by Emily Dawn
I finish with breaststroke for another 400 meters. The pool is up on the top level of the building with 360-degree views with the same floor to ceiling glass windows I have in my apartment. I swim to the south end of the pool and look out over Union Station and the WWI monument. I’ll never get tired of the view of the city, even with parts of it still in ruin.
I grab my towel and head back downstairs to my apartment.
Hunter is just walking in as I round the corner of the hall. His hair is hanging down loose and he has bags under his eyes but 30
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he gives me a blinding smile and wraps me in a tight hug.
“Lenny! I missed you!” He tries to smother my face sloppy kisses.
“Eww, I don’t know where that mouth has been.” I tease as I duck away from his affection. “Where’d you go last night?”
“Oh, here and there.” He hedges. “Guess what I heard?”
I cock an eyebrow as I start some tea for us. “What?”
He leans across the island conspiratorially and fake whispers, “A certain sexy librarian was seen at Ruby’s with a drop dead gorgeous group of Supes; a vamp, an elemental, a shifter, and an incubus. What are you hiding my dear?”
“Not hiding anything, they were the clients I was meeting with. Come talk through this with me while I get ready.” I walk back into my room and into the bathroom. I pull the door over a bit while I get ready to jump in the shower. As soon as I’m in the shower and the glass is fogged up enough to not be outrageously exposed I call him in. He’s seen me naked countless times and neither of us is very self-conscious, and we’re obviously not each other’s types. “Okay, they’re looking for the same amulet I have been researching. Which is really 31
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obscure and almost too coincidental, right?” I ask as I lather up my hair.
“I guess, I mean it is well known that it went missing during the war, right?” He replies. “I don’t think it’s that far fetched that they’d be aware of it. What does the amulet do again?”
“It allows the wearer to jump from realm to realm without using portals. The Nocturnis clan used it to jump into the fae realms. They decimated over 50 villages and two courts before they were stopped. I’m not sure how old Aleksandr is but he felt powerful enough to be old enough to have been alive when it happened. That’s not really even the worst part of what they want though.” I finish my shower and turn the water off.
Hunter grabs my towel and hands it to me in the shower.
“What else do they want?”
“They want me to work with them, as a team.” I say as I step out of the shower wrapping the towel around myself. “I told them my price for the job would $100,000 plus expenses but then they hit me with that request and I declined the job.
Aleksandr upped the price to $250,000 plus expenses.”
“Whoa.” Hunter breathes out and rubs the back of his neck.
“I think you should take the job. Lots of money and 24/7 with 32
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four hot guys, it’s a win-win situation. Plus you haven’t gotten laid in MONTHS.” He emphasizes the last part by wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, “maybe that incubus could help you out.”
“Ugh,” I groan, “That’s the other thing.” I fill him in on the dream from last night, the leg shaking intensity of the orgasm I experienced from it. He’s convinced even more that I should take the job now. He picks my clothes while I dry and style my hair and put on a light layer of makeup. I pull on another black pencil skirt, this time with a cashmere tank and cardigan in a deep plum, which offsets my eyes and brings out the purple undertones in my hair.
Hunter grabs the wooden stake I have pinning up my hair and pulls it out. “Leave it down today. You look so beautiful I’m almost tempted to switch teams.” He says with a weird look in his eye. Everything gets awkward for a second but my text message alert goes off. I glance down and it’s another message from Liam. I show Hunter and pure hatred shutters across his face. “What the fuck does that bag of dicks want?”
“Don’t know and don’t care.” I shrug my shoulders. “I’m not engaging him at all.” I grab a banana and my tea in a travel mug, give Hunter a kiss on the cheek, and head out to work.
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The day goes by quick again. Summer semester is coming to an end and a lot of university students are cramming for finals and finishing final papers. I spend most of my day assisting with research directed inquiries. As I’m sitting at my desk waiting for the last few people to trickle out I once again get the feeling of being watched. I take a deep breath and calmly look all around.
No one is there and as the last student leaves the library I jump up to lock the doors. The sun has set so I’m walking through a dark parking garage again, my heels clicking on the cement is the only noise. I nearly jump as the ventilation fans whirl to life.
I half laugh to myself as I unlock my car and get inside. The drive to Ruby’s takes about 20 minutes and it’s so warm out that I take off my cardigan when I park. I slide my iron and silver knives into their sheaths on my thighs along with two wooden stakes.
Stan is standing outside again but before I even cross the street I’m grabbed from behind. I don’t think Stan saw me at all because my surprised yelp doesn’t reach him. I’m spun around to Liam’s sneering face. “Hey baby, miss me?”
“Not one bit.” I try to pull my arm free but his grip tightens.
“Let. Go. Of. Me.” I seethe. My wolf rises to the surface.
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“I don’t think so. I want you back and I think you want me back. I know you read my messages.” His claws extend out of his fingers and begin to dig into my flesh. “Ignoring me is never a good idea.”
“I have nothing to say to you, not now. Not ever. Let go of my arm.”
“Okay,” he drags his claws from my upper arm over my collarbone and grabs around my neck. “I let go of your arm. I know you haven’t been with anyone else since me so I’m sure you miss this.” He grinds his pelvis against mine and I try to move but his knee is now between my thighs pinning the wall and me between him. “I want another chance.”
“I want you to leave me alone,” my voice falters as his claws squeeze my neck and I can feel blood trickle out. If I could use my fae magic his ass would be 20 feet away by now. Frustration and fury and terror swirl through me.
He starts to say something when he’s violently thrown off of me and all of a sudden there are four very agitated men standing between us. A tear escapes before I can pull my emotions back in check.
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“Did you not hear the lady tell you to remove your hand from her?” Aleksandr growls in a low and deadly voice.
Liam, an idiot who never knows when to back down says,
“Why don’t you run along? This is just two old friends catching up. Right baby?” He tries to move toward me but Vance blocks him. “Lenna?”
He is clearly waiting for me to back him up. Ha, not going to happen. I steel my voice and respond, “Liam, I want nothing to do with you. I’m not at all interested in anything you have to say to me. For the last time, leave me alone.”
“You have ten seconds to turn around leave before we tear you apart.” Vance says, his eyes going demon black.
“Lenna, we’re not done and you will regret this.” Liam turns and walks away.
Immediately Vance, Aleksandr, and Ross turn check on me, while the elemental whose name I still don’t know continues to watch Liam’s retreat. Blood is running down my arm and shoulder and tears are about to explode from my eyes.
Aleksandr’s nostrils flare at the sight and smell of my blood and he quickly excuses himself. He and the elemental stride over to 36
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Ruby’s while I’m left with Ross and Vance who are hustling me over to their SUV for a first aid kit.
The settle me into the cargo area and Vance g
rabs my hand while Ross starts cleaning the cuts. “I’m sorry you guys had to get involved in that.” I say trying so hard to hold back the tears.
“That was my ex. He must have found out that I was here with you guys last night. He started blowing my phone up early this morning.”
A tear escapes and Vance catches it with his thumb, “Hey,”
he soothes, “we’re glad we got here when we did. Not one of us would ever walk away from that situation, even if it wasn’t you.” I’m staring into his beautiful golden brown eyes and can’t fight the urge to lean into his hand cupping my cheek. “This next part is going to sting a bit so focus on me okay?” He smiles and I swear he must have realized some of his magic because I’m instantly filled with heat and desire. He draws a deep shuttering breath and lets go of my face and hand. He takes a step back and I’m back to normal but craving his connection again. His lips tilt up in a smile as I inhale slowly and smile back at him.
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Aleksandr
I grip Hayes’ shoulder to ground myself as I fight the bloodlust threatening to overtake me. One sniff of Lenna’s blood and my fangs are threatening drop and red is overtaking my retinas. Her eyes full of tears that she was trying so hard not to lose, the terror and fury in her face as we rounded the corner.
Gods, I could go another thousand years without seeing that again. Pushing down the predator inside me is harder than it has been since I was young vampire. I take a few more deep breaths and lock eyes with Hayes.
“You good, man?” He asks, his face a mask of concern and anger.
“Yeah, I might have to hunt that bastard down and rip his head from his body. God knows what he would have done to her if we hadn’t arrived when we did.” I ride a wave of rage and slam my fist into the cinder block wall beside us. Pain slams through my hand as I pull it out of the hole I just made. I shake
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my hand out and squeeze it into a fist a couple times. “That helped.”
Hayes turns to walk in the bar and bouncer looks at us and lets us pass. We walk up to bar and order drinks for everyone before heading back to the same booth we occupied last night.
The door opens and Lenna walks in flanked on either side by Ross and Vance, who is resting his hand on her lower back. He must have said something funny because she lets out the most melodious laugh I’ve ever heard. Ross cleaned her up well because I don’t smell a drop of blood. I hope he used the cream he formulated using my blood. I don’t want her body to hold any scars from that asshole. She slides into the booth first scooting to the middle beside me. She shoots me a furtive glance.
Probably afraid I’ll smell her fae blood; give into my bloodlust, or both. I smile showing that my fangs are retracted and she’s perfectly safe. Her shoulders relax and her heart rate slows. I do notice that she stays closer to Vance, their legs touching. She grabs the bourbon we ordered for her and slams it back in one shot. A little trickled onto her lip and she slowly wiped her finger across it to keep it from running down her chin.
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Hayes clears his throat and shifts in the booth. “I’m Hayes Fletcher. We weren’t properly introduced yesterday.” He holds his hand out and she takes it in a firm handshake.
“Lenna Blakely. Nice to meet you.” She clears her throat. “I thanked Vance and Ross in the parking lot while they were patching me up but I’d like to thank you both,” she says looking between Hayes and myself. “Liam is…” she trails off, tears reforming in her eyes.
“Not someone you’ll ever have to worry about again.” I supply. “I’m an attorney and can help you attain a restraining order first thing tomorrow. I have good working relationships with several judges in the city.”
“Thank you, that’s very kind of you. I’ll take you up on it.”
She reaches over to squeeze my hand and I’m overcome by a feeling of warm comfort and hot desire. Her hair falls almost to her waist in loose waves today. She wears minimal makeup again but her skin is nearly flawless so it doesn’t matter one bit.
Her tight purple tank top is tucked into another high waist pencil skirt and she’s wearing high-heeled pumps again. I can see the outline of thigh holsters so she must have knives or stakes strapped to her thighs. That thought sends the blood rushing straight to my dick. I try to discretely adjust myself but 40
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Vance smirks at me, he can feel my desire and knows exactly what I’m doing.
“Have you given our offer more thought? Decided to reconsider?” Ross asks softly. “We know you are best for the job in the human realm.”
“I have given it more thought,” she catches the bartender’s eye and lifts her empty glass, “and I accept.”
We all give simultaneous sighs of relief. Vance orders another round for everyone to celebrate. While we wait for the drinks to come we ask her about herself. We already know more about her than she’ll probably tell us but we listen attentively anyway. “Well, there’s not too much to tell. My aunt and her wife raised me. My aunt Gloria is a wolf shifter like me and the third of her pack. My aunt Zora is a hearth witch and healer; she is usually who patches me up when I come back from jobs where I get beat around. My day job is head librarian at the public library downtown, including the supernatural collection and archives. I graduated with duel degrees in library science and women’s and gender studies. There’s no way to come out as a product of lesbian headed family and not be a raging feminist.”
She smiles charmingly at all of us as the drinks are brought over.
“How about you guys? What brought you together?”
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I wait to see if anyone is going to jump in but they all defer to me. “Well, Vance and I met in the mid 1700s while we were both living in Boston. We both fought during the revolutionary war, and then throughout other wars.” Her eyes don’t widen like so many others do when we talk about how old we are, she either did her homework on us or is just used to working with ancient beings. “Then we met Hayes at the start of the war, he joined up with us and we formed a special ops unit. We came across Ross when he was only 14, he’d been orphaned so we took him in and found out he’s damn near genius level smart, a decent healer, and excels in sneaking into and out of high security areas.” He blushes when her eyes turn to him.
“Makes sense that you’d be sly. You are a fox, correct?” She asks, eyebrow cocked.
“Yes ma’am,” he responds as his southern accent slips out.
A look of horror crosses her face at being called “ma’am”
and she says, “Oh, Gods I hope you don’t ever call me ma’am again. I’m too young for ma’am.” She gives a nervous laugh.
Ross leans on the table and surprises us all by saying “you are perfect. Ma’am came out because I grew up in Louisiana and your wolf is more dominant than my fox. He keeps urging me to 42
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roll over for you.” He sits back and winks at her. “Maybe we’ll have a chance to run together soon.”
“Unfortunately we won’t. While I can feel her presence inside me, I’ve never been able to successfully shift. It’s pretty pathetic but I have all the shifter human abilities, heightened senses, strength, and speed. My aunt and her pack tried, her alpha even tried to force the change on me during a super moon and it didn’t work.” She sighs, resigned to a fate of always having the instincts of a wolf but never the ability to set her free.
I can tell Ross’s mind is already spinning with things to try and theories to explore. We spend the rest of evening talking and getting to know each other better, building rapport. Hayes even makes attempts at joining in here and there although his perma-scowl remains. I pull out my phone and realize it’s almost one am. We still have some work to do at the house tonight before we have Lenna come over and start strategizing how to locate the amulet.
“We’ll walk you to your car.” I tell Lenna holding the door open for her, while
she finishes saying goodbye to the bartender and boulder demon bouncer.
“Thank you.” Her cheeks are somewhat flushed from something the bouncer whispered to her that made her giggle 43
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and playfully punch his shoulder. She threads her arm through mine and once again all the logic and blood in my body is diverted away from my brain. She points at small charcoal gray crossover and says that it’s hers. Hayes shoots his arm out in front of her as we all realize her tires have all been slit. “Oh, I’m going to fucking kill him. Godsdamnit Liam. FUCK!” She yells.
She’s already pulling out her phone flicking toward the Uber app. “We’ll take you home.” I gently push her hand down.
“Are you sure? You guys are doing a lot of white knight-ing for me tonight,” she bites her lip and peers up at me through her lashes. “I don’t want you going out of your way anymore than you already have. I’m perfectly fine taking an Uber.”
Vance runs his fingers down the inside of her arm and links his fingers with hers, pulling her toward where our SUV is parked. “It’s no problem at all. What kind of assholes would we be if we just left you when you’ve been targeted twice tonight?”
I’m already arranging to have her car towed to my guy for new tires tonight. I shoot off a text to a municipal judge I know who works order of protection cases to file the paperwork myself tonight. That way she can bypass going to the police 44
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station to file a report. This guy is not going to continue to mess with our girl and get away with it.
I unlock the doors and she slides in between Ross and Vance in the back. “I live in the Johnstown building at 19th and Baltimore.”
“How secure is your building?” Hayes asks, sending me a look that I know means he might hop out and set wards.
“Uh, keycard entry on the main levels and underground parking garage; I also have wards my aunt Zora set on my apartment. The door to my balcony only has a door lock though, not even a deadbolt.” She’s biting her lip again and scrolling through her phone. “I wonder if Hunter is home yet,” she says to herself.