Bella MacLeod's Twilight Fanfiction

Fallen Angels

By BetterInTexas

Chapter 03:

Nicki

This was not supposed to happen. Not to her, not to me. Ever.

I loved my son, and I loved my grandson, but I always despised the waste of oxygen that called himself my husband. Were it not for his love of my son I would have disemboweled him in my human life and strangled him with his intestines.

Men were fun, men were toys. You fucked them and left them in the toybox when you were done or simply threw them away if you no longer wanted them. The only man I ever truly gave a damn about was Aro. He opened the world to me, encouraged me, supported me, saved my life. He did more for me than my own human father who sold me to be a wife at 14.

In the world of vampires, males and females were treated equally. Those with power ruled and those without bowed or died, regardless of the sex of the vampire. In this world I had the power, I had independence, I did what I wanted.

The only threat to my independence was mating. The word made me wish I could still vomit. Being tied to someone for eternity? Not happening. I brought Bella to this life and gave her the existence she truly deserved. I would be damned if it included some man chosen for her by fate and not by herself.

I would not let her be bound to anyone.

I kept watch on all male vampires who neared her. I never suspected I would have humans to worry about.

She had told me of her attraction to this human, the way she felt when she touched him, how she almost lost herself in his eyes and had no desire to feed from him. I knew what this was and would be having Master Marcus confirm it later today. It would be dealt with before she knew it for what it was. I would find this human and end him before it went farther.

My baby would be bound to no one.

I watched her sitting in her pajamas she insisted were too comfortable not to wear. She was concentrating so hard, trying to figure out these human games. Soon she would crush the controller in a fit of anger.

“Damn it!”

As I suspected.

“Nicki, I need another controller and I need help. Stop brooding and help me.”

I pulled another controller from the entertainment center and handed it over, taking a seat next to her.

“I can’t believe you can’t figure this out on your own.” I told her, unable to hide the humor in my voice. She adored Tomb Raider video games for the combat but the puzzles constantly confounded her.

“You think it’s easy? Even if I knew which way to go, the order is screwed up plus the timing of the jumps… the whole thing is ridiculously hard. I just want to kill Trinity scum but no, I have to figure this crap out. How the hell do I beat this?”

I shrugged my shoulders, having no idea. The damn games confounded me as well. It took us 47 hours to beat the first one and the sequel Bella was playing now was much more difficult.

“I can’t tell you. If I did it would take away from your enjoyment of the game.” I tried.

Despite having an excellent poker face, as usual Bella saw through my bullshit.

“You don’t know either, do you? Get on YouTube and figure it out!”

I shook my head. Watching playthroughs on YouTube was cheating in my opinion.

“If you want Lara to find the Divine Source you are going to do it yourself, not rely on humans. You’re smart so figure it out. Use Survival instincts and listen to what she says. She drops hints constantly.”

A good Sire must encourage, not simply give instructions. If Bella wanted to defeat the tomb, she would have to figure it out, because I had no idea.

It was a miracle watching her like this. Such a change from when she was mortal.

I watched Bella her entire life. I was in the delivery room when she was born and I sensed the power in the baby immediately. Finally a female born from my line, with the potential to be as powerful as I was. To that point in my life I had traveled the world, sometimes staying in Volterra, but most often using Aro’s money to do as I pleased, go where I wanted and built up a lifestyle of overindulgence. If I saw something I wanted, I bought it. I was a bit spoiled I suppose but when your Sire is the king of the vampire world and offers you anything, how could you refuse?

Despite everything I had, I was lonely. I did not want a man, I wanted a friend, a companion and an equal. Bella became all that and more.

Her human life was miserable. Perhaps miserable is too strong a word. Boring would be a more apt description though that word is synonymous with miserable in my mind. I watched her when I could, always out of her sight. I hired bodyguards to live near her, always in the shadows, blending in with the community but always with one main purpose, to protect her at all costs.

She grew into such a lovely young woman, and yet sad as well. When her mother took her from Forks, I suspected her situation would only worsen. My suspicion was correct. I watched her take care of that bitch from such a young age, cook her meals and pay her bills. I watched Renee bring a string of men into their home over the years, some like her, nothing better than drunks, some just terrible choices.

Bella gave up her youth to that woman. She studied, she worked, never making any friends, worried about things like budgets, cleaning, cooking and avoiding her mother’s boyfriends as much as possible. I knew all this because even when I was not near her, the man I hired to watch and protect her was there, her neighbor in fact.

I cannot count how many times I wanted to kill Renee Dwyer and take Bella then. Introducing myself as her vampire witch great grandmother who killed her mother would not have been the best way to start our relationship however and I desperately wanted there to never be any lies between the two of us.

So I waited. I was in Cancun enjoying Mexican cuisine when the man I hired told me about the new fellow who had been courting Renee. According to him this man was violent, unstable, used drugs often and had mental health issues including Schizophrenia. In short, someone I could not let around Bella.

I nearly arrived too late. I had been driving to her condo, planning to kill the man called Phil when I heard the screams from a mile away. Renee screamed, and Bella shortly followed. Giving up pretenses I ditched the car and ran, arriving as the man held a butcher knife in her chest. No time to torture him, I snapped his neck, and bit my girl multiple times. Once I was sure enough venom had entered her body, I pulled the knife from her, took her out the backdoor and never looked back.

It hurt to listen to her screams. I held her the entire time she changed, worried for her, mostly for her state of mind. Her human life left much to be desired and I promised myself I would give her everything in her immortal life.

I was pleasantly surprised when she woke. I was able to keep her calm, our link strong and fed her the first human I could bring, her bodyguard. I had called him with instructions to meet me and receive his payment. When he stepped inside Bella had her first taste of human blood. She took to the vampire lifestyle with gusto and besides remembering her near death, memories of her human life were gone.

She was able to be a teen like she always deserved to be during her human life. Her intelligence and determination carried over even if her memories were gone. She was a natural at our art, picking up spells and becoming one with her power at a much faster pace than I ever dreamed. She was a bit impulsive, okay a lot impulsive, but her devotion could not be denied. We had an instant kinship, as if we were one person.

Despite the riches and material things I had gathered, Bella was my true joy. My best friend, sister, daughter, she was all that and more. The weight of responsibilities, the stress, the loneliness that plagued her human life were a thing of the past, left behind with her pathetic mother.

Now she was in a very expensive hotel playing video games without a care in the world.

“When can we start looking for him?”

Except for that little problem.

“He is human. What does it matter? Yes, he had a touch that could possibly give you an orgasm. After you came you would have crushed him regardless. Humans are glass, only good for one thing, feeding.”

Bella crossed her arms and I felt a pout coming on.

“Yet when I was human you watched out for me.”

“Because you were better than all of them. Never talk about your human life. Some of us are destined to be greater and you are one of the chosen. We may have all been human once for a brief time, but that was just a necessary step on the path of greatness. Forget the human. I had planned on fucking a member of the Egyptian Coven tonight. His name is Benjamin and from what I have overheard he can make the Earth move, both figuratively and literally. You can have him and I will find some other distraction.”

“Will his touch make me feel like Connolly’s?”

I closed my eyes to poorly hide my frustration. Of course she remembered his name.

“It doesn’t matter. The man can cause Earthquakes. Can you imagine what he can do in bed? Throw a lust spell on Garrett if you want. You seem to have made a habit of irritating animal serial killers. May as well go all the way and fuck one of their mates.”

Bella shrugged her shoulders sadly. “I know you are hiding something from me. You know what this is about, don’t you? You know why…”

“Bella, not now.” I told her, cutting off that conversation. It could be had at another time, after I had found this human and slaughtered him. “You need to get dressed. We meet with the Aro in two hours.”

Bella

Nicki was hiding something from me about this human. She never hid anything from me so it must be bad. I told her everything, the way he felt, the urge to claim him in bed, the urge to find him every second he was not with me.

So what was going on? I recognized Nicki was right. He was just food and a potential sex toy. I doubt his human body would survive mine in bed. Or against a wall. Or on the floor.

But that damn tingle, all I wanted to do was find him.

And beat this level on Tomb Raider. But mostly I wanted to find him. I still had to get a new phone on the way to our meeting with Aro. Maybe he would text me tonight since he wouldn’t be able to get a hold of me this morning. I should have gotten his damn number.

I finally beat this damn tomb an hour and a half later. Nicki had been spending her time in the shower, probably getting off and then dressing so she was of absolutely no help.

When she walked back into the living room, I was nearly shocked silent.

Nearly but not quite.

“What the hell?”

She was wearing a black pin stripped pant suit with a dark red blouse underneath and three inch heels. I had seen casual Nicki, biker Nicki, Underworld Selena Nicki (her favorite) and sex on legs Nicki, but never seen business attire Nicki. Even her hair was pulled back in a bun.

“Business meetings today, not parties. You need to get ready.”

“I’m not dressing like that.” I told her quickly.

“Didn’t ask you to. Its time for you to morph your clothes.”

Oh shit. “The last time I did that I wound up naked.” I reminded her.

“So get it right this time. Think of what you want to look like, the clothes you have on and what you wish them to be, draw from the black well in your mind. No speech casting. You got this.”

Hmmm.

“I can wear anything I want?”

“Within reason.” she told me carefully.

“Glamour?”

Nicki sighed. “The last time you tried to color your hair it turned green.”

“I got it this time, I’ve been practicing, I promise.”

Hearing no order not to, I closed my eyes and really focused. Considering some of the spells I have used recently this should be a piece of human. Its not like I am commanding dead spirits or creating a sleeping curse on the fly.

There it is.

I opened my eyes and was rewarded with the look on Nicki’s face. I moved quickly to a mirror and saw I had been successful. Skinny jeans, high heeled black biker boots over them, black shirt covered by a red leather jacket, bright blonde hair and green eyes.

“Yes! Nailed it!”

Nicki did not look as impressed as I felt.

“You are not going to meet Aro dressed like that.”

“Why not? You got the whole Regina Mills thing going on. Why can’t I be Emma Swan? We can be SwanQueen without the whole underlying homoerotic tension thing going on.”

“This isn’t Cosplay and we aren’t going to a Comicon until July. When we attend the one in San Diego, we can do it but I am wearing the Evil Queen costume with the purple jacket, riding pants and the leather bodice, not this. Get it together.”

A snap of her fingers and I was dressed like her, only with a blue blouse and no pinstripes. My blonde hair was gone as well. At least it wasn’t in a bun. Oh well Emma, maybe next time. Looks like I won’t be the savior today.

“Can I at least be Dark Swan? This looks like I am going for a job interview. I’m not… am I? You promised me no jobs, like ever.”

“Expect the Princess to work? Who would defend the world from Trinity? Let’s go, nerd.”

At least I got to drive this time. Sure I got pulled over for doing ninety in a thirty but a little hypnotic suggestion from Nicki and we were on our way while the cop got himself off in his car. I wonder if he used the nightstick?

Okay, so Aro wasn’t alone. Caius was here as well as Marcus. Caius was smiling today but unfortunately Marcus looked like he would rather be anywhere else, doing anything else. The guy legit looked dead to the world. We took seats in the parlor and I did my best to relax.

“Welcome. Did the two of you have an enjoyable night after we parted ways?”

“We did.”

We didn’t. I wanted to get laid and Nicki was all about me telling her about Connolly and then insisting I play video games instead of looking for him.

I decided not to disagree with Nicki. Perhaps I should. I really liked the red leather jacket.

No, I’ll be good. The nicer I am the quicker I can find that human.

“Excellent…”

“Brother?”

Damn, Marcus just talked. He reached out to touch Aro’s hand. Aro looked disturbed and looked at Nicki. I knew he was speaking to her through their link. Now Nicki frowned and shook her head.

“I have it in hand.”

“You can’t kill him Nicolette.” Aro told her.

Kill him? Kill who? Who were we going to kill? Animal feeders? I could have done that last night! Why can’t we kill? What the hell is going on?

“May we speak through our bond?” Nicki asked him.

“She needs to know.” Aro told her and I appreciated that he didn’t feel the need to keep me out of the loop. “If you kill him, she may go insane.”

“Not if he is still human!” Nicki hissed. Damn, I had never seen her snap like that.

“We don’t know that. Human you say?” Marcus asked. “She could feel empty for the remainder of her existence. There is only one, Nicolette. He should be brought here and this bond studied. You do not want her to become… me, correct?”

Okay, that’s enough. “Does someone feel like letting me in?”

“I am curious myself.” Caius pointed out. I was really starting to like this guy. Too bad he was married and apparently mated. Over a thousand years old? The things he could teach me, those lips when he wasn’t sneering, that hair… focus! Who are we killing? Or not killing? Who is going insane?

“We can talk about it later, Bella. Tonight, I promise. Master Aro, you had a delicate matter you needed to speak to us about?”

Aro actually rolled his eyes. “I realize your experiences that led to the end of your human life have given you an extremely negative view on marriage and relationships in general, but this needs to be talked about. Perhaps you can talk to your child afterward?”

“If I say yes, will you lay off?” Nicki asked sharply. Damn, she was getting pissed off at the guy she claimed was her hero. This had something to do with my human sized vibrator, I just knew it.

Aro nodded his head after a moment. “Vampires have been disappearing at an alarming rate across the US. All of them are nomads but even those have friends. Demetri has been in the physical presence of several of them. When he reaches out to them, the vampire is simply not there.”

“If Demetri cannot feel a vampire he has met before that means the vampire is dead. What of it? Vampires are destroyed occasionally.” Nicki pointed out.

“Sixteen in the last three months is not occasionally my dear.”

Damn.

“Demetri has tracked some scent trails and all end with one common factor,” Aro continued. “usually the smell of gunpowder, fire and fuel, most likely aeronautic fuel of some type, likely a helicopter.”

“You think another vampire is shooting them and what? Flying away in a helicopter?” Nicki asked. How the hell would that work? It’s not like bullets can harm us, or humans for that matter.

“It does sound absurd.” he admitted. “What I am most concerned about is the footprints of humans left behind at the disappearance of these scent trails. Other Covens have found the same. We always knew one day it could be possible for humans to develop technology to harm us. Humans may simply be prey but animals turn on humans at time. Those animals are promptly put down. If humans do know of us and have figured out a method of killing our kind, this needs to be discovered promptly and they need to be put down.”

Good point. Wait, humans can kill us? Okay. If they want to play that game, we can play it. War? Without the element of surprise they have nothing but fancy bullets.

“I’ll need blood and a bowl of water along with any remains that might have been retrieved. Ashes will do.” Nicki told him. Sweet. I’ve only done scrying once. A little human blood, some personal items belonging to the subject, water, and voila, you see a mini movie of the past, present or future depending on what you are looking for.

This house may only be haunted in fiction but Nicki and I can make it a reality with the amount of dark magic in our systems.

“Unfortunately we do not even have ash. Whoever or whatever is killing these vampires is doing a very thorough job at cleaning up after themselves.” Caius told us. “If humans have developed a method or weapon capable of harming us, it is only being used in the US for now.”

“Where we are.” I realized. “The largest gathering of vampires in decades on US soil. They could be here. We could end this before it even gets started.”

Nicki patted me on the back. “Calm down Bella. Even if they did know we were here, they would not take the chance of attacking us in a historic district in a large US city. They are most likely here to observe if they even exist. We can watch for them tonight. It should be easy to find any enemies, humans or others. We search the city. I suppose you will be calling all vampires here once again?” she asked her Sire.

“Indeed. A less formal gathering than the night before. Perhaps even fun. I would like it if the two of you were the only ones outside tonight. Whatever weapon these humans have cannot possibly harm you or Isabella. Perhaps around ten you should go hunting?”

Nicki actually smiled, appearing excited about the prospect. I was too. She was trusting me to handle this and we could cover more ground if we separated…

“ You are to stay glued to my side all night, understand?” Nicki informed me over our link .

“ Guess we won’t be covering more ground then. Glad you trust me to take care of myself.”

“ If I didn’t trust you I would have you on a plane to Siberia immediately. Follow my lead, stay by my side. I won’t leave you tonight. If what he suspects is true this could be a disaster. We must find out and end it quickly, find the source of these weapons and destroy it. I like my place on the food chain, don’t you?”

“ No worries. I’m not wearing this business suit though.”

“It will be taken care of. So long as we are the only vampires on the streets after dark everything will be fine.”

“I have no doubt.” Aro agreed. “There is one other matter we wish to discuss with you and felt your child should be here as well.”

Okay the child stuff needs to stop. She is my Sire, I am her child? I would rather be called Sired or something equally ridiculous instead of child.

“Of course.”

“Marcus wants to die.” Aro plainly stated. That statement caught me and Nicki off guard. I didn’t need our link to know it shocked the hell out of her.

So what is Aro saying? We use him as bait? That’s just wrong. Unless Aro expects us to kill him? That wasn’t happening. Animal murderer yes, bored, sad guy, no.

“Master Marcus?” Nicki whispered.

“It is true Nicolette. I have lived too many centuries without my mate. I can barely function anymore and wish to be reunited with my love. My brothers have always refused to assist me in this saying my services were to valuable and I was irreplaceable. I have carried on for them but now my time has come. I will announce my retirement tomorrow night. No one needs know of my plans for death. Aro would like to announce my successor at that time.”

“Your successor?” Nicki asked, looking suspiciously at Aro.

“There have always been three rulers, three votes on decisions made. There must always be three.” Aro told her. “Caius and I want you to be the third. We want you to rule by our side.”

Uh… no. How the hell are we going to gamble in Vegas, surf in Hawaii, cosplay at Comicon if Nicki is pulling off the Evil Queen routine in Italy every day? What about my puppy? Could I have a puppy in the castle? No, that’s not important. Important is Nicki and I being stuck in one place. That simply couldn’t happen. Yeah, no. Tell him Nicki.

“I need time to think.” Nicki told him.

“ Times up bitch. Say no and let’s get the hell out of this town. I can grab my human on the way out.”

“ I can’t just say no. If I don’t do it someone else could challenge for the spot. Other Covens could attack, thinking the Volturi weaker. They need someone powerful.”

“ They need someone old. You are barely over a hundred. Cut the shit and let’s bolt.”

“I understand your apprehension my child. I realize you are young and have a lifestyle you enjoy. I would do my best to ensure this lifestyle is not interrupted more than need to be. We would need you in Volterra for the majority of your time.” Aro told her which was absolutely bullshit. We already had a home. Seven in the US plus a couple beach houses I was fond of.

“My child is not ready to be on her own. She has much to learn.”

“ On my own? Why the hell would I be on my own?”

“ I wouldn’t ask you to come with me. I would never force you into something like this”.

“ So you don’t do it, we party, have sex with guys who can cause earthquakes and let them pick someone else.”

“ I’m the only one he trusts.”

She was seriously thinking of doing this and leaving me behind? Fuck that.

“Isabella would be able to come as often as you need her to continue her education.” Aro continued. I thought he was so cool the night before. “I understand…”

“There is no coming or going. Where she goes, I go.” I told him. Yeah if Nicki actually did this it would suck but she gave me this life. I wasn’t going to leave her.

“Bella you know all the properties, you know all the accounts, you know enough to protect yourself.”

“You want to leave me?”

“No! But I couldn’t ask you.”

“You aren’t asking. If we do this, we do it together. I can be your guard or something. Would we get vacation time?”

Nicki cut my question off.

“Master Aro I need time to think about this. I need to talk to Bella. I can give you an answer tomorrow morning. Would that be soon enough?”

“Of course my dear. I stand by whatever decision you make. I do hope you join us. With you at our side the vampire world would behave a bit more I believe. All know of your power and none would dare challenge you. Take the night, find out what you can about any human or other supernatural enemies that may be hunting our kind in this city and talk to your child.”

We took our leave then. The sun was bright but a quick glamour spell and we were perfectly protected. I morphed my clothes once we were in the car back to my pajamas, just to annoy Nicki. It didn’t work though. She stayed silent the entire ride back to the hotel.

We didn’t say a word until we reached our very large, very sweet suite.

I waited for her to make the first move.

Instead she walked out onto the balcony and had a seat. I followed and had a seat next to her.

It was an hour before I couldn’t take it anymore.

“What the fuck?” It seemed like a good question to start with.

“Bella… I wasn’t expecting that. Relax, I would never make you move into an Italian castle with me.”

“Okay, great. So you are going to leave me to sit in a castle while I what? Party by myself? We don’t get tied down. You always say that. Becoming a Queen would have certain responsibilities I imagine. That sounds suspiciously like being tied down.”

“You think I don’t know that? This isn’t just about me though. What if there are humans hunting us now? The vampire world will need strong leadership. Marcus has always been wise but he is right in his desire. The man wishes to be with his mate and deserves to have the choice. I’m the only one who can step into his place and not be challenged.”

“Look, whatever you decide you are deciding for both of us. I’m not leaving you and you aren’t leaving me. If you want to play Evil Queen for the next thousand years then fine but we are doing this together. We also aren’t living underground. We can buy a place nearby and you can commute to work in the morning. Whatever you decide, I’m with you.”

I walked inside leaving her to her thoughts. She was seriously considering this.

Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. Regardless I knew I wouldn’t leave her behind. She wouldn’t leave me behind.

I hoped to hell she didn’t do this. Fucking Aro.

It didn’t seem long before we were heading back to the First Street House. At least I didn’t have to dress like a lady. Instead I grabbed a black miniskirt that was heavy on the mini and a sleeveless red top to hide any blood I may have to spill if we did discover something hunting vampires in the night. Nicki dressed the same and we were almost twins. She wanted to go to the gathering first, try to find a couple guys to hook up with after our investigation.

It was not exactly a target rich environment. The atmosphere was much better, real music playing we could dance to but the selection of male meat wasn’t exactly mind blowing. Yeah, the Ben guy was hot but I was so not interested. Nicki was practically having sex with him in the dance floor so I stepped back, needing a bit of blood anyway.

No one. A lot of guys, not one interested me. What the hell was this? I really needed to get fucked, there were a room full of red eyed boy candy and I couldn’t get into the mood.

The blonde, Jasper was here. I guess Alice really is his true love. I walked behind him and patted his ass, causing him to jump.

“Hey Sleeping Beauty. Glad to see Princess Tiny woke you up. Did you enjoy your nap?”

Hmm, he didn’t appear happy at all. I admit he had one hell of a glare. The other animal feeders wouldn’t even look at me. Finally they were learning.

At ten I walked into the bathroom to get Nicki only to find her bent over the counter… yeah… and she says I can get out of control.

“Hey, Nicki? Think you could pull your skirt down? We have that thing tonight, remember?”

“I thought Aro wanted everyone at this house?” Egyptian dude asked.

“We aren’t everyone. Here are your panties darling Sire.” I tossed the red g string in the sink to her and we left without another word.

We found no one near the house and continued running on rooftops when possible and in alleys and darkened yards when not. It was fun.

“Hey Nicki, what was Aro and Marcus saying today about we can’t kill someone and someone could go crazy or be like Marcus? I was going to ask you before the Queen of the Dead stuff came up.”

“We can talk about it tomorrow. Business tonight. If we can’t find anyone in New Orleans, we are going to visit some of the sites Demetri and others identified.”

Tomorrow, always tomorrow. She was hiding something big. If I thought I could break into her head and search her mind I would. Unfortunately it didn’t work like that. She would just mentally slap me out of her head and it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

Ahh, Bourbon Street. My old friend.

“I’m searching the rooftops. You stay on the ground among humans. Keep a look out.” she told me.

“For what?”

“Anything.”

That helps. Anything huh? Maybe a bar I visited last night? If Nicki was thorough, I should have ten minutes.

As soon as I walked in, I knew I had him. That scent was unmistakable.

He was in the same spot he was the night before. I took the same seat.

“I sent you a text last night.” he told me in greeting.

“My phone was broken and I didn’t have your number. You must really like this place.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “I figured if you wanted to find me, I should make it easy.”

“So you were waiting on me?”

“Hoping you might show.”

Hell yes. No vamps on the street tonight, Nicki would be fine for a few more minutes. Even if she wasn’t, I did walk in on her fucking Benjamin. She could deal.

“Follow me.”

I took his hand and felt that jolt again. Damn what did this man do to me?

Instead of exiting the front I took him out the backdoor and pushed him against the wall. I think he was surprised by my strength but didn’t seem to be bothered by it.

“I was afraid I lost you.”

“Same here.” he said quietly. I moved closer to him, inches away from his face.

“No children’s clothes models stopping us now. My sister is near so we have to be quick… but not too quick.”

I kissed him and was shocked. This was even better than touching him! I could feel myself getting wet, my entire body felt like melting into him. He tried to turn me so I let him push me against the wall.

“Are you cold?” he asked huskily.

“Not where it counts.”

I attacked his lips again, then his tongue, not even having a tiny desire to feed from him. I could hear his racing heart, feel how hard I made him, all that blood rushing everywhere inside him but I didn’t want to feed.

I needed him inside me.

“I’m going to turn around and spread my legs. I am going to have my hands on the wall and stay very still. Do what you need to do but be careful. If it starts to hurt, pull out. If I start to come, back off and let me get it out of my system.”

“You aren’t getting me out of your system.”

“No shit.” I agreed. “Do what I say and we can both get what we want, okay?”

I turned to the wall and he didn’t hesitate. My skirt was bunched around my waist and his hands were on my ass.

Then there was someone else in the alley. Someone had dropped from above. My first thought was Nicki ruining my good time but this man had a heartbeat.

He was also holding an assault rifle.

“No! Not her!” Connolly shouted. “Stand down!”

What the fuck was going on? The man fired the rifle at me, I saw the bullet come out in slow motion and turn as soon as it left the barrel reversing direction and blowing the shooters head off.

We both stood still looking at the body with the burning remains of a head.

“What the fuck was that?” Connolly whispered. “I’m sorry, I told them not to attack you…”

His explanation was cut short when Nicki struck him and he fell to the ground unconscious.

“Take that rifle with us.” she ordered. “It’s time to leave. Is this the human you told me about?”

“Yes.” I answered immediately. Nicki had her I’m going to kill everyone around me look on.

“I suppose you will get your wish. He is coming with us. We need to go now.”