A Trip Down South 3
Part 3
LOGAN
Get up! You’re making us look like an idiot for Lucifer’s sake!
I grunted back a curse at Daemíron and hauled myself to my feet. “Don’ blame me that was your bad judgement.” I glanced out from behind the car and shook my head as I reloaded my handgun. “I swear t’ God you need t’ let me do the groundwork, just warn me if we’re gonna get caught up.”
I cocked the gun.
While you were off on that rant there, chief, two creepin’ round the back.
I rolled onto my back and shot one bullet through each head of the demons. With my free hand, I wretched the first small throwing knife out of my left forearm and the second from my shoulder. So much for a small-town problem, no one else at Hemingway would’ve been able to handle this if they had sent anyone. “I’m gonna sound real girlie here Dae, but I can’ wait t’ have a hot bath.”
Don’t tell anyone, but me either. Who knew these guys would be such sons of bitches? I really am feeling for you in here. I smiled. We often did reach a neutral point. I think it’s because we actually respected each other after being stuck together for so long. I don’t doubt that if I had come across him in his demon form, I would’ve hated him and sought to kill him. We’ve got to know each other. There’d be no point in fighting if he ever did get out of my head we knew each other far too well. So beer and a bath, chief, and maybe a girl for good luck, just lay back and let the magic happen. That Rae girl was pretty hot and it’s pretty obvious you like her. I felt the...connection haha.
“Haha, don’ get your hopes up,” I chuckled at his ignorance. There was a roll of thunder higher up in the clouds and the heavens decided to open up above us. I flicked my hand clean of the blood that was dripping down to it. “How many are left?”
Just one, she’s crouching in the next alley up. I don’t think she’s gonna make a real move.
“Good,” I slipped out from behind the car and crept along the front of the wall towards the alleyway mouth. I could actually hear her now when I paused. She sounded more scared than the others with erratic breathing. Just as I was about to roll out and shoot her, she suddenly begun screaming, charging towards me with raised fingers. Her dagger-like talons stabbed into my torso and shoved me backwards. The momentum of her push sent me flying up and gravity brought me crashing down onto the bonnet of the car I had been hiding behind.
My bad.
She ran at me again but this time I anticipated it and rolled to my right across the bonnet as she attacked. I kicked at the back of her right kneecap so that she buckled under the pressure and shot her right through the temple. Her body shuddered to the ground, flashing like a hologram of her bones every fraction of a second until she stopped twitching.
“Your bad?” I drawled to myself, kicking the body with the toe of my boot absently and holstering my weapon. “Is this ‘cause I took you t’ church this mornin’?”
Maybe...
“You are so immature sometimes,” I told him with a sigh. “Let’s go get that bath.”
RAE
I knocked on door number twenty three four times to no answer. It was pouring outside and I had absolutely no desire to try and make the run back to my car and get soaked in the process. Instead, I glanced around and pulled out a long needle-shaped tool. I knelt down to keyhole level and picked the lock. It didn’t even pose a challenge.
Once the door was open, there was no doubt whatsoever left in my mind that he had not changed much in the last couple of years.
One: there were papers and newspaper cuttings strewn all over the room with oddities noted in them.
Two: Said man was lying half-naked (suspected fully naked) face-down on the bed with a white sheet wrapped lightly across his bare hips.
I frowned and wandered carefully around the side of the bed to take a good look at him. He was fast asleep with his right forearm and shoulder bandaged up. Although the dressings looked fresh, there was red blood seeping through them already and I wondered what had happened to him in the last hour or so. He grunted in his sleep slightly. I leaned over and gingerly touched his shoulder. “Logan,” I shook him gently.
Without much warning, he yanked his left hand out from under the pillow and pointed a handgun steadily at my face. His green eyes narrowed along the barrel as he aimed with ease.
“Logan! Put that thing away!” I exclaimed.
He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming before putting the gun down and placing a protective hand on the sheet covering him, thus confirming my belief that he was completely naked under it. Mind you, upon closer inspection, I could see the contour of his hip rolling down into his thigh without any underwear bumps. “Rae? What are you doin’ here?” he asked tiredly, suppressing a yawn with his left wrist.
“I could ask the same to you,” I retorted, immediately wishing I hadn’t. It sounded more stupid out loud than it had in my head.
He smiled a little. “Well, I was sleepin’...’til you broke into my room,” he arched an eyebrow. “I could call the cops.”
“Oh yeah, and let them see in here?” I replied and he looked sheepish. “Got you there, huh?”
He tenderly rolled onto his back, sat himself up and drew his legs to his chest. “Why are you here? You get bored and wanna find some disturbing pictures t’ look at?”
I shrugged. “Not really, the only disturbing thing is that you’re very naked under there.”
Logan spat out a laugh. “Don’ be so coy. Considerin’ you are very single you could be a little grateful about bein’ in the company of a naked man. Not just any man either, a very sexy man with a fuckin’ hot-ass body.”
I rolled my eyes at him. “Don’t flatter yourself.”
He placed his hands on his knees and smiled. “I bet you keep a tally under your mattress of how many times you pictured my face on another man’s head.”
“Shut up Logan,” I snapped.
“I’d put money on it bein’ every time,” he continued and I slapped his arm. He scowled. “Hey.”
I hated him being right. I always found myself comparing whoever I was with to him; none of them measured up when it came to how good they were in bed because no one was as good as Logan in bed. No other man was as sexy as Logan either and I just couldn’t seem to shake that from my head.
“What the hell happened to you anyway?” I asked, trying desperately to take the subject away from us and sex knowing fine well it’d probably end up in us having sex.
Logan looked down at his shoulder, arm and tried to look at the scrapes on his chest unsuccessfully. He let out a long breath. “Got hit by a few knives that went off target, ya know, some things could have the decency t’ learn how t’ throw a knife properly. It’s a pain in the ass tryin’ t’ avoid, especially when it’s people supposed t’ be on your side.”
“It doesn’t look like it’s clotting.”
“It will,” he assured me. “If you hadn’ woke me up it would be fine in the mornin’.”
I raised my eyebrows at him sceptically and held out my hand for him to place his arm in it. “You’ve tied these too loose, as usual.”
“It’s kinda hard not t’, baby,” he murmured.
I tightened his bandages slightly so it would be more comfortable for him and looked up at him seriously for a moment. “You know there’s a pretty high price on your head.”
“Nothing but the best,” he grinned arrogantly, placing his hands behind his head and stretching his legs straight out, leaving little to the imagination. Not that I was complaining, of course. “I’m still confused t’ why you broke in here though. You wanna bang me senseless?”
I paused for a moment. Yes, I did. “I was just checking on you. A couple of other guardians have tried to deal with this problem and not come home. Anyway, whether I want to sleep with you or not is my business, not yours.”
“Sure it is,” he concluded genuinely.
“How does that figure?”
“If you want to sleep with me, then that kinda involves me bein’ in on the action,” he grinned through suddenly, darker, lusty eyes.
“You are an insufferable bastard, do you know that?” I stood up and scowled at him. “Just assuming that because I’m single you can just worm your way in? There was a reason I didn’t choose you Logan. I can’t believe I even came here to see if you were still alive!” I turned towards the door and tried to get out of it.
He grabbed onto my wrist though. Logan had lunged as soon as he saw me move to the edge of the bed and was now kneeling upright so that his eyes were level with mine. I didn’t dare look down because I was pretty sure his sheet was lost in the move. “Don’ go, please? I’m sorry.”
“That is getting you nowhere,” I said firmly, tugging at my arm but he wouldn’t let go.
“Bitch.”
“Bastard!” I exclaimed in shock.
“Tease,” he drawled and I suddenly knew he was reeling me in.
“Dick,” I whispered, leaning in close to his lips before winking at him and turning my back.
The last thing he saw before I shut the door behind me was my swaying hips. I couldn’t do anything to keep the satisfied grin from my face.
I woke up the next morning with a yawn and a stretch. The storm that had battered my window the night before had cleared up the sky and now the sun was beating warmly into my kitchen. Needless to say, I had had hardly any sleep last night because of that...bastard. He seemed to plague my dreams more than usual now that he was within my grasp again. God, my body wanted my head to give in so badly.
I slung on my bag as my phone rang and closed my apartment door.
“Hello?”
“You know, closin’ the door on me last night was really mean,” a gruff, husky voice commented. Despite the stalker undertones that radiated from Logan obtaining my phone number, I smiled upon hearing his voice.
“Is there much point in asking how you got this number?” I asked.
“I have my sources, you may be surprised t’ know that I can hack phone servers. My list of skills is quite endless,” he replied with a hint of a smile in his amused voice.
“It’s sad but I am actually quite impressed,” I said. I repeatedly pressed the lift button to no avail. “Damn thing,” I cursed and shoved open the door to the stairway. “Anyway, is there a reason why you called me this morning?”
“Well just wanted t’ ask if you were gonna avoid me indefinitely? After all, I won’ be here tomorrow.”
“What do you mean?”
“The job’s done, sweetheart, so that means I’m off,” he explained and I felt a pang of sadness. Maybe he was destined to just fleetingly drop by to sink my soul into more torment. He sighed, “Unless you want me t’ stay?”
I thought for a moment. No good would come from him staying, right? After all, I had spent so long trying to justify my decision to pick Gregg it would be silly of me to erase all that brooding because of a chance meeting. Was it because he made my knees feel like jelly when he smiled, or that my stomach jumped when he looked at me with those green eyes? I furrowed my brow just as I pushed open the door to my building. “Like you said, job’s done.” Best decision Rae, don’t wanna go messing yourself up again.
I felt a guilty lump form in my throat because I wasn’t being honest with myself. I stepped out onto the street and bumped shoulders absently with someone hard. “Sorry,” I muttered, glancing up and freezing on the spot.
Logan’s piercing, emerald eyes met mine and I felt his grip on my arm. “Are you sure about that?”
I wasn’t and he knew it.
.