The Uninvited (The Julianna Rae Chronicles Book 1) (5 page)

Surely she wouldn’t…she’s crazy, he’ll kill her.

‘You can’t go touching us like that. You need to leave.’

‘So make me move,’ he stretched his arms above his head, exposing his loyalty to the Militia. A thick black circle encompassed the Militia triangle and sun in his wrist tattoo. He raised it higher for everyone to see.

‘Your mother know you have that?’

‘Okay, darlin’. Have it your way.’ He held his hands in surrender and stepped away. ‘The Commander likes his girls feisty. He might have to hear about you.’

The security clamped their hands on his large shoulders to escort him to the exit.

‘Be sure to give him my regards,’ she snapped.

The club returned to its normal whims. Incessant chatter, white noise, an insulting bass and drum beat. She fixated on Caden, enjoying his cigarette, sucking the escaping smoke into his mouth before exhaling.

‘Thanks for having my back there, C Mads.’ She sat across from his lingering gaze. The bottle rested to his parted lips and he winked again while drinking, keeping his thoughts to himself.

‘No, seriously, thanks. Saved your sorry ass and twelve months later, all I get’s a freakin’ wink,’ she snapped.

His lips parted further into a grin. ‘You just highlighted yourself to the Militia. You want me to congratulate you on your stupidity?’

‘Being Militia gave him the right?’ she said. She looked over to the bar. ‘Otis!’ she shouted. ‘
Please
can I get a drink over here?’

The bartender nodded under his Einstein hairstyle, swept back into a hair tie. Untamed strands wisped around his full cheeks, white in most parts, but the tips were frosted black; she likened him to a skunk having a bad hair day. He was a preternatural, although what sort she didn’t know. He always remained hidden to everyone, even in a brawl.

‘No, it doesn’t give him the right.’ Caden rested his folded arms across the tabletop and leaned in. ‘But you’re a Rebel and Militia like to arrest Rebels, remember? Besides, you had it covered. I saw the knife,’ he beckoned with his fingers. ‘Can I see?’

Otis shouldered through the tight crowds with a bottle in his hand. Caden nodded, floating it in midair to their table, and Otis grateful, went back to his bar. Without the invocations of a camp, revealing himself as a powerful watcher was effortless.

She raised the beer silently to him in thanks once it reached her fingers. The crowds were attentive again. Their alpha male impressed them with his achievements, and it wasn’t the parlor tricks they whispered about.

‘Learn something new about you guys every day. Herd mentality, it’s impressive to watch.’ She handed him the knife. ‘I didn’t know you watchers were like that.’

His cigarette rested casually between his lips. He scowled at her comment as he opened the knife fully from its handle. He twirled it lightly in his hand, admiring its form.

‘The infamous knife. Many a story around a campfire about this baby.’

‘It’s kept me safe,’ she shrugged, and looked into the crowds.

The music dulled for the private dances. The low volume evoked the emotions of the lonely and the damned, and she wanted to join them. 

Caden ran a finger across the new mark and he raised her eyes with his stare. ‘What happened?’

She swallowed the amber liquid in a quick gulp while she stole a glance at the private dancers curiously watching them. The screens failed to hide everything. Boss man was the predator she suspected. 

Caden’s voice lowered. ‘Kill or be killed?’

She nodded.

He leaned across the table with the knife held out. Their hands touched with the exchange, and the blood spraying over the alleyway flooded into her mind.

‘Don’t feel guilty,’ he said, flicking his eyes to her face and squeezed her hand. 

‘I feel guilty for not feeling guilty,’ she corrected. Her beer thumped heavily onto the table’s center and she withdrew her held hand, as the crowds grew inquisitive. They talked and whispered, exchanging stories, sitting close at their small table and now they had touched.

She snapped at the crowds. ‘He’s my brother!’

‘Somewhere to talk privately?’

Julianna nodded toward the rear of the stage. Her dressing room was quiet, away from prying eyes and flapping ears of the crowd’s intrusions and whispers.

Caden carried his drink a step behind, pushing through the crowd with his broad build as they whistled for his achievement with their star. His eyes fixated on her ass and when she turned, they quickly averted to the floor.

They reached the back curtain and she pulled it away, revealing the boss man standing angrily in front of her. His hands held his hips blocking her path.

‘Star, hun. What are you doing? You know better.’ He eyeballed Caden up and down. ‘A watcher, of all creatures?’

She spied the security. ‘He’s a friend, not a creature, and you know I don’t turn tricks. It’s okay. Call off the hounds. He’s good.’

‘Nothing good can come from a Master watcher.’

She dragged Caden from the questioning stares of the backstage performers. Boss man and Caden eyeballed each other in the narrow walkway while Caden slipped past, and he gave boss man a thin expression.

Incubus, right? Look at her that way again, and I’ll rip your freaking fangs out through your freaking nose!

Boss man raised his hands in defeat, and his quiet retreat escaped Julianna. Her hand left Caden’s grasp to lead him along the dirty, narrow corridor to a red side door instead.

The
doof-doof-doof
muffled after the door latched in its home and with a glance, Caden locked it from where he stood.  He looked over his drink as he gulped another mouthful of beer, while she pulled pants over her knickers, tying the draw cord close to her tiny waist.

‘Shoulder looks banged up.’ He sat the bottle on the counter sprawled with makeup and jewelry, and slipped the lace sleeve from her shoulder. It moved easily and he cupped his hand over the burn. ‘Easy now,’ he hushed, and pulled her close when she flinched. ‘I’ll be gentle.’

She clutched her hair over her shoulder, needing something to hold onto. The sensation stretching from his hands to the wound made her whimper. Her eyes squeezed shut and she held her breath, counting the seconds until the pain moved away. She waited for it to disappear, his healing as agonizing as the laser’s delivery. Her body trembled under his touch and her eyes flashed open, looking over her shoulder, begging him to stop.

‘You know Isis sent me? He’s worried you’ve become reckless,’ he said quietly. He took his hands away and leaned against the counter, swiping up the drink and lighting another cigarette.

The mirror reflected her perfectly healed shoulder. Julianna reached for her sweater and pulled it over her head. The warmth of its fleece against her skin soothed her; the static electricity it brought to her hair didn’t. She slipped her mask away to wipe at the sweat lying softly under it, catching his attention with her big green eyes. His reflection in the mirror stared before breaking his awkward glance to take the last mouthful of beer.

‘Reckless?’ She smoothed the top of her hair in the mirror. Her image paled despite his presence. ‘He usually calls it irresponsible or thoughtless.’

He shrugged. ‘In the neighborhood, anyway. Don’t get pissy with me.’

‘So he’s angry again?’

Caden placed his cigarette between his lips and when he exhaled the smoke a seriousness moved across his face like a storm, in the mirror. He nodded. The dimly lit room matched his temperament perfectly.

‘You have no idea,’ he stated thinly.

‘No idea? Did he pace and straighten his tie?’ The humor made him smile. ‘I think I have an idea of Issy’s tantrums.’

‘Three patrols chased you today—’

‘You know about today, you and Issy must be close.’

He scowled. ‘Yesterday you narrowly escaped another, and the day before,
Isis
tells me, busted ribs that needed healing by two watchers. Not one – two. You didn’t get your fill of excitement at the camp?’ He was back to his pout.

A smirk crept over her face. ‘It’s been a busy week, I agree. So what’s the deal-i-o?’

His attention stole to a bag of white powder resting against the dressing room mirror. ‘He’s worried you have the taste for blood.’ His finger cut a line through the spilt powder and journeyed to the tip of his tongue. His furrowed brow creased some more. ‘Isis know you do this junk?’

‘He wouldn’t because I don’t,’ she said firmly.

Caden shrugged; he believed.

‘Taste for what blood? He thinks I’m
that
reckless?’

‘It’s a lot safer at my camp in-country. You may need the quiet soon.’ His glance lingered on her neck, swept down to her toes before returning to her face. His gaze pulled her into his mind as he took her in with all senses, finishing with the smell of her sweat mixed in with the exotic perfume she wore for all performances. She listened to his mind spinning. This wasn’t part of his promise. ‘I suspect you don’t quite know what I’m talking about yet.’

A worn chair propped against the wall. Julianna sat on its dilapidation to give Caden her full attention. The clutter of her bag and stage props threatened to topple if she leaned any farther. She reached her hand to steady the mess, returning it against the wall, and it gave some time away from his gaze. He was reading her again. She felt his invasion flooding through her. She hadn’t experienced such a focused intrusion since their first encounter. Blocking him triggered one of her dull headaches in the center of her temples. It was easier to lower her guard and hear his thoughts.

His voice crept in.
Lay low for a while,
he said.

Julianna nodded, ‘I like the city. Camping isn’t my style, and a lot of people depend on me.’

‘Your luck’s running out. They know where you are, they know
who
you are. Don’t fool yourself, Julianna…they know everything.’

‘You worried?’ she teased, but no laugh went with it. Her stomach sunk. Dread washed over her. She pushed the anxiety away; worried Caden might sense it too.

All the same, he could be close.

Surely not.

But the Militia guy was here; he might be here with him.

Stupid thought!

‘I’m a hard man to find, J Rae. I can’t keep you safe in these sectors with everyone watching you.’

‘I’m chasing things.’ The nagging feeling drew her attention to the wall behind her seat.

‘Chasing shadows.’ His finished cigarette stub dropped into the empty bottle. He threw her a comms. ‘Deliver it to the safe house for me?’

The clock above the doorway told Julianna her curtain call was in ten minutes; the comms activated, giving her the same time in the corner of its screen. She moved her finger along the bottom to shut it down.

‘Or we could deliver it together and you ride out with me afterwards.’ Caden stepped into her space to rest his hands on her forearms. His solid touch turned into a caress, gently stroking them.

‘Caden, I can’t.’

His caress brought them close. Cocking his head boyishly to one side to lower his gaze, he spoke quietly. ‘All the mod cons of nature…running river, warm tent, warm bed
.
’ His lips nipped gently at hers. The dampness lingered from his drink. She stayed close. The taste of his cigarette and the smell of his scent made her desperate to follow him.

‘I really can’t,’ she whispered.

‘Sure you won’t?’ He nipped her bottom lip again. ‘Could use the company for sniper duty. Heard you were good—’

She kissed him back, the friendly nipping turning into a lingering kiss, her mind scrambled as his fingers stretched around her waist in his seduction.

Pulling away gently, Julianna reluctantly smiled. The longer Caden locked her into his gaze, the harder Julianna found it to refuse. She thought of the last watcher she kissed. Taris didn’t end so well.

Why can I feel Taz so close beside me?

‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I can’t.’ The thought lingered into her words.

The door swung open. ‘Bloodlust, headaches, twitching. Find me when you want some help with that. Hate to see a pretty girl go wild.’

Her mouth dropped at the comment usually reserved for full-bloods, something she was certain she wasn’t. He left without the sound of a footstep, walking lightly, and the door closed as though a breeze had taken it. Julianna wiped her lip. Isis had sent him in good faith – maybe blind faith – and now the man she had thought about every waking minute since their meeting, had walked out the door.

Good luck. You’ll need it
. His whisper echoed inside her still mind.

She studied the comms weighing heavily in her hands. The smooth glass reflected her image. The information Caden trusted her with, would delight Isis. It was the third for the day, and she hoped this would win her a warm shower and night off. Julianna placed it with the other comms’ in her delivery satchel. All bets were off if she didn’t deliver this one safely, and a pending sense of doom loomed as thick as death itself. She returned to the thin wall again.