Authors: H. P. Mallory
“’Twill take oos some time tae ready the barge fur the three o’ oos, lass,” Tallis said, implying that we should head back outside, to the bank of the river. That was just as well because the last thing I wanted to do was hang around and watch Bill. Yuck-and-a-half.
“I’ll walk you to the front,” Jenny offered, taking Tallis’s arm before they both started forward, leaving me to crutch my way behind them. I was so ticked off, I started muttering things under my breath, but limped forward all the same.
When we reached the front of Jenny’s establishment, she held the door open for both Tallis and me which surprised me because I figured she’d forgotten all about me. Tallis walked through the door first, and once he was outside, appeared to scout out each direction to make sure the coast was clear for me.
“You’re a very lucky girl to have the bladesmith as your guardian,” Jenny whispered as I walked through the door. I glanced at her and noticed her attention still rested on Tallis, who was now on his way down the hill toward the river.
“Yes, I am,” I answered, not really knowing what else to say.
“I don’t know what the nature of your relationship is,” she continued, not even sparing me a glance as she studied the handsome Scotsman. I took a step forward and she closed the door behind me. “But it’s obvious you both have feelings for each other,” she finished. “I could see it in the way you look at each other.”
“Yes,” I said; there was no point in denying it.
“The bladesmith is a stubborn, proud and difficult man,” she persisted, her beautiful eyes finally coming to rest on me. “But he’s a good one, no matter his history.”
“I know,” I answered. I was already well aware of everything she was telling me but I was still surprised to hear it coming from her mouth. Especially when only moments earlier, it had appeared as if she were putting the moves on my bladesmith. Maybe I’d misjudged Jenny?
“Just be patient with him,” she ended the conversation with a quick, friendly smile. “He needs you as much as you need him.”
I was so flabbergasted, I didn’t know what to say. But I was spared the need to respond because Jenny simply walked away. She started down the front steps, evidently unconcerned that she wasn’t wearing any shoes, while the decrepit, wooden steps looked like five thousand splinters just waiting to happen. Then she ran down the hill and joined Tallis at the bottom where he was busy inspecting the barge and the oar.
Taking the steps one at a time, I carefully navigated my way with my crutch. Once I reached the ground, I took another few steps hurriedly, not happy to find Tallis and Jenny were no longer in my line of vision. I had a feeling I needed to keep my eye on the beautiful brunette.
“What the hell?” I heard Jenny’s voice just as I made my way to the crest of the hill. I stopped short, and my heart suddenly lodged in my throat. Jenny and Tallis were at the base of the hill, surrounded by … hideously ugly monsters.
The fierce things were about two feet high and three feet long. Although they looked as if they could have been bipedal, they moved nimbly using their hands and feet. They were completely hairless and their bodies were shaped of lean muscle. Their skin had a leathery appearance, which, in the moonlight, glowed a bright fuchsia-pink. Both their hands and feet terminated into long, pointed claws that looked as if they could do substantial damage. However, their faces were the most repugnant aspect of their bodies. Their mouths remained agape and featured enormous, protruding fangs, set like rows of shark teeth. They kept rearing up at one another, as well as at Tallis and Jenny, growling and turning up their wide snouts to show their undeniably impressive teeth. Their eyes glowed orange and yellow, but their pupils were mere slivers, just like cats’ eyes.
“Go! Get out of here!” I heard Jenny yelling at them as she kicked out at one that ventured a little too close to her. She tried to shoo them back toward the river, but the creatures seemed hydrophobic and wouldn’t go anywhere near it.
“Tallis?” I called out, not sure if he was going to come up the hill to help me back down it or what.
“Lily, stay whaur ye are!” Tallis roared up at me. He held up his hand to warn me not to take another step. I nodded as I retreated back under the overhang of the Toy Store’s front porch, where I didn’t expect to be spotted. From my new vantage point, I couldn’t see much, so I crutched over to the other corner, where I could just make out the shock on Jenny’s face.
“They shouldn’t be here,” she told Tallis, shaking her head as if she were at a loss. “It’s not as though they could have crossed the river either. You know how much they hate water.”
“We need tae focoos oan gettin’ them back tae the city noo,” Tallis replied, apparently more interested in the solution than the problem.
“Yes,” Jenny said as she nodded. “Alaire is going to hear about this. He knows none of his creatures are allowed to touch foot on my island.” Just as she finished her sentence, three of the hideous creatures ran right past her, growling and lashing out at each other. “This is bullshit!” she railed out, shaking her head in obvious anger. “He’s in breach of our contract.”
“And I apologize for that,” Alaire announced as he appeared from around the corner of a long-dead tree and stood directly in front of them. He was dressed snappily in a two-piece, dark grey suit with a charcoal dress shirt. His hair was slicked back, and the moonlight made it appear even glossier. He looked, for all intents and purposes, sufficiently recovered from his encounter with Tallis, when he’d been impaled by the Scotsman’s broadsword.
“What the hell is the meaning of this?” Jenny seethed at him, her hands fisting at her sides. I instantly got the feeling that Jenny and Alaire didn’t see eye to eye.
“This, my dear Ms. Harrington, is a mere mistake,” Alaire answered as one of the creatures ran across his path, in pursuit of another one. “An accident,” Alaire finished in that highfalutin tone of his that made me want to smack him.
“I doubt that very much,” Jenny hissed, throwing her hands on her hips. “How can Hanuush demons from the eighth level of the Underground make it to my island when they all detest water? There’s nothing accidental about that at all!”
“I do not know what to tell you, my lovely neighbor,” Alaire shrugged as he shook his head. “It is quite a mystery, is it not?” Then he faced Tallis and smiled broadly. “Ah, Black, so good to see you after the number you did on me earlier, not to mention how you destroyed my Armani suit.”
“Why are ye haur, Alaire?” Tallis demanded as he crossed his arms against his chest and regarded Alaire with anger.
“I came to collect my demons,” Alaire replied, raising his shoulders as if the answer were obvious. “As you can see, they are most certainly not welcome here.”
“No, they aren’t!” Jenny yelled at him.
But Alaire didn’t spare a glance at Jenny. Instead, he studied Tallis for a few seconds before then looking to his right and his left, as if he were searching for something or someone. “I cannot help but wonder where our dear Ms. Harper has disappeared to?”
“Lily is nane o’ yer concern,” Tallis barked.
Alaire shook his head and glanced down at his shoes, which were sparkly clean in the moonlight. When he looked back up at Tallis, I could tell he was irritated. “I seem to remember a time when I wanted to make Ms. Harper my business, and you had no quarrel then.”
My eyebrows drew together in puzzlement as I wondered what Alaire was talking about. “Ah dae have ah quarrel wif it noo,” Tallis replied, crossing his arms over his chest and regarding Alaire with a scowl.
I wanted to make Ms. Harper my business and you had no quarrel then?
Alaire’s words filled my stomach like a large boulder.
“It bothers you now then, does it?” Alaire repeated before laughing and shaking his head. “It is such a shame when emotions enter the picture. They tarnish one’s logic, do they not?”
“Alaire, I want these demons off my property right now,” Jenny warned him. “Otherwise, I’m going to AE to file a complaint.”
“Ms. Harrington,” Alaire started, holding up his hands in a mockery of placating her.
“Don’t ‘Ms. Harrington’ me!” she yelled at him. “You know you’re in breach of our contract. This is my island and I don’t want any of your city filth polluting it!”
“And here I thought you were an animal lover,” Alaire said with a smug smile.
“If you want to take this to the next level, we can,” Jenny spat back at him. “I’m not afraid to confront you.”
“I am well aware of that, my dear!” Alaire laughed. “You are not afraid of anything! But, perhaps I should remind you that I am the Keeper of the Underground City …”
“I don’t give a damn if you’re the CEO of Afterlife Enterprises, himself!” she interrupted him angrily. She took a few steps toward him before Tallis put his hand on her shoulder, apparently to calm her down. “It’s okay, Tallis,” she said as she turned to face him. Alaire’s gaze immediately settled on Tallis’s hand and his eyes narrowed.
“It seems I keep losing to you, Black,” Alaire commented. He crossed his arms over his chest as Tallis shook his head as if to say he didn’t follow. “I can’t recall how many times I’ve attempted to woo Ms. Harrington into my bed,” Alaire explained.
“More times than I can count,” Jenny added with a deeply set frown.
“And yet, she has never once surrendered to me,” Alaire finished. He tsked a few times and shook his head. “And now, Ms. Harper, it would seem, is following the same example.” His eyebrows furrowed dramatically as if he couldn’t make sense of it.
“That’s because we both can see right through you and neither of us like what we see!” Jenny railed at him.
But Alaire didn’t seem to notice. He continued to study Tallis. “And yet, both lovely ladies appear to be investing all their loyalty in you, Black, as if you don’t share the same dreadful history that I do.”
“Tallis Black is more of a man than you will ever be!” Jenny taunted him. “You are nothing but a preening, materialistic, egomaniac! This city hasn’t been the same since you took control of it!”
“Don’t get so excited, my dear,” Alaire said, frowning at her. He sounded put out and waved her outburst away as if she were having a tantrum. “You know your excitement only further stimulates me.”
“If you so much as lay a finger on me, I’ll have AE down here in two seconds flat,” she ground out. “And you really don’t need any more trouble with AE, do you?”
“He willnae tooch ye while Ah am haur,” Tallis promised her firmly.
“I would not touch her until the time she asks me to,” Alaire said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. “After all, if nothing else, I am the quintessential gentleman.”
“I will never want you,” Jenny spat at him, shaking her head furiously. “Now take your demons and get the hell off my property.”
“As you wish, my dear,” Alaire said, without making any move to leave. He just stood there, rooted, as if someone had just pushed the pause button on him. Jenny regarded him suspiciously and just as I was going to face Tallis for his reaction, I heard the sounds of heavy breathing right beside my right ear. In slow motion, I turned to face the horrible rows of pointed teeth of one of the Hanuush demons. It stood barely a foot away from me. In shock, I let out a little cry and jumped back as the thing started growling. In my panic, I dropped my makeshift crutch and placed all my weight on both of my feet, the sudden pain in my ankle immediately crippling me.
“Lily!” Tallis called out, but I was too afraid to look at him, and too afraid to turn my back on the hideous creature who was now stalking me.
“Ah, so Ms. Harper is here, after all,” Alaire said. I started to back up from my hiding place, keeping my eyes on the creature the entire time. “Do not run from it, Ms. Harper!” Alaire yelled.
I didn’t run, because I couldn’t. I just continued to limp away, toward the hill, wanting only to be as close to Tallis as possible.
“She’s hurt?” I heard Alaire asking the others. Apparently, it didn’t slip his notice that I was favoring one side.
“Don’t let the demon see you limp!” Jenny called up to me. “They prey on the wounded!”
I felt the lump in my throat doubling in size. Dropping all my weight on both of my feet, I tried to ignore the stabbing pain in my ankle. I started down the hill backwards, with the creature only a foot or two from me. The aberration followed me, continuing to growl as it bared its rows of jagged teeth.
“Go away like a good little demon,” I whispered softly, hoping it might like me better if I didn’t seem to be a threat.
But it started growling louder, so I immediately shut my mouth and just focused on walking downhill backwards. That wasn’t easy to do, especially with a bum ankle. When I felt my foot slip on the loose dirt, I quickly tried to correct it, but my center of balance was already off. I began to wobble, and before I knew it, I was falling backwards, down the hill. I hit the ground hard and then rolled twice before I dug my heels into the sandy earth and stopped myself. When I opened my eyes, all I could see were the jaws of the Hanuush demon as it pounced on me. In an automatic reflex, my hands immediately went up to shield my face as I turned my head away from the creature. I screamed as I felt the demon’s teeth sink into my forearm. Pushing against the heavy creature, I tried to kick the thing off me, but it clamped down even harder on my arm. The pain was excruciating and sent waves of ache throughout the rest of my body.