007

Cole was up early after another sleepless night. He had not heard from Zafira or Gabriel for five days. He still did not know the outcome of their confrontation. This was his first day back on duty with the Chicago PD's Bureau of Detectives after a week of paid leave ordered by his captain.

He looked like hell. His eyes were bloodshot and he had not shaved for days. "Quite the specimen," he thought.

He poured himself a cup of hot black coffee in a near-hopeless attempt to kick-start his day. He felt uneasy, then startled, when the windows of his apartment began to vibrate. Was there a helicopter overhead? An earthquake?

He saw a flash of light from his living room. He rushed inside -- and found Zafira! She stepped through a dark roiling portal and into his apartment wearing her usual attire: leather jacket, little cocktail dress, knee high boots and sheer stockings, all in black.

"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Cole asked tiredly.

"Boy, aren't we grumpy today? If having a case of blue balls is your problem, I've got plenty of ways to fix that," she retorted.

Cole rolled his eyes and left for the kitchen. He retrieved his coffee and returned to the living room to plop on the couch.

"Where have you been? I've been wondering for days what happened between you and Gabriel."

"How did you really think that would play out?"

"It would have been nice to know sooner."

"Aww," Zafira said, pouting her lips as she sat on the couch beside him. "You were worried about little ol' me. That's so sweet!"

He was a little worried. Zafira was the only hope he had left of ever finding who killed Maria. Putting herself in the sights of an experienced demon hunter did not seem like the best idea to him.

"So did you, uh, get what you needed from him?" Cole asked.

Zafira smiled wickedly. She tossed him a jar, inside was a bloody human heart.

"Ew!" Cole shouted. "What do you want me to do with it?"

"Oh, don't be such a baby!" Zafira teased. "Put it in your fridge. I'm afraid my new pet might try to eat it."

"New pet?" Cole asked inquisitively.

"It's a long story," Zafira said, nonchalantly stretching her tempting legs across Cole's lap.

Cole gazed at the heart inside the jar. "What do we need this for anyway?"

"We need to perform a ritual in order to find Maria's killer. For this ritual, we needed the heart of a priest. Gabriel needed to be eliminated anyway. That made him a most convenient target."

Cole sat the jar down on his coffee table, "What else do we need for this... ritual? Hopefully nothing that requires more dead bodies."

Zafira laughed. "Nope, no more dead bodies. Though the remaining items may prove to be tricky to obtain."

"Why is that?" Cole asked.

Zafira unzipped the sides of her boots and kicked them off. They clattered on the floor. "Before we get into that, there's a matter that needs to be addressed first."

Cole set down his empty coffee cup and rubbed Zafira's stocking covered feet. "What issue would that be?"

"I'm hungry," she said with a devilish smile.

"Something tells me you're not in the mood for Chinese," Cole said sarcastically, continuing to rub her feet.

"Chinese, Mexican, Bulgarian, whatever. Their nationality doesn't really matter, so long as they have a corrupt soul."

"As I thought," Cole said tightly.

Zafira looked down at Cole's hands on her feet. "You certainly have a way with massages."

Cole looked at his hands and stopped what he was doing. He had not even realized he was massaging her feet.

"Sorry, I um... I used to...."

"Maria?" she assumed.

"Yes," Cole admitted.

"I don't mind. In fact, it's kind of nice to have someone do something for me of their own free will."

Cole resumed massaging her. The silky texture of her feet felt just as good on his hands as his firm touch felt to her. His hands wandered a little further up her legs, rubbing her ankles and calves. Zafira smiled softly and hummed to his magical ministrations. Her sweet intoxicating pheromones, a smell that Cole had come to recognize as a sign of Zafira's arousal, started to fill the air of his apartment.

Cole looked into her eyes. "Something I've been curious about since we've met. You came from Hell, right?"

Zafira nodded. "That's right."

"What is Hell like?"

Zafira snickered. "Are you afraid of where you may end up?"

Cole slid his hands further up Zafira's legs, now to her knees. "No... just curious."

"Hell isn't a place, more like a separate plane of existence. Same with Heaven. Both exist side by side with your familiar mundane world, only separated by an invisible dimensional fabric. The layouts of these worlds are the same, just very different environments and occupants. Hell is chaotic: barren lands, constant wind storms, dark red skies, rivers and oceans of molten lava instead of water. Hell's resident demons all struggle constantly for power. I haven't seen Heaven but I imagine it is the exact opposite."

"Do you ever miss being there?"

"Does it sound like a place someone would miss?" Zafira snorted. "Of course not! Here, I get to do whatever I want, whenever I want, and with or to whomever I want. So long as I keep a low profile from angels and Crusaders, anyway."

"I assume you didn't have such freedoms in Hell. Who rules over Hell anyway?"

Zafira laughed as if Cole had made a funny joke. "I suppose you expect me to say Satan or Lucifer. Shows how little humanity knows of the planes! Hell is overseen by seven Aspects, otherwise known as The Seven Sins. Each Aspect is a powerful demon that represents a sin, and they have lesser demons who spread their sin across Hell and sometimes into the Human World.".

Cole's hands reached Zafira's inner thighs under her dress. "What about Heaven?"

"I don't know much about Heaven, obviously. However, I do know Heaven follows a similar structure. They have seven Aspects as well, each representing a virtue."

The pheromones were thick in Cole's nostrils. His cock stiffened dangerously the further his hands slipped under Zafira's dress. He was still in control of his body -- but like that night in Grant Park, it sought to betray him.

Zafira saw his hesitation. "Keep going. You know you want to," she said with a seductive purr.

His fingers crawled further up her dress, finally reaching the end of the road. He thumbed through the small landing strip of hair above her sex. Then lightly, oh so lightly, ran his fingers across her sweet moist nether lips. He wanted her. Desired her. Craved her.

Then a vision of what happens to those who give in to their lust flashed across Cole's mind. They become shriveled lifeless husks, damned for all eternity. He hastily jerked his hands out from under Zafira's dress and put them in his lap.

Zafira smirked at Cole as she stood and pulled her boots back on. "Don't forget about your end of our deal, Cole. I need to feed, and soon."

Cole nodded. "I haven't forgotten. I'll return to work today. I can check the archives for someone you might find... palatable."

Zafira smiled. "I look forward to you bringing me dinner." She gave Cole a hug and a peck on his cheek.

She gestured to reopen the portal she came through.

"Oh, one more thing: take this."

She tossed Cole a palm-sized crystal. It was purple in color, and he could feel it vibrate with a small thrum of power.

"What's this?"

"Think of it as a key to my lair. If you are ever in need of my assistance, just hold that crystal above your head with your right hand."

His face twisted. "Couldn't I, you know, call you? Like a normal person?"

"I'm an old fashioned demon, Cole. Your human technology and I don't get along."

Cole laughed. This abundantly powerful creature, so gifted in the dark arts, was thwarted by the simple intricacies of a cell phone. Oh, the irony.

Zafira stepped into the portal. "Don't keep me waiting, Cole. Bad things happen to those who stand me up." She winked at him and the portal closed, leaving him alone in his living room.

Cole looked at his watch. Shit! He was going to be late for work!

*****