Not Quite Beast

by Kaye Draper

  I glared back at my companions, getting a nod from Emerson and an eye roll from Fin.

  Sighing, I pushed through the doors and headed to the back table, where most of the lights were out. This particular contact was one I only used in emergencies, because he could get me the shit I needed for big kills, fast—like grenades and poison gas, and elephant guns—but I knew I wouldn't like how he got it.

  Emile was a stocky, greasy middle-aged guy with a comb-over that was in bad need of a buzz cut. He slipped into the seat across from me a few minutes after we sat down. His paunchy belly pressed up against the sticky table in our booth like a loaf of bread left out to rise for too long. Apparently, black market stuff-dealers ate well these days.

  "What can I do for you, Sabertooth?" he oozed, grinning at me with a mouth full of blackened teeth. "Just got in a few canisters of something that would take down a dragon. His beady eyes slid to Fin, then to Emerson, squeezed into the booth beside me, and he raised an eyebrow. "Or an ogre."

  I tapped my fingers on the table to get his attention. "I just need information," I said softly. "Someone tried to get the new leader of Westhold eaten by unicorns before he could reach the city. And they fucked with my guild in the process."

  Emile's beady eyes shifted side to side. "You know I just sell tools, kid. I ain't no rat."

  He went to stand, and I rolled my eyes, reaching into my coat and pulling out a stack of genuine, government-backed paper bills. Cash like this was rare since the rift. Most bartering was done in cheap coins that may or may not be good in other cities. "Just tell me where to start. Who to talk to."

  He yanked the bills off the table, and they disappeared into the pocket of his velour sweatpants. "You want someone to go on an unsanctioned hunt, you find them at the Hole in the Wall."

  He stood and ambled off. "Come back when you want some more elephant guns or flash-bangs, kid," he called over his shoulder with a grin. "If you survive this hunt you're going on."

  I ground my teeth together. "Come on," I told the guys, nearly dragging them out of the place. I hated Emile and his damned bar. I spent most of my days up to my elbows in fiend blood and guts—and occasionally stinking squid ink—but somehow, I never felt so in need of a shower as when I visited the weapons peddler.

  "What did he mean?" Emerson asked quietly as we made our way across the poorer part of town, through a slum, and toward the far city wall, in a section of town that was all curs. And the occasional well-hidden full fiend. "About unsanctioned hunters?"

  Fin looked up at him, his expression grim. "Hunters that don't work for the association. People that hunt things the government doesn't approve of."

  "They hunt people instead of monsters," I added. "Human people."

  Emerson's kind eyes went wide. "Shit."

  I let out a wry laugh. "Yeah. I told you guys you didn't want to get involved in this." I stuffed my hands in my jacket pockets, suddenly on edge. "Emile is going to look like a kindly old grandmother compared to these people," I warned. "Maybe you should go home and let me handle this one."

  Fin's grip on my wrist pulled me to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk. "Why did you agree to help this Theo guy?" he asked, sharp green eyes glued to my face.

  "Money," I said easily. "Tons, and tons of money."

  Fin and Emerson shared a glance. "What else, Sam?" Emerson said softly.

  I narrowed my eyes at them. "Who says there has to be any other reason?"

  Emerson smiled softly. "Because this is you, Sam."

  I growled and turned away. "Whoever set us up and attacked that guy, they hurt you two." They had beaten Fin up and left him bleeding in a gutter. They drugged Emerson and left him locked away where no one would find him. "Maybe I just want them to suffer."

  Fin laughed. "Good to know we're loved."

  I bared my teeth. "The stupid politician said he wanted to protect the city. He knew we had that in common, and he used it to get me to crumble. So, we're both fucking morons, I guess. Happy?"

  Fin sighed. Emerson reached over and squeezed the back of my neck in one big hand. "You're a good girl, Sam."

  I glared. "Say that again and I'll stab you," I warned.

  He just smiled down at me fondly and ruffled my hair. "You're so cute."

  But his taunting backfired when he suddenly blushed red under his green complexion, coughed, and stepped away, his eyes on the sidewalk in front of him.

  I arched a brow at him, then glanced at Fin to find the leprechaun shaking his head at his big friend. What the hell was that all about? Why couldn't Emerson ever look me in the damned eyes for more than a few seconds without turning into a bumbling, blushing weirdo? "You're both so dumb," I muttered.

  Then I put my mean face on, so we could go talk to hired killers.

  The Hole in the Wall was a dive bar that was literally built to plug a whole in the actual city wall. Rumor had it, the hole had been torn in the thick, enchanted wall of concrete and barbed wire by a herd of something that looked like a cross between a rhino and a narwhal. I kind of wanted that to be true, just so I could hunt one. Sounded like a good challenge. It would probably be a level two hunt too, one worth a lot of cash….

  I was pulled from that happy thought when we reached the bar. The door flew open, and a fight spilled out onto the sidewalk and into the narrow street. A few different types of curs grappled, grunted, and yelled as they tried to tear each other to pieces. I side-stepped the worst of it, pulling Fin and Emerson off to the side so we didn't get swept into the chaos. So far, no one had drawn weapons, so I left my gun in its holster. For now.

  I turned to Fin to see if he'd let me piggyback him over into a nearby alley until the fight calmed down, but I didn't get the words out. I was hit by a shrieking, angry bundle of…something.

  I went down hard, the breath knocked out of me when my back and one elbow slammed into the dirty concrete. "For fuck's sake!" I hissed at the person who had just been thrown at me.

  I managed to get a hold of what turned out to be a woman, griping her upper arms and letting my shifter strength flow into my limbs to keep her from lashing out at me. She was strong as hell, probably flying on some cur strength of her own. Her fluffy brown hair was woven with a few long braids that had beads at the ends. They slapped me in the eyes, and I shook my head to clear my vision, meeting a pair of angry red eyes. She calmed down for a second, seeming to realize I wasn't the one she wanted to fight with. Then her eyes lifted from me to glare at someone approaching from the side.

  "I'll fucking kill you, Richard, you double-crossing bastard!" the woman screeched, then her body shuddered, magic rippling over her.

  I let go and slid out from under her as I felt her start to shift. Son of a bitch, she was leaking power like a dam about to break. The wheels in my mind were whirring as I watched her start her change, her dark skin going even darker, becoming something black and shiny. Glancing around the chaos that was the unsanctioned district, I made an executive decision. There was no way we were going to get anyone around here to just nicely chat with us and rat out one of their own. I sighed.

  Rocking back, I curled my legs in then, with shifter strength, I rabbit kicked the woman right in the gut. She flew backward, her scary-assed shift halted by the surprise. Leaping to my feet, I yanked Emerson forward and shoved him her way. "Grab her and let's get the hell out of here!"

  Emerson, thank the gods, knew how to follow directions. Whereas Fin would have bitched and argued with me for ten minutes, the perfect specimen of Ogre cur lurched forward, scooped the woman up, and threw her over his shoulder, turning to me with a panicked look on his face. I drew my gun and waved him toward an alley. "Turn left at the end."

  The woman was cussing and muttering, but she wasn't throwing around magic or shifting, thank the Gods.

  I grinned as a couple of the guys from the fight tried to follow after us. When I leveled my gun on them and squeezed off a warning shot, they kept advancing. So, I shot them both in the knees and left the
m bitching and crying behind me as I dashed after my guild. The guys were curs. They'd heal. Maybe.

  I scooped Fin up and tossed him on my back, ignoring his protests as I followed Emerson until we found a quiet side street in a better neighborhood. Then we collapsed in an alley and put down our passengers.

  Fin kicked me in the shin, and I bent double, choking out a laugh as I tried to catch my breath. "Do that again, and I'll end you, you mangy cat bastard. I'm not a fucking princess. I have legs." He was so cute when he was enraged. Not that I was ever going to say that out loud. Didn't want to be killed in my sleep.

  Emerson carefully set the woman down, where she leaned against the wall and watched us all with a raised brow.

  The poor ogre let out a relieved breath. "That was fun, and all," he said softly. "But let's never do that again."

  I straightened and shrugged. "I told you. I hunt monsters. Not people. Things are much easier when you can just shoot or stab your way to success."

  Fin gestured at the woman, who was still just watching us. "What the hell are we going to do with that?"

  I smirked. "I thought it might be easier to ask questions of a captive audience. Especially since she already seemed pretty pissed at her cohorts."

  Fin stared up at me in shock for a second. Then he started laughing so hard he cried. "Ah, fuck me!" He wiped his streaming eyes. "You always tell me not to use my magic. Now I get it. Because you're right, this is probably going to bite us in the asses."

  I glared at him. "You did it again? You fucking asshole."

  The leprechaun winked at me. "What? You think getting a hot chick thrown onto your lap was an accident?"

  I turned away from the smug asshole and paced closer to the woman as her red eyes followed my every move. She stared, her eyes flicking to each of us in turn. But I knew she was getting ready to spring. "Calm your tits," I said, holding my hands up. "We're not going to hurt you. We just need to talk to you, and we didn't want to wait around until the fight died down and see who was still alive and uninjured enough to talk."

  She pushed herself upright against the wall. "I'm sure you say that to all your kidnapping victims, pretty boy."

  I grinned, letting my fangs show. "Just the ones we let live."

  She arched a brow at me, completely unafraid. Which was just great. We had to go and get the hardass for a hostage. "I'm letting you live right now," she said calmly. "But only because you're pretty, and I'm curious what the fuck is going on."

  I rolled my eyes. Fin and his stupid luck magic. There was no way we’d just naturally get this lucky. "I'll buy you dinner if you agree to chat with us for a while. My name's Sam. This is Fin and Emerson."

  She sighed and shook my hand, gripping it with surprising strength. "Ahura," she said tiredly. "And what the hell? Everything else has gone to shit tonight. I might as well get a free meal out of it."

  She eyed us all one more time. "Though, I'm probably not gonna feel up to a gang-bang after being knocked around like that, if that's why you nabbed me." She rubbed her jaw, where I could see a dark bruise forming under her smooth brown skin.

  Emerson shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably, looking ashamed and guilty for manhandling a woman. Fin snorted in disbelief at her balls.

  I let out a bark of laughter and turned our new friend toward the street, steering her toward a little hut that made the best noodles I'd ever tasted. "And I used to think luck magic was just bullshit," I muttered in awe, giving Fin and Emerson a look that held a wealth of meaning. "But there is no way we could have just stumbled upon another weirdo like you two."

  Chapter 5

  I watched Ahura slurp down her third bowl of noodles while I worked my way through a basket of hand-wrapped egg rolls. "So, your fellow gang member betrayed you and you decided to try to kill him," I repeated. "And you managed to take out half the bar in the process?"

  She shrugged. "Bastard had it coming."

  Fin raised a thick red eyebrow. "No honor among thieves, isn't that the saying?"

  She glared and pointed her chopsticks at him like the wooden utensils were a deadly weapon. "I don't want to hear that bullshit from a government dog like you. Association hunters are even worse. You fuckers kill your own kind. At least we stick mostly to humans." She stabbed her noodles and corralled them into her mouth, muttering, "fucking humans."

  I rubbed a hand over my face. "Okay, look. We fed you. Can we just get back on topic? We've got shit to do and people waiting for results."

  Her big, disturbing red eyes focused on me. "You mean you want to get paid."

  I shrugged and shoved the rest of the egg rolls her way. She seemed to respond well to food bribes. "Have you heard anything about the new ruler they imported for Westhold a couple weeks ago?"

  She narrowed her eyes at me. Once you got used to the blood red color, they were kind of pretty…in a creepy way. Like rubies. "Sure. Everyone's all up in arms because he uses magic and supposedly he secretly employs cur bodyguards, even though he's a piece of shit human."

  I waved my hand, dismissing all that. There were a lot of humans in high places who weren't afraid to use curs and fiends to maintain their power. It wasn't something they'd admit openly, since the human public would crucify them. But it wasn't exactly a secret either.

  "We had a unicorn contract," I told her, leaning my elbows on the table, avoiding a suspicious sticky spot. This place wasn't the cleanest. But the food was good, and it hadn't killed me yet. Plus, the owner of the cart was a single half-pixie cur with twelve kids. She needed the business. "Someone tried to put us out of commission, then made sure the little politician was right in the path of the unicorns."

  Ahura raised her winged brows at me, tossed a cluster of beaded braids over her shoulder, and gave me a who-gives-a-shit look.

  I sighed. "The baby politician has asked me to find out who did it." She obviously hated humans with a passion, but hopefully the promise of money would mean more to her than her morals.

  She pushed her empty bowl aside and snagged one of the egg rolls, nibbling on it with even white teeth, her eyes narrowing in thought. Plotting, probably. "You know, poking around in this sort of shit will probably get you killed."

  Fin crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me. "That's what I said."

  Emerson turned his big, pathetic puppy-dog eyes on the woman. "But you'll help us, right?"

  I rolled my eyes. Like the dangerous, leather-clad murderer at our table was just going to cave to that look.

  "Okay," she said with a shrug.

  I tried not to gape at her in surprise. "Do you know who set us up?"

  She shook her head as she finished her egg roll. "Not for sure. But I can find out. Might even have been my old gang. They've been being extra smug lately. Give me a few days."

  I narrowed my eyes at her. "And what's that going to cost us?"

  She smirked at me, her plush lips curving up into a sensuous leer. "Half of your payout."

  I tipped my head back and laughed, long and hard. When I finally got myself under control, I wiped the tears from my eyes and shook my head at her. "Good one." I stood and waved at Fin and Emerson to follow. "Nice talking to you. We'll find the info some other way."

  She slid out of her chair and stood in front of me, her fists planted on her curvy, leather-clad hips. I let my eyes travel over her body in what was meant to be an insulting way, but I admit, I got a little distracted by all the leather and those hips. I always did have a weak spot for women who could probably kill me on the spot. "Move it," I said, with a flick of my fingers. "Places to be."

  She tilted her head and stared at me, biting her bottom lip. "One third," she demanded, crossing her arms over her leather underbust and shoving her tits up higher for effect.

  I arched a brow at her obvious attempt to distract me with her…assets. "One quarter, and if you fuck us over, I'll eat your entrails with hot sauce." I bared my pointed teeth, just for good measure.

  She laughed, dropping her arms and
stepping closer. "Joke's on you, cat. I'm poisonous."

  I stared into her heavily lashed red eyes from the mere inches that separated us, a cluster of her braids brushing my shoulder. "Take it or leave it."

  I felt Fin and Emerson step closer, but the woman's eyes never left mine. Somehow, I didn't think her tough act was an act at all. And I wondered just what the hell she was. She had a lot of power for a cur, judging by what I'd felt back by the bar. She nodded. "I'll take it, since I don't have a job lined up right now anyway, and those assholes back there are on my shit-list." She stepped away, shooting me a sly look over her shoulder. "Where should we meet up, pretty boy?"

  A growl rumbled in my chest, but I didn't let it out.

  Emerson stepped up, surprising me when he blocked me from her view with his massive body. "Sam's not a boy."

  I closed my eyes and resisted the urge to facepalm. Why was he so embarrassing?

  She just chuckled. "Really?" I stepped out from behind the stupid ogre to find her waggling her eyebrows at him as she taunted him. "Even more fun, then." She waved a hand at me. "I'll meet you back here at the same time in three days, gorgeous."

  I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Just fuck off now."

  She oozed away into the foot traffic on the sidewalk and disappeared.

  Emerson turned to me and I planted my hands in the center of his broad chest and shoved. "What the hell, asshole?"

  He didn't even sway. Just blinked down at me in confusion, a little hurt on his face. "What do you mean, Sam? I was just trying to get her to back off." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't know you were interested." He slid his gaze toward Fin, his eyes round.

  I rubbed a hand over my face. "Emerson," I ground out.

  "Yeah, Sam?"

  "I might kill you someday," I breathed.

  He hunched his big shoulders and shuffled a foot against the concrete. "Sorry, Sam. I guess I really am just a dumb ogre."