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Page 54 of Manipulate (Deliver 6)

Zeek was a lower-level demon, and his human form didn’t look very different from his demon one. His real name wasn’t Zeek, obviously, but I couldn’t be bothered to try and pronounce his overly long Enochian name, but it had a Z sound in it, so I’d dubbed him Zeek, and he answered to it. His skin had a sickly yellow pall to it, and there was this odor like sour milk coming off him that always tickled my gag reflex. But hey, good help was hard to find, and he made a mean cocoa.

He set the mug down in front of me with a flourish, and I inhaled the melted dark chocolate, eyes closed. But something was missing. I frowned. “Where are my marshmallows?” I sniped.

Zeek’s jaundiced eyes widened in panic. “My apologies, sir. I can go get—”

“Don’t bother. This will have to do.” I hmphed. “I have a far more important task for you.”

He bowed. “Oh yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Whatever it is, I am most eager to please.”

Most days, his simpering filled me with some kind of sick glee, but today, it was just plain annoying. “Enough of that. I want you to go do some recon for me.”

“Rah-coon, sir? What is that?”

I huffed in frustration. I bet my brother never had to explain these kinds of things tohissidekick. I didn’t even want to be seen going shopping with Zeek, let alone rely on him in battle. “Yes, reeeecon,” I said slowly, enunciating carefully, as if that would somehow make him understand. “Short for reconnaissance. You take a camera, go stake yourself out across from my brother’s mansion, and you take pictures of him. I want to know what my dear brother is up to. Do you think you can handle that?”

His head began to bob so frantically on his thick neck, I thought for sure he would hurt himself. “Oh, yes, sir, yes—”

I cut him off swiftly before he could get himself worked up. “Then go. Be back tomorrow with something useful.”

I should’ve known to be more specific. He appeared first thing in the morning like an eager beaver. The pictures he’d had printed, however, were…

“Fucking useless! You can’t do anything right!” I snarled, picking up the camera and hurling it against the wall with a satisfying smash, bits of plastic and glass scattering across the floor. There was also a hole in the wall. Great.

“But, sir, you said to take pictures. Reeeeecon, you said.” Zeek was thoroughly flustered, and his rank sour smell magnified, making my eyes water.

I clamped a hand over my nose, swallowing the bile. “For the love of my grandfather, back the fuck up, Zeek. I just ate, and I would hate to hurl and have to eat breakfast all over again.”

“Yes, sir, for mighty Zeus. Sorry, sir.” Zeek had cowered across the room, close to the door. He kept his eyes lowered in deference.

Placing my palms flat on my desk, I leaned over the pictures spread out across the surface. There were a dozen pictures of my brother, coming and going from the house, climbing out of his fucking Porsche. “Where did my brother go?” I snapped at Zeek, even though I already had a pretty good idea what the answer would be.

“I don’t know, sir. You told me to take pictures of his house.”

“Uh-huh.” Yep, there it was. Lower-level demons were very loyal, great at obeying orders, but they weren’t terribly smart. I sighed and closed my eyes, rubbing my temples. I had a headache coming on, and I was in serious need of a little pick-me-up. That little tussle with Cameron had left me lower than low.

“Zeek, go get me a double shot of espresso. And maybe one of those chocolate-glaze donuts I like.”

He ducked his head even lower, practically folding himself in half to bow. “Yes, sir. Anything for you, my lord.” He scuttled off to the kitchen

As soon as he was gone, I sagged into my chair and dropped my head on my desk with a thunk. My goal of revenge was further out of reach than ever. Loki was getting stronger, and now I had no hope of avenging my lost love. I’d been so damn close! If only my brother had been just a few minutes later arriving at that party. Loki would be gone, my pride restored, and everything would be right with the world once more.

When I sat up, one of the pictures was stuck to my forehead. I groaned, peeling it off, but when I went to crumple it up to throw it in the trash, I paused. “Hellllllo there…” I drawled, seeing a sliver of Cameron in the edge of the shot. It just happened to be the best sliver too—his delectably tight ass.

With a little thrill, I started sifting through the pictures, ignoring my brother, and instead looking for images of his sidekick. There he was in the passenger seat of Phobos’s car. There, a reflection of him off the window in the background.

Fumbling in the desk drawer, I pulled out a pair of scissors and began to cut. By the time Zeek was back with my coffee and a dozen donuts, I’d pinned the partial images of Cameron up on the wall behind my desk.

Zeek’s odor announced his presence before he’d even entered the room, overpowering the aroma of roasted coffee and sugar. “Sir, I have brought your sustenance.” When I didn’t acknowledge him, he grew increasingly agitated. I could hear his fingernails clicking together as he fidgeted. “Sir? Your coffee? You asked me to retrieve it, and I did.”

I was busy tracing the outline of Cameron’s face in the background of a picture, where I could just see him peeking from the window ofthe mansion. He was such an intriguing creature. Human, to be sure, but with enough power to rival any of the gods—even Loki himself.

“Is he living in the house?” I asked suddenly.

Zeek blew out a sigh, relieved to have my attention once more. “I assume your brother lives there, yes, but I did not go inside to confirm it, sir.”

“No, not my brother, you imp,” I growled. “The other one. Thesidekick. Cameron. Does he live there as well?”

“I-I d-don’t know, sir. You said you wanted to know about your brother, and I—” he began to stutter, flustered, but before he could stress himself into excreting any pus from his glands, I put a hand up, and his teeth clacked together with a snap.


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