Chapter 3 #2
He pushed off the doorframe and crossed the room, taking a seat on the edge of the bed beside her bag. “I brought you lunch, but your coworker Siphesihle said you had received a summons.” He stared into her overnight bag and frowned. “I cannot say I find this reassuring.”
Effie dragged her bottom lip between her teeth.
To tell him or not to tell him, that was the question.
This probably fell under the purview of important information one ought to tell their future spouse, but on the other hand, did she really need to concern him with a problem that could be easily remedied?
He’d wonder why she hadn’t told him, and then he’d start asking questions about Finn, and she could scarcely think of anything she wanted to talk about less with Belphegor than her soon-to-be ex-husband.
For both their sakes, she’d keep the specifics to herself.
“Yeah, actually, there’s a bit of a…contractual snafu I need to deal with. Hence the summons.” Into her duffel the corset went. “Nothing to stress over, but it is going to require I take a little trip topside to take in hand.”
“And this trip requires all your many frilly underthings?” He smiled, bemused. “Just how long do you expect to be gone for, darling?”
“Hard to say.” She reached inside her closet and pulled out a pair of jeans. “But if everything goes according to plan, I should be back in a jiffy.”
The plan being to go to Silver Springs, find Finn, convince him to renounce his vow, and return to Hell sans one pesky soul tie.
“Why do I have the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me?” he asked.
Because he wasn’t a moron, that’s why.
But Effie hadn’t been a demon for the better part of the last five hundred years without developing a poker face and a few tried-and-true methods of deflection.
She sauntered across the room and stepped into the cradle formed by his thighs, leaning in and slowly, deliberately brushing her lips along his smooth jaw.
“Baby, I’d be boring if I didn’t have a few secrets. ”
“Hmm.” His arms wrapped around her. “That’s probably true.”
Effie stepped back and scowled. He wasn’t supposed to agree.
“You are not leaving already, are you?” He frowned, watching as she shoved her foot into a pointy-toed black boot.
“I am.” She grunted softly, fighting with the gold zipper at her heel. “If I’m not back before morning, I’m going to need to work remotely tomorrow.”
“And let me guess,” Belphegor said, lips quirked in a wry half smile. “You want me to be the one to tell Harbinger?”
“He’s such a thorn in my side.” She blew out a noisy breath and moved over to the mirror to figure out what to do with her hair. “He got all snotty with me this morning.”
She twisted her long, dark hair into a low ponytail at her nape, studied her reflection for a moment, and then sighed. She looked like one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. So not the look she was going for here.
“You’re in a temper.” Belphegor stood. “I think I’ll go.”
She opened her mouth to argue but realized there was no use denying it. “That’s probably for the best.” She turned her head for him to kiss her cheek. “I’ll text you?”
Belphegor hummed. “Safe travels.”
He left, shutting the door behind him with a soft snick.
Giving up on her hair, Effie walked over to the bed and, with a little push of magic, shrank her overnight bag down to the size of a box of Tic Tacs, slipping it into her back pocket. At the sound of a soft hiss, she turned.
Curled up on the hearthstone, her dorsal scales gleaming like polished onyx in the firelight, Nessie flicked out her tongue, her irritation plain.
I’ll go, too, Nessie hissed, pushing her thoughts at Effie. Without you, I’ll be lonely.
“No, you cannot come with me, you big baby,” Effie said sternly. “You’ll be fine on your own for a day or two. Promise.”
To the untrained eye, Nessie may have looked a little like a melanistic common European adder, but she was an infernal viper, a descendant of the famed serpent that tempted Eve to eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.
Right now, she was only about fifteen inches long, her preferred length, but if she chose, she could grow to the size of a reticulated python.
She was largely harmless to demons, but to humans her venom was quite potent, one bite capable of felling a fully grown man.
As if Effie hadn’t spoken, Nessie wriggled across the stone floor, stopping expectantly at her feet. Suddenly Effie’s head was filled with a mournful, serpentine rendition of “All by Myself” by Eric Carmen.
“You’re a damn drama queen is what you are.” She sighed. “Fine. But you’ve got to be incognito.” She crouched and held out a hand, smiling despite herself when Nessie slithered into her waiting palm. “I mean it. No wandering off. You go where I go, you hear?”
Yesss, yesss, enough fussss. Nessie coiled herself around Effie’s arm and, with a ripple of magic, disguised herself as a silver cuff. I’ll behave. You’ll sssee.
“You better,” Effie said. “Now, hush, please. I need to think. I don’t want to forget anything.”
No, sssilly. Nessie flicked out her tongue. You drag your feet isss what you do.
Effie scowled. Okay, fine, she was dragging her feet a little, what of it? Less than an hour ago she’d found out that some incarnation of the man she’d married 480 years ago still walked the earth. And to remove the link between them, she’d have to find him and face him and talk to him and—
The chapter of her existence that Finn MacDonald had occupied was supposed to be closed.
She’d closed it. Firmly, not with a snick but with a slam, and then she’d gone one step further and sealed the damn thing shut.
Pardon her petulance, but she had no desire to relive a past mired in grief and guilt and heartbreak.
It was supposed to be one of the perks of being a demon.
Emotions were like muscles—go long enough without experiencing them and they’d atrophy to the point of nonexistence.
What purpose did pity serve a demon whose objective was to corrupt?
Shame? Empathy? All useless, all seldom felt, never after a time.
But there was a reason most demons avoided thinking about their human past, avoided those memories like the plague. Memories, strong ones, could evoke echoes of emotions long since felt in even the most ancient of demons.
The thought of experiencing even half of what she’d felt in her final moments of being human made an eternity spent in Judecca seem alluring.
No, Effie didn’t care what she had to do, she wasn’t going to relive shit. She’d get in, get out, get on with her life, and put this—this mess behind her, once and for all. She just needed to keep a level head and she’d be fine.
“Feet dragging’s over,” Effie promised, rolling her shoulders and shaking out her hands, earning a small hiss of displeasure from Nessie, who didn’t appreciate being jostled. “You ready?”
Nessie nodded.
Demons were drawn to desperation like a bloodhound to a scent, but otherwise apporting or ferrying oneself through space—teleporting as the sci-fi nerds called it—required focus.
Objects worked great, especially those with strong ties to a person or place—a lock of hair, a photograph, a handwritten letter, et cetera, et cetera.
If she’d been somewhere before, a clear mental picture would do the trick.
Before she’d been put on probation, she’d often popped to New York City on a whim, a strong craving for a bagel or a slice of pizza enough to set a course.
The more information she had to work with, the better.
Addresses were ideal, street names usually solid unless she was in a big city, in which case she might hit a bit of a snag.
Atlanta, for instance, had seventy-one streets bearing some variation of the name Peachtree.
Effie took a deep breath in and closed her eyes, not because apporting required it, but because it was easier to focus that way.
34.591862, -84.155793
34.591862, -84.155793
34.591862, -84.155793
The coordinates became a mantra in her mind as she widened her stance and visualized roots growing from the base of her spine and the soles of her feet, descending down into the earth.
She prodded at one of the telluric currents Hell was lousy with until, like a tap, energy began to flow, stirring gently in her core.
This next step she didn’t have to think about any more than she thought about breathing or digestion or any other involuntary physiological process.
Magic heaved around her, ripe and ready, the spot right beneath her belly button twisting as she deliberated hard on her destination, and with a wisp of black smoke, Effie was gone.