Call of the Raven (31 page)

Elle was in a dream, a very real dream that
she did not wish to wake up from, but on the other hand, knew that
she should.

He pushed a lock of stray hair back. “You
have big beautiful blue eyes and I swear I’ve seen them
before.”

Elle pulled from his hold, both physically
and mentally. “Aren’t you the charmer? I would have decked anyone
else for what you just did. And,” she quickly added with a laugh to
play off the affect his words had on her, “the jury’s still out.
I’m still deciding.”

Men like Ari were charismatic and likable but
they had come far too accustomed to relying on their abilities to
lure susceptible women. And at the precise time after her crush on
the imaginary image of Grant, Elle knew she was in a dangerous
position.

She felt anything but what Ari implied. She
was poor, pathetic and uneducated, everything that the rich Lake’s
weren’t. She didn’t belong in their world. Elle looked to his hand,
muscular and strong with the expensive watch. No matter how
vulnerable she was, she had to keep her head.

“I’m not meaning to make you uncomfortable.”
Leaning back, Ari repositioned himself so that he was resting on
his elbows in a less threatening posture, but his eyes were still
dangerously working her over. “Here’s the deal,” he said. “There
are things about you that shouldn’t be and I just think for the
time you should hang with us. You need us Elle and if Asher asked
you to stay—”

“But Asher didn’t ask me to stay. He offered
me a room for the night at the hotel he said he owns, but I’m quite
sure he doesn’t share your hang with us mentality.”

“Well, you don’t know my brother. He doesn’t
offer anything to anyone, let alone a woman
and
an outsider
woman at that, so the fact that he did means something.”

“Mea should be here with you now, not me. I
know what that must have looked like, me with Mary in the alley but
I was just watching over her because she was frightened. And I also
know what that must have looked like when I put my hand on Asher. I
saw Julio and I freaked. I stole money from him and he’s looking
for me but I’m not that kind of a person, usually. This was
different. I don’t want you or—”

“Hey, no one’s saying or thinking anything.”
Ari stopped her. “We have eyes sweetie, but out of curiosity why
did
you take the money from Julio, a guy who apparently has
a short fuse by the looks of you?”

“I was running away. I would have anyway but
when I was packing I saw the money. All I had was sixty bucks saved
so you can understand the temptation.” She heavily exhaled. “Oh, I
was stupid. I should have left it inside his boot where I found it.
He’ll be angry when he finds it gone and he won’t stop until he
finds me and makes me pay back every cent.” Elle wiped away a tear
before Ari could see. She didn’t want him to know just how lost and
hopeless she felt. “I would have gone someplace warm, someplace
without snow because I hate walking home in the snow. My feet get
so cold walking home from work.”

“Didn’t your guy ever offer to come get you
when it snowed and you were working?” Ari sympathetically looked
down at her feet.

“No, but that doesn’t matter now. The money
and my suitcase burned up in the fire.”

“Then you have nothing?” Ari asked.

“Anyway,” Elle disregarded the question, “I
should probably go.”

“Where will you go?”

“There’s a shelter down the street. I’ve gone
there a few times. I won’t tell anyone what I saw tonight. People
would just think I’m crazy anyway.” Elle turned around and looked
at the apartment door behind them. “I’m sure if someone sees me
talking to myself that won’t be all that hard to believe, since in
fact no one else can see you,” she chuckled.

Ari put a hand on her elbow to keep her in
place when she started to get up. “Please, we’re not worried about
you telling anyone. I’m just not sure that leaving our protection’s
a wise thing to do, especially when Steve the bird-guy seems to
have it in for you.”

“I can take care of myself.” She said, more
in assurance to herself.

Ari faced her on the step again. “I can see
that since you seem to handle my brother well enough.” His eyes
flecked over her face. “But I tend to wonder if sometimes you don’t
unnecessarily put yourself in harm’s way. I wonder if you did go to
that shelter down the street, how long it will be before Julio
finds you and demands to know where his money is.”

Elle looked away—away from his thoughtful
eyes and handsome smile. She didn’t have to answer that question
because she already knew. The shelter was the first place Julio
always looked. “How well do you know bird-guy Steve?” she
asked.

“I know him well enough but
not
as
well as I know his wife.” Ari cast a devious wink her way and Elle
rolled her eyes in response. “Oh that’s right,” he laughed, “I’m
one of
those
guys.”

“Seriously Ari, he did manhandle me. I’m used
to it from Julio but I don’t even
know
bird-guy Steve.”

“Hello?” Ari waved a hand up the stairs. “You
met him my brother—the one with the weird glowing eyes and blue
lightening fingers that likes to shove people out of the way for no
apparent reason, and you’re afraid of a bird?”

Elle shrugged, “Asher may not like me or want
me around but…”

“But what?” Ari encouraged her to finish.

“He took care of me. I’m not afraid of
him.”

A serious expression crossed Ari’s face.
“That he did neighbor lady.” Hesitating on a thought, he looked up.
“You wanna know some Asher trivia since we’re on the subject?” The
question was rhetorical and Elle knew that the second he didn’t
give her the chance to answer, but she was curious.

“The red you saw radiates from the black
rings around his irises. We don’t know what they are but Nixon
calls them mood rings and that’s because they tend to change color
with his moods. Red is a
bad
color though,” Ari stressed.
“Very bad and if he flashes you without being invoked through anger
or something similar, just like he did to you on the street corner,
when you were teasing him, think of it as a warning. Asher doesn’t
like to be tested or teased.”

“Well thank you Ari,” Elle forced a grin his
way, “but I’m not sure that’s gonna matter after tonight.” Elle
avoided his gaze and rubbed her hands on the tops of her jeans. The
stairwell wasn’t exactly heated. “But let’s get back to the
bird-guy. What do you know about him?”

“Steve Barton is quick tempered but I truly
do know his wife. She’s been my secretary for the last year. I know
he’s not exactly the most caring man but he’s not the heavy-handed
kind either. According to her, his chosen weapon manifests itself
in the nature of verbal abuse. Up until now, Steve’s only problem
has been in the fact he disagrees with some of the laws within the
Union, and when I say Union I mean the organized body of ani-shift
all over the world. Right now Steve has issues with Asher and
everyone that serves him, so I’m not sure I can answer that
question properly. I’ve never known Steve to act like this with
anyone else, and I’m not sure what he wanted with Mary either.”

“So Asher’s some kind of a leader?”

“He’s the leader of the Union—our leader. We
call him and all those before him our Keeper. He protects and takes
care of us…well he’s supposed to. He hasn’t done the best job, and
that’s another problem on many levels. Steve Barton is just one
example of a band of rebels trying to overthrow my brother’s reign.
He was kicked out of the Union but Steve wants a pardon bad enough
that if Asher asked him to leave you alone, in spite of whatever
his complaint is, he probably would listen.
At least
it’s
worth a try.”

Elle exhaled a deep breath—one she had held
all during Ari’s words. The thought that some stranger might come
after her because she bruised his ego made her apprehensive. She
had enough to worry about with Julio. “But do you think Asher
would, for me?”

Ari warmly smiled. “I think it’s worth a
shot. I think you don’t know him like I do.”

“That’s good news.” Again, she rubbed her
legs and Ari surprised her by taking off his coat. “No I
couldn’t.”

“I insist.” He boldly reached for her and
Elle jerked back out of the way. “Relax, neighbor lady, you can
trust me. I’m not trying to be fresh, it’s just this coat. It’s
really got to go.” Realizing his intentions, Elle pulled off
Julio’s jacket and traded Ari for his. She felt awkward and clumsy
as he helped her on with it, and then proceeded to zip it up to her
neck. The fabric was warm from his body and caused her to shiver.
“There is that better?” He leaned back observing her.

Elle nodded an answer. She had to redirect.
“I was wondering. Hatori Matasuto’s book series refers to the
Union, just how much of his book is accurate?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Ari laughed
and slapped his leg. Elle looked at him, completely confused by his
sudden outburst as footsteps and voices could be heard on the
stairs above. “Of all the books out there on ani-shifts and
morphers,” he emphasized the latter, “you chose the
one
series out there that is not only nonfictional it’s written—”

“Arimus,” Asher’s voice sounded on the steps
above them, “please do shut up.”

Ari nodded in submission but Elle could tell
by the glint in his brown eyes and the way his mouth quirked up at
the corners that the matter wasn’t over. He waited till Asher
neared, worked around them and headed down the steps before he
unleashed.

“Yes Hatori whatever you say.” He exploded in
laughter. Behind them Nixon snickered. Turning slowly around Asher
fixed his eyes on his brother, which Elle soon realized were a fire
red. Apparently Ari didn’t heed to his own advice. Asher’s eyes
flicked over to her, and downward over Ari’s coat, then back to his
brother’s laughing face. “I’m sorry Asher,” Ari said in between
lame attempts to stop laughing, “but why do you have to be such
an—”

“Ari,” Nixon stopped him. Unlike Ari, he had
stopped laughing the second Asher turned around with flames for
eyes. Without saying a word Asher spun around, quickly downed the
remaining stairs, and crashed through the door.

Elle reflected back on Ari’s words. “Wait…are
you telling me Asher and Hatori Matasuto are the same person?”

“Oh the irony,” Ari rose to his feet. “Life
never ceases to amaze me.”

“The car’s here. I saw it from the roof.”
Nixon moved alongside them and regarded Ari as he spoke. Other than
a quick glance her way he disregarded her presence. Nixon was
healed but his short cropped hair stuck up in odd ways with matted
blood. He wore a black hooded sweatshirt, red shirt under that and
jeans, and he reminded Elle of a high school jock. The kind of boy
all the girl’s wanted to date. “You will be lucky if you don’t have
to walk to the Plaza now,” he said.

“Come on, you have to admit that was
funny.”

“Ari,” Nixon rolled his eyes, gesturing with
his finger upward in an exaggerated manner, “I found Asher
listening up there to you guys down here. Kennedy called Asher and
she wanted to talk to me so I stayed behind long enough to catch
her up on things. I’m not sure what you two were talking about but
he wasn’t in the best of moods when I showed up.”

“How do you know?”

“Oh I know the signs, the breathing, the
clenched jaw and that ever so pensive peel the paint off the walls
frown. He was mad dude and when he heard you talking about the
book, that’s when he took off.”

“All right, I’ll back off.” Ari applied a
hand to Nixon’s head. He roughed up his messy hair even more. “You
look horrible.” They started down the stairs and by the bottom Ari
had his arm around Nixon’s shoulders. Once they were outside he
gave him a hug. Elle felt like an intruder so she stayed back. She
couldn’t take her eyes off the two. She had always wanted a sibling
to care about as they obviously cared about one another.

“You scared me when I couldn’t find you. You
know I can’t pick up your scent,” Ari told him. “That’s why you
shifted back wasn’t it?”

“I thought I could give you a holler but I
blacked out.”

“Nixon that’s dangerous.” Ari sounded truly
worried. “What happened?”

“I saw Steve go after her,” Nixon glanced
back and then put his back to her again, “so I took off and that
big hawk happened. He bomb-dived me and sent me head first into the
billboard. I hit my head on a lamp thing and smacked the rooftop.
Asher fixed me up though. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“I’m just glad we found you. The Gothi were
in the neighborhood.”

Nixon’s footsteps faltered. “It seems they
share a lot in common with Steve and his Blackbirds lately.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk about that later,” Ari
said.

Up until the point Ari turned back to regard
Elle, she had been moving slowly in the opposite direction up the
street. Without his coat he wore nothing but a thin blue dress
shirt with the sleeves rolled up and jeans. Suddenly remembering
she was wearing his coat she stopped just as the lights of a
vehicle parked along the curb shone in her eyes. Ari hurriedly came
back to where she stood and snatched her hand away from the
zipper.

Firmly holding her hand in his he started
urging her alongside him towards the curb. “Don’t be silly. The
car’s warm inside. Besides, I’m a dog. I have a higher tolerance
for cold.”

Any other time she would have jumped on a
chance to volley back some clever retort as she had proven to
Asher, especially when it was delivered with such a devious
invitation but she suddenly felt very miserable. She didn’t want to
say goodbye to any of them. She didn’t want to be alone again.

“Then how will I give it back to you. I may
never see you again.”

She noticed a white headed man, in a
chauffeur’s uniform getting out of the parked vehicle, and
hesitated. Up until then, she hadn’t noticed the car was a
limousine and that the limo was for them, the Lakes with their huge
skyscraper and hotel.