Devil Inside (43 page)

Harley wrinkled her nose.  “Yeah.”

“What did you tell him?”

“Well, I couldn’t really lie about it.  I told him a downplayed version of the truth.”

Levi shrugged.  “Well, like I said, reputations get around.  If your reputation hasn’t already spread, it will soon enough.”

“Apparently, he had heard about a Nocte who hunts during the day.  Some Ignis had been talking about it.”

“You’ve been hunting during the day?”  Levi gave her look of curiosity and concern.

“No,” Harley shook her head.  “Yesterday was really the first time that I have gone out in full light.  I don’t know where they heard about me.”

Levi’s brow wrinkled.  “What,” she asked him when he was silent for a moment.

“I can’t figure out how the Ignis would know about you already.”

“Me either.  I thought the only people who knew about me and my…differences…were the Praesidio.”

Levi scratched the back of his neck.  “Me too.”  He looked like he was going to say something else.

“What,” Harley asked him again.  She had a bad feeling about what he was going to say.

“Well…” he began.  “Are you sure that they have been talking about a Nocte hunting during the day?”

“Good point,” Harley replied.  “I don’t know.  I’m getting the information third hand.”

“Well, one of the reasons that we have had a hard time figuring out who or what the Rogue is, is because the killings have happened during the day and the night.  That’s why at first we thought it was an Ignis.”

Harley felt anxiety twist at her gut.  “What does that mean for me?”

Levi rubbed his face.  “I don’t know.  I really don’t.  But I can’t help but think there has to be some kind of connection.  You aren’t affected by the sun.  Something is killing people, Nocte, Lux and Ignis alike and doesn’t seem to be affected by either the dark or the light.  And rumors about you—or maybe both of you—are starting to spread.”  Levi trailed off, not sure where to go with that.

“It doesn’t sound good does it?”

“Well—I don’t know if it’s good or bad?  It’s just…something to figure out.  I’ll make sure I let Nya know about it.  Hell, she might already now about it.”

Harley tried to force herself to be calm and not worry about it.  She knew from the beginning that being different was going to cause trouble.  Even though everyone told her to not worry—that it just meant she was stronger.  She had known that it wasn’t that simple.  Things never were.  Irritation began plucked at her again as Levi finished packing.  He made his way over to where she sat.

Levi placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye.  “Don’t let it get to you.  Just keep doing what you are doing.  Keep your ear to the ground.  Interrogate the Burners you catch.  See what else you can find out.”

Harley nodded.  “I have been trying to find information about Cutter.  I’ll add this to the waterboarding list.”  She stood and walked into the living room and cutter followed her.  She was feeling antsy and even more irritable and she tried to brush it off.  Levi was leaving and she didn’t want to be a jerk before he left.

Levi chuckled at her.  “Good.  In the meantime Nya and I will keep trying to find out what we can.  And remember your promise.  Carry more weapons.  And it might not hurt to contact other Nocte in the city and let them know what is going.  It might be a good idea to hunt in teams.”

Harley scowled at him and his implication that he didn’t want her hunting alone.

He looked at her sheepishly.  “It was worth a shot, right?”

Harley tried to not smile at him.  “I’ll carry more weapons.  I’ll even let the other Praesidio here know something is up and to keep an ear out.  But I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Hey, I never said you did,” Levi held his hands up in surrender.  “I just don’t want anything to happen to you and this could all be bigger than we are even prepared for.”

“I know.” Harley left it at that.

Levi kissed her goodbye and left so that he could get back to Virginia before sunup.  When the door shut behind him her stomach dropped.  The unexpected sensation caught her off guard.  She knew she cared deeply about Levi, but this was a whole new level.  The irritation that she had been feeling was dread she realized.  Dread at Levi’s leaving.  She had always preferred to have him around, but now she downright hated that he was leaving. 
Shit—when did that happen?
  She wondered. 
It’s gotta be the feeding, right?

Harley got dressed and left the apartment to hunt.  She figured the best thing for her right now was a distraction.  She hoped that Cutter had not left the city.  She figured the only way she would find out if he had would be to either come across him again or get an Ignis to tell her if he was still here or not.  Her plan was to stake out the bar that the Ignis had been heading into the night before.  If she was lucky it wouldn’t just be a random place they were going to for the night.

Harley, figuring she would end up actually having to go into the bar, dressed up a little more than normal.  She wore skinny jeans, low heeled boots and a snug, low-cut tee-shirt.  It made weapons hard to hide but she managed to hide her Bowie in her boot, her chain in plain sight around her waist as her usual eccentric fashion accessory and small gun in a purse that she slung across her shoulder.  She knew that it would only slow an Ignis down—but it was better than nothing.  She kind of wished that she still had the small dagger she had left with Castor.  She could have probably fit that down the front of her bra.  She also brought her sunglasses.  She would look weird and obnoxious wearing them inside a bar at night, but if she hid her eyes she might be able to stay incognito a little longer.

_____________

A short while later Harley was sitting in a dark corner of the bar listening to the speakers pumping out loud house music.  She tried to block the annoying music out and focus on the crowd that bumped and grinded to the music.  She still wore her sunglasses and had she been human she probably wouldn’t be able to see a thing.  But her improved Nocte sight was barely diminished at all by the dark shades.  Whenever the light dimmed or brightened her vision adjusted accordingly. 
So cool
, she thought to herself.  She was still discovering new abilities and powers that came along with being a Nocte and each new discovery was thrilling and sometimes a little scary.

Harley sat in a booth with her feet up on the seat beside her and her back against the wall.  The bar was mostly filled with humans.  Every so often she caught sight of a Burner but there had only been a couple and for the most part they didn’t seem to be currently causing too much trouble.  She had bigger fish to fry so she didn’t pay much attention to them.  So far they had not noticed her and she was glad she wore the sunglasses.  As she watched the dancers moving to the music she took a deep breath.  She could smell the heat from their bodies.  There were so many smells inside the bar that she had to push them away so as not to be overwhelmed.  Interestingly enough, she realized that even if she wanted to drink from Levi, she still didn’t want to drink from humans.  There wasn’t anything appetizing about the smells she picked up from the humans.  She was surprised by how relieved she was by this discovery.

As Harley scanned the crowd she caught sight of a guy staring at her from the bar.  He was average height and had short brown hair and a scruffy face.  He was dressed casually and kept looking at her when he thought she wasn’t looking.  The sunglasses made it easy to hide exactly where it was that she was looking.  Her attention was caught for a moment by two Burners as they huddled in a corner but they soon faded back into the crowd towards two women who they had been hanging around the whole night.  As she watched women kept coming up to the Burners and handing them something.  It was hard to tell with so many people in between them but Harley was pretty sure they were making drug deals.  Maybe the two human women were some kind of drug mules or something.  As she shifted her attention back towards the bar she realized the brown haired guys was walking towards her.  He had two beers in his hand. 
Shit
, Harley thought as she realized he was heading directly to her booth.

She didn’t give him her full attention until he was standing at her table with a sheepish smile.  When she realized the irony of the situation she couldn’t help but smile.  It was only about seven months ago when she stood at the table of a mysterious stranger shyly offering him a beer.  She had been in full predator mode while surveying the crowd but the guy softened her mood unexpectedly.  She looked him over carefully.  He seemed like a nice enough guy and she had to give him credit for having the guts—
stupidity?
—to come over and take a chance to hit on the weird girl in sunglasses giving off a distinct “Fuck off” vibe.  Her Nocte sat up and paid attention briefly before trying to refocus on the crowd and the Ignis.

He smiled harder at her and she could tell it was with forced—maybe liquid—confidence.  “So…um…can I buy you a beer?” he asked holding up the one in his left hand.

Harley tried not to smile at him.  “It looks like you already have,” she nodded towards the raised beer.  The guy hesitated, completely thrown off his game.  Harley chuckled feeling guilty.  “I’m just messing with you.”

The guy recovered quickly and over exaggerated starting again.  He took a couple of steps backwards and turned in a circle and walked back up to the booth.  “Hello!  My name is Bobby.  I just wanted to come over and introduce myself and offer you a beer.”  He raised his eyebrows and the beer.

Harley laughed against her will.  She had to give the guy credit—he was quirky and gave off a genuine vibe.  “Hi, Bobby,” she granted him purposefully not taking the beer he held out or inviting him to have a seat.  “I really appreciate the offer.  I really do.  But—” Bobby’s face started falling “—I’m kind of…working,” she finished, unable to think of a better way to brush the guy off nicely.

“Oh,” he slowly replied, wide eyed.

“What? Oh!  Wait—no not like that,” she laughed again.  Bobby looked relieved and laughed softly, shaking his head.  “I’m—I’m a private investigator,” she finished.

“Oh…that’s really cool actually.”  Bobby had a soft voice and Harley wondered if he was a singer or something like that.  He had the type of voice that could easily influence and sooth people.

“Yeah.  So, I really mean it when I say I appreciate the offer—but that I really can’t.”

Bobby nodded amicably.  “I understand.”  He held the beer out again.  “Have the beer anyway.  Along with my wish for you to have a good night.”  Harley hesitated; he really seemed like a nice guy.  But she didn’t want to encourage him.  “Really!  Take it.  I had the bartender leave the cap on and everything.  See—no roofies,” he laughed.

Harley smiled again.  “Well, thanks,” she said taking the beer from him.  “Since you aren’t a creep I’ll take the beer.”

“You’re welcome,” Bobby said.  “If you change your mind my friends and I will be around for a while.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Harley said as he turned and walked away.  She pushed the soft, melancholy feeling away.  She wondered how different things would have been had she not approached Levi that night.  Would Cutter have attacked her himself that night at the bar?  If the two goons had still come after her would she be dead along with Jamie?  Would they have come after her at all if she hadn’t been with Levi?  She wasn’t sure how much was inevitable, or her fault, or Levi’s fault.  Her life had changed so much in such a short amount of time.  Sometimes it felt like she had already lived a lifetime and had been reborn as a whole new person when she became a Nocte.  Other times she felt like a child playing make believe.  She drowned the last of the beer Bobby had brought her and slid out of the booth to look for the two Ignis again.

Harley had sat at the bar for hours and no other Burners—definitely not Cutter—had been in the bar.  She figured that these two were going to have to be her best shot.  She needed to get them away from the women they had been with all night.  She would prefer to not have to fight them in front of witnesses.  Eventually, Harley found the two on the other side of the bar.  Bobby had distracted her so much that she lost track of them briefly.  She and the two men were separated by the women, who’s backs were to Harley, and a few dancing couples.  She stood there long enough watching them that they finally noticed her.  When the dark haired one finally saw her, she gave him a sly smile and took her sunglasses off.  Harley could see the recognition of what she was wash over the man.  She felt the energy begin to flow through her as her Nocte got fired up for action.  When the dark haired Burner nudged the other and motioned towards her she turned and began making her way from the bar.  She didn’t look back to make sure that they were following her.  She knew that they would.  They were too young and stupid to not follow one female Nocte out by herself.  They would surely figure that she would be an easy kill for bragging rights.

Harley hovered near the bar’s entrance until the Burners stepped out behind her.  Before they had a chance to say anything she continued across the street, towards the same alley she had fought in the night before.  There were too many people around for them to risk attacking her just yet, so they followed her instead.  She was pretty sure they figured they would have her trapped and outnumbered in the alley since they were laughing to themselves.