“I let Lucifer twist and manipulate me. I fornicated with his demons, let one possess my flesh, all to bring the shine back to Joachim’s eyes. And do you know what happened?”
I worked my jaw slowly, hearing the bones crack with each motion, shooting pain through my entire face. It sounded like a few things had broken. Did she really expect me to answer? I stared up into her mad black eyes.
“He turned on me. He said that I had turned him into the monster he was today. He did not see the power I had given him.” The wildness in her eyes was replaced by the frightening calm once more. “He took our son and left me, in search of redemption. He went to appeal to Heaven itself, to beg and plead his way back in. My strong, beautiful Joachim, reduced to sniveling, begging for another chance.”
Her lip curled in disgust, making the beautiful face a macabre mockery of itself. “He returned to the first temple consecrated to God, a temple he had built as pharaoh, and entered the doors, leaving my son on the doorstep. And do you know what happened to him?”
I shook my head, ignoring the cracking sounds in my neck. I didn’t trust my throat to answer.
“They destroyed him,” Queen Nitocris said in that horribly toneless, bland voice. “He appealed to them, begging for mercy, and they destroyed him where he stood. My son watched him burn alive, until all that was left was a halo on the altar-the essence of who he once was.”
Nitocris moved over to Zane and began to stroke her fingers through his hair in a maternal gesture, tucking the locks behind his ears. “And when my son returned to me with the news that he had failed both me and his father, I broke him as punishment.”
She focused another hideous smile on me and I cringed backward. “As I do to any who fail me,” she said, her words hissing between her teeth. “I stole his essence, pried it from his living form, and made it part of my own. It dwells inside me, as does the demon I gave myself to when I took what Lucifer offered.”
Yikes. I totally did not want to mess with this woman ever again. Frightened for my life, I wondered if sucking down the soul of a succubus could augment her powers. I hoped not. I hoped we didn’t give anyone anything but venereal disease.
“So what is it that you will tell Uriel, child?”
Oh, crap. On the spot again. She was gazing over at me from where she was draped all over a stiff-looking Zane, her eyes boring into me.
“Uh, I’ll tell him that you’re looking for your old boyfriend because you miss him and you’re lonely?”
The queen laughed again, putting my nerves on edge. “Wrong, my dear.” She stalked over to me and put her hands on my cheeks, as if she were staring down at a lover. “Do you know what you’ll tell him?”
“No,” I said, shying away from the terrible face that hovered too close. “What do I tell him?”
“You’re going to tell him that I want the halo. But not because I want Joachim back. Oh, no.” The rumble of a laugh started in her throat. “Not after he betrayed me. But I do want his power. And when I have his halo, I will absorb his essence into my flesh and become the most powerful creature on either side of Heaven or Hell.”
It was too terrifying to even think about. “I’ll tell him,” I agreed, too scared to do anything else.
“Good,” she purred. “And tell him that you’ll be getting it for me.” Nitocris pressed her lips onto my forehead, directly over the spot that Uriel had kissed me on. My forehead flared with heat once more, then settled into a dull, burning ache.
I jerked away from her, forgetting that she was the hungry shark and I was a mere minnow. “Me?” My voice came out as an angry squeak. “Why me?”
Nitocris studied me, smiling. “Don’t you want to work for me, child?”
“No!” I clapped a hand over my mouth as soon as I realized what I had said. Nitocris raised an eyebrow, and I cleared my throat. “What I meant to say was that I can’t work for you. I’m sorry.”
“You’ll work for me, whore-child. Do not doubt it.” She laughed again, strolling back to where Remy was being held at one of the booths. A feeling of dread began to sweep over me. “You do value your friendship with this one, do you not?” she called over her shoulder, approaching Remy and putting her fingers under her chin.
Remy stared straight ahead, ignoring the queen, her eyes focused on me with a warning look. I couldn’t tell if she was warning me not to fall for the queen’s bluff, or to do what she asked.
“So pretty, isn’t she? But then again, that’s one of the trademarks of your kind. Pretty, and sexual. It’s been a long time since my men have tasted the flesh of a succubus, and I know that they consider it a rare and wonderful delight.” Her smile was turned back to me again. “I think your friend will stay with us while you go and find my halo. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a bad idea?” I offered meekly, trying to be tough and failing miserably.
Nitocris’s smile became thin. “Nevertheless, she’ll stay with us until you bring the halo back and place it in my hands. Understand?” She released Remy and pointed at two of her men. “Take her away and chain her up.”
The vampire pair immediately grabbed Remy, wide smiles creasing their faces. Dread settled in the pit of my stomach as Remy began to kick and scream, snarling obscenities at the two men. “Don’t do it,” she screamed over and over. “Don’t do it!”
I didn’t know if she was talking to me or the queen. I turned wide eyes on Nitocris, who was admiring her fingernails.
“Such a pity that she’s not in a more amenable mood, isn’t it?” She gave me a coy smile. “I’m sure that will change in the next twenty-four hours or so. How often do you girls have the urge? As often as my men must feed, yes?”
That bitch. I watched, helpless, as they dragged Remy away. “You can’t do this. She hasn’t done anything.” Desperation tore through me.
“No, she hasn’t,” the queen agreed. “Which is why you’ll want to free her from her prison. All you need to do is bring me a halo. Simple, isn’t it?”
Remy’s screams grew quieter and more muffled. Tears threatened my eyes, and I had to blink hard to force them away. I didn’t want to cry in front of her.
“Well?” Nitocris regarded me with interest. “What do you have to say, Colette?”
My body was numb. I felt my lips move, but it didn’t register, not even when I heard myself say, “You’ll get your halo.”
Queen Nitocris smiled. “I know.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
As soon as I was released from the nightclub, I stumbled outside and threw up. Shaking, sick, and frightened out of my mind, I wiped my chin and stumbled to valet parking and retrieved Remy’s car. No one seemed to think anything of me leaving by myself after entering with the famous Miss Summore, which made me wonder what kind of life she led, or what sorts of things truly went on in the club.
I got behind the wheel of Remy’s BMW and buckled in, turning the A/C on high. I felt overheated and like I’d been turned inside out. Nitocris’s hideous smile played through my mind over and over, as well as Remy’s terrified screams.
This was all my fault.
My skin crawled, too. Not with fear or horror (though those were certainly running through my mind), but with lust. Queen Nitocris’s kiss had canceled out the angel’s kiss and replaced it with something far more compulsive. My overheated flesh cried out for relief, the soft fabric of my clothing chafing against my skin. The Itch had returned.