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Eventually we pulled up to the valet at Pandemonium, a high-end sex club in Manhattan. Red owned the establishment, along with other clubs, casinos, restaurants, and business ventures in major cities throughout the world. As time went on and humans created entities like the IRS, we were forced to transition to legitimate fronts for our financials. I handed the G-Wagon key to the valet, leading Bash and Mal past the line to the front entrance.
The bouncer’s eyes were lopsided and uneven in shape. He did an awful job at hiding his cyclops form.Better invest in a better glamour, bro.Huge, meaty, and disgustingly muscled, an aroma of rotting fruit wafted from his general direction. That was a tell if I ever smelled one. “Names?”
“His Darkness is expecting us: Desmond Sinclair, Sebastian Black, and Malcolm Knight.”
His scowl immediately flatlined. Our reputation definitely preceded us. “I’ll show you to his office.”
The main room of the club was dark, strobe lights cutting through the blackness. The air smelled of alcohol and lustful pheromones. We were led past the bars and tables in the front, then edged the outskirts of writhing dancers on the main floor. I tried not to look at the strippers, aerial artists, or into the hanging cages. There was a time and place to watch men and women in various states of undress doing overtly sexual things, but right now wasn’t it. I wanted to keep my focus on the task at hand.
“Mal!” I heard Bash whisper-shout.
“I’m sorry, I just like touching it. I figured you’d have a stiffy, being around all this lust and whatnot.” Mal batted his eyelashes, trying to look innocent while he still had his hand firmly on Bash’s crotch as we walked through the crowd. “Come on, Bash, lemme squeeze it now–” He cooed as Bash inhaled sharply, “–and I’ll suck you off on the ride home.”
“I swear to brimstone and back. If you two don’t knock it the fuck off, I’m going to tan your asses so hard when we get home, you’ll feel it every time you think, let alone sit. Act right until we’re home.” I had to admonish them like children,here? Now?Did they not understand how important this meeting was?
Bash at least had the couth to look guilty, averting his eyes. Mal just snickered like a petulant child. “Okay,Daddy Desmond. Sorry, the ambiance inspired me.”
He would definitely be sorry when we got home. So would his poor asshole when I was through with him.
The trash-cyclops bouncer led us down a dark hallway past private rooms, although the sounds coming from them were anything but private.Bash must be having a field day here.The bouncer dropped us off at a secluded office in the back, telling us to wait until His Darkness arrived. The nondescript office was clean and organized, not a paper out of place. A plaque inscribed withLucien Darksat on the desk, one of Red’s many identities that he used on Earth, orupstairsas some of us called it.
A few minutes later, a tall flame engulfed the chair behind the desk. As quickly as it ignited, it was snuffed out, leaving behind a gigantic, hooded figure in a blood-red robe and the form of a much smaller man sitting stiffly on his lap. He wasn’t known as Red because he had red hair–as far as I knew, no one had actually seen his face before. The only part of his body not covered by his velvet robes were his olive toned hands. Each of his long, bony fingers were capped with talon-sharp, long black nails.
One hand held a leash of neon red magic that connected to a pronged, chain-link choker around the neck of the man on his lap. Asmodeous had been an old friend of ours, but was now an outcast in Hellish society. He didn’t have a stitch of clothing on, only wearing a branded mark on his chest. It was Red’s seal, a serpent slithering out of a roaring flame. He had openly disagreed with one of Red’s new policies about traveling upstairs, and was treated with leniency because he was part of the first circle. Instead of death, he was allowed to exist on the other end of Red’s leash for five centuries–among doing other tasks–if Red’s reputation was true. Red tapped him, and Asmodeous hopped off his lap, kneeling next to him on the tiled floor, his eyes averted downward in submission.
Red waved his other hand, dimming the lights and magicking all three of our chairs right up to his desk, so there was little distance between us.
“Satan,” we all greeted him, heads bowed. It felt wrong to give such a sign of respect to someone like him.
“My favorite fixers,” his hoarse voice dripped with mock affection. He rose from his chair and slowly circled the room as Asmodeous followed behind him. His footfalls were heavy, with each step giving a loud thud against the hardwood floor. The guys and I often joked about how he had hooves, but we’d probably never know, as his robes always trailed behind him. His voice rang out through the room, as if it surrounded us. “You’re probably wondering why I summoned you here so soon after your last assignment?”
“We are always happy to be summoned by you, Your Darkness,” I lied with a level cadence. “How may we serve you?” Red was a live wire, and the best thing to do was to keep him happy and move the conversation along.
“Good answer. I need you totake careof someone. You’ll deliver her corpse to me within the next five days. She’s a danger to the world at large and our ability to work in secrecy amongst humankind.” He waved his hand, and a manila folder appeared in each of our laps.
Opening the file, I saw a photo of a young woman with dark, curly hair that fell past her shoulders. Her blue-gray eyes twinkled, as if she was privy to some hilarious inside joke. She was sitting at an outdoor dining table with a huge plate of pasta in front of her, holding a glass of red wine to her lips. There were other pictures, candid and posed, with details including her address, place of employment, and where she went to college.
His voice came from directly behind me. Another intimidation tactic. “Her name is Diana Rossi, a twenty-two year old college student that seems very young and innocent, but do not let that fool you. She has dangerous, uncontrolled power. She’s a menace to humans and a threat to our secrecy. She isn’t what she seems. I need you to handle this discreetly, and make it believable so no one upstairs questions it.”
“We will.” I felt the unease running off Bash in waves. He needed to pull himself together before Red picked up on it too. “You can trust us to get the job done.”
“It’s in your best interest to get the job done as soon as possible. Why are you so uncomfortable, Sebastian?” Red turned his cloaked head toward Bash. “Your malaise is offending me.”
“My apologies, Satan,” Bash said as he bowed his head. “As an incubus, it’s hard not to hunt in such a beautiful, sinful establishment. You’ve created quite the playground.”Good save, Bash.“The temptation is overwhelming.”
He nodded silently, making his way back to his chair and sitting for a few long moments until he clapped his hands together. “While you’re here, gentlemen, enjoy the club’s amenities. You’ve all more than earned it for your work these past few decades.”
“Thank you for the offer, but we must decline. We should get started on this right away. Thank you for letting us serve you, Satan.” I wanted to wrap this up and leave. Just being around him creeped me out.
With a clap of his hands, he and Asmodeous burst into flames and left. The bouncer came in to escort us out, back through the club, to our SUV which was promptly parked out front. We drove home in silence. Bash’s tension was so oppressive that we could cut it with a knife. Something wasn’t right with him. I waited until we were long gone from the establishment, winding down the highway on the way home, to disturb the silence that fell between us.
“We don’t say a word until we get back to the house.” I ordered. “Someone mindlink Ares. Tell him to pick up some food, we’re having a meeting ASAP.”
* * *
We all drank whiskey and ate Chinese food around our dining room table. My crew looked at me, confusion rampant on their faces.
“You three just got back from meeting with Red. Why are you smiling, Desmond?” Ares loudly sucked the filling out of a piece of crab rangoon before crunching on the crispy shell.
