City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood (26 page)

“You’re choking him, Orin!”

Yeah, he was and he didn’t give a fuck. But what Orin did care about was losing control. And if he didn’t stop now he was going to kill the Jersey City Prince, or fuck him, and neither outcome was acceptable. It took everything, but Orin got his mouth to pop loose and his hand to open up. He tumbled backwards.

Five minutes or maybe five years later, the worst of his
need
banked. Orin reined in those internal chains he used to restrain his instincts. It took longer than usual, but then he was nowhere near sated. As the tension in his muscles eased, the ache between his legs subsided. When his breathing was normal he decided it was safe enough look up.

Deshi sat on his knees leaning against Haley’s leg. He looked miserable.

No, unfinished was a better word. Because that’s exactly how Orin had left him.

Suck it up. It’ll build character
. And as far as Orin was concerned, Deshi needed character.

“Orin, it’s just us.” Haley sounded so sad when she said it.

It wasn’t like he expected her to understand. Even if she was capable of it,
impressed
by a woman, raised in Human society, she couldn’t even begin to understand what it was like to be helpless to her instincts.

Orin got his legs under him, but when he tried to stand he faltered. Angry, he tried again.

And again.

He did a quick look-see to make sure Haley wasn’t heading over to help. Nope, it was worse. She stared at him with pity in her eyes.

Orin growled. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Why won’t you let us help you?”

“You did.”

“You know what I mean.” She took a step forward as if to prove a point.

Orin jerked back and hit the wall. At least it kept him from ass planting it on the floor. “I told you to stay back.” He put his hands on his knees and breathed, feeling more and more himself with every draw into his lungs. “I’ll be okay in a minute. Then…”
I can trust myself.
“You can touch me.” Orin winced as parts of him argued, why wait?

A knock on the door was followed up by a muffled voice asking if everything was okay.

“That’ll be your lawyer, Christopher Maze,” Deshi said as Haley helped him up. He buttoned his shirt, straightened his pants, then went to the door. “We’re good.” Deshi nodded and a white plastic bag was passed through the opening. He said, “Thanks,” as he took it, then, “Give us five minutes.” The door shut but the lock didn’t engage.

When Orin looked up again Deshi was in front of him, white bag dangling from his hand.

“Here, put these on. They’re dry and what you’re wearing isn’t. Your lawyer just got you out.”

Orin looked at Haley, then Deshi. “You’re joking. They tried to kill me…and now they’re going to let me walk out? That’s got to be some lawyer.”

Haley sighed and said, “You have no idea.”

Deshi nodded at the door. “Mr. Maze has agreed to let you be questioned, but not tonight. Seems he knows just a little more than the average person when it comes to Kin biology. He’s convinced the police in the interest of their wellbeing, ours, and this town, that you need to rest, eat, and…” Deshi didn’t finish his sentence, and the fill-in-the-blank dragged on way too long.

Orin cleared his throat and took the bag. On top of the folded sweatpants, white shirt, and box of baby wipes was a black wrist band with a small box. He pulled it out. “What’s this?”

“Your leash.” His eyes flicked up at the Prince, not liking the tone. “It’s a tracking bracelet, Orin.”

Orin stripped off his shirt. He used the baby wipes on his face and hands, getting off the worst of the blood. It didn’t do much good. Every inch of him was covered in it. He removed his house keys and his wallet from his coat and handed it all to Deshi. He pulled the sweatpants out of the bag, turned away and peeled off his tattered slacks. The sweat pants were too big, but Deshi was right, they weren’t cold and wet. When he turned around Haley was holding the shirt out to him.

Orin said, “Lawyer or not, I don’t see how Mr. Maze got them to let me out.” Hell, he didn’t understand why they hadn’t already shot and killed him.

Deshi said, “They’re trying to do damage control.”

“Yeah, and what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Orin shoved his head and arms through the cheap t-shirt. It smelled like cigarette smoke and Human sweat. When Deshi didn’t answer him he looked up. “What?”

The Prince shook his head. “Just put the bracelet on.”

“Don’t order me around.”

Haley stepped between them. “Orin…please.” She almost touched him but pulled her hand back. Orin squeezed out a curse, caught her hand and put it on his chest. The risk of stirring the RHage up was well worth the smile on Haley’s face.

Orin put the bracelet on. To Deshi he said, “Explain, damage control.”

Yeah, and making it sound like an order was totally on purpose.

Only, instead of an answer, the Jersey City Prince looked at the door and said, “Let’s go.”

When Orin walked over the threshold two of the officers went ashen and crossed themselves. They’d help beat him and now he was back from the dead. Their efforts to exorcise the demon had failed.

Orin made sure to look at every single one of them right in the eye. Only one cop made an attempt to meet his glare, Brian Gilsp. The others dropped their gaze and made themselves real familiar with the tile floor.

Cowards.

An average looking man in a nice suit moved in close. He held out his arm, not touching but using the line of his body to herd Orin forward.

“This way.” The cops parted and let them by. Orin walked even though his knee was killing him and he could feel bones shift in his left foot. He still had some healing to do. Okay, a lot of healing to do. There would be time for that later. Now all he wanted was out of here and as far away as he could get without Shifting to full form and taking flight.

At the end of the hall, Maze paused and said, “Local news people have picked up the story and they’ve joined the mob outside. My people are among them, they will clear us a path. Say nothing. I don’t care how innocent a question you think it is, keep your mouth shut.” Maze opened the door and they were instantly surrounded. Flash bulbs exploded in the dark and lenses were thrust into Orin’s face. Maze held out his hand and every direction he moved in, there seemed to be someone who stepped back, taking people with them.

In a firm voice he announced, “No comment” at least a hundred times before he got them to the Navigator.

Angry screams from the perimeter announced a swarm of Earth for Humans members. Their gruesome signs flashed pictures of Mary Gilsp’s mutilated body. Orin forced himself to look away. Those beautiful eyes were already going to rule his nightmares.

Deshi got the door. Orin climbed in, then Haley. He didn’t even get a chance to protest before she was beside him. Maze took the seat in front. The downpour of questions and churning Human bodies rushed the vehicle. Deshi slammed the door, cutting them off. The Navigator dove into the street.

Orin took a breath, rubbed his thighs and then his arms.

“Here.” Maze handed him a silver cup with a pop top.

“What is it?”

Maze answered with a smile. Orin thumbed the top and took a whiff. Cream mixed with meat.

“Drink it,” Haley said.

Might as well. Orin tipped back the cup, and as soon as the stuff hit his palate he couldn’t stop until the last bit slid down his throat.

“Do you need more?” Maze asked.

“No.”
Yes
. He handed the cup back. Maze didn’t look convinced, but he took it and made it disappear. “Not to sound like I’m ungrateful. But do you mind telling me how you pulled this off?” ‘Cause cops didn’t just let Kin accused of murder walk out with little tracking bracelets. No, that kind of special treatment was reserved for movie stars and high profile sports players.

Maze nodded. “Last year the city faced a nasty lawsuit when the police department here shot and killed one of the Queen’s Marked. It cost the city a lot more than it had available. The only reason they didn’t go bankrupt was a generous donation from the EFM group. They can’t afford another incident. I know that and so does City Council.”

So they’d let him live because he was a valuable piece of property. Orin didn’t know if that made him feel better or worse.

Maze said, “I convinced them letting you go somewhere safe, where you can heal, can only put their position in a positive light. I promised the department we would be in tomorrow for an official interview.” He dipped his head at Haley. “I also email blasted a ten second clip of your video to every high end official this city has. They’ve called for the officers involved in the beating to be present.”

Which meant the entire department was going to be there.

Orin shook his head. “That’s not necessary, Mr. Maze.”

The man smiled at him. “Orin, I’m very good at what I do. I might even be the best at it. Trust me, it’s necessary.”

Orin opened his mouth to snap off a comment, but Haley touched his hand and he instantly forgot what he was about to say. Her head was on Deshi’s shoulder, but her fingers were entwined with his and her thumb was doing this little thing on the palm of his hand. He didn’t pull away, but he shifted in the seat and stuck his gaze out the window.

Maze said, “I’m going to put a detail on the hotel you’re staying at. If there’s a problem we might need to have you moved.”

“There won’t be a problem,” Deshi said. Maze gave a look which suggested he wasn’t quite so sure.

“Orin?”

He looked at Maze. “Yeah?”

“I need you tell me what happened with Mary Gilsp. Did you kill her?”

Orin growled. “No.”

Maze nodded. “Good. Now, were you and Mary lovers?”

Orin shifted in his seat. “Do we have to do this now?”

“Yes.”

“Fine. Yes, we were.”

“Brian Gilsp seems to think that you might have been forcing her to sleep with you for the grades.”

Damn. Orin leaned forward, unable to figure out where to put his legs. “No. She wasn’t even in any of my classes anymore. She dropped out.”

“But her major was originally Ancient Histories.”

“Yeah, it was, but she’d been out of my class for at least three months before we were ever together.”

“Then why was she sleeping with you?” As in, why would a perfectly normal Human want to fuck a wyrm? Hadn’t he already been down this road once today?

Orin capped his temper and took a breath, then three. Maybe he should have another cup of that cream meat mix. When he thought he could answer without yelling, he gave his attention back to Maze. “Mary was a Lesser-Bred.”

Maze’s eyes widened ever so slightly. “You have proof?”

“Not personally, no. But she was marked, on her back.”

Maze flipped open his cell, pressed a couple of buttons and turned to the front. Orin heard something about autopsy photos, karyotyping , and DNA samples. Whatever else Maze said faded out when he looked at Haley. Her eyes were half closed as she leaned into Deshi’s side. The Prince stared down at her with a strange expression as he pushed a lock of hair back from her face. She smiled and Orin looked away.

The idea scared him, but Farley realized he could get used to this. Claire in his arms, her body pinned by his while she slept. Staying here in bed with her was what he wanted, but something was wrong.

He listened. The fridge cut on, rats ran in the walls, next door someone had their TV up too loud, and the purr of the occasional car rolled down the street. All normal—and yet Farley couldn’t shake the acute sense of something being out of place.

What the fuck?

He sat up and Claire stirred. The clock on the milk crate read one fifteen. Farley slid off the lumpy mattress and stepped outside of his room, rubbing his arms, like he was cold when the apartment was too warm. He looked at the dial on the hall wall and flicked it all the way back down.

The thump and rattle of the fridge being opened sounded off from the other side of his apartment. Maybe the Lesser-Bred hadn’t left?

At least, that’s what Farley wanted to believe. It’s what he hoped.

A familiar scent hit his nose and a hard cold lump formed in his stomach. Farley’s hand trembled when he reached out and pulled the bedroom door shut. God of Man, please….

“I hear you breathing in there,
Little Brother
.”

That voice, the title, it was like a sledgehammer to Farley’s nerves. He stepped out of the hallway and into the living room.

Darco stood in the kitchen, leaning into the fridge. “Don’t you keep anything to eat in this dump?” As he stood, his cobalt blue eyes swung over and pegged Farley where he stood. “Of course, there’s always you.” He smiled, flashing hard white points, then his eyes shifted to the hallway leading to his room. “Or her.”

Darco moved across the kitchen, eyes on the doorway, hunger leaking out all over the place. For a split second Farley’s hearts stalled and threatened not to start again, then he did the unthinkable. He stepped in the way.

The fact that Darco actually stopped, surprised him. The nasty smile curving on his sinuous lips, didn’t.

“Well, well, well. Does that mean the little Chetrah is more than a quick fuck and snack?” Farley grimaced. “What? Still on the wagon?” Darco opened his mouth and inhaled with a hiss. “Mmm—still with that Female I see…”

Elegant fingers touched Farley’s shoulder and played along the ridges of his scar. Having Darco fondle the mark felt like a violation

Farley stepped back. “What do you want?”

A strange sort of displeasure twisted up Darco’s face. “Why, Little Brother, are you challenging me?”

Yeah, and there was no doubt in Farley’s mind Darco would just love that.

“It’s not…I just…” When all else fails, change the subject. “Who the hell gave you a pass outside the Wall anyhow?”

Darco poured into the space at Farley’s back and he leaned forward. At least this time Farley didn’t pull away. Two social mistakes in less than five minutes were already more than he could afford. No need to push his Brother over the edge.