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There was a bar down the street from our place. Safir stayed at my side as we pushed through the streets. He never allowed anyone to have any inch as we moved. We walked into the bar that had soft lighting and was made up of all browns. There was a long bar along the left side of the room. There were barstools set along the length of it. There were tall tables set with a few chairs at each table.
I sauntered up to the bar and waited for the bartender to approach us.
“What can I get you?”
“Whiskey and make it a double.” I ordered.
“You got it. What about you?”
I looked at Safir.
“No.” Safir answered.
I rolled my eyes at him as the bartender turned away and began to make my drink. It took him only a few minutes as I scanned the bar. There were a few individuals scattered around the room. The bartender set my glass on the bar. I tossed a twenty on the bar and walked to the far corner of the bar. I placed my back to the wall as I sat, ensuring I could see the entire room. I slouched in the chair as I scanned the room. Safir stood at the table glancing around the room.
“Alcohol slows your response times down.” Safir informed me.
“And without it I may kick your ass.” I took a drink.
“You are an odd female.”
I sneered at Safir.
“Why, because I don’t give a fuck about finding a male?”
“No, because you seem to enjoy fighting. Most females I have known do not relish in fighting.”
I chuckled at him.
“What can I say, I enjoy a good fight just as much as I enjoy a good fuck.”
“As I already stated, you are an odd female.”
I drank my whiskey, enjoying the richness of the flavor.
“Is there any way for me to get rid of you?” I asked Safir.
“No. I have a job to do.”
I took another drink as I sat there. I could start a fight, kick Safir’s ass, and leave but I was betting he would find me. I looked around the room again. I should have picked a different kind of bar. This bar was where humans and hellborns came to have a drink in their suits after their nine to five. They have a few laughs and go home. I was sure there were a few regulars who closed the bar down most nights, but it was not a crowd that enjoyed a night of fighting. I should have chosen another bar.
“If you are going to hunt with us, you need to be able to ride.”
“I can ride a horse.” Safir answered.
I dropped my head at his words. I lifted my head and looked at the daemon.
“Well, that’s great if we were an equestrian team.”
I finished my drink and headed for the door. I knew he was on my heels.
“I do not know why you are angry with me.” Safir said as we headed down the street.
“I am pissed that I was sent a male who can’t ride a fucking bike. I don’t have time to
teach you to how to ride which fucking means you have to ride bitch with one of us and none of us want that.”
“Ride bitch?” Safir looked at me confused.
“It means you have to ride on the back of one of our bikes with your balls vibrating on one of our backs.” I said with a cold smile.
Safir made a face of disgust. I walked down the street as fast as I could, wanting to get back to my place. I had started our stay in New York fighting with Myckie and I was now stuck with the daemon slayer who couldn’t ride a motorcycle.
We arrived back at the safe house, and I began to message all of The Queens that we would be heading to requiem. I needed them to return now. I received a quick reply from all of them but Myckie.
“The Queens will have a meeting. Wait here.” I said as I tossed my jacket on the counter.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to go get Myckie. She's next door so you don’t need to follow me.”
I walked out hating my shadow. I pounded my fist on Myckie’s door and waited a few moments. There was no answer. I pounded on the door once more.
“MYCKIE!” I yelled.
I pounded on the door again. The door finally opened; her eyes were half closed.
“What?” Myckie almost whined.
“I need you.”
She rested her head on the door as she tried to wake up.
“What happened?”
“Safir is here and has been ordered to hunt with us.”
“Fucking hell! Give me a minute to get my leathers on.”
Myckie turned and headed for the bedroom. I walked in seeing an empty bottle sitting on the counter. Alcohol didn’t get us drunk as it did humans. It took the edge off at the most, but it took a lot of alcohol to even do that. I knew Myckie hadn’t slept in weeks and hated that I had to wake her to deal with this new problem.
Myckie came out of the bedroom looking worse than she did when I left her. I could see the new sadness in her eyes that was hidden by anger for weeks. Her light brown skin looked pale as everything that we had been through. I watched as she pulled on her boots. She checked her hair ensuring that it was still braided tightly. She smoothed her hair down with her hands. Myckie stood up. There were dark circles under her eyes that didn’t seem to be there before. Myckie usually stood up tall with her shoulders pulled back but I could see that she was slouching slightly. There was an air of sorrow that seemed to cling to her.
“Let’s go.” Myckie said as she headed for the door. “Did you call the others?”
“They are on the way to the requiem.”
We walked into my apartment. Safir stood in the middle of my living room as he looked around the space. He turned to face us.
“There was a fight here.” Safir looked almost concerned.
“We had shit to work out.” I answered.
He cocked his head to the side.
“What do you mean?”
“She means I was being an asshole and she decided to kick my ass.” Myckie clarified. “Now, what is he doing here?”
“Gaia has sent me to Isabella.” Safir answered simply.
Myckie looked at me then at Safir. The anger was slowly returning.
“Let’s head to the requiem.”
Requiem meant it was time to sit down and talk about club business. It was the place where we planned, aired grievances, and to handle all our business. Each of our safe houses had a space where we would meet. In this building, our Requiem takes place in the space that would be a leasing office. It was a simple room with a solid wood table with our mark of The Queens carved into the center. High back chairs sat around the table. They were wood with padded cushions on the seats and backs. Everyone had a seat at the table. Along the walls were paintings of each Queen. The paintings were on black canvases that were long. Each one of the paintings had us standing in different poses, showing off our bodies.
My painting was the first image you saw when you walked into the room. My blond hair with red and brown highlights popped on the black canvas. My image was facing forward, my arms raised with my hands resting on my head, showing off the curves of my body. My eyes held the artist's attention as I stared at him.
Myckie’s painting was next with her tall, thin figure turned to the right. She was giving a smile that said she invited trouble. Her soft brown skin was highlighted with silver and gold lines that lined her figure. As always, her curly hair was in a tight braid running down her back.
The next image was Kenzie. She had her back to the artist looking over her shoulder. Kenzie was three inches taller than I was. Her brown hair had softer brown highlights than the rest of her hair with small streaks of blonde. Her black leather halter showed off the large back piece she has. We each had the image of a female face that is partially a skull. Roses lay around the base of the face with a crown tilted on her head.
Next to Kenzie is Indra. Indra was facing to the left, her head tilted back. Her brown hair flowed down her back freely. The ends had soft big curls. Indra, like me, was short and curvy. Her brown skin was beautiful and flawless as she stood in a black leather pants and a tube top that hugged large breast.
Raine was next with her dark red hair pulled back as she faced forward. She was the shortest of all of us as she stood at five feet tall. Raine’s blue green eyes were intense as she gave a smile that would drive any male over the edge. She was less covered than any of us with her leather pants that hugged her legs and a black bikini top that covered a small part of her large breasts.
The last painting was Morgan. She was facing to the left with her head down as she peered through her long brown hair. Morgan was tall like Myckie but thicker with sexy curves. Her mouth hung slightly open with the tip of her tongue poking out. Her arms were in front of her as if she was leaning against a wall.
We walked out of my apartment with Safir between Myckie and I and headed down the hall. None of us said anything as we entered the room. I took my seat at one end of the table with Myckie at the other end. I could see the anger returning as Myckie sat up straight, her hands folded in front of her. Safir took a stand in the corner to my right. He stood straight and rigid like the soldier he was. Each of the other Queens walked in one by one giving Safir a look of surprise as they took their seats around the table. The wooden gavel sat in front of me as it usually did. I slammed it down.
“I call this meeting to order. Before we get into what I have learned, I need to ask what you have learned.” I looked at Indra, Kenzie, and Morgan.
Indra turned and looked at Kenzie and Morgan.
“There is a taste of evil throughout the city but there doesn’t seem to be one specific place where it’s worse.” Kenzie answered.
“New York has always been a harsh city but this is different than normal.” Morgan
added.
“What do you mean?” Myckie asked.
“The humans and hellborns seem more aggressive. There is this feeling like something is crawling across your skin and seeping into your soul” Indra answered.
“I felt the same thing when I went for a drink.” I agreed with their assessment.
“We should reach out to Arch and let him know.” Myckie suggested.
“Probably not a bad idea. Lucian also needs to know. Maybe he can touch base with a few daemons who are based here.” I agreed. “Were you able to get supplies, Harlow?”
“Yeah. We are set for three days or were before I knew we had company.” Harlow gave Safir a look.
“I require little in terms of supplies. Just as you are not required to eat, neither am I. I will be in need of water and nothing more than that.”
“Good to know.” I said as I moved forward. “Indra, I need you to get Safir a bike and it needs to be done quickly.”
“Why?” Myckie demanded.
“Because, until further notice, Safir is hunting with us.”
“WHAT?!” All of the females began to talk at once.
I slammed the gavel down several times until all of them shut up.
“Why are we wasting resources on him?” Harlow demanded.
“Not to mention males do not ride with us. It’s part of our laws. No males are allowed to ride with The Queens nor wear our insignia.” Kenzie gave Safir a look.
“This is fucking ridiculous!” Morgan had to add her voice.
They all began to bitch all at once again. I looked at Myckie to see her sitting in her chair saying nothing.
“ENOUGH!” I screamed. Everyone fell silent. “I understand our laws. I understand the rules we have because I fucking created them. Guess what? This is a decision that is over my fucking head. This comes from Gaia which leaves us little choice. Torture use to ride with us and none of you said anything nor did you bitch about him.”
“Torture was different, he was...” Raine began to argue.
“He was what?” I leaned forward daring her to say anything else.
“He was different, Izzy and you know it.” Myckie argued.
“Maybe, but we still made an exception for him.”
“Torture was one of us whether we said it or not.” Myckie added.
I wanted to beat Myckie’s ass again. She first was abusive and now she was making excuses instead of backing me.
“No, Torture worked and partied with us. He was a daemon male we worked with; he was not one of us. You fucking him regularly didn’t make him a part of any of this.”
“How can you say that?” Myckie looked at me hurt.
“Because it was the truth.” I gave her a dead look. “Safir has been ordered to hunt Verelus with us. Gaia has sent us a warrior. If we do not follow as she wishes, she will destroy us or do something equally terrible to us. Safir has the same job as us so we will do as our Goddess has demanded of us. Indra, you will get him a bike and we will teach him how to ride it. Does anyone want to continue to bitch and whine about it or can we move forward?” I looked at each one of them stopping at Myckie.
No one said anything.
“Where will he stay?” Kenzie asked. Her tone clearly said she didn’t like any of this.
I sighed. “He will stay on my couch.” “I have extra bedding I will give him,” Harlow offered. Harlow was the most reasonable out of all of The Queens. She saw the logic in situations quicker and tended to get the others on board.
“Thanks Harlow. For now, we all rest for tonight. How long will it take you, Indra?” I asked.
“A few hours at most.”
“Good.. Get it done first thing tomorrow. Once we have the bike, Harlow, I need you and Raine to teach him to ride the bike.”
“Fine with me.”
“Good. We are done for tonight.” All of The Queens stood and filed out of the room except Myckie. I glanced over my shoulder at Safir.
“Head back to my place.”
“I am to...”
“I fucking know your orders. I need to speak with Myckie and I can’t do that with you here. Now get the fuck out of here!” I growled at him.
Safir gave me a cold look and nodded his head. I turned to look at Myckie. She gave me a look of anger to Safir as he left the room.
“What the fuck are you doing, Izzy?” Myckie snapped.
I gave her a piercing look as I leaned forward.
“I’m doing what needs to be done.”
“You let him come to requiem. Now, we are buying him a bike so he can ride with us. Why? Why are we wasting our time with this fucker?”
“Because it is what we are required to do right now.” I argued. “I am making the best decisions based on what is happening at the moment.”
“What is happening is we are being fucked over by a Goddess that has never given a fuck about us.” Myckie stood up as she spoke.
“And?”
“WHY, IZZY?”
“Because she is a goddess and could wipe all of us out!” I was done with her shit. “You have been doing nothing but riding our asses for weeks. You have had this personal agenda to find Verelus with little concern about how you have been behaving or who you are harming. We have gotten nowhere. Gaia says Safir is to hunt with us, guess what? That is what we do. We have to do this, Myckie, whether we like it or not!” I ranted.
“WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HUNTING VERELUS! HE IS OUR TARGET! I DO NOT GIVE A SHIT WHAT GAIA WANTS. HE IS NOT GOING TO HUNT WITH US!”
I took a breath.
“Yes, he will, Myckie. He will be part of this club while we are hunting the same male.” I could see she wanted to argue with me. I held up a finger to stop her. “You are right, we are responsible for hunting Verelus, but so is Safir. He is working his ass off to do his part. The problem is we have no leads and neither does Safir. We are to find Verelus in order to get Belladonna back...”
“And destroy that piece of shit.” Myckie cut me off.
Those were the wrong words.
“Right there, do you even care about Belladonna?”
“We are not a rescue team, we are destroyers, hunters, Izzy. Belladonna is not our problem. That is Anguish’s problem.”
I walked around the table.
“Our orders from Lucian were clear. We are to find Verelus and get Belladonna. Once she is safe, we are to destroy Verelus as a team with the brothers.”
Myckie laughed as she shook her head.
“If he dies when he is captured, what does it matter who kills him?” Myckie countered.
I shook my head at her. I knew Myckie was hurting but this was too far.
“Myckie, you either get your shit together or I will push for a vote to remove you as a leader.”
She looked hurt at my words.
“Do you believe they will vote against me? Do you truly believe you can remove me? Those females feel the same way about that fucker as I do. Do you think any of them care about some females? They don’t, they care about destroying Verelus.”
“Do you believe all of your actions have been in our best interest?” Myckie looked away from me. “Myckie, you are my sister more than any of the others are. If one of them had behaved as you have, what would you say to them?”
“Izzy...”
“No, Myckie! You would have benched them. You would have said this is what is required of us. That is what I am doing. I am doing what I need to do for our females. You can either back me or you can walk. The choice is yours.”
Myckie was silent for a moment as she took in my words.
“Fine, I’ll back you in this decision, but as soon as he fucks up don’t think I won’t point out how I was right.”
“I would expect nothing less from you.”
Myckie pushed past me and walked out of the room. I placed my hands on the table and looked down at the engraved words and the female carved into the wood. Torture’s death had changed Myckie. The fear I had was that it had done more than change just her, it changed The Queens. All I had ever had was these females. What was I going to do if I couldn’t keep them together?