Slayde, Book 2 (Chaos Time Serial) (2 page)

He’d been ready to walk away from her that day, as impressive as her fighting skills had been. He would have left and never come back, if not for that money, he’d always wonder just what she was. But she was here now, and every day made the curiosity burn just a little brighter.

Sable had her thick hair in braids hanging long and heavy down either side of her face. A pink jungle flower was tucked behind one ear and she looked so damn young. Looking like she was, with that sparkle in her dove gray eyes, it made him think of someone he hadn’t thought of in years. The memory of a ghost long forgotten began to surface and the anger right along with it.

He glanced away, shoving the phantom image down. Swallowing that hated memory, forcing it back into the black box he’d created, where he never thought of it, never had to face the emotions it brought out. Where he could forget
she’d
ever been.

She glanced down, her smoky gaze settled on the book bag he rarely let out of his sight. When a frown ghosted across her face, he turned to look where she was looking, only to realize he’d left the zipper cracked, revealing a ratty piece of purple stuffed animal. Growling, he shoved the stupid thing down to the bottom of the bag and zipped it up forcefully.

“Why do you carry that thing with you everywhere?” she asked softly, her brows furrowed. “You can shoot the stuff out of your hands. You really don’t need a gun.”

He wasn’t stupid. She’d seen the toy. The stupid toy he kept telling himself he’d throw away tomorrow, but could never seem to bring himself to part with, no matter how much it pissed him off that he couldn’t just let it go. She wasn’t prying, and that was… weird.

Sable confused him constantly. Everything about her. He kisses her, she ignores him. She knows he’s hiding a secret, she doesn’t ask about it. Shaking his head, tired of trying to figure her out, he just shrugged.

“Because no one’s scared of a man holding out his hand, but everyone’s scared of a gun. I prey on human nature, Nix. That’s it.”

She didn’t say anything, but glanced down at his bag again. He toed it into shadow and lifted a brow.

Loud giggling snagged their attention and they both glanced down in time to see a man and woman running out of one of the bustling stalls of the market towards their tree.

Sable hissed and slinked further into shadow, pulling some of the vines in front of her to keep covered. But the couple wasn’t much concerned with glancing up, the moment her back touched the tree he was on her. There was no pretty words, no kisses; he simply swept aside his loincloth exposing himself. The woman grunted and widened her stance. He swept up one of her legs, resting it against his chest and then thrust in.

Sable inhaled sharply and as quietly, but quickly as he could, Slayde shifted himself around her and placed his hand across her mouth.

She was still in his arms. Her hands gripped onto his wrist, not trying to push him away or even bring him closer, it was almost as if she needed something to hold on to. Her eyes were large and she kept blinking as a red blush stole up her neck.

A soft shifting of breeze stirred a loose strand of hair, tickling his nose with it and he smelled flowers. An intoxicating soapy scent he couldn’t help but breathe in deeper. She shivered, and her reaction prompted him to be bolder. Giving in to his reckless nature, he stroked his thumb along the inside of her wrist, her skin was so soft. Her pulse fluttered frantically and he was shocked to discover… his was too.

He should really let her go. This was stupid. She was just some girl, a stranger he barely knew. But he didn’t. He held her tighter, squeezing a little harder while his eyes remained glued to the couple below them.

Their grunts were loud. Which was good, because it helped to mask the fact that Sable was breathing so hard it sounded like the buzz of a hummingbird’s wings.

“Sshh,” he whispered in her ear, resting his cheek against hers and felt an immediate wash of goose bumps prickle her flesh. She trembled.

It was obvious she’d never seen anything like this before. This was nothing new to him. He’d seen plenty of crack whores giving it up to get their next fix, sucked to admit it, but this kind of thing was old hat for him. It’d stopped turning him on a long time ago.

But Sable kept blinking and looking away, blinking and looking away. Over and over, as if unable to tear her gaze from the sight being played out before them.

With one last high pitched wail, the noises stopped. There was a rustling of leaves and then shared giggles and low whispers. A moment later they ran back to the market, gripping hands.

The entire ordeal couldn’t have lasted longer than five minutes, but holding Sable between his thighs while he’d played with the petal softness of her skin, it’d almost felt like they’d been locked together for hours.

When he was sure the couple was gone he pulled his hand off of her, breathing a little harder himself, confused by his own reactions. By the way his heart pounded, or the suddenly slick palms, his dry mouth, licking his lips, he cleared his throat, shoving all that crap away.

She licked her own lips and wouldn’t look at him. He frowned, uncomfortable with her silence. He cleared his throat, not sure what to say, but thankfully he was spared from having to say anything at all. The hot breeze blew the sweetest scent into his nose. The scent of meat on a spit. Sable tipped her head up and he knew she smelled it too.

“I’m effing hungry,” he growled in tandem with his stomach.

“I can’t believe that’s what you say after something like... like that.” She pointed below them.

“What?” He gave her a bored shrug. “That wasn’t even hot. I’ve seen porn better than that.”

“Oh my god!” she squeaked and rolled her eyes. “You are so...so—”

He grabbed the finger she was pointing into his chest and grinned. “Hungry? Why yes, yes I am.” He couldn’t help but smile when her lips twisted and he knew she was trying with all her might not to laugh.

“I was gonna say irreverent.”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “Hungry. Definitely hungry. And if Hunter doesn’t come back soon I’m going to stroll down in there, flash some red lightning out of my palms, make them worship me as their sun god, and demand some damn food!”

And speaking of the devil, a blue glow shimmered like a tear in time on the branch next to them. Out stepped their vaunted leader less than a minute later.

“’Bout damn time,” Slayde rumbled, standing up and shaking his tense thigh muscles loose.

“Slayde, shut up,” Sable snapped at him and then turned to Hunter and he really didn’t like that.

It was kind of cute how she stood up to him. Since he’d come into his power no one dared to, and he’d die before admitting that he actually kind of liked it, but he didn’t like her constantly running to Hunter’s defense. He glowered at the pretty boy, making no effort to hide his disgust.

“What’d you find out?” she asked.

Hunter glanced quickly to where Arianna was crouched, she had her back to them. Though it didn’t seem it, Slayde knew she was listening. Her rigid posture spoke volumes.

Hunter scrubbed a hand down his face, a light dusting of stubble shaded his jaw and the skin under his eyes was a deep purple. The man looked like death warmed over, which gave him a cheap thrill.

“I found the source…”

There was definitely a
but
in there. Sable must have sensed that too, because she only cocked her head and waited.

Rubbing the back of his neck, an exhausted look on his face, Slayde wondered just what Hunter had been doing in the three days he’d disappeared. “But there’s a catch.”

“There always is,” Slayde rumbled, rolling his eyes.

Hunter pinned him with a sharp glare, before returning back to Sable.

“There’s a Lord.”

Slayde narrowed his eyes because something was definitely not making sense. “What Lord? You never mentioned anything about that. I thought we were looking for the source?”

From the corner of his eye he saw Arianna turn, no longer trying to feign indifference.

Hunter shook his head. “Let’s eat first. Then talk.”

If he wasn’t so damn hungry, he might have argued the point. But his stomach was making the decisions for him right now.

Three large, roasted legs of some sort of red meat materialized an instant later in Hunter’s hands.

Still pissed, Slayde snatched the meaty something from. After the rift he’d developed a phobia of touching or eating anything he hadn’t seen handled himself, but after three days starvation, it wasn’t nearly as important. He sank his teeth into the animal haunch, ripping and sawing at it like a pack animal. Fatty juices coated his tongue and he groaned, thinking to himself that nothing had ever tasted quite as good. He was done in two point two seconds and belched; finally noticing the disgusted looks being thrown at him by all three.

Picking his teeth, he just shrugged. Let them stare, at least his food had been warm, theirs was growing colder by the second. Well the girls food anyway. Hunter wasn’t eating.

The girls picked at the meat like girls tend to do. But then with an audible sigh, Sable looked at him, picked up her meat, and ripped into it. He couldn’t help but grin. She may not want to admit it, but he was definitely rubbing off on that girl.

Good thing too, it’d worried him how little she’d eaten the past three days. She was too skinny. Slayde knew very little about her story. Well, any of them really, but none of the others made him nearly as curious as the bird. If he was honest, he liked her fire. Liked what he felt when he was around her, words he really had no name for. They didn’t know each other from Adam, but something about Sable drew him in.

It should bother him more than it did, he was a loner by nature. Always had been. He didn’t like people. Didn’t like pretending to even like them. It was just easier to be on his own and only deal with humans when he had to. People were stupid, and all of them had hidden agendas. Mean, nice, cruel, kind… everyone had an agenda. It didn’t matter, and at the end of the day he was tired of playing games. Slayde was who he was and often times it pissed everyone off, but he saw no sense in pretending. What was the point?

If a shrink could have analyzed him, she’d probably have said he was a product of the rift. Living in a world where to trust anyone would likely get you shanked for whatever meager positions you still owned, it was stupid to let others get too close.

But then again, she reminded him of a ghost from his past, and maybe that’s all this was. Why he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her, why he gave her the first fruits he’d pick, pretending he was full just so that she could take in some much needed calories.

Then again, maybe it was just a case of bad indigestion and he’d be over it by tomorrow. He snorted, shaking loose thoughts of birds, and too skinny girls who made him think of things he shouldn’t, and eyed Hunter because if he had to listen to his thoughts any longer he’d be tempted to slit his own wrists just to get it over with.

After what felt like an eternity, Hunter finally sat back against the tree and picked up where he’d left off. “The Lords are Dragden’s guardian for his sources.”

Sable peeked up from beneath her lashes, as if to make sure no one was looking before slowly licking each and every finger. Slayde pretended like he didn’t see. But he saw.

“In order to destroy the source, we’ll have to destroy the Lord first. They’ll guard it to the death.”

“So, what is it?” Slayde asked with a turn of his lips, he didn’t know why... but there was something about Hunter that pushed every one of his this-guys-a-douche-bag-button. It was hard to focus on what he was saying, because all he kept picturing was his fist connecting with Hunter’s nose.

“A volcanic hot spring.”

Slayde laughed. Loudly. Uncaring if anyone heard. “So kick a little dirt in it. This is what the great evil is after? What an idiot.”

Hunter’s hand shot out and grabbed Slayde’s collar. That anyone would dare to grab him that way, let alone the smarmy looking prepster engulfed Slayde in a rage of nuclear proportions. He let it fill him, mold him, and turn him into a weapon of mass destruction.

“Let go,” he said, all traces of humor gone. He gripped Hunter’s wrist, his fingers glowing a crimson red. The smell of burning flesh wafted under his nose. Hunter didn’t even bat a lash as his flesh sizzled like grease on a hot skillet.

“This isn’t a joke!” Hunter snarled, his face seeming to shift in and out of focus, like a haze had descended over him and was stretching and pulling his skin.

“Stop,” Arianna’s voice was a sharp reprimand as she laid her hand against the both of theirs. Something foreign and warm flooded Slayde’s senses like a rush of endorphins, easing his rage and ripping the hate from Hunter’s gaze.

“It isn’t a joke,” Hunter repeated again, but without the heat this time. “If there’s anything in this world you care about.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say no, but sharing that felt too personal. Especially with this dysfunctional group he was surrounded by. Arianna he noticed hadn’t removed her hand from Hunter’s, as if she was still giving him that nudge of whatever it was she’d laid on them.

“Even if all you care about is yourself and your stock pile of money, then you’ll fight with your last breath to end Dragden’s madness,” Hunter’s words took on a cajoling tone, not pleading, not exactly. It seemed the level of disdain he felt for their “great leader” was definitely reciprocated, but what he said made sense.

All Slayde had in this world, was his ability to work and make enough money to get out of the damn slums he now called home. Much as he didn’t fear the freaks, he also didn’t like being around them. He had a plan, and he was going to stick to it, come hell or high water. He was getting out of there someday, because he knew when this was all over (when they were done playing hero) he’d have to go back, but he wasn’t doing it without a fail safe in place. And that was money. Lots of it.

A small hand gripped his shoulder and he glanced up to see a worried pair of smoky gray eyes staring up at him. He took a deep breath. And things inside, the angry frightened things he fought so hard to keep hidden wanted to surge to the front. Wanted to make themselves manifest… nostrils flaring, he shrugged out of Sable’s grip. All his life he’d only needed himself, he didn’t need her trying to calm him down, didn’t need Arianna pushing whatever the hell through his body… he didn’t need any of them.