“You say he is your mate, that he loves you. Very well. Allow Zac to prove it. See if he recognizes your soul.”
“You want me to trick him?” That was not in Tula’s DNA.
“It is not a trick. It is a test. You will be in disguise and able to see how he behaves when you are not around. And if you are right about his feelings for you, he will feel drawn to you no matter which body you inhabit.”
This was crazy. And extremely underhanded. “Why can’t I just see him? Talk to him?”
“As I said, my sweet Tula, I am a demon. I cannot offer you something for nothing. And I want you. This is the only way for us to cut to the chase.” He straightened his blood-red tie. “You will see that his love is an illusion, and then you will allow me to take you on a date.”
Tula absolutely hated this idea, and how could she trust this guy? On the other hand, what else could she do? She’d come here for the truth, and he was offering a way to get it. The only other choice was to die and see Zac in the underworld. Only, this time there would be no magical unicorn around to keep her human shell on ice like the last time when she froze to death.
“Fine. I’ll do it,” she said.
“Ah, but not so fast. You must also agree to the rules. You will have two weeks, during which time you cannot disclose your true identity to anyone. Even if they guess it, you must deny it.”
“And if he proves his love is real?”
“Then I will leave him to be free. With you.”
“In my own body?”
“Yes. Of course.” The king stepped closer, the fronts of their bodies almost touching. She could feel the heat of him through her sweat-soaked clothes. He radiated his own tempting kind of energy.
He slid his hand to the back of her neck.
She gasped. “What are you doing?”
He flashed a wicked smile, displaying his bright white teeth. “Sealing our deal with a kiss.” He pressed his mouth to hers, and she blacked out.
Maury stared down at the sleeping beauty passed out on the cave floor. Her heartbeat was weak, and death was near.
Luckily for her, he’d known she was coming. The photos of Zac had been the bait, as were the leads fed to her guide, this Yuri fellow. All according to plan.
Which was why Maury had made arrangements ahead of time and brought one of his demons through the portal for the body swap. All he required now was to place the two in the sulfur-scented, supernaturally infused demon-water and then pop! Push one soul out, pop the other in. Easy-peasy. Demons did it all the time. Of course, they’d had thousands of years to practice the fine art of body swapping and demonic possession.
Ah, The Exorcist. My favorite movie. The part where she projectile vomits is priceless!
Lately, however, demons had been acting discreetly, flying under the gods’ radars. Long ago, when the gods had banished the demons and sealed the portals, they’d missed a few. Mostly because demons were underhanded and trusted no one. They had emergency exits and hidden doors in quite a few places. He himself had been living in the human world right under the gods’ noses. Fools. Especially that Cimil, who thinks she knows everything.
She didn’t.
For example, these last few years, Maury had actually gotten a job with Damien Greystone, the immortal tailor, who had been dressing the gods for over a decade. Cimil, Acan, Votan, Colel, Ah-Ciliz, Zac, Kinich, Akna, K’ak, Chaam, Forgetty, Ixtab, Máax, and even Camaxtli, the ex-goddess formerly known as Fate, visited the shop frequently. Then there were the likes of vampires, Maaskab, weres, fairies, ghosts, mermen, trolls, zombies, and one-offs like Nessy and Bigfoot.
Biggie F., as he went by these days, really needed XXXL sizes, including those socks.
It was perfect; Maury lingered quietly in the back of the shop, stocking inventory or doing the books, while Damien tended to the customers out front, listening politely to tidbits about their intimate lives. Maury had learned a lot during those years and began quietly formulating his plan. Not only would the gods pay for banishing his kind, but he would ensure they never returned to the human world. They would remain locked away in the deepest, darkest corner of the underworld forever. Now that I control the place.
Still, that wasn’t enough. He wanted to give the deities something to stew over while they rotted away. He wanted them to regret what they’d done and to leave their souls festering with rage and despair.
Almost like a demon, but not nearly as cool.
Maury looked down at Tula, feeling his soul being pulled back to the underworld. It was time for the next phase of his plan.
Like the other gods, Zac believed he could only enter the human world through one of their sacred cenotes found in the jungles of Mexico. Pompous idiots always thought of themselves as special. Fact was, the gods were too absorbed in their little lives to understand where they’d come from, how their gifts worked, and why they were here at all.
Demons, on the other hand, had nothing better to do than to look for the angles.
Maury’s soul tingled with delight. The age of demons is upon us. This world would become one giant demon utopia. Just look at all the progress we’ve already made simply by creating Twitter! The demons’d mastered how to turn one half of the planet against the other with a laptop, several million fake demon accounts, and the touch of a button. And the gods thought they’d banned us from the internet? Ha!
“Gola!” Maury snapped his fingers. “Where are you, girl?”
Gola was hideously ugly. Her pink skin had a grayish hue, and her stringy blonde hair resembled a dog’s chew toy. But what she lacked in looks, she made up for in loyalty.
“My king, I am here.” Gola appeared in the shadows, holding a lantern and canteen.
“What took you so long?”
“I,” slurp! “got turned around in the last cavern, my king.” Slurp!
“Well, hurry up. We have much to do.” After Gola and Tula made their switch, he had to get Hilbert through the portal. Then Zac. As for himself, he would be making his grand entrance soon. “And be sure to give your new body plenty of water. We don’t want it dying on you.”
“Yes, my king.” Slurp!
“And be careful when you do the switch. We do not want any harm coming to her.”
“Yes, my king.”
Gola grabbed Tula’s arms and dragged her off to the portal down a ways. The two women would take a swim together in the hot spring, and Gola would push Tula out of her body.
Ah. And now it is time for the next big surprise. After that, Maury had more fun in store for the “famous” God of Temptation.
CHAPTER TEN
Present Day
Tula woke with half her face covered in spit and a massive headache in her big fat demon head. Honestly, she didn’t know how Gola carried it around. This huge demon body was completely out of proportion.
Slowly she sat up in the waterbed, wondering how she’d ended up here in Zac’s apartment.
Ow, ow, ow. She pressed her hands to her temples. Why had she attacked that bottle of tequila last night? Sure, it made her feel good while she and Hilbert danced and forgot their broken hearts, but then things got crazy. Hilbert had seen Zac kissing Gola and lost it.
Not that I can blame him. She wanted to kick the crap out of Zac, too. How the heck could he not recognize her? Sure, this body was almost twice as tall and smelled terrible, but on the inside, she was still the same person.