12

CHAPTER 11

We ended up outside the Affairs Office building around the corner from the front entrance stairs. I immediately let go of Oldavai and pressed my forehead to the coarse bricks. With measured counts I was able to slow down my breathing, the state of my underwear was another matter entirely.

"Oldavai, no one should go through that much sex in such a short amount of time."

"I do."

I angled my head towards him and stared, enraged at his answer, "YOU'RE AN INCUBUS!"

He didn't flinch, "So good of you to notice."

I tried to pace off my agitation. The valiant effort was wasted, so I glared again on the next turn around, "You're impossible."

His lips quirked in his own semblance of annoyance, "Again, you'll be with me."

"I cannot continue walking into that office reeking of sex. You already shined me from head to toe. I am not your concubine."

He raised a brown eyebrow that matched his human looking dark eyes. "You wanted magnetic line travel?"

I grew flustered, "No, not really, but I can lift my head a little higher smelling like a hospital rather than a brothel."

He made a scoffing noise before continuing, "Sex smells sweet and you are my sweet. Deal with it."

I was beyond exasperated with him, "No! You're not allowed to take me anywhere anymore. I'll take myself."

He let loose a huge sigh, "I'll think about it."

I let off growls of frustration and stormed off around the corner. I'd ride the shadows, damming myself with as much demon magic as I could. Demon hunters said it was a destructive drug to us and I had yet to feel the full effects. Maybe I wouldn't get addicted. I physically shook off the images parading in front of my thoughts that my trainer showed me of hunters who succumbed.

My heavy footfalls got me up the outside stairs before Oldavai was beside me back to looking his regular incubi self. He nodded to the guards we passed and flung his magic to the sorcerer on shift to catch. Then he proceeded to steer me to a ground floor bathroom instead of the internal stairs.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, looking down at the brown paper bag in his hands.

"A peace offering, my sweet."

"What?" My forehead frowned in confusion.

We entered the tiled domain, and he pushed the bag at me. "Change. I won't stay around otherwise this pair will be wet and creamy too." Then he was just gone. I blinked. Just gone. Not even time for me to make a remark.

The bag opened with a crinkling sound as I peeked in. A complete outfit. As I pulled out one piece at a time my eyes narrowed in annoyance. My finger curled around the string of a red thong. Every single piece was a statement in sexy office wear. I huffed and decided to reluctantly accept his peace offering.

I walked out of the bathroom wearing the outfit and kitten heels he procured for me. He cocked his head, "I didn't realize that shirt would be so tight."

"Really?" I said dead pan. "It might have to do with the bra pushing my boobs up to my neck."

He moved closer and dipped a finger between the décolletage in prominent display. A shudder ran through me as his touch elicited sparks inside. He hummed in appreciation. I pushed the bag with my sodden underwear into his chest to make him stop.

He held up a finger, "Stay right here."

The demon was gone then back, sans bag. My lips pursed in question. He just smiled and turned me so my back was to him. I felt him deftly pull my hair into a French twist and start inserting bobby pins to keep it in place. He swung me around to face him and gently curled the few stray brown strands framing my jaw around his finger. "Beautiful," he said as he placed my hand on his arm. "Let's go."

I gave him a side look, not sure how to interpret what I was feeling. I settled on 'whatever'.

We took the elevator and I was trying to tug my pencil skirt down when the doors started to glide open. As this entrance was in front of the public area, I heard Salem immediately. Oldavai stood in front of me, and we weren't even fully revealed before that demon acknowledged him.

He practically roared. "Oldavai! Where have you been?" I knew the moment he registered someone behind him. "You brought your sex toy here!"

As this demon was the reason I was Oldavai's sex toy for that one particular night my temper flared quick and hot. I shoved Oldavai to the side and there was a prolonged flash from me of blazing gold. Fire flickered off my fingertips as I reached for Salem's throat.

Oldavai reacted quickly, "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!"

Oldavai's start of surprise barely penetrated my anger. His quick grab of my face and kissing attempt at distraction only fanned those flames higher. It might have only been my opinion, but I didn't think it was the best way to halt the sex toy impression.

I pushed him in the chest and made him stumble, "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"Shit," Oldavai mumbled, while patting down the tiny flames in his shirt from my hands.

Shorn's brimstone tickled my nose and I quickly took notice of our very captivated audience. More supes started to crowd the area as they came out to see what the magic ruckus was about. Good thing I knew this was a common occurrence on this floor. Or maybe it was only common when I was around. Very sobering thought.

I took a deep inhale and spoke, "Excuse me."

A very clear and authoritative voice rose above the voices, "Dove."

I turned my head to the office across the wide span of the area and returned the red stare of the demon.

"Shorn," I said, mimicking his tone, still under the influence of my anger.

I'm sure Oldavai's very loud sigh was because of that mimic.

We matched stares for a moment of silence before he spoke. "I would be delighted if you would come into my office. Ila is presently out of town." Everything about him gave off a calm countenance. Didn't matter, I knew he was mad even as I nodded as if nothing was wrong.

As I weaved my way through the whispering onlookers towards him, Oldavai and Salem followed. I almost fell into Shorn's back when he stopped abruptly just inside his threshold and spoke again, "Salem, stay."

Salem, stupidly I might add, didn't acquiesce quietly, "What?!"

Shorn's head turned a bit more than was natural and he leaned back to stare over my shoulder at him. I shuddered. We were so close there was barely any air between us. His lips did an almost smile and I knew he was picking up on my nervousness. His eyes stayed on Salem though, "Are you questioning me?"

Despite all the noise happening around us Salem's lack of response was deafening.

Shorn acknowledged his silence, "I thought not."

He turned back around and continued to walk just to the edge of his desk where he flung his suit jacket on its shiny surface. Then he proceeded to untuck and unbutton the top buttons of his shirt. Once Oldavai was in with the door shut he was a whirlwind of movement. In no time at all Shorn's flexible, spiked tail encircled Oldavai's neck and slammed him to the top of the door. I watched with horror, almost giving myself whip lash from looking back and forth between the two until my eyes stayed riveted on the transformation happening to Shorn's head and down his neck.

His jaw dropped, teeth elongated and sharpened. Muscles thickened, facial bones protruded, and those features rearranged themselves into a wide, pale grey face. It was almost... gargoyle like. I had a feeling it wasn't even the finished product of his heritage. When I finally looked into his eyes, they had thin lines of blood seeping out of their corners being absorbed almost immediately. I hastily backed up into the bookshelf lining the wall. Even the ache of the wood digging into my shoulder blades didn't deter my focus.

Shorn's skull was bigger than mine and he very slowly moved it closer to encroach on what little space I had. I closed my eyes tight and turned my own to the side. The mantra in my head this time was, he isn't attacking me, he isn't attacking me. I knew this because, not only was my magic telling me he wasn't attacking, Oldavai's magic living inside of me told me it was curiosity coming from him. My hands still dug into the shelf behind me with a breaking intensity regardless of that knowledge.

His breath heating up the whole side of my face escalated my shaking to the point that my teeth clenched painfully. Silence. Then he chuffed and I felt droplets of wet saliva spray my cheek. We stayed like that for long, agonizing seconds. I licked my lips and unsuccessfully tried to unclench my muscles. Finally, I forced myself to open my eyes and turn my head to look at him.

There was a warning growl from deep within his chest that would have burst my heart if it could. His smell of sulfur intensified and made me stutter a cough. I quickly averted my gaze again and the noise stopped. Registering the connection I had to Oldavai stretched thin and close to snapping, I cautiously lifted my gaze to the door. My breath came in pants to see his hands wrapped around the tail suffocating him. He was a fading version of himself and there was a smear of gold glitter up the door to his suspended frame.

I focused on slowing my breath and lifted my violently quaking hand towards Shorn's cheek. This deliberate, soft touch on my part gave him the final tether to proximity, effectively telling him that I knew he wasn't attacking me. Voluntary touch on a demon from a demon hunter, neither compelled nor forced, was like unlimited sweets to a kid, with just as many consequences. Their desire for it was something I forgot since the demons in my life had an unending supply of it, courtesy of me. Shorn grunted as I made gentle contact with the side of his face, but he did nothing else, like bite it off completely. I let out a strained exhale and bravely spoke.

My voice wavered, "Will you please stop choking Oldavai?"

Facial muscles played along the inside of my hand pushing into my palm as I watched that deadly tail lower Oldavai and unwind from his throat. The room was filled with Oldavai's harsh coughs and painful gasps. I appraised his condition through lowered lids.

He tried to warm me despite his damaged larynx, "Dove, don't..."

Oldavai's sentence was effectively cut off when Shorn nonchalantly slammed him into the door again with his spiked tail. I gasped as I watched dots of red blood appear on his shirt to match the ones on his neck.

I cleared my throat and licked my lips again, my hand shaking so violently that Shorn had engulfed it with his own clawed appendage to keep it pressed to his face. My fingers lightly moved over that hard, surprisingly smooth surface, "That wasn't very nice."

I dared to peek at him and watched his savage mouth open in a pant, but instead of those uncanny laughs, the howls of winds emitted from deep within. It was as if his throat was a tunnel to a different land filled with storms and the smell of ozone.

As strange as this whole encounter had been, my reaction was just as bizarre, the sound and smell calmed me, and every muscle relaxed. All of it such a familiar memory of loved wild windy nights as a child with my mother that I turned bewildered eyes to his. This time he let me stare without comment and shortly thereafter was back looking all in order. A puff of ozone smell pushed out and then he was back to smelling faintly of sulfur. He buttoned and tucked in his shirt, tugged down the cuffs, and tilted his head down and to the side to direct me to my hand still on his face. I hastily dropped it.

He spoke as I watched him flare his suit jacket out and seamlessly slide his arms in. "Ezra was correct, but Ezra almost always is. He assured me that if your magic interpreted no menace from me that you would not retaliate. I mocked him. You have so much power in you now I was convinced you would use it. But you will not fight until pushed to your limits and fear is not one of them. Salem's idiocy is and I regret how he treated you, but it assisted me with my own review of you. Including that you composed yourself enough to save Oldavai before I choked him to death."

I swallowed and said weakly, "Were you going to kill him?"

"Oldavai is no stranger to my displeasure and is one of two unfortunate enough to be in direct contact with me consistently."

Not entirely an answer. "Ah."

His face drew in closer, "And you are the only one to have survived after touching skin to skin without either of us attempting to kill the other."

I still had nothing to say, so I just said 'Ah' again.

He turned and barked out, "Oldavai! I told you not to bind completely with her. Did you even stop to think why?"

Oldavai tried to reply and then tried again, his voice completely wrecked, "Of course I knew why, but you also should have known I wasn't going to let a little crazy stop me." He cleared his throat painfully, "Also, there were some complications once I shoved my magic back into her. What did you want me to do?"

"Clearly I wanted you to not complete the sphere of balance." He started out calmly, but then roared, "A very simple request!" He narrowed his eyes when he had to hold up a hand to stop him from speaking. His voice resumed in its reasonable tone, "Demon hunters can become addicted to our magic. There is a real potential for a mess here, Oldavai. For us. Dove's singular situation has the potential to cause a problem as we navigate this era. You think that isn't serious enough? I am doing everything I can to keep it from happening and you are dragging your disrespect over my face, and it smells disconcertingly like piss!" Shorn's voice rose at the end of his sentence as he leaned against his desk, his fingers tapping agitatedly in a rolling staccato.

My fist was a tight clench against my thigh. I was getting severely annoyed myself. From fear to anger in a blink, my consistent failing, "I'm right here!"

Shorn turned to me quickly, too quickly, and I fumbled backwards into the shelves again. "You don't want me to pay attention to you," he growled out.

Oldavai croaked out, "I've had several females addicted to me."

Shorn turned his focus back to him, "Addicted to the incubus."

Oldavai's voice started to gain strength again, "Yes, but I figured Ezra would kill Dove before anything got out of hand."

I sighed. Taurin believed much the same.

"Whether he is here or not, she," Shorn pointed to me, "is not a science project for Ezra. He is deadly serious about her. It's a wonder Taurin is still alive since he's pushing boundaries as much as you are."

Oldavai looked embarrassed, "I fully understand that now."

Shorn's tapping grew more forceful on his desk, "So, you were wrong?"

Oldavai threw his hands up in surrender, "YES. Yes, I was wrong, as I often am when it comes to Dove."

I had a wry smile on my face at the egomaniac's admission to being wrong again. The emotion helped me unclench my fingers from the wood behind me. Shorn looked back at me, thin trickles of blood still rolled out of the outside corners of his eyes. My smile left my face as he perused me. "As we all are when it comes to this particular hunter."

He continued and bent his head to button his suit coat, "So, Salem tells me you turned Ratha to dust and then he had to eat dirt in front of you." He turned to Oldavai, "Care to explain?"

Oldavai looked to me and then Shorn, his incubus shine still muted from almost being killed, "I believe Dove holds the Dragon's goddess within her and that goddess killed Ratha. I made Salem eat dirt, as he says, because I knew Dove didn't want him dead when that same goddess came for us because of Salem's loudmouth ways." He directed his attention to me, "Although, maybe I should have let you kill him, as you seem ready to do so now."

I huffed out a noise of irritation and frowned. "Yeah, I was going to do something to him." I paused, thinking to Odavai, 'It isn't like me to want to kill someone I barely know just because they're rude to me.'

He didn't reply, just gave the merest of shrugs. I figured it didn't matter to him.

Shorn interjected, "Then it is in our best interest to keep the two of you away from one another."

I grimaced, "Seems so."

Shorn stood up and pushed himself into my space again, the front of his body lined up, a breath away from touching. Even though this form wasn't anywhere as big as his alter one I still quickly turned my head to the side and down to avoid looking him in the eyes. I tensed, waiting to see what he was going to do this time.

"Are you going to tell me why you have a goddess hiding in you?"

I shook my head, "Mmem."

His stare felt like a weight pinned to my head, "But you acknowledge me as dominate to you."

I shook my head in the negative again and my voice wavered, "I don't see any reason to get you angrier than you already are with us."

"Look at me."

I bit my bottom lip and slowly raised my eyes to his bleeding ones. When we were finally staring at one another he continued talking, "Intent can change in moments. The same way you've changed your mind about killing Salem. Where will you be if you refuse to acknowledge it or worse, miss the chance and are killed?"

I could feel the fire flash through my eyes, "I don't want to live in that world, Shorn."

"You live in it and I see it living in you."

I said nothing, just scowled and matched his glare, which really felt like the equivalent of agreeing with him, which only made me scowl more.

Oldavai finally stepped up and stood shoulder to shoulder with me, his face stoic. Shorn turned his head at the movement and pushed himself even closer until we were smashed against each other. My hands immediately went to his shoulders to try to get some space between us and I felt ridges forming underneath the suit. His hands came up to the top of my head and skimmed each side of my upswept hair, neck, and shoulders, but his focus never left Oldavai. His hands morphed and I could feel claws moving slowly up again, encircling my neck, a presence of pin pricks on the back of my skull.

I swear I was on the brink of hyperventilating as I tried to talk around my wheezing breath. He was challenging Oldavai, not me, I could feel it emanating from him.

Oldavai crossed his arms and merely said, "What next?"

He immediately stepped back and went to stand behind his desk, flipping open his laptop, hands back in their dexterous shape, "Go home. Take a break. Once I hear about what else went down in Texas I'll call you both in to account for it. The two of you together make me irrational." He waved at the door, never looking up at us, "Open the door."

As soon as the door opened Shorn yelled. "Salem!"

Salem entered and we left to Shorn's second yell. "Close the door!"

I focused on our footsteps as we made our way out of the building. We were in the lobby before I actually looked at Oldavai and spoke. "Why did he touch me?"

Oldavai looked me over briefly, "Shorn? You mean why did he practically rub himself all over you?"

He held the door to the outside for me and gallantly waved me through first.

We trotted down the stairs at a fast clip and he pulled me across the street as quickly as he could away from the building. "You're going awfully fast."

"That's because I want to get away from his domain."

"Shorn's?" I watched amazed as little by little his features and colors changed him into his blond top knotted haired human.

"Yes, you did just see him suffocate me. I know you didn't miss that. In fact, it may be only because you intervened that I am alive at this moment." He continued to follow the sidewalk, effortlessly guiding us around the streams of pedestrians.

I grunted as he tightened his grip on my elbow and tried to move me faster. I pulled away with a jerk, "Stop! Remember you're the one who put me in these stupid heels!"

Oldavai abruptly halted and dropped my arm. I watched him close his eyes and try to get some semblance of calm. People glared at us in annoyance, but never stopped moving, flowing on either side. I spied a familiar bench and quickly pushed him towards it. He meekly let me sit him down and I angled myself next to him, making sure he had the reassuring touch of my body next to his as I hesitantly took his hand in both of mine. I shouldn't forget that he almost died no matter how annoyed he made me.