They Call Me Death

by Missy Jane

  I finished my shower and dressed quickly while my stomach began to rumble. I ran a brush through my hair without even bothering to look in the mirror, then opened the door. Andor was setting our plates on the table and looked up when I approached. The easy smile he’d been wearing froze on his face, and his brows suddenly bunched in a frown.

  “What?” I asked, looking down self-consciously.

  I was wearing my standard dress of a T-shirt and camouflage cargo pants, no socks or shoes. Andor seemed to come back to himself as I looked back up and he simply shook his head.

  “Nothing,” he replied, but his body language spoke volumes.

  He was pissed but I had no idea why. I walked to the table and looked appreciatively at the steaks and wine before returning my gaze to him.

  “Why are you angry?” I asked.

  He pulled a chair out and motioned for me to sit before taking his own seat. I watched him, waiting for an answer he seemed reluctant to give.

  “I said it’s nothing. Do you feel better after your shower?”

  “Yes, actually I do. But, I would feel even better if you would remain honest with me seeing as how we’re stuck together for now,” I replied.

  He snorted.

  “Stuck together…yes, I guess we are. Well, Alexia, since we’re…stuck together, I feel I should remind you of something,” he said before pausing to take a drink of his wine.

  “And that is?”

  “I’m psychic,” he said simply.

  “Meaning?”

  “Meaning I can read your mind, which is not something I plan on doing on a regular basis. However, when you’re thinking of something very hard, you project your thoughts, damn near shouting them at me.”

  I frowned at the angry tone of his voice as I tried to remember what I’d been thinking of when I left the bathroom. Andor began to cut into his steak in quick, jerky thrusts, which only emphasized his bad mood. I picked up my wine glass and placed it to my lips deep in thought. Suddenly, I realized what I’d been thinking of and Andor’s head snapped up, his eyes glaring at me.

  “Yes,” he growled. “You were thinking of Lance, and how you plan to fuck him.”

  I sat in shocked silence while Andor drained his wine glass and refilled it. My steak didn’t look as appetizing as it originally had, and my stomach was protesting the sip of wine. I set my glass back down as I felt my face redden and Andor sighed.

  “I must apologize, Alexia. It’s none of my business what you do with your body, or whom you give it to,” he said, his tone less angry.

  “I’m sorry too. I didn’t realize I was shouting my thoughts at you.”

  “I will teach you to guard your thoughts. It will be imperative while we are in shifter lands that you are able to do so.”

  I nodded, watching Andor eat in silence. I lifted my wine glass again and took a timid drink, hoping my stomach would settle enough for me to eat soon. After a few minutes, I was able to cut into my steak and finish the rest of my wine. I felt a change of topic was in order to fill the weighted silence between us. I had no idea what to talk about until I looked back at my plate.

  “Where did you get the steaks? I haven’t even seen real beef since the war.”

  “There is a deep freezer hidden upstairs. This building has two different backup power systems so there was never a lapse in power. It is still well stocked, so we’ll have plenty of meat.”

  “Well, that’s good to know,” I replied with a slight smile.

  Andor looked at me for a moment then smiled back, but it didn’t reach his eyes. He was still angry, but trying to either hide it or fight it. I tried not to think on it at all, since the implications were more than I was ready to deal with. We both ate the rest of our meal in silence.

  “Thank you for cooking, Andor. I’ll clean up,” I said, jumping to clear away our plates as soon as he finished his food.

  “You hardly touched yours,” he protested.

  “I’m not very hungry right now. I’ll eat something later.”

  I felt his eyes on me as I walked around the kitchen. It was open to the rest of the room. I didn’t have so much as a cabinet to hide behind. Instead I kept my back to him as much as possible, my mind blank.

  “You’re doing very well already for a human with no training,” he said quietly.

  I turned to him with a frown.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Your thoughts, or lack thereof. You’re doing a good job of keeping your mind blank.” He chuckled. “Or you were until you assumed I was referring to your domestic abilities.”

  I let out a breath and smiled, letting my immediate anger ease away.

  “Yeah well, I was once known for my domesticity. I thought you were insulting me for a minute there.”

  He laughed.

  “Never, Alexia. I’m not that brave, nor that stupid.” I shook my head and turned back to the sink. “How long were you married?”

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I’d never spoken to anyone of my previous life. I kept my husband and son buried deep.

  “Two years. You?”

  “I was married for ten years and have a daughter,” he replied quietly.

  I stopped what I was doing and turned to face him.

  “What happened to them?”

  He looked away from me and seemed to be deciding on how much to say. After a minute, he rose from the table and walked into the living room to sit on the sofa.

  “My daughter was ten years old when her mother started questioning my slow rate of aging. With my abilities I was able to give myself the appearance of aging, but it took deep concentration at all times so I didn’t do it with her. I tried to think of a suitable lie but I loved her, and decided to be truthful.”

  He paused and looked at me, the remembered pain showing in his eyes.

  “She didn’t take it very well. I tried to reason with her. I told her of my abilities and the better health of shifters. It occurred to her that our daughter had alien blood in her veins and she grew violent. For a few days, I thought I might have to have her incarcerated or committed. However, she came to her senses and we came to an agreement.”

  He paused and looked away again. I waited, somehow subduing the urge to tap my foot.

  “You agreed to live down here?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “I agreed to stay here in this hole and arranged to work from here on my computer. She agreed to support any excuse I might make to our daughter when she began to question. It worked for four years, but then the war started and she panicked. I expected her to take my daughter and head north to her family, but she surprised me. She told me I had to leave. She said the shifters would leave her and Emily alone if I wasn’t here, and like the fool I am, I let her convince me… I left. A year after the war began, I discovered this place had become an orphanage for shifters and my now ex-wife was gone. I don’t know where she went, and have not seen her in all this time.”

  “And your daughter, Emily?”

  He took a deep breath and wiped a hand over his face. I thought he might not answer, as the question obviously upset him. But I waited, and once he seemed to have regained his composure, he continued.

  “I discovered later that Emily had remained here in the orphanage. Had I known at the time I would’ve come for her,” he said quickly. “But by the time I found out it was too late. She was gone and no one knew where. I traced her to the wall in the red zone of Circe, and there the trail ended.”

  Then it hit me. Emily was the first missing shifter on the information discs he gave me. Emily, his daughter, was the reason he’d begun this quest.

  “Oh my…,” I whispered.

  I covered my mouth with my hand and either by my actions, facial expressions or treacherous thoughts, Andor knew my heart was breaking for him and his lost child. I had to fight the tears threatening to consume me and immediately turned back to the dishes.

  “Yes, this case of missing shifters is very personal for me, Al
exia. You have no idea how grateful I am to have your assistance,” he said quietly.

  I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  “I still don’t know what you think I can do.”

  “You have natural instincts about shifters, and being human you may be able to get into places I cannot. I have many useful powers, but there are those who know of the abilities and will guard against them. Besides, all of the evidence so far points back to the humans. Theodore Castor and his team of scientists have broken laws in the past and received little more than a slap on the wrist. I doubt kidnapping is beyond them.”

  “Oh. So we’ll be going back to Georgetown?”

  “Most likely, yes. But we have plans to make and information to comb through. Knowing who it is isn’t enough. We need to know why.”

  “Do you still have friends over here who can help us?”

  “Yes. Amazingly enough I still have allies on both sides. They will give me what information we need once I consult with the alpha. The trick will be in doing so without alerting him to your presence.”

  “Sandulf? What does he care about me being here?”

  Andor chuckled and shook his head.

  “He is the alpha of all FNT, Alexia. Everything that occurs on this side of the wall concerns him. You are currently enemy number one as far as he is concerned. However, I don’t believe he has studied you as I have. He may have made incorrect assumptions about you.”

  “Enemy number one? You’ve got to be kidding. Little old me?”

  He grinned. “We do call you Death.”

  “Oh, shut up about it already. So I stay under his radar while you, what?”

  “As I said, there are plans to make and information to go through.”

  I bit my lip as I thought over what little he’d already shown me. He stood and walked to the far end of the room.

  “There doesn’t seem to be much so far.”

  “Yes, I know. I’m hoping we’ll learn more in the days to come.”

  I frowned as I thought over everything I’d learned. Andor had reached the wall and was running both hands over it as if searching for something.

  “Andor, what did you mean when you said you work for your government? Doesn’t that mean you work for Sandulf? And what are you doing?”

  “In most shifter countries the alpha is supreme ruler. However, FNT is a bit different in structure. We have Sandulf, but he keeps a ruling body beneath him similar to the US cabinet. The work I do is authorized by someone who reports back to him, but I don’t answer to him directly.”

  He stopped halfway down the wall and pushed with both hands. Part of the wall moved back, revealing a hidden doorway. Andor stepped through it. I dried my hands and then crossed the room to see where he was going.

  “I see. Uh, what’s in there?”

  He looked over his shoulder at me with a grin, and I saw he stood in a large room filled with weapons.

  “Here is the other reason we traveled all this way. Despite popular belief, not all shifters are vulnerable to silver, but I guarantee something in this room will take them down.”

  I raised a brow and let out a low whistle as I looked around the room. There were various guns and swords of every size, as well as a few items I’d never seen before hanging from the walls.

  “Well, this will certainly put the odds more in our favor.”

  “I would hope so,” he replied with a chuckle.

  I just shook my head and walked to the nearest gun. It was similar to my Ruger, but more compact and much lighter. I instantly fell in love with it.

  “We’ll have to go topside to sight these in tomorrow. It’s been years since any of them have been used.”

  I nodded. “What other information are we waiting on? I mean, we already know all we can on the missing, right?”

  “Emily would be eighteen years old now and any abilities she may have inherited would have manifested at puberty. I don’t know what their interest is in those shifters who have gone missing, but there seems to be no common link between them.”

  I considered the files he gave me as I put the gun back. There was a mixture of male and female shifters as well as a mixture of species. In fact, no two species were alike. I looked at Andor as I considered it, throwing the thought at him easily. He gave me a considering look.

  “There could be something to that,” he said.

  “It’s truly the only thing we have to go on. Do you know all the different shifter species there are? Can we figure out which have not gone missing?”

  “Nearly every endangered animal has a shifter cousin, as well as the domesticated species.”

  “That’s a damn lot of animals,” I murmured.

  “Yes, and only eighteen eliminated from that total at the moment.”

  “Well, most of them are feline and canine species, except Emily, of course.”

  “Yes. She is the only bird species in the bunch. Also, most of them are predatory species.”

  I thought it over for a moment.

  “I don’t know, Andor. I can’t think of what connection the missing species have.”

  “Well, then let’s let go of it for now. Besides, there are more important tasks to attend to at the moment.”

  “There are?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Yes. Let’s go get comfortable.”

  Chapter Twelve

  We spent most of the next three days alternating between speaking mind to mind and weapons practice. Needless to say it was enlightening. Andor seemed to be impressed by how quickly I took to the various guns he had on hand, and I impressed myself by not shooting him. I tried my best to delve into Andor’s thoughts while he tried his best to ignore mine. I was vividly remembering a bikini shopping trip with some girlfriends on my eighteenth birthday when he finally broke. I have to admit, I’m not sure why I’d taken to teasing him in such a way. It was completely unlike me, especially with a shifter. But I’d grown comfortable with Andor, and he no longer felt like an enemy.

  “Damn it, Alexia! Even the strongest man has a limit on his control,” he groaned, rising from the living room floor where we sat facing each other.

  I laughed and gave him a wink.

  “Just seeing how much of a man you are, Andor. I knew you couldn’t stay an ice statue forever.”

  He walked into the kitchen, as I remained seated on the floor cross-legged.

  “An ice statue?” he asked in my head. Suddenly I felt fingertips running down my bare arms from shoulder to elbow. I glared at him and he smiled. “Does this feel like a frigid sculpture to you?”

  I gasped as a warm touch traveled over my stomach and up my sides past my ribs. The warmth continued to my back and up to my shoulders, making me shiver. Andor chuckled at my reaction, the sound purely masculine and sexy as hell. I jumped to my feet.

  “Cut it out! You’ve made your point.”

  “Have I? Good. These mental exercises serve a purpose, Alexia. I have to know you’ll be ready when we leave this place.”

  “To go where?”

  “I’m not certain yet. But I’ll know soon.”

  “Andor, you need to tell me what’s going on in your head. I don’t like being kept in the dark.”

  He sighed and busied himself in the kitchen and I thought he wouldn’t respond. I turned away and headed for the bathroom and a shower.

  “Alexia, we both have a ways to go in trusting each other fully. But please know I would never hurt you nor lead you to harm.”

  I stopped at the bathroom door with my back to him.

  “I have to receive trust to fully give it, Andor, especially when I feel so helpless.”

  “So long as you are with me, Alexia, you will never be helpless,” he replied aloud.

  And for some reason, I believed him.

  ***

  Andor was gone when I finally finished my shower and left the bathroom. I walked into the living room and spotted a disc on the table with a note.

  Alexia, this disc will answer a
ny further questions you have about me. I apologize for waiting so long to give it you, but here it is. I will return within three hours with more meat and other supplies. Andor

  I studied the disc in my hand for a moment, wary of what it might reveal. I was beginning to trust Andor, as well as feel more for him than I had for anyone in a long time. I didn’t want to consider what had happened to him in the past four years to turn him into the distrustful man he now was. With a sigh I went to my bag to retrieve the device to play the disc, knowing my curiosity was too great to fight.

  It was a videodisc rather than scanned files like the previous ones. Andor himself sat at a large black desk, speaking straight to the camera as if it was an interview. I saw no one else. He simply spoke of his life like a storyteller, beginning with his birth and ending with his discovery of Emily’s disappearance. By his account it had been nearly a year ago, but he’d told me the disappearances began three months ago. I frowned at the implied lie there and wondered what other things he may have lied about.

  Shaking my head to clear away such thoughts, I watched the rest of the disc. Andor even spoke a bit about his childhood as a shifter. His parents raised him in Hungary where he was born. He didn’t say much about either of his parents, but his love for them was evident in his voice. At nearly three hundred years of age, I suddenly wondered how many people Andor had outlived. I knew he was the last of the eagle shifters, but according to his taped biography those were his father’s people. His mother was something else, human or shifter he didn’t say. I wondered if many shifters chose human mates, but quickly decided that was a dangerous line of thinking.

  Andor rose from behind the desk and began to pace. He was reciting his service record and I realized this disc may have been intended for after his death. He spoke of his extensive training, the secrets he kept from his wife and his fear for Emily. Then he stopped pacing and faced the camera directly.

  “I, Andor Olavson, in the service to my people and my country have done many things I am not proud of. I pray that my death will be honorable and with it, I can be forgiven for some of the unspeakable acts I have participated in.”