Caged View (7 page)

I forced myself to release her. It took all
the strength I had. “I want you.”

She stumbled back, catching her breath.
“Zulu…I’m not interested.”

“Did I just imagine you kissing me
back?”

Her eyes glowed a fiery orange as she bit
her bottom lip. “Just don’t do that again.”

She raked her fingers through her curls with
shaking hands.

My eyes traveled down her body, drinking her
in. “Why not?”

“I just ended a really long relationship,”
she said. “I need to be on my own for a while.”

“So we’ll only be friends?”

She nodded.

“Can I take you to Choblie tomorrow night?”
I asked. “It’s where I take all of my friends.”

You should be eating high-end food while a
piano plays in the background.

“You’re lying. There is no way you and Nona
sit in Choblie, sipping wine and eating foie gras.” She smiled.
“Nona would bite the waiter.”

I couldn’t think of anything else to say, so
I said nothing.

Silence sat between us for a few seconds.
The moonlight bathed her cinnamon skin and made the amethyst
earrings sparkle.

The Oya District Tram pulled up.

“Let me take you home, please,” I said,
hoping I didn’t sound as desperate as I felt.

“My ride is here.” She bent down to the
Tram’s screen on the left side of the door. A red laser shot out
and scanned her X brand.

The doors opened.

“Besides, it would be uncomfortable riding
on your motorcycle in a dress.” She stepped on. “Bye, Zulu. Do me a
favor and try not to kill anybody tonight.”

I blocked the Tram doors with my arm before
they could close. “Then meet me at MFE tomorrow, so you can help me
with these dealers.”

I moved my hand away. The doors closed
behind her before she could reply, but I knew she would come. She
wanted to fix the problems in Santeria as much as I did.

We just disagreed on the methods.

* * *

The scorching hot sun beat down on my
skin.

Lanore held my waist as we rode on my
motorcycle, tailing the drug supplier through Shango District. Nona
and Ray hung back in the van.

Orange-bricked buildings rushed past us.
Flaming pots topped every light pole for the upcoming Fire
festival. The district flooded with the aroma of cooked honey cakes
and roasted ram meat.

I wished Lanore and I were on a date instead
of a mission.

Every few seconds, her fingers would touch
one of the gems embedded in my back. Like my cords, the diamonds,
rubies, sapphires, and amethyst in my skin contained a lot of
magic. They formed a massive wing pattern that spread across my
back and soared to my shoulders.

Supes thought the cords and gemmed wings
were all skin decorations, something to show off. It was why I’d
bought an old tattoo and piercing shop, rebuilt it with fairy
magic, and named it the Inked Guerilla. I hired a Were-hyena named
Quinn to be the manager and head body artist so I didn’t have to
mess with it.

Apparently the shop got lots of business,
not that I cared. I had enough money to be comfortable until an old
age.

No. Inked Guerilla’s main purpose was to
serve as headquarters to MFE and give Rebel Shifters a place to
enjoy, where they wouldn’t be judged for their furry skin and crazy
rebellious styles.

“I should get something cool like this
done.” She brushed her hands against the tip of my gemmed wings. A
lusty tingling hit where she was touching.

I bit down on my tongue so I wouldn’t moan,
tasting blood.

The rusty yellow truck moseyed down the
road, spitting out black smoke every couple of blocks. We’d been
following the truck all day as it dropped off drugs to dealers
throughout Oya and Shango District. The truck’s bed was now empty.
Hopefully, these guys would lead us to the head honcho.

“What type of pattern do you want in your
skin?” I asked as we turned the corner.

“A small lily under my navel.”

I gripped the handles hard. “I’d do that for
you, free of charge.”

First, I’ll have to learn how to do it, but
it’ll be worth it.

“I was going to have Quinn do it,” she
said

“Well, if Quinn is busy.”
And she will
be.
“I would love to do it for you.”

And so much more.

Lanore cleared her throat. “I’ll have to
think about that.”

“Are you nervous to have my fingers down
there?” I licked my lips, glad she couldn’t see me.

She didn’t say anything.

I laughed. “Well, you should be.”

She pinched my side. “Just focus on the
truck.”

It turned on Ram Road, stopped at a dead
end, and parked.

I pulled up behind several parked cars in
front of a red and gold house. It gave us a good view without
giving away our position.

They sat in the car for about ten
minutes.

I glanced behind Lanore. “What do you think
they’re waiting on?”

“Maybe they’re—”

The two Mixbreeds got out of the car. They
wore black jeans and dark shirts. Both had brown hair that peeked
out of their black hats. The driver glanced around a few times,
pulled out a gray phone, and said something into it. The other
Mixie arrived, carrying two big flashlights.

The guy with the phone lifted the sewer cap,
looked around some more, and then disappeared into the hole. The
second walked up to it.

Lanore jumped off the motorcycle.

I grabbed her arm. “No. I said I would
investigate and you would—”

“What? Make pancakes and clean the house?”
She twisted out of my grip. “Come on, before the cap closes.”

“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath and
signaled for Ray and Nona to come out of the van.

It was daylight. A sewer would be the
perfect place for homeless Vampires and Goblins to sleep the sun
away.

Lanore began doing some sort of
half-back-bended-jog toward the guys as she hid behind parked cars.
I dashed toward her in seconds, unhappy. Now I would be worried
about her and myself as I checked out the sewer. Not to mention the
fact that we didn’t know where the fuck we were going or what was
down there.

The last guy jumped in.

I dove toward it, putting my foot between
the cap and pavement to prevent it from closing. Lanore and Nona
ran up behind me.

“Hey man,” the Mixbreed said, hanging on a
ladder. “This is a personal hole.”

“Nona,” I called.

Nona grabbed him by the shoulders in one
swoop, lifted him out of the hole, and slung him across the street.
His body crashed into a parked car, setting off the alarm. Broken
glass shot into the air as a boom thundered. A transparent blue
bubble formed around the entire car, swirling with mystic
liquid.

I almost laughed at the car’s old security
magic system. Almost no one used it anymore.

Nona leaped into the air. Her green body
suit ripped apart as fur and muscle pushed through. Her jaw
stretched and elongated into a snout. Claws tore out of her
fingers.

Her clawed paws burst the security-spelled
bubble. She landed on the car and the guy in Were-dog form,
resembling a massive pitbull. The car crashed into itself under her
weight. The tires shot out and flattened.

“No. Wait a minute. Who?” the Mixie babbled
as Nona hovered over him.

I glanced back at the sewer hole. Lanore was
gone. My hands still held the rim.

“Damn it,” I peered down into the
tunnel.

A fire blazed up for a few seconds, and then
there was nothing but steam.

I yelled, “Lanore!”

I got into the sewer, hooking my hands on
the ladder rungs. The blistering metal seared my fingers, but I
continued down the ladder into the hot air and steam.

I’m going to kill her for going in here
without me.

It took no time to get to the bottom.

My boots sunk into a muddy floor. Murky
sewage flowed in a stream on my right, radiating a putrid blend of
garbage and bodily waste.

The sewer would have been pitch dark if not
for the burning husk of a man that sat at my boots’ tips.

Was this the Mixbreed that went into the
tunnel?

I studied the man’s damaged face. Blood
bubbled around an X brand. Some of his unmelted clothes looked
black, but then, the fire could have done that. Flames spread over
him and trailed into a tunnel.

“Lanore!” I roared and raced down the
burning tunnel, stepping on cracked flashlight pieces.

She bumped into me, coming out of the
shadows, and I immediately seized her.

“Stop yelling,” she whispered and pulled me
into a dark, tight corner.

“Stop yelling? You just jumped down here
without—”

She shushed me and turned around, pressing
her behind into me as she peeked around the corner.

A lusty heat burst at my loins as if I was a
horny teenage Shifter going through my Season.

I put my hands to her waist, rubbing the
lush skin under her shirt and enjoying the pressure of her curves.
“Damn you. I can’t even concentrate.”

She stood up and smacked my hands away. “You
better concentrate. There are several Vamps down the tunnel. Some
of them look homeless, but the others are wearing suits and
guarding the front of a door.”

“It’s daytime. They’ll be slow and weak.” I
released her waist and peeked around, spotting the Vampires she was
talking about.

“How do you want to do this?” I asked.
“Since you’re clearly going to do whatever you want?”

She turned to me. Her lips formed into a
smile. “I could probably take care of the Vamps, and you go into
the room.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“What?” she asked.

“Did you do that to the Mixbreed by the
sewer opening? Set him on fire.”

“Yes.”

I nodded. “I’m impressed, but I don’t want
you fighting Vampires, even slow ones.”

We heard movement behind us. Nona trotted up
in animal form.

“Ray got the Mixie on the car?” I asked.

The dog moved her snout up and down.

“Get those Vampires over there.”

Nona charged forward and leaped for the
first Vampire. He’d only moved one inch by the time her fangs
pierced his tough flesh. Blood sprayed all over Lanore and me.

Lanore wiped her face.

I pushed claws out of my fingers and darted
for the other Vampire as he slowly moved like an enchanted
statue.

He went up in flames before I could touch
him.

Did Lanore do that?

My heart stopped beating. I halted in
mid-movement, searching the tunnel for others.

Lanore strolled up behind me, grinning.

So she definitely has some sort of fire
power.

I wondered how it worked, but I wouldn’t
ask. Most Mixbreeds’ survival depended on keeping their powers
secret and using them during attacks.

Rat corpses surrounded four homeless
Vampires lounging in the tunnel. A few lay on cardboard beds piled
with tattered clothes. They looked up at us, and then averted their
eyes.

“We aren’t here to bother you,” Lanore
assured them.

It was difficult for Vampires to talk or
move during the day, which is probably why they remained stiff and
just followed us with their eyes.

I opened the double doors, surprised there
wasn’t a lock or more secure system than day-comatose Vampires.
Maybe the fact that the supply was in a sewer gave the owners a
false sense of security.

I snatched the door open. The odor of
brimstone hit me first.

Lanore wheezed, immediately covered her
face, and appeared as if she was going to gag. She coughed several
times and backed up. I rushed over to her, but she waved me
away.

“Are you allergic to brimstone?” I
asked.

“Mind your business.” She lifted the top of
her shirt over her nose and continued into the room.

Interesting.

There were only a few species that had
allergic reactions to brimstone. I’d have to look them up to figure
out what Lanore was mixed with.

I stepped into the area.

It resembled an old utility room. Dust and
spider webs hung on the metal walls. Dingy ceiling lights dangled
above four glass tables that sat in the middle of the room. Each
table had five goblins focused on their tasks. None of them looked
up at us, probably used to only authorized personnel coming in.
Their green, scaled fingers separated crimson powder.

It was Vampire blood. It formed into powder
once removed from the Vampire’s body and was one of the main
ingredients in the drug Hemo Drop.

The Goblins at the end of each table poured
all three powders into pots that held a brown liquid.

Lanore dropped her shirt and whispered to
me, “We should probably tell them they’re out of work.”

“I have other plans,” I groaned.

She glared. “We are not killing them.
They’re just Goblins trying to make some extra cash.”

A cracking sound came from my left. Nona
shifted back into human form. “Me think your breeder is right. Them
no mean any wrong.”

“Who is the breeder?” Lanore coughed some
more and rubbed her eyes.

I ignored Lanore’s question and said, “I
think we should make an example of them.”

“You kill anyone in this room, and you’ll
get the same fate that Mixie got at the end of the ladder.” Lanore
rubbed her eyes again.

I smirked at her and her little threat.

We’re perfect for each other.

“Nona, can you handle getting the Goblins
out?” Lanore sucked her teeth at me.

“Yeah, mon.” Nona stomped over to the
Goblins, tapping on their shoulders.

Piles of glittery blue and yellow powder lay
in the center of each table.

“Where is the brimstone coming from,” I
asked.

“It’s the brown liquid in the pots.” Lanore
pointed to them. “They’re using brimstone to bind the Vamp blood to
the Pixie poop.”

“Pixie Poop?”

“Yep, that’s the secret ingredient.
Freeze-dried Pixie poop. A bunch of college students from the
Christianity habitat invented it.”