“I love you. Be careful. Make sure you’re never alone.”
He bent to kiss her forehead.
It didn’t make what he was doing any easier, leaving Jasmine alone. Especially considering what had happened earlier that day. If anything, he wanted to batten down the hatches and move them both to a bunker somewhere. Where she would always be safe.
The world didn’t work that way.
“Come on,” he stated, striding down the hallway and past Georgia. She sat on the couch bed, her posture eerily similar to Jasmine’s, and he had to wonder. If anything happened to Georgia…how would he feel?
He shook his head. Georgia could take care of himself. She didn’t need him worrying over her. Or did she?
“Where are we going?” she pushed.
“You want to go after the bastards, don’t you?”
He didn’t give a crap about revenge. At least, he didn’t normally. It offended his sense of right and wrong, to be honest, even when bad things happened to good people but in his opinion, revenge was a perpetuation of a vicious cycle of wrong. Jasmine often called him a snob and told him to get his head out of his butt. But he was incapable of hurting others to prove a point.
Seems he was making an exception today. His family was threatened. His employee, his friend, hurt. He wasn’t about to play the civilian when they were at risk. Not when he had the means to step up and do something.
Maybe he needed to stop thinking of it in terms of vengeance or revenge. He was taking back what was his. Pure and simple. They’d stolen his property. It was time to pay.
Georgia started to get up then sank down, staring at him, her hair hiding half of her face. “I don’t want you doing this just for me.”
“I’m not doing it for you. There are other people in my town with their lives at stake. No, this isn’t for you.” Although he had to admit, there was a large part of him wanting to rise up and protect her. She was his friend. Might even more if she let him get close.
Then Georgia stood up, her eyes closed. He could almost taste the waves of hatred coming off of her. Acrid and bleak. He just wasn’t sure if it was directed at herself, or the people responsible for terrorizing the shop.
“I don’t need to pack a bag,” she supplied almost as an afterthought. “I don’t have anything. I’ve been wearing Jasmine’s clothes or the work uniform you gave me. I’m good to go.”
“Shower essentials?”
“I’ve got my toothbrush in my pocket.”
“Fine. We’re off.”
Oriel turned and stalked out of the apartment, finding it hard to believe a woman like her would only pack her toothbrush instead of a bevy of product essentials,
On his way out the door, he tried not to think about what lay ahead. The human part of him wanted to stay and let someone else handle the problem. But he wasn’t weak.
He heard Georgia behind him and tried to borrow her strength. Her willingness to do what needed to be done.
Out on the street, he headed for the parking garage where he kept the car. He passed several vamps hiding in the shadows along with a bum who’d collapsed after having too much to drink.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Georgia asked.
Oriel fought to slow his stride. “Yes. I need to get the nullum fame back before those jerks do anything to it. Or with it. I can’t risk losing this latest batch.”
“I hate to ask when you seem like you’re on a roll. How do you expect to find them?” She struggled to catch up with him.
“That’s where you come in.”
She stopped short, her fingers grabbing the back of his shirt. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but I don’t like this. I had nothing to do with the break-in.”
When he turned, she was staring at him, an eyebrow raised and a hearty anger brewing beneath the surface. A redhead thing? Or something else? “I’m insinuating that you use whatever gifts you’ve been given to track the men who did this,” he replied.
“I’m not a bloodhound.”
“You know, I’m surprised at you. Hours ago, you were itching to attack.”
“Yes, and hours ago the trail was fresh and I could see where the guy went. Now you’ve put us in a bad position.”
He hiked his thumb over his shoulder. “Will you shut up and get in the car?”
* * *
They sat in the front seat, belts fashioned, in awkward silence for fifteen minutes before Oriel managed to ask, “where are we headed?”
“Let’s think about this. Did the man have an accent?”
“Not that I heard. I wasn’t really paying attention. Did you notice anything about him?” His fingers drummed along his thigh and at once he thought about everything he hadn’t done before leaving. Like feed Drascol. Even check on the damn bird. He’d have to remember to text Jasmine later. He hadn’t called Hilary either. Where was his mind?
“Well?” he goaded. “What do you think?”
They went back and forth, tones hushed. Finally, Georgia sank down in her seat with a groan. “South,” she said at last. Her fingers rose to massage her temples.
“Come again?”
Another pregnant pause. “We need to head south.”
“Are your spidey senses tingling?”
He got the sense she was holding back a wave. Whether it would hurt them all when it came crashing down, he wasn’t sure. Oriel held his breath and waited for her to answer.
Georgia, at last, came out with, “No. The shifter told me.”
His hands froze on the wheel, his insides along with it. “You are going to have to explain that to me. Real slow.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to tell you. He’d been in a few times.” Her head dropped to the dash with a thud. “I still don’t know his name, but I remember him saying something about having a place south of here.”
“Why didn’t you talk to me about this sooner?” He tamped his anger down to a low simmer and threw the key in the ignition. Slammed the car into reverse. Peeled out of the parking lot with twin plumes of black smoke behind him where his tires burned against the asphalt, and narrowly missed the guardrail.
“I didn’t think it was necessary.” Georgia clenched her seatbelt when her body flew back from the motion.
“You didn’t think it was necessary to tell me that the sadistic stranger who terrorized us had been in before? Very nice judgment call, Ms. St. Edmonds. Maybe next time you use your head instead of your…never mind.”
“No, go ahead. Say it.”
“Your ass.”
“It gave us a direction, didn’t it?” she lashed out. “How about you be grateful for the lead because if I hadn’t remembered it, we would have sat in the parking garage all fucking night waiting for divine inspiration.”
“I should have left you at home and gone off myself,” he muttered.
“Been working for you so far. You’re the macho man who can handle everything. Save the world one cup of black at a time.”
“Keep up with the mouth and I’ll leave you on the side of the road. Damn, why did I leave Drascol at home when I need him?”
“Who?”
“Messenger raven. You haven’t seen him, he’s been out a lot lately, can’t seem to keep the damn bird in his cage. He’s good with finding things. Mostly he gets lost and I have to go find him, but he somehow ends up where he needs to be. We could have used him.”
“Well, I haven’t seen him since I’ve lived with you and it’s been about a month. Either you are the world’s worst pet owner or something happened to your bird. Just saying. I haven’t even seen a cage.”
“It’s in my office…” Had it been a month already. She was right about him. He was a horrible pet owner. He’d been so caught up in her, in training her and getting to know her better, he hadn’t stopped to do more than put feed in a bowl. He needed a good kick in the nuts.
“I’ll have to find him later,” Oriel said through gritted teeth. “Did your good friend the shapeshifter give you
a direction other than south?”
“No, he didn’t.” Her response was equally sour. “Although I have a feeling we’ll find him.”
“How do you know?”
She turned to him and, as he glanced over to watch, half of her face disappeared into the shadows. “Because my hunger is back with a vengeance, and it shouldn’t be. Which tells me we’ll find what we’re looking for soon enough. And someone is going to get hurt.”
He tried not to let her words play an eerie concerto along his spine. Goosebumps rose along his arms nonetheless. More, he heard what she didn’t say.
They drove for a solid hour before he took a turn onto the interstate, trusting Georgia’s gut. The nasty thoughts he pushed away, the ones telling him she knew more than she said, that he couldn’t trust her as far as he could throw her. That she’d done more than talk to the shifter in question.
Jealousy didn’t look good on anyone.
A flash of movement caught his eye. “Wait a minute.” He craned his neck, trying to see through the darkness. Impossible, yes, but something stood out. The glint of moonlight on wings. Familiar wings. “Drascol!”
What the hell was happening?
“How can you tell? It could be any bird,” Georgia put in. The voice of reason. “You’re seeing things.”
“I don’t think so. I know my bird when I see him. What is he doing all the way out here?” Oriel tried not to jerk the wheel in the direction he’d last seen the raven. It was difficult. “Maybe he’s leading us in the right direction.”
“You’re taking directions from a raven who can’t find his way home?”
Oriel kept his eyes on the sky, darting glances on the road to make sure he was still in his lane. “He’s turning off…”
“Seriously, you’re following a bird you said gets lost more times than you can count.”
“I’m doing it.”
Keeping Drascol in sight, he turned the car down the off-ramp, stopping at the sign before cutting a hard left. It was difficult to divide his attention and soon Georgia, having had enough, reached out to grab the steering wheel. “Just watch,” she growled through gritted teeth.
He gave her directions, the car cutting a path through the darkness until he saw the raven wing in a semi-circle over a gas station.
“There.” Oriel pointed and took the wheel back.
They drew closer to the gas station. “Hold on. I don’t think this is a good idea.”
“It’s a gas station,” he pointed out. “Don’t you have to pee?”
“Yes, I know,” she answered slowly. “And maybe I do. But look at this.” She pointed down to the muscles in her thighs twitching. “Let’s move on. My hunger is threatening to eat me alive and it shouldn’t be. I’m getting a really bad feeling. Please, Oriel.”
“Just a minute and we’ll get on the road again. The least I can do is stop and see.” He pulled into an empty spot and turned off the car, then got out and drew the night into his lungs. His ears picked up at the sounds of life around him. “Drascol, where are you?” His lips pursed and he called out in a whistle the bird knew meant come. “All right, now, I’ve found you.”
Georgia got out of the car, slamming the door behind her. “Oriel, get back in the car.”
“In a minute.”
“I swear to God, I think you—” the sound of a gun being cocked echoed through the night. “Oh, shit.”
When he turned around to stare at her, his blood ran cold. The gun was pointed directly at the back of her head. Her hands were in the air at her sides and, despite everything, her body was solid. Corporeal.
“You should have listened to your girlfriend.” The man smiled, showing row after row of pearly white canines. “Your bird did good, mister. Drew you right in. Now come around the side of the car slowly, otherwise, my finger might slip.”
“Georgia, hold on.” Oriel kept his hands raised where the man could see them. He moved slowly to avoid attracting unwanted attention, mind whirring.
“I think you’re the one who needs to hold on. Or, duck, I don’t know.” She sent him a poignant look before disappearing.
Relying on instincts he wasn’t aware of possession, he wheeled around in one fluid motion as the bullet exploded out of the muzzle of the gun. It whizzed close to his ear and ricocheted off the telephone pole behind him.
“What is going on?” he yelled, ducking behind the car. “Georgia!”
“Focus on yourself,” she howled back.
Something clattered on the asphalt and he hoped it was the gun. Please let it be the gun. He wasn’t equipped to fight back against a weapon with nothing to help him. His fingers searched around him for whatever object he could get to defend himself. And came up with a glass bottle. It would have to do.
He broke the body of the bottle against his tire and was about to swivel around when hands wrapped around his neck. Oriel fell to his knees, choking when they started to squeeze.
Black spots dancing in front of his eyes and no matter what he tried, he couldn’t break the hold. Panic dropped cold to the bottoms of his feet.
Then, with a quick upward thrust, he twisted and brought the bottle against the belly of his attacker. The sharp shards of glass slid easily against shirt and skin. With a strangled sound, the stranger let him go.
Oriel was about to call out to Georgia again when a shrill cry pierced his attention. “Drascol?”
The raven swooped down and began to peck at him, his sharp beak diving, again and again, leaving blood in its wake.
“Get off of me—”
Drascol’s sharp caws cut off with a squawk and Oriel opened his eyes in time to see Georgia rematerialize with the raven in hand. Her left palm came around him and with a quick twist, she broke his neck.
“The next time I tell you not to stop,” she said, shoulders heaving, “will you please listen to me?”
8
She wanted to bathe for a year. A thirty-minute shower would have to do, where she scrubbed her hair with the hotel’s soap bar and used nearly half of the bottle of body wash. The only thing stopping her from using the entire thing was Oriel. He was as filthy as she was. Worse for the knife wound across his chest.
Funny how neither one of them had seen it until they were back in the car with blood seeping down his shirt. It would have to be addressed. Along with figuring out who the man was, and why he wanted their attention.
He’d gotten it.
Steam filled the room and threatened to peel the cheap wallpaper from the bathroom walls. Finally, she stepped out of the tub, drying off with a towel made of cardboard with just as much give. She drew it around her and knotted it between her breasts, trying not to look at herself in the mirror. She wouldn’t see anything good. Her face was a mass of bruises and her body was worse. Sure, she’d been invisible, but her body decided not to go incorporeal. Which meant every time the shifter had lashed out, he’d gotten her.
She fingered a bruise on her thigh with a hiss.
That sort of thing tended to happen when you nearly got your ass kicked in a gas station parking lot.
Oh, the things she’d never thought to say to herself, even in her head. She’d never taken a grunge role in her life. Then she had to stop and remind herself. This wasn’t a role. This was real life, and it was messy, and it hurt. It hurt just as bad as the constant pain she’d come to call her companion.
Her nerves were shot. Her body, however…she could feel it healing. Fast. Whatever she was, at least she had the ability to bounce back. In the meantime, she dealt with the aches.
“Hey,” she heard Oriel call out from the other room. “Come on out and get your dinner.”
She shuddered, and could only imagine what kind of crap he’d put together for them.
The last thing she wanted to do was put on her gross clothes. Too bad there were no other options. She hadn’t packed any, and decided to stay in the towel for a bit longer, stepping out into the crappy hotel room they’d rented at the last minute.
/> “Are you going to eat anything?” she asked, drawing the ends of the towel tighter around her.
“No. I’m sick to my stomach.”
She sighed and pushed her hands through her mass of wet hair. She was sorry about the bird, really. If there had been a way around killing the thing then she wished she could have found it. As it was, she’d done the only logical thing she could think of, breaking its neck. Put it out of its misery. Oriel would probably never forgive her.
The raven had led them to the gas station, right into an ambush. Which meant the shifter had someone tailing them on their drive. Someone she hadn’t seen and didn’t know about. Someone who could be watching them right now.
She shuddered at the thought. Logically she knew it made sense to stop for the evening and try to get some sleep. Regroup and re-strategize. Why did it seem like they were going the wrong way?
Oriel sat on the bed with his attention glued to the television screen against the far wall.
“Are you mad at me?” she ventured softly.
“No, I’m just thinking.”
“About?”
“About how they got to Drascol in the first place.” He pushed himself up with a groan and adjusted the pillows behind his back before shooting a look her way. “About who they really are and what they want with me.”
“Obviously they wanted the nullum fame from you. They knew where you kept it.”
“Yes, and if they got what they wanted, then why attack us tonight? Why turn my own raven against me? I’m going to miss the little guy.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t see any other way.”
He waved off her apology. “I’m sure you’re right. I just can’t bring myself to eat yet. It may take me a little while to get the sound of his bones cracking out of my head.”
She winced. “Then you won’t hold it against me if I eat?” She had to try something to fill the void inside of her.
“Please, help yourself to whatever you want. I didn’t see a good selection at the vending machine so I got what I could. I’m hoping my nausea will go away soon.”
Shadows and Sorcery: A Collection of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance Novels Page 67