by Lissa Kasey
A smile lit up her face. She gripped the colors, kissed him lightly on the cheek, oddly sharing no memories with him, and bounded off to the back wall, humming happily. Less than four hours later, Aki sat on the edge of the pit watching the fire devour pretty little GuEal’s body, crayons still gripped in her fist.
The picture she’d drawn on the wall was of herself and someone slightly larger. Both had giant white wings and were playing in grass, sun shining overhead. A hope for happier days, or at least that’s what Aki wanted to believe.
The fire eating away her skin made the memory harder for him. He’d forgotten about the picture until that moment. There had been so much death. Yet hers had made his heart break in a way that he couldn’t understand. How long would it take the memories to fade back to the recesses of his mind, he wondered. He sucked in a deep breath and told himself that no one was burning or would be burned in the heat of the bonfire. It only existed for light and warmth. A symbol of unity, not death.
Candy’s bright head beckoned him forward. He moved like a wild thing, swaying his hips and shifting his feet in fast beats that intimidated most. Aki crossed the distance and joined him, let himself be pulled into his friend’s embrace and lose himself in the feeling of the music.
The pounding beat thrummed through their veins, moving them all. It drove thirst and hunger. The booths of food and wine efficiently moved the patrons through the lines. Aki and Candy didn’t have to ask for anything. The guards breezed by a few times, offering alcohol or food. Bart practiced caution like most other brothel owners wouldn’t. The companions took nothing from anyone who wasn’t from their brothel. Bart himself delivered a batch of sugar buns to Aki and Candy when they took a short break.
The night wore on with the smell of burning wood soothing Aki’s brain. His body worked hard to exhaust itself. More than a handful of admirers tried to interrupt, offering tons of money for a bit of time or personalized entertainment. But the night wasn’t about the clients, putting on shows, or handling schedules. None of that was allowed. It was more about the primal need to just let go, freeing the spirit and all the religious crap that Aki never bought into. He simply knew it made him feel good. Neither Candy nor Aki cared. They just moved together, occasionally pulling one of the other companions into the mix. Everyone laughed, smiled, danced, and was—for the evening—without worry.
The companions danced until they were too tired to move, and the guards began to take them home. The offers of service continued, somewhat rudely with all the overimbibing of alcohol. It was an unspoken rule to put off all requesters. That was what drove the business for the next month, all those admirers coming to try to gain time. Aki had downed more than a dozen fruit-flavored drinks, and the world tipped and slid about more and more. The companions of the Hidden Gem could drink with the best of them. After all, the brothel was known for having the best spirits in all of City M. Still, the night wore at Aki. He’d sober a little only to remember something from the past few days and request another drink.
Time flew by. Aki stripped out of the shoes to have more freedom to move. He laced them around his belt, fearing they’d be stolen. Candy staggered over to Manny some time later. He wanted to go home, sleep off the drink. Aki had put him off, not ready to leave and fearing the dreams that might have been awakened by Detective Taylor’s meddling. Jade and Scarlet swung him around, grinding their hips to his. This was the only time of the month he’d willingly dance with girls. Even his favorite girls.
“Another drink, sweetie?” Jade called to Aki.
He shook his head. Any more and he’d have to be carried home.
Scarlet laid her head on his shoulder. She was probably the only companion in the Gem shorter than him. Her bright orange hair had been wrangled up into large curls on top of her head, making her seem taller. That was some big hair.
“No Paris tonight. I thought for sure he’d show.”
Paris. How long had it been since Aki had seen him? A month, maybe two? Perhaps he too was working and just didn’t have time. Though as a former companion, Paris never seemed to partake of the carnal pleasures of the Hidden Gem. He owned a percentage of it, trained new companions, but rarely called on them. Aki sort of missed seeing him. They had an odd sort of friendship, and Aki saw him more as a savior than a mentor. Only with Paris could he truly relax and still feel safe. But Paris never really wanted anything for himself.
“Probably making laws or something,” Jade said. “Whatever it is senators do other than fuck companions.”
Aki nodded. He stumbled away from them, getting close enough to the fire to really feel the heat. One of the guards grabbed him around the waist and pulled him back. Aki shrugged him off. It was time to go home anyway. The fire would burn until midday, but sleepiness began to tug at him. His body ached with exhaustion. Time for bed. He longed to be held and knew that Candy would provide companionship even if it didn’t really satisfy the need. Aki waved to everyone and headed back toward the Gem. The last of the guards conversed near the fire as a fight broke out between a couple patrons. Aki decided it was a good time for him to leave, though he knew Bart would yell at the guards later for not accompanying him home. But he was a big boy and they were busy. He could find his way back on his own, sloshed or not.
He took the longer path, the one that snaked around the park, to let some of the buzz of alcohol fade. The more he burned off now, the less likely he’d be to have a hangover tomorrow. He couldn’t help that his mind kept going back to the chip in his spine. Even half-drunk he tried to convince himself they wouldn’t want him. What need would they have for a whore anyway? He shrugged at a passing tree like it could answer the question. It almost seemed to sway in reply, or maybe that was just him.
He glanced up and smiled at the moon. So pretty, like a giant pearl. He had a couple of skirts that were sparkly like that. He needed another pair of shoes with that bright shine. Maybe he’d go to Just Shoes the next day to see if they had anything new. Maybe when he decided to give up being a whore, he’d design shoes for the rest of his life.
He smiled at the thought.
He must have stopped moving for a time because he didn’t seem to get any closer to home. “Nights like these they should just carry us all in baskets, like in ancient Egypt,” he grumbled at a decorative boulder. It let him sit without complaint, reminding him it was no more than a rock with its hard, cold surface. He patted the stone. “Comfortable enough, though. I will just rest a second or two, then be on my way.”
Aki closed his eyes for just a minute. After a moment or two of basking in the solidity of a nonspinning world, he felt something nudge the back of his hand. He blinked a few times, eyes heavy with sleep. How had he gotten on the ground? The boulder seemed to glare at him in a mocking way. Had it kicked him off? Of course not. Boulders didn’t move without the help of giant trucks or cranes.
Something bumped him again, this time on the side of his head. He turned to stare at who was nudging, but it wasn’t a person, it was a thing. A dog, he thought, since they weren’t all that common. He recalled seeing pictures of them in books, but nothing like this. Some farms still had dogs. In the city, dogs were small enough to fit in a person’s lap. This was large enough to fit a person in its lap.
Aki squinted at him. Was it real? Could he be that drunk? Perhaps it was another rock. It was rather gray and dark. But rocks didn’t move, and the dog leaned forward to nudge Aki’s shoulder with his snout.
“You want something?” Aki asked.
The dog tilted its head to the side like he was trying to understand Aki’s words, then tugged at Aki’s sweater.
“Okay, okay, already.” Aki crawled up on the rock and finally got to his wobbly legs. Just how much had he had to drink? He glanced back and forth but couldn’t remember the right direction to get back to the Gem. The moon had begun to sink, leaving him with little light and a big scary dog breathing down his neck. “Don’t suppose you know where the Hidden Gem is, do you? I think I’ve
had a bit too much to drink.”
Aki stepped around the rock, but the dog moved, cutting him off, then growled a deep scary sound. “Whoa, hairy thing. You woke me up, remember? If you wanted to make me doggy lunch, you should have done it while I was sleeping. I fight dirty. Part of companion defensive training is to go for the balls first.” He took a step back, then pivoted to go around the other side of the rock. He searched his pants for his phone, but vaguely recalled leaving it on his bed since he had no pockets. The dog growled, once again moving into his path. “Seriously. I gotta go one way or the other else I’m just lost in the woods.”
The dog bared his fangs. Huge, white, sharp, fangs, dripping saliva, like in the movies Candy dragged him to. Aki blinked a few times. Maybe he was still asleep. He reached out his hand. The dog took a menacing step forward. Aki backed around the boulder, putting the rock between them.
“Play nice. I’m just a little companion. Not much meat on me. Not like Royce or Preston. Preston loves cake. Probably tastes a little sweet. Let me go. I’ll run home and get him, okay?”
The deep warning growl was all Aki got before it leapt at him. He threw himself backward, rolling a little, before fumbling back to his feet and running. He had no idea where he was going. He just had to get away. Behind him the sound of something big and heavy moving through the trees made his tired body push harder to keep ahead. He swung around trees, over rocks, and through dense grass like liquid. His lungs ached from his strained breathing, but he kept pumping his legs. He raced through the trees until he hit a darkened neighborhood, houses all looking the same, high fences keeping him out and looming in menacing darkness all at once.
Where was the Gem? Had he gone in the wrong direction? Tears blurred his vision. His feet ached from being cut and bruised by rocks and brush. The animal was still behind him, insanely loud in the waning hours of the morning, terrifying. Just when he feared he couldn’t run anymore, he stumbled into a fence and an open gate. He flew through it, bolting toward the house beyond. He stumbled up the stairs and yanked at the back door of the darkened house, expecting it to be locked, but it opened under his trembling fingers.
He flung the door wide, throwing himself to the floor and slamming the door behind him. He reached up and flipped the lock, his heart pounding, the world around him silent as the tomb. He didn’t dare look out the tiny window in the door or even try to move. The beast had been nearly twice his size. Surely it could take down a door like this one.
Oh sweet Candy, why hadn’t Aki gone home when he had? Aki trembled, sucking in deep breaths. The world spun around him from overexertion and too much wine. Now he’d broken into some poor sap’s home and would probably be arrested if he wasn’t shot by some unhappy homeowner or mauled by Goddess knew what.
He faded out for a minute or two, leaning against the door. Just let the darkness of exhaustion take him. A nightmare jerked him awake a while later. Light began to trickle through the window and fill the small room. Aki realized he was in a kitchen. He glanced around for personal effects or maybe a phone or a map to tell him where the hell he was.
The living space was open: a big couch, large video panel, the kitchen, the back door, the front door, and a set of stairs that likely led up to bedrooms. Maybe if Aki could figure out what street he was on, he could find his way home. The animal wouldn’t follow him around in the light of day, right? There was just something about sunlight that made the scary things go away, or maybe it just made him less fearful. He headed for the front door only to find it locked in so many complicated ways he couldn’t get it open.
He sighed and sank down onto the ginormous couch and pulled one of the many throw pillows over his head. Eventually someone would come home. Since no one had come charging down the stairs after him, obviously they’d gone out. Maybe even to the bonfire, since it’d been so close. He closed his eyes and prayed whomever came back from the party would recognize him and not try to kill him. Maybe if he got a little sleep, the world would make more sense or at least make his body hurt less.
EIGHT
SHANE AWOKE in his backyard between his fence and his back door. That wasn’t a good sign. At least he wasn’t bloody. Those transformations were the worst; he’d have to swab off to check if it was human or animal. With the bonfire so close, it would have been human. He was mostly clean, so he basked in the warmth of the sun for a few minutes before stretching and rising to lock the gate, picking up his clothes, and heading inside.
The back door was locked. Odd; he knew he hadn’t left it that way. He dug a hidden key out from under a rock and opened it, wishing he’d thought to hide a gun too. Greeting an invading stranger without a weapon—or claws—in just his skin wasn’t his idea of the best start to the day. At least he didn’t feel like the beast was ripping its way out of him anymore.
His nose was still extra sensitive. He could smell blood. Found broken red footprints leading up the back porch and into the kitchen, faint. A minor wound. But since he didn’t have any on him or even the coppery taste of it in his mouth, he knew he hadn’t caused the injury.
He paused in the kitchen, stepping softly and reaching for the handgun tucked away in the corner drawer. Nothing looked out of place, so not a robbery. He glanced at the front door, checking that the six deadbolts were still all in place, before moving slowly around the room checking corners and casing the place like he was on the front line for SWAT.
Just as he was getting ready to head upstairs, he caught a flash of blue at the edge of his sight. He turned and scanned, knowing his furniture and decorating was all bland and monochrome. It was a shoe. A Just Shoes-exclusive blue gem heel. Bunched in the corner of his couch, heaped with all the throw pillows he owned, was the small blond companion Shane couldn’t get out of his head. How the hell did the psi get here?
A vague memory of a run through the woods flashed through his head. The familiar scent that often set his wolf on alert near his cycle still clung to his nose. Shit. That was the whole reason he avoided the Gem that time of the month.
Shane took a quick trip upstairs to ensure there was no one else in the house before grabbing a throw blanket and returning to the living room to retrieve Aki. The kid was out cold and stank of booze. Must have really gotten himself sloshed at the bonfire. Shane hoped he’d had enough to make him forget whatever had led him here. Or herded him here, as was the likely truth.
He lifted the companion, careful to keep their skin from touching, and carried him upstairs to the master bedroom and the king-sized bed. The room, like everything else in Shane’s life, had little color or decoration. He still lived like a soldier, locking away the little things that meant anything in places no one would find.
He carefully examined and then washed Aki’s feet, but could find no wounds, though they’d been stained with blood. Maybe he’d walked through something? Shane would have the woods searched just in case.
A heavy sigh fell from his lips as he crawled into bed beside Aki and wrapped a blanket around them both. He didn’t bother to put on clothes, as they’d just annoy him and Aki had already seen everything he had to offer. Besides, Shane could only afford a few hours of sleep before he had to get back to the station, and Aki would have all the security staff from the Gem out looking for him soon. Might as well let them both rest until then.
MANNY SHOOK Candy awake. The companion glared at the light like it was a demon come to shove a dagger through his eyes. Too much alcohol. What time was it?
“Aki didn’t come home,” Manny whispered. “Did you see him leave with anyone?”
“You walked me home. He was still there when we left. He’s probably with the other guards.” Candy yanked a pillow over his head. His brain ached. “Try his phone.”
“His phone is right here.” Manny dropped it on the bed beside Candy. “All the guards are here. All the companions are here except Aki. Bart is having a fit.”
Candy sat up in bed. “How can all the guards be here? They are supposed to stay with the co
mpanions. Everyone is to have an escort home.” He threw off the blankets and slid out of the bed to pull on whatever clothes he could find. “Goddess, who would leave him alone on bonfire night? I knew I should have insisted he come home with me.” He yanked on some shoes and stomped out of the room, headache raging but worry eating at his gut.
In the main foyer, all the guards and companions stood bleary-eyed but dressed and ready to search. Bart looked his way. “Did he say he was going anywhere, with anyone? Did you see the detective?”
“No. I left him dancing with Jade.” Candy glanced at the redhead, whose face was tearstained and hair ragged. “I didn’t see McNaughton at all.”
“I didn’t see him leave,” she whispered.
She more likely had been too drunk to notice. Not that it was her job. Fuck. “We’ll find him,” Candy said. “He wouldn’t go home with anyone. He knows better.”
“But not well enough to remember his phone?” Bart replied.
Yeah, Aki was so in for it when he got back. And so help him, he’d better come back in one piece.
“We start at the bonfire and move out from there. Every companion needs to be within visual sight of a guard. Let’s go.” Bart marched them out the door like the commander he’d once been. Aki better be okay. Candy would have time to be angry later, as soon as his stomach stopped turning in knots in time to all the horrible possibilities that ran through his head.
AKI DREAMED of running through a forest like a deer might. Only he wasn’t afraid, he was just free. The smell of earth and trees reminded his soul that he was home, safe, and able to do whatever he wanted as no one cared what the creatures did. A few times a startled growl would rattle the bushes, and Aki would leap away for a moment, ears pricked back, heart pounding, waiting for movement. But nothing came. He just wandered until he tired and sat in a warm patch of sun and rest.
