by Richard Amos
He snorted.
It was good to see him smile, to hear laughter come out of him.
We were a tight group, despite the small amount of time knowing each other. They’d been better friends to me than some of the so-called buddies I’d had back when I had the world at my feet, modelling the shit out of the latest men’s fashion. All they’d wanted was a slice of the pie. Once the pie was gobbled up, I was the taint to their social growth, their fakeness used up on this specimen. I’d had no real friends before, apart from Michael, and he’d been my spouse. But these guys were something else. Even if they did have to hang around me out of the duty to protect me, it was real. We were becoming a family. My own family were in the real world, forgetting about me. I only spoke to my sister anyway, my dad having washed his hands of me after all the bullshit. Can’t say I blamed him.
“I really fancy a pizza,” Greg said.
“Me too,” Nay agreed.
“Don’t you think we’ve overdone pizza lately?” I added.
“Keep talking like that and I’ll wash your mouth out,” Greg said.
“How can you ever have too much pizza?” Nay said.
That had me told.
“What about witnesses?” I asked. “People saw what went down.”
“Already covered,” Nay said. “Sent out a drone orb filled with Dean’s mojo and set it to cover a wider area. Would have dropped on the area by now and got to sorting the mess out. Gonna send another in about ten minutes.”
“Will that do it?”
“It will have to be enough,” Karla said. “No one is leaving the grounds tonight.”
“But what—”
“No one,” Karla said firmly, silencing me.
For the second time in less than a minute, I’d been well and truly told.
Chapter Three
It took me ages to settle down for the night, my mind a hive of activity and the horniness showing no signs of settling down. So, I had to take care of business in the shower.
Body sated, I climbed into bed and fell into the dream with the unopened flower.
It sat amongst a ring of rocks, flower with the bud closed sprouting from a rock that looked like an egg. It was the voice of the goddess Hecate—she’d given me these abilities and we were connected, growing together to fight the beasts. She was limited in what she could see, some toxic beast energy having its hooks in her, suppressing her power.
“Hello, dear boy,” she said as I sat down into a cross-legged position.
Sometimes she would talk to me at random moments to be helpful, and she always had a creepy tone in her voice. In these dreams, she was always softer, more melodic.
“Hi.”
This weird little nest sat up in an alcove cut into a really bloody high cliff, a storm in constant crackle in the sky. The nest was well sheltered from it. Way, way down below was a beach or rocks and a gray sea that churned and threw itself violently at the shore.
It was all about the rocks in this place. The flower was a friggin’ miracle. Well, it would be once the bud opened.
“I am pleased to see you survived,” she said. “That was a terrible moment.”
“Yeah, it was a bit.”
“This is yet more confirmation of your strength, Jake. You are a survivor.”
“So you keep saying.” And she did, night after night. “But you still can’t tell me why you chose me.” It bugged me a little she couldn’t.
“In time, you will see.”
“Too many secrets.”
“Too many shadows,” she said. “You still must grow, Jake. Things are not so simple. Life is not simple. The more you grow, the more you will learn. But you must face the great dangers ahead of you.”
“But you must know why you chose me,” I protested. “And don’t just say why not me or any of that bollocks.”
She didn’t respond.
“I know you know. Okay, so you’re blind to a lot of stuff because of the beast realm infecting ours, but I know you know why me.”
“Dear boy,” she said. “You are deeply special.”
My eyes rolled. “Yeah, so damn special, blah, blah—”
“And a little insolent at times.”
I shrugged. “Can’t help it.”
“Listen. On my first blooming, I shall reveal why you are who you are. But you must fight and kill and feed and grow strong, dear boy. Continue to prove yourself to me as you have so far.”
“So you’re blackmailing me to survive?”
“I am offering a reward for your self-preservation. You are not indestructible, and there are forces at work that want you obliterated. Though I am blind to many things, I can feel the darkness constantly stirring, predators hiding within dark corners. I wish I could see more, yet I can only offer the help I can.”
“It does help,” I said. “I’m sorry I’m being sniffy.”
“You are frustrated,” she said, “grieving still, dealing with your new life as the weapon. I think you are doing a marvelous job.”
But not enough for her to spill the beans. Ah, there was the insolence again. It was fair enough, I guess, to give me what I wanted once I’d earned it. She could tell me now, and I’d die in the morning. Then what? The whole city’s hope was down the shitter. She had nothing left to make another weapon. It all stopped with me.
“Together we will grow.”
And that was what it was all about. Time and time again she reminded me that I was a growing power, one that needed to feed off the beast kills to grow stronger.
“Fine,” I said, “but I’m holding you to that promise. The moment I see a petal, you spill your guts.”
“Spill my insides? How would I do that?”
“It’s an expression. A human thing.”
“Interesting,” she said.
Chapter Four
Two nights later, Greg was back on patrol. His leg had needed a little more time to return to normal, so Nay, Dean and I covered things. Tonight we went out as a foursome.
Nay and Dean’s drone orb thingy had worked. There’d been no reports of the shooting, no witnesses left with any memory of it. Lucky escape. A drone was pretty effective, but Dean had to also check those hit with the magic to make sure it’d taken.
Greg stopped the car at the barrier blocking off Rainbow Mile tonight. A parking attendant in a high-vis jacket approached.
Greg rolled down his window. “Where’s the parking, mate?”
The man looked frozen, even with his beanie hat tight over his head. “Take this right, follow it round to the multi-story,” he said. “One-way restrictions are removed so just follow the signs and don’t worry.”
“Cheers,” Greg said, putting the window back up.
“This should be fun,” Dean said.
Car safely parked in the busy multi-story car park next to Mystique Square, we made our way down to Rainbow Mile on foot via an alternate route—the usual shortcut through the square was blocked off.
It was a cold Wednesday night in mid-December. Rainbow Mile was busy for this time of the week. Normally, the busy period down there ran from Thursday to Saturday nights. However, it was the switching on of the Christmas lights tonight. Bit late in coming for the time of the festive month, but the day had arrived. It couldn’t be put off anymore. A degree of normalcy had to be provided for the residents. The more the killings grew, the more the magic and tech working in the city had to do to keep up the lie, as well as the help of Dean’s mind-altering, fear-soothing fae magic.
You couldn’t stop everyday life from happening, no matter how tempting it was. Taking away the festive celebrations would, Karla said, be the beginning of the cracks in all that had been built to protect the city’s people. The whole situation was a double-edged sword.
There were people gathered in the street already. I hated seeing kids out at night. Small prey for any beast wanting an easy meal or a kill for the sheer fun of it—there were acts of both desires from the monsters of Coldharbour.
; The Christmas lights decorated lampposts, dark for the moment, and were strewn across the arcades and restaurants, up the small offshoot roads. Down Baby Rainbow, the nightclub and pub spin-off to the main stretch, there was an explosion of what looked like Christmas flamingos and lots of loud voices. The smell of mulled wine was in the air.
“Let’s cut down here,” Nay said, “see if we can scope out the square.”
“Scope is all we’ll do,” Greg retorted. “Queue to get in is always mental. That’s where the Crimbo tree is.”
God, this was so dangerous. All these people were ripe for a slaughter. I scanned every alleyway, every dark doorway, looking for anyone shifty. My hands were normal, no sparks coming, not even a thrum of activity yet.
Please, let it stay that way.
We passed The Mermaid, a nightclub with two trolls working as the bouncers. Christmas music blared from within.
Sam, one of the trolls, waved. She was Nay’s hot blonde lover … well, fuck-buddy according to Nay.
Phil, the other troll, nodded his massive head in greeting.
We went over.
“Crazy, eh?” Sam said.
Nay gave her a quick kiss on the lips. “It is.”
“No sign of any trouble yet.”
“Yet being the word of the day,” I said.
Sam ignored me and said, “It’s been too long, baby. When you gonna come warm my bed up?”
“Difficult,” Nay replied. “Been so much going on.”
“I know. But you can’t be all work all the time.”
“I’ll try—”
“Hold on, it’s the cop woman,” Sam said.
The cop woman was Detective Inspector Williams with two uniformed policemen flanking her.
“Excuse me,” Dean said, going over to greet her.
They’d had a fling, in her car apparently. Just the once. But whenever we encountered her, the pair of them switched on the flirt.
I gnawed my bottom lip.
Since the Crystal incident, Karla had insisted on no guardian living their lives alone. I didn’t have a social life beyond these friends of mine, so I was excluded.
We patrolled in pairs, or as a foursome, but time off now had the same rules. If one of my guardians wanted to go and have a social life, back-up had to be close by, including if an all-night sex session was on the cards—the back-up would have to wait in the car until the deed was done. Nay had done it, staying the night with Sam while Dean pulled an all-nighter in his car with coffee and chocolate.
Nay owed him one at some point. Maybe him and the DI could have another go in a car, or upgrade to a bed. They were obviously dying to do so.
“They fucking?” Sam asked.
“Once,” Nay said and got lost in chat with her sort-of girlfriend.
The DI laughed at something Dean said, throwing her head back. She had a really loud laugh, like a fog horn. The two officers grinned as people stared at her nervously.
I looked away, kicking at the ground with my boot. The temperature had really taken a swan-dive these past few days.
Crap distraction …
I ignored my inner voice even though it was right.
“Ceremony kicks off soon,” Greg said.
I lifted my eyes to his warm amber ones that still held shards of sorrow in them. “Cool.”
“You all right, mate?”
“Yeah, fine. Bit rattled still.”
The whole gun thing had left me on edge.
“With you on that one.”
A goblin waddled up to us with a tray of mince pies. He had wild orange hair and the biggest glasses I’d ever seen—two discs of glass and orange frame on his face.
“Wove this specially,” he said, holding up the plate.
I was never not in awe of the goblins and their weaving magic that made everything—and I mean everything—the city needed. They were our unsung heroes hiding from the human eye.
“Thanks,” I said, taking one.
Greg did the same.
I took a bite and heaven exploded on my taste buds. The right amount of fruit and spice, the pastry fabulously buttery—this could only be the work of magic!
Bite swallowed, I said, “That is the best mince pie I’ve ever had.”
“Why thanks, you kind man.” He bowed, holding that plate expertly. “It’s great to receive such high praise from the goddess’ weapon.”
I couldn’t help but wince, and my cheeks were flaring.
“Really good,” Greg said. “Thanks, mate.”
“A pleasure.” The goblin walked away with his plate aloft. No human could see him, but they took mince pies from the plate all the same. It made me wonder how and why that was possible, who they were seeing holding the plate, when something washed over me.
I shuddered. It was a cold energy, as if many freezing hands were figuring me out.
“Jake? What’s wrong?”
I scanned my surroundings, waited for the goddess to tell me something. She didn’t, and there was nothing to see but jolly people bundled up against the night.
There it was again, pulling at me this time. I staggered forward a little.
“What is it?” Nay said, breaking away from her conversation with Sam.
“I-I don’t know.”
The sensation wasn’t going away, persistent, eager to … to what? To have me? I lifted my hands, willing them to spark to life and tell me there was a beast. Then I could get to hunting.
Nothing.
The unseen force tugged me hard, and I almost lost my balance. Greg reached for me, but I managed to stay vertical.
“Shit!”
Dean was back from flirting with the DI now. “What’s going on?” My guardians formed a circle around me, alert and ready to fight.
“I—”
Before I could say anything else, I was yanked into the air at great speed, the city falling away below.
Chapter Five
My body was flipped and flipped and flipped, a toy being played with by an invisible giant.
“Put me the fuck down!” Okay, so that probably wasn’t the best thing to say when I was so friggin’ high up. Any moment and I’d spew the pasta I’d had for dinner back down to the city.
I was pulled to the side, hurtling through the sky and then descending like a missile that’d found its target.
“Bollocks!” I cried, the moisture from my eyes being dragged out as horizontal tears, followed by snot from my nose. The wind was a million freezing slaps across the face.
Great, I was gonna go splat. This was it, this was—
The brakes were slammed, I slowed right down to a gentle drift to land feet-first on the roof of an office block not far from Rainbow Mile.
“What the—”
“Hi,” said the white eye guy. He grabbed me with his power, holding me still. “Been a while, eh?”
“Bastard! Should have known it was you!” I wanted to see him dead more than any other creature in the universe. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I want to have a little chat,” he said. His one eye, that white orb, flashed at me as he grinned. “Never easy with your friends around all the time, plus I need to hold you still because you always want to go a few rounds.”
“Because I wanna rip you apart, you piece of shit!” I fought uselessly against his magical hold. If only he were a beast, that would be so much better.
“Aw, after all the times I’ve saved your life?”
“No, after you killed my husband.”
He shrugged. “We all have our flaws.”
“Fuck you!”
He scratched behind his eye patch that hid the other eye that probably wasn’t there. “We have limited time, Jake, so shut up and listen before your pesky bitches get here.”
“They’re not—”
“Shhhh …” His power hit me and clasped my lips together in a pinch of invisible thumb and finger.
Damn him and his bloody mysterious magic. I still hadn’t cracked the code of
him passing in and out of Coldharbour to make sure I got my arse down there to do this beast-killing job of mine.
“I can’t tell you how important it is to keep Luke safe,” he said. “Good job, by the way. He tell you about the shadows?”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“Of course he did. Well, then you know not to let him out, ever.”
He released the pressure on my lips. “We’re not stupid.”
“Everyone’s stupid, Jake.”
“Including you?”
He chuckled. “You really don’t want that bitch, Lilisian, back up and running. She’s bad news.”
“And you’re a beast expert, yeah?”
“I have my sources.”
“Who?”
“Never you mind, my little gift.”
He’d called me that before. “And why am I a gift?”
“You’re a riot, Jake Winter, you know that?”
“Piss off.”
He rushed at me, grabbing my neck and squeezing really bloody hard. “Listen to me, you gobby shit. Keep Luke safe and kill that purple bitch. Is that clear?” He released me and I sucked in air. “Oh,” he added, “and try not to die yourself because that would be really inconvenient. We can’t have you dying before the real fun starts.”
What fun? “Says …” I gasped, taking a moment to catch my breath. “Says the man who … just … had his hand … around my throat.”
“Aw, did that hurt? Poor Jake.” He ruffled my hair. “Anyway, better dash. Your buddies will be here any minute.”
The white eye guy took the roof exit. Once he was gone, I was released from his magical grip. I was just about to go after him when Greg crashed through the door, followed by Nay and Dean.
“Jake!” Greg boomed, grabbing me. “What the hell happened?”
“White eye guy,” I said and explained everything.
“The git!” Nay said. “You hurt, babe?”
“No, just a little woozy.”
“That was some flight he took you on,” Dean said.
“You’re telling me!”
“He’s got some skills,” Greg said. “The tosser.”
“Come on,” Nay said, “let’s get off this poxy roof.”