by Tobi Grim
“What does that ever turning mind of yours determine?”
“You could be right,” she responded slowly, “wolfbloods have a way of sensing us… witches too. So that could be right on. Or… was the magick you used on Sledge any less than what you have on yourself?”
“Perhaps. Although I allow myself to be mildly detectable to other witches, it is entirely a different spell, my beautiful witch, perhaps you will not see through mine. Or perhaps it will be easier, we only have one way to discover these details. None of my people noticed me, so we can narrow down the criteria marginally. You see, I can easily observe the power of those whom I have concealed, but they cannot see me. For I am the spell caster.”
Lupa nodded, feeling her fingers starting to tingle slightly. Fuck. Was this really the right place to be doing this? The room was so nice, what if she managed to… shit. And what was Hammer going to do? Sledge had let her pour her power into him… when she’d taken it again she’d had people to fight and use her magick against…
“Do not anguish over the details, wolf witch, I have many abilities that can assist you in whatever it may be that you require.”
Hammer gently moved her hair away from her neck, letting his sharp nails tickle against her skin. Lupa turned her eyes to his. Yeah. She bet he fucking did. But then… did she really fucking mind? He cocked his head to the side and smiled widely.
“I think we have an interesting evening a head of us, Little Red wolf witch, are you not delighted you came to see me now?”
Lupa went to respond, but Gift was taking its hold now. She could feel the magick growing inside her. She could feel… oh yes. She could feel Hammer. She could feel him just as she had felt him when they’d had magickal sex and he had released the spell that hid his true witch self. But… he felt different now. Now that she wasn’t absorbed in the sex… he felt… fucking strong. Hammer’s magick felt like it was drawing her in; like the charming smile he had on his face.
“I see you. Plain as you can probably see me. Why does your magick feel different?”
“As I have briefed you before, little witch, my ancestors never went into The Organization. I would presume that is why it feels different to you, and your own, it is not a magick you would have felt, and I presume you were preoccupied when you saw it before.”
Lupa shook her head. That wasn’t quite it. But she could feel the magick starting to grow fast within her. Fuck. She was going to have to get rid of this. Hammer placed his hand on her own, a thoughtful expression covered his face.
“Perhaps you should give me some of that magick, wolf witch.”
Lupa looked down at herself, the familiar image of the black lightning dancing over her body filled her gaze, and she turned her eyes back up to Hammer. Was he going to do what Sledge had? Or did he have something different he could do? Well, one way to fucking find out. She let the black lightning go, watching as Hammer’s body became alive with it, a small exhilarated smile on his face. Then he let her hand go and placed it against the wall, sending it back out of his body, but it looked less... fucking hell.
“You’re a Konyonya!” A witch that could absorb other’s magick. Shit.
“Ah. That I am, Little Red, I am amazed you know that, your Organization seems to have so little information on magick it does not use.”
“We learn about other types of magick though, not all magickal people enter The Organization… but shit. As far as I was taught, Konyonya’s don’t even exist anymore.”
Hammer winked at her playfully, “And we are going to keep it that way, wolf witch, I can help absorb the magick you have within you. But now I know you can truly see, I think that these little pills will never leave my sight, I could not risk anyone finding this information out. But perhaps, now that you realise you cannot hurt me with your magick, it would please you to do something more pleasurable with our time?” Hammer didn’t wait for an answer, he just took her face in his hands and kissed her. Lupa let him, a distraction sounded like a brilliant fucking idea.
✽ ✽ ✽
An hour and a half later Lupa’s phone rang. She had already redressed and returned to the lounge, Hammer had only dressed in one of the silk robes… He was placing his hand on her every now and then to draw the black lightning to him and pushing it out again, but when it left his body it held nowhere near the same amount of power. He could absorb most of the magick, only needing to purge the smallest bit. Not like Sledge, he had taken hits from her…
“Hello?” Lupa was anxious. Oh please, let them have found Dameon alive…
“He’s ok.” Lupa felt a tear slid down her face in relief. “Tank found him fighting down in The Market, the pub on the edge of Blackwater? Anyway, he’s at our place if you want to come see him… he’s a bit worse for wear, but he’s…”
Alive. “Oh thank fuck. I’ll be there… it… I’ll be there in about an hour. I… need to go home and have a quick shower.” Lupa lied. “I’m a bit of a mess…”
“Ok, hun, we’ll see you soon.” Slasher said gently, Lupa closed her phone, relief washing over her body.
“Perhaps you would like to shower here?” Hammer was smiling at her.
“Umm… yeah ok. Thanks.”
Hammer stood up and held his hand out to her, Lupa accepted it and allowed him to help her to her feet. He led her to a door she hadn’t noticed before, opening it and following her into a beautiful white and gold bathroom.
“I am glad to see your wrist is looking much better,” Hammer slid the cardigan off her, inspecting her wrist gently, then sliding the straps of her dress off her shoulders, “And this here seems to be healing well…” his finger ran down the stitches on her chest, “You really do heal marvellously, did it look like this earlier?”
Lupa peered down. No, it fucking didn’t. Magickal beings all healed faster than humans, but this was fast even for her. The wound was almost completely fucking closed. “I don’t usually heal quite so quickly…”
Hammer turned the shower next to them on, then slid her underwear off her, untying his robe and letting it fall to the floor with a whisper. Lupa ran her fingers over the fine artwork on his skin, she had never really looked that closely at it before. Dragons, merpeople, gargoyles, wolfbloods, bloodsuckers, lion shifters, faeries… each was so beautifully detailed it amazed Lupa that they were tattoos and not a large art piece work…
Hammer picked her up around the waist and carried her under the water, she felt her heart pick up, surely he wasn’t ready to fuck her again? Lupa’s skin felt raw and sensitive from the magick. He placed her down gently and gave her an amused smile.
“Too soon for our little wolf witch?”
Lupa laughed, embarrassed, “Yeah, the magick makes my skin… my whole body feel used, really, like someone has rubbed me all over with sand paper...”
He tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her under the water flowing over them. She closed her eyes and let her naked body press against his. This was wrong. So very fucking wrong. She should be… ah, fuck it.
✽ ✽ ✽
“Thank you for… looking after me,” Lupa said, Hammer walking her to the front access door.
“You are most welcome, wolf witch, I appreciate the trust you place in me. I shall inform you of what I can find on other cultures blood magick. I will call you tomorrow, as we also have the man across the river to discuss.”
“Yeah. Talk to you then.” She threw him a grateful smile and opened the door. Maccabee giving her a nod as she left.
“Little Red?”
Lupa turned with her keys ready to open the car. Fuck. Sledge was peering at her with strange curiosity. “Hey…” she shifted her gaze away from him, was he still looking at her differently?
“Thinkin’ I was gonna call you…”
“Yeah. Sure you were.” Lupa bit her tongue. Why was she so annoyed with him? She hadn’t wanted to see those places either… he was probably still trying to process it all…
Sledge rubbed the back of his n
eck and ran his eyes over her then back over to Hammer’s building. “I gotta go do some shit. Thinkin’ maybe I callin’ you up and we talkin’?”
“Maybe. Not tonight. Hawk just… his Gran died, and then his father was murdered. I have to go…”
Sledge nodded, sweeping his gaze over her but stopping before he reached her face. Shit. Lupa supposed that things would never be… the same. He’d touched her and felt the misery in her soul, the places she dare not look, and he was disgusted by her. She was too wound up for this shit, tears filled her eyes as she wrenched the car door open and threw herself in. She had Dameon to worry about, she couldn’t be getting caught up in this fucking shit right now.
Lupa started the car and heard Sledge open the passenger door. Embarrassed by the tears on her cheeks she turned away so he couldn’t see them.
“I callin’ you. Aint thinkin’ I won't.” He shut the door and she sped off.
Fuck him. Fuck him for seeing those things, fuck him for being like her, fuck him for making her feel ok one day then completely lost the next. She had enough shit in her life right now, why the fuck did he have to make things so damn complicated? Lupa punched the steering wheel as she turned out of Blackwater, heading up to Ravenfells where Slasher lived. Fuck him to hell.
✽ ✽ ✽
Lupa had managed to calm herself down by the time she reached Slasher’s, now she was just worried. Worried that Dameon might not want to actually see her… or there would still be that look in his eyes…
She got out of the car and knocked nervously. Tank opened it and gave her a grin, his meaty hand on her shoulder. “Hawk sure like fightin’, cheeky fuck even givin’ me one.”
Lupa’s eyebrows shot up, no way would she throw a punch at Tank, shit, pretty much everyone would be too scared to do that. “Seriously?”
Tank laughed heartily and slammed the door behind them. “That he did. He’s out the back with Slasher. They dun been waitin’ on ya.”
Lupa went through the lounge and out to the back of Slasher’s place. It had a tiny ‘yard’ with enough room for a table and chairs and fuck all else. Lupa looked from Slasher then down to Dameon who was doubled over himself, his hair hanging over his knees.
Slasher stood and gave Lupa a quick hug, kissing her on the forehead. “He’s ok. I’ll leave you guys alone…”
Lupa nodded to Slasher but she didn’t take her eyes off Dameon. He still hadn’t moved, so she stepped over to him and sat down in the chair opposite his. What was she supposed to say? Lupa nibbled her lip and decided she needed a smoke, pulling them out and lighting one.
“Can I have one? Slasher doesn’t have any here…”
Dameon finally sat up, giving Lupa a shock. His face was bruised and swollen, nose broken, split lip… his knuckles were bloody and the skin cracked open and caked with blood. She handed him the smoke and lit herself another one.
“Shit, Red, I’m so sorry I hit you… I really didn’t mean to, I was just trying to get you off me… I just… I was so fucking mad, I knew if you followed me I’d end up hurting you.” He winced, “Fuck… I did anyway. I crossed a line that I never shoulda… are you pissed at me?”
“No,” Lupa responded slowly, “I’m just fucking worried about you. I was so scared…” She dug her nails into her palm, she wasn’t going to cry. “I thought… I knew I couldn’t find you, we haven’t been… together long enough. And after you said… you know, before we went to sleep. I was terrified you might be…”
“Dead.” Dameon gave her an apologetic look, “Shit, probably would have been if you hadn’t called Tank. He tell you I hit him? Fuck, I must have been lost in that rage, no fucking way I’d throw a swing at a guy that big just for trying to stop me from fighting.” He pushed her hair back from his face and sat up straighter, looking at her with sorrow filled eyes. “What do I do now?”
Lupa wanted to reach out and touch him, but she wasn’t sure how much physical pain he was in. “I don’t know, Dameon, I just… I don’t know. Do you want to come stay with me for a bit?”
Lupa startled at her own suggestion, what the fuck was she saying? Dameon watched her carefully. Shit. It was already out of her mouth now. What could she do? No way she could take it back.
“Only… if that’s ok? I don’t want to impose, I know you don’t like having people stay over much let alone… stay… if it’s too much for you I’ll ask Slasher if I can stay at headquarters. Aint like the idea of going back… home…”
“You can stay with me. Don’t even think about staying at HQ. Stay as long as you need. As long as you can put up with me.”
Dameon cracked a small smile, wincing slightly. “Thanks, Red, what would I do without you?”
Lupa shrugged as her cheeks felt warm. “Come on, I’ll take you home, you… actually, I can run in and get your stuff?”
“Nah. Let’s just back to yours, hey? I can go tomorrow…”
They got up and went inside, Slasher was at the dining table with Tank. “Hey, Lupa, before you go, would you mind just coming here for a minute.”
Great. She chose now to want to give her a fucking talk? Lupa watched as Tank and Dameon went to the door, exchanging uncomfortable expressions. She turned her eyes back to Slasher and waited for the possible onslaught.
“Hawk doesn’t want to drop the case… but I’m worried it might be too much for him, can you try and suss out how he’s feeling in the morning? I won't take it from you, don’t worry about that, I just don’t know if he’s… in the right headspace.”
“Whoever killed his Dad has something to do with our case, so I don’t really think that’s an option…” Lupa used all her will power to not fold her arms and give her almost-mother a glare.
Slasher sighed and put her hand on Lupa’s shoulder. “Ok, I trust you… where were you?”
“When?”
“Tonight... On the weekend…”
“On the weekend I was with a guy, and tonight I was with another guy.”
Slasher gave her a concerned look, but then just kissed her forehead. “Ok, hun, just… be careful. I’m worried about you… things have been so hectic for you lately… I just want you to slow down a bit ok? Just… be careful.”
Lupa gave her adoptive mother the best reassuring smile she could muster. She didn’t want to tell yet another lie to Slasher, but in all honesty, it wasn’t any of her fucking business what she was doing or who she was doing it with. Lupa was a grown ass woman, she didn’t need Slasher treating her like a fucking teenager.
Chapter fourteen
“Stay close…”
Lupa awoke to the sound of her phone. What the fuck was the time? She rolled over. Five am. Who the fuck was calling her at this time? She looked over to Dameon sprawled across the floor and bed. At least he hadn’t woken yet, she stood, grabbing her phone and went out to the lounge room.
“Yeah?”
“You sleepin’?”
“Not anymore.” Lupa snapped as she walked to the kitchen, peered out the window and sighed. “Want me to come down?”
She watched as Sledge looked up to her window. “Ok.” He hung up and she watched him put his phone back in his jacket and light a smoke.
Lupa quickly ducked into her room, grabbing an oversized band shirt and her jeans, pulling them on as she grabbed her smokes and her keys. Why the fuck was he calling her so late? Although… she had left the lights on…
“Hey…” she closed the main door and crossed over the road to him, unsure of what to say next.
“Sorry I dun callin’ so early, seein’ the lights on and thinkin’ you bein’ awake.”
“That’s ok. Forgot to turn them off when I went to bed. I thought you weren’t going to call me tonight?”
“Aint night no more.”
Right. They stood avoiding each other’s gaze awkwardly. Hey, Sledge was the one who had called her, she wasn’t going to fucking blurt shit out for him to break the silence. No fucking way. He’d have to suck it up and spit it out.
“Thinkin’ I needin’ to apologise…”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah… I aint meanin’… to just leavin’ you like that. I aint really knowin’ want to do…” Sledge rubbed the back of his neck and looked up into the dark, starless sky. “I hatin’ the feel of what it was like touchin’ you. I hatin’ it because I knows it was hurtin’ you. And I hatin’ it because you aint showin’ me that on your own terms. Aint likin’ invadin’ your space like that…”
“Yeah, well… you knew it was going to happen like that.”
“Guessin’ I did. But… I aint thinkin’ it be like that. Thinkin’ it be like the first time. Thinkin’ I’d just be seein’ the same thing. Aint thinkin’ it be so…”
“Fucked up?”
“Strange.” He finally turned his eyes down to hers, they were filled with something she didn’t dare name. “You know… I thinkin’ I just gettin’ to know you, and then somethin’ else changin’ it all. I seein’ you changin’ in front of me, and it shakin’ me up. Aint… aint sure I’m ready.”
“For what?”
“For carin’ ‘bout you so much. Thinkin’ I just likin’ things the way they were. And I watchin’ you in pain, changin’ more’n you even likin’ yourself, I aint knowin’ what to do... Makin’ me like you more. Cos you’re strong. You’re a force of fuckin’ nature and I dun knowin’ how to handle you. Aint even knowin’ how to handle myself around you, really. Scarin’ the shit outa me.”
“You don’t need to handle me, Sledge. Either take me as I am or… turn away. I can’t deal with the up and down. One minute you’re opening up to me, the next all I’m getting is grunts. If you can’t handle it, maybe you need to just fuck off.” Lupa didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but she couldn’t stop her damned yap from blabbering. Whatever.
“Thinkin’ I takin’ you as you is then. Cos I aint bein’ able to turn away no more. Can’t forget I knowin’ you. Aint never forgettin’ that. Less’n you wantin’ me to go, I won't. Never.”
