Chapter 2
It was cold outside. An ominous wind began to sweep its way through the streets, ushering people into their homes as the late afternoon sun crept over the sidewalks and through the windows of an old, run-down apartment building. It shone against the glass, and reflected mercilessly into the eyes of drivers and pedestrians alike. Bo shielded her eyes with a hand as she stared up at the derelict structure.
"Really? What is it with Shifters and broken-down buildings?" She scoffed. Vex shrugged behind her and pushed past her shoulder to lead the way in. The glass of the building's double doors was smudged and dirty. A crack webbed its way down one corner. The floor was littered with shattered glass, of which the source was missing.
Dolph lived on the third floor, accessible only by narrow stairs. The pair walked them in silence. Bo watched Vex as she followed, distrust creasing her brow. If it came down to a fight, could she count on the Mesmer to back her at all?
Within a few short minutes, they stood at the doorway: a massive slab of metal that looked like the only solid piece in the whole structure. The Succubus and Mesmer shared a glance between them before Vex raised his fist and started pounding on the heavy door.
"Oi! Dolph! You in there, mate?" He shouted, still pounding. "Open the bloody door!"
Vex kept pounding, Bo raised an eyebrow at him and let out a sigh. It wasn't as though they'd hear Dolph coming through this huge mass of steel anyway. Then the door hammered open, and Vex, mid-swing, stumbled into an enormous block of hard, heavy muscle. Glaring down at him were a pair of steely goldenrod eyes, framed by thick, dark lashes and a Neanderthal brow. A solid, crooked nose flared over thin, wide lips and thin cheeks flexed across high cheekbones as the heavy-set, heavily muscled monster of a man clenched his teeth and puffed hot air through his nose down at Vex.
The Mesmer at his fullest height only reached the Shifter's shoulder. He had to peer up to meet the angry gaze.
"What the hell do you want, invalid?" His voice ground on Bo's ears like stone on stone.
"Hey, who're you calling an invalid?!" Vex cried back, indignantly.
"It doesn't matter! Dolph, right?" Bo pushed past Vex impatiently and glowered up at the behemoth, "we need to ask you a few questions."
Dolph squinted down at the Succubus for a few moments, his nostrils flaring in and out as he breathed hot, heavy breaths. Then he pulled his head back, and the sun framed his wispy black hair. It glowed in the light, and the Shifter seemed for an instant quite handsome to Bo.
"The unaligned Succubus. The Morrigan would bathe me in riches to bring her your head." He responded, his voice so naturally deep it seemed to resound under Bo's skin. She reached up to brush her fingers against his cheek, swarthy skin rough with the curly beard just beginning to grow out. Their skin glowed with Bo's touch.
"You won't bring her anything. Not even news that I've come." Bo's voice was soft, enticing. Dolph nodded once, bright eyes fastened to hers. She leaned gently against him, another hand resting just above his belly. Her lips parted seductively as she guided him inside, Vex following sulkily.
She settled Dolph calmly in one of his massive chairs and leaned against him. "Where's Seth?" She murmured, seating herself on the chair's arm. The hand she'd had on his chest wandered across his shoulders. A finger twirled playfully in his soft curls. He gazed up at her adoringly.
"Oh, get on with it, will ya?" Vex spat as he leaned himself against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest and a petulant expression on his face. Bo ignored him and focused on the dangerous monster who, for now, was putty in her hands.
"I don't know." His throat shivered against her fingers with the depth of his voice. He leaned in close, breathing in her fragrance, staring longingly at her lips.
Bo leaned back a little, dipping her chin, avoiding his kiss.
"Who did you send to take her?" She tried. Her fingers ran over the rough contours of his face, exploring the dip of his chin with the weightlessness of a butterfly's wing. Warm pulses raced from her hand to his cheek, he raised a heavy hand to brush tenderly over her shoulder.
"The redcaps. Duncan." His eyes closed, and he leaned back. She could feel him relax under her influence. His fingers pulled at her gently, he settled another hand on her waist. He ached to draw her closer, to close the distance between them. But she resisted his wanting touch.
"Why?" Her breath wafted across his skin, and his heavy black eyelashes fluttered in response.
"You're so full of questions." His chest rumbled with the statement, though Bo guessed this was what amounted to a whisper from him.
"Just tell me." She brushed the backs of her fingers against his cheek and leaned in a little further. She could feel his consciousness begin to battle for control. They struggled for a second, his gentle grip on her tightening painfully, then his eyes opened, and they glittered coldly.
"No."
Bo was losing this battle. Both gargantuan hands circled her waist and he pulled her forcefully into his lap. Dolph shuddered violently beneath her; she grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his head back, opening her mouth to feed.
Soft blue light escaped him. He tasted like blood, metallic and warm. Wild. Dangerous. Savage. With a growl that escalated into a furious roar, he tore the Succubus off his lap and threw her like a ragdoll against the wall.
Bo shook her head and blinked, dazed. There was a dullness in the back of her skull, and colors seemed to swim in her vision. When she brushed her fingers against the back of her head, they came away hot and sticky. Vex was shouting and pulling at her, but she couldn't make out the words past the strange buzz that crowded her hearing. Dolph was clutching himself, bent over double in the armchair she'd left him in, face scrunched up in pain and fury, and Vex finally managed to drag her to her feet, out the door and down the stairs.
Maia tapped the heel of her foot impatiently. She'd been reading the same passage in her book for the past hour, unable to focus on a single word. Kenzi had tried to distract her with small-talk, but Maia wasn't in the mood. She'd procured the small paperback from a pocket inside her jacket and curled up on the couch, pretending to be absorbed in the story. But Maia was quite sure Kenzi knew she hadn't actually been reading. If only she could concentrate… but her mind kept wandering to Seth, and where she was, and if Bo had somehow, miraculously found her.
And then Kenzi's phone went off, and Maia couldn't sit still any longer. Her feet fell to the floor and began tapping out a frantic beat as she strained to listen in on the call. So far, she'd gathered this much: it was Vex that called, they'd found Dolph, but the whereabouts of the missing Seer were still a mystery. With a frustrated sigh, Maia threw the book to the table and moved to stand, but found Kenzi standing in front of her. She held the phone absently in one hand and brushed her raven hair away from her face with the other. Her expression was unreadable.
"So that was Vex." She ventured, slowly lowering her phone. Maia raised her eyebrows in response. "They got another lead. Succu-Bo's gonna need some sexual healing first, but then she'll be hot on the trail again. She wants you to stay here tonight." It seemed obvious to Maia that Kenzi didn't share the sentiment. The petite goth dropped into a squat, placing both hands on Maia's knees. "And all things considered, that's pretty sound advice."
The grungy human bit her lip. Kenzi seemed in earnest. Brown eyes searched frank gray ones and were met with honest concern. Maia softened a little. Perhaps she'd misread Kenzi. Worry and impatience had bittered Maia's view of the people she'd met in the hours since Seth's disappearance, and she'd responded to everyone with an uncharacteristic distrust and undeserved resentment. Maia took a breath and closed her eyes. Regardless of Kenzi's obvious concern and kind offer, Maia just wanted to go home, to be among everything familiar and dear to her. She thought it would give her the comfort she craved.
"No… I don't want to impose…" She hesitated.
"There's no imposing!" Kenzi jumped in, giving Maia's knees a gentle shake. Maia raised a hand to stop her. She forced a smile, trying to look as reassuring and grateful as she possibly could.
"No. Thank you. I'll go home." She responded, much firmer this time. "I'll be fine there, really." She pushed Kenzi's hands off her knees and stood around the crouching girl, bending only to pick up her discarded book and stuff it back into the large pocket lining the inside of her jacket.
"It's safer for you here." Kenzi spoke to Maia's retreating backside as the tall, skinny human moved purposefully to the door. "Dolph sent redcaps after Seth, Maia."
This made Maia stop. She turned her face, and the sun's setting rays glimmered through the dirt-crusted windows against her profile for an instant before they fell and twilight reigned.
"Bo will be back in a few hours. You'll be much safer here." Kenzi continued.
"She has her next lead. I'd rather she followed it than played Baby-Sitter's Club with me." Finality rang in Maia's voice, and she turned her back once again. "They're not after me, Kenzi. Or they'd have taken me this morning, when they came for her."
Kenzi groaned in defeat. She'd tried, but it seemed there was nothing she could say to convince Maia to stay.
"Well, let me at least walk you back. Or take a cab with you. Bo won't let me hear the end of it if I let you go home alone." The Lolita grabbed her jacket, and without leaving any room for argument, linked an arm with Maia and walked with her out the door.
Truthfully, Maia was grateful for the company. She didn't want to stay at the derelict clubhouse, but she wasn't totally convinced that Duncan and his boys wouldn't come after her. She was a loose end, after all, and the only reason she could find for having been left behind at the apartment was that they hadn't been aware of her existence. Maia didn't want to stay, to endanger Kenzi by seeking refuge at the drafty old house, and wanted, more than anything but to have Seth come home safe, to be home herself. But at least she wouldn't be out on the streets alone. So she smiled at Kenzi, finding herself warming up to the really rather sweet girl, and suggested they try to find a cab. It wasn't far to the apartment she shared with Seth, but that didn't make it a short walk either.
"You're late." A deep, rough voice growled from the darkness. A cold wind gathered in the alley, shadows crouching in the corners, spreading their arms across the narrow street that ended in a wall of dumpsters. The breeze picked up rubbish from the dirty asphalt, old candy wrappers, dried leaves, abandoned plastic bags. A tin soda can skittered across the ground, kicked by a scruffy, worn, black biker boot.
Three men, dressed in an assortment of denim and leather pants and jackets, and tight fitting cotton shirts emerged from the darkness blanketed across the entrance to the alley. The dim streetlights behind flickered and tires squealed in the near distance. The smell of burnt rubber permeated the frigid air.
A crazed grin curled across the lead man's face. Thick, sticky, crimson liquid trickled down his unshaven cheek from the blood-soaked cap arranged carelessly over dark hair.
"Naw, mate. You're early." He responded, tone easy-going and calm. "You got what we came for?"
Yellow eyes flashed obliquely from the darkness that cloaked the mysterious voice. A large, heavy object thudded into a small metal suitcase, which toppled and ground against rough road in its two-foot trip into pale artificial light.
"Cheers!" The red-capped man clapped his hands together in delight and strode forward to retrieve it. His buddies behind snickered and eyed the suit-case gleefully.
A coarse, filthy hand reached down to grasp the case's handle, and a monstrous, heavy foot fell upon it, crushing the wrist into the loose, sharp tarmac below. The redcap yelped in pain and surprise and dropped lower to ease the angle and the serrated sting of edges digging into his skin.
"Where's my package?" The voice rumbled again. It reverberated through the redcaps' chests and sent chills of fear down their spines. The lead redcap panted and whimpered, too distracted by the bones splintering in his wrist to answer. One of his fellows darted forward to assist him, bending into a crouch to tackle the cloaked aggressor, and was promptly, easily flung away by a massive arm, bare to the elbow as far as the shadows revealed. The redcap flew into the rough brick wall that hid the alley from curious eyes and crumpled breathlessly to the ground. His mate, only steps behind, staggered to a halt and stumbled over his feet as he veered away at the last moment. Pale blue eyes widened in sudden fear, and he flattened his sticky scarlet cap over rebellious dirty blond hair and crept instead to the redcap that gasped and blinked in shock against the wall.
"Where's my package?" The mysterious Fae repeated, his voice patient and impassive. The third redcap flinched at the deep, resounding voice, fear filling his blue eyes like water in a small cup.
"On its way!" He cried. Hands flew across his face to shield him from the piercing yellow stare that settled on him now. "We just got the address! It's on its way!" His voice was shrill with terror.
A long, clean, white incisor gleamed in the half-light of the streetlamps. A shadowed, feral grin crept hungrily across features too hidden to describe.
"Then we will wait."
