Chapter Seven

  We parked halfway down the street from Amber’s house. I could hear the songs of the people inside, which meant I’d hear Devon’s if he got close. Once I’d heard someone’s song, I could always recognize it. Amber’s was easy enough to find as well, and I’d always know her. It was the only song in the large house of a late teen female mage.

  We let her know we were around with a phone call, but we hadn’t actually met her yet. Then we settled in to wait, if we’d done our job right Devon would be at a fever pitch by the time he got off shift. It was a bit manipulative, but stalker cases could drag on. The last thing we wanted to do was follow him around for a few weeks waiting for him to make a move.

  Lisa asked, “What’s bugging you?”

  I frowned, “Bugging me?”

  Lisa replied, “Yeah, ever since you flew over the gulf yesterday and practiced your magic.”

  I pondered that for a moment.

  “Hiding, it pisses me off, and it’s a losing proposition. What happens when they find me, we start all over again somewhere else? It’s an impossible situation. I hate hiding, but I know we really have no choice. They’d kill me if they found me, all for the sin of being born. I guess the joy of using my magic and being who I was meant to be, and knowing I have to hide it or risk getting us killed, has me… off balance.”

  Lisa nodded, “I get that, it goes against all we know. Hiding is weakness, and we can’t win by being on the defensive, it goes against the grain. But… we also can’t win by being offensive because they’d crush us.”

  “Exactly. I’m fine though. I’m happy with you, and in a way, I think the move is a good thing for both Brent and I, he’s done enough for me. It’s going to get worse though, in time. It’s also frustrating not to know the things I am capable of, on both sides of my nature.”

  Lisa asked, “Worse?”

  I shrugged, “I can still be killed by a sniper or surprise, I’m not getting cocky, but in a straight one on one fight there’s very little that could kill me. You, another very ancient vampire, and dragons. A lucky bullet. I’m already more powerful than strong mages, and I’m still a baby. I remember the song and power of that earth dragoness when we were in Austin. It was overwhelming, like standing in the presence of a sentient mountain and earthquake rolled into one. Theo has never shown his power. I guess it’s the difference between hearing the truth, and in experiencing it. Dragons are fucking scary. The idea my aura and song will be that potent by the time I reach a hundred years of age is both humbling and frightening in a way.

  “And frustrating, because I’ll have to hide it, and not use it.”

  Lisa squeeze my hand, and said, “Get over it. I hide my power too most of the time, life isn’t fair. We can have a good life together, a happy one, but if you get bitter about things it will steal the joy out of it. We have our lives, our love, and a job where we can kick some ass and get the frustrations out. The simple things in life is what brings joy, power is an empty thing.”

  I smirked, “That easy?”

  Lisa shook her head, “It’s not easy, but it’s worth it. Laying low is annoying to me too, but it’s better than fighting and seizing the rule of my race which I don’t want. It’s the results that count.”

  I nodded, “I think I’ll settle down once we establish ourselves. Too much idle time and paperwork,” I quipped.

  She grinned, “We can hope.”

  I shrugged, she brought it up, not me. I wasn’t going to complain about it, but I supposed I felt a little better getting it off my chest. I did like my life, and I loved my job. I was also thrilled with my relationship with Lisa, something I never imagined I’d ever have. It was hardly all bad, just a frustrating itch I couldn’t scratch. I took a sip of coffee and tried to relax. It was going to be a long day waiting, I just hoped the guy would show up. I was almost positive Devon would do something stupid, but it wasn’t a guarantee. An order from his alpha for instance, might derail any stupid moves out of anger.

  It was almost ten at night, when Devon made his move. His phone showed he was at pack owned house, but I clearly heard his song as he came within range of the house.

  “He’s here.”

  We got a text from Amber, Devon says he wants me to come out, so we can talk it over and put it behind us. Says he wants to apologize and get closure.

  Lisa snorted, “He just can’t get past her father’s house wards. How did he get her a message?”

  I frowned, “Maybe he has a burner phone, or one of his buddies? Or he could be spoofing the tracking software. Probably the former, if he intends to kidnap her, he wouldn’t want an electronic trail back to his own phone. I assume we aren’t using her as bait?”

  It would make it more difficult, but a lot less risky if Amber stayed in the house.

  Lisa nodded, and we sent her a text to sit tight before we got out of the car, and we moved silently and quickly. I took the lead to make sure the light breeze wouldn’t carry our scents to him, at least not until it was too late.

  The scents of chloroform and duct tape reached my nose as we closed in, what a dick. What was he planning to do with her? The problem was he wasn’t on her property, he was just off of it. We still had to follow the law, probably more than ever now that we weren’t government sub-contractors, at least for the moment. We also had cams just in case things got deadly violent.

  We paused and waited about thirty yards away when he came into sight, and we watched from the shadows as he typed into a phone. I just hoped the wind didn’t shift, right in that moment we were scenting him, and he had nothing of us.

  He had a backpack on his back, and a handkerchief half hanging out of his pocket, which was probably where the chloroform smell was coming from. That was enough to stop him, and make the cops take him in, but without causing harm the asshole would be out and free the next day.

  Lisa looked at the house, and then at me. I suppressed a curse, as Amber’s song left the house, at this range we couldn’t even whisper, or we’d be heard. What the hell was she doing? She walked over to him, and she stopped about fifteen feet from him on the lawn.

  I pulled my gun.

  Amber said, “Devon? What do you want, there’s nothing left to say. Not after the other night. Just leave me alone.”

  Devon said, “I’m sorry baby, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I can fix this.”

  Then he lunged forward as he took the handkerchief from his pocket. Both Lisa and I were much faster than a shifter, but he only had fifteen feet to traverse, where we had close to ninety, and I’d be damned if I let the bastard touch her.

  Lisa ran toward them while I double tapped his legs, and I put a round in his stomach for good measure.

  Amber and Devon both screamed, her in shock, and him in pain as he collapsed on the lawn, and then Lisa was on him with her knee in his back, and she put him in cuffs.

  I holstered my nine-millimeter and went to join the party on the front lawn. My heart was beating fast, and I felt a certain satisfaction from our day’s work. I hated waiting, but it had been worth it.

  It was always worth it… when I got to shoot someone.

  Amber was an attractive girl, but not in a way that particularly stood out. She was shaking and looking between Lisa and I in a grateful panic.

  Lisa said, “He had chloroform, and there’s tape in this backpack.”

  She unzipped it and looked inside.

  “There’s also ropes, a small bottle of gasoline, a lighter, and a folding shovel.”

  Amber gasped.

  Right. Knock her out, tie her up, rape or torture her, kill her, burn her to hide her identity, and then bury her. At least, I’m assuming rape would be in there somewhere, he didn’t need the ropes if he had planned to kill her right off. I also knew my partner’s monologue was more a benefit for our cams and evidence, she wasn’t trying to freak Amber out.

  The situation seemed off and hadn’t been what we’d expected. Devon was much more than a simple stalker. He was either a budding serial killer, or he already was one.

  I pulled out my phone out and dialed the police. I was going to miss the days when Brent took care of all that, time to grow up. Between what he had in the back pack, what was on our cams including the audio, he’d be facing attempted kidnapping and attempted first degree murder charges at the very least, which should put him away for more than a few years. Maximum life sentence for that second charge, but chances were he wouldn’t get the max.

  Amber looked white faced and horrified, and I wanted to comfort her, but as a siren the best thing I could do was ignore her, and just avoid her attention as much as possible. Any interaction would just make it worse, and Lisa could deal with her.

  Then her parents ran out of the house, this should be fun…

  Chapter Eight

  It was right after eleven, almost two hours later when we arrived back at the office and our home, and we went straight up to the apartment. It’d taken some time to give our report, share our cam footage, and get things wrapped up. The police while suspicious of us at first, seemed to relax when things came into light. I couldn’t blame them for being wary, we were both armed for war, and we weren’t all that well known yet. First day on the job and all. There was also that ever present wariness between humans and the supernatural to deal with.

  Amber’s father hadn’t been all that happy she’d kept it from him, but as long as I got paid, I didn’t care about that part overly. I think she’d been hoping we could handle it quietly, but Devon’s actions had made that impossible. Of course, someone could argue we’d kicked him in the teeth and pushed him in that direction, but it was worth it. Case closed.

  Lisa said, “We should celebrate. First day, first job, and first bust.”

  That sounded like a good idea, the bars and clubs were open another three hours.

  “First damsel?”

  Lisa laughed, “Maybe, she is a mage. I think Devon might have been surprised at what happened when she woke up tied up in those ropes.”

  I nodded, “Maybe, not all mages can cast without moving their hands, or if they’re gagged. She’s young, and even if powerful and intelligent enough might not have learned how yet.”

  Lisa sobered, “Maybe you’re right. Point is, celebrate,” she grinned and smacked my ass, “Go put on something slutty.”

  I snorted, “Yes, maam.”

  We jumped in the shower and played a little, but mostly just got clean. I wanted her badly as the adrenaline rush wore off, but us putting it off would make it even more fun later after dancing and flirting for a couple of hours. I could only assume she had a club in mind, if she wanted me to dress slutty.

  I slipped into a dark blue tube dress that I grudgingly admitted looked even better on me now, it worked really well with the lighter golden blonde hair and fairer skin. It was strapless and tight all the way from my breasts down to mid-thigh, leaving nothing to the imagination with my hourglass figure, and had its own support up top. I slipped on a black lacey thong and black shoes with three-inch heels, and I was ready to go after applying minimum makeup. Just a little lipstick, eyeshadow, and my eyelashes.

  I still missed my ash-blonde hair and ocean blue eyes, but I had to admit I looked hot. It was all for Lisa anyway, this was a girl’s night celebration of sorts.

  My petite and curvy violent goddess was in a little black dress, with red shoes, and the ruby necklace which held her illusion spell. Her skin was a creamy tan, with dark brown hair and wide doe eyes, she was my little sexpot and looked amazing.

  “You’re gorgeous,” I said softly.

  She smiled, “And you look scandalously sexy, let’s go before I rip it all off and have my way with you.”

  I snickered, and we stepped out of our apartment.

  The door across from us opened up, and Tony stuck his head out. His eyes widened as he took us both in.

  Lisa surprised me, when she said, “We’re going out to celebrate our first case, want to come?”

  Tony blushed and looked a bit tongue tied. It was kind of cute, and a few very naughty things crossed my mind. I didn’t know why, but I seemed to be very attracted to shy powerful men. Socially clueless men, who nonetheless showed panty dropping confidence and power in their magic. Still, it was impossible, fun to think about Lisa and I blowing his mind, and enjoying his cock, but I was fairly sure it would end badly.

  “Umm, maybe next time? I’m in the middle of an experiment of sorts, new enchantment, and can’t leave it. Just wanted to make sure you were both okay.”

  Lisa nodded, “We’re both fine, Devon wasn’t much of a challenge.”

  True enough, we’d been in a lot of much tighter situations. Not that we let our guard down tonight, even a human could get lucky with a gun if I wasn’t paying attention.

  “Goodnight,” I said in a soft voice, that came out just a little too sultry. I hadn’t meant to flirt with him, damned libido.

  He got a little flustered, and just nodded before closing the door.

  Lisa snickered, “Slut.”

  It was my turn to blush, there was no point denying it, my naughty fantasies of Tony had altered my scent a bit. To be fair, I’d already been turned on before that. Besides, I wasn’t actually going to sleep with him, it was just… a thing. His lust for me affected my siren nature, Lisa already had me going, and add in my apparent fetish for shy powerful men and it’d just… made me wet. Wetter?

  Normally I just ignored the effect I had on men, but us working in the same office several hours a day made it different. His attention fed my nature.

  I wasn’t the only one with fantasies either, his song changed before we got out of range, and I wondered just what it was that I was doing in his imagination as he took care of himself. I wouldn’t have noticed something that subtle in a song back in Dallas, but after what I’d learned I was very familiar with the chords of pleasure.

  Lisa and I headed for a club named Crimson Tide. It was run by a couple of vampires but was mostly staffed by humans. We’d been there before, and the vampires didn’t bother either of us the first time or the times after that. Lisa had very good control of her aura, and she put off just enough power that they would hesitate to bother us in any way, but not enough to stand out as unusually powerful or old.

  We had a good time, and I lost myself in the music while we danced, flirted, and teased each other until we went home in the wee hours. It wasn’t like I needed to sleep, and Lisa would be okay with four or five hours every once in a while.

  Regardless, it was quite a bit later before she found sleep, sweaty and spent in my arms. I spent the rest of the night studying Lisa’s and Tony’s songs, and reading, but I didn’t discover anything new.

  “Good morning,” I smiled slightly as Tony answered the video call.

  He didn’t look as nervous as he was in person, though it wasn’t hard to pick out the admiration in his eyes, he didn’t show it on his face though. In a way being apart also helped me, without scenting his arousal or hearing any changes in his song at my nearness, it kept me feeling a lot more comfortable as well. I really didn’t mind it personally, I kind of enjoyed it sometimes, but professionally it could be awkward with a co-worker, especially an employee.

  Video calls would also be a good way to get to know each other and build a trust and close business relationship without my pheromones and magic getting in the way, if that’s even a thing. Lisa’s and my company wouldn’t be that big, and we both wanted to promote a trusting relaxed atmosphere, without crossing major lines.

  He said, “Good morning, Aria. What can I do for you?”

  I shrugged, “Nothing serious, I just wanted to make sure you’re settling in well, and that you have everything you need.”

  He smiled, “Thank you. I’m very grateful for the opportunity, and I’m really enjoying the work.”

  I nodded, “I also wanted to thank you for the enchantments. This has got to be the most comfortable body armor I’ve ever worn, and your wards have a welcoming touch to them.”

  He blushed, and I ignored the eye flick that dropped below my face for a moment. Maybe that was a bad choice of words, too intimate referring to his touch obliquely? Or maybe he just wasn’t used to compliments. Fuck it, I was a siren and an HR nightmare, I wasn’t going to overthink it. I didn’t mean anything by it, it’s just his wards weren’t invasive at all, a lot of them made me feel a little violated.

  “Well, the suits are already bullet resistant, and the kinetic or earth enchantment will help stop the armor piercing bullets and is pretty standard. But, I’ve modified the other three standard elemental enchantments. The fire enchantment besides blocking fire also ensures you don’t get too hot. The water enchantment is similar, helps deflect ice or water attacks, and ensures you don’t get too cold and at the same time will absorb and destroy sweat. The air enchantment makes the suit breath better to make it feel less confining and suffocating. I’m glad you like it.”

  I nodded, “That’s great, and it really is comfortable, fits like a glove and doesn’t make me sweat like the ones I used to wear. Does that effect the lifetime of the enchantment much?”

  He shook his head, “I put a little extra in it, should be fine for a week. Assuming normal use, if you wear it to the Arctic for instance, it would burn the magic fast keeping you warm. Just make sure you swap them out in the armory once a week, so I can recharge them, or after each fight.”

  “Is any of the other equipment modified from standard enchantments? Or just the body armor?”

  My nine-millimeter had stayed clean, even after being fired. It was a little thing, but better than needing to clean it every time I shot someone. The knives were the same way, they’d stay clean and sharp.

  He shook his head, “The weapon enchantments are standard to the biz. My wards are a bit unique, it was my major in college, and part of that was creating a whole new system. More passive, and less invasive unless the passive red flags are tripped. Am I boring you?”