Devil Inside, page 32
Levi placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. “Don’t let it get to you. Just keep doing what you are doing. Keep your ear to the ground. Interrogate the Burners you catch. See what else you can find out.”
Harley nodded. “I have been trying to find information about Cutter. I’ll add this to the waterboarding list.” She stood and walked into the living room and cutter followed her. She was feeling antsy and even more irritable and she tried to brush it off. Levi was leaving and she didn’t want to be a jerk before he left.
Levi chuckled at her. “Good. In the meantime Nya and I will keep trying to find out what we can. And remember your promise. Carry more weapons. And it might not hurt to contact other Nocte in the city and let them know what is going. It might be a good idea to hunt in teams.”
Harley scowled at him and his implication that he didn’t want her hunting alone.
He looked at her sheepishly. “It was worth a shot, right?”
Harley tried to not smile at him. “I’ll carry more weapons. I’ll even let the other Praesidio here know something is up and to keep an ear out. But I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Hey, I never said you did,” Levi held his hands up in surrender. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you and this could all be bigger than we are even prepared for.”
“I know.” Harley left it at that.
Levi kissed her goodbye and left so that he could get back to Virginia before sunup. When the door shut behind him her stomach dropped. The unexpected sensation caught her off guard. She knew she cared deeply about Levi, but this was a whole new level. The irritation that she had been feeling was dread she realized. Dread at Levi’s leaving. She had always preferred to have him around, but now she downright hated that he was leaving. Shit—when did that happen? She wondered. It’s gotta be the feeding, right?
Harley got dressed and left the apartment to hunt. She figured the best thing for her right now was a distraction. She hoped that Cutter had not left the city. She figured the only way she would find out if he had would be to either come across him again or get an Ignis to tell her if he was still here or not. Her plan was to stake out the bar that the Ignis had been heading into the night before. If she was lucky it wouldn’t just be a random place they were going to for the night.
Harley, figuring she would end up actually having to go into the bar, dressed up a little more than normal. She wore skinny jeans, low heeled boots and a snug, low-cut tee-shirt. It made weapons hard to hide but she managed to hide her Bowie in her boot, her chain in plain sight around her waist as her usual eccentric fashion accessory and small gun in a purse that she slung across her shoulder. She knew that it would only slow an Ignis down—but it was better than nothing. She kind of wished that she still had the small dagger she had left with Castor. She could have probably fit that down the front of her bra. She also brought her sunglasses. She would look weird and obnoxious wearing them inside a bar at night, but if she hid her eyes she might be able to stay incognito a little longer.
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A short while later Harley was sitting in a dark corner of the bar listening to the speakers pumping out loud house music. She tried to block the annoying music out and focus on the crowd that bumped and grinded to the music. She still wore her sunglasses and had she been human she probably wouldn’t be able to see a thing. But her improved Nocte sight was barely diminished at all by the dark shades. Whenever the light dimmed or brightened her vision adjusted accordingly. So cool, she thought to herself. She was still discovering new abilities and powers that came along with being a Nocte and each new discovery was thrilling and sometimes a little scary.
Harley sat in a booth with her feet up on the seat beside her and her back against the wall. The bar was mostly filled with humans. Every so often she caught sight of a Burner but there had only been a couple and for the most part they didn’t seem to be currently causing too much trouble. She had bigger fish to fry so she didn’t pay much attention to them. So far they had not noticed her and she was glad she wore the sunglasses. As she watched the dancers moving to the music she took a deep breath. She could smell the heat from their bodies. There were so many smells inside the bar that she had to push them away so as not to be overwhelmed. Interestingly enough, she realized that even if she wanted to drink from Levi, she still didn’t want to drink from humans. There wasn’t anything appetizing about the smells she picked up from the humans. She was surprised by how relieved she was by this discovery.
As Harley scanned the crowd she caught sight of a guy staring at her from the bar. He was average height and had short brown hair and a scruffy face. He was dressed casually and kept looking at her when he thought she wasn’t looking. The sunglasses made it easy to hide exactly where it was that she was looking. Her attention was caught for a moment by two Burners as they huddled in a corner but they soon faded back into the crowd towards two women who they had been hanging around the whole night. As she watched women kept coming up to the Burners and handing them something. It was hard to tell with so many people in between them but Harley was pretty sure they were making drug deals. Maybe the two human women were some kind of drug mules or something. As she shifted her attention back towards the bar she realized the brown haired guys was walking towards her. He had two beers in his hand. Shit, Harley thought as she realized he was heading directly to her booth.
She didn’t give him her full attention until he was standing at her table with a sheepish smile. When she realized the irony of the situation she couldn’t help but smile. It was only about seven months ago when she stood at the table of a mysterious stranger shyly offering him a beer. She had been in full predator mode while surveying the crowd but the guy softened her mood unexpectedly. She looked him over carefully. He seemed like a nice enough guy and she had to give him credit for having the guts—stupidity?—to come over and take a chance to hit on the weird girl in sunglasses giving off a distinct “Fuck off” vibe. Her Nocte sat up and paid attention briefly before trying to refocus on the crowd and the Ignis.
He smiled harder at her and she could tell it was with forced—maybe liquid—confidence. “So…um…can I buy you a beer?” he asked holding up the one in his left hand.
Harley tried not to smile at him. “It looks like you already have,” she nodded towards the raised beer. The guy hesitated, completely thrown off his game. Harley chuckled feeling guilty. “I’m just messing with you.”
The guy recovered quickly and over exaggerated starting again. He took a couple of steps backwards and turned in a circle and walked back up to the booth. “Hello! My name is Bobby. I just wanted to come over and introduce myself and offer you a beer.” He raised his eyebrows and the beer.
Harley laughed against her will. She had to give the guy credit—he was quirky and gave off a genuine vibe. “Hi, Bobby,” she granted him purposefully not taking the beer he held out or inviting him to have a seat. “I really appreciate the offer. I really do. But—” Bobby’s face started falling “—I’m kind of…working,” she finished, unable to think of a better way to brush the guy off nicely.
“Oh,” he slowly replied, wide eyed.
“What? Oh! Wait—no not like that,” she laughed again. Bobby looked relieved and laughed softly, shaking his head. “I’m—I’m a private investigator,” she finished.
“Oh…that’s really cool actually.” Bobby had a soft voice and Harley wondered if he was a singer or something like that. He had the type of voice that could easily influence and sooth people.
“Yeah. So, I really mean it when I say I appreciate the offer—but that I really can’t.”
Bobby nodded amicably. “I understand.” He held the beer out again. “Have the beer anyway. Along with my wish for you to have a good night.” Harley hesitated; he really seemed like a nice guy. But she didn’t want to encourage him. “Really! Take it. I had the bartender leave the cap on and everything. See—no roofies,” he laughed.
Harley smiled again. “Well, thanks,” she said taking the beer from him. “Since you aren’t a creep I’ll take the beer.”
“You’re welcome,” Bobby said. “If you change your mind my friends and I will be around for a while.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Harley said as he turned and walked away. She pushed the soft, melancholy feeling away. She wondered how different things would have been had she not approached Levi that night. Would Cutter have attacked her himself that night at the bar? If the two goons had still come after her would she be dead along with Jamie? Would they have come after her at all if she hadn’t been with Levi? She wasn’t sure how much was inevitable, or her fault, or Levi’s fault. Her life had changed so much in such a short amount of time. Sometimes it felt like she had already lived a lifetime and had been reborn as a whole new person when she became a Nocte. Other times she felt like a child playing make believe. She drowned the last of the beer Bobby had brought her and slid out of the booth to look for the two Ignis again.
Harley had sat at the bar for hours and no other Burners—definitely not Cutter—had been in the bar. She figured that these two were going to have to be her best shot. She needed to get them away from the women they had been with all night. She would prefer to not have to fight them in front of witnesses. Eventually, Harley found the two on the other side of the bar. Bobby had distracted her so much that she lost track of them briefly. She and the two men were separated by the women, who’s backs were to Harley, and a few dancing couples. She stood there long enough watching them that they finally noticed her. When the dark haired one finally saw her, she gave him a sly smile and took her sunglasses off. Harley could see the recognition of what she was wash over the man. She felt the energy begin to flow through her as her Nocte got fired up for action. When the dark haired Burner nudged the other and motioned towards her she turned and began making her way from the bar. She didn’t look back to make sure that they were following her. She knew that they would. They were too young and stupid to not follow one female Nocte out by herself. They would surely figure that she would be an easy kill for bragging rights.
Chapter 29
Harley hovered near the bar’s entrance until the Burners stepped out behind her. Before they had a chance to say anything she continued across the street, towards the same alley she had fought in the night before. There were too many people around for them to risk attacking her just yet, so they followed her instead. She was pretty sure they figured they would have her trapped and outnumbered in the alley since they were laughing to themselves.
As soon as Harley was sure they were covered by the buildings on either side of them, she struck out behind her, landing a solid kick to the stomach of the one closest to her. She spun quickly and drove her knife into the heart of the other one who had still not yet processed what had happened to his friend. Apparently, these Burners were young, or stupid, or just both. The darker haired one, the one she had kicked, was quickly climbing to his feet. She drove a knee into his chin then pinned him to the ground with a knee to his chest. Harley quickly unwound the chain from her waist and looped it around the Burner’s neck. Sensing what was happening, the Ignis began struggling and trying to bite her but she thrust her knife forward and gave him a shallow wound in the stomach. It wasn’t deep enough to kill him, but it was deep enough to distract him while she tossed the other end of the chain through the steps of a fire escape above them. The old metal stairs were broken and hung so low they were only a few off the ground. She had just enough chain left to loop it through the stair and, using all her strength and weight she hoisted the Ignis off his butt and buckled the chain against itself.
Between the wound to the Burner’s stomach and the awkward position under the metal fire escape he was thrown off balance and struggled between crouching and choking. When Harley had him secured she stepped away and watching him try to find a way to brace himself against the stairs with his feet planted out in front of him. He panted for air and clutched at the wound in his stomach that was taking a while to heal. It confirmed Harley’s theory that he was a young Ignis.
“How long do you think you can stay like that?” When he didn’t answer Harley continued. “What if I take your legs out from underneath you? How long can you go without air?”
The Ignis gave the stereotypical answer. “Fuck you,” he panted.
“Oh come on! That’s so cliché.”
“Fuck you, bitch?” he growled.
Harley laughed, throwing her head back. “Well, I guess since you can still try to be funny you aren’t hurting enough.” She bent down and quickly dragged her knife through the nerves and tendons on the backs of his knees. His scream of pain was cut off as the chain tightened around his air way as his legs gave out unable to support his weight. He began clawing at the chain and trying to reach the stair step above his head trying to find a way to stop himself from choking. Harley stood watching him fight for air for a surprisingly long time before he finally seemed to pass out. She slid a sturdy box that had been lying with some garbage underneath his butt and loosened the chain from where it was beginning to embed itself in his neck before waking him by tapping at his forehead with the point of the knife. By the time he jerked awake, gasping for air, his legs had begun healing, Harley could tell by the fact that the blood was beginning to drip slower.
“So, I have some questions for you.” He only glared at her in response. “Good—good,” she said with a too bright smile. “You’re learning.” He continued to glare at her. “Where is Cutter?”
The Ignis’ eyes widened for the briefest of instances. “Who?” he said recovering quickly.
Harley laughed at him again. “Look, we can do this all night. I can continue to poke holes in you. Strangle you. Generally bring you pain and misery. And we can see just how long you can last like this. On the other hand I can tell you are a pretty petty Ignis. Pretty low level, right? So, I really don’t have any reason to want to drag this out and make it worse for you.” He continued to glare at her without speaking. “If you tell me where Cutter is, I’ll kill you quickly.”
Finally, he spoke again. “Fuck you, stupid bitch.”
Harley laughed and shrugged then kicked the box from underneath his butt. Two swift slices of the knife to reopen wounds that had only just started to close and the Ignis was hanging by his neck again. Harley’s stomach soured at the things she was doing. It’s a means to an end, she told herself. Even though she felt that what she was doing was right, she couldn’t help but be shocked and somewhat saddened by how easily the devil inside her could just shut off her feelings. She looked at the Ignis hanging by his neck and sighed as her Nocte practically giggled at the sight before her. It took a total of three hanging sessions before the Ignis was ready to talk.
“Where is Cutter?” Harley asked for the third time.
“I don’t know where he lives,” the Ignis finally croaked. His voice was hoarse and strained from the damage done to his neck.
Harley was relieved. She really didn’t feel like doing this the whole night. “Is he still in the city though?”
“He was earlier tonight.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, pretty sure. See that pile of ash over there?” The Ignis nodded in the direction where the first Ignis had burned after she stabbed him. “He met with him earlier today. Part of some deal that I wasn’t in on.” The Ignis glowered. He knew he was going to die and seemed to accept that, but he was getting in all the jabs he could while he still able.
Harley gritted her teeth for her bad luck to pick the wrong Ignis. She believed his story and wanted to punch him in the face just to make herself feel better “What was the deal about?”
“No idea. Something to do with girls probably. That’s mine and his specialty,” he said with a nod towards the dead Ignis.
“Is that what you were up to in the bar? With the girls?”
The Ignis hesitated until she raised her knife again—as a reminder. “We deal in girls. But we’ve had some extra work lately.” Harley raised an eyebrow and waited for him to continue. “The girls are carrying also,” he confirmed Harley’s suspicions.
Drugs seemed to be a part of everything that happened. “Where did the drugs come from?”
“James—the pile of dust over there,” the Burner answered.
“This is a part of the deal he has been working on with Cutter, isn’t it?”
“I think so,” the fight has left the Burner. He wasn’t even trying to lie anymore.
“Can you arrange a meeting with him? It might earn your second chance at life,” she offered
The Burner’s shoulders slumped a little. “Not a chance. Cutter isn’t going to deal with me. Low level, remember?”
Harley nodded trying to maintain her frustration.. “Do you know if he is going to be in the city for long?”
The Ignis looked at her bewildered. “Why the fuck would I know his schedule?”
Harley only stared at him in response. “Look,” he finally said. “I think the deal is going to take a while to finish. James was complaining that he wasn’t going to be able to go with me when I leave for Vegas next week. Oh—and he likes to do business around bars. I can’t even tell you if he has any regular spots. That is all I know. So, just fucking kill me and get it over with.”
“What about a Nocte hunting during the day? Have you heard anything about that?”
He looked at her as if she grew a second head. “I have no idea what you are talking about.” Harley just nodded. She hadn’t figured he would know anything but she had asked to be sure.
Harley thought for a minute, trying to make sure there wasn’t anything else he might be able to answer. She believed him when he said that he wouldn’t be able to arrange a meeting with the head honcho. There really wasn’t any point in keeping him around longer. Finally, with a deep breath she drove the knife into his chest with no remorse or hesitation. He began to smoke and burn quickly and she hurried to untie the chain from around his neck. She didn’t want burnt Ignis on it—or to have to wait for him to get done burning to get it back. While she hadn’t learned a lot, she had at least learned Cutter was probably still in the city and probably would be for the next week or so. That was definitely good news. It gave her time to find him.
