by Alana Melos
“Yes,” she said, beaming like a ray of sunshine. “You have a good eye.”
“Do a lot of reading,” he said. “I don’t recognize that insignia though…”
“Something made up,” I interjected. “It’s not good to be too authentic, you know.”
Rebekah got the hint and nodded, thumbling the insignia over her pocket absently. “It seemed to fit the day. One of the world’s biggest de...victories was the Axis invasion,” she said, her smile still bright. “What about you? You didn’t dress up.”
He chuckled. “Not really my thing to dress up,” he said. “I’d rather be comfortable.”
“You can do both--” I started when a large hand fell on my shoulder.
“Caprice!” a familiar voice roared. I was already in the process of drawing a weapon, but as I heard Rory’s voice, I shoved the knife back in its sheath. He practically pulled me out of the booth and wrapped me up in a hug.
If it had been most other people, I would have gutted them still, ally or not. There were two reasons why I didn’t with Rory. First, violence was forbidden in the Underground. Those who disobeyed the demon Malech’s rules disappeared from his club, sometimes never to be seen again. Second, Rory had saved my life and I’d saved his. We’d shed blood together on Axis Earth, and so he was one of the few people I let actually embrace me without any preamble.
“It’s good to see you, Mauler!” I said as I peeled back from him. Instead of wearing normal clothing, he stood in his wolf armor… but he wasn’t wolfed out. It was, to say the least, rather odd seeing the big, cut, muscled man in what amounted to a pair of short-shorts, armor plating over strategic places, and a lot of chains. Not that I minded the view. Far from. I wasn’t the only one noticing his skimpy apparel as other women from the crowd near by were checking the wolf out. The confident way he carried himself even though he was a step away from being naked was what really drew my, and their, attention. Not many people could pull that off.
“Ha! Mauler, yeah,” he said. Like Rebekah, his English was accented, but it was accented with a funky Irish accent. Most of the werewolves who had fought for Axis Earth weren’t actually German. They were recruited from the conquered countries, and he happened to be Gaelic. His brown eyes had a wicked glint to them, “Just came by for a pint or ten, and look who I saw but my sister!”
I smiled. “You know Rebekah, of course.” I said and Rory nodded. Rebekah kept smiling, but it had that plastic sheen to it. Even without her fidgeting, I saw she was uncomfortable. So far as I knew, Mauler didn’t hold any grudges against her. “And this is Septimus. He’s new. I can’t tell if we like him yet.”
“Like him as a mate, or like him for dinner, it’s all the same to me,” Rory said cheerfully, clapping Septimus on the shoulder. “Number seven, eh?”
“No, Mom just liked the name,” he replied, raising his glass. “Mauler, eh? Can’t said I’ve heard of you.”
“Here, make a spot for me, will you?” I let him go in first--I liked to be on the outside of a booth in case I had to move fast--and sat down next to the human wolf. He cracked his neck, then reclined in the booth, making himself comfortable. He laid one of his long arms on the back of the booth behind me, though he didn't touch me. “And I’m new on the scene, you know. I’d be surprised if you had.”
“Mercenary, I assume?” Tim asked after he finished his glass and signalled to the waitress. “Lots of them out tonight.”
“It’s a big night,” I said.
“And a big party,” Rory supplied, grinning ear to ear.
“And it’s neat seeing everyone else around, uh, dressed up like I am!” Rebekah chirped, grinning. Septimus seemed to get the hint and dropped the subject.
“Why the chains?” I asked Rory.
“I plan on wolfing out later tonight,” he said as he raked a hand through his shaggy dark brown hair. “And it was just easier to wear it like this rather than dragging a bag of clothes around.” After the waitress came and took our orders, he finished, “Besides, there’s people here dressed a lot more strangely than myself. Have you seen Adira?”
“Adira?” I asked, blinking at the sudden change. “No, I haven’t. Why?”
“Aw, it was nothing,” he said, waving it off. “I think she just wanted to catch up to you.” The wolf glanced around, “She’s around here, partying herself. It’s our first real big party here, and a lot of us are wanting to cut loose.”
“It’s good for you,” I said with a small laugh, letting the feelings around me soak in. “I’m sure all that time being cooped up wasn’t any fun at all.”
“We should go dance or do something. You’re looking mighty fetching tonight, sister,” he said as he lowered his arm around my shoulders.
“I don’t really dance,” I said.
“You will with me,” Rory said with his grin, bumping me over and making me stand even though we’d just sat down. I checked a sigh and moved aside. “Besides, it’s a slow song right now, and all you have to do is follow my lead.”
“I don’t follow anyone,” I snapped, looking up at him with a glare.
He chuckled and strode towards the stairs. I followed him, partly out of annoyance and partly out of curiosity. When we reached the edge of the dance floor, he swept me up and moved me further in the crowd, where it was impossible to track us. He hadn’t been kidding about the other scantily dressed people around and he was far from the only guy in chains. The beat of the music and the lithe people around us had me ignoring my annoyance at him in no time at all. His strong arms kept me close. He loomed over me, grinning his wolfish grin.
With a swift gesture, he tapped the side of his head. I got the message and reached out for him telepathically, connecting with his open and willing mind with ease. What else is it? You didn’t want to say something around them.
Adira’s worried, he shot back, ‘shouting’ his thoughts at me. He hadn’t quite gotten the knack of just thinking at me yet and he put force behind all of his mental words. Some of the pack have gone missing.
Maybe they got pinched? I asked. Getting busted by the cops was a common hazard of our line of work.
Maybe, he shouted, but she doesn’t think so. It’s been happening in the last couple of days, one right after another. We’re on a buddy system right now, and I’ve got Adira with me, keeping watch in the shadows. Mostly wolves, but a vampire has disappeared as well. Have you seen Nosferatu?
I shook my head as we danced, Not since we got back to Prime.
He could be in danger as well, Rory said. Pass the warning on if you see him, and keep your pretty eyes open.
I smiled and nodded before cutting the contact. He wasn’t too good about shielding his thoughts either and while he’d been looking down at me, he’d gotten a good view of my cleavage. Lust had stained his thoughts, but I didn’t quite think of him that way. Nor, I think, he of me. It was more a natural reaction. He wasn’t the most attractive man ever, but looks didn’t matter to me. What mattered was that this was a guy, a partner, who I trusted to watch my back… and from my experience sex with your partners just messed everything up for the most part. We'd worked a few jobs together and he'd been fantastic as muscle. Although he grinned a lot when relaxing, when he was on the job he was nothing but business and he was someone I'd call upon when I needed someone I could trust. I didn’t want to get my motors running with Rory and then find out later he wanted to commit or something. It wouldn’t sit well with me and would ruin our working relationship.
On the other hand, as he danced with me close and hot, I couldn’t help but to feel his hard body against mine. I closed my eyes and let myself ride with his senses for a minute. To my surprise, they were much sharper than my own, but the loud music and smell of so many people didn’t bother him at all. Instead, it was singing to the wolf inside his skin, making his flesh electric as he soaked in every sense: sight, hearing, smell, and touch. Every time my hand brushed over his arm or shoulder, he shuddered, wanting more and more. The smell o
f me filled him with hunger, teasing and tantalizing him to take me. He made no move on his desires. He simply enjoyed having a beautiful woman in his arms who allowed him to dance with her. That I was a killer and smelled nice was simply a plus in his book and I laughed at the feeling of sheer joy he took in living. He laughed with me, though he didn’t understand why, and we finished the dance grinning like idiots.
When we went to return to the others, they weren’t there. A table on my balcony had opened up and they stood around it, eschewing the tall chairs that went with it. I smiled to Rebekah, who beamed in response. “When I saw it, we had to take it,” she said, handing me my soda. “You have a good view up here!”
“That’s the reason I like it,” I said, elbowing Tim to move aside. I sipped my drink as he did, grumbling good-naturedly about women pushing him around.
“Move here, move there,” he groused. “Just move me where you want me.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I will,” I said smiling at him. When I was about to ask him another question, I caught some motion out of the corner of my eye: Michael. My shoulders eased a little bit from some tension I didn’t know I had and I gestured him over.
The big, ugly dude said something to the girl next to him and sauntered over with her in tow. I hid a frown by taking a drink of my soda… but who in the hell was she? Jealousy boiled over in the back of my mind and I clamped down on my mental shields harder. The pull Nosferatu had over me was mystically induced and I was still waiting for it to go away. I didn’t expect to feel that level of jealousy, even through the quarantine zone I’d put into my head.
Especially through the barrier.
As Michael came to stand next to me and gave me a salacious look and saucy wink, I looked him over. His face was as broad and ugly as always, but his grin was wide and welcoming and the look in his eye positively devilish. He wore one of his leather vests with no shirt underneath, all the better to show off his impossibly perfect body wrapped in smooth light brown skin, showing his Hispanic heritage. Tight leather pants which left nothing to the imagination and heavy biker boots completed his image… and the sword. Always the sword. He was never unarmed just like I was never unarmed. It lay in a rough sheath, strapped across his back.
“Long time no see, sexy,” he said, leering down at me.
“Who’s that?” I asked, striving for neutral and I think I kept it as such. I did see Rebekah and Tim exchange a look from the corner of my eye, so maybe it wasn’t as neutral as I thought it was.
“This?” he said, looking over at the woman he’d brought with him. Her hair was dyed a multitude of colors, cascading together in a pleasant pattern. She had big breasts--which I imagined just got in the way of everything--with big wide hips and a fat ass. Dressed like the slut she was in a halter top which barely kept her boobs in check and a skirt with long striped stockings, she smiled shyly at us and waved. “This here’s my bitch.”
At that proclamation, she rolled her eyes in a dramatic fashion and elbowed him hard, making the big guy whoop a couple times to catch his breath. “Yeah, well, this here’s my asshole,” she said. “You can tell by all the shit coming out of it.”
Everyone laughed at that, including myself. It was a good line, I had to give her that. Yet, even as I knew I shouldn’t be caring what he stuck his dick into, jealousy and possessiveness kept gnawing at me, working away with its acid touch at the barrier in my mind.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Rebekah said.
“I’m Septimus,” Tim said, offering his hand to Michael, who looked at it pointedly for a moment before Tim withdrew the offer.
“Mauler,” Rory said, showing a lot of teeth.
Michael upnodded at the guys and winked at Rebekah. “I think I heard about you, round and about,” he said. “Some chick wearing all leather and a gas mask punching through people. They didn’t say you were sexy as hell.”
His girl elbowed him hard as Rebekah blushed, “Uhm… thanks! I think....”
Michael coughed a bit, “And this is Deirdre.”
“Caprice,” I said coolly, not extending a hand. “Deirdre… just like Corwin’s sister. Maybe you’ll end up the same as her.”
No one seemed to get my reference other than Tim, who gave me a sharp look and shook his head slightly as if to say ‘don’t’. I couldn’t help it. My defenses were up and she was in my way… if I crossed a street or two. I hadn't known he would bring a date it irritated the hell out of me. I missed Nosferatu. It was night time… I was expecting to see my vampire. It might have been a little hard seeing him, in more ways than one, but I… missed him. The jealousy running through my veins now was because of that. I knew it, but it didn’t help to dim it.
I closed my eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. It was supposed to be a fun night. I focused on the barrier in my mind, concentrating on making it thicker and impervious. It wasn’t my feelings I was feeling, but something imposed upon me to trickery and my own impulsiveness. I was determined to be a professional tonight, dammit.
A splash of something wet on my shirt in real time snapped me out of my internal reverie. “Oh, sor--” some woman started to say, then bit the word off in mid syllable. Looking up, I saw a pair of eyes I thought I’d never see again… eyes brimming over with hate and rage: Harry’s girlfriend, Emily.
Chapter Four
For those of you just catching up on the show here, Emily was very not happy with me. Her stupid boyfriend had slept with me and betrayed me, so I killed him. I still wasn’t sure which she was more pissed about: that I’d fucked him, or that I’d flayed him.
Whatever the cause, it appeared fate was a cruel mistress to poor Emily and we’d run into each other again… literally. She still held the half full glass in her hand--some sort of wine--while the rest of the liquid dripped down my shirt.
I checked the impulse to draw my sword and split her in half, though it was sorely tempting to cut out her eyes with the raw, naked hate in them. Violence wasn’t allowed here. Instead, I put on my best, most brilliant smile. “Emily, right? How nice it is to see you again.”
Michael whipped his head around, knowing who she was. He took a step back from the table we’d gathered around and shielded Deirdre with his body in a not so subtle maneuver. Rebekah knew something was up as she heard the tone of my voice and she looked around, probably wondering where the real enemy was as Emily didn’t look like that much on her own. She had long dark hair, sallow pale skin, and dark, dark eyes, rimmed with too much goth makeup. Wearing the long black dress showed her pale skin off, but it made her look like she'd stepped out of a black and white noir movie. Perhaps she still mourned Harry, or maybe that was just her fashion sense.
Septimus and Rory glanced at the new arrival. Rory shrugged and went back to his beer, but Septimus stood up, “Hey, Em, long time no see… I thought you were out of the biz.”
I registered the fact and filed it away in my mind for later study. I didn’t take my eyes off of hers, and we stared each other down. “It’s good to see you again,” she said, her words stiff.
“How’re you doing? With, you know… hey, do you guys know each other?” he asked, blissfully clueless as to our ‘relationship’.
I sniffed derisively. “I don’t know her at all,” I said.
She blinked and her pale face colored. I didn’t have to send my telepathic tendrils out to read the rage barely contained within. She emanated hate, rage, and love. Poor fool. She still loved the cheater and she had to be plotting revenge of some type. No one hated like that who wasn’t planning to do something about it. “You know me,” she said, her voice low and thick.
“No, I don’t,” I said, keeping my voice light. “You’re beneath my notice.”
Everyone there sensed the brewing confrontation and reacted to it in their own way. Rebekah pushed back from the table, her hands gone stiff and straight. Rory glanced over, all of his white teeth in his very tanned skin showing in a grin. It was a predator’s grin. Michael looked amused and was gr
inning himself, but he kept pushing his woman back subtly. Deirdre scoffed and tried not to look interested, but kept sneaking looks around her man’s broad frame.
“Mine is going to be the last face you’ll ever see,” she said, the threat naked as she tried to goad me to attack her.
“Just like mine was your boyfriend’s,” I said, my voice sweet like honey. I had the pleasure of seeing rage color her face even more and then a big swath of light grey obscured my vision as Tim stepped in between us.
“Let’s just go chill out, huh?” he said, taking me by the arm and pushing me off the stool.
“I’m perfectly fine,” I said, showing all my teeth in a smile like Rory’s and Michael’s. If we were going to do this, I was going to make her act first.
“Get her out of my sight,” Emily hissed.
“You need to clean up here…” Tim said weakly as he ran interference.
“Nah, let them fight it out,” Rory called, his voice filled with mirth. “I haven’t seen a good fight since… well, since the last sword fight she had.” He added in a more conversational tone, “That was against you, you know.”
“Me? I didn’t fight Caprice….” Michael said.
“No, the real you, Nosferatu,” Rory continued. “Over in Axis. It was something, let me tell you. So there was this…” His voice trailed off as Septimus guided me away from the table and I allowed him to. Though I continued to smile, all I saw was red rage. The further we went, the more it faded. I had to admit, it was a relief being away from Michael too. While the vampiric spirit which lived inside of him wasn’t out, I sensed him under the surface, waiting and watching. I wanted to see him, but if I saw him, I'd fuck him. And if I fucked him, I'd let him do whatever he wanted to me... which would be something violent, bloody, and possibly end with my death. In the end, I let Tim think I was going along to get away from Emily, but in truth… I wanted to collect myself away from Nosferatu.
I had to clean my shirt anyway.