by Jeff Hale
“Maybe. Here’s my office address,” I said, handing her a business card.
“A business card? Are you kidding me? You do remember that I’ve been to your office?” Kat laughed as she took the card. “Knight & Angel Services, security, investigations and renegade exterminations,” she read aloud as she fought back another laugh.
“Yeah, a bit corny I know, but it was Raven’s idea.”
“Raven? You’re working with her?” Kat asked in open mouthed shock.
“Yeah. Why?”
“You fucking her?” Kat asked as her eyes narrowed.
“No,” I answered truthfully.
“Have you fucked her?” Kat asked, eyes still narrow as she regarded me.
“Uh. No? Not that stupid, believe me, I know the consequences of fucking a fae,” I said.
“Good. Smart boy. That poor guy she is with…. I’ve seen her around town with some guy, he looks familiar but I can’t place it. Anyway, someone really should have told him.”
“Yeah. That would be Jacob. A friend of mine from school. You should remember him, he was working for the Vixens at… Prom.” I let that last word slide out reluctantly. Prom was a sore spot for Kat, mainly because I had left her there on the dance floor while I chased after Azryel.
“Oh. Yeah. No. I remember him now. Poor guy. Anyway, see you around.” Kat waved as she walked back to the group.
I watched Celeste and the rest of the group for a few more hours after Kat and her friend Kris took off. Once they headed out to the parking garage, I should have been a bit more circumspect because I was spotted.
“I thought I told ya ta leave me alone!” Celeste said as she rounded the support pillar I had hidden behind and put a finger in my chest.
“That asshole is here?” I heard Travis called out as he came into view.
Great.
“Language, Travis! How many times do I have ta tell ya?!” Celeste glared at Travis briefly before turning an even fiercer glare towards me. “And you! Stay away from me! Next time I call the cops.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. It just came out. Some dark, twisted part in the deep recesses of my mind found the idea funny. I could see the cops all trying to take me in, and me wading through them, cutting them down like a scythe cutting down grain. Or a combine, as the case may be. She had no idea….
“What’s so funny? Huh, asshole?!” Travis said as he got into my face.
“The cops? Really? I mean, seriously,” I said, still chuckling.
“Yeah. The cops!” Celeste said angrily. “What’s so funny ‘bout that? I’ll get a restraining order if that’s what it takes. Then if ya come near me they’ll arrest ya.”
“You think so? You think the cops will get there before I put your boyfriend here in the hospital, and I do what I want to with you? Are you really that naïve? You need to wise up, grow up, and learn what the real world is like, or you’re in for some really harsh lessons, especially with those Aetherics out there!” That dark part of me continued to chuckle as I watched Celeste’s face grow pale.
She was scared.
Of me.
That twisted, dark part in the recesses of my mind enjoyed her fear. Most of me hated myself for it. I shook my head. What the fuck is wrong with me?
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…” I began, before Travis pushed me.
“You think you can take me? You’re fucked in the head! I could take you right here and now!” Travis screamed at me.
“Travis, stop the cussin’! Now!” Celeste demanded.
“Back up off me, Celeste! I’ll fucking cuss at him all I want!” Travis yelled right in her face.
That won’t do.
“Hey, how about you back up off of her, huh? Don’t talk to her like that!” I said, pushing Travis back.
“What the fuck? That’s my woman, and I’ll treat her however I want to!” Travis pushed me again.
“The hell you will!” I took a step towards him before Celeste got between us.
“Both y’all calm down!” she ordered. “You had better leave, okay?” she said towards me.
I didn’t want to kill a mortal. I really didn’t. But part of me did. That twisted part that had seemed to take roost in the back of my mind, but ultimately I didn’t want to. I turned and started to walk away. Then I felt sudden movement from behind me. Whoever it was bowled me off my feet. I kipped up and quickly turned. I didn’t want to kill a mortal, but apparently one wanted to die today.
“Alright, college boy! I was willing to let this whole thing drop. But you want to throw down? Then let’s do this, bitch!” Except it wasn’t Travis. “Oh, fuck me. Henry, what in the name of the Hells are you doing here?” I asked, looking up at the big man. I glanced over and saw Travis back by Celeste with an arm around her.
“You took my honor. You took my pack’s honor! The boss lady says you need to die today. You been asking too many questions about her. This time I know what you are. This time I’m gonna fucking kill you, rip your head off and skull fuck you, for reals.”
“Sounds kinda like a necrophilia gay thing you got going there. I really don’t want to be part of your ultimate fantasy fulfillment. Why not just stick to bestiality like you’re used to? Now go away and I’ll forget this ever happened. Don’t and… well, you know what’ll happen. You’re lucky you survived your first dance with me.”
Henry lashed out quicker than I expected. Luckily he was still in his human form at the time, but he still hit like a ton of bricks falling off a five story building onto my head. I flew backwards and crashed into a familiar looking car. I think it was Travis’s.
“Aerick!” I heard Celeste’s voice crying out for me, concern obvious.
Using the car as leverage I pushed myself up and shook the cobwebs loose. Only instinct caused me to push myself into a sideways roll to my right as Henry, in full Aspect form, came barreling towards me. I heard metal crunch as he impacted the car.
“Fuck this. I am fucking sick and tired of you shifters! Come on then!” I yelled, conjuring my blades as I did so. I heard Celeste gasp, whether in fear or awe, I couldn’t tell. I spared a quick glance her way and saw that she was on her knees, staring at me with her mouth open slightly. I waited as Henry reared up in a threatening display. He lumbered forward slowly at first, but I knew he was capable of sudden speed bursts.
Then it came; he charged on in a sudden rush and took two mighty swipes at me. Enough to detach parts of me from other parts of me. I ducked, and then jumped. Flipping both blades into a reverse grip I stabbed both blades into Henry’s chest as I slid downwards, leaving nasty wounds from chest to waist on him before I pulled the blades out through his sides.
That’s when I felt searing pain climb up my right arm and shoulder. Standing next to Henry was another shifter, part of his pack, a werepuma in Aspect form, claws dripping with my blood. I tried to move my right arm but it was pretty much useless. I heard Celeste cry out again. I jumped to the left as another form passed by me and I felt my leg give out as it got hamstrung. Seconds later a weregator in Aspect was standing next to the puma. I pumped Aetheric energy into my leg and arm, stemming the pain and creating a temporary patch so I could at least fight.
“You fuckers aren’t going to fight fair, are you?” I yelled at them.
“Of course not! Like I said, the Hag wants you dead!” Henry laughed and pointed to where Celeste and Travis had been standing. I looked and saw Travis lying on the ground in a pool of blood. His stomach was opened up and his leg was barely attached. Kevin was lying over ten feet away near the elevator, liquid spreading down the leg of his pants. I knew it wasn’t blood, it was moving too rapidly. Great. Big, tough college guy had passed out and pissed himself.
That wasn’t the alarming thing. A werewolf was standing behind Celeste with a hand on her shoulder, claws digging in slightly. I knew she was in pain by the expression on her face. A Doberman was sitting on Erin’s chest, and a couple of coyotes were in Aspect and holding Tiffany against
the wall.
“You see, we have your women. We could kill them, here and now, and redeem ourselves by taking something from you the way you took something from us. Well, except the little blonde. I guess the Hag’s got plans for her. But we could take her to torture as we please. Or we could maul her to near death and make her one of us,” Henry gloated.
“Your first mistake was bringing her in on this.” I gestured towards Celeste. “Your second mistake was to believe that I gave a damn about the slut twins over there. Either way you look at it though, I simply can’t let this slide.” I sprang forward suddenly, not wasting any time. I heard the cat give the order to rape and kill the girls while they dealt with me.
I didn’t give the wolf any time to do any such thing. I quickly snapped both blades in his direction. One went through his right eye, the other through his throat. As the blades were in flight, I extended my right hand, palm outwards towards the gator, directing a blast of cold and freezing him solid.
In the next second, I waved my left hand from right to left and sent a wave of flames at him, causing the ice block to explode. They were going to need tweezers and a sponge to pick up what was left of him.
The puma leapt towards me on my right at Henry’s orders as he rushed me from the left. I veered right, and met the puma’s extraordinary pounce in midair, conjuring my blades as I leapt towards him. I plunged my fire blade into his stomach, cutting his leap short. He dropped towards the ground, and I spun in the air, bringing my ice blade around for a stab into his spine as he fell past me. I landed a split second after he did. I grabbed the handle of the ice blade and began to drain his life force, using it to heal the injuries I had gotten from him and the gator. He was dead when I was done, nothing left but a withered husk.
Henry roared in rage and charged me again. I put the fire blade into his chin and tried to drive it into his brain the long way. Henry shook his head and sent me flying into the concrete barrier that divided the parking garage from a six story fall. I dismissed my blades and went into a sideways roll as Henry came barreling towards me.
He caught my left shoulder and I felt the bone turn into powder as he drove it into the concrete barrier. I thought he was going to tear the shoulder clean off as his momentum kept him moving. I screamed in pure agony as I tried to pull Aetheric energy into my shoulder as he plowed right through the barrier and into the open air beyond. He howled in anger, frustration, and pain as he fell to the ground six stories below me.
I stood, left arm hanging limply from my side, and conjured my ice blade. There were still a few more to deal with. I might not give a damn about Tiffany and Erin, but they didn’t deserve to be raped by Aspect formed shifters. Besides, I needed to drain something to heal my shoulder.
Both coyotes had already left their victim and were charging in my direction. I cut into one as he leapt at me, but the other one plowed into me and smashed my head into a car. The world spun crazily as I drained life force from the one I had stabbed. After he was nothing more than a husk, the other thought better of pressing the attack and ran off, taking the Doberman with him.
I walked over to where the wolf lay whimpering. I severed his head with the ice blade, draining his life force the entire time in order to heal what I could. Then I looked to where Celeste stood, her hands on the car next to her for support.
“It’s okay, it’s over,” I said, and she flung herself at me, wrapping her arms tightly around me. It felt so good to have her embrace me again that I didn’t want it to end, but I knew it had to. I slowly disentangled myself from her and pushed her away. What I did next was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.
“You were right. I need to stay away, and you need to stay away from me, Celeste. It’s just safer for you. You’ve seen why you can’t be around me.”
“No! I was wrong about ya! This is why ya should be around! Ta protect me from creatures like that! Who else could protect me from those things? What are ya…? Oh… wait. Ms. Haid told me about ya! You’re that Sentinel she was talkin’ ‘bout! Ya were… why didn’t I think of it sooner! Of course! Kat said she had an ex-boyfriend that had Sentinel abilities! I jus’ didn’t think that was you!”
“No. If it weren’t for me, you’d never have been in any danger. Just go. Never look for me again. I don’t want to see you again. Ever.” I had tears streaming down my face, but I didn’t care. I didn’t really want her to go. That selfish part of me wanted her to be amazed by me, to want to be with me now that she knew the complete truth.
“You’re lying! I can feel the connection between us! I know it’s what ya feel fer me! I know we’re supposed… I don’t know, I jus’ feel right around ya! I’m sorry I was so cold ta ya in yer office, but I didn’t like feelin’ what I did fer ya and not knowin’ why, so I had to shut it all away!” she explained.
“Just go! Be with Travis, or some other normal guy. You deserve a normal life. Go.”
“I cain’t have a normal life anymore. No one can. The way the world is now it’s jus’ not possible. I would rather not try an’ avoid what the world has become! I would rather not live my life in fear of some vampire that could rape me, or some were-thing that could eat me or turn me inta one of them!”
“No! Look, I don’t want to have anything to do with you. You’re nothing to me. You being around just reminds me of what I’ve lost and I don’t want you near me. Stay the fuck away from me!” With those final words, I teleported away.
Seeing the look on her face as I had said those words had made me die inside.
TWELVE
I awoke to a throbbing pain in my head. It wasn’t a physical pain as much as it was Aetheric in nature. Like I had pulled spikes through my head using my ears as an entry and exit point. It happened anytime I used far too much Aetheric energy all at once.
I looked around, wincing at the bright light as I opened my eyes. I was on a rather comfortable bed, with Raven in a chair next to the bed, looking concerned. I didn’t remember getting into the bed, and I didn’t remember getting to where I was now. The last thing I remembered….
“Serena!” I called out, somehow knowing it wouldn’t do any good.
“She’s safe. She’s at a hospital with her boyfriend,” Raven said, watching me struggle to get up.
“Is she…?” I asked in a panic
“She’s fine, thanks to you,” she said in a reassuring tone.
“How did I get here? I don’t remember…” I began, trying piece together what had happened. I had told Celeste to stay away from me and teleported away. Then the world had crumbled around me. Now I found myself in my room at the Flame.
“You decided to teleport when your body wasn’t up to handling those levels of Aetheric energies. It burned your system out and nearly killed you. It’s been about a day.” Raven explained in a bored tone, as if explaining it to a child.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not done yet, I need to find the others,” I said, trying to stand.
Raven reached out and placed a hand squarely on my chest and shoved me back onto the bed. “You aren’t going anywhere yet. You still need to heal. Oh, Jacob my dear!” she called out. A second later Jacob’s head poked into the room with a puppy dog look plastered on his face. I almost expected him to start panting. “Be a dear and get some water, yes?” Raven waved him away.
“Can you get rid of him? I don’t like seeing him like that,” I said in disgust, remembering when he had a strong will and an independent streak a mile wide.
“He still amuses me. You won’t want me to not find him such anymore. You won’t like the result,” Raven said evenly, giving me a patient look.
“Eh, anyway, I need to get out of here, so if I’m actually okay and you’re messing with me, then you need to tell me.”
“Why? What’s so important?”
“I have the remainder of a shifter pack I need to kill,” I vowed.
“You really shouldn’t. The consequences won’t be good.”
“I have to. They attacked me
and, even worse, they tried to bring Celeste into it. If I don’t kill them all, there is no guarantee that they won’t go after her. I’m in too deep at this point. It’s the only way I can protect her. Besides, they work for Baba Yaga,” I pointed out.
“Fine. But I warned you,” Raven said with actual concern tingeing her voice.
I stood and tried to walk, finding it trying at first. Everything hurt, and the room wouldn’t stay still so I could walk in a straight line. Eventually I got the feel for it and made my way out of the room, Raven following closely behind.
“And, where are you going?” I turned to regard her.
“With you. I was told by Lucien that if you went anywhere I was to drive you to your location. You can’t use your higher powers again this soon. So, no flying and no teleporting.”
“Fine. Just get me there quick and drop me off so we can move onto the next,” I said impatiently.
It didn’t take us long to find the trail of one of Henry’s pack members. Raven had an uncanny way of finding things that were hidden, something she said fell under the whole ‘secrets’ purview. Fae powers were strange that way, covering sets of ideas. Raven was attuned to shadows, hiding, and secrets, and as such, her powers reflected all three of those ideas. Her abilities were one of the many reasons that she took any cases that dealt with people who were lost or hiding.
I wasn’t sure what other kinds of fae powers existed, probably too many to keep track of. It was why they were so powerful; they had such a range of abilities that they could pull whatever they needed out of their hats at any time. Considering how diverse the fae were, it was no surprise that no one bothered even trying to catalogue all of their powers.
We went back to the Circus Circus parking garage where I had last fought Henry’s pack. From there she was able to get a general resonance from the individuals that had been there. It didn’t take her long to sort them out because they had been in a strong emotional state and they were shifters.
