Spellbound & Hellhounds, page 9
part #1 of Coven Chronicles Series
“Darling, do you know what it’s like in Hell?” Vanessa shook her head no and Lyx continued. “Flames, rivers of blood, endless screams, and there is not a sin or pleasure that could be offered that you can’t find down there. If there is a dark itch that needs scratching, you’ll find the means to relieve yourself down there.” She spaced out while staring down at her glass. “There are a million voices matched with a million screams and yet, so many of us feel completely alone. Most of us don’t even realize it. We aren’t aware that we are lacking what you Coven members give us. You give us something that we’ve craved for so long, and we just didn’t realize that it was something that we desired, or it was something that could be obtained. The intelligence and morals that comes with the spell that you all throw at us when summoned is a most powerful thing.” She sighed. “Having said that, to answer your question. There is muscle down there. Dime a dozen, really.” Lyx gave Vanessa a look that said it all. “But brains aren’t exactly overflowing in the underworld.”
Vanessa blinked and rubbed her arm with her free hand. “So … you have a thing for Bobo because he’s smart?”
Lyx shook her head and locked amber eyes with the witch. “He’s smart, sophisticated, wears a suit … girl, you know we die for a man in uniform. And he has a job? Darling, I’m hooked. Toss in his love for the arts and that he’s witty as can be and I’m instant putty,” she said while theatrically throwing herself back into the pile of throw pillows and pretending to ‘melt’ into the couch.
“I suppose I can understand,” Vanessa admitted.
“But, that’s not the main reason,” Lyx said, slowly rising and straightening herself out.
Raising a brow over one eye, Vanessa stared at Lyx and waited for the explanation that she was hoping would come without prompting. Lyx giggled faintly into a lightly closed fist. “Darling, a muscled man is nice. A demon of your current make and model has its perks. But sometimes, a woman wants a guy that has charm, brains, and the muscle. Beyond all of that? He isn’t on a one-track mind. For some reason, him not giving in to me,” she looked off in space and smiled like no one was watching her, “…makes me want him even more.” Her smile softened, no longer holding hints of madness but warmer, gentler thoughts. Her eyes sparkled with it. She laughed to herself quietly and added after emerging from her small quiet moment, “That’s a demon you wanna take home to momma…” She snapped out of her happy daze at the realization of what she had said. “Well, not my mother, she’ll try to steal him away, but you get the picture.”
Vanessa laughed lightly. “Sounds like you know what you want.”
“Of course, I do. I’m a woman, and a woman knows what she wants, a girl can be persuaded, and a lady needs to be won. No matter the species, we are all pretty much the same. We have standards for it, but we all want love.”
It was Vanessa’s turn to laugh again. “I’m glad you have it all figured out.” She took a sip of her drink.
“What about you, any male suitors catching your eye? Or females. There is no judging here, darling. Spill it.”
Vanessa choked on her sip and coughed furiously into her elbow until she was sure she could breathe without tasting lemons. “Do what?”
Lyx gave Vanessa a look that said she was not amused with the girl’s lack of understanding. “Come now. Spill who you have a crush on.” She got a devious sparkle in her tawny eyes. “Is it Leon? Tell me. Promise I won’t say a thing,” she whispered excitedly.
Looking as though she’d been told that there was a pop quiz on demonology, Vanessa bulged her eyes as she swiftly put down her drink and then Xed her arms out in front of her. “No. No way. I have no crushes and even if I did, it would not be on that stuck up Spellweaver.”
The succubus rolled her eyes hard. “Okay, darling. I’m only the manifestation of lust incarnate. I ooze desire and want on an hourly basis, but … whatever you say. No crushes. It’s fine.” She turned her head and looked at the witch from the corner of her eyes and attempted to hide a wild growing grin on her face. “I mean, I understand a strong woman like yourself not being fond of the idea of marriage and family and all that. Hex it all. If you ask me, it’s overrated.”
The thought of settling down wiggled into Vanessa’s thoughts. She’d have a child, maybe two, a home… a family. Things that she never grew up having. Allowing herself the briefest of moments to think of a being to fill in the blank face of the male that she envisioned standing next to her, overlooking her shoulder down at a bundle of joy resting in her arms, she began to have small details color in the blank space of the daydream. She saw sandy hair and piercing blue eyes. Instantly blushing, she shook her head and tried to deny what she thought of just then while she spoke to Lyx.
“I-I didn’t say that. I wouldn’t mind settling down with someone…” Vanessa lost some of the aggression in her voice, and Lyx pounced on the opportunity as she turned around, bouncing as she did, to grab the witch’s hands and shake them in an energetic fashion.
“Who? Hmmm? Are they cute? Charming? Intelligent?”
“I don’t know if you’d call it a crush… I mean…” the blush was becoming violently apparent and was quickly taking over every inch of her features.
“Who’s the unlucky guy?” Leon practically yelled as he crossed his arms over the back of the couch and leaned in on the appendages.
Not expecting the man to be there, and given the delicate topic that was being discussed, Vanessa half-screamed and jolted so fiercely that she fell off the couch and crashed to the floor, which didn’t aid the red cheeks that she was already sporting. She slammed her hands down on the couch cushion. “Do you have to sneak up on us?”
Leon blinked, not understanding why she was so upset. “I thought you heard me…”
“Yeah… well… I didn’t.”
“What’s the big deal?”
“Nothing, dear, you just interrupted girl talk.” Lyx said with a sigh.
“It wasn’t girl talk. I just was asking Lyx something…” Vanessa corrected.
“Oh. I just thought you two were talking about crushes. Thought I’d warn the guy that you fancied.”
“You don’t have to. I don’t like anyone!” Vanessa barked before dusting off and storming into her room and slamming the door shut.
“What’s her problem?” he asked, while thumbing in the direction of the brooding witch behind the closed door.
“You wouldn’t understand it if I explained it, dear.” Lyx patted Leon’s shoulder and walked past him. She opened the door to Bobo’s room and waltzed inside.
Instantly, she was met with a harsh tone and being ushered out of his space, “Do you have no shame, woman? Shoo. You’ll find your quarters elsewhere!” The door was closed and Lyx huffed while staring at the barrier that was now before her.
“Can’t blame a girl for trying,” she whispered and then flipped her hair over her shoulder before she headed for Vanessa’s room and closed the door behind her. Leon was left leaning on the couch looking absolutely perplexed more so than usual.
“… Seriously. What just happened?” he asked no one in particular before he sighed and headed for bed.
Chapter 13:
“You aren’t the boss of me,” Vanessa snapped.
“Of course not, but I am here because I’m supposed to babysit you and make sure you don’t do anything stupid,” Leon reminded as he followed Vanessa into the kitchen.
“You’re stupid!” she fumed.
He stared at her, unimpressed. “Really? That’s the best you’ve got?”
“I haven’t even had coffee yet. You’re lucky that I’m not resorting to pure violence as a witty comeback, Leon.”
At that moment, Bobo exited his room, his nose stuck in a new book. His large paw patted the counter and after a moment of thumping about barren counterspace he looked away from the worn pages to search the breakfast bar more thoroughly. He pouted and dropped the hand holding the book to his side, the action causing a loud smack that gained the attention of both Leon and Vanessa. Palm up, the ogre motioned to the empty space upon the peninsula. “Where is my cappuccino?” he asked in a monotone voice.
Vanessa cut her heated gaze to Bobo. “I’ll tell you where it is.” She pointed to the machine that looked as though it were cut off in mid-use. “Leon decided that I was interrupting his beauty sleep and came in and unplugged the machine!”
Leon gaped and looked between her and Bobo and then he started to try and gain sympathy, as if it were a competition all of a sudden. “I asked her to cut it off and wait a while. That blasted thing makes more noise than your snoring,” he whined while gesturing to the ogre, and the gentleman-beast instantly flushed in embarrassment.
“I-I realize that this isn’t the most favorable of situations, but I was trying to be a gracious host. I’m sorry that the manner in which I sleep forced you to the couch. I hope it wasn’t too terrible to sleep on.”
Leon looked as if he instantly regretted what he said and was about to comfort him when Vanessa chimed in. “So that, Bobo, is the reason why there is no cappuccino for you this morning.”
Bobo sighed heavily and removed his spectacles and motioned with them to the – now unplugged – cappuccino machine. “Honestly, Leon…” he started while shaking his head slightly in disappointment, “… it’s the one thing the woman can do right in the kitchen. Must you take that one pleasure from me?”
Defeated, Leon groaned and scratched the back of his head aggressively. “Fine.” He mumbled something and went to find his shoes, “I’ll buy you something from the Grim Bean, but all I ask is for a few hours, your bed, and everyone leaving me alone, so I can get some sleep.”
“Done,” Bobo barked and then took note of Vanessa staring at him in awe.
“Are you that easily bribed? The man robbed you of a daily ritual and you dismiss it as if it never happened?”
“He also offered to pay for what I’m now lacking, and I’m a sucker for the Grim Bean. Don’t look so surprised.”
“Mark me, this is the start of him trampling all over our home life.”
“I’ll buy you something, too,” Leon added coolly.
She darted her eyes to the corners and looked Leon over for a moment. “Anything?”
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes. Anything.”
“I suppose I’ll go get my cloak then…” Vanessa said, throwing her black mane over one shoulder and marching confidently down the hall to her room.
“I can’t blame her,” Bobo whispered. “That stuff is like black magic.”
Less than twenty minutes later they were walking out into the hall as Leon and Vanessa’s bickering continued all the way to the flat opening. They whisper-argued as they performed the usual daily task of walking, stopping to greet the neighbors as they departed for their day, and stopping to pull the rope to ring the flat bell that hung on the wall next to the shaft opening.
While the two of them continued with their back and forth banter, Lyx slowly tried to inch her way over toward Bobo while she smoothed out the side of her plaid skirt and pushed and squeezed her breasts until they threatened to spill out of the top of her half-buttoned button up shirt. Looking down to inspect the respectful amount of cleavage, Lyx pursed her lips to the side and was still a second before she popped an extra button out of the slit and fussed with her hair before side stepping until she was bumping – quite literally and purposefully – into Bobo.
The ogre looked down with a blank expression and was met with Lyx batting her luscious lashes while smiling up at him. The second look to the cleavage made the poor demon snap to a stiff stance and lock his eyes into the blackness of the flat hole and pray to the goddess that the flat driver would hurry the hex up.
Giggling, Lyx went to walk her fingers up one of the pinstripes of Bobo’s suite jacket arm when the flat driver finally arrived. The man peered out from a blue-gray, worn cadet cap, hints of deep chestnut hair peeking out from the edges of the hat’s border that snuggly hugged the man’s head. His pale face paled even further as his hazel eyes grew three times larger than their original half-tired appearance, and the man let out a semi-girlish scream before releasing the ropes that helped pull the flat up to the level that he was at.
The ropes slacked and then went tight again as a second voice from the roof level of the apartment building yelled down through the hole. “John, what in the name of hellfire is going on down there?!”
“It was a bloody ogre! First a succubus and then that lady with all the imps this morning. You think you could warn a guy?”
There was giddy laughter from the roof level. “Yeah, you’ll see some things in this place.”
“Really, Raymond?”
“What?”
“I quit. I quit yesterday. I’m so done that you can go ahead and count me as not here today.”
“Oh. Suck it up, John. I was just having a bit of fun. I’ll tell you about the residence here at lunch. Come on.”
“Took this job because you said it was easy coin. You just wanted to scare me. I should have known better…” the man said more to himself than the one he referred to as Raymond as he pulled himself back up to Vanessa and the other’s floor. “Pull yourself together, John. You can do this. Those imps threw far worse at you this morning. It’s just an ogre and a succubus. You’re not going to die today. Come on, ol’ boy.”
“Lad, you realize we can hear you, right?” Bobo asked with a bored expression.
The man forced a smile and said to himself, although not really controlling his volume, “You’re not going to die. It’s okay, John. Pull yourself together.” The smile grew painfully wide and appeared to almost hurt the man as he tried to speak to the group and only squeaks were produced. Clearing his throat, John attempted to speak again. “Good day. Where to?”
Leon was laughing into his fist and trying to hide it while Bobo looked insulted and Lyx was trying too hard to cling to the ogre to care about anything else while Vanessa rolled her eyes and stepped onto the flat saying, “To ground level, please.”
“Of course, you’re going to the ground level…” the man sounded defeated and lost the edge to his smile. He attempted to pull himself together before asking the next dreaded question. “All of you?”
“That’s right,” Leon said before stifling another chuckle.
“If I wasn’t going to the Grim Bean, I would have just gone back to the apartment by now. Rude,” Bobo whispered the last word.
“I’ll buy you a little something extra, big guy. Come on. John didn’t mean it.”
“That’s right, sir. Not every day that you meet a sophisticated ogre like yourself,” John quickly added.
“Well, I suppose it is pretty rare. I am an oddity,” Bobo seemed to loosen up as he straightened out his jacket, the compliment had done well at feeding the creature’s ego, and he happily stepped onto the flat. The wood creaked under his massive weight.
John had to hold the rope a little tighter, and the leather gloves he was wearing groaned under the stress of holding the ropes in place as they all piled on. The other person that was waiting motioned for John to go on, “I’ll take the next one,” he assured, and John mouthed thank you over and over until out of sight.
After they reached the bottom, the man bowed and smiled telling them all to have a nice day and waited a minute before yelling up the shoot, “I’ll kill ya, Raymond!”
Chapter 14:
As they were walking through the city, the icy winds blasted through the piles of white powder and sent the glittering flakes spiraling down the semi-quiet streets. These winds were the start of the usual winter blizzard that would find its way passing through the heart of Aeristria each year, and already the northern winds had brought in a thick overcast of gray clouds that draped over the sun, causing the channels to seem duller than usual. The lack of life added to the dreary feeling that seemed to take over the usually busy city roads. The traditional street shops were all put away for the season. It was too dangerous for the shopkeepers. They typically had agreements with the local stores and set up small stands there during the winter season. During the spring, they’d resume their normal posts outside.
The Grim Bean rested on the corner of a crossing where quaint met questionable. Most of the shops and stores that lined this part of town were old and historical. But this particular corner is where the city started to become less casual and the average person needed to be on their guard when passing through the alleys and thinner streets that were nestled between buildings. However, the Grim Bean was not the only reason that this corner was well known.
Turn down the silent, dirty alley that was between the Grim Bean’s side and a local tailoring shop and you would stumble upon two old, bent townhomes sandwiched together like two lovers lost in the large city. And in one of those crooked townhomes lived the disreputable Leslie Templeton. An imp that knew more about getting into trouble than out of it. Everyone, yes everyone, knew Leslie at the Coven.
Lose something? He was either the one that tried to steal it or managed to get his sticky fingers on it by other means and is selling it to an unsuspecting customer. Need something? He probably has a knockoff of it for a fraction of the price – maybe. Looking for information? He more than likely has the connections, but the amount of street jargon and bargains that you’ll have to wade through to get it may not be worth it in the end. It’s a coin toss, really. Leslie Templeton was, without a doubt, the most annoying imp and butterfingered pickpocket Aeristria had to offer.
There was hardly a day that went by that the imp wasn’t getting into some sort of trouble. With that thought in mind, Vanessa took a few steps backwards, away from the front doors of the Grim Bean and stepped toward the corner of the establishment to peek around the wall and see if the mischievous little imp was up to no good, per usual.
