Sensational Six: Action and Adventure in Sci Fi, Fantasy and Paranormal Romance

by Sasha White

  “Ah, fine. Never let us argue with werewolf instincts or feminine intuition. I’d like to suggest you and Detective Wagner get some sleep first, however.”

  “No argument. Have them ready to go at dusk. Call if you need us sooner.”

  I switched off the wrist-com to see Jack gaping at me. “You want the bum and the hooker? Sorry, the new zombie and succubus? And you also think we have time to nap?”

  “Just because all Hell’s trying to break loose doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of yourself.”

  “Words to live by,” Jack muttered.

  “Well, let’s hope.”

  Chapter 19

  We waited until Martin’s angelic escorts returned and confirmed that, sure enough, Tomio had wandered in to see how the others were doing. He’d been allowed to, without much fuss. Martin called in some additional angels for support and Jack and I left them to do their exorcisms.

  “Can’t be standard operating procedure for the hospital to let Tomio go in to visit every room,” Jack said as we headed back to the car.

  “Be happy he only visited the six who were involved. But, yeah, I’m sure he used influence.”

  “I’m betting you don’t mean that word the way I’d think.”

  “Right. Influence in this sense would be like, oh, similar to what Ken used on you to keep you from realizing what was going on at the start of all this excitement. Only, the Prince and his minions use it differently. It’s just a nudge, usually.”

  “A nudge to do what?”

  “To do what they want.”

  “Didn’t Ken make me do what he wanted?”

  “Yes, but it took more effort than influence.” I tried to think about how to explain it. “It’s like…you’re the nurse on the floor. A patient comes out of his room. He’s recovered, he’s nice and friendly, he seems genuinely concerned about these other patients. He wants to see them to reassure himself they’re going to be okay, give them the old encouraging words, and so on. The nurse knows she isn’t supposed to let him. Influence shoves just a little bit, so the nurse says, sure, okay, go ahead, what can it hurt? In her mind, she never felt the influence and she’s made the decision herself.”

  “Okay.” Jack was quiet while we got in and he started the car up. “But, couldn’t vampires do that, too? I mean, isn’t that really what Ken did with me?”

  “Well, let’s think about that. We were in the middle of a danger situation. Would a gentle nudge have worked? How much shoving would someone have had to do in order to convince you that you didn’t want to get involved?”

  “Where are we headed? And, yeah, okay, a lot. So influence is used when it can be more, what, subtle?”

  “Yeah, that’s a good word for it.” I thought about it. Well, no time like the present. “Um, your place or mine?”

  Jack grinned. “I thought you’d never ask.” He shrugged. “Where will you feel the most comfortable?”

  I thanked the Gods and Monsters for the seatbelt. He made me want to roll and whine without even trying. I really hoped this wasn’t going to end disastrously. “Well, my place has the convenience of an easy slide in and out of Necropolis.”

  “Let’s go there, then. By the way, Ken warned me about sliding, but it wasn’t hard at all. But I can’t see Necropolis now, even though I’ve been trying to.”

  “Be thankful. It’s hard to see both at once. I tend to focus on wherever I’m really supposed to be at any given time, it’s easier.”

  “But if you wanted to, you could see Necropolis now?”

  “Yeah.” I knew what request was coming.

  “Where are we, in Necropolis?”

  Happily, by now we were near my apartment. “We’re in Enforcement Housing. Dammit!” I slammed my eyes shut.

  “What? What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. We just drove through a phalanx of beings. But not really.”

  “Huh? There’s no one here.”

  “In Prosaic City, it’s still early morning and only the trash guys are out, yes. In Necropolis, the Day Shifters are coming on duty. There are tons of beings out and about.”

  “Did we hurt anyone?” He sounded tense. I could understand – it was hard to comprehend.

  “No. Two different planes of existence, intersecting here. On our side of things, we choose to see the human side as, oh, holographic images, I guess. Almost as moving background. Undeads are used to living in more than one plane. The unborn – those born as an undead of some kind – they have no learning curve. They see all the planes their species can with ease and without issue. Those of us who become undead, well, it’s a little harder, but you adjust fast.”

  “What about humans?” He pulled into my underground parking garage. Conveniently, we had visitor parking underground, too. I lived in a good building, one of the perks of an Enforcement job.

  “It’s very hard for humans. Makes most of them go crazy.”

  Jack was quiet as he found a parking place. “Artists, human artists. Do they see the other planes?”

  And yet another reason I panted after this guy – he was smart and intuitive. “Yes, most of them. Some don’t realize it, some think they dream it, some know, and that knowledge puts them over the edge.”

  “All artists?”

  “Most. All the creative types, yeah. Their gift and their curse, I suppose.”

  “Why don’t the undeads help them?”

  We got out and headed up into my building. Because we were talking about it, my ability to focus on one plane or the other wasn’t functioning well. Fortunately for me, I’d been purposely housed in this location because it was one of the few areas where Prosaic City’s layout coincided with Necropolis’. High-rise apartment in Prosaic City on top of and next to high-rise Necropolis Enforcement Housing. I wasn’t the only undercover agent, and all of us housed here.

  I was on the top floor of the Prosaic City building. As we rode the elevator – and I watched a group of banshees and succubae flying up the side of the other building on their ways home – I answered Jack’s question. “It’s cruel to let someone sit in a sort of madness, yes. At least, in a way. But it’s crueler to take away their gift, the thing that sparks their creativity. It’s like killing them but leaving them alive, and not in the undead way of being alive.”

  “Why don’t you make all the humans undeads? You all seem so much…I don’t know, better than we are.”

  “We have our foibles and failings, just like humans do. Some more than humans do. Besides, we can’t make everyone an undead. The universes need humans, too. The gods need them. Heck, even the monsters need them, and I mean the monsters like Slimy, not the monsters like me.”

  “You’re not a monster,” he said softly. “None of the people I’ve met last night and today are monsters. You’re just…different.”

  “Yeah. With some serious dietary challenges. But…thanks.”

  He smiled. “No need to thank me.” We got out of the elevator and Jack looked around. He’d been here before, to pick me up for shift, usually. But now he looked like he was seeing it for the first time. “How do you afford to live in a penthouse suite on a cop’s salary?” he asked as we went inside.

  “I can’t. Necropolis Enforcement pays for it as needs of the assignment.”

  “Why didn’t I ever ask that before?”

  I grinned. “Well, because you were influenced not to notice.”

  “You can influence?”

  I snorted. “Hardly. Not a werewolf gift. But one of our stronger warlocks cast an influence spell on my building and my apartment in particular. Any human comes up or in, they don’t notice that it’s more pricey than I should be able to afford.”

  “But, I’m a human.”

  “You’re also a human in the know, now. The spell can’t work on you anymore.”

  Jack looked around. “Nice place. Always been nice, but I feel like I’ve never really looked at it before.”

  “You probably haven’t.” I took his hand. “This is the
human side. I’d rather sleep on the Necropolis side.” I walked us through the outer wall of the human building, stepped through the outer wall of the Necropolis building, and into what I considered the other half of my home.

  Jack gaped. “That was amazing!” His head swiveled like he was an owl. “I can still see the human side.”

  I was shocked but kept that to myself. “Don’t try to slide over without my help, at least not until you get good at it, okay?”

  He nodded, still looking around like a tourist. “You know, put together, you have an incredible layout here.” He looked out the window and whistled. “And what a view!” He went to the outer wall side and looked. “You know, I can see the Prosaic City view from here, too. This place, well, these places are great.” He sounded ready to move in.

  I was just this side of suggesting it, but my vision started to blur. Jack was enthusiastically in my home and adapting to my life with rapid ease, but all I wanted was to get undressed and go to bed. I wasn’t even sure if I had the energy to be amorous, which almost worried me, considering I’d fantasized about being in this situation with him for over a year. I wondered if I was getting a fever or something.

  Jack stopped examining my dwelling and looked at me. “You look beyond exhausted. I know I am. Will this sound like a total letdown if I suggest that we go to bed but worry about seeing how compatible we are in bed after we wake up?”

  I couldn’t help it. I rubbed up against him. “Not a letdown at all.”

  He grinned and put his arm around me. “Then why are you rubbing up against me with a come-hither look?”

  We headed into the bedroom. I wanted to lie, but I was too tired. “It’s a wolf or canine thing.”

  “A good thing?”

  “Yeah.” I managed to keep from sharing that it indicated he was either my mate, my pack leader, or both. One more manly, thoughtful, or sexy statement or action out of him and I’d end up deciding I wasn’t too tired to go for the gusto right now. After all, we’d be lying down, so resting. In a way.

  Jack nuzzled my hair. “Well, as long as it’s good.”

  I held onto my resolve by a claw. We separated and got undressed. I let my clothes drop. He folded his neatly and put them on the chair in the room. Well, neatness was a good trait. I hoped he wasn’t looking for it in his girlfriend, of course.

  I managed not to drool when he took his underwear off but only by focusing on being tired. He had a great body and was clearly going to be the alpha male in any pack. I reminded myself that he was tired, too, and what we needed more than anything was to sleep so we could get back on the case, refreshed and energized.

  We slid into bed and, in an effort not to seem either like I was about to hump his leg or like I was frigid, I snuggled my back up against him. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed my ear. “Just out of curiosity,” he whispered, “what do you want me to make you for breakfast, since we’re skipping dinner?”

  That last claw holding onto restraint slipped off the side of Lust Mountain. I rolled onto my back. Thankfully, before I went into the full-on whining, rolling and undulating thing I couldn’t stop when I was this tired and around this appealing a male, Jack rolled on top of me and kissed me.

  Really, tired or not, it was a lot better than sleeping.

  Chapter 20

  I woke up alone in bed, brain fuzzy and nose going crazy. Someone was cooking and the smell made my stomach growl and my mouth water. It was still daylight, but I could tell it was late afternoon.

  I crawled out of bed, tossed a long t-shirt on, and trotted to the kitchen. Jack was there in his underwear, cooking up a storm. He grinned as I came in. “I woke up starving. You were out, but I figured the sooner we ate, the better.”

  I sat at the little table I had in the kitchen. The Prosaic City side of my home had a dining room area, but I only used it if I had to. I ate the majority of my meals here. I noted he’d already set the table.

  “So, you’re like the perfect man?”

  He laughed. “Don’t know about that. But I’m a bachelor and I don’t like to eat out every meal. Glad you have a well-stocked fridge. Impressive deep freeze, too.”

  “Werewolves have to have food available for whenever the hunger hits.” At least those of us who didn’t want to go create more werewolves via unwilling participants or perpetrate the bad stereotypes had well-stocked freezers and pantries. It was just good sense.

  “I guess so. You said sausages were good, right?”

  I had to wipe the drool. “Yeah. Are they ready yet?”

  Jack chuckled. “Almost.”

  There was coffee percolated and he already had the orange juice on the table. I wondered if it would mark me as ridiculously eager if I proposed marriage right now. Probably.

  He dished up and presented my plate with a flourish. “The kitchen hopes this is to the lady’s liking.” There were three kinds of sausages, breakfast potatoes, scrambled eggs, toast with butter and jam, and sliced fruit. It was like I’d gone out to one of the nicer breakfast eateries – I’d certainly never seen food this lovely in my own home before.

  I managed to wait until he seated himself, forced myself to say grace, which caused a raised eyebrow but no questions from Jack, and then waited until he picked up his stainless steel flatware. Silver, even silver-plate, isn’t good for werewolves.

  As soon as he started, I dove in. I’d spent years being sure I was still able to eat like a human, but I hadn’t had food for going on twenty-four hours, and hunger is a dangerous thing with my kind. I wolfed my food, literally. I tried not to, but I was starving,

  I finished well before Jack did. He smiled, got up, took my plate, went to the stove, and returned with a new plateful of food. “I like a girl with a healthy appetite.”

  “Thank the Gods and Monsters.” This serving I could eat a little more slowly. The third plateful I could eat like a human. I finished plate three when he finished plate one. I managed not to burp, but only just. “You’re a great cook.”

  He grinned. “Glad to hear it. You always pack away that much food?”

  “Yeah, pretty much.” Not in front of him before now, though. He’d only seen me eat like a human girl before. I wondered if I’d blown it.

  “I’m amazed you stay so tiny. Is it because you burn it off?”

  “I guess. And I’m not that small, I’m just a lot smaller than you.” This was true. I wasn’t going to be mistaken for either a skeleton or a slime monster – I was an average-sized female, at least as far as I’d ever seen. “It takes a lot to get a fat werewolf. Our metabolisms run high, and we have to eat well and frequently, or we start to go…a little on the bad side.”

  “I can imagine. You need more?” He sounded ready to cook again.

  “Nope, that was great. I’m full and ready for a nap. Not that we have the time.”

  Jack reached across the table and took my hand. “Wish we did, but I know you’re right.” He took a deep breath. “Last night, well, I guess, this morning….”

  I tried not to tense up. Tired or not, being with Jack had been fabulous. I’d felt relaxed and happy as well as aroused beyond belief. I wanted to pray on this one, but held it. If it hadn’t been that way for him, there wasn’t anything Yahweh or any other god could or should do about it.

  He stroked my hand with his thumb. “It was…really special for me. I…I know it’s kind of fast, and it’s going to sound kind of high school-ish, but…you want to go steady?”

  I let out the breath I’d been holding. “I never went to high school.” Whoops. Not exactly the smooth response I’d been shooting for. Found myself wishing I was in werewolf form as I felt my cheeks get hot.

  Jack just smiled. “Not sure if I can take that as a yes or if that was a nice way of saying a human just can’t stack up to the undead guys.”

  “You more than stacked.” Wow, perhaps, somewhere, I could get a coherent, non-stupid sentence out about this. Not right now, perhaps, but was someday too much to hope for?r />
  He grinned. Either he thought this was cute or he liked idiots. Maybe both. I hoped for cute. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I’d really like to be in a monogamous relationship with you.” Hmmm, not better, really. Now I sounded like I was trying for the Stuffiest Girlfriend award.

  Jack started to laugh. “Is there a way that undeads do this that I could learn, just to make it easier?”

  “No, not really.”

  He stood up, helped me up, and pulled me into his arms. “You’re mine, I’m yours, no one else in between. Yes or no?”

  “Yes.”

  I was rewarded for brevity and coherence by him kissing me. I was then further rewarded by another round of truly amazing mating. All in all, it was a cheerful way to start the night.

  Chapter 21

  Fortified with food and sex, we showered and I dressed.

  “I should have washed these or something,” Jack said as he stared at his clothes. Still folded neatly? Yes. Ready to wear? Not so much, really. They’d been through a lot the night before. “I’d put them on, but, uh….”

  “They reek, yeah. Fortunately for you, we undead have our ways.” I called Maurice. “You up and about?”

  “Yes, and don’t you sound all relaxed and satisfied. The human came around? Pun completely intended.”

  “Funny you ask. I need a set of men’s clothes, pronto.”

  “What, you ripped them to shreds or something? I mean, I know werewolves can get into it but –”

  “We were too tired to do laundry,” I interjected quickly. “And we need to get out there on the Beat. I know you either know where Jack’s apartment is or where you can get him another set of clothes without issue. Do the mist thing, or whatever, and help me out.”

  “My sister’s your best friend. Why doesn’t she get these kinds of calls?”

  “Because you’re far more adept at this kind of thing and you know it.”

  He sighed. “Too true, too true. Be there shortly. Please have Mister Yummy greet me at the door. I’ll take that as payment.” He hung up, snickering.