Soul Surrender (3 page)

I
trembled with the betrayal of the moment. He remembered my body well . . . remembered what I responded to and the kind of touches I craved. His juice dripped down my leg, blanketing my sex in the shame of who I am. Monica, the sex goddess. Useless save for one thing.

“How could you do this?” I jumped to my feet, shifting into normal clothes—jeans and a fitted cotton tee. The shift came on quickly, and the power of the life force he had given resonated in my body. I was strong—yet, I
knew
Buckley. He was anything but a glowing soul. His life force should have barely given me enough to make it until tomorrow. “And what did you do to me?!” I craned my neck, the flesh at my lower back blistering and angry in the shape of a cross. It was the world's worst tramp stamp. I closed my eyes and shifted the third-degree burn away, only it didn't disappear. The pain flared across my back. “What the
fuck!
”

Snatching his pants from the floor, he shoved a leg in. “I'm sorry,” he said as he zipped his fly, his boyish grin spreading wider. “Was it not good for you?”

Asshole. He
knew
it was good for me. He had a damn good memory for a man that hadn't fucked me in almost three centuries.

His saunter was slow, and his bare feet scuffed along the floors. My back was against the wall again, and before I had the sense to stop him, his breath was on my lips. “I can try again, if you'd like.”

A retort strangled on my lips as he slipped a hand into my pants. My knees buckled and he caught me around the waist, plunging a finger inside my dripping sex.

“No!” With both hands, I shoved his chest. He shifted back, not stumbling in the slightest, but his gaze lifted with humor. I advanced on him with lightning speed, shoving my forearm to his throat and slamming him into the back wall. “What was that spell? What did you do to me?”

“Spell?” He cocked his head as amusement flashed in those emerald eyes of his, and he peeled my arm off. “All right, then.” He bent slowly, back muscles rippling as he snapped his shirt off the floor. He took his sweet time buttoning it. “I only released what was already inside of you, my angel.”

“Stop
calling
me that.” I gnashed my teeth together.

He glanced at an expensive watch. “Sure you don't want to go once more? I've got some time to spare.” His eyes flashed, one side of his mouth lifting into a smile. “I want to taste every ounce of flesh on your body,” he whispered. “I love the taste of you.”

“Me and every other woman, isn't that right?” The bitter words tumbled from my lips and I clamped my eyes shut, but still seeing visions of Buckley cheating on me, his face buried between some other woman's thighs. The recent memory of his tongue flared scorching desire through my body.

“I can smell your arousal, Monica. I would pleasure you until you were completely satisfied, my angel.”

“With you? I'd use the term
satisfied
very loosely.”

His mouth split into a full-on grin. “That's because you can't get enough of me.”

I held my steely gaze and crossed my arms, cleavage pressed toward my chin. “Oh, I've had enough of you to last an eternity. What are you doing here, John?”

“Where's your sense of nostalgia?”

“Apparently lost with your rationality.” I paused, soaking him up with my eyes. It had been a while since I'd seen him in his true form—the man I'd known in my angel days. “Well, at least one good thing came from tonight. You'll die a little sooner thanks to me.”

His eyes flashed. “Will I, now?” His bottom lip was fuller than the top, resulting in a pout that supermodels would envy. One side of his mouth lifted in a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. “But what a way to go,” he said, his voice dropped, low and husky.

“You never answered me. What are you doing here? And why won't this burn shift away?”

Adjusting his watch, he put his appearance back in order and took two steps closer. “Did you ever imagine how we would be together?”

I couldn't even pretend to placate his thoughts. Instead I snatched the remote, turning off the mood-inducing music.

“You want Drew?” he continued, ignoring my obvious dodge. An incantation trickled out of his lips and he transformed into Drew before my eyes. “I can be your Drew.” His voice had a different croon to it. Drew's voice. I shook my head out of its daze. Do not get sucked in by his magic.

“Not a chance. Your ugly spirit will shine through every time.” I pushed past his shoulder, gripping the lock on the door.

“Well, that's a shame. It's just too bad he doesn't crave you the same way you crave him.” Buckley took his time buttoning his sleeves, and I spun to face him.

Anger trembled low in my core and the doorknob pressed into my lower back. “You forgot to tip.” I cocked a hip and held out a hand.

“But, of course. Silly me,” he replied, and reaching back into his wallet he pinched a folded hundred between his fingers and advanced with a casual gait. Twisting my hair into a fisted ponytail, he yanked my neck back, exposing taut flesh. The edge of the folded bill traveled over my tight nipples before he tipped his fingers into my jeans, leaving it pressed up against my drenched clit.

His grip loosened at my neck, and I hissed an exhale. Leaning past my shoulder, he reached for the doorknob, his leering smile hovering above me. Without thinking, my arm sprung out, stopping the door with my weight. I shoved a hand down my pants, balling the bill in my fist, and tossed it in his face. He barely blinked as it bounced off his cheek and hit the floor.

“On second thought, I'd rather starve in a box under the highway before spending another penny of yours.”

He chuckled, and an auburn curl sprang into his eyes. “I always did love your spunk, angel.” He bended to lift the bill and slid it back into his pocket. He slapped a postcard in my hand instead. “My new show,” he said. “Now that we both know Drew is safe . . . and you're not gunning to kill me, why don't you come check it out.”

“Who said I wasn't gunning to kill you still?” Damn. Now I wished I had listened to Lucien and had that damn gun on me. I glanced at my palm. “Raul's Rogue Angels,” I read aloud. “Catchy. Using your alias still, I see?”

He grinned. “Well, Lord Buckley doesn't quite have the same ring to it.”

“So what is it? Some kind of musical revue?”

“Don't be ridiculous. It's a magic show, of course.” He leaned a shoulder against the dusty black wall and crossed one leg over the other. “You could join me—be my partner in the act. With your newly developed witchcraft, think of the crowds we'd draw.”

Heat flashed through me. I had gotten the witchcraft when Adrienne, Drew's ex-girlfriend and a detective, died saving me. I had accidentally ingested her blood and power. She had since turned into an angel, and I into some crazy ass succubus-witch hybrid. Over the past year I had managed to refine the power into something I could control.

“No, thanks.” I flipped the flyer back at him. His hand hovered above the card, and it floated back up into his palm. “Remember that whole ‘I'd rather starve' comment. It applies here, too.”

“Just come check it out. I'll get you in for free. Bring your friends, too. It's at the Wynn. Tomorrow night.”

Curiosity spiked in my chest, and his eyes twinkled knowingly. “Where'd you find your rogue angels?”

“Heaven, my love. Where else?”

T
he drive back to my apartment was a short one. Drew's café is only a couple of blocks away from home, and as I passed, I swung into the parking lot. As the acting manager, I had extended our hours on weekends to cater to the late-night crowd. Business grew exponentially with the change. With a quick look at the clock, I figured the doors were already locked, but Genevieve, now my assistant manager, would be there counting the cash box.

Sure enough, the lights were on. I dug in my purse, yanked out my set of keys—which was increasingly looking like a set of janitor's keys—and unlocked the door. “Hey, G—how was tonight?”

With a glance up, she shook her head. “Can't you ever just go home and take a break?” Her face split into a grin.

“If only,” I muttered to myself, and mirrored her smile. Genevieve had an infectious personality: When she was happy, so were you. If she was crying, your eyes welled up with just as many tears. She was genuine. Sweet. “You just seemed so tired when I left tonight. I wanted to make sure you're okay.”

Her smile wobbled before she firmed it back into a tight-lipped grin. “I'm . . . fine.” Despite the calm smile she sported, her voice wavered, her aura changing to a dark blue. Sadness.

“Genevieve.” I rushed to her side, guiding her by the arm to a seat. “What's going on?”

Her face was so tight, it appeared as though it could shatter at any given moment. “I—Adam and I, we've just been trying for so long to have a baby.”

A gasp caught in my throat and I choked it back, my hand instinctually flying to my own barren belly. “It can take a while, G.”

“No—you don't understand. We, I'm—I can't.” Her chin dropped to her chest, trembling. “You know . . . low egg count or something.” With her index finger, she swiped at the one escaped tear traveling down her cheek.

I clasped a hand over hers, squeezing. “Oh, Genevieve. I'm so sorry.” The air conditioner hummed around us, offering its own condolences. Her palm was clammy and chilled compared to mine. “There are lots of options, you know?”

“I know, I know. I just really wanted to experience pregnancy.”

“I know. You're going to make an amazing mother.”

She sniffled, eyes rimmed red. I sandwiched her palm between both of my hands and closed my eyes. In my mind, I thought of the words to the guardian incantation I had learned, the ancient language becoming second nature. I pulled her in for a hug, kissing her temple. A zap shocked my lips, and I pulled back just as quickly.

The fastest flash of her life reeled in my mind. Shit . . . had I just stolen some of Genevieve's life? It's supposed to happen only when someone reaches orgasm at a succubi or incubi's touch. But her face—no, a baby's face—flashed in my mind with the same white lightning breaking up the images, just like with Buckley.

I released my hold on her, doing my best to procure a shaky smile. “You'll be okay, girl. Trust me—I know.”

How much life had I stolen? Most likely only minutes, but it was still too much.

She returned my smile, hers looking stronger than mine at the moment. The irony of that resonated deep in me, and I couldn't help but scoff at myself. “Why don't you go on home. I'll finish up here.”

“Oh, no . . . I couldn't let you do that. You worked all day.”

I shrugged, mouth tilting. “So what's another hour? It's nothing, I promise. Go give your husband a night to remember.” I winked at her and she laughed, her hand flying to cover her mouth.

“Thanks, Monica.” She gripped me in another hug before untying her apron, balling it at her side. Grabbing her purse, she gave another wiggle of her fingers before slipping out the front door.

Forty-five minutes later, I had finished the books for the night and cleaned the shop. With the counted cash in hand, I entered Drew's office, blinking with the flickering fluorescents. I spun the lock to open the safe and stuck the money inside. I wouldn't have time to get to the bank until next week. A sigh crept up on me as I stood, hands on hips, looking around Drew's office. A hoodie rested on the back of his office chair, and I hesitated before sliding my arms into it. The fleece lining cradled my sensitive skin, and I hugged it tighter around my body. With closed eyes, I inhaled. His scent was faint but still lingered, a freshly sweet smell of arabica beans and soap as though he had climbed out of the shower and brewed a pot of coffee, allowing both the soap and brew to permeate the soft cotton. The fading memory swirled about like a long-lost friend.

But when I opened my eyes again, I was still alone. Clutching a shirt that wasn't mine in an empty coffee shop with a hollow heart. Drew and I could never be; I knew that. Even one night with me would result in Drew losing time off his life. No—it wasn't worth the risk. We'd crossed that line once, but never again. He would find a woman to love and grow old with. And then, someday far in the future, he would pass on to Heaven. Without me.

Emotion rolled through me like a wave lapping over my body. After one last, deep breath, I dropped the sweatshirt back onto his chair as I had done almost every night the past several months. The shirt would lose its scent soon enough. But until then I would relish every aromatic breath I could take.

I made sure to shut off all the lights and lock the doors behind me. The night air was dry and warm. That was the beauty of the desert; once that sun dropped, you had a reprieve from the heat.

I walked to my car with keys in hand. When it was only steps away, footsteps crunched in the gravel behind me. I forced my breathing to remain regular. As I approached my little Toyota, I saw the briefest reflection of a body in the mirror behind me. Someone was definitely on my tail. And for a girl with a bounty on her head? That was a bad sign.

Faster than the human eye could register, I lifted a hand in the air. “Ailukah!” I shouted the enchantment and, using my witchcraft, threw the person onto the hood of my car. The crunch echoed through the parking lot and a startled cry shattered the quiet evening.

I was on top of her in moments, hand crushing her windpipe. I hovered my other palm atop my purse, and the can of holy water mace flew into my hand. Her fear caught in the back of my throat and tasted like bitters and lime.

Her body thrashed beneath mine, and yet I stayed strong, pinning her down with my knees. “Monica!”

I stilled. “Kayce?”

“Yes! Fuck, let me up!”

While the rational part of my brain knew that Kayce was my best friend and would never hurt me, the suspicion from Salt Lake City remained. She and Lucien were supposedly acting under cover, attempting to find out who was the boss in charge of my bounty—only it didn't make sense why they couldn't tell me about that plan from the beginning.

Kayce was a killer. An assassin by trade. And I couldn't shake that uneasy feeling of knowing my best friend, whom I admittedly loved very much, wakes up each morning, has a cup of coffee, and goes to work slicing jugulars and strangling strangers. A shiver tickled my spine.

“Monica?”

Shit. I shook the thoughts away and pushed off of Kayce's windpipe, grasping her hand and pulling her to a standing position. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “What are you doing here?
Lurking
behind me.”

“Lucien said you'd be home by now. I waited for a while, and when you didn't show, I came looking for you here.” She brushed her clothes back into place. “Jesus. Twitchy much?” She glanced at my hood, dented in the shape of her slender body.

“Yeah, I tend to be a little on edge these days.” I did my best to hide the bitterness in my voice. The whole bounty thing was getting old fast. Every strange noise in my house was enough to send me running for my cabinet of weaponry. Which admittedly was growing larger and larger with each passing day.

With my hand on the dent, I incanted a quick spell and it popped out.

“Damn,” Kayce hissed. “How do you do that?”

“You kill a witch. Eat a bitch,” I bit back, Adrienne's face popping into my brain.

She tugged her curtain of jet black hair over one shoulder and dropped her neck to the side. “Okay, what flew up your ass today?” Even though succubi and incubi can shapeshift, most tend to stick with one body at a time. For as long as I've known Kayce, she's pretty much had the same look. It just makes life easier and gives us a semblance of normalcy. Kayce's chosen body was svelte and Asian, and she wore lots of leather . . . even in the scorching Vegas summers.

“Where are you off to tonight?” Her jumpsuit looked more like a costume than an outfit.

She glanced down, hands on hips, and laughed, shifting into tight jeans and a low-cut top. “I just finished up at a
Star Trek
convention.” Geeks and social pariahs were Kayce's favorite targets. “You should have come. There were plenty of good targets there. There's another one in California next month.”

I quirked an eyebrow in her direction. “
Star Trek
? No, thanks.”

“Oh, come on! You never come out anymore. Not since you took over Drew's stupid business.”

I shrugged. “I just want to make sure he has something to come home to.”

The silence between us crackled in the air. “You really don't want to help us find him?”

“I want him to come home on his own accord. I'm sure Hell is an awful place to visit—and who knows what he experienced while there.”

Another pause. “I've been hired by Adrienne to find him.”

“Lucien told me,” I said. “Why didn't she hire some angels to get him?”

“Oh, she tried. Nobody on her side will help. They adopted the same mind-set as you—that he'll come home when he's ready.”

“But shouldn't San Michel be able to just sense where he is . . .” The sentence strangled in my throat. I didn't let myself think of the ArchAngel very often anymore. Hell, he was more than an ArchAngel—he was the boss over all ArchAngels. And the man who made the final call on my banishment from Heaven. “Oh, shit.” The curse was merely a whisper.

“What?”

“If Drew was still a Heaven-bound soul, San Michel should be able to sense him wherever he is.”

“Don't jump to conclusions. You have no idea.... Maybe he just chose not to tell Adrienne.”

I nodded, but that wobbly feeling in my gut didn't go away. “Where are you off to now?” Kayce's eyes flashed with a knowing gaze I had seen all too many times. She was on a job.

“I have a lead—about your bounty.”

My heart hammered against my ribs. “Who is it? Where?”

Kayce looked around us—she was smart to do so. Just because we couldn't sense anyone around didn't mean prying eyes and sensitive ears couldn't listen in on what we were saying. The damn supernatural world had hearing better than you could even imagine. “Does your car have enchantments?”

Faster than she could finish her next thought, I had my little Toyota unlocked and slid into the driver's side. “Okay, spill. No one can hear us in here.”

“Okay—you know the Suck 'n' Swallow?”

“Isn't that one of Mia's bars?” Our Succubi Queen owned establishments all around the world, though to my knowledge she rarely frequented the notorious succubus haunt herself. It was dank and the perfect spot for demon-folk to let loose.

“Exactly,” Kayce said, voice hushed even though we both knew no one could hear a thing we said. “The bartender there, Ink, said he knows most of their clients. But this one demon has been coming the same night every month. She slips into the back and Ink hears someone else teleport in—and then she leaves.”

“But—you can't teleport into Suck 'n' Swallow . . . not unless . . .”

“Unless you work for the higher-ups.” Kayce fell back onto the seat, folding her arms and smiling.

“So, what? People visit Vegas all the time. What's the big deal that some random demon has been making an appearance?”

“Well,” Kayce continued, “last time she was there, she left her purse on the counter while Ink made her a drink. He caught a glimpse of the Eden stone inside.”

I shivered, remembering that damn stone—which could essentially turn a succubus or incubus into a mortal, making them easy to kill. “How does
he
know about the stone?”

“Mon, everyone knows about that stone now. You weren't the only succubus targeted last year, remember?”

How could she even ask me that? Of course I remembered. I'd done nothing but remember for the last year and a half. “So this demon will be there tonight?”

“You got it.”

A shaky breath caught in my chest. “I want to come.”

Kayce shook her head with an eye roll and a snort. “Not a chance, Monica. They'll recognize your aura immediately.”

“No . . . they won't.” A smile curved on my lips as I whispered the incantation I'd been practicing for months. I imagined the bubble surrounding me, masking my powers, my aura. Once the spell was secure, I shifted into a dark-haired, shorter, curvier girl. My smile split into a full-on grin at Kayce's dismayed face. “Not bad, huh?”

She blinked. “I can't sense you at all. You read just as . . . as a mortal would.” Her face fell. “One problem, though. Just how are we gonna get you into a demon bar?”

“Easy.” The engine purred to life as I turned the keys. “I'll be your conquest for the night.”

 

I fishhooked my car into a parking spot outside Suck 'n' Swallow, clicking the engine off. As we made our way to the front door, Kayce slid her palm into mine, lacing our fingers together.

A bouncer stood flanking the doorway, arms folded and face covered in stern authority. As we approached, I could feel the hum of magic as Kayce shapeshifted just her eyes. The bouncer nodded and inclined a chin to me. “Who's your pet?”

“Oh, you know.” Kayce ran a knuckle down my jaw, and I nuzzled into her neck. “Just a little snack for later.” She winked at the bouncer, whose grin twitched in response. With a jerk of his head, we were in. So far, so good.