City of Dragons: Blood Bonds

by Adrienne Wilder

  Garrett didn’t move, but his cheeks grayed.

  Haley said, “It wasn’t his fault. Medan ... Medan made him.”

  Garrett’s Adam’s apple worked like he’d just swallowed something foul.

  “I’ll just make this easy for you, okay?” Farley reached into his wallet and pulled out his CFKR ID. “Here, take it. I’ll quit.”

  “Farley!” Haley reached for him, but he stepped away. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  He nodded towards the Conference room. “Yeah, but they don’t care about that. Do they?”

  “Please, Garrett, he had no choice.”

  Her boss stayed silent and reached down, taking the ID. Farley’s eyes widened, like he didn’t really expect the man to do it, but when it was done, his stare went hard.

  She caught Farley by the wrist and stepped up to him. “Don’t. Don’t do this. Don’t leave.”

  “It’s not my choice.” His lips brushed her ear. “Let’s just go.” She looked at him and glared at Garrett over her shoulder. “Let’s just get out of here. Leave. We don’t need Humans. We’re Kin.”

  “You don’t mean that.” But he did mean it. God of Man, he meant every word.

  “Let’s go, Haley.” Garrett slipped the ID into his jacket pocket. Farley’s grip tightened on her wrist, and his thumb rubbed her pulse. “We have a room full of board members trying to decide if you should keep your job.” She looked back at Farley. His eyes were dark. Possessive. “Haley!” Garrett barked.

  She pulled from Farley’s grasp and he whirled, storming back up the hallway. The door slammed shut hard enough to crack the drywall. Haley wanted to go after him. She could feel his pain like an audible cry, then it was gone.

  Even though every Draconian part of Haley demanded she tend to her Marked, she followed Garrett.

  Chapter 30

  Rage tasted bitter in the back of Farley’s throat. He cleared the steps, taking two, then three at a time. It made his muscles scream and he relished the pain.

  Fucking Humans.

  His lithe legs ate up the long hallway. The skaters he wore rattled and swished, a chorus to his angry breathing. He hit the next door with both fists, punching it open. The small glass window in the top burst.

  “Farley!”

  Farley turned and flashed fang. Claire’s hands came up as she recoiled.

  She did manage not to scream.

  Kudos for her.

  Claire said, “What’s wrong?”

  Farley scented her, her fear, her concern, her ... pity. With a snarl he took a turn, going anywhere just to get away. A Human giving him pity. How pathetic was that?

  “Farley, please wait ... wait.”

  He grabbed a door. It looked just like all the others and it had to go somewhere. Somewhere away from here. Away from these ... these ... chetrah.

  Farley wound up in the dark. His natural sight slid in, revealing four walls and lots of block shapes. There had to be a way out somewhere. The lights clicked on and he hissed as his retinas lit up like the sun.

  “Son of a bitch!” Farley pressed his fingers into his sockets. His hip hit something hard and he almost fell. Small hands grabbed him and he slapped them away. “Leave me alone!”

  “What happened? Please, tell me what happened!”

  “I said get the fuck away from me!” His sight came back, followed by a sharp pain in the back of his skull. He wanted to pace, needed to pace, but there were boxes and old copiers and bits of computer everywhere.

  Claire stood by the door, her small shoulders hunched and her eyes very large. Farley turned round and round looking for somewhere, anywhere he could go.

  But he was trapped. Just like life. Farley gave up and stood in the center, his shoulders rising and falling with each desperate breath.

  “Is it your Brother again?” Claire hiccupped.

  Compared to this big Brother is a cake walk.

  What did just happen down there?

  Oh, yeah. Now he remembered. Haley chose to face a room full of Humans who wanted her ass on a silver platter, rather than leave with him to stay safe. And the cherry on top? He’d just lost his job. Funny, he never thought that would bother him, but it did. In fact, it just chewed up all his soft parts and spit them right back out.

  Farley flicked his eyes up at Claire. The fear she put out was intoxicating. Absolutely sweet. Dark chocolate for the senses.

  “Farley, tell me what happened, please.”

  “I got fired.”

  “I’m sure it will be okay.” She came forward and petted his arm. Farley’s nerve endings fired up like tiny blow torches.

  “No, it won’t ... Haley...” She was going in there alone because he was powerless to protect her.

  Claire moved closer. She said something but it didn’t make sense. Farley was absorbed by the way she moved, felt ...smelled. Claire smelled like food.

  Farley’s body went forward, leaving his brain ten steps behind. By the time his cognitive thought caught up to what the rest of him was doing, he had Claire by the waist, her ass propped up on an old copier, and his pants undone. One hand was under her shirt rolling her nipple, the other stroking the wetness blossoming between her legs while her panties slid down her right ankle. Farley didn’t remember getting there, but here he was. He leaned into her, his forehead on her sternum, the sound of her breathing in his ears. It felt good. This taking, this bit of Dominance. Farley sucked the taste of her from his fingers and growled. When he looked at her she whispered for him to do things to her, to love her.

  He growled. If he wanted to, he could kill her. Claire was weaker, helpless. She was nothing more than Food and sex.

  Just like me.

  “Farley...” His name came out on a desperate gasp as Claire rocked against him. Begging for him, wanting him. The small helpless sounds she made kicked him in the ribs, then the groin.

  Claire reached for Farley’s cock, but he grabbed her wrists and pushed them out and away. Like a Dominant, he didn’t want her to touch him.

  “I’m in control.”

  Claire seemed to like that idea. A lot. She dropped her head back and raised her hips to him, but he held her back.

  “Don’t you want me?” She looked on the verge of tears.

  Thing is, Farley didn’t want her to want him. God of Man, help him, he just wanted to take out his rage. He snarled, yanked Claire off the top of the copier, and slung her like a rag doll into an old office chair. She stumbled and threw out her hands to catch herself, leaving her on knees, face first in the old leather. Farley grabbed her around the waist, popped up her hips and kicked her legs apart. When he yanked her by the hair she called to him, begging.

  In one hard stroke he entered. Claire’s breath exploded over and over in deep pants as he wasted no time in moving.

  Farley wanted to show himself, prove he was as Male as any other, these Humans and their stupid social rules. Farley fucked her until the sweat rolled off her back, turned her pink blouse dark and matted her blonde locks to her face. All the while Claire said stupid things like how much she loved him. It only made him angrier, more determined to take something, anything she had to offer.

  When he came it was violent and painful and he embraced it.

  Farley sank his teeth into his forearm to keep from burying them into her back. When that wasn’t enough, he scored his stomach until the ichor ran in streams down his legs. And he still needed to hurt.

  Anger pushed Farley to his knees and he crumbled, wishing for his rage to go away. He hated his lack of control almost as much as his lack of strength. He was weak. He’d lived through his hatching because he was willing to fuck anything Dominant, and he’d survived life because he preyed on the weak. Haley made him hers, not because she wanted him, not because he was worthy, but because she had to save him. Because he couldn’t save himself.

  And the only reason she pitied him was because of her Human-instilled ethics. Her first Impressions.

  The acknowledgment of his own wort
hlessness made Farley shake until he thought he was going to burst from his Human skin.

  “Farley ... Farley...” Claire put her arms around him, stroked his head. He loved her scent, her taste. He wanted more of her, but she wasn’t Kin and he wasn’t strong enough for his own kind; he was only good enough for food.

  Something that sounded like a sob escaped his lips. “Haley.” Just saying her name hurt.

  “What did she do to you? Farley, I’ve never seen you like this. What did Haley do?”

  It wasn’t Haley, it was him. But how did he explain that to Humans, who thought everything deserved to be saved? That the weak should live?

  Farley tried to stand, stumbled, found his shirt. When had that come off? He fumbled with his pants. Disgusted by his behavior, he stumbled back. “I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have...” He shook his head, tried to turn, and clipped his hip into an old desk. Claire grabbed his arm and he pulled away from her. He had to get out. Where the hell was the door?

  Claire’s small hands dug into his arm like claws. “Come live with me. Let me take care of you. You won’t ever have to go back to the Dens. You won’t ever have to go back to her! Stay with me.”

  For a split second the thought glimmered; living off Claire’s blood and her flesh, making her his, taking her as a Link. Hands on her hips, Farley stepped on his shirt as he pressed her against a wall of boxes. She moaned under his touch, stroked his shoulders. Claire’s fingers lingered on the scar. Touching it sent a bolt of heat down his spine.

  She studied the marred flesh. “Why didn’t that heal?” Claire prodded the ridges of the bite. “Who did this to you? Why hasn’t it healed?”

  He looked at the mark on his shoulder. Her fingers brushed the skin and his metaphysical energy responded, searching, reaching, but it found nothing in Claire.

  And it never would.

  “I Belong.” Saying it made him feel numb. Farley moved her hand off the mark and stepped away.

  “Belong? What do you mean, Belong?”

  Keeping Claire was a pipe dream. He was Food and they couldn’t Link. “I have to go.” Farley zipped up his pants and snatched up his shirt. Claire called to him when he went out the door.

  Chapter 31

  Haley did her best to meet the gaze of each Human in the conference room, except for the Alchemists. Meeting their gaze was like trying to outstare a dead fish.

  Very scary dead fish.

  At the head of the table Colonel Dobson leaned back in his chair. He looked all the world like the cat that ate the canary … and was now back for the parakeet.

  “Sit.” Dobson motioned to the chair closest to her.

  She did.

  “Do you understand why you’ve been called in here?”

  Garrett said, “I’ve called her a Center Rep. I think it would be best to wait until she gets here before we start.”

  Dobson steepled his fingers. “That may be a while, Pip. I took the liberty of telling the Rep office we wouldn’t need their services.”

  “You have no authority!”

  “But we do.” That from one of the board members. Her hair was silver, her eyes shrewd. “The Center is not obligated to waste resources for her defense.”

  “All CFKR employees are guaranteed protection from misguided prosecution from the disciplinary board.”

  “Actually...” Dobson flicked something from the sleeve of his uniform. “Haley isn’t. She’s Kin. She isn’t entitled to any rights. She’s here because she’s a novelty.”

  Garrett leaned on the table. “I did not bring her in here for you to crucify. This was supposed to be a general inquiry. Not a full-fledged prosecutorial procedure. She came in good faith. I will not let you abuse it.”

  “What about her partner, the Male Kin she works with? Why isn’t he here?”

  Haley felt too dizzy to try and figure out which one of the board members spoke.

  “I let him go. He is no longer a part of this Center.”

  A wave of murmurs and unhappy comments crashed into Haley. When she looked up, Dobson was glaring at her.

  The man in the electric blue tie said, “Since the Male has refused to attend, we’ll just have to have him arrested.”

  “He was terminated before this meeting; therefore, he is out of jurisdiction.”

  One of the women barked a laugh. “And you don’t think we can still have him arrested? Not only could he stand accused of crimes against Humanity, his behavior put the CFKR at risk. There’s no telling how long he has been leaking information to the Queen of Atlanta. Not to mention, there are at least a half-dozen Federal Bureau of Non-Human Affairs charges he could be brought up on. And if the reports we’re hearing are true, he’ll stand trial for murder.”

  Garrett voiced a protest and they all started in at once, the accusations flying so fast it made Haley’s head swim.

  “Stop! Okay, just stop!” Haley stood up and the room came to an uneasy quiet. This was nothing more than a dog and pony show, and she wasn’t about to give them the pleasure of a performance. “The fact that Farley isn’t here has nothing to do with anything. All of you know damn well he’s been loyal to this Center. So just leave him out of this. You brought me here because you want something.” She looked at Dobson. His expression hadn’t changed. “Specifically, he wants something. So what do you want, Dobson? Just spit it out!”

  The colonel tapped his upper lip with a callused finger. Either he hadn’t expected her to be so blunt, or he had counted on it. Haley couldn’t tell. When he spoke, his voice revealed nothing of his feelings. “I’m going to ask you a few questions. If I find out that you violated protocol, then I’m going to have you arrested for conspiracy, crimes against Humanity, maybe even espionage. You will be tried and you will be found guilty. And because I know you didn’t do it alone, anyone who helped you will spend a good thirty or more years in Federal prison.” His eyes slipped to Garrett. “And as you know, Humans don’t live forever like Kin.” Yeah, thirty years would be Garrett’s whole life. The lead in Haley’s chest dragged her back to her seat.

  Dobson waved a hand at the five uniformed Alchemists. “They’re here to make sure you tell the truth. And if you don’t answer my questions truthfully, I’ll add perjury.” He leaned forward eyes flashing, a small hard smile on his lips. “And trust me, you do not want to answer my questions. In fact, you want to avoid them at all costs.”

  Haley stared at the table, wishing for a crack in the earth to swallow all of them. “What do you want?” Somehow her voice remained steady.

  “I want you here in the morning. At that time you will report upstairs. I will debrief you and you will be transferred to a different facility. You will be moved out of your apartment and into an onsite barracks.”

  It all sounded so simple. And she knew it wasn’t. “So, you’re basically telling me that I’m going to prison.”

  Dobson’s eyes hardened. “If you want to experience what real prison is like, I can arrange it. Here you will be able to have contact with your own. Controlled contact, but contact. This will be a country club in comparison.”

  “Fine.” She stood up, and Garrett stepped in front of her.

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I won’t hang you out to dry, Garrett. I won’t run.”

  “I’m afraid that’s what he’s counting on, Haley.” His jaw tightened. Next to her ear he said, “Listen to me, fight this. Buy some time for me. I’m in contact with some people, our people. I’m working on this, but I need a few days.” She knew he was competent, and if anything could be done he would make it happen. But if he failed, it was more than her. It was him, and it was Farley. They’d all face punishment because she didn’t make things easy for Dobson.

  “I’m sorry.” Haley stepped around Garrett and looked at Dobson. She nodded once. “I’ll be here.”

  Chapter 32

  Haley stared at her desk for a very long time. It was an old wooden piece she’d been assigned way back in the twenties. As the
office modernized, she’d kept it and now it was a beautiful antique in a building full of plastic dipped pressboard on chrome legs.

  Odd thing, other than the desk, there wasn’t much else she felt attached to. Not even the photos on her walls of annual luncheons, awards for community service, thank you notes from eleven different mayors over forty some odd years. The only thing in the office she wanted to take with her was Farley, and he’d walked out.

  Good thing, too. It would have been a mess with him there.

  Haley decided to walk home. She needed the time to think. Plus it helped her burn off her anger. Half a block from work, she dialed Farley’s cell. At least the thing was his and not the Center’s. Hopefully he hadn’t run out of minutes.

  It rang until it clicked over to voice mail. She hung up and dialed again. On the third try he answered.

  “Farley?”

  “Yeah.” God of Man, he sounded rough. Like he’d been drinking, smoking, and beating the hell out of himself.

  “Are you okay?” He was quiet so long she checked her signal. “Farley?”

  “Haley, I know why Jane in the D.A.’s office sent you the email.” Were those sirens in the background?

  “Where are you?”

  “At the Morris and Law House intersection.”

  “Why do I hear sirens? What’s going on?”

  “There was an accident.” But there was usually an accident at that intersection and a yearly fatality. The city had reworked the corner four times, but it never seemed to change things. It was just a busy road with too many lanes for the area and too many people coming in and out of the complex.

  “Are you hurt?”

  “No, no, I’m fine. I just ... Haley ... I’m scared for you.”

  “I’m okay.” She thought about Dobson. “At least right now I’m okay.”

  The blare of a fire truck sounded off, drowning out the sirens.

  “Farley?”

  “Still here.”

  “You were going to tell me about Jane?” She walked faster, but instead of taking a right at the end of the block towards her apartment, she turned a left, and headed towards Morrison.