She licked her lips as her teeth started to grow and her face began to elongate.
“Nefarious it is,” I said.
I backed toward the door while reaching out to see if she was alone.
Surprisingly, she was.
There were only moments left between her going full wolf and me having a shot at making a move.
So I changed tactics and lunged at her.
She tried to dive away, but being in the middle of her morphing phase made her as vulnerable as I got when trying to employ skills like Haste. Her changeover would be quicker than mine, in comparison, but it wasn’t quick enough.
I grabbed her shoulders and dumped a ton of amalgamite sexual energy into her, easily double the amount I’d filled the chick with back at McDonald’s.
She howled and stopped transitioning. It wouldn’t reverse her, but interrupting the process at all would at least keep her vulnerable.
Her eyes were wide with passion and her breathing was shallow and quick. If it weren’t for the fact that she currently looked like the love child of a pygmy and a giant wolf, I’d be really digging this at the moment.
She howled again, reminding me to let her go.
I was dumping way too much energy into her, which brought an entirely new meaning to the term “doggie style.”
Ew.
I backed away and she looked at me hungrily. Not in the way that werewolves usually looked at people either. I mean that other way.
“I underestimated you,” she said, drooling. It wasn’t attractive. “I had expected we would fight hand to hand, but you have ignited a fire in me that usually only happens when I’m in heat.”
Again, ew.
I pulled out Boomy and pointed it at her.
“Ah,” she growled seductively, “I guess it’s you who gets to play nefariously?”
“Considering that you’ve already had your happy ending,” I replied with a bit of swagger, “I’d argue naughty is more apropos, especially since I have no intention of killing you.”
She raised an eyebrow at my proclamation.
“Oh?”
“I will, if I have to, but I’m hoping you’ll be cooperative instead.”
Her response was a rumbling laugh and a shaking of her head. She then scratched her ear very fast. Fortunately, she used her hand for this. If she had used her foot, I’d have thought that far too silly.
“You have already conquered me, Mr. Dex,” she admitted without shame. “I am yours to do with as you please.”
“Yeah, okay,” I said, realizing that I’d cheated in order to “conquer” her.
The saying that “all is fair in love and war” is great, but there’s something about taking advantage of a woman that never sat well with me. I just wasn’t that kind of guy. And, no, it didn’t matter that she’d originally been intent on ending my life, either. It was the principle of the thing.
“Then you’ll tell me anything I want to know?”
“Hardly,” she replied. “I just meant that you could do anything you wanted to me in a sexual fashion.” She winked. “Maybe a little Fifty Furs of Gray action?”
“What?”
“Never mind.” She slithered up next to me. “So, what can I do for you…Master?”
“I…uh…”
“I’m very good at certain things,” she whispered while licking her lips.
“But…your teeth.”
She stood back for a moment and closed her eyes. It took longer than I would have expected, but within about thirty seconds she was back to full human.
“So you could have gone full wolf,” I stated, keeping Boomy at the ready. I wasn’t used to that being a possibility after I’d unleashed my energy into a werewolf. “Interesting.”
“Ah, you’d rather I do that before we get frisky?”
“What?” I said, grimacing. “No! I just meant that you would have been able to fight me better that way.”
Her eyes ran over my body.
“Why would I want to fight you, lover?”
Gulp.
The Admiral, which was the name Rachel had given to Little Ian, was starting to wake up. Again, this chick in human form was smokin’ hot.
But I couldn’t allow that. Still, I had to play this chick.
“Okay,” I said, tucking away Boomy. “So you want to play, do you?”
“Mmmm-hmmm.”
“Turn around, then.”
She complied without hesitation.
I whipped out a pair of handcuffs and cinched them around her wrists. She cooed in response.
Leaning in, I whispered, “Where is Rachel Cress?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
I sent a wave of energy through her. She jolted and yelped.
“Where is Rachel Cress?”
“I…” She swallowed hard. “I…can’t…”
Another wave dropped her to the ground, leaving her convulsing with pleasure. She was writhing and moaning.
Then I knelt beside her and began to reach out again.
This time I stopped.
Her eyes looked longingly at my hand.
“Please,” she hissed.
I raised an eyebrow. “Where is Rachel Cress?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“The next touch I give you,” I said in a whisper, “will take you to a level of bliss you’ve never even imagined.”
“Yes, yes, please.”
“All you have to do is tell me what I want to know and I’ll rock your world.”
The look on her face was a mixture of hate, lust, betrayal, and desire. It was obvious that she was damn close to losing her mind, and it was also clear that she understood what was really at stake here.
“You promise you won’t just leave me here in agony?”
I reached out, hovering my hand just above her thigh.
“You’ve my word.”
“Temple Church,” she blurted like a woman possessed. “Now touch me, you sexy bastard!”
“Wait,” I said, keeping her at bay. “Before I do that, I must first remove what I did to you. If you still want me after that, I’ll comply.”
I then removed all the amalgamite sexual energy from her until the lust in her eyes dissipated.
She was back to normal.
“Still interested?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
Her response was less than excited, but she gave me another head-to-toe scan and said, “Only if you do that tingly spell on me again,” she said with a shrug.
“Right.”
Chapter 17
“Let’s go,” I said as I walked by Harvey and Leland, both looking relaxed from their meals.
I didn’t know precisely where this Temple Church was, but I was pretty certain it wasn’t inside The Chandos.
My fellow officers walked out a few moments later and I detailed that I had the information we needed in order to find Rachel. I also handed back Harvey’s magnifying glass, though I had to admit that it had come in handy.
Leland was rubbing his chin in James Bond fashion. “Temple Church is rather a journey from here on foot, but we can either grab a car or take the Tube.”
“It doesn’t matter to me how we get there,” I said, “as long as we get there.”
Leland nodded and began walking back toward the monument where I’d found Rachel’s glove. I now had her badge in my pocket as well. Pretty soon, I hoped to collect everything about her, though hopefully in one piece.
“How do you know she’s at that church, Chief?” Harvey asked as we followed after Leland. “Was there a document or something that you found?”
“Let’s just say that I gave a doggy a bone, and leave it at that.”
“That sounds kind of creepy, Chief.”
I replayed what I’d just said over in my head and, sure enough, it did sound creepy.
“Right, well, I played a game and won.”
“The challenge game that the werewolf guy was talking about?”
“No, not that
one. A different one.”
“I don’t get it.”
I didn’t bother to try and explain. Leland was moving at breakneck speed now and I didn’t want to lose him. It was almost as if he’d suddenly picked up the trail of something with his nose.
We ran down the steps and across Trafalgar Square until we got to a sign that said “Underground” on it. It was on a white-and-red circle.
“Charing Cross,” announced Leland while motioning at the sign. “Or we can catch a cab.”
“Again, Leland,” I replied, “whichever is easiest.”
“Right.” He rubbed his chin again as his forehead creased. “Seeing that our badges will let us through the turnstiles without pause, I’d say we should take the Tube.”
“Fine.”
“Uh, Chief?” said Harvey with a look of worry.
“Yes?”
It was clear he didn’t want to say what he was about to say, but finally he announced, “I don’t like the subway.”
“Why not?”
“It’s…” He leaned over and stared down the stairs that led underground. “It’s under the city. Who knows if all this stuff might fall on us or not?”
I furrowed my brow at him. “You jumped into a null zone and fought werewolves without a problem, Harvey.”
“I know, but this is different.”
“I can’t see—” I stopped myself. “Honestly, we don’t have time for this. If you’d prefer a taxi, we’ll do that. I don’t care. We just have to go.”
“No, no,” he said, looking to be hardening his resolve. “I can do this. I’m a cop, right?”
“Well…”
“And cops have to face their fears, right?”
I held my reply and instead crossed my arms and tapped my foot.
“You can do this, Harvey,” Leland said assuringly. “I have faith in you, old boy!”
“Yeah?”
“Indubitably.”
“Okay,” Harvey replied after a moment. “Thanks, Leland. You’re a real pal.”
They both started to walk down the stairs into the Underground as I stood there perplexed.
“Leland,” I called out, “seeing that there is a portal hub at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, would there also be one at the other churches?”
He stopped.
“Not in every church, no, but quite of few of them do have them.”
“Temple Church, maybe?”
He reached into his jacket, pulled out a map, and began studying it.
I rolled my eyes.
“Lydia,” I said through the connector, “is there a portal in Temple Church?”
“There sure is, honeycakes.”
“Thanks, baby.”
“Everything okay?”
“We’ll see,” I replied. “Can’t talk right now, I’m afraid.”
“Oh.” She sounded pouty. “Keep me posted, okay?”
“I will.” I clicked off the connection and said, “There is one” at the same time that Leland’s eyes grew excited and he stabbed a finger at his map.
He looked up.
“How did you know?”
“Lydia, our AI. I just asked her.”
“Ah,” he said sourly as he folded up his map and stuffed it back into his suit. “The older ways are just as valid, you know.”
Harvey’s face was looking rather hopeful. His eyes darted back and forth between me and Leland.
“Does this mean we don’t have to go through the subway?”
“That’s right,” I answered as I started a brisk walk back toward St. Martins-in-the-Fields. “We’re going to jump right into their back yard.”
They’d never expect that.
Chapter 18
Turns out they were expecting us. There was a welcome party and everything.
Swell.
Standing before us were a bunch of wolves, all in full form and all in different shapes and sizes. While I’m sure that Leland and Harvey had their eyes on the larger, more muscular ones, I focused my attention on the smaller dogs. They had a tendency to be more vicious.
“I didn’t know the London Dog Show was in town,” I stated.
It was always best to irritate werewolves when you were about to fight them. They got reckless when they were angry.
To prove my point, one of them growled and started toward me. Another grabbed that one and threw him back.
This caused a small fight to break out among them, but it was quickly squashed when a massive growl sounded from the back of the room.
I didn’t like that sound.
Not even a little bit.
“Uh, Chief,” whispered Harvey, “what was that?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“Commence the challenge,” demanded a booming voice that clearly had belonged to the same creature who released that growl.
The wolves all backed away and a single female wolf approached us.
I pulled out Boomy.
“Sorry, Mr. Dex,” she said, holding out her hand, “but there are no weapons allowed in the arena.”
“Huh?”
That’s when I looked around more carefully.
Shit.
We were indeed standing in the pit of an arena. It wasn’t anything like the one that the valkyries had in the nine levels, but it was definitely a place intended for fighting.
And in a church, no less!
Maybe they used it during the Crusades back in the day? What a way to go. I guess, from their perspective, it was a quicker trip to the afterlife from here. Something told me that our new pal Reaper might disagree with that sentiment.
“Please don’t make us take your weapons by force, Mr. Dex,” she said in a tight growl. “It would be such a shame for you to perish before you begin.”
I glanced around at all the drooling faces. One on one I had a chance. All of them at once would be impossible.
Going against everything in my being, I handed over Boomy.
“Take care of it,” I warned her. “I plan on having it back when this is all said and done.”
Her lip came up in either a snarl or a smile. It was hard to tell the difference with doggies.
“I applaud your confidence,” she said as she took the weapons from Harvey and Leland.
Then she snapped her fingers and a number of wolves came over to seize my partners.
“Hey,” I said, “what’s going on?”
“They’re being taken out of the equation,” she answered. “If you win, they’ll live; if not…well, tsk-tsk.”
“Chief?” Harvey said, looking ready to struggle.
I shook my head at him.
This was all on me. If he put up a fight, they’d just use him as an example of what they’d do to Leland next.
I watched as the wolves took Harvey and Leland over to a wall, up a flight of stairs and then plopped them down in a couple of seats. After chaining them up, the wolf who had taken our weapons moved to the center of the ring.
“Wolves, hear me,” she said in dramatic fashion. “This is the famous Ian Dex.”
Famous? I mean, sure, I was a hit with the ladies, but…
“He is an amalgamite. An abomination.”
Why did everyone consider me an abomination? Granted, I preferred being called that over being mistaken for a vampire, but it was still kind of hurtful.
The wolves were growling sinisterly at me.
As if they were any better.
“The tournament shall now begin!”
The howls that filled the room made me cringe. I covered my ears until they calmed down.
“Uh, excuse me,” I said, holding up my hand.
“Yes?” said the apparent master of ceremonies.
“I get that I’m supposed to be fighting in a tournament and all of that, but could I at least get an idea for what the rules are and such?”
The wolves all chuckled.
“There are no rules, Mr. Dex.”
“Great,” I replied while rubbing my hands, �
�I’d like my gun back, then.”
The chuckling stopped.
“Okay, there is one rule,” she stated as her eyes creased.
“Figures. Now, do we fight to the death or what?”
“Yes.”
“Any exceptions to that?”
“No.”
I nodded. “So that makes it two rules, yes?”
She licked her chops. “I suppose so, but that one was pretty much just common sense.”
Anything I could do to get them off their game would only prove to help me when the actual fighting started.
“And will I be fighting everyone at once?”
“Of course not,” she answered as though I were stupid. “How would that be fair?”
“‘One at a time’ is rule number three, it seems,” I said, wearing my best shit-eating grin. “I’d say there are a lot more rules than you’d originally let on to, Puddles.”
She snapped back as if slapped. “Puddles?”
“Sorry, I don’t know your real name.” I then leaned to the side and looked her up and down with a bit of dramatic flair. “But looking at you, I’d imagine you’ve stained more than one carpet in your time.”
The wolves chuckled again.
“Silence!” she screamed.
Surprisingly, they complied. Did that mean she was the current leader? If so, why was she allowing this challenge to happen? Maybe she didn’t have a choice? Wolves were an interesting bunch. I thought back to the horrendous growl from earlier. Clearly that hadn’t come from her, so that meant she was only close to the top.
“My name is Marissa,” she snarled, “thank you very much.”
“Ah, my apologies,” I said with a bow. “Now, will I have time to recover between bouts?”
“No.”
“I see.” I scanned all the hungry faces. “That means whoever goes first will be the only one who actually gets a real challenge. After that, each one I fight will find the battle successively easier until I’m so tired that the one who wins against me will do so not out of strength but out of luck.”
“Luck?”
“Sure.” I shrugged at her. “It’s not difficult to win a battle against someone who is too exhausted to put up a fight. So, that means the doggie who finally whoops me will have been fortunate in that he or she didn’t have to face me when I was at full stamina.”
London Growl: An Ian Dex Supernatural Novel, #4 (Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department) Page 7