Blood taking was necessary. Vampys needed to eat, right? It's not like they had a choice of what to sup for dinner. And, most of them didn't kill. I chose to believe in vampires dining as nature intended, snacking from their chosen prey and walking away. Never had I envisioned this act of brutal violence.
With shaky knees, I sat down on the floor, my back to two walls.
Numbly, I watched the evil man slowly crumple while Ducky's color turned from pale to pink. His strength seemed to escalate as he handled the body effortlessly. A single trickle of blood slid down the man's neck. White teeth stained in red flashed, repositioned, and sank deep once more.
For the first time since I'd really entered the Enforcer helper profession, I knew terrorizing fear. A vampire stood before me in all his capabilities. The thought hit home that it could just as easily be me providing Ducky's much needed sustenance, resulting in stunned clarity and regrets for past misgivings. How many times had I teased and tormented Ducky? Called him names? How many times had I flirted with certain brutal death in doing so? I clutched my knees to my chest, trembling.
"Shyanne?" I glanced up at the sound of my name. "Shy?" Ducky squatted down in front of me. He looked as refined and clean as ever. You couldn't tell seconds ago he'd battled for his life. Mr Elegance once more.
His gaze found mine. "You okay, Princess?"
I managed a weak nod. Long moments of silence passed.
He released a sigh. "Scared of me now?" His brow arched up.
Scared? Me? Well, duh, yeah! My gauging of his brain power went down another notch.
"You know…" He paused, obviously judging his words. "If I knew that would get you to quit that incessant moronic yapping, I would have done that hours ago on the boat."
Moronic? Oh, no. He didn't just call me a moron, did he? After all I had been through? I don't think so. Finding my voice, I rasped out, "I'll have you know, I'm cute and innocent and sweet and intelligent." I missed sounding like a haughty queen, but a small bit of spirit came through fairly well despite the nervous squeak.
He grinned at me. "I'll give you two of the four."
Frowning, I looked at him. "Which two?"
"Not telling." He chuckled, stood back up, and offered a hand down to me. In mid-reach, a loud belch popped out from his throat. He grinned wryly, using his free hand to thump himself in the chest. "Tastes like chicken."
"That's disgusting." I wrinkled my nose, but slowly took his larger hand, letting him pull me to my feet beside him. Dusting off my pants bottom, I grasped my wits tightly and pulled them together with sheer will power. Hysterics simply had to wait.
We headed back out the door, Ducky peeking out before pulling me along behind him. Striding into the center of the warehouse, we paused.
"Where's Meat?" I asked, not seeing him in the faded light.
"On his way." Ducky replied, keeping hold on my hand.
Shifting my weight, I waited. "Are you okay?"
He nodded.
"And Meat?"
A low rumble sounded from behind me. "I've been better." Meat stepped away from the shadows, looking like he'd barely survived five rounds with Muhammad Ali.
"Damn. You got your ass kicked, didn't you?" Ducky gestured toward Meat.
Meat's eyes flashed. "I'm still alive. More than I can say for the others."
I scanned his body. Blood soaked one arm, his dark hair looked tousled, and he seemed to step gingerly with his left foot. His face spoke of hot adrenaline still coursing through his body. Anyone dumb enough to try to corner or challenge him now would be signing their death warrant, injured or not. Like a wounded animal, he appeared more dangerous than ever, despite the battle wounds.
Poor guy. Guilt sat heavily on my shoulders. Healing him would be the proper and nice thing to do for your pre-friend. All good deeds deserved a reward, too. Maybe I could get a free lap dance later for the service. Yummy. Standing just a hair behind Ducky, I whispered, "I can heal you." Meat's eyes met mine. Ducky turned and stared down at me.
Healing was another rare feature turning up in the human population. Supposedly, it also existed in myth like the vampires and shapeshifters of centuries back. Witches, the term given to those that possessed the ability way back when, lived but quietly so. History showed many accounts where the simple label signed a death warrant by burning at the stake. Needless to say, those with special skills kept their mouths shut and practiced under strict secrecy until fairly recently. Luckily, the world had become a less judgmental place.
"You didn't mention that on the boat as an asset," Ducky declared.
"Yeah, well. You didn't believe my teleportation. I didn't think that talent would be considered an asset in this little adventure." My voice grew a bit stronger. "And, you didn't ask."
"We've still not seen proof you can teleport." Meat huffed as he stepped toward the opening of the warehouse.
I followed, grabbing his uninjured arm. "I can do this. Let me." I couldn't stand seeing the pain crossing his face. Not when I could do something about it.
He paused and regarded me intently. "I'm in no condition to argue."
"Good. Sit down and this won't take a jiffy." I sounded a whole lot more confident than I felt.
The ability had remained latent until suddenly emerging in my late teens, when I'd realized that by touch, I could help ease the aches and pains of my elderly grandmother. She'd taken me in to raise after my parents were killed in a car wreck just before my seventh birthday. Always in poor health, she'd made the best life for us that she could despite little income and a tiny one bedroom apartment, which we shared until she passed away the summer after I graduated high school, leaving me alone in the world.
It had been years since I'd healed more than skinned knees and paper cuts. But, they had put their lives on the line and I had done nothing. Healing wounds suffered trying to free me seemed like the least I could do. Don't forget the possibility of a kitty lap dance down the road. I could hear the thump of "Pour Some Sugar on Me" already.
As Meat lowered his considerable weight to the floor, I moved in, lightly placing my hands on his bad arm. Focusing intently, I concentrated on weaving the tissues together, sealing off bleeding, and wiping out potential infection. I had no idea how it worked and never entered formal training. Basically, I simply gathered heat and energy and directed both toward the wound. Magic did the rest. I could fix minor issues; big stuff really needed someone more learned and powerful than me. Unfortunately, in this case, no elderly white-haired man carrying a black bag entered the room for a house call.
Ducky softly inquired about what transpired while I worked, but I tuned out everything. I didn't really want to know the gory details, anyway.
A couple minutes later, I sat back. Tired and worn out, I glanced up at the liger. "Hopefully that will help until your body can do the rest."
He rotated his shoulder, checked over his arm, and then stood, testing out the left foot before shooting me a grin. "Thanks."
I nodded back. Looking around, I sought out the women. "Where are the others?"
"Outside with the police and authorities of El Salvador."
Ducky and I stared at Meat. He shrugged. "Anonymous tip, I guess."
"What about…"
"Taken care of," Meat interrupted. Alpha kitty flexing his control muscle again. I barely resisted rolling my eyes. Who could forget this was all his harebrained plan, however screwy and ill conceived?
"Any suggestions on getting home in the next hour before I turn into a crispy fried vampire?"
Meat pointed to me. "She can teleport us."
Ducky's mouth dropped open as he stared at Meat like he had lost what few marbles he'd ever possessed. "Oh, hell no." He looked down at me, then back to the liger. "Why can't you teleport us?"
Meat slumped. "I'm too weak. Getting shot does that to a guy, you know."
I certainly didn't know much of anything, but I did know this. If Meat wanted to do anything, from teleporting to participating i
n a pole dance marathon, to taking on the entire Foreign Legion, he could do it at this moment. And good luck to anyone that would try to stop him. Alpha to the core.
Ducky glanced from Meat to me and back again. "What if we end up in the middle of the ocean?"
"You pray she can actually speak shark."
Oh, jeez. What a vote of confidence. Nice to know that I'm the very last option. "I can get us back." So, I sounded a bit defensive. I've had a couple of bad days. Top it all with PMS and I was due for a bit of angst.
Ducky sighed. "You're positive?"
With a nod, I grabbed his hand and yanked him toward Meat. "Yep." Holding them both, I smiled. "I am woman, hear me roar."
I'm sure Meat gave an eye roll. Ducky just groaned. Like I cared. I was in true hero form.
Closing my eyes, I focused. Clicking my pink tennis shoe heels together three times, I spoke. "There's no place like home. There's no place like home."
"What the hell…?"
CHAPTER 6
"Where the hell are we?" Meat asked, glancing around. Empty grassland surrounded us.
I spotted a sign and pointed.
Ducky read the billboard. "Welcome to effing Kansas." He sneered in disgust.
I blinked. "That's not what it says!" Hands on hips, I commented on the obvious. One flash of those fangs combined with a growl and my mouth slapped shut.
Meat shook his head. "Let me guess. It was the 'There's no place like home'?"
Shrugging, I opted to hold my defense.
Ducky sighed. "Just great. I have forty-seven minutes until I fry and I've landed in bum effing Kansas."
He jumped on the fast track to cranky. Oddly enough, I figured that once he fed, he would mellow. Wrong. Picky, picky, picky. I get them back to the US before dawn and they still aren't satisfied. A hero's work is never done.
Without a blink, I grabbed them both, and flashed once more.
Opening my eyes, my mouth dropped open. An ancient man stood before us, hands at his groin, obviously busily relieving himself into the urinal.
"Not this place again."
I didn't realize I muttered that aloud until Meat looked down at me with an arched eyebrow. "You come here often?"
Ducky stared, blinked, and cussed under his breath. "I so didn't need to see this. Damn. Now this image will be burned into my head."
Nodding, I agreed. "Yeah, I know. The good news is I know an exceptional therapist, if you would like her number." His frown deepened.
The old man must have finished because his cracking voice broke across the room. "Wanna see what I have, dearie?" His grin widened as he inched his walker, complete with tennis balls on the front feet, closer at a slow, but steady pace.
"Oh, good grief." I shook my head. "Ummm. No thanks."
Meat covered a chuckle with a loud cough, his upper chest shook from the effort to contain his amusement. Ducky watched the man with a look of incredulous derision.
Not the least bit deterred, the elderly geezer paused long enough to unzip his pants and let them fall to his ankles. "Whatcha think of this?" His voice croaked with pride.
I choked. Ducky swore and mumbled something about eating the man to put us out of our misery. Meat lost control and cracked up.
This was so wrong. No matter how many therapy sessions, the little wrinkled up old man with his wrinkled up penis would haunt me. Covering my eyes, I prayed the exhibitionist would take the hint and leave. Peeking through my fingers, I found that not to be the case, unfortunately. He just stared at us, grinned wide enough to show off his three remaining teeth, and reached down to fondle himself.
Ducky spun around, glaring down at me. Meat managed to tear his gaze from the sexual performance in front of us to address me. "You never fail to entertain."
Blushing furiously, I looked anywhere but at the old man participating in his version of self-love. "Do you think we can maybe leave before"—I glanced back to the man—"the culmination of the deed?"
At this point, teleportation ranked as the safest and fastest escape maneuver. Even if the guy told all his other nursing home friends we were there and then we vanished, I'm not sure anyone would believe him. The staff would probably chalk it down to dementia. His friends were probably also slightly confused and saw similar things weekly.
I grabbed both men and focused once more. "I swear if you don't get it right this time…" Ducky's voice trailed off as we vanished once more.
Tires squealed and horns blared.
"Shit!" Meat jumped, dragging us along.
Ducky growled. "Live through that near death adventure only to be hit by a car on the return trip. I swear she's jinxed."
We stood on the sidewalk, thanks to Meat's quick reflexes. They both glowered down at me.
"Hey! I got you back, didn't I?" I turned and pointed. "Right outside the Clearwater City Library, no less." My chin went up with pride. I had hit the target. Well, scratch that. Home had been the target. The club a secondary option. But, hey. Beggars can't be choosers. Solid landing and still dark outside, I chalked this leap as a home run. What they didn't know wouldn't hurt them. In all honesty, the library never entered my mind, but no way would I spill such a confession to the two doubting peters beside me. Let them think I stood as the next best thing to Wonder Woman.
"You landed us in the middle of the damn intersection, you idiot!" Meat grumbled.
A torrent of rain dumped out of the sky, drenched us in seconds, while a strong gust nearly blew me off my feet.
"In the middle of a thunderstorm, no less," Ducky added, watching the panicked drivers zip here and there, heading toward destinations of safety.
Okay. Maybe not protégé to Wonder Woman. But surely I still held high enough esteem level with Miss Piggy in their eyes. "Yeah, well…" What does one say to that? I settled for sticking my tongue out at them.
Another gale hit and Meat jerked us through the doors of the nearly empty library, growling and griping the whole time. We were all soaked, clothes clung to our skins as we dripped water on the entryway of the establishment.
"I can teleport," Ducky mimicked in a high pitched taunt.
I glared in his direction. He simply snorted.
Crossing my arms I pouted. "At least I got us to safety."
Meat shook his head. "That's debatable."
Yeah, well. They weren't perfect either. Monsoon-ridden Clearwater City had to top an ocean full of hungry sharks.
"I guess I should call the police and let them know about the local kidnappers."
"Don't bother. I'll take care of it."
I looked from Ducky to him. "But…"
He shrugged. "PI here. It pays to have friends in high places."
"Oh." A nagging question neatly filed away jumped to my attention. "What is the round rubber thingy covering the drain in a urinal?" I tapped my chin, looking up at them. "Why can't you just pee in the toilet?"
They snorted, turned their backs, and strode off without a word.
CHAPTER 7
I pushed my way through the masses of women once more, clinging carefully to my purse, lest a pickpocket spring up and snatch it away. The bouncer must have recognized me as he'd just rolled his eyes when I had appeared at the door earlier. I couldn't fathom why he had reacted in such a manner, since I'd kept my promise last time and didn't touch anything. In fact, I probably should have been commended as one of the best behaved females in the entire room.
Hoping the tiny table stood empty, I headed toward the far wall. If my luck failed, I might just have to give it up for the night instead of elbowing through the crowd once more. Someone above must have been looking over me as the table appeared in my line of vision, empty and compelling. Grateful, I plopped down in the seat, lightly dropping my purse on the table. My jeans and pink blouse appeared plain and uptight compared to the tiny skirts and low cut shirts favored by other women visiting.
Why was I even here? I'd posed that question to myself a dozen times on the drive in. Surely I had more than en
ough information from my little adventure to adequately write out my human interaction paper. Could it be something else that drew me back? The scenery perhaps? Though a little nervous and concerned about a repeat attempt, I'd just had to return. Banish the bad memories once and for all.
The lights dimmed as the music thumped loudly announcing another dancer. A familiar dark head with wide shoulders and six pack abs stepped out. His leopard print loincloth left little to the imagination. Deltoids and nicely conditioned biceps popped out with his dance movements. Thigh muscles sprang taut with each swing or step.
My eyes watched of their own volition. Despite his bulk, he moved with sheer masculine grace. Enticing, yes, but with a twist of elegance thrown in. His talent definitely drew women to the club like a fresh kill in the Savannah lured hungry predators for miles, all interested in their portion of the prize.
I pulled my attention from the stage and focused on the hordes of women around the room, most of whom stood a few feet in front of him, waving money. Their faces brightened with excitement as he stepped near, their hands dipping into his thong to deposit a tip.
I sighed. Maybe this was what drew me back. I needed to see Meat and Ducky again, to make sure they were doing well, which made little sense. They had been alive and well when I'd left them at the library forty-eight hours ago. The thunderstorm had passed without any serious damage to Clearwater City. No injuries had been reported. If I knew without a doubt they were just fine, then I landed back at square one.
Alex sidled up to my table, grinning down at me. "Meat got your tongue?"
I stared mutely up at him. Last time I had visited, he'd personally handed me the bottle of water I now realized contained some variety of date rape drug. Granted, he could be completely innocent in the matter, just delivering what he was told. Then again, maybe not. My neck hairs didn't stand up, no subtle warning signs sparked inside my brain. Yet, I just couldn't be positive whom to blame for the whole mess.
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