A/N: I find this chapter absolutely brimming with all sorts of warm and fuzzy drama. Yet...tell me something, have I crossed some invisable line here, or am I still good to go? Heeheee. Enjoy!
Nari Streeter
Chapter Eight: Heart of a Wolf
Nari had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. The absolute look of shock that crossed Wolf's face when the girl at the computer let loose a shower of pepper spray had been enormously priceless.
Still laughing inside herself, Nari leaned back against the bathroom counter of the New York public library and chewed at the end of her nail. Nickoli leaned against the wall across from her, a smile playing in his dark blue eyes. In the bathroom stall, Wolf was dutifully cursing the girl's very existence.
"Dammit!" he spat for the fourth time, scrubbing the heel of his hand across his red eyes, "I don't know what the hell she had to get so worked up about! All I did was ask her freakin' name! Shit!"
Nari scooted aside as he stormed out of the bathroom stall and slammed his fists down on the counter, glaring at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot, practically baked from the sting of the pepper spray.
"New York is a bad city," Nari shrugged, "maybe it wasn't wrong of her to be so judgmental. You don't just walk around handing your name out to complete strangers."
Wolf grumbled under his breath, slowly massaging the crimson skin around his eyes. "And the worst part is," he growled, unrolling a wad of toilet paper from the dispenser and wetting it down, "we're back to square one! No sign of Max! Just some damn chick with a bottle full of pepper spray and some seriously frayed nerves!" He laid the soaking toilet paper across his eyes, gritting at the pain.
Nari ran her finger over the carvings on the side of the bathroom stall. Her fingers tracing a group of tiny hearts, two names with a plus sign between them, and a surprisingly detailed scratching of a large building with several spires springing from the top. The scratching was old, frayed and chipped at the edges; the name at the bottom of the building was barely visible.
"Saint…Patrick's," she sounded out under her breath.
Wolf slammed the top of the garbage can down and kicked at the wall in sheer frustration, "And to top it off, we have no place to sleep tonight!"
"Saint Patrick's," Nari repeated, louder this time.
Nickoli walked closer and stood beside her, his eyes scanning the chipped carving of the building on the stall. "A cathedral," he said after a moments pause, "like…a church, or something."
Wolf wasn't listening.
"A church," Nickoli said louder, making sure Wolf caught his words, "a quiet place, wide spaces, lots of shadows to hide in…sound like a good place as any. Cathedrals are usually open to the public twenty-four-seven, I'm pretty sure no one would even notice if we just walk in and never came back out."
Wolf glared at Nickoli acidly, "Fine," he snarled, "we'll sleep in the church."
Saint Patrick's was bigger than Nari had imagined it to be. The cold stone walls spiraled hundreds of feet into the air, peeked off at the top with a giant bell tower that had an angel sitting on its roof. Her chipped and worn face smiling down with her wings unfurled for the whole world to see.
Nari rustled her own wings beneath her jacket, wishing she could spread them open and sit with the stone angel. Just sit there forever and not have to worry about anything. A woman brushed past her, pulling Nari out of her thoughts and back down into reality.
Inside, Saint Patrick's was large, crowded, and quiet; the perfect place for three mutant freaks to bed down for the night. The last rays of the setting sun spilled through the stain glass windows high above their heads, staining the stone floor like a rainbow.
Wolf jerked his head toward a corridor off the main room that was sealed shut by a thin chain. He lifted the chain, casually glancing around to see if anyone was watching as Nari and Nickoli slid into the empty corridor.
A chill rushed up Nari's spine as the corridor melted away into a spiraling staircase. She tugged her jacket closer around her and carefully picked her way up the stairs behind Nickoli, Wolf brought up the rear, his gray eyes still hooded with anger from the events of that morning.
The staircase turned sharply, revealing a large wooden door with iron hinges jammed between the walls. Nickoli tried to turn the knob and it clicked dully. Locked.
"Move," Wolf muttered, shouldering his way to the front. He wrapped one of his pale hands around the doorknob and lifted upwards sharply, tugging back at the same time. The door popped open, several old fashion springs falling from the lock and tumbling silently down the stairs.
Nari slid her way in first, taking several steps before stopping and scanning the room with a smile playing across her lips. The floor was made of stone; bits of straw from morning dove's nests spotted the gray, reflecting the light that was cast by a solitary window fixed into the far wall.
Boxes were stacked high against the walls, the cardboard black and molded from years of sitting in the dark. An old fashion iron board bed with a lumpy mattress and no sheets was propped up against the wall next to the window. An out of date couch sat at its feet like an obedient dog.
It was perfect.
"Wow," Nickoli breathed, standing next to Nari with his hands shoved in his pockets. Wolf kicked at a pebble on the floor, wrinkling his nose in disgust, "It's a dump," he muttered, "I can't believe we have to sleep here when there's a perfectly good hotel just down the street."
Nari shivered in the slight cold, "People freak me out. This is a good place, I don't even think Erasers could find us here."
Wolf sighed, rubbing at his itchy eyes, "Fine. Nickoli takes the couch. Me and Nari take the bed."
"Wolf," Nari protested, closing her eyes as the sun finally set, casting the room in semi-darkness, "you said that was just for one night. I'll just sleep on the floor or something."
Wolf shrugged, a hint of his former cockiness showing through his bad mood, "Fine. Nickoli, take the couch and push it against the far wall," he turned to Nari, sliding his hand into hers just like his old self, "me and Nari are going to pick up some food at the store across the street. We'll be back in a second."
Nickoli nodded silently and tossed his battered coat to the floor, his dark wings shining in the dim light. Nari watched him push the couch across the stone floor until Wolf tugged at her and the door shut, blocking her view.
Nari pulled her hand away from Wolf's grip as they shuffled down the stairs, her desire to get the right message across to him making her bold. At the bottom of the staircase, Wolf stopped, turning to face Nari with a slick smile on his face.
"Nari?" he asked innocently, taking a step closer to her.
Nari stared at him suspiciously, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end as an ice ball settled in her stomach, "Yeah?"
"I was just wondering," he took another step, his pale arms sliding around her waist as he pressed his forehead against hers. Nari was about to protest, pushing gently at his grip around her waist and gritting her teeth to keep from saying something she'd regret. She didn't want to hurt Wolf's feelings…she just wanted to let him know that he was being a little…
Wolf shoved her hard against the wall, latching his hands around her wrists and pinning them against the stone. His eyes narrowed into angry slits as he pushed his body against hers, his face just inches away.
Nari choked, the ice ball pricking in her stomach, a scream rose in her throat.
"Don't," Wolf growled, "scream. You have no idea how easy it would be to just snap your neck.."
Nari froze, terror spreading through her arms and legs. Wolf's voice was low and full of rage, his eyes glinting terribly in the half-light.
"As I was saying," he continued, releasing one of her hands and gripping her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look in his eyes, "before I was so rudely interrupted. I was just wondering, Nari Streeter, who the hell do you think you are?"
Nari opened her mouth but no words came out. She thought of Nickoli in the room above them. Would he hear her if she screamed? Could he get here before Wolf ended everything?
"You see, love," Wolf said softly, his hot breath on her face, "I saved your life. You owe me everything. I put up with you wanting to take on Nickoli. I didn't protest when you suggested the library. I followed you, because I wanted to make you happy. I knew, from the moment I saw you, that it was just you, Nari, you were the only thing I wanted."
He ran his cold finger across her cheek, pressing his forehead back into hers.
"Max. Saving the world. Getting answers to my screwed up life. I made those things my second priority. You were my number one. I played along at first. Tried being kind, and strong, and protective. I tried to be everything I thought you wanted me to be; but you just kept pushing me away."
He smiled, tilting his head ever so slightly in the dim light, "So let's get one thing straight between you and me…I own you. I owned you the moment I knocked that first Eraser out of the sky. You owe me so much, and as of right now, you're going to start acting like it."
The church bell began to ring somewhere in the distance, echoing hollowly through the empty corridor.
"I say jump," Wolf whispered, "you say 'how high'? I say dance, you say 'how fast'? Got it?"
Nari nodded the best she could, tears springing to her eyes.
Wolf smiled seductively, his lips curling over his fangs, "No. I don't think you do get it." He pressed his lips against her, his fangs splitting through the skin, bringing the slight taste of blood into Nari's mouth. He pulled back, fire dancing in his eyes.
"Tell me you love me."
Nari tried her best to ignore the squirming in her stomach, raw fear gnawing on her throat, "I love you," she whispered, choking back a sob.
Smiling, Wolf brushed his hand through her hair, "Good. Now I'm going across the street to pick up some food. You'll stay here until I come back. Calm yourself down a bit. I don't want Nickoli asking any questions. And if he does happen to ask anything, you won't breathe a single word. Right?"
He released her; red marks springing up on her wrists as she slid to the floor, tears spilling down her cheeks. She hugged her knees to her chest, the pressure of the wall bringing a dull ache to her wings, "Not a word," she repeated, digging her nails into her arm to keep from crying in front of him.
Wolf sighed, closing his eyes with pleasure, "That's my girl."
His pearly wings swished slightly as he turned his back on her and slid out the door, humming softly to himself in the moonlight.