“My mother?” Niko turned his head; the two together looked ridiculous. Niko’s thin frame seemed even more so as the big brute cradled him like an infant.
“Yes, please.” Raven looked across the room to a set of double doors leading into a large study. Whatever Chetlér did to earn his keep paid fucking handsomely to own such an elegant home.
He stepped into the office, not waiting for the two. He tried to give himself some distance, but it didn’t help as he sneezed again.
“There a problem?” Raven jumped at the deep, rough voice that seemed to rumble through everything in its path. He spun. His eyes came to focus on two large pecs the size of mountains. He peered up into the arched brow of Bruce and took several steps back.
“No, just allergies. Please feel free to remind me never to get on your bad side,” Raven gulped at air. Standing, the giant was even more intimidating than when he was sitting.
“What does she want?” Niko said stepping around Bruce. Bruce turned, closing the doors behind them then immediately strode up to Niko, wrapping thick arms around the kid’s midsection. The muscled forearms bulged, and Raven feared the poor kid would be snapped in two.
“I don’t care what your mother wants. She obviously wants to control your future.” He leaned against the desk but quickly stood again fearing he might break something. Raven was sure the bric-a-brac around the office alone was worth more than his life ten times over. The mansion looked strangely normal in the daylight, though the front door still freaked him the hell out.
Mentally waving a white flag, he attempted to gain Niko’s trust by lending a sympathetic ear. “I know what it feels like to be smothered. To be told what you are expected to be, who you are expected to love, and how big a burden it is to carry your heritage. Trust me, I can comprehend what it’s like.”
“Fine, but why’d you bother to come here? She obviously told you Bruce kidnapped me, right?”
Raven nodded, swiping at his nose. “I know the love from a Therianthrope is powerful, and that there’s no place you will be safer than in Bruce’s arms or more cared for by any other. You’re lucky to have that.”
“Don’t forget the sex. Have you seen Bruce’s ass? Fucking hot when I poke it.”
Raven blushed and Bruce growled a warning playfully in Niko’s ear. “Pup!” Then it was Niko’s turn to turn red.
“Wait, you telling me?” Raven eyed the two knowing his jaw might as well have been lying on the floor.
“All big and scary looking in front of the others, but let me tell you, Detective, my beast makes one hell of a puppy dog.” Niko wiggled his eyebrows, receiving a hard slap on the ass, “You’ll regret that later, big guy,”
Raven could understand the strange direction the conversation went. He recalled when he first was out of the clasp of his parents’ control, how he couldn’t stop talking about what he wanted to talk about and not having to be proper. It was partly the reason why he despised the upper class. In time Niko’s new air of flamboyance and bravery would fade, and he would find who he truly was, but so far Raven was sure Niko was the top in his and Bruce’s relationship… but that might only be in the bedroom.
He shook his head and turned serious again. “All I am asking, Niko, and I want you to take my word—I am talking from personal experience here—is go talk to her.” Niko scowled so Raven held up his hands. “Just listen to what I have to say. I’m practically begging you, not for her, but for yourself and your own state of mind. Just talk to her and set things straight, knowing that your side is clean and that at least you tried.”
“I don’t get it. Sorry, I don’t see the reason why.”
Raven bit his lip and gazed out of the window. He feared this. That just simply asking the kid without having to cut into his own past wouldn’t be enough. The tears burned at the corners of his eyes before he even began.
“I loved my parents, I did, but they were too demanding, too controlling, so I left.” Raven bit back a sob still not able to look the two in the eyes.
“I left with a man. I left my rich snobbish life behind because anything would be better than to live under their demands, but things didn’t work out, forcing me to return home two weeks later only to walk in and find my parents’ bloody bodies.” This time he turned his gaze to them.
“I resent myself each day, and every time I think about it I’m haunted by the thought; if I had only gone back earlier and set things right, would they still be alive today? What if we had come to an understanding? Maybe I would still have my parents in my life, and maybe then I could have been there to protect them. I’ve been alone ever since. There’s no other family, even though they left riches behind for me, I turned my back on that because no amount of money could fill the hole in my heart. Like I said,” he wiped his cheek, “maybe your relationship is different with your mother, but I loved mine.” He had to suck in a deep breath to keep him from breaking down, it had been a very long time since he had spoken about what happened.
“So for your own conscience, just try. That’s all I’m asking.”
Raven didn’t fail to see the emotion in Niko’s eyes, but the shock truly was the moisture on Bruce’s cheeks. The Lycan leaned in, sniffed in Niko’s neck, and wiped his tears against Niko’s skin.
“You should at least try, pup.”
“Okay,” Niko whispered.
“I will go with,” Raven offered. “I still have to phone her, but I can’t exactly tell her that I found you and didn’t bring you back. Also, might I raise another issue... There are private investigators. If your mother goes to one of them, I can’t guarantee they won’t try to kill Bruce.”
“I will rip out their throats!” Niko roared angrily, fur springing from his cheeks, baring his new canines as his eyes darkened. Raven knew then that the bite had been administered. Not only from the fact that Niko almost changed but, from the amount of time that had passed, how Niko already seemed to be willing to lay down his life for Bruce. The mating bite had strange and powerful magic to it.
Bla’Gar heard the approaching footsteps and could smell the moist salty scent drifting off Raven. The man had barely stepped out when Bla’Gar gripped his wrist and pulled Raven to him slamming their lips together. He didn’t give Raven time to respond. From the first taste he forced his tongue into Raven’s mouth, taking his breath as he devoured Raven’s lips. He could feel the cold wetness of Raven’s tears upon his cheek.
Bla’Gar had heard it all, every word. He’d had to plant himself, nails embedded into the iron table, to keep him from marching into the study and pulling his future lover in his arms.
Bla’Gar growled into the kiss, before he took a step back. Raven was gasping hard, pressed against the wall to which Bla’Gar had him pinned.
“My poor pet, if I had known.” He trailed two fingers in between the placket-front of Raven’s red dress shirt.
Raven jerked back, “Known what?”
Bla’Gar clasped the material in his fists and pulled Raven close for another kiss. Bla’Gar was thrown off track when Raven placed his hand firmly on his chest, stopping him.
“What are you talking about?” Raven demanded.
Bla’Gar flinched at the foreboding in Raven’s voice. He swallowed, taking in the steel eyes staring back at him.
“I overheard your conversation with Niko and Bruce. I should not have, but you should not blame yourself for their deaths, pet, it was not your fault.” He reached to cup Raven’s cheek.
“How dare you!” Raven slapped Bla’Gar’s hand away.
Bla’Gar stepped back when Raven shoved against his chest.
“How fucking dare you!” Raven snarled, face turning red.
“Please, pet, I’m sorry…”
“That was private, okay.” Raven seized a handful of Bla’Gar’s shirt. “I don’t care if you preternaturals have heightened senses, it does not give you the right to listen in to private conversations!”
“Pet, forgive me. It was a mistake, you were upset, and
I am concerned—”
Raven spun Bla’Gar around, clasping his shirt with his left fist as well, and jostled him to the wall. “They were mine, all I ever had.” Anger flushed Raven’s face, lips twitching as he bared teeth. “No matter how they treated me, they still loved me. How dare you say I shouldn’t blame myself? Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Bla’Gar knew the horror of what he had done. He should have just kept quiet. Seeing this side of Raven rattled him.
“Please, I’m sorry. Let me make it up to you, I beg,” Bla’Gar leaned closer for another kiss. Raven sidestepped and glared angrily at him. The icy look sent the first pain cutting through Bla’Gar in over twelve thousand years.
“I’m not your pet!” Raven roared. Bla’Gar gazed at Raven’s hands, only then seeing the left one clasping an envelope.
“Pet,” Bla’Gar pleaded, softened his eyes and tried to reach out for Raven again.
“Fuck you, Chetlér! You can keep your fucking invitation to the Winter Ball and shove it up your ass!” Raven threw the crumpled envelope at Bla’Gar’s feet, turned and stormed into the mansion. His coat’s tail whipping in the air after him.
Bla’Gar stood silent. There was a hole clawed in his heart. He figured it must have been what Raven had felt last night, but he was rejected for a completely different reason. He wanted to take his fist and slam it through the wall in anger, but he wasn’t angry. Instead he took in a deep shaking breath, the hurt sinking down into his bones. Even his demon self perceived it strongly. The sensation and the realization made him panic. Never once had a human he’d fallen for managed to have this kind of effect on him, and it scared him. Now, more than ever, he wanted Raven kneeling before him, serving him, belonging solely to him. Time, it was going to take time and patience with his Raven.
The steel gate groaned as Raven moved it. He had to put his back into it to work through the rust. Once it was opened wide enough he climbed back in the car and drove up the steep driveway as he had many times in the past, only then he hadn’t been sober. Ahead the big house slowly revealed itself. The paint cracking and peeling, the white it had once been had gone a pale gray. The windows covered in dust, the trees overgrown, and snow littered the ground with tall grass peeking a dull-brown out of it.
He sighed.
In comparison to Chetlér’s home this was a castle. He’d never understood why they needed to have such a big house. It had been just the three of them, and the servants. Now the structure stood frozen in time, eroding over the years.
Raven killed the engine when he had brought the car to a halt, and climbed out. He pulled his coat tighter around him. Since that day, fourteen years ago, it happened every time he stood on the porch steps. The shiver came over him, even when the sun was high and bright. This place, his childhood home, felt cold. He refused to move further than the second step, and never ventured into the house after he’d found them dead.
Raven stared at the door, knowing it would be jammed from expanding and contracting, and never being opened. He slumped down on the steps. The tears flowed silently while the snow melted under his ass, slowly seeping into his coat and through his pants to kiss his skin.
He was mad at Chetlér, infuriated. Some might have thought him childish for getting upset about it, but the memory of them was his alone. The burden of their death was his to carry—a cold case still unsolved. Numerous times he had gone down to the archives, retrieving the case file of his parent’s death and sat there in the dank, cold, dark room staring at the folder. He didn’t have to read it. He knew the statement he’d given to the police. He could recall it word for word to this day. The fucking blessing that has been bestowed onto his family since the 1800’s; only with his parent’s death he saw it as a curse.
His phone vibrated against his breast pocket and for a moment he sat, not wanting to be bothered with it. Finally, after the fourth buzz, he reached in and answered.
“Detective White. What can I do you for?”
“I’m sure you don’t want to do me, partner. Shit, Rave! I mean totally, wow! You’re a descendent of Eugène François Vidocq? Damn, are you part of the Vidocq Society? I couldn’t find that in your file, this is brilliant you—”
“Jessy, could we not do this right now,” he pleaded, having a go at the tears on his cheek. Silence lingered at the other end of the line.
“You okay, Raven?” she asked in a hushed voice.
“I’m fine,” he lied. Talking about his parents never left him whole. Their death remained a mystery. The detective who had worked on the case died four years ago from heart attack, and no one wanted to look at the incident because of the circumstances surrounding their unusual deaths. His eyes widened with sudden realization. Why didn’t I ever think of this before? His fingers twitched. Feelings of apprehension and desolation battled for control.
“You still there?” Jessy asked.
“Yeah, hey, listen…” he said as he stood. “Do me a favor. Will you go down to the archives and look for the White case file, then bring it with you to class tonight?”
“Okay,” she paused.
Raven interrupted before she could ask. “It’s my parents’ case. So if you’d be so kind to not look at the file I’d appreciate it. Also, tell Abby I’m moving the case under Enforcer Jurisdiction.”
“Oh?” She sounded surprised and Raven frowned. He was sure she was going to ask about the case once he mentioned his parents.
“What is it?”
“Raven, listen, Captain spoke to me. I don’t have to start attending class for the next week, something about getting registered.” She sighed at the other end. “Sorry, I’ll bring the file to you.”
Raven let out a silent curse and hissed, “Don’t bother. I’ll look into it tomorrow. You enjoy your evening with that twink Jefferson. Bye,” he shoved the phone in his pocket before she could get another word in.
“Lucky little princess,” Raven checked his watch for the time. He grimaced at the sight of the black steel Rolex. It was the only indication that he had far more money than he had life left to spend it. No one would think so looking at him. His shirt was always dirty somewhere or wrinkled. His hair would resemble a hoarding bird’s nest if he didn’t keep it trimmed. He glanced back at the house, recalling faint details from that day. When he’d come back home that day—he’d never really thought about it, but now it struck him—there had been a faint sulfuric warmth in the air. It had burned his nostrils as if he’d sniffed pepper or chili powder.
His nose twitched at that very moment. No way a memory could make the sensation manifest so strongly in the present. He frowned, sniffing again, sending a tingle of burn up his hooter. He tentatively stepped closer to the door. The scent carried from the house growing stronger. He held his breath; the world dead silent around him except for a faint huffing of breath. Raven’s heart began to pound. With sweaty fingers he reached for his gun and fumbled with his set of keys. Someone was in the house.
Raven placed his key in the lock and tried to turn it, struggled to no avail. He retrieved the key and placed it in his back pocket. Taking a step back, he took a deep breath and lunged into the door with his shoulder, knocking it loose. It swung open at first, only to fall from its hinges, landing on the wooden floor with a loud bang, casting a dirt plume into the stale air.
The scent hit him stronger now that the barrier was gone. So foul it burned his lungs, forcing a cough from him.
“Who’s in here!” he shouted hoping it would be some beggar, yet only silence greeted him. He retrieved his handkerchief and placed it over his mouth before taking a step inside.
The house looked the same as it had those many years ago; everything left exactly like a dusty picture in time. If someone had recently been here he would have seen foot prints in the covered floor, yet there were none. He was surprised that the house hadn’t been ransacked, but remembered people gossiped, whispers of the old mansion on the hill, the ‘Haunted Castle’. It was just complete and utter bulls
hit. If the place truly was haunted he would have known.
Something crashed, forcing him to turn left, swinging his gun out in front of him, and damning himself for walking in here alone. The familiar sight was still there. His own consciousness bringing the memory back.
He recoiled in horror.
Blinking, he forced the image to die into a pale scene, the room returning to its original self. His parent’s blood, never cleaned, now stood imprinted as faded brown stains against the wall where it had spattered. They hadn’t been killed, they’d been fucking slaughtered. The outline of chalk for their bodies, thankfully, no longer visible.
He pulled himself away. He didn’t want to look at it, couldn’t. Not now and not later. One day when he would read the file he knew he would and could scrape together the courage, but not right now. He turned instead toward the hallway that led to the kitchen.
A faint tatter of nails tinging against the tile floor confirmed something was in the kitchen—on four legs. He drew in a breath through his hanky, but it didn’t seem to help. He could hear faint growling coming from the room. The stench intensified, the air becoming warmer the closer he ventured. He leaned against the wall next to the archway, holding his breath. Peeking around the corner and then quickly back against the wall, the slight glimpse allowed him to see and confirm his worst fears—the fucking hound was here, in his home. A million questions buzzed in his head, but right now he needed to face this thing, stop it before someone else got killed.
Steadying his nerves, Raven shifted into enforcer mode. The training wasn’t any different than most, but you had to have hair on your teeth, facing disgust and horror while keeping a straight face. Gun at the ready, he spun, pointing it into an empty kitchen. Shakily he stepped past the archway, scanning the floor, but there were no sudden movements or sound. The foul stench was worse. Raven rounded the island, just a breath away from giving his eyes full access to what lurked beyond, when the hound jumped up on the counter. Tail whipping side to side, cutting with a hiss through the air. Claws digging in and splintering the granite countertop. No wonder he could hear the beast. It was easily fourteen feet in length. Its back arched, eyes glowing ruby red while faint toxic fumes escaped its saliva-dripping mouth.
Neon White Season One: A Tooth, Claw and Horns Chronicle Page 7
