Devil Inside, page 27
“I’m entirely too old to spend this much time getting broken bones,” Nya complained trying not to laugh.
Harley pulled Nya to her feet when she heard the bone finish mending with a final crunch. “I think you are finally ready,” Nya said much to Harley’s surprise.
“Seriously?!”
“Yes. I don’t think there is much more that you can do here. You need to get out and get real experience.”
Harley swallowed before asking the big question. “Where am I going?”
“I don’t know yet. Levi has been taking survey as he has tracked the Rogue. He’ll advise on the best location for you.”
“Well when will we talk to him about it?”
“He’ll be back tomorrow night. We can meet with him about it then.”
“Tomorrow night! He didn’t say anything about being back tomorrow!”
“Oh!” Nya froze. “That might have been a surprise.” She looked mildly sheepish.
Harley laughed. “Well I’m glad you told me! I need to shave—it’s kinda been a while.” She laughed, and tried to not let her excitement show on her face. Much to her chagrin she failed, but Nya didn’t pay it any attention.
“I can tell,” Nya laughed rubbing at the pretend stubble burn on her leg.
Harley flipped her off with a laugh as she left the training room to go shower. Her whole body tingled at the news of Levi’s return. I know, I know she told her Nocte. Hold your horses. He’s not going to be here until tomorrow night.
Chapter 24
Harley wandered back inside the house. She had been walking around the woods near the Den trying to burn off excess energy. She had gotten so used to sparring and practicing with weapons everyday that the first night in months that she hadn’t fought left her feeling anxious and unable to sit still. And, whether she wanted to admit it or not, she was excited that Levi would be back today. Her body tingled at the thought and she could almost feel her Nocte grin with excitement. She hadn’t talked to Nya about how “present” her Nocte still was. Harley wasn’t entirely sure that she should still be this aware of the Nocte and she dreaded discussing it with anyone. She realized she was glad that she could still feel her Nocte so strongly. She realized that she had gotten so used to having her around it would be lonely if her Nocte wasn’t as present. It was almost as good as having her best friend back.
She was in her room changing when suddenly the air around her seemed to change. She picked up on a strong electrical current and she shivered. It was like someone had walked over her grave—as the old saying went. Well that’s new. She knew what the feeling in the air meant without having to investigate. Levi had returned. She could almost pin point his location in the house. I’m pretty sure THIS isn’t normal. But she let the thought go and turned towards the door. She wasn’t able to keep the stupid grin from her face. Levi must have came directly to the bedroom when because it was only minutes after she felt him enter the house that he threw the door open.
Levi had an uncharacteristically full smile on his face as he studied her and the fact that she was half naked.
“Well, nice to see you too!” he said trying to not laugh.
“Shut up. Shut the door. And take your pants off,” Harley grinned at him with a gleam in her eyes. She could feel her vision heat up as her Nocte stirred in anticipation. When her eyes went black Levi growled as his eyes matched hers. He was so gorgeous it hurt to look at him. His dark hair brushed his shoulders and his tee shirt fit tight enough to see his muscles through and she couldn’t wait to rip the shirt right off him. As the warm tingly sensation spread across her belly, Harley became aware of just how genuinely happy she was to see Levi, but she didn’t concern herself with that at the moment.
Levi crossed the room in two strides and as he reached for her, Harley grabbed him first by the front of his shirt. His eyes grew wide as she pushed him onto the bed almost effortlessly. She climbed over him and griped his shirt and gave it enough of a tug to pull it in half. She pushed the halves aside and she ran her tongue over his skin—from the waistband of his jeans to his neck. As she buried her face against his neck her eyes rolled back into her head. It took all her strength to not bite Levi. She could feel the heat coming from his skin and his scent stirred a burning hunger inside her.
Harley had only experienced a hunger like this one other time. A couple of weeks after the bonding completed she was overcome with hunger. Nya had figured that she wouldn’t be ready to hunt before her Nocte needed to feed, so she had arranged for Harley to have another supply of Ignis blood brought to her just in case. The burning ache that radiated from her stomach flared again at the scent of Levi’s skin. She felt the growl ripple from her as she moved away from Levi’s neck. She was sure this wasn’t normal at all and worry prickled in the back of her mind but she pushed it aside. She could feel her fangs slide out and watched Levi’s do the same as his lips parted to meet hers. She hadn’t kissed anyone since her fangs had come in and she had to be careful of them as Levi’s tongue slid along hers. If she accidentally nipped him and drew blood she didn’t know if she would be able to resist biting into a vein to get more.
Suddenly, Levi flipped her over and pressed her into the bed with his weight. She loved the feel of him lying on top of her. He was so solid and strong it made her stomach quiver. She pulled his torn shirt the rest of the way off then he pulled hers over her head. She lay beneath him in just a bra and underwear and he smiled when he looked down at her. Harley dug her fingernails into his back to pull him to her again. He winced and grabbed her wrists with one hand. He held them over her head and she smiled slyly at him. She knew she could easily free her wrists, but she didn’t want to. She let him hold her down and finish undressing her with one hand.
Levi nibbled at her skin causing tiny goose bumps to spring up on her arms. He didn’t even bother to pull his pants off all the way. He just unbuttoned them and pushed them aside before he drove himself into her causing Harley to gasp in pleasure. Levi let go of Harley’s wrists and she caught both of his hands in her and they twined their fingers together. Their hands, clutched on either side of Harley’s head, bore Levi’s weight. The sex was quick and frenzied, both of them having been looking forward to this moment for months.
Just like the last time that they had sex, Harley found herself able to see through Levi’s eyes. The bottomless black of her eyes reflected her own gaze back at her through Levi’s eyes and it created a funhouse mirror effect that left her dizzy. She could feel herself tighten around Levi as the pleasure throbbed through her and she could feel her own breath as it panted across Levi’s face. The feeling was surreal and it made her feel like she was going to explode—it was pure ecstasy.
Levi and Harley came at the same time and the two-fold orgasm left them both breathless and unable to move. It was two times the pleasure and two times the intensity. Afterwards, they lay next to each other trying to catch their breath and regain their senses. Finally, Harley felt the bed rumble with Levi’s chuckle.
“What?” she turned to look at him. He rolled the rest of the way off her and kicked his pants all the way off.
“That weird ‘seeing myself through you thing.’ I’ve never experienced something so intense.”
“I know what you mean. I never realized I was so good at sex,” Harley laughed. Levi laughed along with her. She loved to hear him laugh—it was such a rare sound.
He rolled onto his side to look at her. “OK. Fill me in on the details.”
Levi and Harley had been able to talk briefly throughout the months. But their conversations—even when talking on the phone and not texting—had been short. They both had been busy and exhausted as a result of their separate missions. So, Harley filled him in on all the details that he had missed.
When she got to the part about how different she still was Harley hesitated.
“What?” Levi asked when she stopped talking.
Harley took a deep breath. “Sunlight still doesn’t bother me.” Levi’s brow wrinkled but he didn’t interrupt her. “I mean—I can tell day light is coming and my Nocte doesn’t like the light. But it doesn’t make me any more tired than I would be just from needing sleep. I don’t feel any weaker. I can still see and hear and smell as well as I do at night.”
Levi was silent for a while. She knew that he believed her. He was just searching for an answer. “Honestly,” he finally said. “I’ve never heard anything like it. Has Nya still not explained her theories?”
“Well…we haven’t really talked about it since the bond completed.” Levi raised an eyebrow at her. “She didn’t ask. And I didn’t want to go into it,” Harley said defensively. “I don’t like feeling like the weirdo.”
“No one thinks you are a weirdo—at least not for this.” He chuckled at his own joke and Harley slapped at him in mock anger. “But if anyone has answers it would be Nya. You really should tell her.”
“I will,” Harley sighed. “We are supposed to meet with her about my placement anyway. We can talk about it then.” Harley twitched internally. She tried to not worry about where she was going to be placed. Both Nya and Levi knew how important it was to her to find Cutter. She didn’t know how she would handle it if they sent her somewhere without the chance to hunt him down.
Levi rolled himself out of bed. “I need a shower and food. Then we can go talk to her.”
__________________
Later, Levi and Harley sat in Nya’s office. Nya sat in an overstuffed chair and Harley and Levi sat on the couch. Her office always left Harley feeling like she had just stepped into an animated world of madness.
“First, what have you found out about the Rogue?” Nya asked Levi.
“I’m still pretty sure that it is a Lux that is doing this. I still haven’t gotten many answers from the Vigilum. The ones I’ve gotten to talk to me haven’t exactly been talkative. Someone did make a move on the Den in Canada but we weren’t able to find many signs of who, or what, it was. It was during the day so I’m sure it wasn’t a Nocte. Not that I thought it was anyway.”
Harley shifted uncomfortably. It seemed as if she really was the only Nocte that wasn’t affected by the sun.
Levi continued. “I haven’t been able to find more bodies in time to examine them. But there have been reports of killings. Of Ignis and Lux as well as the humans and Nocte that have been killed. There doesn’t seem to be a clear pattern. And someone did charter a flight to Italy recently. I am pretty sure it was the Rogue—so I’m going to go to Florence when I leave here. See what I can find there.”
Harley ignored the tinge of sadness at the idea of Levi’s leaving again. “What makes you think it was the Rogue who chartered the flight?” she asked.
“One of the Montreal Praesidio there has connections with the Canadian Air Transport Security Agency. The pilot disappeared. He never returned from Italy and when the CATSA investigated the information on the flight logs was falsified. The Praesidio even searched through video camera footage at the airport. Nothing stood out.”
“It couldn’t just be a random criminal?” Harley asked.
“I thought so too. But one of the Nocte’s cars was stolen during the attack on the Den. It was recovered at the airport. It was completely clean. No finger prints. No DNA. Not even any lingering smells.”
Nya had been quiet during Levi’s update. Finally she spoke up. “What does Eric say?”
“The local Canadian general,” Levi clarified for Harley. “He feels the same as we do. He didn’t have any information that we don’t already have. Everyone has been working together so far. The Den in Florence knows I’m coming and they are searching for information there. I’ll keep you updated on anything that I find.” Levi sighed and rubbed his face. “I’m really tired of feeling like I’m on a wild goose chase. I just want to find this bastard.”
Something tugged at Harley and before she thought better of it she had to ask. “What about reports of drugs in the areas where you think the Rogue has been?”
Levi studied her for a moment before nodding. “I did ask about that. There haven’t been any reports in Montreal of an increase in drug activity.”
Harley still couldn’t figure out what the drug significance was, but she knew there was something to it. She continued to watch Levi and Nya discuss the issue. The difference in their postures was almost amusing. Nya sat with her legs folded under her in the chair, leaning against the arm while playing with her braids. She looked as calm as she probably felt. Levi, on the other hand, sat with his legs crossed at the ankle and his arms folded across his chest. He slumped back in his chair and someone not paying attention probably wouldn’t realize how tense he was. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were hard causing the lines around them to deepen. Harley felt herself somewhere in between them. She wished she could be as relaxed as Nya but she knew that sort of comfort only came with being comfortable with yourself. Nya had had many years to find that comfort. Does that mean Levi is uncomfortable with himself? Harley was never sure why he was so restrained and tense. Despite the surface calm that he carefully maintained, there was also a wariness underneath. The only time he seemed completely at ease was when they were in bed.
Nya broke through Harley’s thoughts when she nodded, satisfied with Levi’s answers. “We are all ready to catch this creature. He, or she, is up to something big. We need to stop it before it gets too big to stop.” She was in one of her rare serious moments which only unsettled Harley even more. Nya wasn’t this serious often and it drove home the levity of the situation. Eventually, she turned to Harley. “I’m getting the feeling that you have something to talk about too.”
Harley swallowed. “Yeah.” She could feel Levi watching her supportively. “I thought that maybe the strange stuff that I can do and feel would change when the bond finished. But it hasn’t.”
Nya nodded again. “I figured as much.”
Harley raised her brows at that. She had figured Nya would at least say something about the fact that she hadn’t discussed this yet.
“I figured you would say something about it eventually,” Nya explained.
“So…what is wrong with me?” Harley was frustrated. She didn’t mind the ways that she was different. But she was concerned about what it meant.
“I don’t think anything is WRONG with you. Quite the contrary actually.” Harley waited for her to continue. “I think your Nocte is just unusually strong.”
“OK,” Harley considered that for a moment.
“I think you are different because your Nocte is different. We know very little about the world from which they come. Unfortunately, I can’t give you more information than that. I don’t know that we have ever encountered a Nocte this strong before. But there are differences between Noctes. The longer the bonding the process takes, the stronger the Nocte it seems.” Even Levi was surprised by that.
Nya continued, “I am searching for all the information that I can find. So far, I haven’t found anything to give me more clues. The files that we do have are such rubbish—well, I’m still looking.”
“What exactly does this mean for me?” Harley knew that Nya’s explanation was right. Her Nocte agreed with her silently. But Harley couldn’t get much more from her than that.
“You know what they say,” Nya shrugged. “With great power comes great responsibility.”
Harley rolled her eyes at the return of Nya’s humor. Even Levi’s mouth lifted in his trademark half smile. “I didn’t realize that one Nocte could be stronger than another.”
“Well, yeah,” Nya said as if it was obvious. “Some people are stronger than others—I don’t see why it’s surprising that Nocte can be stronger than each other.”
Levi interrupted. “I didn’t know that the bonding process indicated strength.”
“It’s usually not that noticeable. I’ve created a lot of bonds and over the years I’ve picked up on it. And I’ve certainly never seen one take as long as Harley’s.”
Harley felt like squirming and willed herself not too. She wasn’t used to compliments and she wasn’t used to standing out for good things. She wasn’t sure how to react to it so she tried to look as comfortable with it as possible. “So, what do I do? Do you think there is a reason why I’m stronger?”
“We just have to wait and see,” Nya replied. “I know it’s frustrating, but there isn’t much more that you can do. I’m not worried about you. You are, honestly, one of the strongest Nocte I’ve ever encountered. You heal faster. You move faster. I don’t think your differences hinder you in any way.”
Harley swelled with pride but tried not to show it too much. Levi looked at her and smiled softly. “See. Didn’t I tell you not to worry about the bond. That everything would go fine,” he said with an air of I told you so.
Harley snorted. “We’ll see.” She almost brought up the desire to bite Levi. She had mentioned to Nya once about the feeling of wanting to consume and possess Levi, but that feeling had evolved into actual bloodlust. She knew that she didn’t want to kill him. She just wanted to…taste him? She shuddered. It seemed more natural than she knew it should.
In the end, she decided to not bring it up. As strong as the feeling was, she knew that it wasn’t normal. Drinking blood was supposed to be the way for the Nocte to feed—to kill Ignis. The Nocte were supposed to feed on the soul or spirit of the Ignis as it lived in the blood. But even as she thought that she questioned its validity. Was the Ignis the only being to live in the blood? Did the Nocte (or Lux) as well?
“So,” Nya clapped her hands and startling Harley out of her internal turmoil. “The question of the hour. Just where are we going to send you?”
Harley looked from Nya to Levi. Levi smiled slightly. “I think right now we need Harley in New York.”
Harley’s eyebrows shot up. New York? “Why New York?” she asked.
