Hell Inc. (25 page)

“I
didn’t get fired, Mother. I was merely demoted.”
Levie’s mother sniffed rudely. The look on her face told me
that she couldn't care less what had actually happened. As we
followed her down the hallway and into a very modern kitchen, another
human appeared. He was graying at the temples and had bright blue
eyes infected with such warmness that I couldn’t help but
return his smile. He held out a hand to me and I took it, grateful
that Levie’s mother was no longer focusing her attention on me.

“Are
you, uh,” I paused, trying to remember what Levie had said his
mother's name was. “Lenore's client?” He laughed softly
and shook his head.

“Hello
there, sweetheart,” he said to me cheerfully. “My name
is Frances.” He glanced at Levie with raised eyebrows. “And
I’m this one’s father.” I turned to Levie and
examined the sour expression on his face.
Levie is half-human?
I wondered, giving him a look that said that
I was pissed he hadn't told me. He was so snarky towards humanity in
general that it came as a big surprise.

“Hard
to tell,” I said, sweetly, staring into Levie’s eyes. “He
just looks so much like his
mother.
” Frances laughed and
approached his son, slapping him jovially on the back. Levie scowled
and stretched away from his father.

“I
would prefer it if you didn’t touch me. You know that I hate
to be touched.” Levie brushed at some imaginary dust on his
sleeve. Frances laughed and ignored him, wrapping his arms around
Levie and pulling him close for a hug. Levie’s mother turned
her own glare on the two of them.

“Quit
your roughhousing,” she snarled and looked pointedly at my
duffel bag. “Take the – ” she paused. “Girl’s
things to the guest room.” Levie grasped the handle of the bag
and straightened.

“Come
along, Ginger,” he whispered to me. “I will show you the
way.”

The
guest room was on the second floor and reminded me of the type of bed
and breakfast that's only found in the middle of nowhere, complete
with a variety of smiling farm animals. Levie threw my bag onto the
patterned rose quilt (complete with rooster) and turned to face me.
I couldn’t help but notice a slight coloring to his cheeks. I
wasn’t exactly sure what his look meant, but I was determined
to find out.

“What’s
the matter?” I asked him slowly, taking a step forward. My
hand hovered awkwardly in the air as I thought about putting it on
his arm, but it all seemed too intimate so I let it fall to my side.

“Ginger,”
he said formally and coughed into his hand. “I must confess
something to you. It's about – ” He looked down at the
carpet and neglected to finish his sentence. Ah, I finally
understood.

“Demons
and sex?” I finished for him. We stood together in silence for
another minute before I turned to my bag and started unpacking. “It
better not be something horrible,” I said cautiously, trying to
leave the worry that I was feeling out of my voice. “Or I might
have to use my last wishes for revenge.” My attempt at humor
fell flat, and we both went silent again.

“Have
you,” he paused again and began stroking his chin. “Perhaps
read the contract in full?” I faced him slowly, my blood having
gone cold despite the inordinate amount of heat he was radiating.

“Why?”
God, how could one simple word sound so mean? I couldn't help myself
though; he was scaring me, and my defenses were up.

“Perhaps
you should do so.” I stared at him.

“Why?”

“My
uncle is most displeased. I am to meet with him again today.”
He paused. “It is about ... your last wish.” I
grabbed a handful of underwear from my suitcase pocket and squeezed
it like a stress ball. My jaw was clenched and tight when I spoke.

“You
said I hadn't broken any rules, Levie.” I twisted the cotton
and lace jumble between my hands while I waited for him to respond.
He was staring at a miniature statue of a cow behind and to the left
of me. The fact that he wouldn't meet my eyes was my first sign that
something was really wrong.

“Technically,”
he said, voice low. “You did not. However, your last wish has
set off alarm in the company.” I raised my eyebrows at him.

“Alarm?
Why? More people should be able to see your ad. That's good,
right?” Levie sighed and his wings drooped considerably, coming
dangerously close to destroying a glass candy dish filled to the brim
with a smelly potpourri.

“Not
precisely. You see,” Levie took a deep breath before
continuing, his chest expanding considerably as he no doubt steeled
himself for a disagreement. “We were not looking for ...
normal humans.” His voice caught, and he made a desperate
attempt to avoid my gaze as I tried to catch his.

“I'm
not a normal human?” I asked, highly doubting that I could be
anything but. Except for the whole supernatural sightseeing thing.
Yeah. Except for that.

“You
are a ... ” He paused again. For someone normally so
eloquent, if a bit pompous, he sure was having a hard time getting it
out. “A Guardian.” I laughed.

“That's
the dumbest thing I've ever heard. A Guardian? I can't even protect
myself.” Levie scowled at me and leaned back against the
vanity, red nails tapping a rhythm of annoyance.

“You
are
certainly
not meant to
protect anyone.” The way he said it pissed me off, even though
I knew it was true. It was my turn to scowl. We sat in silence for
another moment, the both of us scowling away. What a sight we must
have made to the sphinx when he sauntered into the room and sat
between us, tail flicking back and forth as
he took stock of the situation.

“Then
what, pray tell, am I a Guardian of?” Levie harrumphed and
turned to face the mirror. He picked at a particularly, hideous
doily while he considered his next words.
He better choose
them carefully,
I thought.
Or
I swear to God, I'm going to launch this underwear at him.

“My
race. Or to be more accurate, any demon race.” I raised my
eyebrows at him, and the sphinx and I exchanged an amused glance.
Me, because I was in disbelief and him, because he was just plain
weird.

“I
thought you just said I wasn't meant to protect anyone? And demons
being protected by humans?
Puh-lease
.”
I sounded like a bitch and I knew it but come on, this was just too
much. Mermaids using my bathtub, I could buy, but this? No way.
The sphinx twisted his head back and forth, headdress tinkling, as if
he were laughing. Even though I was pretty sure he was on my side
this time, I kind of wanted to kick him.

“Stupid
girl,” Levie growled, and this time, it felt like an insult.
“Just listen to me. I am trying to explain this to you in the
best way that I know how.” He opened his mouth to speak, and I
waited, hands clenched tightly around a naughty, little G-string when
the mirror blackened and the Devil's face loomed in front of us.

He
joined us in our scowl-fest, cigar hanging out of the side of his
mouth as he leaned forward, his forehead becoming disproportionately
larger as it was distorted by the glass. He wasn't happy. That much
was pretty obvious, even to me. His brow was riddled with myriad
wrinkles and lines that I was sure had not been there before.

“Levie!”
he snarled, the cigar flip-flopping out of his mouth and down past
the frame of the mirror. “I need you. Now. We're having an
issue with Infernix.” He didn't elaborate, but he did turn his
red eyed glare over to me. “Oh dear, little flower, you and I,
we are going to have one looong talk.” He turned away from the
mirror, one hand motioning Levie to follow.

Levie
gave me a wary look which I returned. Apparently, nobody thought
Ginger needed any information about freaking anything. Especially
not anything that pertained to her.

“Please,”
Levie said, taking both of my hands in his. It was a gesture that
succeeded only in reminding me about last night. I flushed. “Please
tell me that you will not leave this house. My mother is more than
capable of protecting you, and she has warded every entrance against
forced entry. As long as I know you remain here, I can be
assured that you are safe.” I nodded and gave his hands a light
squeeze. It wasn't like I had anywhere to go. Besides, I had a lot
of things in my head that needed sorting.

“Sure,”
I whispered. Levie leaned down and pressed a very soft kiss against
my lips. It knocked every rational thought right out of my head and
left me breathless. I wanted to beg him to stay, but when I looked
up, the Devil was watching the two of us with a leer on his face. I
didn't know what company policy said about becoming romantic with
clients, but I panicked anyway, pushing him away. A deep, smoky
chuckle escaped Levie's lips, and he kissed me again before
disappearing into the mirror without another word.

I
sat down hard on the edge of the bed and ran my fingers through my
hair. The sphinx watched me closely, and I stuck my tongue out at
him. “You can stop with the whole watchdog bit. I'm not going
anywhere.” He stared at me but made no move to leave. “Can't
I even get dressed without you watching? Now that I know you have a
gender, it sort of freaks me out.”

The
sphinx sighed, a very uncharacteristic noise for him, and trotted out
the door, sitting immediately in front of it like some sort of golden
furred gargoyle. I slammed it behind him and began flinging things
out of my suitcase. I didn't feel like changing; I just wanted some
alone time. And I wanted to throw a fit. Even if it was a little
immature, it made me feel better.

I
stood, breath coming in little gasps, as I struggled to piece
together the information that I knew. It wasn't much, and I didn't
feel like I was gleaning anything from racking my brain. I needed a
distraction. I looked around the room, but there wasn't a T.V. or
even a radio. The only thing that looked even remotely this century
was the phone on the vanity. It was an older, white plastic, corded
phone, but it would work.

I
called my own number and pressed the option for voice mail (the
vampires had taken my cellphone as more collateral) and waited for my
messages. There were a couple of debt collection calls, a
frighteningly cheerful message from Erin, and lastly, one from
Terrence. I raised my finger to hit the seven and delete the
dreadful thing when a catch in his voice stopped me cold.

“Ginger.”
Deep breathing, like he'd been running from something. “I'm
sorry. Please. Don't trust Hell Inc.” There was some rustling
and a sound like a door being slammed. “They hired me to ...
” A wave of static cut through the message, and I lost whatever
it was that Terrence had been trying to say. Silence. I moved the
phone away from my ear and stopped when he continued. “I came
to warn you. I'm at your apartment. They have your friend, Erin.
And they're waiting for you.”

Irrationality
may not be anyone’s favorite trait in a person, but well,
everyone’s got at least a little bit of it, and it was
currently encouraging me to check this situation out. I sat on the
edge of the bed and waited, phone in hand, while my conscious tried
to talk me out of listening to the guy who had attempted to date rape
me. I tapped the receiver against my hand a couple of times before
dialing Erin's number. We didn't talk often, but she usually
answered when I called. She picked up on the second ring.

“Erin,”
I said as calmly and as cheerfully as I possibly could. There was
nothing on the other end but heavy breathing. I tried not to panic.
Levie wouldn't betray me. He wouldn't. This was obviously some
fucked up ploy by Terrence to get to me. For what reason, I couldn't
say. Maybe it was my supposed 'Guardian' status that had him so
intent on me. Whatever it was, I almost jumped from my skin when she
finally spoke.

“Ginger.”
Her voice was ragged, strained. “There are fairies here. Real
fairies. They're going to kill me if you – ” Her voice
was broken by a deep grunt. I stood up in alarm. I wanted to reach
through the phone and rescue her right then. I almost died from
stress while I waited tensely for her next words. “They want
you to come home. Alone. Now.” Before I could ask her if she
was okay, a click let me know that the call was over. I slammed the
receiver down on the cradle and raced to the door.

The
hallway and the stairs were empty; I had a straight shot to the front
door. I had to hurry; if the sphinx saw me then everything was for
naught. They said come alone. It was stupid, cliché even,
but I didn't know what else to do. If Terrence was really holding
Erin hostage, Levie would come in handy, but what if Terrence was
telling the truth? I had to take the risk. If another person died
because of me, I was going to check
myself
into the loony bin.