Sunset Coven 7

Mah. Didn't add very much to the overall story line. At least I don't think I have. I've decided to wait before I bring in the other character I said I would introduce.

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Suri slowly blinked opened her eyes. Her vision was blurred. She couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of her, but the pain that rippled through her body made her incapable of much movement. She had no clue how much time had passed from the Tavern to now. All she could recall was Toren screaming her name and then the building exploded. Before that she received an address from the Oracle of His address that was up for expiration in 48 hours. Just how much time did she have left?

Her fingers twitch. A good sign. Mobility was what she needed right now, but the pain. So much pain. Dragon fire, no doubt the cause of the explosion, left burns far worst than any ol’ average fire. It was much hotter and laced with magic. It could take months upon months for the wounds to heal properly. But she didn’t have months. She only had 48 hours. No. Less than that. Maybe.

Her fingers twitched again. Soul and grass beneath her hands. Suri dug her fingertips into the ground. It wasn’t much and they didn’t go in deep, but she knew enough about earth magic to make the trick work. Barely able to move her lips, she mumbled inaudible, a mantra of sorts. Her words were intelligible, but that made no difference. What felt like hours passed, but realistically may have only been minutes, with her mumbling. Mumbling and plotting.

She’d kill him. She didn’t take death likely, wasn’t the type of witch or person who could take another life without it weighing heavily on her conscious, but boy oh boy she was going to kill him. Stupid Dragon. Back at the Tavern, she decided to let him live. Her unbalanced attraction to him making her do something that shouldn’t have been done. She should have sacrificed his dragon along with the wolves. It was the least she could have done. After all. He did hand her over to the mutts. But nooo, she decided to let him live. No use letting those glorious scales of his go to waste, right? WRONG!

Her fingertips tingled, a slow draw of power and energy building. She would recover, find him, and make him suffer every ounce of pain she felt ten fold. Her plot of pain and torture hesitated. Did he escape? She never broke the circle, so he was stuck inside when the building went up like a bomb. He wouldn’t die, unlike the wolves who just had been torn into half, he was immortal. It would take more then an explosion to kill him. But he had been at the heart of it. Hadn’t he? Or did he manage to escape before raining bricks onto the street? Oh, who cared. She’d kill him.

As more energy and power gathered at her fingers, it started to spread. Ice water dousing the fire in her veins. The pain didn’t go away, not really, but her strength rose. Her words were no longer inaudible. Softly she spoke, calling the earth to meet her where it ended and she began. It would be some time still, but she could feel her limbs loosen, strength. Good. More. More energy and then she was going hunting. Jime wasn’t the only one with prey now.

The locket became oddly cool against her skin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Jime kicked a crumbled brick with the toe of her boot as she surveyed what was left of the Tavern. Merely a wall. No one could clearly say what had transpired inside, and aside from the scarce few mortals who where within the building, the causalities were few and none. The mortals were the mystery. There had been no witnesses of mortals in the Underground. The world were separate. Always.

Her top priority was finding Suri. From the moment she first awaken in the trunk of Jack, she had an urging nag at the back of her had that her niece was in trouble. Finding Suri's trail had been easy thanks to Toren. With her indisposed in the car, and with the lizard tagging along, the fastest way to travel outside of teleporting would be through the Underground. The portals that connected in that city reached all corners of the world. From the underground, she planned to ask around to see which way they went. Jime just didn't expect to find half a block blown away.

From the small flames and bluish smoke that still rose from the piles of rubble, she knew what had sparked the explosion. Dragon flame in conjunction with gas. An insane amount of gas to cause so much destruction.

Lucy, the brownie bar girl who had been on duty, said that the little witch walked in with the dragon lord. The place had been full of lykae when they arrived. They moved to one of the dimmer corners, and that’s all she paid attention to. She hadn’t stared because she didn’t want to bring unnecessary attention to herself. Lykae aren’t the friendliest bunch, especially to the lower caste. She couldn’t explain how the explosion happened. One moment she was standing at the bar pouring drinks, and then...nothing. That was all she remembered.

Jime knew of only few people who could find out. Her best bet was James, the human male who knew far more than he should be allowed to live for. Giving the brick one last kick, Jime flashed to New York City.


Like every other occasion she met James, she found the thirty-six year old planted in his basement testing radio waves. Searching for aliens he says, always pushing his Clark Kent glasses onto the bridge of his nose.

Jime had first encounter the mortal over a decade ago when he was being snacked out by a just-made vampire. She never involved herself in others feeding, but James had a young child with him at the time. While the newbie drained him, his eyes had been on the child, hunger blazing in them. And children were off limits in her book.

"Human," Jime said to get James attention away from the radio and on her.
His eyes widened then narrowed. An automatic wary response since his first brush with her kind. The boy was a sensitive, a human able to sense unnatural and paranormal beings. Such creatures were more human than lore and completely rare. Most were smart enough to keep such information from everyone. Mortal and immortal alike. Jime he tolerated because she had saved him and his younger sister. The key word was tolerated. Not trusted.
"I have a request."
"I expect payment," he responded, his fingers still fidgeting with the radio knobs.
"You expect nothing."
James didn't challenge her, just rolled the chair he was in wall and pressed a button that opened a wall length computer panel. Jime handed him a slip of paper that Lucy gave her with the security camera database code or whatever. It was just a long list of numbers Jime couldn't figure out. The security system wasn’t stored inside the Tavern, but on a larger databased connected to the web. James punched away for a few moments. The wall of screens blanked then showed screens of recording. "What time are you looking for?"

Time in the underground city ran differently from the mortal world. Pinpointing an exact time was difficult and almost impossible. "Last 12 hours." James sped through the last 12 hours of recording. It took 7 minutes of fast forwarding for Suri and Toren to pop up on the screen. "There!" Jime watched as one of the mutts cuffed Suri and Toren pushed her over to them. “Is there audio?”
“No.”

Jime felt her fangs lengthen. The mutts dragged Suri into the corner, but not after a few well place punches she’s sure her sobrina handled with merely a grunt and laugh, and what looked like a warning coming from Toren. Hours seemed to eclipse with her changed to the pipe. Toren continued to steal glances to where she was, as if he warring with himself over something. Filthy blood traitor. None of the guys seemed to notice Suri free herself until it was too late. “That idiot. What the hell is she doing?” Jime hissed at the screen. That would explain where the mortals came from.

Jime wanted to punch the screen. Instead, once the clip finished, with the Toren bellowing and the explosion, she flashed outside onto the warm Manhattan street. She screeched, loud, long. “Toren! Warlord of the dragon clan. Find me before I find you. If you make me search for you, I’ll wipe out your entire nest in the process.” She let her voice pulsate and echo out. The words would travel until they found him, and could only be heard by the intended precipitant, so none of the humans around would hear. Stupid niece. Blood traitor dragon. Fucking mutts. She’d killed them all. That’s if she didn’t kill the people who crossed the street to avoid the insane looking woman who just materialized out of nowhere and screamed first. She waved a hand and wipe their memories. She turned and headed down the street.

"Jimena!"
Jime froze mid-step. Great. This was just what she needed to make a hellish day worst. She spun around to face her unwanted guest. "Sage."
"Where is my daughter?" Sage's voice was deep and booming, the type of voice that cowered many men and demanded absolute obedience. "Where is Suri?"

Jime heaved. She had no time to deal with her younger brother. Of course he would find out about the explosion at the Tavern and that his daughter was there. He had his little network of spies out collecting data. Information is money. And it was only a matter of time before word reached him and he came to make a personal visit. Something they kept to a minimum.

“What a lovely surprise. How are you?” Jime said.
“Enough of your insolence. Answer me.”
Jime wagged a finger. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you to respect your elders?”
“She must have skipped that lesson when she forgot to teach you responsibility,” he barked. “Suri?”
The quickest and easiest way to deal with an angry black mage is to tell the truth. Knock him off his feet. She shrugged. “No clue. She ditched me for the Toren while I was down. You know who Toren is right? The Dragon Warlord.” She flicked her hair over her should. “I went after them the moment I woke, but by then they were gone and so was the Tavern. So your guess as to where your daughter is is as good a mine. Or bad as mine. Take your pick.”
“Enough!” Lightening crackled.
Jime rolled her eyes. His little display of lost control wasn’t impressive. Sage was over one hundred years younger than her. She had been there during his impulsive control days. She watched him become a black mage in his quest for power. It was boring to her now.
He pointed a shaky finger at her. “This is your fault. You lead her away with your stories of quest and travel. Your irresponsibility.”
“Oh, puh-lease.” Jime’s anger rocketed and with the rise of her anger the shadows that surrounded them danced, enveloping her feet, cloaking her. “Don’t blame me for your failure as a father to love your child. That’s why she ran off and you know it. Your constant pressure for her to succeed at everything, to be perfect always, number one at all is what’s driven her away from you and into the stronghold of the lore. Now if you really want your daughter back, you’ll toss some powder, shift some tea leaves, and tell me where to find that fucking dragon.”


Some help Sage had been, refusing to tell her anything that would result with Suri returning back to her. She’d find Suri herself. It wouldn’t be hard. Suri had left the keys in Jack, which she grabbed when she had awaken. Flashing back to the car, she opened the door and started it. She rolled down the windows and let the wind whip through her hair, carrying the worry she wouldn’t show, out into the breeze. As she banged a sharp left around the road she caught a whiff of something that made her bring the car to a screeching halt along the shoulder. “Suri!”

She inhaled deeply, wondering if it was just Suri’s scent embedded into the car interior. No. The scent was too strong. She cut Jack off and stepped out of the car, inhaling deeply. The scent came from the east, within the woods. Raced into the trees at whiplash pace, dodging trees, fallen branches, and all other obstacles that should have been impossible to do. Funny, she thought. Feels like the ground is shifting under my feet.

She ran deeper into the dark forest, her eyes glowing as they adjusted to her surroundings until she came to a stop at a mound. It wasn’t her imagination. The ground was indeed pulsing, magic gathering in one location. Suri laid at the heart of it. Stupid niece. She walked over to the center and dropped down next to her. “Sobrina!”

Suri opened her eyes. With sore muscles, but mobile muscles, she raised her hands and touched the right one with her left finger. An address appeared on her palm. “I found him.”

Sunset Coven 6

Hooza!

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6

“You sure work fast, my friend.” The big ugly half-man half-wolf beast that appeared to be the leader said between his teeth.

Suri tested her hands, they were tightly bounded by the rusty old handcuffs another of the werewolves had slapped on her from behind the minute she and Toren walked inside the Tavern, the handcuffs themselves would be nothing, but Suri had to be careful not to rattle the chains that weighted her hands as well, she didn’t want to alert her captors of what she planned. Two of her fingers were mobile, and that would be more than enough to free herself, those stupid mangy mutts thought she would give them no trouble bound and gagged, but anyone who knew anything about magic could tell you that for a witch the merest of possibilities was enough, one single finger, one mumbled word (even intelligible) and she would be on top again, or in Suri’s case, free to do what serendipity had thrown into her lap so perfectly and fast. Giving her the conditions she needed to make her idea come true.

Toren looked over to where Suri was shackled to a pipe on the wall, he was frowning; some  emotion that seemed suspiciously like longing in his eyes which took Suri by surprise but that disappeared the next instant showed. Or was it regret? “She gave me no trouble, you just have to know how to treat a lady.”

 “If that’s a lady then I’m a pink-loving beauty queen!” The werewolf laughed showering spit around while receiving joking guffs, laughs and howls in agreement by his sycophant pack.

“Whatever tickles your bones, just pay me up, and don’t forget our other agreement.”

“I won’t, you piece of human shit.” The werewolves went back to their angry selves again.

Money was exchanged, the music louder than ever, and while everyone was otherwise occupied, Suri decided she was gonna let Toren live after all.

It wouldn’t be difficult, just making the spell werewolf-only would do the trick.

 Suri knew Jime was gonna be mad with her, but she was dead sure this will work, she could handle it, she was ready. Plus, she believed Jime just wanted another excuse to pay Jack a visit, and she was through with that, no way in hell was she gonna go back to vampire infested nightclubs again, looking for unnecessary trouble when a much more direct solution was at the tip of her fingers, the fact that her knowledge came from her father made her doubt her plan for a little bit, but she knew if there was no actual death she’d be alright, unlike her father; she had found the perfect way to circumvent making a call to the Oracle the traditional way, the only way.

Suri touched the chains and mumbled around her gag “dissolvo et silens”, her bonds came undone around her hands falling on the floor without a sound, Suri didn’t notice that the old handcuffs had cut her wrist just a tiny bit, drawing a drop of her blood on the metal, which made not only the handcuffs and chain melt but a small portion of the pipe as well, liberating a slow hiss of gas.

Suri waited with her hands behind her back for the perfect moment when most of the werewolves would be closer to each other, she didn’t want to waste time dragging them inside the circle, and the amount of power needed for this first spell would have to be small but perfect, just 10 minutes of sleep so that she could gather her strength and supplies for the big spell.

The time came.

“Tutti dorma” she softly said.

Every one inside the Tavern fell on their feet asleep.

She arranged the scattered bodies and quickly found an unopened bottle or vodka. She then grabbed a chair and placed it under a security camera she had spotted before, she stood upon it and tapped the camera 3 times, that was the only way to get the attention of the Oracle on what she was about to do.

She went back to the center of the room, untapped the bottle and drew a circle on the floor with the liquid around the bodies. She found four shot glasses, and filled two with salt and water separately. She then searched the werewolves for a cigarette and a lighter and took those.

Her offerings to the Four Corners of the Wind at hand, she walked to the north and recited the formulae she had seen inside her father’s book of shadows. She called on the element of Earth with the salt. She moved deasil and next called on Air to the east, which she did by lighting the cigarette and filling one empty shot with smoke. Then came the turn of Fire to the south for which she used the lighted cigarette again and left it to burn inside the other empty shot. Finally she moved to the west to call on Water and left the shot filled with it on the floor.

Her plan was simple, she would just make the sacrifice necessary to call on the Oracle and ask for the information she needed.

The moment she was standing on the exact point where she began, the circle’s magic pulsed into being, an invisible wall that seemed to bend the very fabric of existence surrounded the bodies trapping them inside.

The traditional way to call the Oracle’s services was to make a big enough blood sacrifice. She needed to kill something, but Suri, knowing that she wasn’t capable of such a thing, had suddenly seen the light after they had left the diner. The werewolves! Just let them get her, they were after them anyway!

She could use the damned werewolves’ dual  nature to her advantage. She could get rid of one without killing the other, making them one being instead of the two-at-a-time bucket full of enraged sunshine that they were. Thus she wouldn’t really kill a living person, and the dark would not taint her soul (which is what happened every time a witch went bad and started using Dark Magic).

Also, this would get them off her back and teach them all a good lesson! Werewolves had a nasty, violent and very ugly way of considering themselves better than everyone else, the best of two worlds was their slogan. Ha! Give the world a break! Making them human would be sweet sweet karma delivered by her capable hands.

She concentrated her energy on the big spell now.

When she was ready she commenced reciting the words.

“Great Hecate, You who are the night,
You who are the darkness, the moon above.
Triple goddess, come unto me.

You who commands all things,
Hecate, I invoke Thee,

Oh Great Spirit, hear my plea…”

Very few people knew who or what the Oracle really was. She was one of those lucky few.

The Oracle was a huge network of peeping toms, to put it mildly, a secret community of witches and other various creatures of the lore that worked together to collect information; hey, everyone knew information is power, specially nowadays.

Their favorite mode of collecting data, although not the only one? Communicational electronic devices. Everywhere were there was a phone, radio, tv, camera, computer with internet, or whatever else humans invented, they tapped. Satellites and the internet were their close friends. The ultimate Big Brother.

They watched and heard by the sidelines, recorded, analyzed. All the time, throughout time. No place was left unnoticed, but if you wanted to contact the Oracle on a personal note or request, you had to call them.

This sacrifice Suri had concocted was big enough to please them, big enough to guarantee her the info she wanted, and clever enough to avoid an actual bloodletting and killing. It was too clever for words!

“That which is Wolf but is Not,

That which is Two and One,

Make it no more,

From animal, from man,

Let it remain only human,

You who are the Ending before Life begins again,

You from whom all magic flows,
Great Mystery, Shadow of Darkness,

Grant my wish, make the Wolf die free,

So let it be, Blessed be.”

    

 The moment the final word left Suri’s lips a humming sound could be heard, growing louder and louder until it hurt, a lot. Suri instinctively covered her ears with her hands but the pain was so strong she fell on the floor, her legs buckling.

She felt her power drawn out of her body and circling the sleeping ones, and suddenly, horrible claws, legs, and snapping muzzles started to come out of them; bones crunching, muscles teared, screams of agony filled the Tavern as the spirits of wolves were forced to the Great Beyond leaving behind very fragile, wrinkled, weak, very human bodies.

A long time seemed to pass before Suri felt enough energy to get up again. She swallowed at the sight of her sacrifice wiping the sweat off her forehead and decided she needed some air. It was stifling inside.

She didn’t want to admit that she was feeling a little sick with herself.

She might as well wait for the Oracle out on the street.

Outside the sun shone, people walked by minding their own business, no one noticing that anything had happened inside the Tavern, the music still played loudly. Suri leaned against the wall crossing her arms and out of the corner of her eyes she saw a green light coming from the alley next to the Tavern. A painfully thin scary-looking man with glasses came out and walked to her side. He was wearing an expensive suit, and smelled of chlorine and aseptic ozone.

“You called” he said. Suri nodded, her voice suddenly gone.

“We have deemed your sacrifice sufficient enough, name your request.”

Suri cleared her throat and managed to speak “Most recent whereabouts of the oldest being in the Lore, also known as Him.”

The man pushed his glasses tightly on his nose and waited to make up his mind, or so it seemed to Suri, an eternity.

“Give me your hand” he reached for her.

Suri uncrossed her arms and gave him her right hand. He opened her palm side up and touched her forefinger with the tip of his, a green light just like the one he walked out of appeared to blend into Suri’s hand, gathering on her palm and forming words.

An address.

“According to his behavioral pattern he will stay at that place for at least a fortnight starting yesterday.”

Suri’s palm went back to normal.

“The information will reappear every time you touch your finger where I did, for 48 hours. It will be yours to do as you wish. Then it will be gone, you will not be able to give it, write it, say it or remember it again.”

She nodded. He said good bye in a brisk, efficient manner and was gone the next second.

At that same moment Toren woke up, pulled himself up and looked with horror at what surrounded him, he didn’t want to believe it possible, but he did. All his plans, the future of his race, set back in the blink of an eye. He shouldn’t have underestimated her. Anger, impotence and disappointment rising side by side inside him to boiling point.

Suri could breath again. She looked at her palm and for a moment wondered exactly what she was doing, but shrugged. Then she remembered she forgot to break the magic circle and chuckled.

“Let’s see if Toren can get out of that one”.

Toren’s bellow followed her statement. “SURI!” In his ire, he didn’t notice the potent smell of gas. He breathed fire.

BOOM!

Suri’s body was propelled forward with the strong power of the devastating explosion, she fell hard on the asphalt while her back was plundered with cut glass, small pieces of the Tavern’s walls and fire licking her skin and scorching her.

Through her shock she managed to gather what remained of her magic and teleport away before passing out from the pain.

Sunset Coven 5

I think I've given you something to work with. I could have went on, but I decided to stop before I went too far.


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“Isn’t it nice of Toren to join us on our little track back across the country?” Jime said to Suri as she flicked her shades on.
“Fantastic,” Suri replied monotonously. It was everything but nice and Jime knew it. She just liked to ruffle Suri’s feathers all the time.
“Now you’ll have company when I’m...you know, getting my beauty sleep.”
Suri snorted. Good thing she knew how to ruffle Jime’s feathers in return. Not much could get a rise out of Jime, but she was a tad bit possessive where family was concerned. “How splendid of you to leave me alone with the Dragon King for countless hours.” She looked over her shoulder at Toren. Those alluring clear eyes of his brightened. “Isn’t this your mating season?”
Steam floated out of his nostrils, his eyes became even more bright and narrow. “It’s mating season whenever you’re around, Beautiful.”
Suri fought the blush that was rising and swung forward in her seat. “I have to disagree with you Tia.”
“You always disagree with me, but what for this time?”
“Dragons might not read minds and have no seducing tricks, but have your ever saw a Dragon’s scales?”
“Nope. Can’t say I have.”
Suri tsked. “You’ve been around as long as the Earth and you’ve never wondered what a Dragon’s scales look like? Shame on you Tia.” She dropped her tone low and husky. “It’s hypnotic. It’s mesmerizing. The way those scales ripple across that solid, muscled skin.” Her breathing became shallow and rapid. “Especially when they’re wet. They appear almost holographic. Those beautiful colors. It’s the reason I’m no longer a virgin.”
The car filled with steam and Jime swerved Jack, the car, off the road kicking dirt into the air. She whipped around towards the back of the car, pulling her shades off in the process. “You lay a finger, a single finger, on my baby niece and I’ll rip every single of one your scales out and throw salt on your wounds.” Her eyes flashed red. “Do you understand me?”
Toren slid up on the seat. He trailed one finger up Suri’s arm, slowly. Wickedly slow. “I think Suri’s old enough to make her own decisions.” He trailed his finger along her collar bone and flashed a grin at Jime, something only someone sure enough in his abilities would do, when Suri shivered at his touch.
Jime’s fangs elongated.
“Oh look! The sun is rising,” Suri said before either of the two made another move and someone ended up dead. More than likely that someone wouldn’t be Jime. And there was no way she was going to let her aunt kill her dragon bef...No. Not her Dragon. The Dragon Warlord. Definitely not her Dragon. She wouldn’t let Jime kill the Dragon Warlord and start another war. They needed allies, not more enemies. “Shall we?” she said to Jime and opened the door.
The tension between them didn’t lessen. “One finger. One single finger.” Jime opened the drivers door and exited, slamming it behind her.

At the trunk of the car, Suri tapped the hood. It opened, revealing a small cramped space full of random nicknack's. They came with the car. Apparently, Jack, the real Jack, wasn’t the kind of person who kept is trunk organized.
"Aluna," Suri said with a wave of her hand. The cluttered trunk was no longer a cluttered trunk. It was a clean, dark, black silk lined nest, large enough for Jime to sleep comfortably.
Shooting one last death glance at the Dragon, Jime swung into the trunk. "I'll rip them out. Now you see them. Now you don't."
"I think that's my line. You know, with me being a witch and all."
A slow smile spread across Toren’s face. A smile that made him eerily handsome. Suri found herself enthralled. She wanted to reach out and glaze her fingers over his lips. When she realized that’s exactly what she was doing, she snatched her hand back.
“Don’t worry. I won’t lay a single finger on her,” Toren said to Jime. “There are plenty of other things I can do that I don’t need my hands for.” He slammed the trunk shut.
The car rattled with Jime’s effort to get out. It didn’t matter. As strong as she was, the spell Suri placed on the trunk, so that no one could open it and attach Jime when she was predisposed, was stronger.

Suri stepped away from the rattling car. In a few moments, Jime would be out like a light. She always was. She chanced a glance at the Dragon. His eyes a soft glow raked over her. “So” he drawled out. “What’s next?”
Slowly, she stood in front of Toren. “Ever been to the Tavern?” The Tavern was a bar underground, accessible only to those lore creatures who knew how to access it or those who could find a portal.
“It’s been about a century. Not my crowd.”
Suri simpered and walked her fingers up his chest. “Will you go out with me...to the Tavren, I mean.”
Toren inhaled sharply. “It’s dangerous there.”
“I’m a tough girl. I can tie my own shoelaces and all.” Her cowboy boots were lace free. “But if you want, you can be my escort.”
Toren nipped at her shoulder. “Fine. I’ll escort you.”
Suri jumped back. “Scales,” she said, reminding him of the threat. She trailed her fingers over the area he bit. He didn’t break skin. Good.
“Not a single finger, Sweetness.” Toren reached around his neck and took off a chain. He beckoned her forward. Suri hesitated but moved closer. He stepped behind her and clamped the necklace together.
Suri fingered the necklace. A locket. “What’s this for?”
“If I’m going to escort you, I need to make sure you can always find me.”
Suri stopped fingering the necklace and looked around. There were no cars coming in any direction, and the car was parked on the dirt next to the woods. “This seems like a good enough hiding place to me.”
“Hiding for what?”
She didn’t respond, just walked over to the car and placed her hand against the cold metal frame of Jack. “Difido.” Jack disappeared. No passerby would know what a car was parked there. A car containing a vampire. Even if someone else happened to stop in the very same location, no mortal would be able to detect the car. Not even a creature of the lore. At least, none have ever found it so far.
She turned and surveyed Toren. “Now that just won’t work.” She gestured at his outfit. She snapped and Toren no longer wore the faded jeans and leather biker jacket. He stood before her now looking as menacing as a warlord could be. And that was pretty damn scary. Another snap and her outfit changed. No longer did she wear shorts, a tank, and cowboy boots. Head to toe she wore black leather. She even added a bit of dark makeup to her eyes. “What’s with the outfit?” Toren asked. “Not that there’s anything wrong with it, I assure you. You look like black licorice.”
“Is that suppose to be a compliment?”
“I love black licorice.”
“I don’t.” The gothic was to make her appear as threatening as she could. She may be the most naturally talented witch in the lore, which made her a threat in and of itself, but she also lacked experience. Granted, her skills have increased since she joined Jime’s little folly, but the beings who frequent the Tavern were far older and far more experienced than she was. Some were even older than Toren, but no one liked to piss of the Dragons. Not even those mangy mutts.
“Let’s go.” She placed her hand on Toren’s shoulder. “Kedol fil amo.”

********

Suri never liked the underground. She would never even think of visiting there alone. The last time she was here she was with Jime, and the time before that was with her father. No one wanted to cross an unbalanced Vampire or a Warlock whose talents lie in the dark arts.

Despite it’s name, the Underground wasn’t underground at all. It was a small town that had portals accessible through the world. And by small, it was no New York or Beijing, but it was about the size of Rhode Island. Considering the amount of traffic it received a day, the place was small. Suri brought them to the edge of Regel Street, the entrance gate of the bar area. Shadows casted around because the sun had yet to rise completely. It was just creepy.
“Exactly why are we here?” Toren whispered so that they weren’t overheard by the patrons on the street.
“You mentioned that He isn’t really a were, right?”
“Right.”
“So what exactly is he?”
“That I do not know.”
Suri sauntered down the street towards the Tavern. “Well, there is only one who might know exactly what He is. Or at least how to find him.”
Toren matched pace beside her, surveying there surroundings for any sign of a threat. He nodded to Dion, a shape-shifter who takes the form of a large overgrown panther, an ally, a spy. Dion flashed his fangs. When a satyr dared to trail his eyes all over Suri’s leather clad body, he let his eyes glow, a sign to back off or die. Suri noticed none of this, or if she did, he wasn’t sure. She let nothing on. Just kept walking, those heels clicking against the concrete. “You mean the Oracle?”
“Yep.”
“Just one thing. The oracle is harder to find than He is. He comes out. She doesn’t.”
“That, my lovely fire breather, is a rumor.”
“Oh!”
“When you speak of the Oracle, you’re speaking of a person. A woman.” Blame it on modern day paranormal work that depicts oracles and seers as women or some insane object such as an eyeball. Mortals can display such stupidity and narrow mindedness at times. “This is the lore and nothing is ever what it seems. It’s only ever what it is.”
“You’re saying that the Oracle is not a person but a type of creature.”
“And they say men can’t be taught. That’s exactly what I’m saying. Think about it.” They turned the corner. “It’s common known that the Oracle knows all. Which must mean what?”
“That the oracle has many eyes and ears .”
Suri looked at Toren and smiled. “You really are a quick study, aren’t you fire breather?”
“I’m also a patient teacher as well.”
Suri let the innuendo slide right pass her. “Yeah. Sure. I’ll remember that.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, right now we’re running on nothing. No clue to where He is. All we know is what you’ve told us, that he had a meeting with the Sinn-Jammers a few weeks past. He could be who-knows-where by now. I doubt Jack will be all that incline to assist us either. We did steal his car and all...Jime, not me. Besides, I don’t know what kind of history those two have, but there was certainly fire blazing between them when we last met. Not the good fire either. So, I think the Oracle is a good place to start.”
“Yeah. One problem. We don’t know where the Oracle is.” They stopped in front of the Tavern. Even from outside, the music and commotion could be heard clearly. The Tavern always reminded Suri of an old western saloon. That was the thing about the underground. It really was the city that never sleeps.
A slow, wicked smile spread across Suri’s face. “You’ve forgotten one thing, savvy.”
“What’s that?”
She held her hands out. “I’m Captain Jack Sparrow.” With that, she opened the door and walked into the bar.
“Well, well, well. Look at what we have here. The witch bitch and her pet dragon. Just the girl I want to see. Thought you sold out on us.”
Toren snorted, a stream of smoke flowing from his nose. “I told you I would get her here.”

Sunset Coven 4

Suri: what happened with the italics at Wattpad? I'm really attached to my italics, hehehehe, anyway, here's chapter 4, sorry it took so long.

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“Such language coming out of such a tasty sexy mouth, it makes mine drool.” Toren leered.
“Tell the truth, you actually wrote that Nastiest Pick Up Lines From All Times book, didn’t you? What the hell, man? Are you following us?” Suri reacted as she always seemed to do when standing a hair breath of distance from Toren, with latent hostility to cover up her insane attraction to him (it was madness!). She squeezed around him while he chuckled on her way to get a table inside, feeling him right at her heels when she sat down, he sat down in front of her leaning over to stare unashamedly, Toren’s position gave Suri a clear-as-water view of his sensual neck, which stretched in front of her in all its manly glory, making her swallow hard.
“As a matter of fact, I am following you, I just could not stay away from your lovely self ever since we met at Jack’s Club.”
Suri rolled her eyes “Tell that to your grandma, maybe she’ll believe it.”
“What’s so unbelievable about it? You are the sexiest woman I’ve ever met…” Toren scorched Suri with his heated look, he slowly checked her entire body while licking his delicious full lips. Suri just glared at him and tapped her fingers on the table. “All right, all right, I might have inadvertently heard a tiny little bit of your conversation with Jime-vamp, without meaning to of course, and decided to selflessly offer my humble help.”
“Meaning…”
“I have some information that could help you girls.”
“In exchange for-”
At that moment Jime came out of the restroom, her hair back to black and wet, as well as various parts of her clothes, looking totally refreshed. She sat next to Suri and raised her eyebrows at the 6 foot tall hunky piece of asian tanned man eye-candy that was Toren.
“Somehow I’m not surprised to see you again so soon, baby dragon.”
Toren gave his best hurt look “I am 527 years old.” He clutched his heart.
“Barely out of the egg in my book” Jime laughed.
“What’s with the wet-n’-wild look? And what happened with your hair?” Suri asked Jime.
“I washed my hair, darling, that’s all, making it red every night is too much work, so I decided to rock the natural look, as for my current wetness… I had to wash certain stains that appeared while I ate…” she wagged her eyebrows “If you know what I mean, and I know you don’t want to hear the details, just know that the world should thank me for ridding it of two very disgusting rapist thugs.”
Suri got very uncomfortable then, she was repelled by Jime’s vampire nature, what with all that killing and blood, but she was somehow grateful that Jime always chose very bad people to munch over; she knew that even though what Jime did sounded fairly close to social cleansing, and that was wrong on many aspect, she was glad Jime wasn’t one of those vamps that killed whoever they wanted, be it man, woman, or child, without mercy and way too much violence. Jime whistled at the waitress and happily continued talking.
“Order whatever you want sobrina, I’m paying! Oh, and here’s something to buy yourself a new Ipod.” She handed Suri 300 dollars. “My meal was loaded with money, isn’t that a nice surprise?” she clapped and made a yay sound. “So, Toren, to what do we owe this not-so-sudden visit?”
“As I was saying to loveliness personified here, I have some information you girls could use on your quest.”
“And I was asking in exchange for what?” said Suri as she told the waitress what she wanted. Jime only asked for hot coffee, and Toren demanded almost the entire menu.
“Dragons are pigs” Suri looked at Toren with disbelieving eyes.
“Dragons are hoarders” Jime told Suri while raising an eyebrow at Toren. “Don’t expect me to pay, lizard, I know you got your own mountains of money.”
“I would never expect a lady to pay for me, I am a gentleman, you leech. As for the info… when I give it to you, consider it as me paying you for that favour you did me that one time over at that place?”
Jime looked at him for a moment, searching the vaults of her memory, it took her a while but she found it, widening her eyes as she said “Oh! Yeah! Man, I’d forgotten about that.”
Toren bristled annoyed while a little bit of smoke came out of his nostrils “You forgot? Something as important as-”
She cut him off “Yes, Vamps and Dragons have different priorities, don’t you know? So, Yes.We’ll be even, now spill.”
The food came at that moment, the waitress having had to arrange for two of her co-workers to help her carry it all. Toren dived in while Suri and Jime watched him amazed as they consumed their orders slowly. Suri looked around the diner and offered a shaky smile and a half shrug to the people that had frozen watching Toren be a Dragon pig. Since he was too focused eating his food and didn’t respond, Suri chit-chatted with Jime.
“Dragons are hoarders, it makes perfect sense, do they hoard everything they come across?”
Jime answered “Treasure mostly, power, information, food…” she sipped her coffee a little and put it away “and virgins.”
“What!?”
“You didn’t know about that? It’s kinda funny if you think about it. Dragons get the ultimate high when they de-flower a virgin, I hear it’s like touching heaven, they get addicted to it, but of course, getting a virgin is a tricky thing, they’re not pedos, and women’s liberation nowadays has put a damp on the whole remaining-a-virgin thing, plus add the fact that they don’t have any special way to seduce and read minds like we vampires have, they have to go at it the good old-fashioned human way… tricky tricky thing.” Jime chuckled.
Toren finished his food at record speed and finally noticed the girls watching him. “What? I need sustenance to function you know, I’m a big strong Dragon with many needs and wars to win and enemies to fight.” Jime and Suri murmured a sarcastic drone of right-of-course, whatever-you-say. Toren glared at them blushing a little but continued “Leech, you might be interested to know that while reading one of our ancient Dragon Codes at school I came across a bit of information that happen to make reference to what you’re looking for.”
Jime glanced at him with interest “And what would that be exactly?”
“You said you were looking for Him, right? That you wanted something from him? In my experience, there’s only one reason why you would do that… and I’ll say two things about it:
One. He’s in possession of a list of ingredients to make a certain something that allows a creature of Lore to overcome their limitations. Needless to say, he won’t hand it over just like that, even if you manage to find him.
And Two. You know He’s not really a were-wolf, don’t you?” Toren smiled an incredibly handsome satisfied smug smile.
“Well!” Jime burst with excitement.
“He’s not really a were-wolf? Does that mean we didn’t have to go messing with them after all? We did that for nothing?” Suri got worked up with each second she thought this news over. “Tia! Did you know? Tell me you didn’t know, tell me we haven’t become wolf prey just for giggles, you wouldn’t… would you!?”
“Of course not! Who do you think I am?” Jime put up her hands to protect herself against Suri “I’ll come clean, I’ll come clean! My plan was to stir a bit of trouble while getting the word around, I hoped someone would have some information they would share, and as it turns out, it happened just like that!” She smiled and gestured sweetly at Toren.
“Oh. My. God.!”
“Come on sobrina, you need to face your fears too you know, you’re not that scared of the wolves as you were before, and it’s all thanks to me, that’s right, I’m waiting for your thanks.”
“Hold your breath while you wait! ‘cause it’s gonna be a zillion years before that happens!”
“You girls are funny” Toren said while being entertained with the show. Suri shot him a look that shut him up on the spot.
“I can’t even… ugh.” Suri sat down again and crossed her arms, not knowing what emotion to give precedence, her annoyance or her amusement. Nope, annoyance it is. With a capital A.
“You wouldn’t happen to know where we could find Him…” Jime whispered to Toren hoping to not ruffle Suri’s feathers any more.
“Not a clue, sorry. But Jack might, rumours say he met with the man a few months ago.” Toren whispered back.
“Jack? Jack Jammer-of-the-Sinn-Jammers Jack?”
“Yes”
“The same Jack who has blacklisted us?”
“The same, why did that happen, by the way?”
“We kinda took something from him…” Jime grimaced.
“Treasure?” Toren asked with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
“His car, it has sentimental value.”
“Oh.” Toren deflated.
“So… I guess this means…” Jime sneaked a careful side glance at Suri. “We’re going back to ransom Jack to Jack’s owner for info.”
Suri’s ugh was so potent she flopped on the table rather hard. Toren reached for her head and lifted her a little with care.
“Did you hurt yourself?” he asked her, with worry in his beautiful clear eyes.
“Just my spirit.” She answered suddenly aware of him again. A moment of heated tension passed between them but was quickly gone when they both realized it and looked away embarrassed. Jime was watching them and thought it was extremely interesting…
*******
“Are you gonna come with us” Jime asked Toren while they all walked to the car in the parking lot.
“Well, I’m having my own quest at the moment.” He answered never taking his eyes off Suri.
“Looking for virgins?” she asked in jest.
Suri quickly turned around to look at Toren “Virgins? Are you one of those disgusting V-addicts?”
“Eh- No! I’m not!” He squinted his eyes to regard Suri with interest. “Jime-vamp was clearly joking, why did you ask so seriously?”
“I- I just think it’s disgusting, you Dragons lusting after virgins like that.” Suri intensely blushed.
“Well, that’s neither here nor there, since you’re not a virgin.” Jime waved Suri’s answer while opening Jack’s front door. Suri gifted her with her patented Death Glare once again. She threw a significant glance at Jime that left her with a quizzical look. There was some sort of unspoken message here that was not being delivered between them. Toren looked back and forth at the girls and was starting to make his own conclusions.The silence stretched while they all looked at each other. Toren’s eyes suddenly illuminated them with that intense orange-yellow light that comes out of a Dragon’s when they’re overtly excited.
The girls answered at the same time.
“She’s not a virgin!” Jime pointed at Toren with all the menace she could muster. Anyone but a Dragon warlord would have backed down in fear.
“I’m not a virgin!” Suri screamed, red as a tomato.
“I’m coming with you.” was all Toren said as he got in the back seat.