Area of Influence

by Mandy M. Roth

  “No!” shouted Thor, nearly losing control then and there.

  Blaise grabbed him. “Hold it together, Thor, or whatever the fuck it is you go by now. If you get stuck in shifted hybrid form, you’re of no use to anyone, least of all the woman.”

  Malik nodded and handed the material to each of the men, who took turns smelling it. “Let’s split up and look for her.”

  They nodded.

  Auberi and Blaise stood next to Thor. Auberi spoke. “We’ll go with Toov.”

  “Keep him under control,” warned Daniel.

  “No promises,” said Blaise, starting to dance once more.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Emi thrashed at the monster that had hold of her arm, its claws digging in deep, drawing blood as it yanked her down yet another side street. It had been doing so for what felt like forever, and while she liked to consider herself an expert on New Orleans, she had no clue where they were.

  She struggled to hold her ground and dig her feet in but it didn’t work. All it did do was cause the thing’s claws to bite deeper into her flesh. Pain raced up her arm, but she ignored it, wanting to get away from the thing dragging her.

  “Ouch,” she said, jerking harder, to no avail.

  It didn’t even register she was speaking. When it had first made direct contact with her, ripping off her headscarf, she’d nearly lost control of her gifts as the horrors the thing that had once been human had endured washed over her. She’d seen the testing it had gone through, the tortures it had survived, only to come out the other side grotesque, barely able to register a real thought, and dying a slow death.

  It had been too much for her to handle. Too much for her to absorb and compartmentalize as she’d been trained to do. She’d wanted to help it despite the fact it seemed bent on taking her with it, wherever it was going. And it didn’t care how heavy handed it was, as noted by the fact it was dangerously close to digging its claws to the bone.

  “Stop!” she yelled—and much to her shock, the creature obeyed.

  It came to such a grinding halt that she barreled into it and nearly retched from the smell. Unsure why it had stopped, but thankful, she stared up at it. She counted four eyes, none where they should be, and in its mouth, it had double rows of teeth, like a shark. There was no way in hell she was going anywhere else with it. She’d faced demons who were less scary-looking than the thing holding her.

  “Let go of me,” she said sternly, on the off chance it would listen again.

  Much to her delight, it did. It released her.

  Weird.

  Emi tipped her head and watched it cautiously, curiosity outweighing common sense. Fleeing should have been her first priority, seeking out medical attention her next, but that wasn’t what she did. She remained in place, watching the creature as it simply stared down at her. She had to know why it listened to her commands. And would it do it again?

  “Hop.”

  While it did manage to get off the ground, it wasn’t so much a hop as it was an entire body leap. When it landed, it did so with a thud. It did it again, and she realized it would keep going until she told it to stop, so she did. For a few seconds, they merely stood there facing one another, each seeming as lost as the other.

  Though Emi liked to think she at least smelled better.

  She held her injured arm, stopping the blood from flowing as she looked the thing over, doing her best to figure out what it really was. It wasn’t a demon. She’d have sensed it. And it no longer human. That much she was sure of. But traces of humanity clung to it like lost remnants.

  She sniffed closer, instantly regretting the decision as the smell of rotting meat hit her. The creature mimicked her, sniffing her loudly. It didn’t appear as offended by her smell.

  That was good.

  It pushed at her injured arm and she released it, noticing the cuts weren’t as deep as they had been only seconds ago. That was strange.

  The creature grabbed hold of her uninjured arm and she nearly yelped, fearful he’d try to rip it off or something. It took her blood-covered hand and wiped it on the tattered remains of its shirt. The gesture was so kind that she almost forgot she was standing face to face with something that looked to have come directly from Frankenstein’s laboratory.

  “What are you?” she asked.

  It didn’t respond.

  She cleared her throat. “Why did you attack us?”

  He stared out at her from all four of its eyes, looking lost as to what she wanted to know. The more she stared at it, the sorrier she felt for the creature. Her injured arm was still too sore to lift, so she reached out and touched the creature with her good hand.

  The creature jerked back as if she might hurt it.

  Again, she felt pity for the thing. “You weren’t always this way, were you?”

  It didn’t respond verbally, but it did tear up slightly. It was enough for her to know that a tiny portion of the person it used to be was still inside there, trapped. Jolting back, she cupped her mouth, appalled at the idea that the thing before her was still being tortured by being left in the state it was. Who would do such a thing? How was it even possible?

  And how could the person behind it all be stopped?

  When the creature reached out for her, she half expected it to latch on as it had before and resume dragging her through back streets and alleyways. It didn’t. It touched her cheek as gently as it could.

  It was then she felt it—the thing before her wanted to die. It wanted to end its existence, and for some reason, it wanted her permission to do so.

  “Emi!”

  The creature snarled at the sound of Lance’s voice as Lance ran around the corner with two men in tow. They looked like a model convention was in town and they’d just fallen off a runway. Each one was strikingly handsome and screaming badass.

  Lance’s gaze narrowed on the creature next to her and he snarled, putting his hands out like he had previously. And just as before, claws shot out of his fingertips. This time she didn’t feel faint, as she had the last time he’d pulled that party trick out of his hat. She’d seen what he could do to the creatures. He could kill them.

  She took a stance in front of the creature. “No! Stop!”

  Lance drew up short, right before he would have attacked the monster. “Emi?”

  She stood in place, lifting her arms, ignoring the pain, trying to block more of the giant thing behind her. She had a feeling she looked a lot like a molehill before a mountain, but still, she had to make an attempt to protect it. Whatever had made it the way it was had done enough damage. It didn’t deserve more. “Don’t hurt him.”

  “W-what?” demanded Lance. He tried to grab her injured arm but she moved it away before he could. “He fucking hurt you! I’m going to make his death slow!”

  “I don’t think he meant to hurt me.”

  The brown-haired man who had arrived with Lance stared at her as if she were touched in the head. Maybe she was.

  “Emi, move,” said Lance grimly.

  She shook her head. “No. You’re not allowed to touch him. He feels bad for hurting me.”

  “You have got to be kidding me!” snapped Lance. “Hybrids don’t feel anything but the urge to kill.”

  “Hybrids?” she asked.

  Lance nodded his head at the thing behind her.

  The other man who had arrived with him had jet-black hair with a silver streak in it and enough piercings in his face that he more than likely had issues getting through metal detectors. He tipped his head and lifted his hand as if he intended to whisper to the brown-haired man. “Oh, look. Amnesia-Boy has an insane girlfriend. I’m shocked. Totally shocked. Two crazies. Maybe they’ll get together and give birth to Wednesday Addams.”

  “Blaise,” warned the brown-haired man.

  Emi looked at the man who appeared to have fallen into a vat of leather. “Oh please, Wednesday Addams would totally be your type of chick.”

  The Goth guy grinned widely. “Touché.�
�

  “Blaise, can you not see how calm the hybrid is being? Have you ever run into one who wasn’t snarling and trying to bite your throat out?” asked the brown-haired man, a French accent evident.

  “Well, no, but that isn’t saying much,” returned Blaise with a shrug. “Most people want to bite my throat out after meeting me. Kind of a common response to my awesomeness.”

  Emi could see how he’d evoke that type of response from most people. She was entertaining inflicting pain on him and she’d only just met him.

  Lance made another move to go around her toward the creature. Emi swatted him hard enough to make her hand sting. He froze in place, his gaze narrowing on the creature. “Emi, you need to listen to reason. That thing will kill you the second it gets the chance.”

  “Yes, but why isn’t it killing her?” asked the brown-haired one. “It clearly has the chance, as it’s in striking distance, but it is not harming her. Perhaps we should hear her out.”

  “Auberi, stay out of this,” said Lance.

  Emi pointed at Lance with her good hand. “Stop trying to bully Frank.”

  “Who the hell is Frank?” demanded Lance, sounding almost jealous.

  Emi bit her lower lip. “The monster needed a name. Since he looks like he’s an escapee from Frankenstein’s lab, Frank seemed like a great name for him.”

  Lance groaned. “He’s not a puppy. You can’t keep him.”

  She put a hand to her hip. “Who are you to tell me what I can and can’t keep?”

  Was she really arguing to keep the monster that had nearly torn her arm off? She thought harder on it all.

  Yep.

  She was. Even she knew that was insane, she couldn’t let Frank be harmed any more than he had been. Someone had to stick up for the downtrodden and the monsters of the world.

  “Bully him? Frank?” asked Blaise, snorting as he did. “Bully the hybrid. Ohmygod, I’m dying—again—here. Should we call Boomer and see if his sanctuary has room for lab experiments by crazy dicks gone wrong?”

  “Sweetie,” said Lance, touching his forehead like she was giving him a headache. “Sweetheart, listen to me. That thing doesn’t feel anything. It’s a mindless killing machine.”

  She puffed out her chest in an attempt to stand her ground with the alpha males. “It’s not totally mindless. And why do you keep calling me ‘sweetheart’ and saying it in a condescending way? Did you forget my name like you forgot yours?”

  Lance smacked his lips together like his patience might be near its breaking point. “Emi.”

  Blaise snorted. “She is fucking great. Where can I get one?”

  “One what?” asked Auberi.

  “A sassy little hot chick of my own,” said Blaise, pointing to her. “I don’t think Amnesia-Boy will want to share.”

  “Stop calling him that,” stressed Emi, her gaze narrowing on Blaise. “And there is no way I’d ever be with you.”

  “What about him?” asked Blaise, thumbing to Lance.

  Emi opened her mouth to say no, but realized she actually very much wanted to be with Lance. She was just annoyed with him at the moment. “Okay, maybe him, but not you. You’re a jerk.”

  “Thanks,” he said with a wink. “Now, about Frank. Sorry, but he’s got to die. Amnesia—erm—Thor is right. It’s totally mindless. It obeys its master to a point and then it’s just a feral animal.”

  “Try to come near him. I dare you,” she said sternly. “He has some feelings. Small but there. And he listens to more than his master, or whatever you said.”

  The men glanced at each other.

  Auberi stepped forward. “Explain.”

  “Stop encouraging her,” said Lance.

  Auberi grinned. “You encouraged Blaise, seems only right I should get your woman going.”

  “His woman?” asked Emi. “I’m sorry, but what?”

  Lance motioned to her. “We’re focused on the killer monster behind you right now. Yell about being mine later.”

  “Start of a claim if I ever heard one,” added Blaise, once again pretending but failing to whisper.

  “I’m considering killing you,” said Lance.

  Auberi gave Blaise a shove in Lance’s direction. “Here. Make it quick. I’m sick of hearing him yap.”

  “Eat me,” said Blaise, waggling his brows.

  Emi suddenly felt like the only adult in the group. “Boys?”

  “Boys?” echoed Auberi, reaching down and blatantly adjusting himself through his expensive pants. “I’m all man.”

  Blaise leapt between the other two a second before Lance tried to attack Auberi. Snarling, Lance lunged for the man again. “She’s mine!”

  Emi made the sign of a “T” with her hands and whistled. “Time out! Everybody take two steps back from each other, and then you, Mr. Thinks He’s a god, have got some explaining to do.”

  The creature stepped back twice.

  Auberi noticed, and gasped. “Blaise?”

  Blaise nodded. “Yeah, I saw.”

  Lance glanced at the men. “Saw what?”

  Auberi eyed Emi. “Issue an order again.”

  She drew a blank.

  Sighing, Auberi gave her a look that said he thought she was simple. “Tell it to sit.”

  “You tell him to sit,” she snapped back,

  Auberi looked past her at the creature. “Sit.”

  The creature made a move to attack the man and Emi spun and faced him. “No!”

  He stopped at once. Fearful that the others would try to hurt him, she did as Auberi had first asked. “Sit down.”

  The creature sat.

  “Well, fuck me sideways,” said Blaise, letting out a long breath. “Doesn’t that just leave more questions than answers. Your girlfriend is a fucking hybrid whisperer. Cool.”

  “Do shut up,” said Auberi.

  Blaise put his thumbs through the loops of his black leather pants, drawing attention to his silver belt buckle. It was a pentagram. “Make me.”

  “Your friends are very mature,” said Emi to Lance.

  Lance shook his head. “Not really. Blaise has been this way all the years I’ve known him.”

  Blaise’s eyebrows shot up. “Did Amnesia-Boy just admit to knowing me for years?”

  Lance jerked and then smiled wide. “What? No. Wait. Yes!”

  Blaise grinned. “Our brother’s hold on you is breaking more.”

  “Stop calling him our brother,” stressed Auberi. “We share a maker. Nothing more.”

  A maker? Emi wasn’t sure what he meant by that.

  “Really? Then you don’t consider me a brother?” asked Blaise, a knowing look on his face.

  Groaning, Auberi rolled his eyes. “Bite me, asshole. You know that isn’t the same,” he said, the comment seeming at war with his manner of dress and the way he carried himself. He was dressed like he was high-end and fancy, but his words were lowbrow. What a strange mix.

  “You wish I’d bite you,” said Blaise. “I know better than to take you up on the offer. You’d like it too much.”

  Auberi shrugged as if the other man wasn’t wrong.

  Blaise glanced at Lance, who was staring at Emi blankly. Blaise lifted a hand and waved it in front of the blond man’s face. “Earth to the memory challenged, you in there or this a pudding thing?”

  “Stop with the pudding already, would you?” Groaning, Auberi rubbed the bridge of his nose in a manner that said Blaise made him very tired. It was easy to see the man had that effect on people. “Want me to kill him, Toov?”

  Blaise grunted. “Too late. Someone else beat you to killing me by like six hundred years, slow poke.”

  Emi tensed at the man’s words. Surely, he wasn’t serious. Was he?

  Something deep down said he was.

  Blaise kept waving his hand in front of Lance’s face like he was trying to snap the man out of a trance. “Uh, Thor, you in there?”

  “His name is Lance,” said Emi sternly, though she wasn’t sure why it matter
ed so much to her.

  “We know that—but, how do you?” asked Blaise.

  Auberi swatted Blaise’s hand down and touched Thor’s shoulder. “You okay?”

  “I smelled Chilton tonight. More than once,” said Lance, still watching her. “At least I thought I did.”

  “We could sense power that was similar to his in the area,” said Auberi. “We followed it, and that was where we found you being attacked by the hybrids.”

  Nodding, Lance kept watching Emi, his brows knitting together. “Right before the attack, I actually caught his scent. But before that, I was catching something that reminded me slightly of him, but not.”

  “Yeah, his mind is pudding,” said Blaise, shaking his head.

  Auberi sighed long and loud. “You make me tired.”

  “I make a lot of people tired,” Blaise fired back. “I’m just waiting for Thor-Toov-Lance here to make a fucking point. We’re immortal, and we’ll die before he gets it out.”

  “Immortal?” asked Emi, stunned.

  The creature on the ground made a gargling noise—and she sensed it then, the darkness rolling over the area, searching for something as it always did.

  She drew her inner wards up and reached out, putting her hand on the creature’s shoulder to shield it from the darkness too.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Thor sensed dark power and reacted quickly, going right for Emi to protect her. She grabbed the hybrid and held it, magik rising around her, reminding him of the wall of power he’d passed through to stop Austin. He knew then for sure that magik was Emi’s. It was hard to hide his elation. Seeing the dead was something some humans could do. That didn’t make those humans mating material. They needed something else—something more.

  Emi had it.

  I can claim her.

  He stiffened, less surprised by the urge to take her and make her his, and more shocked by the fact he knew something of mating. It wasn’t as if Pierre ever spoke on the subject. The master vampire detested the very idea of mating. He thought it beneath him and his pets.