“We’re going to break the trafficking ring Johansson was part of,” I forced myself to say. “Him, Fredo, Doan Felspeth. Whoever is using vampires as enforcers. Anyone who is part of it. But if you’re not involved, we won’t have any reason to look in this direction anymore.”
He loomed over me, sniffing me. His eyes were fully dilated, almost glowing red.
“What do you want of me?”
“A girl named Sarah Benning. We know Johansson had her. We want her back.”
He bent closer to me. “I don’t know where she is.”
“But if you could find her, let me know where she is. I would be personally grateful.”
“And you would come back to receive that information from me?”
“Yes.”
Lust consumed me. I orgasmed, sensation racing through my body. My back arched, and I spasmed uncontrollably. The world went blank as the feelings he filled me with exploded into pleasure.
When I regained my senses, I was sitting on the floor. Ashvial towered over me, seemingly larger than he had been when I entered the room. He was staring down at me, panting, and the tent in his pants was frankly terrifying. I was glad he wore pants. Clothing was something demons picked up from humans, and only wore them around humans.
The two of us stayed like that, motionless, for a few minutes, then he moved away from me, swaying a little and holding onto the furniture. When he reached his throne, he collapsed into it, his limbs hanging loosely.
We stared at each other for a long time. Eventually the shudders of pleasure diminished, and I was able to control my arms and legs again. I forced myself to stand.
“I will await word from you,” I said, my voice unsteady. “Sarah Benning. That’s my price to return.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. After a moment, he nodded.
I managed to walk to the door and out into the hallway on shaky legs. It didn’t occur to me that I still smelled of Kirsten’s potion until I was halfway down the stairs and realized the two demon guards had followed me. By the time I reached the exit, there were at least a dozen demons panting along in my wake.
Novak appeared out of the crowd. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah. Can you cast an air shield around me? One that cuts off smell?”
“Done. Let me know when you start to run out of oxygen.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Ashvial had said he didn’t know where Sarah was, but he didn’t say he didn’t know who she was, or what happened to her. I considered that a major break and doubted he had noticed his slip. I wasn’t the only one being controlled by lust.
I asked Novak to drop me off at my house. I had left my bike at the police station, but I was in no condition to drive. Kirsten could give me a ride in the morning, and I could pick up the fixed wheel on the way.
“Want to come in for a drink?” I asked him.
He seemed to consider, then said, “I’d take beer.”
“Hang on a moment. Kirsten will have to let you in through her wards.”
I entered the house and found two women sitting in the living room. One I knew as a guardian on Osiris’s staff, and I assumed the other one was a guardian, also.
“Hi,” I said, then shouted, “Kirsten! I brought someone home for a drink. I need you to let him in.”
She came from the kitchen, drying her hands. “Okay. I was just baking banana bread.”
I opened the door, and she sketched a rune and said a Word. “Come on in,” she finished.
Novak walked in, stopped, and looked around. His eyes immediately came back to Kirsten. Yep, he was attracted to women.
“Ooo, he’s even prettier in person,” Kirsten said. “Want a beer?”
Novak’s face flamed red. “Yes, thank you.”
“Don’t mind her,” I said. “She doesn’t have much of a filter. Have a seat.”
Kirsten came back with two beers and handed me one. She got much closer than necessary to Novak before offering the other beer to him. “Hi, I’m Kirsten. I’m friendly. You should come around here more often.”
“M-mychal,” he stammered. His reaction to her was the same as most men’s—blown away, tongue-tied, overwhelmed.
“Hi, Mychal.” She took pity on him and turned back to me. “So, how did it go with the demon lord?”
“If you ever decide to market that stuff, I suggest you water it down.”
She laughed. “Nope. I have no desire to ever stand in a courtroom and try to justify selling a demon attractant. Police use only.” With that, she disappeared back into the kitchen.
Novak and I made small talk with Simone and Linda, the guardians, until he finished his beer. He said he would come by to get me in the morning, and then he took off. I finished my beer and went to bed. I had no trouble falling asleep, and if I dreamed, I didn’t remember it when I woke.
Chapter 31
Kirsten woke me up with a cup of coffee and the promise of breakfast when I got up. While I showered, I noticed that I still had a feeling of dissociation carried over from the previous night. My mind tried to shy away from my encounter—encounter hell! my tryst—with Ashvial, but I forced myself to think about it. I felt a little guilt, a little shame, but not as much as I thought I should. I had to admit, I enjoyed it. But he was a demon, for God’s sake. What did that make me?
I didn’t know. Most women who had sex with a demon didn’t survive the experience, except with some of the minor demons—succubae, liliths, devils, and incubi, mostly. Some women became addicted to vampires—both blood vamps and psychic vamps. I admitted that I had always sort of looked down on such women.
I showed
