by Krista Walsh
He followed the lights to the far right corner of the room and mounted the stairs to the sixteenth floor.
By the time he pushed open the stairwell door, a faint trail of sweat trickled down his back, but his breathing was even and his heartbeat kept a steady rhythm. He was what the gym-fiends referred to as an “asshole,” a term he accepted without complaint. His supernatural blood had given him an advantage, and he saw no reason to apologize for it.
The hallway was even darker than the lobby, with only three emergency lights offering their soft guidance. Sliding his fingers along the wall, Gabe traced the numbers on the outsides of the doors as he passed them. When he reached 1604, he stopped. Moans and heavy breathing came from within. He grinned.
Allegra wouldn’t appreciate the interruption — in fact, she would likely be downright cranky — but at least he could save one poor soul tonight.
He rapped his knuckles sharply against the wood. A curse came through the door in response, followed by a low murmur, then silence. He wondered if they were continuing their evening dance in a quieter manner.
He knocked again.
“One moment, please,” a sultry voice called to him. It was tinged with the faint traces of an Italian accent.
He leaned one arm against the door jamb, crossed one foot over the other, and waited.
A moment later, the lock clicked and the door swung open. The glow of candlelight washed out from the room, and a stunning woman stood silhouetted in the doorway. Her honey-hued skin was wrapped in a thigh-length silk robe that didn’t do much to cover her chest. Her thick brown hair was partially draped in front of her shoulders, maintaining whatever modesty she pretended to possess.
He raised his gaze toward a pair of brown eyes that sparked gold at the sight of him. The corners of her full, pouting mouth had turned down with distaste, but his own smile widened.
“Hey, Allegra. Long time no see.”
6
Allegra crossed her arms, her mouth twisting further downward. The expression would have looked ugly on most people, but she made it almost enticing.
Damn succubi.
“What do you want, Gabriel?” she asked.
He held up his hands in a show of truce. Her buzzing seductive energy was hitting him from a foot away, and he didn’t know how angry she was over being interrupted from her feed. He really didn’t want to have to wrangle her in the hallway. Not so much because of the indignity, but because he wasn’t sure who the winner would be.
“I’m not here to cause trouble,” he said. “I would’ve called you if that had been an option, but I don’t have your number.”
It wasn’t true, but she didn’t need to know that.
“That does not answer my question,” she said. The faint hiss beneath her words tempted him to take a step backward, but he planted his feet into the thick carpet and remained still.
“There’s a situation at the harbor,” he explained, “and I need your expertise. I just want to sit down and talk for a minute.”
Her frown glided into a sly smile. “You believe I would have interest in helping you with this…situation? I assure you, Gabriel, I have far more interesting ways to fill my time.”
She moved to close the door, but Gabe pressed his palm against it to hold it open. “Allegra, please. I won’t take long. There’s a siren in New Haven and she’s having her pick of the menu. I just need some inside info on how to deal with her, and then you can go back to your night.”
Allegra hesitated, her frown returning.
Gabe sped through his options and, thinking about the follow-up check that would be due to him at the end of the case, said, “I can pay you for your time.”
Her expression turned to one of disgust and she propped one hand on her hip. “I think more highly of myself than you apparently do. I do not require money to sway my opinions. But if some soggy harpy is stealing my meals without discussing it with me, I suppose I can answer your questions. Quickly.”
She looked over her shoulder in the direction of what Gabe guessed was the bedroom, her mouth drawn up in the corner as she deliberated something.
Finally, she let out a groan and waved him inside.
“I would ask you to return later, but the moment has passed anyway. Give me a moment to see my guest out, if you don’t mind.”
She disappeared into the bedroom, and Gabe took the time to survey her apartment.
The condo was elegant, which didn’t surprise him, and welcoming, which did. From his previous encounter with Allegra, he would have guessed her tastes to be more like Antony’s, who had come across as very particular and stolid.
The couch was soft leather in a creamy hue and the tables were light maple. The green rug in the center of the living room and the green glass vase on the dining room table provided a bright contrast to the femininity of the pale lavender walls and white trim. A small flat-screen television was perched on a sleek maple hutch in the corner of the room, surrounded by a few dog-eared romance novels. The corner of its dark face reflected the waist-high gas fireplace that took up most of the open wall across from the couch. The fire wasn’t on now, but Allegra or her guest had lit a series of candles and set them along the floor in front of the glass screen to give the appearance that it was. On the mantel sat a clock, gold and ornate, that ticked the steady seconds away.
The sound of voices from the bedroom grew louder, and Gabe turned his back on them, sauntering over to the wall of windows that overlooked the city. Unlike his own view, which showed a single street dwarfed by crumbling and dated mid-rises and the hospital a few blocks over, Allegra’s apartment displayed most of the beauty New Haven had to offer. Lights shone in the distance from the sections of the grid where power had been restored, and the reflection of the streetlights off the snow-covered roofs cast a faint orange glow across the floor. In spite of the cold wind that danced with the trees below, the light made the view feel cozy, and Gabe turned down the collar on his coat.
A grumble of disappointment and a soft murmur of promises from Allegra sounded behind him. He stepped into the shadows of the curtain as a man followed Allegra out of her room, his shirt and boots bundled against his chest.
The man, his bald head reflecting the candlelight flickering from the kitchen counters, stopped by the front door to grab his coat, and Allegra stroked his cheek. She leaned close to whisper something in his ear that filled his cheeks with red heat. He licked his lips and tried to kiss her, but she offered a sultry laugh and stepped away.
“Later, my darling,” she said. With her hand on his chest, she pushed the half-dressed man into the hallway and closed the door.
As soon as he was out of sight, she rolled her eyes and padded toward the fridge, her bare legs catching the candlelight as she moved.
“What a waste,” she said, opening the refrigerator door. As she leaned forward, her thick hair spilled over her shoulders and the edge of her robe slid up just enough that Gabe felt inclined to look away. “His energy was sweet, like the cherry on a sundae.”
She stood up with a bottle of champagne, poured herself a glass and a second one for Gabe, then tucked the bottle back in the fridge and sashayed closer to hand him the drink.
He hesitated before accepting, not sure what other tricks the succubus might use to lure men into her bed besides her own personal charm.
His expression must have given him away, because Allegra shot him a wolfish smile as she nudged his hand toward his lips. “It’s nothing but a nice smooth champagne, I assure you. I know you prefer more proletariat beverages, but I offer what I have.”
Gabe sniffed at the lip of the glass and caught nothing but sweetness. The bubbles tickled his nostrils, and he twitched his nose to avoid a sneeze.
Allegra abandoned her attempts to persuade him and eased onto the couch. She reclined against the armrest and curled her arms in her lap. Her robe rode high on her thigh as she stretched one long leg toward the fire.
Gabe cleared his throat and sipped th
e champagne, reminding himself that he’d come here for help. There was no point in being here if he couldn’t even trust Allegra enough to accept her hospitality.
As the bubbles of the drink trickled down the back of his throat, he walked around the couch and dropped onto the opposite end, keeping his distance from her. Her soft lips curled into a smile, and the gold in her eyes swirled with amusement.
“At least I’ve saved one man from temptation tonight,” he said, half in jest.
Allegra chuckled, the sound as rich and tinkling as the bubbles bursting against his glass. “You have nothing to fear this evening, Gabriel. I never bring my meals home to feed on them. Too much to clean up after the main course. This was just a sampling. Something to give him a taste of what’s to come.” She grinned, her pupils dilating with desire. “And I assure you I will have no trouble meeting him again for my entrée. I’ll make it up to him for the interruption.”
The less-than-subtle suggestion that she would bed the man before she killed him didn’t make Gabe feel better about the situation. She might believe her victims found the cost of their lives worth a few moments of pleasure, but Gabe wasn’t sure that even the best sex was worth dying for. In any case, he didn’t mean to find out for himself.
He pressed his lips together to hide his disapproval, telling himself that she had as much of a right to feed and survive as he did, even if her methods turned his stomach. The world he inhabited, the one hidden from common knowledge, was full of species with questionable dietary requirements, but unless they drew attention to themselves or posed a greater threat to the world, he couldn’t go after them all. For now, the siren was enough of a concern.
“I admit, I was a bit surprised to learn you’d gained a permanent address,” Gabe said, deliberately relaxing into the couch cushions. He wasn’t comfortable being so close to her, but she didn’t need to know that. “Relieved, but surprised. I would have thought you’d have skipped town when the snow started. That you’d be sunning yourself on a beach in Bora Bora or something.”
The real reason for his visit sat at the back of his tongue, but he pushed himself to stick with the small talk to start with. Allegra was a tough woman to read, and he wanted to get a feel for her tells before he started on the deeper questions. Eight months of running his own business hadn’t reduced his discomfort over private social engagements, but it had leveled up his tolerance for chit-chat.
Allegra sniffed and sipped her drink. “Believe me, darling, if I could choose to be anywhere in the world right now, New Haven would sit at the bottom of a very long list. Unfortunately, I am unable to leave.”
Gabe raised his eyebrows. “How so? Miss your flight?”
“If only it were such a mundane reason,” she said, and tossed her hair. “Somehow, from the moment dear Jermaine chose to include me in his little game, I have been trapped in his city like a bird in a cage. Every time I leave, I am dogged by an inescapable tug on my mind that refuses to release me until I’m back within the city limits. I have been haunted by dreams of unrest and a darkness looming ever closer, threatening to consume me. I do not know what Jermaine did to us or to what these dreams portend, but I dislike it immensely.”
Gabe considered her explanation as he took another sip of his drink. His interest was piqued by the fact that she believed whatever drew her back was beyond her control. And that she believed it had something to do with Jermaine’s trap, which suggested something that affected Gabe as well.
“I can’t say I’ve experienced anything like that,” he said. “But then, I haven’t tried to leave the city lately. Have you spoken with any of the others to see if they have? What exactly are you dreaming about?”
Allegra flicked her fingers in dismissal and said, “I would rather not discuss the matter further. Will you take advantage of the time we have to tell me about your siren, or shall we continue gazing into one another’s eyes until we’re the only two left alive? Perhaps it will rest on us to repopulate the city.”
Allegra ran her toes over Gabe’s calf, and he drew his leg away, evoking another smirk from the succubus.
The switch in her behavior from annoyed to flirtatious amused Gabe more than it surprised him. She’d displayed an interest in him when they first met, and that interest was clearly still there, in spite of him interrupting her dinner.
He cleared his throat and set his champagne down on a pewter coaster on the coffee table. “She’s at Wishrock Harbor. I don’t understand why, but she’s coming out of the frozen river to attack her victims.”
Allegra’s lips curled back into a snarl, exposing a set of teeth that had elongated into points.
“And you are certain it’s a siren?” she asked.
“Absolutely,” said Gabe. “I went out there this afternoon to track down the creature that had broken through the ice, and she was standing there, bold as brass. All in white, as though she and the snow were one and the same. Then she started singing.”
Allegra arched a brow and spun her glass between her fingers. “Yet you escaped.”
“I may be a hot-blooded man, but apparently not as hot as she needed me to be.” Gabe grinned, not seeing the need to tell her the truth of how close he’d come to succumbing or how he’d managed to escape the threat. He might trust Allegra enough to ask her questions, but not to reveal the extent of his Fae abilities. At some point their paths could cross again in a different capacity, and he’d rather have some secrets up his sleeve.
“Hmm,” Allegra said, her eyes glazed over in thought. By the tightening around her mouth and the reveal of her pointed canines, Gabe guessed it wasn’t a pretty thought. “You say she is living in the river?”
He nodded. “That’s what it looks like. There’s a huge crack in the ice, and when I went back today, there was a distinctly siren-sized hole in the area that had frosted over.”
Allegra tapped her finger against her cheek, the gold tips of her nail polish glinting in the candlelight. “That does not seem right to me. Sirens, like succubi, prefer to be where they can flaunt their charms. We are narcissistic creatures who adore when attention flocks to us without us having to put in the effort.” Her long lashes dropped in a wink, and Gabe pressed his lips together to repress the smile involuntarily bubbling up inside him. Other parts of his body also chose to react, and he shifted his weight on the couch to better conceal it. “Where she is, she must work to bring her victims to her. I do not understand why she would not come to shore and seek other ways to feed.”
“Here’s another question for you, then. Is it possible she has something to do with the storm?” Gabe forced himself to ignore the teasing way Allegra’s robe slid down her shoulder.
“It is possible, yes, if she were exerting herself enough,” she said. “Though I do not see what purpose such a move would have. If she is feeding, this type of weather would only drive her victims away.”
“It doesn’t look like she’s having much trouble there. The storm started around the same time the first body was found.”
Her eyes flashed gold as they widened. “First body? There have been more?”
“Seven so far,” said Gabe. “In the last two weeks.”
Allegra shook her head and pulled the edges of her robe closer together. Her shoulders straightened and she drew her legs in.
“Tell me everything.”
He described the scene where the body lay, then went on to explain how he’d gone out on the ice. He didn’t mention Percy or the method he’d used to track the siren across the river. The bad taste Percy’s research left in his mouth was still there, like an oily spread on his tongue. If word of that software got into the wrong hands, every supernatural species on Earth would be at risk. There would be mass panic the day the mundane world discovered they shared their lives with people who were other than human.
He also couldn’t guarantee his friend’s safety if word spread about his research. Percy could hide himself as deep in Boston’s concrete labyrinth as he wanted, but there we
re creatures out there who could hunt him down and make sure the software never left his warehouse.
Gabe swallowed the discomfort of his thoughts and turned his attention to Allegra, whose expression had darkened with what were clearly unpleasant thoughts of her own. She absentmindedly twisted her hair around her fingers, her lower lip caught between her teeth.
Gabe had seen her in various states of distress during their previous encounter, but never so bewildered. Her teasing playfulness had all but disappeared. At her display of unease, his own chest tightened, his apprehension tempered by a wisp of relief that he’d come to talk to her. At least she was taking him seriously. If she was able to offer any help, he’d be even happier.
He took up his champagne glass and sagged into the couch, not wanting to say or do anything to jar Allegra out of her musings.
After a moment, the faint crease between her brow smoothed out and the muscles in her jaw relaxed. She tucked her hair behind her ear, and shook her head. “While your predicament intrigues me, Gabriel, I fail to see why you should take action. For now, she has not crossed me nor challenged my lifestyle, so I have no vendetta against her. And she has not threatened you. Why should we not let things be for the time being and see how they work out? She cannot hope to keep this pace up for long. It is possible she hopes to take advantage of the weather, then move on before too many people become aware of her.”
She sipped her champagne, and as the frustration over her answer boiled in his blood, Gabe shifted his weight on the couch and shoved his hand through his hair.
“I can’t just sit back and see what happens. Not only was I paid to sort this out, but, unlike you, my conscience won’t let me stand by while some woman in a white flowy dress drowns people because she’s bored or peckish.”
“Why not?” Allegra asked, leaning in. “What are these people to you?”
Gabe laughed, the sound spilling through the room with a touch of bitterness. “They’re human. And in spite of what I am and in spite of what you might perceive me to be, I actually believe human beings are worth protecting.”