City of Dragons: Of Flesh and Blood (50 page)

Deshi’s scent spiked. He took out his phone and flipped it open.

In a tentative voice he said, “Hello?”

Haley didn’t listen in. She could have but it was rude. Besides, Emily would only piss her off, which was the last thing she needed right now.

Beside her Deshi said, “I’ve been sort of busy today. Yes, yes…”

Great, here we go again.
Haley rolled her eyes.

“I’m sorry, but I had to go. I was a witness.” A pause. Emily’s voice grated over the speaker. Apparently Deshi’s TV appearance had stirred up the neighbors. “He’s a friend. No, a friend.”

And walking elbow-to-elbow with another Male had done more than that.

“No, no, I promise. Emily…” Deshi paused, his hand getting so tight on the steering wheel the leather cover creaked. “I will. Yes…it’s just been really hectic. A lot going on. No, I mean…”

Seems that Emily felt there was only one definition for,
a lot going on
.

Okay, fine. So Haley was listening. It’s not like turning off her ears was actually an option.

Deshi let out a sigh and dropped his head.

Damn, she hated seeing him like this, but she’d interfered once already and he needed to get things under control.

Yeah, right.

As a Prince, Deshi’s entire purpose for breathing was to meet the
needs
of a Female. Unfortunately for him the female in his life was not only Human, but Emily.

Haley could mark him. Maybe with any luck Emily would have an aneurysm when she found out. Haley already
owned
Orin against his will. What was one more Male?

Deshi sighed into the phone and said, “I love you, but no. I have to stay.” Haley’s eyes popped wide. The Prince jerked the phone away from his ear. Emily’s voice came over the speaker sounding like bad brakes. “Emily…Emily, please. I still…no. I still have to stay.” Deshi’s shoulders dropped and his forehead touched the steering wheel. When he spoke again his voice cracked. “I know you don’t understand. But I can’t leave, not yet.” A tired exhale echoed in the car and after a long pause Deshi said, “I understand.” He palmed the cell phone and snapped it shut.

Haley waited for him to say something and when he didn’t she touched his arm.

Haley said, “You okay?” The Jersey City Prince took a breath but didn’t answer. “What did she say?”

Because the last part of her rant came so fast it might have well been Olde Tongue in reverse.

Deshi’s eyes shimmered. “We need to work on getting Orin back.”

And that was about as likely as hitting the freaking lottery numbers. Haley said, “You got any ideas? ‘Cause I’m fresh out.” Silence. “Deshi?”

Staring out the windshield, Deshi said, “You know I’ve always loved you. Even in the beginning. I never told you. I love Farley too. I know you say Kin can’t love.”

What he was saying should have made Haley feel good, but instead it scared the hell out of her. “Deshi?”

“Let me finish. Because I… I may never have the courage to say it again.” He took a breath. “Both of you are very important to me. I love you both. It took me too long to realize it and for that I’m sorry. Very sorry. For not telling you sooner.”

There was a reason he was saying this here and now but Haley was terrified to try and come up with the reasons why, because every one of them made her think of goodbyes. The permanent kind.

Deshi said, “I’m going to have to go into the Dens and get him.”

“What did you say?”

“I’m going to have to go in and get Orin.”

Haley clicked on the overhead light so she could see Deshi’s face. Because there had to be something wrong with her ears and she wanted to make sure his lips were moving in sync with the words coming out of his mouth.

“
You’re
going to have to go in and get him?” She made it a question, because there wasn’t anything more clear than a yes or no answer.

“Yes.”

“Deshi, you won’t make it ten feet inside the Dens without getting your throat ripped out!” He didn’t even flinch when her voice reached an octave above screaming and one just under panic.

The Jersey City Prince brought his silver gaze up, and it was steady. “I’m a Prince. I have the right to challenge any Male I choose for his place beside a Queen.”

“You can’t be serious?” Haley petted his arm. Deshi’s body was rigid but he wasn’t putting off an ounce of pissed-off. There was something though, Haley just wasn’t sure what. “Even if you took his place, Rehbek’ah would kill you just because.”

“Only if I can’t meet her
needs
. And while I try, Orin will have time to get out.”

Haley shook her head. “No, this is crazy. I’m not letting you go in there to die.”

“Emily said if I don’t come home today she was going to ask for a divorce.” Haley was quiet. In reality that didn’t sound so bad. Deshi said, “I know what you’re thinking.” He laughed a little. “Sounds like a problem solved, doesn’t it?”

She couldn’t lie to him. “Yeah, it does.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I guess it would.” A classic Deshi sigh eased across his lips. “Do you want to know the real reason Emily had me cut out my Nevus?” Haley didn’t answer him and he didn’t seem to notice. “So I can never go back. I can never
belong
. She wanted to make it so that my own people would never have me, could not have me, and if I ever tried to go back into the Dens they’d kill me for the indiscretion. I may be my Mother’s Son, but there is no doubt if I go home she will kill me.”

Haley said, “Farley and I want you.”

“And you would become pariah. It would be a death sentence for Farley. He’d be killed first time out in the Dens. That is, if you could even mark me. I’ve heard without the Nevus it isn’t possible.”

The silence that fell was as absolute as the words he spoke. Haley wanted to be shocked, even abhorred, but she wasn’t.

That’s because you knew. All along you knew. That’s why you held his hand when he went to that clinic. You knew he was signing over his life and like a good friend you held him on his death bed.
Deshi had been scared then, determined but still frightened. And after it was over Haley had comforted him because Emily wouldn’t.

It took him weeks to come to terms with what he’d done to himself, and eventually he accepted it, but Haley couldn’t help but feel like an important part of him had been lost forever that day.

And now sitting beside her, the Prince was full of quiet resolve and total acceptance.

“You knew she was going to do this, didn’t you?”

The Prince nodded. “Yeah.”

Haley bit her lip and willed herself not to cry. “How long? How long did you know?”

“Back in September, after…you know, after…” He took a breath. “I thought doing what she wanted might change things. Considering nothing I’ve ever done has changed anything, I guess that was pretty stupid of me.”

“Deshi…”

He shook his head. “No, no…there is no ‘I’m sorry.’ No, ‘let me make this right.’ Because, it can’t be made right. This can’t be made right, Haley. This can never be made right. Let me do this one thing for you.”

“Deshi…please…”

Anger flashed deep red in the silver of his eyes. “Please, you can’t save me. I died months ago. When I cut out my Nevus, I died. Just let me go. For Christ’s sake, let me go. I’m so tired…so incredibly tired.” Deshi laid his head back against the seat.

Haley knew she would hate herself later, but Orin needed help and Deshi was right, she couldn’t save him. She couldn’t give him back what he’d willingly cut away. Nodding while all her Human-instilled ethics screamed for Haley to not allow this, she said, “Okay, Deshi. Okay.”

The Jersey City Prince sighed and sounded completely at peace when he said, “Thank you.”

Darco moved while the world around him stood still and coated in static. A mind-numbing constant buzz and burn which refused to stop. It played his nerves raw, beating into his skull like a toothache. A pain becoming sharp and focused when people spoke. Worse when directly to him.

There were only a few things that cleared out the veil so he could see and hear without feeling the need to rip out his own throat. The easiest was the scent of fear, but eventually he killed whatever he drew it from.

The second was more reliable. His
Little Brother
. Looking at him, touching him,
feeding
from him, drove it all back, clearing the fog to a remarkable clarity, and then Darco would remember what this was all about. This, being the constant sucking of air into those sacks between his ribs and the monotonous thump of hearts in his chest.

Living was such a bore.

But eventually the
knowing
drove Darco back into the static because knowledge could be just as painful. Seeing the future was definitely not as predictable as the agony. At least the static never changed.

Darco slipped in between the bodies, some Human, some Kin, frozen in a split second, held on a single note of music. The scent of sex and
feeding
suspended in the air and he wondered if killing them would bring some relief. He’d tried it many times but it never changed anything. But the compulsion to keep doing it was always there. Like a scratch-off ticket, the next one would be the big winner.

And that’s the way Darco felt. He just hadn’t found the right one to kill yet. When he did, the infernal static and its constant buzz of pain would be gone.

Darco melted into a bar stool and he rapped his knuckles on the counter top. He held up two fingers and waited for his drinks to appear. Eventually, at the end of time, they’d emerge from the static and he drank to lower the monotonous hum and dull the pain.

Which, at the moment, happened to be a shard behind his eyes, twisting and grinding against the bone, because some motherfucker was talking to him.

Darco blinked and concentrated on pushing back the veil. It was harder than usual tonight. Sometimes it was like that when
Little Brother
was far away. The closer, the better. A kind of proximity of relief.

The Male on the other side of the bar counter said, “Did you hear what I said?”

“No, Miiko. I do my best to ignore the shit coming out of your mouth.” Darco picked up the beer delivered by one of Miiko’s beefy fists.

Miiko said, “There’s a rumor going ‘round.”

That was Miiko, always running his flap. Any juicy tidbit, real or imagined, and he was all over it. Fucker couldn’t keep a secret if it was stapled to his ass. His penchant for running his mouth was almost as obsessive as his craving for eye candy. While Darco didn’t mind an audience, you never touched what was his. And
Little Brother
was his.

Miiko had only made the mistake once. Lucky for him he could grow his limbs back.

The lesson didn’t seem to have dampened the asshole’s itch to tell Darco anything and everything that might win him some favor or a show.

“I thought you might want to hear it.” The Male smiled, flashing fang.

“That’s your mistake. Now fuck off.” Darco pulled on the beer and the cold liquid slid down his throat. Normally the pain would ease but tonight it seemed relentless. Maybe something harder. A few Dead Nazis might do the trick.

Miiko said, “It’s about Farley.”

Darco put the beer down. Miiko’s dark eyes were way too bright and he stank of Human sex and blood. But then he was always the type to want to fuck his food before he ate it.

“What about my
Brother
?”

Miiko grinned. “See, I knew you’d be interested.”

Ripping Miiko’s words out of him would have been a pleasure, but with the way Darco felt tonight, if he got started he wasn’t likely to quit until there was nothing left but bloody pieces on the floor.

It was tempting though. Very tempting.

Darco growled. “Don’t piss me off, Miiko. That is an alley you do not want to visit.” And lucky for the bartender, he actually had two brain cells holding hands. His nostrils flared and his eyes went wide.

He said, “The chatter on the streets is Farley’s got himself into trouble.”

Darco smiled. Trouble was good. It always made
Little Brother
taste better.

“Apparently he got picked up by a flesh dealer and sold.”

Miiko made a strangled sound and it took a second for Darco to realize all the gurgle-gurgle was due to the fact his hand was crushing the Male’s windpipe. Darco growled. “And who said this?”

Miiko opened and closed his mouth like a fish. The fear coming off him tasted good though. Eased the static and pain. Darco hated slacking up on his grip, but the shit for brains couldn’t form words without air.

Pity.

Coughing, Miiko said, “Lots of different people. Traders mostly. They work over there in the GLG building and come in here trolling for Submissives.”

Darco forced himself to let him go and the large Male stumbled back out of range. He picked up his beer and drained it. Mid-Town was a good ten miles away. Made sense why the pain was so bad.

So it was all coming to pass. Just like Darco had seen.

The Chetrah
Little Brother
worked for did this. They were the only ones witless enough to push him that far into the static and risk his life on stupid shit. What they didn’t seem to understand was
Little Brother’s
life was not theirs to risk. Darco had full claim. He’d been the one to let him live. He’d been the one to kill and protect. And he’d been the one to take on the constant hum, insistent pain, for…

This far in it was always hard to remember. Darco saw it though, through the blood ties with his
Brother
, when he
fed
. Then he saw it as clear as the goddamned sun, and yet sitting here surrounded by faceless bodies Darco just couldn’t remember. Confusion or not, one thing Darco did know was the veil had been pulled into place by artificial means, through magic.

But none of that really mattered now, did it? Because some motherfucker was going to try and take what was his.

And no one took what was his. Ever.

In spite of everything, Orin felt sated. It was the first time in….

God of Man, he couldn’t remember.