by Amy Sumida
“Oh,” I blinked, “okay then.”
“Okay then?” He lifted his brows. “Does that mean you'll go out with me?”
“Uh,” I blinked some more.
“Look, me and some of my friends are going out to an Extinguisher club tonight. Why don't you come along?” He offered. “Just as friends so we can get reacquainted.”
“I can't,” I jerked a thumb at Aideen. “I've got to protect our witness.”
“Oh right,” he looked over to her. “I heard there was some major stuff going down.”
“I'll stay here with your father,” Aideen offered.
“You want to stay with my father?” I set wide eyes on her. “Just the two of you?”
“Sure,” she shrugged. “He's not going to hurt me, Seren. He knows I'm important.”
“Yeah but he's not going to be pleasant company either,” I scowled.
“He will be if you tell him I'm the one who made it possible for you to go out with Mr. Murdock here,” she smiled.
“You sassy little minx,” I laughed. “Alright then, we'll get you settled first.”
“I already know which room you're in,” Brendan grinned unabashedly. “How about I come by and get you in about an hour?”
“Alright,” I grinned back and I had no idea why. Didn't I say this wasn't going to happen?
Chapter Ten
Aideen had been right. Dad was so thrilled by the idea of me going on a date with Brendan that he started treating Aideen like she was a long lost sister and not an evil, murdering fairy. It was a shocking turn about for him but one that gave me some hope. If he loved me more than he hated the fey, then he wasn't entirely lost.
I know that sounds obvious, that no one should hate anything more than they love their daughter, but you just don't understand hatred if you think that. I had been just as consumed as he was and I can honestly say that love could not have swayed me from my vengeance. I would have understood and even supported my father for hating the fey more than he loved me back then. Now, however, after exile in paradise and with the addition of Aideen's crucial information, I was slowly letting go of my blind rage. Though it was being replaced with a new type of anger, one colder and more devious but which also left room for reason. It made no sense to hate an entire race for the act of one fairy. So I would focus my anger and condense it into a blade which I would use to give my mother justice.
See, I was doing much better now.
“No discussing that thing about the beasts and their masters,” I whispered to Aideen as I headed to the door of our suite to answer Brendan's knock. I didn't want her mentioning anything about the pukas to Dad.
“Beasts?” She frowned and then her face cleared. “Oh, right, no beastly talks. You got it.”
“Thanks. I need to find a gentle way to tell him,” I glanced over to where my father was rushing out of his bedroom.
“Is that him?” My father asked with a grin. It was the happiest I'd seen him in years.
“I think so,” I rolled my eyes and opened the door to find Brendan standing there... looking unbelievably delicious in a pair of worn jeans and a dark green dress shirt. The top two buttons were undone, showing a glimpse of tanned skin with a sprinkling of hair. I wasn't a big fan of hairy chests but it looked good on him, enough so that I was starting to have hopes for the evening.
“Hey, Seren, you ready?” He asked and then his eyes went wide when he saw the little black dress I was wearing. His gaze skimmed down my legs to the heels Aideen had transformed and he blinked slowly before returning his attention to my face. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks,” I grinned and glanced over to see Aideen smiling smugly.
“Extinguisher Sloane,” he held out a large hand to Dad, who rushed forward to shake it. “I'll have her back before dawn.”
“Don't worry about it, Son,” Dad beamed and I groaned.
“He's not your son,” I groaned.
“Not yet,” Dad winked at me.
“I'll try my best, Sir but your daughter is quite formidable,” Brendan laughed.
“You're telling me,” my father rolled his eyes and I realized that I must have picked up the habit from him. Great, and I probably looked just as obnoxious when I did it.
“Take care of Aideen,” I admonished him.
“Yes, dear,” he intoned like a harassed husband as he shoved us out the door. “Don't come back until you're engaged.” The door slammed behind us.
“So no pressure there,” I grimaced at Brendan and he chuckled.
“At least I won't have to worry about convincing your father that I'd make a good son-in-law,” he led me through the hallways and took us up in the elevator.
We exited the Council House and went down the steps to the curb, where a group of young Extinguishers were waiting besides a sleek, black limousine. I raised my brows at that and gave Brendan a look.
“It wasn't my idea,” he held up his hands.
“It was mine!” A beautiful redhead launched herself at me.
“Abby!” I shouted in surprise as I caught her.
“Brendan told me about his little crush and I may have talked him into a bigger one,” my old friend grinned as she pulled out of the hug.
Abby had gone to school with us but she had also attended regular, human high school with me. Brendan had been sent somewhere else since he lived in a different district. So Abby and I had known each other until graduation and had kept in touch... right up until my mom's death when revenge became more important than friendship.
“You tricksy, tricksy hobbit,” I teased her and she laughed. “Believe nothing this woman tells you,” I shot back at Brendan. “She is not to be trusted.”
“Funny,” Brendan grinned as he opened the limo's door for me. “She said the same thing about you.”
“Oh, well in that case,” I shrugged. “It's all true.” I laughed along with Abby but instead of getting into the limo, she pulled me over to meet the rest of the group.
“This is Claudine,” she waved to a tiny woman with a fashionista, blonde bob. “Matthew,” a swarthy, cookie-cutter example of Extinguisher stock. “And my boyfriend, Jared,” as beautiful as the rest but with dark, serious eyes that gave me pause.
“Hey, everyone,” I nodded, looking quickly away from Jared's intense stare.
They all gave me warm welcomes and then we piled into the car. It was spacious and had a stocked bar so we stretched out over the leather seats, dividing into couples before we started drinking. Except for Abigail, who sat her perfect butt right beside mine and wrapped an arm around my shoulders.
“I've missed you so much,” she sighed. “How dare you leave me to go bask in Hawaiian sunshine all day while I'm here chasing after errant fairies and freezing in the cold breeze coming off the bay?”
“Hawaii is gorgeous,” I nodded, “but boring. So very boring.”
“What about the beach?” Claudine asked.
“Have you seen my skin?” I held out one pale arm. “I'm like a vampire.” Then I frowned as I remembered the Dracula comment I'd made about Tiernan. Yeah, people in glass houses definitely shouldn't sleep naked. Or something like that.
“Oh, I hunted one of those last week,” Matthew chuckled as he slid an arm around Claudine's shoulder.
“Not exactly humorous,” Jared frowned at Matthew. “That baobhan-sith killed four men before we caught her.”
“Matt didn't mean to make light of it,” Abby patted Jared's knee.
“She killed four men?” I leaned forward to speak to Jared. “How did she get away with so many?”
“She tore up the bodies afterward,” Jared shook his head as he leaned forward too. “Then she dumped them in the bay. We were only notified when the parts started to wash up on the shore and then we had to use a psychometrist to discover what had happened.”
“Damn, I wouldn't want that job,” I whispered. “First you have to touch all those torn up bits and then you have to relive what happened to them.”
“Yeah, that's why they get paid so much,” Jared shrugged.
“More than us?” Abby asked him and he nodded. She frowned.
“I wonder how many other kills we've missed because of something like that,” I slid my gaze back to Jared.
“That's what I said,” he nodded to me.
“Downers,” Claudine sighed. “We're not talking shop tonight.”
Jared and I exchanged an annoyed look and we both sat back against the leather cushions with matching sounds of irritation. So I guess his intensity was intimidating only because it reminded me of myself. I huffed a little laugh at that thought as Brendan's arm slid up on the seat behind me. I gave him a pointed look but he only smiled and left his arm where it was. I didn't like that too much. He should have taken the hint and eased off. That's what a gentleman would have done, right? He may be a trained Extinguisher but that wasn't an excuse to act like a creep. So I sat forward stiffly and edged closer to Abby under the premise of refreshing my drink.
Abby gave me a discerning look, glanced over at Brendan, and then slid her own arm around my shoulder to ease me even closer to her. “We're going to have so much fun tonight,” she said gaily as she cast a reproving look at Brendan. “No matter what.”
A shiver rolled down my spine like a mischievous ice cube. Words like that had a way of conjuring challenges. The Universe, like a fairy, loves to give you exactly what you ask for.
Chapter Eleven
The club was down a back alley and through an unmarked metal door. Unmarked to the casual observer that is. For all of us with clairvoyance, there was a large sign which read: Lights Out. I grinned at the obvious play on our title and glanced at Abby, who fidgeted with excitement beside me, like a puppy waiting at the door for his daily walk. We'd been to this club once before, when we were both eighteen and had just given our vows to become Extinguishers. It had been a crazy, tequila-soaked night filled with debauchery and I was both scared of and hoping for a repeat.
Brendan rapped on the door sharply and it was only a few moments before it swung open to reveal a large Irish man in your basic bouncer attire; black muscle T and black jeans. He looked us all up and down, then stepped aside. Abby grinned wider at me and took my hand as we went in. I glanced back at Brendan but he seemed to have learned his lesson from his failure in the limo and had adjusted his behavior. He waved me on with a magnanimous smile.
Inside, there was a small antechamber with a comfy chair, several TVs showing scenes from both inside and outside the club, and a window which looked out onto the club. The bouncer opened a door set into the wall beside the window and thumping bass slapped me in the eardrums. I cringed a little but smiled through the pain as Abby drug me inside with her. I wondered briefly if I'd still be able to hear in the morning.
The club was dark in the way of most nightclubs, a sort of mysterious murk that allows for flashing lights to illuminate intriguing pieces of people or objects. You end up forming images in your mind far more enticing than the reality. There was a light fog lurking around the floor, probably the result of a machine and not anything as wonderful as magic, and there was a wide black stage at the far end which seemed to float above the fog. It was the most brightly lit area in the room.
On the stage were gyrating musicians and before them, the foggy dance floor was full of gyrating Extinguishers. Yep, all of them were Extinguishers. I may have mentioned this before but we're a secretive group who hates to stray outside of our community. Not even for some R and R. If you're an Extinguisher, you only dance with other Extinguishers because sometimes dancing and drinking can lead to sex. Sex especially is only indulged in with other Extinguishers, just in case your indiscretion results in offspring. We can't have any powerful babies running amok outside the families. Fortunately, we're a very large group and a very fertile one, so we keep getting larger. It hasn't been a case of kissing cousins for quite some time now.
We found a table on the outskirts of the dance floor and ordered some drinks. Abby was still displaying puppy-like zeal, hopping up and down in her seat, raring to go, but Jared just relaxed back into his chair with a slide which clearly said he was there to stay. Brendan looked over to me with a raised brow.
“I'm good,” I looked at Abby. “Why don't you take Abby out to dance and I'll wait here with Jared?”
“Really?” Brendan lifted his brows. “I seem to remember a school dance where you never left the floor.”
“Yeah, I was thirteen and didn't care if I made a fool out of myself,” I chuckled. “I think I flailed about more than danced and my moves haven't improved much since then.”
“Your moves were good enough for me to remember them,” Brendan grinned.
“Good, hold onto that memory,” I grinned back, “because that's all you're going to get.”
“I'm coming back for you when they play a slow song,” Brendan warned.
“Fine,” I huffed.
“You're sure you're okay with me leaving you here?” Brendan cocked his head at me.
“As long as Jared is cool with you dancing with his girl?” I looked over to Abby's boyfriend.
“I'm fine,” Jared nudged Abby. “Go on, honey, I know you want to dance.”
“Yay!” Abby jumped up and tugged on Brendan's arm. “Come on, come on!”
Brendan laughed and let her drag him onto the floor. I smiled as I watched them slide into a clear space and Abby's red hair started swinging around with her wacky dance moves. Evidently she still didn't care about people's opinion of her. I kind of envied that.
“Dancing isn't your thing either?” Jared asked me as Claudine and Matthew followed Abby and Brendan to the dance floor.
“Not really,” I admitted. “I can do the slow sway like no one's business though.”
“Me too,” Jared chuckled. “You wanna see?” He sat up and barely moved side to side in his seat.
“Nice,” I shared a quick fist-pound with him and then sat back as the waitress deposited our drinks.
“Abby said you were pretty wild but you seem rather calm to me,” he observed.
“I was more wild before...” I frowned and took a sip of my drink.
“Yeah, I heard,” he grimaced and took a sip as well. “Sorry about that.”
“Thanks,” I looked away awkwardly and he let me because he was a guy and he understood that you didn't push someone when they were reliving trauma.
“Good thing I'm such a great conversationalist,” he joked and I jerked my gaze back to him to find him grinning apologetically.
“Yeah, good thing,” I laughed a little. “Maybe we should talk about your relationship with my friend next.”
“Ow,” he held a hand to his chest. “That was unfair.”
“Yeah,” I laughed, “but seriously,” I pointed at him. “What are your intentions with Abigail?”
“Alright, Mommy,” he held up his hands in surrender. “Come on, what are anyone's intentions? We're Extinguishers, I intend to marry her and have lots of baby Extinguishers. It's part of our job. I think it's even in the contract.”
“Yeah,” I sighed, my good mood ruined.
“Hey,” he hit my shoulder with his fist. “It's not like it's a hardship. Look around, we're not exactly ugly people and we're not hurting for choices either.”
“No, I know,” I took another swig of my rum and coke. “We're all fit, we have to be, and most of us are pretty... well... pretty, but it's just the whole required to do it thing.”
“I agree,” he nodded, “I- hey, what the hell's a fairy doing here?”
I followed Jared's stare over to the bar, where a familiar fey face was staring right back at me. As if it had been doing so for quite awhile. My jaw dropped as I unwittingly got to my feet and began walking towards Tiernan.
“What are you doing?” Jared's voice stopped me before I got too far.
“My job,” I called back to him as I kept walking. “I'm keeping the peace.”
I wound through the throng, several of whom
were staring aggressively at the fairy Count who was leaning so casually against their bar. Like he belonged. No, like he owned the damn place. I felt my face settle into harsh lines as I stepped before him and crossed my arms.
“Explain your presence,” I demanded.
“I was raised by courtiers,” he shrugged. “I can't help having a dignified air. I apologize if I don't blend in better.”
“I mean explain your presence here,” I snapped. “Why are you standing here, right now, in an Extinguisher bar?”
“I'm here for you,” he said as his gaze wandered over my ensemble appreciatively. “Wasn't my staring obvious enough?”
“Well yeah,” I frowned, my arms slipping down in confusion. “But why? What do you want?”
“I have a theory I'd like to share with you but I had reservations of revealing it to the others,” he leaned forward so I could hear him above the music.
“Then why didn't you tell me when I was back at the Council House? Why follow me here?” I found myself leaning closer to him too. “How did you even get in here?”
“They could hardly deny entrance to a member of the Wild Hunt,” Tiernan scoffed. “And I couldn't find a moment alone with you at the Council House. I was hoping to do so here.”
“You call this alone?” I looked around and winced when I saw the accusing stares of my fellow Extinguishers.
We were taught to like fairies, protect them and our truce, but that didn't mean we wanted them in our club, ruining our fun time and talking with our women. At least that's what the looks I was getting conveyed. Tiernan was about to get his ass kicked, Lord of the Wild Hunt or not.
“Come on, you're about to get jumped by an angry Extinguisher mob,” I grabbed his hand and pulled him out onto the dance floor, casting challenging looks and combative barbs around me as we went. “That's right, he's with me. Wanna take a picture?” Stares lost their aggression under my own antagonism and most of them looked away. “Just a Lord of the Hunt, people, nothing to see here.”
