by Martha Woods
What would it be like to wake up in the morning and have a normal life? One where your only concerns were going to work and making sure you had enough money to keep food on the table. One where you remained blissfully unaware of anything supernatural, where the idea of witches and shifters was relegated to the realm of fiction.
He chuckled, here he was, a hunter of the supernatural, currently walking gleefully to a lunch date with a witch. A being he had sworn an oath to destroy.
Maybe it wasn't just normal people that would look at him strangely if they knew the truth.
It was a strange time to be alive, hunters and supernaturals working together, more or less in harmony. The world was far less black and white than he thought it would have been, he felt like an idiot for assuming it was in the first place. He really had grown in the last few months, especially for someone whose world view had been shaking so completely to the core.
Of course, while he was busy rightfully congratulating himself on his personal growth, he neglected to notice that he had picked up a shadow. As the locals hadn't paid him any mind, they likewise completely ignored the other, the simply dressed man remaining thirty feet behind Cayden at all times. He watched every move the hunter made, wondering just why he seemed so chipper today, why he walked as though the sun was shining on him and him alone. He figured the time to confront him was near, though he waited until they were out of range of most of the local inhabitants. He sped up his pace, gaining ground as Cayden remained unaware, though a small pause in his step told him that the hunter knew something was strange. The sharp crack of a stick being stepped on was all that was needed to draw his attention.
Cayden turned, looking the man in the eye and putting his hand behind his back, thumbing the knife that he kept in his waistband. "Who are you?" He said, taking up a defensive stance. "Do we have a problem with each other?"
His shadow raised their hands in surrender, a small smile crossing their lips. "No, no problem here officer, just wondering how your day is going." He walked up slowly, aware that he might be armed. "Surely there can't be much crime to bust in a little town like this can there?"
Cayden narrowed his eyes, looking the stranger over. "You would be surprised, lots of strange things can happen here."
"Oh really? What kind of things?"
"The kind of things that I'm not going to tell you about. I don't know you, we're not friends."
The stranger threw his hands up dramatically. "Oh of course! Where are my manners?" He held his hand out, "Name's Rick, nice to meet you."
He let the hand stay there, looking into Rick's eyes. He scowled and almost spit his words out, "Who are you? I've seen most of the locals around, and most of the tourists don't keep a low profile." He squared his shoulders, standing as tall as he could. "Clearly, you're not a local, and you don't seem the touristy type, so I ask again." He advanced with each word he bit out, "Who. The fuck. Are you?"
Rick dropped the smile, his hands falling to his sides as his expression turned flat. His eyes remained alive, but it was as if the rest of his body had just... lost all signs of life. The effect was very unnerving.
"Like I said, my name's Rick. And you're right, I'm not a tourist." He walked around to Cayden's side, taking note of the hand he had around his back. "I'm here on business, and I thought that the police force would be a great place to start with what I want."
"The police aren't your lap dogs. If you want to speak to one of us either make an appointment or commit a crime, those are your two options." He started to back away, not removing his hand. "Being as you didn't do either yet, I'd say we're done here."
"I'm looking for a man named Sarconi." He took note of the surprise that shot across Cayden's face, smirking to himself as he crossed his arms. "Oh dear," He said, "That got your attention now, didn't it?"
"Alright, last warning. Either you cease the questions and move away, or I take you down to the station and throw you in a cell, your choice."
Rick clicked his tongue, "Now now, you won't do that. One, because I'm not breaking any laws, good luck keeping your job after pulling a stunt like that. And two..." He smirked, almost growling, "What if I'm not alone? How do you think they'd react if you threw me in jail to rot?"
Cayden looked around, searching for any sign that there was someone else watching or not. Rick chuckled, "Don't bother looking for them, even I don't know if they're here. That's just how we work."
He looked down the street, the sign of the coffee house sticking out. He remembered what he told himself earlier that day, that he didn't have to be the one to single handily solve everything, that help was something to be accepted, not shunned. Given that he was earlier for his lunch date, it was only a matter of time before Farah showed up. All he had to do was stall, and the only thing that he could see working right now was playing along.
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
Rick found himself surprised at the sudden cooperation, he thought he would have to play hard ball for a lot longer with someone like Cayden. He shrugged inwardly, maybe it was just his lucky day.
"Obviously Sarconi came through here, what happened to him?"
Cayden shrugged, "Nothing really, he came in, caused some trouble, then got chased out of town. He was trouble, and we don't like that around here." He mentally grimaced, even he didn't think that was convincing at all. From the unimpressed look on Rick's face, clearly he didn't either.
"Cayden, don't insult me. I make my living making sure people don't lie to me, you think I can't tell when someone's trying?"
He scowled, feeling the spark of anger rising in his chest. All he wanted to do was scream in his face, put him into submission and throw him out of the town, but he knew he couldn't. One, because he was a cop, and ideally cops didn't just go around beating people with impunity. Second, and more importantly to him, it wasn't just him on the line here. People he cared about, good people, would be affected by his actions. Given that he had just let himself embrace the role of protector, such an act would be unforgivable.
That didn't mean that he was going to take insults lying down however. "You want to know about Sarconi? He was a pathetic little shit."
Rick's eyes flashed with anger. "Good." Cayden thought, "Might slip a few things past him now."
"I'd be very careful about what you say next..."
"Why?" Cayden raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to know about him, so I'm giving you my unaltered thoughts on the man. He was a pathetic excuse of a man on a power trip, and he left town in shame. If you haven't heard from him that doesn't surprise me. After a display like his anyone would keep their head down." He could see a vein staring to pulse on Rick's temple, he grinned to himself. "I didn't kill him, but Jesus, I would have done him a favor if I did."
Rick pulsed forwards, arm drawn back to deliver a punch to the side of Cayden's face. Before he could bring it forward, he found his arm held back by a small hand, much too small for the strength he could feel gripping his forearm. Cayden looked over the man's shoulder, seeing Farah standing there with a very unimpressed look on her face. He shrugged limply.
"Cayden, do you mind explaining what is happening here?" She lightly shook the arm in her grip, clearly demanding an answer as to why she had to hold him back.
Rick squirmed in her grip, hissing at her, "That's between him and me you stupid little-" His words were cut off and replaced with a pain filled gasp, the points of her fingers digging into his skin and delivering an incredible amount of pain. "Jesus Christ lady what the fuck are you?"
"I am someone who doesn't appreciate being talked down to. Nor do I like seeing my friends being threatened." She released her grip, shoving him off the sidewalk and out into the road. "Why don't you run along before you make us both very mad?"
He glared daggers at the two of them, hand clutched around his arm in pain. "You win this time, you won't be so lucky next time when your bitch isn't around to save you." He scuttled off down the street, legs carrying him out of si
ght.
Farah watched him go with a raised eyebrow, turning to Cayden. She smirked before she asked, "Can I just kill him now and save us some trouble?"
Shaking his head, he chuckled, "Not legally, no. I don't think there would be any strings I could pull to get you let free from killing a man in the middle of the street in broad daylight."
"It's on your head then." She brushed past him, nodding her head at the coffee house. "I believe we have a lunch date to get to, don't you?" She winked, a small blush dusting her cheeks in spite of the show of power she had just given.
Cayden thought it endlessly endearing.
He walked up beside her, hesitating for a second before stretching his arm out. She jumped slightly as she felt it rest along her shoulders, but she quickly found herself smiling. Cayden however, noticed the pause. "Sorry." He grimaced slightly. "Too much?"
Farah shook her head, reaching up and lightly grasping his wrist. "No it's... I'm just pretty new to all this, you know?"
He nodded. "Well if it's too much just let me know alright? I want you to be comfortable, that's... kind of the whole point of this isn't it?"
She chuckled, "I suppose you're right." She squeezed down on his wrist, enjoying the sense of security it gave her. Cayden enjoyed it as well, the feeling that this woman felt safe with him, that she trusted him even though she could likely tear him apart with very little effort.
They walked through the front door, sitting down in a little corner booth after ordering their coffees. Necessity demanded that they sit further apart, but they didn't stray further than they had to.
"So..." Farah paused to take a sip of her coffee, swirling it around in the cup. "What was that all about before? Some bike thief losing their temper?"
He shook his head, expression suddenly going grave. "Worse actually." He looked up at her, seeing the concern on her face. "I take it you've heard of a man named Sarconi?"
She nodded. "Liam told me about him one night, told me it was one of those things that I should know if I was working for him." She sighed, "Is he still standing over everything now?"
"Yeah, that happy camper outside was looking for him. I think maybe he was one of his men, come looking for him out of some misplaced sense of loyalty." He put his head into his hands, groaning to himself, "This could easily get out of hand, this town isn't prepared for something like the mafia."
"Do you think they might get violent? If they can't find him?"
"I think that's definitely what's going to happen, it's only a matter of time." His eyes widened in realization. "Oh crap, I need to tell Liam about this."
She nodded, suddenly coming to the same conclusion. "Sarconi was after Skylar in the first place, wasn't he? If they find out about that then it's not going to take a genius to connect the dots."
They stood together, a handful of bills tossed onto the table and a hurried goodbye being shouted at the counter. They walked side by side down the sidewalk, still close together despite the urgent situation they found themselves in. Farah reached between them, clasping his hand in hers. He looked down, and his heart sunk a little.
"Hey just... I'm sorry we got cut short..."
She reached over and placed a finger on his lips, stopping his train of thought in its tracks. "Don't be sorry, we have to go do this. What kind of people would we be if we sat and drank coffee and let our friends just not know about the danger they were in?"
He nodded, running his thumb over her fingers. "We'd be pretty shitty people I reckon. In hindsight though we probably should've gotten those coffees to go, shouldn't we?"
She shrugged, laughing lightly, "Well, now we've got a pretty good excuse to go there again don't we?"
"Well when you put it that way..." He squeezed her hand softly, smiling as he replied, "I can't really complain about that."
They made haste, the trip to Liam and Skylar's house no short hike. With the other at their side though, the journey felt like it would take no time at all.
* * *
Liam opened the fridge, pulling out a much-needed bottle of water. He brought it to his lips, sucking down the cool liquid like he'd been dying in a desert. The cold from the fridge drifted over his bare chest, the sweat on his chest instantly cooling and raising goosebumps over the exposed skin. He was still breathing heavily, the memories of their celebration still fresh in his mind. Capping the bottle, he walked back to the room, Skylar still laying in bed where he'd left her, her body curled up in a satisfied sleep.
"Still as beautiful as the day we met..." Liam walked over, pressing a kiss lightly to her forehead. She groaned in her sleep, her eyes squeezing tighter before she relaxed again. He shook his head, chuckling to himself, "I could watch this all day, but work calls."
He left the room, closing the door lightly before padding down the hallway to his office. He sat down in his chair, the material uncomfortable against his wet skin but he was still too exhausted to do anything about it. His hand went for the phone on the desk, Brett's number almost second nature to dial now.
The phone rang exactly five times, like it always did, before a smooth voice answered, "Hey, this is Brett."
"Brett. This is Liam, I have some information that you might find very helpful. It has to do with who Skylar's birth parents are."
"That'll help a lot actually, how'd you come across it?"
He sighed, "Sky's father came and told us personally. It... She was pretty upset by it."
"I can understand that." The sound of a pen clicking was audible over the line, Brett cleared his throat, "So, what are their names?"
"That's where it gets complicated." He tapped the phone against his forehead, before going ahead and letting it out in one breath, "Her mother is the daughter of the Don of New York. I don't know what her name is, I don't keep up to date with people like them."
The sound of Brett's pen dropping to the ground was clear, as was the disbelief in his response, "Leila Manzano? Skylar's mother is the Leila Manzano?"
"I... guess? You would know better than me." He paused, weighing over what this could mean. "Is this going to be a problem? Do you need to pull out?"
The resulting pause told him that Brett was definitely considering it. Considering what little he knew about the New York mafia, he could hardly blame him. The reason why he always chose Brett however, was because he was a dedicated professional, once that contract was signed he was in until the very end. It was part of the code he lived by.
The part of the code that he was no doubt cursing at that very moment.
"No, no this shouldn't affect my ability to do my job. Though I will need to take it easy with my approach, these people won't appreciate me sniffing around their affairs."
Liam nodded, his voice full of actual concern, "Don't risk yourself too much alright? I want these answers, but I don't want you dying to get them."
"If I die you won't get the answers anyway." He paused. "You won't get your money back either."
Liam chuckled, "Fair enough I suppose."
"Aside from that bombshell, is there anything else I need to know? Is her date of birth still the same?"
"Everything is still the same, only difference to what we knew was who the birth parents were. Nothing else was changed, I guess to make the change as smooth as possible."
Brett hummed, "That should make things easier on my end, I might be able to get a complete picture sooner than usual in cases like this."
Liam raised an eyebrow. "How many cases do you usually get like this?"
"More than you could ever count Liam, trust me."
The conversation stalled, the weight of the situation hanging heavily over both their heads. Liam couldn't think of anything else to say, so he settled for what he knew needed to be said. "Thank you for your help Brett, really, I know you're taking a risk here."
Brett waved off the concern, "If I didn't think I could swim with the sharks I would have taken off the suit a long time ago. It's not like these situations can just be uncomplicated becaus
e I wished them to be, if it worked like that I wouldn't have a career."
"True. I meant what I said before though, don't die. I don't want that on my conscience."
"I enjoy the risk of my job, I'm not suicidal. If things get too heavy, I'll pull out, contact you a few weeks later with what I was able to get. Trust me, no one makes it this far in the job unless they have plans in place."
Liam conceded the point. "Alright, I believe you. Anything I can do to help?"
"How long has it been since you two found out?"
Liam thought back, there had been a lot going on with the property, they'd lost track of time easily. "About a week. Six days, actually."
He hummed, "Still pretty raw then. I'm sure you're already doing this, but just make sure she's dealing with things alright. A lot of the people that come to me end up leaving pretty raw, it's a tough place to be in."
"I've been keeping an eye on her, some days are good, some are bad. She's getting better though." He smiled. "Thanks for the advice anyway, you must be great with women."
"I've had three ex-wives in five years, you make up your own mind on that." Brett chuckled, "Goodbye Liam, I'll be in touch."
The line clicked closed, Liam stared at the receiver in mild confusion. "Am I friends with my investigator?" He shook his head in mild amusement. "What on earth has Skylar done to me? I never make friends."
* * *
When he got back to the bedroom Skylar was sat up in bed, her hand thumbing through a random book off the shelf. She looked up as he entered, smiling when she saw he was still just as undressed as she was. "Hey you..." She marked her page and placed the book down, eyes roaming up and down his body hungrily. "It's no fair how you always end up less worn out than I do."
"Maybe not..." He crawled across the bed to her, pressing his lips against hers briefly. He pulled back slightly, lips ghosting hers as he spoke, "It's much more fun that way though."
She giggled, "One day I'm going to get even with you."
