by Mila Young
Kicking a pebble in my way, I hopped over a broken stone wall from an old warehouse demolished years ago and took a shortcut toward the heart of the city. Crumbled cement littered the demolished site, and voices floated from the alleys up ahead. Garbage littered the street, and it reeked.
Despair District was what some called this area. Tall buildings threw shadows over the narrow roads, and the paint on the streetlamps was chipping away. Where there were once trees along the sidewalk, now holes existed, filled with trash. Buildings towered over me, packed with squatters, druggies, and shifters in hiding. And if I didn’t get myself new clients to pay the bills, I might join them soon. I already owed my roomie for the months she’d covered my rent.
Goose bumps covered me as I remembered the attack at Misty’s. I still couldn’t bring myself to believe her words, even though I kept reminding myself human spirits couldn’t lie. The verdict was still out on me being human, so what if my mom had the same abilities? Perhaps that was why she’d abandoned me? After all, I freakin’ manifested fire with a single thought. Not many humans did that without the use of hocus pocus.
What if I’d burned down the family home as a child and Mom couldn’t cope? Had she been a single parent raising a gifted child?
The knot in my stomach contorted. I hurried along the cracked sidewalk.
Someone screamed from inside a building I passed, and seconds later, a woman wearing only a mini skirt and heels stumbled out, wiping her lips. She seemed to have no care in the world that her breasts were on full display. She lowered her head and strolled in the opposite direction, her striped tiger tail swinging left and right, but I caught the busted lip. Young shifters were commodities in high demand in Despair District. I pushed onward, inhaling the foul stink in the air and avoiding the dejected stares from the two men at the street corner.
“Hey, bitch. Told ya not to show your face here again,” the one with a crooked nose called out.
“I’m passing through. No law against that.” Saved me half an hour getting home. The fault was mine for snapping two ribs on the pimp with the crooked nose a month ago. But he’d been beating up on a woman. A bunch of his friends had attacked me, and while we’d all ended up bloody, I hadn’t been at the bottom of the pile. So hooray for me.
Sensing no one on my heels, I made haste and left behind the gritty back streets and entered a bustling city. Cars zipped past, people in suits and dresses wandered the sidewalks. Overhead the storm clouds gathered. A sprinkle hit my cheek, and I ran the rest of the way home.
“That’s only half of what you owe me.” Don belched the accusation as if he vomited the words. Didn’t stop him from snatching the money out of my hand. The man was a beanpole, always in Hawaiian shirts and no pants. Just his tighty-whities. Disgusting sight, but a landlord wore what he pleased, I guessed.
“My rent is covered for the next two weeks. I’ll get you the rest soon.”
He rolled his eyes, his flared nostrils dusted in white powder, and I glanced into his room, where bags of chips and empty beer bottles scattered the floor. He drew the door toward him to block my view.
“Look, this ain’t a charity, and I don’t do installments. Pay me at week’s end, or you and your roommate are out. You think I don’t see all the men who visit your place all hours of the night?” His gaze trailed down my white T-shirt and stopped on the words Spit Happens.
Problem was my roommate, Raven, had once paid her share of rent by flashing him her tits and letting him grope them while he jerked himself off. Now he thought he had free reign over us both. Not in this lifetime.
“You really want me to touch you?” I smirked and concentrated, digging deep inside, and called to my fire. Flames flicked across my palm, and I stretched my arm toward him.
The corner of his upper lip peeled over a golden tooth, his wry expression gnarling into a scowl as he stepped back into his apartment. “Piss off. Fucking freaks everywhere in this city. Bring me my rent or you’re out.” He slammed the door in my face.
“Dickwad.” My fire couldn’t hurt anyone unless they had a demonic spirit inside them. But most people weren’t aware of that small detail, and I had no reason to tell them.
By the time I reached the third floor, Raven emerged from our apartment. Five-foot-two, outspoken, and an exhibitionist at heart. She had a line of words inked from the tip of her index finger, up her arm, down her back in a U-shape and sailing along the other arm. I’d once spent the time it took to read the letter she’d written to herself about loving herself despite being assaulted as a child, sold in human trafficking, and only surviving because the day she’d been getting shipped off, a cops’ raid had saved her. She wore her abuse on her sleeve and was proud to show she was a survivor, and I loved her for such strength.
“Geez, what happened to you?” She eyed the stains on my top. “You know blood’s a pain in the ass to get out. Soak it right away.” Her blue dress fell to her thighs, above her black knee-high boots, and she had a small duffle bag in hand.
“It’s nothing. You off to work?” I asked. She was the best erotic masseuse in Evangel city, according to the claim on her website. It was a glorified way of saying you’d get the massage of your dreams with a guaranteed happy ending. She’d gotten me into the industry, and I’d tried it twice. The first man hadn’t understood boundaries, and the second guy had thought it funny to bring a Taser so he could electrocute me before he began his fun. Joke was on him, because I carried a pepper spray and he’d cried like a baby afterward. Douchebag.
“Yeah, a regular client booked me on a for a threesome and those always end with more fun.” She wiggled her bag. “Don’t wait up for me. I’m bringing home the cash tonight.” She stepped closer and gave me a quick hug, her clementine perfume bathing me, and she was off.
“Take care, and you got the pepper spray I gave you?” I reached into my pocket for the door key.
“You bet. Later I wanna hear all about your reading since it resulted in blood.” She winked and skipped down the steps, her blonde curls bouncing across her shoulders, until she vanished down the circular staircase.
Once inside, I dumped my bag near the couch and took off my top. Today was my twenty-first birthday, something I never told anyone because I hated big deals being made over me, so perfect time to break out the new whiskey bottle and soak in a hot bath.
The rain splashed the carpet through the open window, so I rushed over and shut the window just as the doorbell rang.
Raven always forgot her keys. I marched to let her in when the knocks came. “Hold your horses.”
I flung the door open and found my friend instead of my roomie. I smirked and draped myself against the door frame in just my shorts and a purple bra.
“Knox, what brings you to my home?”
His dark Mohawk had long grown out and now reached his jawline, draped over his shaved undercuts. Tats sprawled across his neck, and he wore black pants, a buttoned-up shirt, and jacket. He towered over most people at his six-foot-two height. Plus, he spent nights at the gym, pumping iron when he wasn’t down at the kids’ community centers helping out homeless teens. During the day, he was at the seminarian stage of his theology study at the local church. All in training toward becoming a priest.
Knox’s hooded eyes were lowered as he marched inside and paced to the window.
“Not a social visit then?” I shut the door and reached for the clean clothes basket on the sofa, plucking out a black T-shirt and pulling it over my head. Put a Pin in It was scribbled above an image of a Voodoo doll, and I gained myself an arched brow from Knox. Mr. Grumpy had never been a fan of my shirts.
His background was as colorful and tainted as mine. We’d both ended up in the same foster home for a while. We run away and found ourselves in a house for homeless teenagers. We’d bounced around, but eventually gotten split up to different families. His dad had been an alcoholic who’d beat him most nights with a whip while his step-mom did nothing. So he’d run away at the age of te
n and never looked back. We were both unwanted, but we’d had each other for years. Until he’d made friends with a drug lord and almost died. Then he found God, while I’d lost myself trying to accept who the hell I was. But we’d crossed paths a few years ago, and he was someone I relied on now, and vice versa.
Knox refused to stand still and stalked into the kitchen, straight for the liquor cabinet.
“You okay?” Last time I’d seen him this shaky, the local church he worked at had got held up by a gang looking for a squealer. Knox had gotten beat up and put into the hospital for a month.
Not a word as he filled two glasses with ice and split the last remains of my bourbon whiskey. At least he hadn’t opened the new one I’d bought. He handed me a glass and gulped down half of his. As a priest in training, his old life had everything to do with why he’d ended up where he was today. So yeah, he still swore like a sailor and drank like one too, but at the core, he was the purest and most caring man I’d ever met.
“Drink,” he insisted. “You’ll need it.”
“You’re scaring me.” I took a gulp, the sweetness washing down my throat. With his drink finished, he set it down and leaned back against the window, staring my way. Rain pebbled against the glass, filling the silence between us.
“You gonna tell me what’s got you freaked out?” Another sip and I placed the glass on the table next to his.
“Son of a bastard.” Knox pushed up the sleeve of his coat to his elbow, revealing fresh scratch marks that riddled his flesh.
“What the hell did that? Hold on.” I darted into the bathroom and snatched a towel and disinfectant cream, along with bandages.
“An eleven-year-old girl.”
I halted and met the terror in his eyes. The man was gorgeous, model material, but very little scared him. And he never backed away from a fight.
“She’s possessed?” I asked.
He grabbed my drink and downed it. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen, Sephy.” His hand on mine trembled. “I’ve been exorcising her for hours, yet she’s barely weakened. She’s stronger than anyone claimed before.”
“And you need my help?” It wasn’t the first time he’d called for my assistance on a possession case he worked on. Of course, they weren’t approved by the church because they took too long to process such cases, but he’d dealt with demonic spirits most of his life, so nothing stopped him from eliminating the scum.
I collected the empty glasses and placed them in the sink before returning to his side and disinfecting his bites.
“You know I hate getting you involved in my mess, but this one is fucked-up. Maybe I’m facing Satan himself.” He shrugged. “And you’ve got your fire touch. I’ve never seen a demonic bastard live to see another day after he faced you.”
Sure, praise me and I’d cave in. Okay, I’d mentally already said ‘yes’ the moment he’d walked into my apartment. We had this unspoken agreement where we looked out for each other, never doubt each other’s words. Like the time he’d beat up two guys trying to rape me at fourteen. Or when I’d lied and said I’d stolen the jewelry he took so he wouldn’t end up in prison, as he was on his last warning. Being underage, I’d gotten slapped with a fine and gained myself a criminal record. But for Knox, I’d do anything.
“So where’d you leave this girl?” I plastered the bandages across the gashes on his forearm.
“Tied up and with her brother and a detective at their place.”
“Crap, is that safe?” The possessed were unpredictable. “And why are the authorities there?” I moved with haste into my bedroom and collected the possession powder I’d created to help calm spirits. I used it to stop the beasts from harming their hosts or me until I got close enough to make a connection to their spirit side.
Footsteps echoed behind me, and Knox’s breath danced on the back of my neck. A light shiver of anticipation lifted the hairs on my arms.
“The girl’s brother called the cops when his sister attacked him.”
I turned with the sachet in hand. Knox stood inches away, his hands in his pockets. Fear etched across his face, and my initial instinct had me wanting to embrace him, to hold him tight, but I stopped myself short. After his rehab from his addiction to Ice, he got put through a program at the church to integrate back into society. So, about a year ago, he decided to train with those priests who helped him and join the priesthood. He figured if he could succeed, he’d never be tempted by drug addiction again. Though I didn’t see how going without sex until his balls turned blue helped.
Part of me wondered if his decision was his way to push me away because what I did terrified him. He always told me he accepted it, but I’d see the way he stared at me when I battled possessed people or shifters. The wrinkle of his nose, the distance he kept between us. And that was why I believed our relationship never evolved beyond friends.
No denying, it hurt, but you got used to people fearing you after a while. I kind of expected it now.
“Okay, let’s do this. I have a date tonight with my bathtub.” I pushed past him, but he seized my wrist and a light buzz jolted up my arm. He always had the same effect on me, sending my body into a frenzy of excitement in his company.
I lifted my chin to face him. Everything about him made him handsome, in particular those pale green eyes. Intensity lay behind them—honesty, protectiveness. Strong arched brows made his eyes stand out, and then there were the distinct cheekbones, and a nose broken too many times. Now it angled just off center, adding to his rugged appearance. The opposite of what you’d expect from a priest in training. But he was one of a kind.
“Sephy, listen. If you change your mind, I won’t judge. Seriously. Leave. I don’t want you harmed. Deal?”
All I concentrated on was the point of contact where his thumb caressed the sensitive skin on my inner wrist, along the inked vine swirling across my flesh. And he had no right to captivate me with such a small gesture when he pushed me away at the same time. I lowered my gaze.
“I got this. Let’s go.” Before I did something stupid like kissed him and distracted myself further.
Outside, the rain continued. I turned to Knox and clicked open my umbrella. “How far is it?”
“A ten-minute walk. The studio apartments by the docks.”
I nodded. “Yep, I know the place.” So we headed down the sloped street. If the situation was as grave as Knox said, then I had to keep focused. Demons got into your head, rummaged about for baggage to use against you. The best strategy for survival was not falling for their tricks.
When the silence got to be too much, I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “Guess who I saw today? Or more like got attacked by?”
Knox’s brow furrowed, and he gave a slight shake of his head.
“My mother.”
He stopped and grasped my arm, squeezing a bit too tight. “What the fuck? How did she find you?”
“She visited me during a reading.”
His face twisted into a wry expression and ebbed into the realization she was dead. “You sure it was her?”
I drew him into a fast walk by the hand. Was he slowing down on purpose to avoid returning to the scene? “Damn right. She tried to choke me, so it was her.”
“Hell! Why is she coming to you now? Maybe she died recently?” Knox swung left at the end of the road and we crossed a park, putting distance between us and my apartment.
“To alert me about some impending doom,” I said. “You know, the usual stuff spirits say. I never understand why they don’t deliver good news. Like today you’ll win a year’s supply of ice cream.” I laughed and nudged Knox, but he didn’t find it funny and frowned.
“It’s a warning.” His tone darkened, and it worried me how much this situation scared him because it meant lives were at risk. And he loved to joke as much as the next guy, but today he was stoic and serious.
My mouth opened with a response, but a different voice came from behind us, stealing my words.
�
�Sephy, wait up!” a male called me.
Knox and I turned to find Ryder, my douche of an ex, marching toward us. What did he want? I hadn’t seen him for the past three months for a goddamn good reason. As a lion shifter, he had way too many hang-ups. Hating anyone finding out what he was, judging me for my abilities, and insisting normality was where happiness lived. Well, I had news for him. In this crap-hole world, there was no such thing as normal.
My relationship with Ryder had always been turbulent, aggressive, and insatiable. But when I’d caught him naked with a blonde’s lips locked around his cock, that had been it for me. I’d tapped out.
Now determination filled his expression, and he strode closer in a hoodie and jeans. And even with his casual clothes, you couldn’t miss his muscles, the width of his shoulders, the overabundant package in his jeans. He’d trimmed his hair and his beard was gone since I’d last seen him, and yet he still looked gorgeous. Except I didn’t have the energy for an ass who’d shredded my heart.
“What do you want?” I greeted him.
“Nice to see you too.” He tilted his head forward as if in respect. “Father.”
Knox grumbled under his breath because Ryder knew Knox and I had a past, and he called him that on purpose.
“Can we chat? This is urgent.” Ryder reached for my hand, but I stepped back.
“Nope. Don’t have time, just like you never had time for me.”
He sighed. “Come on, Sephy. Not this again. We weren’t dating, and I was drunk. She meant nothing.”
“Bullshit.” My response came out too loud.
Ryder’s eyes pleaded with me, yet all I kept thinking was he’d betrayed me.
“Hmh, seems like the rains stopped.” Knox peeled the umbrella from my grip, probably thinking I’d use it as a weapon against my ex.
What was up with today? Was everyone in insane mode?
“Please, I need your help with something.” Ryder stood there, slouching on one leg, his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. “I stayed away for months like you asked, and I’m only coming to you because this is fucking bad.”