Gentlemen Prefer Succubi

The priest laughed. “Why should I, when I have all the leverage I need?”

“Jackie, give up the halo to Uriel. Let him destroy me-I don’t care.” Noah’s voice was calm as he sat up. Cuts and bruises covered his handsome face, his blond hair was matted against the side of his cheek, but he was still inhumanly beautiful, his chiseled mouth stern as he looked at me. “It’s the only logical thing you can do.”

Compelled by the sound of his voice, I took a few steps toward Uriel. I didn’t want to, but I couldn’t refuse a direct order from my master.

“Do something,” I heard the queen hiss to Zane.

“Jackie, stop,” Zane insisted.

I halted just inches inside the boundaries of the temple. Huh?

“Don’t give it to him,” Zane said, his voice strained. “Give it to the queen.”

I turned and headed away from Uriel, my hand outstretching to give the halo to Queen Nitocris. Damn-he was my-

“Stop, Jackie!”

Noah’s voice caused me to stop again. Frustrated, I turned to stare at him, my mind hazy with the conflicting orders.

“Jackie, bring the halo to me … and the queen,” Zane added at the last moment.

I started forward again.

“Stop!” Noah demanded once more.

I complied, extremely irritated now. “Will the two of you make up your freaking minds?” I shouted.

I heard Remy’s gasp of shock. “Zane-he’s her other master. Her vampire master.”

She was even slower than me, but she got there. Suddenly I remembered …

A dark-haired man kissing me on my cheek as he lay me down in a Dumpster. “Sweet dreams, Princess.”

Zane standing over me when I first met the vampire queen. “You’d better tell her.” And I’d blabbed my story despite my fear.

“You have always been special,” he’d argued with me, bending down to kiss my flesh as we lay in bed together.

I’d been such a fool. He’d been so subtle about it that I’d never even imagined, never even dreamed …

“You asshole!” My eyes welled up with unwanted tears. “Did you ever not lie to me?”

“I never lied to you about that, Jackie.” Zane’s expression was solemn as he met my eyes. “You never asked.”

“Yes, I did,” I protested, thinking back to our conversation in the museum.

“So, have we met before? Because you sure seem familiar to me.” I couldn’t help but ask him. “I don’t suppose you hang out in dark alleys near nightclubs, looking for dorky girls to molest?”

“Huh?”

“Never mind. I was just wondering if you were my vampire master, or something. Forget I asked.”

He’d never responded directly any time I’d asked. My questions had been met with a smile and a subtle topic change, and I’d been too flustered to notice.

“I did ask,” I protested, glaring at him. “You never answered.”

“I gave you an answer. Just not the one you were looking for.”

“That is totally beside the point, and you know it,” I yelled, my hands tightening around the halo. “How could you do this to me?”

“I have never lied to you, Jackie,” Zane repeated.

I thought hard. “And the slavers thing?”

Zane visibly deflated and his mouth softened as he regarded me. “That was the only thing, Jackie. I swear. Think back. Have I ever forced you to do anything that you didn’t want to do?”

“You mean, besides this whole Red-Light Green-Light game that you and Noah are forcing me to play?”

His head cocked to the side and he gave me an exasperated look. “Have I, Jackie?”

Oddly enough, his repeated words calmed me from the fury that was overtaking my mind. I remembered Zane kissing my flesh, looking up at me moments before I’d drifted off to sleep after we’d made love. I’ll never make you do anything you don’t want to, Jackie.

I believed him, of all bizarre things. And I relaxed.

“Unfair advantage,” Uriel shouted off to the side of me. “Don’t make me do something we’ll both regret, Jacqueline!” He sounded furious, frantic, on edge.

“Jackie,” both Zane and Noah began at the same time, and I backed up, stepping away from the temple’s edge.

I thumped into something solid. Turning, I looked into Remy’s drawn, beautiful face.

“I need that,” she said, pointing at the halo. “Give it to me.”

Confused, I held it closer to my side, the sad whispers echoing through my mind. When had she entered the temple? “Remy, what are you doing?”

“He’s going to hurt Stan, and I can’t let him do that. We’re screwed either way-at least let me save Stan.” She took a step toward me. “I can’t live with an innocent human’s death on my conscience.”

Remy was deadly serious. I took a step backward, glancing over at Zane. His face was drawn, pale, his eyes glued to us. He shook his head and closed his eyes, bracing for the worst. He wouldn’t try to influence me anymore.

It broke my heart. I clutched the halo tighter to me and shook my head vehemently. “No, Remy. I can’t let you give it to him.”

“You can’t give it to Nitocris,” Remy argued. “She’ll turn us all into her underlings. Now give me the halo and let me save Stan!”

“He’s just a human boy,” Nitocris purred behind me, sensing my weakness. “Wouldn’t you rather save your vampire lover? Your master? Your fate is tied to his, after all.”

I hesitated when I heard Zane’s muffled groan of pain. I had no doubt that the queen would torture him to try to get me to hand the precious halo over to her, and even though I had no choice but to ignore it, I still paused.

Remy’s hands slapped at mine, and she made her play for the halo. It flipped in my hands, flying into the air. The world stood still for a moment as the beautiful, shining object became airborne. My fingertips brushed against it and I grasped it once more, only to find Remy’s hand clasping the opposite side of the small band of amber light.

She gave it a fierce tug, trying to yank it from my hands. “Give it to me!” she cried.

“I can’t,” I said, nearly sobbing. “We can’t give it to either of them.”

“I have to save Stan,” Remy said between gritted teeth. “Uriel will save Noah if we give him the halo; I know it.”

“How do you know that?” I screamed.

“What other choice do we have?” Again Remy yanked on the halo, and I concentrated on keeping my fingers locked around the slender band.

What about Zane? my brain insisted. You trusted him and he betrayed you, over and over again. How can you save him now?

I weakened for a moment, and Remy gave a fierce tug. My sweaty hands slipped from the halo and she went tumbling backward, falling against the thick temple flagstones.

The world seemed to slow down. I watched, helpless to move, as Remy tumbled to the earth. The halo lifted from her hands for a moment, then crashed against the stones near her head.

It shattered with a thousand points of light. The golden fragments gleamed for a moment, spilling over her body, then sank into her skin, disappearing forever.