Hoodwinked (The Demon Exchange Series Book 1) Read online

  Now that I was ready, I decided to check the mirror before I headed out. I had left my black hair down and you could see the blue hue where the light shined off of it. It made my hazel eyes pop and you could see the yellow ring around the pupil. After I applied some carmex to my lips, I headed towards the door. I had my key, ID, and money stashed in a small wallet that I carried in one of the small pockets in my skirt.

  Out in the hallway, I looked from the door in front of me to the door on my left. They really didn't tell me where I needed to go when I was done. I decided to knock on the door in front of me. It was like playing hot man roulette, to see which sexy man would open the door. The best thing about it was that there was no way to lose, how could you when they were all so yummy.

  I was brought out of my inner musings from Barrett's voice yelling from somewhere inside the room, “Come on in. I’ll be out in just a second.” Would you look at that, I won the Barrett roulette. I wonder if he would be wearing a red bow and only a bow, if I won him. I really had to stop before I started drooling, and I had already done enough of that for one day. Opening the door and walking in, I saw that their room was set up pretty much the same as mine. The only difference was that there were two queen size beds. I decided to sit at the desk while I waited, wondering where the other guys were.

  I heard the door open from the bathroom so I turned around so I could talk to Barrett before the others got here to get an idea of what we would be doing. Only when my eyes landed on him my mouth went completely dry and I had no idea what I had been wanting to say. Standing there in only a towel, my eyes roamed over him. He was very well defined all the way down to that sexy V that guys who worked out had. He had light brown hair sprinkled over his chest, and a small happy trail that led down into his towel, that at this moment I was sad to see he had covering the rest of him. On top of that sexiness, all of his ink was on display. He had words that flowed over his arms, chest, and if I had to guess, on his back as well. It wasn't a language I recognized. Looking into his bright green eyes, I struggled to find something to say. Of course my damn filter broke and I said the first thing I thought.

  “Oh my, you make Derrick look like a shrimp. How much do you work out to keep that in shape? Is it hot in here or is it just you?” Oh my gosh, I felt my cheeks turn bright red as my brain caught up to what I had just said, and yes I may have been fanning myself, but hot damn how can you look at such a sexy man and not be flustered. I looked away trying to rein in my arousal. I hoped he wasn't some kind of shifter because if he was he could smell it on me.

  “Do you really want me to answer any of that? And I think it's just you because I think it feels fine in here.” As he smirked at me, he moved over to what I assumed was his suitcase and grabbed some clothes. “I can get changed in here or the bathroom. Your choice.” Looking at me like he was challenging me to see how far I would let it go.

  Right as I was about to tell him to take off the towel and show me the goods, Draven came in the door and the moment was broken. I just knew I was beet red because I felt like my cheeks were on fire. Barrett slipped past him and into the bathroom with his clothes. I was both relieved and disappointed, but if I were being honest, I would say I was more disappointed than anything.

  “Everything okay Gwen? You're looking a little flushed.” I could tell Draven was amused when he said it and I had to fight myself not to throw something at him.

  “I just came over to let you know I am ready. Um... I’m just gonna go let the other guys know.” I hopped up and fled the room like my ass was on fire. That was a temptation I knew I would not be able to resist.

  Slamming the door and laying my head up against the wall, I took a second to get control of my body. Breathing deeply, I made my way to the door of the other guys’ room and knocked. Donovan opened the door looking fly as hell in his black suit. He had his hair up in a man bun on top of his head. His lips pulled up into a smirk when he saw me. “You ready to head out doll face?” Did he really just call me that?

  “Call me that again and I may castrate you, but yes I am ready to go.” I replied back to him snarling the first part out. I can't stand pet names - they drive me crazy.

  Just then the door to Barrett’s room opened. Looking over, I could feel my face heat as all I thought about was him in that towel. Barrett and Draven headed our way as Donovan and Ethane headed out of their room. I was surrounded once again by sexy suited men, and I wasn't sure how much more my raging hormones could take. I was gonna have to get B.O.B. out when I got back to the room or I was gonna end up jumping them. I got lost in thought about all the ways that I could handle four guys at once.

  Fanning myself in the elevator on the way to the car, I caught Barrett’s stare. I could see all the promise of a night I wouldn't forget in them. Why did I want to not go there again? Oh right, heartache and all that hoopla when I went home. Damn logic! I had to force myself to look away and it was way harder than it should have been.

  “So what is the game plan when we get to the house?” I said breaking the silence as we exited the elevator. I liked to be prepared when I went into someone’s house and I still wasn't sure how the guys did things.

  “We usually talk to the parents first, if they agree. Draven will use his persuasion on them so we can see if they saw or heard something that maybe they don't think is important but might end up being so. Then, Barrett scents out the house to see if he can smell anything. Ethane checks for leftover spell residue, and saving the best for last, I check everything outside to see if any of the wildlife saw anything.” Donovan’s explanation left me with so many questions as to what they were and a little embarrassed that Barrett had smelled how turned on I was earlier. I unconsciously looked at Barrett to see him smirking at me like he knew what I was thinking about and blushed. Fuck. I hated blushing. I shook off my anxiety about the guys and focused back on the last thing Donovan had said.

  “Alright, while y’all are doing that, I will do my thing. I have some charms and stuff that I would like to try.” I replied back, thinking of the charms that I had stuck in my pockets before leaving the hotel room. They were silent after that, like they were getting in the investigative mindset. I was trying to prepare myself for what was about to happen. Grieving parents always tugged on my heartstrings and it was always worse when they didn’t know what had happened to their baby.

  6

  Pulling up in front of a old white Victorian house with a white picket fence, you would never know that something terrible had happened here. It looked so normal and so like what most people dreamed about when they thought of their futures. However, this family was now anything but normal. Walking up the sidewalk to the door, there were drawings of flowers and other random doodles, making my heart tug at the sight. Surprise, surprise Barrett got to the door first. After knocking, a bedraggled woman opened the door. Her hair was unkempt and her eyes were puffy with dark circles.

  “Can I help you?” she said in a sorrow-ridden voice while wrapping her arms around her body. I am surprised she was able to open the door because she looked so frail and broken. I couldn’t imagine how she felt right now.

  “We are the agents from the Paraoffice. We are here to try and figure out what happened to your daughter.” Ethane replied in a soft voice, looking the woman in the eyes with a face filled with genuine concern. Surprised by how gentle Ethane was with her, I wondered if they always let him do the talking, at least at first. He seemed to emote a calm presence that set the woman at ease, at least a little anyway considering the circumstances. I really needed them to stop being amazing, my heart couldn’t take it.

  “Oh yes please come in. We have been waiting for you.” she said, pepping up as if we were the ones who could fix all her troubles. I hoped that was the case, but sometimes it just didn't work out like that.

  “I am gonna take a look around outside if you don't mind.” I said, hoping to miss all of Draven’s persuasive mojo and see if I could try to find a trail or anything that looked ou
t of place. I was glad then that the men would be talking with her and not me because I hated giving parents any type of false hope, something my presence did just by being there sometimes. Without having to make introductions I could get right to work and not be distracted by my sympathy for the family.

  “Yes ma’am. Please do whatever you feel is necessary.” She said with such hopefulness that it broke my heart a little bit. See, my sympathetic heart hurt with that one statement.

  Breaking off from the guys I started to walk around the house. On the side there was a swingset and what looked like a sandbox. It smelled so crisp out here. I could smell the trees of the forest in the backyard. I pulled out the charm that would let me see traces of leftover magic. I slipped it on and started looking over everything on the side of the house. Seeing nothing I moved to the backyard. There was a small kiddie pool and a bicycle under the shade tree. I continued to make my way back until I saw a faint red wisp of something leading into the woods. I had seen many different colors, but never red. I had no idea what had left this trail but I was gonna find out. I probably should have let the guys know what I was doing. However, I was fully capable of taking care of myself and so I continued on, even with the warning voice in my head telling me to go back.

  Pulling out my poisoned knife from my thigh holster, I followed the trail deeper into the woods. The further I went the brighter the color got, and I could smell a faint trace of sulfur, it tickled my nose as I breathed. What the hell had I stumbled upon? Hearing a faint voice to my left I got into a defensive position and eased my way towards the sound.

  “Help” I heard as I drew closer. The voice so small and quiet that had I not been listening I would have missed it. Searching around all I saw was trees, until I looked further to my right and saw what looked like a small, pale hand. Jumping into action I headed straight over, coming up to what turned out to be a small girl who had been covered in leaves. I dropped my knife while checking for a pulse. I looked her over, finding bruises on what I could see of her arms and legs but I saw no blood. A good sign. She was not the little girl we were looking for but she must be another victim.

  “Hey there little one. My name is Gwen. Are you hurt anywhere other than your arms and legs?” I said gently pulling her into my lap to cradle her. She couldn’t have been older than eight. She seemed so small and frail in my arms. I vowed to kill the monster that would hurt such a small child.

  “Please help me.” She replies looking up at me with her pale green eyes and dirty face. She looked terrified and helpless. My heart broke for what she must have been through.

  “Can you tell me what happened? I am gonna call for help.” I said getting out my cell phone to buzz the guys. I knew that I would need their help if the monster came back. It would probably take more than me to protect her, especially since none of us knew what we were dealing with.

  “NO! Please just help me! Promise that you will help me find a way back home.” She screamed slapping my phone from my hand. The vehement answer stunned me and again made me wonder what she must have been through.

  “Its okay. I promise that I will do whatever I can to help you.” I said rocking her softly in my lap, hoping to get her calm enough to where I could call in for backup. I needed to make sure that she could understand that I was trying to help her and not forcing her to do anything.

  “Anything no matter what it is?” She asked staring at me. Her eyes felt like she was looking into my soul. Weird and creepy. My spidey senses started going off but I reminded myself that she was just a little girl, not something that could harm me.

  “Yes. I promise no matter what it is I will help you.” I replied. No sooner than I had spoken those words, her hand flew out and grabbed mine like some kind of strange handshake. Shit! I knew I should have listened to my senses.

  “Deal,” she replied in a voice that only could be described as something out of my nightmares. I tried pulling my hand back but it was like she had super glued them together. As I struggled to get free, I watched as the little girl turned into a man with glassy dead, red eyes. I froze. It was in that moment that I was sure that I was about to die. I couldn’t move, the only thing I could do was stare at the creature who was about to end my life.

  “Our deal is done.” The creature man said as my body slowly started to heat. It started in my hand and moved its way up my arm and through the rest of my body. At first it was like I had laid in a warm bath but soon I became completely engulfed in the feeling. It got hotter and hotter until I felt like I would explode.

  The man finally let go of my hand, and I fell into a heap on the ground. Whatever hold he had on me dropped as soon as he started walking off into the woods. I tried to move but I was burning from the inside out. I writhed and screamed on the forest floor for what felt like hours before a huge bear came barreling through the woods to stand in front of me. Closing my eyes to focus on breathing, I tried to calm myself and make sense of what I was seeing but my brain was scrambled. It felt like I had just worked out and every inch of my body was sore. It hurt to even breathe.

  I could hear what sounded like someone talking but I couldn't focus on anything. Everytime that I opened my eyes everything was so bright and vivid that I had to close my eyes because it made me nauseous. The noises were just as bad. I wished I could turn my ears off. I could hear everything and it was overwhelming and making my already throbbing head throb even harder. I was slowly lifted up off the ground, but my eyes refused to open. All I could do was hope that whoever or whatever had lifted me would keep me safe as I fell off into oblivion.

  “Does anybody have any idea what happened to her?” I thought I heard but I still couldn't move or open my eyes. I decided to just lay there. I could feel what felt like a soft blanket on top of me.

  “I have never seen anything like it. What happened to her black hair? She even smells different. I have no idea what we should do, but I don't think we need to tell anyone what happened till she wakes up.” That came from a voice that sounded like Barrett. Wait, what's wrong with my hair? I started freaking out. My anxiety levels started to skyrocket and I could feel my breathing pick back up.

  “It will be okay Gwen. We are here for you, and will take care of you till you wake up.” Donovan said, his delicious chocolatey sent washing over me. I could feel him pick up my hand and hold it in his. That calmed me down way more than it should have.

  Slowly slipping back into oblivion, my last thought was that if I could just wake up I wouldn't waste another minute with all of my teammates.

  7

  My bladder is what woke me. Looking around the room I was in, I knew I was in the guy’s room. I was laying on a queen-sized bed with fluffy white sheets. I needed to take stock of my body so I started with moving my head. Okay, my neck wasn’t broken, even if it did feel way too stiff. I slowly lifted my top half off the bed so that I could swing my legs over to hang off the bed. Someone had changed my clothes because I was currently wearing my pajama shorts with penguins on them and the shirt that matched. Wiggling my toes to make sure they worked, I stood up. Other than the spinning in my head and the stiffness of my body, I felt fine. Which meant something extremely odd had happened to me or that I had been sleeping for a really long time.

  Using the bed for support I made my way to the bathroom. I thought that it was kinda odd that none of the guys where here with me. No matter, if I didn't make it to the bathroom quickly I was going to add a puddle on the floor. Pushing open the doors, I reached over to turn on the lights and froze as I caught my reflection in the mirror.

  “WHAT THE EVER LOVING FUCK?” I screamed out to no one in particular. I couldn't even really process what I was seeing. My once beautiful black hair was now a light shade of blonde and my eyes were pale blue. Where were my freckles that I always complained about? I looked like someone had filtered my face and now it was flawless. Leaning as close to the mirror as I could, I wasn't able to even find my tiny scar that I used to have right above my eye where I had f
allen in the bathtub when I was a toddler. My bladder did not care that I had just made all these startling discoveries, so I had to pause from my shock to take care of it. Sitting down I looked at my legs, they were also flawless. I had tons of tiny scars that used to run up and down my legs. Now poof! Gone. It also looked like they were smaller too.

  I decided to get undressed so I could see all of the changes before I had a full-blown meltdown, because it was coming. I could feel myself starting the downward spiral towards a panic attack. Once I was finally in the buff, I just stared at myself in the mirror. More toned, flawless skin, and if we are being honest here, I would even say my breasts look perkier. Yup. Time to freak the fuck out.

  I heard the door open behind me, but I was still too ensnared by my reflection to give a shit who it was or care that they were going to see me naked. As I was hyperventilating, I saw Ethane freeze for a second to look at me. I could almost swear that his eyes glazed over before he made it to my face. I guess when he saw the look I was wearing he decided to jump into action because the next thing I know I am pulled away from the mirror and into his warm body. I clutched him like I was afraid if I let go my world would fall apart. That's when I felt the moisture that was falling down my face.

  “You know you want him.” I heard inside my head. Jumping back startled, I took a second to answer back. Looked like I had lost my damn mind. Where did that voice came from? Not seeing anything, my only thought was it must have come from my own mind.

  “Thats a given, but what the fuck are you?” I thought, hoping nothing would respond as Ethane just stared at me like he was waiting for me to break the silence that had descended since I moved away from his embrace. Despite freaking out, I did notice that he was attempting to look me in the eyes and not the rest of me. Points for him. After a minute of not hearing anything, I decided it was time to dress. I didn’t particularly want to have this conversation in the nude, especially around four men I was attracted to. My hormones might be stupid but I could still think straight. I hoped.