by Amy Sumida
“Sweet succubi, Amara, but you are the most aggravating, alluring, and antagonizing woman I've ever met.” Cyprian rolled onto his side, bent his elbow, and propped his head on his hand to stare down at me adoringly. “Have dinner with me.”
“No.” I sat up.
“Have sex with me?” He tried in a teasing tone.
“No, Cyprian.” I got to my feet and crossed my arms; looking pointedly at the chair that he'd knocked over when he attacked me.
Cyprian laughed again. “Yes, Mistress,” he said as he righted the chair. Then he bowed and waved me into it with a flourish a French courtier would have been proud of. “Your chair, Mistress Amara.”
“Stop that,” I huffed, but I also smiled. It was hard to stay mad at him when he behaved like that, even after that show of aggression.
Cyprian resumed his seat and then handed me my glass of Brule.
“Let's start over, shall we?” He asked. His voice was still the deeper, authoritative one instead of the sexy purr.
“All right.” I sipped my drink and regarded him warily. “What do you know about the Leech?”
“A lot, but I won't share it with you, Amara,” he said steadily. “I know who you work for, and I have no wish to become involved in such things.”
“Did he create the gray area?”
“The what?” Cyprian cocked his head at me.
“There's a section of town that has been”—I smirked at him as I realized how fitting the name he'd given me was—“leeched of color. I seem to be the only one who can see it, but humans have been instinctively avoiding it.”
Cyprian's gaze went guarded.
“He is the one.” I nodded. “I thought so.”
“I never said that,” Cyprian said evenly. “Amara Madison, I like you. I like you very much. The more I speak with you, the more interesting I find you to be. So, I'm going to be very clear with you, and I beg you to heed my words; extract yourself from this investigation before it's too late. You will get hurt. Not even your Bleiten will be able to protect you.”
“I don't need anyone to protect me, darling.” I took a long sip and then set my glass down on the window ledge again. “Thank you for the drink.”
I got up and strode out. I felt Cyprian's hot gaze on me the entire way.
Chapter Twenty
“Where the hell have you been?” Malik snarled when I sauntered into the Wilds.
I flushed; first with guilt and then with anger. Despite my emotions, the irony of a bleiten using “hell” as a curse word wasn't lost on me.
“Excuse me?” I asked softly.
“We've been here for over an hour, waiting for you,” Kyrian said in a more reasonable tone. “Malik has tried calling you several times.”
I pulled out my phone and remembered that I'd turned the ringer off before I'd headed into Dirty Nothings. I hadn't wanted to be interrupted in the middle of my interrogation. There were nine missed calls from Malik.
“Sorry; I had it on silent.” I turned the sound back on.
“Connolly said there was another sighting; that you called it in and reported that a man appeared out of thin air and killed the creature,” Malik went on. “That was nearly an hour and a half ago. So, where have you been for all this time, Amara?”
When I reported in, I had asked Connolly not to tell Malik where I was headed; citing my reasons so he'd understand that it wasn't anything personal. He had agreed that it would be best for me to go alone and had kept his promise to not alert Malik to my whereabouts. I appreciated that. I didn't, however, appreciate what it had done to Malik.
Landry narrowed his eyes at my irate lover, but I held up a hand to let him know that I could fight my own battles.
“Don't speak to me like that,” I said carefully. “I understand that you've been worried but this attitude of yours is getting old, Mal.”
Malik took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and then nodded. “You're right; I'm sorry. But you know why I'm upset. I was worried. Where were you?”
“At Dirty Nothings.”
Malik roared. The rest of FEAR looked—ironically—afraid. I grimaced and crossed my arms as I waited for my bleiten boyfriend to calm down.
“Are you insane?” Malik snarled. “You went to see that Faulin?”
“That Faulin showed up while I was patrolling and witnessed the same attack that I did,” I said calmly. “When he saw the man who killed the creature, he seemed to recognize him. Cyprian got very angry and ran off. I followed him and tried to question him.”
Malik's jaw clenched and then he breathed deeply again and, finally, relaxed. “Why didn't you call me?”
“Honestly, Malik, I didn't think we'd get very far with you there.” I shrugged. I wasn't going to throw Connolly beneath the bus and tell Malik that he'd agreed with me.
“No, we wouldn't have because that pervert wouldn't have lowered his guard as he tried to seduce you,” Malik said.
“That's right.”
Malik blinked.
“I used Cyprian's attraction against him so I could get information out of him,” I admitted. “It wouldn't have worked with you there, but I assumed that you would trust me enough to not be bothered by it.”
That was an outright lie; I knew Malik would be bothered. But I did feel as if he should trust me not to betray him.
“Oh, damn,” Lily whispered. “I think it's time we left, everyone.”
“No; stay,” I said with a hand out to her. “This should have been a private conversation from the start. And it will become one as soon as I'm done filling all of you in. This will only take a minute.”
“Go on,” Kyrian said with a wary look at Malik.
Malik was fuming, but I wasn't sure who his anger was directed at; himself or me.
“The Aura Man, as I've been calling him, refers to himself as the Leech,” I said. “Cyprian wouldn't give me any other name, but he did admit that the Leech was of the same race as the man who killed the beast today. I noted their similar features myself; it seems to be the truth. Cyprian also warned me off; he said I'd get hurt if I kept investigating this. That not even you could protect me,” I said the last to Malik.
Malik made a scoffing sound.
“I don't know, Mal,” I said softly. “His aura was true blue when he said those things. I believe him. At least, I believe that he believes them.”
Everyone went quiet.
“That's all I got,” I said. “Stay and have some drinks if you like, but now I need to finish my talk with Malik.”
The team murmured polite things that I wasn't listening to. I was too busy taking Malik's hand and leading him upstairs to my old bedroom. As soon as we were behind a closed door, I turned to him and hugged him.
“I'm sorry that I worried you,” I said softly.
Malik's tense body shook around me as he exhaled. He drew me in closer and laid his face against my neck.
“Don't do that again, my love,” he whispered. “The panic was excruciating.”
“I'll try not to,” I said. “If you try not to be a complete jackass.”
Malik chuckled. “Very well.”
“Are we good?” I asked.
“Not quite.” He started nibbling delicately on my neck with his sharp canines. “But give me an hour or so, and I'll get us there.”
I laughed, but it was more seduction than sound, and Malik growled into it. We barely made it to the bed.
Chapter Twenty-One
Connolly called later that night and asked me to gather the members of FEAR for a video call on the secure laptop he'd given me. Half an hour later, we were all sitting around the laptop at Lilly's apartment. The Wilds was too busy to meet at during evening hours.
Connolly's anxious face stared out at us through the screen, “FEAR, we've discovered where the creatures are coming from.”
“Isn't it the Gray?” I asked.
“In a way.” Connolly grimaced and moved the camera so we could see the room he was in instead of his face. He
started walking down a linoleum-tiled corridor that echoed with his footsteps. “I'm at the medical facility where we've been housing the residents of the Gray. Last night, there was an incident.”
The sound of screeching and banging grew louder as Connolly walked up to a steel door that was guarded by a pair of armed men. The men nodded and one of them opened the door for Connolly. The screeching grew louder. The camera panned over a steel cage large enough to hold a lion. There was a creature in it; different from the last two. This one had red skin, long claws, and a sleek tail that whipped behind it angrily. When it saw Connolly, it screeched again; a terrible sound made even more so by the gruesome mouth it emerged from. Wide enough to split the skull in half when it opened, the mouth was full of multiple rows of jagged teeth that reminded me of a shark.
“Meet Ms. Ellen Dudley,” Connolly said. “Or what used to be her.”
“The residents are turning into those creatures?” Davorin asked in shock.
“Yes.” Connolly turned and left the room. The screeching faded as he walked briskly away. “We've had to move the patients into cells in preparation of possible changes.”
“What did you tell them?” Lily asked.
“Nothing.” Connolly's face came back into view as he set the laptop down on a desk. “They're practically catatonic; they go where we lead them and have to be told to eat.”
“Holy shit,” Leo whispered.
“That's not all,” Connolly went on. “President Colton decided to share our information with other countries. Using our descriptions of despondent people living in areas that are suddenly being avoided, more locations have been found and verified through medical exams on the residents. There are gray areas popping up all over the world, and we've had two more appear in the United States.”
“Have there been creature-sightings at these other locations?” I asked.
“Not yet, but the President has been on the phone all day warning other leaders about what happened to Ms. Dudley. He's advising them to put any infected individuals in cells for the time being.”
“This is awful,” Jason murmured. “Locking up innocent people.”
“For the safety of others,” I reminded him. “At least in a cage, they can be kept alive until we figure out how to help them.”
“Our scientists have been running tests on Ms. Dudley,” Connolly said. “Hopefully, we'll find something to change her back. Or at least prevent the others from changing.”
“That's better than what that mystery man did yesterday,” I muttered.
“Yes; the mystery man.” Connolly tapped his fingers on his desk. “I've spoken to the Secretary of Homeland Security about him, and we can't understand why someone would create such a thing only to kill it.”
“I've been wondering about him too,” I admitted. “He didn't have the same aura as the Leech. He may be of the same race, but I don't think they're partners.”
“The Secretary is thinking the same thing.” Connolly nodded. “That perhaps this new man is trying to clean up after the Leech.”
“That doesn't necessarily make him our ally,” Malik pointed out.
“No, but he didn't hurt Ms. Madison when he saw her; that's as good a sign as any.”
“Connolly, please; just use my given name,” I said. “I think we've known each other long enough for that.”
“If all of you will call me Alex,” he said with a small smile.
“All right, Alex,” I agreed for all of us. “What does the Secretary of Homeland Security think we should do?”
“She wants you to make contact with the mystery man.”
“It was a chance meeting,” I pointed out. “I have no idea how to contact him.”
“We have a plan for that.” Alex looked grim.
“Does it involve Ms. Dudley?” Kyrian asked in a steady tone.
I glanced at Kyrian sharply. The Triari Host had come to Earth and made a name for themselves. Humans called them Angels or, in Kyrian's case, an arc angel. They were known for their brilliant white halos that humans could sense even if they couldn't see them. Those halos are actually auras; the white is the result of the complete control of all emotions. The compression of all colors. When I'd first met Kyrian he'd been in control but, slowly, I'd gotten him to loosen that control and allow himself to feel.
Except now, his halo was back.
Well, I had told him to get himself under control, and he had threatened to bring back all of it. I just hadn't thought that he'd actually do it. I had gotten used to the real Kyrian—the one with his emotions fully felt—and I was disappointed to see the robot return. But perhaps it was for the best. I knew he was hurting right now and that it was my fault. If this was what he needed to do to function as my guardian and as a member of FEAR, then so be it.
All of that took seconds to flash through my mind; quick enough that I was able to focus on Alex when he finally answered.
“It does,” Alex said. “If it all goes well, she won't be hurt.”
“You want to use Ms. Dudley as bait to lure the mystery man back?” I asked. “The mystery man who slit the throat of the last creature?”
“We'll keep her caged,” Alex explained. “We're hoping that her mere presence will attract this person, and then you can speak to him.”
“Me?” I asked.
“He's already interacted with you,” Alex pointed out. “We believe that will help initiate trust. We'll transport Ms. Dudley to the Gray and then stand down. You will stay with her until the mystery man arrives, but we will be nearby in case you need assistance.”
I grimaced. “Fine.”
“Amara can make us invisible,” Malik pointed out. “FEAR will stand with her.”
I sent him a grateful smile.
“That sounds even better,” Alex agreed. “We can have Ms. Dudley transported to the Gray in an hour.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
DHS agents drove a huge delivery truck to the edge of the Gray, but they couldn't go any further without risking harm to themselves. So, Davorin took the wheel and the rest of us followed him past the boundary. Agents lined the border, waiting and ready but we were going far enough in that they wouldn't be seen. Honestly, they wouldn't be any good to us unless a fight wandered out of the Gray. I stared around the gray area and shook my head; we were in the middle of downtown, and we were the only souls in sight. I could hear the sounds of the city creeping over the evacuated zone but where we were, everything was quiet.
Except for the rumble of the truck following my friends and me into the Gray.
In light of the creature attacks, we hadn't been patrolling the Gray. There had been agents posted around the edges and no change had been reported so I hadn't worried about it. It had only been a day, after all. But that had been a mistake. Because the Gray wasn't so gray anymore.
“Whoa,” Jason murmured as we reached the center of the area.
“What in all creation is this?” I gaped at the sight before me.
The street was gone. In its place was a lush meadow full of strange flowers and bordered by purple, frothy plants. The scent of blossoms and fruit hung heavy in the air and a lazy breeze wafted out from the spot to bring that smell over to us. Grass crept out on all sides; beginning to take over the apartment buildings as well as the asphalt. But the oddest thing wasn't the plants or the alien aromas. It was the buildings. Or rather, their missing pieces.
The grass had spread into the buildings; as in right through the walls. Everywhere it lay, there was nothing above it. It was as if the meadow was claiming the land and everything on it. The buildings had runnels carved out of them in the exact shape of the meandering groundcover. All the way up, the cement, steel, and wires had been cut away; giving glimpses into the structures like the layers of a sliced cake.
“Everyone stay away from that,” Malik growled as he searched the area. A spot of crimson flashed through the purple of his irises. “Don't even stick your hand over it.”
We all nodded as we st
ared.
“Someone help me get Ms. Dudley out here,” Davorin called from the back of the truck.
The guys went over to help Davorin bring out the massive cage with Ms. Dudley inside it while Lily and I continued to stare at the patch of parkland before us.
“More alien plants,” she murmured. “Where are they coming from?”