Sunset Coven 9

Tia!!! I lost my wallet in LA. T_T But I had a great time so that's okay.

This part is short. I'm going to have to let you go. No matter what I wrote, I just can't seem to come up with anything. Maybe if you continue on for a bit more I can figure something out. Gomen.

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River crossed his arms, his arms bulging in the fitted leather jacket he wore at all times. He stood there, leaning against the desk, a very bored expression on his face. He wasn’t one to mingle, especially with those ‘others’ who appeared to be mere mortals but weren’t. They may have been able to hide from everyone else, but River always knew there was something off. That was why he was second in common, despite what he was.

Staring into the eyes of the man sitting across from him, he wondered how Toren ended up dealing with the Sinn-Jammers. He wasn’t surprised that Toren had connections with the man. Not by a long shot. He’d been by his leader’s side for 346 years, 235 days, and some hours in counting, so he knew that he had various…friends, for lack of a better term. More times then he wanted to count, he walked with him into the lands of wolves, shifters, sirens, and unfortunately witches. Still…the Sinn-Jammers? He shook his head. That was a whole new level.

“What exactly can I do for you?” River asked, his deep voice rippling through the air like a stone thrown into calm waters. Cool and soothing he could be, but his voice held a sharp, lethal edge to it. Something along the lines of, ‘I won’t rip you apart, if you don’t give me a reason to, so play nice.’

Jack shifted in his seat, the picture of total self-control. “I came to see the Warlord.”

“He’s not here right now.”

“It’s important that I talk to him immediately.”

“Why don’t you tell me what’s so important, and I’ll decide if you’ll talk to him or not.” River already knew the answer to be not. He hadn’t lied when he said that Toren was busy. What he wouldn’t say was that he was busy picking himself up. It’s his own damn fault.

Jack had never been a rash and foolish man. He wouldn’t walk into the home of someone whose alliance wasn’t set in stone. “Rumor has it that he was last scene with a certain witch.”

River’s didn’t speak. He didn’t even arch a brow to ask what the point was. He just stood there, a wall of boredom.

“I need to find that witch.”

“What for?”

“Find the witch and I’ll find the vampire.”

River’s eyes narrowed. Jack Jammer’s of the Sinn Jammers was leaving something out.

River had been at Jack’s bar a few weeks ago. He’d seen the red hair vampire and Jack. He’d heard the rumors as well. Whether they were true or not was another story. The point was, if anyone could locate the vampire it was Jack. So what was it that Jack wanted truly? “And when you find the vampire?”

“That doesn’t concern you,” Jack replied leaving no room to further the conversation. Fine, he can have his secrets, River thought.

River unfolded his arms. “Sorry. He can’t help you find your vampire, or the witch for that matter. Why don’t you try elsewhere? Perhaps to the witches home.”

Jack cleared his throat, a clear expression of how foolish that idea was. River almost laughed. No matter how much the Sinn-Jammer wanted to find his vampire, which had to be pretty damn bad if it brought him into the hells of the colony, he wasn’t so desperate to knock on the dark mages door.

“It’s important that he lets me know anything.”

“I’ll tell him that when he’s free.”

Jack stood and escorted himself out of the room.

River let out a deep breath. Being around the Sinn-Jammer put his scales on edge. Something was off about the guy. Whether it was a good thing or not, he didn’t know. He was just happy the Sinn-Jammer had always been a reasonable guy. Except where that vampire was concerned. River could detect the hiding rage Jack concealed. What pissed him off so?

River waited until word reached him that Jack had left the ground completely before leaving the house him self to venture down below ground to the nest where all the dragons lived. Their numbers were dwindling. The last thing they wanted was for someone to find their living quarters and try to exterminate them completely. Not that it would be an easy mission, but the risk wasn’t worth taking. That was why all meetings conducted were held in the house above.

Smoke, fire, and ash, things people unfamiliar with the dragon’s nest, did not fill the air. What kind of environment would is that to raise the few hatchlings they had. The nest was like a miniature underground city. Tunnels enormous enough to accommodate the size of the largest dragon in the colony plus some twisted and ran through the entire compound, some leading nowhere, others leading to family homes.

River took the tunnel that lead to Toren’s house. He slipped inside, nodding to the few people who were inside, and entered Toren’s room. He sighed upon seeing his lord sitting on the bed, a mass of bruises and peeling skin. The peeling would stop in a few hours. A dragon couldn’t really be harmed by dragon fire. It was the gas that damaged him. The bruises would also vanish within a day. But he would definitely be sore. There was no way around that.

Toren peeled a patch of skin from his arm and tossed it on the floor. “What did the Sinn-Jammer want?”

River wanted nothing more than to scold his friend, tell him to lay back and allow his body to properly heal, but his concern would be wasted, same way as any other time. He would do whatever he wanted to anyway. Might as well give him what he wanted and save the headache. “Your witch.”

Steam and fire flared out Torin’s nostrils. River shrugged. He was pass warning Toren about his actions. You reap what you sow, right? “Don’t flame me. I told you to stay away from her and the vampire. You choose to play with fire and got burnt. Black magic? Really? You sure know how to pick them.”

Once again steam flowed from Toren’s nostrils, this time a warning. River held his hands up in surrender and controlled his rolling eyes.

“What did he want with her?” He tossed another patch of skin.

Disgusting, River thought. “To find the vampire, of course.”

Toren grunted. He pulled the tattered T-shirt over his head and threw it.

River’s eyes locked on his neck. “Where’s your necklace?” he asked although he already knew the answer.

Toren hesitated. “She has it.”

This time, the steam came from River.

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

Suri burst with anger. “Awww, hell no!”

Jime stomped on Suri’s foot, not even bothering to cover up her action.

She wanted to laugh at how dense she had been to not know he was Him. Instead, she settled for rolling her eyes at the horrible joke that he made. “Of all the sex jokes in the world, you settled for, ‘I’m growing’?” Is that the best you have?”

“I’m done,” Suri said, resigned. “That’s it. I’m going back home. Vampires I can handle, even stinking wolves and sparkling faeries, but gods? No no no no no. Even I know when to cave in.”

“She’s a submissive one,” He commented. “Just how I like them. Why don’t you come over here and I’ll show you what real submission can feel like.”

“How about not,” Jime commented before Suri opened her mouth and landed them both in hot water. “The view is perfect over here, so much naked gorgeous warm flesh.”

“Don’t be a spoil sport La Reina.” He said blissfully. “Come. Join us.”

Jime felt her limbs lock. Damn.