Chapter 7
Nick rolled over in the bed and stretched his arms out to lift the crystal alarm clock so he could see what time it was. He smiled seeing he’d slept half the day away. He hadn't even bothered to return to Moon Dance since he’d talked himself into guarding the place night and day. He’d only meant to lay down in Gypsy’s bed for a few minutes. The problem was, once he’d stretched out he didn’t want to leave it… and hadn't.
It had been very erotic being surrounded by her wonderful scent… a combination of the cherry blossom bath wash and apple scented shampoo she used, her natural scent that was very feminine, and arousal.
He smirked wondering if it was him she was thinking of with that scent. With a sigh, he rolled over and buried his nose in her pillows… oh yeah, he was screwed. His eyes snapped open when he heard a key slip into the lock upstairs on the side door of the shop and turn.
“Damn it!” Nick hissed and jumped out of bed, grabbing his clothes and quickly tugging them on.
He’d gotten one leg in his pants but fell over when he tried to get the other one into the pant leg to fast. He growled in frustration but finally got them on. Throwing on his shirt, he didn’t bother to button it and pulled on his jacket.
Gypsy walked through the back door of the shop and dropped her bags right there. Turning around, she slid a large, flat, rectangular box through the door and propped it up against the wall. The next item was smaller and easier to manage. She placed it on the work table she had set up for mixing potions before shutting the back door and locking it.
She was seriously ready for some relaxation. The flight home had been a lot faster since she’d gone ahead and treated herself… upgrading to first class on a non-stop flight. For someone who hated flying it was a must. Now that she had her acquisitions home she was almost giddy with excitement. She wanted to rip them open right away but the anticipation was half of the fun… and right now, a nice long bubble bath was definitely in order.
Nick jerked on his shoes then checked to make sure he had all of his weapons. Patting his jacket he froze then slowly turned his head to stare in horror. At least a dozen of his weapons were still on the night stand where he’d tossed them. With quick methodical movements he soon had them all back in place.
Heading down to the bomb shelter, Gypsy approached the vault door seeing it was ajar. Had she left so quickly yesterday that she’d forgotten to shut it? It wouldn’t have been the first time but she could have sworn she’d closed everything up tight. Frowning, she slowly pulled the door the rest of the way open.
Nick paused when he saw the bed. Using his enhanced speed, he pulled up the comforter and threw the pillows back into place before ducking out of sight on the other side of the bed when the large vault door swung open.
Gypsy quickly grabbed the closest thing to her to use as a weapon. Unfortunately, the closest thing to her was her grandfather’s old golf umbrella.
‘It’ll have to do,’ she thought to herself and tightened her grip on the handle.
She began a search of the apartment, starting with the bedroom. She looked under the bed, in the closet and the adjoining bathroom. Finding nothing, she went back into the living room to look around and cursed herself when she jumped at every noise. Finally, she went into the kitchen and frowned when she saw nothing unusual.
Another thought intruded and she rushed out of the apartment and up the stairs to the shop’s back room. Much to her relief, her museum items were still there and undisturbed. The locks were still turned which meant it was probably jet lag that had her so rattled and it was definitely time to take that bubble bath she’d planned.
Gypsy sighed in relief and relaxed her hold on the umbrella. It dropped from her fingers and hit the floor, triggering the opening mechanism on it. The umbrella suddenly flew open scaring her so bad she squealed like a five year old.
Nick was leaning against the outside wall with a huge smirk on his face. He held up the extra key to the back door and flipped it in the air before pocketing it. It was thanks to his feline reflexes and stalking ability that he was able to get out of there undetected. If she’d only turned around while searching her bedroom… he would have been so busted. He’d mirrored her every movement from behind until he was close enough to the door to get out undetected.
Once up the stairs, he’d unlocked the back door and slipped out before locking it back with the key she’d had hanging on the wall next to the door. Silly woman, he’d have to teach her a thing or two about real security.
***** Warren woke up to the sound of something so horrific he couldn’t tell if they were voices or demons with really bad singing abilities. Groaning, he put a hand to his head and tried to sit up only to fall back down. His head met the carpeting below and he cracked his eyes open realizing he’d passed out on the floor next to the bar.
The lights above him promptly dimmed and he sighed in relief. The face of Tabatha appeared in his line of vision and he scowled up at her.
Tabatha smiled softly at him, “Sorry, I brought you a pillow and blanket but you kicked the cover away and hugged the pillow.”
Warren nodded slowly and tried to sit up again. He felt a wave of nausea but fought it down and took a deep breath once he was completely upright. Looking over in the direction of the yelling, he winced when he saw Damon and Michael almost toe to toe. He noted that Kane was standing a few feet away from them with a look of displeasure on his face.
He had a vague memory of Kane bringing Michael down from the roof with a piece of wood in his chest and his eyes immediately went to the hole in Michael’s shirt. He sighed in relief when he saw smooth skin there instead of a gaping hole.
“Are they the ones that sound like the demon choir?” Warren asked rubbing his temple in agitation.
Tabatha giggled and glanced over at Kane who oddly enough looked like he was tired of refereeing. “I never really thought of it that way, but yes… that’s them.”
Alicia was suddenly on the other side of him with a tall glass of cold water and a couple of herb pills that supposedly helped hangovers. “I know it won’t help much, but it should at least settle your stomach a little,” She said and handed the items over to him.
Warren took the pills and downed the glass of water like a man who just survived two weeks in Death Valley. Alicia went to refill his glass while Warren took in what was currently going on.
Michael had his hand wrapped around Damon’s throat and his other fist pulled back ready to throw a punch. Damon was pulling at the constriction at his throat and had grabbed Michael’s fist, using all of his strength to hold it back.
“The next time you get pissed off, how about you exert some of your infamous self-control and not rearrange every building in the damn city,” Damon exclaimed loudly.
Michael snarled and looked over at Kane, “What the hell is he going on about? All I know is the asshole tried to kill me… again.”
“I think he’s referring to the small earthquake and the cars that were levitating in the parking lot,” Kane supplied helpfully as he took a seat at the bar to watch the show.
“That’s not enough reason to run a stake through my chest,” Michael growled releasing Damon from his chokehold.
“I was told to stop you… so I did,” Damon exclaimed as if that solved world hunger.
“Daddy told him to,” Kane said in a mocking tone of voice.
“Shut up Kane!” Michael and Damon said simultaneously.
Tabatha and Alicia giggled while Kane frowned and turned his back on his brothers so he could pout.
“How about everyone shut up?” Warren asked holding his head. “I’m hung over and the two of you sound like a couple of grumpy old fogies arguing over the last scoop of tapioca pudding at the Sunday buffet.”
Michael looked crestfallen, “But… but…” he suddenly lifted his arm and pointed at Damon, “HE STARTED IT!”
“I did not,” Damon defended. “You started it by starting a fight with Kane.”
Michael paused, “I fought Kane?”
“You fought Kane,” Tabatha reaffirmed.
Michael began to pat himself down then looked up at the blonde’s back still facing them. “My ass is still intact?”
“You’re welcome,” Kane muttered still pouting.
Even in his hung over state Warren had to laugh.
***** Aurora released a heavy sigh and leaned back against the roof door behind her. She turned her head to her right almost expecting to see the huge sign that had a bright red glow but sadly, it wasn’t there. It had been a light of safety and even though that safety had been short lived… she missed it.
A pout pulled at her lips and she tried to make it go away but her attempts weren’t working. She’d also tried convincing herself that she was on this roof because she liked the height. However, Aurora knew that wasn’t completely true. It was her desire to hold on tight to the memory of what had happened the night before with her amethyst eyed lover that had her roof hopping today.
The irony of it wasn’t lost on her though. She’d chosen another roof, but instead of vampires… or whatever her lover was… in this building below her, there were animal shifters of various breeds, most of them wolves.
A bit of alert observation while being in this strange city had let her know that the demons and shifters tended to stay away from one another’s habitats.
The shifter clans had their politics and ways things should be done… as did the demons. The funny thing she’d noticed was that not all of the demon clans were very well organized, and those that were actually tried to stay out sight. Toss in all the oblivious humans and it was almost like there were several different worlds coexisting on the same plane.
Others she’d seen fighting in the darkest areas of the city… usually each other and by all appearances, the shifters didn’t get involved unless it happened in their territory. For now she was pretty sure this was a reasonably safe place to hang out. Due to the amount of shifters inside the walls of the building beneath her, there was a very good chance the demons would leave it alone.
To be on the safe side, she’d made it a practice to simply not stay in one place very long. Sliding down the door, she sat with her knees slightly bent and let the sunlight bathe her in its warmth. The rooftop was hard and uncomfortable, making her miss the soft covers and pillows the blonde man had given her.
She had to admit that things could be a hell of a lot worse though. At least here, there didn’t seem to be any demon masters close by to sniff her out. Just in case, she closed her eyes and concentrated, pulling all of her power back in so no one could sense where she was.
Aurora narrowed her eyes in anger deciding she was miserable and blamed the person responsible… Samuel.
If Samuel would just leave her alone and let her have… Aurora frowned. It was strange not to even know her lover’s name. He was perfect as far as she could tell… at least that’s what her body told her every time he touched her.
She didn’t understand what happened to her when she laid eyes on him. Seeing him always made her want to be as close as she could to him… and so far that’s all they’d accomplished. The worst part was she knew absolutely nothing about him. It would be nice to have a personality to go along with that body and soul… with those eyes.
She leaned her head back against the door with a heavy sigh and stared up at the bright sky. Was she really any better off in this world than she’d been in the demon rift? If she closed her eyes to sleep… would Samuel find her? He’d done so before, waited until she went to sleep before finding her and forcing her back to his ‘home’… if you even wanted to call it that.
“No,” she whispered as it dawned on her.
There were so many times that Samuel had raised her passion to nearly unbearable heights against her will. She under stood now… he’d been forming the mental link he now felt the need to torture her with. Her anger rose as she remembered all those times he’d forced her to pleasure herself… all the while he’d been speaking seductive words in her mind, making the link that much stronger.
Samuel was a voyeur, he liked to watch as well as participate. He’d even gone so far as to have mirror like surfaces hung in his chamber so he could watch himself make love to her or to watch her from different angles simultaneously.
She gave in to an angry smile. Since Samuel had wanted that connection so bad, then she would use it to finally tell him exactly where he could stuff it. Her breathing increased as a plan formed in her mind and the thought occurred to her that she might be able to turn that link around.
If she managed it, then wouldn’t she be able to use it to keep track of him as well? After living in captivity for so long, she’d learned to use her daydreams as a form of escape and gotten very good at it.
Deciding she had nothing left to lose, Aurora closed her eyes and let her thoughts drift to her amethyst eyed lover. In her mind’s eye, he was leaning over her with his dark hair hanging about his face. She slowly turned sideways and laid down on the rooftop smiling at the wavering image above her. She pulled her imagination around her so that the surface they were laying on was a soft bed with a beautiful canopy of lace above them blocking out the world.
She gasped when the ghostly image sharpened, becoming a very real vision of her lover leaning down and nipping her earlobe with his sharp fangs.
Her hand was his hand as it traveled up her thigh and pushed her skirt up exposing herself to the warm air. For a moment she teased herself, letting her fingers tickle faintly over where she most wanted them… envisioning her lover’s hand and not her own. She lifted her hips off the ground and gave in to the sensation, moving her fingers to caress the treasure hidden beneath the petals… letting her passion rise with a bold determination.
***** Tasuki parked his car a couple blocks down the street from one of the warehouses they’d found owned by a dummy company Anthony Valachi had established for his underground trafficking. He was slightly discouraged about Micah and Titus splitting up the team to check out the other two warehouses in the area.
In Tasuki’s mind, it was safer for them because they weren’t human. But he, on the other hand, was one-hundred percent human and they had him walking into who knew what kind of dangerous situation. He wasn’t a coward but he usually wasn’t this reckless ether.
Luckily, Micah was only down the street and could get there fast if Tasuki had to call for backup. Titus had decided to take the one furthest away, a good five blocks, since he was a werewolf and could blend in… at least Tasuki hoped.
It had been an interesting few days since Trevor had taken him off the beat and set him up with the new detective unit. Tasuki wasn’t arguing the change as it meant a pay raise and he was finally privy to everything strange that he’d seen going on for the past few weeks.
His grandmother had been ecstatic when he’d told her who he would be working with and she wanted to invite them all to dinner at the first opportunity.
Shaking his head, Tasuki pushed the nicer thoughts from his mind and brought himself back to the present. Walking nonchalantly past the building in question, he noticed the handles on the outside of the doors had been removed and that most of the windows were boarded up. The warehouse district of Los Angeles had a lot of empty buildings but this one had a few telltale signs of habitation.
Being trained to always notice details, he secretly took note of what looked like deep claw marks on the edge of one of the closed doors and a fresh oil stain on the pavement indicating that a vehicle had driven into it recently.
Suddenly he saw it… one of the boards on a window moved the tiniest bit and he saw the barrel of a gun barely peeking out at him between the slats. Keeping up his aloof gait, he shoved his hands in his pockets and kept walking glad his sunglasses were obscuring his watchful eyes.
He walked to the end of the block and turned the corner relieved to have the gun off his back. Stopping, he took a deep breath and quickly ran around to the alley that connected to the previous street behind the warehouses.
Tasuki counted the buildings as he ran and finally reached the one he wanted. Leaning back, he looked up at the roof and frowned. The blueprints of the building showed that there was a huge window on the roof where he should be able to see everything and he needed to get up there to verify the information.
He looked around and his eyes brightened when he saw a dumpster. The warehouse was only a little taller than a normal one story building and with the aid of the dumpster and a few pipes he figured he could reach the roof with no problems.
Moving silently, Tasuki climbed on top of the dumpster and prayed it didn’t make any creaking noises. He judged the distance and leapt, grabbing one of the pipes and pulled himself up until he could grab the edge of the roof with both hands. The toes of his durable tennis shoes found purchase on the side of the building and he climbed the rest of the way up.
One thing was certain. He’d gotten a lot more exercise in the last couple of days than he had all year… which was not a good thing.
Tasuki’s gaze landed on the large bay windows and he slowly made his way toward them. Hearing a soft moan from somewhere close by made him freeze and he looked in the direction the sound came from. His face went stark white and he silently backed up, taking refuge behind the air conditioning unit.
It was the angel girl he’d seen while he was still a street cop. No, that wasn’t right… his grandmother told him the girl must have been a Fallen. She was leaning back against the roof door… caressing her body in the most sensual way.
Unable to help himself, Tasuki remained hidden behind the air conditioning unit silently watching. A deep blush appeared on his cheeks as the girl brought herself to greater heights. Tasuki twitched when his pants tightened and he knew that if he were to move now… he’d probably be in for the beating of a lifetime.
***** Samuel stopped and tilted his head in curiosity, turning it slightly as though getting ready to look over his shoulder. Passion… yes, his Aurora was pleasing herself. The Fallen were very sexual creatures and he’d awakened that passion within her for a reason… so she would always need him to fulfill her desire. No one knew her body as well as he did. She was using foreplay to call to him now.
A cocky smile appeared on his face and Samuel reached through the link to caress her mind with passion of his own.
“Aurora,” he whispered and closed his eyes. In his mind, he saw her leaning against the wall with her thighs spread, and touching herself as he had so many times. She was reaching her peak and he licked his lips at her invitation. “Shall I finish what you have started?”
Aurora’s eyes flew open when she heard Samuel’s sensual voice inside her head. She’d been so caught up in her fantasies about her lover that she’d almost forgotten the main reason for doing this in the first place. Smirking, she decided to bring Samuel down a couple of pegs.
“Conceit is definitely your forte,” she whispered back. “Didn’t you ever notice that when given the chance… I always finished without your help… and it was more satisfying?”
Samuel’s own smile slipped away and hard lines took its place as he tried to determine what direction Aurora was in. “Yet you are the one that is still calling to me with your body… still letting me inside you,” he coaxed to keep the link stable. “Will you not admit you need me?”
“Yes, I need something from you,” Aurora confirmed.
“Tell me where you are… I will come to you,” Samuel offered in a husky voice. “I will satisfy you in every way.” His groin tightened in anticipation of the meeting. She was willingly returning to him.
“There is only one way you can truly satisfy me,” Aurora whispered seductively. “What I need from you is my freedom.”
“Oh no my dear, what you want is for me to become everything that a Fallen is,” Samuel corrected with a deep chuckle. “Can you tell me with complete honesty that you would still want your freedom if I possessed a Fallen Blade?” He slowly turned full circle and stopped facing south. There… he had found her. “You told me with your own lips that you would not have another lover unless they could wield such a weapon.”
Aurora felt a spike of fear shoot through her when she felt Samuel begin to move. It overrode the arousal she’d felt just moments before… he’d found her and was getting closer at a dangerously rapid pace.
“You would never be able to wield what belongs to the Fallen,” She hissed and pulled her hand away from her body, breaking the connection and pushing all arousing thoughts from her mind. She needed to get out of here fast.
Samuel smirked… so she thought he would not be able to wield a Fallen Blade. Little did she know she would be the one to help him wield it… all it would take is a little bit of her Fallen blood. With a burst of speed, he quickly began to close in on Aurora’s location.
Aurora stood up and quickly ran across the roof to the edge ready to flee again. Just as she reached it she saw something out of the corner of her eye and turned toward it. For a moment, she thought Samuel had reached her before she could get away… instead she saw a man.
She paused and tilted her head to the side, looking into his soul. Her eyes widened when the purity of his soul shown around him like a halo… it was an ancient soul that had been many times reincarnated. This man… he was special… a protected soul that existed on a multidimensional plane… displaced between time and worlds. He existed on every plane of existence simultaneously… a living, physical paradox.
Tasuki swallowed hard and slowly rose to his feet while holding his hands up in front of him in an attempt to save himself from her retaliation.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” he explained quickly. “I came up here to check out the warehouse… there’s supposedly some bad people here doing bad things. I only meant to stop the bad guys… not spy on you.”
Aurora could feel Samuel getting closer and she didn’t want this man to be anywhere near her in case Samuel did make an appearance. He had never been very tolerant of humans… regardless of how special they were. Turning her gaze down to the roof beneath her, she felt the auras of the souls inside and inwardly cringed at what she’d found.
Without giving the human a chance to react, she grabbed him and leapt from the rooftop. She traveled across the city to an area filled with nice homes… an area where it was safe for children to play and set him down in the back yard of one of the houses.
Tasuki could only gasp in surprise when she grabbed him. The next thing he felt was the sensation of weightlessness before his feet touched down on the grass of someone’s back yard. He looked around with wide eyes before setting his sights back on the angel girl.
“What… where are we?” he asked slowly. “You can fly?”
“Fly,” Aurora sighed softly. “No… but I guess for you it would seem so.” Pushing the sweet melancholy away, she decided to help him and the captives at the warehouse. She knew what it was like to live in a cage.
“You were correct in your assumption. The warehouse is full of bad people, but there are also some good people with them… they are locked up in cages. I ask that you don’t go back there right away. A very bad demon that I’ve been trying to stay one step ahead of might have just tracked me there. If you confronted him,” she bit her bottom lip wondering how to word it. “You would not survive if he saw you instead of me… he doesn’t care for humans.”
On instinct, Aurora reached out for his soul wanting to know the secrets behind the paradoxical nature of his soul. Love… he was tethered to a girl whose soul he had chased through all of time and dimensions. She let a soft smile caress her lips realizing she had found a true immortal… though he had no idea.
Tasuki blinked at the gust of wind that swirled around him and when he opened his eyes all the way, he found himself alone. Rubbing a hand over his face, he groaned and started heading for the gate that led to the street. He was halfway there when he heard a low growl come from under the porch.
Slowly, he turned toward the noise and flinched when the growl became a harsh bark. His eyes widened when a black pit bull shot out from the shadows of the porch and came running at him. Not bothering to stick around to play with the aggressive dog, he ran toward the six foot tall gate and grabbed hold of the top of it, pulling himself up and over.
He was about to fall over the other side of the gate when the dog grabbed the end of his long coat with its teeth and started pulling him backwards.
“No doggie, I promise I won’t taste good,” his voice was caught between a growl and a whine. “I’ll give you a tummy ache!”
Tasuki held on for dear life and winced when he heard the unmistakable sound of his jacket ripping. He wrestled with the dog for a moment before yanking back on his jacket. The material ripped even more but finally came lose in the dog’s mouth while Tasuki tumbled over the top of the gate landing hard on his stomach.
“That’s gonna hurt,” Tasuki mumbled and stood up knocking the dirt off of his hands and knees. “Bad doggie… Bad!”
He looked over his shoulder at the gate and shook his head when he heard the pit bull going to town on the piece of his jacket. One thing was certain… working on the detective force was a lot more exciting than beating the streets. The good news was, he suddenly had some solid information on the warehouse that he could trust. Now he just needed to figure out where the hell he was.
Walking out onto the sidewalk, he headed down to the closest intersection and paled at the street sign not five feet in front of him. He recognized the intersection from the times he’d done patrols in this neighborhood.
“Wonderful,” Tasuki muttered and flipped open his cell phone. With a heavy sigh, he leaned back against the street lamp he was under and wondered if anyone in their right mind would believe him.
Dialing Micah’s number, he waited while it rang. He pinched the bridge of his nose when Micah picked up and started in on him before he could even say ‘hello’.
“Where the hell are you?” Micah demanded. “We’re supposed to be searching warehouses not vanishing into thin air.”
“Your concern is overwhelming,” Tasuki growled back. “I’m actually at the intersection of Southwest Elm and Singapore Street. Do me a huge favor. How about grabbing my car and coming to get me.”
There was silence on the other end, “You’re where?”
“You heard me correctly,” Tasuki said.
“How the hell did you get all the way out there?” Micah demanded.
Tasuki shrugged deciding the truth was always better than fiction, “Got abducted by an angel girl” he smirked. “She brought me here saying I wasn’t safe at the warehouse… then vanished into thin air. She also verified the rumor at my warehouse… she told me there were people in cages and a lot of bad people were there.”
Micah sighed into the phone. With all of the weird stuff going on lately with the demons… he had no choice but to believe him. “Okay, we’ll be there in about twenty minutes, try to make yourself not so conspicuous.”
Micah hung up and Tasuki stared at the phone before tucking it into his pocket. Taking his jacket off to examine it, he found half of the back missing and smirked, “Not so conspicuous? Yeah right!”
