Divinity: The Gathering: Book One (27 page)

“Just Cam,” I stopped her.

She smiled, her face blushing to that adorable pink again.

“Right, sorry. Cam,” She corrected herself with a smile.

I made sure to stand at enough of a distance away from her, so she didn’t have to look so far up at me. I should have changed my height to something more reasonable, but I didn’t want to be unprepared for one of the main reasons I was here in first place.

“You should stay off of your ankle for a d
ay or so if you can.” I suggested.

“I will, or I’ll try. I have classes early unfort
unately, and I’m gonna need it to work by Saturday. I can’t disappoint my students.” She replied.

I wrinkled my brow, “Students?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m a gymnastics coach at the YMCA on the weekends.” She said.

“Wow, you have a full schedule. Volunteer too?” I noted with surprise.

She shrugged a shoulder and laughed a bit, “No, gotta make some sort of a living. I mean it is minimum wage, but I love kids and gymnastics so it doesn’t even seem like work to me anyway.” She smiled.

I found her so refreshing and admirable
, and the more I looked at and listened to her, the more of me she had in her palm.

There was a brief pause.

Just then, the heavy wooden door at the end of the hall swung open, and she shook her head with a smirk.

“I knew it was only a matter of time,” She
whispered.

Four girls approached us, three were blonde
, and one had dark hair. Two of them were ones I had seen down in the lounge when we first came in. From the looks of it, they were either cheer leaders or models, and it didn’t look like Star thought very highly of them either. She immediately stuck her key into the lock of her apartment door, and rolled her eyes in disdain.

They all wore some sort o
f fashionable night clothes, even on a chilly night like this, and I was pleased to see that the clothing was quite… skimpy, which left a lot of tantalizingly sweet flesh visible. As an automatic lust response, my eyes glowed as my lust grew, but none of the girls noticed. I quickly turned my face away from Star, because she on the other hand—would see them.

“Oh my God
— Star are you alright? You’re face…that looks painful and horrible,” The tall, slender brown eyed blond in the front asked with perfectly rehearsed, over exaggerated sentiment.

She gap
ed at Star, and her entourage followed suit looking more so— at me with both inviting curiosity and lustful smiles.

“Officer, what happened?” The shorter blonde with blue eyes asked.

“Nothing, everything is fine.” Star replied quickly.

“Just a little a
ccident, she’s okay.” I added.

“Well, thank God you were there to help and bring Star back safely Officer…Black,” The brown eyed b
londe with a portrait smile commented. She craned her neck and almost fell backwards, just to read the nametag above my badge, all the while thrusting her chest forward while gazing up at me.

They were all looking up at me now
, in the same manner. So much for showing Star concern, but I now understood why she had rolled her eyes in the first place, upon their arrival.

“Did you get into a fight or something?” The dark haired one asked her nonchalantly.

Star cut her eyes to her, “No, not yet,” She replied flatly, more towards the brown eyed blonde though. She and I both apparently shared the same sense of humor.

They all continued to stare
at her bruised mouth, and I could tell it more angered than embarrassed her.

“What’s with the crutch?” The seeming leader of the group asked her then, appa
rently used to Star’s sarcasm. The blonde ignored it and continued on with her concerned friend act.

“I hurt my ankle.” She told them
all in exasperation.

“Damn, that sucks. Did you get into car acc
ident?” The blonde one feigned a pout, and asked.

“No.” Star simply answere
d, still refusing to divulge information to the nosy group.

The girl wrinkled her brow, as if Star’s
answers made no sense in relation to her injuries.

“Fall down the stairs? Injury at the gym?” The brown eyed blonde continued to try and guess
, but I could hear a distinct note of sarcasm in her voice too.

“Good night Logan,” Star finally said with a pleasant half-smile through her bruised lip
, as she cracked open her door, and prepared to head inside.

Her way of polite saying ‘screw you’ made me smile.

The one she called Logan rolled her eyes, and shook her head with a sigh of consternation that made me realize that there was an apparent rivalry of some sort between her and Star on some level. I was sure it had something to do with Logan’s arrogant demeanor. I could already sense it by simply watching her body language, and the underlying tones in her voice. It was laced with envy in the way she spoke to Star.

If these girls only knew, that in the end, Star would be one of the ones destined to protect them…given they’d even make it. I wished I could tell them that, or even show or tell Star herself, but it wouldn’t have been believable on their parts anyway, even if I were allowed to. I could see Morning Star taking girls like this first. They were his favorites, because they made excellent slave lovers for him. He would either spare them for his collection to rent out, or keep for his own personal pleasures.

They really didn’t seem too concerned with her answers so I came to her rescue.

“Well, I’ll let you get some rest. It was a pleasure to meet you— not given the circumstances though, and if you ever need anything, do not hesitate to give me a call,” I told her as I dug out a card that I magically conjured just seconds ago, from my back pocket.

It looked professional enough. I only hoped she didn’t try to call and verify who I was just yet.

She took the card, and then I handed her bags and the crutch to her. She took them, looking reluctantly at the crutch and then smiled as she read over my card. She looked up at me with surprised expectation, and both her brows went up in question.

I think she took the obvious hint in my giving her my personal contact information
, and I didn’t care what the other girls thought either.

“Thanks for everything. The show’s all yours this time. Good luck and goodnight.” She smirked at me as she opened the door without another glance at the girls, slipped inside
, and closed it behind her — but not before I got a quick glimpse of what looked like the kitchen, first.

“We are so glad that we have an officer with your dedication around campus. You are here around campus right? I’m Logan by the way,” The brown eyed blonde in the front instantly stuck her hand out to shake.

I shook it, admiring the full creamy slopes of her breasts that seemed to spill out of her flimsy camisole top as her robe conveniently fell open in the front.

I licked my lips, looking at all of them
, and then sighed.

No, don’t do it, I told myself.

“Around campus? You look like you’re metropolitan.” The shorter blonde added, after gazing over my uniform with a flirtatious smile.

“Ladies, have a great night and stay safe,” I tipped my hat with a quick smile
, and took a step towards the direction of the wooden door. They parted the way for me, having surrounded me like cats in heat.

I began to walk briskly away, forcing myself not to look back and even think what
I was thinking about those young, supple girls.

“Oh wait Officer Black…” Logan called out.

I shouldn’t have stopped, but I did and I turned around, my eyes scanning her bare legs from her calves to her thighs to her crotch.

“Yes?” I kept a straight face.

The intense rush and onslaught of hormones, and the strong scent of passion and desire coming from all of the girls at the same time was not helping, and it was almost overwhelming; even for me right now given how I was already feeling about Star.

“Well, are you
— like working our campus now? Or are you metropolitan?” She repeated with a princess smile.

I thought about that one for a moment. That would be perfect, of course I’d have to tweak some things as far as the staff here went
, and even the nearest police department after all— and soon.

T
hen I thought of Star again with a quick glance at the door of her apartment, “You may see more of me around. You girls have a good night,” I smiled, and continued onward back to the wooden door. I had to leave before I gave in, and acted upon my natural urges.

I instantly heard them began to chitter with excitement
, talking about me and then Star, and then me again. All of their eyes were still glued to my back, and waves of potent lust kept hitting me in one powerful rush after the other. The one called Logan whispered—loud and clear to me; that she wanted and would get me, because there was no way I could be interested in Star, which is how the other girls had also taken it. I’d keep that and her in mind the next time I needed a release for any darkness I’d taken in.

Thinking of Star helped to curb that f
amiliar innate urge in me though, and I was thankful. I was trying to kick the habit especially since I would not be returning to Morning Star’s domain any time in the near or distant future.

I wasn’t ready to completely leave just yet
, I thought as I headed back down to the first floor and out of the front doors. I walked the entire perimeter of the apartment complex, before heading back to the cruiser where I sat and waited— for the Logan girl to return to her apartment.

             
            
 
X: Starling:

            
 
C
hina left the overhead light on above the electric stove for me. From the still lingering aroma, I could tell she had blown out one of her infamous scented candles not long ago too. The scent of fresh laundry detergent and spring flowers still hung pleasingly in the air. Thankfully, she was asleep already, which was no surprise considering it was a little past two in the morning.

The bruise and cut looked even worse now than from when I
had originally seen it in the bathroom mirror, and then again at the diner. It was definitely something that I dreaded having to explain to China and Joel. This day had started out badly, with my dream, but it ended sweetly in the arms of an incredibly gorgeous man in uniform.

I liked him carrying me, feeling his rock solid
, muscular arms around my body — cradling me against his broad, firm chest, but it would have been more ideal if it were on a beach at sunset, or up a winding staircase like Scarlet O’Hara.

I sighed and examined
my face again in the full length mirror on my closet door, and then glanced back down at my ankle. There was no way to play these injuries off to anyone if Logan didn’t run her mouth, and I already knew she would.

The thought made me groa
n as I opened the closet door, intent on storing the crutch, and then undressed; finding my pj’s. I was ready for a shower, and to sleep for the next two or three days.

I spied the box of sample Amb
ien’s China had gotten for me, along with the self-help book she so graciously picked up on the side, still sitting on my dresser where I had tossed it. I picked up the box, reading the back label and dosage instructions. Popping one out of the foil package, I carried it with me, making a pit stop in the kitchen to down it with a glass of water before finally heading to the bathroom.

I didn’t need it to sleep, I needed it to make sure that I would sleep peacefully…without any i
mpending nightmares.

God, I needed that hot shower
, and it didn’t take long for me to feel the powerfully drowsy effects of the Ambien’s beginning to take over. I made sure to keep quiet when I closed the bathroom door behind me, not bothering to turn on any lights that China might be able to see under her closed bedroom door. I didn’t need her to wake up right now.

I hobbled quickly,
straight for my room. My door had been ajar, so I relied on using the cone of soft light spilling from inside to guide myself. I was ready to crash with no chance of any kind of dreams tonight. I don’t think that what happened at the Hospice or in Professor Phillips’ office earlier, would be the last of it, and that really bothered me, but I was too sleepy to continue to ponder it. I cursed to myself, realizing that I needed to get some ice on my ankle if I wanted to be able to walk tomorrow at all.