by Aya DeAniege
“Yes, that’s the point of asking,” I said as I leaned closer.
“Set the scene,” Quin snapped from the front seat.
Grumbling, I raised the tablet.
“Grumpy McGrumpy pants wouldn’t let me eat anyone.”
“Silently,” Quin said. “Or you will experience road rash.”
Grumbling again, I focused on the tablet.
Taking Death in had been a huge risk. Frankly, I should have been possessed still.
Stuff and things, and there are little flashbacks.
Did… did the ground have hands? Did I eat someone? My mouth tasted like blood, but not the way it usually tasted when I was done eating. No, it tasted like blood but different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on how that was different, but I strongly suspected that it had something to do with why my stomach was trying so desperately to heave, but wouldn’t toss out the contents that were causing the problem.
It was difficult to piece it all together. For a while there, I was completely gone. I’m not entirely certain when I finally came back to myself. Just that I was in the car, with the tablet in my hands. I blinked at the tablet, then up at the back of the passenger seat.
“The witch is dead,” I squeaked out.
“Oh good, you’re back,” Quin said.
“The witch is dead and I haven’t eaten all night, and there’s a hole in my side.”
“You need to keep calm,” Balor said.
I leaned forward, fingers sliding into Quin’s hair as I sighed out.
“I’m hungry.”
I didn’t call him anything, I didn’t beg for it. I knew in private he might make me beg, but I still didn’t know what he wanted in public. So I didn’t beg, in case that would damage his image or something. I tried not to whine out, but I couldn’t keep the sad puppy dog tone from my voice, or the longing, the need to sate that hunger.
“Pull over.”
“We’re going to be late.”
“Balor.”
He swore but put on the blinker. Pulling over, he looked at Quin, then shook his head and got out of the car. Troy muttered something and also got out.
“Get up here,” Quin growled.
Getting up front wasn’t easy, but I made it into the driver’s seat. Quin frowned at me.
“You can’t drive.”
“I can, just not legally.”
“Cute, but what exactly are you planning on doing over there?”
“I just, you know. Maybe you don’t want anything on your pants?”
He looked down, then looked at me and arched an eyebrow. So I looked down and saw the marks on his knees, the blood on his clothing.
“Okay, you need to change.”
“Don’t need to worry about new stains.”
I leaned over and kissed his cheek. Quin turned, and we stared at one another for a moment. Then he reached up, hand slipping up my jaw, and he pulled me close. His tongue darted over my lips, then delved between them. We kissed deeply.
Suddenly he pulled away.
“Your bandage has taken a lot of movement. You probably shouldn’t bend like that.”
I slipped across the seat, smacking the steering wheel several times, even kicking the horn for a second. The blast of sound startled me, and somehow I slipped right into his lap.
“It’s just the horn,” he said.
“Right,” I said quietly. “Just a horn.”
“What did you think it was?”
I gave myself a shake and straightened. “Doesn’t matter, it’s not here anymore.”
I kissed him again, my fingers entangling in his hair. His hands roamed down my back, stroking my sides. Those hands worked up under my shirt, reaching until they stroked skin, above the bandage.
As I reached for my pants, I realized the problem.
“How do I get these off?” I asked.
“That’s your problem.”
Grumbling, I struggled with my pants and underwear, just as one unit, I didn’t want to waste time getting one off and then fighting with the second.
I swore and tossed my hands into the air.
“Backseat.”
“Nope, here.”
I had my pants and underwear caught on my hips, almost past them, and my fingers locked around the fabric. My head was up against the roof of the car and cocked to the side.
“Are you serious right now?”
His hand slipped between my legs, probing as I shuddered and lowered myself against his hand. He kissed me again, tongue delving deeply as I moaned.
Just as quickly as his hand had appeared, it withdrew. He lifted his fingers to his mouth, then licked with just the tip of his tongue. He watched me as he licked once more as if gauging my reaction.
When he moved his hand toward me slightly, I obediently leaned forward and licked the side of it. Then I leaned forward and kissed him again.
Breaking it off, I shook my head. “I can’t get these off and do that, hold on.”
I slipped into the driver’s seat and glanced out the window.
We were parked on a street that wasn’t exactly quiet. As I looked, a car passed us, probably a shift worker off for a morning of work. Our saving grace was the darkness outside. No one could see into the vehicle unless we turned on the light, or if a line was directed into the car itself.
I looked up and down the road, just to make certain there wasn’t someone standing about, watching the car, then I slipped off my pants.
“Are you worried we’ll be charged with indecency?” Quin asked.
“Maybe a little,” I said, climbing into his lap. “They do know we’re vampires.”
“They don’t have body cameras. We could just lie. Act real drunk. Balor’s got the keys. He’d just walk around the corner and say he went back for something then exclaim in surprise at what we’re doing.”
I made a sound and reached for his pants. “Are you going to reassure me every time we do something?”
“No, just while we’re in your home city,” he said, wrapping his arms around me.
I slipped his zipper down and boldly reached inside.
He hadn’t worn underwear that night. No idea why, as he usually did. I almost asked him about that, but then bit my bottom lip instead.
“Something about going without underwear is reassuring,” he said. “Like I own everyone. Little uncomfortable bouncing about while running, I admit, but worth it.”
I wrapped my hand around him. “I’ve got boobs. I know that feeling. Thankfully they can’t come up and smack me in the face, but sometimes I feel like it.”
“They look like they’d pack quite a punch if one caught you in the eye,” he murmured, hands roving down to grasp my backside. “But it’d be such a silky, soft sort of hit. One I wouldn’t mind experiencing.”
I settled into his lap, considering him for a moment. Again, I almost asked a question, but I realized it was a stupid one. Beyond stupid, really.
Every time we had sex, I tried to ask if he had a condom. Old habits, I suppose.
I raised myself up slowly and reached between us as he slipped himself out of his pants. Stroking the side of his silken heat, I considered him.
I wanted to tease and taunt him. To watch his reaction as I stroked him.
In Balor’s car, probably isn’t the time for that.
Adjusting, I leaned forward and kissed him as I lowered, taking him into me. He made a little sound against my lips. It was almost surprising as his arms wrapped around me, holding me still for a moment.
Breaking off the kiss, I asked, “Problem?”
“That feels like a new sensation,” he said through gritted teeth. “I think being turned mortal for those few moments made me a virgin again.”
“Wait. Mortal?”
“Later,” he said. “I need to focus. Oh, wow, you feel, absolutely amazing.”
I smiled and settled my hands on his shoulders. As he bit his lip, I raised myself up, then lowered slowly. It was a motion that I knew he apprec
iated from our week together.
His breath shuddered out of him. Quin studied me with half-closed eyes, mouth open just slightly.
“Do that again,” he moaned out.
I obliged him, continuing to move even as he tried to hold me still. The sensation of nearly stilled motion, of him deep inside me, sent a trembling through my limbs. I wanted a faster pace but settled for rocking against him as his fingers dug into my back.
“I’m going to—”
“Come for me, Quin.”
His hands shifted to my hips, guiding me up and then down quickly. Buried deep inside me, his head pressed against the crook of my neck. He moaned.
A moment later, that spark flooded through my body. My orgasm caught me off guard, sending spots across my vision as I clung tightly to him.
We sat like that for some time, him panting and me wishing the shudders would stop. It was hard, once I got started, to stop, we had found. As long as he was inside of me, little spasms would follow.
Quin lifted me and settled me to back on his lap.
He captured my lips, tongue remaining firmly in his mouth. It was a chaste, little something that carried so much promise.
“Tomorrow night,” I said, shaking a finger at him.
“Put your pants back on,” he growled.
I shifted into the driver’s seat and struggled to get my pants back on. Somehow that was more difficult than getting them off, and I ended up smacking the steering wheel again, but thankfully this time the horn didn’t go off.
“How long has Banshee been around?” he asked.
“Apparently since Death rode me last,” I said. “She kind of showed up today. This whole split personality thing is annoying. And a little awkward. But Death made himself a little pocket in my mind, and now it’s been filled by her. I kind of thought after he rode me again, he’d end up wiping her out, since he needed someplace to stay.”
“And you decided, on your own, that taking on Death was a good thing?”
“No, Banshee and I decided. It was the only way. Name another way.”
“Uh, by not taking her the key to the afterworld,” Quin said. “By waiting for the tool, like a smart person.”
“The tool doesn’t work without Death. There’s a redundant program, no wait, a backup program, but something about it can’t work unless a witch wields it because until the new program wakes up, magic is necessary for it to activate. So, one way or another, Death was getting involved.”
“And you decided to take him on?”
“Death was witch magic,” I said. “To kill, he’d walk on over to the afterworld with the soul. It’s bad ass if you ask me.”
“If you’re immune to witch magic, how’d he get in?”
“The blood was wearing off. I figured he would get in for a couple of minutes, then kind of melt away, you know, since he couldn’t get into Bau either. But apparently, once it wears off, it, uh, it’s like it reacts to the bigger threat. Which was the mace and all it could do. While holding the mace, Death still had claws in me. By removing the mace, he began to slip away, I think. He’s not here, for certain.”
“No one can recognize Death in a body unless he gives himself away.”
“I’m pretty certain he got stuck in the afterworld. Because that thing broke some stuff. I think… I think I died with him. I think Banshee pulled me back.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, Banshee has no power and is too young to do anything. We need to nip that in the bud before it gets out of hand.”
“I don’t think she’s a danger to anyone.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“She saved my life!”
“It is my decision to make, not yours.”
“She still saved me.”
“And called Balor a leprechaun. What is sexual about a leprechaun?”
“I have a thing for Irish,” I said with a little head nod. “Especially with mutton chops. Only men that I think look good with those things.”
“But a leprechaun?”
“He’s a redhead. With the accent. Driving a green car?”
“It’s mystachrome, thank you very much,” Balor snapped as he opened the driver’s side door. “And I’m not a leprechaun, lassie, ye’d best remember that.”
“Remember how I told you he was king of vampires in Ireland?” Quin asked. “He wasn’t king because he has a pretty face.”
“Get in the backseat, where you belong,” Balor snapped at me.
“You belong in the backseat,” I muttered.
He grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked my head back, glaring at me as I reached for his wrist to ease the strain on my scalp. We both glared at one another. His mouth curled up in a snarl.
“How about I rip out your throat, and we see how snotty you can be without your vocal cords?”
“Balor, we need her breathing,” Quin said. “And it would be difficult to explain on our trip, don’t you think?”
Balor muttered a curse and flung my head downward. The motion changed the balance in my body, and I went ass over head, tumbling to the road as I slipped out of the car. With a kick to my backside, Balor toppled me over again.
I scrambled to get out of the way, and moved around the vehicle, climbing in the backseat as Troy got in the other side.
“Some thanks for saving the world would have been nice,” I snapped at the two Makers.
Quin turned in his seat. “Thank you for saving the world. But you ever do something so stupid again without telling me what you’re doing, you won’t be saving it a third time.”
Balor slammed the door, then rolled down the window. “Thank goodness you were quick about it.”
“Banshee might be like Wraith,” Quin said.
“It’s a new thing, it could also slide back to where it belongs,” Balor said. “What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking we might want to do a trek before heading home. Might be good, down and dirty survival walk. I think after all this, my Helen isn’t really here at the moment, and I want her back. I miss my Helen.”
I pouted and looked out the window.
“Sometimes you do need to bring them to the point of the first guilt,” Balor said. “If you don’t, you could end up with one like Margaret.”
“You have any experience with that?”
Balor shrugged. “It’s the same as breaking anyone. A trek might be good, means no humans which means no technology. Everywhere we go, even home, had technology and Troy with his power? I think it’d be good. He hasn’t exactly shut off yet because it’s everywhere.”
“Could just be electronic signals or impulses,” I said. “Humans are basically just a bunch of sparks held together in organic matter.”
“You mean I could be a puppet master?” Troy asked, then he did a little fist pump. “Useful power!”
“How is that useful?” Balor asked.
“You can use an electric pulse to stop hearts,” I said. “Kill people quick.”
“Or to black out an area when you need to,” Troy said with a grin. “EMPs are nothing to mess around with. They can seriously harm a technologically advanced country.”
“Well, we’d have to get you away from technology to find out,” Quin said. “It’s possible. There’s the northern part of Russia, even northern Canada.”
“I think I’m done with cold for a while,” Balor said.
“Deserts, jungles, uninhabited islands,” I countered.
“No islands,” Quin said. “But there is one place. One little, let’s say mini game we can play while we do our trek. It’ll be fun.”
“Fun as in mini golf?” Troy asked. “Or fun as in screaming and blood and pain?”
Quin considered for a long moment. “Both,” he said finally.
“So, mini golf for them, and pain and screaming for us,” I said to Troy.
Grumbling, I pulled out my phone and turned airplane mode off. There was a moment of nothing, and then it started vibrating with notifications.<
br />
“Who is Niri?” I asked.
“No idea,” Quin said.
“This is Niri, got your number from Lucrecia. Tell Quin I’m on my way with the tool he needs for the fix.”
Balor shook his head as he started the car. “I’ve never met a Niri before. I’ve met a lot of the female vampires.”
“Text back: who dis?” Quin said.
“Seriously?” I asked. “That’s not polite at all.”
“Do it.”
Grumbling yet again, I sent off the text. Then I began going through the other messages.
“What else did you receive?” Quin asked.
“A bunch of stuff from my mother trying to guilt me about the wolves. Then some texts from the wolves asking if they can eat my parents.
“I thought you said eating dead humans isn’t a thing?”
“It’s not. It’s an expression of annoyance like threatening to kill someone.”
“Oh, fun.”
My phone beeped. I pulled up the message.
“Your mother, who else would be bringing you tools?” As I read that out, another message popped up. “Dumbass.”
Quin held his hand back, so I reached up and placed my phone into it. He made a call as the rest of us sat silently.
“Dude, the problem is fixed, you didn’t know? What do you mean, you’re kind of broken? Half your brain? In a literal sense or figurative? Well, because. You have migraines sometimes. Literally? Damn, that sucks. Too bad. Yeah, no, that’s fixed. Look, we should probably talk in person, but…” Quin was silent for a while. “Yeah, that’s a nifty new trick you picked up. Nice. Meet me at home? Great, I have someone I want you to meet. No, not her. Banshee. Yeah, so that happened. It’s complicated. We’re thinking about taking a walk under the stars, you know, de-stress a little, look for something sparkly. That kind of thing. Uh, I dunno, that depends on how long she wants to walk for. Can’t go home if she’s still upset, you know. Yeah, okay, I’ll see you there.”
He handed the phone back as Balor pulled to a stop outside of a building.
“Well?” Balor asked.
“You heard the lady,” Quin said.
“We should feed Troy, at least. His night was taxing.”
“Seriously?” I demanded. “Troy’s night was taxing?”
“Troy, get a bag from the trunk for yourself,” Quin said.
