Author's Note:
If you've read "
Demon Flesh
", and you're joining me again for its sequel, "
Thy Flesh, Consumed
", welcome back. If you're joining me for the first time, I encourage you to read "
Demon Flesh
" first. My thanks to
Ikema
for asking all the right questions about Lilith and sparking this sequel. Enjoy! --
EH
*
"So you want me to find some book?" Nathan said as he stood in a vault of other very old, expensive books.
He lit a cigarette and took a slow drag. Ash drifted to the floor as he carelessly held it between his fingers.
"It's not just
any
book--It's the
Il Malvagio
."
Glass crackled and popped as the old man's wheelchair rolled over broken glass. Nathan had no idea what the hell this guy was talking about.
"The
Il Malvagio
is the most expensive book in my collection." Osbourne said. "The most dangerous."
Nathan chuckled. This guy was off his rocker.
"Since when is a book dangerous?"
"Since the Italian sorcerer, Paccio penned it over 700 years ago!" Osbourne snapped.
He dug around in his jacket pocket, pulled out a picture and thrust it towards Nathan.
"See this woman? This woman was my personal assistant - I
know
she stole it."
Nathan plucked the picture from Osbourne's hand. She was hot, whoever she was. Her long dark blonde hair framed her sultry face, but her eyes... Her deep brown eyes were tempting, taunting...
"What's her name?"
"Nona."
Nathan looked around the library. Only the one case was smashed in. No other books were taken except the
Il Malvagio,
and there were no other signs of forced entry.
"What do you think she wanted with it?"
"Money, power, how should I--"
Osbourne hit his fist against the arm of his wheelchair.
"--I let her get under my skin, let her sweet talk me into believing..."
He turned away from Nathan, angry and embarrassed.
"I told Nona about the Codex and how it conjured untold pleasures. I never thought she was stupid enough to want to
try.
"
If this guy's talking about magic or something, he's gotta be a few cards short of a full deck.
Nathan thought.
And this Nona too. Who believes in that stuff?
He took an irreverent puff from his cigarette.
"Okay... Where do I find her?"
Osbourne's face twisted and he grabbed Nathan's arm.
"You listen to me!" Osbourne growled. "There's a
demon
imprisoned in those pages. If Nona lets it loose--"
Nathan jerked his arm away from the old man's grasp. He didn't believe a word of it.
"I want that goddamned book found, Pace, you hear me!?"
"Right.", Nathan said as he flicked ash on the vault's floor.
He left Osbourne's vault for the address on the back of Nona's picture.
****
Nona woke to cold night air on her flesh and the scent of rot in her nose.
"Where?" she muttered as she threw her hand up against the harsh city lights.
Cracked pavement scratched her soft skin as she tried to get herself off of the cold, wet ground. There was a taste on her lips, fresh and copper. She gagged and wiped blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. When she looked down, she saw she was naked.
"What," Nona whispered in the darkness, "...what
happened
to me?"
She looked around, frantic. Her head spun and her stomach was sick. The whole world moved too fast for her as she tried again to get up.
"Matthew?" she called out weakly. "
Matthew!
"
Where are you! Where the hell am I?
Nona got herself up against a wall, a rough brick wall, she realized. Her eyes focused as they slowly swept around. An alley - somehow, she ended up in the back of some dirty ally.
"Help," she mumbled. "I need help... I need to get out of here. Matthew..."
Nona spied a crumpled coat nearby. Her wild eyes darted about as she snatched it up with a shaky hand. Her thoughts were hazy. She tried to force herself to remember something,
anything.
Clips and bits of blood and sex and smooth skin tearing under her hands, played behind her eyes. She staggered against the brick wall and her stomach heaved.
The book,
Lilith's voice whispered in her, something soft and dark.
Get the book...
"Book," Nona murmured as she wrapped the dirty coat around herself. "What book?"
Here. In the darkness...
Nona peered into the dark ally. She took an awkward step forward and shook her head.
"No... I have to--"
Come...
the dark voice softly begged.
Don't you want to come again?
Nona felt an ache flare between her legs and she gasped.
Don't you want it?
She felt herself slipping, giving into it...
Don't you want the darkness and the feast of flesh?
"Flesh..." Nona murmured.
There was a faint tingle on her forehead as she edged closer, heedless of glass and rock under her dirty, bare feet.
Yes. Come...
Nona saw the yellowed pages flutter, beckoning her. The seven-pointed star that Matthew painted on her forehead started to faintly glow, and her body grew hot.
"I need..."
Nona bent down and moaned softly. The
Il Malvagio's
pages caressed her hands as she reached for it. Half remembered words in Italian rose in her. She remembered the ecstasy and the fire that burned through her when she and Matthew said the words...
She reached for the book, eager to speak them again, when something grabbed her wrist. Nona screamed and withered flesh sloughed off when she jerked her hand away. Slick blood wet her hand and there was an awful scraping as she stumbled back with the book.
"Mistress--don't leave me!"
Out of the darkness, a man, what was left of him, scraped across the pavement broken, bloody knees.
"No!" Nona screamed, "You stay away -
stay away from me!
