I pulled Jenna closer to be heard over the heavy throb from the metal band. “I’m going for a drink. Do you want anything?”
Before she could answer me, her boyfriend, Jason, grabbed her from behind. “She wants to dance more. We’ll be over after this song.”
I laughed and made my way through the crowds to the bar on the far end. Poor Jason. He didn’t know just how close he’d come to being permanently maimed. Jenna might look like a delicate Asian flower, but she was a werewolf and my bodyguard, and more than a little touchy about being grabbed from behind.
I reached the bar and had to wave at the bartender to get his attention. “Hey Sonny, can I get another Rolling Rock?”
Sonny waved off the other customers and leaned casually against the bar in front of me. “Are you sure you don’t want something stronger for your birthday?”
“That’s strong enough. Unlike you beasts, something stronger will put my under the bar.” Valàfrn werewolves were unaffected by most alcohol, but lucky me, I was only half werewolf, and tonight at my twenty-first birthday party I’d learned alcohol liked my human side. “Besides, this is my first night drinking. You don’t have to corrupt me all at once. I promise I’ll come back.”
Sonny’s huge arms reached over the bar, grabbing me for a kiss to the cheek. “I expect you here often, Faith. I’m too far from my clan and need the familiar face.”
“You old sod. You’re here willingly.” Sonny was of the Bear Clan, which had control of the western Pennsylvania territory where my family lived. Sonny had moved here as a favor to my father to help watch over me. There were at least a dozen others who’d relocated to New York when I enrolled at Columbia University.
He chuckled and pushed my drink over to me. “You know you love having us close.”
I did. I was werewolf enough to want my family nearby, and even if I wasn’t allowed to claim a clan, I missed my father’s clan more than any human would understand. All my wolf instincts cried out that I should be with the Eagle Clan, supporting them and protected by the ones I trusted. Instead here I was in the middle of an open territory, with only a few people I knew and at least one known contract on my life.
“Cheer up, honey. No one will bother you here,” Sonny said, as if he’d read my mind. More likely he’d felt my emotions. Valàfrn were empathic, but usually not telepathic.
I smiled and forced my dark thoughts back. They had no right to bother me on my birthday.
Sonny’s body tensed and I shot a look over my shoulder to see what concerned him, only to find Jason storming up.
“She’s nuts. You know that don’t you?” He slouched onto the seat beside me.
I knew he meant Jenna. He always called her “nuts” when they fought. Which was actually pretty funny since Jenna didn’t really fight with him. She simply told him her intentions and ignored his attempts to change her mind. “What happened now?”
He sank lower onto the stool. “Can I get a beer, Sonny?”
Sonny didn’t say anything. He just got the drink and glared at me meaningfully. Sonny and the others didn’t approve of Jason, but none of them were willing to openly malign Jenna’s judgment about dating a human.
Jason draped an arm over my shoulders and I casually shrugged it off. If Jenna was already pissed at him, he didn’t need to set off any possessive nastiness. Not that I would expect that from Jenna, but lately she hadn’t been reacting as I expected. “So what did Jenna do now that’s so crazy?”
“She...I just don’t understand her, Faith. Maybe you can shed some light on how she thinks. I asked her to spend two weeks with me this summer. Her answer was to break up with me.” He downed the beer in three long swallows. “Hey Sonny, can I get something a little stronger?”
“Where is Jenna?” I’d expected her to come up to the bar shortly after Jason, but as I looked back over the room, I couldn’t catch sight of her. I opened up my wolf senses and tried to scent if she was still here or not, but as usual, my wolf side didn’t cooperate. All I smelled was the mixture of human and non-human bodies that filled Sonny’s bar.
Sonny shoved a mystery drink in front of Jason.
Jason lifted the drink and downed half the glass before answering my question. “I think she left.”
Sonny’s face froze a moment before he rushed toward us. When Jason started to lift the drink again, Sonny pulled it out of his hand and “accidentally” spilled it.
“Hey!”
“Sorry. I’ll get you another one, on the house,” Sonny mumbled.
Once Jason had his new drink to focus on, I motioned Sonny over and asked in a voice low enough that Jason’s human ears wouldn’t hear, “What was that about?”
Sonny looked sheepish. “The drink was a Rising Moon.”
“Oh shit.” A Rising Moon was a powerful aphrodisiac, Sonny’s idea of a joke. Hell, I didn’t even know if Jenna and Jason had gone that far in the last six months, but was pretty sure they wouldn’t be making out tonight. Jason didn’t know anything about the werewolves so I could hardly fess up now about the special wolfie drink. The best I could do was make sure he was on his way home before the effects of the drink made him stupid. “I’d better get him out of here and I have to get home to check on Jenna anyhow. It’s not like her to leave without me.”
“I’m sorry, Faith. I just thought I’d save them some make up time…” Sonny’s eyes narrowed. “Do you want me to walk you out, or maybe get one of the other regulars to give you a ride?”
The thought of being without Jenna, of being prey for one of the contract killers, who were bound to be lurking around, left me shivering. Okay, so I wasn’t likely to get jumped at this exact moment. The likelihood was almost zero. Most of the attempted hits had been spaced out to every couple months. I took a deep breath. There really wasn’t any reason why I couldn’t get a cab without calling for backup.
Jason finished his drink. “I can get you a ride home. No problem.” He threw his arm around me again.
Sonny tensed even further. Sonny was a good guy, but I could see he was thinking some overprotective thoughts that might be bad for Jason’s health. “That’s a good idea, Jason. Can you grab my jacket from the coat tree?” I slid from the stool even as Sonny rounded the end of the bar. Before he could do more than barrel toward me, I gentled him with a hand to his chest. “It’ll be fine, Sonny. Trust me.”
He was the same height as me but probably a hundred and fifty pounds heavier. And typical of the Valàfrn, he was all muscle. His mouth opened to protest, then closed.
I gave Sonny a brief hug. “Thanks. I really appreciate you offering to watch over me, but I’ll be fine. I’ll go straight out the alley and down to the corner. We can get a cab on fifty-ninth easy.”
He relaxed a bit. “Don’t even consider taking the shortcut through the park. It’s after midnight and no place for you to be walking alone.”
I laughed at how he said alone when I’d be with Jason, but had never made a peep over the danger when I walked home with Jenna. “I’ll be okay and I’m sure we’ll be back later in the week to relax between finals.”
He still looked worried but went back around the counter and passed my purse to me. “Be careful. I don’t want to be the one to tell the council that you were hurt leaving my bar.”
Jason came back with my jacket. “You ready?” His voice slurred the words, but not too badly.
“Yeah, let’s go.” I led the way to the side exit and out into the alley.
The crisp night air hit me and I breathed it in before stepping out onto the narrow street. The door pushed wider then slid closed behind Jason.
I turned and started down the alley toward the brighter lights of the main throughway where the cabs would be waiting.
Jason walked beside me, but I had to keep glancing at him. There was something off and I had to wonder if he was already having a reaction to the Rising Moon. I couldn’t be sure how fast the drink would hit his human system. “Are you okay, Jason?”
His step faltered I reached out to steady him. When his gaze met mine I was shocked to see his eyes were constricted. “I feel…strange.” He caught my hand and tugged me to a stop. “I’ve never noticed how beautiful you are.”
Of course he hadn’t, because I wasn’t. At six feet tall, I was more awkward than elegant. Even the sable hair I’d inherited from my father couldn’t make up for the fact that I was plain. I pulled free of his hand and backed a step away.
“Did I tell you, she broke up with me tonight?” He caught my arm in a surprisingly tight grip and pushed me back against the side of the building. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. I want to be with you. So let’s celebrate our singleness, together.”
“Jason-”
He was a big man. His weight was probably twice mine and was more fitting to a football star rather than the history major we had in common. His body pinned mine against the wall. I was pushed at his chest, but my unreliable werewolf magic and strength was currently missing, and my human muscles just weren’t affecting him.
“Don’t do this. We both just need to go home.”
One hand groped my breast, shocking a gasp from me. Then his mouth invaded mine.
A thousand painful ends for my best friend’s former boyfriend filled my mind and they all began with a good racking.
Before I could act, Jason yelped into my mouth.
He pulled back and spun around as if to protect me from whatever had surprised him. With his body still pushing against my own I remained trapped.
A hand held Jason by the shoulder and at first that was all I saw. The hand was huge and gray. Somehow, the skin color seemed right, not sickly or dirty, just soft, dove gray. His – because a hand that large had to belong to a man – fingernails were lighter in color by about a shade and the edge of his coat sleeve was more than a few shades darker.
Jason’s arms dropped and he just stood there in the man’s grip, trembling… passive.
I dragged my gaze off of “the hand” and looked over Jason’s shoulder.
My breath caught and I grabbed Jason’s arm. The world slid sideways, tilted and twisted until I was watching a different scene unfold before me.
I saw a man in skis push off of a mountain pass. The man was Jason, probably on his annual trip to Seven Springs. He flew along the slopes like the experienced sportsman he was. Then something went wrong, sending him plunging sideways in a rolling tumble. The snow flew in all directions with his roll. His skis snapped free. And it all stopped with a sickening thud. A tree! Jason hit the tree and all that remained was silence, cold and death.
The biting wind cut through me and the world spun away once more. Jason’s skin under my hand was ice cold. His breath crystallized on a slow exhale, where his face was turned away from the stranger. Then he sagged, and only the brick wall kept Jason on his feet.
And there was the stranger, who looked just like my high school gym teacher, dressed in a charcoal suit. It really would have been comforting except that my gym teacher had died last year and been buried in that ugly suit. The lighting in the alley was dim, but I could make him out clearly, as if his presence gave off the slightest illumination.
I must have blinked and the man changed. Maybe I hadn’t seen right to begin with. Now the stranger looked like a grayish version of my parents’ neighbor, but with the same freaky glow. What was his name? “Bentley?”
He nodded his tightly trimmed salt and pepper head, but said nothing. Bentley never said nothing. His tongue wagged like a Cocker Spaniel. Therefore, Bentley wasn’t Bentley. I had to force that image out of my mind.
The stranger nodded ever so slightly, as if he approved of my deduction.
Who was he really? His blue-gray eyes faded to slate and his hair lengthened to past his shoulders, hanging in a silken, silver curtain. His chest was covered by a thin shirt which looked like silk. His leather trench coat draped more than six and a half feet of man and fell clear to his calves. His coat, pants and boots had the same look of butter soft leather. My fingers itched to stroke the tempting texture despite its dreary color.
“Who are you?” I whispered, but I had the feeling I wasn’t going to get an answer from him.
He blinked, and the action seemed sensual, drawing my attention, pulling me from any other thought. I was trapped in the soft shades of his eyes. What secrets did he hold behind that quiet stare? Within his eyes floated an ocean of gray in every depth. One second they had the feel of deep calm waters, and then in the next they were the tempest of every nightmare storm. The whirl of motion in those eyes sent a shiver down my back and settled a tremor in my stomach.
Had we stood like this for eternity, I’m not sure I would have complained. I was bespelled by him and all his gray. I had no way to escape if he didn’t will it. I had no life, if he chose to take it. I was at the mercy of a man, who, for all I knew, might have no mercy.
Never in my life had I felt this drawn to another person. I should be afraid of him. Was he controlling my mind? I didn’t know who or even what he was, and yet… there was no fear in me for him.
And stranger still, I wanted to touch him. Like all the wolves, I felt a need to touch those around me, but this was so much more than that. I had to know the truth. I wanted to see if he felt this harmless with my hands on him or if he’d found some way to lie to my senses.
I reached for the stranger in gray, sliding around Jason and slamming hard against the man’s body, my mouth flush against his.
He tensed, maybe in surprise.
Then the world was mine. The tenseness left him as my mouth caressed his firm lips. My tongue teased over his lower lip and he opened on a sigh, an acceptance of the inevitable.
His body was strong, yet relaxed against mine. My height was perfect for his, with me leaning up into his embrace. His arms closed around me and the scent of roses filled my mind, not rose perfume, but the rich and varied depth of roses found only in a thick garden in full bloom.
The leather under my fingers was just as soft as it’d looked, and my man in gray was harder than I’d expected. His body was formed of long hard muscles that rippled under my touch. His arms, like steel, held me tight, yet left me feeling in control.
I maybe hadn’t intended to kiss him, but now that I was pressed into him and feeling the complete rightness of touching him, I couldn’t stop. I slanted my mouth over his and delved deeper into his mystery. Just as I thought I might pass the gates of paradise, a voice flowed over us, interrupting.
“Enough. Return to your duties.”
Although I couldn’t decide if it was male or female, the voice was definitely chiding with an undercurrent of command. And I was pretty sure it didn’t refer to my duties.
The man under my hands and mouth tensed as if to reject the order. My heart swelled that he might cast off his responsibility for me.
The disappointment was almost pain, when he drew back from our kiss. His gaze met mine and in that moment, I knew how much he regretted the interruption.
He faded under my touch. The cool night breeze tore the particles apart that together made the man. Without his solid frame, I fell forward to my knees to the concrete, aching to follow him wherever he would go. The painful collision with the ground broke through my senses, drawing my mind back from the darkness it chased.
The chill of metal cut into my right palm, the hand that had been clenched into his soft trench coat.
I opened my fist to reveal a three inch long, silver-gray nail. Instead of a flat head for hitting, this nail was crowned with a tiny, perfect metal rose, set forever in full bloom.
He gave me a nail? A rose nail?
I shook my head to clear my wandering thoughts. The gift was nice, but it certainly didn’t make up for me falling through his freaky ghost-like body.
I stood up slowly.
A tingle down my spine turned me to stare the other direction and there I watched my gray man stepping into the more populated street that had once been my destination, in the hopes of getting a cab.
His image burned into my memory. His long stride was smooth and his leather coat flowed from his broad shoulders. And the rest of the hair which I hadn't seen...his hair was the silver-gray of the rose nail and it cascaded down his back nearly as far as the trench coat. Surely that hair reached his calves, maybe even his ankles. I ached to sink my fingers into that hair, to tease it like the breeze from his stride was doing to the very tips.
I grabbed Jason's unresisting arm and tugged him behind me, while feeling more than a little guilty over forgetting him to jump the stranger. Still, I couldn’t let Jason out of my sight until I knew what the vision I’d seen meant.
The need to follow the gray man forced me to ignore all else except that one concession.
At the corner, I watched his trench coat moving between groups of people, who had just left the movie theater. He glided among the crowd and brushed his outstretched fingers over them lightly.
When I had dragged Jason close enough, I could see that the people trembled under the stranger’s touch, but seemed completely unaware of him. No, that wasn't true. They had to be aware on some level since no one ran into him. The people seemed to flow around him, like he was some stationary object that didn't need to be acknowledged, only avoided to prevent injury.
What did his touch do? We’d both been touching Jason when I’d seen the vision… Was that the connection?
I started forward, but was yanked to a stop by Jason's hand, his unmoving feet anchoring me in place.
Jason stared at the crowd, his face mostly blank, but edged in fear. "Is he there? I-I can’t see him, but-” He swallowed convulsively. “The people…he’ll touch them and they'll all die," he whispered.
If I hadn't watched Jason die just a few minutes before, I might have doubted Jason’s conclusion, but I had and I didn't doubt him. Whatever the gray man did when he touched a person seemed to show them death, maybe even cause it.
The stranger turned his stormy gaze on me, as I left Jason behind and approached the crowd. I don’t think he expected me to follow him. Or perhaps he thought his little show would scare me away.
But I was made of sterner, as well as stupider stuff than that, and I still didn’t feel any personal threat from him.
For some reason, which felt like the gray man’s compulsion, the people I walked near all reached out and touched me. With each casual -and once not so casual- touch, I saw the visions he had given them. All were of death and together they overwhelmed me. Even when the hands dropped away, I couldn’t force my feet to follow him.
He might not feel dangerous, but in some deeper way I knew he was warning me not to force the issue.
His eyes were filled with a blaze of longing as powerful as my own longing. I ached to reach for him, to be devoured by his intense fire, but it wasn’t to be.
He faded from sight.
Gone and all I had was his rose, clenched tight in my hand.