Savanna leaned back on the public bench outside the lawyer’s office. Marysville featured a lot of cute little areas for tourists to rest, giving the little city a picturesque look.
Savanna let the magic drain out of her as she relaxed. Holding onto it for too long without using it left her feeling pent up. She twirled her fingers, letting the faefire dissipate into the air with a static pop.
“Do you think he’s telling the truth?” Alexi asked from behind her, vaulting lithely over the back of the bench to plop down beside Savanna.
“He is. He’s the kind of faerie who’s bound by agreements. Regardless of what he wants, he’ll do what he has agreed to do. The funny thing is, I think he really doesn’t want to be in business with Rayburn.” Savanna rubbed her hands together before blowing into them. Despite the warm day, the temperature was dropping rapidly.
“I’m going to drop you off and then update John. I’m sure he would want to know what’s going on.” The tone in Alexi’s voice bothered her. She had been off since this whole thing had started and now she sounded more depressed than happy. Finding answers should have made her feel better…
“You can talk to me, you know,” Savanna said. “We’ve been through a lot together.”
Alexi smiled at her. The blue in her eyes, almost bright enough to shine on its own, twinkled in the dim light.
“I know, I just… I don’t really know what’s going on myself.” They sat in silence for a moment. Savanna leaned into her friend, slipping her hand over the blonde with a squeeze of support.
“Are you two moving too fast?”
Alexi shook her head, “It’s not that… I like him. He’s nice, funny, thoughtful, and a great kisser—”
“I bet,” Savanna said with a grin, elbowing her friend in the side. Alexi chuckled in return.
“It’s just…” Alexi side. “I don’t love him. I don’t know if I can ever love anyone again. I can smell it on him though. He’s in love with me. I don’t want to hurt him… but I don’t want to be alone. Am I being selfish?”
Savanna patted her friend’s hand. “You’re being human, Alexi. None of us want to be alone. I would think you, more than most, could have that claim.”
“Yeah, I know, but… I think he would be a lot whole lot safer if he was as far from me as possible. What am I going to offer him? Kids? Marriage? A future? I know he would say none of those things matter right now. They do, though. They will.” Her throat tightened. “I want a future. I want my fam—” She broke off, closing her eyes.
Savanna slid an arm around Alexi’s shoulders and squeezed. “He’s a grown man, Alexi. Respect him enough to let him make his own choices.”
Alexi raised an eyebrow at her friend. “When did you get all wise and stuff?”
Savanna sniffed. “I’ve always been this wise… we’re usually just faced with a more immediate threat than who you’re dating.”
“You consider dating a threat?”
“When it involves us? Yes.”
It was far too late for her to be pacing outside his apartment. The two-story building looked more like a motel than a complex, a nice one, of course. Dark brown wood molding and expensive doors. It was the kind of apartment building designed for one or two bedrooms. In Tacoma, it would be considered a slum. Here on Bainbridge, it was middle class.
His neighbors had to know he was a police officer. How could they not? Alexi half expected one of them to come charging out, challenging her presence. Her black leather jacket and distressed jeans looked great on a motorcycle, but didn’t exactly paint a clean-cut picture while loitering outside an apartment building.
Now she leaned against the railing outside his door. Behind her, Elliot Bay spread out in the night, lit up by the ever-present Seattle skyline. A blinking light in the bay signaled the last ferry as it slowly moved across the still water. After she had dropped Savanna off at their soon-to-be former home, she had driven the long way up, using the bridge instead of the ferry. Tonight, of all nights, wasn’t the right time for her to run into one of her parents again.
Alexi almost wished she could be surprised by a human. She’d been listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat since she had arrived. It spiked suddenly. Then she heard the quiet tread of his feet across the floor, and the sound of metal on leather as he pulled his weapon from his holster.
Cautious. Always, cautious. Her predatory instincts told her to move, but she forced them down. Her own heart raced as he approached the door. Was it because she liked him? Or because her body was reacting in anticipation of a feeding? She licked her lips, sliding her tongue across her teeth in the process.
The door creaked as he leaned against it. Not nearly loud enough for anyone else to hear it, but she could. Then the sound of relief as he recognized her backside. He threw the bolt, opening the door wide enough to let her in.
“Alexi? You okay?” His strong voice assured her, filled her with his presence.
“Yeah, sorry, I thought…” she turned toward him. His features shifted as he saw her face.
“How is it you always looks so beautiful?” he said.
She smiled. Leave it to him to undo her dark thoughts with a word. She reciprocated his smile while she moved toward him. He took her hand in his and led her inside. He wore plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt. The muscles in his arms shifted, and she let herself admire him. He spent a lot of time working out, and it showed.
How easy it would be for her to do this. To lose herself. She could push him against the wall and drain him dry, the whole time he would beg her for more.
That thought made the monster inside her smile, but the rest of her forced the thought away. She wouldn’t use him that way. She wouldn’t turn him into a pathetic husk of himself. A mindless puppet.
That was the true evil of vampires. Not the killing of the innocent… but the perversion of them. Corrupting them until there was nothing left of their humanity. And all the while, their thralls thought they had chosen what was happening to them… never knowing what had been forced on them, or what they had lost.
She sat on his couch while he fetched a couple of beers.
“No offense,” she held up her hand to the offered drink, “Do you have anything stronger?”
“That kind of day, huh?”
“Usually.”
He went to the cupboard in the adjoining kitchen. “I hate to sound insensitive, but shouldn’t you be… you know—” He turned to her for a moment, miming sleep in the most ridiculous way before resuming his search.
Alexi smiled. “I don’t really get tired, if that’s what you mean. Not like… well, like you do. I should be sleeping, though. The longer I stay up, the longer—”
“Aha. I knew I had something.” He pulled out a large, purple velvet bag with the words Crown Royal emblazoned on it. Pulling the strings apart, he eased the palm-sized bottle of whisky out.
“Nice bag,” she remarked as he laid it aside.
“I don’t drink this stuff often, but I do like the bags. They’re handy for all kinds of things,” he said as he handed her the bottle. “The caps can be hard to—”
Alexi twisted the cap, then pushed on it with her thumb sending it flying across the room. She upended the bottle of amber liquid, guzzling it down with gulp after gulp. It burned all the way to her stomach. If it had a flavor, she couldn’t tell. The alcohol was all she could taste. Blood and alcohol, her entire existence.
The last drop rolled out of the bottle onto her tongue. She savored the burn for a moment before swallowing, she placed the bottle down.
“Thanks, I needed that.”
“How are you not dead?” asked John, brow furrowed over wide eyes.
“First… I actually am. Dead, I mean. And two, it’s the only thing I can taste besides blood. Other than being delicious, the alcohol has no effect on me.”
“You mean… you can’t get drunk?”
“Not even a little,” she replied. In a flash of movement, she sent the bottle spin
ning on one corner, one finger gliding over the rim to steady it. After a moment, the air around the bottle hummed from the speed. She let it go and the glass continued to spin on its own.
“Wow, you’re full of tricks.”
“Oh, yeah. The blessings of enhanced speed. As long as I’m willing to pay the price, anyway.”
He eased onto the couch next to her. Goosebumps ran down the length of her body as his arm brushed hers.
“You can stay a while, you know.”
Why was this so hard? The silence was only broken by the hum of the spinning bottle. Her whole body shivered as he placed his hand on her leg.
“I won’t hurt you, you know,” he said. The quiet of his voice reassured her, but she didn’t know why. She wasn’t worried he would hurt her. That was the least of her worries.
He traced a thumb across her jaw, lightly pulling her chin toward him.
Damn, he was handsome. A strong jaw. Warm brown eyes that crinkled at the corners when he smiled. And that smile.
He traced the back of a finger down her cheek, and she shivered. “You can’t hurt me,” she murmured, scarcely finding the words. “I just don’t… I don’t want to see you hurt for me.”
The words seemed so small, hanging there in the air between them.
“I’m a cop, Alexi.” His lips curved into that lazy smile she couldn’t resist. “A little danger can’t stop me from living my life.”
He was so close now. He bent his head, and she closed her eyes as his lips grazed hers tantalizingly. Alexi let out an involuntary sigh, and she felt his lips curve again into a smile.
“John…” she whispered, desperately clinging to reason, even as she wanted nothing more than to fling herself off its edge. “I’m… I’m a monster. You know this.”
“You’re not a monster,” he whispered. “Let me show you.”
He was kissing her, then, and all thought vanished. Her fingers were in his hair. He turned his head, kissing her more deeply.
Her need to feed seemed to rise as the heat between them intensified, as though the two were irrevocably connected.
“John—” she gasped between kisses.
“Do it,” he whispered.
She thrust her hands into his hair and pulled his head back, baring his throat.
Her fangs sunk into his neck, flooding her mouth with his sweet blood. A wave of relief flooded through her. He jerked against her, hands grabbing fistfuls of her clothes and hair as she gulped in his essence.
Alexi squeezed her eyes shut against the tears she knew would come. She sobbed against his throat as she drank him in.
She should have gone. She should have never come. She should push him away now and never see him again.
Tears seeped from beneath her eyelids, running down her face into her hair. She should have left. She should have left.
But instead, she gave into the monster.
“A goblin, huh? Wow, I haven’t even heard of one in about a hundred years.” Warren pulled a plane cardboard box down from the top shelf in his office.
With Warren talking, Savanna knew the number wasn’t the exaggeration it usually was when someone else said it. She squirmed uncomfortably on the small leather couch he kept in there. The office looked more like a converted broom closet, than a legitimate office. There was enough room for his small desk, covered in trinkets and old photographs. Squeezed in the room along with everything else were a bookshelf and a filing cabinet.
Savanna rubbed her palms on her faded jeans. Her nerves were working overtime on her. As Warren sorted through an old box of junk she tried to think of the spells she would need to when they went after the kids. It didn’t help. Why was she nervous? It wasn’t as if Warren hadn’t offered her the job a half-dozen times.
“Here we go,” Warren exclaimed. He placed the box on the desk and pulled out a smock. The green apron had seen better days. The front was emblazoned with gold letters The Book Fairy, along with a stylized image of a small faerie and a magic wand.
“Ugh.” Savanna heaved a sigh. “I know it’s my first day, but Warren… the name? It’s so… cheesy.”
“You would be surprised how often I get that. I can’t change it though—and I didn’t pick it. Now Savanna, I don’t know how to put this delicately, but your clothes…”
She sighed. It wasn’t like she didn’t know. She wore the same pair of jeans day in and day out. She literally had no money. They couldn’t even afford rent this month, not with all the extracurricular going on. Usually Alexi found some rich jerk and convinced him to give her a few hundred bucks, which she then spent half of on new leather jackets. Saving up for new clothes seemed a distant third to rent and eating.
“There’s a reason I wanted the job, Warren. Give me a couple of weeks and I promise I will buy some new clothes. I mean… you are paying me enough that I can get new clothes, right?” She was suddenly worried that she had misread the situation. Maybe he only offered her the job as favor to her? Or maybe he thought she was going to work for free.
His green eyes widened a bit, he put his hand on his mouth to stifle a laugh, but his entire lanky frame shook with it. “Savanna, I hired you because you’re the most powerful witch I’ve ever met. I need that kind of talent here. Not only to protect my home, but to help the customers who come in here. I can sell eye of newt, and leg of frog all day long, but you actually know what to do with those things.” He dug in his back pocket and pulled out a thin black card. “Here, take this.”
Her eyes widened. “What for?”
Warren gave her a flat look. “To buy clothes, Savanna. Try to keep up.”
“But…”
“I’m not saying go to Vegas… but Pacific Place will do. It’s ten minutes away. Get a couple of outfits—something nice. I want you to look sophisticated. The well-to-do people who come in here will respect you, and the rest will look up to you. Be back in a few hours and we’ll go over the specific duties I have in mind for you.”
Savanna took the card and stared at it. Premium Member and a number in gold was on the front. It didn’t even have a logo.
“Warren, not to sound indelicate, but…”
“How much am I worth? Don’t worry, I don’t really track that sort of thing. To us,” he tilted his head toward her, to clearly indicate he spoke of the fae, “money is something you can acquire easily enough. Now go. Clothes maketh the woman and all that.”
On her way out the door, she sent Alexi a text.
Warren is awesome, gave me an advance. Going clothes shopping!
With the sun still high in the sky, she didn’t expect an answer. While Alexi could move around in the sunlight she still preferred the dark.
Her shopping skills were rusty, to say the least. It took her a good while—she didn’t even know what size she was. A series of very patient and accommodating shop assistants helped her find everything she needed.
At least, they were accommodating once they saw the black card.
She ended up with four outfits, including a couple of jackets and a few pairs of shoes. Most of it had been on sale—her mind still boggled at the thought of paying full price. $60 for a shirt? Really?
She returned to the shop in the outfit she liked the most. Black heels and slacks, and a cream-colored cowl-neck sweater. She toted the rest back to Capitol Hill in three large bags.
Her hand was on the door to the shop when a surprised voice came from behind.
“Savanna?”
She turned to see Caitlin staring at her agape.
She smiled back. “You like?”
“You look fabulous! I see your boss paid you, finally.”
“Are you coming in? I need to put this stuff away and maybe do some actual work.” Savanna struggled with the door for a moment before Caitlin rushed over to help.
Warren whistled from his office and nodded his approval. She placed the bags in the back and slipped the card out of her pocket and put it on his desk. “Thank you,” she said.
“Think n
othing of it. Go ahead and man the front. Yell if you have any questions.” He dismissed her with a wave, though she could feel his eyes on her all the way to the front.
Caitlin waited at the counter while Savanna pulled her smock over her. The last bit, a white name tag, was on the counter. She used a sharpie to write her name and then pinned it to her chest.
“There. All official.” She beamed with pride to her friend. “So, were you just dropping by for a visit, or…?”
“I was actually hoping to bump in to you.”
Savanna grimaced. “Listen about that, I know what you saw can be a little disturbing, and if you don’t want me back I—”
Caitlin’s eyes went wide. “Are you kidding? We wanted to know when we could do it again!” She laughed. “Meet with us soon, kay?”
Savanna was stunned. She opened her mouth to respond but couldn’t find the words, settling for a nod instead. Caitlin laughed again and made her way out, sending the bell to fits of ringing as she walked through the door.
She didn’t have time to ponder her good fortune—not with Warren having a million projects for her to do. Whenever he saw her standing around, he would come out of his little office with a list of things. High on every list was cleaning the store. She hadn’t realized what a workaholic he would be, either. The faerie constantly surprised her when he popped out of existence for hours at a time, only to return with a trinket from Egypt or Sudan.
After several hours in the store, she began to feel much more comfortable around him. Enough she considered asking him about their time in the Fae. She hadn’t told him, or anyone really, about her new source of power. She couldn’t help but feel like it was better for no one to know. Alexi, perhaps, but no one else. She looked down at her hand. The changes in her magic, the difference in her power… it all started when they returned from the Fae. At first, she thought it was because of Connor, but now…
The ringing bell startled Savanna. She was crouched in the back of the shop dusting a shelf that looked like it hadn’t been touched since before she was born. Slapping her hands together to get the dust off she yelled over her shoulder, “I’ll be right with you.”
Wreathed in Flame (Faith of the Fallen Book 3) Page 8