Toxic

Chapter Seven

We put the daemon in the wine cellar, the thick stone great against possible scrying and mind games. The chains I’d had installed as a just-in-case were sturdy enough to hold the creature. The magical wards the witches set around the place were added as an extra precaution. And for a last security measure, tubes from a pair of IV drips were inserted into its arms. All of the action was being monitored from a control room lined in lead. At my signal, those who manned the drip would either crank up the tranquilizers on the left or the undiluted cyanide on the right. We weren’t sure the cyanide would work, but I was willing to try anything.

I stood across the room, my hand on my dagger in case I needed to go medieval on the daemon’s ass. In other words decapitate it. All the precautions in the world didn’t mean squat if the daemon was more powerful than we expected.

Rafe walked around the still slumbering daemon, measuring and taking notes. I’d had time while we drove back to think-me on my bike and him in the van with the daemon which he found more fascinating than me. I narrowed my eyes as I watched Rafe at work.

Something or someone had helped me when I’d lost the upper hand to the daemons. It still galled me that I’d needed help in the first place. Losing did not sit well with me, and I vowed to go on a feeding binge to increase my strength. But I put thoughts of a more rigorous feeding regime aside to return to the fact that my team weren’t the ones to save me from the daemons. Everything pointed-illogical as it seemed-to Rafe. Human doctor or something else?

I looked at him, really looked at him. He still wore the baggy clothes, but I remembered well the feel of his body against mine, and even with his bulky clothes, I recognized a body shaped by muscle, not fat. The fact he could resist my personal brand of charm, something unheard of among humans. The strength he kept displaying. How he was the only thing around when I came to after the attack. I kept staring at him, noting his glasses, one of the reasons he appeared so harmless. I acted on a theory.

Quicker than the human eye could follow, I swiped his lenses and dropped them onto the floor. My feet, encased in shitkicker boots, ground them into shards and bent metal. “Oops,” I said.

Rafe’s lips tightened and his eyes flashed, not with anger, but with light. Now that definitely wasn’t a reflection off his glasses that time.

“What did you do that for?” he asked.

“You don’t need them,” I stated baldly.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed.

“What? Aren’t you going to deny it?” I taunted.

“No, you’re right. I don’t.”

I couldn’t believe he so readily admitted the ruse. “So, why the disguise?”

“Would you believe people tend to take me more seriously with them?” He gazed at me, and, without the barrier of his lenses, I got the full impact of his eyes. It took my breath away and I found myself unable to look away. Sure, I’d found him handsome before, but now, with his jaw hard and his eyes glinting, he was beyond delicious. He looked dangerous, and not at all the shy and awkward doctor I’d taken him for. How could I have been so blind?

I didn’t fall for his obvious lie. “Whatever you say, Clark Kent,” I quipped. “Care to tell me what else you’re hiding?”

He turned from me, but I wasn’t letting him escape that easily.

“I’m onto you,” I warned as I pressed myself up against his back. I craned on tiptoe to lick his neck. I enjoyed his shudder and felt an answering warmth flood through me.

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, his voice low and thick.

I ran my hands around his waist and up the hard planes of the stomach he hid. His body tensed and I placed a soft kiss on his nape. “Whatever,” I murmured. What started out as a teasing game for me to get him to talk or let something slip rapidly devolved into desire.

My hands brushed up over the fabric of his shirt and rubbed across the hard nubs of his nipples. His breath caught and quicker than a human could move, he’d turned and pinned me against the wall. I had a moment to see his eyes blazing with light before his lips came down hard on mine.

Unlike his previous gentle kiss, this one screamed possession, and strength. I squirmed as he ground his body against mine, liquid heat pooling in my sex. I moaned as his tongue slickly stroked mine. Never before had a man kissed me so passionately. Nor had I ever responded so wildly. I clutched at his broad shoulders through the fabric hiding them and moaned into his mouth.

I almost cried when he moved away.

“The creature wakes,” he announced. He’d slipped his usual placid face back on, but he couldn’t hide the glitter in his eyes or the gruffness of his voice. The insane attraction I had for him reciprocated.

I raised trembling fingers to my lips. Human my ass. What on earth is he? And an even better question, am I toxic to his kind?

I planned on finding out soon. Right now, though, I had an ugly snarling daemon to deal with.

“Hi handsome,” I drawled moving to stand protectively in front of Rafe. Call it instinct in case my doctor-contrary to my belief-ended up being breakable.

The daemon snarled at me, its fangs dripping and its eyes glowing red.

I rolled mine in reply. “Oh, drop the theatrics, big boy. I’m not a gullible human. Who are you and why are you here?”

The daemon snapped its teeth. I bared mine right back. The creature’s wet, throaty chuckle, I’m ashamed to say, made shivers dance up my spine, and not the good kind. “What are you?” he asked in a scratchy voice pleasant like nails on a chalkboard.

I winced. “Ooh, I’d hate to hear you singing Christmas carols. As for what I am, I am a vampire and unlike the humans, I won’t be pushed around. So start talking.”

The beast leered at me. “Are the men in your clan so weak they rely on a female to protect them? Never fear, when my brothers arrive they will teach you a female’s place.”

I dropped my eyes to the daemon’s groin and noticed his shriveled sack and rod. “Gee, I hope all your kind aren’t so poorly endowed. I prefer something I can actually feel.”

The daemon roared and lunged forward only to snap short as the chains held him.

“Should you be antagonizing him?” Rafe asked, coming to stand beside me.

His words drew the baleful glare of the creature. It sniffed and then stretched its mouth into a grin. “A shining one. What a treat. It would appear reports of your extinction were false.”

“What’s he talking about?” I asked turning to Rafe.

“Not now,” he murmured.

I glared at him. I didn’t like secrets I wasn’t privy to. The good doctor and I would need to have a talk later on.

The daemon laughed. “Does the bitch not know what you are? Not that it matters. Your kind never did have the nerve to stop us before.”

I waited for Rafe to defend himself, but he remained silent. I drew the beast’s attention back to me. “I don’t give a shit what he is. I asked you a question. Who are you?”

“Death.”

I kicked the daemon in its tiny balls. It bellowed and thrashed.

I tsked him. “Next time I ask you a question, answer it. While my friend here might be the nonviolent type, I promise you, I am anything but.”

The daemon wheezed. “I shall delight in hearing your screams when I free myself and take you as your cowardly lover looks on.”

“First off, he’s not my lover,” I said stiffly. “And secondly, I asked you a fucking question, now answer it!” I punctuated my demand with a hard shot to the creature’s ribs.

After the creature’s bellowed died down, I asked again nicely. “What’s your name?”

With a glare I found entertaining, the daemon spoke. “I am known as Akrza. And by capturing me, you have signed your death warrant.”

“I’m so scared,” I said theatrically as I pretended to shake. I leaned in closer to the daemon and said in a low voice. “Now Akrza, you’re going to tell me what you’re doing here.”

“Or else what?” the creature said with a smirk. “My ribs have already healed. So do your worst.”

I slid my dagger from its sheath and stroked its sharp edge, the skin of my finger slicing open. “Oh, I know how quickly you heal which is why I’m going to enjoy fucking you with this,” I said with a nasty smile. “And if you still don’t answer, I start cutting pieces off, starting with your puny dick.”

A tug on my arm sent me stumbling after Rafe, who with the gig almost up, was no longer even attempting to hide the fact he wasn’t human. He towed me along with more strength than I liked.

“What are you doing?” he hissed when he finally stopped and faced me.

I met his agitated gaze with my calm one. “Getting answers. If you can’t handle it, then leave. Don’t worry, I don’t intend to kill it. Well, at least not until after you’ve run some tests on it.”

“But threatening him with-.” He couldn’t say it and I smiled coldly.

“Fucking him with a dagger? Listen here, I don’t know what you are, but from the clues Akrza has dropped, I’d say your kind are the nonviolent type. That’s fine. You want to lie down and die for your morals, go ahead. The daemon isn’t going to spill his secrets because we smother him in kindness.” Rafe’s lips tightened but I forged ahead. “So yes, I’m going to threaten and even follow through with something it will understand. Extreme pain. I’m not afraid of getting my hands dirty, not when it means possibly saving millions of lives.”

Rafe’s face creased in puzzlement. “What are you talking about? It’s just one daemon. And a contained one at that.”

I snorted. “If only. I don’t have time to get into it right now, but let me inform you that war is coming, and unless we do something, the prognosis for life isn’t looking too good. Now stay or go, I don’t care, but I will do what’s necessary to protect my kind and those that feed us.”

I pulled out of his grasp and stalked back to the daemon, my mood black. I brandished my knife and with a smile to make a human wet his pants, slid the sharp point down the center of the daemons’ chest right down to the shriveled root of its cock.

It swallowed. I grinned. “Where were we? Oh, yes, you were going to tell me why you were here? And while you’re at it, I want to know when the invasion is coming.”

The beast chuckled, a rattily and rusty sound. “Much as I’d like to watch the shining one squirm as you torture me, I have nothing to hide. You might kill me, but I am just the advance scout, paving the way for the army that comes.”

I heard Rafe’s intake of breath. “When will it happen?”

The daemon flicked a forked tongue in my direction and its eyes glowed. “Soon. The planets are moving into place and the barrier between our worlds thins.”

“I don’t suppose there is a way to stop it?” I knew it was a futile question, but I had to ask.

The beast laughed. “You cannot stop us, for we are Legion. As soon as the worlds align, the march will begin and victory will be ours.”

“I hate to break it to you, but we won’t be lying down for the invasion. As a matter of fact, with your help, we’re going to find out just how many ways there are to kill you and your kind.”

“I’ve given you all the aid you’re going to receive,” grunted the beast before biting off its tongue.

I’ll admit, it shocked me, not the fact the creature had so calmly removed a part of his body or the blood spurting from the daemon’s mouth, but the way the tongue twitched and moved on the floor. Eeew!

Rafe rushed forward to stop the gush of blood, but I walked away knowing the daemon had bested us. Suicide-a fanatical move to prevent us from learning something.

Too late. In a moment of insight, I discovered what I need to know.

I just wish it was better news.

I’d just finished typing up my report in my office when Rafe stalked in, still dressed in his leathers. I yawned, the long night catching up with me as the sun struggled to rise.

“Can this wait?” I asked as I stood up. “I’m bushed.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the daemons were planning to invade Earth?” He bristled as he crossed his arms and glared at me.

Once again I cursed my stupidity in falling for his false geek exterior. The man exuded masculinity. “Why do you think I brought you along with me on the hunt? The plan was to dazzle you with a new creature to dissect and slowly divulge their plans for invading Earth. But wait, you’re not human and you already knew about them. Imagine that, you also lied to me.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t exactly lie. I just omitted certain facts.”

I snorted. “Whatever. You can leave now. You got what you came for.”

“I’m not ready to go yet. There’s much we need to discuss.”

My temper flared. “No there’s not. I’m done making you, whatever you are, privy to our affairs. You can go tell whomever you’re truly working for what you’ve learned and then go hide your heads in a hole.”

Rafe’s breath whistled out of him, his frustration clear. “My people don’t believe in violence.”

“Well, bully for you. I guess I should count myself lucky you came to my rescue earlier then. That was you with the sword right?”

He nodded. “It was necessary to save your life.”

“Ooh, lucky me.” And had he not seemed so reluctant about doing it, I might have even perceived it as hot. No one ever came to my rescue, except the queen that one time. Now, I came to everyone else’s rescue. Screw the knights in shining armor. This beauty of the night came to your rescue with pointed fangs and skin tight leather, then as a thank you, sucked your blood in payment.

“It’s not easy for my kind to take a life or even injure another, no matter how heinous they are.”

“No, of course not,” I taunted. “You and so many others would rather sit on your high fucking horses and look down on those of us willing to dirty our hands. Then condemn us even as you reap the benefits.”

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “It’s not like that.”

“Really, then let me ask you, will your people join us in rebuffing the daemons?”

He shook his head and I snorted.

He looked pained. “It’s complicated.”

“There’s nothing complicated about fighting to survive.”

“It’s not our battle.”

“Well, it is mine, and I will do whatever it takes to ensure I and my kind survive, which also means saving the humans. And as far as I’m concerned, anyone who doesn’t join us in our fight for survival shall feed us to keep us strong.”

“You make it all seem so black and white.”

“It is.” Live or die, could the choice be any more basic?

“If you understood what I was-”

“I really couldn’t give a rat’s ass what you are. You could be a purple people eater or a fucking mythical unicorn. I’d still expect you to step up and be a man. To fight against the daemons and the certain death they’re promising.” A nasty idea floated free. “Unless you’re a different type of daemon? Is that why you can’t fight?”

He looked horrified. “No, most definitely not.”

“So you’re just a pussy.”

“Would you stop that,” he snapped back. “This has nothing to do with courage.”

“Or a lack thereof. Sure, whatever. Get out.” I waved my hand dismissively at him. I never could abide cowards.

“I can’t leave yet.”

I faced him and met his troubled blue eyes with my dark ones. “Oh, yes you can.” Attraction or not, I wouldn’t betray my people for a man who hid secrets and refused to fight. I called my people through my mental link with them. They flooded into the room and at my silent commanded gripped Rafe’s forearms.

He sighed with resignation. “This isn’t over, Ellie.”

“That’s Countess to you. Only my friends may use my real name.” I turned my back as my people escorted him from my home and life. The door slammed shut, but the expected elation at getting rid of him didn’t materialize.

I didn’t understand the gnawing pit in my stomach. Feeding didn’t banish it. Sleep merely helped it grow.

And alone once again, annoyed, horny and frustrated, I did what I did best. Caused havoc.