Sins of the Flesh (Half-Breed Series Book 2) (21 page)

“You’ll pay for that,” she shot back over her shoulder as she stomped from the lobby.

I had the sick feeling that whatever Cleo’s payback, it wouldn’t be plastic pineapples in a locker.

***

I thought I was calm by the time Irix walked through the door, but I wasn’t. He kissed me, and I couldn’t help checking him out, looking for the demonic equivalent of lipstick on the collar.

“What’s wrong?” His brow furrowed. “Didn’t you have a good time with Kai? Did Kristin get back to you? Has the fire servant struck again?”

“No, everything’s fine. I just... . Who did you have sex with today?”

“Mmm, story time.” He pulled me close, hands slipping under the edge of my T-shirt. “Which do you want to hear: zipline naughtiness, cocktails on the catamaran, or afternoon delight?”

Wow, he sure got around. Three, and it wasn’t even dinnertime yet. His hands reached to unsnap my bra, but I pulled away. “I mean demons. Have you had sex with Cleo — today or any time at all?”

His frown cleared, and his eyes danced with amused comprehension. “I have not had sex with any non-human beyond you since I got on this island. I can’t speak on whether or not I’ve ever slept with Cleo. Once I can identify her, I’ll be able to tell you if we’ve ever shared carnal relations.”

I took a calming breath, feeling like a total fool. “Sorry. She cornered me in the lobby. That woman really knows how to get to me.”

“That’s what demons do, sweetheart.” He pulled me into his arms again. “They scent out your weaknesses and prey on them.”

I guess I sort of did that too, although at least I was giving pleasure and not throwing someone into a jealous panic attack. Well, the girlfriends of my partners maybe, but not the partners themselves.

Irix pulled my hair aside and kissed my neck, alternating feather-light brushes of his lips with sharp nips of his teeth. I shivered.

“I know your weaknesses,” he murmured. “And after dinner, I promise to prey on every one of them.”

My legs felt weak. “Let’s hurry up and have dinner, then, because I’m ready to be preyed on right now.”

***

Irix waited patiently, sipping guava juice and vodka while I read Kristin’s text.

Brigid, Hestia, Vulcan, Pele, Kojin (a Japanese god of fire). There are another fifty old gods affiliated with fire, but they aren’t regional to the area, so wouldn’t be likely to wake due to a desecration. They are also not commonly known, so I doubt a group of any worshipers is large enough to wake them. These are my top five. I’ll get back to you on the produce affinity
.

“Three goddesses and two gods,” I told him, pocketing my cell phone and walking through the door.

We were dressed to the max, Irix in a gorgeous suit and me in a hand-embroidered, full-length halter dress that shimmered with gold thread. A dinner out, Irix’s way of reducing stress without us being naked and horizontal, although, that was probably on our agenda later. I shivered with anticipation.

“Sea bass? Prime Rib? Tuna?” Irix tucked my hand into the crook of his arm.

“Anything but burgers. No fast food tonight.”

“Hopefully no fast food for a long time.”

I sighed. “Well, I might need to gorge myself on everything available, fast food as well as sea bass. An old god – I don’t even want to think about it.”

“When you don’t want to think about it, it’s time to do just that.” Irix helped me into the car – a huge BMW sedan this time – and walked around to slide into the driver’s seat. “So, five gods and goddesses. What do you know about each of them?”

“Brigid is a Celtic goddess, and like Vulcan, she rules the fire of the forge. She also has a lot in common with Hestia – hearth, healing, some aspects of childbirth. Wiccans invoke her a lot for the ‘fire’ of inspiration, passion, and creation. Same with Hestia, who is also invoked for peace and sanctity of the home. If we’re looking at a group of worshippers, I think Brigid or Hestia are the most likely.”

“And Vulcan?”

I shrugged. “The Roman god of volcanoes, the forge, and the more destructive aspects of fire. I can see him being a main suspect given the damage – that doesn’t seem like Hestia or Brigid as far as how the Wiccans perceive them. If it’s Vulcan, then I’m thinking we might be looking at an old-god summoning by a super-mage. Not many outside of metalworkers would want to worship him, and I can’t imagine there being enough metalworkers in Hawaii to awaken him.”

“That leaves Pele and Kojin.”

“Pele is pretty much the local Hawaiian Vulcan as far as I’ve read in the tourist brochures. Since she’s a volcano goddess, and the islands are volcanic rock, I’d probably make her my number one choice out of the five. Even if the native Hawaiians don’t worship her per-se, there are probably enough hippie and surfer types who would throw enough energy her way to wake her. I don’t know anything about Kojin, but there’s a significant Japanese population here.”

Pele. My mind screeched to a halt then replayed the legends I’d heard. Pele, the temperamental, jealous volcano goddess, the one who created the islands. Pele who threw a fit when she didn’t get a man she wanted. Pele who thought the world revolved around her.

Holy shit. I’d been such an idiot. How could I have not seen this?

Irix pulled into a parking space. “So, in order of likelihood, Pele, Kojin, Vulcan, Brigid, Hestia?”

“Pele.” I could barely get the name out.

“Yeah. I mean, she’s in the local pantheon, and she does have the whole volcano-fire thing going. She’s our top suspect.”

“Cleo,” I gurgled, my mind racing. “She’s not a succubus; she’s a goddess. She’s Pele.”

Kristin was right; the last attack had been personal – maybe more than personal. But why hadn’t Pele killed me last night when she’d had ample opportunity? If the goddess hated me enough to attempt to boil me alive in a hot tub, why share drinks with me, participate in tandem sex in a storeroom, then drunkenly plan a party at Four Seasons? It was like some kind of twisted frenemies thing.

Oh my God. Tandem sex. I’d boinked a guy next to a goddess doing the same thing. Ewww.

Irix shot me a quick glance, similar to what someone might give a mental patient. “You said she was a succubus. There’s a big difference between demon and goddess. Not that I’ve ever personally met a goddess. I’m just assuming they’d be more like a souped-up angel than a succubus.”

I was feeling light-headed. “I’ve only met two demons – you and Sam, and she’s an imp. Cleo didn’t come across as any more powerful than you, and she had this whole sex-vibe going on. She stole my prey, forbade me from hunting on
her
island. I just assumed she was a crazy-ass greedy succubus.”

Irix let out a deep breath and rubbed his hands along the steering wheel. “Are you sure? Because if this succubus is really a goddess, then that’s a bit of a game changer.”

“You think?” The sarcastic words flew out of my mouth, and I grimaced. “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “This might rule out negotiation. And until I get close enough to her to gauge her power, I’m not going to suggest an offensive strategy.”

“So we’re back to finding the mage and hoping he knows how to send Pele back to sleep, or at least appease her with whatever he’d initially offered.”

Like we’d ever find the damned mage. He could be anyone. Heck, he could be gone by now, off to New Jersey or something. No, we were going to have to deal with Pele directly, and my stomach rolled just thinking about it. Maybe she wasn’t as strong as I thought she was. If Irix could get close enough to check her power level, then we’d have a better idea, but I didn’t exactly want Irix that close to her. I didn’t want Irix within five miles of her.

Suddenly I remembered what went down in the lobby and really did feel like I was about to puke. “I threatened her. Just today, I ran into her in the lobby and had a jealous moment.”

Jealous moment. Understatement of the century.

Irix’s mouth tightened. “Threatened her how?”

“I told her if she got anywhere near you, I was going to kick her ass. She really gets under my skin, and I had a weak moment.”

“Well, that’s not too bad.” Irix’s expression was thoughtful. “As threats go, that was pretty minor.”

I squirmed. “Then there was a weird Mexican standoff where she started an earthquake and I tried to tie her up in vining plants. She backed off when I broke a water container and flooded the floor. Cleo, I mean Pele, evidently doesn’t like to get wet.” Which made sense for a goddess of volcanoes and fire.

“And?”

I closed my eyes. “She stomped out saying she was going to make me regret it.”

After a moment of silence, Irix put the BMW into park and pulled the key from the ignition. “Guess we should go eat then.”

“Wouldn’t it be wiser for us to run and hide? Take the next plane off the island?” My stomach rumbled, but I was more concerned about a vengeful goddess incinerating us while we were eating steamed shrimp than my need for food.

“Yes, but we wouldn’t make it to the terminal before you remembered you have to save every human, plant, and mineral on the island and made me turn around. I figured I might as well save us the drive. And I’m hungry.”

“I’m scared.” I was, and Irix’s casual acceptance of the situation wasn’t helping.

He reached over and pulled me across into his arms. “I may have never faced a divine being before, but I’ve been in far worst situations than this with demons in Hel. There’s a reason she’s toying with you. Whatever it is, it’s something we can work to our advantage.”

I realized Irix was right. Why hadn’t Cleo killed me in the lobby when I’d nearly gotten her shoes wet? Why hadn’t she killed me the other times I’d defied her? Thinking back, the hot-tub incident was really more of a warning, otherwise the pair of us would have been dead. Why wasn’t I dead?

“Okay.” I gave Irix a tight hug then pulled back and straightened my back. “I’m still scared, but I’m seeing a glimmer of hope in the situation.”

“That’s my elf-girl.” He smiled and tugged a lock of my hair. “There’s a way out of this, and we’re going to figure it out. Just not on an empty stomach.”

We got out of the car and walked hand in hand into a hibachi restaurant. Hibachi. Restaurant.

“This is not a good idea,” I hissed, wincing as flames jumped on the table grill to my left. Everyone oohed as the chef flipped shrimp across the flames from spatula to spatula. “Can’t we go somewhere without fire, like a raw-foods place?”

“They serve sushi here.” Irix’s voice teased, but the muscles in his arm were just as tense as mine. “Amber, there is fire everywhere – people lighting cigarettes, candles, barbecue grills. If she’s going to attack, it’s going to happen no matter where we are. At least here we’ll be on guard and surrounded by readily available fire extinguishers.”

We sat at a huge square table with two other couples and a family of four. The kids were practically bouncing off their seats in excitement, sword fighting with their chopsticks and drinking red fizzy drinks sporting jaunty umbrella decorations. Panic crept in again.

“Irix, there are kids here,” I hissed. “Kids.”

He gave me a stern look. “There hasn’t been a fire in two whole days, and the only time it was targeted at us, there were no bystanders. She may be possessive and temperamental, but she doesn’t seem to do mass murder.”

In the crowded farmers’ market, there hadn’t been any casualties, but that rancher’s kid had come very close to being crushed by a burning tree, and if I hadn’t helped, he might have died from smoke inhalation. Maybe Pele wasn’t targeting humans, but an accident was bound to happen eventually.

Still, from her past actions, it didn’t seem likely the goddess would send her fire servant into a crowded restaurant. No, a more likely scenario would be our car exploding, or me spontaneously combusting in the parking lot.

Irix squeezed my hand. “Trust me. I’ve seen enough warmonger demons in my days. Plague demons too. She didn’t strike you down in the lobby when you argued, and she hasn’t gone on a killing rampage. If she’d wanted to kill you, she would have done it already.”

“Okay. You’re right. I’m overreacting again.”

“Yes, you are.” Irix plopped a bottle of sake in front of me.

“I can’t drink that. What if something happens? I need to be completely sober.”

“No, you don’t. You’re wound so tight that I don’t trust you not to blow the whole place up. I’d prefer you drunk. Besides,” —his voice turned teasing— “Pele
wants
me. No way she’d risk burning me to bits. Sex with a burnt-to-charcoal demon wouldn’t be fun.”

“She’s already cooked you twice. Maybe she does want you charred and crispy.”

“Then she’s pretty darned kinky.” Irix nudged the sake. “Drink. Eat. Relax. We’ll strategize later on a full stomach.”

I poured the sake into the little cup and was amazed at how steady my hands were as I took a drink. The cool, smooth liquid hit my empty stomach and shot through my veins. Our chef appeared with a bow and a brief knife-and-spatula juggling routine. He drew a smiley face with a squirt bottle of oil then set it alight. I jumped, thinking this chef had a lot in common with my nemesis. Pyros, both of them, although I doubted Cleo ever did the smiley-face thing.

It was okay. Nothing happened beyond some sizzling beef and pork on the grill. I took a huge breath, held it, then let it out, trying to purge all the stress from my body with the exhale.

“So, tell me about the surfing lessons.”

Irix, trying to take my mind off the mini bonfires around us. I smiled, grateful for his calm. “I suck, although today I seemed to suck a whole lot less than I did when I got here. Maybe by the end of our vacation, I’ll be doing aerials.” I laughed. “Or not. I really do suck.”

“I can’t believe that. You’re a speedy, tree-climbing, agile-as-a-monkey half-elf. Surfing should be as easy as walking.”

“Unfortunately not. But what I lack in skill, I make up for in my knowledge of surfing terms and etiquette.”

I told him all about the heinous sin of dropping in, the rules of right-of-way in the lineup, what a duck-dive was, and when to kick out. All the while, I steadily drank sake, not even blinking as another bottle appeared before me. It was working. I was relaxed, but Irix better be alert and on his game, because it would suck if I had to grow a forest of bamboo in a hibachi restaurant while drunk.