Only Human (15 page)

“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Are you a mess? Do you need me to bring you some clothes?”

“Clothes would be good,” I said, not looking down to see what kind of shape mine were in. The first guy’s brains were all over my front, the second guy’s brains plus what felt like a gallon or so of blood was on my back. I told Aaron, “I have brains all over me, but I’m ignoring it as long as possible. More pressing, though, there may be a driver somewhere wondering why they haven’t brought me down yet. I’d kind of like to have backup as quickly as possible, if you don’t mind.”

“Tyler and Ranger aren’t far away, I’ve already diverted them to you and they should be there within a few minutes. Nathan won’t be far behind and he’ll check the parking lot for a driver or to see if he can find a car that’s likely theirs. I’ll stay on the phone with you until Tyler and Ranger arrive.”

“How can I tell what these guys were? They weren’t shifters, or they didn’t feel like it, anyway.” I was using the speakerphone to try to keep my phone as brainless as possible, so my hand was free to reach up and explore the part of my face I was beginning to realize might be hurt. I grimaced in pain at the soft touch, and told Aaron, “He slammed me to the ground pretty hard, I have a feeling the side of my face will be bruised.”

“We’ll figure it out when we get there, and I’ll bring a cold pack along with clothes. Open the door, Tyler and Ranger are standing outside.”

That was fast. Had he put them somewhere close to me today, just in case? I opened the door, let them in, and locked it back. “Okay, they’re here,” I told Aaron, “I’ll let you go now.”

I touched my phone’s screen with my least gross finger to disconnect, and looked up at Tyler and Ranger. “I’d hug you guys but I don’t want to get brains all over you.”

Tyler spoke first, “Yeah, we’ll need to get the cleanup crew in here pretty quick, this is pretty disgusting, even for you. I’ll help you get undressed and wiped down; I have baby wipes and a trash bag. If you aren’t attached to that suit you’ll want to just throw it away.”

“Yeah yeah, I lose more clothes this way. When we find out who these guys’ boss is I should send him the bill for another suit.”

I’m not shy being naked in front of Tyler and Ranger, which is probably why Aaron sent them. Tyler is married to the love of his life, and Ranger may be single but he isn’t a jerk. They’re both Doms and have seen me naked or near naked and flogged at parties more times than I can count.

If Nathan were here, though, I’d be bothered. Even though he’s a shifter and they don’t usually notice nudity, he still creeps me out too much to be naked around him.

I stripped and put my clothes and shoes in the trash bag, and Tyler wiped me down with baby wipes while Ranger worked on my hair. It was very methodical and didn’t arouse me in the least. I mean, it’s hard to get aroused when someone is wiping brains from your body. Moisture had soaked through and gotten my skin wet even through my clothes and I was a real mess.

When they were done, Tyler produced a spare dress shirt he kept with him for those times when a t-shirt wasn’t good enough. It came down to mid-thigh on me, thank goodness. They all wear practically invisible earpieces to talk to each other, and when I was mostly decent they let Nathan know, and within a few minutes they opened the door and let him in.

How could Aaron make all of this happen so quickly? His company hires high-dollar bodyguards and security experts. Most of his employees are shifters, but some are humans, and most used to work for the government. His firm takes on military missions for pay when our government can’t send in troops, and he also handles security for lots of singers, rock stars, athletes, politicians, and a bunch of TV and movie stars. He regularly has people going back and forth to Nashville, Atlanta, Orlando, DC, and New York, and some of his people travel on tour worldwide with the singers. The female shifters often work undercover as a rock star’s girlfriend or date, providing security without being obvious. And, of course, on the side, Aaron handles some of the supernatural world’s bad guys. He’s a little like the unofficial supernatural police force, I guess. I don’t know where the funding comes from, but there doesn’t seem to be a shortage. I’m paid a pretty impressive hourly wage for the time I put in fighting things, deposited into my bank account every other week, with taxes held out and everything. I don’t really need the money, and at first it’d seemed wrong to be paid, but Aaron had said I should be compensated for the time away from my family and to just take the money and stop arguing. He’d assured me it wasn’t his personal money paying, and there’s an endowment set up to help the forces of good fight the forces of evil, and that’s all he’s ever said about the funding.

So, I assumed the “cleanup crew” would arrive soon. I’d never seen them in action, but I’d seen the before and after a few times and knew they were capable of working magic, which is why I wasn’t freaking out too much about the amount of brains and blood in my office lobby.

The guys had pulled all of the dead men’s ID out and were looking through it. They gave the names and driver’s license numbers out loud, which let me know they were radioing it in to someone back at the office. About that time Aaron walked in, gave a quick look around the room, and then stepped in front of me and looked like he was going to give me a hug, so I put my hands up to fend him off. I wasn’t ready to fall apart just yet, and if he hugged me I’d lose the last bits of self-control I was holding onto. His grin let me know he understood, and he said the cleanup crew shouldn’t be too far behind him. He handed me some flip flops (in October!) and jeans and a shirt, and I walked into my office to put them on. Thank goodness I’d set my purse down when I first saw them and it was far enough away it didn’t get messed up too bad. Ranger had already wiped it down with baby wipes and it seemed to be mostly okay.

When I walked back into the outer office, Tyler and Ranger were gone, Aaron and Nathan were looking at each other with big eyes, and they both looked a little scared.

I’d never seen them look scared before.

“Okay, you guys look a bit freaked out, which isn’t making me feel all warm and fuzzy. I take it we know who the boss is — wanna let me know who wanted to talk to me?”

“His name is Mordecai,” Nathan said, his voice emotionless. “He is...
powerful
. As with Aaron, most supernaturals aren’t really sure what Mordecai is. Rumor has it he’s one of the beings who were worshiped as a god before Christianity took hold. Without the prayers and attention of his worshipers he no longer has the power of one of the gods of old, but he’s still quite powerful. He will tell you he changed his name when he became something other than what he was, but that’s all he’ll say.”

The fact Nathan was talking instead of Aaron further set my nerves on edge, and I wasn’t sure who to look at, so I focused on the fish tank as I asked, “Is he a good guy or a bad guy?”

“For once, you aren’t asking the right questions.” Aaron said. “He might describe himself as a good guy, but I’m not sure either definition works for him. He seems to be beyond good and bad. If pushed, I’d say he’s more good than bad, though.”

I thought a moment. “Is he enemies of anyone who’s a friend of mine? Or have I done anything to make an enemy of him?”

Aaron gave a miniscule single shoulder shrug. “I don’t know how he feels about Abbott, but he and I are allies of old.” He looked down and added, “Or, we were, before someone under my protection killed two of his men.”

Time to stop guessing what the right question was and get an answer. “Stop making me play fucking twenty questions and just tell me what I need to know, and why the two of you look scared!”

“Because you just killed two of his people,” Nathan said as if it should’ve been obvious, “and that means war. He will be
pissed
.”

“But it was self-defense! They were going to make me go somewhere against my will, and it’s always better to fight where you are than where they take you, right? Any idea why he wanted to talk to me? Or why the men he sent said if I didn’t come of my own accord they’d hurt me to get me to their boss?”

Aaron handed the wallet he was holding to Nathan and asked me, “They said that? I need to know exactly what was said Kirsten, this is important.”

“They said they had orders to take me to their boss, that he wanted to talk to me. I asked who their boss was, they said I wouldn’t know the name so there was no purpose in telling me. I asked if they had any intention of hurting me, and the small one gave me a leer and said ‘not if you come with us without putting up a fight’.” I thought back and added, “Wait, he said they’d hurt me if I didn’t come willingly, and refusing wouldn’t be a good idea. Those were his words.”

“So you killed them.”

“You’re the one who told me to kill first and ask questions later!” I reminded him. “But I
did
ask questions first, and once I knew they were going to take me somewhere without my consent, and would hurt me if I refused, blowing up their heads seemed my best option! I didn’t know what they were, and I wanted to kill them before they had a chance to hurt me.” I touched my cheekbone and held back a wince. “My shoulder and face both hurt. Might not be a bad idea to get Doc to look at my shoulder, but my face probably just needs ice.”

“The cold pack’s in my car. I’ll make arrangements with Doc.”

He sighed and looked back at the bodies, as if trying to figure out our best course of action.

“Should I call this Mordecai dude and try to talk my way out of this?” I asked.

“No, I’ll call him, but I’ll probably put you on the phone at some point. You should also know, he’s the person I called in to help me with the murders, as well as the missing women. He’s in town at my request.”

He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and made the call.

“Hello, Mordecai, I’ve just came to the aid of a damsel in distress. It seems two of your people were inclined to take one of my people against her will, and she made a bit of a mess of them. Is there any particular reason you’re sending people to kidnap someone under my protection?”

There was that phrase again, ‘
under his protection
’. The wording sounded formal, and I made a note to ask him about it later. I like to think I can take care of myself, but common sense told me I’ve created some powerful enemies while helping Aaron fight the bad guys, so I guess it’s nice having people who will show up quickly to save my ass when it’s needed. Or, just to clean up after I’ve saved my own ass. Still, I needed to ask him about it when we weren’t in the middle of a crisis, to be sure I knew exactly what it meant. Things could get complicated in the supernatural world, and I needed to be sure this didn’t mean he owned me or anything. I’d already figured out it meant some of the repercussions for my killing these men would land in his lap, so it likely made me ‘his’ in a way I wouldn’t like.

“You really should’ve picked up a phone or something,” Aaron said into the phone. “Sending people who told her she wouldn’t get hurt if she came quietly wasn’t a very good idea. She killed them both, Mordecai.” He paused. “No, you weren’t mistaken, she’s human.” Another pause, and then, “I understand you’re upset, but she had every right to do whatever was necessary to save herself from an imminent abduction. I’ve taught her that against supernaturals she needs to kill first and ask questions later, and she
still
asked enough to questions to understand they intended to kidnap her before she struck. I’m going to let you talk to Kirsten, now.”

He handed me the phone, and by this time I was good and mad. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. Why the hell couldn’t he pick up the phone, introduce himself, tell me what he wanted to talk to me about, and invite me to some public place to talk? Tell me to feel free to bring backup if I needed? I’d have checked with Aaron and he’d have said no problem and would have sent people with me or came with me himself. I
hated
killing people, and this Mordecai had put me in a situation where I’d felt cornered into doing just that.

So, I was pissed when I took the phone, and started speaking without hearing his voice. “What, you thought the little weak human female wouldn’t have a choice but to be kidnapped? I don’t appreciate having the shit scared out of me, or getting the threat that if I didn’t submit and come quietly off to wherever the hell they were taking me that they’d hurt me. Always better to fight where you are than where you’re taken, so I fought here before they had a chance to tie me up or something. Why the hell couldn’t you pick up the phone in a civilized manner and invite me to some public place if you wanted to talk to me? I don’t know who the hell you are, but so far I’m
not
impressed.”

“Sooooo, your temper matches your last name, Miss O’Shea. Perhaps I have made a bad first impression. I’d like to start over, would you allow me to buy you dinner?”

“You want to buy me
dinner
?” Exasperated, I looked up at Aaron. He grimaced. I spoke back into the phone. “Are you expecting me to come alone?”

“No, I don’t suppose you will agree to meet me alone at this point, and I’m thinking a mediator might not be a bad idea. I will invite you and Aaron, perhaps you should put him back on the phone?”

I pushed the mute button and told Aaron, “He wants you again. I have the afternoon free until I pick Lauren up at four from school. I’d planned to eat lunch with her, but Mr. Jerkoff ruined those plans with his thugs. I can’t make plans for this evening until I talk to Xiaolan to see if she has plans.”

Aaron arranged for us to meet Mordecai for lunch at a restaurant not too far from Lauren’s school, and when he disconnected the call he told me, “Mordecai arrived in town yesterday and spent some time with Denny, but he and I’ve only spoken on the phone. He has some information about the demon who zapped your energy, though.”

He looked at Nathan, then back to me, and I had the feeling this was the first he’d had a chance to tell Nathan, too.

“The demon’s name is Xaephan,” Aaron continued, “and he’s a second level demon. We’ve never fought anything this high up before. There’s only one top level demon, and we think there are three at the next level. Mordecai may be one of the few beings with the ability to help fight him.”