City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood (3 page)

About five times.

When Farley opened his eyes again, he was looking at a pair of shiny black shoes and spitting out pieces of his teeth. Blood gushed out of his nose and froze to the ground.

“You gonna keep flapping that yap of yours, wyrm, or have you had enough?”

Farley rolled his eyes up at Kennedy. “Is there a choice C, ‘cause to be honest, I’m not real comfortable with…”

The next volt struck him behind the ear and sent him thrashing into the gutter. Wet street garbage clogged Farley’s nose and mouth, and he spit. Chubby Buddy grabbed him by the foot and yanked him back onto the curb, sandpapering his chin and face against the pavement as he dragged Farley to a patrol car. No one asked Farley to watch his head as they tossed him into the back.

Three tazer hits in less than two minutes. That had to be a record. Farley tried to roll over on the hard plastic seat but wound up sliding onto the floor board. He laid there because getting up required the cooperation of his legs, and they were on strike.

If the Rent-A-Cops hurried, maybe they could get him to the Atlanta PD and Haley could take him out for lunch. Maybe if he was really lucky, Garrett would feel sorry for him and let him have the rest of the day off.

Yeah, right.

Haley picked up the assignments left on her desk. Bauer stuck his head in the door. “Do you have a minute?” A month in the hospital had been a give-and-take for Bauer. As in giving ten years and taking twenty pounds.

Haley waved him in.

Back in September Bauer wound up in the ICU after complications from a dose of anti-venom. Brenda, his wife, had come to Haley in secret and asked for her blood to save him. In spite of the fact that Haley knew it was against his religious beliefs, she’d given it to Brenda. Bauer still didn’t know what his wife did. And that was the way Haley intended to keep it.

Bauer sat down on the edge of a desk. “I’ve got a pair of Kin down in the Tank I need you to talk to.”

Haley raised an eyebrow. “A pair?”

Bauer scrubbed a large brown hand over his short crew cut. “Yeah, they’re not real talkative. We think they might have come off a chuck-wagon somewhere.” Chuck-wagon was cop-talk for a shipment of live bodies meant to be
food
. While it wasn’t a crime for Kin to eat their own, it was a crime to engage in Human flesh trading. And generally when there was a Kin destined for
feeding,
there were Humans close behind.

“Are they giving you a problem?”

“You could say that.” Bauer’s eyes bounced around the room, unable to meet her gaze, which meant those two Males downstairs were probably doing something really embarrassing.

Haley let out a sigh and shook her head. Sometimes it sure would be nice if her people could make a little effort to behave themselves around the Humans. It most certainly would make things easier. But then, if things were easier, she wouldn’t have a job.

She stuffed the day’s assignments into a folder and dropped it on the desk. “Let’s go before they give someone a complex.”

Bauer made a sound that suggested it was too late for that.

The drab green walls of the PD holding Tank replaced the lighter gray paint job of the causeway. It was an ugly color, really. But olive green didn’t show ichor stains, and some days that came in handy.

There were a total of eight rooms in the Tank, four on each side, even on the left, odd on the right. At the end of the hall stood a guard. The guard was a new addition. Someone upstairs decided they needed to keep a set of eyes on the place just in case a detainee decided to walk out. Why anyone thought a solitary Human was going to do more than a six-inch carbon steel door, Haley had no idea.

Room Two was at the end, right next to the man on duty. Haley tossed him a sideways glance. His face was unfamiliar. While she wasn’t friendly with every cop here, most had taken her class.

Haley not recognizing him meant he was new. Really new.

Bauer stopped in front of the door, popped open the viewing window, and took a peek inside. By the look on his face, Haley had a pretty good idea what was going on. And Bauer did not approve.

But then Humans rarely did.

With his eyes still on the Kin inside, Bauer said, “I’d like to know as much as you can get from them. If they didn’t come off a chuck-wagon, I want to know why they were outside of the Dens. We ran their Nevus, and neither one is in the database for a city pass, and they don’t have any papers.”

Kin, as a rule, didn’t have fingerprints. Fingerprints, like belly buttons and body hair, were often left out when they designed their forms. But all Kin had a Nevus, and like a fingerprint, each one was unique. If the two Males in question weren’t in the database, it meant they were most likely dumped.

Groups like Mankind for Kin took it upon themselves to relocate Submissives from less hospitable cities to the Georgia capital. Some of them were going as far as luring them from target Dens, tranquilizing them, and bringing them to designated safe havens. Lucky for Atlanta, it was second on the list. Only California was higher.

Just another new and ever-growing problem for the City.

Haley put her hand on the door handle. “I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Wait…” The officer on guard stepped up to Bauer and jabbed a thumb at Haley. “You’re not letting her go in there, are you? Seriously, sir, she could get hurt.”

Bauer eyed the guy’s name tag. “Officer Donald, I think you need to step back to your post.”

When Bauer tried to turn away Donald stepped in front of him. “Sir, I really don’t think sending her in would be wise.” And
sir
came out sounding like a stand in for the words, “Hey, stupid.” The cop said, “Those things in there…”

Bauer’s face tightened, but not just because he was getting pissed. Haley could scent the change in him. He’d pushed himself coming down the steps and walking the long hallway, and a conflict was the last thing his heart needed.

Haley cleared her throat. “Detective Bauer, why don’t you go ahead and take care of the paperwork on these two, and let me explain things to Officer Donald?” Bauer’s eyes said he didn’t like being weak, but he appreciated the excuse to walk away.

When Donald turned to go after Bauer, Haley put a hand on his arm. “Let’s you and I have a talk.”

He stopped, glanced at Bauer who headed up the hall, then back at her. “Look, I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” Donald smiled, but his eyes did a little more.

These save-the-damsel-in–distress-type Humans really got on Haley’s last nerve. “Officer Donald, how long have you been in Atlanta?”

The man frowned. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“I’m guessing not very long. They’ve got you stuck down here in the Tank babysitting the Kin, which means you either drew the short straw or you’re the new guy.”

“Two weeks.” And he wasn’t happy when he said it. His eyes flicked up at the hall door sliding shut behind Bauer. “Does he always let a woman do his talking for him?” Those dark eyes came back to her.

Haley gave a shrug. “Bauer was hurt pretty bad a few months back. He’s lucky to be alive. His heart doesn’t need the exertion. So do me a favor, and keep your issues to yourself.”

Donald pulled himself up to his full height. Haley wasn’t impressed. She could rip off his arms without breaking a sweat. All she had to do was tap a little of her metaphysical-self, and she became stronger and faster than any Human could ever dream.

Kinda put the fire right out on all that he-man crap.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Haley moved to open the door, but Donald grabbed her arm.

“Look, I know how all you ladies think you have to go all femi-Nazi to prove your place with the Bureau, but I’m telling you those things in there are dangerous. You go in there, you could wind up hurt, killed, or worse.”

Haley wondered what his idea of worse was. “Could you remove your hand from my arm please?” It took him a minute, but Donald pried his fingers open. “Thank you.” Haley smoothed out the wrinkles he’d made. “Look, I appreciate your concern. I really do. But I’m the best person in this building to deal with those Kin.”

The flare of Donald’s anger tasted like pepper on the back of her tongue. He said, “Why? Because you’re a woman? You don’t actually believe all that Kin-rights BS about how Males worship women? I’m here to tell you it’s bullshit.” He pointed to the window. “Those things in there kill people, they eat Human flesh, they’re dangerous, and someone should put them down like the goddamn stray dogs they are.”

Whoa, if this dude wasn’t a card-carrying Earth for Humans member, he should be.

“Donald.” Haley tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m not a
woman
, I’m
Female
. Do you understand the difference?” After a moment Donald’s eyes widened, and he stepped back. “Now,” she grabbed the door handle and pulled, “if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to do.”

Haley shut the door behind her. With any luck maybe Donald wouldn’t get cocky and lock her in.

Overhead the sickly fluorescent lights hummed and flickered, but the glow they put off did very little to illuminate the ugly paint. It was like the drab green sucked the light right out of the air.

Interrogation Room Two was styled like the other seven rooms down here. Off to the side was a small wooden table and two folding chairs. One of the chairs had a leg braced with a ruler and ten pounds of duct-tape.

The two Males were huddled in the corner wrapped around each other so tight they looked like someone had balled them up and tossed them out. They had their faced buried in each other’s neck and their hands tucked inside one another’s ratty blue jeans.

Both of them were small and thin with well-defined muscles and conservative frames. Their flawless skin had a synthetic look usually associated with very new Kin who had yet to finish out. One was blond with a dark tan, the other black-haired and pale. Practically a complementary set.

Blondie sat in the lap of Dark Hair with his legs thrown around his waist. Both of them were breathing so fast that they made puffing sounds.

Fear. They smelled like
food
. These Males were terrified.

Haley stood there and gave her scent time to drift through the room. She didn’t want to touch them. They were most likely feral and fresh out of the Dens way before their time.

Scratch that, out at all. Males like this didn’t get out of the hatching grounds. They wound up
feeding
those who did. Haley couldn’t help but wonder if this is what Farley had looked like when he emerged.

Dark Hair was the first to pick his head up. His mouth opened, his nostrils flared, and his baby blue eyes bled gold. Blondie’s head swung around in a way that was impossible for a Human spine to bend. His shoulders followed, then his torso.

Their movement was beautiful. Haley could only envy their grace. Not being impressed by a Queen dragon meant she moved like a Human. The Males closed the distance on all fours. Stretching, rolling, pushing themselves forward with their legs. Moving like dragons and nothing like men.

Dark Hair got to Haley first. He dropped his shoulders to her feet and his hands hovered above her skin as he ran them up and down the length of her legs. His Nevus was on his right wrist, small and silver with a touch of red.

Blondie joined him but stayed lower to the ground. Based on body language Dark Hair was the dominant of the two. Haley held out her hands to them, and they rose to their knees making small mewing noises. Their teeth elongated. Blondie’s jeans were down around his hips and his cock peeked out from his boxers. At least they weren’t commando. Dark Hair was in the same condition, but he hadn’t lost his pants.

Yet.

They each took a hand and drew hot wet lines with their tongues across Haley’s skin while making clicks and whirrs. Heat flared from their skin and scales fluttered down their backs. Blondie moved behind Haley and pressed his tongue to the back of her leg. His teeth pricked the skin but he did not bring blood. He followed up by sucking on her skin.

Dark hair slipped his hands up Haley’s skirt, kneading the flesh of her thigh. The tips of his fingers brushed her panties, but he didn’t go any higher. No, he would wait for her permission.

When Haley placed a hand on the top of his head Dark Hair melted against the ground. Denied her favors, they both backed away, keeping their bodies close. Blondie curled against Dark Hair and buried his face in his neck.

Haley waited for them to settle, then said, “My name is Haley Night. I work with the Center, and I was asked to talk to you.”

Dark Hair looked at her. “We did nothing wrong.” His golden eyes bled back to blue, and he rubbed his face against Blondie’s unruly head of hair.

Marking him with his scent. Declaring ownership.

Haley lowered herself to her knees. Standing over them was scaring them both. They were so placid, so meek. Their behavior wasn’t normal even for Submissives.

“Do you have names?” If they were new enough, there was a chance they didn’t.

When the Males didn’t answer, Haley moved closer and held out her hand. Dark Hair raised his eyes, then reached out and brushed her fingertips with his. His mouth opened, and his throat worked as he swallowed her scent. Using his fingers, he made long strokes up and down her hand.

When he was done, he held his hand up to Blondie who sucked his fingers, drawing each one into his mouth, saturating his palate with the scent. Then they flicked their tongues in and out before pressing their lips together and plundering each other’s mouths.

It was Dark Hair who broke the scent exchange and looked at Haley. “Reiah.” He gave his fingers back to the smaller male. “This is Osa.”

Osa glanced over his shoulder at Haley and made a display of sucking Reiah’s fingers.

“Can you tell me the name of your Queen?”

Up and down Reiah’s hands slid against the back of the slightly smaller Osa. He said, “Reh’ka.”

Reh’ka was the Queen of Athens. Not the worst of Queens Haley had dealt with, not that any of them were pleasant. At least Reh’ka would talk to her on the phone, unlike a certain Atlanta Queen.