Chapter Two
"I can hear you…Rachel," Ku'Sox mocked "I can hear you breathing," he continued coming closer to my circle.
I Held my breath, my back to the building. My heart pounded, sweat made clear tracks down my face as I thought of a plan. With witnesses I can challenge him to the death but until I can get out of here without line jumping I need to stall him.
"How sweet of you to come back thinking you could best me," he said a rock clinking closer. "It took six demons to shove me under that rock they built the arch over and I almost killed one of them too almost got Newt too. Sweet little Newt, more trusting then you even after I had convinced her to kill her sisters. You should have waited until after dark, Al can't help you but at least you won't die alone."
"I don't need Al's help to squish a bug like you!" I said through gritted teeth as I attempted to figure out where he was by the sound of his voice. Trying to be quit I pulled away from the building, an odd sort of pain drifting through me as the curse made for Ku'Sox I modified felt for him and stared to align itself. Some pieces of me didn't fit until I added Elvin magic and wild magic enough to kill him aligned itself until it fit finishing it. Slowly I gathered and stored them into my chi when ready I need to grab him for it to work.
"Don't need Al's help huh?" he said and with a sideways step he appeared from the side of the building cocky and sure of himself with the sun in his hair and his lips curved up in amusement. Crap he was almost on top of me. "You're stupider than I thought," he finished smiling.
Pain exploded from nowhere inside. My concentration shattered and my curse I'd pulled from myself sprang back with a twang. My knees gave out and I hit the pavement besides the building. I have got in in hundreds of duels and battles in my three years in the Ever After and felt pain and nearly died so I have a high pain tolerance but this pushes it. T felt like my lungs were exploding. Teeth clenched I lifted my head to find Ku'Sox standing besides the building a bundle of cloth in his hands. Great he had a focusing object. He didn't have to throw spells at me. He could wish on a star.
"Oh goddess," I moaned feeling the cramping slither across my heart and wind its way to my gut. Panting I tried to inch myself up into a fighting stance gripping my sword with all of my might. I took a gasping breath as I realized that there were a pair of black slippers in front of me. He'd moved as I hadn't even noticed. But in fairness it was hard to see around the pain.
"That was so easy, it wasn't any fun at all." Ku'Sox pouted. I looked up squinting at the doll in his hand a doll with red hair and leather boots and I got a clean albeit rugged breath as he loosened his fingers on it. "Want to play dolls?" He teased.
I flung myself at him surprising him and stabbed him with Soul Weaver and ripped the doll away from him after magically sending it away safely to my room in the ever after in my safe which only I can access.
My lungs were suddenly overflowing with air, feeling as if they were going to burst even as the heat moist breath lacking any oxygen at it filled them. I was suffocating though I heaved for air. One hand on my throat the other on the hilt of the sword sticking through his gut backhanding me hard enough I was flung backward landing against a building. Yanking the sword out of his gut he tossed it aside where it transported itself back into the scabbard on my waist.
I saw movement behind Ku'Sox a soft ghost of grey I tried not to look, but Ku'Sox notice my eyes turning in time to see Fenrir spouting a torrent of black fire from his mouth.
"Compages!" Ku'Sox shouted, and a shimmering protection bubble flashed into existence breathtaking in its utter sordidness. This was true smut, making the black shimmer of my own look like a drop of oil in the ocean. Fenrir's curse hit Ku'Sox protective bubble and bounced right back at Fenrir.
It was a beautiful bit of defensive magic, but it cost Ku'Sox his concentration. The pain in my chest vanished my head came up and I took in a huge gulp of air. In an instant I read the strength Fenrir's thrown curse had absorbed from Ku'Sox bubble, knowing the ill-made green tinted circle Fenrir had taken refuge behind a little ways from Ivy and Hel wasn't going to hold against it. The curse had Fenrir's aura and would go right through. My eyes narrowed and still on the ground I whispered "rhombus."
The rusty broken west coast ley line limped into me and I wrestled with it trying to get some semblance of order, but it was thin and ragged. My circle was huge me at its circle as all theological undrawn circles are the edge of it just shy of Hel and Ivy. They were outside my circle but Ku'Sox and the deadly curse had bounced back to Fenrir was inside. Ivy was safe.
I grunted when Fenrir's curse hit the outside of my bubble absorbing most of the energy from his magic as it tore through my circle and hit Fenrir squire on, having passed right through his bubble like I knew it would,
"No!" I cried out as the curse stuck Fenrir and he fell mouth open howling to the sun. "Goddess! NO!" I shouted again struggling to get up as the curse started to spread to Ivy and Hel but stopped when Fenrir collapsed under the green tint of the Ever After.
Mouth agape, Ku'Sox spun to me shock clear. "You…" he stammered and then I saw Fenrir move his chest rising and falling as he lay stunned by his own magic. He was alive! Out cold but alive! Thankyou goddess he was alive!
"Clever," Ku'Sox manage grudging admiration clear in his tone though clearly still peeved that I managed to save them and I kicked him with all the force I had.
Yelping he fell back. I sprang at him my hands reaching for his neck to strangle but he vanished an instant before I touched him and I fell right through the space he'd been in before landing hard against the sidewalk my curled in fingers taking much of the impact. "Ouch!" I huffed then rolled instinct and too many fights telling me to move.
I was too slow to escape everything and the toe of Ku'Sox boot helped me over, bruising my ribs instead of breaking them.
"Mother of a dog whore!" Ku'Sox shouted following me his foot swinging and I rolled the other way right into him.
He wasn't expecting that, and he fell forward over me hitting the sidewalk with an oof of surprise.
Immediately I reversed my motion almost crawling across him as he lay face down on the sidewalk. Inside a part of me is shrieking with laughter. Here we are two demons in the sun, down to kicking and punching each other.
"You are scum Ku'Sox." I breathed heavily into his ear, straddling his back as I found his arm and yanked it backward almost breaking it as I smashed his head back down onto the ground. But he only started to laugh. His cheek against the cement unable to see me. He was starting to piss me off and I gave his hair a rough little pull cutting his mirth short.
"Rachel, what do you hope to accomplish?" he said clearly feeling the pain of the position but not taking it seriously. "I can jump a line from under you and burn every last thought from you as I lay here."
No he can't because his magic is slowly draining as I stall him long enough to be weak enough to take the curse. But he doesn't know that. Grimacing, I shoved his wrist into his back and lift his bent elbow making him yelp. "Then why aren't you?" I asked. I let up just a little. The hills of San Francisco were silent as I waited for a bell to ring as I wait for the collective. Before I came here I sent Vivian to ring the collective. Please Vivian…
"Because this is sort of nice," he commented and I pulled up on his elbow making him moan in pain and pleasure. He was getting off on this the sick fuck!
"Nice?" I leaned closer to his ear and whispered, "You should see me when I'm warmed up. I'm like a Hemi baby I can run all night."
He swallowed and said "maybe we got off on the wrong foot," I eased up just a smidge. "I heard you fought and killed hundreds of demons and almost killed Al. You made a damn fine construct for the collective. I walked it while you were off who knows where. I can admit I was wrong. You are a demoness. A damn fine one. I don't care if it came from witches and genetic engineering of elves. As I myself am born from tinkering and I'll admit m abhorrence might have originated from my own shame."
"I am not ashamed of where I come from!" I snarled softly, my worry growing as I glanced at Fenrir still not moving.
"I'm even impressed with how you tried to slide that curse into me," he added eyes moving to find mine. "You forgot to include the collective though. Good luck finding one. The demons won't help you. They want me even less than your pitiful coven does. No, you're down to one choice and that's me."
Vivian would find me a collective I had to believe that. "You?" I asked as I leaned in my shadow covering my eyes and he winced his gaze finding mine at last. A grimace grew on my face as I pinned him down to the cement. "Ku'Sox was an ass, he was getting turned on by this I could tell.
"I told you I liked red hair yes?" he murmured sand stuck to his face. "I could get to like you," he said and I forced myself to smile at him. "We could enjoy each other, enjoy the best of the ever after and this world both. Just you and me. The hell with the rest of them,"
Keep him talking, I thought to myself feeling a weird sort of energy starting to slip from him into me. Damn it! Was he seriously trying to do a power pull? Shuddering through the pleasure of it and cursing how good his power feels right now. "What about Ivy?" I asked breathlessly glancing at the vampire in question who was listening to us the entire time. Gasping when she saw my usual green eyes were replace with a pitch black obsidian eyes with not one ounce of white in them. My demon eyes showed her just how much I have changed. Using my second sight which allows me to see magic others can't see I checked the bond Ivy and I shared to make sure the spell I cast in the Ever After worked. Sure enough I saw her beautiful soul forever hers even in death. Good! It worked.
"Bring her along, "Ku'Sox' voice brought my attention back to him "Variety is the spice of life."
Disgusted at the thought of any part of him near me or Ivy in any sexual way I snorted in disbelief that he actually though I meant a threesome! Men!
"I meant," I said through gritted teeth trying to reign in my anger "you hurt her."
"I didn't do anything permanent," His voice betrayed his bewilderment. "You want to know the way to keep her soul after she dies right?"
Shock quivered through me as I jerked my head to stare into his eyes trying to see if he was lying but his face was unreadable and I couldn't tell. "You know how to do that?"
I warbled, there is no way he figured it out and if he didn't I couldn't risk her soul by telling him I figured it out he will just eat it.
I couldn't help it, my grip eased and Ku'Sox drew his arm to his chest, laughing low as he shifted out from under me, siting up and turning to face me. Streaks of dirt had turned his black shirt gray and he felt his shoulder before wiping the sand from his face and arranging his hair.
"That's better," he grunted, his gaze taking in my rumpled body eyes cataloging the curves and lines of my face to my boots and back to my demonic eyes.
"This is what you really look like?"
"You can return Ivy's soul to her body when she dies?" I prompted breathlessly needing to know for sure.
"No I just wanted you to let me go."
My jaw dropped even though I was relieved. "You son of a bitch!" I swung at him, my wrist bursting in pain when he caught my hand inches from his face.
"Find something new to call me," he said blandly before yanking me to him. My hand curled into a claw extending my talons from my demonic form and I panted through the pain. I was kneeling before him and he pulled me closer almost into his lap.
"I've been alone a long time," he said longing and loneliness in his voice, his hand gripping my wrist painfully, promising me even more if I struggled. "Lots of time to imagine what it could be." His groping hand reached into my back pocket taking his time to grope my ass as he took the chalk from me and tossed it behind his shoulder. "Lots of time to lose what few inhibitions I might have had."
He began hunting for my weapons next and I struggled more my claws trying to scratch him before he finally had enough and crushed my hand making my claws disappear my human hands in its place. My knives were next and as I continued to struggle he found it, slipped in the small of my back and threw it in the ocean.
"I can shift the smallest mote of energy," a new depravity in his eyes, as if he wanted to strip me of everything else, which he probably did.
"Promises, promises," I muttered under my breath listening for the bells but hearing nothing but the shushing of the water and the cry of the sea gulls. It wasn't going to happen. They were too afraid those damn worthless humans!
"I don't want to fight you," he said sounding reasonable as the wind moved the ends of his hair. "I am not even asking you to submit. Simply let me be."