Bond Deeper Than Blood
He lets out a soft sigh and then clasps his icy cold hand around mine, his long fingernails biting into my flesh. His grip is strong and unyielding. He holds on longer than he should, clearly thrilled by the way my heart rate kicks up a few notches.
“We have a deal, young one. Are we dismissed?”
“Goodbye, Ricardo. Don’t make me hunt you down for information.”
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” he says, baring his sharp incisors.
With a flash, he darts past James, his buddy following behind.
“Why couldn’t we just kill them?” James complains.
“Because you know Jude. He values information above everything. Ricardo seeks information that could be useful to him.” I shrug. “Grab your guy and let’s bail.”
He stops me with a hand to my throat, squeezing just enough to let me feel his strength. “I was wrong about you. You’re quite something, aren’t you?”
“Quite.”
His lips curl up on one side into a handsome grin he’s yet to show. “After I drop off this idiot, why don’t you and me—”
“No,” I mutter, pulling his hand from my throat. “I don’t date.”
“No one said anything about dating, darlin’.”
“James, there will never be a you and me. I’m not going to be your fuck buddy now that you deem me worthy. I don’t date. I don’t fuck. I just work.”
“Sad life, little one.”
“I already have my happily ever after,” I explain with a shrug. “Now I need to keep the villains away so I can keep her.”
“I knew you were a lesbian,” he grumbles.
I don’t correct him. Instead, I slip past him and on to my next destination.
Loey.
Castilla
The pulse of the music grows louder the deeper I descend into the nightclub. Being that it’s in the catacombs beneath The Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, you only go there if you know it’s there. It’s a hub of paranormal activity being that it’s a portal to other dimensions. Prudence, my old lady friend, knows all about traveling through dimensions. While in one of the other realms, she picked up an ability to transport within the same realm. It’s quite ironic how she can hold on to your arm and flash you to your destination within seconds, but it’ll take her ten minutes just to walk from her office at Headquarters to the restroom. She runs me home all the time, but I think that’s because she has grandmotherly instincts over Mercy, not that she necessarily wants to be my ride.
“This ain’t a daycare, runt,” a huge guy with a green aura says from the nightclub entry door.
“Elton knows me,” I drawl out. “Give him a call.”
“I’m not bothering the owner to let in some kid.”
Another guy, one I’m familiar with, places a hand on the annoying dude’s shoulder. “Rex, let her in. She’s cool.”
“Sorry, Jeb, not happenin’. It’s my ass that’ll get chewed out if I let in children, not yours,” Rex growls.
Jeb chuckles as he walks off. “I tried, man. I tried.”
Another woman comes to stand beside me. One I know very, very well. I side-eye Loey, not missing the mischievous glint in her blue eyes. Her blond hair is pulled back into a high ponytail tonight, giving her not just the girl next door vibe, but a cheerleader one too. Though it’s probably not helping my case to get inside because she looks like another young, innocent girl who doesn’t belong in this nightclub, I know looks can be deceiving.
“She’s with me,” Loey says, her voice nearly a growl of animosity.
Loey hates most people. Has attitude like you would not believe. Isn’t afraid to get into a brawl just to make a point. Luckily, we’ve bonded. Neither of us warms up easily, but our friendship was something in my life that just came easily.
Everything has been hard.
I’ll take what I can get.
“Because that makes a difference,” Rex sneers. “Go home. It’s bedtime, little girls. Your daddies—”
His words are cut off when Loey throat punches him. He grabs at his neck, gasping for air as his face turns purple. Loey grabs the front of his shirt, yanking the burly guy toward her.
“You’ll live, demon,” Loey says in a sweet, prissy voice. “Next time, you won’t. Pick on someone your own size. It’s embarrassing when little girls have to whip your big ass.”
She lets go of his shirt to pat his chest before shooting me a smirk. I follow after her, ignoring several salacious stares from clubbers. We make our way over to the bar.
“Can I buy you two baby dolls a drink?” an older man with a graying beard asks.
“No, but you and your buddy could give up your seats for two ladies.” She shakes her head. “I swear, chivalry is dead. I’ve been to more realms than I can count and the male population on each one is all the same.”