The moment Jime had come out of jack’s trunk she knew something was extremely wrong. Jack was right next to her, looking solemn, and River was on his way to tackle her. Suri and Toren were absent though, which meant she had to find Suri. Now.
“Stay!” she voiced Jack and River, she could do that to other creatures of the Lore for only a short amount of time, their own specialness making them less vulnerable than humans to her power trick. Jime teleported just before River could make a grab for her.
*******
Toren’s body was his own again. The second Suri left, her spell disappeared and he knew he could move, but he still waited to even try it, his body had been through too much in too little time and was functioning at an almost human speed, so he just stayed there, on his knees, head low, with his back an indiscernible mess of meat, bones, and dragon blood. He didn’t have the energy to even look up when he heard Jime cuss when she came into the room, let alone wonder the how.
“Damn it all!”
She fumed as she thrashed the place. Jime will not loose Suri like she lost Sage. This time she would make sure the apple fell well far away from the tree. Jime had lost precious time teleporting to all the places she thought Suri might have gone to, and had found her –wouldn’t you know it- at the very last one she tried. She would have used River or Jack to follow her niece since vampires don’t have the tracking skills those two had for hunting a creature of the Lore’s energy trail but the Dark clouded Suri’s energy and she could not be traced that way. Just as well, it would not do to have River find Suri, he’d attack on sight, and Jack… hmmm, maybe he knew another way.
Jime left the room and went to find some salt. The place Suri (or the Dark, as it turned out) had chosen to have the scale-plucking was an old abandoned house in Baltimore. They had found it before their road trip one time when Jime needed a place to crash, and Suri had placed some magic around it so that it remained unnoticed, but neither knew exactly why or how it had been abandoned in the first place. It was as if the owners had just stepped outside for a minute, but never came back. Jime and Suri had long ago cleaned out the perishables and other potentially nasty stuff and had left everything else as it were. It suited them anyway. Only they knew about it now.
Jime went to the kitchen and found a big container full of salt, bingo. She went back to the room and found Toren still as a statue, but conscious, looking almost alive.
She circled him, eerily in almost the exact same way Suri had done before, she popped the container open in front of his face and instead of her finger she used the tip of the salt container to touch his torso.
Toren swallowed, he knew what will come next.
“Listen here lizard, you will remain still for a few moments longer and then I’ll take you to your second in command, got it?” She asked sweetly.
“Fine.”
“Good.”
Jime positioned herself behind Toren and oh-so-slowly began to pour salt over his raw back. She drew a big S with a J in the middle, marking him for all to see. The salt will repel his dragon magic (all magic really, it was a nifty tip every creature of the Lore was taught), making the healing process slow so much he will be scarred. At least for as long as Suri was. It was justice, after all.
“Don’t worry about aesthetics lizard. Your scars? They will heal.” She rubbed the salt into him.
Toren didn’t know how he managed not to break and wail like a little boy crying for his mama, but he did, only a single tear escaped from his left eye. Jime gently grabbed it with her fingertip and cleaned her hand on her clothes.
“Blood, sweat and a single tear. It’s better than nothing. But don’t mistake my not killing you now that Suri’s got her revenge, any friendship we might have shared in the past is forgotten now, if I find myself in the position to fuck you up, I will.” She gleefully patted his back rubbing the salt some more with so much force he was thrown onto the floor again.
“D-don’t expect me to take it lying down either then. ‘Cause I won’t, not anymore.”
“You wouldn’t be a Dragon Warlord if you did.” Jime studied him for a moment, wondering what his deal was. Whatever. She had other more important things to do now.
She grabbed him by the belt in his pants and teleported to the parking lot where Jack, jack and River waited.
Appearing at River’s back, she threw Toren’s body next to him. River quickly turned around to inflict some damage but was stilled by Toren, who had grabbed his leg.
“Shit.” River knelt down and winced at Toren’s back.
“Dragons, you will not follow me, or try to find Suri!” Jime voiced them.
“Not again…” River sighed, “What is that, anyway? It’s like I hear your voice inside my soul as well as my head and am compelled to obey…” He gulped, “For a little while anyway.”
“You are such a noob, River. I’m old enough to know a few tricks you know nothing about.” She responded with self-importance.
“But I know.” Jack murmured.
He was leaning over jack the car, watching the action silently.
“Of course you would know… you’re as old as dirt.” Jime rolled her eyes as she walked to the car.
Jack bristled, remembering this game Jime used to play on him, making him feel old or inadequate. It would have been nothing for him back when he had been beyond human years before joining the Sinn-Jammers, but now… Well, he could piss her off too. He straightened and regarded River.
“The ancient Art of Voice is- Uhm… ah…” He was cut off by a female hand slowly caressing his chest.
Jime did not need the Dragons to know what Voice was. Any way she could distract the men she’d do it, besides, it had been such a long time since she got her hands on Jack, somehow it felt like coming home it was so familiar, which was just wrong on so many levels she would not think about it, for now, she was sure she’d fret over it later though, when she was alone.
“We need to talk, you and I.” She whispered in Jack’s ear, leaning her body over his, feeling his hum and vibrate, infecting her as well.
“Yes. We. Do.” Jack responded in a breathy voice, regarding her under his hooded eyes.
River was looking at the pair with his right eyebrow almost touching his hair line; he glanced at Toren, who was also watching them from the floor. It was good to know Toren wasn’t so hurt he didn’t pay attention to what was happening around him. As far as River knew, after everything that had happened, it was war between Suri, Jime and him. Anything he could find out about his enemy was welcomed, he’d have to investigate this Voice thing.
Toren, on the other hand, was reflecting on the nature of male-female relationships. He was amused at how easily Jime could play someone like Jack, but he wasn’t so naïve as to believe Jack didn’t realize it as well, or that Jime herself didn’t know that he knew… they played each other. Which made him think about the mess his relationship with Suri was, and if he could ever make up for the mistake he had made with her. Or even if he wanted to… nah, he wanted to. At this point, he still needed to. At least they had even ground now, they hurt each other equally.
Jime glanced at Toren and River, “Let’s hit the road, Jack.” She went to open the driver’s door but was stopped by him.
“I drive, it is my car.” He invaded her space, pushing her away from the door.
She bristled but knew she’d have to pick her battles, time was of the essence here and she wanted to find Suri fast, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t piss off Jack. She walked to the back seat door on the other side of jack and opened that door.
“Driver, let’s go.” She waved her palm in the general direction of the road and got inside.
Jack fumed but got in as well, he turned on the engine, and to Jime’s annoyance the car responded beautifully, one could even say happily. They took off in a burst of speed that left Toren and River covered in dust.
“Damn Vampires!” screamed River.
**********
“I missed you so much, my love. You don’t know how I’ve suffered. One moment you were there, the next this huge void in my heart. No one will ever even compare-” Jack got choked up and couldn’t continue.
Jime was lounging in the expanse of the back seat, all that space for herself, trying not to continue rolling her eyes, at the rate they were moving they might just pop out of their sockets on their own.
“It’s just a car! Give me a break.”
“My honey-boo is not just a car I’ll have you know!” Jack shouted to the rear-view mirror. He got a bit distracted with the sudden glimpse at Jime’s legs but quickly shook his head to snap out of the increasing in-lust he did not need to feel as his time with Jime prolonged. He needed to get used to her again.
“Oh? Not just a car? In what way, pray tell, driver, is honey-poo not just another car and you not just another man in a mid-life crisis who’s in love with it?”
“First, I am not in a mid-life crisis.” He started to count off with one hand while driving with the other.
“Potato-potahtoh.”
“Second, I am not your personal driver.”
“I see you driving me… case closed.”
“Third, honey-boo is special because she’s mine in every way.”
“Forth,” Jime interjected, “This car is male, not female.”
“You will not impose your world views on my honey-boo!” Jack swirled around to glare at Jime so fast the car swirled too.
“Eyes on the road, buster!” Jime yelled while sitting correctly, she made a grab for the seat belt but decided not to strap herself down. “You sure drive like a rookie.” She mumbled while hugging the seat before her, bringing her closer to Jack. “It’s as if you forgot how to drive in the little time honey-poo’s been mine…” she sneered, “In fact, it’s as if honey-poo is doing all the work-”
The shifter changed gears on its own, Jack was not quick enough to mimic the move. He cursed under his breath, the jig was up. Just another secret Jime knew about him now.
“HEY! I saw that! It is driving itself!” she pointed at the shifter. “What the hell? It never did that with me!”
“Ha! That’s because honey-poo is mine! We are connected in ways you know nothing about!”
“So this is a special car…” She rubbed her hands (which where hanging in the air next to Jack) with glee. Maybe that was why sometimes it broke down on Suri and her, because it was already magical, and to top it with Suri’s magic was somehow messing with it.
He gripped Jime’s hands with his own free hand, “Stop that.” The electricity of their skin contact charging them both.
“Why the hell?” She shook him off.
“Uhm, because…” Jack was momentarily at a loss.
“Because? Just because? You’re suddenly serious, what could rubbing my hands- wait a minute, you rubbed your hands when you got in the driver seat, you sorta caressed the steering wheel before turning the ignition, I thought it was just you being weird, like always, but…”
“How many times must I tell you, woman! I am not weird, I am an ex-God!”
“Same dif., I bet it’s like a magic ritual, oooooh, I bet it’s how you connect with the car!” She slapped his shoulder, now sure she discovered the secret because of the expression on Jack’s face. She knew him too well still. “O.K., so what else can it do?”
“I am not telling you anything.” Jack pouted.
“Oh, come on, tell me,” She cooed near his left ear, blowing a little on it while seductively running her hand down his arm.
Jack shivered, “No.”
“Can it go wherever you tell it to go?” Her hand moved onto his lap.
“YES,” Jack hit the wheel, “Damn it.”
Jime removed her hand slowly, but the grave tone with which she talked next made Jack forget about his swelling boy parts in an instant.
“Make it go where Suri is.” Her eyes were serious, pleading.
He could never say no to her when she played with him, but he knew that when it came to her family, if you got in the way, that was a deal-breaker. No one messed with Jime’s family. He had learned that the hard way. Fate had presented him this new chance, he would not squander it for anything.
Jack faced the road and said, “Ullr magiske skiene, ta meg til Suri.”
Jack the car revved as if alive and took off into the sky.
