Chapter Ten
Christa
“We need to speak to Vince and ask if we can have the venue for an additional night. Tickets sold out in three minutes and demand suggests it would be financially worthwhile.” Christa said, going over the list she’d created to keep her thoughts firmly away from Wanda. From the failed visit to the forest, and from what Dakata had said. Then there was what had happened while she dreamed after the visit.
I have such a wonderful escort to keep me safe. Those words had been on repeat until the pattern had broken with sleep and erotic dreams of a woman, naked in the moonlight, pleasuring herself… offering herself to us.
Please, I’m in a business meeting. Heat unfurled in her core at how much she wanted to believe that was exactly what Wanda had done. It was all so damn confusing. Yet, common sense wanted to prevail when Christa could not discount Wanda’s fear.
Her fear of us is real.
Not us, of the situation in the demon realm. Go to the king and ask him for protection for the forest. To stop demons from entering that haven’t had an invitation.
Christa’s thoughts were halted when her demon paused, and a dose of alarm followed. What is it? Is it Wanda? Has something happened to her?
Merihem has been in an accident. He is fine, but needs Scott to go and assist with the injured cab driver, George.
Her worries got pushed aside. “Scott, Merihem needs you to go to him now. He’s at the scene of a traffic accident.”
When Scott didn’t so much as lift his gaze, Christa frowned. “Are you listening to me?” she questioned, one shapely brow arched to perfection while she swept her black flowing locks over one shoulder.
“Of course.” Scott gave her a sheepish look, one she had never seen before.
“Are you going to go? It seems rather urgent,” Christa said with a little more force, hoping to pull Scott from whatever was distracting him.
He stared at Christa, looking like he was searching for answers. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips when his Adam’s apple bobbed repeatedly, and it appeared she’d caught him out. “Merihem reached out. He’s been in an accident—"
“What!” Up off the seat, his concern for Merihem was evident in his agitation, something he wasn’t prone to revealing—ever.
“He’s fine, as is Peni. They need you to go to them because of the cab driver, George. He needs to go to the hospital,” Christa explained as she wrote on a piece of paper. She pushed the paper with all the details on towards Scott, doing her best not to allow her thoughts to stray back to Wanda.
Christa continued on and then sat watching Scott, who stood, iPad in hand. “Aren’t you going? He’s unconscious and has no one to advocate for him.” She pointed at his tablet. “What are you doing?”
“He may possibly have healed before I get there. But I’m looking at the hospitals in the area, assessing likely courses of action for the paramedics.”
“Possibly, but our guys are worried about the bear, so just check on them and him. I’ll sort through what’s needed here, so don’t worry.” She clearly got his reluctance. No one was as organized as the demon in front of her. She didn’t think anyone could possibly compete with Scott.
He nodded, spun around on his Italian loafers, and left the room. Christa returned her focus to the pile of work, once more using it as a distraction. Dakata giving her the job had helped her. However, his suggestion of, ‘ go talk to the trees, they will guide you and your demon side with Wanda’, was confusing.
Cryptic. When Christa considered the feelings of dread his words caused… unless he was referring to… no, that couldn’t be what he meant. Had he had sex with Silas’s tree?
Shaking off the idea as absurd, she delved into the pile of work.
Christa was unsure how much time had passed when the door to the office burst open and Scott walked in without his perfunctory knock. Christa glanced up, a frown tugging at her sculpted brows at his slightly disheveled appearance. “When did you ever enter an office without knocking? And why aren’t you at the hospital?”
He jabbed a finger at her. “I went to the hospital, and the bear is gone. I need to find him!”
Christa lounged back in her seat, sensing the panic rolling off Scott, but unsure what had caused it. “I feel I’m missing something here?”
“Does Dakata have the cab driver's contact information?” he asked, ignoring her stare.
“I have no idea.” Her perfect bow lips pulled into a thoughtful pout. “You’ll have to ask him yourself.”
She tapped her painted nails on the arm of the chair, seeing this as a perfect excuse to do what she’d denied herself all day. She wanted to believe Wanda’s actions the night before, in her dreams, were real. “In fact, why don’t we both take a trip to the forest to talk to Dakata, in person ?”
“What? Why do you need to come?” Scott questioned, looking confused.
She rose and smoothed down her dress over her curves as she came towards him. “I’m your boss—”
“No, Merihem is my boss, after Dakata. You are an employee, the same as me.”
Scott had made this point before, but Christa liked to quibble over such things. Her laughter was bold as she slipped an arm through Scott’s and turned him towards the door he’d come through. “You are too easy, you know that? That snooty tone gets me every time.”
“I do not have a snooty tone,” he argued, but went with her.
“You do, and you love to use it when you’re annoyed. Like now.” She guided him out of the building and into the back of a car without complaint, making Christa very suspicious of the reasons why.
Christa gave the driver the directions.
“I need my laptop!” Scott declared, hand going to the door handle.
Christa reached for his hand, removing it from the handle as the car pulled from the curb, not allowing him a chance to argue. “Do you sleep with the damn thing?”
Scott eyed Christa with a look that spoke volumes. He was clearly pissed off as he shook off her touch. “Of course not.” He glanced away, looking very shifty.
“What’s wrong with you?” Christa tapped on Scott’s forearm, bringing his attention back to her.
“Nothing,” he snapped back, then visibly took a breath, adding to Christa’s belief that something had happened between Scott and the bear. Could it be… another blissful connection?
“Your demon side giving you a hard time?” she questioned after a minute of watching Scott.
He met her gaze. “Yes.”
“I feel you.” Christa looked out the car window. “They don’t always see that life isn’t just black and white, that decisions come in an entire spectrum of colors that can make it hard to find the right fit.”
“Life can be more shades than we can fathom, yes.”
She didn’t turn to look at him as she nodded. “Absolutely true,” she murmured quietly. “Then why can’t others see that?”
Because you need to show with actions that Wanda has nothing to fear from us. Talk to her about what troubles her and go seek an audience with the king. I know she wants us. You can scent how much she wants us. Her trees are showing you this. She showed you this last night.
She had scented her… the trees…
The night before, the dreams were so vivid. When Wanda lay in the hollow of her trees, their branches touched Christa as intimately as Wanda. Her heart beat faster at what the trees encouraged her to do.
The car slowed as they entered a rutted road that led to the drop off place that Christa had come to twice before when visiting Dakata. The engine died, but Christa didn’t move from her position as she considered how to make her next move.
She’s scared, we can show her she has nothing to fear from us. You’ve never given up on anything in your life, so why would you not fight for the most important thing in it?
I want to, Christa argued back, paying no attention to Scott, who she could feel was staring at her. Our blissful one is frightened.
Yes, and as I said, a visit to the king will fix that.
“Are you okay?” Scott’s question held all the elements of someone who was really uncomfortable asking something so personal. He kept his thoughts and feelings hidden behind a wall, always.
She didn’t look at him as she reached for the door handle. “We’ll see.” With that, she took a steadying breath and got out of the car.
Christa gave herself a moment to get her bearings. She had no desire to use her demon powers and freak Wanda out by just appearing, if she was outside her trees.
Hearing the car door shut, she turned to see Scott’s nose wrinkle. Much like she’d seen Dakata when he was on a rampage, Christa was stunned by Scott's behavior as his demon emerged. She couldn’t look away at the sound of his suit ripping at the seams.
Then, a pale blue demon, shredded clothes flapping around his body, his cock slapping about wildly of his thighs, rampaged off through the forest calling, “George, my honey bear, call to me if you can. I’m coming and I’ll rip apart those who took you from us. I swear.”
For a moment, her own problems melted away as she grinned and watched Scott’s pale blue ass disappear through the trees, trampling plants underfoot in his haste. “I never knew you had it in you, Scott.”