Devil Inside (44 page)

As soon as Harley was sure they were covered by the buildings on either side of them, she struck out behind her, landing a solid kick to the stomach of the one closest to her.  She spun quickly and drove her knife into the heart of the other one who had still not yet processed what had happened to his friend.  Apparently, these Burners were young, or stupid, or just both.  The darker haired one, the one she had kicked, was quickly climbing to his feet.  She drove a knee into his chin then pinned him to the ground with a knee to his chest.  Harley quickly unwound the chain from her waist and looped it around the Burner’s neck.  Sensing what was happening, the Ignis began struggling and trying to bite her but she thrust her knife forward and gave him a shallow wound in the stomach.  It wasn’t deep enough to kill him, but it was deep enough to distract him while she tossed the other end of the chain through the steps of a fire escape above them.  The old metal stairs were broken and hung so low they were only a few off the ground. She had just enough chain left to loop it through the stair and, using all her strength and weight she hoisted the Ignis off his butt and buckled the chain against itself.

Between the wound to the Burner’s stomach and the awkward position under the metal fire escape he was thrown off balance and struggled between crouching and choking.  When Harley had him secured she stepped away and watching him try to find a way to brace himself against the stairs with his feet planted out in front of him.  He panted for air and clutched at the wound in his stomach that was taking a while to heal.  It confirmed Harley’s theory that he was a young Ignis.

“How long do you think you can stay like that?”  When he didn’t answer Harley continued.  “What if I take your legs out from underneath you?  How long can you go without air?”

The Ignis gave the stereotypical answer.  “Fuck you,” he panted.

“Oh come on!  That’s so cliché.”

“Fuck you, bitch?” he growled.

Harley laughed, throwing her head back.  “Well, I guess since you can still try to be funny you aren’t hurting enough.”  She bent down and quickly dragged her knife through the nerves and tendons on the backs of his knees.  His scream of pain was cut off as the chain tightened around his air way as his legs gave out unable to support his weight.  He began clawing at the chain and trying to reach the stair step above his head trying to find a way to stop himself from choking.  Harley stood watching him fight for air for a surprisingly long time before he finally seemed to pass out.  She slid a sturdy box that had been lying with some garbage underneath his butt and loosened the chain from where it was beginning to embed itself in his neck before waking him by tapping at his forehead with the point of the knife.  By the time he jerked awake, gasping for air, his legs had begun healing, Harley could tell by the fact that the blood was beginning to drip slower.

“So, I have some questions for you.”  He only glared at her in response.  “Good—good,” she said with a too bright smile.  “You’re learning.”  He continued to glare at her.  “Where is Cutter?”

The Ignis’ eyes widened for the briefest of instances.  “Who?” he said recovering quickly.

Harley laughed at him again.  “Look, we can do this all night.  I can continue to poke holes in you.  Strangle you.  Generally bring you pain and misery.  And we can see just how long you can last like this.  On the other hand I can tell you are a pretty petty Ignis.  Pretty low level, right?  So, I really don’t have any reason to want to drag this out and make it worse for you.”  He continued to glare at her without speaking.  “If you tell me where Cutter is, I’ll kill you quickly.”

Finally, he spoke again.  “Fuck you, stupid bitch.”

Harley laughed and shrugged then kicked the box from underneath his butt.  Two swift slices of the knife to reopen wounds that had only just started to close and the Ignis was hanging by his neck again.  Harley’s stomach soured at the things she was doing. 
It’s a means to an end
, she told herself.  Even though she felt that what she was doing was right, she couldn’t help but be shocked and somewhat saddened by how easily the devil inside her could just shut off her feelings.  She looked at the Ignis hanging by his neck and sighed as her Nocte practically giggled at the sight before her.  It took a total of three hanging sessions before the Ignis was ready to talk.

“Where is Cutter?” Harley asked for the third time.

“I don’t know where he lives,” the Ignis finally croaked.  His voice was hoarse and strained from the damage done to his neck.

Harley was relieved.  She really didn’t feel like doing this the whole night.  “Is he still in the city though?”

“He was earlier tonight.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, pretty sure.  See that pile of ash over there?” The Ignis nodded in the direction where the first Ignis had burned after she stabbed him.  “He met with him earlier today.  Part of some deal that I wasn’t in on.”  The Ignis glowered.  He knew he was going to die and seemed to accept that, but he was getting in all the jabs he could while he still able.

Harley gritted her teeth for her bad luck to pick the wrong Ignis.  She believed his story and wanted to punch him in the face just to make herself feel better  “What was the deal about?”

“No idea.  Something to do with girls probably.  That’s mine and his specialty,” he said with a nod towards the dead Ignis.

“Is that what you were up to in the bar?  With the girls?”

The Ignis hesitated until she raised her knife again—as a reminder.  “We deal in girls.  But we’ve had some extra work lately.”  Harley raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue.  “The girls are carrying also,” he confirmed Harley’s suspicions. 

Drugs seemed to be a part of everything that happened.  “Where did the drugs come from?”

“James—the pile of dust over there,” the Burner answered.

“This is a part of the deal he has been working on with Cutter, isn’t it?”

“I think so,” the fight has left the Burner.  He wasn’t even trying to lie anymore.

“Can you arrange a meeting with him?  It might earn your second chance at life,” she offered

The Burner’s shoulders slumped a little.  “Not a chance.  Cutter isn’t going to deal with me.  Low level, remember?”

Harley nodded trying to maintain her frustration..  “Do you know if he is going to be in the city for long?”

The Ignis looked at her bewildered.  “Why the fuck would I know his schedule?”

Harley only stared at him in response.  “Look,” he finally said.  “I think the deal is going to take a while to finish.  James was complaining that he wasn’t going to be able to go with me when I leave for Vegas next week.  Oh—and he likes to do business around bars.  I can’t even tell you if he has any regular spots.  That is all I know.  So, just fucking kill me and get it over with.”

“What about a Nocte hunting during the day?  Have you heard anything about that?”

He looked at her as if she grew a second head.  “I have no idea what you are talking about.”  Harley just nodded.  She hadn’t figured he would know anything but she had asked to be sure.

Harley thought for a minute, trying to make sure there wasn’t anything else he might be able to answer.  She believed him when he said that he wouldn’t be able to arrange a meeting with the head honcho.  There really wasn’t any point in keeping him around longer.  Finally, with a deep breath she drove the knife into his chest with no remorse or hesitation.  He began to smoke and burn quickly and she hurried to untie the chain from around his neck.  She didn’t want burnt Ignis on it—or to have to wait for him to get done burning to get it back.  While she hadn’t learned a lot, she had at least learned Cutter was probably still in the city and probably would be for the next week or so.  That was definitely good news.  It gave her time to find him.

It was only after the fight, when Harley retrieved her purse from where it had fallen that she remembered the gun inside.  She sighed and shook her head.  It would have been stupid to use the gun where humans could hear it and call the police anyway.  She hadn’t thought about that when she had taken it with her to begin with.  She realized that she had only brought it because she had promised Levi she would carry more weapons.  Harley hadn’t even realized that she was doing it.  She had kept her promise to honor Levi’s wish to be safer without even intending too.  She knew that she didn’t need any more weapons.  The ones that she carried were adequate enough.  Levi’s suggesting she carry more was just his way of being protective without being overbearing.  She rolled her eyes and slung the purse over her shoulder.  The blue eyed Nocte had fully embedded himself under her skin no matter how hard she had resisted it.

The next evening Harley showered and dressed quickly.  There were still several hours of daylight left and since she wasn’t going to be sleeping any more she might as well head out.  She wore a nice sleeveless shirt to counterbalance the chain belt and biker boots she wore.  She tried to tell herself she wasn’t going looking for Castor, but her giggling Nocte said otherwise.  It had only been two days, but she figured she could check in on him anyway.

Harley wandered towards Tribeca where she had come upon Castor before.  Her dark sunglasses shaded her eyes from the sun but she could still feel the oppressive heat against her skin.  As she walked she let the city flow over her and distract her from her bad mood.  She took in the sights, the smells, the sounds—she let them sweep across her and went where her feet carried her.  It was a hard balance to strike.  Being too immersed in the city would become overwhelming—but shutting it all out wouldn’t help her find Castor.  Luckily, it wasn’t long before her Nocte finally honed in on what (
who!
) she was looking for.  She followed the buzzing that radiated through her head and chest, letting it grow stronger and stronger until she saw Castor sitting at a small café drinking what looked like coffee.  The soft hum was different from the hum of the Ignis.  It was a different frequency altogether.

Harley saw him in profile as he scanned the people that passed by on the street.  He didn’t seem to realize that she was there or watching him.  He was dressed casually in jeans and a long-sleeved tee-shirt and he looked as gorgeous as she remembered and her Nocte hummed in excitement.  Every so often he ran his hand over his short, brown hair.  She realized it must be his quirk—his nervous tick maybe.  As she drew closer she circled around to approach him from behind.  She slid easily and silently into the empty chair to his left and leaned back looking as casual as she could.  Castor drew up only slightly before catching himself and regained his steady posture.  Harley watched him from behind her sunglasses with a small smile and waited for him to speak.

“Good afternoon,” he finally said, his face splitting into a grin.  His teeth were bright white and perfectly straight.  She assumed that the Lux didn’t have fangs but she couldn’t stop herself from imagining his teeth nibbling—
focus!
  He leaned back into his chair and taking a sip of his coffee.

“Good afternoon.”  Harley tilted her head at him.  “Feeling any better?”

Castor shrugged off her question.  “I’m fine.  Still not 100% but getting there.”

Harley nodded, recognizing that he was holding back but allowed him his pride by not bringing it up.  “Good to hear.”

The server interrupted their conversation to take Harley’s order.  While she waited for her coffee she studied Castor as he surveyed the crowd.   She wasn’t sure why she was so compelled to seek him out.  It was the same kind of attraction that drew her to Levi as well.  Some level below her consciousness pushed her towards them both.  On a basic primal level she knew that her Nocte was interested in them both. 
But let’s face it—she’s interested in anything that has a pulse really.
  Her Nocte giggled at that thought.  But she couldn’t blame it entirely on her Nocte.  The same thing had happened to her with Levi.  Well before the bonding process.  It was like some instinctual, primal attraction to them—they had something she needed and wanted and she didn’t even know what it was.

Harley was no angel and never had been.  But she wasn’t the type to go for every guy who crossed her path.  And these two in particular had somehow weaseled their way into her psyche.  She found it a little annoying and distracting.  Castor knew that she was watching him but he continued to watch the crowd.  Finally, he spoke without turning to look at her.

“You haven’t been a Nocte for long have you?”

“What makes you think that,” Harley took a sip of her coffee after the server sat it in front of her.

Castor didn’t answer her question.  “I thought you were older when I first met you the other day.  But I get the feeling you aren’t.”

She laughed.  “I’m old enough.”

Finally, he turned to look at her.  “You are different from other Nocte.”

Harley sighed.  “Yeah, I get that a lot.” 

“So, you are different from other Nocte?  Or am I just wrong about what Nocte are like?”

“Maybe both?  But yeah, I’m different from other Nocte.  Have you never met one before?”

“No, not up close and personal.  Have you met a Lux before?”  There wasn’t a challenge behind the question, just curiosity.

“No.  But then again—I’ve only been a Nocte for about seven months.”

Castor gaped at her.  “Seriously?”