“We kissed. We need to talk about this.”
“I don’t see why. It was the mistake of a stressful moment. Let’s not make it out to be more than that.”
I could tell that I was hurting his feelings, but I had to nip this in the bud before he got any crazy ideas of undying, eternal love.
Before he could say anything to contradict my statement, Josh appeared.
Great! Just what I needed. His face nearly matched his red hair as he glanced between us.
“Mikhail wants to see us in his office,” Josh said.
I nodded and began to walk down the hall, leaving the men to follow. I was so unwilling to deal with either of them that I looked forward to seeing Mikhail.
Maybe he’ll just kill me and put us all out of our misery.
I knocked on his door and Jim, his assistant, opened it. Inside, I found Mikhail sitting on the couch by the fire with a young girl who looked like she came straight from a Dashboard Confessional’s concert. I wondered how she managed to blink with that much makeup on. To my utmost disgust, Emma was leaning against Mikhail’s desk.
She wore skin-tight, black leather pants with a voluptuous gray sweater that swooped gracefully from her neck. Somehow she still looked alluring despite the contrast of the snug and loose garments. Her hair was swooped up in a knot above her head, little tendrils draping around her neck in soft curls.
I wanted to tear those curls out and shove them down her throat. Instead, I turned to Mikhail and nodded, ignoring Josh and Nik as they entered.
“You asked for me?”
“Yes. Let me introduce you to Danielle. She’s in need of a host.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
Mikhail sighed. “You need a human to drink from, she needs someone to keep her.”
I glanced at the young girl. She couldn’t be more than fifteen or sixteen. “I can’t afford to keep a human. You know that.” I knew it was a better argument against Mikhail than “I don’t want to.”
“Technically the seethe will pay for her keeping, for now. This is still cheaper than you consuming our blood bag supplies.”
“I don’t know if I can control myself,” I said in a whisper, though she could obviously still hear me.
“Nik and Josh will make sure that you don’t harm her.”
“You’re asking me to bite into her neck. By definition, I’m harming her.”
“She wants this. And I’m commanding you,” Mikhail said with finality.
I swallowed against the sudden tension on my throat. There was an unspoken threat hanging in the air and it sent a shiver up my spine. The worst was I knew he was right, I needed to have my own food source, eventually. I glanced back at the young girl.
“I want this,” she said, rather daringly.
I looked around, trying to avoid her anxious expression. The other vampires all looked frustrated with my obstinacy. I suddenly caved, too tired, hungry, and emotional to fight them any longer.
“Fine.”
Danielle bounced up, immediately shifting her hair off her neck. My fangs were in place before she made it across the room. I was concerned by how excited she seemed for me to drink her blood, but I was also beyond giving it too much thought.
I glanced at Josh, pointedly ignoring Nik. “Please,” I said, knowing I didn’t need to finish the request.
He nodded before carefully placing his hands on my shoulders. I spotted Danielle’s poorly hidden eye roll. She obviously didn’t realize how dangerous I could be. I bent toward her neck slowly, trying to make sure I was still in control.
My teeth sank through her skin like a hot knife through butter. I sucked experimentally, still holding tight control over my mental facilities. The blood filled my mouth and I swallowed, content for the first time in a long, long time.
I’m not sure how long I drank, but eventually I felt a firm tug on my shoulders. I released the young girl and licked my lips. Danielle slumped against the back of the couch, her hand going to her neck. Emma was already at her side with a large bandage.
“No, let me do that,” I ordered. I glanced back at Josh. “Did I fight you?” I honestly couldn’t remember.
“Not too much. You’ll learn to know when to stop by listening to her heart.”
I nodded before going to Danielle and covering the wound I’d made. “Sorry if I hurt you,” I said, determined to continue to see her as a human and not a portable soda machine.
She smiled faintly and nodded.
“Where will she stay?” I asked, turning to Mikhail. Unless they put bunk beds in my room, she couldn’t stay with me. Besides, I doubted I would be able to sleep her heartbeat pounding in my head.
“We have a dormitory for the humans who reside within the seethe. Jim, please take care of Danielle’s needs.”
Jim nodded and escorted the human from Mikhail’s office.
I have to admit, I felt worlds better than I had since the last time I fed on a human, whenever that was.
“Now, Ashley, I want you to go to your apartment and pack up your things,” Mikhail continued, all business. “We need you to stay here for a while, until we know this situation is truly settled.”
“How long will that be?” I demanded.
“I don’t know.”
Another shiver ran down my spine at Mikhail’s tone of voice. I really needed to learn to keep my mouth shut.
I nodded. “What about my cat?”
Mikhail heaved a large sigh of annoyance. “Fine. You can bring the cat.”
“My dog’s gonna love that,” murmured Josh.
“Your dog?” demanded Mikhail.
“The ghost.”
“Oh, right. Get out of here,” the primus ordered.
We all trudged out and headed toward the side stairs. I did my best to ignore Emma, happy to let her walk beside Nik as the hierarchy dictated. I glanced at Josh, wondering how in the world I was going to clear the air between us. I didn’t want to talk about last night, but I wasn’t sure if I could avoid it with him.
Of course, I couldn’t really talk to him about kissing Nik when Nik and his ex were both present. Talk about awkward. Then again, why was it any of his business? It’s not like I was dating Josh. Why should he care if I kissed someone else?
My insides roiled with conflict as I followed the others out to the car. Today, we drove one of the enormous SUVs that Mikhail used whenever he left the seethe. I’m pretty sure the inside was as large as the room I had in the bunker—not impressive as rooms go, but enormous for something on four wheels. Josh and I climbed in the back, leaving the front, heated seats for the bitch and her boy.
Boys are dumb. Have I mentioned that lately?
I crossed my arms, prepared to have a good pout while we drove to my apartment. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Josh shift his attention out the window, and there it remained for the entire journey. Granted, it’s not exactly a long way to my apartment.
From the front seat I could see Emma stealing glances at Nik, and once she even glanced over her shoulder at us. Evidently she was sensing the unspoken tension building between the three of us. I was just about to scream something random just to snap everyone out of their mood when we pulled up to my apartment building.
In continued silence, we trekked through the wet courtyard toward the door that led up to my second story studio apartment. I held my forefinger up to my lips, signaling them to be silent before we tiptoed up the stairs. I noticed Emma rolled her eyes as I did so, evidently she wasn’t one for common courtesy, or maybe she just didn’t like lil ol’ me telling her what to do.
We made it up to my apartment, where I unlocked the door and ushered them in. Like everyone else who’s ever visited me at my apartment, Emma took two steps in and stopped. She slowly turned to take in the entirety of my living/sleeping space. The room held my desk, a full-size bed, a dresser, and a tiny nook for my kitchen. Tereus was just stretching out his back legs after a nap as we entered. He plopped down on his haunches
and stared at us.
“Welcome to my home. I used to have a roommate, but…”
“Very funny,” I said from the doorway.
Emma’s eyes rounded out as she stared at my talking cat.
“Emma Tanner, meet Tereus, my cat-slash-fae. Tereus, meet Emma, Nik’s ex and my own personal nightmare.”
“Feeling’s mutual, darling,” she said with a playful smile. “Your place is… charming.”
I ignored her and scooped Tereus up before walking into the kitchen. I held him close. He wasn’t the type of cat to enjoy being picked up, and I only did it when I was really hurting. He purred, knowing something was very wrong. Tereus rubbed his head against my chin and purred even louder. At least I could talk to him once we were alone. It wasn’t the same as Chloe, but it was better than nothing.
“All right, Ash, what do you want us to pack up?”
“Well Mikhail didn’t exactly say how long I’d be at the seethe.”
“We’re just getting the essentials. If he decides you need to stay longer than a week or two he’ll send someone to put the rest in storage.”
“Great,” I sighed. “Let’s start with clothing, my writing supplies, and cat stuff.”
“You’re taking me with you this time?” the cat asked.
“Yep. Time to visit the seethe.”
His purrs stopped suddenly and he wiggled out of my arms. Evidently he didn’t like the plan.
“Just think, you can chase the ghost dog around,” said Josh from the doorway, where he was trapped by Nik and Emma’s stationary bodies.
Four people in my apartment was pushing its maximum capacity. Hopefully the fire marshal wouldn’t stop by. Josh shifted his grip on the collapsed moving boxes, the plastic bag with the rolls of packing tape looped over his wrist.
Tereus jumped onto the bed and glared at Josh. “Lovely,” the cat growled.
“Let’s just get this over with,” I said. Despite sleeping through the day, I felt exhausted, and I just wanted to go back to the solitude of my room.
We had worked in near silence for about half an hour, only speaking when the work required it, when we heard a loud thud against my one window. My first thought was that a large bird had hit the window, but that didn’t make sense. It was night. Birds run into windows when they can’t tell there is a window in their way.
We stared at each other for a few seconds, each hoping someone else would explain it. Finally, when I was going to suggest my stupid bird theory, Nik crossed to the window and flicked the curtains away. Hovering on the other side of the window was a creature I had never seen.
It was a weird mix of woman and bird—evidently, my theory was half correct. The woman parts looked as though they belonged to a woman who had once been exquisite, but hadn’t really aged well. The skin was wrinkled, cracked even, and her hair flowed down her back in great billowing waves. Her wings were enormous, blocking our view of the world beyond as they kept her midair. Along with wings she had human-ish arms that ended in long, razor-sharp claws. The body was mostly human, with carefully placed feathers to cover up the delicate bits. Her legs were a little more muscled than a normal woman’s and ended in another set of dangerous-looking talons. She opened her mouth in a grin and we got a clear view of her long, pointed teeth.
They put our fangs to shame.
“Nik?” I whispered.
“Harpies.”
“I only see one.”
“There’s more, trust me. We need to go, now!”
“Can’t we just hide out in here?”
“They’re not vampires! They don’t need an invitation to come in, and they’ll tear this place apart if need be.”
Without further argument, I picked up Tereus. Josh gathered up the box that held the cat supplies while the others collected a box each. It left a lot behind, but we could always come back later.
We charged down the steps, forgetting to be quiet in our urgency to draw the harpies away from my neighbors. I pushed the exterior door open with my shoulder and instantly regretted it.
Before I had managed to get more than two or three steps away from the building, I felt sharp talons rake across my shoulder. I dropped Tereus and fell to the ground, hoping to avoid another attack. Thankfully, I didn’t land on my cat.
“Run,” I ordered, hoping he would at least make it to the car. “The black SUV.”
Tereus didn’t need a second injunction. He pelted across the courtyard to the nearest pot of dead greenery and hid himself under the giant bush.
I felt the pressure of moving air and rolled to my side just in time to see the hideous fae diving directly at me. My sudden movement angered it, and it let out a piercing shriek of defiance. It pumped its wings to regain altitude for another dive. I rolled onto my knees and made it to my feet before turning back to face my enemy. It was already diving at me. I waited till the last second, the adrenaline pumping through me like a drug, and dove for the cover of the building, leaving the beast to try and check its downward descent. It didn’t manage to break fast enough and slammed talons first into the pavement.
As I ran I spotted Nik and Emma dragging a harpy out of the sky by its talons and slamming it into the pavement, repeatedly. Yikes! Remind me not to piss them off…again.
Josh was standing in front of the pot where Tereus hid, swiping at the incoming harpies with a tiny gardening shovel. One arm already showed signs of attack, plus a long cut on his cheek bled freely.
A stab of metaphorical pain took my breath away. I had just hurt his feelings, yet there he was, risking his life for my bloody cat. A sudden resolve to fix the hurt I’d caused steadied me as I watched him duck away from another attack.
I took off toward him, stupidly forgetting there were other harpies flying through the air. A warm body collided with me, knocking me to the ground. Before I could figure out what had just happened I felt claws wrap painfully around my shoulders. I was lifted into the air. I kicked and jerked with all my might, trying to loosen the beast’s grip, but the more movement I made the more its sharp talons dug into my flesh. I felt tears of pain and fear prick my eyes and roll down my cheeks.
This time they might just manage to kidnap me.
The harpy had made it about six feet into the air when the night sky lit up with a blaze of fire, which, naturally, hurled itself in our direction. The fae tried to dodge the attack, but was a second too slow. The fireball clipped the animal’s wing, sending it into a spiral toward the hard pavement.
We landed with a thud, and I let out a cry of pain as the impact broke a bone in my leg. Before I could do more than catch my breath, Emma ran to my side and planted her fancy fur-covered boots on the beast’s neck. She drove the heel, which looked like it had been coated with some sort of decorative metal, into the fae’s throat. The beast let out one last gurgling scream before going limp.
Great! Now I owed the bitch.
She smiled down at me briefly before running to engage the next enemy.
She could run in heels? What couldn’t she do? I did my best to ignore her and looked up to see how many were left. Let’s just say too many!
Without trying to count, I spotted five harpies still in action. I worked to drag myself toward the building, giving my leg time to heal. Hopefully, Danielle’s blood was extra fortified. Once I made it to the building, I rolled over to see if I could spot the person flinging fire around. I had a sneaking suspicion I already knew who it was.
I spotted two figures at the entrance of the courtyard. One of them was easy to recognize; the other was stooped and leaning on a cane. Despite the person’s physical handicap, she powered her spells with a might I had never seen before. Lauren’s fireballs were miniscule compared to what the old lady managed. Lauren’s spells, however, were better aimed. The old lady sent one directly into my apartment. I cringed as I watched nearly all my possessions go up in smoke.
I didn’t have a chance to do more than sigh in resignation when the harpies let out one last cry of disgust and fl
ew away. A quick glance at the courtyard showed three dead harpies lying on the ground.
I climbed carefully to my feet, noticing my left foot was pointing in the wrong direction. I put a little weight on it and was disgusted to see the bone had already healed. They’d have to re-break it.
This day just kept getting better and better.
Lauren and her master walked over to where I stood on one foot. Lauren’s master took a good, long look. She leaned on her cane with one hand and carried a battered briefcase in the other. Her face was wrinkled, half of it looking extra relaxed, as though she’d suffered a stroke at some point in her life. Her hair was done up in fluffy curls, like so many old, white-haired ladies. On top of her fluffy hair sat a black, pill-box hat with feathers that drooped in the spitting rain. She wore a purple sweater over the top of a lime green and white polka dotted dancing dress. Her feet were clad in miss-matching slippers.
Emma and Nik ran up to where we stood. Josh scooped up Tereus and followed.
“Edith,” Nik said as they reached us.
“You’ve gotta stop burning Olympia down,” I said before Nik could continue. Maybe the pain was destroying my filter. More likely I just didn’t have one.
“I didn’t get this sorta complaint when I conquered Tyre,” the wizard murmured as she tilted her head up to look at me, water dripping from her sodden feathers and into her eyes. She blinked furiously before glaring at me as though the water attack had been my fault.
“We need to warn your neighbors,” said Josh as he stroked a seriously pissed off Tereus. He liked my apartment just as much as I did.
“Oh no, it won’t spread,” explained the wizard.
Evidently, she was better at containing her poorly-aimed spells than her apprentice. I glanced at Lauren who grimaced, knowing what my look meant. I smiled to take the sting from the exchange.
“Ash, your leg,” said Nik as he took in each of our battered bodies.
“Yeah. Took a fall.”
“I think now is the time to leave,” said Edith in a cryptic tone.
She had barely finished speaking when I heard the first distant sound of sirens. Either she was extremely gifted or she was extremely lucky. Considering the current state of my apartment, or what had been my apartment, I had a feeling she was gifted. Or maybe cursed.
The Series that Just Plain Sucks: The Complete Trilogy Page 42