by Lisa Emme
Trying not to push my luck, I did my best not to appear gloating and simply nodded as I slumped back in my chair. “I’ll take that lemonade now,” I said calmly.
Seth straightened his clothes, his body returning to normal. A new pitcher of lemonade appeared on the table. Now I just had to kill time until Tess woke me up. I was sure she would figure things out and know I was in trouble. If not, Nash was bound to be home soon. He’d wake me for sure.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, drinking lemonade, like we were sitting on the porch on a sunny, summer day. It was weird to say the least.
“Now isn’t this nice?” Seth said, laying his Southern accent on thick, drawing out the word nice. “You’ve got gumption, sugar. I’ll give you that. That’s why you and I will make a mighty fine team.”
I coughed, trying not to choke on the lemonade I had just sipped. What the hell was he talking about? Team up with him? Me? Time for more stall tactics.
“Why do you talk with a Southern accent?” I replied, ignoring his comments. “I know the devil went down to Georgia and all, but it’s not like you’re actually from the south.”
Seth looked at me in surprise and then smiled. “Well now, sugar, I’m a perfect Southern gentleman, don’t you know? It puts people at ease, it does. ’Specially the ladies.” He winked at me.
“And the white fetish wear and roller skates?” I asked, continuing to stall. I arched an eyebrow at him. “Did you last visit this plane in the seventies or something?”
Seth’s congenial expression faltered, and his eyes narrowed. “What are you up to, sugar?”
“Come on, Harry! Wake up!” I silently willed myself. “Wake up, wake up, wake up.” It wasn’t working…or was it? I felt a flutter in my belly, the kind I feel when Nash is nearby. As inconspicuously as I could, I looked around, but there was no sign of Nash, which was sort of a relief because I wasn’t sure what good he would do me if he showed up dreaming like Tess.
“Enough with the nonsense questions,” Seth said impatiently. “Let us get down to the nitty-gritty.” He leaned forward, and I self-consciously drew back in my seat. He smiled at me, and his teeth appeared pointy, like an alligator’s. He blinked, and his eyes instantly matched his teeth.
I gaped at the transformation. He looked truly like something from out of this world. “What nitty-gritty?” I asked, my voice unfortunately sounding a bit shaky. “What do you want from me?”
“Why, to make you an offer you simply can’t refuse, of course,” Seth replied, the Southern gentleman making a reappearance. He winked a baby-blue eye at me. “I want you to come work for me.”
“Doing what?” I was equally horrified and intrigued.
“To do what you do best of course, darlin’. Open me a portal.”
Before I could reply, a shiver ran down my spine. A completely inappropriate shiver. It wasn’t disgust like the situation warranted, but rather sexual arousal. I let out a long, slow breath as another wave followed the first.
“Harry! Harry, wake up!”
Shocked, I looked around. I was sure I heard Nash’s voice. I stole a glance at Seth. He was studying me through narrowed eyes. I bit my lip, pretending to be thinking about his proposal as another tremor pulsed over me. Oh boy, this was weird.
“Are you all right there, honey pie?” Seth’s eyebrows drew together as he examined me. He took a deep breath. “You seem a little peaked”
“Harry, goddammit, wake up!”
I jumped, turning towards where I thought I heard Nash’s voice again. My body felt flushed and needy. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
“What’s going on here?” Seth rose from his chair, his expression turning angry. “I am not yet done with you. Don’t you go anywhere now, sugar.”
He grabbed my bare arm in a fierce grip, just as an overwhelming sense of vertigo took me. I cried out in pain as his hand burned my skin and suddenly everything went black.
***
“Fuck!” I sat up, flailing my arms, gasping for air.
“Harry!” It was Tess.
“It’s okay, minx. I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” Nash’s voice was right in my ear.
I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. I was in my room and it was still dark outside. I was lying on my bed with Nash’s arms around me, the sheets twisted around my bare legs. Tess, Max and Isaac were all staring down at me with concern.
“Omigod, Harry! I was so scared. We couldn’t wake you up. It’s been hours!” Tess rushed towards me to give me a hug, stopping short as Nash’s arms tightened around me, a low growl rumbling from his throat. She dipped her head and backed up a step, avoiding eye contact with Nash.
Normally I would be pissed at Nash’s alpha bullshit, but the sexual arousal racing through my body hadn’t lessened now that I was awake. Instead it felt amplified, like I was going to spontaneously combust at any minute. Worse, I could hear and smell the blood coursing through Nash’s veins, and I was overwhelmed by an aching hunger to taste it.
“Out!” I said, my voice cracking. “Everyone who isn’t Nash, get out.”
“Harry?” Tess gaped at me in confusion.
“Tess, I’m sorry. We’ll talk later, but you need to get out of this room right now.”
Isaac gave me a thoughtful look, and his nostrils flared. He could smell my sexual arousal, and for once I didn’t care that he was sniffing me, as long as it meant everyone got the hell out of the room. “Come, Tess. Let us give Harry and Nash some time alone.” He placed a hand on her arm, pulling her towards the door.
“But…” Tess backed up a step and yanked her arm from Isaac’s grasp.
Max chuckled. He had figured out what was happening too. “Let’s go, Tess. I have a few more questions for you.”
“But we haven’t heard what happened to Harry,” Tess replied.
“There will be time for that later. I think Harry has…um, more important things on her mind right now.”
“What could be more important than…?” Tess’s voice trailed off, and she took a deep breath. “Seriously? You’re going to do that now?” She rolled her eyes and then spun on her heel, stomping out the door while muttering under her breath. Max trailed close behind her.
“We will see you tonight, Harry,” Isaac said as he followed them out the door, pulling it closed behind him.
“I thought they would never leave,” Nash said as the door clicked shut.
I turned in his arms, taking him by surprise as I pushed him to the bed. “Shut up and get your clothes off.” I grabbed at his shirt, yanking it off over his head.
Nash laughed. “Okay, okay.” He pushed my hands away from his pants where I had been trying unsuccessfully to undo them. “Here, let me get that.” He deftly unbuckled his belt and opened the fly of his khakis. “I guess using the mate mark to wake you had an unexpected side effect.”
“Omigod, Nash. I am so horny. If I don’t fuck you right now, I swear I’m going to explode.”
With a growl, Nash reached for me, pulling me down on top of him, his mouth on mine. My hands went to the bottom of my T-shirt and I ripped it off, relishing in the feel of skin against skin as my mouth found his again, my breasts pressed against him.
After a few minutes, I slid off him and grabbed the bottom of his pants, stripping them off his legs. I jumped back on the bed, straddling his thighs and wrapped a hand around his hard length and stroked.
Nash sat up and reached for me. “Slow down, minx. Let me—”
“No,” I growled, shoving him back on the bed. “We’re doing it my way right now.” I gave him a couple more strokes then slid up his hips, rising on my knees. I lined up our bodies and then pushed down to impale myself on him.
“Ahhhh, fuuuuckk,” Nash groaned.
“Yessss,” I moaned at the same time.
The ache between my legs became a fire as I began to piston my hips, our bodies grinding together. Nash put his hand on my hips, guiding my movements as he bucked his body in rhythm with mine.
<
br /> I grabbed his arm and ripped the leather bracer from it, holding his wrist to my face. I could smell the tangy copper of the blood pulsing beneath his skin. My fangs fell into place so smoothly I didn’t even notice until they were suddenly there. I inhaled deeply against Nash’s wrist and looked down at him. Nash’s face was filled with a hunger to match my own, his eyes wide as he watched me lick his wrist. The veins were like bulging blue ropes under his skin, and with each stroke of my tongue I took a small taste of his life essence. Nash groaned, enjoying each tiny, pleasurable pull.
“Fuck, Harry. I’m so close. Just do it already.” He shoved his free hand between our bodies, sliding his fingers between my legs.
I gasped at the extra stimulation and brought his wrist back to my mouth. My fangs slid through his skin like a hot knife through butter and as the first drop of blood touched my tongue, my orgasm exploded across my body. With each pulse of blood, I poured my ecstasy out and into Nash, sharing what I was experiencing. Nash’s body jerked as his own orgasm followed, and he wrapped an arm around my waist, holding me firmly as he pumped his hips against me.
Finally spent, Nash fell back against the bed. I licked the two dainty little marks on his wrist, sealing them, and then fell down beside him, breathless. Nash pulled me up against him, and I wrapped my leg over his, my head on his chest. His heart was pounding to match mine. He tugged at the sheets and settled them over me.
After a few minutes, Nash sighed, his arm tightening around me. “Fuck, minx. You had me worried. When Tess called me and told me what had happened and that she couldn’t wake you up…” Nash ran a hand through his hair and let out a deep breath. “What the hell happened to you?”
I quietly told Nash everything I could remember. I knew I would have to tell it all again for Tess and the others, but Nash deserved to hear it first. As I finished my story, getting to the part where I woke up in Nash’s arms, Nash reached for the arm I had draped across him, pulling it closer to have a look.
“Shit, Harry. Doesn’t this hurt?” He sat up in bed, bringing me with him.
I looked down in surprise at my wrist. There was a bright-red handprint like a sunburn across my skin where Seth had grabbed me.
I shook my head. “No, it doesn’t hurt at all.” Which was a relief. The burn was such an angry red colour it should probably hurt like, if you will pardon the pun, hell. At least I didn’t end up…
“Omigod!”
I scrambled out of bed and gaped at Nash. “I completely forgot! There was a woman. I think she was killed in her sleep. You need to find out for me.”
“What?”
“I’ll explain in the shower. Get your ass out of bed, old wolf.” I glanced over my shoulder and winked at him. “I’ll make it worth your while.”
Chapter Seventeen
A woman had indeed died in her sleep that night. It took some cajoling on my part to get Nash to let me see police records, but when I reminded him I could just get Bryce to poke around for me, it didn’t take long for him to cave. The woman I had seen the night before was Betty Appleton—fifty-five, lived alone—whose body was found when the super of her building had let himself in to fix the dripping faucet she had complained about the day before. The coroner had called it a death due to natural circumstances, listing a heart attack as the cause, despite Betty having no history of heart problems.
More startling was the fact that when we did a bit of snooping, there had been over a dozen deaths of people (all norms) in their sleep attributed to natural causes over the past few weeks. Did they all have a connection back to Seth’s club? I set Bryce digging to see what he could find on the potential victims.
“See if you can find a link between all the HRNs too,” I said to Bryce after setting him up with his task.
“HRNs?” Nash looked at me in confusion.
“Oh, that’s short for Homicidally Rampaging Norm. It’s what I’ve been calling all the weird cases you’ve been assigned to lately.”
Nash snorted. “HRN. I’ll have to try that one on Dev. He’ll get a kick out of it.” He slipped on his worn leather jacket, taking care not to get it hooked on his gun. He crossed the room to where I was sitting behind the desk and pulled me to my feet. “Try and stay out of trouble, will you minx?” he said with a grin.
“Hey! It’s not my—”
The rest of my protest was swallowed by Nash’s kiss, which had me throwing my arms around his neck and rising up on my toes to meet him. I ran a hand through his hair and grabbed a fistful, giving it a playful tug. “…fault I was dream-napped,” I finished breathlessly.
Nash grunted, obviously having his own opinion on my proclaimed innocence but choosing not to elaborate. “Just remember not to go to sleep before Max brings over his protection spell.”
Max had called to say he had prepared something for Tess and me to keep us safe in our dreams. I had put a few talismans together myself—using anise, fennel and holly—and they were already tucked safely under our pillows, but I was more than willing to take any extra help I could get to prevent a repeat dreamtime visit with Seth.
After Nash left, I headed down to the coffee shop for my shift. Despite my harrowing night, I was feeling great—fully rested and energized. I wondered how Tess was fairing. She hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before but had gone into work anyway. Better to keep busy than risk falling asleep before we had ensured there would be no return visits to Wishes.
The afternoon was uneventful. Well, uneventful except for one strange incident. It was the midafternoon lull, and I was restocking the shelves with clean coffee mugs and espresso shot cups when I noticed my katana glowing. Ever since we had the run-in with Juan Carlo (now a vampire pin cushion), I had gotten into the habit of bringing my sword with me and tucking it under the counter. I had been caught unarmed once, I wasn’t going to let it happen again.
It seemed like my caution was paying off when I spotted the thin blue line of light coming from my sword. Luckily, it was under the counter and nobody but me and Tiffy noticed.
“What does it mean, Harry?” Tiffy reached out to the sword tentatively, pulling her hand back before she touched it.
“Nothing good, I imagine.” I slowly straightened from my crouch behind the counter, leaving the sword where it was, and scanned the shop. Three of the people were regulars I recognized, plus my two werewolf guards, Jon and Eric, were on duty. The “Harry-sitters” had arrived, presumably on Nash’s orders, shortly after he’d left for work. They had given me a nod and then headed for their usual booth in the corner from where they could watch the whole shop.
There was only one other customer, a woman, who sat with her back to me. There was nothing unusual about her until I noticed she had been pouring sugar from the dispenser into her cup for about a minute or more. The sugar was creating a mountain in the middle of her coffee mug.
Grabbing the carafe I used for refills for some of the regulars, I walked out to her table. “Would you like me to warm up your coffee?” I asked, holding up the carafe.
The woman looked up at me, and I started in surprise. She was so familiar, but I couldn’t place her. She also appeared a little, well, a lot weird. Her lipstick had been applied thickly as if she had used it over and over again, not bothering to colour in the lines. Her cheeks were smudged bright red, and her eyelids had been brushed with blue eyeshadow.
The weirdness didn’t stop at her face. Her clothes were mismatched and dishevelled, her button-down shirt buttoned incorrectly.
The woman cackled nervously and set the sugar down with a bang. “Nooooo,” she said. “I’m fine.” Her face tightened in a grimace as she spoke as if the words were painful to say, and that’s when I remembered where I knew her from. She was the blonde from the hospital, the one I saw have a near-death experience. I examined her closely. Was she possessed by one of those creepy, little imps? She looked so different from the last time I saw her, playing the slot machines at Wishes. Her head twitched to the right like she had a nervous tic
.
“Are you sure you don’t need anything?”
Ignoring me, the woman picked up her spoon and stirred the sugary sludge in her cup.
Suddenly she yelled, “No! Leave me alone!” The spoon clattered to the floor. She paused, clearing her throat. “I mean, no thank you, dear.” Her voice sounded robotic, and her head ticked to the right several more times. Without warning, she pushed away from the table, sending her coffee cup skittering towards the edge, and headed for the door. I was about to reach out with my telekinesis to keep the cup from smashing, but Jon, one of the Harry-sitters, was already there beside the table, palming the cup.
“What was that about?” he asked, sliding the cup back on the table.
“I’m not sure.”
I watched the woman leave. As she exited the shop she turned left towards the city centre, but then she abruptly made an about-face and stalked off to the right. I hurried back over to the counter where Tiffy was giving me a funny look. I pulled out my sword, but the light was gone.
“Weird,” Tiffy said.
“You can say that again.”
“Weird?” Tiffy replied, her face full of confusion. I guess we still needed to work on teaching her some common expressions.
***
“Thanks, Max,” I said, reaching out for the elaborate dreamcatcher. He had made one each for me and Tess. They were about six inches in diameter and had been wrapped using red thread. Max had tied them with several recognizable herbs, including holly and marigold. As my fingers made contact, the magic imbued in the circle zinged across my skin.
“No problem, Harry. Let’s get them hung up. I brought some sage to purify your rooms as well.” Max patted his black leather satchel.