Devil Inside (36 page)

Harley signed and pushed her annoyance aside.  “I know.”

“I promise,” Nya said softly, with unusual seriousness, “You’ll get your revenge eventually.  And we will take care of the Rogue.  The Nocte are working hard to find out who is behind this.”

Harley knew that she needed to trust Nya.  The other Nocte was old, wise and strong and she had never misguided Harley before.  And Harley was wise enough to recognize that she didn’t have enough experience to make these decisions.  No matter how badly she wanted to find Cutter, or the Rogue, she needed to be strong enough to fight or she wouldn’t succeed in either mission. Harley took a deep breath, deciding to let her need for revenge simmer for a while.  “So, that fight was pretty good wasn’t it?” she said with a gleeful smirk.

Nya laughed, returning to her normal playful self.  “Yes, it was quite impressive.  Rafe is going to be really pissed when he recovers.”

“He’s going to recover?” Harley asked half serious and half dismayed.  “Dammit.”  She hadn’t really thought she had killed him, but she had almost hoped.

Nya laughed, “Sorry to break it to you—but yes.  He’ll recover eventually.”

Harley left Nya’s office with a plan for the rest of her training.  She needed to get some more practice with her finished bond and then she could be assigned to a location.  Nya didn’t think it would be longer than a few weeks to a month.  Harley made her way towards her favorite bench to watch the sun come up.  It was something that she did often and she was anxious to see if she could still do it even with her bond completed.  She could sense the sunrise as usual and she hurried to her favorite spot.

Harley sat in the early morning dew and enjoyed the crisp air.  Spring was in full force and she could smell the new life that stirred around the Den and through the surrounding trees.  She pulled her phone out and texted Levi.

“Guess what.”
 
She didn’t have to wait long for his response.

“What’s up?”

She closed her eyes and called her Nocte to her.  It was the first time that she had done it and she wasn’t sure that she would be able to, but when she asked, her Nocte rose to meet her.  It was like recalling a fond memory.  When she opened her eyes she could feel the cold darkness in them.  She used the camera in her phone to take a picture of herself.  The flash lit up dying night and she took a deep breath before turning the phone over to look at the image.  When she did it took her breath away.  Her eyes were solid black, there was no white or green at all.  It gave her a menacing look seemed to darken all of her features.  She smiled as the power of the bond hummed through her.

Harley sent the picture to Levi and waited for his response.  She could imagine him lying in bed feeling the pull of the sunrise and she wished she was with him.  She would give him a good reason to fight the sleep that came over him with the sun.  She felt her body tingle with desire and regretted that he wasn’t here. 
Or Everett or Andrei for that matter.
  Harley ignored the Nocte’s insistence that anyone would do.

Her phone buzzed with Levi’s response.
 
It’s a great look on you.  I knew it would happen soon!”

“Thanks.  Sleep well.  And hurry up and bring your ass back here.  I need to get laid and there really aren’t any eligible men around here.”

“I’m sure Rafe would help you out with that.”

Harley wasn’t sure what kind of emotion was behind that text.  That was the downside to communicating through short electronic sentences.  He could be feeling her out to see if she was interested in Rafe.  He could be teasing her.  He could mean nothing except that he was fine if she wanted to.   She doubted that was the case—but it was possible.  Any of the above left her feeling conflicted.  She didn’t know what meaning she wanted behind the words.  She decided to try to not read anything into it and pushed her confusion aside.

“Even if I got desperate enough for that, considering I broke his neck tonight—I think he may have changed his mind about me.”

“Oh, how I would have loved to have been there to see that.”

“Well, it was pretty badass if I do say so myself.”

“I’ll bet.  I hate to go but I’m going to vamp out soon.  I’ll call you tomorrow.”

Harley laughed at Levi’s use of her terminology for when he practically collapsed at dawn.  At that though she realized the sun had finally begun to rise and she had her answer.  She didn’t feel any different with the sun rising than she had thirty minutes ago.  The light began to peak over the horizon and she watched it brighten the world around her.  She could feel her Nocte shudder against the light but she didn’t feel any weaker or more tired than normal. 
So, the mystery continues
she thought to herself.  She returned to the house and her bedroom.  She might not be vampire-tired by the sunlight, but she still needed sleep.

____________

For the next month Harley continued sparring with other Praesidio.  Sometimes she won, sometimes she lost.  Still, she seemed to win more than she lost and her skill increased with every fight.  She could even hold her own with Nya now and she beat Cassandra more than she lost.  Everyone was excited about the progress that she made.  Everyone except Rafe that is.  Harley hadn’t seen much of Rafe sense their fight.  He definitely had gotten his ego wounded.  After he recovered from his broken neck, a process that had taken nearly a week, he had left to hunt without saying anything to anyone other than Nya.

Harley stood panting, waiting for Nya’s broken leg to heal.  She had managed to get the older Nocte in a solid leg lock that had finally resulted in a broken shin.  Harley could barely contain her glee and felt like doing a little dance as Nya feigned anger.

“I’m entirely too old to spend this much time getting broken bones,” Nya complained trying not to laugh.

Harley pulled Nya to her feet when she heard the bone finish mending with a final crunch.  “I think you are finally ready,” Nya said much to Harley’s surprise.

“Seriously?!”

“Yes.  I don’t think there is much more that you can do here.  You need to get out and get real experience.”

Harley swallowed before asking the big question.  “Where am I going?”

“I don’t know yet.  Levi has been taking survey as he has tracked the Rogue.  He’ll advise on the best location for you.”

“Well when will we talk to him about it?”

“He’ll be back tomorrow night.  We can meet with him about it then.”

“Tomorrow night!  He didn’t say anything about being back tomorrow!”

“Oh!” Nya froze.  “That might have been a surprise.”  She looked mildly sheepish.

Harley laughed.  “Well I’m glad you told me!  I need to shave—it’s kinda been a while.”  She laughed, and tried to not let her excitement show on her face.  Much to her chagrin she failed, but Nya didn’t pay it any attention.

“I can tell,” Nya laughed rubbing at the pretend stubble burn on her leg.

Harley flipped her off with a laugh as she left the training room to go shower.  Her whole body tingled at the news of Levi’s return. 
I know, I know
she told her Nocte. 
Hold your horses.  He’s not going to be here until tomorrow night.

Harley wandered back inside the house.  She had been walking around the woods near the Den trying to burn off excess energy.  She had gotten so used to sparring and practicing with weapons everyday that the first night in months that she hadn’t fought left her feeling anxious and unable to sit still.  And, whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was excited that Levi would be back today.  Her body tingled at the thought and she could almost feel her Nocte grin with excitement.  She hadn’t talked to Nya about how “present” her Nocte still was.  Harley wasn’t entirely sure that she should still be this aware of the Nocte and she dreaded discussing it with anyone.  She realized she was glad that she could still feel her Nocte so strongly.  She realized that she had gotten so used to having her around it would be lonely if her Nocte wasn’t as present.  It was almost as good as having her best friend back.

She was in her room changing when suddenly the air around her seemed to change.  She picked up on a strong electrical current and she shivered.  It was like someone had walked over her grave—as the old saying went. 
Well that’s new
.  She knew what the feeling in the air meant without having to investigate.  Levi had returned.  She could almost pin point his location in the house. 
I’m pretty sure THIS isn’t normal.
  But she let the thought go and turned towards the door.  She wasn’t able to keep the stupid grin from her face.  Levi must have came directly to the bedroom when because it was only minutes after she felt him enter the house that he threw the door open.

Levi had an uncharacteristically full smile on his face as he studied her and the fact that she was half naked.

“Well, nice to see you too!” he said trying to not laugh.

“Shut up.  Shut the door.  And take your pants off,” Harley grinned at him with a gleam in her eyes.  She could feel her vision heat up as her Nocte stirred in anticipation.  When her eyes went black Levi growled as his eyes matched hers.  He was so gorgeous it hurt to look at him.  His dark hair brushed his shoulders and his tee shirt fit tight enough to see his muscles through and she couldn’t wait to rip the shirt right off him.  As the warm tingly sensation spread across her belly, Harley became aware of just how genuinely happy she was to see Levi, but she didn’t concern herself with that at the moment.

Levi crossed the room in two strides and as he reached for her, Harley grabbed him first by the front of his shirt.  His eyes grew wide as she pushed him onto the bed almost effortlessly.  She climbed over him and griped his shirt and gave it enough of a tug to pull it in half.  She pushed the halves aside and she ran her tongue over his skin—from the waistband of his jeans to his neck.  As she buried her face against his neck her eyes rolled back into her head.  It took all her strength to not bite Levi.  She could feel the heat coming from his skin and his scent stirred a burning hunger inside her.

Harley had only experienced a hunger like this one other time.  A couple of weeks after the bonding completed she was overcome with hunger.  Nya had figured that she wouldn’t be ready to hunt before her Nocte needed to feed, so she had arranged for Harley to have another supply of Ignis blood brought to her just in case.  The burning ache that radiated from her stomach flared again at the scent of Levi’s skin.  She felt the growl ripple from her as she moved away from Levi’s neck.  She was sure this wasn’t normal at all and worry prickled in the back of her mind but she pushed it aside.  She could feel her fangs slide out and watched Levi’s do the same as his lips parted to meet hers.  She hadn’t kissed anyone since her fangs had come in and she had to be careful of them as Levi’s tongue slid along hers.  If she accidentally nipped him and drew blood she didn’t know if she would be able to resist biting into a vein to get more.

Suddenly, Levi flipped her over and pressed her into the bed with his weight.  She loved the feel of him lying on top of her.  He was so solid and strong it made her stomach quiver.  She pulled his torn shirt the rest of the way off then he pulled hers over her head.  She lay beneath him in just a bra and underwear and he smiled when he looked down at her.  Harley dug her fingernails into his back to pull him to her again.  He winced and grabbed her wrists with one hand.  He held them over her head and she smiled slyly at him.  She knew she could easily free her wrists, but she didn’t want to.  She let him hold her down and finish undressing her with one hand.

Levi nibbled at her skin causing tiny goose bumps to spring up on her arms.  He didn’t even bother to pull his pants off all the way.  He just unbuttoned them and pushed them aside before he drove himself into her causing Harley to gasp in pleasure.  Levi let go of Harley’s wrists and she caught both of his hands in her and they twined their fingers together.  Their hands, clutched on either side of Harley’s head, bore Levi’s weight.  The sex was quick and frenzied, both of them having been looking forward to this moment for months. 

Just like the last time that they had sex, Harley found herself able to see through Levi’s eyes.  The bottomless black of her eyes reflected her own gaze back at her through Levi’s eyes and it created a funhouse mirror effect that left her dizzy.  She could feel herself tighten around Levi as the pleasure throbbed through her and she could feel her own breath as it panted across Levi’s face.  The feeling was surreal and it made her feel like she was going to explode—it was pure ecstasy.

Levi and Harley came at the same time and the two-fold orgasm left them both breathless and unable to move.  It was two times the pleasure and two times the intensity.  Afterwards, they lay next to each other trying to catch their breath and regain their senses.  Finally, Harley felt the bed rumble with Levi’s chuckle.

“What?” she turned to look at him.  He rolled the rest of the way off her and kicked his pants all the way off.

“That weird ‘seeing myself through you thing.’  I’ve never experienced something so intense.”

“I know what you mean.  I never realized I was so good at sex,” Harley laughed.  Levi laughed along with her.  She loved to hear him laugh—it was such a rare sound.

He rolled onto his side to look at her.  “OK.  Fill me in on the details.”