2016, New Orleans
Lucius Akylas raked a hand through his sandy, brown hair and swallowed the last of his vodka. As the bartender refilled his glass for the fifth time, Lucius checked the clock on his phone, the screen's glow nearly blinding.
Two forty-three.
He mentally cursed as he realized his contact was over an hour late. Why the hell did he get stuck with this assignment? Any of the other Warriors would be better suited to meeting a member of their race; at least they could talk to the person.
He sighed heavily, his eyes roaming the dim, smoky bar room. The cloying scent of hops, cheap cigars, and body sweat invaded his nostrils. A blaze of light flashed along the wall. He jerked his head toward the door, but it was just another set of leather-clad bikers looking to knock the dust off their tongues with cheap whiskey. Why any self respecting man would want to meet in a bar was beyond him.
Lucius went back to his glass of Goose, and pondered his comrades. He knew why the Regina had chosen him--the Eagle--for this task, but he didn't have to like it. Out of all the Warriors, he was the least offensive to outsiders. Not that he was proud of that fact. He'd love to be able to insult...well, anyone! Seriously, sometimes Erza and the others took his condition for granted. She'd never force one of the others to do this job, and for good reason.
Roderick Cano, for instance, was an emotionless robot with no sense of tact or subtlety. He was a master in tactics, certainly, but he lacked any kind of social graces. Well, he had social graces; he just didn't bother to use them--ever. He'd probably ask their contact straight out if he was human or not, then shoot him if the man dared to say 'no.' Wolves didn't have much of a sense of humor, and Roderick had even less of one.
Lucius shook his head, and threw back a large swallow of liquor. A loud bang reverberated through the room, shaking the glasses behind the bartender with a twinkling sound. Another glance at the door showed a blonde waitress, obviously late for work, scrambling toward the pass-through. He returned to contemplating his half-empty glass.
Faolan Hesketh, Michael's heir, was an abrasive man with a huge attitude problem. He was too young and green to properly greet those new to their own race. If the stranger looked at him funny, the boy would most likely kill him. The Colt was a ticking time bomb. Stallions were like that in the wild, though. High-strung, always picking fights, flighty. No, the young Horse wasn't ready for a mission of this caliber. Lucius rubbed at his goatee in frustration. Bloody Horse is still such a teenager at times.
Vladimir Vulpiano wasn't actually a member of the Warrior class, even if he could kick all their asses bare handed. He was their mistress's butler and loyal (self-appointed) bodyguard. He hadn't left her side since the day they'd killed their fathers. Vicious old man, that one, but since he wasn't of Warrior status, he wasn't allowed to handle any of the public aspects of the political crap. Instead, as head of the Vulpiano House, he maintained an extensive network of spies all over the world. Discovering secrets and using his incredible, cunning intelligence was the Fox's greatest asset.
The tinkling of shattering glass pulled him out of his reverie. The tardy waitress dropped to her knees to scrape as many wet beer mug shards into a pile as she could. Stuttering out a flustered apology to the inebriated men in the booth, she shoved the entire mess into her apron, and hurried back behind the bar to get them a fresh round of beer.
Lucius rolled his eyes as the men leered at her retreating form. Stupid jerks. It would do them good if she had a boxer boyfriend walk in and see how she was being treated. In the mood he was in, Lucius might just help out during the hypothetical brawl.
Alas, Erza would be enraged if he missed his contact due to his own need to physically vent the frustrations he couldn't articulate. His gaze searched the bar once more. Seeing no sign of the man he was to meet, he decided to wait another thirty minutes, and thought once more of those who fought beside him.
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Erza Leonidas couldn't do the stupid meet-and-greets herself, obviously, being their queen and all. Besides, none of the men would allow their Lioness to meet someone alone. When it came to her, they all took over-protective to killer proportions.
...and that was the sum of their fighting force; the Eagle, the Wolf, the Horse, (Faolan really does get a lot of crap about that. Maybe the guys and I should tone it down... Nah, the kid is an asshole of epic proportions), and the Lion with a Fox for a butler. Yep. Not a single one of them was as good, or as qualified, for this job as he was. Nasty blokes, the lot of them.
He heard the door open again, and twisted to see who had entered the bar. A fifty-ish grey-blonde woman staggered down the steps and to the bar. Not his contact; he didn't care. As he turned back to his drink, a sparkle of light caught his eye from the drunkards' booth. It drew his gaze unerringly to the silver amulet around a portly man's neck.
"Yo, Billy, where'd you find that?" The man's friend warbled, pointing to the disk resting against Billy's chest. Lucius waited for the answer, trying to place where he'd seen the antique piece of jewelry before.
"F-found it in sssome cave in Sssiberia," Billy slurred, slumping in his seat as the tardy waitress removed the bevy of empty beer bottles from the table.
Curious, Lucius strolled over to the men and bent to get a closer look at the man's pendant.
A dark stone disk set with silver animal etchings...
As recognition struck, his eyes widened, and his heart lurched in his chest. There was no way a human should have that!
"Speak then to me, who neither beg nor fear; Your favours nor your hate," he said, wincing as he quoted a line from Shakespeare's Macbeth. It really did suck not being able to talk like a normal person. His Curse was damned annoying.
He gripped the intoxicated man under the arm, and hauled the chubby fellow to his feet. Billy's companion fell over on his bench, too soused to care what was happening. Snorting with derision, Lucius ignored the foolish human. The guy was probably passed out already, anyway, so no point in worrying about him. With a bashful grin and a conspiratorial eye roll, he silently convinced the waitress that he was Billy's friend and was taking him home.
His meeting with the new Qikan member would have to wait. The fate of their entire race was potentially dependent on a drunken human's pretty jewelry.
*****
The door's screech grated on Lucius' ears, making him flinch as he shoved Billy into the warm study. More than three hundred years since the slaughter of her family, and Erza still demanded squeaky hinges and uncarpeted rooms in her home. A person tended to cling to the things that saved their life.
"Thatsh righ' creepy, that ish," Billy said, weaving as Lucius towed him to the center of the cinnamon-spice scented room.
The room was large, but the slate floor blended so well with the black paneling of the walls, it resembled a tiny lead box. A thick, black velvet curtain covered the solitary window. The only illumination came from the crackling fireplace and a solitary candle. His mistress preferred darkness.
The only pieces of furniture the room boasted stood before the fireplace. The ancient, hulking mahogany desk personified beauty with simple, straight cut lines, and bold supports. It matched the menacing aura of the woman seated behind it perfectly.
"I'm guessing the stranger tottering around my office is not the man I sent you to see. Why have you brought a human into my home, Lucius?" Erza demanded icily; her emerald right eye glaring at him.
Her blue, cloudy left eye wandered the room randomly, never focusing on anything in particular. Not many men, the Warriors included, could meet her mismatched gaze for very long. In fact, Vladimir and Roderick were the only ones he'd ever known who could hold an hours-long conversation with her and not look away from her face.
Lucius bowed a silent apology for disturbing her and disobeying her orders. He knew she'd understand the movement. Centuries together had made them learn how to communicate without him speaking. Withdrawing the amulet he'd filched from Billy out of his pocket, he gently placed it on the desk before her. For once, both eyes worked in tandem as Erza fixated on the intricate symbols. Her long, delicate fingers lightly traced the silver etching of a roaring lion's head.
Suddenly, her straight, raven hair spun around her body as she whirled to stab a button on the intercom resting on the corner of the desk.
"Roderick, get up here. NOW!" She barked into the mic and turned off the system, not waiting for the Wolf's reply.
"You were right to bring him here, Lucius. This takes precedence over seeking more of our kind. We need to find out everything this human knows," she said, her voice low and edged with trepidation.
Lucius tucked himself into a corner to await his superior. As he waited, he wondered, what could frighten a woman who'd already lost everything?