Page 20 of The Wickedness of Man
Without warning, the connection to Dr. Lowe broke; I felt it shatter like glass in my mind. One moment a soft buzz, the next, silence.
“Lowe?” I whispered.
There was no answer. I didn’t know if that meant she had gotten captured, or she was dead, but there was little doubt in my mind that a lone demon with a lungful of holy water mist wouldn’t stand a chance against a team of fifteen trained men that included a special investigator.
If they’re feeling generous, they might opt to just shoot me when they eventually find me rather than take me back to get lectured and beaten and locked away.
I cast the thought aside as I crept through the brush, cursing under my breath. The girl might have been slight, but carrying someone for five or more blocks would tire anyone, and adrenaline was wearing off now that the disorientation from Dr. Lowe’s disconnection was setting in. I was sweating and a light drizzle of rain began to fall. By the time I reached the street in front of the towering condo building, I was breathing heavily, soaked through, and my arms were shaking. I double checked to make sure there was no one around, then ran across the street, keeping hidden in the darkness of a broken streetlamp.
Once inside, I reasoned with myself, I’d make sure the girl was okay, get her safely into a cab home, and then… I’d have to face my superiors. That was a concern for another time. For now, I couldn’t ignore the urging the demon had left me with:Protect Magda.
Letting myself fall under a demon’s spell. How could I?! I cursed the succubusandmy own stupidity. As soon as I’d been burned, I should have fled, but instead, I ran straight into her arms, like she’d… known… I was… coming.
Had she said something about me arriving early? I’d taken it as an attempt at banter on her part, and hadn’t given it much thought initially. It was too late to ponder what her reasons for all of this might be—or if it had been a charade. I’d fallen prey to her bullshit… I just couldn’t tell exactly how or why yet. If itdidhave anything to do with this girl, I was going to find out themoment she woke up. If it didn’t, and she’d just used her as a clever getaway, well…
“Fucking demons,” I muttered as I opened the front door awkwardly with one arm, slipping inside to a cool, modern lobby, thankfully empty, and headed to the elevator banks.
If that was the case, then as soon as I was able, I was going to find out if I would be allowed to hunt the bitch down myself. I’d probably never get the chance though, since I’d probably be spending the next several months in the cells at this rate, just so they could use me to prove a point to the other acolytes and agents about the dangers of disobeying a superiors’ orders.
Magda
Before I even opened my eyes, I could smell someone in the room with me—a man’s cologne—a scent I didn’t recognize. I opened my eyes slowly, careful to keep my breathing calm. I was in a bed, but it wasn’t mine, and it wasn’t Danny’s, either. My purse and sweater were on the nightstand beside me, and the room was dark except for light coming in through the windows to my left.
A tendril of creeping hunger rolled through my belly; my stomach growled, and I tried to turn onto my side, but there was a strange feeling of thickness over my limbs, like I’d been filled with sand.
What the hell happened to me? I feel almost like I’m high, or drunk.
As I twisted, warm liquid leaked from between my legs, leaked through my panties, and then soaked into the fabric of my leggings near my thigh, leaving part of my pants completely sodden with the evidence of my own excitement.
Why am I so wet?! What the fu?—
Before I could even react, my abdomen clenched, and each spasmodic movement dragged a soft shudder of breath from my throat, as a sensation deep within me threatened to overtake allreason. I whimpered as each little movement sent a little pulse of pleasure through me almost too much to bear and sent my brain spinning into a fog. I’d never experienced an orgasm before, but I was so overwhelmed by being on the verge of one now that I was afraid to move, to even breathe too hard.
The haze of my memories was slow to return, but a woman’s face appeared in my thoughts—a blonde.
The therapist!I’d gone to that office, but then… then what? I remembered being in the elevator, and… my head spun. I could figure out whatever had happened later. For now, I had to focus on figuring out where the hell I was—and who was in here with me.
I carefully shifted my weight to get a look at the room. There, sitting just about fifteen feet away, was a man I’d never seen before in my life. He was leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, feet propped up on the windowsill against the sheer curtains. Outside it was dark, and evening rain pattered against the glass. I shifted, which made the bed squeak. I froze, wondering if I should feign sleep again, but the man hadn’t budged. His chest was rising and falling, which meant he wasn’t dead… maybe just a heavy sleeper?
Had I been… kidnapped? Was the therapist some kind of sex trafficker?
I rubbed my eyes to clear them as I noticed a strange, reddish haze floating over his head—something that looked like the ghostly outline of a small palm on the side of his face. I sniffed the air; caught the smell of a woman on him. The surge of jealousy that rose at the thought of someonetouchinghim somehow mattered more to me in that moment than who he was or why there was a gun in a holster under his left arm.
Even the gun couldn’t stop my gaze from drifting to his muscular biceps and wide chest?—
Okay, Magda, you arenotthinking clearly right now. You can figure out everything else later. Just get out. Go!
I pulled the blankets away and stood silently, checking over my shoulder to see if my potential kidnapper was awake. I was barefoot, but otherwise still fully clothed. I reached out for my bag on the nightstand, intending to grab it and quietly steal away, but my body simply wouldn’t respond. Instead, my hand lowered itself to my side, and I turned toward the stranger, steadily padding toward him, heart thumping in my chest.
Stop—stop! What am I doing?
Whoever this man was—whatever reason he was here—I found myself quivering at the sight of him. I kept walking until I was about two feet from him. The door was twenty-five or so feet to my right, and I knew I could slip by unnoticed if I was quiet enough, but instead of sneaking past him, I stood there, breathing raggedly, unable to move away. The thought of him waking up and pulling me onto his lap made my thighs tremble. A strange pulsing sensation began within me, and I pressed a hand to my mouth to keep the tiny gasps from slipping out of me.
Have I been drugged?
I studied the man up and down. He had gorgeous auburn hair kept short on the sides and slicked back with gel on the top. Under the hint of his five o’ clock shadow, his jawline was sharp enough to cut. Stretched out like this, I realized he had to be well over six feet tall, and his muscular frame had been snugly tucked into a well-tailored pair of slacks and a white business shirt. The holster had some kind of symbol on it—some logo I vaguely recognized. I found myself reaching toward him before I had the sense to stop. I froze.
I hadn’t been about to reach for the gun and take it away from him—-I’d been about to run my hands across hisabs, like some kind of lunatic. Even as I reminded myself that he mightvery well be some kind of captor or sex trafficker, I crept slightly closer to him.
