A cool finger trailed lightly over the back of her neck.
“Hello, beautiful one…”
The calm, deep voice rippled over her, like velvet warmth.
“…angry at me already?”
Alexis turned.
She managed to do it smoothly, to keep her grip on the metal railing and not startle, despite how close he’d gotten to her… despite how damned close he managed to get to her without her hearing or feeling or seeing a damned thing… despite the fact that he actually managed to touch her before she’d realized she wasn’t alone.
Travelers were weird as hell.
She supposed she should be thankful he bothered to make his presence known at all.
She’d had a few that shadow-stalked her for weeks before they spoke to her.
“There are odd ones of every race,” he murmured, reminding her that Travelers were rumored to be mind-readers as well, at least the older ones. “Would it not be rather strange of me to hide from you, when you are the person I came here to see?”
She looked at him, frowning faintly.
Was it really a “him,” though?
Or was that just more illusion? Did it just change form to whatever shape, gender, or species it thought would provide the most advantage?
Again, it was really weird to not know.
She wondered if it would tell her the truth if she just asked outright.
“Perhaps,” it said, smiling at her when she met his gaze. “Yet, how would you know it was true?” Still smiling, but now watching her more shrewdly, it added, “You knew I was coming. Despite being annoyed that I snuck up on you. I am expected.”
“I did,” she said. “And you are.”
She quirked an eyebrow as she straightened, taking her hands off the railing in the same pause.
“Several of my people tracked you.”
“Your people, Lightbringer?” He lifted a meaningful eyebrow.
“Employees.”
“Ah.” It seemed to be thinking. “…Yes. Of course. The werewolves I smelled.”
“I have them check out the portals for me sometimes.” Alexis paused, gauging the creature’s pale, nearly violet-colored eyes. “Does that bother you?”
“Not at all, Lightbringer,” the creature said smoothly. “Why would it? This is your domain, after all. It is yours to protect as you see fit…”
Even as it spoke, there was a slight commotion on the stairs.
Alexis and the Traveler both turned, watching as four different individuals vaulted up the final few steps to the metal catwalk, exuding a pulse of alarm, even anger.
Alexis knew all of them, of course, even before she noted their auras.
She held up a hand, stepping slightly in front of the Traveler.
“It’s fine,” she said calmly. “You can call off the cavalry… the Traveler is with me.”
The four people who’d been rushing towards her all came to a stop, looking at one another before they looked back at her.
Jules, who led the small fighting force, reacted first, frowning from Alexis to the male whatever-it-was looming behind her, gazing down at their group from a height of maybe six-five or six-six. The Traveler easily stood as tall as the three werewolves who flanked Jules, all of them still looking like they might be spoiling for a fight.
It crossed Alexis’s mind that werewolves and Travelers didn’t like one another.
She couldn’t remember the exact reason for this––if it was some kind of mutual instinct, an energetic or auric aversion, or if there was some kind of actual history there––but Devin had explained to her more than once that the two species had an almost genetic dislike of one another at this point.
Apparently, it was even worse than the centuries-long squabbles between werewolves and vampires, which still gave her headaches now and then.
She met the gaze of the werewolf right behind Jules, the tallest of the three, standing nearly eye-level with the Traveler.
“You’re sure you’re all right, boss?” he growled, his voice low.
Vic was always old-school polite with her, even in his texts.
“I’m fine, Vic,” she assured him. “The Traveler made himself known. He’s made it clear he’s here to discuss business with me.”
She glanced at the Traveler himself.
The creature hadn’t taken those violet irises off the three werewolves.
He looked past the half-fae Jules as if she wasn’t even there.
Alexis might have found that funny in other circumstances.
Few males of any species could easily look past Jules––especially given what she was wearing right then, since she was working the floor and greeting guests.
She was in her full regalia tonight, wearing one of her dominatrix-slash-sexy school girl outfits, including a pleated skirt that barely covered her crotch, thigh-high stockings with stripes and little bows, teeteringly high heels, a cropped sailor top that left her entire midriff and most of her ribcage exposed, along with the bottom part of her breasts, a leather collar, and striped armband stockings to go with the thigh-highs.
With her blond hair cut with severe bangs, and her dramatic make-up, she looked positively dangerous.
Not only that, fae definitely had a little extra something when it came to attracting members of both species. It was part of the reason Alexis had her working the front door, but she and Devin had been witness to the magical effect Jules had on members of both sexes since before they’d gotten into high school.
Between that and Jules’ tendency to get tipsy on so much as a shot glass full of beer, they’d had to keep a close eye on her anytime the three of them ventured out to a party, or Jules might elicit more attention than she could handle.
Now Jules looked pissed, and thoroughly in mama bear mode.
“You’re sure, Alexis?” she said, her voice sharp as she glared at the tall Traveler. “I know he’s hot and all, but he got right by my guards, not to mention your sensors––”
“It’s fine, Jules,” Alexis said calmly. “And don’t worry about that. It’s not your fault. Travelers can simply…” Alexis made a vague gesture with one hand. “…Do that.”
She glanced at the Traveler as she said it.
The creature looked at her, smiling faintly with perfectly shaped lips.
A flash of white, canine-shaped tooth showed when he did, making her think of some weird hybrid of werewolf and vampire.
“She is correct,” the Traveler said, looking back at the other two. “We just… do that.”
Jules looked slightly mollified, but not wholly reassured.
The three werewolves, Alexis noted, looked even angrier than before.
It struck her to wonder what the deal was there.
“They think I’m flirting with you,” the Traveler said mildly, speaking relatively low, but more than loud enough for the werewolves to hear. “They don’t like it.”
He looked at her, smiling as his violet eyes appraised her in a flickering glance.
“…They’re not entirely wrong.”
Vic growled, along with the thick-necked blond on the other side of Jules.
“Down, boy,” the Traveler said mildly. “I will not hurt your mistress. Or rape her… as you seem intent on thinking about… loudly… and so intently, I cannot help but wonder if each of you have harbored a few too many sexual fantasies about your ‘boss’ well apart from me…”
Vic’s growl grew louder, and carried more of a threat.
That time, sighing a bit, Alexis stood between them.
She looked at the Traveler first.
“You,” she said firmly. “Shut up.”
She looked back at the three werewolves.
“Vic… you, Hunter, and Zach can go. I really appreciate you tonight… but I’ve got this. I’ll give you a call if anything else comes up.”
The three wolves looked at her, then at one another.
Reluctantly, Vic nodded, glancing at Zach, the blond one.
“That’s really not necessary––” she protested.
Vic stared at the Traveler. “We’ll stay nearby, boss.”
Realizing that was likely a fight she wouldn’t win, Alexis didn’t bother to protest a second time.
She watched the three of them retreat down the stairs, all three of them giving hard stares in the Traveler’s direction. She saw them sniffing the air as they left, too, as if getting a last few, hard whiffs of his scent so they’d recognize that particular Traveler later.
Only Jules lingered a beat longer.
“You too, Jules,” Alexis said, her voice a touch more gentle. “Really. I’m fine.”
Jules frowned.
Looking from her to the Traveler, and back again, she grunted.
“I mean, he is fine, but I’m not sure this is how you should break your no-dating streak, ‘Lexi––”
“Jules.”
Alexis’s voice was pure warning that time.
Jules only smirked, shrugging as she pushed off the banister she’d been gripping in one hand. “Sure thing, boss,” she said, giving her a mock serious look and saluting her dramatically. “Heading back to the trenches now…”
As she turned to leave, she raised an eyebrow at Alexis meaningfully, smirking a little before she turned all the way around and began descending the metal stairs with that odd, otherworldly grace of hers. She seemed to float, even wearing the absurdly high heels on the metal gratings that most humans tripped on.
Sighing a bit in her mind, Alexis just watched them all go.
Then she turned back to face the Traveler.
He wasn’t looking at the stairs, or at the werewolves or the half-fae club manager as they reached the bottom of the stairs and began walking across the main floor below them.
The Traveler looked only at her.
4
Traveler
The creature slid backwards a few feet, almost like it wanted to see all of her at once.
Looking her over, it smiled faintly, light shining from those pale, otherworldly eyes. Whispers of smoke and colored light flickered around him, then seemed to be absorbed back into his skin, as if he was gathering himself together.
“…You are quite pretty,” it said next. “Even for one of your kind. I see why they are so protective of you.”
His smirk returned.
“…and why the wolves think so much about mounting you. It is a sad testament to their race that they persist in viewing a being such as yourself, with gifts such as comes with being a cherished Lightbringer, as if you were one of their common bitches…”
Alexis didn’t blink.
She didn’t so much as frown.
She could feel him probe her for a reaction.
When she didn’t give him one, his narrow mouth grew more defined.
He smiled.
“I am glad you seem sensible,” he said then.
His expression sobered, his eyes growing almost troubled.
“Given my reason for being here, I had hoped you would be mature enough to handle what I am here to discuss…”
The Traveler seemed to solidify itself in front of her as he spoke, the lines growing more symmetrical, more perfect, until he appeared almost as corporeal as the wolves and Jules. Those pale eyes now shone above a prominent jaw, part of an increasingly handsome face, one she found herself drinking in with her eyes, even knowing it likely wasn’t real.
Her phone pinged in her hand.
Almost immediately, it pinged again.
Out of habit, Alexis glanced at it.
It was Jules.
I know he’s hot as fuck, she wrote. I mean… damn.
The second text lined up after the first.
I wouldn’t blame you. TRUST ME I WOULDN’T. But remember what he is, Lex. I don’t think you want to get tangled up with one of those things…
Jules had written more, but Alexis stopped reading.
She glanced up at the creature standing across from her, at the same balcony railing.
Those violet eyes shifted to a light brown with gold flecks as she watched, unusual and riveting and likely no more real than the violet-colored irises before them, or the perfect dark brows, or the high cheekbones, the longish, chestnut-colored hair, the five o’clock shadow, the broad shoulders, the unusually well-formed mouth and hands.
He continued to solidify in the near dark of her catwalk, smiling the whole time.
“Do you have a name?” she queried politely.
Her phone pinged again.
“Caliginous,” he told her. “You may call me Cal. Or Calin.”
Her lips pursed.
Her phone pinged again.
“Are you going to get that?” he asked politely.
“No,” she said.
“Why not?”
She didn’t bother to answer.
Instead, she found herself turning over his name.
“Cal,” she mused. “Calin. Caliginous. As in dark, misty.” Thinking, she paused. “…also opaque. Difficult to understand.”
“Indeed.” The creature smiled. “Rather on the nose, in my case. Wouldn’t you agree?”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Are you difficult to understand? That’s an interesting way to think about oneself.”
“I more meant the misty part.” He held up one hand ruefully, and smoke swirled around it, along with those flashes of light.
“…Rather like Lightbringer, I suppose,” he added, lowering the hand and arm back to his side. “Although I suppose that’s as much a title as a name. Or perhaps a species. And rather confusing when one realizes it’s a synonym of Lucifer.”
Alexis’s gaze narrowed.
The creature’s lips tilted in another smile.
“I hear you have Lucifer here… in this dimension. On your world. Is that true?”
Hesitating, she considered not answering, then shrugged.
“Reportedly,” she said, her voice neutral.
“You are unaware of his identity then?”
“I didn’t say that,” she said, a touch sharper. “I leave him alone.”
The being smiled.
“Ah. Well. Perhaps that is for the best.” His smile brightened, his eyes flashing a lighter blue-green. “Although I hope you don’t mind my saying… it is also a bit of a pity. After all, perhaps the two of you are soul mates. Perhaps that is the true meaning of your Lightbringer name. Perhaps that is why you have difficulty finding connection in this world, Alexis Poole. You are separated from your one and only mate.”
Her mouth hardened at that, in spite of herself.
But if the Traveler meant his words as an insult, there was no hint of that on his face, or in those light-filled eyes.
His expression remained politely serene, if notably opaque.
He inclined his head to the right, towards the side of the catwalk that ended in a metal door. Beyond that door lived the building’s main offices, including Alexis’s.
“Is there somewhere we can talk, Lightbringer?” he said. “Now that the wolves and the half-breed are assured I’m unlikely to eat you?”
His expression shifted, turning more serious.
So did his deep voice.
“We must talk,” he said. “It cannot wait.”
His pale eyes gauged hers––now violet, now light brown again, now blue––and Alexis guessed he was looking for more than simply a response to his question.
He was measuring her in some way.
If she had to guess, she would say the Traveler appeared to be sizing her up, and with a great deal more nuance than he had with the wolves.
He looked like he was trying to make up his mind about something.
Perhaps he was trying to make up his mind about her.
Flattening her own expression and making her smile polite, she relaxed the muscles of her face, giving him a short bow.
“Of course, Calin.”
“Cal is also fine,” he reminded her
.
“Cal, then, since you seem to prefer it.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
She smiled back, giving him another polite bow.
Without another word, she turned on her high-heeled boots, and began walking in the direction of the black-painted metal door.
Silently, the Traveler followed.
5
The Outer Realms
“I come bringing news for you,” the Traveler said.
He sat carefully on one of her pale-blue, velvety chairs.
Then, paradoxically, he slid one of his long legs over the chair’s arm, sliding sideways so that he nearly curled up inside the high back.
“I had actually figured that much out on my own,” she told him, giving him a wry smile as she slid into her own chair, a high-backed leather that sat behind her antique desk. “You weren’t as opaque on that point as you seem to think, Traveler.”
That time, he didn’t smile.
“It is not news you will like,” he informed her somberly. “Yet it seemed the type of news best to deliver in person.”
A faint frown pinched his lips, as though he was thinking about his own words, rolling them over in some other part of his mind.
At the end of that pause, he added,
“You have surmised by now that I am here for you? For you specifically, Lightbringer? I traveled very far to speak to you. More than speak.”
Pausing meaningfully, he added,
“I came as quickly as I could. More quickly than any non-Traveler, of course, but it feels like I bring this news late, nonetheless. I apologize for that.”
Alexis frowned.
It wasn’t just the vagueness of his words, the things he left out.
Something about the demeanor of the Traveler disturbed her.
She saw a darkness there.
It followed him like a bad smell, but didn’t seem to come from the Traveler himself.
Perhaps it lived in whatever news he had for her.
Whatever it was, Alexis already knew she would not like what he came here to say. Reminded of the sick, foreboding feeling she’d carried around with her the last few hours, she fought to push it from her mind, to blank her thoughts before the Traveler noticed, or spoke aloud whatever he’d come here to tell her.
Lightbringer: An Enemies to Lovers Urban Fantasy with Demons, Portals, Witches, Renegade Gods, & Other Assorted Beasties (Light & Shadow Book 1) Page 3