by Toni Griffin
Other people stopped what they were doing to watch the match take place. The teams were fairly evenly matched from what Adze could tell. It would be interesting to see who won.
When Adze felt like he was pruny enough, he climbed out of the pool and headed for the table and chairs they'd dumped all their stuff on. He grabbed his towel and quickly dried himself, then wrapped it around his waist. Adze noticed the excited crowd on the other side of the pool and decided to continue watching the match for a couple more minutes.
The gathered crowd cheered loudly for the teams they wanted to win. Humans always amazed Adze with their passion and excitement for games. Occasionally Nicor or Cacus would go under, but they'd quickly get their footing and would be back up with Daevas and Oriax battling each other again before anyone knew it.
Cheers and boos erupted from the crowd each time one team looked like they had leverage. Someone had even broken out drinks and food.
Not seeing an end in sight, and having work he needed to do, Adze decided to leave the boys to it. They were too evenly matched for their game to wrap up anytime soon. Though the boys seemed to be putting on a performance for the humans. At least they were all having fun, and Pyro would keep anyone from drowning—too much. Adze grabbed his card, unwrapped his towel from his waist and threw it over his shoulder, and headed back to the penthouse.
Another case had come to them, so close on the back of the last one, a possible incubus feeding on the fear it was creating in humans, which made them all a bit on edge, and the reason why Adze had no trouble leaving the guys behind. They needed to blow off some steam, and a little harmless fun in the pool entertaining the humans was the perfect way to do it.
The elevator doors opened, and Adze stepped into their penthouse. He decided to stay in his damp shorts as it would hopefully help keep him that little bit cooler. He grabbed his laptop, got comfortable, and started researching.
Adze lost track of time as he immersed himself in everything they had about their latest quarry. He was looking for any reports he could find about humans being terrified, people who for some reason or another had come face to face with their worst fears. Adze was so intent on his research he jumped when the door burst open, and a barrage of noise preceded his pack mates inside. By the sounds of it, Oriax and Cacus had won the battle.
All five of them were still dripping with water, their towels either wrapped around their waists or slung over their shoulders.
Adze tried to tune them out as he got back to what he was reading.
"Anything?" Pyro asked as he walked out of the kitchen with a large glass of iced water. Even with the air conditioner on, Adze could see the water droplets beading on the outside of the glass already. He made a mental note to call down and get the air conditioning serviced as the damn thing didn't seem to be doing anything to cool the place down. Living in the penthouse of one of the downtown buildings didn't guarantee everything always worked perfectly.
Adze snapped his laptop closed.
"Nothing," he said as he listened to the fan in the computer slow down and eventually stop. He hadn't even realised that the computer, too, seemed to be struggling with the heat and was probably sighing in blessed relief at being given a break.
"I'm gonna go give Matti a call. See if she has any updates for us."
"Have fun," Pyro said before flopping down on the couch and turning on Netflix.
Not wanting to have the sound of explosions and gun fire in the background Adze made his way to the office to call Matti.
They'd been through numerous handlers since Adze, and his team had come to the surface two centuries ago. Matti was just the last in a long line of them. There would be plenty more once Matti was gone as well. Adze liked her, though. The girl had spunk, and she didn't take any of Adze's crap.
Adze sat back in the desk chair and propped his feet on the corner of the desk. He placed the phone on speaker and pressed the speed dial number for the office. Not that they ever went there. Adze much preferred to work out of their home. But all the paperwork and crap needed somewhere to happen, and God knows Adze hated paperwork.
"And just what can I do for you?" Matti's pleasant voice sounded down the line.
"Well, hello to you too, doll face," Adze greeted her.
Matti sighed that long-suffering sigh she reserved just for Adze. "What do you want?"
Adze laughed. He really did like this broad. "You know, if I wasn't gay, and you weren't married, I totally would have gone for you."
Matti snorted. "Please, I have standards."
Adze laughed again. "I'm the best there is baby."
"I highly doubt that."
"You wound me," Adze said in a mock hurt tone.
"Too bad. Now, to what do I owe the pleasure of this phone call," Matti asked.
Adze heard her clicking away at her keyboard down the line. "Just checking in. Wanted to see if you had anything new on our latest case, or if anything more is in the works."
"Unfortunately, the analysts have been unable to locate anything new on your current case. It looks like the incubus has gone to ground for the time being. We'll keep a close eye on the situation."
It took a number of people to sift through and track all the crime reports, news headlines, and even social media posts, and collate anything that might be remotely related to the paranormal world. Adze wouldn't want to be one of the analysts, that was for sure. He much preferred his job.
"Nothing even from the cops?" Adze asked.
"Nope, spoke with Sergeant Carter today, their investigation seems to have stalled as well."
Sometimes it was good to have some cops in the know, especially in this day and age where new technology was popping up everywhere and able to record and document "strange" occurrences.
The cops had come in handy more than once in their ability to smooth things over with the public. Though Adze and his pack were always careful not to need their services too often. Coming up with excuses to cover up for the hellhounds for their fellow officers made for some strained relationships if it happened too frequently.
If the police had nothing, and Matti couldn't find anything else, it was no wonder Adze had been unsuccessful in his own research.
"Anything new?" he asked.
"There's a few that we're tracking, we believe two to be nephilim, the other a banshee. I'll send you through the details of them," Matti said.
"Why thank you, you're ever so kind."
Matti snorted. "You can't bullshit me. If you're not out chasing down these creatures, you're bored out of your mind."
"Am not," Adze retorted.
"Now you're just acting like a five-year-old."
"You know, I'm really starting to not like you very much," Adze replied as he dropped his feet to the ground and sat up straight when the computer in front of him dinged with an incoming message.
"Who are you kidding? You love me. Now go find some bad guys and leave me the hell alone. I have work to do." Matti's tone spoke to the affection she had for Adze, hell, all of the guys.
"Whatever you say, doll face. Love you."
"Piss off, old man." Matti hung up the call as Adze snorted at her 'old man' comment. She knew just how old he was, but that was the first time she'd ever called him that. At least to his face.
Adze opened the files on the secure server they'd set up years ago.
The first file contained the details of three women who had been raped. On separate occasions, each of the women had been seen leaving a bar with the same man after they'd been out drinking with their friends. A grainy surveillance picture was included, along with the nephilim's name, Andrew Collins.
The second file only contained details of one young man's murder. Not a great deal to go on, hell, there wasn't even anything that pointed to it being one of theirs. Except there was a note from Carter stating he thought something felt off with the murder and asking if we could investigate. Unfortunately, it seemed they would have to wait for a little more before they cou
ld start tracking whoever was committing those crimes.
Adze printed all the details out for the first file, then closed everything down. He went back out to the living room, stopping at the entrance to the kitchen. He leaned against the doorjamb, watching his friends. The guys looked to be in better spirits now that they had cooled down.
Daevas was trying to steal delicious dough from Cacus's latest batch of chocolate chip cookies.
Cacus loved to cook. Personally, Adze could burn water. They'd all learned that Adze didn't belong in the kitchen a long time ago. And while he couldn't comprehend the love of cooking Cacus had, Adze wasn't stupid enough to turn down something he wasn't forced to make himself. For Cacus, the act of cooking seemed to soothe him during times of stress, and he'd gotten pretty bloody good at it as well over the decades. Everyone enjoyed his treats and comfort foods.
They'd also learned that Cacus didn't like sharing his creations until he was done. Daevas was taking his life in his hands. Whether he got away with it was to be seen. Adze watched in silent amusement as Daevas crept around the bench, staying low to remain out-of-sight. Except he was a huge arse hellhound like the rest of them.
Before Daevas got his hand on either the dough, or one of the finished cookies, Cacus slapped Daevas's hand away without even looking up from his bowl. The smack echoed loudly in the tiled kitchen. Daevas pulled his hand back, shaking it about.
"Mother fucker, that hurt!" Daevas bitched.
"You know the rules!" Cacus pointed a wooden spoon at Daevas then moved it to point at everyone else in the room as well. "You don't touch until I'm done, or you risk losing a hand."
"You don't have to be so mean about it," Daevas pouted, a nice rosy red spoon-shaped mark blooming on the back of his hand.
Nicor and Oriax stood to the side, their hands covering their mouths and their shoulders shaking. A snicker escaped from one of them every couple breaths.
"It's not funny," Daevas complained. "That hurt."
"Big tough hellhound my ass!" Adze muttered.
Daevas swung around to glare at Adze who held his hands up in surrender. Nicor and Oriax couldn't hold their laughter in any longer, and it exploded forth.
"Screw you all!" Daevas said as he whirled around and snatched a warm cookie off the tray then made a run for it.
Cacus yelled and started around the bench after Daevas only to find his path blocked by Nicor and Oriax.
"Dude, what the hell?" Cacus bitched.
Nicor laughed, "Gotta give Daevas a chance."
Daevas came to a screeching halt as Adze stood in the doorway.
"Aw, come on, man, you gotta let me through," Daevas said in his most innocent voice.
"I don't gotta do any such thing. You brought this on yourself." Adze grinned. He wasn't worried. The pair had the same argument every time. Pissing Cacus off was Daevas's own way of relaxing before one of their hunts.
"Shit, shit, shit." Daevas turned just in time for Cacus pounce.
Adze would've moved out of the way if Cacus had come after him with the knife, but seeing as he'd left it on the bench, he figured Daevas could pay for his crime.
The pair went down to the kitchen floor, and as they wrestled, Oriax and Nicor made their way over to the bench and started snacking on the forgotten cookie dough.
Nicor shrugged when he saw Adze watching them. "Spoils of war, man, you want some? It's really good."
Cacus had already baked a large batch, they didn't really need any more, otherwise Adze would have put a stop to them.
Adze shook his head at his friends they were all as bad as one another. He turned his back on the bunch of them and walked out of the room. Adze knew how this would end and didn't feel the need to stand around and watch. The sounds of Daevas howling as Cacus tickled all his known hot spots followed seconds later. Adze grinned like a loon, content his pack mates were all right.
Having had his fill of idiocy Adze went looking for the only other sane one in the bunch, Pyro. Adze loved all the guys like they were brothers, but sometimes they could get on his nerves. He knew they were just relieving stress which is why he left them to it and walked away. The search for Pyro was fairly short-lived as the man was still relaxing on the couch in peace.
"When you idiots are done rolling around, can you get in here?" Adze yelled over the racket behind him.
Adze handed a copy of the printouts over to Pyro then another to Nicor as he came through the door. The others came in and collapsed on the couch next to Pyro.
Oriax read over Nicor's shoulder. Pyro passed his file to Daevas, who sat next to him, and he and Cacus got to reading. Adze enjoyed the several minutes of quiet as everyone caught up on the latest cases.
"What happened to the incubus we were chasing?" Nicor asked.
"He's gone to ground. Don't worry, we'll catch him another day. In the meantime, the office has sent this through."
"I see several nights of staking out nightclubs in our future," Oriax said as he placed the paperwork on the coffee table in front of them.
"Certainly seems that way," Daevas agreed.
Thankfully the nephilim seemed to have kept his pick of bars southwest of Elizabeth Street, effectively cutting the city in half for them.
"So, what's the plan?" Oriax asked.
Adze pulled out a map of the city and placed it on the table. Everyone huddled close together as much for support as to see the territory they'd have to cover. These kind of cases never got any easier, for any of them.
"We'll split into three teams, each taking a bar, here, here and here," Adze pointed at the locations on the map. "Hopefully if our boy shows up, we'll be able to grab him. If not, we'll try again tomorrow night, and the night after, just like usual."
There were several groans from the guys. Adze knew how they felt, but this was their job. Something they all took pride in. It was the reason they were on the surface after all—to help keep the humans safe when the supernatural beings caused harm. And they were good at what they did, their centuries of commitment to the job attested to that fact. The long waits and the late nights weren't fun for any of them, though.
Adze foresaw several long nights ahead of them.
"Who wants a cookie?" Cacus asked.
Chapter Three
Archie walked out of the downtown office building and sighed. He hated end-of-month. Even in an accounting firm they still needed to balance the books and accounts once a month. Those couple of days after month end were always the longest.
Seeing as how Archie wasn't too high up on the totem pole, all the shit jobs fell to him. He looked at his watch and groaned. If Archie weren't careful, he'd end up late for his second job. He had twenty minutes to get home, change, and make it to the restaurant where he waited tables.
All Archie wanted to do was go home and collapse face first onto his bed, curl up under the blankets, and sleep until morning.
That wasn't about to happen though.
Archie took his old phone out, plugged his headphones in and pressed play on the audiobook he was listening to. He walked the half a block to the nearest tram stop and was lucky enough to step onto the platform just as his tram pulled up. Archie wedged himself into the already overcrowded tram—the regular crush of people all trying to get home after a long day at work.
Thankfully he was only four stops away from his home, making it a short trip for him.
As people tried to squeeze into the confined space, Archie got jostled side to side. He sighed in annoyance at the impatient people. Couldn't they see there wasn't any room? At the next stop, even more people tried to cram their way inside the tram with only a select few people trying their hardest to get out of the crushing mob. Archie tried to edge forward to make more space for the people entering the tram but barely managed to move an inch as they were already packed in like a bunch of sardines.
He sighed in relief when his stop was announced next. Now all he had to do was make it to the doors so he could get out of the hellhole.
/> "Excuse me, excuse me, pardon me," Archie said as he finally made it to one of the exits just before the tram came to a stop.
The doors swung open on creaky hinges, the crisp, cool air refreshing after the last couple of days of heat. Before Archie could really enjoy the cool breeze, he was jostled back and forth as a new mob of people tried to cram onto the tram. He and many others had to push their way through the crowd of people to make their escape. Why people couldn't wait for the next one was beyond him. It would be along in only a few minutes.
Finally free of the crowds and breathing easily once more, Archie checked the traffic before darting across the road and down the street.
Not two minutes later Archie was hastily pushing open the front door to his apartment as he pulled the key out of the lock. He pulled his headphones out of his ears as he rushed through the small two-bedroom unit he shared with his friend Amal. When was the last time he and Amal had been able to just hang out and shoot the shit of a night? Too long. He missed his friend. The couple of minutes he saw him in a day wasn't enough.
Archie sighed and pulled the tie from around his neck and threw it on his bed, quickly followed by his jacket, wallet, keys, phone, and belt. His dress shoes went flying across the room as he kicked them off. He'd worry about finding them in the morning.
Archie slowed down enough to unbutton the top two buttons on his shirt before pulling it off over his head. No need to waste precious time choking himself. He shucked his pants and boxer briefs down, nearly tripping over himself as he shuffled out of his room, and lastly, he pulled his socks off as he did a little one-legged hop/dance toward the bathroom.
Archie raced in, the door bouncing open against the jam. Whatever. It could stay open. Archie turned the tap and jumped in the shower before questioning his choice of actions. Ice water rained down on top of him, momentarily stunning Archie. No, it wasn't icicles spearing him relentlessly, just water. Archie wasn't too manly to admit that he might have screamed as the freezing water hit his skin.
