Devil Inside (25 page)

“…know who is doing this?” Levi asked.

“Damon isn’t sure.  But whoever is responsible is very powerful, we know that.  Nocte, Lux and Ignis alike have all been killed.”

At this Harley stepped into the eat-in kitchen and both Levi and Nya stopped talking and looked up at her.

“Feeling better?” Levi asked her, looking at her carefully.

“I feel cleaner,” she answered.  “But I am starving.”  Her stomach growled louder to emphasize her point.  Nya chuckled and Levi stood up.

“Have a seat.  There is leftover chicken and some sides.”

Harley’s stomach growled again in agreement.  She sat in the chair next to Nya and across from where Levi had been sitting.  Nya looked at her, smiling her usual small smile.  She was surprised to realize she didn’t feel intimidated by Nya’s examination any longer.  Nya looked no less powerful, but now Harley realized that part of the other woman’s intimidation resulted from her “other-worldliness. “  Harley didn’t know if it was because she herself was now “other-worldly” or if she just simply better understood the Nocte’s nature, but she felt more comfortable with Nya now than she had before.

“Was I really out for two weeks?” Harley asked.  Levi and Nya looked mildly surprised that she had known that.  “I heard you guys talking before I woke up all the way,” she explained.

“Yes, you were,” Nya answered, watching her for a reaction.

“How is that even possible?  How did I not starve or dehydrate and how am I just able to hop out of bed like it had barely been anytime at all?”

“Your body isn’t human now,” Nya explained.  Levi kept quiet, letting Nya answer the questions while he watched their exchange.  “I have never heard of a Lux or Nocte, or even an Ignis, starving to death.  You would go insane and die another way first.” 

Harley shuddered at that thought.  “Good to know,” Harley responded.  “This is just all going to take some getting used to.  Nya and Levi both nodded in understanding.  “Were you guys talking about what was going on in Miami?” Harley asked after a moment.

“Yes,” Nya answered simply.

Harley was somewhat surprised by Nya’s frankness.  It must have showed because Nya’s smile grew wider.  “We don’t keep secrets here.”

Levi sat a plate of cold chicken, mashed potatoes and a mixed vegetable down in front of her.  “Strange,” she said sniffing the food like a dog.

“What is,” Levi asked.

“It’s just weird to be eating normal food as a vampire.  Again, I’m struck more by normalcy than I would be by weirdness.”

Nya barked out a loud laugh at Harley’s calling them vampires.  “You young people today and your vampires!”

“She does it just to aggravate me,” Levi explained rolling his eyes.

“At what point will I start drinking blood?” Harley wondered out loud.

“You might not be human any more, but if the bond isn’t finished you won’t be able to drink blood yet,” Nya explained.  “Well I guess you could if you really wanted to, I can’t imagine it would be all that pleasant though,” she laughed.

Harley shuddered at the thought.  She realized that she was surprised that she didn’t have any cravings for blood.  She had just assumed that it would happen right away.  “The Nocte is inside me, and the Nocte feeds on Ignis blood, so how does it live until I start drinking blood?”

Nya shrugged.  “Your Nocte is with you, but not really a part of you yet.”

It was Harley’s turn to shrug.  It was a bigger idea than she could actually process yet.  Nya was giving her important information but she was so distracted by her new powerful sense of smell, she could do little more than sniff at her plate.  She was like a dog finding a new scent.  The food gave off so many different delightful smells that she could barely make sense of any of them.  Her mouth began to water and her stomach rumbled louder.  She tore a small piece of chicken from the bone and placed it in her mouth.  She wanted to start small—instinctually she knew that the complexity of the meats and spices would be overwhelming with her new senses.  Harley was right.  She couldn’t stop the moan that escaped from her as she chewed the food.  “Oh my god,” she moaned.  Nya roared with laughter again and even Levi gave a rare honest laugh.

“I remember how good food tasted after I bonded,” Levi said watching Harley enjoy the food.

“I don’t really,” Nya answered wistfully.  “It’s been too long.”

Harley continued to moan as she shoveled the meat into her mouth with her fingers.  There was no way she could eat politely.  The flavors exploded in her mouth.  She felt like she had not eaten for years.  She tipped her head back and closed her eyes, savoring each flavor as her tongue tingled with pleasure.  She could actually feel each taste bud zing like a struck piano cord. 
God if this is how good food is, I can’t imagine how good sex is going to be.

“You should probably slow down,” Levi cautioned.  “You’re going to make yourself sick.”

“Mmmphf,” Harley replied without slowing down.

Nya laughed again and she and Levi picked up their conversation where they left off.

“So, does Damon think it is an Ignis behind the murders?” Levi asked, leaving Harley to her food.

“No.  He said he gets the feeling that it is not Ignis.”

“Who is Damon,” Harley asked around a mouthful of food.

“He is a Praesidio Captain in Miami,” Levi answered.

“Oh,” Harley said, trying to look like she knew what that meant.

“There are rumors that a Lux is responsible for the murders,” Nya offered. 

“Why do people think it is Lux?” Levi asked.  Harley watched their conversation as she continued to shovel food into her mouth.

“A body was found by the police.  The reports indicated that it had burns that sound consistent with Lux feeding.  Nothing had been done to hide how the person had died so the coroner noted it in his report.  He said the body had burns on its head.  Humans don’t turn to ash when they die so the body was still there and human bodies just end up with burn marks,” Nya answered.

“Wait—you’ve seen a human killed by a Lux?” Levi asked perplexed.

“Once or twice.  It’s rare for a Lux to kill a human though.  They tend to view that the same that we do.”

“But what did the Lux feed on?  If the human wasn’t possessed by an Ignis?”

Nya shrugged.  “I didn’t say that they actually fed.  I just have seen a body of a human that a Lux tried to feed on.  I don’t know if they were successful.  I can’t imagine it would be much different than if we tried to feed on a human.  I can’t imagine it would be satisfying or nourishing.”  An uncomfortable look crossed Levi’s face and even though Harley looked at him he purposefully didn’t meet her eye.  She couldn’t tell if Levi was remembering an unpleasantness from feeding on her or if it was something different

Harley finally swallowed enough of the food in her mouth to interject with a question.  “Ignis burn when a Lux kills them?”

“Yeah,” Levi answered.  “They usually burn until nothing is left but ash.”

“What about when the Noc—we kill them?  The guy at your house didn’t burn when you killed him.  Neither did the ones that attacked me and Jamie.”  Her heart stuttered when she said Jamie’s name.  She found she was relieved that her feelings about her friend had not changed.  She didn’t want to lose that pain.  As long as she had that pain, she still had humanity.  She still had the desire to stay motivated in her revenge.

“It doesn’t always happen right away especially when they are really young.”

“Oh,” Harley replied.  She went back to her food.  It was interesting information, but didn’t take precedence over satisfying her hunger.

Nya finally spoke again.  She had been silently contemplating something for a moment.  “Levi, I’m going to need you to go to Miami.”

“When?” Levi asked, with apprehension creeping into his voice as he looked at the Nocte general.

Harley felt concern lazily flop in her belly at Nya’s words.  She knew that she should be more disturbed, but she found that she wasn’t really.  She would rather Levi stayed, but she knew there were more important things she needed to focus on.  She was more concerned by her lack of concern but she set it aside along with the other complex ideas that she didn’t have the ability to focus on yet.

“Soon,” Nya answered softly.  “Tomorrow.  I would rather you went tonight.  But—," She looked from Harley to Levi with a small smile.  “It can wait a little while.”

Neither Harley nor Levi argued with Nya.  She could feel Levi’s anger at having to leave.  As well as see it in the set of his jaw.  Again, she was concerned by the fact that she wasn’t that upset.  She didn’t like it, but she was so distracted by her new nature that she found it easier to focus on other things.  She finished eating and sat back in the chair.  Levi was watching her and this time it was she who didn’t meet his eyes.

Nya continued explaining her reasoning, “Harley will begin her training tomorrow night anyway.”

“I thought I would get to help with that?” Levi asked reluctantly.

“You will I’m sure.  But it is more important for us to know what is going on in Miami right now.  You will be able to tell if there is a balance there.  If the order is out of balance maybe you will be able to figure out what is going on,” there was an edge to Nya’s voice that didn’t allow for argument.  Her humor was put on hold in the face of bigger things.

“It would make a lot of sense if there is a rogue Lux running around,” she said, almost to herself.

“How’s that,” Levi asked.

“Just a theory,” Nya said watching Harley who returned her look, unflinchingly.  “I’ll explain more when I know more.”

“I thought you didn’t keep secrets,” Harley challenged.  She didn’t like the way Nya was looking at her.  It made her feel like she was under a microscope.

“It’s not a secret,” Nya held her gaze.  This time the burning behind her pale eyes was not with half-mad humor.  “It’s a half-formed theory that I’m not willing to share yet.”

Harley decided not to question Nya further.

______________________

Nya had left Levi and Harley saying that she needed to get some research done.  Levi and Harley didn’t say much after Nya left.  She pushed the empty plate away and watched Levi who was in turn watching her.  Having showered and eaten Harley’s focus shifted to other needs.  She still didn’t feel all that different.  Mostly, things were just…more.  She felt more, heard more, saw more, and smelled more.  Everything was intensified.  Including her desire for Levi.  Seeing him sitting across the table sent a fire through her and she could tell he wanted her too.  She could practically smell it.  The strange intensity of her feeling brought back the unsettling feeling of being possessed again and it sent a shiver across her shoulders and down her arms.

As usual, he had seemed to read her mind.  “You still feeling tired?” he asked, his voice low and heavy.

“Not really.”

“Wanna go to bed?”

“Yep.”

Without another word they had both gotten up and walked quickly from the room.  Levi led the way.  As they made their way back to their room, Harley kept getting distracted by the house around her—she saw things in minute detail.  The specs of dust that floated in the air.  The frayed edges of the curtains.  She found it nearly impossible to not focus too much on her surroundings.  If Levi hadn’t been leading the way she would have been so distracted it would have taken them forever to make it back to the room.

Once they crossed the threshold into their room Harley slammed the door shut behind her.  As she did, Levi pushed her against the door with a bang.  She laughed a deep laugh that rumbled from her belly.  The laugh was cut off as Levi covered her mouth with his.  The taste of his mouth nearly made her cry out loud—it was the taste of HIM and she savored it.  She dug her fingers into his hair and wrapped her legs around his waist.  His fingers dug into her arms and she could tell he wasn’t holding back this time.  She didn’t know how he had been able to contain himself before and not use his unnatural strength in his haste.  She bit at his lip and she found it took effort for her to not bite hard enough to draw blood.  No one had mentioned this would happen.   She didn’t just want to taste his blood; it was more like his blood that he had fed her was calling out for more.  A part of her wanted more of him.  Along with this feeling came a pressure inside her mouth.  It was more uncomfortable than it was painful.  Harley was sure that it was fangs growing in her mouth.  She had seen Levi’s and had been expecting this at some point.  However, she didn’t feel anything more than a heavy pressure.  Surely if fangs were going to pop out of her mouth it would hurt worse than that.

Harley reached down between them and began undoing his belt buckle.  He moaned against her mouth as she stuck her hand down the front of his pants.    She struggled against the urge to bite his tongue as it teased against hers.  The need to taste Levi was nearly overwhelming and she was afraid of what would happen if she did.  Levi didn’t seem to want to bite her so she couldn’t understand where the feeling was coming from.  A part of her knew that this wasn’t normal.  The small bites that Levi traced along her neck indicated nothing more than natural sexual desire.  Harley could feel a longing in her belly that hinted at much deeper craving.  With a soft cry she pulled away from him, dropping her legs from around his waist and pushing him away with a firm hand on his chest.  He looked at her with mild confusion as he tried to catch his breath.  It was the first time she had ever seen him out of breath.  She fought to push through the desire to feed on Levi even though it made her blood boil and her stomach ache.