City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood Read online

  The blood filled Osa’s mouth and ran from the corners. He wouldn’t swallow so she massaged his throat. Still nothing.

  “Please, Osa. Please. Please. Please…” Haley petted his face, his neck, rubbed her hands across his chest, but he wouldn’t respond. Then all at once the muscle tremors ceased, and he went lax.

  “No.” Haley pushed back his thick bangs. Osa’s pupils were so large they ate up all the green. His stare, flat. Empty.

  Haley wrapped her arms around Osa and held on. He felt so cold and so impossibly small.

  The EMS came in, and all their hurry-up when right out when they saw the mess. Haley didn’t resist when someone pulled her away and walked her from the room. After all, there was nothing she could do. Osa had gone with Reiah. Wherever dead Kin go.

  *** *** ***

  Farley stayed while they wrapped up the first Male and slid his corpse into a plastic zippered bag. He picked Osa up. Not many Kin were smaller than him. Osa was. When the pair of EMS took out the second body bag, he said, “Same bag.”

  Damn, he sounded terrible. Farley was able to clear his throat, but no amount of blinking stopped the burn in his eyes. Dead or not, Farley couldn’t bear for them to be separated. They were bonded. Two lives sharing one metaphysical source.

  One of the EMS, man or woman, Farley didn’t notice, reached down and unzipped the bag. Farley slid Osa inside, turned him towards his bond-mate and laid his hand across the other Male’s chest. Like this, he could almost convince himself they were just asleep. Now if only they would wake up. But there was no bringing back the dead. The only comfort Farley could find was the complete calm in Osa’s expression now, with the terror gone.

  But that was death. No more fear, no more comfort. Even though Farley was sure no God waited for Kin, and death was absolute, putting them together felt right. He didn’t care that they’d never know.

  He pulled the zipper shut.

  This is exactly what would happen to me if Haley died.

  Thing is, Farley wasn’t afraid of dying, not now, but losing Haley? Yeah, that terrified him. No, if something happened to her, he didn’t want to live through it.

  A hand touched him on the shoulder and squeezed. He didn’t know who it was. Didn’t even look. It didn’t matter because no amount of comfort was going to bring the two Males back.

  Farley pulled himself up and stormed from the room. In the hall he pushed his way through the straggling cops and office personnel still lingering to watch the show. Haley would be in the showers. She wouldn’t want to smell like blood, fear, and piss. She wasn’t used to the violence and the death. Being raised by an adoptive Human Mother had protected her from a lot of things and left her ignorant of so much more.

  Some days Farley envied her.

  The hiss of water echoed as Farley went into the women’s locker room. He cut between the rows of blue painted lockers and headed toward the showers. The place was empty, except for one stall in the back where the water shot full blast, throwing thick white clouds of steam into the air. A green bloody trail led him to Haley’s clothes. Farley threw his coat on a bench, stripped off his skaters and his shirt, leaving them where they fell.

  Farley went in. “Hey.”

  Haley looked up.

  He knelt down beside her. “You okay?” She shook her head. Farley caught her as she threw herself against him. Sobs racked her body, beating her down, assaulting every muscle.

  God of Man, Farley hated to see her like this. A Female at the mercy of Human frailties.

  He held on because she shook so hard something was bound to break. Christ, there was no way someone could cry like this and not lose parts.

  Kin weren’t supposed to cry. Not like this. A few shed tears sure, but overall, it was a Human trait like belly buttons. It was a weakness detrimental to survival, so Queens did not impress it on their hatchlings when they were made. Like a lot of things non-Kin, Haley cried.

  Farley rocked Haley and stroked her soaking hair. He rubbed his cheek against hers and thrummed deep in his chest, trying desperately to bring her ease. But the emotions she had impressed as a white-scale from her Human Mother were just too strong. Waiting it out was all he could do. Eventually, the worst of it passed.

  When she was quiet, he loosened his grip and petted her back. “Better?”

  “No.” Haley’s nose rattled when she tried to inhale. When she exhaled, it was a half-laugh half-sob. “God of Man, Farley. Donald beat him to death.”

  He shushed her and forced her face into his neck.

  Soft foot falls echoed through the open room.

  “You two in here?” It was Garrett.

  “Yeah, back here.” Not that Farley expected the guy to peek his head in. Like most Humans, Garrett wasn’t comfortable with naked.

  “Is Haley okay?”

  “She’s good.”

  “What about you?”

  Farley grinned. “Gee, Garrett, I didn’t think you cared.”

  The man coughed. “When you’re ready, I brought you some clothes. They’re on the bench. Just take her home. We’ll deal with this tomorrow.”

  Yeah, ‘cause dealing with this right now could only lead to very bad things.

  Chapter 4

  Orin did not like the way Ray Ricardo looked at him. Not. At. All. The metaphysical biology professor stood in the door way of his kitchen with eyes that said he either didn’t like what he was looking at, or that he really didn’t like what he was looking at.

  Orin was betting on the latter.

  Ray said, “You look like shit.”

  “Thanks.”

  Ray hoisted up the case he carried and put it on the kitchen table. His dark eyes did a hop-skip all over Orin, head to toe and back. He popped the top on the case and shuffled things around inside.

  Orin flipped up his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He didn’t wear them because of bad eye sight, he wore them to break up the inhuman perfection making him so easy to spot as Kin.

  “Are you healing?” Ray pointed to a bruise on Orin’s arm.

  Orin rolled his eyes. “Obviously not.”

  Ray shook his head and made a sound. “You need to reconsider your fight against your biology, Orin. You’re losing, man. In a big way.” He pulled out two vials and a syringe.

  “That’s not an option.” Orin laid out his arm and rolled his sleeve up higher. “I can’t give up on this, Ray. There has to be another way around things.”

  “I say the same thing about breathing. Hell, why bother worrying about the environment? When there’s no air left to breathe I’ll just quit.” Ray waved his hand up and down. “As you can see, I’m making tons of progress.”

  Orin made a face. “Quit being an ass.”

  The man laughed. “Look, you’re the one sitting here looking like death worn over, too weak to even feed your cat, who by the way bit me when I came in the door.”

  “You probably deserved it.” Orin laid his head down while Ray searched for a vein.

  They’d started this routine a year ago in hopes of finding some artificial source which could feed the need. For decades Orin had some success with doing a straight line on another Kin, but ever since he’d denied the Athens Queen’s request to service her, all his sources had magically dried up.

  “Orin…” Ray’s voice was serious. Serious enough that Orin opened his eyes to look at him. “Man, you’ve got to reconsider going back to doing this the old-fashioned way.”

  “Five minutes hasn’t changed my reply.” Hell, five centuries wouldn’t.

  “Then use the Lesser-Breds again. Christ, my man. This just isn’t working. I’m sorry I ever suggested we try it.” Ray put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “Science can only do so much for you. We just don’t know enough about Kin metaphysics to emulate refueling what your body needs.”

  “Did you run this batch hotter?”

  “Yeah, but I doubt boiling the serum in a conduction chamber is going to make much difference. Hell, I don’t have any ex
amples to go by. I don’t even know if I can overload the stuff and jack it up too far.” Ray grabbed one of the vials and drew up the yellow liquid. Yellow because it had been spun down from Human blood.

  “It’ll work this time.” Orin knew he sounded like a gambler desperate for the big win. And in a way, that’s exactly what he was. He did not want to go back to the feed. Not now. Not ever. He was tired of it. Tired of the loss of control and tired of being a victim to his instinct.

  God of Man, this had to work. Not just for him but for Mary. She needed him to feed her, and unless he was sated, it was a job he couldn’t do. It was simply too dangerous. He couldn’t trust himself.

  Ray pulled out a chair and sat down, getting eye-to-eye with him. “How long have we been friends?”

  Ever since you were a smart-mouthed twenty-year-old who sat in the third row of my Introduction to Ancient Histories class. And you still haven’t done a damn thing about that bush of a hairdo.

  Out loud Orin said, “I don’t have time for a trip down memory lane.”

  Ray cut him off. “Thirty eight years. That’s almost four decades. I know you’re worried about that thing inside you, and I know you’re worried about appearing less Human. But damn it, Orin, there’s only so much of your biology you can fight. And you can’t fight this anymore, man. Please, for the love of God, pay for it if you have to, but find someone to feed you.”

  “Fuck you, Ray. Stick the needle in me and shut up.” Orin put his head back down.

  “You know I’m right.” Ray touched Orin’s arm and a cool burn made its way under his skin. Ray pulled out the needle and put the cap back on. “How do you feel?”

  Well, actually, he didn’t feel a damn thing. “Fine so far.”

  “If this doesn’t work, will you at least go back to the Lesser-Breds?”

  Orin sighed. “Need I remind you, engaging in deviant sexual behavior is against University policy. And trust me, feeding from prostitutes constitutes deviant behavior.” And the sex part…well, that was just another unavoidable biological reaction.

  “Then get it for free. You’re Kin, for crying out loud. There are probably Lesser-Breds in this town who would hand it to you for nothing.”

  “Paid for or free, deviant behavior is still deviant behavior. Think of the things people will think when they see strange men coming and going from my home night after night. And it will be night after night, Ray. I’m a Dominant. It’s going to take a lot more than just one to sate me.” Orin glanced at his arm. The skin around the injection site felt cold.

  “Something wrong?” Ray leaned forward.

  “No. Not yet at least.”

  Ray sighed. “Then find one of your own, Orin. What about that Female you know in Atlanta?”

  Orin glared. “She is definitely not an option.” No, because the thing, as Ray called it, would definitely get stirred up. “I have a hard enough time just being near her.”

  Ray grinned. “That’s because you like her. It has nothing to do with your…whatever.”

  “RHage. And liking her is beside the point. She’s Female, and the RHage would recognize her and pitch even more of a fit to get out.”

  “Then why not one of her friends? How about the big tall blond headed dude?” Ray flapped a hand above his head. Of course at five-five a lot of men were taller than Ray, and he did a lot of hand flapping to express that fact.

  “Deshi.”

  “Yeah, him.”

  “He’s married.”

  “And since when did you people go all monogamous?” Ray gave his beard a scratch, sat back in the chair, and crossed his arms over his wide chest.

  Orin shook his head. “It’s complicated. Trust me. He’s not an option.” And even if Deshi was available, Orin sure as hell wasn’t about to ask him. He didn’t even like the Male.

  He rubbed his hand over the injection site, trying to ease an itch.

  “Creepy crawlies?” Ray asked.

  “A little.” But they were normal. Orin turned his arm and checked the bruise. It was gone. “Well, something seems to be working. See, I told--” The burn came on so hard and fast it sucked the air right out of Orin’s lungs. “Shit!” He grabbed hold of the table as his body tried to make like a pretzel.

  “Son-of-a-bitch!” Ray shot to his feet and dug through his case. “Hang on, hang on!”

  Hang on? Hell, hanging on was the only thing Orin could do. He clenched his eyes shut as spasms rode him into the floor. His left leg kicked and shot the chair across the small kitchen, where it put a dent in his fridge.

  “Orin, open your eyes.” He did, and Ray jabbed him in the retina with a piece of sun light. First one eye, then the other. Twice! “Listen, you’re in a full burn.” He put the pen light in his pocket.

  “Tell me something I don’t fucking know. God of Man, it hurts.”

  “I’ve got to chase it down with a second dose.”

  Orin struggled to breathe. “Give me a minute.”

  “You’re burning up. You don’t have a minute.” Ray made a bunch of noise while he loaded up another shot.

  “Don’t stick me yet!” Orin’s snarl turned into a hiss as his teeth punched down and the taste of his own blood lit him up. He jerked his knees up and curled over himself. More to hide the erection he sported than the sharp and pointies.

  Ray grabbed his arm.

  “Wait, Ray! Wait!” Control. Orin had to get control. That meant reining in his body’s biological reaction as well as capping down the gift left to him by the Queen of Africa stirring in his chest.

  “And I told you, you don’t have time.” Ray impaled him in the arm with the needle and drove the load home.

  Orin let out a low lean growl and opened his mouth so he could pant. Heat boiled under his skin, squeezing his lungs and drying up the blood in his veins. He jackknifed once, twice, and hunger hit him so hard between the ribs he almost screamed.

  The follow-up should have been bringing him down, but instead he was heating up all over again.

  “Christ…” Ray went to the sink. Silverware clattered as it rained all over the floor. “Where’s a knife?”

  Knife? “What the fuck…ah, shit.” The spasm yanked Orin forward. A rib cracked with an audible pop. This time he couldn’t hold back his cries, a combination of pain and arousal.

  “Here…”

  Bright red pooled under Orin’s nose across a stretch of tan skin. He realized he was looking at Ray’s palm. The man had sliced himself open.

  Orin shook his head. “No…no…not that…”

  “You don’t have a choice. It will bring you down.”

  “If I start…I m-may…n-not…stop.”

  “I know you, you’ll stop.”

  But what if he didn’t? What if he latched on and couldn’t let go? “No--”

  “Goddamn it, Orin. Do this or you’re going to burn up.”

  There was no denying the familiar sensation of metaphysical energy churning out, burning up everything in his body. Damn, Orin hated it when Ray was right.

  Pressing his face into Ray’s palm, Orin sucked at the wound. The blood hit his palate, tasting like buttered chicken and feeling like oral sex. He moaned and pulled harder, his biology gunning for more.

  “Easy there…” Ray put a hand on Orin’s head. “Watch the teeth, my man.”

  Yeah, teeth. Teeth were for tearing and eating. And Human flesh just happened to be so fucking tasty. Instinct rolled in on waves of hunger and pushed for Orin to bite and shred. He struggled to rein it in. It shouldn’t have been this difficult. After all the time under Serena’s claw, control was something he’d gotten damn good at. Effort made Orin’s body tremble like an overused muscle.

  Turning his face away from Ray’s bloody hand was the only way Orin could make himself stop. Orin said, “Enough…” When Ray put his hand closer, he shook his head. “No…no more. Just…do it.” Not to mention if Orin kept going, he was going to orgasm from it. Long time friend or not, coming in his pants was a kind of em
barrassment Orin didn’t think he could live through.

  “You sure?”

  Hell no. “Yeah…third round. Do it! Quick!”

  Ray went back to the case and pulled out the plasma bag. It took forever for him to fill the syringe. But then the stuff was thick. And sixty CCs was a lot.

  “Promise me,” Ray said as he knelt back down and worked to pull one of Orin’s arms out straight. “After this, you’ll feed like you’re supposed to. No more of this artificial shit. It’s killing you.”

  Now wasn’t this a fine time to go all blackmail? “Stick me,” Orin snarled, flashing tiger sized fangs.

  “Your vow.”

  “Fuck you, Ray.”

  “Right back at you, asshole. Swear to me you’ll take the flesh of your own, or I’m shooting this load right down your kitchen sink.”

  Orin made a grab for the syringe, and Ray moved it out of his reach. He growled. “Give it to me, Ray. NOW!”

  “Orin, you’re killing yourself. You can’t keep living like this.”

  Orin glared at the man, hating him even though he was right. It was time to face the facts. He was all out of choices.

  “Fine, I swear. Now do it!” Orin jacked out his arm and tried to hold still while Ray threaded his vein. By the time Ray had the plunger halfway down, the spasms were easing up enough that Orin could unfold his body from the fetal position it seemed to like so much.

  “Christ.” Ray pushed the last of the plasma home. “I guess I got it too hot.”

  “Not your fault.” Orin watched the needle hole close up as the need backed out. “I told you to cook it longer.” He heaved a sigh and laid his head back on the cracked linoleum.

  Ray gave a grunt as he stood up. He hobbled back to the table and proceeded to pack up. “You know, I’m really getting too old for this shit.” Orin was about to tell the meta-physicist he wasn’t, but truth be told Ray was getting gray around the edges, and those crow’s feet in the corners of his eyes looked deeper than Orin remembered. Hell, it seemed like just last week the man was stressing over his finals.