Page 3 of Lessons with the Mothman (Monster Smash Agency)

CHAPTER 3

Elias

A fiery lock freed itself from the tuck behind a small ear, grazing down a pale cheek marked with a streak of freckles. Sunset was blazing into Victoria Dempsey's brilliant hair, and my gaze was riveted to the sight, a hint of amusement striking me at the cliché. She was a perfect flame to lure me in. Short, with generous hips and what I suspected were small breasts beneath the loose flare of her blouse, and her petite frame was entirely overwhelmed by a mass of scorching red and orange hair, barely restrained in a thick braid. She was modestly dressed, especially for one of the hottest days of the year, and had played the role of observer through most of the meeting, asking occasional questions and offering her own pieces of information in well organized thoughts.

Aside from her initial stunned response upon seeing me, she'd been calm and nonplussed, even reserved.

"You'll pay the Agency this referral fee for any personal demonstrations you receive from our employees, and then a separate fee to the individual, based on your demands. We'll leave that to personal negotiation between you and the party," Juno explained.

"I've already started collecting a list of those who'd volunteer their time for an interview or demonstration," I interjected.

Victoria's face lifted, her soft blue eyes searching my face, a daze of discovery passing over her features before clearing with a slight furrow between her brows. How old was she? She looked young, but she carried herself with authority, and she'd mentioned earlier that this would be her second master's degree.

"You have?" she asked.

It'd been two long weeks waiting for this meeting to manifest, but I hadn't waited idly. I might not have been able to learn anything about this woman, but I'd started the work of preparing as much as I could for her.

"I have. I've made my own study of this subject, just out of personal curiosity. I'm eager to help you in any way I can," I said, watching a blush rise, her lips parting to reveal they were fuller than I'd initially measured. "I know quite a few willing parties outside of the Agency's circle as well."

"Competitors? Former employees?" Juno asked. They were a canny gorgon, and already deciding if they had a financial angle they might work on this news as well.

"Personal acquaintances," I said.

"Thank you," Victoria murmured, before turning back to look at the paperwork.

Astraeya hadn't told me how much the Agency would charge for their involvement, but it seemed to give Victoria some pause. I wondered if it would be disconcerting if I offered to assist with the fee, but before I settled on a decision, she was signing the document. The scratch of the pen over paper created a racing thrill that ran up my spine and down into my wings, shivering at my back and drawing Victoria's absent glance.

Juno's snake strands hissed in restless agitation under their covering. They no doubt felt as though they'd accepted the bare minimum on behalf of the Agency. "Please keep us abreast of your work and any further involvement you might require from us."

We want to know if we can wheedle any more money out of you .

"I should be more than up to the task of offering Miss Dempsey what she needs," I said smoothly, pleased with the color that bloomed briefly on her cheeks. She didn't give much away with her expression, but the blush at least offered me some indication of response.

Was I experiencing attraction, or had I manufactured too much anticipation for this meeting? Were the pink stains rinsing over Victoria's features arousal or embarrassment? Would she enjoy the two in combination? Shame could be potent.

"I believe that settles the Agency's end of this," Astraeya said, pushing her seat back and giving a meaningful look to Juno.

"I appreciate your assistance, and I'll be sure to reach out to you as well as share the final paper and cite the company in my findings," Victoria said.

Astraeya's lips twitched at the offer. Academia wasn't generally MSA's first audience as a company, but Juno's shoulders relaxed and they seemed satisfied by the gesture, nodding and shutting their laptop. "Then we look forward to hearing from you. It was nice to meet you, Miss Dempsey."

"Victoria."

Noted, I thought, not bothering to disguise that my stare hadn't left her in longer than was considered polite. She hadn't looked at me in minutes, and I was growing impatient. I rose from the chair, and her eyes skittered briefly toward me and then away again.

"Can I walk you out to your car?" I offered. I'd seen the thing roll up and park from where I'd been standing by the window earlier—a plain and old but serviceable model that seemed to be well cared for.

Aside from her hair, she isn't very flashy, is she? My wings rustled self-consciously.

Victoria hesitated for a moment and then nodded, stepping back from the table and waiting for me to round it and meet her. She was uncomfortable, and I wasn't sure if it was nerves, or if it was something I had done. You flirted with her when she asked for academic help .

"I have you to thank for this working out," she said, hands sliding into her jean pockets as we exited the room. I held the door for her, and she walked through without pause, used to the courtesy.

"Astraeya has you to thank for giving me a task that actually interests me," I said.

She kept her stare forward, but subtle shifts and twitches around her eyes and mouth revealed the racing thoughts she kept hidden. "You aren't interested in your…usual work with the Agency?" she asked.

I glanced over my shoulder and flashed the ever watchful Juno a fanged smile. "On the contrary, sex always interests me. And yet, at the same time it can become…monotonous," I said, lowering my voice as we entered the lobby. We were walking too fast. We'd be at her car before I learned anything at all about this woman.

"I'll want you to explain what you mean by that," Victoria said, lifting her chin and meeting my gaze at last.

An opportunity. I nodded and bent slightly, trying to hold onto this brief moment of connection. "Gladly. Are you free tonight?"

Little lines of flame rose above her eyes in surprise. "Tonight?"

"I own a bar, Nightlight, in Wicker Park. We can speak more there. You can tell me what research you've started, and where you'd like to explore next."

I hadn't clearly read the tension in her before, I realized, because it released now, shutters opening in her eyes to reveal anticipation and pleasure—relief too. It would be a challenge to wage a seduction while remaining professional…perhaps impossible. I tried to adjust my expectations in my mind. Victoria Dempsey's project interested me, with or without the potential of romance. Better not to alienate her with unwanted advances.

"That would be perfect, thank you," she said, straightening with a hint of a smile.

I would simply keep my eye out for any hint of wanting advances.

Victoria drew back, frowning slightly at the drink I'd slid across the counter to her.

"I didn't order anything yet," she said.

I'd taken a train back into the city and then flown to Nightlight, and I'd still managed to beat her time in traffic. I'd spent an excruciating half hour laboring over what drink to make her, realizing upon arrival that I'd gotten little to no sense of her as a person, less even than what Hannah generally offered. I'd settled on a sidecar, the rich color reminding me of her hair. Her response would at least give me a sense of what direction to go in if I'd guessed wrong.

"I hazarded a guess," I said.

She reached back, freckled arms hefting a mass of wild russet hair off her shoulders, orange lashes tipped with gold fluttering shut for a moment as the bar's air conditioning rushed over sweat dewed skin. She smelled like salt and cloves, and it was a struggle to keep my wings from ruffling impatiently. She sighed, dropping her hair once more and reaching for the drink I'd made her, twirling the glass by its stem.

"Why did you agree to help with my study?" she asked, staring into the amber liquid.

"I did more than agree. I demanded the privilege," I said, lips curved to their perfect angle.

Her stare flicked up, guarded and slightly narrowed, and my smile faltered. "Same question."

An unfamiliar prickling teased its way down my back—caution, yes, but excitement too.

"Not very many people would consider what I do with the Agency as problem-solving, but I do," I said, watching some of the wary shutters of Victoria's gaze crack open with interest. "I don't take cases where the problem is simply sexual relief. That's too…easy."

Her lips twitched with a hint of a smirk. "Too skilled, are you?"

I shrugged. "It isn't really about skill. It's about observation—paying attention, noting and repeating what works, actually being able to read a person's body language accurately, and understanding that while there are patterns, language isn't necessarily universal. Your species is curiously contrary. You lie more than others."

"I've heard fae don't lie," she said.

"Not outright," I agreed. "We work our way around a lie."

Her head tipped as she raised the glass to her lips, and I pretended to scan my attention around the bar, turning my head but keeping my inscrutable gaze on her as she sipped. Her lips pressed flat, jaw ticking slightly, and her tongue flicked out to lick away the remnants. There was no flinch, but she didn't like the drink. Too sweet, I suspected.

"So what cases do you take?"

"The ones where the client doesn't necessarily know what they want, or they're ashamed of what they want, or they're wrong about what they want," I said.

Her brow furrowed. "How do you know they're wrong?"

"The succubi and incubi run arousal diagnostics on incoming clients. Being aroused by something doesn't necessarily indicate it's what you want to experience, but it will catch a lie."

"Why would someone lie in that case?"

"Why do people usually lie?"

The bar was bustling tonight, and Lulu was busy running to and fro around me, serving the rest of my customers. Conversation was humming thickly in the air, the music low, enough to be heard but not force everyone to shout. The sun was still out, although tucked behind the city, and it gave the street outside a golden cast to match the low watt bulbs filling the long bar. The light made Victoria's hair into long licks of flame, loosely tamed at the nape of her neck, and her bow lips were still damp from her lick.

"To keep a secret, or…because they want something else to be true," she said, taking another slow sip of her drink.

I nodded and shrugged. "I assume the same."

Her gaze refocused on me, shades of blue and gray ringed with dusk. "Does that mean you see my study as a problem to solve?"

No, but I might see you as one , I thought. "I assume your research is approaching a problem, seeking a solution. That's what interests me. For instance, why are you , a human, researching monster sexuality?"

She stiffened, stare drifting away once more, shields up. It ought to have deterred my interest in her. "There are studies regarding what people consider sexual satisfaction and how often they achieve it. Kind of a basic information study for my program, but I found…I found variations of the study where the results were vastly different. The rates of satisfaction spiked well outside what might be considered any margin of error."

"What was the difference?"

She wet her lips and looked around the bar. "Whether or not the population studied was confined to human or all species."

I released a laugh. "Ahh, I see."

"I was able to grab the data of two of the studies. As soon as I added a filter between humans and all other species, the human data matched all other studies."

"You want to know why monsters are so much more sexually satisfied," I said.

"There's really so little research done, and I know there are so many species that it might not be universal. I'm just looking for possible patterns, or at least places where experiences differ outside of the human standard," she said, her speech growing quick and determined, as if she were trying to speak the full thought before someone could interrupt her. "I've already put together a question based data model, and it's being shared across the country. It provides a wider pool of subjects, but it's a very limited mode of retrieving information."

I kept quiet, watching this still and vivid woman grow animated and determined, as if she were in the middle of an argument. She'd been talked over, dissuaded in the past. By professors, perhaps, or those close to her?

"I prefer an interview model, but there are questions I'm still learning to ask, and I don't have the thesis of why there's such a difference yet. With humans, it's often the difference between considering sexual satisfaction an orgasm versus an intimate and pleasurable connection. The less emphasis put on an orgasm, the better time we seem to be having. But so far, with monsters, the two seem a closer match. I can't tell if that means monsters are achieving orgasm more easily, or finding emotional intimacy more achievable," she finished, brow furrowing and holding my stare.

"The former," I said.

She blinked, sitting back, and it was as if she'd thought she was carrying the conversation with herself, like she hadn't expected me to be listening. "Really?"

I nodded. "This is based on environmental observation rather than data, so take it with a grain of salt, but I haven't seen any special inclination to other species falling in love more easily than humans."

"That's not…quite the same thing, but I'll take your point," she murmured, an elbow landing on the bar to prop her chin in her hand, gaze distant and thoughtful. She looked disappointed. "Is it a biological difference then?"

"While the biological differences are plentiful, I suspect not," I said. I had a few guesses as to the source of the difference, but it wasn't my research project, and I wanted to watch this woman work through the problem on her own.

Her lips pursed. "Well…then I still have questions that need answers. Where do you suggest we begin?"