The Seer's Lover - Chapter #2 - Free To Read

Chapter 2

Carmen’s Restaurant

Mal Pais, Costa Rica

“Looks like a nasty storm is blowing in.” Carlos, the day cook, slapped Lucas on the back and untied his apron. “Have a good night, man.” Carlos mopped his brow with the apron and chugged a full glass of ice water before he motioned to the lightning out at sea that lit up in the night like strobe lights with moving talons of electricity.

“You, too.” Lucas tied his hair back and slipped his own apron on in preparation for taking over chef duties. He shifted the remaining pepperoni pizza in the wood-burning oven before adding a pineapple and ham pizza to the stove with gloved hands. The heat from the sweet-smelling wood radiated from the igloo shaped opening, making him start to sweat in a matter of minutes.

Shaded by day with thick palm trees that shimmered with Christmas lights at dust, Carmen’s open air restaurant sported wooden tables, a pool table, and an afternoon hammock. Tonight’s specials on the white board near the kitchen read “roasted whole lobster with lemon-garlic butter, tuna with peanut sauce, and mango sorbet.”

Jody Sanchez, the cutest of the waitresses, flashed him a smile and winked as she clipped another order on Lucas's wheel. Her warm, brown eyes twinkled. “You staying to dance after work? I’ll buy you a drink. Or two. Maybe tonight, you’ll come and see my place afterwards?” An incessant flirt, even though her attentions went completely unrequited, Jody never gave up no matter how many times he turned her down.

“Maybe another time.” Lucas couldn’t help but smile. Strands of loose black hair escaped the loose knot at the nape of her neck and fell softly around her bronze face. She pushed her shimmering lips into a mock pout and blew him a kiss before she shrugged her shoulders and headed back to her tables.

Lucas watched her hips swing side to side in her fitted white tank top and snug jean shorts. He would love to have a girlfriend, but dating was one pleasure he couldn’t allow himself. He’d vowed to remain celibate until the end of his days because he knew that he could pass the sight to his partner.

He’d transferred his ability once already—to his high school girlfriend, Becca. After her suicide, he’d vowed never to chance bringing a non-seer into his world again. Occasional salsa dancing with the girls after hours was as close as he got to getting laid. The sparkle in Jody’s eyes tonight said even that wasn’t a good idea.

Without conscious thought, his mind strayed to the girl he and Ron picked up earlier in Paquera. Her fair, flawless skin, penetrating look, and airy confidence left him unsettled and wondering why she would vacation alone in Mal Pais, of all places. And why had she asked about Lucas’s Aunt Carmen? Plus she had mentioned their distant cousin, Juan Torres, who lived in the States.

She wasn’t safe at Ron’s resort because of Anna, the demon temptress who got her kicks from sleeping with newlywed men. Until Anna started maiming, raping, or killing the guests, Lucas and his aunt allowed her human torture domain to be squared in by the confines of her resort. If they killed her, more demons might come to investigate. And Lucas and his aunt couldn’t risk that.

Lucas vowed to check on the girl in the morning. At his next break, he grabbed a handful of contraband pepperoni and snuck around the back of the restaurant. Stogey and Harley, stray mutts and his best friends, normally napped there. But tonight, they paced and whined as if something was wrong. The fur stood straight up on both dogs’ backs, and they growled, low pitched and menacing, their usual reaction to the only local demon, Anna.

The canine duo were his best friends for a good reason. Demon’s illusions and powers had no effect on animals, only humans. Animals see life at its simplest. A tree is a tree. A rock is a rock. Instinct dictated threat from non-threat.

Lucas shot a look behind him in case a fiend had materialized there without his knowledge, but he saw only the steady rain and sudden flash of lightning in the storm. Still, the dogs remained low to the ground as they slunk, still growling, into the restaurant. Only one thing would cause them to go where they knew they weren’t allowed.

He followed them. The rain came down steady and hard. Thunder and lightning rocked the air periodically. A demonic black aura pulsed from a family of four near the front of the restaurant. He zigzagged around tables of patrons to stay behind the dogs, but before he could get any closer to the family, the sketchy electricity gave out, with a clap of thunder.

Aside from Anna, Lucas Rojas hadn’t seen a demon since he’d run away to Costa Rica in high school, and that’s exactly how he liked it. Demons were what he was trying to escape. From an undiluted bloodline of seers, Lucas and his aunt knew for sure what others could never even guess—that among humans, walked angels, demons, and transitors. Transitors were either fallen angels or risen demons—in limbo, dangerous and unpredictable.

He froze. The dogs pushed up against either side of his legs. The complete darkness prevented him from even seeing his hands in front of his face. He waited with his heart pounding out of his chest, doing a quick check for the knives he always carried on him. The waitresses went from table to table lighting the requisite candles and kerosene lamps. Most tourists found this kind of situation enchanting.

When Jody reached the last table, the teenage boy looked right at Lucas. His red eyes blazed, and his black aura pulsed. Small black scorpions crawled out from under his sleeves and fanned out around him toward the adjacent tables.

Lucas closed his eyes, centered himself, and concentrated on the scorpions. Demons had hunted and eradicated pure seers to near extinction for centuries, precisely because of their ability to break illusions. Taunting, terrifying, and tormenting God’s human creations on earth gave demons the one thing they desired most—power. Compared with the planet’s almost seven billion humans, the few million demons roaming the earth at any given time derived great pleasure from playing schoolyard bully. The effects of their illusions were very real whether demons chose to let humans see the illusion right away or when it was too late. Seers however, missed nothing.

When Lucas opened his eyes, the scorpions were gone.

The demon nudged his father, who glared at Lucas. The dad was a badass mother. His easy smile oozed tiny leafcutter ants that fell from his mouth and burrowed under his food. His black aura seemed to sizzle and pulse, the candle’s vibrations magnifying his size. A green viper slithered out from under his dinner plate. No one noticed. The demon picked it up and lobbed it toward Lucas.

Time stopped.

In one small movement, no more than a tiny reflex, Lucas betrayed himself. As the snake flew toward him, his body responded before his mind could control his actions. He flinched.

The father’s eyes widened. Only a seer would have moved. A human would have seen nothing until the viper was latched onto his neck.

In one involuntary movement, Lucas had exposed himself.

Now the hunt would begin. He needed to kill them before they brought in reinforcements. This one fatal mistake might cost him and his aunt their lives. In one split second, his peaceful years of hiding ended. Good thing he’d never stopped training.

The fight would be in private. Demons loved their anonymity, so they seldom exposed themselves to humans outright unless they wanted to drive them insane. Or they were willing to kill every person in the restaurant right here and right now. Which they might do.

Lucas’s Aunt Carmen walked out of the kitchen and untied her apron. She smoothed back her gray-streaked hair. Although not quite fifty, her toned body from tireless manual labor provided a stark contrast to her drawn and tired face.

She passed by Lucas and never looked at the family in question. “Without electricity, I can’t stay open. I’m sorry, but we’re closing for the night.” The local Ticos, or natives, eyed her suspiciously. Carmen’s restaurant had operated for years without electricity and she never closed the restaurant under any circumstances. “Plus, we’re already out of one of tonight’s specials. But we hope to see you again. Buenas noches.”

She lied.

Carmen made a hasty retreat to the kitchen before anyone could question her. Next to Lucas, Harley and Stogey resumed growling.

The man and his son pushed back their chairs, swearing. The demon duo oozed wealth, wearing tailored clothes and polished Italian shoes. Both sported thick, gelled back hair. The son must have recently turned eighteen and had the awakening to who and what he was—which turned out to be a mirror image of his demon daddy.

They held their confident heads high as if already victorious. Returning his level gaze with their gleaming blood red eyes, they smirked at Lucas with razor sharp teeth.

It wasn’t until then, Lucas noticed the two women—human. Polar opposite from the men, dressed plainly in faded clothes. Dead silent, they clung to each. Their faces hidden by stringy, unkempt hair. Hunched over, they tried to appear invisible. The wife wore sunglasses, which only partially masked her orbital bruises.

“Move it!” The man barked.

When the mother peeled away from the girl and stood up, her bruised body couldn’t be disguised. The teenager boy pushed her from behind. “Hurry up, bitch!” then turned to see if he got his demon daddy’s approval.

The father nodded proudly, as if his son had hit a double in little league.

She scurried to the exit as if familiar with being ordered around by her own child.

The daughter lagged behind, clutching the table like a tow rope. She began to sway. The thought of what she endured made Lucas’s blood boil. She couldn’t have been more than fourteen years old to her brother’s powerful eighteen. She likely lived hell on earth with her father and brother—oft the way in demon/human families. Demons relished in the marriage and procreation gig—legal rights to torment others in unspeakable ways.

Lucas learned that firsthand in high school with Becca and her charming demon parents who loved torturing their human daughter. He’d wanted to protect Becca but instead, after he’d slept with her, he’d passed on the sight. And if he’d known what would’ve happened—and the fatal consequences—he’d have given her money and convinced her to run away instead.

Human abuse was bad, but demonic abuse was infinitely worse. Becca had endured physical, mental, and psychological abuse her whole life, but when she saw what had inflicted the torture on her, that her delusions were founded, the knowledge threw her over the edge of sanity. Pregnant and terrified, she moved in with Lucas and his father until…

Lucas banished the memory and watched the young girl still sitting at the table. “C’mon Marla!” The father yanked her arm and gave her a shove to get her moving. Then he squeezed her behind in the most un-fatherly of ways. The demon laughed and pushed the hair off her face. “I can’t wait to get back to the room.”

Lucas caught his illicit implication. Every muscle in his body tensed from pure hate. The teenage boy honked from a silver luxury sedan while the girl’s eyes welled up with tears and a look of utter hopelessness came over her young face. They headed for the car.

Lucas felt his pulse quicken. He cleared his head and went to take a step toward them.

Carmen’s hand landed hard on his shoulder. “What have you done? That demon works for Abaddon, the ambassador of Hell. Find out where they’re staying, and I’ll go with you to hunt them. Tonight. If we fail, all we’ve tried to protect will be lost, mi sobrino.”

****

Lucas knew just the person to tell him where the demons were staying.

Anna Cruz-Jones. For years, his part-time job at the Howler Monkey Lodge as a horseback-riding guide for Ron had allowed him to keep tabs on her. He ensured her realm was kept confined to the bedroom and nowhere else in Mal Pais. Poor Ron—her pawn. He really loved Anna, and any mention she was less than perfect would be rewarded with a right hook. Even though she treated him like shit, he took any scraps of attention she would feed him. Lucas felt sorry for him.

Anna preyed on the newlyweds with an impossible-to-deny-aphrodisiac touch. Lucas wouldn’t know. Without a girlfriend or wife to destroy, she’d never cast him more than a passing glance. She preferred to cause women emotional pain so deep it would ruin any chance they had of finding marital bliss. One more reason to refuse Jody's, or any other girl’s, advances.

In the few minutes it took Lucas to reach the lodge, the rain had abated. Stream rose off every surface in the hot evening air, from the gravel driveway to the misty trees and even Ron and Anna’s modest bungalow.

Lucas slowed his pace as he approached their front door. Ron’s car was gone. He wondered how to approach Anna after years of dodging her. But if anyone knew the whereabouts of this new demon family, Anna would. He could overpower her in a fight, but he’d have to touch her. And once she got her claws into you, literally, it was all over.

Screw that. Lucas could resist any illusions or temptations she offered. Couldn’t he?

He had been trained to fight demons, both psychologically and physically while his childhood friends rode their bikes and played baseball. His father called their advantages “the speed and the sight.”

He could center himself to shatter their illusions, and he could see their next physical movement in advance, which gave him a huge advantage in physical combat—hence the reason demons hunted seers relentlessly. No matter what she pulled, Anna would be the last person he’d succumb to.

He squared his body and raised a fist to pound on the front door but then decided to risk a glance through the window first.

Anna wore a translucent, burgundy lace negligee that left nothing to the imagination. With her back to him, she danced a slow, hypnotic solo to bossa nova music, moving purposefully, arms raised over her head. He forgot where he was for a moment and watched her.

Practiced.

Sensual.

He tried to pull himself away but couldn’t. Anna embodied physical perfection. Her long, black hair graced with a bit of a wave, complemented her sleek, tanned body. When she twisted to the side, her generous tits and taut nipples made a welcome appearance. Dim lights lit the scene, but when Anna turned completely, Lucas saw her eyes and snapped back to reality.

Her eyes glowed. She smiled and gestured him inside letting her hand drag over her breasts and down, down…

He sucked in a breath. His body’s reaction contradicted his mind’s fight-or-flight response. He needed answers. His mind raced. Turn and walk away. Instead, he reached for the doorknob.

His father’s voice echoed in his head. “You have advantages she couldn’t guess at. Exploit her weaknesses.” He willed his body into submission to bring his mind into focus.

After everything I’ve seen…

After a demon killed my own mother…

He held the doorknob in his hand. How could he get the information from Anna without exposing himself or having to kill her? Although completely duped by her, Ron would be devastated if he killed her. Yet, wouldn’t Ron be far better off without her?

He let go of the doorknob, turned, put one foot in front of the other, and walked back to the stable. He would find answers another way.

When he opened the door to the barn, the horses pawed the ground and snorted. What the… He spun around. Anna stood right in front of him.

“Did you finally come to ask me for something, Lucas?” she said in her thick Brazilian accent. A sheer, red lace teddy draped her sleek body.

He backed away.

Lucas’s field of vision tunneled to include only Anna. Her wine-red aura pulsed in vertigo-inducing waves. He blinked slowly to center himself and dissolve the illusion, but found he couldn’t drag his eyes away from her. He couldn’t dissolve her illusions because she wasn’t casting any! Anna had something else going for her, something Lucas couldn’t fight—she dripped sheer irresistible sexuality.

“Like what you see?” The voice whispered in his ear even though her lips never moved. Invisible fingers ran through his hair and glided down his neck.

He found her eyes and stared into their ruby depths.

Stop! He summoned every ounce of his energy and turned his back on her, pretending to nonchalantly fold a blanket. “I see Ron’s wife. I came by to ask a question.” He paused. “A family came into the restaurant tonight and said they were your friends. The man left his wallet on the table when they left. I’ll return it to them if you tell me where they are. Where are your friends staying, Anna?”

Lucas steeled his resolve against her powers and turned to face her once more. Immediately, a pulsing pain wrapped around his back and pulled him toward her. He arched his back and moaned even as his feet took a step forward. Instead of lessening, the pain intensified.

“I don’t have any friends.” She licked her lips. “Why is it I haven’t decided to taste you before now?” A long forked tongue snaked out and flicked up and down his cheek like two tiny knives.

An illusion; this he could fight.

The knife-like protrusions sent an unusual ripple of pleasure down his spine. He suppressed a moan and forced himself to concentrate. The tongue vanished. Lucas repeated, “Where your friends are staying?” He took another step closer to her.

“Come one step closer, and I’ll tell you anything you want,” Anna taunted.

He stood still. “I have to go. As pretty as you are, I’d never do that to Ron.” He struggled for breath to ward off the pain of her illusion slicing over his skin like razors. His back pain turned to spasms and brutal cramps.

She lifted an eyebrow as she released him from her spell, clearly amused. “Suit yourself, but never say never, lover. You’re lucky I was ordered not to kill you.”

“Ordered?”

“I’m really quite impressed you’ve hidden from me this long. Abaddon may promote all of us for finding a pure blood for him to play with—before he peels off your skin and rolls you in barbed wire.”

Ron’s car tires crackled over the driveway pebbles.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“To answer your original question, of course I know where Paymon and Nicor are. And they’re looking forward to playing with you before the boss gets here, seer.” Anna demon-strated to show her true fiendish form. Her face elongated, and her eyes transformed into black diamonds with glowing red centers. Her nails extended into claws. She lunged at Lucas and slammed her head into his before he could duck.

Her eyes were the last thing he saw.

****

He awoke in the hay, being licked by his faithful canine companions and staring at a horse’s three white socks. Shit, Lucas chided himself, Anna had known the whole time. He wondered how long he’d been out, why the demons hadn’t come for him, and where the hell Carmen was.

He needed to find his aunt. Now. She’d know what to do.

Rubbing his head, he pulled himself to his feet and looked at the horses. They stared at Lucas as though they’d been waiting for him to wake up all morning. “Hey, Gotzone.” He stroked the white blaze on the muzzle of the gorgeous chestnut mare. She nickered a greeting. The name Gotzone meant “angel” in Spanish, and this horse was exactly that to him, responding to his shifts in body language and posture before he even gave a command. She even hung around on the road outside Carmen’s restaurant when he worked the lunch shift. He loved this horse. He’d ridden her almost daily since he moved to Costa Rica.

He buckled her bridle and pushed open the barn door. He mounted her bareback but she reared up, snorting and pawing at the air.

A familiar silver luxury sedan was parked by the main house.

“There you are!” Ron said, practically running right into Gotzone. “Aren’t the other horses ready? Anna said she told you yesterday her friends from Casa del Noche wanted to go out with you first thing this morning. Apparently the girl struck a deal with her dad so she could go horse-back riding as the last thing they do together on their family trip.”

Despite the heat, the hair on the back of Lucas’s neck stood up. A shiver of fear mingled with disgusted anger ran down his spine. “No, she didn’t tell me.”

Anna held open the front door, and the family headed toward him. Paymon whispered something to his son and their auras expanded and darkened around them.

“Ron, Carmen needs me to work at the restaurant for lunch, so I won’t be able to—”

Ron shot him a pleading glance. “Nonsense. What’re you talking about? I’ll talk to Carmen, and we’ll pay you double. Hurry up and get the horses ready to go. Treat these people right for Anna.”

Lucas avoided eye contact with the men and tried in vain to construct an escape route. The fourteen-year-old girl approached and petted Gotzone. The horse allowed this but kept taking steps backwards, away from the demons.

Nicor stood close to his dad and glared at his sister. Unhappy she relished a moment of happiness; he flicked his wrist and flung a swarm of mosquitoes at her. The movement appeared inconsequential, like shooing away a fly. But as a seer, Lucas watched the insects descend on the poor girl who wriggled and squirmed, swatting at the empty air around her. She whimpered as tiny red welts appeared all over her skin from yet another unseen attack. She ran to her mother.

Lucas decided he would get the women to the safety of Carmen’s restaurant before battling the demons. He calmed his mind to dissolve the swarm and tensed his body for the inevitable fight. He checked his pocket for his—NO! Anna took my knives. Shit. He needed to get the women to safety—now.

“What’s your name?” Lucas asked.

She cowered behind her mother. “Marla.” She refused to even look at him.

The demons sneered and waited while he readied the horses.

The mother asked, “Is the trail ride dangerous?”

He wanted to answer, “Yes, dangerous for you.” Instead, he said, “It could be a bit scary. If just the men are interested, the girls could stay here with Ron.” Lucas offered them the out and prayed the demons underestimated a true seer’s advantages in a fight—the ability to see their next physical move before it happened and the control to dissolve their illusions.

According to his aunt, seers from diluted bloodlines were abundant. Tossed aside as the crazy street people rambling about evil and auras, most were diagnosed as schizophrenics, heavily medicated, or simply locked up. These dilutes were never trained to fight back or hone their skills. But Lucas’s undiluted and pure family bloodline trained for centuries to fight back and expose demons for what they were, hence threatening demon’s power over mankind.

“Absolutely not. The women are coming. Put them on horses,” Paymon directed.

Ron cocked an eyebrow at Lucas. “What’s the matter? I said these are Anna’s friends. Take care of them. C’mon!”

Reluctantly, he got the horses ready and put Marla on Nelly, a bomb-proof, twenty-five year old mare, who usually provided a sure and steady ride as one of the older, more experienced horses. A standard bay with black points, Nelly had been bitten by three snakes and survived. Lucas felt fairly confident that with whatever the boys threw at her, she would hold steady for Marla.

The girl looked thrilled, beaming with joy and stroking the horse’s neck. Nelly lifted her head, enjoying the attention from Marla.

Lucas helped the mother mount Rocket, his tallest black mare at almost sixteen hands high. She had a white star and one white stocking and carried the coveted Paso Fino lineage, as evidenced by her dark dorsal stripe. The mother looked completely inexperienced, but Rocket would do all the work if the lady would hang on and remain calm.

The two demons stood watching these proceedings with a smirk on their faces.

Lucas pointed to Bit and Bailey, his more roguish horses, saddled and ready to go. “Can you handle them, gentlemen?”

“I’d love some help.” Nicor mocked him.

With Ron still around chatting with Paymon, Lucas grudgingly helped the boy mount Bit, who was all black and a little headstrong. If Lucas got lucky, maybe she would throw Nicor off.

Lucas put his hands out, fingers interlocked to give him a boost. Once his boot touched Lucas’s hands, it morphed into a massive claw digging hard into his skin. He shattered the illusion but not before the claw ripped open his skin. Blood dripped from his palm, congealing in the dust. “Shit.”

“What?” Ron asked.

“It’s nothing. Just a scrape.” Lucas wrapped his hand with a towel.

Nicor laughed and mounted the horse without his assistance after all. His aura matched the horse’s black color, and the two melded into one.

When Lucas turned to walk away, the boy flicked a tree branch in his path knocking him flat on his face. Lucas pretended not to see the obstacle, which would have been invisible to the women and Ron. I have to make them think I’m weak. Without his weapons, tricking them into thinking he was helpless would work to his advantage. He got up and brushed himself off. The boy laughed harder—his pleasure inextricably connected to human pain.

The women were trained to focus on anything but the men. They ignored the proceedings. Clearly used to pain, blood, and suffering surrounding them at every turn, they might be grateful not to be the men’s horror recipients. Lucas allowed Nicor to think he’d bested him. Not for long, asshole.

“Geez, Lucas. Get it together. Too many mojitos last night?” Ron headed back to the house. “Have fun.” He waved over his shoulder.

Lucas meant the last horse, Bailey for Paymon. Usually sassy and temperamental, Bailey pawed at the ground and snorted in fear with the demon’s approach. The demon retrieved a spiked crop and fastened an Indiana Jones style whip to his hip. He mounted Bailey quickly then eyed Lucas as he raised the crop slowly for effect, as though he would hit Bailey.

Lucas approached him from the left. “You don’t want to hurt my horses or make this ride unpleasant for your family now, do you?” He stared right into the father’s glowing eyes.

Paymon leaned down to make his point clear. “Unpleasant, no. Unbearable, yes, you worthless little seer.” He flicked his hand and Lucas flew backwards, feeling as if a cement block had been thrown at his chest.

“What do you want?” He clutched at his chest to catch his breath.

“That’s an easy one. We want you, and all of your kind, dead.”