Oh for Luck's Sake Read online

  “I’m not following you!” Rowley shouted. “They are!”

  I turned to the alley entrance and froze. Shuffling figures stood in the dim light at the opening. They raised their heads, revealing gleaming yellow eyes and tufts of fur growing from their faces. A cold hand ran down my spine, raising my scales.

  Werewolves.

  Fuck.

  “Move,” Rowley urged.

  I obeyed, breaking into a run. I’m brave, I’m strong, and I’m fast, but werewolves were all of those, plus they were mean and hunted in packs.

  Rowley kept pace with me. I burst out the other side of the alley and froze. Ahead of me stood a semi-circle of werewolves. The cabbie stood at the forefront. I recognized him from the blood on his shirt where I’d clawed his neck, but in his werewolf form, his muzzle sported sharp fangs.

  I slammed a hand onto Rowley's chest and drove him to the side, putting the wall at our backs, just as the werewolves from the alley emerged.

  “Well, crud,” Rowley murmured. He reached behind his back and drew out two short daggers, which gleamed a pale pink in the low light. “Seventeen to two.”

  “Shitty odds,” I murmured back. “Why were you following me again?”

  “Would you believe this is a rescue mission?” Rowley replied.

  I snorted. “Some rescue. Stay behind me.”

  “Hey!” Rowley said, offended. “I can fight!”

  The cabbie raised a clawed finger in my direction and howled. At his command, a handful of wolves rushed us. I snarled and dropped into a crouch. Before they covered half the distance, a winged figure dropped from above us, slamming down into the group of wolves.

  I recognized the massive frame, even if I didn’t recognize the wings or the thick tail. Dex swung his fist, catching a female werewolf in the temple. The beast soared through the air and slammed into a parked car, setting an alarm blaring. She didn’t rise.

  Dex kept swinging, and within moments, he stood in a semi-circle of bodies. His charcoal hair fluttered as his wings folded against his back. He wore no shirt, and the muscles in his back and arms drew my eyes. The grey tone of his skin had deepened. A werewolf raked claws along Dex’s side before he backhanded the enemy, but nothing marked Dex’s tough hide.

  Gargoyle.

  Dex turned to face the cabbie who narrowed his eyes in anger.

  “You’re late,” Rowley called to his friend.

  “Hush,” Dex replied. “You nag worse than an old biddy.”

  The cabbie snarled, and as one, the rest of the pack charged us. When the bulk of the wolves hit Dex, they parted, curving around him to get to their target.

  Me.

  I extended my claws and braced my feet, but Rowley was there. “Close your eyes.”

  He hopped in front of me and swung his blades in an arc. Light streaked outward from the daggers, brilliant and bright, like fuscia lightning. The wolves howled as their sensitive eyes burned.

  Even though I’d squeezed my eyes shut in time to miss the majority of the blast, I’d caught the start, and afterimages danced in my vision.

  “Beware!” Dex shouted.

  I jumped to the side, letting instinct and luck guide me. The werewolf who had lunged for me slammed into the brick wall. I swung out my foot and caught him in the nuts, and he crumpled, clutching his crotch.

  Dex lumbered toward us and began punching wolves in the head. When his fist landed, they stayed down. Rowley danced between stumbling werewolves, jabbing his blade under armpits and into backs. The werewolves snarled and snapped at him, but no matter how certain it seemed they would get him, Rowley was never where their teeth met.

  “Gotta be quicker than that,” he taunted. “You guys need a nap or something?”

  Another wolf lunged for me, her claws raking at my face. I raised my arms to protect my eyes, and her other paw caught me across the chest, ripping my shirt, but bouncing harmlessly off my scales. Her jaw clamped down on my shoulder, catching my jacket.

  The tips of her fangs seared across my skin, catching underneath my scales and ripping them free as she twisted her head. I shrugged my arm free from the fabric and drove my thumb into her nostril. Her grip loosened instantly.

  My shoulder throbbed, but I fended off the next werewolf with a kick and a swipe of claws across his neck. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dex stamp an enemy underfoot. The crunch of bone made my stomach lurch.

  I heard the roar of an engine approaching, and light flooded the street, making my tender eyes water.

  “That’s our ride.” Rowley drove his blade into a werewolf’s neck, and whipped the body into two others, clearing a gap in the crowd for me. “Move, Ceecee!”

  I stumbled toward the car as it screeched to a halt. The door flew open and I threw myself into the back door. As if by magic, Rowley landed on top of me an instant later, sending fire along my shoulder.

  The door slammed shut, and the car peeled away from the angry mob of werewolves. They chased us on foot for a block, but even their enhanced speed couldn’t keep up with the car.

  “Dex?” I said. “What about Dex?”

  “Big guy’ll be alright.” As if to confirm Rowley's words, a heavy weight settled on top of the car, and a wingless Dex slid in through the window, landing on top of Rowley, who groaned. “Dude, get off my spleen.”

  “Everyone okay?” Alain’s concerned face peered into the back seat. “Any injuries?”

  I grunted, pulling my legs out from under Rowley and moving into the far seat, giving the guys room to organize themselves. “My shoulder’s scraped up, but it’ll heal. You guys showed up at the right time.”

  Will made a non-committal noise. “You’re welcome, Ms. Lee.”

  “I didn’t thank you, Mr…” I paused. “I didn’t get your name.”

  “It’s just Will.”

  “Short for William?”

  “Just Will. Like Dex is just Dex.”

  I stared across at the gargoyle who studied a gouge on his arm. “Rowley, lend me a blade?”

  “Sure, dude.” Rowley twisted to free his arms. He scooted back, laying his head in my lap, and propping his feet onto Dex’s thighs. The muscles moved beneath Rowley’s pants, and the mustard shirt rode up, revealing his fuzzy, flat belly. He extended a blade between his spread knees to Dex. “Here.”

  Dex dug the tip of the blade into the wound and grunted with satisfaction as he pulled out a gleaming white fragment, smeared with red.

  “Is that a fang?” I asked, horrified but intrigued.

  Dex flipped the blade and offered it back to Rowley. “It is.”

  “They should know better than to bite you, dude.” Rowley spun the dagger, and mid-twirl, it vanished.

  I blinked. “I’ve never seen a gargoyle before. You were incredible, by the way. The way you dropped out of the sky to save us. Incredible. Thank you.”

  Dex popped the fang into the cupholder and flipped through his paperback. “I did my duty.” His words and face were flat, but there was a slight darkening on his cheeks as he turned pages.

  Rowley grinned. “Are you blushing, big guy?”

  Dex’s shoulders inched up toward his ears. He brought the book closer to his nose.

  “You are!” Rowley crowed in delight. “You liked the pretty girl saying you were incredible!”

  Dex merely grunted, his gaze fixed on the western novel. I bit back a smile.

  Rowley smirked at me and tucked his hands behind his head. “So, are you going to call me incredible, too?”

  I poked him in the head. “You were okay.”

  He pouted melodramatically. “No simpering gratitude? No heaving bosoms for me?”

  I had to laugh. “I’m letting you lie in my lap, aren’t I?”

  Rowley’s slow smile ignited a tingle in my belly. His eyes sparkled with interest. The weight of his head on my thighs felt comfortable, yet unfamiliar. It’d been a long time since I’d touched a man in a sexual way.

  “Sure,” Rowley whispered, “I’l
l take that.”

  Will's voice drew me from my reverie. “What happened back there?”

  I straightened and dumped Rowley from my lap so I could lean across the center console. “You tell me.”

  “Seatbelt.” Alain sounded like Sonya.

  I rolled my eyes, but scooted back and snapped the center seatbelt into place. I filled in the guys about my experiences since leaving Apex Industries.

  “You got any werewolf enemies?” Will asked.

  I gave the question some real thought. As a Procurer, I wound up in a lot of tangles, but generally, I stayed clear of the strongest factions. The werewolves, witches, and vampires played by their own rules, and I didn’t enjoy crossing them.

  “Not that I can think of,” I replied, honestly.

  “Shit,” muttered Will.

  “What does that mean?” I demanded. I noticed a spot of nacho cheese still clung to his collar.

  Alain sighed. “It is likely that you are in trouble because of us.”

  “Because of you?” I shook my head. “I didn’t take your stupid job.”

  “I doubt they are aware of that,” Dex said, his nose in the book.

  I felt a chill. “Who’s they?”

  “Need-to-know basis,” Will replied.

  This motherfucker. Honestly.

  “I think when people try to kill me, then I fall into the need-to-know category.”

  His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror. “It’s safer for you not to know. Why were you at Apex?”

  “Work stuff,” I said. “Need-to-know basis.” Two could play the secrecy game. I decided I wouldn’t tell him about the cheese, either. I slumped back, exhausted, and crossed my arms. “So, what now? I’m just going to spend the rest of my short life being attacked by werewolves?”

  “And many other monsters,” Rowley said cheerfully through a mouthful of chips. “Dorito?”

  “We will remain with you for a while,” Alain said, his voice soft and comforting. “When we move to a different city, our enemies will realize you are a dead end.”

  I winced. “Can you please not use that term?”

  “They will realize you aren’t involved,” Alain said. “You will return to your life, and we will return to ours.”

  I forced a laugh. “That’s a big fat maybe, huh?”

  Alain saw straight through me and gave me a sympathetic smile. “It’s difficult, but I assure you, they’re more interested in us than in you.”

  I rubbed my eyes.

  “Where do you live?” Will said. “We can drop you off.”

  “I don’t want anything else from you,” I snapped. “I just want you out of my life.”

  “You can walk home in the rain then,” Will snapped back.

  “Listen, you arrogant—”

  “Please,” Alain said. The simple word weakened my resolve. Frankly, I wanted to hear him beg in a totally different context. “Please, let us do this for you?”

  “Fine,” I snarled. “Harrison and Brooks. My building is on the south-east corner.”

  We drove in silence, and against my better judgement, my eyes closed. I woke when the car pulled to a stop in front of my apartment complex. My head was propped onto Dex’s shoulder, and he glanced down at me when I straightened. To my horror, I’d drooled on him while I slept.

  I wiped my chin. “Sorry,” I mumbled. I ran my hand over his bicep, clearing off my drool. His skin felt cool under my fingers, like velvet over stone. “I guess I’m really tired.”

  He nodded. “I have been covered in worse.”

  Rowley snored with his head pressed against the glass. Will and Alain climbed out the front, and Alain opened the door Rowley rested against. I lunged to catch Rowley, but before I could, he woke and caught himself, rolling from a somersault onto his feet in one fluid motion.

  “We here?” he said, his voice chipper, as if he’d been awake for hours.

  “Yeah,” I said, shuffling out after him. “This is my building.”

  “Please, allow us to ensure your apartment is safe.” Alain closed the car door behind me. The suspension bounced as Dex exited from the other side. “It is the least we can do.”

  I hesitated. Shit, I didn’t want strangers in my place. I glanced up at the building, finding my apartment on the tenth floor with ease. The bedroom light shone through the pink curtains. Maura was awake.

  I sighed, my chest growing heavy.

  “Yeah, okay,” I said. “Come up.”

  Chapter Five

  DEX

  The building smelled of illness and death. My nose wrinkled, and my very bones ached with the heaviness of the air. There was suffering here. Rowley gabbed with the girl in his animated way, ignorant of the pain brewing around us. Or maybe he chose not to react. Rowley could compartmentalize his emotions. It was how he remained cheerful.

  I envied him sometimes.

  I knew Alain sensed the dire atmosphere. Our kinds were very different, but we both had a sensitivity to the needs of others. His feet shifted as he stared at the building, his face gaunt in thought. Will? I wouldn’t have fathomed a guess as to what he thought at any given time. His mind was incomprehensible to me.

  The girl knew.

  I saw her awareness in the stiffness of her shoulders. The hard lines around her mouth and eyes. The events of tonight proved a burden to her, yet she stood tall, a warrior in her prime. She handled herself admirably in a way many lesser fighters would not, nor could not, have.

  She was flexible, she was bright, and she was hard.

  She is also not mine, I reminded myself. Or even my kind.

  “Dex, take point,” Will said.

  I lumbered forward without a word. Will knew he could place his trust in me. He would not have me by his side if he harbored any doubts of my ability. Even scatterbrained Rowley had earned his way onto this team the traditional way, with blood, sweat, and sacrifice.

  I wished the girl would join our cause.

  At the door, I kept my head down, aware of the security cameras rolling. I had hidden my wings before entering the car and tempered my skin until it resembled that of regular humans. Pale, and grey, yes, but human enough to pass. Rowley would never pass for human and refused to do so. He wore a hooded sweater and tucked his hands into his pockets.

  The girl tapped an entry code into the keypad at the front, and opened the door for us, ushering us inside. Mailboxes lined the foyer, and the faint smell of urine tinged the air. Human urine, my nose informed me. I smelled cigarettes, boiled cabbage, the faintest hint of nacho cheese, and the reek of unwashed bodies. Desperation, poverty…

  And death.

  The girl moved toward the mailboxes, before she clapped a hand to her forehead and muttered about keys and her purse. She spoke to herself often, though it seemed she did not realize it. We followed her like ducklings.

  “The elevator is broken,” she said. “We’ll have to walk.”

  Rowley bowed theatrically. “Lead the way.”

  “Dex first.” Will would not admit it, but tonight’s attack on the girl had shaken him. It was not part of the plan to drag her into our situation. He did not enjoy the sensation of losing control.

  Alain nodded in agreement. “We don’t know what we might encounter.”

  The girl pursed her lips. She wished to argue, but her exhaustion won out over her pride. “This way.”

  The cracked tiles snapped beneath my weight as we made our way to the stairwell. An insect scuttled away at my approach, seeking shelter beneath a crumpled beer can. I opened the door at the top of the stairs and listened, hearing a distant television, faint jazz, and the barking of a lonely dog.

  “Clear,” I said.

  We began to climb. Within a flight or two, Rowley began to complain of hunger. We ignored him, and eventually he took the hint, reaching into his pocket to pull out a granola bar.

  We climbed in silence. The girl’s footsteps dragged, and she stumbled. I turned to check on her. Alain, who walked behind her, took
her elbow. Her face flushed, and a pang of jealousy curled through my chest.

  I buried it, deeply. It was shameful to feel possessive over the girl. She had refused us. Now, we would ensconce her in the safety of her apartment, and move to another town, another city, another country, to seek another willing courier to carry our prize.

  The thought of leaving the girl unsettled me.

  At the landing of the tenth floor, the girl spoke. “This is me.”

  I nodded and pushed open the door. A dimly lit corridor extended beyond and I counted at least a dozen doors before the hallway diverged to the left. The door closest to me sported a sheet of paper tacked to its surface, with the words Rent Arrears emblazoned at the top. I skimmed the text out of the corner of my eye. The words ‘overdue payments’ sprang out at me, as did ‘thirty days’.

  The stench of suffering and pain had grown here. I narrowed my eyes and slipped into the corridor, breathing deeply. I did not smell violence, or freshly spilled blood.

  “Clear,” I said. “Approach with caution.”

  The girl entered first. At the sight of the paper, her face grew pale. She darted forward, and ripped the sheet from the door, her hand quickly hiding the paper between her body and the door. Rowley, entering after her, had his head turned to speak with Alain and missed the movement.

  The girl’s eyes flicked to mine, checking to see if I had noticed her actions. I blinked, keeping my expression neutral. This did not concern me. Whatever she saw in my face comforted her, for the girl gave me a tentative, watery smile.

  A smile of pain and gratitude that broke my heart.

  What have you endured? I wished to ask. How may I ease your pain? How may I serve?

  She stuffed the paper into her pocket and turned to face us. “Listen, before I let you inside…” She propped her fist on her hip. “What you see inside my apartment stays inside my apartment, understand?”

  Rowley cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t tell anyone what you see here, okay?” The girl took a shuddering breath. “Just… Please, don’t.”

  She rapped her knuckles gently on the door. No response came from the other side, but the girl spoke softly. “Herbert, it’s me. I lost my keys. Open up.”