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  “Nye.” My legs unlatched and I dropped them to the floor. Could this day get any worse?

  “Oh, I’m going to do it, Kiri, don’t you worry I’m going to do it.”

  “Nye.” He finally got the inflection in my voice and pulled back to look at my head turned to the left. His eyes followed mine to see my landlord, a cop, and what I could only assume was a plain clothes detective.

  Nye’s hand instantly went toward his blade, but I stopped him.

  “Mr. Jenks, why are you in my apartment? I didn’t get a notice.”

  “Detective DeTello said he’s been trying to contact you but you haven’t been responsive.”

  “I’ve left several notes on the door,” a man in a blue sports coat and polo stated.

  “I don’t stay here that often.”

  “That’s apparent. No food, no furniture…”

  “There’s a bed,” I pointed out, thinking, Why Nye liked sneaking in here instead of our big comfy bed at home, I’ll never know.

  “That’s apparent also. Can you tell me where you normally live?”

  I kept Nye behind me standing as a barrier, but I could tell he wanted to be my protector. This was my time. This was something I could handle.

  “I live with my husband.”

  “Husband?” The detective went to a notepad. “I have that you were single. Possibly dating Damarion Juarez.”

  “DJ and I were friends.”

  “Were?”

  Shit! Why did I use past tense? Oh yeah, I killed him. “We had a falling out.”

  “But you were good friends?” The image of the bullet cutting through DJ’s neck blowing the back of his head off, and causing him to lie lifeless on my roof sent a shiver through me.

  “I guess.”

  “He’s been reported missing and you are listed as the last to see him.”

  “He’s missing?” My hand squeezed Nye’s. I could feel the cold penetrating my bones.

  “Yes, since the day you turned in your resignation due to a health concern?”

  “Oh…”

  “His sister said he was going to talk to you and left their house very late. Do you remember that day?”

  “Um…my last day was a little bit of a blur. DJ was upset with me because when he got here Nye was here. I assumed when he stormed out he would just go sleep it off.”

  “He was drunk?” the detective asked.

  “He tried to kiss her. Well, more than kiss her.” Nye was not helping. “She shoved him away and he left distraught. We debated whether to go after him.”

  “Debated, huh? Why?”

  “He was upset. I work with depressed people. It looked too familiar.”

  “So you thought he might hurt himself?”

  “Yes. And now that you’re here I’m afraid we may have made the wrong choice.”

  “Mick Jessup said you contracted HIV and that’s why you quit. Now you said that you got married. Which is it?”

  “Both. My husband wants me to focus on my health, not my job.”

  “Really? So how is your health?”

  “Good. Organic diet. Plus we’re moving soon. I figured we’d pay out my lease instead of trying to sublet.”

  “Why?”

  “His whole family lives with us, it seems. Or at least they have a key to the front door. You know what I mean?” I asked as I snaked my hand around Nye’s waist. “Sometimes we don’t want to be interrupted.”

  “Like today.”

  “Yes, like today.”

  “I apologize for the interruption, but if you think of anything that might help his family locate him give us a call.” The detective handed me his card.

  “Family? I didn’t know he had family.”

  “The coaches contacted a sister who lives locally. She said she’d been out of touch with him when we talked to her. Although she did say him being gone this long was strange and she suspected a man that had been threatening him. She didn’t have a good description. Any chance he told you?”

  “Nope, DJ never told me about anyone. Then again he didn’t tell me he had a sister either. Guess we weren’t as close as I thought.”

  “If you hear from him, let him know we’re looking for him.”

  “Will do.”

  Right as the detective reached the door, he turned back to us. “One other thing, did he ever talk about going to the truck stop at the edge of town?”

  “No, why?”

  “We caught what we thought was a glimpse of him on a surveillance tape. Oh, I’d prefer if we had a method of getting in touch with you that’s more reliable then dumb luck.”

  My cell phone had been shut off since I became Frozen. The phones we used weren’t traceable. Even with that I wasn’t sure I should just give a number to a detective. Something about him even asking seemed suspect. He wasn’t telling me everything.

  “319-555-2783.” Nye dropped a number I’d never heard so quickly I was taken aback.

  “We’ll be in touch.”

  When the police fully left the apartment I turned to Nye.

  “What number is that?”

  “The house phone. It’s registered to Bruce.”

  “Who’s Bruce?”

  “The guy who lives in the trailer.”

  “There’s a guy who lives in the trailer?”

  “Yes, who do you think legally pays the taxes and stuff?”

  “You?”

  “I don’t exist. We found Bruce when he was younger and made him an offer. He stays a bachelor and doesn’t ask about what we do and he gets paid. He’s gone more than he is at home, but when we need him to be the land owner, he is.”

  “How old is he?”

  “Almost eighty now.”

  “How is it that I’m just now hearing this?”

  “You never asked.”

  “At orientation you might want to clue people in to these things.”

  “Unless you’re in charge you don’t need to deal with the land owners.”

  “It’s still good to know.”

  “Fine, I’ll tell the new ones about Bruce.”

  “What are we going to do about DJ?”

  “What is there to do? He’s dead. There’s no trace of him except what I assumed was a Deumos starting trouble.”

  “Why would a Deumos do that?”

  “I don’t know, then again, I’ve never been in a compound that killed a Yahweh.”

  “Do you think they’re trying to flush us out?”

  “We find them, remember? Unless Schmitty found something that would indicate a change.”

  Nye eyed me and I feared breaking down and telling him everything. The princess was my problem to deal with whether I want to or not. Shifting from my left to right foot I gathered my coat and headed to the back door.

  “We should go and probably not come back here again.”

  “Kiri,” Nye snapped. “What are you trying to avoid? What’s going on with Schmitty? I bring him up and you rush to distract me.”

  “Nothing is happening with Schmitty. Do you want round two about DJ to play out here? Personally the safety of the compound sounds good to me right now.”

  Nye shifted his weight a few times and acknowledged my idea was better. How much could a detective do to us anyway?

  Chapter 6

  Her Royal Holiness, Princess LaDressa, Daughter of Lucifer the IV

  “YOU look different, my daughter,” my mother stated the obvious one night in my room.

  Different would be an understatement. Damarion had left my room but a minute ago and I could still feel the flush in my lips and cheeks. Never in my life had anything or anyone made my blood rush as he does.

  “Does it displease you?” I asked, as she took over stroking my hair with the bristled brush.

  “It vexes me, that is all. I worry you are overstepping yourself.”

  “I cannot leave my quarters, how could I overstep?”

&
nbsp; Keeping my eyes to the granite counter of my vanity I tried to push the memory of him out of my mind, but the mere brush of my tongue against the edge of my lip brought his sweet flavor back to me in full force.

  “Do you have a new servant?”

  “No. Why do you ask?”

  “I’ve seen Masako with a shadow. I thought she was training someone new.”

  “If she has, they have not crossed my threshold.” I would have to be more careful with Masako. Praxis came to me; his skin was the color of the earth shined in the light of the fire. He rested his head on my foot and I reached my hand out to stroke his back. “Could you take Praxis out so he may fly? I would so like to watch from my window.”

  “That is not for me to do. Ask a servant.” My mother reached into a small onyx jar no bigger than my hand. It was round with cuts in it like a pillow. In the center were my diamonds that my mother insisted on being in my hair. As she placed each one with care, my hair naturally spun a web around them in protection. They shined like a light hidden by a gossamer veil.

  Damarion told me that I was like that. Something glittering, but just out of reach. Like a star in the Heavens, but that I did not understand so he had to explain on the Earth they believe the stars are where the gods are. That as a young boy he would crawl up to his roof and lay with his brother as they looked at the stars and dreamed of what was happening there. Orion taking down a bull. Dragons and snakes cutting across the sky. Big and little bears walking together. It sounded almost magical.

  Now I am here where the sky is black with small glimmering dots. I do not see the animals or men Damarion spoke of. I feel so lonely without his arms around me. At home I’m sad, but not lonely. Here he is all I wish for.

  “Your Holiness, I have prepared a meal.” It was Cailean. She is so tiny in her stature and speech. I never knew an adult could be like that.

  “You may go.”

  “If I may?”

  “Yes.”

  “I never had the pleasure of Damarion’s company…”

  If this little slut thinks I am going to raise him from the dead only to share him with her, I shall strike her down now.

  “I believe it was because he did not want to share himself with anyone so the least he could be with was his aim.”

  “Thank you. Your words are kind.”

  “I wish for permission to lay with one of the bantlings.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I shall lay with a human if you would prefer but…it has been so long. I understand that you do not know the desire…”

  “I know the desire. I just do not know of anonymous caring, for I only wish to lay with one.”

  “I have yet to have my heart be found. My needs are physical in nature only. As Yahweh you have the right to refuse me, but I do not enjoy the pleasure of a woman as the others do.”

  “The others lay with one another.”

  “Yes. Even the great Yahweh Damarion has lain with more than one at a time.” Her voice got soft at the end as she realized what she had just admitted to. “Your Holiness, I do wish to be touched by another.”

  This is what I was to deal with? The genital aches of the women around me.

  “You may lay with a matured bantling once. Then you must deal with humans. They are fragile and will teach you self-control.”

  As Cailean returned to the home through the sliding glass, I crossed my arms in front of me looking to what Damarion called the Heavens. What a thought. Gods sitting up on the clouds looking down upon the world, but what did I know? I had been told my only place in the world was to be a vessel to carry future demons. I was to come to court upon my brother’s wishes to sit beside him and show our unity. If only the people knew the truth of our relationship.

  I settled on the chair on the porch not as if I was on a throne, but instead I slumped. I prayed to my father that my mother stayed inside the domicile so I did not have to hear her barking at me to sit up, have my ankles crossed, and keep my focus forward. Never was I to take pleasure in the world, only keep my marble statue-like form. That is why I found such wonder in Damarion’s touch. It caused my body to shiver of its own accord.

  Entering the home, I went in search of Pivane. He was not in his bedding chamber. Crossing the circular area between our homes I went to the one I’d been told he frequents. It is where he is to update the bantlings on the ways of the world; mayhap I’ll have to attend one of his sessions. It would be smart to learn of these times, but I must maintain my supervisory position.

  I could hear grunting from the back of the home so I walked around the side and through the gate. Pivane was shoveling dirt into a hole as his long dark hair fell around his face. His hard-looking muscular arms glistened with moisture. Shoveling? As if he were the lowest of demons. Has he accepted his station?

  “Pivane,” I snapped and he looked over his shoulder, and then returned to his task. “Pivane, I have summoned you.”

  “Your Holiness you may not be aware of this, but living on this plain does require labor at times. Pick up a shovel and help or leave me to my work.”

  “Your work is dictated by me. I did not order you to fill a hole.”

  “Leaving it empty would raise more alarm.”

  “What are you attempting to do then? Explain yourself.”

  “I am planting,” he stated plainly as he picked up a bush and placed it in the center of his digging.

  “This is required at this late hour?”

  “What is required is for me to command the Deumos to pleasure me while raising bantlings.” He tossed his shovel aside and crossed to me while taking off the covering for his chest and using it to wipe the sweat from his face. “That is, unless you’d like to take on that task.”

  His hand rolled over his stomach that had a sprinkling of dark hair spanning from the center as it went to his waistband. I bit back my disgust and sadly understood what Damarion must have been going through in my absence. My body tingled at the sight of his bare flesh and although my loyalty was to my love, Pivane had a way about him.

  “Have you received a response from my brother?”

  “Ask the whores.” He latched his thumbs in the loops of his pants and tugged down just enough to expose a V at his hips pointing to his sex. “They retrieve the messages in the fire. Did they not tell you that?”

  “No.” I swallowed hard and forced my eyes to his. His lip curled and I backed up. “Come with me then and we shall see so you can respond.”

  “Your command is my wish,” he oozed, following me to a home where Nemiseo resided. “Tell me, Princess, what did Damarion do with you?”

  I stopped my progress and turned to him.

  “Do with me? As if I were a commoner? I am your princess, future leader of all.”

  “I thought Lucifer was next in line.”

  “He is.” I shook my head to rid it of the thoughts. “I am the leader here. You do not…I…Damar…”

  “Did he touch you?” Pivane pulled me against his body and his scent entered my lungs. His hand covered in dirt cradled my cheek. “Did he take your lips and claim them as his?”

  “My body is his. If any were to violate the pledge I would remove the appendage that made the offense.”

  Pivane released me, but stayed close.

  “It’s only a violation if it offended you. Remember that, Princess.”

  I returned to my journey and entered Nemesio’s home where she was currently tending to a bantling that growled as we entered.

  “Yahweh, how may I attend thee this night?”

  “I was looking for a response from my brother. Has he replied to Pivane?”

  She passed a salted meat treat to the bantling who bit at it and growled while devouring the cooked flesh. Although his eyes burned into me, I could see he’d calmed, especially when she stroked his muzzle.

  “I believe something arrived an hour ago.”

  “And you did not bring it to me immedia
tely,” I snarled.

  “I will in the future. I apologize for my failure.” Nemesio left the room.

  “Damarion would make her growl from pleasure,” Pivane moaned. “I could stroke myself to her noises.”

  Rage burned up my spine.

  “Zuma…Oh, now there was his weakness. I believe he allowed her to command him in bed.”

  “Stop.”

  “Does the truth hurt? The thought of him licking another woman to orgasm.”

  “Remember what I said about things that offend me?” I turned my head sharply to Pivane. “Your tongue is on the verge of being removed.”

  “There are better ways to use its talents.”

  “Here.” Nemesio entered the room with an iron trunk. “I have allowed it to cool.”

  “That degrades the message,” Pivane growled. “That is why you are to bring it to us at the moment of arrival.”

  “How about you douse the flames and feel it burn against your flesh before you order me to do something?”

  “Enough,” I raised my hand to my eye to block out the frustration. “Obtain the transmission so we may respond in kind.”

  Pivane looked at the trunk and sized it up. I knew my brother enjoyed tormenting those in his charge. Pulling a long knife from a drawer, Pivane undid the latch and shrapnel flew around the room.

  “I thought he’d stop that once Damarion was dead.” Pivane sighed with annoyance.

  “Maybe he doesn’t like you as much as you delude yourself to believe,” I stated.

  “More likely he has an idea of where you’ve wandered to,” Pivane countered.

  “Pivane,” my brother’s voice called from the flame in the center of the chest. His voice seemed slightly distorted. “It surprises me that all is well with you. I fear you are under duress and may not even receive this communication. My sister has been misplaced and I worry about her safety at this time. If you come across her in your travels I suggest you relegate her to a chamber where she can be protected and not interact with others. Additionally you shall from this day forth make the Deumos—”

  With the help of a glass of water I extinguished the fire.

  “You will respond swiftly.”

  “How can I respond when you destroyed half of the message?”

  “He has no say in how the Deumos are to be put to use. His message was trite.”