by Dannika Dark
His heart almost stopped.
Ella tucked her hair behind one ear and averted her eyes. She said she’d been watching me. I don’t know how or why; she made it seem like such a mystery as to how a Creator chooses their progeny. Anyhow, I was the ideal candidate, I guess. No family, no friends, nothing to live for. She made an offer, and I had to make a choice.
He scratched his forehead absently with his left hand, trying to shield his thoughts. When he found he couldn’t, he pulled his hand away.
Simon was startled out of his wits when a fist pounded on the door. “Who the hell!” he exclaimed, leaping off the couch.
His building had tight security, and no one got in unless they lived there or were buzzed in by a resident.
“Better not be you, Miss Havers,” he grumbled, swaggering toward the door. “Years of ogling my ass and you’ve finally cracked.”
When he unlocked the door and swung it open, a large Chitah pushed his way in. “Got a beer? Man, I’m parched,” Levi said, already heading into the kitchen.
Simon slammed the door with a dramatic swing of his arm. “Shall I point you to the bottles, or would you prefer a keg?”
Simon heard the sound of the fridge opening and closing as he went in the living room and sat down in the chair opposite Ella. Her eyes were saucer-wide as she looked at Levi.
It could hardly be helped because of their predatory behavior and unusual eyes. Most Chitahs were over six feet, and Levi was as beefy as they came. Not so much muscles as just a thick frame, like a soldier. Levi kept his blondish hair short and usually had stubble, as if testosterone grew out of his face.
Levi tilted his beer bottle and settled his golden eyes on Ella. He had a way of looking at people, and not just because of his piercing eyes. Levi used to work in the Breed jail as one of the guards, and now he cleaned up the streets. He enjoyed sizing people up. “Who’s your friend? Kind of rude to have me standing here without introductions.”
Simon snorted. “It’s not as if you’ll shag her.”
Levi sliced him an intolerant glare. “That’s a little rude, brother. Maybe you should apologize.”
“I’m not apologizing to you.”
He set his bottle down. “No, to her.”
Simon crossed his legs. “She’s deaf. I doubt she’s offended, unless it’s by your body odor.”
“Deaf? Is she a Mage?”
Simon shouldn’t have mentioned her disability, but he trusted Levi. Not because he particularly liked him, but Chitahs kept their word. Maybe it was something drilled in their genetic code, but when they gave their word, they kept it.
“Levi, I can’t have you telling anyone about her condition. It’s a need-to-know basis, and no one needs to know. It would put her life in danger.”
“On my word as a Chitah, I won’t say a thing about your friend,” he said with a heavy sigh. “So, introductions?”
Simon tucked his fist against his cheek and watched Levi with mild interest as he bowed in front of Ella.
“I’m Levi!” he shouted. “Leeevi.”
“She’s not hard of hearing, you knobhead. She’s deaf.”
Ella seemed to pick up on the fact they knew each other. Simon wondered how she was going to introduce herself to people without them figuring out her impairment. What kind of life could she have as a Mage?
Levi made himself comfortable on the sofa, right next to Ella. He nestled his ass in Simon’s favorite spot, widening his legs and stretching his right arm over the back of the couch.
Watching Levi snuggle next to the ginger-haired woman shouldn’t have bothered him, but it did. Simon had no business feeling one way or the other about it. She was just his pupil, like every other man he’d trained.
Only she wasn’t a man. She had poise, straight shoulders, a slim frame, copper hair, and a mouth made for sin. Simon took pleasure in the way she’d swipe her tongue across her bottom lip to wet it. He liked the way her lips would briefly glisten a natural pink shade that made his eyes slide down to where the cleft between her legs…
“Something on your mind?” Levi asked with a knowing smirk, his nostrils flaring. He bent forward and lifted his beer.
“Only why your caboose is planted on my sofa.”
Just as the tip of the beer bottle touched Levi’s lips, he muttered, “Sure.”
“Was that your boyfriend you were chasing after earlier today? Desperation doesn’t look good on a man.”
No matter what Simon said, Levi never let the insults get to him. In fact, he’d just smile and play the game. Maybe that’s what irked Simon more. Levi made him uncomfortable for the simple reason he was gay. Simon didn’t like being leered at, touched, or having his personal space invaded by any man.
“I’m gonna let that slide because you’re a dickhead and it can’t be helped,” Levi said. Then he swallowed the rest of his beer. “It feels rude to sit here yapping away when she can’t hear anything we’re saying.” He tucked the bottle between his legs and circled his finger around the rim.
“So who was the bloke?”
“Well, I don’t know what the fuck you’re up to sending her into an alley with a bunch of juicers. I could smell the intent on those assholes, and I don’t like seeing a woman fighting off a group of men while you stand around and watch.”
“Training. Continue.”
Levi snorted, but not in an amused way. He scratched his jaw, assembling his thoughts. “I spotted him just before you came out of the bar. I know that district, and he’s an interloper. He just had that look about him. You know the kind. I thought maybe he was just watching the fight, but he kept ducking behind buildings while you two were eating. Something didn’t look right, and then he noticed me. Took off. I waited to see if he was just changing positions again, but he got in his car. That’s when I ran after him.”
“And I thought a bullet train couldn’t outrun a Chitah.”
“Oh, Jesus,” he grumbled. “This body is built for strength, not speed. The fast ones are usually leaner, like my bro. Anyhow, I got his plates. Sometimes it’s pointless to run them through if they’ve been switched out, but I have a friend who owes me a favor, and it only took him an hour to come up with a name.”
Simon watched Ella’s eyes close and her body slump against Levi. He was surprised she’d lasted this long after the fight this morning—another testament to her strength.
“You seem to have a narcotic effect on women,” Simon remarked.
Levi glanced down and wrapped his arm around her, the one that had VERITAS tattooed on his forearm. “Yeah, the girls really dig guys like me; we’re cuddly and shit. So, you want to tell me what mess you’re in now? I have a right to know. You were ass-deep in my turf, and my men like to keep things in line down there. And yeah, it could be a hell of a lot worse, so don’t bother with a retort.”
Simon rolled the ball of his piercing around the roof of his mouth. “Who is my shadow?”
“Some little turd that goes by James Dmitry. He’s a Learner, so it looks like your little cuddlebug has an admirer,” Levi said, snuggling against her.
Simon could hardly sit still, and not so much because of the name. He shot to his feet and folded his arms. “I think it’s time you peel yourself off my pupil and head out.”
“Sure thing. You still need me to… watch your ass?” he said, pulling in his bottom lip and wetting it.
“I have what I need. Go back to sweeping the streets with your broom of justice.”
After Levi rose from his chair, he walked by Simon and glanced over his shoulder. They were nearly the same height, but Levi had him by a fraction of an inch. He touched the dimple on his chin. “Sometimes I can’t figure out your scent.”
“Perhaps you should shower and cleanse the sinuses. Bugger off.”
Levi’s upper canines slid down and pressed against his bottom lip.
Damn Chitahs and their peculiar marks of arousal.
“I love it when you talk dirty.” Levi winked and made a clic
king sound with his tongue before swaggering out the door.
Simon plunked down next to Ella and roused her from her sleep.
She lazily reached over his lap and took his hand. Simon used every shred of willpower he possessed to deny entry of blood to his groin.
What did your friend want? she asked in a sleepy voice.
“What happened between you and James? I got his version of the story, so tell me yours.”
Ella rubbed her eyes before putting her hand on his lap, palm up. Just inches from his…
Bloody hell. He took hold of her hand and moved it away.
James has a big mouth, but that doesn’t surprise me. We slept together, and the sex was all right, but he wanted to be on top and we pushed and shoved a lot.
“Ah. A control freak.”
Yep.
“Not him. You.”
Ella tightened her grip. Maybe it’s what I like. Who are you to judge? Anyhow, I wasn’t ready to share my light, and he was. He tried to force me, and no one forces me to do anything I don’t want to do. It bruised his ego that I was the one to walk away, leaving him with a hard-on. He yelled, and then he mocked me and called me a mouse. That much I understood. I guess he’s still holding a grudge.
Maybe James was the kind of arrogant prick who didn’t like the woman to have the last laugh, but why would he risk his reputation by stalking the Learner of a Councilwoman? His own Creator would lash him five times over for that. If they hired a Vampire to charm him and discovered malicious intentions, it would be deemed a traitorous act. You don’t fuck with anyone who works for the Mageri.
What are you thinking? You’ve blocked yourself off, she said.
“Perhaps when your wall comes down, mine will too.”
The outside light dimmed, and he needed to get her home. Now that he knew who was on their tail, he felt at ease. James was no threat to a man like Simon Hunt, who had fought some of the most skilled immortals in recent history.
What did your friend want? she pressed.
“Nothing, love. Focus on your training, not what I’m doing. Go home and rest—our sessions begin early. Every day will be a new location, and we’re going to spend three hours each afternoon working on your lip-reading skills. No arguments. You may never master it, but you need to learn enough to get by. Perhaps later we’ll work on getting you to speak. Don’t play the role of the mute if you’re not. People will pick up on your defect a lot quicker if you remain silent.”
I can’t speak.
Simon thought about the way she’d moaned when she took a bite of his bruschetta during their game, how it made him hard, how he kept feeding her just to hear her voice relax. It didn’t seem like she was aware that she’d been making noises. He’d never seen a woman put away so much food, but he rather enjoyed watching her eat something besides rabbit kibble.
Ella was slim. A ton of bruschetta might do her some good.
Chapter 12
Two weeks of nonstop training had worked like magic on Hannah’s Learner. Not that Simon let it get to his ego.
Who was he kidding? Of course he did.
She needed to sharpen her other senses to compensate for the hearing loss. He taught her not to search for a fallen knife, but to watch her opponent’s eyes because he’d be the one to give away its location.
Ella was timid about speaking, but she’d finally learned to say her own name. He taught her to place her hand in a gracious manner across her throat as she bowed her head, allowing her to use her fingertips to determine the volume of her voice. That would at least get her through introductions.
There would be times in the coming years when she would need to crawl out of her hole and put on her party hat. If she could understand the conversations, then it would throw off any suspicions. That meant Ella could no longer avert her eyes or get lost in her head. Paying attention to lips, body language, smells, shadows, and Mage energy was crucial. She would be able to assess a crowd’s reaction and determine the difference between a gun firing and a tray of dishes crashing to the floor.
Eventually, either at her choosing or not, the secret would be out. Simon’s job was to make sure she had the tools to survive in her current situation. It was possible that her gift of reading thoughts might work on others, and time might also reveal more rare gifts. When he asked about the Council measuring her abilities, she said Hannah had done it alone, which was peculiar. Measuring was a rite of passage in their world. The Council would assess the Learner’s natural abilities along with any special gifts and then record them in their books. Usually there was a ceremony with robes and trite dialogue. She’d met with two members of the Council afterward, but it was unofficial.
What a mystery. He couldn’t work out why Hannah would randomly select a suicidal human. Then again, maybe her inadequate powers had made her desperate.
The hand-holding was getting too personal, so Simon only initiated contact when communication was necessary. The less they touched, the more effort she made to read lips.
Ella didn’t want any of his healing light either. Whenever she fought against him or someone on the street, she pulled from the sun. He much preferred it that way, but a tiny smidge of him felt guilty for not helping.
“I’m making another beer run,” Adam said, looking for an excuse to mingle with the crowd in Novis’s mansion. “Anyone thirsty?”
Simon raised his empty bottle. “Don’t bring me any of that sludge. Imported only.”
Silver patted his chest. “I’m so relieved you dressed like a human being for the party. You look so handsome in a vest.” She was plastered to the corner wall where their little group stood, using it to hold herself up.
“Ah, but you fell for me in leather,” he pointed out, remembering when they’d first met and how her eyes had devoured him like a starved animal.
She snorted and took another sip of vodka. “Who dresses like that every day?”
“Your Chitah wears T-shirts and jeans all the time.”
She smiled and brushed back her hair. “Logan makes casual look sexy. There’s nothing wrong with jeans and a T-shirt, but you look like you washed yours with a lawn mower. Damn. Remember when Logan wore those leather pants? I wish he still had those…”
Simon snatched her glass and set it on the table. “I’m cutting you off.”
Sunny lifted the glass and handed it back to Silver. “It’s my party, Simon. If my best friend wants to get trashed, then we’re getting trashed. The kids have a sitter for the night, and we haven’t had a girls’ night out since—”
“Last month.” Justus swaggered up to their little group in his usual dressed-up attire. Blue silk tie, dress shirt, expensive slacks, and Italian shoes. He put his hands in his pockets and gave Silver a scolding glance. “You returned my woman in an inexcusable condition.”
Simon patted him on the shoulder. “I could have said the same about you after you knocked her up.”
Everyone laughed, and the classical music switched to something upbeat. Novis often hosted parties to maintain relationships and build new ones, but he’d hosted fewer events in the past few years since Sunny had moved in.
Adam returned with beers and handed one to Simon.
“And where is our songbird this evening?” Simon asked, referring to Sadie, Logan’s sister.
Adam’s eyes lit with interest, but he drank his beer and looked about the room.
Silver blew a strand of hair out of her face. “Sadie had a gig tonight. Levi’s playing bodyguard since it’s a club she’s never been to on the Breed side of town. She’s been trying to get a job at this place for ages because of how much they pay. At first they said no because she’s a human, but Leo has connections and Logan has a temper,” Silver said with a drunken chuckle.
Simon peered over his shoulder to see what had caught Adam’s attention. Three attractive women were speaking in low whispers, scoping out some of the handsome men in the room. They didn’t spare Simon a second glance since he was wearing civilian clothes
that made him blend in with the herd.
Sunny touched Adam’s arm. “Adam, why don’t you go over and introduce yourself? The two blondes are ancients, but the brunette was recently brought over. You two might have a lot in common.”
Adam’s emotional energy shifted. He had charisma and could probably have any woman in the room he desired if not for the prominent scars on his face. It was the sort of thing that made people question whether or not he was a capable fighter.
“Maybe after I spend some time with my best girls.”
She laughed. “Please. I see you almost every day.”
He took Silver’s drink and kissed her forehead, then put his arm around her. “How’s he treating you? Are you happy?” he asked, his dark brows drawing together.
Silver grinned. “Everything’s just purrrfect.” A wistful look flickered in her eyes, one everyone noticed.
He peered down at her. “What’s that look all about?”
“Nothing.”
“Not nothing, woman. Spit it out.”
Silver shrugged him off and shared a private look with Sunny. Women were always elusive and full of secrets. Silver wasn’t about to reveal whatever was on her mind—not in this setting—so she began moving her hips to the music.
Logan snuck up behind her and splayed his fingers across her stomach. His nostrils flared, and then he frowned. Despite the amorous movement of her body, he must have picked up an emotional scent that bothered him. He dipped his head low and whispered in her ear. Silver’s face went serene, slightly doleful, and then all that erased when she turned around and gave him a kiss.
“Female, you have hit your limit too early in the evening,” he said with a soft growl. “Let’s take a walk. Perhaps we can find a tree to sit under.”
“I like the sound of that,” she said, her voice fading as they headed toward the back door. “Maybe you can pin me to one, just for old times’ sake.”
“Careful not to tempt me, Little Raven.”
As soon as the door opened, Silver flashed out of sight. A wicked smile lit up Logan’s face, and instead of running after her at Chitah speed, he merely swaggered in the direction she’d gone, looking like a man who had just won the lottery.
