Devil Inside (28 page)

“Just before sundown.  I couldn’t sleep and decided to explore.”

Nya’s brow wrinkled as if she was trying to work something out.  Finally she just nodded, “I see.”

“Nya—” Harley began.  After Nya looked at her expectantly she continued.  “Why am I different than other Nocte?”

“How are you different?”

“Well, for one,” Harley began, “it took longer than normal for the bond to happen.”  She took a deep breath and continued.  “Then, when Levi and I were having sex last night, it was intense.”  Nya smiled at that.  It was at first a bit uncomfortable to discuss their sex life with the other woman but she brushed that aside because it wasn’t as important as the answers she needed.

Harley rolled her eyes, “I mean, more so than usual.  At one point…it’s like I was experiencing what he was experiencing and vice versa.  Is that because his blood was used in the bond?  Because he drank my blood and fed me his?  Is that normal when someone performs the bond for another person?”  Harley stopped before mentioning that she wanted to feed off Levi.  She had a feeling that was beyond abnormal.

Nya thought before speaking.  “Not that I know of.  I’ve never had sex with anyone that I bonded.” 
Whew
Harley thought more relieved than she would have expected and she could feel her Nocte purr in agreement.

When Nya didn’t say anything else she continued.  If felt good to share some of the things that had been weighing her down.

“Then, today, I had a really strange, graphic dream.  In the dream, my Nocte, she spoke to me—”

“She?” Nya interrupted wrinkling her brow even more.

Harley finished before explaining that part further.  “Yeah.  She said ‘Miami.’  And that is combined with an intense desire to go to Miami.  And I KNOW the feeling is coming from my Nocte.  What’s even stranger?  I was—apparently—floating over the bed during the dream.”

Nya’s brow smoothed out as her eyes grew round in surprise.  “Floating?”  She asked as if she wanted to make sure that she heard Harley right.

“Yep,” Harley answered.  “I woke up when Levi pulled me back onto the bed.”

Nya scratched at her braids that hung around her shoulders.  The look was such a classic illustration of confusion that Harley would have laughed if the situation hadn’t been so serious.

“And I am sure that my Nocte is female.  I’ve thought that since the bonding and didn’t even consider that that was weird until Levi acted it was.”

Nya looked thoughtful, “I never really thought about Nocte and gender before.  I guess I always assumed that they were, more or less, genderless.

“There’s more,” Harley told Nya who looked at her warily.  She decided to tell Nya how she had begun to feel about Levi.  She trusted the Nocte general completely.  “I…feel…different about Levi now.”

“Different how?”

Harley paused and focused her hearing inside the house trying to make sure that no one was going to be able to overhear them.

“No one is around to hear,” Nya reassured her.

“It’s like…” Harley searched for the right words.  “It’s like…I want to…devour him.”

Nya laughed under her breath.  “Well, Levi is rather delicious looking.”

“Ha.  Ha.” Harley responded sarcastically.  “It’s like I can feel his blood inside me—and I want more.  And it’s like I—my Nocte—feels really possessive.  I’ve never been possessive like that.”

Nya considered this for a moment.  “And you aren’t craving any other blood?  No one else’s blood?”  Harley shook her head.  “Could it simply be that you are in love with Levi?” she asked with a tone of stating the obvious.

“Honestly,” Harley began with a deep breath.  “I do care about Levi a lot.  But, do I love him?”  Harley looked out towards the forest again.  “I don’t know.  I have so much going on inside me right now.  It’s not something I can really accurately judge.  Oh, and I probably should mention that I don’t think the daylight really bothers me.  At no time during the day did I feel like the day was overwhelming me.  I could tell ‘she’ didn’t like the light.  But I didn’t feel weaker—or more tired—not like Levi.  Is this all just because the bond isn’t finished yet?”

Nya mulled over the things that Harley told her.  After a while she finally responded to Harley’s self examination.  “I think something is going on with you.  Something unusual.  You know—besides joining with a creature from another dimension and becoming part of an underground ‘police force.’”  Harley chuckled at Nya’s returning sense of humor.  “I don’t think it is just a part of the normal bonding process.  I mean, your bond isn’t really complete yet, but that shouldn’t cause the things that you have mentioned.”

Nya grew quiet in thought so Harley pressed her for more.  “Do you have any ideas as to why I’m different?”  Harley had a growing sense of unease.  Something was “unusual” with her bond and she didn’t know if that was a good thing, or a bad thing.

Finally, after more silent thinking, Nya responded.  “Again, I have theories that I don’t want to go into just yet.  I could be wrong, and if I am I could do more damage by speaking too soon.  I think, for now, we should just ride things out.  See what happens.”

Harley clenched her fists in annoyance.  She forced herself to remain calm.  Nya had a good reason for not spilling her thoughts right now.  And she hadn’t withheld important information with Harley before so Harley forced herself to be patient.  She convinced herself to let it go for now and concentrate on things as she needed to.  She had an overwhelming task before her, and it was going to take all her concentration.  She breathed out a frustrated sigh.  She fought to push the irritation away and told herself to just trust Nya.  But she really, really hated waiting.

Again, Nya seemed to read her thoughts.  “I know it’s frustrating.  To not be told the whole story.  But I promise I have a good reason.”

Harley nodded as the knot of tension slowly eased inside her. 

“Let’s go inside and find Levi.  He will be leaving soon.  And we will need to get started with your training,” Nya stood and started for the door.

Harley nearly squeaked in alarm.  She had known they would be beginning training today but she still found it hard to believe it was already happening.  It all seemed too sudden.

“Levi is probably in the kitchen by now.  He looked like he was on his way to the shower when I was on my way out here.  And you need to get something to eat.  You’re going to need your energy.”

Harley followed Nya into the dark house.  She could feel her skin vibrate with energy and her Nocte uncoiled with the dying of the sun.  It was going to be so hard to get used to feeling this powerful.  Not only did she feel like she could punch a hole in the wall if she wanted too.  But she also simply felt confident and proud and more self assured—despite her misgivings about her strange bond.  The energy she felt began to shift as she thought about her impending training.  She wasn’t scared as much as she was excited—she couldn’t wait to learn how to kick ass.  She felt her Nocte stir, aware of the cause of Harley’s tension. 

Harley tried to pay more attention to the being inside her as she trailed after Nya.  The bond seemed different than Levi had told her about.  She was very aware of the Nocte, the darkness, in her head and soul.  She could feel the being coiled just underneath the surface, ready to strike.  To lash out in frustration and anger.  Denying the Nocte was an instinctual response to her presence.  It became a simmering anxiety that threatened to bubble up to the surface.  She wasn’t able to convince herself that letting the Nocte rise would not result in losing control over herself.
Will I always have to struggle like this? 
Again, Harley thought back to Levi’s description of the bond.  This wasn’t a devil on her shoulder.  The devil had taken up residence inside her and that was something that she found almost too much to comprehend. 
Maybe this feeling is just because the bond isn’t finished
, she tried to assure herself.

As they rounded a corner a door burst open just as she passed it.  She had been so lost in thought that she was caught off guard when a door opened on her right.

“Fuck!” she shouted at a body collided with hers.

“Whoa!” the man, who had hit her, exclaimed at the same time.

Harley knew right away who the man was; his accent and arrogance showed through in just one word.  She glared up at him with a look that she knew was filled with disapproval.  He stared back down at her with a patronizing scowl.  He was well over six feet tall and had hair so blonde it was almost colorless.  His eyes were a pale blue and they were divided with a strong, aquiline nose.  His lips were thin and stretched with a sneer.  He only wore a pair of pajama pants and looked as if he had just woken up.  His upper body was muscular but narrow with wide shoulders.  Overall, he looked very hawkish and haughty and it only strengthened Harley’s assumption that she wouldn’t like him even though she was sure that many women would find his looks disarmingly handsome.

“Well, well, well,” he leered.  “Levi’s pet, I presume.”

Harley felt her hackles rise and her Nocte crack its knuckles, so to speak, in anticipation of a confrontation.  “I’m not anybody’s pet.”  When the man laughed at her offense she felt her hands curl into fists without her making the decision to do so.  “I’m assuming you’re Rafe?” she asked in a voice that made it clear that wasn’t a good thing.

“That’s right,” he laughed again.  “As usual, I’m glad to see my reputation has preceded me.”

Harley felt her jaw clench.  Everything about this man grated on her nerves.  The arrogant lilt to his voice, the sneer that marred his otherwise handsome face, even the overly formal and dominant way that he stood with his hands on his hips and his shoulders thrown back annoyed her.   He bordered on a caricature of a person in a way that should have been funny, but missed funny and slid right on into annoying.

“I can see why Levi likes you,” Rafe raised his eyebrows.  “I like a woman with spirit.”

“Well, unfortunately for you, I don’t like douche bags,” Harley stated simply.  Rafe leaned back and barked out a laugh as if he was amused by a dog that had been taught a new trick.

She looked to Nya who only stood by watching the exchange.  Her amused smile had returned and her eyes danced back and forth between them as if she were looking forward to seeing what would happen.

              Rafe continued to smirk down at her as she glared up at him.  She fought hard to not let it show just how much he had annoyed her.  Before anyone had a chance to antagonize the other any further Levi’s voice broke the stare down.

             
“Do you ALWAYS have to be such a dick?” he asked in a forced bored voice.

Rafe made a show of thinking hard about his answer.  “Well, I don’t HAVE to be.  But it’s just so much fun.”

Levi pushed away from the wall that he had been leaning against and made his way towards their small group.  He stood next to Harley and looked up at Rafe.  Levi wasn’t short, he was just over six foot tall by Harley’s guess, but Rafe was at least six five and used his height to look down on Levi.  Levi didn’t say anything.  He just simply made a show of standing next to Harley making it obvious that he was willing to fight if necessary.

Levi and Rafe’s exchange distracted her and gave her enough time to bring herself back under control and recognize that fighting amongst themselves was stupid and pointless.  Rafe may have an awful attitude and be supremely annoying—but he wasn’t worth fighting over.  She looked at all three of the people standing in the hall with her and forced herself to sound relaxed when she spoke.  “Well, I’m still hungry and I’m tired of standing around.  Are we done here?”  She looked from Levi to Rafe and shrugged turning to Nya.

Nya smiled conspiratorially and resumed her walk towards the kitchen and Harley followed without a backward glance at the two men continuing to silently size each other up.  They had barely rounded the corner when Levi caught up with them.  He gave Harley his trademark half-smirk.

“You make friends fast,” he mused.

“The man just brings it out doesn’t he?”

Nya looked over her shoulder as they entered the kitchen.  “Rafe is an ass, but he’s a good fighter.  You get used to dealing with him.”

Harley grumbled at that thought and Levi grudgingly seconded Nya’s statement.  “Unfortunately, she’s right.  And he is the northeast Captain.”

“Ugh,” Harley groaned.

Levi had cooked a simple breakfast of oatmeal and the three of them grabbed bowls and filled them up.  They sat at the table to eat and Harley had a hard time focusing on anything other than the food that she kept shoveling into her mouth.  She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until she started eating and even plain oatmeal danced across her tongue like a gourmet meal.

“How long have Rafe and Evie been back?” Levi asked Nya.

“They got back a couple of nights ago,” Nya answered.

“Do they have any updates on the situation in Miami?”  Harley felt her Nocte’s head perk up at the mention of Miami.

“They have been in Miami?” she asked Levi and Nya.

“Yes,” Levi answered cautiously.  “While you were bonding, they went to investigate.”  Harley forced herself to not get worked up.  She could feel her Nocte pressing her for more information but she forced the discomfort and annoyance back down.