Once a Siren was weakened by another, as Socia had been due to her obsession to seduce Sholto, their power to entice men waned. The fewer men they seduced, the more strength they lost. What was a Siren if she could not seduce a man? Sholto had seen her decline and used it against her. Socia had been powerless to stop him.
In her panic, she clung to his strength. It was the worst possible thing she could have done. In her weakened, almost human like state, he had used her growing guilt over the deaths of men against her and brought forth a deep need in her for dark, sado-masochistic sex.
Socia breathed out a sigh, her body loosening as she did. Normally when she did this she felt no peace and relief as her body felt like it was confined within a net.
But now, as she reached her fingers out, her shoulders and back relaxed and any tension she felt in her neck disappeared. A crazy sense of freedom gripped her. The thought that she could do anything she wanted to now struck her with force. Socia wanted to cry in relief.
Chapter Ten
“That’s a huge crane and a big truck.” Mary was impressed and surprised at the size of the machinery that stood quietly, waiting to be used in the peaceful darkness outside the Bungalow Post Office. It was a good thing that no one lived in the area.
The post office was surrounded by other businesses that shut their doors at five o’clock. The council, after much convincing, allowed them to do the work at night.
Simon, as his alter ego, Swerve, had been endearingly persuasive in this with ‘hey dudes’ and ‘cool man’ and ‘way to go, bodacious council. I will most definitely vote for you next time— if I remember—oh yeah and if I was a citizen of Cairns but you rock.’
“A huge crane is all the better to pick things up with, my dear.” Due the tropical, balmy night air, Simon had pulled back his hair into a slick ponytail and taken his shirt off. “And a big truck trumps a Tonka toy.”
Mary’s eyes rested on the taut planes of his chest. Her hands itched to reach out and touch the glistening sweat on his skin. She licked her lips at the thought of it.
She wasn’t surprised they gave him what he wanted. He was confusing and sometimes it was easier to go with the flow that against it. Especially, public servants. They couldn’t have cared less when he did the work as long as twenty-seven pieces of paper requesting it had been filled in.
She watched as Simon and a plain, average looking man who called himself Jim Kirk and another tall, gangly looking man who simply went by the name ‘The Doctor’ began work on cutting the structure into manageable bits with cutting tools The Doctor had ‘borrowed’ and had to have back by six o’clock the next morning or as he put it, ‘there could be some fuss.’ Mary smiled. Fuss. These men were fighting an enemy ninety-nine percent of the population would never dream existed. ‘Fuss’
seemed somewhat downplayed.
Mary felt useless as she watched the men at their work. But, she also didn’t want to get in the way. It was noisy, hard work that sent sparks into the night air as oxyacetylene torches cut through metal frames. She looked at the half door. It was amazing to think that behind such a simple piece of red painted wood lay the entrance to other worlds and the threat of beings causing chaos in the world she knew.
“Yes, it is amazing.” Simon walked towards wiping the sweat from his brow.
“What?” Can he read my mind? Does he know how much I love him? Would he think me mad? Yes, they had both said the words out loud in a moment of lust but did that count?
He smiled. “That other worlds exist?”
“It still surprises you?” He seemed so cool and in control. Was it possible to surprise this man?
“Not any more. But when I first learnt about this I was amazed.”
“How do you get into a business like this?” It wasn’t like there were career nights for people who track down and contain time lords.
“Some say I’m cursed,” he responded with a smile and caught her hand in his.
“But it’s genetic. It’s what the Mayhew men do. We are entrusted with a cause and that’s to answer to the universe when bad guys like Sholto choose to wreak havoc on the innocent.”
“Wow.” Her family heritage was all about desperate women, from her great, great grandmother, to actually marry the men they created children with. As goals went it, didn’t compete.
“Indeed.”
“Would you change it if you could?” What sort of a life did he have? Was he settled? Did he want to be settled? Can I be a part of it? That he chased evil doers didn’t scare her. What scared her was her mother latching on to Simon, the wealthy man, and wearing him down. As much as she loved her mother, June Dalton would make a plaster saint crack and start blaspheming.
“No.” It was stated simply as if he hadn’t considered any other option.
“Even though it must bring you trouble?”
“It brought me you.”
It was one of those heart flip-flopping moments that made Mary feel, for the first time in her life, that she really mattered to someone. She almost said ‘I love you.’ But it was too soon for that.
“Yeah, I know.”
She jumped at the looked he gave her. “What?”
Simon tweaked her nose. “We’ll discuss it later.” He let go of her hand and walked back to the crane. He turned and winked at her. “And I feel the same, and yes, it can happen that fast. And yes, I meant what I said in the bathroom. It wasn’t just sex that made me say it. ”
She shivered despite the heat. “Freaky,” she breathed out in a low voice. That Simon felt as she did was better than chocolate and that, for Mary, was saying a lot.
She watched the man she love walk back to finish off what he started. Despite the need to be close to him, Mary knew it was better for her to stay out of the way as they cut through supports and hoisted metal up with the crane and into the truck.
“Hard work,” murmured a voice behind her.
Mary whirled around to see Sholto. “You!”
“Me!” Sholto looked pleased by her response.
Mary looked for Simon.
“Oh, he’ll be here any minute but I just wanted a word with you.”
“Why?” Mary remembered the half a dozen boxing classes she had taken. She immediately went into a boxer’s stance of one foot in front and one behind to ground her as her hands curled into fists, ready to lead with the left. Mary wasn’t scared for herself. It was what Sholto’s plans for Simon were that made her hackles rise. Dalton women may not have any success in marrying their men but they damn well fought for them.
“Oh, that’s cute. You want to try and beat my brains out.”
Mary raised her hands. “Oh, there will be no trying. Only succeeding.”
“Well, if your boyfriend succeeds in destroying this door, I plan to kill him.”
She stiffened but tried not to react as she knew that was what bullies thrived on
“Why not kill him now while the door is still intact? Why stand around chatting?”
Sholto nodded and grinned. “Good point but no fun for me. Besides, there are other doors.”
More portals? “Where?” Who would have thought this would now concern her more than the dramas of her mother?
“Come with me, and I’ll show you.”
Yeah, duh—no. Yet even as she thought that, Mary knew Simon would want to know where the other portals were. But then another thought struck her. Why did this powerful time lord bother stopping to speak to her? She was no one in the game they were playing. Did he think she was stupid enough to go with him and be a pawn. “You’re bluffing.” That had to be the reason he fronted her.
“Prove me wrong.”
Mary dropped her fists and assessed him. Handsome. Evil. Full of shit. “I don’t have to. You’re scared and talking out of your ass.”
Sholto threw back his head and laughed. “I like you.”
“That’s odd, ‘cause I don’t care much at all for you.” She saw Simon heading towards them crowbar in hand and a l
ook of murder on his face. “My boyfriend’s back and you’re gonna be in trouble.”
“I’ll be back.”
“I can hardly wait,” Mary responded as he disappeared into thin air.
“Damn!” Simon missed snatching Sholto by a mere second. “Are you okay?”
He pulled Mary into his arms.
She sighed against him. It was like being at home being so close to him. “Yes.
He was just trying to trash talk me.”
“You should have called me over.” His eyes were full of concern.
“I wanted to hear what he would say.” Mary told Simon about the other doors.
“Normally, I wouldn’t believe a word he says but we can’t discount that.”
Jim and The Doctor came over and listened to what had happened.
“Maybe Mary should go with him and we could follow,” responded The Doctor.
Jim shook his head. “Not a bad idea but for the fact he disappears into thin air and we may never see Mary again.”
“So, he doesn’t always need a door?” Mary considered this in light of how fast he disappeared when Simon arrived.
“Yes, and no. What you saw was more a time lord party trick of invisibility,”
The Doctor explained. “They’re rather shallow, flashy characters of no substance.
The portals are the only things they care about.”
“You are never to go anywhere with Sholto.” The words sound firm with a tinge of desperation on Simon’s lips.
“I can take care of myself, you know,” Mary pointed out, yet it was nice to know Simon cared.
Sholto re-appeared several buildings away. He leaned against one and thought about what to do. Mayhew was a pain in the ass. If he took away his only way out of Cairns he was through. For a time lord to be trapped in one time without escape was unthinkable. He smiled suddenly when he thought back to Mayhew’s scrapper of a girlfriend fists up, ready to take him out. He’d like to give her a pain in the ass.
Over and over. She was deliciously buxom in an old world style of beauty he liked.
He pictured her tied up in knots and screaming for release. She was also smart. That was a problem. She was right. He was bluffing. There were no other doors in Cairns. That bitch Socia had blown up the only other one in her store. He could not allow the post office portal to be destroyed. While it was in any basically intact form he could use it. He needed to find where they would be dumping the pieces they had cut up.
Sholto retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and tapped out a number. “I need some help.” He listened to the response. “Yes, yes, the same payment as always. I have an excellent woman for you to play with. Very pure, and very strong.
You’ll enjoy breaking her. She’s Mayhew’s woman.” Sholto wasn’t surprised to hear the sound of glee on the other end of the phone. Most of his colleagues didn’t care for Simon Mayhew. He had caused all of them trouble at some point. “Oh, and bring Lord Nelson will you.” The crazy old admiral was exactly who he needed.
Several hours later, the truck was full of cut up steel. The door, although, was still attached to the frame it had been housed in for decades. It was agreed by the men that it was best to blow that up. Cutting it from the frame may have weakened it to the point that those who were on the other side of the portal may come through.
“It’ll be daylight soon. We need to move now.”
The Doctor nodded. “Yes, and we don’t exactly have permission to take this away from the post office. We don’t need vexatious problems now.”
Jim agreed. “Yeah, they may be miffed about that.”
“That would be an understatement.” Mary was amused by the terms this men used. They were, in essence saving the world from ‘miffed’ people. “So where are we going now?”
Simon wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight against him.
“We’re going to Jim’s place on the Tablelands. It’s far enough from Cairns to avoid any interruptions or people wondering about loud explosions. And as for you, you’re going home.”
Mary didn’t want that. She wanted to see how this played out. She needed to see evil thwarted. It would be like walking out just before the last act played out.
“But—”
“No buts,” Simon responded. “I’ll be home soon.”
She shivered at his words ‘I’ll be home soon’. That he thought she was his home made her feel warm all over. Mary turned into his arms and kissed him hard.
The freedom she felt in doing that gave her a rush of power. “You better be, or I may fall asleep and be impossible to wake up.”
“I’ll rush.”
“Good.”
As they drove out of Cairns, headed towards the winding road up Gillies Range to the flat, fertile plain of the Atherton Tablelands, Jim Kirk, eyes fixed on the road as he drove, brought up what he knew they were all feeling. “You know Sholto will try and follow us
Simon nodded. “Yeah I know.” He didn’t for one second think the time lord would let this go. The only saving grace was if he was on their trail then at least Mary would be safe.
“We have to get this cut up in tiny pieces so it’s impossible to ever return it to its original form again.”
That was the plan. Problem was they all knew that was easier said than done.
“What reinforcements do you think Sholto has?” The Doctor asked.
“Probably the usual flunkies.” Simon knew people like Sholto collected the thugs and charlatans of the paranormal world to do his bidding.
“I heard the admiral was in town.” All three men were silent as they contemplated that piece of intelligence. That was a problem. A huge problem. The Admiral, Lord Nelson, who dressed like the centuries old war hero was psychotic.
Simon had never been able to clearly work out if he was paranormal or pathologically insane. Sometimes they were the same.
“He’s crazy son of a bitch,” The Doctor rubbed at the faint scar on his forehead.
Simon knew that wound had been inflicted by the admiral with a long sword a year ago. “We’ll just have to be crazier.”
“Hey,” Jim glanced briefly at them. “I met this guy the other day who is built like a Sherman tank. All muscles and attitude. Frankly, he scared the crap out of me.
When he came to stand before me I wasn’t sure whether to fight, run or just try to become invisible.”
Simon arched his brow in surprise. Jim was no weakling. “Is he human or paranormal?”
“Yes—no—probably both. I don’t know. I was too busy contemplating how I would survive if he swung one of his meaty fists at me that I couldn’t register.”
“Would he help us?” Simon was realistic. The three of them would do what they could to thwart Sholto, the Admiral and his motley crew but any extra help would be good.
“Yeah, I think he would.” Jim nodded, eyes fixed to the road.
“Why?
“He came to me because he was looking for Socia.”
The other two men sat bolt upright and looked at each other.
“Socia? Why?” Socia was an enigma to Simon. She never let anyone into her life or her deepest thoughts. That this man was looking at her made Simon both intrigued and protective.
“Hadrian, that’s his name, said the Angels sent him to find Socia.”
“Fucking Angels,” muttered the Doctor. “They’re always messing around in stuff that causes other’s problems.”
Simon had to agree with that. He had been caught up in too many Angel schemes that had gone awry. Angels justifying they did what they did for the glory of God and to benefit mankind was a load of crap as far as Simon was concerned.
They acted as they wanted for their own gain. Angels wanted the world to act in a certain way and they didn’t care about collateral damage. “I’m not about to help him find Socia if he means her harm.”
“Me neither,” agreed the Doctor. “Socia is weird, but they’re assholes.”
Jim shook his h
ead. “I don’t believe he does mean her harm. All he kept saying was he had to find her for she was his soul mate and she would understand that when the time came.”
“Huh,” murmured Simon.
“Well, that’s a bit different.”
Jim took one hand off the wheel and fished out his cell phone from his top pocket. He tossed it across the seat to Simon. “Call him. He’s the last number. See what you think.”
Simon picked it up and looked at the cell phone screen. “There aren’t any numbers. It’s all Xs.”
“Fucking Angels,” repeated the Doctor in contempt. “They’re always trying to look mysterious. Pricks.”
Simon smiled at his colleague’s words as he hit the call button. The call was answered immediately.
“Speak,” said a deep, gruff voice.
“My name is Swerve, and I give you fair warning, I will kill you if you hurt Socia.” Simon saw no point in wasted time on pleasantries. The business they were in was tough and hard and the sooner people came to the point the better.
“Well met, and I don’t kill easily.”
“Just so you know where I stand.” Simon nodded. Good. They understood each other
“I protect my own.”
“Socia?”
“Yes.”
“Who are you?” While Simon was very aware that Socia was capable of looking after herself, he also protected his own.
“A traveler.”
“A warrior?” That seemed the most logical answer considering he was aligned with the angels. He certainly didn’t sound sanctimonious enough to be one of God’s henchmen.
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