by Lelana Croft
“I told you to behave. You obviously aren’t very good at listening because you used your powers again. I really didn’t want to have to come back down here so soon.” His tone said otherwise.
“Well, I can tell ‘somebody’ is happy to see me,” I snarked as I pushed slightly upwards with my hips, grinding them into him.
His brow furrowed as he pulled his body off of me, slowly coming to a standing position and tugging at the crotch of his jeans. I propped myself up on my elbows and watched with a grin.
“You wanna put the dagger away?”
He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled it back. I hadn’t noticed just how rugged he was. When I’d seen him previously, he’d been all clean-looking and sharp. Now, he was in some kind of flannel plaid shirt and blue jeans, his hair loose and down to his chin. He looked like a mountain man. And a good-looking mountain man at that.
I tucked the dagger into the back of my waistband.
“You still haven’t answered my question. Why are you here?”
“You used your powers twice yesterday. Once, before I texted you and once after. I knew you’d push the limits, but you need to understand how important it is to mind your manners to be able to be allowed back into the city next year. Do you really want to stay down here forever?”
He was exaggerating. There was no way I’d be down here forever.
I rolled my eyes as he offered his hand to help me up off the floor.
He huffed. “You can roll your eyes all you want. I’m just telling you the way it is,” he said as he leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms.
I looked down at the floor, contemplating my situation. Maybe if I told him what was going on, he’d be a bit less rigid and uptight.
“Look, I’m trying to play by the rules. But the rules have never served me well. In fact, if I played by the rules all the time, I’d probably be dead by now.”
He rubbed his chin. “I know that’s what you think. But that’s not the case. The rules of The High Council aren’t set because of an agenda. This isn’t American Politics. The rules have been put in place to keep angels from creating more problems than they can solve.”
“I know all that. I’ve been fed that line of rhetoric for years. I’ve even tried following the rules. But when you are constantly blamed for other people’s actions when you were only trying to help, you find that it is always one-sided. Especially, once they find out what I am.”
I was beginning to get more than uncomfortable with this conversation and decided to change the subject.
“Don’t you even want to know why I was using my powers?”
Tony rubbed his forehead and inhaled deeply. “Okay, why don’t you tell me why you felt the need to use your powers…” His tone exasperated.
I began to tell Tony about the girl that was drained of blood and no bites. That I’d tried to see what killed her and that I learned it was a vampire.
“Vampire? I thought they had to stay in the city?” he asked.
“I thought so too. And I’m not sure they aren’t. This young girl lived down here, so she might have been in the city at the time she was killed and dumped here. I wasn’t able to stay long enough in her memories to learn because the pain was too much from the anklet,” I explained, hoping he would take pity on my plight.
He didn’t seem like he cared, and almost seemed amused.
“Last night, one of Hobbs’ friends passed away and was brought in. I was supposed to work on her this morning. But once I got there, her body had shriveled up to…well…a mummy. Like she was hundreds of years old. It was the creepiest thing I’d ever seen. I wasn’t even sure it was her. Hobbs hadn’t come in yet, so I thought I would see if I could see into her past to find out what’d happened. What I saw was her living back around the 1800s or so. At least, I think it was her…” my thoughts trailed off because I wasn’t exactly sure if the mummy was her or another woman I was trying to see.
Tony’s face contorted as I explained the story. He walked over to kitchen sink and looked out the window at the river, lazily flowing by. Something had disturbed him.
“What? What did I say?” I asked him as I went and leaned against the counter.
He turned and leaned back against the sink and folded his arms, studying me.
“I need to know I can trust you,” he said and he thumbed his incredibly full and luscious lip.
I found myself a little distracted as I struggled to find the words to reply.
“Of course, you can trust me.”
He paused and looked me square in the eyes. I maintained the stare and didn’t break away. I needed him to know he could trust me.
“Lift your leg. The one with the anklet,” he said as he pulled out his key chain.
I lifted my leg and he caught it with his strong hand. Pulling off my boot, he examined the red mark around my ankle.
“You took quite a bit. That’s a nice little burn you got there,” he said as he ran his fingers over the tender skin, making me jump and wince.
“Well, I’d heal myself, but I figured that’d send some kind of smoke signal your way or something,” I jested.
He smiled and gave a little laugh before putting his palm over the tender ankle and closing his eyes. The warm sensation of his power covered my ankle and worked its way up my leg. Pulling his hand away, the pain was completely gone and my ankle was back to normal.
“Thanks,” I said as he looked up and gave me a wink.
“You’re welcome. Now, what I’m going to do is turn down the sensitivity of the anklet. This will allow you to stay a bit longer in the mummified remains, but won’t let you have full powers. Understand?”
I nodded my head and put on the cutest puppy dog eyes I possibly could. “We can’t just remove it and not tell anyone?”
He chuckled. “No. Ain’t happening, girly. You are too wild. As it is, doing this will probably get me into hot water if you go and do something ridiculous.”
“Me?” I giggled and batted my eyelashes innocently.
He adjusted the anklet and released my leg. I bent over to grab the boot and pull it back on.
The sting of a large palm smacking my ass hard made me gasp and pop upright, immediately reaching back as the sting began to take hold. I glared at Tony.
“Don’t give me that look, you know you deserve way worse.”
I began to protest, but stopped myself. He’d just given me more freedom and hopefully, now I’d be able to see deeper into the mummified woman’s mind.
“Why are you doing this then? If you think I deserved to be punished, why are you giving me more freedom?” Curiosity got the best of me.
He looked at me and pursed his lips. “I can’t tell you. At least, not yet. But I will…when the time is right. Just do what you’re doing. Find out as much as you can and let me know what you learn, okay?” he asked, almost sweetly.
I nodded. I really wanted to know what Tony’s interest was in this. For now, I’d bide my time.
Tony stayed only long enough to warn me once more, before taking off back to the city.
After the wrestling match we’d had, I decided to just take a shower and a nap. I’d be better off tonight, if I had a little sleep before going out.
I didn’t realize how much it had taken out of me until my head hit the pillow. I must have fallen asleep within minutes.
The sound of pounding on my front door jarred me awake and I grabbed my dagger from under my pillow. Making my way down to the front door, I flipped on the light and could see two figures standing outside the frosted glass.
“Scarlett, it’s us! Let us in,” I heard Patty’s voice yell excitedly.
I let out the breath I was holding and opened the door. Patty bounced inside and Katie followed. Both of them paused and gave me the once over.
“Please tell me you’re not wearing that…” Katie said with a smirk.
I was in my comfy, stretchy Garfield sleeping pants and a white undershirt. I looked down a
t myself and laughed. “What, you don’t think this is the height of fashion?”
She shook her head and laughed.
I let them in and looked over their attire. Patty had on a tight green dress that had random sequins in blue and green, making a leaf pattern. Her red hair was up with some curled tendrils down in front of her ears. If there was an elegant slutty look, she’d nailed it with all the charm from the south.
Katie was in all black. Black shiny pants and a black turtle neck that clung to her curves. Her jet-black hair straight down with bangs, and a long necklace that appeared to be some kind of crystal.
They were polar opposites. I’d fit right in.
“Most of my stuff is still packed. I have a few things to pick through. I’ll be down in a few minutes. There’s some wine in the fridge, if you want to make yourselves at home,” I said, letting them in and heading upstairs to get myself together.
I picked through the clothes I had yet to put on hangers. All that I could find was a black canvas skort and a crop top with some funky layers of fabric on the front. Perfect. It would be a good way to hide a few weapons and not look like I’d come out of the jungle. A set of big beads and dangly earrings and I’ll be good to go. I twisted my blond hair up out of the way and put on a little dark eye shadow and mascara. That was as good as it was gonna get.
I made my way downstairs and pulled on my boots. Patty and Katie looked at me with raised eyebrows and mouths open.
“What? I don’t do heels,” I said as they both smiled and nodded.
“It’ll work. Let’s fly,” Katie said as we headed out to her car.
“By the way, did your magic book ever come back to life?” I asked Katie, curious to know if she’d learned anything else about her past.
“Oh yeah, and in a big way. Remember, I told you my mom was a witch? Well, the rest of the book revealed what my dad was…” She paused as if she wanted me to guess.
“What already?!” I said, exasperated.
She tilted her head to one side and put her hand on her hip, uttering one word. “Raven.”
Chapter 10
“So, it’s been right in front of you all this time and you never knew?” Patty asked as we all got out of the vehicle.
“Yeah. I never saw him shift, so I never knew. I always thought our last name was just cool. I mean, who wouldn’t like to have the last name of Raven,” Katie replied.
Raven was a cool last name, but most people aren’t named after their shifter power.
“So, let me get this straight…your adopted dad was actually your real dad? Doesn’t that make you angry that he let you believe that you were adopted? And what about the story about your mom?” I asked.
“The part about my mom was the truth. It was my step-mom and real father that raised me. And the reason he never told me was because he wasn’t sure I’d inherited any of him, and hoped he could keep me from the harm that might come if anyone knew. I was mad at first, but the more I read the diary part of the book, the more I realized that he was protecting me,” Katie explained.
I paused to look at the building we were about to go into. The entire thing was painted black and there was a bold neon sign that said ‘ARCANE’ in large red letters that were shaped like lightning bolts.
We were a few miles out of town on the edge of the river. A big, burly bouncer was at the front door, carding people as they entered.
The place was surprisingly crowded for such a small town. I’d lay money that everyone who lived within thirty miles came here, since it was closer than driving the hour up to the city. Made sense. People needed an outlet to relieve their weekday frustrations.
What I also noticed was the incredible power flowing through the crowd. I couldn’t pinpoint who or what, but there were many supernaturals here tonight. I had no doubt that many of them were vampires. Looking around, some of them were obvious by their clothes or just by their demeanor. You could always tell by the expression of over-confidence and arrogance.
We found a high-top table next to the dance floor and grabbed it before it could be taken. After ordering a pitcher of beer, I began to probe Katie a little more. I really wanted to know what all this had to do with me.
“So, did the book reveal what you and I have to do with each other? Did it give any details?” I asked, glad that the music hadn’t been turned up yet, so we could still carry on a decent conversation without yelling over it.
She sipped the beer and nodded her head. “Kinda. I mean, yes. But some of it is like reading some kind of code. It’s written in riddles. I’m not sure if that was intended, but it makes it a hell of a lot harder to be clear on exactly what is supposed to happen. What I think I understand so far, is that you’re here to help me learn about my powers and hopefully, guide me on using them to their fullest, or something of that nature.”
A feeling of dread came over me. How was I supposed to know what to do? I’m not a witch or a shifter. And most of my experiences with either of them hadn’t turned out very well. I was half angel after all, and supposed to be fighting all the evil forces of the world.
“But I’m not a witch or a shifter. How am I supposed to help you, if I know nothing of either?”
Katie shrugged and looked up to the ceiling. “Not a clue. But it’s definitely you or else the spell wouldn’t have broken. I’m sure there is more I can figure out later. You obviously have some kind of power that will help me. By the way, what power DO you have?”
I squirmed in my seat. I wasn’t ready to reveal that much about myself at the moment. She knew I had something going on, but didn’t know what just yet. I wasn’t sure how much I wanted to tell her.
I decided I’d only let her in on what I could get from the mummies. That way, I could limit it to what I knew I had the power to do at the moment.
“You gotta keep this between us. If this gets out, who knows what will happen,” I said, looking at both of them.
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ve always been the outcast in town, so I get it. I’ve always been the weird one who nobody likes. Well, except Patty here, but she’s cool and we’ve been besties since kindergarten,” Katie assured me.
I breathed heavily, contemplating my words.
“I can read people’s past. Like their memories, after they die. I can touch them and see into their minds and see what they saw.”
Patty’s mouth dropped. “That is so cool! So you can see all the way back to their childhood?”
I smiled and nodded. “Yeah, all the way up to their deaths. Sometimes, I can even see how they died. It just all depends on the circumstance and if they have the memory.”
“So, what about memories that people can’t remember? Like ones they don’t want to remember?” Katie probed with a raised eyebrow.
“I can see any memory that they have, whether or not they wanted to remember it. If it was something that happened in their lives, I can find it. It’s not always easy and efficient. I mean, going through someone’s entire life can be very time consuming. I usually get it in bits and pieces.”
“So can you do this with…” Katie’s voice trailed off and both Patty’s and Katie’s attention were taken to something behind me.
I turned my head to see what had caught their attention. Swallowing hard, I sat upright as Mr. Handsome was approaching. The same Mr. Handsome that I’d run into earlier and had spilled tea all over the front of me.
Tall and confident, he smiled softly at me as his eyes glimmered in the neon lights. He came up to our table and leaned in close to me, his shoulder rubbing against mine.
A strange sensation came over me when he touched me. Something I wasn’t familiar with. He was a supernatural, or at least had some powers. I just wasn’t sure what. And how come I hadn’t felt this same sensation the other day when he’d grabbed my arm? That was confusing to me.
Damn, I really needed to be able to use my powers right now. But I didn’t want to notify Tony. He just gave me more leeway and I needed to save i
t for the mummy. If I put a read on this guy, Tony would know for sure that I was up to no good.
I rolled my eyes and tried to keep an annoyed look on my face. It was hard, considering his skintight black t-shirt and perfectly fitted blue jeans had me envisioning myself licking his body top to bottom. And he smelled so good.
“I never did get your name…” he said, his nose only a breath away from my ear.
“That’s because I didn’t tell you,” I growled. I had no intention of making this a cakewalk for this player, no matter how yummy he looked. I knew his type.
“I’m Miles,” he said as he reached out his hand towards me.
Patty came in for the scoop and reached out her hand, grabbing his as I just watched. I giggled as she pushed herself into his personal space, trying to get noticed.
“I’m Patty! It’s soooo nice to meet you, Miles.”
She was turning on the southern charm for all it was worth, batting her eyelashes and putting on her best pouty smile. Katie just folded her arms gracefully and smiled as she watched the spectacle, shaking her head.
“Hello, Patty, nice to meet you, too,” he replied, nodding towards her and then looking over toward Katie.
“That’s Katie. She owns Elemental,” Patty offered, assuming it was okay with Katie.
Miles reached out and Katie obliged him with her hand. His attention then turned back to me, smiling with an eyebrow raised. He turned his back towards Patty and leaned on his elbow, facing me.
“Not gonna tell me your name?” he prodded. I swear, if I looked into his eyes for very long, he’d be able to read my mind.
I sighed heavily, as if to tell him he was being a bother. That was the message I wanted him to get, at least.
“Scarlett,” I said curtly.
He reached up and took his index finger and touched the top of my shoulder, slowly pulling it down my arm and sending goosebumps up my arm and to my brain. This guy’s good.
