16. The choice is not yours
Ididn’t have many friends left in hell, that much was true. The ones I did have were reluctant to help me. They didn’t want any targets on their back. I couldn’t blame them for it; I knew what walking away from the establishment would do. It wasn’t like I was the first to quit the job, but I was the first to quit the job and dump the boss’s daughter at the same time.
It wasn’t the boss who was after me; it was Olian, my jealous ex-girlfriend. Now, because of her, my soulmate was in trouble, and the only person I knew who wouldn’t kick my ass for coming to them for help was the witch who fucked her right in front of me.
I entered Likosa’s home, carved into the side of a damn hillside. The first entrance where we met her before was empty. This place was mostly for show, though the pool in the center did aid in her elemental practices. I walked around it, avoiding the memories of what I’d seen there, and headed for the door on the opposite side.
Three knocks, and the door swung open, revealing more modern accommodations and letting the fragrance of fresh herbs and flowers flow out to greet me.
“Meti, you’re back soon. I was sure that little show of ours would have kept you away from here for a nice, long time.” Likosa placed her hand on her hip and intentionally let the sheer pink robe slip from her shoulder, revealing her nipple. “How can I help you?”
“I need your help. It’s Rayna.” I kept my eyes on her face. With Likosa, any sort of slip up could be taken as an invitation to participate in activities I had no interest in. The goal was to protect the one woman who meant anything to me.
“Hey, no refunds.” She shook her finger in my face. “I did the spell, and it worked perfectly. I can’t help if she stumbled into some other demonic troubles.”
“It’s not that. She’s injured. I need you to heal her. If she’s going to make the journey, we need her at full strength. I don’t have time to wait for her to heal at a human rate.”
“I see.” She stepped aside. “Come in. I guess I can whip up a quick elixir for you, but you will owe me one.”
“I’d expect nothing else.” There was always a deal to be made. That was how my world worked. Sure, there were other forms of official currency, but most often, those I encountered wanted bargains for favors.
“Good.” She pointed to the soft pink seat by the large round pink marble table. “Have a seat.”
Everything was done in shades of pink and touches of green. I never asked why she chose the colors; it didn’t matter. In all the years I’d known her, I’d only been inside her true home a handful of times.
Likosa wasn’t of the Bane; she was from another world. She landed in ours by accident, or so she says, and decided not to leave. My theory was that she was running from something, and it had to be pretty damn dangerous, considering how powerful Likosa was. The woman landed in hell, made a name for herself, and gained the respect of demons all over. She was pretty damn impressive.
“What’s wrong with her?” Likosa asked as she moved around the kitchen, opening cabinets and collecting items.
“She fell. I think she has a few fractured bones…” I paused, trying to figure out how to explain everything.
“What is it, Metice? Stop wasting time and tell me.” Likosa stopped and looked at me. The cool breeze moved through the kitchen from the open window, and I could have sworn she used it to coax the truth from me. It felt like a gentle hand touching my leg, thigh, arm.
“She used her magic.” The air moved around my face and neck like the caress from a woman. “I’m not sure if that has some effect on her or not.”
“Tapped into those psychic abilities, huh?” Likosa poked her lips out and nodded her head, an expression I’d come to know meant she was impressed by someone.
“You knew?” The breeze ended, and I shook my head clear of its effect.
“Of course, I did. There is something else, though, something I can’t quite figure out. It’s been driving me batty.” She paused and leaned her hip against the counter. “I was looking into it, and I came close, but I don’t think you’ll like what I found.”
“What?” My heart pounded in my chest, but I had to keep calm. How could things get any worse? Rayna was already in danger because of me. “What did you find?”
“The story of the witch who healed you. You remember her?” She placed the items down on the counter and looked at me.
“Yes, of course.” I nodded. “What about her?”
“You’re going to have to take Rayna to her.”
“I’m sorry, what?” I choked at the thought. “Why would I do that?”
“She’s the one who can help you and the girl much more than I can.”
“She’s a soul tied to the energy of the Bane,” I reminded her. “It’s not like I can just walk in there and talk to her.”
“Of course you can. You’re you.” She winked.
“This just got a lot more complicated than I thought.”
“You were going to tie your souls together for good, right? Make it so you can stay together?”
“I-”
“If you do that, Metice, she must reach her full potential, or you will lose her forever.”
“That is a choice I’ll make with her.” Rayna was already pissed off at me for keeping things from her. I promised I would earn her trust back. Making that kind of decision without her wouldn’t help my case.
“That is a choice, that will be taken from you.” She reached into a drawer and pulled out a box wrapped in ribbon. “Here, this is what you need.”
“You knew I’d be back?”
“Of course I did, child.” She sighed and fixed her robe, tightening the belt around her waist. “I’d think you’d stop doubting my abilities by now.”
“Thank you for your help.” I nodded. “I will repay you.”
“Of course you will.” She ushered me to the door. “Hurry up and get back to that lovely woman of yours.”
I had to leave Likosa’s home entirely before I could perform the shift that would take me from my world to Rayna’s. It was Likosa’s rule, and I wouldn’t break it: I couldn’t open a shift in her home. It made her vulnerable. To what, I didn’t know, but I needed her on my side, and I wouldn’t do anything to risk losing the friendship.
I’d already been gone longer than I wanted to. The woman was hardheaded and not likely to have actually stayed put like I asked.
The sky darkened overhead as the day shifted into night, and I moved across planes. This was why I was so valuable to the people who wanted me. I could step in and out of worlds without the use of any technology. It was a gift I was born with. I’d known nothing of my family before me, just that I had a gift that was rare in our world. Because of that, there were plenty of demons willing to pay top price to have me skip through realms collecting things for them.
That’s what I did until I couldn’t anymore.
Her home smelled like vanilla. The scent welcomed me with each arrival, like walking into the hands of a masseuse. My tension melted away, despite knowing we were far from having all our problems solved. Unfortunately, this visit didn’t bring the same lasting relief.
The sweet smell of vanilla still welcomed me, but the moment I stepped foot into her home, I felt the absence of her. With Rayna, her heartbeat was my beacon, calling me to her, but the house was silent.
“Of course,” I muttered as I looked around the empty bedroom. “Why would she leave?”
Instead of letting my anger drive me, I tapped into the connection I shared with my soulmate. There was a time when the feeling of her annoyed me, but now, I looked forward to it. It came in handy when the woman refused to comply to a simple request.
“Come on,” I muttered as I worked to find the frequency in my mind. The invisible thread was more like a signal, a pulse that connected us. Usually, it took just a few moments to find the soft hum in my head, but this time, I couldn’t feel her.
“Dammit, Rayna. Where are you?”
Her laptop sat open on the desk near her bed. I opened the desk drawer to find the small pink notebook where she wrote her passwords—like that was the epitome of security.
After entering what I assumed was the name of a childhood pet, the welcome screen lit up. It took just a few minutes to find her friend’s information, the one who suggested she seek therapy when she told her about me.
The easier thing to do would have been to call her, but that would have been too simple, and it wouldn’t give me the opportunity to provide a little proof for Rayna’s story. Her friend needed to see me, to know I was real, for Rayna’s sake. With everything going on, she needed her friend to be in her corner. I wasn’t sure what the woman could do, but it sounded like her emotional support was important to my soulmate.
Minutes later, I stood outside her friend’s house. The door to the brick home was knocked off the hinges, and the smell of something terrible lingered in the air—blood, and not the human variety. Several police vehicles were parked outside as officers moved around the space, conducting their investigation. I kept a safe distance so as not to call any unnecessary attention to myself while I listened in.
“The homeowner is at St. John’s Hospital. She was in a nasty accident. The call about the house came an hour after they checked her in. We came here to find the boyfriend, door knocked off the hinges,” one short officer reported to another, who had a belly the size of a small cauldron.
“Is it a domestic case?” the rotund officer spoke, a cigarette between his lips.
“No. He arrived just before we did.” The short officer checked his notes. “Neighbor called it in, and his alibi checks out. He was at a game with friends. The kid looks devastated.”
“Then why isn’t he at the hospital?” the round one asked. “And hey, it’s not like we’ve never seen an abuser show regret for his actions. It could be a show.”
“The family doesn’t want him there.” The short one frowned.
“And you’re sure he has nothing to do with it?” It was like the guy wanted the man to go down for a crime he definitely didn’t commit.
“Positive.” The man nodded. “In any case, it looks like she’ll survive. They say she’s pretty banged up. The friend who was with her is still missing. A woman, it looks like.”
“Alright, find out all you can. Something about this isn’t sitting right with me,” the big guy ordered before wobbling to his own car and driving away.
St. John’s Hospital. I had to go find the friend.
The hospital was busy, but it was easy enough to find her friend. The smell of demon blood was still on her. When I arrived, there were doctors in her room, giving reports of fractures and other injuries that would take months to heal. She was lucky to be alive.
I waited for them to leave before slipping into the room and closing the door behind me.
“Who are you?” Keri tensed in the bed.
“My name is Metice, I am-”
“The demon,” Keri finished my thought. “Well, I’ll be damned. You are real.”
“You know about me?”
“Yes, Rayna told me everything about you and your world.” She winced from the pain as she adjusted in the small bed. “Why are you here?”
“You don’t find anything about my presence alarming?” I thought it would take much more time to convince her of my existence, but she seemed unusually accepting.
“After what I saw, hell, you’re like a bunny rabbit.” She scoffed. “Those damn things that got us, they were terrifying. You can at least pass for human.”
“Where is she?” I asked. “Where’s Rayna? The officer said your friend was missing.”
“Are you going to take care of her?” She looked me in the eye like it was a challenge, the quiet beeps from the machine behind her bed like a timer counting down to her explosion.
“Of course I am.” I nodded. “Tell me where she is so I can take care of her.”
“No, I mean really take care of her.” Keri’s voice was strained with emotions I couldn’t comprehend. “Don’t play with her heart. I know my friend. That girl will find the smallest detail to toss a man to the side. Do you know she once stopped dating a man because he said she had birthing hips? Petty, right? So for her to be holding on to you so tightly now, it means something.”
“I’m not sure what to say to that.” That was the truth. “I will protect her and care for her the best I can. I promise you that.”
“She’s in this, you know that, right? She isn’t going back to her normal life.” Keri held my gaze. “Your world belongs to her. You’re smart enough to know even if you break the bond, she will never be safe. She will never be free of what knowing you has uncovered in her life.”
“Is this really the time?” Her words felt like echoes of Likosa’s, and once again, I felt like I would choke on the implication. Rayna couldn’t walk away from any of this, no matter how much I thought it was the best choice for her.
“Considering time moves a lot slower where you’re from, I think you can take a couple minutes to listen to me here,” Keri challenged.
“She really told you everything, didn’t she?”
“She told me enough.” She glanced down, and her eyes lingered on my crotch before she lifted her slow gaze and winked at me.
“Really?” I turned away. Human women were worse than the demon ones. “I need to know where she is.”
“Take care of my friend, or I will find a way to come to hell and deal with you,” she warned me.
“You human women are insane.” I laughed.
“We sure are. The men made us that way.” Keri relaxed finally.
“Where is she?” I asked. “I can’t help her from here, and I know she’s in trouble.”
“Two big ass demon things, yellow and blue monsters, they chased us down.” Her voice softened as the rising emotions choked her. “I killed one, but it wasn’t enough. They knocked me out, and when I woke up, she was gone.”
“Dammit, Olian.” I cursed the name of the one who owned the trackers, demon dogs with a hellish tech upgrade. When they activated, they became large and terrifying beasts who would do anything their owner commanded. Any other time, they looked like an average mutt.
“Your ex?” Keri asked.
“Yes. Those are her pets. They’re trackers. They would have taken Rayna back to her.”
“That bitch better not hurt my friend over your dumbass,” Keri cursed.
“Thanks.” I paused. “You killed one?”
“I shot that jolly green ex of yours in the chest, too. So take my warning to heart, demon boy.” she winked.
“Please don’t call me that.”
“Save my friend, and I won’t.”
I didn’t bother using the door. I knew exactly where I needed to go: back to hell to visit my ex.