Chapter 2

I could picture her so clearly, ripping away the brown paper and revealing the original poster for one of the first super hero movies. I worked at a pawnshop. Sometimes interesting things came in.

“Oh my god, I have to put it up!” A brief pause. “I wonder if Regory will let me put it above our bed. Do you think—” She got cut off by the phone’s limit.

The third message. “Stupid fucking phone! The call is over when I say it’s over!” There was the briefest pause as she set something down on the other side, then, “I didn’t actually have anything to say. I just don’t like the way your phone booted me out. Call me. Love ya. Bye.”

I smiled and the last message started. This one wasn’t from Billy, but from her mate. Regory.

“Hey, Asire,” he said solemnly. “Just wanted to say Merry Christmas. I miss you. Call me back when you can. Bye.”

The call ended and I sat on my bed, staring at the other side of the room. Since I was the only one who lived here permanently, I got the master suite. There was the bathroom, the bedroom with the walk in closet and a sitting room that I used for my art supplies. I had canvas and paints and sketchpads, pens, ink and paintbrushes all over the place. Staring at it, I could practically see Regory moving around the space, trying to put some order to my chaos. I could hear Billy saying he was being silly. And this pained opened my chest up in a giant void.

How long had it been since I last saw them? Seven years… seven years. Billy, Regory and I had grown up together and splitting up had been hard. There were reasons to do it. Lots of really sound reasons. One of which being we didn’t think it’d be permanent. Neither of them suspected that I’d get Orphaned at sixteen and moved to Seattle.

I remembered standing on the side of the road, looking down at the paper my aunt had handed me. I read the words that told me I was to be a prisoner within this city. And none of it mattered except for one line: The subject of this Orphaning is not allowed to be in the presence with one Wilma Thomas or one Regory Pence. That one line had taken away my entire future.

Shaking off the dark feelings, I glanced at the clock. It was almost six here, which meant it’d be almost eight there. They’d both be getting into their Christmas celebrations right about now. Their phones would be off, but I didn’t want to risk not getting back to them. I called Regory first. His phone rang only twice before I was dumped into voicemail. “Hey, Regory,” I said, “It’s Asire. Merry Christmas to you, too. Sorry I didn’t back to you sooner. Busy at work.” My stomach hollowed out as I said the words. I loved my cousin and her mate, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell them when things were bad here. They’d only feel guilty for something they couldn’t stop. “You know, holiday season. Lotsa people need to pawn and buy and sell. I got a guy in the other day who, no joke, had a beard down to his belt buckle with a guitar. He wanted to sell it because he needed warm wine. I didn’t know what to say, so I just took the guitar and gave him the money.” I stopped talking because I felt like I was rambling. “Okay… Well… I miss you too. Talk to you later.”

I hung up quickly because my eyes stung and I couldn’t let those tears fall. I might be by myself, but if I let the dam crack, then everything would come out. It wouldn’t be pretty.

Next up, Billy.

Her phone took longer to go to voicemail, giving me some time to think of something to say. When I heard her recorded voice, I got up and went over to the foot-long package on my desk. “Hey, Billy. Got all your messages. Sorry I couldn’t watch Nightmare with you again. Getting off work was impossible. Maybe tonight, when you’re done? Unless you're tired of Jack. Anyway, I’m staring at your package right now and I think I’ll open it.” I switched the phone over to its speaker, gently set it down on the counter, and ripped carefully into the box. Inside I found wrapping paper with Santa’s elves all over it, only they had their heads crossed out.

I laughed. “Love the wrapping paper. Musta taken you forever,” I said, while tearing into it. Inside was a zombie doll dressed in workout gear. It was plush and had torn flesh on its head and knees and elbows. On his chest was a card that had, in Billy’s handwriting: You were right. Zombies can give head.

Another laugh escaped me and I said, “Oh, you remember the most random things I say. Thanks for the gift, Billy. I’ll try calling tonight. Bye.” I hung up before anything too serious could come out of my mouth. There was a chance Billy would notice anyway. We’ve known each other since she was four and I was three. We spent the next eleven years of our lives stuck to each other’s side. You learned someone’s tells when you spent that much time together. Of course, she hasn’t seen me since I was fourteen. Maybe she’d forgotten some of them.

I sat down on my bed and stared at the ceiling for ten minutes. When that got boring, I went into the bathroom to shower. The cuts were fewer and farther between underneath my torn clothes, which went straight into the trash. Bloodstains. The bane of legions’ wardrobes.

My ribs were bruised from landing on a mannequin the wrong way. Her plastic boob went straight into my side. Thankfully, the bruise was elongated and evenly colored. The last thing I wanted was a breast shaped discoloration on my body. If Reggie found out, I’d never hear the end of it.

After showering, I pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, and climbed into bed. To stare at the ceiling some more. After twenty minutes of that, I turned on the television and hoped that the noise would help me drift off.

At five thirty the next evening, I was out the door, after eating cold pizza and finishing off the rest of the coffee. Most of my cuts, having been shallow to begin with, were starting to fade. The smallest ones were only shadows and the deepest ones made me look like I got into a fight with a feral kitten. I was fairly confident that they’d all be gone by tomorrow.

I parked in front this time, and I went through the main entrance. The secretary was familiar with me, so she let me go past her desk without saying boo. I hopped into the elevator and rode it up to the top floor without any hassle.

Henrik was standing in the doorway of Reggie’s apartment. He had his massive arms crossed over his equally massive chest and he looked bored with life. He was only a couple of inches taller than me— which still put him three or four inches over six feet —but he always made me look small when I stood next to him.

“Everyone out,” Henrik said, waving toward the hallway.

As if on cue, two people burst out into the hallway. One, a girl, was clutching a ripped shirt to her chest and had cheeks redder than a fire engine. The other, a man, just looked proud of himself. He wasn’t frustrated at being hauled outside by a man twice his size or embarrassed that he got caught probably having sex.

Upon seeing me, his eyes travelled from my face to my chest to my hips and back up again. When our eyes met, I raised my eyebrow and said, “Try it and your face will get up close and personal with the stairs.”

He cleared his throat and started nudging his girlfriend along down the hall. He didn’t look at me again. Guess I gave off the right vibe.

Henrik didn’t look surprised or annoyed.

“You big lug!” Reggie yelled from inside. “You could have let me escort them out. I would have gotten their numbers that way.”

“Get dressed, Reggie,” he called back to her without acknowledging what she said.

“I’m working on it!” she screamed.

“Trouble?” I asked.

“None.”

“Good.”

“None!” Reggie hollered. She shoved past him and into the hallway. Her crazy curls were going every which way and her chocolate brown eyes smoldered in annoyance. “He barged in here, yanked them out of my bed when all we were doing was sleeping, then he says to them ‘get’. Like they’re animals.”

I nodded my head, not caring even for a second. Henrik did what he had to do.

“You two…” She shook her head. “Henrik, I don’t know why you insist on ruining my fun. And Asire, I can only hope that one day you’ll find the joys of sex.”

I shrugged. Being demi-sexual and distrusting of people in general meant that my sex life was more hypothetical than actual.

“Ya know,” she said, “I remember being twenty-one. It was a lot more fun than you make it look.”

I shrugged again, mostly to annoy her. “If you say so. Can we get going now?”

She rolled her eyes. “I love hanging out with you, Asire,” she said, “You make me feel young again.” Physically, Reggie looked to be in her early twenties and she always would. In reality, she was in her mid-fifties. Young for a legion, but old for one who’s lived in The City of Orphans most of her adult life.

“Let’s go,” Reggie said, striding down the hall like there were a hundred people watching her, instead of two who didn’t really care. To go out patrolling she wore designer jeans and a t-shirt that was pure white and looked brand new. It made my ratty black one look like it came out of a garbage pail. But see, if mine gets covered in blood and gunk, I lose like three dollars. If hers gets the same treatment? I didn’t even want to know how much money would go right down the drain.

Henrik and I exchanged a glance and then followed her.

She was holding the elevator by the time we caught up. We all piled into the car and rode it down. The secretary did a double take when she saw Reggie, but all she said was, “Going out, Ms. Torres?” She was smarter than to comment on Henrik, myself, or the two people that just left her apartment.

“Yes, Jen,” she said. “I trust that you and JR can close up?”

“Of course, ma’am.”

“Good.”

Then we were finally out the door. It was fairly dark out, even though it was barely after six. The number of people on the street had dwindled significantly. No one wanted to be out when the vampires started to play. That’s why I was the only one on shift at the pawnshop.

“We’re going to patrol—” Reggie began, but was cut off by her phone ringing shrilly. She paused and stared down at the thing, as if forgetting how to use it. Then she yanked it out of her pocket and swiped to accept. “Hello?” she asked cautiously.

“Reggie?” a male voice asked. “I tried your office first and didn’t get you.”

No shit. She’s here.

“Is something wrong?” Reggie asked.

“Yes,” Alain said. He spouted off an address that I filed away and followed that up with, “You need to get here. Like now.”

Reggie’s brow furrowed and she looked back at me. I could only shrug, seeing as how I didn’t know what was wrong. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll be there as soon as we can.” She hung up and then said, “You brought your truck, right?”

I pointed to it and we trooped over. All of us climbed into the cab and I took off for the address. It was out in the warehouse district. Something all Open legions hated. It was too easy to rent one of those fuckers and do bad things in it. And we couldn’t constantly check up on the new owners.

I pulled up to the specific address. Alain and his mate, Ella, were out front. They were standing close to each other and they each had a severe look on their faces. It didn’t sit well with me. They had a two-year-old daughter and ever since her birth, they’d been all sunshine and baby talk. This sudden seriousness…

Reggie was the first out of the truck, but Henrik and I weren’t far behind her.

“What happened?” Reggie demanded.

Alain pointed toward the warehouse. “I left Lixa in there.” They stayed outside as the rest of us went in. Lixa, a tiny girl with electric blue hair with blonde roots showing, was standing beside a dark pile. I was only two steps into the building before I knew what it was. The entire room smelled of blood and werewolf. And I only heard Lixa’s heartbeat, so I knew the wolf was dead, even before taking another step and smelling the beginnings of decay.

Reggie’s hands went up to her nose and mouth. “Oh, shit,” she said. She couldn’t have covered this situation with two better words.

We all stopped when we were close enough to see.

Lixa’s face was as grim as our people outside.

The werewolf couldn’t have been more than sixteen years old. He had started to shift when he was struck down, so his facial features were half human and half canine. His eyes, once brown, were now a glossy, gross gray. The pool of blood around his body was wider than just a death required, so he’d been deliberately drained. Hung upside down and drained until he was nothing but a sack of skin and bones. There was fur on the backs of his arms and hands and his teeth were elongated. He’d tried to fight.

He’d tried and failed.

“Could this be anything but the Annihilists?” Reggie asked, no hope in her face. She already knew the answer.

Lixa shook her head. “We found them in the process of preparing the body for dismemberment. When we rushed in, they just laughed and ran away. Alain chased them, but there were too many, so he came back to help us guard the body.”

“Shit,” Reggie said again.