a shake of succubus

  cocktails in hell

  book two

  S.E. Babin

  contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  chapter one

  Dave hunkering over his drink was the only familiar thing in this place. He’d kept his tentacles tucked in this time, much to the relief of all the staff. While we thought it was gross but harmless, the new clientele was turning out not to be so forgiving. I swept my gaze around the bar, absentmindedly wiping out yet another glass.

  Landry usually took care of this chore, but he’d been out for the last few days–some kind of bachelor celebration for one of his friends. That left me, Keelie, and the ever-present and moody Olive tending the bar. Mostly me. Olive was here because I busted her sabotaging me and forced Ariel’s hand to honor the Accords. I gave the agreement a modern twist, though, because enslaving the poor fairy for what she did seemed a little much. Keelie stayed behind because I offered her a job and a contract for a hundred years. Plus, I liked her.

  Olive? Not so much.

  I’d been here for two hours so far, and the bar hadn’t slowed down a bit. The jukebox blared continuously. Demons loved music. Bad, good, weird. As long as it was on, they didn’t care. No matter when I came in, something different was on. Today, Lynyrd Skynyrd crooned about their sweet home in Alabama of all places, followed by CCR’s Green River. It could be worse. A few days ago, someone was really into Michael Buble and I damn near had to break up a demon riot.

  As far as gigs went, it wasn’t bad. It helped that I negotiated an outrageous pay raise. Like reallly outrageous. Six figures outrageous. With perks. I could retire in a few years if I wanted to kind of outrageousness. Of course, I’d probably be dead in a few years, so I’d never see the money put to good use, but a girl could always dream, couldn’t she?

  Luc, aka Lucifer, aka Hottie Pants, gave me free rein to remodel the place however I wanted to, but as big as I dreamed, it looked pretty similar to the other Swan Noveltinis. Just…bigger. Grander, maybe. I missed having my own place. Yes, technically, this place was mine, but it came with a whole lot of strings attached.

  I never wanted to be a Pinocchio, but somewhere along the way, my life got complicated enough to warrant my very own Geppetto, aka the demon giving me broody bedroom eyes from across the bar.

  I dropped my eyes before I did something stupid like blush or giggle like a schoolgirl, lecturing myself silently for about the hundredth time since I’d arrived that fateful day a few weeks ago.

  You cannot crush on the devil, Violet.

  You cannot stare at the devil’s tight tushie, Violet.

  You cannot run your fingers down his golden forearms, Violet.

  You cannot…

  Hell. I was in literal and metaphorical Hell.

  I grew up on stories about Lucifer. Some good, some bad, and some terrifying enough to give me nightmares. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I finally met him, but it wasn’t what I got.

  He was a supernova, and I was a planet caught up in his magnetic field. The mark made it worse. I felt his presence even when he wasn’t close, and sometimes his moods. Knowing when Lucifer was happy or sad, or heaven forbid (I fully understand the irony) aroused, made me want to pull every strand of hair out of my head and shove it in my mouth so no one could hear me scream.

  From the gossip, the bar hadn’t been the same since I arrived. Not because of me, though one would think it. But because Lucifer was hanging around waaaaay more than usual. Almost every day. The number of patrons in the bar dropped when Lucifer decided to pop in unannounced on a regular basis, which was hurting my bottom line. Though not really since I negotiated an outrageous salary for all of us. But, still. It was annoying. Granted, the place was still hopping, but I spotted at least three open tables, which rarely happened before I’d arrived.

  But how do you tell the literal Devil to get lost? And did I really want him to go?

  I blinked. Yes. Yes, of course, I wanted him to go. If my foster father were here, he’d kick my ass for even thinking about Luc in that way. The man had been the literal bogeyman in almost every store Az had ever told me, so I must be a total moron to let my thoughts stray into hearts and butterflies territory. I blamed this on Az. He’d kept me too sheltered over the years, and I’d never had a boyfriend last more than a few months because he’d chase them away by doing something terrifying, and I’d have to start all over.

  Sighing, I finished wiping out the glasses and arranged them carefully for the next afternoon. Landry was due back tomorrow for the first shift. I had the day off but planned to pop in and do some potion work. We were running low on a few of the more popular items, and I’d avoided working overtime due to my annoying crush on my new boss.

  A soft warm light pulsed a few feet away, coming closer until Keelie landed on one of the cups I’d just cleaned, depositing a healthy dose of fairy dust inside. Normally, this would annoy me, but fairy dust was expensive, and I’d found some good uses for it over the last few weeks. I’d asked her for permission to gather it. Doing it without it felt wrong, but Keelie was delighted for someone else to use her “byproduct.” Her words, not mine. If I thought about it too much, I might start wearing a Hazmat suit to gather it.

  Olive flat out refused, which didn’t worry me too much. Who knew what kind of darkness hers held? Chancing that in a spell was a greater risk than I wanted to take. She was perpetually pissed off. Not much different from before, but now she had a reason. Getting busted was her own fault. I’d only taken advantage of the situation.

  “Hi Violet!” she greeted. Keelie had become quite the fashionista since her pay bump. I didn’t have the heart to tell her Barbie clothes weren’t all that expensive. She’d discovered Etsy, though, and even I was a little jealous of all the cute stuff she got to wear. Today it was a pair of dark wash skinny jeans with wedge heels, a pretty lacy camisole and a black biker jacket. She’d wound her hair up in a messy bun and secured it with sparkling butterfly clips.

  The first time I brought her in, the demons had a field day. Not many bright and beautiful things hung around them for long, so they’d stared at her first before one ventured over. Keelie wasn’t sure what to think, but I admired her ability to stand firm even in the face of fear. A fire-wielding demon could take her out in mere seconds, but this one merely stared at her in fascination. Soon enough, she’d become fast friends with a few of them and a source of wonder for the others not yet brave enough to introduce themselves.

  As far as me, demon lore had gotten tipped on its head when I stepped in as Apothecaire and Guardian for this place. I’d seen a few demons in my day, and I’d never forgotten Az’s lessons, but my foster father had been remiss in his education. He sought to instill fear, which considering who I was and where I came from, was a solid plan, but he’d failed to tell me about the good ones.

  One plopped down in front of me. “Hey.”

  Keelie’s dust went bright pink. “Bianca!”

  “Hey sprite.” Bianca laughed when Keelie glared at her. “You know I’m just kidding. How’s it going?”

  Lex and Bianca were usually inseparable, but I found out later Bianca was a succubus. An unusual one. Her aura didn’t look quite like the others. And…succubi were demons. Something else I hadn’t known until the madness of my current life had crept up on me. It made sense when I thought about it. Their victims give up a piece of their souls each time Bianca takes them to bed. Sounds pretty demonish when you think about it.

  “What’s up, Violet?” She tapped her fuchsia-painted fingernails on the bar. “Got the stuff to make a cosmo?”

  “Coming right up!” I focused on making the drink as she and Keelie caught up. Bianca and I had never been as friendly as Lex and I, though even that was debatable, considering I hadn’t seen her in over a week.

  From what Bianca told me, she didn’t love coming here. Demons were wary of Seers. And Seers had every right to be wary of demons. After all, they’d hunted them close to extinction some millennia back. Lex came from a particularly powerful line and tried to keep her powers under wraps, but in the new Swan Novelties, glamours and concealment spells were swept away as soon as you stepped through the door. She’d come in once before knowing that little tidbit and lit up like a Christmas tree. I’d never seen males flock to a woman as they did Lex that night. Ten minutes after she came in, she left in a hurry, white-faced and tense.

  This was also the reason Az and Max never visited. But neither of them would be so foolish as to step foot into Lucifer’s domain, not after how they’d left him. Az wasn’t pleased with my new gig, though he knew wearing Lucifer’s mark would protect me from the others who hunted me.

  Lucifer included.

  I was a big ol’ piece of juicy bait dangling right under his nose, and Luc hadn’t yet realized it. When he did, and he realized he couldn’t harm me because of the mark…well…I didn’t even want to think about it. Hell hath no fury like the de

vil scorned.

  I pushed the pink concoction over to her. “How’s Lex?”

  Bianca shrugged as she pulled out the tiny pink umbrella. “She's alright. You should pop by her house sometime.”

  “I have no idea where she lives.” I bent down and grabbed a small thimble. Keelie loved Cosmos, and there was no reason to let the rest go to waste.

  Her eyes lit up as I pushed the thimble toward her. “Thanks!” She plunked herself down on the bar, crossed her legs, and sipped from it as she watched us.

  Bianca wrote down an address using a piece of paper she dug out from her purse. “Go see her,” she urged me, an expression on her face I couldn’t quite place. “Lex has been asking about you.”

  I tucked the paper into my pocket. “Sure. I’m on call every night, but I usually know when he’s about to blow my phone up.”

  Bianca grinned, knowing exactly who the he in question was. “I’m sure you don’t mind.”

  That’s the thing. I should mind. Why I didn’t was a question that had bothered me since I’d first woken up in his cozy little room. I wasn’t prone to crushes like this. No woman was immune to a hot guy, but the vast majority of us had the self control to look and not touch. My self-control hung by a thread of fishing line, and that was definitely unlike me.

  “I do mind,” I said quietly, chancing a glance toward him. He sat at a table with a few of his higher ranking demons playing some strange game with a handful of off white dice which I hoped weren’t made of bone.

  So they were definitely made of bone.

  Ick.

  I’d kept up their drink supply without going over there too much, but it would have helped if Landry were here. A full bar was too much for one person to handle, especially while they tended bar too.

  Maybe I should hire someone. The thought of it made me itch. I’d kept myself safe by keeping people at arms-length. Adding another person into the mix wouldn’t be ideal, but it would be helpful. I’d have to talk to Lucifer about it. He didn’t have the final say, but the person would have to be trustworthy. Maybe even accept a geas, and many paranorms weren’t crazy about it.

  Bianac sipped her cosmo and studied me. “You know, I wasn’t sure what to make of you when I first met you, but you’re proving more interesting by the day.”

  “Exactly what I hoped for,” I said dryly. “That got me plunked here in a demon bar guarding the gates to Hell.”

  She laughed. “One gate,” she clarified. “There are many.” Biana tilted her head. “Though this is the most dangerous.”

  “Yaaaaay,” I cheered sarcastically.

  Keelie giggled and tipped her thimble back. I topped off her drink and wagged my finger. “Last one.”

  “Boo Hiss,” mocked Keelie.

  “You’re a grumpy drunk,” I said as I tipped the last of the cosmo into her thimble.

  Biana snorted. “Better than that disaster you have up in the lights,” she said, referring to Olive.

  “She’s mad Violet got one over on her. Fairies hate to lose,” she said cheerfully. “Olive thought she was some grand spy, but it didn’t take Violet long to catch on.”

  I gave her a weird look, but Keelie shrugged. “It’s true. We’re born and bred to be spies. Not all of us choose the path, but our queen takes pride in her ability to create the best spy arm this side of the fairylands.”

  Biana blinked and reached over to snatch the thimble from Keelie’s hands. At the fairy’s protest, the succubus laughed. “You’ll get it back when you learn to control your mouth,” she hissed, looking around. “This is a demon bar, Keelie. Always assume everyone is listening.”

  Keelie’s shoulders slumped. “Sorry.”

  Bianca’s lips thinned as she dumped the thimble back into her own drink. “Don’t apologize to me.” Her gaze slid to mine. “You both need to mind your tongues here. Never consider yourselves safe in a place like this.”

  I tilted my head. Bianca’s eyes looked haunted. Leaning in, I murmured, “You can always talk to us if you need to. But I’ll heed your advice. Thank you.”

  Bianca tipped up the rest of her cosmo and drained it. “I’ll be back in a couple of days. Go see Lex.”

  Since she’d reminded me twice, I thought it best I move Lex up to the top of my to-do list. It wasn’t like Bianca to repeat herself. “I will.”

  She pushed a tip my way. “Be good, girls.” Bianca touched her finger lightly to the tip of Keelie’s shoe. “You have a friend in me, fairy,” she said quietly. “Remember that.”

  Keelie looked up, her sullen expression brightening. “You too!”

  Bianca gave her a sad smile before she stood and slung her purse over her shoulder. “See you around.”

  On her way out, a demon reached out to drag his clawed fingers down her arm. I watched as Bianca steeled, turned to him, and smiled, her eyes glowing with her strange pink and silver power.

  The demon’s smile slipped as Bianca reached down and grabbed him by the shirt collar.

  “Do you want to come home with me, little demon,” she purred.

  Keelie stilled next to me before she scooted a little closer to my elbow. Her tiny fingers reached out and clutched my sleeve.

  The demon swayed in her fingers, a result of the potion he’d ordered tonight. Paranorm metabolism was so high regular alcohol didn’t affect them. Or it did, but it burned off so fast the effect lasted seconds rather than hours. As an Apothecaire, I had the dubious honor of holding the power to make potions and drinks to bypass their quick metabolism and give them both the experience they sought as well as a wicked hangover. Some of the add-ins I offered could enhance it, and unfortunately for this poor soul, he’d ordered some doozies tonight.

  “I’d love to,” the demon slurred, seemingly forgetting about the current chokehold Bianca had around his neck.

  Conversation all but stopped as everyone watched the outcome. Bianca was a staple here, and she was popular, but everyone (except for this joker, it seemed) knew to leave her alone. She worked directly for Lucifer. I’d never seen them interact with each other, but he always nodded when she arrived and left, acknowledging her profession and allowing her autonomy. Something I didn’t quite understand but still respected.

  “Hmm,” Bianca said, studying the demon. The unearthly power glowed against her skin, and as I watched, the demon began to glow too. There was an uncomfortable shift in the room, with some demons sensing what was happening and looking elsewhere. Others grimaced but couldn’t tear their eyes away.

  I’d never seen her in action before, so I had no idea what was going on. I sensed it wasn’t good, though.

  “What’s happening?” Keelie whispered.

  “Stay quiet and unseen, Keelie,” I advised.

  She nodded and tucked herself further into the crook of my arm, peeking out behind my elbow.

  Soon, the demon’s body was outlined with a strange red glow. As I watched, Biana inhaled, the red glow going from the demon into Bianca. He gave her a sloppy smile and swayed against her.

  “Does that feel nice?” she said, shifting her body to keep him upright.

  “Mmm hmmm.”

  “Good.” Her eyes glowed as she drank from him.

  “Bianca,” one of the other demons at the table warned.

  Her attention snapped to him. “It’s rude to interrupt a girl’s meal.”

  The demon held his hands up and looked down.

  Bianca continued to drink, and it became obvious she had no plans to stop. I turned, gathering Keelie up in my hands.

  “Don’t look,” I told her. We headed to the back, and I pushed through the kitchen doors, not wanting to see the aftermath. I knew what succubi did, and I knew how they kept their youth and vitality. It didn’t mean I wanted to watch, nor did I want Keelie to see Bianca’s true power. Succubi were parasites, in a way, made by Lucifer himself.

  I pressed my back against the door once it closed behind me and let go of Keelie. She zipped away and hovered a few feet in front of me. “Why did she do that?” Her voice was quiet but curious.

 

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