by R M Taylor
The inheritance from her grandmother was a lifeline, and without it she would have had a much harder time leaving. It’s not that she was used to poverty, but she had always had the ordinary things in life, so she decided to be committed to the new life she was going to lead and start as she meant to go on. She had no treasure yet, to have a lot of money means nothing, your dragon had to covet it, be fiercely defensive of it, to love it. Hers neither loved nor coveted anything. So, for now, a pretty new home, new car and new job, her dragon would discover her treasure in time. Lucy assumed that her treasure would be her mate and children, since material stuff didn’t hold massive sway over her. All dragons loved luxury, she knew this to be true, but her dragon was quite laid back and wouldn’t pitch a fit if she stayed in a 2-star hotel for one night. A week however, and she would bitch about it a little bit.
She now had the gorgeous home, and it pleased her dragon to have somewhere so comfortable. Luxury and comfort was more important than extravagance, there was a line between enjoying excellent quality and blowing money for the sake of spending. Her car would need an upgrade to something more reliable eventually but for now it could stay on the drive. She wouldn’t need it for now, a big flash car wasn’t essential, something that was reliable and in good condition was fine, but it would be lovely to have something pretty. The city had great transport she could just get a bus, train or taxi. One of the many benefits of living in a big city like this one. She couldn’t wait to explore it more, for the first time in a long time she felt like she had wings again.
Chapter 3
All shifters had differing abilities, and one of hers was the ability to tell the truth clearly from a lie in humans and most shifters. Verbal interpretation alone she was about 95% accurate, if she had visual or physical contact with the person, and eye contact, she could 99% accurately identify the truth and lies. She had trained to be this lie detector of sorts through a government scheme that poached shifters with this sort of ability straight from High School. Very few were as accurate as she was. Detectors were in massive demand these days, shifters especially could easily pass a lie detector test, and no amount of voice analysis would indicate they were lying.
When supernaturals became widely known and begrudgingly accepted into society several decades ago, the government enforced all kinds of things to ensure conformity and transparency. They wanted to ensure they knew what super naturals were up to, whether they were telling the truth or not. With most vampires able to influence and control to differing degrees, they needed a way to detect any duress, as it became very clear that the potential for corruption was limitless. When it became clear traditional methods failed, and extra shifter abilities such as mind and thought manipulation of humans was common, governments needed extra help bringing super naturals to justice.
Depending on the person, she could even extract information mentally through interpretation of thoughts, meaning she could find specific information. Much harder to do, but this was especially important to law enforcement, and in the past, she had earned a very decent salary working as a Judicial Detection Officer. As well as the lie detector screen, she could also detect any supernatural influence on the individual, so if they were under duress or a glamour, she could see the veil in their mind. A rare talent, and one used to screen diplomats, civil servants, and even government officials to ensure they were not under the influence of a supernatural trying to influence people in power.
Several government scandals in the past were caused by supernaturals influencing politicians. Rumour had it that Watergate was not so much about bugging someone’s room and more about a manipulator in the shadows pulling strings like a puppet master. There was speculation over everything now that supernaturals were known. Their extra abilities made humans very nervous and defensive. There was talk of getting rid of juries altogether, leaving judges to examine the evidence and pass judgement based on the detector screen, but those suggestions were often dismissed quickly, rejected because it would put the supernaturals with the gift in a position of power, which people in high places did not like.
Lucy loved that people put so much faith in detector abilities, and it was true that the probability of a false guilty verdict was low but then again there was always the chance, and no-one would like to be in the tiny few that were pronounced guilty if they were not guilty. There still had to be layers of security to ensure justice was fair. Cases were not numbers, they were about people, and people are incredibly difficult to quantify accurately. The whole thing reminded her of that film Minority Report. In some odd way certain aspects reminded her of the changes taking place, and potential dangers with trusting someone or something completely.
To ensure the shifters had this high accuracy, they had to take yearly tests. Standardised testing ensured that 90% accuracy was maintained. The higher the accuracy rate, the higher the pay check. Her next test would be due in a few months, but she knew her accuracy was still fine. More than fine, in fact the older she got the more refined and accurate her gifts became. Especially in the last year, her gifts had honed and sharpened exponentially, it was frightening. The feelings and dreams especially were becoming much clearer and scarily detailed. She could practically taste Connor’s unhappiness, he was miserable, and the feelings were seeping into her to the point she couldn’t stand it anymore.
The only people she could not read accurately were vampires and changelings. Whether due to their unique physiology, or some inherent ability to mask their thoughts, vampires were just a blank to her, changelings were out of focus, like she couldn’t see them clearly. Sensing vampires was like looking at a statue or painting, there was no thought input back. That’s not to say she didn’t sometimes detect residual energies, sometimes she did, brief flashes of images or scents, sounds and feelings that originated from people or objects. These were not abilities that she could harness however, they were too fleeting and nonspecific which was frustrating because sometimes they would have come in handy. It was like background interference, or white noise, and she struggled to filter things to make sense of them.
What she could detect however, was the remnants of supernatural influence. It was like a mental flavour or scent that she could see. If someone had been coerced or forced by a vampire, shifter or fae, she could see it clearly. Unfortunately, the “flavour” was not strong enough to tell who had done the influencing, just the type of supernatural. Vampires influence felt like a veil of silvery grey energy that reminded her of mist and fog. Shifters varied, but land shifters left a kind of red/brown or green veil that reminded her of fields of grass and trees. Made sense, since most of their animals’ forms would consider those places home. Flight shifters were harder, their influences seemed to show darker, more purple/navy. The darker the colour and flavour, the stronger the influence. That was the only way she could describe the sensation she felt when she came across interference from super naturals.
Altered memories always flagged up with this veil, the subject could be swearing blind that their memory was accurate, but if they had been influenced she could see it. Most detectors couldn’t, and she had to be consciously looking for it to find it, it didn’t jump out at her, she had to delve in and dig to find the answers. When she and Connor began their relationship, he had insisted she change jobs due to the danger of working with law enforcement. She had on 5 separate occasions had threats and attacks on her vehicle or home in the past. Even after moving, she felt like she was followed occasionally. It creeped her out, and she had attended self-defence classes of all kinds after that and could hold her own in a one on one fight with a human. She could confidently kick ass with a female shifter too, but her small size limited her ability to restrain someone for long.
Usually detectors were anonymous, but in some circumstances, they had to meet the suspects and testify in person in court. When they moved in together she took a job as an Insurance Detection Officer. Much lower risk and pay, and as boring as it gets. Sorting through insurance fraud cases, us
ually it took a one sentence answer and she could pick up the guilt like a siren. Only twice she detected a veil that told her someone had influenced the client. It was hardly exciting work and left her feeling unfulfilled. She could get a job again in the drop of a hat, her ability to see veils was highly sought after. Her whole skill set in fact, and since her accuracy had been tested and verified extensively for the last 7 years she had an impressive record that flew through any employment check going.
She was wasted in an insurance job. That said, this was all only when she engaged her gift, she had to turn it on like a light, if she didn’t, her radar remained silent unless there was someone watching or hunting her or had strong malevolent intent. She could pick things up still but only if that person was projecting or thinking very loud. She could turn the whole thing off, pulling up a mental screen if she wanted, after all it took a lot of energy to use the gift, so she couldn’t use it constantly, but sometimes holding the wall up was as exhausting as using the damn gift.
She would look for a job tomorrow, there were agencies that dealt with this sort of job, and she was probably still on their systems. After opening the door using the security code given by the building manager, she propped the door, so she could bring her luggage in. The sun was going down and the air was getting cooler. She needed food soon as she ate very frequently, small meals or snacks usually. If she was flying, or using her senses a lot, her intake was massive. The upside was she never put weight on. She grew to adulthood, blossomed during puberty and then stayed the same.
As a child she wanted to be a gymnast, but as she grew and developed it became obvious she just didn’t have the figure to make that a realistic career choice. It wasn’t that she was stocky or large build, she was simply short and round in girly places. Nature had been generous when she handed out Lucy’s boobs and ass, which made moves as a gymnast much more difficult, not to mention painful. Lucy was a petite 5 foot 2 inches, long deep brown, almost black, hair that fell halfway down her back. She had pretty blue eyes, fair skin, and a curvy figure. Buying jeans was a nightmare and she couldn’t wear blouses or shirts for work as they always gaped so badly at the boobs. Her figure just didn’t conform to the high street sizes. She was too short for regular standard sizes and too curvy to fit in the petite ranges. She couldn’t win. It could be much worse though, and when she looked in the mirror she was happy with what she saw, so fuck it all. If her worst problem was getting clothes that flatter, then her life must be a good one. She would never be called skinny or slim, not that she would want to. She had accepted her body a long time ago and didn’t care to dwell on things she couldn’t change. This was her, pretty eyes and hair, big boobs and ass, and that was fine thank you very much.
She was named after her maternal grandmother, Lucrezia Mariella Delarossa, who was from an extensive line of elite dragons and was the Delarossa family head. As the sole living direct descendant, Lucy inherited her entire estate when she died. Her mum had never married her dad but that was not the reason she was given the Delarossa name. As per the tradition in her mother’s family, Lucy was given her mum’s surname Delarossa when she was born instead of her dad’s Silverstone because all Delarossa babies had the same surname regardless of marriage and gender.
It was unusual, but it made it easy to establish who was kin and who was not. Lucy was the last of her grandmother’s line, but her father never told her any of it except to tell her where she inherited her name. He became grumpy and upset when she had pressed him for more details and usually ended up with him climbing into a bottle of vodka or rum afterwards. Guilt inspired her to keep her questions to herself, pushing for answers would just increase the speed at which her father died. She knew it would happen eventually, alcohol was literally a poison in copious quantities. Even shifters could eventually die of cirrhosis if they abused their bodies enough.
Chapter 4
After making trips to the car to bring in her boxes and luggage she closed and locked the doors. Abandoning her bags, she moved through the hallway to the kitchen to rustle up some food. A large deluxe meat feast pizza was on the top shelf ready to be her dinner. She had given the manager a whole list of foods to stock, so she knew there would be something good. While it cooked she set up her laptop and connected to the WIFI and started emptying her belongings from boxes. Lucy saw technology as an essential, her phone was never far from her hand and her laptop always on standby. She did not know how people managed before internet and mobile phones. How did anyone know where everyone else was?
All supernatural beings were required to register, in many ways like anyone does, driving licenses, utilities, passports, no one was anonymous unless you were off the grid completely. Shifters were required to be tracked more closely and their movements monitored simply due to their potential for danger. Supernatural beings had additional skills and abilities compared to regular humans, and it boiled down to trust. They were powerful beings, and tracking devices were mandatory for any shifter who had been convicted of a crime. Your position wasn’t public knowledge however, it was more a heads up for law enforcement, as in if there were a lot of shifters in one area, it made good sense to keep an eye out for any problems.
Keeping track of the bigger shifters was a must, but since she was apparently the only registered dragon in a 50-mile radius, the authorities tended to keep an eye on her. You could see on the person’s face the second they realised she was a dragon, because the fear entered their eyes and they were suddenly more wary and suspicious. Getting her driving license had been interesting, stress tests were not necessary for humans unless they had a history of mental illness or other medical problem, but some shifters had to have them to show they could cope under stress and not change into their animal forms. She had to do 3 rounds, they were that suspicious of her.
In theory she could have taken legal action, but the law was still murky on the matters that involved shifters. They simply hadn’t made the laws to apply to shifters. There were hundreds of high profile court cases in process to try and pin down the rules. There were hordes of activists on both sides that campaigned vigorously for changes to laws, but change happened so slowly. What should be a simple matter often took years to be implemented. So, in the meantime law enforcement tried to stretch and shape things to fit the circumstances. Ergo, laws to ensure law enforcement at least knew where everyone was.
The only shifters who were exempt from this were any working in jobs that would be compromised should their location be revealed. Nothing worse than being outed by a tracking device if you’re an undercover police officer, for example. Not that there were many shifters in law enforcement, but the numbers were rising quickly. Especially in the armed forces and uniformed services such as the police and fire service, the additional strength, agility and stamina shifters had was in great demand. These days everyone was registered in one way or another, humans and super naturals alike, it was when the information was used to fuel discrimination that it became a problem.
The register was meant to be highly secure and only accessible to authorised personnel who were themselves registered and recorded. Somehow though Lucy doubted that it was as secure as they claimed, there was always someone desperate for money who would sell out for cash and risk their job. After eating and updating her profile, Lucy decided to call her only friend in the city, Althea. Althea was a white tiger shifter and the same age as Lucy. They were well overdue a catch up, the last time was during the summer. Since it was now September, it was definitely time to touch base in person.
Althea and Lucy had met in school, ironically their mothers had known each other and had attended the same college. Since Lucy knew very little about her mother, she was very young when she left, she frequently visited Althea in the hope that she could hear more about her mother. Althea’s mother, Val, was very happy to chat about her, which was comforting, not that Lucy got any useful information from her, just basics really, apparently her mother was secretive too. Val was a wonderful woman, alw
ays keen to encourage and nurture. Hearing the call connect, Lucy winced at the screech that followed, holding the phone away from her ear for a second.
“LLLUUUCCEE!!! So, are you here in the city? Where are you staying? Your last message said west side, but where on the west side? Are you staying in a hotel?” Althea’s barrage of questions warmed Lucy, she had missed her, and had seriously neglected her friend for the past year. Althea always needed details, but there were plenty Lucy had to keep to herself.
“I rented a house near the West End Station, not far from Queen’s Theatre” Lucy said with a smile. She curled up on the deep cushioned brown fabric and leather sofa, pulling a thick fluffy cream blanket off the back to curl into. This conversation would be a long one, so she may as well get comfortable.
Chapter 5
Aris watched the woman from his position in the shadows, through the tall living room window. She had a nice voice, one that could narrate those audio books. Her scent lingered in the air and was settling in the surrounding area. His enhanced senses helped identify so much about her. She had showered that day, using something womanly, not fruity or too flowery, something that reminded him of the smell of arousal, with a mix of vanilla musk, bergamot and cedarwood. She had eaten recently, something containing meat and tomatoes. Looking further in he could see slices of pizza on a plate on the coffee table in front of the sofa the woman was lying on. Wrapped up in a fleece blanket, and chatting animatedly on the phone, she looked unusual, something stood out.
No woman had captured his interest for a long time. Not for decades. The woman whom he grew fond of back then was called Sofia, and she was a petite woman in her 20’s, he had been infatuated with her. They met at a club he frequented, back then there was very few people on the donor register for vampires so one had to source blood from willing humans if the donor was fully booked. Then you had to wipe the human’s mind to block their memories, effectively blank out the feeding. Vampires fed quickly, their fangs injecting anti-coagulant as they pierced the skin to stimulate the blood flow. After getting their fill, the puncture holes began healing as soon as the vamp retracted their fangs and stopped sucking. Licking the wound assisted the healing, vampire saliva contained concentrated clotting factors, so there was minimal risk of the person figuring it out, especially if the vampire was smart and kept the bite small and discreet.
