Devil Inside (63 page)

Back inside the SUV Harley felt her exhaustion begin to show through her adrenaline.  Night had fallen but she had used so much energy in the fights that she was ready to sleep already.  Nya, the least tired and injured of them all drove, Levi rode shotgun again, and Harley sat behind him with Cas in the middle of the back seat.  Cas flopped an arm behind Harley’s shoulders and tipped his head back.  Within seconds he was seemingly unconscious.  Harley caught Levi’s eye in the side mirror and gave him a small smile that he returned.  No one talked.  They just wanted to get back to their hotel safely and rest and recover.  She looked at the wound in her stomach.  When she pulled the makeshift bandage away fresh blood seeped from the wound.  It wasn’t gushing at least--that was a positive sign.  With some rest she would be good in no time.  The wound was huge and she was just glad it didn’t seem to have damaged any major organs too badly.  She sighed, “I really need to get a machete.”  The others laughed softly.

“How’s the cut?” Cas asked her with slurring speech, apparently not asleep after all.

“Healing.”

“Good,” he said.

Harley stared at the night sky outside the truck.  It was entirely possible that she could die in two days time.  Even if she was the hero of this story, the hero died sometimes.  She shivered and forced herself to stop thinking about anything.  She wished she could talk to her Nocte.  She had so many questions she needed to ask.  She had never been able to initiate contact before though.  She could feel her Nocte’s frustration in agreement.  She would almost be willing to have Nya, or someone, injure her bad enough that she could talk to her devil.  But she needed her strength to fight in two days.  That wasn’t an option.

When they pulled into the hotel, Harley shook Castor until he finally peeled his eyes open and grumpily asked what she wanted.  “We are back at the hotel,” she snapped back.  She didn’t have the patience to coddle him.  “You need to go in and open the back door.  We can’t walk through the lobby covered in blood.”  He looked around and gathered his wits.  Wordlessly, he climbed out of the truck and stumbled into the lobby of the hotel.

“Am I that cranky when you try to wake me up during the day?” Levi asked.

Harley looked at him pointedly in the mirror as Nya put the SUV into gear and drove to the back side of the hotel.  The cars that carried the other Nocte and Lux were already parking when they arrived.  Everyone climbed from their vehicles and the Lux quickly stumbled into the hotel.

“We look like the biggest disaster party ever,” Nya joked.

“How many did we lose?” Harley asked.  She had hesitated to ask until now.

Nya met her eyes, “Two. Eric and Thomas.”

Harley’s heart sank again.  She had only just met the two California based Nocte but she hated to lose anyone.  She hoped that their deaths would be a part of stopping more from dying.  So many had died already.  Each death left its mark on Harley’s heart.  She nodded at Nya but didn’t say anything.  She followed Nya inside the hotel and Levi walked beside her without say anything.  Castor held the door open and in his cranky state he wasn’t able to keep the jealous look from his face when he saw Harley and Levi walking together.  Harley sighed and chose to ignore it.  She was too tired to deal with Castor’s issues tonight.

Castor left them to return to his room with the other Lux.  Harley and Levi entered their room and Levi flopped on the bed and turned the TV on, mostly for sound.  “You can have the shower first,” he said.

In the bathroom Harley looked at her reflection.  She had healing bruises on both sides of her face.  There was dried blood crusted around her nose and mouth and when she pulled off her torn shirt she could still see the raised scar that hadn’t healed yet cutting across her shoulder.  She untied Levi’s shirt and examine the wound on her stomach.  It was still a jagged fresh wound that had only just closed.  She stripped off the rest of her clothes and turned the water on hot enough to nearly scald her.  She tested the water with her hand and the contrast of the hot water and the air conditioned bathroom raised chills on her skin and her flesh felt raw and sensitive.  Before she got into the shower she turned and cracked the door open.  The door opening made Levi roll his head towards her.  “You want to join me?” she asked.  Levi smiled at her and rolled off the bed.

Harley and Levi washed the blood from each other’s backs and rubbed the soreness away from each other’s muscles.  After the shower they lay in bed.  Dawn was a couple of hours away but they were ready to sleep.  Before they drifted off, however, Levi grabbed her hand and pulled her closer.  Without preamble he threw her leg over his and suddenly he was inside her.  The sex was a formality to the real intent behind Levi’s actions.  He pressed her face into his neck as he kissed hers.  Harley hesitated.  She didn’t want to be a drain on Levi’s energy but they both knew they needed it and neither would feed if the other didn’t.  They had both been bruised, broken and cut in the fighting and they would both heal quicker if they feed from one another.  The sex was encouragement for them both to take what they needed.  Finally, Harley pushed her reservations away and sank her teeth into his neck.  Levi did the same and soon they were both satisfied.  Together they sighed, falling into the healing pleasure that came from feeding from each other.

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The next day Harley, Castor, a red-haired Lux, Levi, Nya, and Evie sat in Castor’s room.  The Nocte had made their way downstairs before the sun set.  They all cringed away from the sun on the way to the Lux’s room, except for Harley.  In Castor’s room they set about making plans for the fight the next day.  Levi and Cas both were on edge and kept arguing with each other and trying to talk over one another.  Nya watched with an amused look on her face and Evie mostly looked annoyed by their bickering.  The red-hair Lux, Julie, just looked confused and was defensive for Castor’s sake.  Harley could tell that Julie just thought they weren’t getting along due to their different natures.

“Enough,” Harley barked.  Everyone stopped talking and looked to her.  “The only real plan that needs to be made is what to do if I die.”  Both Levi and Castor started to protest.  “Just shut up and listen.  Both of you.  If I die, you ALL have to make sure that the Rogue doesn’t make it out alive.”

“Too bad we can’t sneak another bomb in,” Evie said regretfully.

They all agreed.  They had already determined that they wouldn’t be able to bring a bomb in again.  The Burners would surely be expecting that.  And if they found a bomb, Harley was sure, that they wouldn’t let her and Haddon fight it out on their own.  A bomb would be a sure indication that they didn’t plan on allowing any Ignis out of the building.  And if they came in with a one Haddon wouldn’t show.  They were well aware of the fact that once Harley and Haddon got done fighting, no matter how it turned out, it was highly unlikely that the Ignis would just walk away.  There was no doubt in any of their minds that the Ignis would attack after Harley and Haddon’s fight. Harley and her partners were prepared for that event they just didn’t want to incite it before it had to happen. 

Harley felt the anxiety ball up in her stomach.  It was made of excitement as well as apprehension. 
If I’m lucky—if I win—I will be able finally take care of Cutter
.
 
She knew that he wouldn’t miss the fight.  And she also knew that if she did win, she would unlikely be in any shape to go after Cutter.  “You have to promise me something else.”

Everyone agreed.  “If I die,” she ignored the looks that Levi and Cas gave her, “you also have to make sure that Cutter dies as painfully as possible.”

“Done,” Levi said quickly.

“Agreed,” Castor added.

They continued to hash out ideas before finally agreeing that they had all talked the subject to death.  The Nocte stood to leave; all of them needed to find Ignis to feed.  Before Harley could leave the room Cas caught her hand and held her back.  Levi caught her eye and his jaw tightened.  “Bring me back a snack?” she asked with a smile.  Levi nodded and shut the door behind him.

She turned to look at Cas.  His green eyes glowed down at her until they slowly faded to white.  She smiled at him and pulled him closer.  Castor didn’t hesitate to kiss her back and she pushed him towards the bed without pulling away.  He was taller than Levi and she had to stretch to reach his mouth.  When they fell back on the bed Harley straddled Castor’s waist and she could feel her fangs slide down.  Her Nocte purred, pleased with Harley’s acceptance of what they both needed.

Castor pulled Harley’s clothes off and she watched him with an amused smile on her face.  Everywhere that Cas touched burned in the best ways possible.  Her entire body ached to feel him inside her and against her skin.  There was no comparison between Levi and Castor, and it would be unfair to try.  They were both so different.  Nearly opposite ends of the spectrum.  Soft and hard.  Easy going and emotional.  Complacent and aggressive.  Harley gripped Castor’s hair with his face between her legs and arched her back.  She pulled him roughly, but playfully, up her body until they were face to face.  She kissed him and could taste herself against his mouth and it only made her blood boil harder.

Harley wrapped her legs around Cas and rolled so that she ended up on top of him again.  She leaned forward and kissed his neck as she reached between them and guided him inside her.  She ran her teeth over his neck and he moaned in agreement.  She grabbed his hands and placed them against her head.  “You too,” she whispered.

His white eyes met her black ones.  “No.  Not when you need all over your strength.”

“Don’t argue with me.  It won’t take anything away from me that I need.” she smiled at him and he shook his head but stopped resisting.  The brilliant white light exploded in her head as she sank her teeth into his flesh and they both burned with shared ecstasy.

Afterwards, Harley allowed herself a few minutes to lay with Castor.  She wanted to believe that it was just because she knew it would make him happy.  But she could only pretend that for so long.  She lay on her stomach and Cas lay on his side next to her.  He ran his finger tips over her back, just barely making contact with her skin.  The tender touch raised goose pimples along her skin.  A sigh slid out of her without her even realizing it was going to happen.  Harley tensed and rolled over onto her side to face Castor.

Castor sighed and pulled his hand away.  “Why do you do that?”

Harley stiffened.  “Do what?”

“Pull away.”

Harley sighed again, this time out of frustration.  “What do you want from me?”

Castor sighed again.  “I want you to let go.  Just because you care about someone doesn’t mean you are weak.”

Part of her wanted to lash out at Castor and stop him from looking at her with that gentle look in his eyes.  But she stopped herself.  It wasn’t fair for her to treat Castor badly.   “This is how things are Cas.  You have to get used to that.”  Cas watched her with a clenched jaw.  I have a mission—a job to do here.  You can be a part of it or not.  That’s your choice.  But I’m not going to go all gushy-hearts-and-flowers for you.”  She turned away, not wanting to see the hurt look in Castor’s green eyes.  When she felt his hand gently stroke her arm she let out the breath that she hadn’t realized she was holding. 

“Have you considered what you fighting the Rogue will do to the balance?” Castor asked her, changing the subject.

Harley had but she didn’t acknowledge that she had.  When she didn’t respond Castor continued.  “You said you thought you were here because he was here.  Well, what does that mean for when he is gone?”  Cas was obviously refusing to admit that she could lose the fight.

“I don’t know,” she said finally.  That was a whole can of worms that she didn’t want to open just yet.  She knew that balance was necessary.  A Nocte as strong as hers was here because a Lux as strong as the Rogue was here.  What would happen after the Rogue was dead and she was left—
or vice versa
.  An imbalance would be created again. 
Will that let something even worse through?
She wondered.

They lay together for a few more minutes before she climbed from the bed.  She needed sleep badly.  Without saying a word she kissed him softly on the lips and he only hesitated a moment before kissing her back.  Harley quickly dressed and left the room.

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As Harley walked back to her room she took a deep breath and concentrated on her body and the injuries that she had sustained.  She felt great, stronger than ever in fact.  She knew it was, in part, due to feeding from Castor and Levi.  But she also was sure that it was something else.  Every time that she had been noticeably injured, she felt stronger than before once she healed. She got stronger every time she healed from a major wound.  Right now, she practically felt like she could and fly to her and Levi’s room.

When she opened the door she found Nya and Evie already in the room.  On the floor there was an Ignis bound and gagged.  It was an older man who didn’t look as if he had been an Ignis for long.

“A gift from Levi,” Nya laughed.

Harley returned the laugh and shut the door.  “How in the world did you get him in here without anyone noticing?”

“No one ever pays attention,” Evie laughed.

Nya watched as Harley walked to the table and flopped into a chair.