Shadowed Magic (The Enlightened Species Novella) (8 page)

Aymee nuzzled his neck grinning like a schoolgirl. “You know this makes you my boyfriend, right?” she whispered kissing the curve between his neck and shoulder.

“Witch.” He muttered with a groan.

****

It hadn’t been difficult to find out Aymee lived in a loft apartment above her business, or to break into it. Zack had simply ridden his skateboard in front of the place then asked the first kid he ran saw walk out of the building. The stairs were right inside the open door. The empty drawers in her bedroom told him she had bailed to stay somewhere else. Frustrated, he’d pounded his dad’s gun on her bed. Kade was dead. His shoulder burned like a motherfucker. The bitch would pay.

Then he’d remembered her telling the cops she’d be in to check mug books today. Hanging out in front of a police station might be dangerous. Still, it was the only chance he had to find her. He’d borrowed Jake’s motorcycle. Not like his friend would be able to ride it for a while with a busted pelvis. The parking structure across from the station gave him the cover he needed. He stuck to the shadows and chain-smoked a full pack of Lucky’s. The only guy he saw stood at the front door wearing a suit and holding a briefcase checking his watch every thirty five seconds.

Just when he thought he’d missed her or that she wouldn’t show, a Black Escalade pulled up at the station doors. The short blonde he’d seen when he left the hospital got out of the driver's seat. A tall dark haired man exited the passenger door, opened the back door and lifted that bitch, Aymee, into his arms and carried her like a doll. The three from the SUV spoke to the suit with the briefcase and they all went inside. Zack slid his ass down the wall to get comfy and wait. He wished he’d brought another pack of smokes with him.

Eros walked, fully shielded and shadowed, behind Shane mirroring his movements the way he'd perfected over the eons. Jess, Shane and Mark walked three wide forming a barrier that forced the mulling officers to detour around them. The two detectives from the night before met them.

“Aymee are you able to stand for pictures and fingerprints?” The detective asked.

“Ahemm.” Mark stepped partially in front of Shane with Aymee in his arms. “Unless you officially charge my client you are not booking her. Quit overstepping your bounds detectives or we leave now. We have come as a courtesy to answer questions. Nothing more.”

Eros liked Mark already. Aymee's expression held such a level of relief that Eros thought she would hug the attorney if she could. Hell, he wanted to hug the man.

“All right. We're set up in interview one. This way.” One officer led the way through a hallway while the other took position behind Jess who trailed Shane and Eros. Mark stepped through the door held open by the lead detective. When Shane began to enter, he said, “I'm sorry, sir, you're not permitted in the interview.”

Shane nudged shoulders with the detective. “I will get her seated.” Shane gave the detective no chance to argue. Jess blocked the second officer from the doorway while Eros took position in the corner beside the seat Shane set Aymee in next to Mark. Eros could imagine the glare the door-holding detective got from Shane by the widening of the detective's eyes as Shane exited. Shane had been pretty reserved … for a warrior. Eros quickly brushed the hair at Aymee's neck so she would know of his presence. She sighed softly.

The two detectives sat opposite the small rickety table from them. One man opened a file while the other flipped on the microphone anchored to the table. Cameras were located in each corner overlooking the room from every angle.

“For the record, could you please state and spell your name.”

Mark gave Aymee a nod when she glanced at him. “Aymee Lynn Yamamoto,” followed by her enunciating each letter.

“Attorney representing Miss Yamamoto, Mark Johnson.” The attorney stated without prompt.

“Detective Andy Cleveland.”

“Detective Jay Newman.”

“Miss Yamamoto, the ADA is satisfied with the details of your statement last night regarding the details of the incident. You shouldn’t have to reiterate those.” Detective Cleveland gave her a grin. “Did you disclose your training to the assailants at any time?”

Mark gave Aymee a nod. “No,” Aymee answered crisply.

“Why not?”

Mark nodded at her.

“Because, 'Don't rape me, I have a black belt' were not the first words in my mind, I focused on fighting four men instead.” Eros grinned, feisty little witch.

Newman put his hand to his mouth to hide his smile while Cleveland continued. “Did you use excessive force against your assailants?”

A slight tremor shook her. Eros doubted the detectives noticed. “Are you shitting me! I used whatever I needed to save myself. Did I hold back? Hell no. I also didn't kill them or castrate them once they were down. Don't think it didn't cross my mind. I honestly doubt I'm the first woman those men have attacked. You should thank me for saving you the trouble of tracking them down.”

After nearly an hour of irrelevant questions, Detective Newman excused himself. He returned a few minutes later to announce the interview concluded. A taller man wearing an expensive suit stepped in. Well tamed, stylishly cut, sandy blond hair, blue eyes and square cleft jaw topped the well-built human. It was Aymee's indrawn hiss that set Eros off. Recognition and indignation registered on her face followed quickly by fury. “You son-of-a-bitch,” Aymee cursed.

The man smirked at Aymee then address Detectives Cleveland and Newman. “I've decided not to pursue the investigation of Aymee Yamamoto. However, I do have a few questions for her as the victim in the case against her assailants. If you will excuse us.”

The detectives shrugged and left the room. “You're welcome to keep your attorney here. It's your money.”

Mark held his hand out and waved his fingers expectantly. The Sandy haired man handed Mark a paper. Mark scanned it thoroughly. “The investigation is closed.” Mark confirmed. “Would you like me to stay, Aymee?”

Aymee had continued to scowl at the newcomer. “No, I'll be fine. Thank you, Mr. Johnson.”

Mark gathered his things and left the room. The man sat across from her. Aymee folded her arms and leaned back defiantly. “You are such an asshole, Mitch.”

“I'm doing my job, Aymee. A man died.” Though Mitch looked sincere, Eros doubted the man's intentions. Mitch was stone-walling. “It would have been a dereliction of duty if you weren't at least questioned about it.”

“Oh, really? Did you find ethics in the last seven years?” Eros had never heard Aymee be rude to anyone. “Funny, cuz you still look like a prick to me.” He remembered her telling him 'prick' was one of the names men called their phallus. Mitch had a full head of hair ...

“Don't be like that, Aymee. When the report of what happened last night hit my desk, I freaked. You won't accept my calls, and I knew you wouldn't see me. This was the only way to see for myself you were alright.” Mick justified himself with a slight whine in his voice. Ahh. The moniker ‘prick’ acquired new meaning.

Eros could feel his blood boil. The selfish son-of-a-bitch had stressed Aymee out when she didn't need to be.

“Case in point. You are a prick. A
married
prick.”

“Emily and I divorced two years ago. You would know that if you'd taken even a single one of my calls. Opened a single letter. Spoke to me when I came to see you.”

“Well I didn't want to talk to you then or now.” Aymee rose stiffly. Damn it.

Eros broke protocol by telepathically calling to Shane on an open wavelength. He could give a shit less if other Volaticus heard him.
“
Shane,
Aymee
needs
you
…
NOW!
”

Mitch dashed around the table to aid Aymee. She slapped his hand away as Eros reached out to snap his arm like a twig. “Don't you fucking touch me,” Aymee barked. Eros refrained from harming the man, but his dentes slammed into his mouth.

Mitch gave her a wounded look. “Aymee, give me another chance. I've never stopped loving you or thinking about you. I know I messed up, but I've learned from my mistakes. Let me prove that to you.”

“I don't do second chances, Mitch. I told you seven years ago I never wanted to see you again and that has
not
changed.” Aymee cringed with pain but backed several steps away from Mitch.

The door opened and Shane stood there looking from Aymee to Mitch, his eyes narrowed. “You okay?” Shane asked Aymee while his gaze pinned Mitch in place.

“Yeah, Just … just get me out of here,” Aymee whispered.

Without hesitation, Shane lifted Aymee into his arms and marched out. Eros followed behind. Jess waited in the SUV with the motor running. Eros jumped in when Shane opened the back door but scooted over to leave room for Aymee. The second she was seated and belted, he took her less damaged hand in his. She squeezed it gingerly, leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes. A single tear ran down her cheek.

Mitch had obviously been someone Aymee had cared about at one time. The kind of animosity she'd showed came from emotional pain. Mitch had declared his love to her … had she loved him back? Did she still? His chest tightened at the thought of her in love with someone else.

****

Jess and Shane dropped her and Eros back at his house. Eros carried her in, set her on the couch with a blanket, forced drugs into her and now knelt lighting a fire in probably the only fireplace in Mesa. All the while, he'd never spoken a word about what he'd seen between her and Mitch. With the fire lit, he dropped his head into his hand braced against his bent knee. The first sign of distress she'd seen from him since he roared into the night after her attack.

“Eros, will you sit with me?” Aymee asked. He stayed squatted a few minutes more, then sighed and joined her. Wrapping his arm over her shoulder, he pulled her against his side. “I'm sorry about today. Mitch is a ...” She began.

“Prick. I heard.” Eros's deep voice held sadness. “He seems to care for you.”

“Maybe.” She shrugged. Over the years, she'd avoided thinking of Mitch ... or at least tried to. Earlier with Eros, she'd felt her heart might heal for the first time. Of course, Mitch would try to ruin it. “I didn't know he was an ADA. I can't believe he opened an investigation on me.” Actually she did. Mitch had practically stalked her for years, using the private investigators his old firm kept on retainer to track her. She'd hoped that had ended a year ago when he'd begun trying to personally get in touch with her. She'd made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him and things had seemed to calm afterward. She should have known he'd hear of her attack and use it as an excuse to re-appear.

“And you?” Eros prompted. “Do you care for him?”

Aymee thought hard on that. “Once upon a time, I thought I loved him.” Eros stiffened beside her. “I met him at the university. Of course, I
wasn't
a student. I had gone there to teach a martial arts class and promote the Ryu. He was in his last year of Law School. We dated for over a year in secret. That should have been a big red flag … the secrecy, but I trusted him. He said lawyers date quietly and marry big for their careers.” Aymee hadn't even told Jess, yet she felt like she needed to confide in Eros. He sat quietly listening, never pushed her.

“I stupidly thought he'd marry me.” The words caught in her throat.

Eros lifted her chin forcing her to meet his gaze. Thankfully, she didn't see sympathy or pity, just curiosity. “Why didn't you marry him?”

Aymee snort laughed with disdain. “He didn't ask … well, he didn't ask me anyway. Turns out, he'd been dating someone else the whole time. Emily. She had the right last name and education to make her an
appropriate
wife in the eyes of his family, plus Emily could have … err
…
whatever
. He spent months trying to convince me that marrying Emily had nothing to do with love. He said it was a career move. Bastard wanted me to be his mistress.”

“He intended for you to be his concubine?” The outrage on Eros's face melted her heart. “Aymee, you are a woman of immeasurable worth. If the 'prick' didn't recognize the value of your love, he doesn't deserve it.”

“That's how I felt, too. So, I told him to 'go to hell.'” Then she'd tried to recover from Mitch. A long process she only realized now, looking at Eros, she'd accomplished. Mitch had never been LESS appealing to her than now.

Eros brushed her bangs from her forehead. “The right response to a male out of line, to be sure, though I doubt it aided your heartbreak. I too have loved in my lifetime. When a love is pure, it never dies, when corrupt, it morphs into something dark before it invariably dies.”

“You're talking about your wives right, the mothers of your children.” And something Aymee had always been curious about. She knew from Umbrae that Eros's sons were born of three different mothers. Added to Umbrae's mother, Eros had been married four times. All were human women known as Heredity because they could bear human/Elven hybrid, aka Hulven, children.

The look of sorrow broke her heart. “They were each amazing women. I cherish the memory of them … except Umbrae's mother. She knew my species before our marriage. Declared her love before her god and I upon my honor. Our wedding night was beautiful, yet she ran away the next day. Months later, I learned of her suicide. Though hurt, I didn't curse her memory. I took the blame. Justified her action as a shortcoming of my disclosure … my fault, somehow. When I learned of Umbrae-- that she delivered my child only to abandon her to a fate worse than death, the darkness began. That act of betrayal corrupted the love I felt for her smearing it with dark resentment. My children are my joy.” His voice fell quieter as he spoke. “I would appreciate it if you never share that with Umbrae. She needn’t know I despise her mother.”