I do not own any of these characters. The amazing author J.R Ward did.
Barnes and Noble. Of all the fucking places the lessers could have picked, it had to be this one. Vishous cursed audibly, earning an evil look from a squat old lady. Phury and John Matthew follow him into the store.
The sweet smelling fucker had disappeared into the rows and shelves of newly printed books. A few night owls wandered around, but otherwise the little sucker was outnumbered. But he had dragged them into a public place where they couldn't do anything.
Vishous wanted to incinerate the place, he was so effin' pissed. Now they just needed to flush the lesser out, then get the little fucker and send him on a one way trip back to the Omega. That was Vishous' plan. Quick. Simple. Easy to remember.
He nose caught a whiff of baby powder, and he charged down an aisle. Intent on his prey. He was so intent that he almost plowed over a petite girl, who was reading the back of a book on environmental science. She was so small for a moment he thought she should have been home, asleep because she had grade school in the morning.
Vishous towers over her, knowing he should keep going but finding that he couldn't. She smells positively enticing. Somewhere between morning fog and mountain rain. It was something he couldn't explain, but all he knew was that he wanted it.
He glances down at her, her honey-brown eyes staring at him. the thought of being young was banished when he saw her eyes, such deep sad eyes, eyes that had seen years of suffering. "Do you think you could watch where you're going next time, please?" her voice was tough for someone so small, but not biting. Vishous shrugs.
"Depends on if there's a next time." He replies. She smirks, and gets up, slinging her bag further up on her shoulder. Her clothes too big for her, hiding her body. they were baggy, swallowing her up like Rhage's beast does to lesser who get too close.
"Whatever." She shakes her head, "hope you find whatever your looking for." She turns to leave, but Vishous didn't want her to. he wanted her to stay. Confused at the feeling, Vishous' face went blanker then usual. Not the stupid blank, but the uncaring features of someone who doesn't care, apathetic.
"How do you know I'm looking for something?" he asks. She glances over her shoulder, her long braid reaching down to her mid-back. She smiles, it lights up your face. but not her eyes.
"Well why else would you be moving so fast? And plow an innocent bystander like me to the ground?" she answers, gathering the thick book into her arms. "Later." Vishous chuckles, smart. She was a smart one.
But she was right, and just as he was about to turn the other way a large man by the name of Butch came running down the ailse, rams into the girl making her stumble to the ground in a very ungraceful manner, and then knocks into Vishous, making him drop a dagger which he was in process of pulling out of the sheath. Vishous wastes no time, but immediately follows.
Laura grumbles obscenities at the other huge man. Jesus Christ, what were they feeding them these days? Steroids? Growth hormones? Both? She shakes her head, and sees the dagger.
Well now…
She reaches over, and picks it up. It was a Black Dagger. She inspects it; it was heavy, but beautiful. Long and slender, she liked it, but she knew something like this took time and money. And being the goody-too-shoes she was, she couldn't keep it. So she stood up, and put the dagger in her bag. she knew her fearlessness of a dagger would not be shared by other Barnes and Noble costumers.
She briefly thought that she should be worried about finding a dagger dropped by a man like that. But she had grown up in an area where even the fucking squirrels carried knives. So was she worried about giving a man back his dagger? Nah, not at all.
So she rounds the corner, seeing a jumble of confused faces but not much more. Tugging at her too big shirt, she looks around, searching for the big man with the sexy goatee and tattoos around his eyes. She could tell by that gleam in his eyes he was intelligent too.
As she meandered through the bookshelves, she saw him, towering over a bookcase. Black hair slightly on the longish side, head bent as if reading. She starts to walk towards him, but he lifts his head.
"Hello again." she smiles. He raises an eyebrow. "You dropped this." Laura takes out the dagger, and holds it out to him, handle first.
"Shouldn't you being dialing 911 and screaming about some crazed dagger wielding murderer?" he asks, "shouldn't you be frightened about the fact that I have dagger like this with me?"
Laura laughs softly, "I'm not afraid of much, plus then I'd be a hypocrite." She reaches down her shirt and pulls out a tiny arrow shaped dagger on a leather string around her neck.
Now it was Vishous' turn to laugh. Imagine that. Girl with an attitude to match his own. He liked that. He also really, really likes the way she smells. Damn…
"And I don't recommend that book. It sucks." She tells him. Vishous looks down at the book he's holding. Something on President Kennedy.
"You whore!" Laura spun around, in time to see her ex, Kyle, aim the gun at her.
Her eyebrows mesh together, she didn't understand. A gun? What? Time was slowing as she stood. what she was seeing just wasn't comprehending with her brain.
BANG!!
She was roughly pulled away, where she crashes to the floor, her body bouncing with the force of impact.