Into the Shadows (9 page)

ABDUCTION

"You interfered with my hunt," the guy with
the ugly burns growled at me. "I'm going to have some retribution
before we move on."

"Don't have too much fun, Evan," Macie said
as she checked her painted nails. "I'm quite sure that the
Doyenne's orders specified that Mr. Beck be delivered in good
condition."

Evan turned his head back to her and said,
"You're just concerned that your debt to her won't be considered
paid if he isn't." He half-turned her way and pointed a finger at
her. "You're not one of us, so I don't care -"

My leg sweep interrupted Evan, and the heel
of my other foot that caught him in the hip was enough to send him
sprawling into my bookshelf. I jumped to my feet, aware that I was
about to be tasered. But I'd be damned if I was going out without
giving a douche like Evan a good whack.

No tasers, no mind-numbing shock like I
expected. Macie was holding a hand up, palm forward, signaling the
men not to shoot. I glanced between her and Evan; he was glaring
daggers at me while he slowly got up, and she was giggling. "I told
you to be careful, didn't I?"

"Shut up, Macie," Evan said with a petulant
snarl.

"In fact, I told you to just let the mortals
take care of it. That's why I charmed them on the way over; I knew
you'd do something impulsive, selfish and stupid."

I had no clue what they were talking about,
and didn't care. The only things I wondered was how much of a
conspiracy was going on to bring two vaguely familiar faces to my
door, and why they planned on abducting me. "Hey, Evan," I said,
getting his attention, "you were on the hunt for a middle-aged
woman? Is that the best you can do? Can't keep up with the younger
gals, eh, pal? The reason I cut in was because you were grinding on
her like she was your mom." Yeah, I wanted to piss him off.

It worked. Evan was in front of me before I
could put my hands up. I caught a punch in the gut, but it wasn't a
good shot because his stance was off and he didn't have much of a
physique to back it up. He was quick, though. On the other hand, he
was cocky, and probably thought his punch would drop me.

I slapped him with an open palm right on his
facial burns. Yeah, you could say it was a bitch-slap, but I was
simply trying to hit as much of his wound as I could. Evan flinched
and yelled in pain. I wanted more distance between us, so I put my
weight into a front kick that caught him in the chest and sent him
stumbling back to the front wall. The impact knocked the picture of
my brother Al off its nail.

Macie laughed. Evan glared at her before he
turned his bright eyes to me. Yes, bright; his eyes were nearly
glowing. Two other things I noticed real quick: one, he wasn't
breathing hard at all, and two, his momentary snarl showed two very
pronounced canine teeth. I didn't know what I was dealing with, but
I knew it wasn't normal. In my house was a busty teenager with
superhero strength - although she was more like one of the bad guys
- and a scarred pretty boy with corny Dracula teeth.

In the blink of an eye, Evan was in front of
me again. Damn, he was fast. He threw three awkward punches that I
couldn't quite keep up with. One barely caught me above my ear and
another was a fair hook to my ribs, but I was ready for the third
one. I dodged, and his fist went past my head; I grabbed his arm,
spun, and flipped him over my shoulder. He slammed into the floor
with a satisfying thud.

I still had a grip on Evan's arm and was in
the process of stomping on his face when something small and solid
hit me in the back of my head - hard. I think I stumbled over Evan
and fell. The view in front of me was wobbly and dim. A reporter on
the TV was saying something about Dan and Craig being laid to rest
just over a week after the assault on the Everett home. My skull
felt heavy and swollen. My arms and legs weren't cooperating; the
best I could do was to stay on my hands and knees.

"I didn't need your interference, Macie!" I
heard behind me. It took my brain a second to process it.

"You had best start minding your tone, pup,"
she retorted. "That human was
handling
you. Frankly, it was
embarrassing to watch. All's not lost, though - thanks to you, now
I have quite the entertaining story to tell my people."

Something else was said, I don't know what,
and then two taser prongs hit me almost simultaneously. I saw
sparks in front of my eyes, and then nothing.

QUESTIONS

I woke up on my side, with my head on a
pillow and my arms behind my back. The back of my head still hurt.
The only source of light was somewhere behind me; it wasn't
overhead, so I guessed a table lamp. There was a gap between the
bed I was laying on and the wall I was facing. I looked down that
wall and gauged how long it was, maybe twenty feet. It went up to a
very high ceiling, too; I was in a big room.

The single window centered in the wall was
large, old-fashioned, and had etched artwork in some of the panes.
There was a faint smell of sawdust and plaster. I heard hard soles
walking on hardwood flooring.

I stayed still and kept my breathing even; I
suspected that two, maybe three, people were somewhere behind me,
looking at me. I took a quick mental check of myself: wrists bound
by what felt like zip ties, weak ache in my right ribs, and nothing
securing my ankles. I felt a moderate urge to piss, and I was
painfully lying on my bullet-grazed left arm. All things
considered, it could have been worse.

"See, he's still unconscious." It was Macie's
voice.

"No, I don't think so; I sense a difference."
It was Evan's voice that time; he even sounded like a douche.
"Trust me; I am one of many within my faction who could tell,
whereas I'm told that hardly any of you Outsiders have the Gift of
Discerning - such a pity."

"If you like," she replied coolly, "I can
give you a practical example of the Gifts I
do
possess; the
ones that would leave you a whimpering, bloody pulp. Or, if you'd
prefer more of a fair contest, I could persuade Mr. Beck to give
you another thrashing."

There was a long pause; I wondered what was
happening. "You may face us, Beck," Evan said. "I know you're
awake." I rolled onto my back, looking to my right and saw him and
Macie standing in the wide entryway to the room. He stared at me
for a second before turning to her. "I believe the guide has
arrived. I'll bring her up here." He hesitated, about to say more,
but then walked off without a word.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and
sat up. The large room was empty, save for a tall reading lamp.
There were two more windows in the long white wall to my left, both
of the same ornate style; I couldn't see anything but a dark night
through them. Parts of the wall near the entryway were missing cut
chunks of drywall, exposing either brick, or pipes and wiring.
Macie was leaning against the entry with her arms crossed,
neutrally regarding me. Behind her was another large space with
banisters that surrounded a wide, descending staircase. I was on an
upper level of wherever the hell I was.

"How's your head?" Macie asked. "It'd be
preferable if your brain wasn't addled."

"Still talking funny, I see," I said,
blinking my eyes from the throbbing behind them. "Are you planning
to steal my wallet again too, or did you already do that?"

She smiled with her dimples in full effect.
"No need this time, Leo."

I sighed. "Damn it, Macie, what am I doing
here?" I asked as calmly as I could. "Why did you and that dickhead
Evan attack and then kidnap me? It's not like I have any money or
rich relatives, so what do you want?"

"It's certainly not about money, Leo, and, to
be clear on this, it's not what
I
want - not anymore. You
were a means to an end, a debt to be paid. I've since thought that
you'd be a fine addition to my faction. However, my time was
running thin and the Doyenne found you to be a strong
prospect."

My frustration and anger came to a boil real
quick. "What the fuck was all that supposed to mean? What debt? And
when the fuck did I turn into a goddamn bargaining chip? I'm not
even gonna ask what a fucking Doyenne is, but you're part of it.
Somehow, you set me up - you made me a target! I was nothing but
nice to you, Macie. Shit, I thought I even helped you out once! And
this is what I get?"

She didn't seem fazed by my little rant. "I
won't say I'm sorry, Leo, because I'm not. If it helps, I do admit
that I regret how this transpired. I won't say any more; someone
else will explain things." As she ended her statement, Evan and a
few other people came up the stairs and stopped near the entry of
the room.

"Who are you people?" I yelled. "Hell,
what
are you people?"

No one responded. They didn't even react.
Then I heard another set of hard-soled shoes coming up the stairs.
Evan leaned against one side of the entry, with Macie across from
him. They faced each other but had their heads bowed; whoever the
late arrival was, they were given a lot of respect.

A woman came around the corner and stepped
gracefully into the room. My eyes travelled up her tall body;
stylish mid-calf white boots, shapely legs, open, knee-length white
mink coat, with a form-fitting golden dress underneath that came
down to the middle of her firm thighs. She had long, silky blonde
hair with bangs that hung just above her eyes. Oh damn, those eyes
- large, bright amber eyes. She was stunning, a pale angel. It took
me barely a second to realize that the woman standing there was the
goddess that I'd been dreaming about.

DOYENNE

The woman literally of my dreams stepped
closer to me. The smallest of smiles graced her full lips. "Leo,"
she said softly, like I was someone she remembered fondly.

"I've dreamt of you," was all I could manage
while staring up at her.

"I know you have." She closed her eyes, and
then slowly, enticingly opened them, as if she was revealing a
prize. And then everything but her was forgotten. I was lost in
amber heaven; her eyes became my world. Those captivating eyes
moved closer and looked down on me. While holding her gaze on me,
she brought her pinky finger to her mouth. I involuntarily moaned
when she slipped it between her moist lips, and then flinched when
she forcefully pulled it out. I saw blood on that perfect finger.
Why would she mar it? It made me sad, and I worried that she was in
pain.

"Clean my wound, Leo," she whispered as she
moved her delicate, wounded finger to my mouth. It was a gift - she
was offering me a gift! Slowly, humbly, I put my lips around the
end of her finger. The trickle that ran down my tongue was a liquid
dream; I moaned again. It was similar to that wine I loved, but
stronger, purer, and instantly addictive. I drew more from the
wound, savoring the taste for each slow second that she allowed. I
felt a slight pull and released the suction on her finger, not
wanting to offend.

As soon as she pulled away, I closed my eyes.
The all-consuming allure of her mere presence slowly faded, only to
be replaced with an overpowering respect and admiration for her. My
mind cleared, and it saw her more clearly than before. I felt full
to bursting with devotion to the woman who stood so near, much more
than any loyalty I'd ever felt for my military squad or platoon.
That devotion swelled within me; I felt invigorated from the honor
she gave to let me serve her. I was still myself, still had my own
thoughts, but my priorities were rearranged and focused on only one
thing: my amber-eyed lady.

I opened my eyes; she still stood in front of
me. I nearly panicked - I was taught manners and knew better than
not to stand in the presence of a lady. And she was not
a
lady; she was
the
lady. I sprung to my feet and muttered an
apology.

"You are the willful one called Leo, yes?"
she asked me.

"Yes, ma'am," I answered, not sure if
'willful' was a good thing or not.

"Oh, that won't do," she said as she began
tracing my facial scars with her soft finger. "I will say this only
once." She pulled her finger away and looked up into my eyes. "I am
the Lady Emmeline Le Meur. I am the Doyenne of this city. You, my
minion, may only call me Madame. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Madame."

She nodded her acceptance of my reply. "And
now, to ensure that my sovereignty over you is secured, I will ask
two questions . . . I and I will know if you're lying." Since my
hands were still bound behind me, I stood at parade rest and stared
straight forward. "Who do you work for?" the Doyenne asked.

"You, Madame," I barked.

"Is your life yours, or is it mine?"

"It's yours, Madame." I meant it.

"Yes, it is - very good, Leo." She turned
away and told the others to leave us for a moment. Macie, Evan, and
whoever else was out there obeyed immediately. When we were alone,
the Doyenne turned back to me and said, "You may free yourself if
you're able."

Wanting to please her, impress her, I widened
my stance and strained my arms against the hard plastic strip. I
was surprised and happy when I felt it stretch. My second attempt
loosened it enough to free my hands. I worked the aches out of my
arms and waited for her next order.

The Doyenne wandered over to one of the
windows and stared out into the night. "You will soon come to
realize the honor you've been given, Leo," she said, still looking
away. "I rule here; others bow before me, all of them. And you,
Leo," she turned her head to me, "have been chosen to serve me."
She paused for a few seconds and then returned her gaze to the
window. "But first you must be educated. Over the next few days,
you will remain here to alter your sleeping pattern and be tutored.
Understood?"

"Of course, Madame," I answered, hoping my
disappointment couldn't be heard in my voice. I wanted to be near
her, please her, and protect her.