Hell Inc. (14 page)

The
sound was unlike any other I'd ever heard before. It was like the
squishing sound that wet clay makes with the horrible crunching of
bone. I had to stifle the vomit in my throat before I ended up
choking on the gag and killing myself.

The
vampire dropped my mother's corpse to the floor in a wet, bloody heap
amongst the snickers of the others in the room. I tried not to look
at it, but I couldn't help myself. It was like how most people
reacted to a horrific car accident. I didn't cry (I might later),
but right then, the danger of the situation seemed more important.
The silly bad guys didn't seem so silly anymore. Now they were just
scary. Rhinestone shirts, bad facial hair, and terrible lines aside.

Liam
turned his attention back to me, scowling and wiping his hands on his
pants. “You got a human to sneak you in here. How clever.
Though I suppose I should have expected this from Infernix.” I
wasn't sure what he was talking about, but he didn't give me a chance
to think on it. Liam stepped up to me and grabbed me by the hair.
Pain ripped through my scalp, but I forced myself not to make a
sound. I didn't want him to have the pleasure of hearing it. I'm
certain he was the type of person who really got off to that sort of
thing; he just seemed like that kind of a guy. “Go on then,”
he growled. “What do you want? A merger? Stock options?”

I
stared back at him, my heart thumping painfully in my chest, and
tried to think past a torrent of raw emotions. He thought I was a
demon. Fine. I could play that part. If it would get me out of
here alive, I would do anything. I narrowed my eyes and tried to
look haughty.
Think about Levie,
I told myself, trying to
puff out my chest.

“If
you're close with their CEO, then you must be important. What do you
want with us? We're just a small, family owned business.” CEO?
Family business? What the hell was he going on about? There was no
doubt in my mind that drugs were involved. None. He was crazy as
hell. “Get up and let's discuss business matters,” he
snapped, glaring at the Minotaurs as if this was somehow their fault.
The man had just murdered my mother in front of me, and now here he
was trying to have a conversation.

Fuck
you.
I thought.
When Levie gets here ...
“Fine
then,” he snarled, stomping his foot like a two year old having
a temper tantrum. “If you're going to be like that, you can
wait in my office. We need this room for clients. I'll see what
Daddy – ” he paused. “I mean what Nathaniel wants
to do with you.” Nice. A father and son drug cartel. What
had my mother gotten herself mixed up in? Liam spun away and kicked
my mother's corpse on his way out.
I am going to fucking kill
you,
I thought at him as he disappeared from sight.

One
of the Minotaurs stepped forward, grabbed me around the waist and
threw me over his shoulder. His fur was coarse and scratchy,
scraping my face with each jarring step. I thought about struggling,
but then, he was a Minotaur. The odds were seriously stacked against
me. Besides, Liam hadn't hesitated to kill my mother. He might have
looked funny, but he was a real threat. See, this is why I had
avoided this type of encounter my entire life. What had ever
possessed me to think things would be different this time?

I
was carried down a boring hallway of white walls and bad wood
paneling and up several set of stairs before being thrown carelessly
onto a sofa in a dreary office. Plaques lined the walls in neat
rows, and an Art nouveau desk covered in papers sat sternly in the center of the room. It was
flanked by two pink Art Deco armchairs. Everything in that room was
circa 1980. Very depressing. I glanced back at the Minotaur who had
carried me there, not necessarily wanting to be around him in
particular but desperate not to be alone with Liam. He gave
me the creeps. But the cow man was already on his way out. He
slammed the door behind him, and I don't think he even bothered to
lock it. Either they thought I was no threat or a very, very big
threat.

I
rolled onto my back and took a deep breath through my nose. My
mother was dead. Why? Because I smelt like demon? And why did I
smell like a demon? Hanging out with Levie maybe? That still didn't
explain why Liam's magic hadn't worked on me. It wasn't like I was
immune to it or anything. I was ashamed to say that I had been
rolled by a vampire once before. It had cost me a job. I glared at
the white popcorn ceiling and tried to piece together what little I
knew. None of it made much sense to me. I rolled back onto my side
and caught sight of an open window. I had a brief moment of sheer
elation before I realized that I still had the whole bound at the
hands and feet thing to work through.

I
surveyed the room carefully, looking for anything that might hold
something sharp. I decided that my best bet was the desk. There had
to be a letter opener or something in there at the very least. How I
was going to open the drawers, find it, and use it without the use of
my hands was another matter altogether. I decided to deal with one
problem at a time and glanced over the edge of the couch. It might
have only been a foot or two, but it looked like a thousand miles to
me. This was going to hurt. I gathered up my resolve and shifted my
weight forward. I hit the wooden floor with my shoulder first. For
the second time in less than an hour, my vision went blurry as pain
raced down my arm and into my fingers. I tried to scream against the
gag but ended up choking instead. Several precious minutes passed as
I struggled to regain
control of myself. Once the dizziness had passed, I wiggled into the
most comfortable position possible. Now my shoulder hurt like hell,
too. Great.

I
started to scoot forward past the seashell shaped chairs and was
nearly at the desk when my mother's murderer came to check on me. I
watched as the door swung open and the most hideous, high heeled
boots I had ever seen on a man or a woman strolled into the room.
Liam stopped several feet short of the bed and paused.

“After
further consultation, Daddy – er – Nathaniel has decided
you're a fake. My consolation on the death of your mother. She
really was a good whore. I wouldn't have killed her if I'd known.
Sometimes I'm a little rash, you understand, don't you?” I
didn't really think he expected me to answer with the gag still in my
mouth so I waited in silence, seething. I could pretend this was
Jurassic Park, that if I didn't move, he couldn't see me, just like a
T. rex. The thought was oddly comforting.

Liam
walked around the side of the bed, and my eyes traveled up his white
tights (yes, he was wearing tights) to his unflattering, puffy legged
pants and embroidered vest. I was sure I recognized the style, King
Louie the something maybe, but I wasn't an expert on history. God, I
hated vampires. Liam bent down and proceeded to untie my gag. When
the sticky fabric peeled away from my tongue, I made myself sick with
my own involuntary gasps for breath. It couldn't be helped; I was
just glad that I could breathe properly again. Now I just needed to
worry about staying alive long enough to make a wish.

“Are all vampires walking period clichés?” I choked, hoping the ropes would come off next. Liam made no move to help me and stood up, adjusting the cuffs at his wrists.

“Now
that I know,” he said casually, turning and strolling across
the floor, his boots squishing into the geometric patterned rug and
then clicking across the wood floor to the window. “It's
obvious that you're far too weak to be a demon. You just stink like
one.” I scowled at his back, not that it would do me much
good, but it made me feel better. He turned back around and smirked
at me. His face was handsome but in a sleazy, backhanded sort of
way. Even if he hadn't killed my own mother in front of me, I'd have
hated him instantly. “I suppose that's to be expected,
considering the company you keep. Though I still don't understand
why you smell so strongly or why you are immune to me. What are
you?”

“A
fairy fucking godmother. Now let me go, you piece of shit.” I
admit, I was shaking when I said it, but words were my only defense
really. Liam laughed and sauntered back over to me.

“Aren't
you the brave one?” he cooed, and the sound of his voice made
my spine curl. “Was that whore really your mother then?”
His head tilted to the side, and his hair slid over his shoulder like
a snake. I pursed my lips and turned my eyes away.
Don't think
about it. Don't think about the sound of flesh like rotten fruit
bursting in a pale white hand –

I
shook my head to clear it. Bastard. “She loved it when I
fucked her.” He reached a hand out and brushed my hair back. I
spat at him, but it only made him laugh again. “I'd love to
talk business with you. I always get the most pertinent information
from you Infernix lapdogs, but I think I'd rather fuck you. Pillow
talk always seems to yield the best results.” A horrible
feeling crept up my spine, and I felt a rush of adrenaline as my
fight or flight response kicked. The vampire with the boy band
goatee was going to rape me?

What
do I say?
I wondered frantically, trying to figure out what wish
would get me out of that room and not into another steaming pile of
shit. Thoughts were being drowned in a river of fear. Not good.
Not good at all.

Liam
lifted me up and threw me onto the sofa. He removed his vest slowly,
his face twisted in a sickening display of lust before climbing up
and lounging next to me. I knew my eyes were wide with panic, but I
couldn't help it. The facade of bravery wasn't working anyway, and
my mind was descending into chaos at the very thought of him ...
I skipped over the words that my brain tried to supply.
Stay
positive, you can get yourself out of this.
I turned my face
away, but he grabbed it and forcibly turned it toward him. I was
instantly greeted with a close-up of Liam's very hairy chest. Yuck. I
hate hairy guys.

“Now,
why don't we cut to the chase and you tell me what you really are? I
promise that I'll go easy on you if you do.” I closed my eyes
and tried to focus on what I was about to say. I only had one wish
left, and I had to get it right. My life depended on it.
So much
for selling your soul, Ginger. You got nothing out of it. Nothing
but a dead mother and no job, but at least maybe you can make it out
of here to live a few more miserable years ...

When
I refused to respond, Liam snarled and pulled me tightly against him.
He grabbed my head and pushed it back to reveal my throat. I felt
exposed and vulnerable. I wasn't used to feeling like that, and it
made my head spin. His hot breath pulsed along the carotid artery in
my neck. My body crawled at his touch, and my mind reeled at what
was happening. This couldn't be happening, right? It just couldn't.
Now, Ginger, make the wish now.
I opened my mouth to speak,
but Liam grabbed me by the throat, cutting off my air.

His
teeth sunk into my neck just above where he held me in an iron grip
with his hand. The pain was bad, but it was nothing compared to the
sickening rush of pleasure that came next. My entire body reacted to
it like a drug. Sheer unadulterated panic overtook me, and I tried
to scream through the terribly slow act of being suffocated. As
Liam's other hand found my breasts, I forced myself to fight. If I
was going to go down then I would go down struggling. The ropes made
it difficult though, and all I succeeded in doing was drawing myself
closer to him by accident. The whole situation was infuriating to
me. I couldn't even control my own body. It
liked
it, loved
it. I needed to throw up. It might've gotten him away from me, but
I couldn't do it. I couldn't even breathe anymore. The edges of my
vision were going black.

The
crash of the door being flung open resounded in the room, and
Liam pulled his mouth away from my neck with a start, tearing the
skin in a way that would hurt later but felt good to my confused
throat.
Fucking vampire pheromones. I hate vampires.
He
relaxed his grip on my throat, allowing just the slightest bit of air
to reach my lungs. I wanted to sob. This give a little, take a
little shit did not work for me. I tried to see who was at the door
but couldn't turn my head enough to get a view. All I could see was
Liam's smirk and the glisten of my blood on the edges of his lips.
“Seeing you explains a lot,” he said, finally
releasing my throat. I rolled away from him coughing and hacking on
the rush of oxygen, blood streaming down my chest and onto the pearly
couch cushions. “At least it finally solves the puzzle. I
hate puzzles; I've never been good at them.”
Like that's a
surprise, you dimwitted asshole.

“I'm
here for my client, Liam.” The voice was familiar, deep
and warm. It flowed over me like chocolate. Angry, arrogant,
chocolate. I jerked my head up to look, and there he stood. He was
a little late, but he was here: a very irate, ethereally beautiful
Levie. Flames danced around him much as they danced around the Devil
when he was pissed. He strode into the room, wings stretched taut
with rage and orange eyes narrowed on Liam. Relief washed over me
like cool water, and I unconsciously flung my body towards him, only
to be jerked backwards by Liam.

“It's
as we suspected all along, isn't it? Hell Inc. and Infernix
are finally coming together under one roof.” Liam paused and
turned towards me, licking the blood from the side of his lip. “I'm
sorry, but I can't have you wishing anything terrible on me.”
And then he punched me. It happened so fast that I didn't even
realize what was coming. The impact was intense. It felt like my
skull was shattering into a million pieces, and it might have, if
Levie hadn't held back Liam's arm.