A Demon’s Touch by Ella Jade
Chapter 6
Angelo
How could I have slipped like that?
Staying in control proved to be more difficult than I would have liked, but I didn’t have a choice. If I lost my temper in front of Harper, Terra would have taken advantage of the opportunity. I couldn’t have her doing more damage than she already had. I closed my eyes and waited for them to return to their more appropriate color before turning around.
“I’ll go check on lunch,” David said. “Harper, will you join me?”
“That’s a good idea.” Harper gathered her tablet and papers, but her confusion didn’t escape me. She’d seen my demon, even if only for a second.
Terra didn’t move out of Harper’s way. With each breath, Terra’s anger intensified.
“Excuse me.” Harper shimmied past Terra and into the hallway. Harper had been here for two days, and in both days, Terra had made Harper feel uncomfortable and out of place. That would stop today.
I waited for Harper and David to leave the study before I dealt with Terra’s outburst. I moved close to her, pressing my finger to her lips, daring her to defy me. I didn’t need a mirror to know my eyes glowed crimson. My lack of control a few minutes ago enraged me. How could I have let that happen?
Terra’s anger subsided once I touched her. She trembled as I continued to stare into her brazen eyes. She backed down.
“That’s better.” I removed my finger from her lips. “You’ve clearly lost your mind. That has to be it.”
“I’m perfectly sane.” She inched away from me, keeping her emotions in check. “It’s you who has lost your mind. That girl has been here two days, and you’re turning this house upside down.”
“It’s my house, and I’ll do whatever I please.”
“You’re throwing the others out.”
“I’m relocating them.” I circled her, waiting for her to lash out at me. “They will be well-cared for. This is nothing new; no one stays forever.”
“You decided without telling me.” My actions had shocked her. “You had David inform me.”
“I don’t run every one of my decisions by you. David manages the house, so I had him tell you about the change.”
“I’m in charge of the fallen angels. I say when they come and when they go.”
“Do you honestly believe you’re in charge of anything that involves me?” I stroked her hair. “You’re here because I allow it.”
“How am I supposed to find replacements on such short notice?”
“I don’t want replacements.”
“Why not?” She paced the room. “What has this stupid human done to you?”
“Watch your words.” I clenched my fists by my side. “You told her we didn’t have to hide from Duke. Why would you say that?”
“Because it’s the truth. He knew what we were. If not for him, you could never have lasted in this house or in your business for as long as you have. Without him, you would have had to move every time you outlived the people around you.”
“How is any of this relevant?”
“It’s relevant because you brought a human into the mix. You’ve given her full run of the house. You’re changing everything to accommodate her. Are you going to tell her what you are? Is she going to do what Duke always did and hide you in plain sight?”
“I don’t see how this concerns you.” I grew tired of this conversation. “David is moving the others. I hadn’t decided about you yet, but after this stunt, you’ve helped me do that.”
“What?”
“It’s time for us to part ways.” I took a seat at my desk. “I’ve always gone to great lengths to live among the mortals without incident. You’re making that impossible. I can’t trust you around Harper. Your defiance and outbursts threaten my secrets.”
“You can’t trust me? I’ve been loyal to you for years.”
“There will be a deposit put into your account before you go. I will do this monthly as long as you abide by my terms. I’ll keep you in the lifestyle you’ve become accustomed to as long as you respect my boundaries. David will find you a place to live. I know how much you like the city. Perhaps a high rise?”
“You’re throwing me out?”
“I’m helping you move forward.” I leaned back in my chair, realizing this was something I should have done a long time ago. “I never meant to keep you here this long.”
“This is my home. You’re my home.”
“You’re used to me.” I felt no sincerity in her words. “You’ll get over it.”
“You’re choosing her over me. How could you do that?”
“When I found you all those years ago you were broken, lost.”
“I don’t need a history lesson.” She poured herself a glass of water from the crystal pitcher on the counter. “I know what happened.”
“I picked you up after you had fallen from grace and showed you that you didn’t need that halo. I welcomed you into my home. I helped you see you didn’t need to be who they said you had to be. You were no more an angel than I am. Creatures like us don’t have to conform.”
“We do if we want to stay among the mortals. That’s how you’ve stayed hidden all this time.”
“You’re threatening my existence.”
“Your choice to bring her here will do that all by itself. Why can’t you see that?”
“I’ve given you the resources to be anything you want to be. You want to blend in the human society, go for it. I’ve kept you here and that was selfish. It’s time for you to branch out on your own and to make a life in this world. It needs to be one that doesn’t include me.”
“I don’t want a life without you.”
“Do you love me, Terra?”
I knew the truth, that she didn’t any more than I loved her. We were company to one another. We knew what we were to each other. I kept her here because it was convenient for me. I accepted full responsibility for the outcome of this relationship.
“That was never part of our arrangement.”
“Neither was you staying with me forever. I’ve sensed your restlessness for quite some time. You’ve grown bored here. I don’t blame you. Embrace this opportunity I’m offering you. Find the life you want. I can give you anything you need to make your dreams possible.”
“If you would have said these things to me a week ago, I may have believed you.” Her rage crept back in, filling her soul with hateful thoughts and accusations. “This has nothing to do with me and everything to do with that useless human.”
“I want you out today.” I scowled at her. “It is you who is of no use to me.”
“I won’t go.” She stood her ground. “I won’t make this easy for you. I’ll make sure she knows exactly who you are. What you are.”
I got up from my chair and moved toward her. She turned to leave but I banged my palm against the door, forcing it shut. I didn’t have to see her expression to know the influence I held over her.
“If you try to expose me, I promise, it will be the last thing you do.” I grabbed her upper arm and turned her around, staring into the depths of her reckless gaze. “I told you yesterday there would be consequences for your actions. I don’t trust you’ll obey me, so now I’m removing you from the situation. Be thankful I’m still being generous.”
“You’re going to regret this.”
“I’ve survived far worse than you, but you have no idea what you could unleash in me if you push me too far. You don’t want me as your enemy.”
“Let go of me.” She struggled out of my hold. “Good luck with the human. She can’t be who you need. She’ll never be able to satisfy you. I should know; I’ve been trying for years. You’re nothing but an empty, unfulfilled shell of a man.”
“Stay away from her.”
“I’m not going quietly.”
“But you are going.”
“You’re going to compensate me for my years of service.” She opened the door. “It won’t be cheap.”
“I’d expect nothing less from someone like you, but you deserve to be compensated for all of your years with me.”
“She’ll never make you feel the way I can.”
“Are you really going to challenge me when it comes to feelings?”
She inched toward me, dropped her gaze to my lips and kissed me.
I indulged her for a few moments before breaking the unholy connection and stepping away from her. “Don’t come back here.” There wasn’t much I regretted in this life, but keeping Terra with me for as long as I had was a mistake.
“You’ll change your mind.” She hurried down the hall, leaving her intense emotions of lust and anger to linger inside my mind. She could drain me at times. Most times.
“I told you the changes in your life would come at a high price.” Koradon’s voice echoed inside my study. “This is only the beginning.”
“Get out of my thoughts!” I gripped the top of my head, willing him to leave me alone.
His faint laughter encompassed me as I dropped onto the couch and continued to hold my head in my hands.
I’m in control. I’m in control.
When I looked up, I could no longer sense Koradon’s presence. Outside the windows, the clouds parted, and a blinding light poured into the room. The stream of brilliance drew me in as I got up and walked toward it. A calmness fell over me. One I hadn’t experienced since I was a child in the company of my mother. While it was comforting, it threw me off balance.
“Lunch is ready.” Harper stood in the doorway, calling to me in that red dress. “If you’d like to join me.”
“That’s the best invitation I’ve gotten in weeks.”
“You’re awfully flattering.”
“Have I mentioned how nice you look in that dress?” I motioned for her to step out into the hall. “Red is my favorite color.”
“Is it?” She played coy, but her dream wasn’t far from her thoughts.
Changes were on the horizon, and I would use them to my full advantage. Demons beware. I intended to have it all.
Starting with her.
* * *
Harper
I scanned the trendy restaurant, trying to locate Kiki. The dim atmosphere of the popular new spot made it difficult to see much. My sister had insisted we check out The Swanky Cauldron, the city’s most recent place to get a fancy, overpriced drink. Even I had to admit, the crowded bar lit up in purple, green, and orange lights made this a unique spot to hang out. Whoever owned this establishment spared no expense. It looked as if their investment paid off because there wasn’t a free space at the bar. They lined up three deep, trying to score a boozy concoction.
The music blared in the background, and I hoped with every fiber of my being my sister didn’t think I was here to dance later. I wanted to have dinner and then go home and review some of Angelo’s upcoming investments.
“Harper.” Kiki waved me down. “Over here.”
I joined her in the booth by the bar. She’d already ordered two lemon drop martinis, my favorite.
“Look.” She pointed at the martini glasses with the funky, swirling stems. “They sugared the rims.”
“Perfect.” I took a sip. “Delicious.”
“Congratulations!”
“For what?”
“Completing one week as Mr. Hottie’s attorney.”
“It feels like ten weeks.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m exhausted.”
“Is he working you too hard?” She perused the menu. “They have some really cool appetizers. Do you want to get a bunch and share?”
“Sure.” Right now, my only interest was in the martini. “He is working me hard but in a good way. I’ve been too keyed up to sleep a full night.”
“You’ve always been a solid sleeper.”
“I know.”
“What’s going on?”
“It’s nothing.”
“That means it’s something.” She licked the sugar off the rim of her glass before taking a sip. “Spill.”
“Like I said, it’s nothing but ever since Uncle Duke’s funeral, I’ve been having strange dreams. Sometimes, I can’t remember what they’re about but I always know when I have one.”
“Do they have a recurring theme?”
“Yes.” I glanced at the menu. “They all feature Angelo.”
“Oh.” She bursted into a hardy giggle.
“What?”
“Who wouldn’t dream about him? He’s a sex god. You’re spending so much time with him, of course, he’s on your mind when you go to bed. I just didn’t think you’d be distracted.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means you don’t let men distract you. You’ve given up on them completely.”
“I have not.”
“When was the last time you went on a date?”
“We were talking about the dreams, remember?” I hadn’t been on a date in over a year. One long year and to say it was shitty was an understatement.
“What about them?”
“They’re disruptive, especially when I have to see him the next day.”
“Are they the good kind of dreams?”
“We don’t have sex in them.”
“That’s disappointing.”
“Tell me about it.”
“You vixen! He is distracting you.”
“If he’s going to go through all the effort of invading my sleep, you’d think we’d at least have sex.”
“Hmm…” She set her menu down. “That’s interesting that you say that.”
“Say what?”
“That you feel like he’s purposely manipulating your dreams.”
“I didn’t say that, but these dreams are so real to me. We have conversations, and I swear it feels like he’s trying to tell me something. Like he’s trying to help me be a better attorney or something. I don’t know.”
“Maybe it’s you who wants to be the better attorney for him, and those thoughts are in your head before you fall asleep.”
“Maybe.”
“I had this class last semester. I took it because I needed the bullshit credits, you know, to fulfill a requirement that has nothing to do with my major.”
“What is your major again?” I asked. Kiki had trouble focusing on school. She should be on track to graduate next year, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“Marketing.” She shrugged. “I haven’t committed.”
“You’ve been there for three years, so don’t you think it’s time to commit?”
“We’re not talking about me. We’re talking about the bullshit class I took, remember?”
“Right.” I patted her hand because it wasn’t her fault our parents threw money at her and let her do whatever she wanted. “Tell me all about it.”
“It was an Angels and Demons class.”
“Really?”
“The professor was really hot, and he gave easy A’s, so I figured, why not?” She flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I did get an A by the way.”
“That’s great.” Too bad she couldn’t get a degree in demonology. Was that even a thing? “What does this class have to do with me?”
“There was a chapter on sex demons.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No.” She took out her phone and did a search. “The men are called Incubi. See.” She handed me her phone with an image of some strange figure hovering over a woman while she slept. “They prey on sleeping human women to have sexual intercourse with them.”
“This makes you think of me?”
“When you said you thought Angelo invaded your dreams, it made me think of this.”
“It also says here that prolonged sexual activity with an incubi can cause the human to deteriorate in mental health. Do you think I’ll go crazy if I keep dreaming about him?” I handed her the phone back. Kiki was so free-spirited. She was always coming up with wild thoughts and theories.
“What do you think?”
“I think they don’t exist. Any other interesting facts you learned from this silly course you took?”
“You’re the one who said the dreams were weird. I’m trying to help, but I guess if you’re not having sex in them, he’s probably not a sex demon.” She finished her drink. “How’s the harem treating you?”
“They’re gone.”
“Where did they go?”
“No one said, but they’re not there anymore. I guess they really just were house guests.”
After Terra’s outburst, she left and didn’t return. The atmosphere in the house was peaceful after that. Every day, I grew a little calmer until I wasn’t taking deep yoga breaths in my car before I went inside. Angelo still scared the crap out of me, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. Once I realized that, my job didn’t seem as intimidating as I had thought it would be when Calvin offered it to me.
“Your life has changed in a matter of a week.” Kiki rested her chin on her hand. “Before you didn’t know where you were headed.”
“I still don’t.”
“You have to admit, you’re in a much better position than you were last week. You have this exciting career opportunity.”
“As exciting as contract law can get,” I giggled. “However, Angelo keeps it interesting.”
“I’ll bet he does. Now, if you could only get him to have sex with you in those dreams of yours.”
“How do you know it’s just my dreams I want that in?”
“You’re falling for the hottie?” My sister clapped her hands. “That was quick.”
“He’s easy on the eyes. He’s take-charge, sexy, and successful.”
“I haven’t heard you talk about a guy like this in years.”
“I can’t believe he’s still single.”
“There’s probably a reason for that.”
“Maybe he hasn’t found the right woman?”
“Do you think you’re the right woman?”
“I don’t know enough about him.” I looked for the server because I was ready for another drink. “I’m his attorney. Some lines shouldn’t be crossed. I’m there to do a job. As attracted as I am to him, pursuing anything would only complicate matters. He’s all business. I don’t believe he’d ever blur the lines with me.”
“That’s interesting.”
“What is?”
“That you’re sitting here talking about crossing lines or not crossing them and in walks your smokin’ hot client.” Kiki stared across the room. “Oh, is that the personal assistant you were telling me about because he’s pretty hot too?”
“Kiki? Are you sure it’s him?” My cheeks flushed, and the back of my neck heated when I thought about him being here. “If you’re teasing me…”
“I am not teasing you. Why didn’t you tell me his assistant had all those tattoos?” She raised her hand and flagged them over. “I want to meet his friend.”
“What are you doing?” When I looked behind me, I found Angelo glancing around the bar. His tight, black, long-sleeved t-shirt and worn blue jeans caught me by surprise. I’d never seen him so casual, so approachable. Angelo’s smoldering black eyes connected with mine, and in an instant, the room fell silent. “Oh, God,” I whispered. “It is him.”