by Amy Cook
“Comin’?”
“Oh! Right, coming.” She moved to follow, faltering when he pulled something from his pocket and tossed it to her. She fumbled for it, but managed to catch it before it hit the ground. She ran a thumb over the shiny surface, metal still warm to the touch from being in his pocket.
“The bug zapper?” she asked in confusion. He nodded, jerking his head toward the stairs. Amiel waited patiently for an explanation, but he didn’t speak again until they were on the last landing.
“I added it to your bike when I was fixin’ the rest. Works just like last night, only the device is built in now. Just press the button to turn it on or off. So long as y’all remember to charge your solars durin’ the day, the shield’ll stay up all night.” He shrugged. “No more late night walks for gas.”
“Oh wow.” He just kept surprising her with his kindness. “Harley, thank you so much. You really are a life saver.” He held the door open for her, not meeting her eyes.
“Uh, no worries.” His discomfort turned to sternness. “Just make sure to be at least 10 feet away when y’all turn it on or off. Any closer and it’ll get ya.” She went pale, hoping she’d be able to tell just how far away that was. A grin caught the edge of his mouth.
“Don’t worry, it’s only hot enough to stun ya. But you’d be knocked out for a good while, and anybody could rob ya, or worse. So…yeah. Go ahead.” It took a minute for her to realize he wanted her to step closer, test out her new toy. She walked closer, but was too afraid to go any farther. Shaking his head, his hands gripped her shoulders, pressing her forward. She instantly went gooey under his touch again. It was like he had a paralyzer in his skin or something. She’d probably let him push her over a cliff if he wanted to. Kind of pathetic, but true. Pleased with her distance from the bike, he quickly released her and stepped away, hands shoving into his pockets.
“Right about here. That’s the distance y’all are safe at. ” Curious, she bent to pick up a rock. Harley’s hand quickly gripped hers, stopping her from chucking it at the field the way he had the night before.
“Probably ain’t the best idea to do that lil trick ‘round here, kid.” He nodded toward the guards. “Break someone’s window, or head, and I doubt they’ll be lettin’ me back in.” She practically beamed up at him. It was likely he just didn’t want to have to deal with the guards or paying for someone’s window, but the possibility that he might come back to visit gave her hope for a budding friendship. Dropping the rock she took a good long look at the distance between her and her bike, memorizing it. She wasn’t worried about walking into it so much. She could easily disengage the zapper the first thing she walked out the door. She was more concerned about not walking far enough away before she turned it on. Getting zapped from behind didn’t sound any more intriguing that it did from the front. Taking another long look, she finally nodded. She could do this.
“Also, if you’re ever in trouble, jump on the bike and put the field up. It’ll protect ya till I can get there and help. Y’all gotta be sittin’ on the bike though, or it’ll still zap ya.” She smiled up at him in appreciation.
“Why are you doing so much to help me?” His eyes locked with hers, and she couldn’t help but marvel at their color in the sunlight. The color was even more striking in the full daylight. He looked away with a shrug.
“Pop worries about ya, kid. He asked me to look out for you, and I keep my promises.”
“Oh. Right. Well…thank you.” Of course it’s for Tandy she mused, slightly crestfallen. She’d forgotten Tandy had as much told her he’d tasked his son to look out for her. So maybe friendship was a little farther out of reach than she hoped. Who wanted to be friends with the kid they were babysitting.
“Thanks for the food,” he mumbled, sliding his aviators back on and quickly striding away.
She watched him disappear through the gates before returning to her apartment. She wished she could say she was surprised to see Darvey leaning against her door when she went back inside. But she wasn’t. She was just glad he hadn’t been waiting for her inside. Her gaze shifted to the closed door, knowing she’d forgotten to lock it on the way out.
“He’s a dangerous guy, Chipmunk. You shouldn’t see him anymore.”
“I beg your pardon?” Amiel frowned, rankling at the pet name and his general presumptuousness.
“Harley, I don’t like you being around him.”
“Thank you for your concern, but you don’t get to tell me who I do or do not see.”
“I can see that you’re the type of girl who likes a dangerous guy. Your mom has sheltered you, smothered you even, for a long time. You probably see him as a personal sort of rebellion.” She glowered at him, despite the chill racing her spine.
“Darvey, you don’t know me. You don’t know anything about my life, or my choices.”
“I bet I know a lot more about you than you think.” With an angry sigh she tried to step around him to walk in her door, but he moved into her path, effectively blocking her. Her jaw clenched, the tags warming to her anger, but doing nothing to help her. Of course she’d regret killing him later, if the tags did react. But right now it seemed like an awfully good idea.
“Don’t be like that. I only mean to say that I have been in similar situations in my own life. I recognize it in your eyes. I understand the need to be rebellious and strike out on your own. To prove that you have the strength to do what no one else believes you can. But this isn’t the way.”
“Again, thank you for your concern. However I think I am a good enough judge of character to choose my friends, and he has been nothing but kind to me.” His eyes suddenly narrowed, grey eyes dark with what Amiel could only assume was anger.
“I am sure that you are a smart girl. But you are also lonely and not making wise decisions because of that.” Her skin crawled at his too accurate guess about her loneliness. “But you aren’t alone, Amiel. I am your friend. And I am warning you to stay away from Harley. He’s bad news.” She opened her mouth to argue but he talked right over top of her.
“You’re young, and you’re new here. So you probably don’t know the truth about him yet. But keep your ear to the ground and you’ll figure it out soon enough.”
“I don’t listen to gossip.”
“This isn’t gossip. It’s truth. Him- and his kind- they’re dangerous. They’re growing in number, too. You’ll recognize them by their mark. They all have one.” He pointed to his neck.
“His tattoo? Lots of people have tattoos.”
“Not like this. This tattoo belongs only to them.”
“What, like a gang or something?” She snickered in annoyance.
“If you like to think of it that way, yes. One of the most dangerous gangs in the country. He’s not for you, Amiel. I would think what he did to your neck would be warning enough.” He ran a cold clammy finger lightly over the bruising on her neck and she jerked away, disgusted and a little afraid. His touch had felt nothing like Harley’s, leaving her only feeling dirty.
“He didn’t do this to me. He wouldn’t hurt me.” He protected her, watched over her. Besides, Tandy would never ask his son to watch over her if he really was dangerous. Darvey shook his head as if reading her thoughts.
“Trust me, Amiel. You may think he wouldn’t hurt you, but he is entirely capable. They are notorious for their tempers and violence.” Unbidden, images of the way Harley’s eyes gleamed at the promise of a fight last night registered in her mind. She shook her head, pushing away the images. He’d been beating up bad men, eager to give justice to a crime. That didn’t make him bad. Darvey pushed onward.
“Ask around if you don’t believe me. Everyone will tell you the same. Just stay away from him. Before it’s too late.” With that he turned and disappeared down the stairs. Amiel moved into her apartment, locking the door behind her. She’d been here for two months now. If there really was such a dangerous gang in the city with tattooed necks, she would have seen more of them by now. Wouldn’t
she? Besides, Harley went out of his way to save her last night, so he couldn’t be the kind of guy that made a life out of hurting others.
Of course, would he have still saved her if he hadn’t promised his father to look out for her? Maybe not. But then most people today wouldn’t. She honestly didn’t know him well enough to make that call yet. There were a few things she did feel confident about though. Harley didn’t have to keep the promise he made to a father that was on the other side of the country. That showed he had honor. He certainly didn’t need to fix her bike the way he had either. That showed he had a selfless sort of kindness too. Bad people didn’t go out of their way to do things like that for others.
Her eyes fell on Tandy’s business card. She picked it up, tapping it gently on the counter top. It was said that life threatening experiences had a way of bonding people together in inexplicable ways. Having been through such situations with both Tandy and Harley, Amiel found that that saying was rather accurate. She may not know Harley or Tandy well enough to determine that they were completely trustworthy in every aspect of life. But she’d been through very scary situations with both of them, and they had stuck with her. They’d put their own lives in danger, for her.
Darvey on the other hand had done nothing but creep her out since she’d moved in. He and Harley obviously had a strained relationship, so it wasn’t surprising that Darvey would make up stories about Harley in an effort to make him sound like a bad person.
Amiel’s mind drifted back to the tattoo that she hadn’t yet been able to fully see. She couldn’t deny that the only times she’d been around Harley, people had seemed to react to the mark with a sense of fear and anger. Had it just been the thug’s reaction last night, she wouldn’t have thought about it twice. But the guards this morning hadn’t so much as tried to stop him for a blood check, which was saying a lot, considering they were incredibly paranoid. As such, she had to admit that he did have some sway in the city, and it may have been connected to his tattoo. But that connection didn’t have to be because he was in a vicious gang.
She sighed heavily. Obviously she needed to not fall head over heels for the guy she’d just met. That was simply common sense, yet apparently something she needed to be more careful of. If she were honest with herself, this damsel in distress crush had begun long before she’d ever met him. As ridiculous as it may be, this crush had popped up the moment his car had shielded her in its strength and his scent. And now that he had quite literally saved her life, that crush had doubled in depth. So yes, some caution and self control was definitely needed in that area. But until Harley gave her a reason to doubt him in other areas, Amiel wouldn’t believe a word Darvey said. He’d risked his life for her, he’d been watching over her and he’d gone out of his way to fix her bike in ways he was in no way obligated to. She wasn’t about to treat him differently just because Darvey of all people had put doubts in her mind. She wasn’t a fair weather friend, and she’d prove that she was a good friend to him in the only way she knew how to at the moment. Loyalty.
Feeling she’d made the right decision, she went to put the card on her completely uncluttered fridge. The magnet she chose was wimpy though, and it fell to the floor, carrying the card with it. Reaching down to grab it, she stopped, a scribble on the back catching her attention. Something had been scribbled out, and underneath that was a number she didn’t recognize. She did recognize the ‘H’ next to it though. Harley had given her his number. Smiling, she put both numbers in her phone and stuck the card on the fridge with two magnets this time. She took a step back, smiling at it. It was the first thing she had put on the blank white canvas, and it felt like her first real landmark in making this apartment her home.
Chapter 19
Harley
Harley stomped down the road, itching inside with no idea how to cure it. He should have given her the card last night. He’d thought about it, back on the street after he’d saved her from the loser thugs that he’d wanted to shred piece by piece. He’d thought about it. But he put it off when she looked up at him with those emerald doe eyes, bravely fighting back the tears of embarrassment and fear. He’d promised himself he’d give it to her at the gas station, then. Yet he’d put it off at the gas station when she’d smiled up at him in amazement, seeing his world through his glasses, and looking far too cute for someone wearing oversized sun glasses at night. Then the pack of Rabids had shown, and he’d had to get her out of there quickly.
The incident had reminded him of just how fragile her existence was in this world. This in turn had reminded him of why he’d never wanted to even attempt gaining friends. Because in the end, huge parts of his life were majorly screwed up, and those screwed up parts had a way of seeping into every ounce of his life. He had no personal life, couldn’t allow himself to have one. Cajun and his pops simply thought he was just too antisocial to know how to make friends. Harley had to admit that a lot of that was true. But he was fairly confident that if he let someone in, he’d be able to get a hang of the friendship thing well enough. Only problem was, the more people you let in, the more people you had to protect from your life, and the more people you had to lose. Mostly, he’d just hate to end up killing someone he loved. One time in his life had been far more than enough.
So as he’d flown down the road with her clinging to his back, he’d promised himself that he’d drop her off with his pop’s number in hand, and then only come around if she was in trouble. It was a good plan. At least it was until he’d plopped her on her feet and she’d looked at him with those blasted green eyes again; those eyes that made him dumber than mud when he looked into them. Pair the eyes with the hellish scent that had been driving him to distraction since all those long night ago at his pop’s hotel room and he was a lost cause. He’d ridden off with his pop’s card burning a hole on his pocket, and a gut full of frustration.
This morning she’d thanked him for the work he’d done on her bike with such heartfelt and honest gratitude, he’d nearly backed out of giving her the card again. A traitorous part of him knew that holding onto it would mean one more excuse he’d get to see her face to face. Because for whatever screwed up reason, he was drawn to the kid. And the card offered a pathetic excuse that would allow him to be near her, while being able to blame it on something beyond his own will. Because once that excuse was gone, any further contact with her would be of his own making, and it would be on his conscience. His life was one that he shouldn’t be pulling new ‘friends’ into. The decision to keep her out of his life should not have been that difficult. Not for him. Yet he’d held onto that number for months.
As much as he hated that Cajun was right, maybe he did need a friend. Maybe that was why he kept a hold of that damn number for as long as he did. He could have texted it to her at any point, left it for her at the guard house with the bike and remained in the shadows until she didn’t need him anymore. He hadn’t. And now he’d trapped himself into teaching her how to defend herself.
He shook out his shoulders and cracked his neck. What had he been thinking, agreeing to that? The answer was quite simple. He hadn’t been thinking, at least not with his human side. He’d been running on a whole lot of animalistic instinct is what he’d been doing. That puke Darvey had confronted him, calling him out and trying to assert his authority over his charge. Harley knew the creep from Foundation. And when he said creep, he meant creep. Of all the places she could live in the city, Amiel had to move in as that slime ball’s next door neighbor. Harley was always catching the perv looking at all the women like they were dessert on his personal menu, even though the women avoided him like the plague. Darvey didn’t care. If anything he seemed to take satisfaction in the fact that they avoided him, almost like it was a game to him. The guy was sick in the head that much was for sure. Harley could practically smell it on him, thick in the guy’s genetic essence.
He’d smelled it in the hall outside Amiel’s apartment in fact, and he should have immediately recognized it. But he’d been of
f his game. He’d been too distracted by Amiel’s scent, and the fact that he was about to lock himself up in a room saturated with more of that scent. Harley rubbed his neck, trying to ignore the fact that that scent still clung to his jacket, shirt, and skin.
He’d spent the last two months following that scent, training himself to always search the air for it when on rounds to ensure she was in safe areas. This city was a cesspool for crimes, Rabid and Cut oriented, yet the girl seemed blind to every bit of it. There had been a number of times he’d come across her scent in a less than savory part of town, only to follow it to goofy little tourist shops and other things that she probably found ‘adorably quaint.’ He’d even found the scent on a skeevy-looking bum once. After Harley had literally scared the pee out of the man, he found out that the man had been following her around all day. He’d been close enough he could almost touch her, close enough her scent clung to him, yet she hadn’t even noticed.
Lucky for the guy, he’d chickened out at the last minute and left. Harley had left him with incentive to never even consider jumping a woman again, yet the guy remained alive only because of his choice to leave Amiel untouched. The situation, however, brought Harley to the uncomfortable realization that no matter how hard he tried to look out for the kid, she was bound to find trouble the moment he wasn’t around. He had a fairly clingy job that didn’t allow him to follow her around all day, and that meant she was on her own a lot. He tried to always be there when she went to work, and came home from it. Her scent was always the first that he searched for with each breath, just in case. But a huge portion of the time, she was alone. And today, finding out that the freakish Darvey was her next door neighbor, he knew he had to do something about that fact.
Harley’s lip lifted at the corner, sneering as he remembered the way the little worm had tried to send him running with his tail between his legs. He’d all but staked his territorial claim on Amiel. Despite all the years the guy had spent around Harley’s kind, he obviously hadn’t figured out how dangerous a stake like that could be. Especially when Harley knew the kid clearly didn’t approve of the guy’s attentions. Which was a point towards her good intellect, he might add. Yet Darvey still pushed the envelope, and he’d nearly gotten himself shredded for it today.