Devil Inside (19 page)

That was something Harley could agree with.  They rode in silence for a while, both of them thinking over the events of the night and the things that they had learned about each other.  Both of them now had an even better understanding of the other.  Harley felt more connected to Levi, she didn’t pity him.  But she had more respect for him and felt a growing kinship with him.  From one person who had known pain to another.  She wanted the same strength that he had.  She wanted a chance for her revenge and she wanted a chance to make sure others didn’t hurt like she did.  Finally, she asked about the other thing that had been on her mind.

“What’s it like to feed on the Ignis?”

Levi seemed to glow for a moment reliving his most recent feeding.  His eyes got darker and the hand that he drove with flexed on the wheel and the other raked through his hair.  “It’s incredible.  You can feel the power inside of you.  It’s like coming alive,” he grinned and blinked away the darkness that tried to take over his eyes again.  His breathing had sped up slightly.  Harley found herself getting excited, just seeing him get excited.  She knew that some part of her should be grossed out at the idea of drinking blood.  But she also knew that it would be different when she was Nocte.  Right now she was excited by the prospect of feeling the power that Levi described.  She knew that once—
if
—she joined the Praesidio feeding would be exciting on a whole new level.  Levi was nothing if not cool and collected, even in his vigilance against Burners, so it must be incredible if it could get him going like this.  Harley flexed her hands and forced herself to relax.  She was even more convinced that, risks be damned, she would attempt the bond.  She would never be able to unknow the things she had learned and trying to continue with life as it had been wasn’t possible any longer.  Even if the bond didn’t take, death was preferable to the pain of living knowing she hadn’t been able to avenge her friend’s death.  And it was certainly preferable to having to live in fear for her and her friends’ lives unable to fight the Ignis on equal footing.

_______________________

Due to the delays of Harley learning how to shoot a gun, their shower, and the fight at Levi’s house they had had to stop at a hotel when the sun came up.  They still had about five hours to drive on I64 by the time dawn arrived.  They slept through a, luckily, uneventful day at the small hotel.  When the sun set the next night they continued on their way.  It was the middle of the night when Levi and Harley finally arrived at the Den.  Levi was anxious to get inside where it was safe and his discomfort was obvious to Harley.  He was even less talkative than normal and was more on edge that usual.  She didn’t press him to talk; instead she just let him take care of getting there safely and enjoyed the sights along the way.  They had been driving for most of the night and she was surprised to realize that she had adjusted to a night schedule pretty quickly.    Harley went over the recent upheaval of her life and was shocked to realize it had only been four days. 
How could so much change in so little time,
she wondered?  Whenever she allowed the reality of the situation wash over her she felt like the earth was falling away from her feet and her breath would be sucked out of her lungs. 

They got off the interstate at an exit that seemed deserted outside Alexandria, VA.  The only things she saw were trees and farm land.  They drove for nearly thirty minutes before she saw anything of note.  Harley wasn’t sure what she expected but she was surprised when the truck slowed and turned into the gravel drive of a farmhouse that popped up in the middle of nowhere.  The large white farmhouse sat far back on the right side of the country road.  Even from far away Harley could tell the house was huge.  She didn’t have a frame of reference to guess at square footage or number of rooms, but it looked like the size of house that would belong to a movie star.  There was something unsettling about the house.  The landscaping was sparse with very few trees and there seemed only be one large fields fenced off on the west side of the house.  Harley could see at least two barns behind the house.

The only reason Harley was sure that they had arrived and hadn’t simply taken a detour was the barely noticeable security that they passed.  She noticed that there were cameras mounted on fences as they approached the driveway.  As they drove slowly up to the gates she heard an audible beep inside the truck that corresponded to a blinking light on the gate in front of them which began to roll open with a clanking of gears.  She could also just make out the camera that was set in the branches of one of the very few trees to her right.  Even though she couldn’t see other signs of high tech devices she was pretty sure they were there.  The change in the road was slight but as they drove over one section in particular the tires sounded different on the gravel and she guessed that there was more security underneath the driveway.  She was pretty sure that if they weren’t supposed to be going inside—they wouldn’t be.

Despite its size the farmhouse was unassuming upon first glance as the entrance gate was.  It was certainly large and well maintained.  But it looked like any old farmhouse that Harley had seen—just larger.  It was made of light colored bricks and dark shutters.  All the curtains were pulled together and it looked altogether uninviting.  There weren’t any yard decorations or landscaping to speak of, instead it was austere and clean looking which set it at odds with what Harley would have expected.  Farms were places of work and activity.  This house seemed to be trying very hard to look like a normal farm but failed upon closer inspection.

Levi drove around the house towards the closest barn which looked as if it could house tobacco as easily as it could house cows.  From the outside Harley wasn’t able to decipher much about it.  As they paused in front of the large double doors she heard another beep inside the truck and the doors began to roll apart.  The bright full moon light illuminated the interior of the barn.  Harley had to will herself to not audibly gasp.  The inside of the barn was definitely not what she expected.  The inside could not have housed tobacco or cows.  Instead, it looked more like a clean and fairly high-tech garage.  Levi slowly pulled forward and swung the SUV into an empty spot next to a red sports car.

When Harley stepped from the vehicle she could feel her mouth hanging open as she looked around in wonder.  The garage/barn was well lit and smelled nothing like she would have expected.  She could smell gasoline and oil but it was mild and mostly smelled like cold concrete or a parking garage.  She definitely got a “parking garage” feeling from the barn.  Instinct and the doorways that looked like they lead to stairs strengthened her suspicion that there were levels below them.  

There were cars on both sides of the “barn” but the opposite side only held two nondescript cars and the rest was taken up by shelves of tools and supplies that you would typically find in a well-stocked garage.  It was just cleaner and more organized that one might expect.  The side that they had parked on didn’t have shelves; it was entirely devoted to parking space.  There were five spaces but only three of them were occupied.  Their black SUV, the shiny red sports car next to them and a white, boxy-looking car were the vehicles that took up those three spaces.

Levi followed her out of the truck and began unloading their bags.  He seemed more at ease now that they weren’t on the road any longer but he still maintained his normal wariness.  He handed Harley one of the lighter bags and finally noticed her reaction to their surroundings.

“Pardon the cliché, but things aren’t always what they seem around here,” he said with a slight smile.  Harley noticed him scowl at the red car next to them as he continued unloading their stuff.

“What?”

He shook his head and sighed, “Remember I told you that most Nocte are easy to get along with?”

“Yeah,” Harley answered warily.

“Well, that car belongs to Rafe.  He’s one of the difficult ones.”

“Ah,” Harley answered slinging the bag Levi had handed her onto her shoulder. 
Mental note: stay away from Rafe
.  “What kind of name is Rafe?  Is that even a real name?”

Levi snorted humorlessly, “No.  But it sounds pretty rakish and rebellious, doesn’t it?” Levi answered sarcastically.

“Ah,” Harley responded again. 
One of those types
.

Harley and Levi made their way out of the barn, not through the large rolling doors that had closed behind them automatically, but though a man-sized door that Harley hadn’t noticed before.  As they walked up the path towards the house Harley swallowed the lump in her throat.  She realized another reason why this felt like an impostor farm.  The quiet.  Even at night, on a real farm there would be all sorts of noises from farm animals and wild animals both.  Her heart thumped in rhythm to her steps and she could feel her palms getting sweaty.   She tried to control her nerves, but since she had no idea what to expect it was hard not to get carried away.  She kept pace with Levi and tried to not look around like a tourist.  He silently and purposefully walked towards the house carrying three bags that Harley knew were heavy but couldn’t tell by how easily he carried them.

As Harley and Levi stepped onto the low concrete porch she was sure that someone was watching them.  She was confident that there were cameras trained on them right now. 
Maybe even guns.
Levi pulled a set of keys from his pocket, selected a perfectly normal looking one and inserted it into the lock on the white, windowless door.  He turned it once and a panel in the frame of the door slid down revealing a small key pad that wasn’t marked with numbers.  He didn’t hesitate in tapping out a quick code that, even though he didn’t try to hide, Harley couldn’t follow.  He turned the key back, concealing the key pad again, and removed the key.  Harley could hear locks disengaging inside the deceptively normal door.

Harley’s breath caught in her throat as Levi pushed the door open and gestured for her to enter.  She had no idea what to expect and her heart continued to pound loudly in her ears.  She knew that no matter what lay on the other side of this door, her life had changed irrevocably and by stepping across the threshold into the dark entry way before her she was either taking a step in the direction of control over her life or—well, death.

The back door of the house opened into what looked like a mudroom and just beyond that Harley could make out a cozy but modern looking kitchen.  She couldn’t hesitate any longer without it becoming obvious, so she tentatively stepped over the threshold.  Levi followed her inside and quietly shut the door behind them.  Blinded in the darkness, Harley didn’t move any further until Levi set his bags down and stepped in front of her to lead the way.  She set her bag down as well and followed him closely as they stepped out of the mudroom and into the kitchen.

The night cast heavy shadows throughout the room and Harley found it hard to see clearly.  They both turned in a circle surveying the room slowly.  Harley was getting her bearings but Levi just seemed to be taking inventory—refreshing himself like someone who had come home at long last.  As they turned towards the breakfast area behind them Harley could just make out a figure sitting at the table in the shadows.

“Shit!” she flinched back, bumping into Levi.

Levi steadied her by the shoulders.  “Good evening Nya,” he said pleasantly with a smile in his voice.  The figured reached out for the switch on the wall behind her and flicked on a low hanging light above the table.

Harley struggled to bring her racing heart to a normal rhythm as she studied the woman at the table.  Even sitting down, Harley could tell the woman was abnormally tall.  She also looked lithe and muscular.  Her skin was the color of milk chocolate and her hair was black and braided into lots of tiny braids which were currently piled high on her head.  Her cheekbones were high and regal looking and her mouth was small with full lips which were currently pursed in amusement at Harley’s fright.  The woman gave off an air of strength and authority but without seeming cruel or hard.  At the moment she was watching Harley carefully from light, hazel-gold eyes that seemed to burn unnaturally hot through their disarming color.  Everything considered, Harley decided that Nya was easily one of the most beautiful women had ever seen.

“Hello Levi,” the woman’s voice was soft and velvety and had just the slightest trace of an accent.  She spoke quietly but Harley could tell she was one of those people who didn’t need to talk loudly for people to pay attention to them.  Nya looked at Harley again, “and good morning to you too.”

It took tremendous will power for Harley to speak evenly and hold Nya’s intense gaze when she responded.  “Good morning.”  Nya’s amusement grew and she smiled slightly as if she knew that Harley was struggling to not be intimidated.

Levi held his hand out to the seated woman.  “Harley, meet Nya, East General.  Nya, meet Harley.”  Nya nodded at Harley acknowledging the introduction and Harley returned the nod.

“You two must be tired.  We fixed your old room up, Levi.  We assumed that you wouldn’t need two rooms,” Nya smirked.

Levi rolled his eyes slightly.  “One room will be fine,” he answered, pretending to not be amused by Nya.

Harley watched their exchange with a raised eyebrow.  Nya was incredibly intimidating but her eyes danced with humor and Harley was struck by how little the woman seemed to move or blink.

“You weren’t waiting for us were you?” Levi asked.