A Demon Does It Better Read online

“Do you really think you can discover the truth about Sera and the others?” Adam asked.

  Lili had contacted her friends before she returned to San Francisco and confided her plan, asking for their help. Both tried to dissuade her from her task, but she refused to back down. She was glad they were available as backup.

  “I can try,” she admitted. “But there’s so much else going on there that’s odd.” She related her time below in the asylum and described its inhabitants. She glossed over Jared, since she still wasn’t sure about him. She also brought up her meeting with Amy in the dungeon space and what she learned about the ghost.

  Rea’s eyes darkened with tears. “That poor baby, trapped in such a place. Why would some creature kidnap her and bring her across time?” She shook her head, clearly hating the idea of a frightened child dropped into a foreign situation.

  “I don’t know. I need to talk to one of the Guides at the hospital about helping her cross over, hopefully to join with her mother. But I’m afraid I’ll need someone special. If the right person isn’t at the hospital, can you help me find someone?”

  “Of course,” the empath said without hesitation.

  “She said a big black bird took her?” Adam asked, pulling a small leather-bound notebook out of his shirt pocket.

  Lili nodded.

  “I’ll see if I can find anything out for you.” He jotted down a few sentences in his notebook before he returned it to his pocket.

  “Thanks, Adam.” Lili sighed. “The hospital has changed quite a bit since the last time I worked there. Now it’s as if the place exists in two opposite worlds. Upstairs is up-to-date, light, airy, and filled with so much healing magick, you feel energized just by being there. But if you go below, it’s like being transported backward to a dark, ugly past, where mundanes viewed insanity as a sign of evil and locked their family members away in attics, cellars, or worse. If they had the money, they’d put them in an asylum where the patients were treated no better than something you’d scrape off your shoe,” she said grimly. “No wonder I preferred treating the usual diseases of the supes. Just being down there for a short time was draining.” She emptied her wineglass and refilled it. She didn’t believe in finding courage in alcohol, but there were times it pacified the agitation that made her feel so antsy. This was one of those moments.

  Over the next two hours, the three friends ate and talked and laughed. For the first time in the past week, Lili felt well and truly relaxed.

  She looked at the couple and saw a relationship that weathered storms and only grew stronger from their trials. She knew that Maura, Adam’s mother, hadn’t liked Rea in the beginning, thinking the gentle-hearted empath wouldn’t be a good match for determined, rigorous-thinking Adam. She was glad they proved the old witch wrong. What Lili saw was a love that only grew over time.

  After her friends helped her clean the kitchen and left, Lili settled in bed with her Nook, as Cleo stretched out on the other pillow.

  However, the book she’d begun with such anticipation didn’t hold her interest. Visions of the demon Jared kept her attention wandering. She finally set her e-reader on the bedside table and snuggled down under the covers.

  Even after all these years, was Jared still as dangerous as Dr. Mortimer claimed he was—or was there something else going on?

  ***

  The world was wild and desolate, and the village was quiet save for a few restless dogs housed near the living quarters.

  He’d been at this place once before, when earlier generations had played and lived here. The girl he took at that time had been tasty and provided him with his sustenance. But, over time, his hunger had increased, and he moved among the world and all its planes more often.

  Magick was strong here. He could feel his pores taking it in the way dry skin soaked up water. The strongest came from one house, where a young girl radiated it like the sun.

  He stole through the cottage entrance and made sure that everyone inside would sleep soundly while he took what he required.

  Perhaps he would use the shadows, so he could remain for the days he needed to view their death rites, to send the girl into the next world.

  It was always sad when a young one perished, but she also had much power in her blood. Power he needed. The way he saw it, her demise was really for the greater good.

  ***

  “I’m glad we’re finally able to have time for a chat, Dr. Carter.” Director of Nursing Arimentha Garrish occupied the large chair behind her desk in the same way that the queen of the universe commanded her royal throne. “It has seemed that every time I’ve requested your presence, you have managed to find something to occupy your time.”

  “Well, as you know, it’s been very busy lately. Full moon and all.”

  Lili mustered up a brief smile while wishing for mega air-conditioning. Due to the head nurse being a dragon-shifter, she preferred keeping her personal space at a toasty 110 degrees, unconcerned if her visitors roasted in the process.

  The dragon-shifter fingered the file folder in front of her. “I like to have some time to chat, Dr. Carter—a chance to get to know our doctors here.” Her dark eyes glimmered.

  Ah, there’s that royal we. Lili kept a brief smile on her lips. Never let them see you sweat, even if the room is like a damn sauna. “Of course, and I’m always happy to help in any way I can. As you know, we’ve been very busy in the ER, not to mention my work below, treating the emotionally troubled patients.”

  Miss Garrish’s nose wrinkled. “While I realize such a ward is needed, even among our kind, I do not consider it a suitable work place for females.” She eyed Lili sharply. “Even if they think of themselves as powerful witches.”

  Lili swallowed her sigh. She had fought prejudice about her sex, even among the preternatural communities, for so many years that she should have been immune to the bias. Not gonna happen if the speaker’s a know-it-all megareptile. She was relieved that, at least, the shifter wasn’t a T. rex.

  “Miss Garrish, I am a healer first and foremost, whether the damage is physical or mental,” she spoke in her firm, no-nonsense doctor voice, one that had left more than a few nurses in tears. “It doesn’t matter that I have a vagina instead of a penis. I would think that you, being a female, would also see it that way. I know that you wouldn’t have this position unless you worked very hard for it and had the knowledge to back it up. Just like you, I have labored hard to be the best healer I can be. I am here to treat the suffering of our patients, no matter what they are or what they’re going through. It doesn’t matter what my sex is or what I am. All that matters is that I have the power to ease their pain.”

  The Director of Nursing didn’t even blink, and Lili could swear she didn’t even take a breath.

  Damn.

  “How accustomed are you to getting your way?” The elder’s eyes shot black-and-gold sparks, revealing a mere hint of her temper.

  “Not as much as I’d like,” Lili freely admitted, knowing the shifter would sniff out if she said even one word that wasn’t true. “And I only truly battle for what I feel is right.”

  Miss Garrish tapped her long, silver-tipped nails on her desktop. Lili wondered how many victims knew those claws intimately and how many survived.

  “I like to think I can offer some hope to the patients housed below,” Lili said. She knew she was taking a chance, since she wasn’t sure what kind of relationship Miss Garrish had with Dr. Mortimer. Don’t go there, Lili. You’ll only sear your brain if you think the worst. “You have to admit no one should have to look on those ugly ogres every day if they can look at a smiling face.”

  “They do have their uses,” Miss Garrish murmured, with a hint of distaste in her tone proving she wasn’t all that fond of Turtifo and Coing either. “Just because you have the title doctor in front of your name does not mean you aren’t subject to my rules.”

  “Of course.” Lili really needed to remain on this female’s good side—if the Director of Nursing had one, that is
.

  “One other thing.” The elder speared the healer with a dark eye. “Your familiar.” She sniffed as if she just used an odious word.

  Good thing Cleo wasn’t here. The cat would be having a royal hissy fit. “Cleo isn’t my familiar. She merely lives with me,” Lili corrected. “Many of us don’t have familiars. I’m one of them.”

  Miss Garrish waved her hand in dismissal. “Whether or not it’s a familiar, it still should not be wandering the halls of this establishment. Perhaps we do not follow the same health codes as the mundanes, but we do have our standards.”

  Oh yes, a very good thing Cleo wasn’t here.

  Lili reached into her pocket and pulled out a small scroll. “Cleo is a certified therapy cat, warranted free of any disease,” she stated, placing the parchment on the desk. “She is also excellent working with traumatized young. She makes them forget their illnesses. And even if she is a long-haired feline, she doesn’t shed.”

  Miss Garrish edged the scroll open and read the contents. There was no denying that the elaborate seals which decorated the bottom gave the cat a lot of immunity within the medical context. Her thin lips narrowed even more. “If there is one speck of trouble from that creature, she will be barred from the hospital. And now I suggest you return to your work, Dr. Carter.”

  Lili patted herself all over after she left the office.

  “What’s wrong?” Deisphe asked as the witch passed her.

  “I’m just making sure I’m not missing any body parts.” She relayed the head nurse’s edict.

  “Yeah, she tends to do that.” The Wereleopard yawned. “Hey, want to go out for a drink with a bunch of us after our shift?”

  “Sounds good. Let me know where. Also, you can work with me downstairs tomorrow.” Lili sketched a wave and headed for the stairs.

  She had already consulted her computer to see which patient she’d be seeing first. Dr. Mortimer had left a written schedule on her desk, which she wasted no time inputting into her tablet. She noted that all the patients but Jared were referred to by name.

  “Old fogy,” she muttered, sending a ball of witchflame ahead of her to better illuminate the dimly lit stone stairs. Before she passed through the large iron door, she stopped to check herself in a small mirror and applied fresh lip gloss. “Vain witch.” She rolled her eyes at herself and her need to look her best.

  “Doctor.” The word rolled off Turtifo’s black-veined tongue with rich sarcasm. “Who do you want to see first?” His dark eyes mirrored the disdain in his voice.

  “Bring Pepta to my office,” she said, recalling the list on her tablet. “And, Turtifo, I better not see any bruises on her,” she warned him.

  He growled under his breath as he lumbered off.

  Lili released a soft snarl in his direction as she headed for the small room she’d claimed as her own.

  After setting out cups of chamomile tea and a small plate of special cookies, she waited for her patient.

  She heard the ogre’s rumbling voice before he walked in with a small slender female before him, one of his meaty hands wrapped around the nape of her delicate neck, although his grip on her was lighter than he had used on Jared—probably because of the strong pheromones Pepta was exuding. The nymph’s lips were curved in a smile that was pure seduction.

  “Hello, Pepta. Come sit.” Her gaze flicked over Turtifo. “Return in an hour.” She was pleased to see he didn’t argue with her this time.

  Pepta was a vision, with her porcelain skin that glowed under the lights like a pearl, silver hair hanging loose to her waist, eyes that were a mesmerizing copper, and lips that invited a man to partake of them. What should have been an ankle-length gown of rough cotton had been ripped in strategic places to reveal her rounded breasts and a hint of silver pubic hair and creamy thighs. The nymph walked with the sultry grace of her kind and dropped onto the cushy chair Lili indicated. She deliberately spread her legs as if inviting anyone to have a snack.

  “Is Morty afraid of still seeing me?” Pepta asked, with a smile that would have made a succubus proud. She arched her lithe body in a sensuous curve.

  “As you know, Dr. Mortimer has asked me to work with some of his patients. I was especially looking forward to our talking together,” Lili replied, nudging the tea in her patient’s direction. She was pleased to see the nymph had been allowed to wash herself and was wearing clean clothing, even if it was obviously well-worn. She could see the brand on her shoulder, announcing to all she was a mental patient. Lili’s fingers itched to hex it off, even as she knew there was no way she could do that. Plus, for all she knew, her effort could only cause pain to the nymph. She made a note to see about arranging suitable wearing apparel for the patients, perhaps even a form of scrubs, in different colors than the staff wore upstairs. She couldn’t believe that Dr. Mortimer hadn’t taken better care of his charges’ needs.

  “Sorry, darling, I like cock—although you dress more male than female.” She gave Lili’s blue scrubs and white lab coat a disparaging sniff. She plucked at one of the tears that revealed the side of her breast. Shrugging when Lili ignored her efforts, she picked up the cup and sipped the hot tea. “You wouldn’t have a mug of dark ale up your sleeve, would you?”

  “Try the tea instead.” Lili watched her pick up a cookie and bite into it. She knew her recipe had additional calming properties. She didn’t believe in using even magickal drugs if herbs could do the same thing. She kept her computer tablet in her lap where she could make notes as the two spoke. Lili listened to Pepta’s erotic fantasies, some of which she hoped were just that, and others that had to be true.

  The nymph had seduced a leader’s son and then killed him in a fit of rage. Her punishment had been to be locked away in an underground cave for two hundred years. However, no one had arrived to free her until she was discovered, eighty years ago, when she was finally released from her prison. Her sanity wasn’t even hanging by a thread. All she cared about was fulfilling her hungers for food and sex. Lili read, in Dr. Mortimer’s notes, that he hoped to help the nymph balance her life in a healthy way, but it had been a slow-going affair. She wondered if that wasn’t due to the doctor not wanting to look deeper into Pepta’s problems.

  Freud would have a field day with this one.

  “Why can’t the demon be with us?” Pepta asked, choosing another cookie.

  “Private sessions,” Lili reminded her as she picked up her teacup. “Plus, wouldn’t you prefer some girl talk?”

  “With someone who wants to dissect my brain?” The nymph sipped her tea. “When will you bring out the tentacles?”

  The witch lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers. “Not my style.”

  Pepta chose another cookie.

  Lili could see that the bespelled treats were making her patient a lot calmer. She was pleased that something she’d learned from another doctor who treated the mentally ill was so effective.

  “You want to fuck the demon, don’t you?” Pepta said suddenly. A sly smile crossed her lips. “You want him to take you hard and dirty.”

  Lili had spoken briefly to Pepta a few days ago, so she knew it would be a struggle to keep the nymph on track. In looking over her records, it was easy to see the female hurt a great deal inside and lashed out at others in hopes of keeping her own pain under control.

  The witch just had to find a way to persuade Pepta to release the agony and face what she’d done before the healing could truly begin.

  “And what do you want, Pepta? Do you want to remain a prisoner in a stone cell while the world spins around you, leaving you behind? Don’t you want to return to your family? Feel whole again?”

  Aha. She watched the nymph’s vivid purple eyes darken and a hint of a crystal tear appear in one corner, but just as quickly it was gone, and she showed her true self.

  “You’re too soft to work down here, Dr. Carter. You should leave before something happens to you.”

  Lili’s headache grew to massive proportions by the time she
had Pepta returned to her cell. She dropped a headache powder in her tea and sorted through her files.

  “I’ll see Patient 1172 next,” she told Turtifo.

  The ogre opened his mouth then closed it when he caught the warning look in her eyes.

  “And no shackles!” she called after him.

  Fifteen minutes later, Jared was pushed into the room, his wrists and ankles manacled in iron chains that obviously pained him. She admired his restraint in not wanting to cause some serious hurt toward the ogre. But she could understand why, after seeing his previous wounds.

  “I said no shackles,” she snapped, feeling her headache returning.

  “Dr. Mortimer’s orders, and he’s the boss down here. You’re just the hired help.” He fastened the fetters to the table and left without a backward glance.

  It took all of Lili’s willpower not to order the door to slam after the orderly. Instead, she shot her fingers at the manacles. She swore under her breath when the iron bands didn’t fall loose. Lili had to settle for adding thick layers of soft wool lining to the inside of the restraints. She didn’t miss Jared’s soft sigh of relief. She conjured up coffee and a thick juicy burger and fries.

  “Gotta say, I like your service, Doc.” He munched away happily. “Or is this the carrot-and-stick method? You have me all sated with good food, then you bring in the electrodes or fire whips?”

  “Fire whips were outlawed in 1822 when many strove to improve the lot of the afflicted.”

  Jared snorted. “Saying so isn’t the same as being on the receiving end. You’ve been here, what, a week? Maybe a little longer? You only see what you want to see, Doc. Not what really goes on around here. How old are you? How long have you been practicing healing?”

  “Old enough to know better, and I was born a healer,” she told him, tamping down hurtful memories of long ago.

  She shouldn’t have abandoned her mother to suffer a horrific death alone.

  Jared froze as his loaded cheeseburger hovered near his lips. He slowly set the food down and stared at her across the table.