“Taryn,” he broke the kiss with a low chuckle. “I thought you had something rather pressing to take care of?”
“Right, right,” I said, shaking my head to clear the fog. Carefully, Andre slid off of the desk and pulled out of me, setting me on my feet. I felt a sense of regret when he separated us. I knew I needed to find the witch that could help me, and fast, I was seriously starting to lose my control.
“So, you haven’t been able to find a witch who can help you?” he prompted, walking over to his wet bar and grabbing a towel to clean himself off. He held out another to me, and I took it, quickly wiping myself off before pulling my skirt back down over my hips and retrieving my discarded shirt and bra from the floor by the window.
“Oh, I’m sure I found some who could help me,” I said, hearing the anger building in my voice, “but I haven’t found any that would help me.”
“I see,” he said, nodding his understanding.
“I could use a glamour to hide my physical appearance as an elf,” I said while refastening my bra, “but witches can feel and smell magic just like the rest of us.” I pulled my shirt back over my head, adjusting it in the reflection of the window.
“Very true,” Andre agreed, he had put himself back together quickly and was pouring himself a scotch neat as he listened to me. I always found it very weird to know that vampires could drink things other than blood, but I had yet to see one try and eat anything.
“But they’re so guarded and mistrusting of any Fae they just wont help me, damnit,” I almost stomped my foot in frustration, the heady lust induced spell evaporating under my temper.
“Well, that behavior is understandable.”
“Look, I don’t agree with them giving the humans a way to overpower us, but I also understand the need for it. They didn’t have to turn their backs on their people.”
“I believe the ostracizing was on both sides, Taryn,” he said carefully.
“Whatever,” I said, waving a hand in the air to dismiss the argument. “Right now, I don’t really care about that. I just need help and no one’s willing to help me, no matter how much money I offer.”
“Because they don’t believe you.”
“This isn’t makeup,” I said, referring to the bite mark.
“True but it could be a glamour for all they know.”
“Look,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, my patience waning, “I don’t have the luxury to waste all night debating this. Do you know someone who can help me or not?”
“Of course I do,” he said easily, walking over to his desk with his glass. He lowered himself into the chair with a fluid grace I had never possessed. He lifted his glass to his nose, swirling the scotch inside, inhaling deeply as he reached with another hand for a small white card on his desk. He took a sip of his drink and held up the card between two fingers for me. I walked over to the desk and took it. I thought it was business card at first, but there was just a name and an address written in slanting delicate writing on it.
“Corbin,” I read the name aloud, there was no last name. “This is a witch?”
“One of the strongest in the city,” Andre said, leaning back in his chair and setting his right ankle on his left knee, completely at his ease.
“No last name?”
“No.”
“And he’ll help me?
“Yes,” Andre nodded slightly. “Just tell him I sent you.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
“Remind him of the gremlin incident.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.
“Never you mind,” Andre said, dropping his eyes and taking another small sip of his drink.
“Why are you doing this for me?” I asked, feeling a coil of mistrust building inside of me.
“Because I want to,” he said, lifting his soft blue eyes to my grey ones, giving me a level look.
“But why do you want to? We barely know each other. The second time we met I was helping to destroy one of your offices.”
“Yes, you were,” Andre agreed, chuckling quietly. “But I am partially responsible for allowing the Hunter to get away because of my club rules. I feel I owe you some help. And,” he paused, his eyes slipping down my body, making my skin run hot with the attention, before coming back up to meet my gaze. “I like you, Taryn Malloy. I would like to stay in your good graces on the chance you will come to see me again.”
“Oh,” I said a little lamely, feeling my cheeks grow warm under the compliment. “Well,” I said, trying to recover from my embarrassment. “Thank you,” I picked up my purse from his desk where I had set it before he came in and placed the card inside.
“You’re very welcome,” Andre said. He set his glass on the desk and stood, coming to his feet almost too quickly for even my elven eyes to follow. He was at my side before I could blink. He took my hand and led me to the door of his office, holding it open for me.
“See you,” I said as casually as possible, coming up on my toes to give him a light kiss before stepping through the door on to the rooftop patio.
“Taryn,” Andre said, stopping me.
“Yes?”
“Corbin will not be cheap. My name may get you in the door but whatever his price will be, I cannot say.” I wondered just what that was supposed to mean, but one look at Andre’s face told me I wouldn’t get a straight answer out of him. I nodded and took him at his word and turned away, walking towards the door that would lead into the club so that I could leave.
I hurried through the club, keeping my eyes averted and holding my breath; I didn’t have time for the bite to realize just where I was and get me sidetracked from my goal. Once out on the sidewalk I breathed in the crisp evening air, letting it burn my lungs and wash away the scents of sex and lust.
“Hey,” a male voice called out to me as I paused to dig the card with Corbin’s name and address on it out of my purse. “Hey, weren’t you the chick upstairs?” the man asked a little louder, the slur in his voice telling me he’d been drinking tonight. I closed my purse and studied the card, flat ignoring the human.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” he said, much closer to me now than he had been a moment ago. “Yeah, that was you,” he was on me now, bending to lower his face to my level. The smell of cheap beer wafted over my face, making me cringe.
“Please go away,” I said in a bored voice.
“That was quite a show! What’s say I get a turn?” He reached out a hand, trying to grab my waist. I snatched his hand, twisted it up and back until I heard his wrist snap. I might be female, but elves – really Fae in general – are much stronger than humans.
“No, thank you,” I said politely as I released his hand. He began to scream in pain, his eyes going wide as he held the useless hand in the other. His friend’s rushed to his side and I walked away, luckily no one followed me, I really didn’t want to waste any power on them; I had a feeling I was going to need it when I met this Corbin.
Corbin didn’t live too far from the club and at such a late hour it only took me a matter of minutes to drive over to the building where his apartment was. He was in a more rundown part of town than I expected based on Andre’s high recommendation. It felt more like an industrial park than a residential neighborhood. I stood outside my car, leaning against the door with my arms crossed over my chest and took in my surroundings; I was completely unfamiliar with this part of town and I wasn’t about to go charging in anywhere without knowing all of the possible escape routes first.
Corbin’s building was a duplicate of the ones to either side of it; about ten stories tall, rust colored in the pale street light with rickety iron fire escapes zigzagging along one side. I cringed at the sight of all that iron and was doubly happy for my tall leather boots – if I needed to use the fire escape they should offer me some protection from the painful metal. There were few working streetlights on this block, which both encouraged and discouraged loitering depending on your intentio
ns, luckily my elven eyes, now full of magic from Andre, could see through the shadows almost as easily as if it were daylight. There was a faint smell of sewage wafting up from the sewer drain at the end of the block. I crinkled my nose at the smell.
“Well, Taryn, what do you say?” I whispered to myself, knowing if I waited any longer I would just be stalling. I pushed off of my car and walked across the street to Corbin’s building. There was a security door and it was locked, just my luck. I scanned the list of names next to the intercom speaker, but there was no “Corbin” listed, not that I was surprised. Andre hadn’t told me his last name, but the apartment number was listed on the scrap of paper so I pushed the button next to the name “Eloise Smith” with a shrug. The buzzer sounded extraordinarily loud in the seemingly deserted street.
I heard a faint electronic click a few moments later, but no one spoke. I took a few steps back to look up the face of the building but I didn’t see life in any of the windows. I walked back to the speaker and leaned closer to it and spoke, “I’m looking for Corbin.”
I heard the electronic click again as if someone had taken their finger off of the intercom button, cutting me off. After the last few days of hostile attitudes I’d been faced with I could deal with this. So I waited and after another minute I heard the click again and again no one spoke.
“Andre sent me?” I offered, trying to keep my voice quiet, “he said you would help me. My name is Taryn Malloy.” The listener didn’t respond, but when I didn’t hear another click I felt hopeful. There was a sense of waiting, as if they were deciding something so I pushed a little more and said, “Andre also said, if you wouldn’t help me to remind you of the gremlin incident.” I kept my voice steady, wanting them to think I knew what I was talking about incase they argued, but again, there was nothing. I heard the electronic click cutting off our one sided conversation. I huffed and blew my bangs out of my eyes and just as I was about to turn back for the sidewalk I heard the buzzer of the door and the click of a lock sliding out of place.
With a sigh of relief I rushed and opened the door before he could change his mind. When I shut the door behind me I felt utterly alone in the dingy foyer. It looked like an old hotel from the beginning of the last century with art deco designs and real marble floors. Only the floor was still polished and beautiful, the rest was yellowed and sad, as if the owners had left town years ago and forgot to have anyone air it out occasionally. Flowers were long dead and brown in vases, windows in doors were broken. Anything brass was tarnished and a layer of dust coated all of the table tops. I cringed and made an effort not to touch anything as I walked towards the stairs. Even if the elevator was still working I had no desire to test it out. Corbin, according to my slip of paper, lived on the ninth floor, and I just didn’t trust anything mechanical in this place to carry me for ninety feet when the stairs were wide and sturdy.
There were dim lights along the walls as I climbed flight after flight of stairs, but I had a feeling, if I were human, they wouldn’t provide sufficient light to see by. I could feel the presence of life behind some of the walls as I passed, but none felt truly alive. I wondered if this were a place only inhabited by the Fae, the undead and one, reclusive witch. When I finally reached the ninth floor I realized most of the lights were out, leaving a long dark hallway stretched out in front of me. I pursed my lips and considered whether or not this was a parlor trick to scare off the faint of heart. I didn’t think Andre would send me somewhere he didn’t think I wouldn’t make it out alive. He had said it himself that he like me. Why then would he send me somewhere dangerous?
I took a step forward into the hall and realized that the life, what little there was, that I was feeling in the lower floors, was missing up here. It seemed as though this Corbin had the entire floor to himself. That was either a very good thing for me or very bad. I guess I would just have to wait to find out which. I tossed my hair over my shoulder with a shake of my head and started down the hallway. I kept my shoulders back and my head held up, trying to look more confident than I actually felt. Finally, after what felt like miles, I reached Corbin’s door. I knocked even though I was expected, but no one answered. After a full minute I knocked again, a little louder this time, but again there was no answer and I couldn’t hear anything on the other side of the door.
“Seriously?” I called out in frustration, but there was no response. I stared at the doorknob for a moment before I reached out for it. The door was unlocked so I pushed it open, letting it swing all the way open until it hit the wall behind it to ensure no one was hiding behind it. The air from the apartment was cleaner, fresher than the rest of the building and I breathed it in greedily.
“Hello?” I leaned over the threshold as I called out, glancing around. “Corbin?” I was looking into a sitting room, full of warm earth tones and rich woods, thick cushioned couches and what had to be thousands of books. The lighting was dim by human standards, but bright enough for my elf eyes to see clearly. Still no one answered me. I took a tentative step inside, crossing over the threshold. I felt a wash of power course over my body as I came into the room. I shivered under it, but it passed with little effort so I didn’t pay it much attention.
“Well at least you’re not lying,” a male voice spoke from somewhere deeper in the apartment, startling me. Witches may be magical people, but they were still humans, usually they couldn’t surprise the Fae.
“Excuse me?” I responded a little lamely. I grabbed the door and swung it shut, not wanting anything else to surprise me tonight.
“You said you needed help, if you were lying, you wouldn’t have been able to come in,” the disembodied voice explained. I could tell by the volume he was coming closer.
“No, I’m not lying,” I said dryly, but this little test was better than having a murder of crows set on me.
“So what is it that you want?” Corbin stepped out of the shadows of the hallway finally so that I could see him. He wasn’t tall by anyone’s standards, not even mine and I’m only five foot one, on a good day. If he was even an inch taller than me I would be surprised. He had a strong chin and shoulder length curling golden blond hair, from here his eyes appeared dark, I was guessing brown. I was surprised to see that his skin was bronzed from the sun; I had been expecting a pasty white recluse after all this pomp and circumstance.
“I need a spell,” I said.
“Yeah,” he smirked, “sure I kinda figured that much.” I bristled at his mockery and had to stop myself from spinning around and storming out. Andre said he could help me and I was desperate.
“I’ve been bitten,” I explained and saw him arch one eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. “I’ve been bitten by a Hunter. I’d like to get the bond removed. Andre seems to think you can help me.”
“A Hunter’s bite?” Both his eyebrows climbed up his forehead in surprise and he started across the room towards me. I felt my shoulders tense as he approached, but if he noticed he didn’t show it.
“Yes,” I said, trying to remain calm, “a Hunter’s bite.”
“May I see it?” his voice was softer now as he stood in front of me and he was in fact within an inch of my height. I nodded and pulled at the neck of my shirt so he could see the angry wound on my shoulder. He leaned forward to examine it and I had a moment to get a better look at him. His eyes were in fact brown, dark and haunted, seeming out of place in his boyish face. There was a cleft in his chin that made me want to reach out and press a finger to. I pushed that thought away when the bite on my shoulder pulsed as Corbin’s breath caressed my skin. He had high cheek bones and his nose was a little crooked, like it might’ve been broken at some point and wasn’t set right.
“It doesn’t look that fresh,” he murmured and I realized my throat felt tight so I just nodded in response. He was entirely too close. The bite on my shoulder pulsed again, making me close my eyes, trying to concentrate on anything but Corbin’s full pink lips and how close to my skin they were. He reached out a hand and his fin
gertips grazed my shoulder, making me jump back, hitting the door behind me.
“Don’t touch it!” I nearly yelled, making him jump back and snatch his hand away. My whole body shivered and my thighs clenched together. Apparently I hadn’t spent enough time with Andre as I had thought.
“Sorry,” he said, his brow was wrinkled as he started at me.
“I’m sorry I yelled,” I said, straightening my shirt and covering the demanding bite. “It’s just really sensitive and I don’t want to set it off,” I explained. “I don’t think you want to either.”
“What happens when you set it off?” he asked.
“It depends,” I said, looking away from him, desperately wanting to hurry this up and get out of here.
“On what?” he prodded.
“On how fast I react to it,” I said through gritted teeth. I didn’t like talking about the bite, the more attention I paid to it, the more it seemed to respond and right now I was pushing it.
“And if you don’t react to it?” I glared at him, feeling my anger rising, making my body run hot and the bite on my shoulder began to pulse in a steady beat.
“Well the last time I lost two days and woke up with a stranger in my bed,” I said bluntly, making him blink and after a moment laugh. “I’m glad you find this so fucking amusing.”
“I’m sorry,” he waved a hand at me as if trying to dismiss my comment. “It’s not that, you’re just so different than anyone I’m around these days. Humans aren’t as open about things like this and you surprised me.” He’d stopped laughing and that was the only reason why I hadn’t lashed out at him with an energy bolt and stormed out.
“Here,” he beckoned me with a wave of his hand and turned to walk, “come into the kitchen and we’ll talk about what we’re going to do.” I pushed away from the door and made sure I was steady on my feet before I followed him. His kitchen wasn’t large and the table and chairs in the middle took up much of the room. He had pots covering the stove and herbs hanging from the ceiling drying. It smelled of sweet spices and was warm. He pulled out a chair for me and went to pour us each a cup of tea. I glanced around and suddenly had a flash of the last time I was in a kitchen with a man. Daniel had taken me on the counter in my apartment.
The Elfbitten Trilogy Page 13