City of Dragons: Blood Bonds

by Adrienne Wilder

  But he did have something that the Human world wanted, badly enough that they accepted him to the point of not making him walk around in a Human skin.

  Justice could read minds. Not the pick-a-card-any-card, either. The city used his ability to save billions in trials as well as innocent lives.

  And while the Great White looked like a harmless Disney version of My Favorite Dragon, Farley wasn’t fooled. Kin didn’t get as old as him if they weren’t powerful.

  Not to mention dangerous.

  Behind the article in the section marked “names and numbers", there was only one phone number, but no name. Farley took out his cell phone, and for shits and giggles punched in the number.

  On the third ring, a very normal-sounding Human voice answered. “This is Gregory.” There was even TV noise in the background.

  What had he been expecting? Justice was mute. Feeling like an ass, Farley did the only thing he could. Apologize. “I’m sorry. I think I must have dialed the wrong number.”

  “Who are you trying to call?”

  The man called himself Gregory.

  Farley hung up without replying. His phone was a disposable, practically impossible to trace.

  Gregory. Where had he seen that name before?

  He looked around, then down at the magazine cutting. The caption under Justice’s photo read: The Great White resides in the beautiful city of Atlanta with his Human companion, Gregory...

  Shit.

  Human companion, my ass. He was Justice’s Link. Farley was willing to bet his piddly-ass paycheck on it. He stuffed the ledger in his boot and looked around for anything else that seemed important. He decided a little photo evidence was in order and snapped a couple pictures of the walls with his cell phone.

  Weird.

  Especially the astronomy maps. What were all those lines?

  Either Niles was seriously wacked or he was seriously wacked.

  Still, Farley couldn’t shake Medan’s claim he’d been protecting Haley. And why the hell would the Queens want Haley dead to begin with? Females were competitive, sure, but dead? Usually that only happened if you put two of them in the same room together.

  Haley had no ties to territory. She wasn’t in line for a throne. Hell, no one even knew who’d clutched her. She was the equivalent of a red-headed bastard stepchild.

  Farley turned to leave, but a small separation in the wall above the desk caught his eyes. He stepped up to it and felt around inside. The smoothness of plastic brushed his fingertips, and he knew immediately what it was.

  A notebook of the electronic kind.

  Niles was not only a coupon clipper but a technology man. World’s just full of surprises. Farley gave the room a final sweep and tucked the Sony Vaio under his arm.

  Outside, the wind had picked up, and he shivered as he headed up the sidewalk. Farley crossed the road, but when he got to the causeway he kept going. The scent of Male Kin was on the wind and he didn’t need the trouble. And considering the area, there could only be trouble.

  Farley dropped his head and turned his chin. Three big Males were coming up the sidewalk wearing worn out jeans and no shirt or shoes.

  He slid the notebook under his shirt. At little further and it became obvious that they weren’t going to get bored with this.

  Farley faced them and they flashed fang. When he didn’t react they slunk lower, until their hands held them up and feet pushed them forward. Walking like beasts and not Humans. Their eyes glittered with gold and orange. Their mouths opened, breathing him in. Beside him now, curious fingers prodded his clothes and traced his boots. Clicking sounds rode up in their throats, and their tongues tasted him where they could find skin. The one on his right worked Farley’s pants leg up to his thigh, chasing it with his teeth.

  These Males were too young to be out of the Hive. But knowing Medan, she might have found them unworthy and forced them to the streets to survive or die.

  Considering the part of town they were in, the latter was more likely.

  Movement from the tunnel caught Farley’s attention and another Male slid from the darkness, heading up the sidewalk. And he didn’t move like a hatchling. Hell, he moved like something old, and filled to the rim with bravado. As he got closer, a hand came up and pushed the hood off his head. The face confirmed what Farley already scented.

  “Darco.” Farley didn’t even attempt to cap the growl in his throat. The Male smiled, flashing sharps. Black hair fell over his shoulders in thick waves and framed his long face. Like Farley, Darco was too pretty to be handsome. But then, clutch mates often impressed on similar features.

  His Brother smiled, in the sick little way that suggested he was thinking things that you just didn’t want to know about.

  “I thought it was you, Little Brother.” He stepped between the taste-testers and put his face in Farley’s, cobalt blue eyes searching. His thin lips tilted up and he sniffed the air around Farley’s mouth. “You smell different.”

  Darco leaned in closer and scraped his tongue up Farley’s cheek. “Taste different. What’s under your shirt?” He flicked his finger and thumped the plastic shell of the laptop. “Mmm, sounds expensive.” Darco lips brushed Farley’s ear. He whispered, “Can I see it?”

  Farley growled. “I think you know the answer to that.”

  His Brother laughed and rocked back on his heels. The Males were working on Darco now, smelling, tasting. He didn’t even seem to notice.

  Which was bullshit.

  Knowing his little talent for influence, he was probably making them do it.

  “What do you want?”

  Darco practically glowed in the light of Farley’s discomfort. He stroked Farley’s cheek with a pale white hand. “To be honest, the rumor mill was buzzing about your untimely demise. So you can imagine my relief when I caught a whiff of you ambling up the sidewalk. What are you doing here? This isn’t exactly your part of the Dens.”

  No, but it was his. This was the exact kind of locale Darco enjoyed. Desolate. Isolated. Made it harder to scream for help.

  “Free country,” Farley hissed.

  Darco laughed, in the subtle way that said he wasn’t really amused, just not quite ready to hurt you yet. But he was getting close. He licked Farley’s scent from his fingers.

  “Definitely different.” His blue eyes narrowed and a curious expression came across his face. He grabbed Farley by the back of the neck and slammed his mouth against his hard enough to knock teeth. Farley knew better than to fight. He let his Brother taste him, tongue sliding around the inside of his mouth, raking against his palate, molars, the back of his tongue, gagging him with the depths he probed.

  He broke off the tasting as fast as he took it. Darco smacked his lips while he made a show of rolling Farley’s flavor around in his mouth. His lips thinned and little flecks of gold starburst in his eyes.

  “That Female you Roll with marked you.” It wasn’t a question but a bitter statement. “You?” He grabbed Farley’s arms, yanked them open. The laptop hit the ground with a crunch. Darco bit his lip, doing a poor impersonation of regret, and shrugged. “Oops.” He yanked Farley’s shirt up and over his head wadded it up and tossed it aside.

  Darco put a hand on Farley’s shoulder and forced him to kneel. “Little Brother, I don’t know what to say. There appears to be a Female’s mark on your shoulder.”

  Farley couldn’t resist. He rolled his eyes up. “Jealous?”

  With a sickening crunch, Darco’s chelae punched through Farley’s shoulder. Lines of green ichor cut trails down his chest and back. Through it all, Darco’s face was calm, his cobalt blue eyes blank. Farley knew the look. His Brother was reaching dangerous fast.

  The world took a tilt, and before Farley could blink, his face was having an up close and personal with the rock wall and Darco’s forearm was planted at the base of his skull.

  “I should have eaten you like the rest of our siblings.” Darco’s tongue slid up close to his ear and sharp teeth pricked his earl
obe. “But you gave such good head.”

  Farley hissed as Darco’s hand closed on his groin, squeezing until he was sure something was going to pop. “The mark might change things with the other Males in the Dens, but I am your Brother. That title means I will always be your Dominant. Hmm...” Darco adjusted his grip. “I don’t know, but this could turn out to be a lot of fun.”

  God of Man, he always knew how to deliver the most amount of pain in the least amount of time.

  The Male’s face came around his shoulder. “I wonder what she’d do if she found me fucking you in her bed? Do you think she’d acknowledge my place?”

  “It doesn’t work that way with her.”

  “She’s Female...” Darco hissed. A little more pressure. Black flowers bloomed in Farley’s vision.

  “She’s not like other Kin.” His knees tried to buckle, but the pressure Darco applied to the back of his head kept him pinned to the wall.

  “We’ll just have to test that theory, won’t we?”

  Darco let him go and Farley collapsed. With the blood flow renewed, a new kind of pain exploded between his legs. He rolled to his side and tried to keep his eyes on his Brother. He was kicking the pieces of laptop scattered on the concrete.

  The smile was back on Darco’s face. He leaned against one of the three Males, practically using his shoulder like a chair.

  Farley pushed himself up and made it into a sitting position.

  “You know.” Darco looked down at the Male and toyed with a lock of hair curled near his ear, “I’m so disappointed in you.” His eyes flipped up, so bright they were practically glowing. “You and I had everything worked out...”

  “You’re not making any sense.” But then most things that came out of Darco’s mouth never made sense. When he did speak to Farley, it was usually random lines or a conglomeration of words that were irrelevant. And considering the things he was often doing to him when he did talk, it was just better not to listen.

  “No, it’s just that you don’t remember.” Darco stood up, looking bored, and kicked the laptop around. “At least, I hope that’s the case and you haven’t gone and changed the rules.”

  Rules? What rules? Farley pulled his knees under him, started to stand.

  Nope, not yet.

  With a hop, Darco landed on the plastic case, making it snap, crackle, pop. He smiled. “You wouldn’t go and do a thing like that, would you?”

  “Darco, I don’t have a clue as to what you’re talking about.”

  The Male’s icy gaze rolled up. A lot of Kin avoided Darco when he looked at them like that.

  The switch flipped and it was gone. His features calm, pleasant. Which was also bullshit. Nothing about Darco was pleasant. Ever.

  “Why were you in Niles’s apartment?” Farley flicked his gaze up before he could stop himself. “Yeah, you were definitely up to something, weren’t you?” Darco’s stare slid to the vacant section of building and then back to Farley. “Maybe looking for something?” He stepped on the laptop again and it gave a final crunch. By the sound of it, the screen had just bit the dust. “This maybe?” He bounced his weight, grinding it into the ground. “Start talking, Little Brother, or I’m going to do something to entertain myself.”

  “Why do you care?”

  Damn it. One of these days I’m going to learn to keep my mouth shut.

  Darco put a hand over his hearts. “Because you’re my Little Brother! And when my Little Brother is wandering around in the worst part of the Dens--the day after he’s supposed to be dead, need I remind you--I have a right to be concerned.” He smiled. Farley didn’t smile. He just leaned his head back against the wall and waited for the last bit of pain to stop.

  Darco inched a closer, thumb hooked in the waistband of his pants swaying back and forth, swinging his feet, scuffing his shoes loudly against the concrete. His head was down, his eyes half lidded. It was his thinking look. As in, thinking of starting a new game of pain.

  There was no sense in trying to lie. Darco would smell it. And even if Farley could pull it off with some creative fun with words, all Darco had to do was go up there and check the place out. Farley wished he’d brought a box of matches, a gallon of gasoline and just set fire to the place.

  Farley said, “Niles Fury has a little side hobby involving Haley.”

  Darco fell very still. The light behind his eyes darkened. And when he spoke, there was an odd lilt to his voice that Farley couldn’t quite place. “You talked with Niles?”

  “No,” Farley said. “Haley told me. She found out from Medan.”

  The three large Males mewled. Darco threw them a quick glance and they fell silent. He turned his attention back to Farley. “And why would Medan care?” He stood beside Farley’s foot, his free hand stroking his stomach. Farley averted his eyes to the three Males. They were sitting close together, trying to stay warm. He felt sorry for them. They were young and too stupid to get in out of the cold.

  Literally.

  Knowing Darco, he’d keep them around for a while, but eventually they’d become food.

  “They look uncomfortable,” Farley said. “Why don’t you let them go inside and get out of the weather?”

  Darco swiveled at the hips, throwing another quick glance. “They look fine to me.”

  “If their body temps drop too much--”

  Darco’s tone became insidious. “Like I give a fuck.” He knelt down and shoved his face in Farley’s. “Now, tell me why Medan has interest in Niles and his hobbies?” There was that lilt again. “I can make you, you know.”

  He could try.

  One hand came up and planted beside Farley’s head. “Is that what you want? Do you want me to make you?” Darco grinned. His teeth were longer now. Sharper. “Tell me.”

  “The other Queens are gunning for Haley.” Farley went ahead and spilled the rest, just so Darco would stay out of his head. “Niles has been keeping them off her back. I wanted to know why. I went to his apartment, found a bunch of articles, maps, stuff I couldn’t even read, and the computer, which you just broke.”

  “You should have said something.”

  “You don’t normally have this much to say to me.” Darco threw back his head and laughed. It was a genuine sound. Surprisingly enough.

  “Now I remember why I didn’t eat your throat out! It’s because you made me laugh.” He bumped Farley’s shoulder with his fist. “You always did know how to cheer me up.”

  Good. Fine. “Can I leave now?”

  “On one condition.”

  Farley knew he was going to regret asking, but he did anyhow. “And what would that be?”

  “I demand a tithe.”

  “Why?”

  “You passed through my tunnel back there and didn’t pay. Now I want payment.”

  Farley tried to read Darco’s expression, but it was just too peaceful. Which could only mean terrible things.

  “What do you want?”

  “Hmm, what am I in the mood for?” Darco licked Farley’s mouth. “There are so many possibilities...” He tasted him. “Let me think...” The second taste was harder. His teeth raked against Farley’s. When he came up for air, his eyes were bleeding gold. “You always did have such a great mouth ... and taste, such incredible flavor.”

  “Your tithe?” Farley asked, teeth clenched.

  “I’m thinking.” Darco drew Farley up and away from the wall until their bodies were pressed together. Closer now, their lips brushed. Farley trembled. Not because he was cold, but because Darco was trying to influence him again.

  “Stop it.”

  “Your resistance is amazing. How long do you think you can keep doing that?”

  “Long enough. Now get out of my head.”

  “Then cooperate.” His eyes narrowed, and a thin growl ticked out of his throat.

  Farley leaned into the other Male, opened his mouth, and caught his bottom lip. Darco made a pleased sound and slid his hands down and around Farley’s waist.

  Heat kic
ked up and their metaphysical energies threw off waves like a desert sun. The young Males circled them, touching, licking. Farley wrapped his arms around Darco, pulling him tight, and tasted him hard, trying his damnedest to choke the SOB with his tongue.

  The growl in Darco’s chest became a purr. Farley hissed as his Brother moved his hands across his lower back and dug his fingers into the flesh. A yelp burst out of Farley’s mouth when the Male hit the ulysiss gland under his skin hard. Farley came forward, his face landing against his Brother’s neck, spasms hitting the backs of his legs and arms like lightening. Chelae punched into his muscles, holding him captive with a mix of pain and pleasure.

  His body responded. He was helpless to stop it.

  Darco rubbed against him. His mouth touched Farley’s cheek, his neck. He tried not to scream when his Brother sank his teeth into his shoulder. And failed.

  The bite was dangerously close to his arteries. If Farley moved, he would rip out his own throat. Powerless to fight him, he went down and under his Brother. With claws in his lower back, Farley could only kick while Darco sucked at the wound, worried it with his teeth, then drank by pulling the blood through the tears he made.

  Too weak to stop him, Farley laid there, letting his Brother grind against him until he finished. He knew Darco wouldn’t kill him. He got too much fun out of torturing him like this. Still, his primal instincts were in full-fledged panic. And the fear he put off was exactly what his Brother wanted.

  When Darco’s mouth popped free, Farley scurried out from under him. The three Males moved in, drawn by the smell of sex and blood.

  “By the egg of the Female who bore us, you taste good.” Darco rolled over on his back, and kicked up a leg. His hands slipped down the front of his pants. “I thought you tasted good before she marked you.” He shut his eyes and smacked his lips. “If that’s what she tastes like, no wonder you like fucking her.” He grinned and rolled his shoulders against the ground like a cat in the thrall of catnip.