City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood

by Wilder, Adrienne

  He licked her cheek and the corner of her eye.

  Haley handed him the soap and sponge. They took turns cleaning each other. As Kin, these moments of touching were what kept them sane.

  From the other side of the curtain, Deshi said, “Emily left me about six voice mails.” Haley opened the curtain and pulled his arm.

  “Let us wash you.” He shook his head and stared at the cell phone in his hand. “Deshi, please.” The Prince heaved a sigh deep enough to make his shoulders drop. He sat his cell phone on the edge of the sink and joined them.

  Haley washed his hair while Farley scrubbed the sponge down his back and legs. They kept Deshi sandwiched between them, touching him head to toe while they worked to wash away all the bad things. The steaming water bounced off his skin and ran in sheets down his perfect body. It was good to see him completely healed.

  Only when all of them were lobster red with pruning fingers did Farley cut the water off. Haley grabbed a few towels from the back of the toilet and passed them around.

  Her decorative peach ones stayed on the rack.

  Deshi went into her bedroom. The sound of drawers being opened and shut followed. Farley picked the Prince’s phone up off the counter and flipped it open.

  “What are you doing?” Haley whispered.

  “Erasing Emily’s messages.”

  “Why?”

  Farley curled his lip. “Cause that bitch doesn’t have anything to say that he needs to hear right now.”

  From the bedroom Deshi said, “Where are my black jeans?”

  Haley groaned and walked out of the bathroom still working her hair through the towel. “Creyal took them.”

  “Who?” Deshi kept digging in the drawer and pulled out several shirts.

  “He’s a feral. He broke into my house and borrowed my shower.” And her decorative towels. “He needed clothes, so he took your jeans.”

  Deshi stood back up. “Well, I can’t go around in boxers.”

  “Wear some of mine.” Farley stuck his head out of the bathroom. “I brought over a few pair weeks back.”

  “They’ll never fit.”

  “Sure they will. They’re cut big and baggy.”

  Deshi shook his head. “No offense, but the whole bondage-skater theme you’ve got going just doesn’t do it for me.”

  “Jesus, Deshi, live a little. I mean, unless you would rather wear one of Haley’s skirts.” Farley made a face like he was thinking. “On second thought, you’ve got the legs to pull it off.”

  Deshi growled. “I do n-n…” Farley ducked back into the bathroom. Deshi looked at Haley. “I do not have girl legs.”

  Haley grinned. “No, definitely not, but they are nice.” Deshi still didn’t look very happy. “So what will it be?” Haley held up a skirt in one hand and a pair of Farley’s skaters in the other. “Lord & Taylor or Hot Topic?” The Jersey City Prince made an unhappy sound and took the pants.

  Farley whistled as he strolled into the room wearing nothing but a towel around his neck. Deshi frowned while looking down and picking at the chains and studs hanging from the pants.

  “You look sick, my man! Almost look as good as me.” Farley retrieved a dark red pair layered with too many pockets and enough steel to set off a metal detector ten yards away. He pulled the things on and buttoned them up.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Haley held up a pair of boxers.

  Farley waved her off. “Naw, they just get in the way.” His phone buzzed on the dresser.

  Haley picked it up. “It’s Claire.” She handed it to him. “By the way, she cornered me this morning. She wants to take you out.” She glanced at the clock. “For dinner.”

  Farley pulled on a black shirt with a picture of a squirrel threatening to poke out someone’s eye with a French fry. “I don’t want to talk to her.”

  Haley sighed. “Farley, she’s trying. At least tell her no yourself.”

  “Fuck.” He snatched the phone and stalked out of the room.

  “Him and Claire having problems?”

  She looked at Deshi. “You could say that. Lots happened since September.” Haley slipped on a thong, then pulled out a bra. She tossed it when she saw the clasp was broken and fished out another. She had way more underclothes than anyone could ever need, but she loved them, that and her shoes. Just like Orin loved his eyewear and Deshi loved his…She looked at him. “Do you still collect Smurfs?”

  The Jersey City Prince coughed and fumbled with the tails of his white dress shirt. Half was tucked in, half was out.

  “Here…” Haley went up to him and pulled it out and let them hang. She undid the bottom button to give it a little more flare. Deshi didn’t look happy. “Okay, I admit, it’s no Baroni, but they do look good on you.” And because he was so much bigger than Farley, they didn’t hang looking like a bag. Haley brushed his bangs out of his eyes. “So about those…Smurfs?”

  Deshi closed his eyes and shook his head.

  “Emily?”

  He gave a small nod and sat down on the edge of the bed.

  After Haley pulled on a sweater, she pushed herself between Deshi’s knees. He wrapped his arms around her and laid his head on her chest while she draped her arms over his shoulders and stroked his blond locks, twirling them with her fingers.

  Deshi said, “I’m sorry for everything. I didn’t deserve what you did for me. After the complete asshole I’ve been, I don’t deserve either of you.”

  Haley shushed him and rubbed her cheeks against his temples. The gesture would be meaningless to Emily, but it left her scent on Deshi and was a direct challenge to the woman’s place in his life.

  “You’re wrong, Deshi. You do deserve this. It’s Emily who doesn’t deserve anything.”

  “I can’t leave her. I know that’s what you and Farley want me to do, but I can’t. I still…”

  “You love her,” she finished.

  “You said Kin can’t love.”

  Yeah, she had. But then she thought about Farley. “We do something. I just don’t know what it is.”

  On a wave of juicy curses, Farley stormed back into the room. He even put a spin on the F-bomb Haley had to admit was very creative.

  She said, “What happened?”

  Farley yanked open the sock drawer. “I don’t know how Claire does it. I mean, I have every intention on telling her no, and what falls out of my mouth? Sure, yeah, and absolutely…Fuck.”

  “So you’re going to dinner with her.” Haley made it a statement.

  “I guess I could stand her up.”

  “Farley…”

  “Yeah, okay. I won’t stand her up. But I’m not going back to her apartment, and I’m definitely not getting naked with her.” Haley and Deshi exchanged glances. “I’ve sworn her off. I don’t care how good she tastes. It isn’t worth what she puts me through.” He grabbed his shitkickers. “There are lots of Humans who have flavor. I just need to move on.” Farley shoved one foot in, then the next. His eyes came up. “What?”

  Deshi burst out laughing, and Haley shook her head. She went to the closet and found the skirt she wanted. It was a little longer than her suit pieces with a high slit in the side.

  Farley said, “You don’t believe me?”

  Deshi said, “Nope.”

  Farley looked at Haley. “You, too?”

  Haley sighed. “Farley, I know you. I know you really well. Free sex isn’t something you’re known to pass up. Especially free sex from Claire.”

  He made an angry sound. “That’s it, I’m not going.”

  “You have to go.” Haley waved a hand at him. “If Orin calls and needs me to help him, you’ll have to keep acting normally. That means going to the Center, the Dens, and out with Claire while I wait out the INI investigation.”

  Farley growled. “Yeah, well, that’s another thing altogether.”

  “Farley…” Haley put a hand on his arm. “Listen, there were a lot of people in the room. There’s no way they didn’t see what happened. Ga
rrett will investigate it, and everything will be okay.”

  His lips curled. “And you believe that?”

  Did she? “I have to.”

  Farley moved to her dresser and picked through her meager jewelry collection. When he turned back around, he had an earring in one hand and was pushing the post through his lobe. “Then tell me this. If Orin does need help, how are you going to get permission to go into the Athens Dens?”

  Haley shrugged. “I’m not. First off, I don’t know if I will need to go into the Dens. And second, Garrett told me to take a vacation. So I’m going to take a vacation. It won’t be like I’m breaking any Center rules.”

  Technically.

  Farley pegged Deshi with a glare. “Take him with you.”

  Before Haley could reply, her phone rang, and she went to answer it. She checked the number but didn’t recognize it.

  “This is Haley.”

  “It’s me.” Orin’s exhale rattled the across the speaker. “I’ve got a place for us to meet.”

  “Okay, shoot.”

  “They’re having a concert in Sandy Creek this weekend. It starts tonight. There’ll be ten thousand people easy. I can hide out in the open.

  “Okay, but how am I going to find you?”

  “You won’t have to. I’ll find you. Just be there around eight.”

  “Orin, are you ever going to tell me what this is about?”

  He laughed, but it wasn’t a happy sound. “Damn, Haley. When’s the last time you turned on the news?”

  She sighed. “The news is depressing.”

  This time Orin really laughed. “Turn on your TV, and you’ll have your explanation. Just promise me that after you see it, you’ll still come to the park.”

  “I’ll be there. I swear.”

  Orin hung up. Haley picked up the remote and clicked on the set. She flipped through the channels until she hit a local news show. They were playing a 9-1-1 call complete with teletype while showing a crowd of law enforcement rolling an occupied body bag to an awaiting truck.

  “9-1-1, do you have an Emergency?”

  “Don’t hurt me, Orin, please, no, don’t hurt me! Somebody, anybody, help me, help me! No, Orin, I love you, Orin, I love you!”

  Haley put her hand to her mouth.

  Behind her Farley said, “Holy shit.”

  Chapter 15

  As Farley headed up the sidewalk to the Center, he couldn’t get the BS about Orin out of his head. All the stuff they were saying on the news was just too surreal. Orin was old, but he was about as docile as a Kin got. There was no way someone like him would kill anyone. Hell, that stick-in-the-mud wouldn’t kill a gnat if he thought it would jeopardize his job with the University.

  Or make him look less Human.

  Still, a very small part of Farley had to wonder if maybe Orin had lost control.

  The bigger part of him promptly stomped the little part to death.

  Orin might be a lot of things – arrogant, stuck up, too smart for his own good –

  did he say arrogant? But a man-eater wasn’t one of them. No, the Male was too big on his “I’m so in Control.” Prick didn’t even like the idea of being fed temporal fluid. Whereas just the thought of rolling the stuff on his tongue left Farley jonesing.

  Claire appeared from between two parked cars and waved at Farley.

  “Thanks for coming.” She made like she wanted to hug. When she hesitated Farley opened his arms. Hell, why not? Besides, it got him close to her scent. Damn, it was stronger than he remembered. Farley inhaled and felt heat between his legs. Just great. Not even five seconds in, and he was already thinking with the wrong end of his anatomy.

  Claire gave Farley a sweet smile he learned long ago to associate with nefarious things. “You ready?”

  Boy, was he ever. “Where are we going to…eat?” Yeah, this was about food, remember?

  “How about that Chinese place you like so much? House of Lin?” Claire took his hand and pulled him toward her car.

  Farley took shotgun in the Prius. Claire cranked up the car. Compared to Haley’s ’65 Mustang it sounded like a windup toy. Less than twenty miles to the gallon was well worth the roar of a Boss four-twenty-nine under the hood.

  Claire backed out and the engine in the Prius made nancy sounds as it accelerated.

  “So…” Claire checked both ways before heading out into the street. “Is Haley okay?”

  Farley shifted in his seat and leaned back. “Yeah, she’s good.” And Deshi better keep her that way. Farley hated her going without him. As her First Marked, it was his job to tend to her needs. But Haley was right, if he didn’t show up to work tomorrow as scheduled, Garrett was apt to get suspicious. Orin wasn’t exactly an unknown. He’d done some consultation a few times when they ran across documents written in obscure Olde Tongue dialects Farley couldn’t read.

  Not to mention the glaring fact Deshi had been the one to take the RHage. And right now Haley needed a Male at her side who could take on whatever Medan was going to dish out.

  Farley realized Claire was staring at him in between watching the road. He said, “She’s fine, Claire, just mad because they put her on suspension.”

  Claire gave a nod, and her bob cut swung against her cheeks. “They should fire Donald for what he did.” She took a left. “I mean, those Males in the Tank, they were…” She paused, then said, “Bonded…Isn’t that what they call it? Is that the same thing as Brothers?”

  Farley watched Claire from the corner of his eye. This was treading on dangerous ground, considering how she’d reacted a few months back after she found out about Darco.

  He said, “They can be.”

  “Are you and…” She swallowed and her hands rubbed the steering wheel. “Are you and Darco bonded like that?”

  Holy shit, she’s got to be… “No.” It came out hard and Claire jumped.

  “Sorry, I’m just…I’m just trying to learn, is all. I didn’t mean to make you mad.”

  “I’m not mad.” You’re just scaring the shit out of me. ‘Cause two months ago it was all freak-out and go–ballistic, and now it was get cozy with the way of wyrms.

  Claire gave another one of those nods, one which said, “Oh-okay.”

  At the red light Claire reached into the back and picked up a book and handed it to Farley. “I’ve been reading. A lot. About everything Kin.”

  He turned the book over in his hands. The title read A Guide to Kin by Malcom. Farley glanced in the back. It looked like Haley’s library in her office had escaped. Since Haley fell short on a lot of what Females came out of the Hatching Grounds with, she’d taken to reading about her people early on.

  But Claire was Human, which made it impossible for Farley not to ask the obvious. “Why?”

  Claire’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Because I care about you.” Her scent blossomed. “I care about you a lot.” The light turned green, and the Prius made a sound like a fridge cutting on as it rolled forward.

  Farley thumbed through the pages on the book. The damn thing even had diagrams on Ulyssis points. There was a highlighter mark through Chapter Ten which covered sense of smell. He put the book between the two front seats. POS car didn’t even have an armrest.

  “So does this mean you’re not going to throw up any more if my Brother leaves love marks on me again?” Farley knew he was being mean. Thing is, he didn’t care. Claire guided the little car into the parking lot. “’Cause if you think that was bad...”

  “Farley…” Claire’s voice cracked, and her breath went in and out really quick. “I won’t…I won’t lie to you. I find what he did to you repulsive.”

  “And you think I enjoyed it?”

  She looked at him. Damn. That’s exactly what she thought. “Shit, Claire. You can’t be serious.” Farley almost punched the dash, but was afraid the car would never start again.

  Might knock that nine volt right out of the underside.

  He settled for scrubbing his face.

&nb
sp; Claire said, “Well, Weisman’s book says--”

  “Forget about the books. You’re not going to understand anything about my people by reading a bunch of shit written by Humans who not only don’t have experience with it, but don’t have the capacity in their narrow little brains to grasp it if they did.”

  Claire sat in the seat next to him as stiff as a board and smelling like tears. She wasn’t crying yet, but she sure was close. She said something Farley didn’t quite understand.

  “What?”

  “I said, then teach me. I want to understand. But if you won’t talk to me, I can’t learn.” Claire tried to smile, but her lips didn’t seem to want to cooperate.

  Farley blinked. Teach her? Yeah. Sure. Humans only thought they wanted to know about what it was like…really like to be Kin. The idea of understanding the monsters was a novelty, like going to the Pit with fake teeth and pheromones, which was a far cry from the reality.

  “Claire…” Farley leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling of the cab. His insides were in knots, but it had nothing to do with Claire and her sudden need to grasp a deeper understanding of dragons. “For the record, no, I don’t enjoy Darco. And before you ask me why I put up with it, the answer is simple. I don’t have a choice.” He looked at her and her small mouth had disappeared into a tight line.

  “So he rapes you?”

  “No. Look, I know you Humans have all these hang ups about personal space, bodies, touching, whatever. But it doesn’t work like that for us. There is no such thing as rape, being gay, incest, any of those things. We aren’t like you. So just push it all out of your head.”

  In a small voice Claire said, “Then tell me.”

  Farley shifted in his seat, wondering who had put sandpaper in the ass end of his pants while he wasn’t looking. “In every clutch there is a survivor, sometimes two, and even more rarely three. The need is so strong you’re blinded by it. You’re so hungry you’d tear your own flesh off your bones and eat it. If you’re weaker than the rest, you’re going to die.” He looked at her then. “For us there is no such thing as being nurtured. You eat to survive, and if you wind up as Food, you have to give the one who hunts you a better reason to keep you alive. I did what I had to do to keep Darco from eating me. But because he let me live, he’s my Dominant.”