ValiasVillain by Jocelyn Dex Page B

where he greeted employees and
disappeared through another door that read “office”. The male wasn’t dressed as
the other employees and he assumed he must be a manager. Fifteen minutes later,
the male had not reappeared and Rydin grew impatient.
    He walked to the counter and asked to speak to the manager,
hoping his assumption was correct. The mixed-breed demon scooted away to do
Rydin’s bidding without question. A moment later, his target appeared.
    The demon’s eyes widened as he spotted Rydin. Not an
uncommon reaction considering his enormous presence.
    “What can I do for you?” he asked cautiously.
    “I need a word with you. Privately.”
    The demon leaned over the counter and looked from side to
side before speaking. “Are you him?”
    Not the reaction Rydin expected. “Him who?”
    “Give me one minute,” he said and walked back into the
office.
    What the hell was that about? It wasn’t often that Rydin was
surprised on his assignments. This demon obviously had been expecting someone
else and it looked as if it would work in Rydin’s favor.
    The demon strode out of the office holding a large envelope,
told the employees goodnight and looked at Rydin while nodding toward the door.
Rydin grabbed his bag and followed him out.
    Once outside and down the walk away from the shops, he
turned to Rydin and handed him the envelope. “I need your help.”
    Rydin reached out his hand as if to take the envelope, but
instead grabbed the male’s arm and slapped one end of the gold cuffs on him.
“You’ve mistaken me for someone else. I’m not here to help you.”
    The cuffs didn’t faze the demon and he still held out the
envelope to Rydin. “Please. There’s fifty thousand dollars in the envelope and
I can get more. It’s yours if you’ll help me rescue my sister. That Incubus has
her.”
    Okay. Now he knew why the guy looked familiar. He hadn’t put
it together when Debol had handed him the picture. “Your sister is a Sempire ,”
he stated.
    The demon shook his head. “Yes. That bastard has been
holding her for six months. Help me get her out.”
    Rydin couldn’t imagine Valia being at Debol’s mercy for six
days much less six months and it sickened him. Regardless of what she’d done to
him in the past, she didn’t deserve that sort of punishment. For the first
time, he sympathized with his mark’s plight but he would carry out his task
regardless. Sympathy changed nothing, but he felt compelled to explain.
    “You know she can’t survive without him now. She must be
addicted to his semen.”
    The demon scowled, a vein ticking at his temple as he spoke
through gritted teeth. “I’m aware of her situation but I won’t leave her there
to suffer at the hands of that thing. I’ve been searching for a cure.”
    Rydin scoffed. “There is no cure.”
    “I have to try. Help me.”
    The desperation in the male’s voice would not sway him. “How
did you know I was coming for you?” Rydin asked.
    “Navine, my sister, told me. Described you. She wanted to
warn me. Wanted me to hide.” He shook his head.
    The Sempire was under Debol’s constant watch so how
the hell could she have gotten a message to her brother in the human realm? Was
Debol setting him up? “How?”
    He shrugged. “Astral projection is my ability. With a twist.
My physical body still functions when I project and I can project to two places
at once.”
    Rydin had never heard of that but he definitely saw the
benefit and why Debol would want him on his side, but he didn’t see how it
would be helpful in freeing his sister from Debol. No, he couldn’t help them.
He couldn’t believe he’d even entertained the idea.
    “And you thought you could buy my help?”
    “I had to try.”
    “I cannot help you.”
    “I know you can’t harm him because he holds your contract,
but you could distract him or something. Work with me,” he pleaded.
    Rydin shook his head. “It’s time to go.”
    Pain exploded in Rydin’s nose and the