Of Humans and Monsters

by Candace Blevins

  He shook his head. “I need to keep you safe. I’ll watch over you while you swim.”

  “You can’t protect her from anything that could find her here,” said Nathan. “Apollonius only found us by following the trail of where we stepped into this reality with a wounded god. Give them some privacy to relax and recharge.”

  Chapter 23

  Mordecai brought a huge saw to the island, and between the two gods and the Amakhosi, it wasn’t long before Striker was cut into several dozen pieces. Before Cora and I left to get clean, I’d suggested it’d be good if we could reanimate him in under a month, should we have a need to use him in a bargain at some point in the future. We’d have to pull together the pieces Mordecai and Nathan knew about to have more than half of the reptile-god in one place.

  When Mordecai returned with the saw, he also brought a dozen steaks, a huge bag of potatoes, and everything necessary for me to make loaded baked potatoes. Cora cooked the steaks on the outdoor gas grill, and I once again marveled at how efficient the little hut could be. I didn’t want to wait an hour for the potatoes to bake, so I quartered them and put them on to boil. They’d be just fine with enough cheese, butter, and sour cream.

  “It’s unfortunate you had to disable Striker,” Mordecai said as we all sat down to eat a little over an hour later. “In the short term, you’ll be safer while Aquila and his ilk regroup without such a powerful ally, but in the long term I fear it will cause you more problems than it’s fixed.”

  “Yeah, well I have to stay alive in the short-term in order to be able to care about the long-term,” I retorted as I downed my decked-out potatoes in total bliss. Mordecai had brought a twenty pound bag of my comfort food — he couldn’t be too upset with me.

  “I’d like verification of how they figured out where I was taking the group for the night,” said Ryan. “No one’s ever found me when I didn’t want to be found.”

  “You aren’t used to dealing with our kind,” said Adonis. “Your methods will continue to work with the beings you normally come up against.”

  “We need to find out how the Celrau enlisted Striker’s help,” said Nathan. “If they have something big enough to entice him, they’ll likely be able to replace their lost guards with another race of equally powerful and hard to kill assholes.”

  I’d put a great deal of thought into this already. “I think we’re looking at it backwards. How would the Celrau be able to get people to create doorways between realms, and convince a god and demi-gods to do their bidding?” I shook my head because it didn’t play right for me. “I believe an evil entity stronger than even Striker is the mastermind, and he’s pulling various factions together like chess pieces — we know about the reptile monsters, a portion of the demons in Hell, and the Celrau. Who else could be involved that we might not know about? And I thought the evil beings left Olympia for Hell? How was Striker still in Olympia?”

  “It isn’t quite so simple as deciding between good and evil,” Mordecai answered. “Many in Olympia aren’t exactly good. For that matter, a whole lot of those who live on Mount Olympus could as easily be defined as evil as they could be seen as mostly good.”

  “How long will my key-thingie work for me to get in and out of Olympia, and does it just work in the valley, or can I get onto Mount Olympus too?”

  “As long as I don’t take it away, or until you die, whichever comes first,” answered Adonis. “You can go just about anywhere, including Mount Olympus, with the exception of the prisons and many of the private homes with more involved blocks. I don’t intend to call your permission back, but I implore you not to go there. You’ll be able to leave if kidnapped and taken there, and they won’t expect it the first time you escape. If they take you when they know you can leave, they have ways to keep you from stepping away.”

  “Will I be able to escape Hell if someone takes me there again?”

  Adonis and Mordecai looked at each other a few seconds before Mordecai answered. “Possibly, but I doubt it. There are blocks in hell as well, because you can imagine a whole lot of people are held against their will. However, even if you can’t step out of hell, the key Adonis gave you will help you find gateways. Unfortunately, you’ll have no way of knowing where the gateway leads, and whether you’ll be able to get home from there, or to another realm.” He held my gaze a few seconds before adding, “There are worse places than the Hell you were taken to.”

  I absorbed the information and looked to Ryan. “I need your word you won’t tell anyone of what you’ve learned I can do today. You’ve already promised not to talk about Cora and I, and it’s my hope you’ll give the same promise for everything else.”

  He took a drink as his cold, calculating eyes considered me over his water bottle. Finally, he said, “I’ve been hired to bodyguard a large gathering of non-predatory shapeshifters in five months. It’s a weeklong event, but you should have time to make arrangements for your daughter and patients. If you and your wolf will help me guard them, I’ll agree to keep your secrets.”

  I looked at Cora, and she asked, “Won’t I scare the people we’re guarding? Most deer freeze or run if I get within a hundred yards of them.”

  “You aren’t their natural predator. You’ll make them nervous if you get too close, but I’ll have you and a few other wolves patrol outside the perimeter. Kirsten and I will keep watch from inside. I’ll pay you both five thousand dollars for the week.”

  “Five months,” said Nathan, considering. “The gazelles are having their jubilee festival in five months. In Africa.”

  “Leave it to the King of the Lions to know,” Ryan said with another flash of irritation before his face went back to its usual stone wall.

  “Of course,” Nathan answered with a shrug. “They chose a city without a pride, and I’ve forbidden my people from travelling to the area for the three weeks around the event. My lions will do their best to stay out of the gazelles’ way.” He turned to Cora. “The crocodiles and tigers often hang out on the outskirts of these gatherings in the hopes teens will walk too far from safety while trying to catch some alone time with the opposite sex. I’m not sure bringing wolves in will do the job.”

  “She’ll be armed with high powered weapons loaded with silver bullets. She’ll be fine,” Ryan responded.

  “I need to talk to Cora alone, and then the three of us need to sit down and discuss some specifics,” I told Ryan. “I’m inclined to agree to it if Cora’s comfortable with the chain of command and strategy.”

  “The outer perimeter will be primarily North American predators. She’ll be second in command of the outer perimeter, but once she’s familiar with the specific threats she’ll be in command of her zone on most shifts. The inner perimeter will be led by me, with you as second in command. I’ll utilize some crow shifters to help us on the inside, but you’ll be in command when I nap.”

  There was so much more I needed to know about the job, but I wasn’t prepared to get into it just then. “We’ll set aside a time in the next couple of days to break it down. Let’s handle one thing at a time. I assume no one else was dragged into Olympia, and the hotel lobby is still in place for everyone else?”

  “Yes,” said Mordecai. “I double-checked, but Apollonius will have also looked into it.”

  “Good. Next question — where are we sleeping tonight? Also, the bellhop had our luggage at the hotel.”

  Everyone looked to Nathan, but he looked to Ryan, who said, “It’s Tuesday night. We’ll show up at a random luxury hotel in Atlanta and see if they have a vacancy for one of their large suites. If they don’t, we’ll walk down the block and ask at another. Without reservations, I can’t see how anyone’s going to know to put the hotel lobby in another dimension.”

  “Mordecai and I’ll be busy tonight dealing with Striker’s bits and pieces, so it’ll just be the four of you.” Nathan looked at me. “If you can stop and pick Patrick up on your way to Atlanta, I’ll feel better.”

  “No,” said Mordecai. �
�Enough people know Kirsten can step from city to city. No more.”

  “He’s one of her primary guards under normal circumstances,” Nathan argued. “He’ll need to know anyway.”

  “No. Until this month I’d gone four thousand years with only three Earth-citizens finding out. Too many people know. No more.”

  Mordecai put energy into the last sentence and I could sense his frustration, so I told Nathan, “We’ll be fine with the four of us, and I can zap us into my office tomorrow morning before my receptionist shows up at nine. Have Patrick scheduled to get there at nine as well, to make sure I’m covered at work.”

  Chapter 24

  Nathan was waiting in my lobby when I finished with my last patient the next day. “I sent Cora and Patrick home. Cora will stay at your house tonight, and if nothing’s happened by the time you finish work tomorrow, you’ll all be able to go home again.”

  “Where am I going tonight?”

  “Thanks to Abbott, Aaron, Sophia, and another unknown benefactor, no one can open a gateway on the RTMC compound, or the grounds of their bar or bike shop. Should someone try to step onto their property from the void, they’ll find themselves trapped in a concrete room under the RTMC bike shop.”

  “Tell me that’s not where I’m going?”

  He tossed me a duffel bag. “Cora packed some jeans and a tight little t-shirt you look good in. Also, your ass-kickin’ boots, and everything you’ll need to get ready for a workout session with Mordecai and Adonis tomorrow morning before we take you home.”

  “I don’t need to make it look like I’m finding an excuse to see Dawg.”

  “You aren’t. I made the arrangements with Duke and Brain. The club’ll be responsible for your protection tonight. They’ve protected Sophia a few times, and since you’re under Aaron’s protection it isn’t a big deal or terribly unusual. They’ll put you in a room in their lowest basement. If Dawg wants to spend the night with you there, or take you to his room, that’ll be up to the two of you once you arrive.”

  “Maybe, but you’re doing this because you think I need to get laid.”

  He smirked. “Guilty as charged. You’ve been all work and no play, and you’ve had a ton of stress. Add to everything else the crash course Adonis is giving you so he can teach you as much as possible in three weeks…” He lifted a shoulder and dropped it as he stood and walked to me. “You need some fun in your life. I know you’ll be better once you have some time with Lauren, but if you have to spend another night away from home, why not make the best of it?”

  “I have an early training session. I need sleep.”

  “I’m told you got nine hours of sleep last night in Atlanta, and you can take a nap in your own bed tomorrow.”

  “Fine.” Dawg might not even be around. I’d lock myself in the room they gave me and read a book.

  I’m not sure what I expected out of a biker compound, but it wasn’t what I walked into. Someone named Paco showed me to my room downstairs and made sure I could get from the common room to mine and back. “You’re welcome to be in these rooms and the hallways between without an escort, but if you want to go anywhere else, you’ll have to get a brother to walk you.”

  The underground floors were constructed like something between a school and a fortress. Long hallways of cinderblock and concrete, industrial stairs, and lots of biometric locks — mostly finger and palm, but I saw at least three eye scanners.

  Duke met us back upstairs once I’d put my things in the super-reinforced basement room with four beds. When I’d said I’d just stay in my room and read, Paco had insisted I go back to the common room.

  “Nathan said you hadn’t eaten dinner,” said Duke. “If you’ll allow me to escort you across the street, dinner’s on me.”

  “How about dinner’s on me? Thanks so much for your hospitality.”

  “We’ll just say it’s on the house then.”

  I noted two large bikers monitored us as we crossed the street, but I didn’t comment when they followed us in and took sentry spots at the front and back doors.

  The interior of the bar was gorgeous — all stained wood and chrome, complete with what had to be an antique bar from an old high-end restaurant. My face went warm as I noted Dawg behind the bar mixing drinks, and I turned away before he saw me.

  “We’ve already adjusted his schedule so he can spend some time with you,” said Duke. “He was scheduled for six until close, but when Nathan called this morning to make arrangements, I switched Dawg from noon ’til six.”

  I looked at my phone and noted it was six-thirty, and Duke said, “He jumped behind the bar to help with drink orders for a large table. He’ll join us in a few minutes.”

  I was afraid dinner would be awkward, but I sat between Duke and Brain, with Bash, Paco, and Dawg across from us on the round table. Bash had intimidated me when I’d met him at the party, and he was still damned intense, but I could see he cared for the other men and it helped me view him as a little more human. I was nervous at first, but it turned out to be an enjoyable, relaxing meal.

  I once again noted extra people around as we crossed the street, but I’m pretty sure they thought I didn’t notice. Dawg invited me to play pool in the common room, and then proceeded to run the table on me.

  “I thought you wanted me to play with you, not watch you play,” I said with a laugh.

  He stalked to me, wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and put his mouth to my ear. “Oh, I very much want to play with you some more. You’re so sweet when you moan, beg, and scream. My very own little human cupcake I get to lick and eat all I want.”

  His words were like a caress, and my heart beat triple-time — but for some asinine reason, I felt the need to let him know I hadn’t been the one to set this up.

  “Coming here wasn’t my idea.”

  He moved away until his hands were on my shoulders, and his eyes cooled as he met my gaze. “You saying you don’t want to play?”

  “No, I’m saying a meddlesome lion decided to send me here because he thinks I need to get laid. I’m not against the idea, but I didn’t want you thinking I was stalking you.”

  “Thought never entered my mind,” he said with a smirk as his eyes returned to their former smoldering goodness. “I’m a little curious as to why you need guarding, but I figure you stepped in something while working for Drake and they need some time to take care of the threat.”

  “Actually, I’m pretty sure I took care of most of the threat, but Nathan wants me guarded a final night while Cora stays at my house to be sure.”

  “I’d invite you to my room, but the one they put you in is a whole lot more soundproof than mine.”

  “Well then, should I invite you to join me for the evening?”

  Instead of answering, he lifted me into his arms and barked, “Prospect, walk with us and open doors.” He turned to face Duke. “I’m gonna see to it Miss Kirsten is safe from everything and everyone but me.”

  “Keep your weapons handy just in case,” Duke said as he motioned us towards the back. “I’m told she isn’t likely to stay behind locked doors if there’s trouble, so make sure she’s armed and comes out with you if we sound the alarm.”

  “Duke and Brain know we’re helping protect you from beings from other realms, and since they figured I’d be sleeping with you, they let me in on it,” Dawg said after he’d closed the door on the prospect. “Just what have you stepped in?”

  I shrugged, unwilling to tell him much more than he already knew, but I also felt I owed him something since his club was giving me a safe place for the night.

  “I made an enemy of an ancient Celrau vampire, so I’ve had to watch my back where he’s concerned for a while. He enlisted help, and my friends and I wiped out the help. Theoretically, I’m safe until he regroups and comes at me again.”

  “Just the fact an ancient vampire needs help to get you speaks volumes,” he said as he leaned in and kissed the side of my neck.

  I had to focus to keep the
conversation going with Dawg’s magical lips caressing the oh-so-sensitive spot behind and under my ear. I sucked in air before saying, “Maybe if he just wanted to eat me, but I think he wants to keep me as a pet.” Not entirely true, but possibly not too far off, either. He wanted me for my powers, but I was also certain he wanted to play with me while he had me.

  He stopped kissing my neck and looked at me, his brows furrowed. “I can see how that might be a little troubling on your part.”

  “Can I get a shower and wash my hair before we start?”

  “No, but you can get in the shower and let me wash your hair.”

  I’d already known Dawg’s fingers were magic, but he had me moaning and groaning in the shower from a mere scalp, shoulder, and neck massage.

  He left me alone so I could shave, and I noted a large shirt outside the shower in place of the pajamas I’d taken in. I blow dried my hair before I put the shirt on, and grinned when I came out of the bathroom to find a totally nude Dawg organizing rope and paddles.

  “You look good in my shirt. Any injuries I need to know about? Anything different with you?”

  “I don’t know that I’m up for a marathon session because I’ve been put through the wringer this week, but otherwise, I should be the same.”

  “You killed people this week?”

  “I don’t want to talk about specifics.”

  “Not being nosy for the club, but wondering how you’re holding up if you did.”

  “I’m a therapist in my day job. I have people I can talk with when something bothers me after a fight or a mission.”

  “I can sense the undercurrent of exhaustion, but you’re on the road to bouncing back and a night or two in your own bed should fix it. There’s something else though, and I wanted to get a handle on it before I start turning your ass cherry red. Sometimes tears come out of the blue when you least expect, so if they happen during the spanking it’s okay.”

  “I told you before, you aren’t supposed to make me fall for you by being all sensitive and shit.”