Zoe stormed toward a treatment room, ready to rumble.
As the top enforcer at From Crud to Stud, the New Orleans’ makeover service for supernatural beings, she didn’t take lip or attitude from anyone. She’d made that fatal mistake in the past. First with hard-nosed villagers during the Salem witch trials, which had been way worse than the fluff shown on the History Channel. Then with Satan after he’d wooed her to Hell using his typical bait-and-switch scheme. What a creep he’d turned out to be.
Twice in her existence, she’d let guys determine her future. No more. She was her own woman now, uninterested in men. Her work here was all she needed, guided by her determination to do things the mortal way—suffer and endure, no supernatural powers allowed.
She pushed open the door and faced a sickly looking vamp who sported a pasty complexion and a man bun. Hardly a babe magnet. Only fierce dedication and hard work would turn him into Mr. Charm. “Yo. On the table. Now.” Before the staffers helped him to suppress his inner beast, she had to strap him down. An easy-peasy job for a reformed demon with hardcore ways.
He licked his fangs flirtatiously. Some might say hungrily. “Hey. I’m—”
“I’m not going to ask again.”
“Easy, cupcake. I’m just trying to make conversation. What’s your name?”
“Kim Kardashian.”
“Yeah?” He regarded her scrawny figure. “You changed. Like a lot.”
“It’s an illusion. Call it my work uniform. Once I’m on my own time, I blossom.”
“Cool.”
They circled each other, both ready to pounce.
Given his powers, he struck first and sank his teeth into her neck.
She tapped her foot but let him do his thing.
“Gah.” He gagged and recoiled. “Damn, you taste like hell.”
Surprise, surprise. “Time for you to learn some manners. Good thing you came to us.”
He eyed a female staffer strolling by and gave her a toothy grin.
Zoe got in his face. “Park your butt over there now.”
“When I’m good and ready, sweetheart.” He craned his neck to watch the staffer. “Run along.”
Zoe rammed her saddle shoe into his foot and her elbow into his gut, wrestled him to the table then strapped him in so he’d never get free. Not even if he morphed into a freaking bat. His frustrated hiss mingled with a reaper’s wail, zombie grunts and were howls.
Lovely sounds, ordinarily. However, tonight something was off, the evening heavy with tension that breathed danger. Similar to when another demon slunk nearby.
Warily, she approached the last two treatment rooms. Both were empty. The walls bore claw marks from former inhabitants.
Maybe she was overreacting due to the calendar date. Halloween approached, the dumbest and most inaccurate holiday ever.
Heather, a healer and the good fairy receptionist there, had decorated her desk with plastic skulls. Fake cobwebs hung from the faux gas fixtures. Rubber spiders stuck to the coral walls and spelled out Boo! on the artificial brick floor.
Zoe resisted the urge to roll her eyes or say anything unkind, since Heather was her BFF.
Heather smiled adoringly at Daemon, a former satyr. He’d come to the service more than a year ago to ditch his horns, tail and hooves in order to look fully human so he could boogie with mortal babes. Not only did he work there now as an enforcer, he and Heather had shacked up, their love more enduring than Romeo and Juliet’s. They laughed easily and gazed at each other with tenderness and respect whenever they weren’t busy making out like sex-starved teens.
Loneliness tightened Zoe’s chest. She ached from unexpected longing but shook it off.
Romance wasn’t what she needed or could risk. She’d learned that brutal truth centuries ago when she’d had wanted one guy, just one, more than life itself. What a hot mess that had turned out to be, especially after she’d sold her soul to get his affection. Talk about false advertising. What she’d ended up with was a one-way ticket to Hell along with Satan’s negligent shrug and pissy explanation about what had happened.
“It all boils down to free will.” He’d grinned. “The guy doesn’t want you. What can I do?”
Satan made first-class louses look like Prince Charming.
However, he had taught her an important lesson. No way would she ever fall for another man and give him her heart, if she’d had one. These past years, she’d sworn off dating, companionship and especially sex even though celibacy was killing her. Especially tonight.
The only thing she couldn’t figure out was why.
“Zoe.” Becca, another BFF and the half-mortal witch who owned this place, motioned her to the other hall. “Can we have a word in my office?”
That same edgy feeling returned and grew stronger. She expected a demon to pounce from behind the feathery ferns or potted plants that adorned the reception area.
No one was there.
“Now?” Becca led the way. Her harem pants rode low on her voluptuous hips and swished around her legs. Her tie-front crop top hugged her ample boobs. Both garments were iridescent blue that matched her eyes.
In her office, she gestured Zoe to the needlepoint sofa that faced the antique desk. Displayed on the cabinet behind it were numerous photos of Becca and Eric, a minor god she’d met and had fallen in love with when he’d come there for treatment.
Melancholy hit, followed by dread. Zoe worried another staffer had found her man and now that guy was going to work here like Daemon. A new enforcer would cut even deeper into her territory. The only thing she had left.
Rather than sitting, she squared her shoulders prepared to defend her turf.
Becca smiled cautiously. A sure sign she wasn’t certain what to do, like when she practiced her witchcraft. Poor thing had been studying hard but managed more misses than hits when she concocted spells or potions. If not for her mom, Rowena, helping with those things, she would have been shit outta luck.
Zoe lifted her chin and got bolder than she felt. “Is this about Constance?”
Another BFF and the resident voodoo priestess here. Given that Constance liked men big time, it was a miracle she hadn’t been the first on their team to hook up.
Becca frowned slightly. “What about her?”
“Shouldn’t she be in here, too?” Seemed reasonable if she had a once-in-a-lifetime romance to gush about.
“No. She’s with a client, removing some of his memories.”
Zoe suspected those involved the dude’s former girlfriend that Constance wanted him to forget. “So the client is the one she’s in love with?”
“Love?” Becca pressed her hand to her chest. “Oh, my God, is she serious about someone? I didn’t know she was even dating on a regular basis. What have you heard?”
Confused, Zoe shook her head. “Nothing. Is this about MJ?”
She was a genie who’d used to live in Daemon’s ring before he set her free. Currently, she was his and Heather’s houseguest and also worked there granting wishes to clients for a price. Like Constance, MJ enjoyed doing the nasty with guys. Little wonder she’d found her man. “She’s hooked up with someone?”
“You mean permanently?” Becca’s eyes widened. The heavy black makeup surrounding them made them appear larger against her fair skin. “I don’t think so. Daemon had to separate her and a were earlier. They were really going at it. Once she left him, she had her eye on a warlock. Have you heard or seen something different?”
“Uh-uh. I thought you knew something and wanted to tell me about it in here.”
“Oh…no.” She made a face and shook it off. “This is about business. We’ve been really swamped this year, so I’ve decided to expand. I’ve already talked to the building’s owner about taking over the entire floor and renovating it for our use.”
Zoe’s tension drained away. “Cool. You want me to keep the workers in line in between my other stuff?” She slammed her fist against her palm. “I’ll be happy to.”
Becca stopped fingering her short red hair. “I don’t want you to kill yourself by working so hard.”
“How could I do that?” She frowned. “I’m already dead, not to mention immortal.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Becca waved her hand dismissively. “I want you to enjoy your work.”
That funny feeling returned and made Zoe queasy. “Who says I don’t like what I do here? Oh, hey, is this about Daemon horning in on more of my stuff? Uh-uh. He’s already keeping the clients in line for the other staff. I don’t need him to do that for me. I’m capable. Hell, I’m a better enforcer than him. I do not want him anywhere near my customers.”
“No problem. He won’t be.” Becca cleared her throat. “Stefin, Anatol and Taro will be here for that from now on.”
Footfalls rang in the hall.
Three guys strode into Becca’s office, their movements fluid and assured. Each looked thirty or so, in mortal years, and had dressed in black, their shirts silk, their boots and pants elegant, like bouncers wear at an elite club.
No one was dancing in here, especially Zoe.
A faint sulfur scent emanated from the unholy trio. Flames flared briefly in their eyes.
Demons. The trouble she’d sensed earlier.
She froze, too stunned to move or speak.
The guy in the middle was easily six-three and nicely muscular, his blond hair shoulder-length. His rough good looks, bronze complexion and stubble put the va-va-voom in virile. Sin filled his light gray eyes, his mood dangerous and predatory.
Her belly fluttered.
He winked.
Disquiet and lust rolled through Zoe. Her legs went watery.
The guy on the right proved equally tall and powerfully built. Beautiful, he had rich-chocolate skin, dark eyes and long hair worn in dreadlocks.
Those babies would feel awesome gliding across her naked boobs and thighs—until he screwed her over like every other male had done.
She steeled herself against his allure.
He smiled.
A freaking dimple dented his right cheek, his grin an unusual combination of boyish mischief and raw sensuality.
Her pussy creamed.
Hot didn’t begin to describe the last guy’s masculine features, deep-blue eyes and thick auburn hair. Those wavy locks trailed past his ears and curled on his neck. His stubble called to everything female within Zoe, as did his height, big body and the assured way he regarded her.
The guys’ enticing sulfur odor enhanced their musky scents, making the mixture wanton and unashamed. Their impressive cocks pushed against their flies.
She bet each of their rods jutted from blond, black or auburn curls.
The room spun.
“Guys.” Becca lifted her reddish eyebrows. “This is Zoe.”
The introduction seemed to come from far away, Becca’s voice muted by the ringing in Zoe’s ears. She tried to respond but only managed an odd noise, part grunt, mostly a groan.
Becca edged closer. “Zoe, this is Anatol.” She gestured to the black hunk with the dimple. “Stefin.” The blond god in the middle winked again. “And Taro.” The blue-eyed hottie regarded her intensely. “They’re our new enforcers.”
Each looked in charge already, their stances saying they wouldn’t budge one damn inch for anyone, especially a female demon.
Becca offered a nervous smile. “You’ll be working with them from now on.”
Working with or for, as in taking orders, yearning helplessly then losing out as she had with the last man in her life?
Like hell.
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