by Mason Sabre
“I didn’t mean …”
He raised a hand to silence her. “That is of no concern. My concern is what to do with you and Jas.”
“Jas had nothing to do with this,” she said in a rushed breath, forgetting she shouldn’t speak. “It was all me. Please. Punish me.” She was five seconds from getting to her knees and begging him. Jas couldn’t suffer because she was stupid. It wasn’t fair.
“Nina, no,” Jas rose, but Roman blocked his way.
Aboas ignored him. “I believe you do not understand the true value of Human or Other life. I fear this with so many of you.”
“I do. I promise I do.”
“If you did, you would seek better to protect them.”
“I was trying to protect them.”
Aboas leaned on his hands at the table in front of him, his long hair falling forward. “No. You protected yourself. If your interest was in the safety of those on the Earthen plane, you would have alerted us to the missing demon. But instead, you attempted to save your own skin and went to find him yourself.”
Nina bit down hard on her lip. It wasn’t that way. She didn’t mean it that way. But she couldn’t say a thing to show otherwise. “I’m sorry.”
“I know.” A delicate, but strong, hand grabbed her chin so she had to look right at him. “But this cannot go unpunished. You know that.”
“Yes,” she whimpered.
“You are stripped of your position, and your powers. Jas too.”
“Nooo ... Please. I beg you.” She was close to crying for Jas now. “Please. Not him. This was all on me.”
“Jas knew where you were, yet he remained silent. You both need to understand the true value of mortal life. You will live without your power. You will live as one of them.”
Nina could hardly breathe. She would be cast out. They would be cast out. “You must earn your wings, too.”
“What?” Her eyes went wide, fear curling into a cold pit inside her stomach. “No …”
“They will be cut from you.”
“They will be gone forever. Trey did not grow his back.”
“Trey does not deserve them back. You must show me you do.” He nodded toward Roman, who pulled his sword from the stand at the front centre of the room. It shimmered with him, becoming part of him as he held it. Deep blue lightning only he could wield ran through it.
Slowly, he walked towards Nina ...
The End
Bleed
Book Nine
Chapter 1
Stood out like a sore thumb … that was the saying, right? Louise thought, as she watched the man at the back of the crowd. She swallowed her beer, pressing the bottle to her mouth, tipping her head, but keeping her eyes on him as she chugged. Maybe sore thumb wasn’t the right label for him, but there was something that had her interest piqued. He stood out so much more than anyone in the crowd; he might as well have worn a sign to say there was something off about him … odd and strange and not quite right. That thing … people would look and say, yes, I knew there was something weird with that man.
Louise wasn’t sure what drew her attention to him. He wasn’t different to anyone else in the room, but her unconscious mind seemed to pick him up and focus on him like a beacon in her peripheral vision. He wasn’t even doing anything he shouldn’t. In fact, he was standing innocently at the back of the crowd just enjoying the show, his head slowly moving to the music, but she couldn’t stop focusing on him.
For a whole minute, Louise Makepeace, metal head and bar security, managed to turn her attention back to the stage, watching the show as she bobbed her head and tapped her foot to the mesmerising thump of the music. God, she loved these nights. They never felt like work to her. Of all the places in the world to be, standing, right there, watching a band, ranked high on her list of favourite places. But then … she realised she was staring at him again.
Switching her weight from one foot to the other, Louise turned, angling her body so that he wasn’t there to catch her eye. The stage was dark; a picture of what her heaven would look like. Red flames lit up the band, casting out what some would say, an eerie glow, but it was just part of it. The thumping heart and soul of the music being played, just for her.
All around her, the crowd, dressed in leathers and jeans, resembled a cult worshiping their god as they raised their hands, fingers making devil horns; they headbanged in time to the music as they watched, Angel Death. The singer gripping the microphone, bent over, his head whipping down to the beat. He was completely lost in what he was singing; there was such force and power in his words that they almost managed to reach her. This, was the closest, Louise thought, that she could get to truly knowing herself. The words sang to her, not just the rhythm of the music, but the lyrics … echoing her mind—he had written this song for her. The only thing that threatened to spoil it, was him … the man; Louise could swear he was getting closer.
Scanning the crowd as she sipped her beer, Louise let her body move to the music, but her eyes and her head were very much on alert. She spotted Raven of course, tall and muscled, he too stood bopping his head to the sound, thick arms crossed over his taut chest, and a fierce expression across his handsome face. He was the owner of the bar, and not really the kind of man who needed security. No. He was the kind of man whose reputation preceded him, and with good cause too.
But on nights like this, when the bar was crammed and the beer was flowing, and Others let loose and let themselves go to the music—grasping some freedom, Raven pulled in Louise. She was his eyes … the watcher in the crowd.
A roar went up and the crowd moved like a wave as the singer leapt across the tables, using them like little islands as he hopped his way over to the bar and stood in front of Raven. Gripping one of the poles, he leaned out across the crowd, slapping hands, pointing, cheering. It didn’t matter. The crowd lapped up every second of it and they cheered along with him, urging him on—a little herd of black sheep gathering before him.
The tiny hairs on the back of Louise’s neck stood to attention and sent a shiver down her spine. He was watching her, but when she glanced over to where he had been, the shock of the vacant space made her jolt. She moved to go there, slipping around the back of everyone. Perhaps he had just moved deeper into the crowd. It wasn’t unusual for one lone fan to keep squeezing between the other fans to get a better view.
Louise pushed into the people, through them, only a couple of rows, using her shoulder to get them out of her way. “Excuse me,” she said. She didn’t need to shout, most of these people were shifters. When she stopped, she found herself wedged between two men. One of them was part of a couple to her side and the other one was looking at her, smiling. She clutched her bottle tight and turned away.
“You’re new here?” he asked after a moment of her feeling his gaze burning an unwanted hole in the side of her head. “Can I get you a drink?”
She rolled her eyes and sighed before putting a polite smile on her face and turning to him. “Got one,” she shouted back. “Thanks, though.” She gave him a nod and then angled herself so that he was partially behind her shoulder. Of course, he didn’t get the message.
“I’ve not seen you around here before,” he tried again, leaning closer, his breath sweeping across her ear.
“Well, maybe you weren’t looking hard enough,” she shot back, pushing up on her toes to see above the crowd for the weird looking mystery man. “Enjoy the music,” she tossed over her shoulder before heading deeper and making it seem like she had seen whoever it was she was looking for. She hadn’t. Wherever that other man had gone, it wasn’t into the crowd.
Forcing her way through, Louise headed sideways, tossing out ‘excuse me’s’ and the occasional ‘shift,’ when someone either didn’t hear, or just plain didn’t care. Running her hands through her long hair, she gave Raven an exasperated shake of her head. “Why?” she said, hands out. “Just because I am alone, do these assholes assume I want to hook up?”
Leaning down
to take the empty bottle from her, Raven, shook his head. “I don’t know Lou. It might be your alluring personality. Another beer?” He tossed her bottle into the bucket behind him.
“Sure. But it’s like all of them,” she continued. “Like I must need company because I am alone. Can a woman not go to see a band without a man these days?”
“Maybe you’re giving off too much damsel in distress vibes,” he teased.
“I’ll give them fucking damsel in distress,” she tutted, shaking her head. “And I swear …”
“Just be nice, Lou. No broken arms tonight, okay?”
She screwed her face up, screwing her nose at one side. “I’m always nice.”
Raven cocked an eyebrow. “Yeah. Me too.”
He grabbed another bottle from the refrigerator, twisted the top and handed it to her. He didn’t ask if she wanted a glass with that. Louise wasn’t that sort of woman. She was a no-shit, this is what you get, like it or piss off, kind of woman. Actually, forget the like it part … just piss off. She had very little time for others and their small talk; it bored her. Probably why she lived out in the woods, away from anyone and everyone. Peace and quiet. Coming out into the world only when she had to work, either for Raven or her day job.
“Enjoying the show?” Raven asked after a minute, tipping his own beer to his mouth.
“They’re not bad. Nice sound to them. Singer’s a bit of alright, too,” she smirked.
Raven laughed, shaking his head at her. “If you’re eyeing up the talent, I am gonna bet Lee is out of town, right?”
Lee was Louise’s long standing boyfriend. They lived together; practically married. He worked away a lot, and Louise liked that. It gave her the sense of having someone in her life, but having her own life, too. He worked away three weeks of every month. It wasn’t hard to tell when he was back; no one would see either of them for a week. He gave her comfort when she needed it, and space when she needed that, too. Not one of those guys who saw women as lesser … the little woman. Fuck no. Louise was her own woman, and Lee respected that, as did Raven. Didn’t stop him teasing, though. “I am a red-blooded woman. I can look. Doesn’t mean Lee isn’t home.”
“So, Lee is waiting for you back at the house? Right now? Bet he’s kind of pissed at me for asking you to work?”
Louise pursed her lips, running her tongue across her teeth as she contemplated his answer. She couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine. He’s working.”
“I knew it.”
“Piss off,” she said, fighting a smile, then swigged her beer again.
Raven tossed her a wink as he walked away. He wasn’t bad to look at either. Actually, he was a lot good to look at and sometimes she did. She watched as he walked off, now, to serve another customer, the black leather hugging his backside just right. She sucked in a breath. One day, there would be a lucky woman.
The band finished playing their set, and bid the crowd a good night, and as they always did, they informed everyone that they would be hanging around a while for anyone to buy copies of their album or a t-shirt. Did anyone even buy albums anymore? Louise wondered as she leaned herself back against the bar, eyes on the patrons, ready to shift her ass when they started to weave their way to the bar for a drink before the next band came on. Maybe she’d check out their gear after.
As the crowd moved, he was there, the man, again, the blond man that didn’t fit. He wasn’t with anyone from what Louise could tell, but then neither was she, so that didn’t mean shit.
He moved with the crowd, letting them usher him forward so that he could order a drink. Maybe it was the brightness of his hair that was the issue, or the blue of his eyes? Something was off. He met her eyes after a moment, and Louise snapped her eyes away instantly, realising she had been staring. Shit. Way to go and warn the guy you’re onto him.
Perhaps he was Human. Yes. Maybe that was what it was. Humans weren’t banned from Raven’s bar, in fact, they came so often that they didn’t stand out. Humans thought it was cool to come and hang out with the Others, like it was some kind of status symbol. Look at me, I walk on the wild side. Even strays came here—Others who were not members of the Society. The Humans who usually came were most often, Daddy’s little princesses, all pink nails and perfect lipstick. Every good girl, wanting to be a bad girl. But there were none of those tonight. Band nights were for Others only.
The second band came on stage and Louise watched as the people moved away, clamouring for the good spots at the front of the stage again. The man moved slowly with them, like he had all the time in the world and someone would save his spot for him. He idled along the side, and Louise made her way back to the bar, keeping him within her sights.
“Watch it,” someone yelled, as Louise thumped into the side of a woman.
“Shit. Out of my way.” Of course, the man was gone. “For god sake.”
It was twenty minutes into the second band when Raven plopped down another bottle of beer beside Louise. “I haven’t finished this one yet,” she said, showing him her bottle.
“I know. But this isn’t from me.” He nodded across the bar. “Blond one. Said to tell you to have a drink on him, and he hoped you were enjoying the band.”
Louise glared past Raven, not surprised to see that man there. Fuck, he probably thought she had come onto him. “Did you tell him I have a boyfriend?”
“No.”
“Raven …” she ground out.
Raven held his hands up. “He didn’t ask. What do you want me to do? Tell everyone here, you have a boyfriend.”
“Yes. Put it on the flyers.”
“It’s just a beer, Lou, not a marriage proposal.”
“And if a girl bought you a beer?”
Raven glared at her. With his handsome face, shoulder length black hair and a jaw line sharp enough to cut paper, Raven was not short on his offer of drinks. “Fine. I’ll give it back to him.”
She saw the man twice after that. Once, when he ordered a drink for himself, water, with ice and lemon—Louise asked Raven what he was drinking, and the second time, he walked past her to use the men’s room. But he never came back, and she didn’t see him again, even as everyone left when the night was over.
“I have a couple of other gigs booked,” Raven said at the end of the night when he handed Louise her envelope of cash. “I’ll call you tomorrow with dates?”
“Sure.” She took the money out and folded the notes, handing back the envelope to Raven. “Thanks for the gig tonight. It was great. Lock up after me?”
“Just throw the latch, I’ll lock it after. Goodnight Lou.”
“Night, mate.”
The night was colder outside than she remembered. Either that, or she was just all warm and fuzzy from the beers. The chilled wind whipped her hair into her face. “Damn thing,” she muttered, pushing it back, and then shoving her hands into her pockets. She walked across the carpark, towards the back of the bar. She didn’t drive. The walk from her place to Raven’s was less than fifteen minutes through the woods. In her car, it was at least double that and a shit load of trouble if she got stopped by the sweepers—local law who enforced a curfew onto anyone not Human.
She yanked the zipper on her jacket all the way to her chin, but that didn’t stop the tingle that ran across the back of her neck five minutes into the walk and into the dark. She stopped, turning, her eyes searching the woods behind her. She could see in the dark and the area where she was, was home to a lot of wildlife, which meant it was hunting ground for shifters, but last night had been a full moon. The chance that someone was hunting tonight, was slim. She angled her head to listen, though, straining her hearing.
Nothing.
She stepped quick enough that she was moving, and light enough that she could listen. It would be a fool who would ignore the warning sign her mind was trying to give her. Something was off. She could feel the weight of eyes on her. Stopping again, she shivered, the feeling that someone was there was too much for her to ignore. “If you’r
e trying to follow me, mate, don’t even bother. You’ll regret it. I promise,” she said into the darkness. But there was no answer, no movement, nothing.
Squinting, she tried to focus further than she could naturally see, but there was nothing. Not in any direction. “You’re losing it, Lou. That’s all.” She shook her head at herself and set off again. She’d be home soon, then, whoever it was could either make themselves known, or get lost. Either would be good.
As she walked, something snagged her foot, sending her tumbling forward. “Fuck,” she spat, landing on her knee with a crack and then rolling back, sitting, her hand cradling her ankle. She pushed at the earth with her other foot, looking for whatever it was that had tripped her up. “Oh shit,” she said, scrambling forward, her ankle forgotten. “No …”
Pushing the dirt back, she shook her head. “No. No …” Under the debris was a small feline face; its eyes wide open in fright, and its face caught in a sneer, frozen that way. “Fuck.” Its insides had spilled onto the ground, thick, red, oozing innards. This was one of her cats. Louise kept grimalkins. Nasty little things that hunted in packs, but damn good for guarding her land.
To the side of her, something moved, and three sets of bright green eyes stared at her. “This wasn’t me,” she said as the feline pack came closer, teeth bared. “Back,” she hissed at them, meeting the animal’s eyes. She lay her hand flat on the ground, sending power vibrating through the earth. Something hit the side of her leg, sharp and quick … claws ripping down her thigh.
“Shit.”
Chapter 2
Laser beams of light blasted their way into Louise’s eyes and sliced her retinas in agonising glory. She rolled over with a series of curses as she snapped her eyes closed and buried her head into the pillow. “Not yet,” she grumbled into the bed. “It can’t be time yet.”