Straight By The Rules

“Yes.”

She smiled nastily. “Feeling powerful are we?”

It’s a good thing I was sitting down because I’d started to shake. I gripped the arms of the chair with sweating hands.

She came around to my side of the desk and sat on it. “Before you do something you’ll regret, let me give you some advice. I’ve seen seven generations of your ancestors pass through my office. At one time or another, each of them tried to grow a spine and defy me. When that happened, do you know what I told them?”

My mouth was too dry for me to speak, so I shook my head.

“I reminded them that I owned them body and soul.” As Helen became more and more angry, the forties-era glamour disappeared. Her demon took over, and her eyes grew hot. “I can do with you whatever I want. I can hurt you in ways you could never imagine. I can drag you to levels of Hell so terrible that a rational woman would go insane simply hearing about them.”

I began to sweat at my hairline. A trickle of moisture ran from my temple.

“I know more tortures than any other creature in the human universe, and I show no mercy. Try to cross me, and I will instantly have you cursing your own name.” Her neck stretched, becoming long and sinewy like a snake, and she put her face very near to mine. “Do you understand?”

It was all I could do to look at her terrible face. “Perfectly. Helen.” I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself, trying to prepare for whatever she sent at me next.

She laughed. “Oh, Lilith. You do amuse me, you poor, pathetic creature.”

I opened one eye, and when I saw that she no longer appeared monstrous, I opened the other one as well. She put the brochures back into her desk drawer. “I’ll give you some time to make a decision,” she said. “But don’t take too long.”

I hadn’t bested Helen – I certainly hadn’t expected to – but I’d held a measure of ground against her. That tiny victory had to count for something.

When I left Helen’s office, I found William Benedict sitting on the corner of Delilah’s desk.

William, my incubus counterpart, was as seductive as only a demon could be. Dark hair, dark eyes, strong chin, broad shoulders – these were only a few of his alluring features. Most of his charms had to do with his incubus. Because of his demon, William could play to every fantasy. Over the time I’d known him, I’d seen him act strong and silent, dark and brooding, humble and helpless. The man had literally seduced angels out of Heaven.

Seeing my ashen complexion, William said, “It looks like someone was taken to the woodshed.” His tone was jocular, but his eyes expressed concern. “Are you all right?”

“Helen and I had a little disagreement, that’s all.” I forced myself to smile.

William quirked his eyebrow at my use of Miss Spry’s first name, but said nothing.

Deciding the drama was over, Delilah turned her attention back to William and said, “Don’t you have somewhere to be right now?”

Over the past few weeks, William had been using all of his charms on Helen’s new assistant, hoping to melt her layer of ice. Every day, he sent her bouquets of flowers along with boxes of candy and other treats. He chatted with her, complimented her, and asked questions about her life before death. Delilah, however, must have had an entire glacier surrounding her because she barely gave him a smile.

“I’m free for lunch,” he told her. “Care to join me?”

She glowered. “Get your damn butt off my desk.”

William stood up. “Most women love my damn butt. Isn’t that right, Lil?” He winked at me.

“Don’t kid yourself, William.”

He stopped smiling. “You are a coldhearted she-demon.”

“It’s better than being an egotistical, condescending know-it-all,” I retorted.

“Stop it!” Delilah glared at both of us. “If you two are going to start fussing at each other again, then get out of my office!”

William, sulky, left without saying goodbye. I waited exactly five seconds before following him.

Just as I’d hoped, he was standing around the first bend in the hallway. My heart lit up when I saw him, but I couldn’t let my affection show. Not here in the middle of Hell where all could see it. If Miss Spry ever found out my true feelings for William, she’d take him away from me just to laugh while my heart broke.

“‘Egotistical know-it-all’?” William said. “That was harsh, Lil. Very harsh.”

“What about ‘coldhearted she-demon’?”

We began walking. I let the backs of my fingers brush against his and wished I could hold his hand. “Technically, you are a she-demon,” he said. “Whereas I am not a know-it-all.”

“Says you.”

We entered yet another, much longer, corridor. This one was lined with dozens of doors. In front of one lay a small backpack, the kind a day hiker might use on an outing. William stopped and picked it up. “Did you get my note?”

“I did.” In fact, I’d tucked it under my pillow so I could fall asleep dreaming about him.

He was trying very hard not to smile. “And are you wearing comfortable shoes this time?”

The last time I’d ignored his advice, I’d ended up playing eighteen holes of golf in high-heeled wedges. “Of course.” I lifted the bottoms of my jeans to show off a pair of hiking boots.

“Good!” He put the backpack over his shoulders and opened the door. “Ordinarily, I’d say ladies first, but this one could be tricky. Be careful.” He stepped through, then took my hand and helped me cross from Hell into a magical place on Earth.

Chapter Two

The corridor had disappeared, and we now stood on a footpath in the middle of a woods. The air was bracing and fresh, a welcome relief from the stale hallways of Hell. The trees, mostly spruces, were randomly dotted with quarter-sized balls of brilliant colors – gold and tangerine, and even a few shimmering turquoises. To my surprise, the balls were actually slugs. The creatures’ sliminess gave them a strange luminescence too beautiful to be disgusting.

William took my hand and gently kissed it. “Are you sure Helen didn’t hurt you? You seemed upset when you came out of her office.”

William’s concern touched me, but I couldn’t discuss the terrible thing Helen wanted me to do. The pain of it was too fresh. Instead, I said, “I’m fine.”

“Good.” He flashed his brilliant smile, the one that always made me weak in the knees. “I’ve been looking forward to this.”

I had too. In fact, it was all I had thought about for the past two days. Since he’d come to my rescue a few weeks before, I’d been falling for him. Hard. Barely a moment passed that I wasn’t thinking about him. I wanted him so badly, yet I was afraid to show it. It wasn’t only because of Miss Spry; it had to do with William as well. He was an incubus, a master of seduction. As much as I wanted to trust him, I worried that he was intending to make me another of his conquests.

William’s eyes twinkled as he led me up the trail. “You’re going to love this, but you’ll have to work hard to earn your reward.”

“Bring it on,” I told him.

His smile widened.

The narrow path made it impossible to walk side by side, so he went on ahead while I followed as best I could. It wasn’t easy. The rutted trail climbed steeply. Even with the added benefit of my demon’s strength, I was winded. When we reached the third switchback, I had to stop and rest. Sweat soaked my T-shirt, and my leg muscles burned. “I don’t think I can make it,” I confessed.

“What’s wrong, Lil?” William teased. “Do we have to work on your endurance?”

I glared at him. I hated when his arrogant demon came to the forefront. I started up the trail again, determined to go the distance.

I almost lost my resolve when we scrambled up several immense boulders. The sheer drop made me worry about plunging over the edge. Seeing my uncertainty, William grabbed my hand and helped me up. “Don’t worry. We’re almost there.”

Sure enough, we soon climbed above the tree line and crested the mountain. The level spot was as naked and alien as the face of the moon, but the view was magnificent. The swells of distant mountains stretched away for miles. A gray ribbon of highway lay far below. “It’s beautiful,” I breathed.

He put his arm around me. “I had hoped you would like it.”

I leaned against him. “I feel like we’re on top of the world!” He was right; it had been worth the climb.

We sat on one of the rocks, and William handed me a bottle of water and a granola bar from the backpack. Clouds rolled in, and a clammy mist settled over us. Seeing me shiver, he took off his fleece jacket and put it over my shoulders. I buried my nose in the fabric, drinking in his smell.

I hadn’t been this besotted with a man since meeting my ex-husband. But because Ted had turned out to be a cheating bastard, I worried about getting my heart broken all over again. Still, it was growing harder and harder to resist my attraction to William. He had woken a part of me that had been asleep for a very long time. Now, that part bubbled up like a spring, filling me with so much joy that it scared me. Placing my heart in the hands of a demon was worrisome. Especially since demons were not allowed to love.

We sat in silence until he touched my cheek. “You seem pensive.”

“I miss Grace.” My ex-husband had taken my daughter to France for ten days, and there were seven more until she returned. At times, my heart felt like a stone in my chest. If I hadn’t been able to use the otherworld doorways to peek in on her, I don’t know what I would have done.

“She was fine this morning,” William said. “I think they’re going to the Louvre today.”

“You checked on her?” I asked, shocked.

He shrugged, embarrassed. “After you told me about your cad of an ex-husband, I wanted to make sure your daughter was all right.”

The William I’d first met couldn’t be bothered to remember that I had a daughter, much less check on her wellbeing. But ever since he’d rescued Grace from a berserker demon, he’d been paying more attention to my family.

Since he was showing me his softer side, I decided it was time to have the talk I’d been rehearsing in the mirror every morning for the past week.

I took a deep breath. “William, I have a request…”

“Slip out of those clothes, and I’ll do anything you want.”

Okay, so maybe he hadn’t changed as much as I’d hoped. “Be serious,” I said.

“I am serious.” He smiled seductively and caressed the back of my neck, sending pleasant shivers down my spine. “We have the mountain to ourselves.”

As much as the invitation tempted me, I pulled away. “If you’re not going to be a gentleman, then I’m ending this conversation.”

He sighed. “I’ve been a gentleman for weeks.”

“A few weeks is a tiny span when you’re over a hundred years old,” I reminded him. “Now, are you going to listen to me or not?”

He nodded and looked adorably contrite.

“Would you come to dinner tomorrow night?”

He blinked. “At your place?” When I nodded, he said, “Are you introducing me to your family?”

I did want William to meet my family, but not yet. I needed him to understand that I wanted a connection with the real, human William, not a lust-ridden one-night stand with his incubus. If he wanted me as badly as he claimed, he could wait a little longer. As could I. “No, it will only be the two of us.”

He frowned. “What about that convalescent who lives with you?”

William meant Tommy Lefevre, my – well, since there isn’t a single word in the English language to describe our complicated relationship, I’ll go with friend. William never hid the fact that he didn’t like Tommy. Not only did Tommy’s spirituality disgust him, he also hated that the two of us had once been intimate. “Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll make sure he’s out of the house, too.”

William’s impish smile returned. “So the two of us all alone and unchaperoned? Why, Ms. Straight, what are you proposing?”

“Chicken Florentine.”

“Are you certain that’s all?” His eyes sparkled. “In my experience, when a woman tells a man she’s cooking for him, she’s planning on sharing a very sweet dessert.”

“Well, be prepared to have a new experience because the bedroom door will be staying shut.”

He sighed, resigned. “Okay, dinner it is.” He put his arm around me. “Patrick always said you were a good cook.”

I was about to tell him what time to come, but the sound of footsteps cut me off. A young man wearing a sweatshirt, shorts, and a pair of wraparound sunglasses climbed up the trail. He was in his early twenties and was clearly a veteran hiker. His boots were good quality, but well worn, and his shorts showed off his muscular calves. He carried his bulging backpack like it was filled with feathers.

A moment later, another hiker followed him. She, too, appeared experienced. Her tank top was soaked with sweat, and her face was red with exertion, but she smiled widely as she crested the mountain. She pushed her bangs out of her face and touched the young man’s arm. “This view is amazing!”

Her companion nodded and walked back to where the trail disappeared. “Jenny! You coming?” he shouted.

The young woman frowned. “Jenny’s holding us back,” she said. “We’re going to have a hard time making the shelter before dark if she doesn’t get it in gear.”

The man shrugged. “It’s her first time. She needs to find her rhythm, that’s all.” He cocked his head, listening. “You hear her yet?”

“No.”

My succubus pricked up her ears at the hint of jealousy blowing in from the young woman. Dark emotions always interested my inner demon. Settle down, I told her. This doesn’t concern us.

A few minutes passed, and still the missing hiker didn’t appear. “Why don’t you go on ahead,” the woman said. “I’ll wait for Jenny.”

The young man rubbed his chin, thinking. “Maybe I should wait, too.”

The woman shook her head. “No. If you get to the shelter first, you can start the fire.” Once more she touched his arm. “You’re the expert fire maker, after all.”

Finally, he smiled at her. “Okay.”

For a human, the girl was a darn good seductress.

Once the man had disappeared, William glanced at his wristwatch. “Show time,” he told me and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

He approached the woman. “Gorgeous view, isn’t it? My companion and I have been enjoying it very much.”

At first, the woman narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but when William fired up his incubus demon, she began blushing and smiling.

The realization that William was on assignment and once again doing the Devil’s dirty work took the shine off my afternoon. A few minutes before, the mountaintop had felt special, almost holy, but suddenly, Helen had me back under her thumb. I shouldn’t have been surprised – after all it was William’s and my life’s work to tempt human beings – but I was disappointed. Our time together had been spoiled.

I folded my arms over my chest as I watched William work. The Devil had picked well when he’d chosen William to be an incubus. William was the embodiment of temptation. He acted as if the hiker was the only woman on the planet who interested him. When he said something, she threw her head back and laughed, making me want to strangle her with her own sweat-stained bandanna.

William never looked in my direction, but he knew I was watching. When his victim moved closer to him, he stepped away, mindful to maintain a proper distance between them. When she touched his arm, he gently removed it. He was on his best behavior, but it didn’t stop the incubus from doing its dirty work.

The woman offered William a small bag of trail mix. He accepted it, quickly ate the contents, then threw the wrapper on the ground. The hiker stared at the litter. All the goodwill drained from her face. Seeing this, William went into full tempter mode. What had happened before was a build-up. This was the main event.

I had stopped listening in on them, but now I used my demon’s heightened sense of hearing to eavesdrop. “…want to do something naughty once in a while?” William asked. His eyes were alight with the devilish fire I’d come to know so well.

The hiker glanced at the foil wrapper on the ground.

William revved up his charm a little more. “Don’t get me wrong. I tread lightly on Mother Earth. My carbon footprints are almost nonexistent. But…” he sighed as if he couldn’t bear the weight of so much responsibility “…I’m only human. I mean, I can’t be expected to carry every bit of trash for the entire length of the Appalachian Trail.”

I’d seduced plenty of people over the past year, and I’d even been at the mercy of William’s incubus a few times, but I’d never before watched a tempter in action. It was both fascinating and horrible. I could feel William’s demon assess the victim and search for weak spots to exploit. William’s incubus made him seductive and charming, but deadly as well. If the hiker knew how poisonous William’s demon was, she would have run away screaming. However, he’d trapped her with his otherworldly allure, and instead of fleeing, she was moving closer.

The hiker’s eyes fixed on William. “I know exactly what you mean,” she finally admitted. “I’ve been wanting to burn our trash at night, but Austen won’t let me.”

William beamed at her. “Exactly! Sometimes, we have to cheat. Just a little.” He nudged her. “Your pack is probably heavy enough as it is.”

When I saw the flicker in her eyes telling me William’s devilish mission was nearly completed, my paralysis broke. I couldn’t remain silent while this poor woman did Helen’s bidding. Even though Helen had sent a berserker demon after me the last time I’d disobeyed her orders, I couldn’t hold myself back.

Unfortunately, I’d waited too long. Before I could stop her, the young woman grinned evilly and threw her wrapper on the ground. Then she went the extra distance by taking a few other wrappers from her pack and tossing those as well.

Seeing that the damage was already done, my protest died in my mouth. Littering was a very small sin, of course, but those little acts opened pathways to larger and larger transgressions. Patrick Clerk once told me he’d watched saints turn into monsters all because they’d refused to answer a cry for help. Now that the woman had fallen for William’s temptation, who knew where she’d end up.

“Lightening the load. That’s all you’re doing,” William said.

The hiker smiled wickedly. “Tonight, I will burn the trash.” She glanced down the trail. “And I know who I’ll blame for it.”

Jenny finally trudged into view. Unlike her friends, she struggled under the weight of her backpack, and her legs trembled with exhaustion. She shrugged off her pack with a grunt of relief and collapsed on the ground.

The first woman crossed her arms over her chest. “We’re behind schedule. Austen already went on ahead.”

Jenny looked crestfallen. “Was he mad?”

“He wasn’t thrilled.” The woman smirked. “He thought you’d be able to keep up, but now he thinks we may have to cut our trip short.”

The little liar! Already, William’s temptation was taking root. If those dark thoughts continued to spread… Well, she might do worse things than blaming Jenny for burning trash.

When Jenny reached into her pack for a bottle of water, the other woman scolded her, “You don’t have time for that now. Let’s go!”

With a grunt and a sigh, Jenny stood, resettled her pack on her shoulders, and began plodding down the trail once more.

When the women were gone, William rubbed his hands together. “Delilah is getting better! She had the time and the place spot-on. Of course, she couldn’t pinpoint the temptation, but it all worked out in the end.”

Without a word, I stalked over to where the trash lay, picked it up, and stuffed it into my pockets.

“That’s unnecessary,” William said. “The damage has been done.”

“I know, William,” I said.

“You’re upset.”

He tried to put his arm around me, but I pulled away. “Of course I’m upset!”

“Is it because I had to combine work with pleasure?” he asked, worried. “I didn’t want to, but Helen’s been keeping me so busy that I would have had to cancel on you otherwise.”

“I know.”

He continued to study me. “You do realize that I wasn’t attracted to the young woman, right?”

I nodded. He had been completely professional. “Let’s just go,” I said. I headed down the trail.

“Lil, wait up. Lilith!” He caught up to me and touched my shoulder. “What’s going on inside your head? Talk to me.”

I was nearly in tears. “It was watching you in action.” I felt the stab of emotion again, but it wasn’t jealousy. “You made the hiker believe that you were her best friend. You tricked her.”

He reached for me, but I stepped away. “You and I can’t escape who we are,” he said.

A few tears spilled over. “But you’re so good at what you do. It comes so naturally!” Finally, I identified the emotion. “If you can fool her into loving you, then maybe you would fool me, too. How would I know the difference?”

His face fell. “Oh, Lil. Is that what you think? I would never do such a thing.”

I certainly wanted to believe him, but at the same time, I didn’t dare. William lied so well and so often it was possible he no longer recognized the truth.

“How can I make you stop worrying?” he asked.

I met his eyes. “I want you to swear to me that you’ll always tell me the truth. Always.”

If he’d answered me right away, I wouldn’t have believed him. But he didn’t say anything for a long time. Finally, he took my hands. “The truth can be painful, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I’d rather be hurt by the truth than a lie,” I said.

He sighed. “Okay. I promise to always tell you the truth.”

“And I’ll do the same for you.”

All this seriousness was too much for him to bear. His eyes twinkled and he lifted a lock of my hair. “So tell me, is this your real color?”

I shoved him away. “You’re incorrigible.” I couldn’t help but smile, though.

He checked his watch. “I’d love to stay, but I have another appointment in about ten minutes.”

I glared at the ground. Helen really was keeping him busy.

“How are you going to get back in time?” I asked. It had taken nearly two hours to get to the top of the mountain.

“Follow me.” He led me back up the trail and past the boulder we’d been sitting on. Behind it stood an otherworld doorway.

I punched his arm. “Why did you make me hike all the way up here when we could have used this door?”

He rubbed his shoulder. “Because the effort it takes to climb up here makes the view even more spectacular. You wouldn’t have appreciated it nearly as much if you’d cheated to get to the top.”

I had to admit he was right.

“Besides, it was the only way I could see how beautiful you look when you’re flushed and sweating.” He grinned, his incubus back in full force. “I love to see a woman glow after a really hard workout.” Before he left, he kissed me. “Keep that bedroom door open tomorrow night.”

Maybe I would. Not that I’d tell him.

Chapter Three

Back when I was fully human, I hadn’t realized how closely the physical, earthly realm connected with the spiritual one. Now that I could see the supernatural doorways, however, I understood that the world I’d been familiar with – the one involving mortgage payments and homework and television reality shows – was completely entangled with the otherworld. There are doorways, both Heaven’s and Hell’s, everywhere. Sometimes, it was impossible not to stare at them, especially when I caught sight of a supernatural creature exiting or entering. While bargaining for vegetables at the busy, downtown farmers’ market a few days before, I’d dropped a carton of eggs because a small, horned demon had surprised me by crawling out from behind a display of watermelons.

No, I didn’t trust those doorways because they gave Helen ready access to me. Weeks before, when Helen had found that I’d tricked her by getting my daughter out of the contract, she’d been furious and sent that berserker demon after me. The beast had turned my nice, suburban home into a pile of rubble. Now, I was wary of living anyplace containing an otherworld doorway. Unfortunately, finding an apartment, let alone a house, without such a gateway was impossible. Every place I looked contained at least one supernatural entrance. Some had as many as five.