I hurry to the back of the house and quietly unlock and open the door. Then I pad across my deck. I hurry down the stairs, feeling the beach sand between my toes. I decide to go past my neighbor’s house and head back via the side of their house instead of mine. If Gabby has eyes on my place, she might see me if I stay on my property. I only pray that one of my neighbors doesn’t accidentally see me. Maybe rushing out half-naked wasn’t the best idea. It’s too late now.
I make my way across to my neighbor’s property, carefully checking around the corner. I keep most of my body concealed behind the house wall, hoping she doesn’t see me or hear me. My only hope is that she’s so busy watching my house she doesn’t see me come up behind her. The window is rolled down, I’ll grab her before she can start up the car.
I work hard at breathing as low as possible. All is quiet otherwise. I’m about to dart to a nearby tree when I see someone behind the tree on the property across the road. I suck back against the wall. I can feel that my eyes are wide.
Morgan.
What is she doing here? I need to get closer. I do a check on Gabby, who is still watching my house, and then run to the tree. The movement catches Morgan’s attention. She’s frowning. Then she motions for me to go away by waving her arm. She doesn’t look happy.
I shake my head and point at Gabby. Morgan widens her eyes and points at herself. Then she unclips a holster and pulls out a gun.
A gun.
Not a chance. I shake my head harder and try to gesture to her what a bad idea I think that is. She ignores me flat and sprints to a tree on her side, which is the side that Gabby is parked. Morgan is closer. Then she runs and darts behind a rosebush.
The car engine remains off. All is still quiet. In other words, Gabby/Lilith has no idea that Morgan is stalking her. Stalking with the intention of killing her – I suddenly recall our conversation in my office. Morgan was quite clear about what she planned on doing with Gabby when she found her. Although there’s a part of me that’s all for killing Gabby, I’m of the opinion that murder is wrong. If she hurt Morgan’s partner, then there are systems in place for dealing with that. There is another big driver as to why I need Gabby alive.
I growl low with irritation. I can’t let Morgan kill Gabby. If she dies, my powers will be gone forever. I need to do something. One more sprint and Morgan will be close enough for a kill-shot. I have a feeling that someone like Morgan knows her way around a gun. That she’s well-practiced and that Gabby will die if I don’t do something right now, even if it means giving us away. It may mean that Gabby will end up escaping.
Dammit, Morgan! Why doesn’t she just stand down?
Arms pumping, I run like the devil is on my heels. I watch Morgan run too, her gun at her side. She slowly raises the gun as she gets alongside the vehicle.
“No!” I shout, which alerts Gabby. I see her jump with the realization, I see her head turn towards Morgan, who is quicker than I thought she would be.
The gun is almost in line with Gabby. I have no other choice but to give Morgan a shove. A shot goes off. Wide.
The engine to the car starts. I close the distance, reaching for her, for Gabby. She is facing forwards. The tires are spinning. The car is moving. I get my hand around a few strands of her hair. She screams as it rips out. Then I am watching as she is pulling away. Three more shots go off. I turn to my right. Morgan is on her stomach on the road; she’s shooting after the retreating car. The right tail-light goes out. Then the back window shatters.
Morgan turns onto her side as the car disappears around a corner, tires squealing. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” she yells.
“Me? What the hell is wrong with you?” I ignore the fact that she has a loaded weapon in her hand and pick her up.
“Hey!” she yells.
I note that lights have started to come on in the various homes on my street. Of course they have, shots were fired. Four to be exact. A car could be heard making a getaway. “We need to get inside,” I growl.
I sprint down the side of my house, back across the sand, up the stairs, and into my house. I put Morgan down and close the door. She points the gun at me, which pisses me the hell off. I grab it out of her hands and bend the muzzle back so that it’s aiming backward. Then I give it back to her.
“What did you do that for?” she shouts.
“You’ve pointed that thing at me one time too many. My dick still has a dent.”
“You let the harpy get away.”
“The what?” I ask. “Spit it out already. I’m tired of playing all of these games with you.”
Her jaw tightens, and she glares at me.
“What were you doing outside my house?”
“Watching and waiting. It paid off too.” Then she stomps her foot and curses. “You let her get away. What the…?” She curses again. “Why? Was she that good in bed? Do you still see her as your girlfriend or something? Let me guess, she didn’t take anything from you. You just wanted her back. You wanted to find her so that you could stalk her.”
“I think it’s more like the other way around. It was her sitting outside of my house with a pair of binoculars, not me.”
“She wants more of what she took from you, then. What was it? Couldn’t have been your life essence, or you wouldn’t be here.” I can see that her mind is working. “What was it? Sex…” Her face scrunches in thought. “I’ve never heard of them being sexual like that. Essence though—”
“We didn’t have sex…I don’t think.” I frown.
Morgan
“You don’t think?” I smirk at him. “Really? Did you have one too many? How can you have sex and not remember? Did she blow your mind that badly? I didn’t know they could do that either.” I frown. There is so much we don’t know about harpies. After all of my research, I found bits and pieces but nothing conclusive. All I have are questions.
“I remember very little after we came back here. I think she…” His eyes narrow on mine. “What did you do to me in my office? What are you?” His voice lowers a couple of octaves. His green eyes seem to lighten.
“I’m very much human, but other than that, I’m not telling you anything. You’re not human. I’m not sure what you are…” A demigod. Son of Apollo. Yeah, I don’t think so!
“I already told you.”
“And I’m still not buying it. What are you wearing, by the way?” I look down at his boxers. They’re all he has on. Holy smokes, he’s hot. Those abs, that chest, his arms. I knew he looked good, but this is ridiculous. I immediately berate myself. I can’t be thinking along these lines.
“I didn’t have time to dress. Thank god I didn’t get dressed,” he mumbles to himself. “Gabby would be dead. My… What’s a harpy?”
I groan inwardly for my slip of the tongue. How could I have been so careless? “I’ll tell you more if you tell me what she took.”
He lifts his eyes and cocks his head.
“What is it?”
“Sirens,” he growls. “The cops are on their way. I hope to god no one saw me.”
I snigger. “A big, half-naked gorilla with a woman slung over his shoulder would be hard to miss.”
He scowls at me, and I wink at him. I don’t know why, but I enjoy giving him shit.
He throws me what he probably thinks is a dirty look but is pretty darned sultry, in my opinion. “A gorilla with a pencil dick, how does that work again?”
My eyes dart to his crotch. How can they not? He brought up his dick. This guy definitely doesn’t have a pencil dick. There is a lot going on down there. I quickly look away. I shouldn’t be looking at his crotch or at any part of him.
I hear sirens blaring, they’re getting closer.
“That’s my bedroom through there.” He points at a door.
“I’m not going into your bedroom.”
He rolls his eyes. “Believe me, the last thing I want is you in my room, but the incident happened in front of my house.” He points towards the street. “We shouldn’t be out
here where the cops can see us.” There are windows. Shit!
I hear cars pulling up. Light flashes through the blinds. The sirens cut out.
They’re here.
I nod once, and we go into his bedroom. Lyre turns a side-lamp on.
“Wow!” I almost choke on my saliva. His bedroom is bigger than my last apartment. The whole thing. There are two doors, I’m guessing that one of them is a bathroom. I suddenly need to go. “Which one is the bathroom?”
“You can’t be serious?”
“I’ve been watching your house for hours.” I dance on my feet. “I really need to go.”
“The door on the right.” He glowers at me. “We’re not done talking.”
I dash to the door and head inside. My mouth falls open. The bathroom is just as big and beautiful. I see a huge hot tub. A double shower. A huge, gray-washed oak vanity.
Then I remember my bladder is about to let go. So I open my belt, pull down my pants, and do what I need to do. I wash my hands and dry them on the fluffiest towel I’ve ever touched.
My eyes are a little bloodshot. I’m staying in a motel just outside of town. The mattress is lumpy, and the sheets smell weird. It was all I could afford since I’ve been suspended without pay from the Order for walking out. I’m more than likely going to lose my job. I don’t care. There is no change with Andy. Machines are keeping him alive. With each day that passes, there is less and less hope of him recovering. I need to get him justice.
I push out a breath and go back into Lyre’s bedroom. I note that he’s wearing jeans. He almost looks better in the jeans than he did in the boxers. I feel anger wash over me all over again. “I still cannot believe you let her get away.”
“I still can’t believe you were watching my house and that you ran at her, guns blazing.”
“I had to watch your house. I had a hunch she would come back and—”
The doorbell rings.
Lyre curses under his breath.
“Stay calm,” I whisper. “They’re probably going door to door.”
“Or someone saw me,” he quickly answers.
“Or they’re going door to door. Deny any involvement in anything.”
He nods once, frown lines on his forehead. His eyes are blazing. Lyre starts walking towards the door.
“Wait,” I say.
“What?”
“You probably just got out of bed, you should lose the jeans.”
One of his brows goes up, but he, thankfully, doesn’t argue. That’s a first. I watch as Lyre unbuttons his jeans; he pulls them down and steps out of them, throwing them over a nearby chair. “Whatever you do, stay in here.”
“Wait.” I hold up a hand.
“What now?”
“You have sand on your feet.”
He looks down and curses. Then he spends a few seconds wiping at his feet. He uses the wall to lean against.
“Stay put,” he repeats, whispering.
I nod.
He closes the door behind him, but I open it again, just a smidgen, so that I can listen in.
They knock a second time just as Lyre gets to the door. His ass is meaty in those boxers. If I wasn’t so mad at him, I might find him attractive. Then again, he’s not human, and that’s a line I never cross. Most of the non-humans I encounter are monsters. I have a hard time trusting humans let alone strange creatures. I should never have become friends with Lilith. I’d be stupid to make the same mistake twice.
“Good morning,” I hear someone say from outside. “My name is Detective Ross Coleman, and this is Detective Montroy.”
“Morning.” Lyre doesn’t sound impressed.
“There were gunshots reported at this address. There’s broken glass and shell casings on the street in front of your house.”
“Oh,” I hear Lyre say. He tells me I’m a bad liar. I don’t even have to see his face to know he’s talking shit. Anyway, he’s wrong. I’m a great bullshitter. It goes with the job. I bullshit to get into places. I bullshit to get out of trouble. I bullshit to get information. I’m good at bullshitting. Lyre does seem to know when I’m doing it, though, which is weird.
“What is your name, please?” someone with a heavy southern accent asks.
“Lyre Jennings. I’m a heart surgeon at General Hospital.”
“One of your neighbors across the street reportedly saw a man of your description running away from the scene,” the other cop says. “Do you know anything about that?”
“No…nothing.”
“The suspect was carrying something and running towards this address. Are you sure you don’t know anything about that?”
“Why would I know something about that? I was inside my house…it’s early.” He doesn’t sound convincing. Not at all. I have a feeling he’s going to mess this up.
“Okay, then. Would you mind if we asked a couple of questions?”
Oh shit! They’re going to look for holes in whatever he says, and if they find them, they’re taking him in for questioning.
“Ask away.”
“How many gunshots were fired?”
“How would I know?” he answers too quickly. He sounds irritated.
“You don’t know?” The detective sounds shocked. “A gun is fired right outside your house, and you don’t know how many shots went off?”
“No!” There is a short pause. “I didn’t hear anything.”
I roll my eyes. He’s denying the wrong thing. Everyone on this block will have heard those shots. The detectives will know he’s lying. I need to do something and fast. It’s that, or they’ll arrest Lyre. The harpy won’t come out of hiding if he’s in jail. I rush towards the bathroom. There was something in there that might help us get out of this mess.
9
Lyre
This isn’t good. I can see by the look in Detective Coleman’s eyes that he doesn’t believe a word I’m saying.
I don’t blame him. I’m messing this up.
“Can we come in?” the other detective asks. Detective Coleman takes a step forward, but I hold my ground.
“No.” I shake my head. “It’s early, and I need to start getting ready for work. You’re wasting all of our time. I’ve answered your questions.”
“Why haven’t you asked me if anyone was hurt?” the other detective asks. I can’t remember his name.
“I didn’t hear or see…” I look outside, sure to look up and down the street, “an ambulance, so I’m assuming not. Was someone hurt? As I said, I’m a doctor, I can help.”
“No, not that we know of,” Detective Coleman says. “I’m finding it hard to believe you didn’t hear anything, though.”
“I—”
“Is everything okay, babe?” I hear a voice behind me. I have to school my emotions. I want to groan and then curse and then tell that meddling pain in the ass to—
My jaw drops as I turn. I take a step back, letting the door go. The two detectives grab the opportunity to take a step or two into my house. I hear one of them groan softly, the other pulls in a deep breath.
Holy fuck!
I agree with their sentiments. Morgan is wearing my shirt. The one I had on yesterday. I’m giving it to her because it looks better on her than it ever did on me. It’s button-down and pale pink. It’s creased because she fished it out of my laundry basket. It comes to about mid-thigh. She has great thighs. The top couple of buttons are undone, and, just as I suspected, she’s no man. Definitely all fucking woman. I thought I filled out my shirts. I don’t. Not like that.
Fuck!
“What’s going on?” She leans against the jamb and folds her arms, plumping up her tits. Both of those detectives are jealous of me right now. I don’t have to look at them to know it’s true. Her short hair is mussed…but fuck it makes her even hotter. Her lips are pink. They have that just sucked on look. How did she do that?
“Um…” one of the detectives says.
“Um…we were…” the other stumbles over his words too. I don’t blame them.
“There was a shooting outside…as in, right outside,” I say to Morgan. “That’s why the detectives are here.”
“Oh!” Her brows shoot up. “When?” She looks concerned.
“Not that long ago. Am I right, detectives?” I say, raising my brows too. “There’s nothing to worry about. Whoever did the shooting is gone.”
“About twenty to thirty minutes ago.” Detective Coleman clears his throat. “Your…this… We’re struggling to understand how it is that you two didn’t hear anything. Did you hear the shots being fired, Miss…?”
“Ohhhhh.” Her eyes widen. “That makes sense now. I might have heard something.”
“You did?” I ask, frowning.
“I think I might have, but I can’t be sure.” She chews on her lower lip. “Um…you see…” She giggles. “We were…um…we were busy at the time.”
Oh my god, that’s genius. Why didn’t I think of that?
“Busy as in…?” the one detective asks.
“We were…” She giggles again.
“We were fucking,” I say, my voice low. I try not to look at Morgan because I might get a hard-on if I do. I haven’t had sex in a long time. I’m beginning to think that Gabby and I never happened. I’m glad. I regretted the whole thing even before I realized my power was gone.
“Oh,” the detective says.
“Still,” Detective Coleman narrows his eyes, “sex or no, you didn’t hear four shots fired right outside? Your neighbors from three houses down called it in first. They heard just fine.”
Morgan chuckles. Her voice is husky. “Not if your partner is doing it right, detective,” she says. Morgan saunters over, slips under my arm and presses herself against me. “That was hands-down the hardest I’ve come…ever.” Her voice is a soft, sexy purr. I can feel her soft breasts. I think her nipples are hard.
She shifts slightly. Yep, they’re hard. Fuck! I’m about to get hard myself.
Detective-whatever and Detective-who-cares drop their jaws. Their eyes widen. Detective-whatever shifts from one foot to the other, looking grossly uncomfortable.
Lord of Life (The Dragon Demigods Book 4) Page 8
