Shades of Blood (13 page)

“Where do you think she
’
ll be?” Eden asked softly. Noah felt the tension ease from his shoulders and his lips turned up at the corners. He felt a little smug. This was the first time she
’
d sounded amenable to his suggestion that she try and mend her broken friendship with Tobe.

“Try the training room,” he replied and pressed a soft kiss to her lips. The faint, soft floral scent of her perfume tickled his nose and the taste of sweet warm popcorn melted against his tongue as she kissed him back. It was with a little embarrassment he remembered his dad was in the room. Eden seemed to remember at the exact same time and they pulled away reluctantly.

“I
’
m sorry I called your dad an asshole.”

“You could direct that apology at me,” Alain grumbled.

Eden shook her head, her eyes laughing into Noah
’
s. “Not a chance.”

He grinned down at her and kissed her quickly again. “See you soon.”

She nodded, her fingers tracing down his arms. “Be careful.”

“Always.”

When she left the room, Noah met his father
’
s gaze. “When are you going to stop insulting my girlfriend?”

“Moi?” Alain growled. “She called me an asshole.”

“Well if the shoe f-”

“If you value your life you will not finish that sentence.”

Noah shrugged. “Whatever. You had that set-down coming. You
’
re horrible to her.”

As per usual his father waved the accusation off. “You better go, get ready for patrol.”

Noah nodded, annoyance at his father still wriggling in his veins.

He moved to leave but Alain stopped him. “Romany and McLeish are on their way.”

He froze, guilt crashing down around him. He
’
d promised he wouldn
’
t keep anything from Eden but when Cyrus had contacted McLeish to let him know Tobe and Cameron were safe in Boston, McLeish had delivered the news that he and Romany had a possible lead on the leader of the rebellious Neith and were coming to Boston as soon as McLeish was assured his Neith would be safe and secure during his absence. Noah hadn
’
t told Eden. And he
’
d asked the others not to say anything either. Their relationship was so tenuous at the moment, one snap and it would be broken. It was selfish… but he wanted those few days of peace with her. A few days of peace before the shit hit the fan.

And it looked like the shit was about to hit the fan.

“OK,” he replied hoarsely, hating what was coming next.

He hoped he found a soul eater out on patrol. He really needed to hit something.

South Boston had
been
quiet. Whatever douchebag alerted security to possible soul eater activity in the south had Noah
’
s irritated and very sarcastic thanks. Bored, Noah had gotten back into his car and drove north to Downtown. He strolled down the streets in his leather jacket, his kaskara strapped to his back underneath it. He willed himself to concentrate, to not think about what was going on back at the mansion, about what would go down when Romany arrived.

Noah shook his head, glancing behind him at the sound of a car passing down Essex. His eyes were fierce in the dark as he turned back around, heading slowly north up Kingston Street. It was 4am. Quiet. Still.

The hair on the back of his neck rose and Noah stilled.

There.

A dance of shadow between buildings at the top of the junction. A muffled cry got caught in Noah
’
s sensitive ears and he saw the slide of feet as one person shoved another out of sight behind the buildings. His spidey senses weren
’
t exactly screaming soul eater but he took off anyway, his running footsteps silent across the street. He darted into the dark, ready to shrug out of his jacket if need be.

He didn
’
t.

A brute of a man in a white t-shirt and baseball cap had a woman pinned to the brick wall. She struggled and screamed against his hands as he ripped at her nylons, forcing her legs apart. A calm fury took hold of Noah.

It was one thing to deal with monsters that were human in appearance.

Another thing entirely to deal with humans who were monsters.

Without a word, no sound to let the would-be rapist know he was there, Noah reached for him and grabbed the heavy-set man by the back of the shoulders. He pulled hard enough to dislodge him from his attack against the woman, sending him stumbling backwards further into the dark. He faced Noah now, the light spilling in from the street illuminating the utter shock on his face. “You think this makes you a man?” Noah asked softly, disgust curling his lip.

The guy blinked at him and then glanced at the woman who stood frozen with shock and terror. He licked his lips, the whites of his eyes visible, like a trapped animal strategizing a way out.

Noah didn
’
t wait for an answer. He pulled back his elbow and slammed a fist into the attacker
’
s face. The attacker crumpled, his legs buckling first. He fell to the ground like a ragdoll that had been weighted, his head smacking against concrete with a sickening thud. Feeling somewhat better, Noah turned from the unconscious man to check on the woman but she was already coming out of her stupor. With tear-streaked cheeks she gave him a wide-eyed, terrified look before taking off, her sandals slapping against the concrete manically as she slid around the corner and out of sight before Noah could say a word.

Sighing, Noah pulled out his iPhone. He
’
d like to say this was the first time he
’
d dealt with this sort of thing while on patrol but it wasn
’
t. He dialed Cyrus.

“Noah?”

“Princeps, I
’
ve got an unconscious would-be rapist here. What do you want me to do?”

The phone crackled with tense silence. Ever since Cyrus
’
wife (Eden
’
s mom), Merrit, had been raped by Ryan Winslow, Cyrus had taken on a certain policy when it came to rapists. It was a controversial policy but not one anyone felt like arguing over unless they wanted their own asses handed to them by Cyrus.

“I will send in some men to deal with him. Where is he?”

Noah knew exactly what Cyrus meant by
‘
deal with him
’
. By the time the Neith were finished with this guy he wouldn
’
t have an instrument left to rape a woman with. “Corner of Bedford and Kingston. Behind the café.”

“Wait there until my men arrive and then I want you to go to Logan International. McLeish and Romany
’
s flight is due to arrive soon.”

A sick feeling coiled in Noah
’
s stomach. “Does Eden know?”

“Call me when you pick them up. I will tell her then. She is with Tobe right now and I do not want to upset any progress she may be making there. It is nice to see them talking.”

“Talking or fighting?”

“A bit of both.”

Noah smiled, a humorless smile. “Guess I have that to look forward to, too.”

“This will not come between you and Eden unless you let it.”

“Easier said than done.”

“Hmm.” Cyrus sighed. “The flight arrives at 4.45am. Be there.”

The line went dead as Noah replied, “Yes, Sir.” He grunted. Cyrus didn
’
t know how to deal with this any better than they did. He wondered if the Princeps had ever been this pissed at Darius before.

The unease in his stomach grew and Noah leaned back against the brick wall, drawing in a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves. Eden had to pass the test. For all of them.

She had to pass the test.

You and Me… We used to be Friends

It was a wonder the ceiling hadn
’
t given away to the bolt holding the punch bag suspended, what with the way Tobe was doing everything in her power to decimate it. There were cracks in the leather where there hadn
’
t been before. Eden scowled as Tobe took another swing at it. She had mad boxing skills, she really did, and they had only gotten more frantic when Eden had come down to talk to her.

For two hours she
’
d sat there watching Tobe.

Three times she
’
d said hi, only to be very, very carefully ignored.

Now Eden was just tired and pissed off. It really was exhausting pretending everything was hunky dory. OK, so pretending with Noah had been exhausting in a good way and she was glad that they
’
d finally slept together. It was
awesome
. Everything about it. The sex. The intimacy. She felt closer to him than she
’
d ever had but the happiness they had spun between them was fragile. And they both knew it.

Eden heaved another heavy sigh and saw Tobe
’
s jaw clench at the sound.

OK, enough was enough. “Are you going to be a little bitch for the rest of our lives or do you think you actually might forgive me at some point?” she snapped. She had apologized a million times for what happened to Mhairi. Tobe knew how much she
’
d cared about the old woman. Why was she punishing her for this?!

Tobe drew to a stop, her features tight with anger. She swiped at her sweaty forehead. “Excuse me?” she asked, her accent seeming more pronounced with her anger. “ ae
’
you talkin
’
tae me?”

Yeah… way more pronounced.

“No, Mr. DeNiro, I
’
m talking to my friend Tobe,” Eden cracked.

Tobe grimaced at her lame
Taxi Driver
joke. “We
’
re not friends.”

“Yeah we are.”

“Naw, we
’
re not.”

“Yeah we are. Or we will be once you forgive me.” She pleaded with her eyes. “I don
’
t like making myself vulnerable to people, Tobe. Surely my sitting here begging you like a virgin quarterback on prom night means something to you.”

“Now that was just disturbing.”

Eden smirked, a glimmer of hope sparking in her chest. “Well?”

Tobe cocked her hip, her eyes still hard. “Fight me.”

Unease gripped Eden. “What?”

“Fight me. Then maybe I
’
ll think about it.”

Fight Tobe? No way. She was Ankh. Tobe was Neith. She
’
d kick her ass and have one more thing that she needed to be forgiven for. “Uh…”

“Now, Eden.”

The command in Tobe
’
s voice pressed a button of indignation and Eden found herself standing to her feet, her movements casual as she crossed the distance between them. They stood inches apart. “OK. But I think we-”