Elliot, page 2
part #3 of Anarock Shifters Series
“Cut it out,” he breathed. “I ain’t no player.”
“Bullshit.” She jabbed her forefinger in his face. “You got your shit to do? Well, go do it, then. I don’t give a fuck. Go on. What shit is it you gotta do? Huh? Tell me that. Tell me right now what you gotta do or I won’t believe a word that comes out of your trifling-ass mouth.”
Without thinking, his gaze instinctively slid across the street toward Hoffman Triangle. He immediately caught himself and reverted to looking at her, but she was too quick. She saw and her jaw dropped. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Elliot?”
“Nothing. I ain’t doing nothing.”
“You’re not going over there, Elliot,” she snapped. “You can’t.”
“I ain’t.” He held out both arms to display himself to her. “I ain’t going nowhere.”
“You were going over to Hoffman.” Her voice rose to a piercing shriek. Elliot thanked God no one else was around to hear her. “You were going over to NightRage.”
“I was not! I was doing no such thing. I was just….”
“I saw you.” Her obsidian eyes flashed and her hair danced the other way when she moved. She barely came up to his chin, but she still scared him when she got like this. “You were standing here getting ready to cross the street. I saw you with my own two eyes. What the fuck are you thinking, Elliot? You can’t go over there. You can’t go over to NightRage.”
“I am NOT going over to NightRage!” He bellowed louder than he intended, but her nonstop accusations exploded his composure to smithereens. He had to shut her up before someone heard her, even if she was right. “I didn’t do a goddamned thing, Aria.”
She backed away. “So this is why you didn’t want to help the Prometheus Crest. You were going over to NightRage. I won’t put up with this, Elliot. I won’t stand by and watch you do this. You can go fuck yourself and enjoy it. I’m gone.”
She wheeled and stormed off down the street. Part of him wanted to go after her, but something else told him to let her go. Her curvaceous ass swayed inside her jeans. Christ, that girl could move when she wanted to. Her hips tapered up to her tiny waist and back out to her shoulders. Her hair swished down her back and she didn’t hesitate. She stormed off into Central City and left him standing there.
He told her he wasn’t going over to NightRage, but he really was. She was loyal to the Prometheus Crest if anybody was and now she was gone. She might even scamper on along to Ogru-Kuche and report him to Victor.
Let her do it if she wanted to. Let her blab to Victor and Colonel Weeks and anybody else who would listen. Maybe if they found out Elliot went over to NightRage they would realize he meant business about getting Alexa back. That was more than he could say about anybody else who supposedly cared about her.
He scanned the road both ways until he spotted an opening. He took a deep breath, sacked up his balls, and trotted across the street. He plunged into the neighborhood and disappeared.
2
Aria Slaughter laughed over her shoulder. “Hey, Luna! Don’t forget the beer, okay? Don’t bring coke instead like you did last time.”
Luna Kehoe said something from the other room, but Aria couldn’t make out the words. It would have been some cutting back-talk and Aria didn’t have time to banter around right now.
She trotted down the brothel stairs and burst onto the sidewalk. She smiled to herself thinking of the preparations she already completed for her sister Gianna’s birthday party. Gianna would be so surprised when she walked into the Orion and all her friends and family jumped out of hiding to surprise her.
Aria cast her mind forward to the end of the week, but when she looked over her shoulder to cross the street, she stopped dead in her tracks. All the joy and excitement of planning the party drained through her shoes and her knees wobbled.
Right there in front of God and everyone, she beheld Elliot Weeks running across South Claiborne Avenue from Hoffman Triangle back to Central City. That fucking bastard! That lowdown, stinking toad.
Aria’s heart hardened against him. She hadn’t seen Elliot since their disastrous argument on that same street corner a week before. Now here he was, running back to Central City like the rotten, stinking, traitorous fucking shit weasel that he was.
Aria’s guts wrenched. How could she ever care about a man like that? How could she ever waste her time with someone who would throw over the Prometheus Crest—and for what?
She did care about him. That was what hurt the worst. She did a lot more than care about him. She actually dreamed about building a future with him.
That was before she ever suspected he could turn against the Crest. She entertained some deluded notion that he might want to take over for his father someday. She tricked herself into believing Elliot was loyal enough to the Crest that he would join the war room and work to protect Anarock like the rest of his family. Christ, even that evil fucker Finn Weeks worked for Victor. He might be a pathological killer who could cast a spell on any woman alive, but no one ever questioned his loyalty.
Aria couldn’t move, not even when Elliot spotted her. He came sauntering down the street in her direction. A cloud darkened his features. Then it cleared like it was never there, like he would never dream of doing anything against the Crest. What a chump. If he thought for two seconds she would put up with this, that he could sweet talk his way back into her panties after this, he didn’t know who he was dealing with.
A tiny voice in her head commanded her to walk away, to turn her back on him right now and never deign to acknowledge his presence again. Another, deeper part of her wouldn’t do that. She stayed where she was and let him walk toward her. He actually had the bald-faced nerve to smile at her. “Hey, girl. What you doin’?”
She pursed her lips and scanned him up and down. “I’m taking care of my family and my Crest and the rest of the New Breed, Elliot, and I can see you’re doing the opposite.”
He halted in front of her and reared back his neck. “Why, what do you mean? I ain’t doing nothing of the kind.”
She set her hands on her hips. “I just fucking saw you, Elliot. Jesus, you’re going stupid all of a sudden. I just saw you run across the street. You were over in Hoffman again. How many times is that in the last week? How many times have you been over there? Are you bending over for some wizard now? Is that it?”
She didn’t wait around to hear his answer. She spun on her heel and set off for Ogru-Kuche the way she planned. She didn’t have any more time to waste on this piece of shit.
He didn’t let her walk away this time. He hurried after her and caught up. “Okay, so I went to visit NightRage. Can you blame me? They’re the only ones who can get Alexa back. I had to find out what they know about the Omega Battalion.”
Aria skidded to a stop one more time and rounded on him. “Is that what this is all about? You’re going over to NightRage to get Alexa back?”
“Can you blame me? Victor won’t do anything. He’s glad to get rid of her so he can ride off into the sunset with that…..” He stopped himself from saying it.
Aria read the words passing through his mind, but she didn’t say them, either. Riley was Choctaw just like the Slaughters. Elliot couldn’t be so crass as to suggest that might be the reason Victor turned away from Alexa. That would be too moronic even for Elliot.
She waited, but he didn’t say anything. She broke the silence. “Did you even ask Victor to get Alexa back?”
“Of course I did. I spent the last two weeks in that fucking war room trying to convince him and my dad to go after her. We already know she’s with the Omega Battalion. I don’t see what’s so difficult. If he’s not leaving Alexa to twist in the wind to keep the peace with his wife, I don’t know why he’s doing it.”
“Why does he say he’s leaving her, then?”
Elliot raised both arms and let them slap down on his thighs. He cast a hateful glare around the neighborhood. “It’s that bitch of his that says it. She bumped into Bryce and Alexa in the Quag before the attack. They filled her head full of all kinds of BS about trying to help Anarock from inside the Omega Battalion. She claims they warned her about the attack and that’s what gave Victor the time to mobilize the other Crests. Now Victor is saying he offered to take Alexa back and help her during the battle. He claims she turned her back on him and ran off to rejoin the Omega Battalion. He says she did it of her own free will and he can’t go after her now.”
Arai waited again. “And you don’t believe him?”
“How can I? It’s too fantastic to believe. She wouldn’t run off like that on her own. Riley says she did it to save Bryce, but that’s horseshit, too.”
Aria surveyed him from a distance. Then, without a word, she rotated and started walking again. He raced after her. “Hey! What the fuck! I’m trying to talk to you. If you’re gonna blame me for going over to NightRage, at least have the decency to listen to what I’m saying. No one gives a crap about Alexa. I’m the only one who will go after her.”
Aria snarled over her shoulder without stopping. “You’re a fucking spineless traitor, Elliot Weeks. You deserve to be strung up for this.”
“Hold up, will you?” He grabbed her arm and forced her to turn around. “I’m fucking talking to you. If you’re gonna turn your back on me, at least do it for the right reasons. Don’t go telling yourself I’m dumping you because I don’t care. I’m doing it to save my sister. Don’t you go calling me a lot of nasty names for that.”
Aria drew herself into a compact ball of cold fury. She fucking loathed this asshole. She wanted to see him dead. “You don’t give a rat’s ass about your sister, Elliot. All you care about is your own stupid pathetic ego. You think you’re better than Victor and your father and Alexa and everyone else and you’re willing to throw away everything to prove it. You never went over to NightRage to get Alexa back. You went over there to stick it up your dad’s ass. Admit it.”
He pulled his head back and bit back a grin. “Can you blame me? NightRage has been angling to throw over the Prometheus Crest for years. This could be it. They’re the only ones with the power to defeat the Omega Battalion. If they do that, they could take Anarock, too.”
She snorted. She knew it all along and now he finally came out and said it. “So what do you think? You’re going to get NightRage to take over and then what? They’ll put you in charge in Victor’s place? Is that what you tell yourself to justify this?”
“I never said that.”
“You don’t have to say it.” She turned her back on him and hurried away. She would have left him far behind, but he still tagged after her. God, what was wrong with him? Didn’t he know when to quit?
“What’s your problem, Aria? Don’t you see this could be a good thing? The Prometheus Crest has been in charge way too long. They need a good shakeup.”
She rolled her eyes to Heaven and pulled to a stop one last time. The longer this conversation went on, the more she realized there was no getting through to him. If he didn’t get the message now, he never would.
“So tell me, Elliot,” she chided. “Tell me exactly what you’re doing for NightRage right now that’s so important that they’ll put a shifter in charge instead of one of their own. Come on. I can’t wait to hear this. What are you working on for them right now?”
He shrugged and flapped his hands again. He kept curling his lips behind his teeth to stop himself from grinning, but he wouldn’t look her in the eye. “Nothing much. I’m just gathering a little intel for them. That’s all.”
She stiffened. “You’re gathering intel. So you’re spying on your dad and Victor for NightRage. Is that it?”
“Will you stop putting it like that?” He slouched one shoulder and sauntered toward her. He sidled up to her and extended one hand. “Come on, baby. Give a dude a break. This means we can go to the Orion for Gianna’s birthday like you said. Come here and give me some of that.”
She held herself at a distance. “You’re a fucking dipshit, Elliot Weeks, if you think NightRage is gonna give you shit when this is all over. You’re a fucking traitor to the Crest and your family and everything else. You’re a traitor to Anarock.”
“How can you say that? I’m trying to defeat the fucking Omega Battalion. I don’t see the Prometheus Crest doing that.”
“Does NightRage even know where the Omega Battalion is?” she asked. “Can they even tell you where Alexa is in exchange for this precious fucking intel you’re getting for them? Can they? Huh?”
“Well…not yet—at least, they haven’t told me—but they’re the only ones who can find out. Do you really think my dad and Victor and Riley and Malachai can figure it out?”
She stared up at him in silence. What could a sane person say to a piece of cracked eggshell like this? There was no getting through his thick skull. He really thought the wizards and magic-wielders of NightRage Crest would give him the time of day. They probably didn’t know where the Omega Battalion was themselves.
They would diddle Elliot around and get all the fucking intel they could out of him. They would use him to bleed the Prometheus Crest and then they would get rid of him. Anybody could see that, but apparently, he couldn’t see it himself.
She saw it. She saw it all written on his pathetic black face. She actually cared about him and liked him enough to fool around with him all these months. She probably still would be fooling around with him if he hadn’t gotten so busy helping his dad.
She liked him. She liked his big, solid body and his short, tight curly hair. She liked his full, soft lips and he could kiss like an angel. He could spin her into delirious passion with his kisses alone.
She would never taste those kisses again. She would never run her fingers over his short-shorn hair. She would never wrap her legs around his waist and feel him inside her. Never again. He was lost to her and good riddance.
Deep calm took over her heart and soul. She felt exactly nothing for him. He was a stranger. He was worse than a stranger. He was her enemy. She belonged to the Prometheus Crest and anyone belonging to the Prometheus Crest could only do one thing with a person like this.
She turned around and headed down the street. She headed straight for Ogru-Kuche. She was on her way there before. Now she aimed for it with single-minded determination. Not even Elliot trotting at her side could divert her from her object.
“Hey, Aria!” he exclaimed. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to Ogru-Kuche. I’m going to find Victor and I’m going to tell him and your dad and everybody else what you’re doing. I’m going to tell them you’ve gone over to NightRage and that you’re gathering intelligence to undermine the Crest. That’s where I’m going.”
“Hold up, Aria. Can’t we talk about this?”
His hand darted out and he grabbed her arm again, but she didn’t stop. “We just did.”
“You don’t have to tell Victor anything. He already knows I’m trying to get Alexa back.”
“He doesn’t know you’re giving information to NightRage, does he?” She smacked her lips and shook her head. “I swear you’re getting dumber by the minute, Elliot.”
“Come on, Aria,” he insisted. “I’m not doing anything against the Crest. Slow down and let’s talk it over.”
“You already explained everything. There’s nothing more to say. I’m going to Ogru-Kuche. I’m guessing that’s where you were going, too, before you bumped into me. We could go there together.”
He didn’t say anything else, thank God, but he didn’t leave the way she hoped he would. He stayed right there at her side all the way to Ogru-Kuche. What did he think he would accomplish when he got there? What would he tell Victor when she explained what he was doing—that it was all a misunderstanding and he didn’t really mean to go behind the Crest’s back?
Elliot said he’d already spoken to Victor about Alexa. That meant Victor must have a good idea that Elliot planned to go out on his own somehow. He would connect the dots between Alexa and the Omega Battalion and NightRage. Victor was too smart not to—unlike Elliot who couldn’t see beyond the end of his nose.
Aria came in sight of the fence. She only stopped walking long enough for Jules to unlock the gate. She ducked inside and Elliot scurried after her. This time, he spoke in a hoarse whisper. “Come on, Aria. You don’t have to do this. It’s ridiculous.”
She didn’t answer. She leaped up the steps and hit the stairs going down to the war room. She bumped into Riley on the way. Riley smiled at her. “Hey, girl. Where’s the fire?”
Aria brushed her hair out of her eyes. “I need to see Victor. Is he in the war room?”
“Sorry. He’s not here right now.” Riley cocked her head. “Is everything all right?”
“I really need to talk to him. Is he upstairs?”
“He’s out hunting. He won’t be back until next week.”
Aria’s jaw dropped. “Oh, no!”
“What’s going on?” Riley glanced back and forth from Aria to Elliot. “Can I help you guys any way?”
“What about Colonel Weeks?” Aria grasped at any straw. “Let me talk to him.”
Now Riley’s eyes really widened. “He’s not here, either. He’s with Victor. Is the Crest in danger or something?”
Aria wheeled and stormed off. She barged up the stairs and left Riley staring. She blasted out of the building and halted in the yard. Fuck! Victor wasn’t here and neither was Colonel Weeks.
Technically, Aria should report her information to Riley or Malachai—anybody at the top of the Crest. That was what a loyal person would do. For some reason, Aria couldn’t do that. She needed Victor or Colonel Weeks. Why?
That shit Elliot still hovered at her elbow. What did he think he was going to do—talk her out of it? Not fucking likely.
Sure enough, he whispered in her ear. “Leave it alone, Aria. It’s not that big a deal.”
In response, she marched toward the gate. If that shade Jules didn’t appear right this fucking minute, she would lose it. She knew she would. She got ready to bellow his name when he snapped into view blocking her way. He fumbled in his tattered pocket for the key and lunged for the padlock.
