by Sara DeHaven
Leander gave a sudden shout of laughter, making the two women a couple of tables away look up at him. “That’s funny, you know that, right?” he got out between snickers.
She smiled ruefully. “Why does everyone always say that?”
“Because it is!" His voice got quiet again, but the laughter didn’t entirely leave it. “Of course I like birds. I’ve never heard of an Animal Master who didn’t like the animal they were attuned to. It seems like some sort of cosmic joke if you don’t.”
“A bad joke,” she grumped. “And to make things even more hilarious, the damned things follow me around, but I can’t do a thing with them. Daniel got me a kitten for Christmas, and he’s a total hellion. He scratches my furniture, attacks me when I walk by, and bites me when he doesn’t get his way. Nothing I do seems to affect the beast.”
“I have heard that cats are harder than usual for the talent to reach,” Leander conceded diplomatically. “They’re innately independent I guess.”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
He shifted in his chair, and his expression became more serious again. “So, you and Daniel…” he said, leaving the sentence hanging for her to complete. Bree didn’t know what to say in response. Damned good question. She and Daniel what? Wanted to jump each other’s bones? Were partners in criminal activity involving voluntary demon possession? How was she supposed to answer a question she had no good answer to for herself?
“Well, you mentioned he gave you a kitten for Christmas. And I have to say, at the party, I got the pretty clear sense that there was something between you. Frankly, I got the impression you’d just recently broken up.”
Bree sighed. “I guess you could say it’s complicated,” she hazarded. “We’re not dating or anything, but we’re trying to be friends.”
Leander leaned back again, his eyes narrowed a little in speculation. “So how’s that going?”
Bree gave a so-so wave of her hand. “Sometimes it goes great, sometimes not so great. He’s a complicated person.”
“I read that about him,” Leander murmured, eyes lowered.
“You read him? At the party?” Bree asked in some surprise.
“I know, I know, bad manners,” Leander admitted. “Sometimes my Reader sense shows up on it’s own, especially if I’m feeling nervous. And call me a coward, but meeting a bunch of new people I don’t know at a party makes me nervous.”
“You sure didn’t look nervous,” Bree replied skeptically.
“It’s a gift, my dear, it’s a gift,” Leander said insouciantly.
Bree leaned in again and lowered her voice. Having conversations about power issues was so awkward in public. She eyed the women nearby again, and caught one of them ogling Leander appreciatively. “So what level Reader are you? If I may ask?”
“Yes, you may ask. I can read tells just a little, and I’m high power on reading energy. And Daniel reads, well, complicated, like I said. He’s clearly high power in some kind of major way. But he also seems, well, a little dark powered. Not that I’m saying he is dark powered,” he went on, speaking quickly, as if he were a little uncertain talking about it. “Maybe more like, I don’t know, depressed? Angry about something? Or maybe traumatized? Bruce said something to me about him being a retired Keeper. I know those folks see a lot of bad things.”
Bree was intrigued by Leander’s assessment of Daniel. It was interesting to get the read of someone who didn’t already know Daniel, who was coming at it with fresh eyes. “I think it’s some of all of the above,” she confided. She played with her cup as she spoke, turning it around and around in her hands. “I think he did go through a lot as a Keeper, enough that he needed to retire early. Because he’s so high power, I’m pretty sure he was on the front lines for a lot for the worst stuff. Just the little bit of exorcism I’ve done has done a number on me. And he did it for fifteen years.”
“He must have started young.”
“At nineteen, Kevin told me. He’s known Daniel since high school.”
“I’ve heard Exorcists can get a little demon burned, like Demon Masters do, though not anywhere near to the same degree,” Leander mused. “Do you suppose that’s part of why he reads like he does?”
“Maybe,” Bree said cautiously. She was starting to feel uneasy, like maybe she was saying too much. But how often did she get to talk to anyone about this? She’d told Sophie a few of her concerns, but somehow, she’d not wanted Sophie to lose faith in Daniel, especially since they were all trusting him to keep things relatively safe with the demon research. “Have you personally seen that before?” she asked Leander with interest.
“Can’t say I have,” he told her. “But I’m not sure what else to make of Daniel. Of course, maybe he was just having a bad night.”
“Huh, you could say that. But to be honest, Daniel has always read a little dark to me too.”
“Part of his appeal?” Leander questioned, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
“Oh, stop. No, Daniel’s appeal is that he’s a natural leader, a good teacher, has a good heart, and is smart as hell.”
“And you’re not with him because…”
Bree looked at him helplessly.
“Right,” Leander said, making the word one long syllable. “It’s complicated. I take it from what you’re saying that you’re a Reader too?”
“Tells and energy both,” she acknowledged.
“High power I bet. You know, I have a theory that Readers that can do tells are more empathic than strict energy Readers.” Leander’s focus was back on her in that slightly unnerving way again. She didn’t think he was reading her, not quite, but he was very interested in what she might say in response.
“I guess that would describe me well enough,” she admitted.
“My condolences. I’m not as much of an empath as a lot of Readers, and I’ve always been grateful for that. The little Reader empathy I do have is pretty damned inconvenient at times. I can’t imagine what it would be like to have a lot more of it.”
“It’s like living with your skin off,” Bree said with a direct look. It was nerve wracking, but also, somehow freeing to be talking of this so honestly. “I have to be very careful with it. I’ve really worked hard not to read all the time, it’s just too much. But like you said, sometimes I can’t help it if I’m startled or nervous or just emotional in some way.”
“Would you try reading me?” Leander asked. He was looking at her so intently, and the request was so unusual, that she was taken aback.
“You want me to read you? What for?”
“Just as an experiment. Indulge me,” he replied, grinning, and the grin had some kind of edge to it that got her Reader sense stirring even before she consciously considered his request. This was important to him somehow, she could tell that much already. But she wasn’t sure how well she could do at reading him, or even if she should try. It was going to hurt, if nothing else. And how to explain that, that she might not be at her best?
“I overused my Reader sense during the riot,” she improvised, “so I’m probably not at peak functioning.” Leander looked behind her, distracted for a minute by the two women leaving. That left them a little more privacy, which was the other consideration. “Are you asking for a deep read? If so, I can't try that without more rest. Or, obviously, in such a public place.”
“Nah, just a regular old, garden variety read of someone you don’t know,” he told her.
“Okay,” she replied slowly. “I guess I can try that.” She remembered that Daniel had asked her to read Leander, that he’d thought something was wrong with him. She’d thought about that on her way over, but she’d dismissed it, partly just in stubborn opposition to anything Daniel had to say. She was irrationally angry with him, as if it were his fault something really was wrong with him.
She pushed all that aside, focusing on the man across from her. He was emptying his coffee in one last swallow, then he put the cup down and faced her with a faint, challenging smile. Bree f
elt her competitive instinct emerge. Being invited by another Reader, up front, to read them was throwing down the gauntlet to some degree. A Reader knew what another Reader was looking for, and had at least a hope of fogging things up. A lot depended on who was the more powerful Reader.
She brought up her Reader sense slowly. There was still some discomfort to it, a feeling of stabbing pain behind her eyes, though not severe pain. She persisted, starting with an energy read first. Many Readers couldn’t do one without physical touch, but Bree could usually get quite a lot without that.
Almost immediately, she sensed something was off. It was the oddest sensation. She felt like her probe was sliding off somehow, like it couldn’t get a purchase on Leander’s energy. She tried again, harder, in spite of the pain. It wasn’t a ward, not that. That would have had an energy signature of it’s own. Nor was there a total absence of energy. As she pushed it, the pain increased, and she had to stop for a break. Leander raised his eyebrows in a questioning look. “Well?” he prompted.
“Give me a minute,” she replied. Okay, so he was hard to read somehow on the energy level, at least without physical touch. Maybe she’d have more luck with tells. “Start talking about something. I know, tell me some more about your work, something about one of your favorite or least favorite projects lately.”
Leander nodded and launched into a description of editing an article on, of all things, killer bees, and she focused on his tells, looking to get a sense of how much he enjoyed his work, what his true feelings were about it. She could catch individual tells, a quirk of the lips here, a tilt of the head there, but somehow, it wouldn’t form up for her, wouldn’t coalesce into a pattern. It took her awhile to accept it, that she was literally not able to make any sense whatsoever of his tells. She persisted until Leander stopped his killer bee lecture suddenly and said, with concern, “Are you all right?”
Bree shut down her Reader sense and rubbed hard at her forehead, then dropped her hand on the table between them and regarded him with a mixture of awe and unease. “I can’t read you, not at all. Not energy, not even tells. That’s never happened to me before.”
“I’ve never yet found anyone who could,” Leander told her. There was an odd tone to his voice. She almost thought he might be disappointed. “I think it’s some sort of rare talent, but it’s not anything I’m trying to do. I’ve just always been like that.”
“That’s weird,” Bree blurted out.
“Yeah, rub it in, rub it in. I’m just a freak of nature.”
“Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have said it like that. Or at all. Oh, damn! See what I meant about putting my foot in my mouth?”
“You really are so easy to tease,” Leander said lightly with a dazzling smile. “I like that in a woman. Keeps things entertaining.”
“So glad I can keep you amused,” Bree countered sarcastically. She was still reeling a little from the failure of the read, but at the same time, she felt drawn in by what felt very much like flirtation on Leander’s part. She got the sense he’d been holding back before, but he wasn’t now.
“I suspect you could keep me amused endlessly,” Leander countered, grin turning wicked. Bree’s heart rate picked up a little. A man like Leander probably flirted on reflex. She’d seen that in him at the party. But the way he was looking at her seemed to hold real appreciation. It occurred to her that Daniel would be pissed if she started seeing Leander. She knew that shouldn’t please her, but it did.
“It amuses you that I can’t read you?” she said with an answering smile. “That’s hardly fair, since you can probably read me.”
“I’m sure the humility in that equation will do you some good. High power Readers should all get a dose of their own medicine sometimes.”
“And you’re oh-so-kind to give it to me.” Bree answered him.
“At your service, madam,” he said with a little bow.
They went on like that for some little while. Bree was enjoying herself. It was nice to be having a little harmless fun. And if something came of it, well, she was a free woman. Leander just might be the kind of guy she could have a no strings attached fling with. Not that she’d ever had such a thing. She’d met and fallen in love with Seth so young that she had almost no dating experience of any kind. And she had to admit, she’d lately been looking forward to seeing what it would be like to explore a bit sexually. She’d finally been coming out of her fog of grief in the last few months. Her attraction to Daniel was proof of that. She was having enough fun that she considered asking Leander if he wanted to go out to dinner with her. A thoroughly reckless part of her wondered if something more might happen afterwards.
But just as she was ready to ask him, Leander looked at his watch and made a surprised noise. “Yikes, I’ve got a Skype conference to get to, a client in New Zealand, it’s tomorrow there.” He glanced out the window. “It’s starting to get dark out. I really should walk you to your car.”
“No, you get to your conference call. It’s not really dark yet, and I only have a couple of blocks to go.”
“If you’re sure,” he said reluctantly as they moved toward the door and he held it open for her.
“I’m sure,” she replied.
Leander turned to face her out on the sidewalk. “Well, Bree, thanks so much for coming to hang out with me. I really had a good time talking to you. I’m wondering if you might be willing to get together again sometime?”
“Sure, um yeah, I’d love to,” Bree stuttered. He was standing rather close to her, and for a fleeting moment, she thought he was going to kiss her. Then he did, on the cheek, lingeringly. What the hell was that supposed to mean?
“Gotta run. I’ll give you a call soon,” Leander said, backing away a couple of steps, smiling all the while, then he turned and walked off down the street, red hair swinging against his shoulders. Bree couldn’t help but admire his quite nice ass from this angle. She sighed. That man could be a handful, she just knew it. She couldn’t tell if she were more intimidated or intrigued by the fact that she couldn’t read him.
As she started walking in the opposite direction towards her car, hands in pockets, she considered whether or not Leander had been telling the truth when he said he was born with some kind of talent that prevented others from reading him. After all, Daniel had a spell that was capable of completely hiding his Demon Master and Binder talents from even Ecclesias examination. It could be some kind of spell. But somehow, she didn’t think so.
She was so lost in thought that she failed to really register the group of young men coming toward her down the sidewalk. She had just turned up Jefferson Street, toward the light rail tunnel entrance.
Then it hit her. Her Demonsense flared to life. Three of the boys were possessed.
She concentrated on striding confidently, and reached into her purse for her keys. Most likely, the boys would pass her by, but she wanted something sharp to hand if they tried anything.
One of them wolf whistled at her. There were five of them, young men, maybe late teens or early twenties. She looked quickly around, and didn’t see anyone else on the street around them. Her Reader sense flared painfully into existence, prompted by the rush of adrenaline she felt when she registered that she was alone. It wasn’t so late that other people were unlikely to be on the streets nearby, she reassured herself. Unfortunately, that sense of reassurance faded fast as she picked up a powered energy signature from the young men. They were laughing as they approached her, one still whistling, another saying, “Hey, pretty lady, want some company?”
“No thanks,” she said shortly, putting her head down and trying to walk confidently as she passed them. One of them seized her by the arm as she went by. She’d never had anyone grab her on the street before, and although a part of her had been expecting it, given most of them were possessed, it still shocked her somehow.
She tried to jerk her arm out of the guy’s hold, glaring up at him as she did so. He was the biggest of the group, football player size. He had a round
face, dyed black hair, and he was wearing a sloppy, mean smile that told her he was drunk. “Don’t be in such a hurry,” he told her, holding onto her harder. Another of the young men, this one a carrot top redhead with small blue eyes, slid up beside her and took her other arm. Her Demonsense howled in protest the instant he touched her. She quickly scanned the others, two nearly indistinguishable medium sized boys with long brown hair, and a tall thin sandy blonde haired one with a tattoo of a scorpion showing on his neck. The blonde and one of the twins were possessed as well. She dug in her feet and opened her mouth to scream when the big one shifted his grip and put a hand hard over her mouth. He and Carrot Top picked her up and dragged her into the alley she’d just passed, the other three following. She fought them all she could and got nowhere, nowhere at all. She was so scared now that her brain wasn’t working. All she could think was that she should have let Leander walk her to her car.
Leander was nearly home before he knew it, having walked the whole way lost in thought. He wasn’t sure if he’d played things right there at the end. On impulse, he scooped up one of the pigeons strutting along beside him, brought it up to his face and whispered a spell over its head. He turned and threw it up in the air, towards Bree’s retreating back. He just wanted a look at her face, wanted a better gauge of her reactions.
He waited a moment, then closed his eyes, triggered the spell, and was suddenly flying, seeing the world from the bird’s eye view. The pigeon flew on ahead of Bree, then settled onto a low window edge. Leander was able to focus in on Bree’s face through the bird’s eyes. He wasn’t thrilled with what he saw there. She looked serious, thoughtful. He was shooting for bemused and a little turned on. He’d thought he’d captured her interest more than that. In fact, he’d wondered if it might have played to take her back to his place. She had seemed keyed up, like she might be easy to talk into something fairly outrageous. But there was a rather serious essence to her, Leander had seen that at the party, read it again when she was talking about her husband, and about the riot last night. This wasn’t a woman prone to casual affairs, he was sure of it. He was going to have to work harder at gaining her trust if he couldn’t do it through sex. Not that he was willing yet to give up on sex with Bree. He actually found her rather attractive. Her eyes were remarkable, a gorgeous mix of brown, gold and green, framed by thick, dark lashes. And there was a certain elegance to her features, with her straight jaw line and long, straight nose. The light sprinkling of freckles across her nose and cheeks kept her from looking too severe. And she had a nice body. She clearly took care of herself. She was the kind of woman he would enjoy bringing out of herself. He knew he was good in bed. His Reader sense was a definite asset there. He could feel fire under all that serious earnestness in Bree, and it could be fun to make her burn.