A Voice From the Night World Ch. 05

One expression is a faint smirk that teases and quietly mocks, conveying he's playing with me and knows everything about me but he hasn't even looked directly at me. The other is a slow lazy grin that laughs and promises he knows a secret I don't. Then there is the savage dominant energy to him, the reckless, impulsive edge. I can see the potential for a volatile, explosive temper as he reacts with a snarl to the violence around us.

I know I'm gay and have known since I put vague feelings and desires into a coherent word and explanation. But the sudden lust and curiosity I had for him defied my own experience slight that it was, I'd never felt anything like it.

The bloody event we were watching was a Night World boxing match at The Black Dahlia a Night World owned nightclub in a dockside warehouse in Glasgow. I had arrived at the half time of a fight between two vampires, one lamia and the other made. I had tracked my mark a made vampire there and was keeping an eye on his movements, looking for my moment to strike.

It was between the first and second fight that I saw him, the cat, a lynx I decided; the next fight was between Damien a powerful Scottish lamia who held the Night World amateur middleweight boxing title and Conor an Irish werewolf.

The rules for the boxing match meant it had to be a fight using vermin rules, so no tricks, no dirty fighting or race advantages were allowed in the fight. So it meant whoever won did so from boxing skill and experience alone.

The lynx had come out of the door that led from the changing rooms, talking to Damien as they walked to the ring. I recognised the lamia from a couple of previous fights I had witnessed and the posters around the warehouse.

The lynx sat in the front row closest to the corner of the ring the vampire was heading for, next to a short auburn haired witch. As Damien sat on his stool, sipping water, the pair got up and went over to talk to their friend.

I growled drawing the attention of a group of lamia next to me as they turned and eyed me in amusement. I hissed at them, letting them see the full force of the cold menace I give out at will. They flinched shifting away from me uneasily. Inwardly I smirked, it was petty, but hey it amused me, but I still wanted to growl.

A female, a coyote shifter, had appeared from the crowd, she was tall enough and lithe with it she was only an inch shorter than the lynx and had long dark hair with the dark eyes and dark complexion of someone from Mexico.

She kissed the lynx on the cheek and squeezed the shoulder of the witch, she gestured to Damien as he readied himself in the ring.

I wondered if she was the lynx's girlfriend, as she talked to him and the witch, she draped an arm around him and he let her, allowing her the liberty to touch him with one of his slow flashing grins.

I felt disappointed and possessive, even thought I was inexperienced at the game, I recognised my own jealousy. I wanted him with a hunger, interest and possessiveness that surprised me. Then I remembered the old warning my Ojibwa uncle gave, he had a small gift for foresight and told me the spotted cat was my hope and my threat.

I eyed the lynx curiously and with some wariness was he the spotted cat Sakima had warned me of? I wasn't sure, perhaps its better I keep my distance. I can't have men getting too closer, they will realise what I am. It was a violent, lonely existence I lived, but the Night World wasn't a safe place for a half-breed.

But I couldn't help myself, despite my best efforts not to my attention kept drifting between the red-haired Vincent who was my mark and the lynx I wanted.

I cursed as near the end of the fight my target left with a piece of blonde female ass, clearly a witch by the black dahlia earrings and necklace.

Stuck on contract to take him out, I had no choice but to follow and leave the lynx behind still feeling that odd mix of curiosity, lust and caution.

+ + +

LIEV

"I know you think I'm talking shit but I swear to you he wants you." Tien whispered in my ear.

I scoffed and arched an eyebrow whispering back. "You and your instincts."

Tien's violet eyes flashed at me. "Hey, I may not be an animal like you, but don't knock my instincts, I'm never wrong! They were right about Damien and they're ringing in my ears."

We were sitting on a wooden park bench playing a pair of runners taking a breather as we did guard duty and watched the house across the road from us, scanning the surrounding area for trouble.

It was just after 9pm on a Friday and the air was cool but still smelled of summer. We waited for Mikasi and Damien, who were inside the safehouse with our target who was attending a meeting. Our target was a prominent Night World lamia who had become a double agent for us.

It was our job to escort our vampire to and from meetings with some of the Night World's most important leaders, our own orders came direct from Lord Sebastian.

I smirked at him. "If your instincts are ringing at you, then they are in agreement with mine, I'm sure it's a hint telling us to watch my back."

"Trust me every instinct I possess tells me so, as do my own eyes. He watches you with hunger and I don't think he wants to kill you. I bet you he's your soulmate." Tien insisted.

I glanced at the Night Worlder he was referring to and inwardly sneered.

There he was an ice prince temporarily unfrozen to hunt prey and I knew he was hunting, as I watched his cold eyes scan the lit street.

We were in an inner city suburb of Glasgow and he leaned against the wall of a block of shops up the opposite end of the street, apparently waiting for fish n chips.

I took in the patient, deceptively relaxed pose as he leaned back against the wall of the shop. With a predator's eyes even way down the street I could see the subtle alert tenseness all but humming underneath his fuck off aura.

I could admit to myself in the privacy of my own mind that he was a pretty ice prince despite his fuck off aura with that silky looking fair hair and pale skin; someone with his cold colouring shouldn't have such dark eyes or such a mouth.

They were the eyes and mouth of someone proud, passionate and hot headed, pride he had in spades but he was cold blooded and arrogantn, it was stamped all over his body language.

I had seen him at a nightclub the previous night react badly to being hit on. I hadn't heard the words but I had seen the almost cruel expression on his face as the vampire had leaned against him and the immediate ashen look on the vampire's face said it all as he was shoved him away.

The vampire had been a male and he was cute, he'd had the changing Redfern eyes to go with that blonde hair, I'm a sucker for that combo, I'd have risked the fangs and done him.

This Night Worlder didn't look like the kind of guy who would ever come within a mile of passion or the impulsive and a sudden demon that was the predatory cat that lived in me stirred. I suddenly wanted to ruffle his icy calm and hunt him, play with him much like a cat plays with a mouse to see what he'd do before I ate him.

But he was a killer and wasn't gay by the look of it, I couldn't be thinking that way, I was a predator myself, so I knew what I saw and felt.

I had a bet going with Damien that he was Demon, a deadly assassin we heard about through the Night World grapevine, and I was pretty sure he kept popping up near us with almost eerie precision to kill one of us or our target. It had become nearly familiar to look up and find him somewhere nearby.

"He's not gay, you saw him last night, there's no way what your saying could be true. Any guy going near him risks having his dick cut off." I protested wondering why I was doing so when what Tien said was impossible.

"Just because he wasn't interested in one guy doesn't mean he's not gay. I saw him reject a girl too so don't give me that. Look if he was going to kill you he'd have done it already. I admit he does have Night World all but tattooed on his forehead and has a nasty attitude but I know what I see and feel." Tien was saying.

"I'm never wrong!" He insisted again.

I opened my mouth to respond but saw the door open and Damien appeared doing a quick, expert scan of the area and my hunter instincts expanded to full throttle, all thoughts of the falcon stopped as the job took over.

+ + + + +

LIEV

As soon as I stepped out of the Damien's SUV I put my back against the car. I felt uneasy every hunter instinct I possessed warned me that trouble was waiting for us.

"I don't like it tell Julian to stay in the car." I told my leader feeling him do just that as he used telepathy to warn the other vampire.

We both eyed the surrounding terrain with the tense keen awareness that told us eyes and ears were there.

"Unfriendly eyes are on us." Mikasi confirmed her soft Mexican accent stronger than usual as she got out of her own car, an old battered green Mini with a tuned up new motor.

It was a strategic move on our part to take two cars that way we had two getaway cars and two possible diversions as well.

She stood next to me, her lithe body tense and all but humming with the need to shift and hunt.

Tien got out of the car after her his hands balled into fists, body as tense as the rest of us. He might not have had the instincts and fine tuned senses as the rest of us, but he was good at taking the hint from the rest of us. He did have a brown belt in karate as well as his own strong battle magic so he could defend himself or attack if need be.

"I feel it too." Damien admitted as the four of us did a slow, thorough scan of the area and came up with nothing.

"I vote we get him inside and then do a physical search of the area, I don't want enemies creeping up behind me." I suggested as another scan with eyes, ears and nose brought nothing but that uncomfortable feeling of unfriendly attention.

We were at an old Elizabethan era gentlemans country estate situated an hour outside Glasgow. It felt like we were out in the middle of nowhere and the large lawn, garden and small forest park that went with the place stretched out as far as our eyes could see.

It was early evening but the air was still warm with that curious blend of summer and autumn smells but the wind had that early bite of autumn to it. I could smell rain and eyed the growing dark clouds.

We actually weren't far from my own family's ancestral castle it was only another hour and a half to the north. So this area felt like home to me, I knew and felt the territory like the back of my hand, but still despite the familiarity I felt watched by unfriendly eyes.

Impatient with us and not one to take orders well Julian got out of Damien's SUV. We were here because a Night World country weekend was being held and Julian was hosting it under his guise as a double agent.

As he had a seat on the Night World Council his position was a good one and a Night World Councillor was never expected to appear without a small entourage and if that entourage were also body guards then that was acceptable, naturally we were that entourage.

Julian was the owner of this property and a French lamia, an old one at over a century but he'd stopped his aging in his early 20's so he looked young until you saw the cold hardness in his topaz eyes that came from the cold ruthlessness that had allowed him to claw his way to a seat on the Night World Council.

"What's the hold up?" He demanded rubbing a hand across the dark stubble on his shaved head. "I'm not paying you to let me sit in the back of a car while you posture about in a driveway."

I ignored his snarled protest as I pushed him to the ground and kept a tight hold on his shoulder, keeping him between me and the SUV.

"You were told to stay there for your own good." Damien replied coolly. "We feel your enemies and felt you might want to stay in the car and keep your skin on since you're paying us to protect it."

"You could have simply told me that." Julian snarled at us swarthy skin flushing with annoyance and anger.

"I would think stay put is telling you." Damien replied in the same cool tone his dark blue eyes flicking to the silvery blue of an angry or hunting vampire.

I knew him well enough to know that cool casual tone barely masked his slow burning temper and intense dislike of the vampire, a pissed off Damien wasn't pretty for anyone.

Julian sensed Damien's seething anger and merely muttered a string of insults in French but he stayed where I put him.

"Let's get him inside." Damien instructed us and we obeyed.

"I'm on scout duty. I'll head out now the three of you can handle it on your own." I said as I let the vampire squatting near the ground up.

Damien nodded and we formed a protective circle, putting the shorter vampire in the middle as we headed for the grand three story white monstrosity of a house in front of us.

I watched their backs doing further scans of the area but again came up with nothing holding the rear as I followed them to the door. Once there I checked the area making sure there was nobody around I returned to the SUV and clothed in my shifter clothes, I shifted.

I spent the next couple of hours doing a thorough search of the entire property and I wasn't helped by the start of the rain and wind.

Half way in I smelled Mikasi join me and between the pair of us we mapped and turned the place upside down as we looked for any threat to Julian. We found nothing unusual and continued on our way only wanting to get inside, the cat in me didn't appreciate being a sodden, cold mess.

Both Mikasi and I met up a final time shifting back to human to compare notes. Despite what we'd seen, we still felt watched but we'd found nothing, frustrated and confused we decided to return to the house for something to eat and a rest before trying again.

Just as we turned back towards the house the ambush came. Cloaked by a complete invisibility spell we didn't smell, hear or see them until they surrounded us, threw off the spell and attacked us.

I growled hearing Mikasi echo me as we moved to cover each other's backs as we found ourselves confronting a group of Night World enemies, two vampires, werewolves and a witch in the pouring rain, wind and darkness.

I recognised Vincent the red haired vampire was Lily Redfern's second and the two Irish werewolves Conor and Felan his lackeys, I didn't recognise the others. I threw out a call to Damien through the telepathic pathway he always left open on a job as I shifted and threw myself at Vincent.

But before I hit him the two brown Irish 'wolves shifted shape and intercepted me, attacking me before I could get to him.

I growled at them, getting dual snarls back for my effort as I fought them off, but not without losing a chunk of flesh from my right flank and a gash across my left foreleg.

I heard another growl as Mikasi joined in protecting my back to stop the two wolves from tearing us apart. There was nothing we could do as the rest of our enemies began to melt back into the trees.

With snapping teeth, raking claws and short lunges I ignored my own pain as we managed to keep them at bay and tried to get to our escaping enemies.

It was a wasted effort as despite our large size for the animals we both were, the wolves were larger and outweighed the pair of us combined.

They were merely playing with us, we realised it, they realised it, but we were only holding on till Damien and Tien could get to us. But the Night World always throws a curve ball at you when you least expect them.

Something fast and white dropped from above with a hair raising scream. It took me a stunned moment or two to get my eyes to realise the darting white blur was a gyrfalcon, it had dropped out of the sky and slashed open the vampire's eyes with a vicious swipe of its talons.

As the vampire screamed throwing his arms protectively over his head, blood streaming down his face from his slashed eyes the gyrfalcon flew at him again, slashing open his throat. There was another scream from the vampire as the falcon shifted and a blur of white clothed man was pouncing on him.

Damien arrived at a dead run with Julian at his heels barely breathing hard. A dead run at vampire speed is fast, considering he'd covered half a mile in under two minutes. In fact the entire fight so far had happened that fast. They threw themselves into the fight after only a moment spent sizing up the problem facing us.

But I paid for my distraction as the wolf I was facing, Felan I recognised from the missing ear and scar down his muzzle, sprang at me latching onto my ear and ripping. I screamed infuriated and in pain as he took my ear with him. I slashed at him, ripping open his shoulder as I threw myself at him.

I shifted shape, shifting to my halfway form, a weird mix of lynx and human, wanting human hands, claws and teeth, as I managed to get a strangling hold around the werewolf's throat, wrapping my legs around his furry wolf body as I clutched hard.

I tucked my head against his neck, felt him struggling to throw me off and rip at me with his teeth. He did manage to slash and scratch me with the claws on his forelegs. But my grip was too strong for him to throw me off.

I knew what I was doing and had the strength of a shifter at my fingertips. I used my clawed fingers to rip open his throat and ignored his howl as hot slippery blood tried to loosen my death grip around his throat.

After what seemed like an endless struggle he stilled, dropping to the ground as he went limp against me. I hung on grimly, wanting to make sure he wasn't faking.

But he didn't move beyond a dying whimper and I let go looking around for Mikasi. I glanced at her and saw her off to my rear left, she was a still, unmoving mound of grey coyote. Blood ran from her open muzzle and a dozen bleeding slashes coated her fur.

Pushing the dead wolf's weight off me I rose to a crouch, checking her and was relieved when I felt a pulse, a faint one, but a pulse.

I looked around for the other 'wolf that had taken her out and my heart nearly stopped as a tall white shadow stalked towards me.

His fair hair tied nsvk neatly but his dark eyes were burning with a cold, deadly fire and it was at that moment I felt a sick recognition, the falcon assassin.

Vincent was a still dead shape on the ground, his throat and eyes slashed open, blood a deep pool around him as a branch lay buried in his chest.

The assassin kept coming towards me and I tensed eyes locked on my enemy, I stayed in my half way form, claws and teeth being good in a fight, gathering strength into my muscles in readiness to launch myself at him.

He launched himself over the top of me and landed on the werewolf behind me with another of those terrible triumphant falcon screams.

It took me a frozen second or two for my heart to recover and my instincts to realise I wasn't attacked, I was hurt, but still alive and my apparent ally was now bent on killing my enemy.

But blood loss and pain had finally caught up with me and I felt shifting shape was a good idea. But I hadn't the energy to do so, a frightening and disheartening thing, the effort left me slumped on the ground a panting, bleeding mess.

Despite my weakness, I struggled up again as assassin or not, I felt I had to help my temporary ally and tried to rise. But the pain and weakness wouldn't let me and I found myself sprawled on the wet grass. But not before I saw the assassin rise up from the ground like a bloody wraith, there was something terribly wrong seeing something so white covered in blood, dirt and gore.

He stalked towards me and I tensed waiting for the killing blow I knew was coming and finally managed to find some extra energy, some last reserves of strength that allowed me to shift back to lynx. Most of my injuries instantly healed but I was still weak from the effort needed to shift and heal.