Nephilim. Mary Ann Loesch
illuminated the dark circles under his eyes. Restless, he shifted back and forth on his feet and then too quick for anyone else to see, a glow of light pulsed through his body. He stilled. Faye watched him reach down and gently touch the covered tattoo. Then he leaned forward, and she could have sworn he smelled the hair of the woman standing in line before him.
Would love to run my hands over her body…she’s got a fox tail too. Bitch must work at that strip club…maybe she’d like a little extra cash.
Curt reached forward as if he meant to carry his thought out, but then stepped back.
What the fuck! Can’t go around touching women. She wouldn’t be interested, anyway.
A second pulse of light flickered through Curt. The woman in front of him turned around, her eyes glittering in the black lights. She wore a skin tight blue dress, leaving nothing to the imagination. A miniature fox tail, about the size of a lucky rabbit’s foot, hung from a bracelet on her wrist. Faye recognized it as the emblem for the strip club, Foxy’s. The dancers employed at the seedy club roamed Sixth Street on the weekends, often passing out the little fox tail ornaments to help drum up business. Rumor had it they occasionally worked out side deals with the customers for other favors.
“You smell so good,” the woman whispered. Confusion grew on her face and she reached out to touch the man’s chest, causing the strange light to flicker through him again. “So…yummy, like vanilla icing. My name is Heidi. What’s yours?”
“Curt.”
“Curt. I like it.” Heidi smiled, though her eyes were murky and baffled. She tilted her head, causing her glossy black hair to drift to the side. “Want to go back to my place for a private dance?”
“But I don’t know you.” Curt took a step back. Faye grinned. Though his thoughts traveled a sexual path, Curt reacted as if he were unused to the attentions of a woman as worldly as Heidi.
“So get to know me.” Heidi closed the small gap he’d put between them, touching his chest again.
Curt stepped back, repulsed.
What the hell’s wrong with this guy, Faye wondered. I bet that’s not the usual reaction Miss Hotsie Totsie there gets.
“C’mon.” Heidi grasped his arm, and Curt shuddered at her touch, but followed her out of the line.
Intrigued, Faye shadowed them to an alley, listening to Curt’s thoughts.
She’s actually into me! So why am I so turned off?
Faye peeked around the corner of the alley.
“I can’t wait. Screw the dance. I need this right now.” Heidi pushed Curt against the wall with a possessive kiss, rubbing her lithe frame against his. She touched his lower body, and another burst of light shot through him. He moaned, and encouraged by the sound, Heidi grabbed his arms, pinning Curt against the building. “That smell is driving me crazy!”
Faye stepped back and heard Heidi giggle as she pounced on Curt again. A little late night porn was fine in the confines of your home, but a peep show in the alley…not her thing. She shouldn’t have followed Curt in the first place. The pulse of light charging through him had probably only been his hormones reacting to lust. It was the sort of thing her special skills allowed her to pick up on from time to time, and not always something she cherished. It didn’t mean anything odd was going on. Faye had seen stranger things happen on Sixth Street. After all “Keep Austin Weird” was the city’s motto.
“Dammit, Azal.” She leaned against the wall outside the alley, frustrated.
He’d done it to her again. Piqued her interest enough to investigate something that was none of her business. She’d sworn off this stuff a long time ago. Time to call it a night.
“Goddammit!” Heidi’s curse rang out from the alley. “What the hell is your problem?”
Faye peeked again. Curt looked down at his crotch, a bewildered, embarrassed expression on his face. Heidi stepped back, stamping her foot.
“I don’t believe this,” she said, and gestured to Curt’s pants. “You wanted me. I know you did. I felt it. You don’t dance for men every night and not know when they want to fuck you!”
“Yes…yes, I did…I do,” Curt said, fumbling for the words. “This has never happened to me before.”
Heidi lunged toward him, trapping his mouth in a lurid lip lock. Curt’s hands reached up and shoved her away.
“Stop,” he said, panting.
Heidi, her face red, stalked out of the alley. Curt’s thoughts floated in the chilly night air.
What the hell happened? I couldn’t…damn…and she was hot! A stripper too! Fucking tattoo. She shouldn’t have brushed against my leg. Hurt like hell. Almost seemed as if the tattoo twitched. No wonder I couldn’t keep it up.
Curt walked out of the alley and Faye could have sworn she heard soft feminine laughter. No one else was around. Odd.
And interesting too, she had to admit. Just the sort of thing Azal must have known would intrigue her.
“This is not my problem,” Faye said, watching the young man limp off. She glanced heavenward and spoke louder. “Azal, do your own dirty work.”
She strode down the street toward the parking lot under the overpass. Since the bars were closing everyone was headed in the same direction. She allowed herself to be pushed along, caught up in their drunken merriment. Images of various people’s nights passed through her head.
Stay out of people’s heads. You’ve pried enough for one night, Faye.
Before she could follow through on the thought, a tingle of anxiety crawled up her spine. Something was about to happen. Trouble was coming. She braced for it.
Up ahead a homeless person stepped forward from the shadows. In his hand, the silver blade of a knife flashed under the streetlight. With a quick thrust, he stabbed a female passerby. The woman dropped to the ground, her hands instinctively coming up to shield herself. The homeless man continued to slice into her as she lay on the cold sidewalk. The crowd of people with the woman stepped back, unsure in their drunken haze of what to do.
Someone screamed, breaking the paralysis of the crowd. People shoved one another in their haste to get away, careening into those who pushed forward to help. The chaos attracted the attention of a group of frat boys across the street who charged over, their bellows of surprise adding to the mayhem. Everything happened at once and yet to Faye, it felt as if the whole scene moved in slow motion.
“Call 911,” Faye shouted to a bystander. She grabbed the arm of the homeless man and shoved him against the wall. His hazel eyes moved back and forth frantically and then for a brief second focused on hers. Recognition flashed in his eyes and an image of an ornate cross popped into her head. Before she could process it another bystander stepped forward to help subdue him. With a guttural cry, the homeless man kicked himself free and took off into the dark night.
Faye dropped to her knees and placed a hand on the woman’s forehead. Blood pooled around the body, but Faye saw she still breathed, though her eyes were wild with pain. She pressed her hand harder and the woman’s name popped into her head. Julie.
“Julie? Can you hear me? Blink if you hear me,” Faye instructed.
Julie blinked.
“Good. Hang on, honey. Help is on the way.”
Faye probed with her power, getting in Julie’s head. Flashes of her as a child. Julie at five with a gap-toothed smile. Julie in high school as the prom queen, brown feathered hair fluttering. Kissing her first serious boyfriend in college. Pissing off the homeless man who’d stabbed her. He’d asked for money and she’d blown him off.
“Further. Go further,” Faye murmured, feeling