Devil Inside (64 page)

“OK,” Nya said looking at Evie.  “You owe me five dollars.”  To which Evie rolled her eyes and extended an IOU.

“What are you guys betting on?”  Harley had a bad feeling about this.

“You’re not walking bow-legged at all.  I bet Nya that by now you would be.”  Evie busted out laughing and Nya laughed along.

Harley’s mouth fell open and she picked up the little monogrammed, standard notebook that came with all hotels and threw it at Evie.  She had great aim and it hit her right between the eyes.  Which only made them laugh harder.

Evie looked closer at Harley.  Harley was wearing a small camisole as a tank top and a pair of sweat pants.  Evie was looking at her stomach that showed below the end of the shirt.  A look of puzzlement crossed her California features.  “How are you completely healed already even though you haven’t fed yet?”

Harley looked at her stomach.  She didn’t even have a scar today thanks to her feeding and her extra quick healing abilities.  “Um, I just heal really quickly.”  Evie shook her head impressed.  Nya just studied her with a knowing look.  Harley shrugged and asked how the hunting went as a means of changing the subject.

“Great,” Evie said.  “We are all feeling super fresh and ship-shape.”

Harley still wasn’t comfortable feeding in front of people so she left the Ignis lying on the floor.  The man took turns glaring at them all. 

Finally, Evie seemed to pick up on Harley’s hesitation and left the room.  Nya hadn’t moved from her spot on the bed and her presence didn’t bother Harley as much.  Harley ignored Nya as she slid out of the chair and crouched over the Ignis on the floor.  After she was done feeding, Nya helped her move the body to the bathtub so it wouldn’t mess up the floor when it burned.  Harley flopped onto the bed enjoying the lingering euphoria from the feeding.

“I’m curious,” Nya began sitting at the table.

“About?”

“You recently fed from Castor or Levi, right?”

Harley cringed.  It was weird to talk about it to someone else and she was sure how Nya even knew.  “Well, yeah,” she said burying her face in the comforter.  “How did you know I have been feeding off them?”

“It wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”  Harley could hear the eye roll in Nya’s voice.

“And you still can—want—to feed from an Ignis too?”

“Oh.”  So that was where Nya was going.  “Yeah.  It’s like…different.  Castor and Levi are different kinds of feeding.  It fills a different part of me.  Does that make sense at all?”

“I think so,” Nya said thoughtfully.

“To be honest.  I probably could go without one or the other.  And I would even be OK for a long time without any.  But you know…why do that,” she laughed.

Nya laughed as well.  “Makes sense.”

“Why do you think I want to feed on Castor and Levi?  I don’t want to feed on anyone else—other than Ignis.   I mean, I don’t want to feed on you or Evie or anyone else.”

Nya was thoughtful.  “When did you first want to feed from Castor and Levi?  Before or after you had sex with them?”

“With Levi, it was right away.  Right after the bond began, of course.  With Cas…it was before I ever had sex with him.”

“Honestly,” Nya began. “I think you could feed off anyone you wanted.  I don’t know about humans, but I’m sure you could feed off any Nocte or Lux.  I think the desire to feed from your two boys is just that strong because of the close connection you have with them.  You said before that you felt like you ‘owned’ Levi, right?”

“Yeah, more or less.”

“Do you feel the same way about Castor?”

“Yeah.”

“I think your Nocte is used to having what she wants.  I think those feelings are coming from her more than you.  I think Castor and Levi both fill a purpose—they give you and your Nocte something you both need.  And you them,” she added as an afterthought.

Harley rolled over and stared at the ceiling.  “That makes sense,” she said.  “Levi thinks that it is their light and dark energies both feeding my Nocte.”

“I absolutely agree with that.  And Levi would be able to recognize it even better than I could. I’m sure he can sense the balance that it offers you.”

“I also heal even quicker after feeding from either of them.  And the same goes for them.  We all feel stronger too.  Why is that?”

Nya was silent for a while before answering.  “When you feed from Levi or Castor you are bringing the power of another Nocte or Lux to combine with your own.  With Levi you are mixing a power with itself.  Like when red paint gets becomes a stronger red when you add more red to it.   I think it’s the same sort of principle.  Even though Castor is a Lux I think its similar.  You are adding a “good” power—a power stronger than an Ignis power to your own.”

“Why don’t all Nocte or Lux do this?”

“I don’t think we can,” Nya said simply.

Harley sighed.  “Why am I different?”  She had asked Nya the question so many times before but she hadn’t had a good answer then.  Harley naively hoped that she would this time.

Nya sighed.  “I still don’t have a good answer for that.”

“Is it just a coincidence that I got a Nocte who is so strong?”  She felt her Nocte disagree with that before Nya could even speak.

“No.  I don’t think that’s it.  I said before, during your change, that any person or Nocte weaker than you both are would have died before the bond even took.  I think you two were strong enough for each other.”

Harley shook her head.  “I never thought of myself as being stronger than anyone else.”

Nya flopped onto the bed next to her.  She propped herself up on her elbows and considered Harley for a moment before speaking.  “You have lived a rough life.  You came out it a well adjusted adult.  That takes a lot of strength.”

Harley looked at Nya with narrowed eyes.  “But a lot of people had shitty childhoods.  Some worse than mine.  And a lot of people come out of it just fine.”

Nya smiled at her.  “I didn’t say you were the strongest person in the world.  I just said that you and your Nocte were strong enough for each other.”  Harley shrugged but didn’t say anything else.

Neither woman spoke for a while.  “Do you think I’m being unfair to Castor and Levi?” she finally asked Nya.

Nya thought before answering the question.  “Do you love them?”

Harley didn’t know how to answer that question.  “I don’t know.  I feel like…they are mine.  I don’t want them to be with anyone else.  And honestly, I really don’t want anyone else either. “

“You don’t feel the need to add a third to the stable?” Nya laughed deviously.

“Oh, how funny,” she answered with mock anger.  “But no, not particularly. 

“They seem, mostly, OK with it,” Nya remarked.

“Mostly, yeah.  It seems to bother Cas more than Levi though.”  She realized she felt a small bit of regret about that.

“I wouldn’t assume that Levi isn’t bothered by it just because he might not show it as much as Castor.  Levi just has tremendous self control.  I think they both understand how the situation has to work.”

“You’re right,” Harley agreed.  She was still slowly adjusting to the way her life worked now.

“I’m going to go see what Evie has gotten into.  Do you want to come?” Nya asked.

“Nah, I’m just going to hang out here.”

Nya left the room and Harley continued to lie on the bed, staring at the ceiling.  She found herself wishing Levi and Castor both were here.  She chuckled to herself.  She knew that they both tolerated each other because that is the way things were.  But the three of them lying in bed together wasn’t going to happen.  They both had too much pride for that.

Harley wondered where Levi was.  This was potentially the last night she was alive, and he was nowhere to be found and dawn was approaching.  No sooner than the thought crossed her mind than she heard and felt Levi coming down the hallway.  He came into the room quietly and was carrying a large bag that he set gently at his feet.

“What’s that?” Harley asked him.

“A present,” he smiled his half smile at her.

“For me?  What’s the occasion?”

Levi didn’t answer.  Harley sat up on the bed and Levi handed her the bag after removing his hoodie.  The bag was heavy and she raised her eyebrows at him.  He gestured towards the package and she opened it.  Inside was a box which she pulled it from the bag.  It was about three feet long and heavy.  It didn’t have any markings on the outside to give her any sort of clue as to what it held.  She lifted the lid and gasped, then burst out laughing.

“How the hell did you find this so quick and at this time of night?”  Harley lifted a heavy, silver bladed machete from the box.

Levi laughed.  “Some of the local Nocte knew some people.”

Harley stood and tested the weight of the blade.  The handle was leather and fit perfectly in her grip.  “I love it! Thank you.”  Inside the box was also a leather carrying harness that would fit on her back and she slide the machete into the sheath and set it aside.  She flopped back onto the bed and watched Levi undress without speaking.  He slid into the bed with her wordlessly.  They both relaxed into each other and shut the world out around them.  Neither of them was willing to discuss the events that would take place tomorrow.  Neither of them was willing to admit that there was a chance that Harley—or any of them—could die.

Harley stood in the gym with the small army of Nocte and Lux behind her.  Nya, Evie, Castor and Levi were the closest to her.  The other Lux and Nocte stood behind them.  They all stood behind the invisible line and waited for the Turba and the Rogue to arrive.  No one spoke—mostly because no one knew what to say.  Harley could feel her Nocte writhing in anticipation.  She could feel the tension rolling off Levi and Castor as they stood behind her. 

Harley forced the nervousness to leave her body by blocking it out.  If she didn’t get control then she wouldn’t stand a chance.  They all knew that the Rogue was going to be powerful.  If he was a match to Harley he was bound to strong.  He had already killed Cassandra and she was an incredible fighter.  He had been killing Lux, Nocte and Ignis alike—that took real power and strength.  She took comfort in the weight of the machete on her back.  If each of them became stronger each time they fed…she swallowed hard.  The Lux had killed a lot of humans, Lux, Ignis and Nocte.  If their theory was right, it was going to take everything she had to defeat him.

Suddenly, Harley felt a buzzing against her skull.  “They’re here,” she said softly.  No one spoke but the tension had increased noticeably.  The buzzing increased as they entered the building.  Without warning she was nearly knocked off her feet when what felt like a jackhammer kicked on inside her skull.  “What the fuck?” she grabbed her head and stumbled backward into Levi and Castor.  They steadied her as she bent over trying to get her breath.

“What is it?” Nya knelt in front of her.

“I’ve never felt anything like this,” she said through clenched teeth.  “It’s stronger than any Ignis or Lux I’ve ever encountered before.”

“Breathe,” Nya said soothingly.  “You need to push this away.”

“I know.”  She forced herself to take deep breaths.  She could feel her Nocte surging with anger.  With every breath she was able to push the pain in her skull aside.  It was hard to do considering the Rogue was coming closer.  Levi and Castor knelt beside her.  Cas grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him in the eyes.

“Look at me,” he said firmly.  His voice was filled with concern.  There was sweat on his forehead and he looked strained.  “Shut it out OK.”

Castor’s hand was warm on Harley’s face and her vision brightened as she looked at him.  She could see his eyes wash out to impossibly pale, almost the sickly white of his Lux, and she wondered what he was doing.  The pain subsided steadily until she was able to block it out altogether.  It was a good thing too.  She didn’t have time to ask Castor what he had done because no sooner than she stood straight did the gym doors open and the Ignis began filing in.

Harley wasn’t able to count how many Ignis came in.  She lost count around fifty.  Cutter came in behind the first cluster of Ignis.  He looked smug as usual.  Behind him entered a normal enough looking, unassuming man.  He was less than six foot and solidly built but not overly muscled.  He had short light brown hair and looked like he would have been at home in a law office before he became a Lux.  But looks were deceiving.  He had a sword strapped to his back and she could see the power radiating off him.  It almost hurt to look directly at him.  When Harley laid eyes on him she felt her Nocte roar and her eyes quickly dilated to black.  The look of disgust and anger on her face was mirrored in the Rogue’s.  Only his eyes had faded to a sickly white. 
Wow
, she thought to herself.  The amount of rage that her Nocte carried towards this creature was immense.

When the Rogue’s eyes locked onto hers she felt the rage burning inside her.  Harley wanted to end this.  Now.  She knew that if she didn’t things would only get worse.  Beyond that, she felt the very old vendetta that her Nocte carried for the creature in front of her.  Besides the awful things he was guilty of in this world, Harley knew he was guilty of something much worse wherever he and her Nocte came from.  She took a deep breath.  Beyond the burning smell of the Ignis Harley could pick out a sick and decayed smell that she knew was the Rogue.  As it washed through her, she heard chanting and singing that had accompanied his arrival in this world.  She felt the power behind the belief that people had placed in this creature.  The worship that Sol Invictus had heaped upon the Rogue had only increased his confidence and vileness.