And just as suddenly as the pain had shot through my body, as she had grabbed me to kiss – to feed – Layla shoved me away. Not with the playful push of a temptress concluding her seduction, either, but like someone burned. Her breathing was hoarse as our mouths came apart, her eyebrows creased in fury. She spat and wiped at her lips, stabbing one finger at me, the blood drop of her nail glinting in accusation.
“Poison.” She pointed at Prudence, then at Bastion in turn. “You’re trying to poison me.” She hissed, her teeth gleaming. They were nowhere near as sharp as the vampire’s, but it still made me take a step back.
Prudence stepped in, elbowing me out of the way. “We don’t know what you’re talking about, demon. We filled our end of the bargain. You took part of his soul. Now give us what we need.”
The bartender showed up just then, gingerly placing Layla’s Brandy Alexander on the counter, then looking between us, deciding whether to call on one of the club’s many bouncers. I couldn’t be sure if it was a glare from Layla or Prudence that did it, but he lifted his hands in placation and backed away, slowly.
Layla brought the glass to her lips and drained the cocktail in one gulp. It might have been my imagination but I swear her mouth went wider then, like a snake with its jaw unhinged. I still didn’t know enough about demons to tell if I was just seeing things, but it wasn’t the time to ask. And poison? She picked up a napkin and dabbed at her lips, the anger mostly gone from her face, but her eyes still cold, murderous.
“Maybe it wasn’t deliberate,” she said. “But this one is different. There’s a darkness inside him. His soul is tainted.”
Bastion slung his arm over my shoulder and chuckled throatily. “Didn’t need to kiss him to know that, Layla.”
I shrugged him off and puckered my lips, blowing a mock kiss the way he did to me just the other day. “Night’s still young, sweet cheeks. Never too late to find out.” Bastion slunk away, his neck turning a subtle shade of red. I guess he hadn’t expected me to fight back. Hah. Small victories.
Layla snapped her fingers, summoning another bartender. I wasn’t sure if I should have been offended at how she was draining even the remains of her used-up cocktails, like kissing me had been the most disgusting experience.
“Nothing personal, new boy. It’s just – there’s something wrong with you.” Her eyes narrowed, then flitted towards Prudence. “The deal’s off.”
This time it wasn’t the strobe lights. There was definitely a flash of blue luminescence as Prudence clenched her right fist. I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be an intentional threat, but Layla shifted visibly in her seat.
“Like hell it is,” Prudence growled. “You agreed to provide information in exchange for a kiss. A kiss that claimed part of a human soul, you scum-sucking hell beast.”
Layla bared her teeth and hissed, a feral display that would have made me jump back, but Prudence held her ground.
“An arcane soul too, may I remind you. I know your kind, succubus. You demons may have your own ways of doing things, but you hold to your word.” Prudence folded her arms across her chest, raising her chin triumphantly. “An agreement is an agreement.”
Layla slammed her fist on the counter. Empty glasses jiggled and clinked at the impact. I steeled myself and didn’t dare show my reaction when I noticed the hairline cracks spidering from the point where her punch had landed.
“Back alley of the Phat Pharm. There’s a dead pigeon on the asphalt, by a dumpster. The pigeon is the locus. Cast your circle there. Now leave me alone.” She turned to the bar again, pounding her open hand against the counter. “Whiskey sour. And can you make sure it gets to me some time this decade?”
Layla threw me one last accusing look, then turned away, and I knew we were dismissed. Without a word, Prudence grabbed me by the forearm and tugged me out of the club, with Bastion following along behind us.
I thought I’d done something wrong somehow. We got out on the street, the wet sidewalk now the only sign that a freak thunderstorm had passed through. Prudence clapped me on the back, her expression something almost approaching pride.
“You did good in there. Didn’t flinch when she asked to take a bite out of you.” She looked to Bastion expectantly. I thought she was going to start tapping her foot.
Bastion turned up his lip and stuck his hands deep into his jacket pockets, pretending to be disinterested as he looked up, then down the street. “Yeah,” he mumbled grudgingly. “Took one for the team. Good job, I guess.”
I grinned. I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to gloat right in Bastion’s face, so I took my shot. “Hey,” I said, spreading my arms out. “You just have to believe in me. You just – you just have to trust in Dustin.”
Prudence snorted. Bastion groaned.
Still, what the succubus said lingered like a bad smell. “That taint Layla was talking about, though. The darkness inside me? What did she mean?”
“Beats me. Consider yourself lucky she didn’t latch on for much longer.” Prudence shrugged, tapped at something on her phone, then took off down the sidewalk, boot heels clicking at the rain-slicked pavement.
“Yo,” Bastion called out. “What’s the hurry?” I thought much the same as I tried to match her stride.
“Twenty-four-hour supermarket this way,” Prudence said, barely missing a beat. “We have the tether’s location, but we still need to shop for reagents. To open the gateway, remember?”
Bastion smoothed his hair back, adjusting his jacket as he caught up. “Relax. How hard can it be to crack the entity’s domicile?”
Prudence brought her phone closer to her face as she walked, her expression stony in the pale blue glow. “For Hecate? Some honey.” She grimaced. “And a black lamb.” Her features darkened further. “And maybe a dog.”
Bastion stopped in his tracks, but when he noticed Prudence was still walking, made double time to catch up again.
“Wait, you’re kidding, right? Not a doggie.” There was a quality to his voice that I’d rarely ever heard, something with an edge of a desperate whine to it. His tone kept thinning as he talked. “Prue? Not a puppy. Right?”