Corruption (Completed)

Chapter 2

Lagrius appeared outside of a major club in L.A. He took one long drag on his cigarette before flicking the half-smoked butt into the gutter. His eyes found his reflection in the window and he smiled.

For a demon he certainly was attractive. He had to be of course, to tempt women into infidelious acts.

With his perfectly styled jet black hair, arranged messily around the pair of grey horns that sprouted from his temples, they had grown an inch longer today curling around the ends. His eyes were the colour of coming storm clouds, a medium grey that—paired with his exquisitely chiselled chin and pointy warm smile—captivated his victims and lulled them into a self-sense of trust.

The bouncer didn't even try to stop him as he walked back into the club. He pushed his way through the oblivious mortals to get onto the dance floor. It was easy to find his quarry in the crowd, even though the place was crawling with demons, he'd always be able to find her.

Lorah sat in a dark corner, a glass in her small hands. She was in a tight black dress that barely covered anything. Her pin straight low back length black hair was up in a high ponytail and her orange eyes glowed with a barely contained anger. Lagrius shrouded himself as she had, so they could no longer be viewed by mortals and most Guardian Angels, and sat down beside her.

She tore her eyes away from the Guardian Angel that Lagrius had never see before to look at him. He was a little confused because this Guardian Angel was chatting up a child celebrity that Lagrius was certain had been Lorah's target for the month.

"So how did your higher placement interview go?" she asked.

Lagrius smile widened. That was the whole reason he had come here. He could have been partying in the Under-realm but he had come to the Middle-realm simply so he could celebrate with Lorah who had been helping and cheering him on. He knew he should have been concerned for his friend, but he was just too excited about his own victories to care.

"I got it! I'm promoted!" he cried. "My horns even grew today too!"

Lorah's smile was strained. "That's great, at least one of us is doing well," she sighed, slumping back in the V.I.P booth she had commandeered. Shrouding didn't just keep them invisible to the naked eye, it made the mortals uncomfortable, giving them the natural urge to avoid the area. It was a feeling that most horror authors called that unnatural awareness that caused goose-bumps and the hair of the back of necks to rise.

Lagrius slouched back, casually wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "Bad day?" he asked. She nodded and he gestured to the child star that had been her target. "What about the actor? They're pretty easy to mess up."

"Oh! I had him messed up, I made sure of that!" Lorah cried, kicking the table in her frustration.

"Okay..." Lagrius whispered, he waited for Lorah to continue and when she didn't he added: "Then what happened?"

"Raelyn happened, that's what!" she snarled. "If I were competing with any regular old Guardian, I would have been fine. But Raelyn? No, she's the best of the best. No point even trying. That child star was as good as redeemed the second she appeared in this bar."

Lagrius barely heard what Lorah was saying past her practically screaming that name. His eyes were on the white-haired woman at the bar, the only Guardian in the bar that hadn't even bothered to disguise her glow. She had clouded herself and another younger Guardian that she seemed to be engaged in a heated debated with. The younger Guardian—a small wiry teenage looking boy with periwinkle blue eyes and a tuft of wispy brown hair on top of his tanned head—kept pulling a drink to him only to have it swatted away from his lips. He didn't seem the least bit interested in whatever it was Raelyn was lecturing him about and kept gazing around the bar thoughtfully.