Until now, I’d never had a problem with how Emily slept. I awoke to her perky breasts trying to smother my face as she was literally wrapped around me, legs and arms. I pushed and wiggled myself loose, then grabbed a towel and headed for the shower. Not a fan of spending the day smelling like horny human.
I stood there, letting the hot steamy water pound on my skin as I tried to wrap my head around what was happening. I’m being shot at, again… I’m breaking people out of jail… I’m about to start up some serious shit with the churches, again… well I hoped that it wouldn’t come to that.
I was concerned that Jeriel was still gone. We have a connection. She can tell if I’m hurt, and I can do the same. I know she is well, probably busy with her doctor stuff… but I did miss having her here. I have needs.. though she has never begrudged me scratching certain itches while she was away. I know she does the same… but it’s different when you have a lover that knows your body better than you do, that can meet your needs before you even need them.
After about an hour of bathing, washing my hair and taking care of some personal upkeep, I was now staring in the mirror as I had the hair dryer going. If I didn’t get it dry, I was going to play hell getting a brush through it.
I watched a still groggy Emily walk into the bathroom, as she handled some morning maintenance of her own. Sitting on the toilet, she looked over to me. “Did you sleep in here?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to hear Raze’s girl bitch,” I answered loud enough for her to hear over the dryer. I had inhuman hearing… she didn’t.
“Oh. Okay. So you were that big warm pillow I dreamed about…” she said as she wiped some sleep from her eyes.
“Yeah, if I wake up again with those breasts in my face like that, I’d might be tempted to take a bite…” I said with a laugh.
I got a reaction I didn’t expect. Her face flushed and she covered her chest… her breath quickened and her pupils dilated. Oh….shit. “Please… Not that Madrecita… They’re sensitive.. that would… oh no….”
I cut the dryer off, and put it in a drawer under the sink. “I was messing with you. I didn’t intend to get you hot and bothered. Remember, the apartment has on-demand hot water and a shower head that removes.. if you would have a need for that.” I winked at her as I walked back into the bedroom, closing the door behind me.
Walking to the bed, I noticed a full change of clothes, and could hear the washing machine running in the kitchen (I have a washer and dryer hidden in a closet) as I heard the door to the staircase close. Alec had been here. He does so much for me.
I walked into the living room as I was threading the JM4 into my belt loop. Raze was still asleep. At least he didn’t snore. Finding my gun and a new bottle of gun oil, I headed into the bar to start my day. Alec was sitting on a stool behind the bar, fiddling with his phone as I found the half-empty coffee pot on the bar in front of him, along with a cup and some sugar and Coffee Mate. Xochil loved sweets, so my coffee is a way of letting her indulge herself.
Armed with my breakfast, I grabbed a dry cloth and my cleaning kit from the counter--no doubt left there for me-- and headed to a table to start the ritual.
Like I told John, this is a weekly thing for me, whether I fire it or not. I’m always afraid that if I skip a week, it’ll jam and I’ll be left with a paperweight in a gun fight. My other guns I don’t clean as often.. usually every couple of months to keep the oil fresh, but the Sig gets the good treatment. I find it relaxing, and can do it blindfolded.
I watched Chaz walk through the door as I was putting the last screws into the Sig. He had his Charlie Brown coffee mug in his right hand as he made a beeline for the coffee, setting the Mateba on my table as he passed. After a while, he just stopped arguing with me.
“Long night?” I asked.
“Yeah…” he said, finishing off the coffee. “Was helping my boys work on the Mach 1. Ran into a punk trying for a quick payout. So… since I fired it…”
“See? that wasn’t so hard now, was it?” I asked, jokingly. Before, it had been like pulling teeth to get him to let me clean it. I guess you can teach an old demon new tricks.
The auto revolver I was not so intimate with, but I still could break it down and clean it. Alec was like many other fae and preferred his throwing daggers, and he was more meticulous with his daggers than I was with my Sig. He said if they weren’t kept up the way he did it… they would be slower. I never argued… Even I have difficulty against his daggers. And I know I’m good.
I was reloading Chaz’ gun as I heard a knock on the door. Chaz jumped up, took it from me and answered it.
“Um... hi.. um… Damn you’re huge. Hey… I’m here to speak with a Jackie Tannin about some PR stuff? I’m from the Citizen-Times,” I heard a female’s voice say. Chaz was just too big to let anyone see what was on the other side. He moved, to let the woman in.
She was about five foot six with blonde hair and blue eyes, but she looked average… too average. She had curves but not too much. Her chest and butt had definition but, again, not too much. Her head canted back and forth as she walked too. She was the spitting image of Elaine, but her hair was the tell. She was wearing a wig, and a cheap one at that. This person was putting on an act.
“Damn, another zmej…” Chaz growled as Alec perked up, putting his phone down. Chaz had picked up on it before I did? Wait… she smelled like a human. Not male or female, just human.
“Excuse me?” she said, coming to a complete stop, putting her hands on her hips and canting her head to the right.
Chaz closed the door and walked to the bar. “You can drop the act, dragon, there is no one human here.” Now that assumption I would not have made… but it made sense.
She stopped for a moment, looking around the room, sniffing. Alec replied this time, “Are you looking to get dusted, hatchling?”
“Now ye listen here ye hex-winged sprite!” the woman yelled, her neck and face flushing red. This got a laugh out of us three, as she fumed at all of us, the air coming out of her nostrils turning ice cold. I watched for a moment the ice crystals forming in the air.
“Maybe you should dust her, Alec,” Chaz said, now in his melodic normal voice. “It’d definitely put her in a better mood.”
“Yeah it has been awhile for me… How about you dust us all good, so we can get high as kites and really have fun?” I remarked, watching the anger fade to astonishment, to pure confusion. “Well don’t just stand there with your face hanging out, youngling. Pull up a sit down and tell Cihuacoatl about yourself,” I added, as she took a seat. Alec brought a glass of water and set it in front of her.
She was wearing a white button down blouse, with gray slacks and a matching gray blazer. She was in tennis shoes--no socks-- and had a modest purse with her, also gray to match the clothes. “Do you make it a habit of harassing people who come into your bar?” she asked, her arms crossed. She crossed her arms under her breasts, mounding them up and putting them on display. At the moment they didn’t attract my attention.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Only the non-human ones that can get through the door. I’m warded against angels, of course, What is your name of the land?” I asked, testing to see if she was as young as she appeared.
When she looked at me puzzled, Chaz explained, “She means your human name. Wow. You are as young as you seem.”
“I was ushered out of the city when Nero burned Rome. Only being out of my shell a few days. It was a month after that I was shown how to adopt a golem.”
“Are you one of Azhdaha’s brood?” I asked, digging a little.
She cringed a little, looking down. “She was my grandmother. You know she died trying to make up for what she did in the past. The damned angels threatened to shatter all of her eggs and slay her betrothed if she didn’t lock the crescent down!” Desperation rolled from her words as this one pleaded with me.
“I don’t know what happened there after Mother and I left. I knew my grandfather lived through it, and that Aerhas went north after the basin flooded and adopted a different name, after being welcomed by who would evolve into the Persians. I also know that she was one of two of the old Wyrms still laying eggs… my mother being the other. But yeah… I do have you by about 3 millennia.”
She nods. “I see. Oh, my name's Cassandra Jameson, but you can call me Cassie. Now for the reason why I’m here.”
“Of course. A guest list for this upcoming event. I want to have a reporter there, and also a news crew to show up. Will that be an issue?”
“Not as long as I am said reporter,” she replied with a wink. She looked around, counting. “Now we have 14 tables… so that gives me a rough idea how many we can get.”
“Count on 13,” Alec said, speaking up. “You don’t know if we will have a smartass show up with his whole family expecting free food. We’ll be set up to handle at least 30 with food and supplies on hand.
“Good point,” Cassie replied. “Now the two uniformed officers that will be here won’t be taking a seat, will they?”
“No, they’ll mingle, and be good little cops at the bar, which will be open by the way.” I answered that one.
She nodded again, pulling two pieces of paper out of her purse and two pens. Both hands went to work taking notes. She sat writing for about 2 minutes straight before she looked up. “Chief and his wife in attendance?”
It was my turn to nod as she scribbled some more, then folded up the paper and tucked it, with the pens, back in her purse. “So when do you want to do this?”
Alec answered, “Let’s plan for next Friday. We still have some training to do and we hafta get some inspectors out.”
“That works. I’ll get Roland Ashleigh to come in as your food critic. He’s not overly harsh and gets along well with others.” she thought a moment, then stood. “I can handle the invites for you, I know this guy who does a stellar job with this stuff.”
Alec leaned on the counter. “Who?”
“This non-human named Trevor… amazing craftsmanship…”
“Really? Is this guy, about my height, always in a tux, has a buzzed head that is sherbert orange?” Alec asked, intently.
“That’s him!” she exclaimed.
“Trevor is my cousin, well cousin by marriage.” He looked to me. “Trevor’s Sinnan’s husband.”
“Wait… do you go by Alexandros?” she asked.
“Alec actually but that is my given name, yes.”
She chuckles. “Haha! I was told that if I ever came across a non-human with lime-green hair that answers to Alexandros.. to tell him that Trevor said that ‘you still owe him five bucks.’.. there I told you.
“Oh great.. he’s playing this?” he mused. “Tell him, when you see him, that I said, ‘I won’t give the five bucks back until he admits that my ass still looks better.’ Hehe.”
She laughed loudly, snorting at the end. “Okay… I don’t get it but okay..’
“It was a lot funnier back in the 80s where homophobia was running rampant amongst the humans.”
“Ahh,” she said. “I see now. Anyways, I need to get going. I’ll be back a day or two before the event so we can iron out seating arrangements and the like.”
“Sounds good,” I said as she almost ran to the door. As she left, an older gentleman walked in. He noticed the sign, and took his blazer off, revealing an under arm holster with what appeared to be a Heckler and Koch I knew it was there, and he wasn’t brandishing it. He sat across from me, laying the jacket on his lap, then putting a briefcase on the table.
He glanced over to Alec, and with a New York accent, said “Johnnie Walker Blue-Label, Neat., make it a double.” Alec looked at me, puzzled just for a moment, then poured the man’s drink. He brought it to the table, sitting it on a cork-wood coaster. The man took a sip and sighed happily. “Now that’s what I’m talkin ‘bout. A scotch served the way God intended.” He points to Alec with his thumb. “Keep this guy around, will ya? A good bartender is priceless in a dive like this, trust me I know.” He takes another sip, as pleasure trickles into his expression. “So I hear my boys have given you a little headache. After hearing what happened, you don’t expect me to surrender the piece, do ya?”
I look directly at the man. “Mr. Serra I presume. What do we owe this visit to?” His hair was black, streaked with gray. He wasn’t that tall, but he was large, almost imposing. His suit smelled like wool, and fit like a glove. He had an olive complexion, with hands that nearly swallowed the snifter he drank from.
“Directly to the point, I like that.” He slid the briefcase towards me. “This should be enough to cover the repairs to your Mustang. Does 40 grand sound about right? It should cover what my boys did to your machine. You don’t go and fuck up a fifty year old piece of American automobile history, am I right?.”
“Damn straight,” Chaz growl, walking to the table. He was met with glowing white eyes from Mr. Serra.
“Oh wow… They were definitely out of their league there. You’re Testament-class, right? My boys are lucky to be breathing,” he replied, wiping his brow for emphasis.
“I was driving,” Chaz chuckled as he grabbed the briefcase and walked back to the bar.
“There, that debt is paid. I’ve told my boys time and time again, If you are going to take a job, get it from Rome, not from some church you know. It’s a good way to get killed.’ He drained his glass, and motioned to Alec for a refill. Alec nodded with a smile, walking over and pouring him another.
“Let me tell ya’s a story… It was 1983, and I was just getting to the Big Apple, and was trying to make a name for myself. I had gotten a few businesses, nothing mama would condone, but it was money.. and it was mine. This other… let’s call them ‘organization’… came in with their blue bandannas and their cheap weapons, trying to take away my lively-hood. Then I hear they get called to Asheville of all places to reinforce their people here. It was funny. They just never came home. I later heard through some sources of mine that this foxy little native American and a no-name latino gang wiped the floor with them like they were nothing. So I send a couple of guys here… to test the market a bit. They show back up here less than a week later saying that Asheville is off limits. That any group that heads down there doesn’t come home.”
He sipped his drink again. “So.. with my opposition gone, I started doing well enough to convert some of the operations to things more…reputable. I thought it prudent to take this opportunity to thank you in person.”
I look at him for a moment… trying to see an angle. “If I inadvertently took out your rivals in the past.. then I’ll just say I was happy to help. What I did was to clean up my city, not because I expected anything in return. Though, paying recompense for the car was honorable and appreciated.”
Mr. Serra nodded at that. “Regardless of your intent, I am successful because of you. I would like to return the favor, if I could. Like I tell my boys, you always settle your debts, ya know?” He took the snifter in both hands and looked me in the eyes. ”So I hear that someone tried to ruin your day… about a month back.”
Well, if he was offering to help… What could it hurt, right? “Two steel 9mm rounds, grooved, with salt.”
“The grooves, were they circular, or did they run down the sides?” he asked, scratching his nose.
“The latter.” I replied quickly.
He thought again for a moment… a gold ring tapping against the glass he still clutched absently. “Sounds like a fae hit...spelled. So you know, Vatican blessed rounds have circular grooves in them… and metal compresses upon impact most of the time to get rid of the evidence of the blessing. Iron harms the fae… and priest-level blessings most fae can shrug off, am I right?” as he looked directly at Alec. Before anything else could be said, he remarked, “Do ya think that I would come into here without knowing what I was dealing with?”
He chuckled, as he shook his head, looking back at me. “I might know who did this. I can handle ‘em for ya real cheap…”
I shook my head. “No thanks… But… If info on this ass were to fall into my possession… It would make me happy. Ya’ know… sleep a little better.” My dragon was agitated, and I couldn’t stop the manifestation. I felt my eyes turn reptilian as wisps of smoke exited my nose. I looked at him and said, point-blank, “They got a jump on me before. Now it’s my turn.”
He nodded cautiously as he finally realized what I was. He stood, carrying his jacket over his arm. He tossed Alec a $50 bill on his way to the door. Before he opened it, he said, “Thanks for not givin’ my boys what they deserved. They’re the only family I have now.” The door opened, and he left.