Swerve (11 page)

“Yes, because he is a man of limited thought and vision. If he gets what he thinks he wants, then he’ll no longer be interested in you.”

“That sounds simple enough.” Yet Mary wasn’t totally convinced.

“It will be.” He pocketed the cell phone. “You have to go to work.”

That was the last thing Mary expected Simon would say. “I thought you wanted to—”

“Fuck you until you can’t stand and the only words on your tongue would be my name?”

“Well, yes.”

Simon grinned. “I’m glad to hear it and I will, and soon, but for the moment we have to look like nothing has changed. We don’t want Sholto working out what we plan to do.” He leaned in and kissed her nose. “Don’t worry about Vernon. I won’t let him hurt you.”

“Vernon is more a danger to himself.”

“Yeah, and I can’t let Sholto play with him,” agreed Simon. “Duty calls.”

* * * * *

A sweet, unaccustomed surge of strength flooded through her body. Socia hadn’t felt so good in a long time. The word reprieve came to her mind. That was crazy.

She knew that was not something she would ever be allowed to feel. Forgiveness from angels, despite thoughts to the contrary, was almost unheard of. Socia knew she didn’t deserve it anyway.

When angels went to war they called upon warriors who were like no other men Socia had ever seen. They were stronger, more fearless and thought to be invincible.

But like all men, those who fought on the side of the angels were like all men. They were prime candidates for the seduction of Sirens. To test their strength and loyalty against the Siren call of seduction was a thrill that none of her creed could resist.

And if a warrior died or was left a broken wreck because of what was done to them?

Well, that wasn’t a Siren’s fault. They were born to do that. Problem was the angels didn’t see it like that. Their holy warriors were dying not in battle but in bed and they wanted it stopped.

The thing with angels was they were no better than anyone else. They fought and squabbled amongst themselves. They harbored grudges and despite the aura of purity, they were always plotting against each other. Socia knew that for a fact. She had watched them entice strong, willing men into battle for them even when they knew their deaths would be a foregone conclusion. Socia could have pointed out to them that what the Sirens did was no different but she knew it was pointless to do so. The sanctimonious rarely listened to anyone else’s view. The thing that really upset the angels and sealed her fate was when Socia released their most valued prisoner — the time lord, Sholto.

She had released a prisoner of heaven that they didn’t want released. At the time, what the angels did or didn’t want was of no interest to Socia. She had come across the man when she and her sister Sirens had infiltrated an angel stronghold looking for men to seduce. There she had met Sholto. Back then she had been intrigued by the blond man with the cool, ice blue eyes. He had not been like other men. Seducing him was an effort because he had the willpower to rebuff all attempts. Socia, not one to give in, had put maximum effort into her seduction of the time lord. This resulted in her releasing him from his prison. Looking back, she could see it was he who had seduced her with his coolness. It had been a come on any Siren would have found hard to resist. While her actions had upset the angels, and to a Siren, that was a bonus, she had unknowingly done more damage to herself than anyone else.

Once a Siren was weakened by another, as Socia had been due to her obsession to seduce Sholto, their power to entice men waned. The fewer men they seduced, the more strength they lost. What was a Siren if she could not seduce a man? Sholto had seen her decline and used it against her. Socia had been powerless to stop him.

In her panic, she clung to his strength. It was the worst possible thing she could have done. In her weakened, almost human like state, he had used her growing guilt over the deaths of men against her and brought forth a deep need in her for dark, sado-masochistic sex.

Socia breathed out a sigh, her body loosening as she did. Normally when she did this she felt no peace and relief as her body felt like it was confined within a net.

But now, as she reached her fingers out, her shoulders and back relaxed and any tension she felt in her neck disappeared. A crazy sense of freedom gripped her. The thought that she could do anything she wanted to now struck her with force. Socia wanted to cry in relief.

“That’s a huge crane and a big truck.” Mary was impressed and surprised at the size of the machinery that stood quietly, waiting to be used in the peaceful darkness outside the Bungalow Post Office. It was a good thing that no one lived in the area.

The post office was surrounded by other businesses that shut their doors at five o’clock. The council, after much convincing, allowed them to do the work at night.

Simon, as his alter ego, Swerve, had been endearingly persuasive in this with ‘hey dudes’ and ‘cool man’ and ‘way to go, bodacious council. I will most definitely vote for you next time— if I remember—oh yeah and if I was a citizen of Cairns but you rock.’

“A huge crane is all the better to pick things up with, my dear.” Due the tropical, balmy night air, Simon had pulled back his hair into a slick ponytail and taken his shirt off. “And a big truck trumps a
Tonka
toy.”

Mary’s eyes rested on the taut planes of his chest. Her hands itched to reach out and touch the glistening sweat on his skin. She licked her lips at the thought of it.

She wasn’t surprised they gave him what he wanted. He was confusing and sometimes it was easier to go with the flow that against it. Especially, public servants. They couldn’t have cared less when he did the work as long as twenty-seven pieces of paper requesting it had been filled in.

She watched as Simon and a plain, average looking man who called himself Jim Kirk and another tall, gangly looking man who simply went by the name ‘The Doctor’ began work on cutting the structure into manageable bits with cutting tools The Doctor had ‘borrowed’ and had to have back by six o’clock the next morning or as he put it, ‘there could be some fuss.’ Mary smiled. Fuss. These men were fighting an enemy ninety-nine percent of the population would never dream existed. ‘Fuss’

seemed somewhat downplayed.

Mary felt useless as she watched the men at their work. But, she also didn’t want to get in the way. It was noisy, hard work that sent sparks into the night air as oxyacetylene torches cut through metal frames. She looked at the half door. It was amazing to think that behind such a simple piece of red painted wood lay the entrance to other worlds and the threat of beings causing chaos in the world she knew.

“Yes, it is amazing.” Simon walked towards wiping the sweat from his brow.

“What?”
Can he read my mind? Does he know how much I love him? Would he
think me mad?
Yes, they had both said the words out loud in a moment of lust but did that count?

He smiled. “That other worlds exist?”

“It still surprises you?” He seemed so cool and in control. Was it possible to surprise this man?

“Not any more. But when I first learnt about this I was amazed.”

“How do you get into a business like this?” It wasn’t like there were career nights for people who track down and contain time lords.

“Some say I’m cursed,” he responded with a smile and caught her hand in his.

“But it’s genetic. It’s what the Mayhew men do. We are entrusted with a cause and that’s to answer to the universe when bad guys like Sholto choose to wreak havoc on the innocent.”

“Wow.” Her family heritage was all about desperate women, from her great, great grandmother, to actually marry the men they created children with. As goals went it, didn’t compete.

“Indeed.”

“Would you change it if you could?” What sort of a life did he have? Was he settled? Did he want to be settled?
Can I be a part of it?
That he chased evil doers didn’t scare her. What scared her was her mother latching on to Simon, the wealthy man, and wearing him down. As much as she loved her mother, June Dalton would make a plaster saint crack and start blaspheming.

“No.” It was stated simply as if he hadn’t considered any other option.

“Even though it must bring you trouble?”

“It brought me you.”

It was one of those heart flip-flopping moments that made Mary feel, for the first time in her life, that she really mattered to someone. She almost said ‘I love you.’ But it was too soon for that.

“Yeah, I know.”

She jumped at the looked he gave her. “What?”

Simon tweaked her nose. “We’ll discuss it later.” He let go of her hand and walked back to the crane. He turned and winked at her. “And I feel the same, and yes, it can happen that fast. And yes, I meant what I said in the bathroom. It wasn’t just sex that made me say it. ”

She shivered despite the heat. “Freaky,” she breathed out in a low voice. That Simon felt as she did was better than chocolate and that, for Mary, was saying a lot.

She watched the man she love walk back to finish off what he started. Despite the need to be close to him, Mary knew it was better for her to stay out of the way as they cut through supports and hoisted metal up with the crane and into the truck.

“Hard work,” murmured a voice behind her.

Mary whirled around to see Sholto. “You!”

“Me!” Sholto looked pleased by her response.

Mary looked for Simon.

“Oh, he’ll be here any minute but I just wanted a word with you.”

“Why?” Mary remembered the half a dozen boxing classes she had taken. She immediately went into a boxer’s stance of one foot in front and one behind to ground her as her hands curled into fists, ready to lead with the left. Mary wasn’t scared for herself. It was what Sholto’s plans for Simon were that made her hackles rise. Dalton women may not have any success in marrying their men but they damn well fought for them.

“Oh, that’s cute. You want to try and beat my brains out.”

Mary raised her hands. “Oh, there will be no trying. Only succeeding.”

“Well, if your boyfriend succeeds in destroying this door, I plan to kill him.”

She stiffened but tried not to react as she knew that was what bullies thrived on

“Why not kill him now while the door is still intact? Why stand around chatting?”

Sholto nodded and grinned. “Good point but no fun for me. Besides, there are other doors.”

More portals? “Where?” Who would have thought this would now concern her more than the dramas of her mother?

“Come with me, and I’ll show you.”

Yeah, duh—no
. Yet even as she thought that, Mary knew Simon would want to know where the other portals were. But then another thought struck her. Why did this powerful time lord bother stopping to speak to her? She was no one in the game they were playing. Did he think she was stupid enough to go with him and be a pawn. “You’re bluffing.” That had to be the reason he fronted her.

“Prove me wrong.”

Mary dropped her fists and assessed him. Handsome. Evil. Full of shit. “I don’t have to. You’re scared and talking out of your ass.”

Sholto threw back his head and laughed. “I like you.”

“That’s odd, ‘cause I don’t care much at all for you.” She saw Simon heading towards them crowbar in hand and a look of murder on his face. “My boyfriend’s back and you’re gonna be in trouble.”

“I’ll be back.”

“I can hardly wait,” Mary responded as he disappeared into thin air.

“Damn!” Simon missed snatching Sholto by a mere second. “Are you okay?”

He pulled Mary into his arms.

She sighed against him. It was like being at home being so close to him. “Yes.

He was just trying to trash talk me.”

“You should have called me over.” His eyes were full of concern.

“I wanted to hear what he would say.” Mary told Simon about the other doors.

“Normally, I wouldn’t believe a word he says but we can’t discount that.”

Jim and The Doctor came over and listened to what had happened.

“Maybe Mary should go with him and we could follow,” responded The Doctor.

Jim shook his head. “Not a bad idea but for the fact he disappears into thin air and we may never see Mary again.”

“So, he doesn’t always need a door?” Mary considered this in light of how fast he disappeared when Simon arrived.

“Yes, and no. What you saw was more a time lord party trick of invisibility,”

The Doctor explained. “They’re rather shallow, flashy characters of no substance.

The portals are the only things they care about.”

“You are never to go anywhere with Sholto.” The words sound firm with a tinge of desperation on Simon’s lips.

“I can take care of myself, you know,” Mary pointed out, yet it was nice to know Simon cared.

Sholto re-appeared several buildings away. He leaned against one and thought about what to do. Mayhew was a pain in the ass. If he took away his only way out of Cairns he was through. For a time lord to be trapped in one time without escape was unthinkable. He smiled suddenly when he thought back to Mayhew’s scrapper of a girlfriend fists up, ready to take him out. He’d like to give her a pain in the ass.

Over and over. She was deliciously buxom in an old world style of beauty he liked.

He pictured her tied up in knots and screaming for release. She was also smart. That was a problem. She was right. He was bluffing. There were no other doors in Cairns. That bitch Socia had blown up the only other one in her store. He could not allow the post office portal to be destroyed. While it was in any basically intact form he could use it. He needed to find where they would be dumping the pieces they had cut up.

Sholto retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and tapped out a number. “I need some help.” He listened to the response. “Yes, yes, the same payment as always. I have an excellent woman for you to play with. Very pure, and very strong.