Devil Inside (52 page)

Levi
.  The thought of Levi cooled the heat that flowed through just a little bit.  She pictured his blue eyes and remembered the fire that burned through her when they were together. 
How is Levi going to feel if he finds out about this?
  Then she remembered her Nocte telling her to stop thinking too much.  Harley slammed down any thoughts of Levi.  She didn’t belong to him.  They were friends, partners and teammates and lovers.  But Harley had a higher agenda here.  She needed to recover and Castor could do that.  And besides, her Nocte really wanted more of Castor.  A lot more. 
OK, OK, and I do too
, she admitted to herself. 
And that’s OK.  Levi and I have never made any promises, I can’t get pregnant and I can’t get a disease.  Fuck it!
She laughed to herself making up her mind.  She knew that she wouldn’t regret the decision and if either Levi or Castor got upset—that was on them.  She needed to stop worrying about other people and do what she needed and wanted.

Castor watched the wheels turning in Harley’s mind quietly.   He looked somewhat worried—and more than a little excited.  Without warning him what she was going to do, she stood from the bed and leaned over him as he sat in the chair.  He looked up at her wide-eyed but still at a loss for words.  She smiled down as Castor and he, seeing her eyes turn black, unfroze and put up a hand to gently push her away.

“But—,” he began.  But Harley stopped him by catching his hand and pinning it against the back of the chair.  She felt her fangs slid out of her gums and her Nocte burned with excitement.  She cut off his words with her mouth and caught his other hand in hers as he raised it as well.  He kissed her back even though she could feel the tension in his body.  She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and slowly eased herself into the chair with him—one leg on either side of his.  All of the tension began easing its way out of his body as he sighed against her mouth.  When she knew that he wasn’t going to do something stupid like try to push her away, she let go of his hands and pulled the tee-shirt over her head.  He looked at her body as if she was something to worship, running his hands over her skin with the lightest of touches.  As she looked down at him his eyes faded to pure white.  She tried not to shudder at the eeriness that shone through them.  She felt the gooseflesh rise up along her arms and back.  Shuddering, she gripped his hair and kissed him harder.

Harley could feel him growing harder beneath her and she didn’t waste time in reaching beneath her and pulling his shorts off.  He raised his hips to help her and when he was free she lowered herself onto him.  Her eyes rolled back into her head with pleasure.  All the soreness from her body was forgotten and she felt the ripples of pleasure roll through her.  As Castor kissed across her neck and chest she pulled him to her.  His kisses and movements were slow and soft and it only made Harley want to take him harder.  The desire for Castor’s blood made her body ache.  She couldn’t hold back any longer and dipped her head to Castor’s neck.  After running her tongue over his skin softly, she sank her teeth into the artery that throbbed beneath her mouth and he cried out softly.  She knew from experience that it was from both pleasure and pain.

Again, light exploded inside Harley’s head when Castor’s blood hit her tongue.  It felt like sticking her finger inside a light socket—not that she had ever done that before—but that was what she imagined it would feel like.  She managed to stay in the moment long enough to put Castor’s hands on either side of her head.  She didn’t know if he would go through with the pulling or not.  But she was giving him the go ahead.  Moments later she realized that he must have given in because some of the intensity of the light and energy lessened.  It still felt like ecstasy but it was much more bearable.  Now it was a pleasurable hum that spread all throughout her body.  The pleasure and energy surged through her causing her body to contract in blissful release.  As she came she broke away from Castor’s neck and threw her head back crying out.  She could feel blood dripping down her chin to her chest.  When Castor came she could feel his rush of pleasure inside her head and she felt like she was on drugs wrapped in the greatest euphoria imaginable.

Harley leaned back away from Castor as he leaned back in the chair panting to catch his breath.  She was mystified as she looked around the room.  The light shifted and flowed in a glittering array as if it were alive.  She felt dazed and high and her body still surged with residual energy.  The beauty of the light was overwhelming and she found it hard to breathe.  She slowly became aware of the white noise that she heard when she watched Cas feed before.  As Harley tired to focus on the sound she realized that it was coming from Castor himself.  She studied him carefully.  His pure white eyes stared at her and she felt herself being sucked into their void.  She felt like she was wandering, lost, in a snow storm.  With great effort, she tore herself away from his gaze thus silencing the noise and breaking the spell.  She clumsily climbed off Castor’s lap and stumbled backwards landing on the bed.  She heard Castor laughed softly as she lay on her back and watched as the colorful lights finally began to fade away.

“Wow,” she mumbled, coming back down a few minutes later.

“I have never felt anything like that before,” Castor agreed.  “How do you feel?  Are you OK?”

“I’m great,” she answered weakly, still trying to regain her senses.  She propped herself up on her elbows and met Castor’s eyes again.  “Are YOU OK?”

“I’m fabulous,” he laughed.  “I feel like a million bucks.”

They both sat in blissful silence for a while longer.  The sun light was having more effect than normal on Harley since she wasn’t totally recovered yet.  It was making her tired despite how much she had slept lately.  She could feel her Nocte nodding off in both agreement and contentment.

“So,” Castor finally broke the silence.  “What exactly did your Nocte tell you about California and the Rogue?”

Harley took a deep breath.  “The Rogue is a Lux.”

Castor didn’t have any problems believing her and he looked grim and disappointed.  “OK.  I know we all assumed it was, but knowing for sure—well…it just sucks.”  Harley agreed with that.

“I need you to find out what you can about the Rogue.”  Castor looked at her apprehensively.  “We need more information.”

Castor sighed, “I’ll see what I can do.  But don’t expect too much.  I don’t have access to a lot of information.”  Harley nodded.

Harley hesitated before continuing.  She knew he wasn’t going to like this part.  “I have to be the one to stop the Rogue.”

As expected Castor began to argue.  “Why do you have to fight him?  And do you mean you alone?  Or just you leading the fight?”

“I think it needs to be me alone.”

Castor gaped at her.  “Why?”

“It’s complicated,” she said simply.

He sputtered some more.  Harley held her hand up.  “Just stop.  I can make my own decisions.  And this is something I am sure I need to do.  I alone.  There are reasons it needs to be me.”

Castor looked at her expectantly.  “And those are…?” 

“Something that I will explain in more details when I figure them out.”

“Argh,” Castor threw up his hands and Harley tried not to laugh at his frustration.  Now she knew whey Nya hadn’t explained more. 
Dammit!  Nya knew about this!
  Harley would bet money on it.  She knew that Harley was a stronger Nocte than normal and that there was a reason why.

Castor stood up and pulled his shorts back up.  Harley felt herself drifting back to sleep.  He sat on the bed next to her and ran his hand through her still damp hair.  She cringed away from the touch and climbed to the top of the bed to rest her head on a pillow.  Castor watched her with a sad look on his face.  “I don’t like this,” he said finally.  Harley wasn’t sure what exactly he was referring to so she didn’t respond.

“I’m going to go hunt,” he said running his hand down her back despite the fact that she stiffened when he did so.

“OK.”

He paused before he left the room.  “Will you be here when I get back?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe.  If not, I will talk to you soon.  You’ll talk to the Lux about the Rogue, right?”

“Of course.”

“OK.  We’ll talk soon either way.”

Castor started to walk away and paused.  “If, um, anyone knocks or comes into the apartment and it’s not me—well, it would be bad for you to be here.”  He didn’t look her in the eye and his shoulders slumped.

“Excuse me?”

He took a deep breath.  “The Vigilum doesn’t know that we are…friends.  They wouldn’t…look too highly upon it.”

Harley could feel her hackles rise.  “Well, Cas, if anyone other than you shows up I’ll go out the fire escape.”

Castor got defensive.  “It’s kind of against the rules to become involved with Nocte—well anyone really.  But Nocte are pretty high up on the forbidden list.”

“Forbidden?!”

Castor shrugged.  “How would the Praesidio feel if they knew about you being involved with a Lux?”

“Probably not happy,” she admitted.  “But they sure as hell don’t forbid it.  And you wouldn’t have to be worried if they showed up at my apartment while you were there.”

“I’m sorry,” he said and she could tell he really meant it.  She rolled her eyes at him in response.

After he left Harley retrieved her cell.  She had seen it lying on top of the dresser along with her knife and chain.  It was fully charged and she sat on the bed before sending Levi a text.

“When will you be in NYC?”

She didn’t expect an answer soon since Levi slept like the dead—
ha ha
—but she wanted him to know that she contacted him as soon as she could.

The thought of Levi brought back the small wave of guilt.  It nagged at her until she forced it away.  She didn’t have anything to feel guilty for.  She was enjoying herself, taking care of herself and again—no one had a claim on her.  She never told either Castor or Levi she wasn’t seeing anyone else.  In fact, Cas KNEW she was involved with Levi.  And she realized that Levi must now at least suspect she was involved with Cas.  She knew that the main source of her guilt stemmed from the lingering concerns of how society would judge her and it was time to let that go once and for all.

----------------------------------

Harley woke just before sunset and gathered her stuff.  She found a pair of sweatpants that Castor left out for her and dressed quickly.  She looked in the mirror before she left and was relieved to see that her face had mostly healed.  Her bruises were faded enough that they were barely noticeable now.  Her body was still sore but not enough to have any significant effect on her hunting.  And she was still hungry.  Feeding from Cas had been great, but she still wasn’t satisfied.  When she wasn’t injured she could go weeks without feeding if she had too.  But with her body still trying to heal she could feel the burning hunger for Ignis blood.  Her Nocte needed—she needed—to drain the life away from an Ignis.  Sharing energy with Levi and Cas was great, but wasn’t the only thing that nourished her.

Leaving the apartment Harley realized that Castor lived in Brooklyn and decided to take the train back to her apartment in Manhattan even though a cab would be quicker.  There was a decent chance she would run into a Burner if she did.  Sure enough, on the train she caught sight of an Ignis and followed him off the platform and was able to catch him by surprise and drag him into a doorway.  The feeding left her nearly as dazed as the last feeding from Cas.  She hadn’t realized how badly she needed Ignis blood until it was coursing through her veins like fire.

As she walked to her apartment from the train station she thought about the things she had learned about Castor.  She knew that he had a jealous streak and she would have to be careful with that.  It could make for problems later.  But she didn’t want to cut things off with him unless she had to.  She liked being around him—he was funny and nice and a good distraction.   He also may provide a means to opening more communication with the Vigilum—and that was something they needed.  And she wasn’t going to lie to herself.  Some part of her enjoyed his warmth and softness.

Harley spent most of the rest of the night resting.  She didn’t need to go out hunting.  Not when she had just fed, and no longer searching for Cutter.  She stretched out on the couch and stared at the ceiling.  She still couldn’t believe how much her life had changed in less than a year.    The thought of Jamie made her stomach ache.  And she missed Jason and Olivia and felt guilty for never having contacted them.  She could feel herself slipping into a moment of self-pity but she willed it away to avoid being sucked into a void she wouldn’t be able to crawl out of for a while.  She needed to have a clear head for what she needed to do.  She wasn’t sure what time Levi would arrive since he hadn’t responded to her text and the closer the sunrise got the more tired she felt so Harley climbed into bed hoping that if she slept she wouldn’t have to deal with the past.  Just as she was drifting off she thought she heard her cell ping a notification but she was too far on the side of sleep to fully register the sound.

When Harley woke up the first thing she realized was that someone else was in the bed with her.  Her blood went cold and she nearly flew into fight mode before extra sense kicked in and she realized that it was Levi lying next to her.  She had bounced up onto her knees in fright and she sat there catching her breath as Levi, who had woken up at her bouncing the bed, rolled over and watched her trying to collect herself.