She held the mug up and playfully twirled it in the air to get the attention of the barkeep, her tail wagging slightly behind her.
“Hey buddy! Fill me up again would ya?”
But he frowned and shook his head at her; his place was usually pretty mellow and he didn’t care for her boisterousness.
“I’m afraid I’ll need you to pay for the first two before we can talk about a third.”
Her frosty eyes narrowed when he didn’t comply immediately.
“Just run me a tab!” She barked.
His posture stiffened and he came over so that the two of them could have a more private conversation, setting his hands on the bar to lean closer to her.
“Word’s out on you wolf lady. You got canned from the Aegis, which means you got no money coming in for drinks.”
It was the truth; she and her pack had been expelled from the Aegis once the council found out about them killing Bethany Sinclair.
It was one of the reasons why the Saenga Amazons had joined the task-force in chasing down all of their leads: with the Wolfen gone, Miranda had asked for their help to bolster their numbers.
Lilly growled low as he struck a sore spot, reaching out to grip his collar and pull him close.
“Pretty sure I misheard you just now.”
He swallowed reflexively at the big wolf’s hold on him, but stood his ground.
“Snarl at me all you want. I got a family to feed. In these troubled times I can’t afford to get stiffed just so you can get blasted.”
Lilly’s growl abated and she looked him over, a bit impressed that he hadn’t backed down.
He was of middle years, with a bit of a gut, but his features were still quite a bit to her liking, and more importantly to the Wolfen he smelled good.
A smile spread across her face as a different vice came to mind.
“Alright, forget the booze. What say you and I go somewhere dark and we’ll see if you can draw a howl out of me?”
The barkeep’s eyes boggled at the proposition and he swallowed reflexively again, her face inches from his.
It was a good ten seconds before he shook his head at her.
“I’m married.”
“I don’t care.” Lilly replied immediately before teasingly licking at his cheek; “Go fetch your missus and we can make a party of it.”
Her tail wagged faster now as her anticipation built.
He drew in a deep breath and let it out with a huff, then carefully pried her fingers off of his collar.
She let him, figuring he was about to acquiesce.
But again he shook his head.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but my missus is far too busy at home with our two kids to make a party of anything. You owe me twelve bits for the drinks.”
With the sting of rejection, Lilly’s mood fouled again and she slammed some coins down on the bar hard.
“Fuck you.” She snarled one last time before leaving, her tail no longer wagging.
The barkeep sighed at the scrapes and scratches that she’d left on the polished surface of his bar with her claws and the coins, but collected them and tossed them into the change drawer.
In the street outside Lilly was fuming.
A large part of her wanted to tear the innocent bartender’s face off, but the look that he’d given her even as he refused her advances stopped her.
It was full of pity.
She growled deep in her chest and tried to shake it off, looking around the street for a distraction, any distraction.
Her eyes settled on a couple having a heated argument; it appeared pretty one sided, a man berating his wife for something or other.
Lilly didn’t care about the details, she was just looking for an excuse and with the smell of the woman’s anxiety and her husband’s anger hanging in the air, she found it.
Without delay she rushed over towards them, the waggling finger that the man was directing at the anxious girl only adding to her annoyance.
He grunted when she collided with him, her strong grip taking hold of his shirt as she slammed him into the wall of the building behind him, his feet now dangling off the ground.
“How about me tough guy?”
But as she growled her challenge at him, hoping for a fight, all she caught from them both was the smell of fear.
The woman screamed.
“Help! Attack! It’s an attack!”
“Wendy r-run!” He wheezed out, tears standing in his eyes as he clutched at Lilly’s arms, trying to keep her busy long enough for his wife to escape.
All of the aggression in the big Wolfen melted away when she realized how completely in the wrong she was.
She set him down immediately, her claws going limp to her side as he stumbled into the arms of his wife.
“I’m... I’m sorry. I thought that-”
“Just leave us alone!” The woman cried out as she helped her winded husband towards one of the buildings nearby.
Lilly opened her mouth to apologize again but closed it after a moment, unable to find the words.
She turned and ran, shame creeping up on her and searing into her soul, only for her anger to rise to meet it.
And watching from above, a pair of golden eyes narrowed.
Chapter 15:
Duty and a Weirdo
Before the Wolfen’s confused emotions could be unleashed upon another unsuspecting couple, an angel landed with a whoosh and a thud in front of her.
“Why are you here?” Lilly blurted out in surprise as Volka’s glowing form lit up the empty alley.
“Because there are those that still care about you. Miranda and some members of your pack sought me out, fearing the path that you have set yourself on. Seeing you for myself, I can agree that their concern was warranted.”
The Wolfen drew herself up at the judgment, her lip curling slightly and her tail low in agitation.
“The fuck is that supposed to mean?”
The Valkyrie’s response was to spread her wings and bring her shield up, adopting a defensive posture that was both a warning and a challenge.
“We live in a world now where everyone must fear the Tenebrae, out of control monster girls that would attack innocent people.” As she spoke her condemnation became much clearer; “And you choose now to let loose with your temper and set upon those very innocents?”
Lilly let out an instinctual whine, still trying to fight off her guilt with anger, but Volka wasn’t finished, her words cutting deeper into the pack-leader.
“Tell me, are you a mindless beast or are you a Wolfen?” The Valkyrie demanded; “Think carefully before you answer, as the pride of your ancestors hangs in the balance.”
Despite the Dominar’s presence, the pack-leader’s answering growl was thunderous as she charged at her: she’d been looking for a fight and she’d found one.
Or at least, she thought she did, in reality all she found was an ass-kicking.
Volka spun to the side and her shield smacked into the side of the big wolf’s head, knocking her sprawling and making her ear sting from the harsh impact.
As she paced around the downed girl, the angel spoke, almost conversationally.
“The Wolfen that I knew once upon a time were brave and loyal monsters who rushed headlong at life, their hearts full of fierce joy and love. It was that relentless passion that made them so dangerous on the battlefields. With every drop of blood in their bodies they protected their bond-mates and their sisters.”
Lilly stumbled to her feet and lunged at her again, but as Volka had told Tiana: the Wolfen was a child to her.
She countered her easily, striking her elbow with the rim of her shield to deflect the attack as she seized her wrist to jerk her off of her feet to land on her belly on the unforgiving cobblestones.
“Compared to them, you are a mere puppy. Ignorant, foolish and arrogant.”
The fight not quite knocked out of her yet, the Wolfen flipped onto her back.
But Volka was suddenly loo
ming large over her, her glorious shield low at her side while her sword of light was pointed directly at Lilly’s throat.
She was through with the child’s tantrum.
Her eyes blazed gold as her aura washed over the troubled girl at her feet, filling her heart with the joy and hope that she had lost sight of.
The big wolf’s ears flattened and she let out a whine of pain.
“Speak, beast.” Volka ordered implacably; “Convince me that you still have it in you to run with your sisters. Show me why I ought to spare you.”
Lilly said nothing, a whine escaping her throat from the guilt raging within her heart and her tail tucked firmly between her legs, so Volka repeated herself, louder this time.
“Wolfen! Speak!”
At the Dominar’s command, Lilly had to respond.
“You shouldn’t!” She cried out.
“And why not?!”
The wolf broke down, sobbing on her back as her whole body went slack.
“Because I failed my pack! I led Katie to her death, and then I led the rest of them into losing the trust of the Aegis when I killed that blasted woman!”
Volka was silent for several seconds as she watched the bigger girl sob, wracked with the weight of her perceived failures.
Finally she relaxed her defensive posture and released the mental hold on her sword, the light of it dissipating into nothing.
“Would you take it back? That woman, Sinclair, who was responsible for the deaths of so many, including precious Katie... would you restrain your jaws were they on her throat once more?”
She was a Valkyrie, a creature of sacrifice and righteous judgment; were she forced to choose between the two of them, than Bethany Sinclair would have died on her sword just as readily as she had on Lilly’s fangs.
The Wolfen’s tears abated as she remembered the sweet taste of the arms dealer’s blood flooding her mouth, the feeling of her teeth sinking into her flesh.
She growled again, but this time not at Volka.
“Not a chance.” She stated firmly.
The angel nodded, her expression softening as she reached down with her sword-arm.
“Then stand again, Lilly. The Aegis may have given up on you but I have not, and neither has your pack. Gather them and follow me, so that the next time an innocent is in danger you can act like the proud Wolfen I know you to be and protect them.”
Lilly sniffed once, a bit petulantly as she took the angel’s hand and got back to her feet, wincing from the pain of the bruises that Volka had so easily handed out to her.
“Couldn’t you have said all of that before mopping the street with me?”
She flinched when the Valkyrie leaned closer, but Volka simply leaned up on her toes to kiss her on the cheek, the warmth of her compassion making the bigger girl’s throat close with emotion.
“You weren’t ready to listen. Now come along. We have a world to save.”
__________
Back at the party, the number of people clamoring to meet Nameless had tapered off, and in the lull that followed he and the girls were left alone.
“I need to visit the washroom.” Ophelia announced, handing her glass of sparkling cider off to Nameless and tugging at Erica’s arm.
“Uh, what do you want me to do about it?” The Katje asked as she tried to wriggle free of her bond-sister.
“Silly girl! Women don’t pee alone at functions like this.” Ophelia looked around at the Flutterby moving through the crowd.
None of them missed the pitying looks she had been receiving from them; evidently her lavender gown, however much Nameless liked it, wasn’t up to their high standards.
Through their bond he gathered that she was a mite worried about getting mobbed in the lavatory.
As a man who would never have to face such a dilemma in his life, Nameless conceded to himself that women were really fucking weird.
Not far away Nina was getting louder by the minute with her new friend at the bar; she couldn’t get drunk, but he certainly could, and the louder the pair of them got the more people were distracted from Nameless and the others.
And now that Ophelia and Erica were off to the loo, Milly was the last girl standing at Nameless’s side, the pair of them both too self-conscious at the party to risk going it alone.
Having greeted most of the people that wanted to talk to him, they soon found themselves standing in the middle of the room, feeling a bit out of place and even lonely now without Ophelia’s calming presence.
“I think maybe we shouldn’t have come here after all.” He sighed as he took Milly’s hand in his; “A long time ago Miranda warned me about people trying to use me. But I didn’t expect them to be so obvious about it.”
He’d been fairly good at deflecting the various interests that had descended on them; from relatively minor things like someone trying to negotiate with him regarding the sale of Milly’s milk, to a pushy man who wanted him to intercede with the Amazons on his behalf concerning a territorial dispute his trading company was having in the wilds the to the south of Bramblewood.
“It is the nature of those in power to exploit every angle they can find.” A rich male voice sounded from behind him.
Nameless and Milly turned to face a tall gentleman with neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper hair, his hand outstretched with a platter of appetizers that he’d evidently swiped from one of the numerous servers.
“These are really good, assuming you like mango.”
“Never had it. Thank you.” Nameless said carefully as he measured the stranger.
Out of reflexive politeness he and Milly each took one of the tiny ornate leaf boats filled with a mixture of diced mango and sharp cheese.
The mystery man smiled as they bit into the appetizers, taking a moment to pop one into his own mouth as well.
“These people know how to get some things right, at least.”
Milly chewed and swallowed the richly flavoured treat, then pursed her lips at the man who provided it.
“You talk as if you aren’t one of them.” She observed.
He let out a disarming laugh.
“I assure you, I am not a businessman, and I am certainly no politician! But where are my manners? Tiberius Augendus.” He shook Nameless’s hand, but oddly never extended the courtesy to his bond-mate; “And I know well who you are, Aegis Armstrong and... Milly, I believe?”
The Minotaur nodded.
“An unusual name, Mister Augendus.” Nameless remarked as the other man popped another mango leaf-boat into his mouth.
“A hand-me-down.” Tiberius said with a strange smirk; “A relic of the past. Some things need to be preserved.”
“I... see.”
Given that Nameless had officially adopted his father’s, on paper if not in practice, he could understand the desire to carry on the family name.
But he still found himself at something of a loss. Tiberius’s bearing was proud, but he lacked the casual arrogance that the wealthy people around the room all possessed.
His suit was well-made, even if the cut of it was simple and functional, but the way he wore it was almost akin to a uniform: his back straight even when his posture seemed relaxed.
Like a soldier.
He extended the platter to them again, but neither of them took another appetizer from it, so he passed it off to a nearby server and wiped his hands and mouth with a cloth napkin.
“In any case, I’m here much like you, by invitation of our hostess. Kathryn is an old friend.”
They had bumped into their hostess a couple times during the course of their evening but hadn’t spoken with her long enough to get a measure of her character; she never seemed to stop moving, constantly soliciting after the enjoyment of every one of her guests.
“What line of work are you in?” Nameless asked politely.
“I’m a broker, of sorts. So I have attended a handful of these parties in the past.” Tiberius chuckled through another genial smile and offered them a wink; “Tha
t’s how I knew to go for the mango first.”
“Did you know someone in Lipton Falls?” Milly asked.
The smile faded from his face.
“No, I did not. And neither did anyone else in this room. The poor devils in that town... it is unfair how their memory is being used tonight. I tried to talk Kathryn out of it, but she would not be dissuaded, at least her heart is in the right place, even if I can’t say the same for these others.”
On the rare occasion that he needed to be, Nameless was a talented liar, Miranda would not have sent him undercover if he wasn’t.
And as a talented liar he recognized that, while his remorse over Lipton Falls appeared genuine, Tiberius had a similar skill-set.
Whoever he was, the man had secrets.
Through their bond Milly picked up on her master’s caution, so she became silent and just watched.
After the lull brought about by the heavy topic, Tiberius turned to face Nameless directly.
“You were there, weren’t you?” He asked in a low voice; “You saw the horrors that are being misrepresented tonight?”
The memory of Lipton Falls still haunted the young Empath; carrying limp bodies from the wreckage of their homes was not something he could so easily forget.
He drew upon the strength of his bond-mates to keep his emotions in check, still wary of the taller man.
“I was.” He said simply.
Tiberius closed his eyes briefly as if in pain himself, then nodded sympathetically and patted him firmly on the shoulder.
“I cannot imagine how difficult that was for you. It is no easy thing to look upon the ravages of war. Thank you for your service, Aegis.”
Nameless didn’t reply, not certain how to.
People had congratulated him for joining the Aegis, but no one ever thanked him like that; it was a peculiar way of thinking that he had never encountered before.
And it was the first time anyone had mentioned war tonight. Aside from Councilwoman Jacobs’ unvarying efforts to extract donations out of them, most of the wealthy elites were barely talking about Lipton Falls at all.
The Heartstone Saga Page 14