Chapter 3

With the exception of Mike, she had no interest in them and never really had. She had many theories as to why Mike was the exception to the rule, but had been unable to come to grips with any of them.

Lily chuckled. “For someone with a muted sense of humor, you’re still good for a laugh.”

“I have a question. When you were drinking with those men, were you actually drunk, or just pretending?”

“Ooh, I’m afraid that’s a trade secret of the demon world. It’ll cost you a kiss—”

“Not interested.” Dana turned to leave, but Lily grabbed her arm to stop her.

“That was a joke, I was only teasing. When I eat or drink human food, I can process it normally or, well, burn it off instantly.”

“That’s kind of convenient.”

“You would be surprised how much seduction takes place over a plate of tacos. And while I truly hunger for only one thing, the brain really is the largest erogenous zone, even for a succubus.”

“I… you heard that?”

“Oh, I have phenomenal hearing. I can’t wait to be your bitch later tonight.” Lily licked her lips. “Besides, I believe you are overdue for a meal of your own, are you not?”

Dana shrugged. “If we get to it, we get to it.” The gnawing sensation in her stomach wasn’t too bad, but she was starting to think of the people in the bar as snacks waiting to happen. Still, the idea that she was dependent on the cum that Lily was storing for her didn’t sit right. Maybe it was her independent streak, or the fact that it was magical man juice, or even both.

“Liar. Your left eye is gray already.”

“Shit.” Dana looked in the mirror and saw that Lily was right. The sparkling blue of her left eye was replaced with a flat gray color. She tousled her hair to reveal that more strands of it had gone gray as well, then let out a frustrated sigh. What little life force she had was ebbing away, and this was always the first sign. Based on experience, she would be ready to tear people apart in about three days.

Scowling, she stuck her hand in her pocket and pulled out a contact case.

“Need help?” Lily asked.

“Nah.” The contacts did nothing for her vision, but they were colored to match her eyes. She stuck both of them in real quick, then pulled her phone out and set a reminder to take them out later. The last thing she needed was for them to get stuck in there after several days. “Better?”

“Much.” Lily hopped down off the sink and planted a quick kiss on Dana’s forehead, then pinched her cheek. “Why don’t you be a good little girl and get a soda from the bar while Mommy tries to find you a new Daddy.”

Dana rolled her eyes and wandered out of the bathroom. The bikers looked up in anticipation but were disappointed to see that it was only Dana.

Sitting back on her barstool, Dana spun around and to pick at her nachos some more. Paul Bunyan was back with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“You girls have a little pre-game conference in there?”

Dana grunted. “Something like that.”

“Here.” The bartender slid over a piece of paper. “When that two year anniversary rolls around, give me a call.”

“Yeah, okay.” She took the paper and stuck it in her pocket. “Now, if you don’t mind…”

“Right, I’m a ghost.” He vanished to the other end of the bar. When he wasn’t looking, Dana crumpled up the note he gave her and dropped it on the floor, then used her feet to shove it in the gap between the bar and the floor.

“Asshole,” she muttered under her breath. The bathroom door slammed open, and Lily stumbled out, her chest and cheeks flush with excitement.

Picking at her chips, Dana watched for just a few more minutes before setting some cash on the bar and then walking out.

After all, Lily could handle herself.

Stepping out into the cool evening air, she found a quiet spot on the rocks across the street from Double Deuce. She had a great view of not only the bar, but anybody who came in or out. Up above the door, a small neon sign with the Two of Spades and The Two of Hearts flickered weakly.

The Double Deuce was on the northwestern edge of Laporte, Colorado. Any further up the road and you would end up in the mountains, or eventually the Red Feather Lakes region. This area was for mostly locals and people who knew it existed, and the bar was tucked off to the side of the road, sign number one that they weren’t trying to attract any attention.

The road was mostly quiet. The school year had just started up for the local college, and she doubted any college kid would ever wander this far out of town, unless there was a good reason for it.

Her own good reason involved a collection of magical items that a snake woman thought could be used to bring her back to life. One of these things had been sold to a thrift shop in Fort Collins called Unearthly Delights. Dana had originally hoped that a simple stop and shop would accomplish the deed, but had been aggravated to discover that Unearthly Delights had burned down in a mysterious fire over the summer.

She and Lily had holed up in a cheap hotel out by the highway, just east of Fort Collins, and it had taken them a couple days to track down the employees of the store. The succubus did some kind of Dreamscape brain hopping to find out who the flask had been sold to. The two of them had managed to use social media to track the new owner, Ray Scotes, to this place on the edge of Laporte, which was just northwest of Fort Collins proper. Except for a gas station about half a mile up the road, Double Deuces was one of the last stops on the way into the mountains,.

The smell of gas and oil filled her nose, and a car shot down the canyon, blowing past Deuces without slowing down. The taillights vanished around the corner, gobbled up by the darkness.

“Lucky fucker,” Dana muttered, then settled in to wait. If there was one benefit to being dead, it was that she never got uncomfortable.