to Taylor. “Tay, come back to Luc's with us…please?”

Taylor smirks at her. “And do what, Fee? Watch each other make out? I don't think so.”

“I brought some entertainment,” Marchosias says, pulling a rolled Baggie from his pocket. An assortment of pills rests in the bottom of it.

Taylor's eyes dart to Ricco, gawking at us from behind the counter, and to the smattering of customers. She grins as she elbows him. “Put that away,” she mutters.

Frannie grabs Taylor's hand. “Please, Tay. Come with us.”

Taylor looks at her, an irritated scowl pulling at her features. “Um…no.” She slides out of Frannie's grasp and tucks into Marchosias's side. He drapes his arm over her shoulders and they turn and saunter out the door.

My gaze falls to Frannie, and if looks could kill…

Matt

I hover next to Frannie as she storms out the door after Taylor, and I'm furious at Luc for getting Frannie into this. He should never have let her in such close proximity to a demon.

She starts down the sidewalk after Taylor and Marchosias, and spins on Luc when he grabs her arm from behind. “Why did you let them leave?” she yells. She starts up the sidewalk after Taylor's retreating back. “Taylor!” she shouts, with no response.

Luc catches her by the arm and she tears herself away from him. She crouches down on the sidewalk with her hands over her head, and a wounded gut-wrenching growl rolls up from somewhere deep inside her. When she looks up, her damp face glistens in the neon lights flashing from the windows of the Cove.

“My Sway is so useless.”

Something stirs in the shadows between the arcade and Ricco's, and I have only a second to react, wrapping Frannie in a field before a mountainous demon is standing on the sidewalk.

“Rhen,” Luc groans. His eyes shift to Marchosias's retreating form. “Great. An unholy family reunion.”

Before either of us can stop her, Frannie's on her feet, charging Rhenorian. She shoves him, but he hardly moves. “Will you all just leave us alone?”

Luc grabs her wrist and pulls her away as I step in front of her.

But the rumble of Rhenorian's laughter catches us all by surprise. His eyes slide from Frannie to Luc. “I like her. She's a little spitfire.”

Frannie twists out of Luc's grasp and steps up into Rhenorian's face again. “You can't take either of us.”

“Yet,” he responds with a sharp glint in his eye. “But I'm working on a plan.” His glare shifts to where I'm standing, invisible. “A good one.” Then he's gone.

“What was that?” Luc's voice is sharp, angry, and I turn to see him grasping Frannie's shoulders, looking her over. “He could have killed you.”

Frannie looks totally defeated. “He's not gonna kill me. I'm tagged for Heaven.”

He releases her. “I wouldn't be so sure.”

“Whatever. We need to help Taylor.”

He hooks his thumbs in his front pockets and starts after her as she heads up the sidewalk toward his car. “Frannie, I'm not trading your safety for Taylor's. I'll do what I can for her, but you're the priority.”

For once, I agree with the demon, but that doesn't mean I'm going to let him off the hook. They slide into the Shelby and I phase into the backseat. “Yeah, good strategy—protect Frannie by going out for pizza with a demon.”

Luc's jaw clenches and he shoots me a glare in the rearview mirror. “If I could trust you to do your job rather than dreaming up creative ways to lose your wings…,” he growls.

Frannie splits a glare between us, her eyes a storm of fury. “You know what? Both of you can go to hell! I can take care of myself.”

I slouch back into the seat. “Frannie, I know you can kick some serious demon ass, but you need to be reasonable. You should never have gone anywhere near Marchosias—or Rhenorian. What were you thinking?”

Her eyes cloud and a shadow passes over her face. “I have to help Taylor.” She lowers her gaze and chews her bottom lip. “It's my fault. He's using her to get to me.” She shoots a glare back at Luc. “I used my Sway on her. She was gonna come with us. Then he did that thing with her forehead and she changed her mind. What was that?”

“He used a mind sweep on her. It's one of the more powerful techniques we have for getting into someone's head. But remember, Frannie. Even with a mind sweep, he couldn't make her do anything she didn't want to.”

She groans and drops her face into her hands, and everyone is quiet for the rest of the ride, absorbed in our own thoughts. Frannie's are on Taylor, I'm sure, and Luc's are probably on Frannie. Mine are still at the apartment. Every second is torture, because I can't get Lili's tearstained face out of my head. Someone is stalking her. And if he was at the party, he's probably a demon. I have to figure out how to protect her.

What would a demon want with Lili?

Her soul is tagged for Hell. I've known that since the minute I first saw her. Probably something happened that was out of her control. But being tagged for Hell doesn't usually warrant demons stalking you. Most mortals tagged for Hell live their whole lives without ever knowing it.

My throat chokes off as I think about the only logical reason for a demon to be stalking a tagged soul.

They want her now. This guy's been sent to collect her.

He can't have her.

I won't let him take her. She doesn't belong in Hell.

How am I going to protect both Frannie
and
Lili? Even I can't be in two places at once.

Luc pulls into the driveway and parks the car. “Do you want me to come up?” he asks.

“No,” Frannie answers, but she doesn't reach for the door handle. She looks at him, and a tear courses down her cheek. He pulls her to his shoulder, and as he tips her face up and kisses her, suddenly I don't want to be here anymore. I phase onto the front porch and wait for them to finish their goodbyes.

When Frannie finally steps out of the car and walks past me to the door, her eyes are red rimmed. She pushes her way into the house as Luc backs out of the driveway.

I hover, invisible on the front porch, fighting with myself. I need to stay—but I need to go. I float off the porch and look up at the house as the light in Frannie's room flicks on. She's safe behind Dad's field. No one should be able to get to her.

I ignore the wave of guilt that washes over me as I phase into the hallway in front of Lili's door and knock. I hear someone moving behind the door, but it doesn't open.

“Lili? It's me, Matt,” I say through the door.

After a pause that feels like eternity, the deadbolts start to slide and then the door cracks open. Lili stares out at me but doesn't say anything. The door swings wider, and without a word, she takes my hand and pulls me through. When it's closed and the deadbolts are back in place, she tows me to the couch. I sit and she curls into my side. I nestle my face into her hair and hold her until she falls asleep.

Frannie

“I'm not gonna sit around and let some demon do God knows what to Taylor.” I bang my forehead on Luc's table.

“She's got choices, Frannie,” Luc says.

“But he's after her because of me!”

I've been fighting this crushing guilt since Taylor left Ricco's on Sunday night. I can't sleep and I have the constant sense I'm gonna throw up. But I also haven't been able to eat all week, so there's nothing
to
throw up. I've got to help her, but she won't even talk to me. She doesn't answer my calls and she's never home when I knock on her door.

And this stupid Sway thing…I've tried everything I could think of: telling her to stay away from Marc; telling her she doesn't want him; telling her to call me.

It's been almost a week, and the phone hasn't rung once.

Maybe I have Sway, but I don't have any control over it—which makes it pretty much useless.

Luc slides into the chair across the table from me and leans forward, grasping my hand between his. “Why would Taylor and Lili be reading up on demons?”

“What?”

“They were at the library Sunday. They had books on demon lore and black magic and they were copying down conjuring symbols.”

My stomach clamps harder. “I don't know.” I breathe a frustrated sigh. “So what's Marc trying to do? How does he think he can get to me through her?”

“I'd guess his plan involves trying to get close to you—reverse your tag, but I'd say Taylor's strategy of avoiding you is shooting his well-laid plans straight to Hell.” What he doesn't say, but I hear anyway is,
and putting her in danger.

“Could she know? Is that why they were looking up demon stuff?”

Concern creases Luc's brow. “I hope not.”

“Why?”

“You know why, Frannie. If she knows what he is, and she's…
with
him—”

“Oh God! Is he trying to tag her?” All the blood suddenly leaves my face, and my vision goes gray around the edges.

Luc stares past me with troubled eyes and shakes his head. “It's possible.”

“Maybe we should do what you said. If we just leave, hide somewhere, would he leave her alone?”

His eyes slide to mine, then away. “Maybe.”

I jump when my cell phone rings, and when I check it, Taylor's face smirks at me from the screen. I snap it open. “Tay!”

“Marc thinks I'm not being fair.”

Just hearing her voice, I can hear the relief in mine. “What do you mean?”

“He says I shouldn't be mad at you. So what were you saying about him being such an asshole?” she sneers.

“Sorry.”

“Yeah, whatever. Anyway, he invited you guys to a party at his place. Tonight. Ten.”

I look at the clock. It's 9:15. “Great. Where?”

I write down the address as she says it.

“So, see you there,” Taylor says, and the line goes dead.

I'm wound way too tight, 'cause when Matt appears next to me, I jump again. “Door? Knock? Sound familiar?”

He points to the paper on the table, his eyes wide. “That's where the party was. That place was full of demons. It's a trap, Frannie. You can't go there.”

I glare at him. “The hell I'm not going!”

Luc

Matt's right. Frannie can't go, but I can. “Matt and I will go,” I say. “We'll have better luck getting in and out of there in one piece.”

“You know, I'm getting seriously sick of all this macho ‘I have to protect you' crap. You just got done telling Grandpa you're as human as me, and you know I could take you down in my sleep. Why are you so sure you'll be safe? Maybe
I
should go to protect
you.
”

She has a point, but…“I'm not their target. And you most definitely are.”

“Fine. So I'm their target. What are they gonna do? I'm tagged for Heaven and I don't think that's likely to change in the five minutes it'll take us to go in and bring Taylor out.”

I regard Frannie with a wary eye and think about the library—Taylor and Lili with their heads together, thick as thieves. “Maybe we should bring Lili. Between the two of you, maybe you could persuade Taylor to leave without Marc.”

“No!” Matt shouts, and we both turn to look at him. His eyes drop to the floor and watch his shuffling feet. “Some demon is stalking her. She's pretty upset. It wouldn't be safe for her to go back there.”

“Go back where?” Lili is standing in the door. She takes in our surprised faces. “Sorry, the door was open….”

Except I'm sure it wasn't. I closed it myself. I look her over with a wary eye. She's dressed in her baggy sweats again.

Matt's face softens. He walks over, takes her hand in his, and stares into her eyes for a long minute before turning to glare at me. “Nowhere. It's nothing.”

If I needed any more proof that Matt is distracted, he just gave it to me. There's no mistaking the look in his eye. Lili is his priority. He's lost his focus.

Frannie clears her throat. “Taylor's in trouble. We're going to a party she's at. It's at this guy's house….” Her face changes, the concerned creases between her brow giving way to wrinkles across her forehead as her eyebrows shoot up. “Where you guys went to that party the other night,” she says, her gaze shifting between Lili and Matt.

The guilt in Matt's face is unmistakable. It's worse than I thought.

I fix him in a glare. “Well, this is just perfect.”

The concern is clear on Lili's face as well. “Taylor went back there? We have to go get her.” She wheels and heads out the door.

Frannie, Matt, and I follow her down the hall. I have to know more about what we're getting into. “What do you know about those guys? The ones who threw the party?” I ask.

“Not much,” she says, trotting down the stairs. “Taylor said this guy she liked told her about the party. Said there was gonna be a band. I invited Matt and we went, but it was a little creepy and then Matt had to go, so I grabbed Taylor and we left.”

I glower at Matt again as we reach Lili's truck. He climbs in and makes a big production of fastening his seat belt so he doesn't have to look at me.

“Follow me,” Lili says, and starts the ignition.

I glance at Frannie as we follow Lili out of the parking lot. “Do you believe me now?”

She looks at me. “About?”

“Matt and Lili. There's something going on between them.”

She gets that defensive scrunch to her face. “They're friends. So what?”

I shake my head. “It's more than that.”

Her gaze shifts out the windshield, to the beat-up hunter orange truck ahead of us. “You think?” She doesn't seem as upset about it as she should be. She looks almost hopeful.

We pull up to the curb in a pretty tough section of the city and get out. Lili and Matt meet us at our car. Seconds later, I see Rhenorian pull into a spot on the corner. I hope he's not going to pick tonight to come after us again.

“Ready?” Lili says.

I glance over the hood at Frannie, imploring her with my eyes to wait in the car with Matt.

“Not gonna happen,” she says, and takes off up the street toward the blaring music.

We walk into the dark room, and even with the pounding rhythm of the music, a perceptible hush falls over the space. About half the heads swing to watch our entrance.

I don't recognize most of the demons in the room, but their eyes give them away. A few, I do recognize.

Andrus is here. Interesting. He's about as old as they come and head of Public Relations. I'm not surprised he's on the mortal coil. His crew lives on the coil to buffer all the Fire and Brimstone crap that the churches spew. It wouldn't do to have mortals
too
afraid of us.

The undulating bodies part as he starts toward us, and he makes a point of letting his true form shimmer through his human shell, just at the edge of perception.

“Lucifer. What a pleasant surprise.” An amused smile pulls at his lips as his eyes slide past me. “And you brought entertainment.”

Matt inches closer to Lili.

“Marchosias sent a personal invitation. How could we refuse?” I say.

Others start to crowd around us, forming a claustrophobic circle, and Frannie instinctively brings her hands up, ready to fight. I touch her arm. “It's okay.”

“And this is your friend.” His hand starts to reach out toward Frannie's face.

“Where's Marchosias?” I say, stepping in front of her.

His smile pulls into a depraved grin as his hand drops to his side. “Occupied at the moment. Sorry, you're stuck with me.”

A snicker rumbles through the gathered crowd. I grab Frannie's hand and push past Andrus and his minions. We scan the room for Taylor and Marchosias. The band is playing, but he's not on the stage. Matt taps my shoulder and points across the room to the kitchen door. We weave our way around undulating bodies and step through.

Frannie gasps and freezes beside me.

The single working fluorescent flickers, strobelike, in the overhead fixture, but even in the wavering light, the scene is clear as day. All the counters and cabinets have been unceremoniously removed, leaving ruined linoleum floors, gaping holes in the walls, and exposed pipes. The only furniture is a nicked and worn wooden table in the middle of the room. The table is strewn with lighters, syringes, empty beer bottles, and a nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniel's, uncapped and on its side.

Also perched on the edge of the table is Taylor, leaning back on splayed hands, head rolled back and eyes closed, her skirt around her waist.

And her legs wrapped around Marchosias.

In a flash, Lili is there, pushing Marchosias off Taylor.

“What the fuck?” he shouts, zipping his jeans.

Taylor looks really out of it—face slack, eyelids drooping over eyes that are forever away. She looks around without really seeing anything and tugs down her skirt. Matt's next to her when Lili wraps her arm around Taylor and helps her off the table.

“Oh, God!” Frannie says, and runs across the room to Taylor before I can stop her.

Taylor doesn't even acknowledge her as Frannie loops an arm around her back and guides her toward me.

When Marchosias looks up and sees me in the doorway, a grin spreads across his face. “Leave it to you to kill the party. You used to be so much fun, Lucifer. What the hell happened to you?”

I'm completely repulsed by the thought of what I used to be. Rage at Marchosias—at myself—swirls my insides into a churning pool of hot acid. In four long strides, I'm on him. I grab him by the shirt and slam his back up against the wall. “You
will
leave Taylor alone.”

His eyebrow shoots up. “You can't keep all the mortals for yourself, Lucifer.”

I glance back at Lili, hoping she's too involved with Taylor to have picked up what Marchosias just said. She and Frannie are helping Taylor out into the dark of the party. I push Marchosias hard into the wall. “Don't touch her again.”

“You're too late. I showed her.” His human shell shimmers as the demon he is flashes through—burning red eyes set in smooth crimson skin, angular features, a satyr's body, complete with hooves, and the requisite short black horns. “I showed her and she still begged for it.”

I throw him into the wall one last time, shaking with frustration that there's nothing I can do to really hurt him, then let go of him and back out of the kitchen, catching Frannie and the others on their way out the door. Frannie and Lili are on either side of Taylor, mostly dragging her, and Matt brings up the rear with an eye on several demons who have gathered to watch our exit.

“Is she okay?” I ask, knowing the truth. She's not okay. She's tagged for Hell.

Frannie's trying to hide the tears streaming down her face. She can't answer.

“They were doing devil's breath. She's pretty messed up,” Lili says.

When I look up, I see why we've drawn attention.

Andrus.

He's leaning against the doorframe, blocking our exit.

“You're not
leaving
?” he says, his eyebrows raised in mock astonishment.

We keep moving toward him, but when we reach the door, he pushes away from the frame, standing square in the middle of it. I look over his shoulder, and Chax is backing him up, outside on the sidewalk.

“Lucifer, you and your…bright friend,” his mouth twitches as his eyes flick to Matt, “are free to leave anytime you want.

But the ladies—” A feral grin stretches his face into something hideous. “—will be staying.” And as he says it, his eyes lock on Frannie.

“Think again,” Matt says, stepping in front of Lili. The air charges with static electricity. I can almost see it dance across the surface of Matt's skin.

Andrus's face pulls into a deep frown, and he glares at Matt. “Such a public display? Really? You're sure you want to go there?”