Natural Consequences (11 page)

“Okay, wait wait wait,” Amber chuckled, “I want to hear this, but don’t change the subject yet. Lorelei, what did you mean?”

“
As we mentioned, I was introduced to our friends here through my partner, Alex. He and I share a second partner named Rachel.” Her eyes swept the faces of the young men around them as if to convey a soft reminder. “She likely won’t be here tonight. I had thought Alex would join us by now, though,” she muttered.

“Wait, you ‘share’ another partner?” asked Amber.

“We are all equal parts of the same relationship, yes,” Lorelei nodded. “Some would call it a triad, though I care little for labels.”

“Wow. I can’t say I’ve never heard of the idea, but I’ve never actually met anyone with that kind of, um, arrangement.” She paused. “I imagine you get a lot of dumb questions about it?”

“We don’t exactly advertise. I wouldn’t tell you of it, but for the likelihood that it will come up,” she said, eyeing Jason with a bit of a smile. “Rachel doesn’t get out with us much. If others perceive Alex as my only partner, she doesn’t mind. She is not one for fretting about the opinions of others.

“
But yes, I have some experience in relationships outside of traditional models. I would suggest that Jason’s recent entanglements fell apart not because it was inherently flawed as a model, but because of the individuals involved.” She threw a calm wink to Jason to take any potential sting from her comment.

“I suppose that’s fair,” Amber said, though skepticism colored her voice.

Drew gave a bit of a nod over Amber’s shoulder. “You could always ask Alex his take on it, too,” he offered.

Amber turned to look as the newcomer arrived.
With her mind split between acting natural and thinking like an investigator, she made assessments quickly. She found youth that fit with the guys around her, but immediately recognized a degree of sex appeal and good looks that somewhat justified Lorelei’s interest. She spotted the leather jacket and the helmet in one hand marking him as a rider. Yet she also noted a slightly breathless, amped-up look in his eyes and his stride that seemed a bit out of place for a night at a pool hall.

“I was afraid I wouldn’t catch you before you left,” Alex said as he moved in to embrace Lorelei. Amber caught the lilt in his voice—and the reactions of his friends. “I’m not even sure what time it is.”

“It’s almost eleven,” answered Drew with a frown.

“Ah, so late, but not too late, I’d say,” Alex smiled. He
turned to the rest with Lorelei’s arm still around his shoulder. Amber caught his eye. “Who’s this, then?”

“Alex, this is Amber,” said Jason.

Amber stuck out her hand with a friendly smile. “Hi,” she said. “So at the risk of sounding dumb, I’ll just ask now: are you from Ireland?”

The question stopped Alex in his tracks. He blinked and looked to his friends. “No,” he answered with a
flawless Irish brogue, “I’ve lived in Seattle all my life.”

“Bro, you feelin’ okay?” Drew asked.

The others waited while Alex hesitated. Amber detected a shared look of concern on everyone else’s face. Finally, Alex said, “No. No, I’m not.” He swallowed hard. “Wade, have you ever… have you ever had a flashback to… you know, fightin’?”

“Can’t say ah have, but y’all don’t look right,” said Wade. “Where’ve ya been?”

“Over at the U,” answered Alex, his brogue still strong. “And, uh… Ypres, I think. I dunno. I was at the lecture, and then I was in the mud, and… and I locked myself in a bathroom.”

“Oh Jesus,” breathed Drew, “did you get on your
bike
and come here? Why didn’t you call us and have one of us pick your ass up?”

Lorelei closed her eyes with a soft curse of frustration.
“Alex, do you trust me?” she asked.

Though out of sorts, Alex answered easily, as if the only oddity were that she would even need to ask. “With me life,” he nodded.

“My friends,” she said, “there is much to tell you, but I didn’t expect us to be in mixed company. I am sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Amber spoke up. The last thing she wanted was to be excluded now.
“Don’t worry about me.”

“I must,” said Lorelei, stepping closer. “I am sorry.” She reached out to slip her hand around Amber’s neck and looked deeply into her eyes. “
Forget the awkwardness of these last few minutes
,” she said. “
You found nothing worthy of suspicion here tonight. You found companionship and acceptance. Nothing more
.”

Amber almost swooned. She leaned on Jason, nodding, finding his presence comforting. He was a nice guy. They were all nice guys. Whatever bothered her must not hav
e been a big deal.

“Woah,” Jason blinked.
He’d been at Amber’s side all along, and heard every word. “I didn’t… what did you do?”

“What I had to, Jason,” Lorelei
explained. “I do only what I must. She will be fine, but you should see her home.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” murmured Amber. “Is it time to go?”

“It is for us,” Lorelei replied. “I’m sorry to cut this short. Alex is not well. He should not ride. Can either of you follow us on his motorcycle?” she asked Drew and Wade.

“Yeah, I got it,” nodded Drew.

“Ah c’n follow,” Wade spoke up. “Drew hitched a ride here with me anyway.”

“Thank you,” said Lorelei. She kept one hand on Alex’s arm through the brief conversation. “Jason—“

“No, I get it,” he shook his head. “I mean, with him,” he added, gesturing toward Alex.

Lorelei nodded with gratitude, but her controlled urgency remained. “Amber, it was a pleasure, and I hope to see more of you.”

“Um. Sure?” Amber shrugged. She gave just a little wave as the older woman led Alex and his friends toward the exit. Then she turned to Jason, who seemed to be working up some sort of apology. “I like your friends,” she declared happily.

“I swear it’s not normally this weird with them,” Jason said as he pulled up outside the apartment building. “Or with me.” He paused. “And by ‘normally,’ I mean frequently. I mean for most of us. Weird shit seems to happen to Alex lately.”

“Hey, I had a good time,” Amber shrugged. “Your friends were all nice. They seem like cool people.” It was honest enough. She saw no reason for him to feel guilty or freaked out. Hell, she was of half a mind to just tell him she was an FBI agent and to ask him point blank about the vampire fangs. Nothing she’d discovered in the last few hours led her to believe there was anything suspicious about Jason or his friends.

“Cool,” Jason nodded. He thought about turning off the car and walking her to her door. Or not. He thought about asking her if he could call her later. Or not. Asking if she wanted to do anything Friday night, or Saturday, or just trying to kiss her right now… or not. How far was too far? How much was too much? If he didn’t do anything to say he was interested in more than just friendship, would he quickly lose any chance of something more?

“Thanks for bringing me along,” said Amber, breaking him from his momentary internal struggle. “I’m glad I came.”

“Cool,” he nodded again.

Amber paused. Regardless of her allayed suspicions, she still had an investigation to run, and had only one lead. No sense risking it floating away. “I’d like to hang out again sometime.”

Jason smiled. “Cool.”

“See you in class?”

“Yup,” he nodded as she stepped out of the car and headed to the front door. Jason waited, waved at her from the car once she had the door open, and pulled away as she closed it behind her.

Amber climbed the stairs to her apartment, opened it and set down her jacket and purse. There wasn’t much to the one-bedroom affair besides a smattering of cheap Ikea furniture. Not a poster or picture decorated the place.
It fit in with her “ex-boyfriend trashed all my stuff” story and the task force’s budget. Amber had hardly even seen any of it; Matt and Colleen had handled her move-in for her while she was at school.

She had just enough time to hit the restroom before there was a knock on her door. Amber found Hauser, Colleen and
Doug waiting for her. “Hey, I was just coming upstairs to report in.”

Hauser and the others walked inside, closing the door behind them. “What did you find out?” Hauser asked.

“They all seem nice,” she shrugged. “Just a night out. All pretty mellow.”

Hauser’s eyes turned to
Doug, who scowled, sniffed her, and then pulled a crystal out of his pocket. He held the crystal up to his eye, muttered something and stared at Amber through it.

Amber gestured to
Doug and asked Hauser, “Is he serious with this?”

“Something’s wrong,”
Doug grunted. He put the crystal back in his pocket, fished out a tiny leather bag from the same pocket and poured what looked like sea salt crystals from it into his hands.

“What are you doing?” asked Amber. “I mean I get that you’re the cult expert here—“

“Occult expert,” Hauser corrected. “Let him work.”

“Uh,” Amber mumbled. She didn’t resist as
Doug took her hand and placed a rounded bit of obsidian in it.

“Close your eyes,”
Doug advised.

“…okay?” She did as he asked. She heard and felt the puff of his breath, and the hundred tiny impacts of sea salt crystals on her face. Amber made a face, taking half a step back in reflex, wondering why
Doug didn’t just use a whole cream pie… and then blinked. She stared at Doug. The others waited. “Okay, wait,” she said, her eyes not tracking much of anything as her memories of the night became clearer. She remembered details, and suspicions, and emotions.

“Oh hell,” she murmured, “it’s all real.”

*   *   *

“It is of course wise to be on your guard, but I doubt you have much to fear as yet,” Lorelei emphasized. “It is Alex she wants, not you. At most, if she follows you, it will be as a means to find him.”

“Gotcha,” Wade said. His hand rested on the doorknob. “An’ she really won’t go nuts if somethin’ happens in public? You said she won’t go wolfie or nothin’, but can’t she just pull out a gun and start shootin’? Ah mean, it don’t take bein’ a monster t’ cause a lotta trouble.”

“This is true,” nodded Lorelei, “and there are never guarantees. I have seen their kind fight with weapons in the past, but such is rare. I believe the urge to hunt comes more from the animal within than the man, and thus they eschew using tools for such purposes. But they have human minds, and can think outside such boxes.” Lorelei gave a little shrug. “We shall have to be cautious.”

“We’ll go tell Jason right now,” Drew assured her. “Even if he’s already in bed. We’ll wake his ass up and give him the lowdown.”

“Thank you for everything,” Lorelei said. She hugged them both before they left her apartment, her eyes lingering on them as they walked to the elevator down the hall. Lorelei then returned to the living room, where Alex sat staring off into space on the couch.

“We’re normally in bed by this time,” he observed, “or at least naked somewhere.” His weariness colored his voice, but he simply wasn’t ready to sleep yet. Better to sit up awake than stare at a dark ceiling.

“Do I detect an apology?” she asked with a gentle smile as she curled up against him. “
Our habits are driven as much by need as affection, but I can survive without sex. It would appear such things aren’t on your mind right now, either.”

“I wish they were, actually. It means a lot to me. Sometimes I think more than it should.
Y’know, curses aside and such. I wasn’t exaggerating yesterday. I really feel like I live for it. Sometimes I wonder if it’s more than just a high sex drive, or your influence, or…” Alex shrugged. “I wonder if I’m not just trying to distract myself.”

“I would know it, if that were the case,” said Lorelei. “I’ve known many with such a motive.
The truth is that you and I both long to make up for lost time. Lost lifetimes, even,” she added. “Rachel, too.”

“Do you think this is just my karma?” Alex asked, clearly looking for the right word. “I don’t know how to say it. Maybe that’s just how my life is meant to be?”

“Speaking of Rachel,” Lorelei noted, rolling her eyes a little.

“Oh. Right. ‘Man
Was Not Meant to Know’ stuff, huh?”

“It is something she takes seriously.” Lorelei paused. “Alex, I have seen precious little to lead me to believe that anything is ‘meant to be’ in the lives of mortals. Heaven and Hell and forces outside of both might steer individual events or people. Yet I have seen almost three millennia pass, I have encountered many angels and been a closely prized servant of two of the mightiest lords in Hell... and I am no more aware of a single grand design than you or any mortal you know.” She noted the tilt of his head as she spoke. “What is it?”

“’Almost three millennia?’ And the other night you mentioned you became a succubus, which implies you were something before.”

“I was.”

“Can you tell me about it? I never asked because it seemed like something you’d rather leave behind, but you’ve dropped a couple of hints lately.”

“If I did so, it was
entirely by accident,” Lorelei smiled ruefully.

“We can leave it alone if you want. I’ve always been curious, but it just seemed… rude to ask.”

“It is not rude. You know what I am, and at least in the abstract you know the things that I have done. I feared for a time that such details would drive you from me, but I know better now. Still, the story would not lift your spirits. You are already haunted by your own tragedy. Leave it for another night,” she said, molding her body against his.

“Where were you from?”

“Babylon,” she answered, her voice dropping to nearly a whisper. “Babylon, and closer to what Herodotus described than I think even he knew.”

Alex shrugged. “We can leave it for another night.”

“We should. It is… painful. No. Ugly,” she corrected softly upon reflection. “The tale is quite ugly.”

* * *

“Smell that,” said Billy, holding his index and middle fingers out under Jimbo’s nose. Sparks from the fire pit floated up between them into the night sky.

The bearded man grimaced, tilting his head back while slapping Billy’s hand away. “The hell’s that for?” Jimbo scowled. “Tryin’ to impress me or somethin’? You think I ain’t smelled pussy before?”

“Yeah, but that’s gen-yew-wine Fresno hooker right there,” Billy pressed. He spit some of his chew out into the fire pit, offering up his fingers again as if the flannel-clad man beside him might change his mind. “Natural redhead, too. Fresh one. Didn’ taste a lick of meth or crack on ‘er.”

Seated in a camping chair by the fire, Red watched the two with a chuckle. “Always count on Billy to appreciate the finer things in life.”

“You want a piece of her, Red? Anyone?” Billy offered, looking up at his score of companions. “She’s still in the back of my truck. Most of ‘er, anyway. We can prob’ly still warm her up good enough. Hardly a day dead. Kinda like reheated chicken, I know, but it don’t look like anyone else brought goodies to this shindig tonight.”

“Disgusting,” grunted another of their number. Eyes turned in the darkness toward a tall,
broad-chested man in denim and worn leather sitting atop a cooler. “You wallow in your own shit like a pig.”

Billy seemed stopped in his stride by the comment, but only for a moment. He blinked, assessed, and then resumed his easy smile. “She ain’t shit, Jared! She’s leftovers! Clean for a hooker. Healthy, too. Gave ‘er a good run out in the desert before I dragged her back to my truck.”

“Do you think this impresses anyone?” Jared asked. “The difference between you and the rest of us is that we finish our business and our kills and then move on. You make a show of it. By now you should’ve realized no one cares. You’re still a mongrel to the rest of us.”

Again, Billy blinked. He squinted at Jared, looked at his other companions, then back once more. “What did you just call me?”

“A mongrel,” said a tall, slim blonde in leather riding chaps and black Harley tank top. She came to stand beside Jared. “It means you’re a piece of shit, and you were born that way. I guess that means maybe we shouldn’t hold it against you since it’s not your fault.”

“Hey, I’m not takin’ any shit from newbies! You better shut that mouth before I shut it for you, bitch,” Billy snapped. Jimbo and Red got a good chuckle out of it.

“The only bitch here is you,” said Jared, blending a firm tone with matter-of-fact simplicity.

At that, Billy began to bristle—literally. Black hairs all up and down his thick arms stood up on end. He stepped forward, his breath turning to a huffing snarl as his lips curled back. His nails began to stretch into long, dark claws.
With a single jerk at the button of his jeans, Billy began to step out of his pants as his legs lengthened and grew fur. He took less care of his t-shirt, which tore and split as his shoulders broadened.

Jimbo and Red stayed as they sat, but several of the others backed off with concern. Jared and Sally watched and waited calmly.

“Knock it off,” ordered another voice. Billy’s head snapped to his left, looking past the campfire to the imposing figure beyond. He stood a full head taller than Billy, with long, dirty blond hair falling out under a beat-up cowboy hat and a similarly scraggly beard. He wore little more than faded flannel and denim, seeming for all the world like a homeless drifter.

That was exactly what he was, except he was also much more. “I ain’t interested in watchin’ you fight or waitin’ for you to heal up
any more than I’m interested in hearin’ you whine. Sally, quit teasin’ Billy for bein’ a retard. Jared, you, too. Billy, you calm the hell down right now an’ go clean out that dead hooker mess in the back of your truck.”

At first, Billy looked as if he would ignore the older man’s advice. His stance remained tense, arms wide and legs at shoulder length as if to pounce. Yet his growth in height and mass slackened, then reversed, and his hair went back to looking normal rather than growing into a scraggly mess.
He stood wearing only the tattered remains of his shirt and his socks. “But Caleb—!”

“Billy, don’t make me repeat myself. Git!”

Like a hurt puppy, Billy’s head bowed low. He snatched up his discarded jeans before he walked back to the rest stop parking lot, where his truck and its gruesome contents awaited him.

“Caleb, why in the hell did you choose him?” Jared asked.

“Same reason I chose you for my child. Same reason you chose Sally. He was a killer and he fit the bill.”

Jared turned to Sally beside him. “I didn’t choose you because you’re a slob or a retard,” he said.

“I know, daddy,” Sally said in a tone that wasn’t remotely familial. She slipped her arms up over Jared’s shoulders, holding to him much as a daughter wouldn’t.

Caleb tilted his head as he conceded, “Didn’t exactly have the kind of fun with him you had with Sally, though. Went more like it went with you. ‘
cept Billy was a bit sloppier. But you make investments, you know? Gotta see ‘em through. He might be less sophisticated an’ charmin’ than the rest of you—“