Skin Deep (2 page)

Thin
. The word twisted its way through Kiera’s mind. It was all she’d ever wanted. She’d been overweight since she could remember, never skinny enough to be considered beautiful.

When she was younger she’d tried
everything
. After her mom died when she was only twelve, she was sent into foster care. The foster home she lived in wasn’t tolerant of fat children. The woman practically starved her throughout high school and it didn’t work. She lost no weight, even when she was damn near on her deathbed.

“What do you mean? Something like that could actually work?” Kiera let herself get her hopes up for the first time in almost ten years. She should be skeptical.
Should be. Who is this woman anyway? A Gypsy?
What the hell does that even mean?
She bit her lip while her thoughts rioted. Losing weight was something she had dreamed of for such a long time. It seemed as if only something like magic could change this fate for her.

“Yes. It would work, but there will be stipulations.”

“No. Absolutely not. This is crazy. I’m sorry, Kiera. We never should have come here with this fucking nut-ball.” Anger laced Darla’s words. “Let’s go, Maryline. We’re not letting Kiera sell her soul to the devil just to lose some weight.”

“The devil takes no part in my life. He is the very essence of the enslavement that we so detest. I can assure you anything I do will be in the good name of Zeus himself.”

“Point taken.” Darla looked at Maryline and mouthed the words, “
She’s out of her damn mind.”

“You have been through so much, Kiera Lynn McBroom, in your short twenty-two years of life. Touching you once gave me a glimpse of the pain that has assailed you and I find it suffocating. Yet you have come through all of it completely intact.” Bettina paused for a moment, looking away from Kiera for the first time since she’d arrived.

How does she know my name?
Kiera clutched at her sweater again as her anxiety started to climb like a monkey in a tree.

“Well, not quite complete, but almost.” Bettina studied the chipping red paint of her fingernails with uncanny interest.

There was a moment of silence in the room, as if everyone was holding their breath. Kiera was utterly dumbfounded and didn’t know what to say. She wondered if Maryline and Darla were equally shocked by Bettina’s words.

“So, you’ll do it?” Maryline’s gray eyes glittered with hope.

“Maryline, seriously?” The disgust in Darla’s voice was unmistakable.

“I’m sorry, what?” Bettina looked up from her nails. “I don’t think it would be a good idea to go pond-jumping this time of year. Messy sport, if you ask me.”

Kiera surprised herself, and everyone in the room, by bursting into a fit of laughter at the absurdity of it all. Darla muttered a string of curses and crossed her arms over her chest.

“The spell, Bettina.” The strained smile plastered on Maryline’s face only made Kiera laugh harder.

“Oh, yes. The spell. It would be my honor to do it.” The look of utter seriousness that spread across Bettina’s face killed the laughter in Kiera’s throat and she let out a strangled, unflattering cough.

Such kind words from this stranger made her feel warm inside and, more than anything, she believed what this woman said. She didn’t know why. Perhaps it was her woman’s intuition, or whatever the textbook called it, but she had this strange feeling that everything that left this woman’s mouth was the truth.

“I’ll do it.”

Maryline clapped her hands in glee, the overhead light glittering off the expensive diamond bracelets on her wrist, while Darla shook her head in disbelief.

“All right, good.” Bettina gave her a dazzling smile. “I will just need a bit to get ready.”

In less than an hour, Kiera was spread out across her large king-size bed, naked. She’d protested at first. She hated her body, not only because she felt gigantic, but because of the scars that riddled her flesh. Eventually she relented, though not without bile bubbling into her throat. She clutched at her stomach with her hands, not wanting them to see. There was one thing she promised herself after what happened in Georgia. She swore she would never bear the look of an unkind eye on her naked body ever again. Yet here she was, spread like a glob of homemade jam across her white sheets.

“I need you to put your hands on either side of your head.” The lilting voice of Bettina came from beside her, and Kiera realized she had been squeezing her eyes shut and clutching her exposed belly to a painful degree.

She opened her eyes and met Bettina’s strange lime-green ones. “But I—”

“It’s okay, they aren’t looking. They’re watching TV, see.” Bettina nodded her multicolored head toward the couch across the vast room. Kiera tilted her head to look over her far-too-large breasts and stomach to see her coworkers watching some home design show on HGTV.

“I want my—”

“Here.” Bettina interrupted her by laying a small crocheted blanket next to her head.
How did she know that’s what I was going to ask for?

The instant the old yarn brushed against Kiera’s skin, she relaxed and laid her head back with a sigh of relief. She never slept without her baby blanket. It was the only thing she had left of her mom.

If this works, it’ll be worth it.

She inhaled deeply, released the death-lock grip on her stomach, and laid her hands on either side of her head.

“Close your eyes and keep them shut the entire time. Open them for nothing.”

And then she began. The ritual was strange; it didn’t even seem real for the most part. It started with Bettina whispering foreign words over Kiera’s body. The soft words floated from Bettina’s tongue, making Kiera’s skin prickle with awareness. The spicy scent of herbs invaded her senses, seeming to thicken the air, as power surged around her. The desperate need to open her eyes became overwhelming. She didn’t.
Wouldn’t.
Even if it hurt. There was nothing she had ever wanted more in the world and she wouldn’t lose her chance to be thin because she couldn’t follow simple directions.

“Be calm, little beauty. Don’t you worry. We will change this skin you’re in with no pain at all. Although, whether it be a blessing or a burden will be yours to decide …”

“The pain?” Kiera’s mind swam with confusion as she darted her eyes behind closed lids.

“Shhh. No pain” were the last coherent words Kiera heard from Bettina’s lips before things became hazy. It felt like swimming and flying at the same time. Like what she imagined floating on a cloud would feel like … and then it was over.

“You can open your eyes now,” Bettina spoke quietly.

Kiera did as she was told. She found it strange it was still her ceiling above her and not the starry night sky or an ocean of tropical fish. “That’s it?”

“Shh.” Bettina’s voice was now in her ear. Her hair prickled against Kiera’s face. “You must sleep now for the effects to take place. We will let ourselves out and lock up for you.”

Kiera registered the sensation of smooth fabric rubbing against her skin, covering her nakedness.

“I’m giving you the day off tomorrow, honey. Bettina says you’ll sleep all day. I’ll be back to check on you tomorrow and …” Kiera was vaguely aware of Maryline speaking to her. Sleep was already taking her, pulling her down into its depths.

Cain slid from between the soft sheets as soundlessly as possible and bent to punch his legs back into his blue jeans.

“Leaving so soon, baby?” The pouty voice came from the bed.

Shit.

It wasn’t his style to hang around after the good stuff went down. That was when bitches got all sensitive and weepy. Being a thousand-year-old Weretiger meant he’d had his fair share of emotional, pissed-off, and overly clingy women.

“Yeah, I gotta hit the road.” He didn’t look at her as he snagged his shirt and yanked it over his head.

“Won’t I get to see you again?”

He cringed.
Dammit, why couldn’t she have just fallen asleep and stayed that way until I busted balls to get out of here?

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see ya around.” He flicked his head so his hair was out of his eyes and glanced over his shoulder. Her hair was blond. He’d already forgotten. Her face was pretty, he supposed, but forgettable, as he’d already proved.

“D-don’t you even want to know my name?” His hand was already on the doorknob when she spoke, her voice trembling like a child’s.

“Nah.” He didn’t look back, merely pulled the door open and escaped. The chilly air hit his face when he stepped outside. The scent of balsam fir and black spruce trees was thick in the air, mixed with car exhaust and burned-out clutch. If he focused hard enough, the scent of the lush trees could almost drown the smell of the city.

Cars meandered down the service road next to the motel, picking up speed as they entered the ramp to get on the interstate, illuminated with yellowing lights. No doubt they wanted to get far away from the run-down neighborhood.

Cain didn’t come across anyone as he made his way to his car, though he could sense people lurking in the darkened alleyways he passed. He paid them no mind. Their seedy business was their own and he couldn’t say he was much better. After all, he had just fucked a woman he’d never met before in a motel that rented by the hour.

As he started the engine, he recalled the days when he’d used to care about the feelings of the many women he bedded, but that had been a very long time ago. They were all faceless now, little bleeps of pleasure that clouded his radar.

It didn’t take him long to pull into Lucky Zipper, a nightclub owned by a local Elf. Though it wasn’t just Elves and Weres inside. Vamps, Laochs, and Pixies could all be found within its walls. Even Gnomes made the occasional appearance
—crusty little fuckers
—along with other creatures of the Immortal Realm. The club and its property sat on neutral ground. It was one of the few places where every being in the Realm could enjoy themselves in peace. Even humans were welcome, though only the very determined or really dumb ones attempted.

The outside was friendly enough, with its large green neon sign depicting an unzipped fly. There was an air about the place, Cain could feel it the moment he entered the parking lot. Some kind of magic surrounded it—whether it was from a Witch or Gypsy, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t dabble or pay attention to minute things like that, but it was something the typical human would cower from. He could feel the magic prickling along his skin like a warm caress, beckoning him inside.

Cain walked in and was greeted by the smell of stale cigarettes and sweat, along with the myriad of scents that accompanied the many species inside. If he’d been a young Were or even one of the
Bitten,
he probably would have gone nuts from the sensory overload of the place. As it was, he smiled at how glad he was to be back. Cain nodded at the overweight Elven bouncer, McCrae, guarding the door. The Elves were the most peaceful species in the Realm, which explained why they were the ones who always ran places of neutral ground. Most of them were human-like, save for their pointed ears and immortal lifespan. They rarely had any special powers.

McCrae didn’t ask for his ID and Cain didn’t offer it. To say he was a regular was a damned understatement.

Cain spotted Blaise through the throng of writhing bodies on the dance floor. He was sitting at their usual table. Blaise’s gray gaze fixed on him the moment he entered the bar. Dude was like a fucking bandicoot or something. He had crazy intense senses. More intense than Cain’s, which was an anomaly, considering Cain was centuries older, even though he looked to be the youngest. His body had stopped aging at the ripe age of twenty-one and immortality had set in. In the Immortal Realm, true age always meant power. The older, the stronger. Cain aged like wine. Simple as that.

Cain met the man’s stare, never failing to notice the way one gray ocular followed him and the other didn’t. Perhaps it was having a prosthetic eye that made Blaise’s other senses
blaze
to the fore. Pun intended.

Cain passed a chattering group of Pixies, whose wings glittered in the florescent lighting, on the way to the table. The tiny women were huddled together watching a young Elven bartender juggle bottles of expensive liquor as he made their drinks. Cain didn’t miss the way their eyes locked on him as he passed, could feel them like a stroke against his skin. Women always responded to him like that. He knew what would happen if he stopped and talked to them. They would fall on top of one another to get his attention. In the end it would cause a fight, something unheard of between Pixie sisters. Yet he had caused a rift amongst sisters like them many a time. There was plenty of him to go around, though, and usually they all ended up getting a turn.

“Back so soon?” Blaise said with a smug look as he interlaced his fingers behind spiky black hair.

“You know how it goes.” Cain slid into a seat across from his friend.

“Fuck, man! That chick you left with was fucking hot. Where is she?” Sparrc slung himself into the chair next to Cain. Blaise and Sparrc were twins, though blood was where the likeness ended. Sparrc’s strange light blue gaze darted around the club for said chick. Of course, his eyes weren’t the only thing strange about him. Being an Immortal Were meant blending in at all costs, yet Sparrc strove to stand out. He did a damned good job of it, too, with his electric-blue hair, septum piercing, and gothic tattoo circling his neck.

“Left her at the EZ motel. Room’s rented for the night if you wanna drop in. I’m sure she’d be okay with that.”

Sparrc snorted into his drink.

“You’re damn lucky us Immortals can’t contract STDs.”

“I think we’re all lucky we don’t have to worry about that shit.” Cain nodded his head at Blaise’s statement. There were definite perks to being old as hell.

“There ain’t no woman who requires any persuasion from you, Cain. You could tell a bitch you were dying of some sort of new-found gonasyphyilitus and she would
still
sleep with you. I swear you get more tail than a fucking rabbit.”

Cain smiled. “You’re just jealous. There’s a good reason why I’m damn irresistible.”

“Oh yeah, why’s that?” Blaise scoffed, rolling his working eye.

“’Cause I don’t look like I take it in the ass on a regular basis like you two fuckers.” Cain laughed. The two Werewolves snarled.

“There’s a reason you’re the only fucking cat in these parts, Cain.” Sparrc growled and anger distorted his pale, pierced face. “’Cause you’re the biggest pussy on the planet!” Sparrc jumped across the table, tackling Cain.

Cain took it all in stride, laughing at his friend’s pathetic effort. They all knew Cain could tear them apart with one hand tied behind his back and his eyes blindfolded. The twins were less than two hundred years old. Cain had over eight hundred years on both of them. The tiger bloodline was much rarer than the wolf one, making his behaviors and powers different and that much more valued.

Cain had Sparrc’s electric-blue head pinned to the floor in less than five seconds. The Werewolf screamed for mercy in less than ten. Once Sparrc slung himself back into his chair and Cain collected his from the floor, talk turned from pleasure to business.

“I’m so sick of being stuck up here in this damn cold state. Why couldn’t we be stationed somewhere like Hawaii?” Blaise knocked back a shot.

It was something to wonder about. Since he’d become part of the Eternal Forces five hundred years ago, Cain had been stationed all over the world. Long ago Cain had been promoted to one of the highest ranks available that gave him power over other species in the United Immortals. It hadn’t lasted long. He’d had a falling out with the King of the Weres after having a love affair with his daughter and refusing to marry her.

He’d been demoted, though he didn’t mind. Cain was pretty good about taking things in stride. Living a millennium made a person that way, if they weren’t already. He hadn’t been kicked out of the Eternal Forces and was glad of it. He needed something to do. In truth, he actually enjoyed being just a typical recruit. He didn’t have to worry about anyone’s ass but his own and he had plenty of time to take care of his insatiable sexual appetite.

He flexed his forearm where the permanent ink that bound him to his job jumped with the bulge of his muscle. The symbol of
ece annis
was the Greek letter Omega with the letter Chi overlaid and connecting in the middle. It was the only permanent thing in Cain’s life. That and his good hair.

“It is really odd they would station you here, Cain. They usually put you in more volatile areas.” This wasn’t the first time one of them had made this comment since arriving in Maine. Cain often wondered the same thing. Never had they stationed him in the northern United States. He typically spent most of his time in the south, in places like Mexico or South America. He’d been shocked three months ago when he got his orders to be relocated.

He liked it in Kittery though, especially since Blaise and Sparrc had been moved with him. They’d been stationed together in Mexico for the last five years. There were seven others in their team, but only the three of them, along with their Sergeant, Ryder Thomson, another Were—one who kept to himself—had been transferred here.

They were the only Were representatives of the Eternal Forces stationed in all of Maine, minus Ren Carter, their commander. None of them had ever met the man. He lived farther up north somewhere. Other sanctions of the force had an equal representation of their own scattered about the state. Cain had yet to see any of them around these parts.

There was definitely a large group of Immortal civilian Weres residing here. That was to be expected, though. There weren’t a lot of volatile outbreaks in these parts, even on the full moon, when their blood ran hot and instinct ruled them.

“Hey, boys, can I get you anything?” A waitress approached them. A coppery scent followed her, alerting him of her species.
Vampire
. She was wearing a tiny scrap of blood-red fabric over her chest that hardly covered her hard nipples. A matching thong left little to the imagination. Dark brown waves fell to her waist. Cain’s blood heated again. His eyes latched on to her pebbled nipples. He was ready for another go, even though he’d fucked the blonde twice back in the motel room.

“Yeah, there’s something you could get me.” He licked his lips in anticipation. Sparrc shook his head. Cain ignored him. He’d been forced to abstain the night before due to the full moon. Duty called. A group of teenage Werewolves had snuck out and gone for a run on the most volatile night of the month and ended up getting in a fight with a pack of Ghouls. No one was hurt, but the Ghouls were pissed, the teens were covered in the disgusting green goop Ghouls used to protect themselves, and Cain was stuck with a shit-ton of paperwork that took all night. In other words, his sexual appetite was far from satisfied.

In a quick swoop he pulled the vampire into his lap, placed his lips on her neck, and shoved a hand between her thighs. She giggled and leaned into him. Her skin was pale and flawless, smooth like porcelain, and cool against his hot skin. Vampires weren’t his favorite lay, but he wasn’t one to be picky. His cock responded, becoming hard as steel against her backside.

“You got a back room in this place?” he asked her, even though he knew the answer. And then he was following her through the busy bar. He couldn’t keep the smug look off his face as he ran a hand through his hair. Cain knew he would never tire of getting his way.