Twisted Ginni by Nicola Rose
Ginni
I’d never worried much about the bond that connected me to my masters. The emotional side of it had always been a one-way street. They’d go ga-ga over me — starting off despising me but no matter how much I fucked them over, they couldn’t help falling in love.
Whenever someone summoned me, it didn’t just bind me to them. They bound themselves to me. They’d feel compelled to keep me safe, get close, want me. They’d barely notice it at first, this little niggle in their chest, but it’d only get stronger and stronger as the year went on… so that the separation at the end was heartbreaking. Drove some men to near madness.
That was the trade-off for getting all of your wishes for twelve months — empty hell at the end.
It was the cycle of my life. I might not like it, but I was at peace with it.
Only, right then, looking into Sam’s sad eyes, something different was happening. I shouldn’t care about him. I didn’t care about anyone. And I’d only known him five seconds! So why was I so desperate to crawl under his skin and find out why he was so broken?
Fuck him over. Help him. Fuck him over. Help him.
I twirled my hair frantically. The distraction usually helped quiet the warring voices inside.
Sam sat on the bed, his knee barely touching mine.
He looked like he wanted to kiss me.
He also kind of looked like he wanted to cry. Those innocent blue eyes framed by long sweeping lashes, so many ghosts of the past dancing in their depths.
“Why are you so sad?” I couldn’t help myself.
I don’t care. I don’t care.
His lips pressed into a hard line, eyes fixed on the joining of our knees.
He was so still. Like there was this peace to him, no distractions, nothing but quiet focus. But I knew it wasn’t peace that muted him. I could feel it in his energy, right in my belly. It was so ugly, so beautifully tragic, that my hand rose without me thinking, my touch grazing softly along his stubbled cheek.
Snapping alert, he grabbed my wrist. Still looking at our knees, he slowly pushed my hand back into my lap.
“Sam, I—”
He raised a palm to silence me.
And so we stayed. Quietly basking in the buzz from the tiniest touch of knee to knee. I was damned near breathless in anticipation of him really touching me. Minutes ticked by. I couldn’t understand how he was so still. Was he even there? Was there anything going on inside his beautiful melon or had he checked out?
“Sam—”
The door burst open and in stormed Andras with a flustered Phoenix behind him. Sam lurched away, crossing the small room, putting as much distance between us as he could.
I braced myself for the onslaught. I might never have met a man like Sam before, but I’d seen plenty like Andras. Nothing but rage and resentment inside him. He pinned me to the bed with that hooded gaze, brimming with unbridled hatred. Smooth jaw clenched, teeth grinding, fists pumping at his sides.
Stirring every bit of dark desire inside me.
At least this one wouldn’t hold back from touching me. He’d fuck me like an animal and I might just let myself enjoy it for once.
And where did that come from?!
“I command you to explain this mess to me, no omissions, no tricks. What are you doing? Why did you bring the cops down on us?” His voice was surprisingly calm, though I had to admit the controlled, deep tone was intimidating. Maybe something to do with the insane vengeful energy that flickered around him.
Pfft. I eat men like him as a snack. Stay focused.
“What? You shit-weasels think you could just summon me, rip me away from my life on the other side, and have me fix all of your problems with a smile on my face? Have me play the obedient little mistress? Think again. What about what I want? What I feel?” I rose, planting my hands on my hips.
“Demons don’t have feelings.”
“Spoken like a true fuckwad.”
His nostrils flared, and Phoenix stepped in. “What exactly did you do, Ginni?”
“You didn’t specify how much money you wanted. Gas station was the easiest and quickest option. Unfortunately, the guy at the counter managed to press his big help button before I got away and the cops were on me like flies on shit.” I shrugged, toying with my hair, omitting the part where I actually sat in the truck for five minutes waiting for the sirens. I do love a good police chase.
“You couldn’t have just materialized from the gas station? Why’d you even need the truck if you can just vanish in and out of existence? And why drive back with them chasing you?”
“I can’t shift from spirit to physical form whilst carrying stuff. The only thing that stays is my clothes. You ordered me to get money. I couldn’t just drop it, so I kept driving. Why are your knickers in such a twist, anyway? I kept them off your back while we ran and got you a new truck. No harm done.”
“No harm done?” Andras chewed the inside of his cheek.
“You can’t deny that this place is way better than the hovel you left behind.” The devious little voice in my head gained volume as my mood plummeted with their disapproving glares.
Sheesh. It was just a little trouble.
“Okay, let’s just try this again.” Phoenix steered Andras away, urging him to take a seat on the leather chair in the corner. “Ginni, please, can you try and help out here? Things will surely be better for all of us if we learn to get along?” He rubbed his wrist, digging his thumb under leather bracelets.
End them. Kill them and be done with it. What’re three more dead masters to the list?
I twirled my hair like a lunatic, but it wasn’t working. “You don’t have to talk to me like that, you bloody fool! I told you, I’m your slave, just get on with another command. Once this shit is done maybe we can spend the rest of the year ignoring each other. Tell me what to do.”
Don’t do this, don’t fall into the spiral, these guys are different.
Phoenix looked utterly offended as he dragged fingers through long, wavy hair. What a wanker.
“Well?” I yelled. “What’s it going to be? Strip off for an angry orgy? Get more money? Tell me!”
“I can’t do this,” he muttered.
“I can.” Andras fixed me a wicked grin, rubbing his cock.
“Fuck, no!” Sam came to life, shoving Andras in the chest.
“You stupid shit!” Andras puffed up, muscular frame dwarfing Sam’s lean one. “She’s a fucking demon! One that you wanted us to summon. Grow some balls and use them. Same goes for you, Phoenix.”
“She doesn’t look like a demon! She’s a woman! We can’t just—”
“Oh, I’m sorry, you should have said! Would this be better?” I shifted into a black panther. They recoiled in horror, pressing themselves into the nearest walls, eyes wide.
Let go…
I did let go.
I let out all the weird energy they were giving me, frustration and confusion and fear sending me on the rampage. I pounced onto the bed, reveling in the way my claws dug in, shredding the duvet with easy swipes. Then I was across the room, knocking over a vase on the way, barreling into the bathroom, and tearing at everything I could find. Growling and hissing.
Andras yelled.
Primitive instinct had me wanting to shred them. Gut them. Swipe their innards from their bodies. But if my master died, the bond would break and I’d be deposited back into the spirit realm. On the surface, a perfect outcome, but as I’d learned the hard way, actually not so great. Now, demons were waiting to send me to purgatory. Across the veil was the last place I wanted to go.
Emerging from the bathroom, I stalked toward Andras, claws clicking on the tiled floor. They smelled different in this form. Intoxicating. A fresh, clean smell that didn’t match the hovel I’d found them in. Along with notes of something darker, woodsy, like a forest after a storm. And there was the lacing of cigarette smoke on Andras, but even that seemed sweeter somehow.
I intended to roar in his face, but for some reason, I purred. I want him to stroke me.
Leaping up, my paws landed square into his stomach, knocking him to the ground. Now they were all yelling at me. Looming over Andras, my face inched closer to his. I wasn’t sure if I was going to lick his smooth, close-shaved cheek or bite his head off—
Banging on the door startled us all.
“Hello? Open up now! I have a key, I’m coming in!” Someone shouted from outside.
The lock clicked and a motel employee appeared, his horrified expression taking in the trashed room before landing on me — the freaky, skull-faced woman standing in a puff of blue smoke after a quick shift. Andras scrambled to his feet, spots of blood seeping through the holes in his shirt where I’d dug into him.
“What the…? I’m calling the cops, you’re paying for these damages.” The employee turned around but Andras grabbed his coat, yanking him into the room and slamming the door shut.
“Wha—” He tried to speak, and one swift punch from a mighty fist landed him out cold.