Hell Inc. (37 page)

I
swallowed nervously and closed my eyes reflexively. Levie's lips met
mine, and it didn't take long for him to part them with his tongue.
It started slow, but soon we were worrying at each other's mouths
like we were trying to go inside. I adjusted myself on him so that I
was straddling his rapidly growing erection. I wanted to fuck him.
The impulse was intense, and I was having a hard time controlling
myself as his hand slid up the back of my shirt and he pulled me
tighter against his chest. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately since
I was trying to hate him, we were interrupted by a giggling scream.

“Oh,
wow! You two sure are going at it!” Dia chortled, stumbling
down the hall. She seemed much less drunk than she was earlier but
then, she'd been
really
drunk. I climbed off of Levie's lap,
praying that my legs would hold this time, and dropped the afghan
across his crotch.

“Leave
me alone, Dia, you alcoholic.” Dia screeched with laughter as
Marji shoved her out of the way.

“Your
damn genie puked all over my shoes. I demand a refund. I helped
you. Now give me back my monkey's paw and get out.”

Levie
and I supported Dia as the three of us tromped down the walkway
outside of Marji's house. I had been hoping Dia would have recovered
at least enough magic to get me a Geo if not the yellow Lamborghini
that she had promised, but since we'd had to replace Marji's shoes,
she was burnt out again. I guess I'd be walking around the city
trying to find the group of lost genies. How heroic.
I wished silently (because you know what happens when I do it aloud)
that we had more information about the whole situation so that I
could use one of my Hell Inc. wishes instead. Alas, I could never be
that lucky.

“God
Dia, you're probably the worst genie ever. Why can't you be more
like the blue dude in Aladdin?” Dia scowled at me and spit on
the sidewalk in front of my feet.

“That
movie is so racist. How dare you even bring that up.” She
jerked her arms away from us and steadied herself. She seemed to
come down off of the booze fairly quickly. As long as I kept her
from drinking more than one drink every fifteen minutes, I figured
she'd be okay.

“Where
is it exactly that we're going?” Dia ignored me and continued
swaggering down the sidewalk. Levie and I exchanged a glance, and I
smiled. I couldn't help it. He smiled back.

“Does
your previous behavior mean that you have forgiven me?” he
asked, taking a step towards me. I shook my head and started walking
backwards in the direction Dia had gone.

“Nope.
It just means that I'm thinking about it.” I thought I was
being coy; I really did. Until I tripped over something and landed
hard on my ass with a string of sailor inspired curses.

The
sphinx stared back at me and immediately decided to put his two cents
in.

“What
has two legs in the morning, four at night, and two again come
morning?” I glared at it and refused to respond. Levie tried
to help me, but I was too embarrassed to look at him. I struggled
clumsily to my feet.

“What
do you want?” I growled at it. It growled back, and I
remembered. That's right. I was still under surveillance. I sighed
and then noticed a small canister hanging from his neck. “Is
this for me?” I asked, untying the ribbon and removing a small
piece of paper.

Please
come and retrieve your friend or we will be forced to get rid of her
with another method (a much less pleasant one). -3
^rd
Century Realty.

The
message was followed by an address. I rolled my eyes. I'd forgotten
about Erin.

“Shit.”
I handed the paper to Levie. He read it and handed it back to me.

“I
do not see any problem with a small detour to pick up your friend,”
he said to me.

“But
I do.” It was Dia, stomping one silky, white, slippered foot at
me. “You said you'd help me. A deal is a deal. And besides,
if you piss me off now, who's going to reverse your stupid wish?
Hmm?” I frowned at her. God, being a Guardian sucked. I so
did not want a genie. I wondered how I was going to get rid of her
after this was over.

“I
can't just leave her there.” Dia was shaking her head, white
ponytail flopping, even before I'd finished speaking.

““Look girl, this won't take long. We'll just go see if my friends left any clues at the dead vamp's office and then head over and get your friend. I'll reverse your wish, and you can drop off this smelly, old sphinx." The sphinx snarled at her, his pleasant face melting with rage. Dia stuck her tongue out at him. I looked to Levie for support, but he just shrugged his shoulders. His big, muscly, delicious shoulders. I rubbed my temples and tried to think.

I
bent down next to the sphinx and smoothed a hand down either side of
his mane. He became visibly more relaxed, his eyes half lidded.
“Would it be okay if we just did this one, tiny, little thing
first?” He nodded.

“What
comes first, the feeding of an army or the feeding of the people?”
Great. He seemed to understand.

“Alright
then, Dia. Show us the way.”

Dia
didn't exactly know where we were supposed to be going, and we ended
up taking several side streets and back alleys before we came to the
building. Nathaniel and Liam's operation had been run out of a
high-rise on the outskirts of the downtown area. It took up an
entire city block but was less than impressive with the peeling gray
paint, boarded up windows, and the healthy selection of flowering
weeds taking up every possible space in the bordering flower beds.

I
didn't know if this was the same place that I'd been taken to before,
but if it was, the inside was going to be substantially nicer than
the out. The few still intact windows were dark, and it didn't look
like there was much going on inside, but Dia was insisting this was
the place.

I
let her do what she wanted (maybe if we found a clue, she'd perk up
and stop being such a
bitch
) and followed her to the front
doors. She paused, one orange hand resting on the handle. “You
got company, girl.” I turned quickly, expecting something bad.
Instead, I found myself elated to find the yetis clomping down the
street towards us. It was like one of those old romance movies, you
know, where the main characters run at each other and slow motion.

“Gyabidapa!”
I shouted, horribly butchering the name. “I'm so happy you're
here!” The yetis stopped several feet away from us and glared
suspiciously.

“Where
you go, Ginger Malloy? We look everywhere for you.” I thought
about explaining, but it was a rather convoluted story.

Instead
I asked, “Are you guys up for a fight?” I'd already seen
how deadly their clubs could be. They would be an invaluable help if
(and with my luck, probably
when
) we ran into trouble. I
explained the situation with a twist. I sort of implied that if they
helped us, I could make their problems go away. It wasn't a complete
lie considering that the sooner I got this over and done with, the
sooner I could get Dia to reverse my wish.

“Are
you certain we can trust them?” Levie asked as he examined
their furry white bodies with a distasteful sneer.

“You
can always trust Big Foot, eh?” Dia said, trying to elbow the
he-yeti in the arm. He didn't look happy; he looked pissed.

“Enough
with the racial stereotyping,” I said, stepping between them.
I was learning from hard won experience that looks really could be
deceiving. “I said they're with me. Cool?”

“Actually,
it's quite warm,” Levie replied, completely serious. I rolled
my eyes and gestured at the door. Did nobody realize we were on a
time schedule here? The longer I left Erin with the vampires/mummy,
the more explaining I had to do. The sphinx nodded as if he could
read my thoughts. My luck withstanding, he probably could.

“Allow
me help,” said the she-yeti, chest puffed with pride. She was
looking to prove herself, and I was looking to get into the building
as quickly as possible. Solution found.

Gyiarava
stepped forward with a grunt, and the rickety, plywood
door popped off its hinges like a toy under her massive hands. We
were greeted to nothing but silence, dark, and the stink of human
garbage. As we picked our way over bits of broken glass, cans, and
other miscellaneous trash, I began to get the feeling that we were in
the wrong place at the wrong time. I turned around slowly to face
Dia, but I had noticed too little, too late. As usual.

Levie
was standing next to the genie, roped in swirls of purple and orange
smoke. The sphinx stood nearby growling, and the yetis waited
silently, the tips of their clubs drooping to the rubble strewn
floor.

“I'm
sorry, girl,” she said as Terrence appeared from behind a
pillar. “This dude's got my friends now, and I've gotta get
them back. You're kind of a lout, so I figured you were a lost
cause. Besides, you didn't wish for my loyalty. Big mistake.”
She shrugged her thin shoulders as if that were a perfectly logical
conclusion to come to. Of course Terrence had stolen the genies from
the rapist vampires. Of course. The Queen Bee had been the bad guy
all along, and I'd had a crush on him. I shivered and glanced at
Levie, but his face was a mask of heat and rage. He wasn't giving me
any information to work from.
Why me?
I wondered and instead
of being scared, I sighed. It was just that kind of a day.

“But
I have your bottle,” I said, producing the pink glass from
inside a pocket of the coat I had borrowed from Marji. Or stolen off
of her coat rack on the way out. Little details. Terrence laughed,
and it was still the same smooth tones and pleasant cadence he had
used before we'd all known he was a murdering sociopath. He surveyed
our little group, and his eyes alone told me all I needed to know.
He thought we were pathetic and useless.

But
I had just died. And been resurrected. I was a new Ginger. A
Ginger with guts. And two wishes. If Terrence had expected this to
be his big, “Ha-ha, I'm the bad guy, and here's my dumb speech
about why I want you and what I'm going to do to you,” moment
then he was wrong.

“I
wish Dia would get rid Terrence without hurting or killing me or any
of my friends.” It was simple, basic. I hoped it would work
without backfiring on me. I looked to Levie for confirmation, and he
was grinning. The air in the room had shifted. Magic.

Dia's
muscles jerked and spasmed as she released Levie from her smoke
bindings. She turned towards Terrence who I was happy to see wasn't
smiling anymore.

“I
suggest you flee,” Levie said, wiping at his arms as if the
smoke had left some sort of unpleasant residue. “Genies are
immortal, and alas, sir, you are not, you puerile mooncalf.” I
didn't know what the insult meant, but he said it with such loathing
that I believed it anyway.

Terrence
scowled, his pale, pretty face twisting into something less human and
more demon. It only took a moment for him to make a decision, one
that I hadn't thought through when I'd made the initial wish. He
came at me with that supernatural speed and grace that could only end
with me being dead. Again.

Luckily
for me, Levie was on top of his game. He stopped Terrence several
feet in front of me and twisted his body to the side, sending the
asshole skidding across the debris and into Dia. Smoke trickled out
of the ground around her and wrapped around Terrence's legs. He
still didn't look worried, and I wished fervently inside my head that
somebody had given me more information about him. He obviously
wasn't your run of the mill demon.

Levie
grasped my wrist hard in one smoldering hand.

“We
must go. Now.” He scooped me up in his arms, and we booked it,
the sphinx and the yetis hot on our heels. We made about three
blocks away, next to the library, before it became apparent that we
weren't being followed. Whether Dia was strong enough to kill
Terrence or not would remain to be seen, but at least she had stopped
him from following us.