Infamous: (A Bad Boy Romantic Suspense)

by Noir, Mila

  “And how do you propose that? They aren’t going to just waltz in here and start fighting each other over her,” Alexis said, sounding strained and grumpy. She clearly wasn’t used to things not going her way.

  “We’ll put her in the pit. Cut her a little. Let them scent her out. Then we’ll send in…you know. Him,” Stoller said. Him? Great, that sounded fantastically ominous.

  “What do you mean?” Now Alexis sounded less grumpy and more interested. Uh oh.

  “You know what he can do. Twist their minds. Make them see each other as the threat. They’ll be at each other’s throats in no time. Problem solved,” Stoller said. This was sounding less and less good.

  “Alright. Make the arrangements. Don’t cut her anywhere vital,” Alexis said. She turned to me and smiled; it was both beatific and horrifying.

  “Well, my dead, it seems your knights-errant are on their way. We’re just going to help them along and then…deal with them. Then we’ll deal with you.” She patted my cheek and I turned away.

  “Now, now, don’t be that way. We’ll catch up later. I don’t really want to be around for the main event. But I’m looking forward to chatting when it’s all done. Ta-ta!” she said and breezed out of the room. I squirmed, eyeing Stoller, who was eyeing me.

  “She said not to cut you anywhere vital. Your face isn’t vital, is it?” he said. I was up and trying to get away in a second, but he was too fast. His spidery limbs were wrapped around me and holding me against his bony body in seconds. I squirmed, struggled, fought.

  “This will only hurt for a second…oh, who I am kidding. It’s going to hurt for a lot longer than that!” he said cheerfully.

  Then he started to cut.

  The only good thing I can say about Stoller is that, in the end, he left my face alone. My arms, however, looked like they’d been through a very precise shredder. I’d never really thought about my arms before, whether I liked them or not, how fair the skin was, all of that. Looking at them now, I thought they’d been rather nice. Now they’d be scarred for the rest of my life.

  None of the cuts were very deep, but they were all painful and done for maximum hurt. Stoller had then poured rubbing alcohol on them, which, as you can imagine, added insult to injury. I didn’t make a sound, though. I wanted to scream but I didn’t. And only one traitorous tear slipped down my cheek.

  When he was done he took several pieces of blood-soaked cloth and handed them to the large, burly guard, who gave me a look that could have been sympathetic. When he got back, Stoller wrapped my arms in silence and used what I might almost consider care.

  He stood back and looked at me. “You did well. I pegged you for a screamer,” he said with what might have been grudging respect.

  “That means a lot, coming from you,” I said, with what I hoped was the most biting sarcasm. Mostly I think I just sounded tired. Bloodletting will do that. And pain.

  “These vampires, they think they own everyone. It’s a shame, really,” he said, surprising me. I looked at him from my place on the floor.

  “You work for them,” I stated, because I have a very keen grasp of the obvious.

  “So? Doesn’t mean I like them. They pay, I do the work. But they’re fuckers, through and through,” he said, putting away his tools. I sat there staring at my bandaged arms and wondering if any of this could get weirder. Was Stoller trying to be…comforting?

  He lifted me up and carried me down some stairs, past two large guards of the same lupine-ish bent as the other. They studiously looked away. I was too exhausted to fight. I felt drained, literally, and didn’t much care where we were going.

  Stoller surprised me again by bringing me to a small garden that overlooked the scene from a crumbling balcony. It was warm and bright and there were straggly bits of green here and there. He put me on a stone bench and stood back.

  “They’ll be here by nightfall. They’ll find you and then they’ll tear each other apart,” he said matter-of-factly.

  “Who is ‘he’? The one you mentioned to Alexis? What will he do to them?” I asked, propping myself up and wincing at the stabs of pain in my arms.

  “You’ll see,” he said, and left. I looked around and saw that the garden was set in a semicircle that had once probably been grand. Now it was dilapidated and mossy with the smell of wet, moldy wood and rock. There wasn’t much around, just flagstones and seats, and what had once been some kind of fountain. It had a small amount of muddy, dirty water in the bottom and a cracked figure that at one time had had a nice physique. It was now lumpy and eroded with time, and its face had a strange grimace.

  Set into the walls were man-high archways that all seemed to lead into various levels of darkness. I wasn’t sure what they were for but they reminded me of pictures of the Coliseum. And I felt very much like a sacrifice.

  I watched the light fade towards sunset, feeling emotionally numb and physically exhausted. The sun set red, which felt portentous. I’d heard no one in the few hours I’d sat there, my butt going cold, arms aching. I felt like the last person on earth.

  Then came the snuffling sounds. Just like the ones I’d heard before in Robert’s house. I looked up as the sounds grew, seeming to come from everywhere. Which they were. All of the archways were now filled with glowing eyes of the wolfish persuasion. I also saw the glint of sharp canines here and there, the hint of a furry ear. I guess we were going to have an audience.

  I sat up straight, feeling all the hairs on my body stand up as if I’d suddenly been shocked. They were here, I could feel them. Dimitri and Robert were somewhere close. I had to warn them before it was too late.

  I tried to stand but my traitorous legs gave out. I cursed, feeling stupid and clumsy and useless. The drugs, though mostly gone, had left me too weak. I was going to have to wait until they came to me. And then hope I could stop whatever was coming before it got them killed.

  You know how werewolves always do that long “awoooooo!” sound in the movies? Well, in real life, it’s a little less like that and more like a throaty growl that grows and grows until it’s louder than any animal you’ve ever heard. And if it’s many of them in a group, each with their own unique vocal range, it becomes a kind of hair-raising chorus. It sounded mournful, hunted, full of regret and also some anger. I looked up at all the eyes surrounding me and wondered what they were thinking when they made that sound. What they were feeling. How much of them was still human in their wolf state.

  The air around me crackled suddenly, charged with more than just sound and emotion. I sensed…something was there but I couldn’t see it. Probably the cryptic “he” Stoller had referred to. I had what I can only describe as a very bad feeling about it.

  I saw Dimitri and Robert approaching from the far end of the garden. They appeared in one of the archways, dressed somberly, their faces set in hard lines. When they saw me, their faces brightened, but I shook my head and tried to stand, holding out a hand to stop them. When I fell, they both rushed to me with an eerie speed.

  “No! Stop! Get out of here! It’s a trap, they’re going to—” I began as their arms wrapped around me.

  “We know,” Dimitri hushed me.

  “Wait,” said Robert.

  A low hum began. It felt like it was coming from the ground. I could feel it wherever my body touched down, through my feet and knees. I saw Dimitri and Robert give each other a quick, knowing look. Then Dimitri winked at me.

  Then he dropped me unceremoniously, and their faces went blank as a freshly painted wall. I stared at them, not knowing what to think.

  The humming grew until it was so loud I had to cover my ears. I could feel it in my teeth and thrumming in my head. I wanted to get away from it, from the way it made my eyes seem to vibrate in my skull. The wolves had gone silent but watchful. They all turned to one archway that had been dark, but where a sickly green light was now steadily growing. I stared as a figure approached, a familiar, spidery one behind it.

  Dimitri and Robert swayed to the sound o
f the hum, mouths slack, eyes distant. I tried to shake their legs but it had no effect. I crawled away from them to a stone bench and looked back.

  An impossibly tall figure stood in the archway, surrounded by that strange green light. He had stitches all over his face and arms, and his chest was broad and barreled. He looked like a patchwork man.

  It was his eyes, though, that held you. They glowed with that same green light and bored through everything like a laser. He held up his mismatched hands and the wolves stopped growling. Dimitri and Robert stopped swaying. Stoller came out from behind him with a nasty grin.

  “I love a little necromancy in the evening,” he said. And then I finally got what was happening. And nearly threw up, realizing that the three of us were totally and completely screwed.

  I watched Dimitri and Robert stand completely still as if they had become statues, and my stomach turned over and sank. I couldn’t help it; I’d pictured them rescuing me and getting us all out of here in some kind of act of derring-do. And now I knew that hope had been incredibly foolish because in a world with the undead and all kinds of other things, it pretty much figured there would be those who could…do things to them.

  My knowledge of necromancy was thankfully pretty limited. I didn’t really want to know why this dude looked like a patchwork quilt of flesh, or what he’d done to get control over the dead. What I did want to know: how the hell I was going to get the three of us out of this now that it was pretty much definitely up to me.

  The hum subsided a bit and the necromancer looked at Stoller. I realized that his mouth was sewn shut and shuddered. Obviously there was a price to pay for the ability to dictate to the dead.

  Stoller stepped forward and surveyed Dimitri and Robert. He eyed them speculatively and then grinned.

  “Kill each other. But make it last,” he said.

  They were at each other in moments, with looks of removed blankness on their faces. They tore at one another like starving animals over a piece of meat. Their faces shifted, teeth bared, mouths long and gaping. It wasn’t a good look for either of them. They snarled and gnashed, clawed at each other with their hands. They were pretty evenly matched, however, and so the fight was more like a dance for a while. They dodged, they hit, but neither seemed particularly hurt. They didn’t even seem to be there at all.

  The only sound in the garden was that of flesh hitting flesh. Robert flung Dimitri across the space and he crashed into a dead tree, shattering it. He was up in a moment, hurtling himself onto Robert, punching him along the jaw. Robert’s head snapped back and he was twisting Dimitri’s arm, flinging him aside again.

  Eventually, marks began to show. A scratch here, a bruise there. But they didn’t seem to tire. They simply collided into one another, never breaking, but starting to crack. Robert grazed Dimitri’s cheek. Dimitri pulled out some of Robert’s hair. Their clothes became torn.

  It was brutal, robotic, unflinching. Except for me. I sat there, shaking, trying to think of what to do, cringing every time one of them connected with a part of the other.

  Stoller and his creature watched from the sidelines. The necromancer was impassive, expressionless. Stoller looked thrilled for a while, enjoying the pain and brutality. But then he seemed to get bored. Neither of them were paying any attention to me.

  I picked up a rock and weighed it in my hand. I might be able to strike Stoller from there if I’d been in better shape. But drugged, exhausted, and cut up? I had to try, though.

  I drew my arm back, wincing, and prepared to let fly.

  Then, a soft voice in my ear: “Wait.”

  ***

  It all happened very fast after that.

  I briefly saw Robert and Dimitri, eyes fully aware and not at all magicked, burn bright and turn on Stoller and his necromancer. Stoller looked surprised. The necromancer…well…it was hard to tell.

  Then I was closing my eyes, letting my rock drop as I heard some screams, growls, a strangled yell, several thuds, and then I was wrapped in a warm rush of air like when you open an oven while baking to check on your food.

  When I opened my eyes I was wrapped in gray and I was flying. I closed my eyes fast because 1. Air feels really weird on your eyeballs 2. Some things you should only see from photos or a plane not rushing hundreds of feet below your actual shoes. I might be getting more adventurous but heights and flying were still a little much.

  “Solosha?” I whispered, clutching at silk robes and a figure that only felt somewhat solid.

  “Yes, Emma. I am here,” she said, her voice a soft breeze in my ear. I relaxed.

  “Where are Dimitri and Robert?” I asked, clinging to what I assumed (and possibly hoped) was her waist.

  “Taking care of…things. They will want to have words with that…creature,” she said, voice hissing with disgust. I assumed she meant Stoller. Absolutely no part of me felt sorry for whatever he was about to experience.

  “Did you see anyone else around?” I asked, wondering if Alexis had gotten out before the mayhem started. I hadn’t seen her since earlier, and I had a feeling she had made it somewhere safe long before the main event began. I did wonder about the wolves. None of them had jumped to Stoller’s defense so far as I could tell. Interesting.

  “No. Should I have?” she said.

  “No, it’s okay. I figured. I’ll have to tell Robert and Dimitri, though. I know who’s behind all this bullshit,” I said, sighing.

  “You do? How?” she asked.

  “Oh, they showed up and told me. It was one of those villain reveals where they casually sit down and tell you their whole crazy plan. Except in this case they were mostly overly polite and, okay, fabulously dressed with perfect hair…but anyway…they just said what family was behind it all. I have no idea what the actual plan is. Other than to try and turn me and make me side with them. I’m sure it’s all very nefarious and bad,” I finished. I was babbling. I was just so relieved to be flying somewhere instead of looking at pieces of Robert and Dimitri. I was relieved that I wasn’t going to have to put up with Stoller anymore.

  “This all sounds very…strange,” Solosha murmured.

  “Right? I mean, I know I’m new to all this but I just don’t see the point. Live your undead lives. Why be immortal if you’re going to be just like human beings and make everything all grubby and political?” I said. For someone flying through the air with less than the greatest of ease, I was starting to feel okay with it. I was still keeping my eyes shut, however.

  “That’s not precisely what I meant. Revealing themselves to you seems foolish,” she said.

  “Fair point. Maybe they just think they’re very untouchable,” I said.

  “Who was it?” she asked.

  “Alexis, from the council. You remember her—?” And then I was falling, dropping like the proverbial stone, and I did open my eyes and saw water and rocks and my life flash before them. The air rushed in my ears like a very loud shushing and my skin tingled with terror and the sudden lack of Solosha’s warmth.

  Falling for real was not like my dreams. It didn’t feel freeing. It felt like the end of everything.

  I was screaming then and bracing for what was definitely going to be my final impact. I shut my eyes and thought about Dimitri’s devilish smile and Robert’s intense eyes. I thought about sex and chocolate ice cream and my favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. I fervently wished my life had been more like an Austen novel and less like a horror show.

  And I was falling, fast, falling, and falling…

  Being dead felt strange. More like I was smothered in blankets than either nothing or some kind of afterlife. And there was the distinct sound of seagulls somewhere and some low humming. And everything seemed to be rocking gently from side to side.

  I cracked open an eye and saw darkness. I pushed at the smothering things, which were, in fact, blankets. When I popped out, I was in a bright room with wood paneling, low ceilings, and walls that curved oddly. There was a small round window near my head. When I look
ed out, I saw nothing but blue waves. I was on a boat.

  Not exactly what I’d expected from the afterlife. I looked down and saw my bandaged arms, which stung a little. That seemed weird, too. Did the dead feel pain? I rubbed my face and pinched my leg and realized that I needed to let go of this whole “am I dead?” cliché. I clearly wasn’t. So I got up shakily and started to look around.

  I was in a pretty spacious bedroom even with the low ceilings. I found a breezy white dress laid out for me, which I eyed dubiously. I like white clothing, don’t get me wrong. I just have this tendency to sit in something or spill something on it. But I felt gross and didn’t want to wear my old clothes anymore, so I slipped it on. It felt cool and soft against my skin. There was a pair of sandals, but I kept my boots on. By this point, the only thing I was sure of was that sensible shoes you could run in were essential.

  Outside my room was a narrow hallway with several other doors, some with blacked-out windows. It eventually led to a larger sitting-type room with lots of windows and seating everywhere in white. All I could think was that it must cost a fortune in furniture cleaning if there was ever a party with food or wine. Then I realized this was probably a vamp boat and a blood party was more likely. But not any less staining.

  I walked up a short flight of steps and out onto the deck, the blazing sun blinding me. There was a warm breeze and I steadied myself against the railing. I looked around at the wide expanse of ocean and sighed. I couldn’t see any land.

  The ship itself was a fairly large yacht with what seemed like one main deck and “floor,” a smaller upper deck with steering, and possibly a lower deck that would be under the waterline. You could probably have a party for at least fifty people on it without it getting too crowded. It was very Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous and I felt like an impostor. I also felt exceptionally hungry and wished someone had thought to get me some sunglasses. But again, vampires. Shades to keep out the sun probably wouldn’t occur to them seeing as how they couldn’t go out in it at all.