Devil Inside (42 page)

As the four Ignis closed in on her she realized she was backing into the alley behind her, and that this had probably been their plan.  This was both good and bad.  Good because there was less chance of humans realizing what exactly was going on.  But bad because they now had her cornered and—just as they planned—there was no chance of a human deciding to play Good Samaritan and intervening.  As the Ignis lunged at her she swung the chain at them in a wide arc and they ducked away from it.  She had managed the pull the Bowie out and held it ready in her right hand.

The Ignis lunged at Harley again.  This time when she whipped the chain at the one on the far left managed to catch it and jerk her towards him.  Harley had just enough time to bring her right leg up and kick away from him before he could sink his own knife into her.  She didn’t let go of the chain, but neither did he.  They began a strange standoff that looked like something out of a 1950s gangster movie.  They each pulled and yanked at the chain with neither of them letting go or getting too close to the other.  Harley refused to let go of the chain because she knew if she did he would not only have it to use against her, but she would have to contend with all three at once again.  The Ignis didn’t let go because he seemed to think he would be able to get her within striking distance quicker.  The other three Burners hovered around the edges, unwilling to get too close and risk getting caught up in the chain.  Whenever one would edge his way towards Harley’s back she would pivot away careful to keep her back clear.

Harley caught sight of a mound of garbage to their left and she began making her way towards it forming a plan as she went.  A small cardboard box lay to the side of the garbage heap.  She didn’t hesitate as she used her foot to sweep it up and towards the face of Ignis to which she was chained.  In the split second that he was blind she twisted the chain further around her arm and yanked him to her.  She drove her knife deep into his heart and immediately kicked him off the blade.  As he crashed to the ground he let go of the chain and she backed away preparing for the rush of the other three Ignis.

Harley finally dropped the chain because it would do no good in these close quarters.  The Ignis came at her from all sides.  She stopped thinking and just let her Nocte take over.  For every hit or kick that she delivered, she received one in return.  She could feel the damage that she was taking but she ignored the pain and continued to fight.  Finally, she was able to take one down with another stab to the heart.  She got in a well-placed kick to the shorter of the two left.  As he stumbled backwards she managed to catch the other one as he approached from behind her.  Harley caught him by the head, twisted and dropped to her knees dragging him down with her.  The back of his neck bent over her shoulder and she heard his neck break with a satisfying crack.  Knowing that the other had already recovered and was rushing towards her she lunged to her feet and met him with a football tackle.  It would have worked a lot better had he not outweighed her by at least fifty pounds.  The force of the collision drove Harley over backwards and he landed on top of her.  She was lucky to have just managed to bring her knife up and she was even luckier in the fact that he landed on it just right and the blade plunged into his heart.  She heaved him off her and lay catching her breath for a moment.

Harley took stock of her injuries.  She knew she had several broken ribs, a broken nose and probably a broken cheek bone.  She also had who knew how many torn muscles and wrenched joints.  Her whole body throbbed with pain.  She knew she needed to get up and finish off the one whose neck she had broken.  Eventually, he would recover if she didn’t finish it.  Besides, if she finished him off by feeding her injuries would heal even quicker.  Slowly, she rolled over and climbed to her hands and knees.  Blood that had pooled in her nose dribbled out and she spat out the blood that had gathered in her mouth.  She normally healed quicker than other Nocte, but she had a lot of injuries and the fight had taken a lot of energy.

Harley rolled the Ignis with the broken neck onto his side.  She could feel his heart beating slowly beneath her fingers as she ran her hand along his neck.  Her fangs slid out and she sank them into his vein.  The blood didn’t pour out as strong as it normally did because his heart was barely beating but she was able to suck the blood out until the Ignis was gone.  She sat back and wiped her mouth on her shirt tail.  By the time she climbed to her feet the bodies of the other Ignis were already burning.  She wanted to go searching for Cutter but she knew he was already long gone.  She couldn’t believe how ridiculously predictable his running had been.  She kicked at the trash heap in anger as she made her way out of the alley.  But she knew chasing after him would be a mistake.  She knew that, now, she was too tired to put up a good fight.  She hadn’t gotten enough sleep during the day and fighting four Ignis and healing her injuries had take too much of her energy.  Still seething in anger she made her way back towards her apartment.

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As soon as she walked into her apartment Harley knew she wasn’t alone.  She immediately went on alert as she shut the door.  She listened carefully and caught the sound of movement coming from the bathroom.  She pulled her knife from between her shoulders and cautiously stepped into the living room.  Had she not been so tired and drained she may have realized someone else was in her apartment before she even opened the door.

She held the knife up and ready as she called out.  “Hello?”  With the energy she was picking up on she was pretty sure she knew who it was but she needed to make sure.

“Hey!” Levi stepped from the bathroom.  He had obviously just gotten out of the shower because he just had a towel wrapped around his waist and his long hair was wet.

All the tension left Harley’s body at once and she slumped over bracing her hands on her knees.  “You son of a bitch,” she gasped looking at the floor.  “Are you out of your mind?  Sneaking in here like that.  I almost attacked you!”

Levi chuckled.  “It’s good to see you too.”

Harley stood up and sheathed her knife.  “How did you even get in here,” she asked finally laughing a little.  “And what are you doing here?  When I talked to you two days ago you were still in Italy.”

Levi walked the short distance from the bathroom to the living room and folded her in a hug.  She reluctantly relaxed in his grip.  “I had to come back with Dotori for a meeting with Nya.  I thought I would come and surprise you.”  He smiled sheepishly and raised his eyebrows.  “Sorry, I guess I should have called first?”

“Well, that would have been less startling,” she laughed.  “It is a good surprise though.”  She pulled him down for a kiss and as the adrenaline of the shock passed she felt the warm tingling desire spread throughout her body.  She pulled away and smirked at Levi.  “What if I hadn’t been coming home alone though?”  She knew it was a loaded question and she hadn’t realized she planned on even asking it until it popped out on its own.

Levi raised an eyebrow and hesitated before answering. “Well—I guess that would have been pretty awkward.”  He gave her his half smile and she grinned back at him wickedly.

“Well, then—I guess it’s a good thing for you I was alone then.”

Levi finally took a good look at her and noticed the dried blood around her nose and mouth.  “Busy night?”

“I’ll tell you about it later.  I need to take care of something first,” she cocked an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah?  What’s that?” he asked with a small smile.

Harley reached out and yanked the towel from around his waist.  “This,” she laughed and pushed him towards the bedroom.

Harley’s legs were braced on either side of Levi as they both sat upright in the bed.  She clutched at his shoulders with her arms under his and wrapped around his back.  He gripped her waist and guided her up and down.  Harley gritted her teeth as she felt her fangs lowering.  She knew her eyes were blacked out just as Levi’s were.  She felt his eyes on her and she looked down at him.  The bottomless black of his eyes seemed to pull her down and she could see herself through his eyes again.  She could see the hunger in her own eyes reflected back at her.

“Do it,” Levi said breathlessly.

“What?” Harley froze.

“Drink,” Levi said in a husky voice.  “I know you want to do it.  I want you too.”

Harley didn’t give herself time to think about she was doing.  As her teeth broke through the skin of his neck they both groaned aloud.  Levi gripped her waist and thrust into her harder as she moaned into the curve of his shoulder.  As his blood spilled into her mouth she was pulled into a dark oblivion of pleasure.  Power, ecstasy and energy flowed through her mind and bounced through her soul.  She felt like she was falling into bottom black void and her breath caught in her throat.  Her Nocte wanted to complete the arc of power and energy that she felt flowing through her and she pressed Levi’s head into her own neck.  He knew what she wanted and she felt his teeth break her skin.  This time there wasn’t any pain as Levi bit her.  Harley and Levi were both lost in a swirling tide that pulled them down together.  Harley wasn’t sure where one began and the other ended.  When they both came they collapsed against each other and fell back onto the mattress not even bothering to wipe their mouths.

Neither was able to speak for several minutes as they lay panting for breath.

“Holy shit,” Harley finally shuddered.

“I know,” Levi agreed breathlessly.

“What was that?”

“I have no idea.”

“Why did you even tell me to do that?” she asked.  She tried to raise herself up onto her elbow but still felt too rubbery and mush-like.

“I don’t know,” Levi answered.  “I could just tell you wanted to.  And I wanted to see what would happen.”

“That was pretty stupid, though.  I mean, what if I had killed you?  What if I had drank the Nocte out of you?  Wait—are you ok?  DID I hurt your Nocte?” Harley felt her blood chill at the idea of having hurt him.

Levi thought about it for a moment.  “No.  I’m OK.  I think drinking from you replaced whatever you took.  I can feel your strength in me.  It’s incredible.”

Harley was quiet for a moment.  Her Nocte hummed contentedly.  She felt completely energized and powerful.  All the energy she had expended earlier had been replaced and then some.  Her wounds and body didn’t even hurt anymore.  She felt like she could almost fly.  “This is so weird,” she said finally.

“I know.  But I’m not complaining,” Levi chuckled.

“How did you know I’ve been trying to not bite you?” Harley’s voice was soft and she didn’t look at him as she asked the question.

“It wasn’t hard to figure out.  I could tell by the look in your eye.”

Harley’s insides squirmed uncomfortably.  She felt like she had just gotten Levi to do something really strange and bad.  “Sorry.”

Levi looked at her, his expression puzzled.  “What for?”

“Drinking each other’s blood is pretty weird, right?”

“Well…,” Levi answered thoughtfully.  “I’ve never known anyone to do it.  I don’t think people would really talk about it if they did though.”

“Let’s still not tell anyone about this until we figure out what the hell it is.  Deal?”

Levi thought about that.  “Agreed.”

Harley sighed.  As good as this felt, she couldn’t shake the feeling that it wasn’t natural.  “I really don’t want people knowing I’m some kind of insatiable cannibal,” she laughed humorlessly.

The next evening Harley told Levi about finding Cutter.  He hadn’t been happy to learn that she had taken on four Burners by herself.  But he refrained from lecturing her or grumbling about it too much.

“Just promise me you will start carrying more weapons.”

Harley offered him a small smile.  “I promise—I’ll carry more weapons.”  Levi was preparing to leave again and she fought the nagging irritation of his leaving again already.  The sun had just set and she was watching the night sky out of the bedroom window.

Levi looked away to hide a small smile.  “You beat four Burners, though?”

Harley grinned at herself.  “Sure did.”

“Good job…that’s pretty hot,” he smirked.

Harley rolled her eyes at him also felt her ego swell a little bit.    “Oh, and I almost forgot to mention I met a Lux yesterday.”

“What!?” Levi looked up from his bag.

“Yep.” She turned away from the window.  “I went out before dark yesterday.  I ran into him while he was fighting an Ignis.”  Harley decided to leave out the part about having to help him out.  It wasn’t something she would want spread around about herself so she decided to keep Castor’s secret.  “His name was Castor Collins.  He seemed nice enough.”

“Castor?” Levi mulled the name over.  “Sounds familiar.  I think I may have heard of him before.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  Reputations get around.  Even crossing over Praesidio and Vigilum lines.”  He scratched his jaw thinking.  “I don’t remember details of what I’ve heard.  Nothing bad—I would probably remember that.  So, he’s probably a decent guy as far as Lux go.  He didn’t give you a hard time or anything did he?”

“Pfft!  No, why would he?” Harley asked him bewildered.  “He seemed cool.”

“I told you—Vigilum can be assholes.”  Levi stopped short again and he thought of something else.  “Did he wonder why you were out during the day?”