Beyond These Walls (7 page)

As soon as the fairy, dressed in black leather pants and an Indian headdress peeked down the sewer grate, I snatched him, withstanding an onslaught of tiny fists and teeth. When he bit me for a third time, I shook the little devil.

“All right.” His eyes spun like pinwheels inside his head. “I give.”

“Good.” I smiled proudly, earning a look of disgust from my oldest and dearest friend. I stuck my tongue out at Nobody, and said to the fairy, “Tell your buddies no more tricks. We’re coming up and if any fairy makes a false move I’ll flatten you.”

“I read a story like this once.” Nobody scratched his head. “It did not end well.”

I gestured to the grate. “Shut up and climb.”

Chapter 13

We pushed through the sewer grate and into the fairy pen with little difficulty. The fairy room, as Ivan called it, was a large warehouse with a steel cage placed in the center. Smaller cages sat stacked around the center cage. Overall, the place resembled a tiny man’s jail complete with boxing ring.

A group of angry fairies stood around the grate, their small bodies decorated in the finest of wrestler fashion, which meant lots of latex, spandex, and leather. I held up my hand. “Take it easy. We’re just passing through.”

“That’s what they all say, but we got a contract with Ivan, and he’s nobody the likes of you want to mess with.” A red-haired fairy with pink tinted wings and a bonnet on her head stepped forward. “His enforcer is a vicious bitch, and she’ll rip you to shreds if you try and steal us.”

“I’m not that vicious.” I frowned at the offending Tinkerbelle.

Nobody raised his eyebrow, and I shrugged. Fine. I wasn’t going to win any Miss Congeniality contests, but I had good qualities too. Not that any came to mind at the moment. So in a gesture of good will, I set the leather-clad fairy down and gently shoved the rest of the fairies out of my way before I unlocked the cage door with a set of keys Ivan kept in a fairy-proof lockbox three feet from the ground.

I motioned for Nobody to step through the unlocked door. He did, followed by a rush of tiny winged wrestlers, all eager to taste freedom. With a gentle sweep kick, I knocked them back inside the cage ignoring their tiny boos.

“Bitch.” The leather-clad fairy spit a glob of goo at me. It landed on my boot, and slid to the floor.

“Why you ungrateful, little—”

Before I kicked a little fairy ass, Nobody grabbed my arm and dragged me from the warehouse. “Come on, we have more important mutants to fry,” he said.

That we did.

Together we snuck down the darkened hallway. My ears stained to identify every sound. When dealing with the HOA any meaningless creak could lead to certain death. I paused outside the main door listening for any sign of what was beyond the wood. For all I knew an army of agents waited on the other side. I clenched my fists, preparing for a bloodletting.

I motioned for Nobody to stay back and pressed the door open an inch. The bar appeared vacant, not a drunken body dweller in sight. Unusual for this time of night. “Ivan?” I slipped through the door, crouching low while scanning the shadows for anyone intent on doing us harm.

No response.

I started checking Ivan’s standard hiding spaces, the secret places he used to hide from his wife and sleep off the occasional binge. I lucked out in the crawlspace above the bar. Ivan lay sleeping in a ball of rented skin.

“Ivan.” I shook him. “Wake up.”

“Indeara?” He cracked his eyelid open, showing off grey eyes like Quinn’s, but yellowed with age and drink. “What’d you want, girl? It’s my nap time.”

“I need your help.” I lifted him up, nearly overpowered by the stench of whiskey. We climbed from the crawlspace to the main bar where Nobody waited, a icy beer in his hand. I raised an eyebrow. “Make yourself at home.”

“Ivan? Is that you? You look different.” Nobody stood and shook Ivan’s hand, the giant cyclops towering over the older man. I tilted my head to examine Ivan. He did look different, and not because he wore a new skin. Nope. Ivan had grown by two inches at least.

I put my hands on my hips. “Are you wearing lifts?” Body dwellers used various items to fit into a new skin. Foam rubber shoulder pads were just one of them. They turned an average man into a broad-shouldered superhero if large enough.

“Can’t help it.” Ivan pulled at the folds of skin at the curve of his neck. “The suit’s a rental. The wife took a pair of scissors to mine.”

Nobody smiled, so Ivan added, “While I was wearing it.”

“What for this time?” asked the giant.

“A simple misunderstanding, son.” Ivan sucked at his teeth. “That woman just gets crazier every year. She needs some grandbabies to spoil.” He emphasized his statement with a glare in my direction.

I held up my hand. “No, she needs a husband who doesn’t bet her good china on a fairy match.”

“You’re a mean one, girl.”

Nobody laughed. “If you only knew the half of it.”

“Enough.” I reached over the bar and grabbed a beer. Its coldness, not to mention alcoholic content, eased the throbbing in my backside. “Ivan, I need to find the Resistance.”

He snorted. “When are you going to give up on those childish stories? There is no Resistance. Never was one.” Gesturing to the back room, he added, “Now go clean out the fairy stalls.”

“I’m not a kid anymore.” I touched his hand. “I can protect myself. No more lies. Please.” My eyes locked on his. “When Calvin got sick, he told me and Quinn stories. Tales about the Resistance. About you and him fighting side by side.”

“Calvin lied.” Ivan pushed my hand away and rose from his barstool to pace. “He was dying, girl. The plague took his mind. Forget the Resistance. Forget everything beyond the wall. It’s easier that way.”

“Like you forgot Quinn?” Anger rushed through me. Calvin hadn’t lied, not to me. The Resistance was real. It had to be. “Some things in life aren’t that easy to forget. Resden has a vaccine—”

“I don’t wanna know, girl.” Ivan covered his borrowed ears. “I’m old and tired.”

“But—”

Nobody patted my shoulder. “Let it go.”

I took a deep breath releasing the frustration clawing up my esophagus. Ivan wasn’t going to help me, at least not consciously. I smiled, a plan forming in the back of my mind. It wasn’t a nice one either. But I needed the Resistance. The outcome outweighed the journey, or so my mutant-rock addicted friend, Tony used to say.

“Fine.” I faced Ivan. “But this isn’t over. I’ll find the Resistance and destroy Resden. You wait and see.” I didn’t add Quinn to the list, but the unspoken hung in the air between us.

“Sounds fun,” in the darkness of the doorway a man spoke, “can I get a beer first?”

Chapter 14

I twisted the cap off a Budweiser and placed it on top the bar in front of Jake McClain. The hunter looked the same as he had earlier, his blond hair cropped tight against his head, his eyes filled with mockery. I wanted choke the amusement from his face. “What are you doing here?” My eyes narrowed. “Did you follow me?”

He snorted. “Think highly of yourself, huh?”

“Then why are you here?”

Taking a long drink from the bottle clasped in his hand, he motioned to Nobody. “Who’s your one-eyed friend? Boyfriend? Lover?”

“He’s none of your business.” I wrapped my arms over my chest and pinned Jake with my finest ‘don’t fuck with me’ glare. In response he raised the beer to his lips and grinned. Stupid hunter. His smile widened, eyes falling to the swell of my breasts. I quickly dropped my arms.

Nobody caught Jake’s grin and rose. His eye steady on the hunter. “I didn’t catch your name?”

“I didn’t give it.”

Testosterone filled the room. So much in fact that my voice dropped an octave. “Nobody, this is Jake McClain. The hunter I told you about.”

“I see you didn’t take my advice though,” Jake said, pointing to my stained clothes and rat-nested hair. He waved a hand in front of his nose. “How is it possible that you smell worse than you did a couple of hours ago?”

I closed my eyes and practiced the art of deep breathing while listing the top reasons for not beating Jake to a bloody pulp. The list started with his saving my ass at the gate. I was out of rationales a second later.

“How Indeara smells is none of your concern.” Nobody stepped in front of the Jake, his face set. “She’s not interested in the likes of you, hunter.”

“Take it easy.” Jake held up a calloused hand. “I didn’t come here to woo your girl. Ivan and I have business.”

“What kind of business?” My heart sped up in my chest. Ivan knew as well as the rest of mutanity how dangerous hunters could be. They survived by betrayal and lies.

“My business.” Ivan stood, his skin vibrating. “Not yours.”

“But he’s a—”

“Friend,” Ivan said. The word sounded foreign on Ivan’s lips, like he hadn’t used the term in years. Thirteen years to be precise. “Go home, Indeara. I’ll call you in a couple of days. We’ll talk then.”

I didn’t have a couple of days and neither did mutantity. With each day that passed Resden was one-step closer to ridding the world of mutations.

“But—.”

“Go,” Ivan ordered.

“Fine. Goodnight.” I grabbed Nobody’s hand and together we left the bar searching the dark streets for HOA agents. A block up, I ducked into an alleyway.

“I knew you gave up too easy.” Nobody shook his head. “So what’s your plan?”

I flashed him a quick grin. “You wait here. If the hunter leaves before I get back, follow him. Don’t get too close.”

“I can handle myself.”

“Don’t be stupid.” I grabbed his forearm and squeezed. Nobody might be a giant, but he bled just like any other man. “I’m not messing around. McClain’s dangerous. Stay out of sight.”

Nobody’s eye flared, but he didn’t argue. “What are you gonna do?”

“Eavesdrop, of course.” I reached up and gave him a quick peck on the chin before disappearing into the shadows.

******

“I don’t want to see her hurt.” Ivan’s voice flickered through the rooftop air duct. The same duct I currently had my body halfway contorted inside, my ears straining to catch his every word.

“That’s not my choice.” Jake paused, his tone ugly. “It’s yours.”

“It’s not that simple, boy.”

“Don’t boy me,” Jake’s voice softened and a shiver ran up my spine. “I know firsthand what Resden’s capable of, and I’m fairly fucking sure, you don’t want your precious Indeara to find out.” He sucked in a breath. “Keep her away from me, from us, and she’ll be safe.”

“Easier said than done.” Ivan sounded older than I’d ever heard him. “But I’ll do my best. Maybe I’ll send her away. To London. She’ll be safe there.” I wasn’t going anywhere. Not until I found out what the fuck was going on.

“You think that’s wise?”

“I don’t think anything anymore.” Ivan coughed. “Now you watch your back. The HOA—”

Crack.

Underneath me the metal duct started to sway. Rusted screws and bolts snapped under my weight drowning out whatever Ivan said next. I yelp as the duct broke in half, sending me shooting down the shaft like a metal ball in a ghetto version of pinball. Preparing for a crash landing, I threw my hands out in front of me and screamed.

Was I supposed to tuck my head in my knees or keep my knees together and die like a lady? I wish I would’ve paid more attention in mutant-charm school.

My two-story descent took a couple of seconds at the most, but it felt like a year. I flew through the metal grate above the bar, and hurtled toward the ground. The floor rose up to meet my face as I braced for impact.

A foot from a busted skull and a huge dentistry bill, my free fall halted. Just stopped. Pieces of metal and plaster fell around me, covering my body in layers of dust.

“My luck must be changing. I expected it to take at least one date before you fell for me.” A laugh followed.

I glanced up, my eyes boring into the amused expression in Jake’s face. His thick arms were wrapped around my waist, and his hands cupped my chest in a way that was both suggestive and possessive.

I bit him.

He yelped and dropped me on to the dirty floor. Scrambling to my feet, I stood glaring at him. “Who are you? And don’t you dare lie to me.”

“Or what?” Jake chuckled, the whiteness of his teeth glinted from his dust covered face. He suddenly sobered and took an intimidating step my way. “This isn’t a game. Forget what you overheard. Forget Resden and the Resistance. Go find a nice mutant to marry and raise a brood of kids.”

Without thought, I marched closer to him, my eyes burning with rage. But something stopped me. Fear? An unusual sense of self-preservation? Or maybe it had something to do with the gleam in his mutated eyes. My blood heated, and I swallowed back an ugly commentary on his ancestry, anatomy, and arrogance.

He snickered. “That’s a good girl.”

That was it.

I pulled my fist back and sent a hard right toward his jaw. He twisted at the last second, leaving me swinging at stale barroom air. A muscular forearm enfolded around my chest, plastering my body to his. His laughter reverberated inside my brain, which caused my blood to burn.

Jake’s hand slipped upward, his fingers brushing the curve of my breast. My rebellious nipple hardened and a flash of desire flared in my stomach. What the fuck was wrong with me?

Leaning down, Jake brushed his lips across mine. When he pulled away his grin suggested he knew exactly what I was feeling. The rat bastard.

“Don’t patronize me. I’m not some little bit of fluffy happy to be fondled by a big, bad hunter.” I shoved him away. “Kiss me again and your groping days are over.”

“Look what you did to my bar,” Ivan said interrupting Jake and my interlude. I glanced around. Broken ceiling tiles, years of cigarette dust, and some type of asbestos lay scattered around us. My eyes met Ivan’s and I blushed.

“Sorry.”

“Sorry? Sorry!” He shook his rapidly growing red head. “That’s all you can say? How am I supposed to get this cleaned up in time for tonight’s match? What’s wrong with you, girl?”

“I’ll get the broom,” I said, and wandered off in search of a way to right the mess my life had suddenly become.