by Shen Hart
Once she was draped over me, entirely accepting of my direction I whispered, "I heard there's some bad things hidden in the shadows of this city."
Her body stiffened a little, bringing me to place my hand on her lower back, a comforting and protective gesture that quickly calmed her. "There are shadows everywhere, but I'm not connected to those circles."
I pressed my cheek to hers, softly nuzzling her neck. "Do you know of the sirens?"
She whimpered quietly and thought to pull away from me, I grazed my teeth over her exposed shoulder and held her tight. "I know those wretched creatures have been vanishing, but nothing more."
I nuzzled her neck once more and nibbled on the tip of her ear, which led to her melting into me, I felt goosebumps run up her arm… "Shame."
With that, I ran my hand over her hip and left her there. She stood and watched me for a moment with large puppy eyes and a vaguely dazed expression before she melted into the crowd and I danced alone once more.
I lost myself in the music and allowed my mind to wander, trying to pull together the scant bits of information we had. Sirens clearly were not liked, which was hardly a surprise, given their habits. Ferals, shifters, and many other creatures including fae harmed others, but they at least fit into society and lived by the multitude of unspoken rules and guidelines. Sirens, however, appeared every few years, set up a territory and killed some innocent people before leaving again. They made no attempt at becoming part of the established society, instead they took what they wanted and left. They were of no benefit to anyone, outside of the black market traders who made a nice profit from the parts they took on the rare occasions they got their hands on them.
Sirens weren’t put on the black market very often, which pushed the cost of their parts up purely by lack of availability. Very occasionally some poor fool would think that he, as it was always a man, could handle one as a slave. They were always wrong. No one could handle the wretchedly high-strung princesses as slaves. Those with good sense dissected them and sold the various parts to the highest bidder. Their vocal chords were revered by some dark corners of humanity, mainly in desperate love spells. The hair was strong and demons cherished it for jewellery and binding creatures to them. The list went on.
I needed to find my way into the black market. I had to get close to some important people, but unfortunately, I'd likely pissed off anyone and everyone who could have been of use. I idly wondered if my feminine wiles would be enough to get me what I needed. If not, the jaguar side was more than happy to use more brutal methods. I was trying to think if anyone in the local area owed me a favour when a deep, husky voice cut through my thoughts.
"It has been a long time since I saw a woman quite as beautiful as you."
I snapped myself out of my internal world and looked at the tall, broad, dark-blond-haired man standing before me. He had a slightly crooked, confident smile sat on his face. I had no doubt said smile was incredibly sexy to a lot of women, but I couldn't help wanting to smack it off his face. I didn't bother responding with words. Instead, I raised an eyebrow and gave him a look of ‘does this really work...?’
He moved closer to me, and I realised that he wasn't alone. Three other men of a similar build and bone structure were just behind him and were slowly moving their way around to surround me.
I crossed my arms and allowed the jaguar to deepen my voice and add the threatening growl, "What do you want?"
He pouted at me, still attempting to be sexy and seductive. "My friends and I are going to show you a fantastic time tonight..."
I curled my lip and couldn't help noticing the icy energies and slight golden glow surrounding them. Nephelim. I hated nephelim. If I had my way, I'd wipe the entire species of arrogant, self-righteous, self-involved, entitled assholes off the planet. He wrapped his large hand around my wrist, and the charming smile began to look more like a serpentine smile.
"You aren't going to disappoint us, are you?"
I fluttered my eyelashes and leaned in close to him while cupping his balls. I squeezed hard and began to twist when I said, "You have two seconds to get out of my sight before I castrate you."
They closed in around me while blondy gritted his teeth and tried to prize my hand off his balls while holding my wrist in a death grip with his other hand. I'd heard about groups of stupid nephelim that took people away for 'wild nights', and I had no interest in being one of them.
When he finally managed to free his balls he glared at me, saying "You shouldn't have done that."
I smiled and said, "No, I should have ripped them off immediately rather than giving you a chance."
His grip was crushing my wrist, but I refused to show any response. I glanced around at the others. They towered over me and were lightly fingering hilts of small daggers. I sighed and wondered how I got myself into these situations before a familiar voice came to my rescue.
"Is there a problem here?"
I smiled, and for once was happy to have the cubs. I looked behind me to see Nik and Ryan with their arms crossed. I wasn't one to be rescued by guys, but I also wasn't stupid enough to take on something that could get me killed, or worse.
Blondy looked down his nose at Nik. "Not at all, we were just taking this delightful woman home."
Ryan moved closer to me and said, "I don't think so."
Blondy finally let my wrist go and I prepared to punch him in the throat, but Nik beat me to it. The next few minutes were a blur of chaos. There was shouting, flying fists, feet, pain, and blood. I tried to make sure that I didn't hurt the cubs, but there were times where I couldn't quite be sure - it was a tangle of limbs and pain. Finally it all settled, and I was standing in the middle of the dance floor with blood on my beautiful dress. The nephelim were practically running for the door… well, trying. They were limping speedily for the door, while other patrons looked on in confusion for a minute before they almost collectively shrugged and continued on with their night.
A thumb brushed my cheek, without thinking I wrapped my hand around the throat of the offending thumb's owner. "Suriel, you're fine..."
I scanned his face while still holding onto his throat. My mind wasn't quite working at its usual capacity, but that word, that silken voice brought it back firmly into focus. I threw my arms around his neck.
"Lee!"
He laughed softly and wrapped his arms around my ribs and nuzzled my neck. I had to ask, "What brings you here?"
He shrugged softly and kissed my jawline before pulling back a little and looking at the guys around me. "I was in the area."
I raised an eyebrow, "Sure...”
He was as wrapped up in higher dealings as I was. There was no way he was just in the area. I wasn't going to complain, though. I felt all of the stress from the past few days melt away with his presence.
He grinned. "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
I'd completely forgotten and felt bad instantly. They had just helped me out of a vile situation, after all. I turned and squeezed Ryan's arm. "Thank you, for helping me. This is Lee, he's an... old friend."
Alex had seemingly appeared from nowhere. He glared at Lee and growled, "Old friend is one way of putting it."
I ignored him, squeezed Nik's arm and turned to Lee. "This is Nik and Ryan, they're part of my pack and helped get me out of that situation those fuckwitted nephelim started."
Lee left his hand resting on my hip and looked up at Alex, openly challenging him. Dan showed up behind Lee. He tilted his head and grinned.
"Sam? Is that you?"
"Hey, how's it been?"
I ran my tongue over my teeth. "And how would you two know each other?"
Lee tried to give me his innocent look. I held up my hands. "I don't want to know"
A stilted, stiff laugh ran through the group. Alex took my hand gently in his and ran his fingertips over my wrist. "What happened?"
I hadn't realised quite how much damage the asshole had done to it. The skin was turning a delightful deep purple
, and I didn't have full use of my fingers in that hand. I pursed my lips and spat the word, "nephelim."
Alex's look darkened, if that was possible. He gritted his teeth and let my hand go. "Time to go home."
I put my arm around Lee's waist and kissed his cheek before whispering in his ear, "What are my chances tonight?"
He put his hand around the back my neck, digging his fingers into my hair before kissing me deeply. The shiver ran down my spine and I leaned into him as all thoughts fled my mind. It had been far too long since I'd enjoyed Lee. He tasted mildly of ginger and chocolate. The happy memories flitted around the dark recesses of my mind. It really had been far too long.
He rested his forehead on mine, a look of sadness filling his green eyes. "Sorry, Suriel. Soon, I hope. Soon."
I sighed softly and nodded. It was the nature of us.
13
Dan was quite confident that he had a couple of leads on the black market, which he planned on chasing down over the coming days. The boys went straight to bed when we got back to the apartment. I thanked Nik and Ryan again for their help with the nephelim. Alex refused to leave my side. He didn't say a thing outside of wishing the boys a good night.
I sat on the bed and looked at my wrist properly. I cursed the nephelim and hoped that my quicker healing ability would stop it from being too much of a problem. I tried to run my fingers over the wrist to feel out which bones were damaged and how badly, but the pain was too intense. I sighed and looked over to Alex who was already prepared. He set it as quickly and painlessly as possible before taking the damaged hand and moving his energies over the fingers and up the wrist. The cooling sensation was a welcome relief from the pain. I knew it was coming, though: the talk.
Once he was seemingly satisfied that he'd done what he had aimed to do with my wrist, he looked up into my face. His jaw was set and his eyes flashed with sparks of electricity while he fought to keep the wolf side under wraps. I pursed my lips and prepared myself for a fight.
He said through gritted teeth, "What happened at the bar?"
I shrugged. "I was dancing and thinking things through. A group of nephelim approached me and tried the shit they do. Nik and Ryan helped me get out of a bad situation. You saw the rest."
I tilted my head, "Speaking of which, where were you during all of that?"
I thought if I turned it on him, then I’d be able to shut it down and keep him from shouting at me, again.
"I was speaking to an old acquaintance who may have had some information to help us. He'll get back to me soon."
His icy tone made me bare my teeth. I didn't appreciate his attitude towards all of this. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to bring himself back into line. "I don't want you hurt, Thalia."
I shook my head and laughed quietly. "You know the trade we're in, Alex."
He nodded and rested his hand on my knee. "My feelings haven't changed."
I tried not to groan. I'd been avoiding this talk for a very long time, and I really wasn't ready to have it then.
I simply said, "I'm not doing this now."
He sighed and ran his fingertips over the palm of my hand in the same way he used to do all those lives ago. It was a small sign of affection we'd developed to ease each other when we were stressed. I gritted my teeth and felt an almost physical pain as the memories burst out of my internal box and flooded my mind. Tears streamed down my face.
"I cannot do this now, Alex. I can't. I won't. We have to show some vague semblance of a united front. Those damn Sisters may force us to share a bed, but that does not change the facts. I am not doing this now."
A couple of tears streamed down his cheek and he nodded before pulling his hand back. I brushed his tears away with my thumb and gave in to a moment of weakness. I kissed his cheek and turned away. "Sweet dreams. Try not to steal the blankets."
He offered me a small smile. "I'll try."
I tried to act as though everything was fine and normal. My mind, however, rebelled against me. I wracked my brains trying to pull together the tiny scraps of information we had at that moment. I needed to throw myself into something else, anything else.
** **
The following morning, I left Alex in bed and went out into the main living area to find Dan sitting on the sofa with a notebook in hand. It seemed like a particularly odd little scene, but I shrugged it off and sat next to him. I had to ask.
"What's the notebook for?"
He said, "Sometimes the ideas flow a little better when I do them the old fashioned way. The act of writing somehow helps pull the ideas together. Maybe it’s the pauses where my hands have to catch up, or the tactile sensations of the pen scratching the paper, I don’t know. I just prefer it on occasion."
I glanced down at his notes. His handwriting was oddly neat, for a guy. "Do you have some leads? Some ideas of where to go from here?"
"Maybe. I have some contacts here in the city. I haven’t dealt with them in a little while, but it’s always useful to keep those connections. They’re my kind of people, though. They’re not exactly upstanding citizens, if you know what I mean.”
I curled my lip, but I couldn't say too much. I hadn't been far from the same trade.
He looked up at me, "Should I expect you or Alex or tag along with me?"
I raised my eyebrow. I didn’t like his phrasing, but I let it slide. "You're not familiar with this pack idea at all, are you?"
He shrugged. "Not something I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with since I was very young, and that didn’t end so well. Anyway, it’s not like you handed us a handbook upon joining, now is it?”
I had to smile. A handbook wouldn't be such a bad thing. The gods knew I could use one sometimes. His tone was grating, but I took a deep breath and brushed it off. The topic of pack clearly had bad memories attached to it. I had to think that maybe he wasn’t quite so different from me, after all.
"I think I will go with you. If nothing else it will give me a change of scene, and of course I can watch how you do things and keep you in line.”
He nodded and seemed to ignore my latter comment. "I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to show up in your human form. The situation is… delicate. It needs to be handled very carefully and having someone else in human form wouldn’t do anyone any favours."
I grinned at him. "You think I'll screw it up?"
He spread his hands, looking at me. "You started a fight with a bunch of nephelim last night, you can’t blame me for being cautious. I don’t particularly want to fuck this up. I’m quite attached to my head."
I sighed and stood. "Yes, I did start the fight. I don’t appreciate your tone or insinuations, but I do see your point. Are you ready to leave?”
"Yes, but I’m not sure where you’re going to shift. I can’t just walk out the front door with a wolf.”
I grumbled under my breath. As much as the city appeared to be populated by a lot of non-humans, there wasn't much point in taking such a risk. "I'll have to duck in somewhere, won't I?"
Dan pulled a face that said he wasn't happy with that plan, but he stood anyway. I decided it was probably best to say it before he asked. I had no doubt he was dying to know either way.
"Lee is an old friend. No, he and Alex don't see eye to eye, and they never have. And yes, I have slept with Lee. Yes, Alex knows that. Anything else?"
He laughed. "I think you about covered it."
We ducked into a dark alley, where he kept watch and I shifted into my raven form. It was by far the least conspicuous of my three options, and it felt amazing. I shook off my feathers and hopped a couple of steps before I flapped my wings and felt the sheer joy of flight again. I kept going higher before I remembered why I'd shifted in the first place. I followed Dan from the sky, keeping some distance between us. The breeze running over my feathers and the pure freedom felt incredible. There was nothing pinning me down to the earth, just the air surrounding me and the wide open spaces to explore. The world was my playground.
I couldn’t resist gliding on the thermals, feeling the warm air slowly pushing me upwards in a steady spiral. Just going with the literal flow. The stress and worry were left behind on the ground. There was nothing but the knowledge and experience of the vast open space.
I wondered why I'd held back and not shifted for such a long time. I looked down to find Dan sat on a park bench under a large oak tree. I focused back on him and hoped that I hadn’t missed anything of importance. He gazed casually into the distance. I landed on a branch close enough to hear and see everything while remaining hidden in the dense foliage, or so I hoped. I resisted the urge to play. I wanted to hop up and down the branch and throw small twigs at him, but that was far too big of a risk. I fought with my energies to keep them tight down around me so that I looked and felt like a normal raven. I was out of practise and had to hope for the best.
I found myself hopping up and down the branch, which caused Dan to look up and glare at me. I couldn't help it. I wanted to play, and patience wasn’t something I was very good at. I wanted to know who the person was and what they knew. They were bound to be fascinating and have insight that would give me other new things to explore. That might even have a shiny or two that I could steal. I made myself settle down and focus. I had a job to do. Finally, a tall slender man approached Dan. He sat next to him on the bench. His long black coat covered most of his body, which was an oddity given the summer weather we were experiencing. The slight sibilance in his speech and the pallid tone of his skin made me think he was some form of serpent demon, but I didn't dare get any closer to confirm my suspicions. I desperately wanted to, but I restrained myself. Dan was tense and his speech was clipped. He was trying to control the conversation and failing. I looked around the local area and spotted what appeared to be an average dog walker at first glance, but something was very off. My curiosity was piqued.
I saw no reason not to indulge the curiosity. I might see something that Dan wouldn’t. That made the risk worth it. I took off and flew over the park to get a closer look at the man and his dog, both of which were approaching Dan. The dog was wolf sized with short, dense, almost red fur. It was thick set and very muscular, yet moved with grace and practised ease. It never paused to stop and sniff or mark its territory. It was entirely focused on Dan and the bench. I circled around trying to get a better look. A small brand sat on its flank. A hellhound. I'd never seen one in such a form before. All of the hellhounds I’d seen before had been big, black or black and red creatures. They were traditionally bound to one master, but occasionally one would be free, such as the girl I’d met in the bar.