Chapter One

 

THEA

 

“What the fuck is going on?” Thea hoped the tremble in her voice went unnoticed.

Chad, the local dealer, dragged his eyes from her chest to her face. “What?”

Thea clenched her jaw. Short and stout with a scruffy beard, Chad hit on Thea relentlessly. He disgusted her, but drop-offs for him were a quick way to make extra cash when she desperately needed it. She bridled her fear and spoke firmly. “I told you I’m not doing these drop-offs with more than one man in the room.”

Actually, she didn’t know if she could call the other things in the room men at all. Thick, twisting horns sprouting from all around their heads and their bloated, distorted faces resembled monstrous beasts. Hefty and deformed, they glowed a deep ruby red that almost hurt her eyes. She had never seen anything like it but tried to control her rising panic. What the hell were they?

Two leaned against the wall on either sides of the room, one stood by Chad staring into space, another paced behind him.

Chad glared at her. “What are you talking about?”

The beast standing by Chad turned his gaze on her, frowning. The pacing one slowed and the ones against the wall all turned to watch her, their snout-looking mouths twitching.

Pure dread bloomed in her at their sudden attention but she held her stance. Any show of weakness didn’t go over well in this neighborhood. She jutted her chin towards the ugly men. “Get them out.”

Chad glanced around the room, but his squinty eyes didn’t connect with the creatures. He returned his gaze to her, his suspicion clear. “Stop trying to delay. Did you get them or not?”

The red beast-men glanced at each other, one of them pushing off the wall and turning toward her. Shit.

Using a shimmer that she constantly felt on the edge of her senses, she reached out to probe the emotions of the nearest one. Nothing. She couldn’t feel anything at all. She reached out to the rest. Nothing. Shit! Normally, she was always able to reach inside a person and affect the emotions within. If these man-beast things had no emotions, did that mean they weren’t really there?

“I’m waiting, Thea,” Chad said, his fat fingers twitching.

She inched forward and threw him the packet of USBs she’d collected with the information he wanted. She tried to avoid looking at the glowing monsters but they glared at her, tilting their heads in confusion. Thea swallowed hard and averted her eyes.

“These better be the right ones,” Chad said, ripping open the packet. “The last time I told you to make a collection, my contact said you approached—”

In a sudden blink, the glowing creatures disappeared. Thea jumped, a surge of alarm coursing through her. What the fuck? Her heart pounded as she looked around the room. They were nowhere to be seen. How’d they manage that trick?

“Thea,” Chad snapped. “Did you hear me?”

Thea drew her attention back to him. “Yes. Give me my money.”

After taking the envelope and checking her payment, she backed away from him towards the door behind her that led to the rusty old fire escape she’d used to access Chad’s drop-off apartment.

He shook his head as he watched her, cursing under his breath.

When she was out on the fire escape, she glanced back into the room as Chad closed the door, and there they were again behind him—grotesque beasts, glowing red.

She climbed down to down onto the concrete below and breathed out heavily. Was she going mad? Had those men been some kind of joke? It wasn’t Halloween for months yet.

She began to walk down the alley, eager to get as far away as possible. She turned onto the road, glad to be among a busy crowd. Even though it was a weeknight the streets bubbled with activity; a discord of voices, the scratch of heels on the pavement and the grumble of passing cars. The familiar worn and dilapidated buildings took on a different edge in the dark, looming around her with an imposing menace.

As her heartbeat slowed she decided the beasts had been a trick, an illusion. Chad hadn’t seemed to see them, maybe she was seeing things. They had disappeared in front of her eyes for God’s sake. She shook off the uncomfortable edge of fear that had twisted in her chest and then sped up to meet her best friend.

 

***

“No, no, I booked this weeks ago!”

Thea heard Amber’s voice before she saw her. The line outside the five-star restaurant stretched around the building, filled with the kind of people that spent the equivalent of Thea’s monthly rent on their underwear. Amber stood at the doorway arguing with the hostess in a gorgeous glittering blue dress that accentuated her petite shape. Thea almost felt under-dressed in her black jeans and off-shoulder top.

“I want to speak to the manager,” Amber snapped. “Now!” As she turned and saw Thea approaching, her green eyes softened. “I’m so sorry, Thee.”

“Hey, Amber, what’s going on?”

“I booked the table about a month ago, and now I’m being told my name’s not there,” Amber said, her voice hardening. “You know how packed this place gets.”

Thea shrugged. “It’s okay, we can go somewhere else.”

Amber’s jaw clenched. “No. It’s your birthday, and this is the only place I wanted to take you.” She flicked her head toward the restaurant. “These people can charge the price of a fucking Macbook Air for an appetizer, but they can’t hire competent staff.”

“It’s okay, Ambs, let’s just go somewhere else.”

“No.”

To Thea’s surprise, angry tears formed in Amber’s eyes.

“I had an issue with Leo about getting out tonight, Thea. I just want this evening to be easy and simple. I want you to enjoy your birthday.” Her voice began to tremble. “I’ve been saving for it and you deserve it.”

Thea rubbed her arm and tried to soothe her, trying to hide her shock. It wasn’t like Amber to get upset about something like this. What the hell had happened with Leo?

A tall man in a navy suit appeared beside them. “How can I help here?”

“Are you the manager this evening?” Thea asked, before Amber could speak. When the man nodded, Thea asked, “Can I speak to you in private for a moment?”

The man led her inside the doorway and turned to her. “Listen, young lady, I’m afraid your friend didn’t book a table—”

Thea used her shimmer to reach into him and pull on his emotions, making sure she targeted the right combination. Pity, kindness, courage, a dash of trust and, of course, a sliver of desire. He slowly became malleable, succumbing to the emotions Thea pulled into his immediate experience. He didn’t even try to resist them.

“—however, I’m sure we can make an exception this time,” he finished, smiling.

“Thank you,” Thea said. “Please can we get a private table?”

“Of course, this way.” He beckoned Amber into the doorway and then led them to a table near the back in the private zone. “Enjoy, all drinks and desserts on the house.”

Amber’s green eyes widened in surprise as she watched him hurry away. “How did you do that?”

Thea dropped onto one of the chairs and grinned. “Fluttered my eyes... blew him a kiss... asked nicely… You pick.”

Amber shook her head, disbelief etched on her face. She looked as though she had calmed down. She lowered to the chair. “You’re the luckiest person I know.”

Thea stuck her tongue out and grabbed the menu. She wouldn’t say she was lucky, but her ability sure was. It worked better if the person was already inclined to those emotions, and she’d begun to realize that desire always helped to sway things her way. She’d been using that shimmer since she was seven and, although sometimes she felt guilty about it, she was grateful for it. Her life hadn’t exactly been a bunch of roses and it had saved her ass so many times.

The food at the restaurant was delicious, as expected, and the cocktails even better. Thea and Amber giggled the evening away, reminiscing about their ill-conceived stunts when they were teenagers and the various antics they pulled to complete jobs for some of the gangs in their area. Thea kept glancing around the restaurant, still on edge about what she’d seen earlier, but after a while, she began to relax.

Eventually, Thea asked Amber what she meant about having issues with her Leo, her boyfriend. As far as Thea was concerned, he was a manipulating asshole. He threw his weight around the neighborhood bullying those less fortunate to get his way. Thea steered clear of him and hoped Amber would wake up and see his truly awful nature, but Amber had always been blind to it. She always argued about the apparent good in him that only she saw. Pointing out his flaws all the time just annoyed her, so Thea stopped.

Amber explained that last night they had gotten into another one of their arguments; this time it was because Leo hadn’t wanted Amber to come out for Thea’s birthday and insisted that she spend the night with him instead. Amber was always at her fiercest when it came to Thea, so she said no but he didn’t want to accept that answer. He argued with her until he realized he wouldn’t win, then stormed out of their home and she hadn’t seen him since.

Thea squeezed Amber’s hand in support while she spoke, but in truth, Thea was livid. Just the thought of the way he tried to control Amber, of the things he tried to make her do, put Thea in a rage. She worried that the feisty girl she had grown up with was turning into something weak and insecure. If that happened, Amber wouldn’t be able to survive in the neighborhood if Leo did actually leave her.

“I worry about him,” Amber said, before downing the last of her pink, fruity drink. “Sometimes his behavior is… strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know… I can’t put my finger on it. He gets furious about things that aren’t a big deal, then forgets he even mentioned it to me. I don’t understand him sometimes.”

“As long as you feel safe with him.” Thea hesitated. “He wouldn’t do anything to hurt you would he?”

“No, no.” Amber waved her hand to brush away Thea’s concern. “He’s never done anything like that. I just worry he’s under too much pressure.” She sighed, propping her elbow on the table and dropping her chin in the heel of her hand. “Maybe I should just avoid men. It seems to work for you.”

“Hey,” Thea said, affronted. “I don’t avoid men. I just know I can’t rely on any of them.”

Amber lifted her head and cross her arms. “Unattached sex isn’t as rewarding as a relationship, Thea. You should try it.”

“A relationship isn’t worth the risk of a broken heart when your man runs off with your rent money and leaves you indebted to the most dangerous gang in the neighborhood, Amber,” Thea threw back, her voice a little too harsh. Maybe she wasn’t over it as much as she thought.

Amber rolled her eyes. “They’re not all like that.”

Thea smiled. “Name one man we know who’s proved to be reliable.” The waiter set their multi-colored cocktails down before them. She took a sip, swirling the sweet, burning liquid around her mouth before swallowing. “I’ll wait.”

Amber lifted her eyes and bit her lip as she thought, a look she’d been doing since she was seven when they met. At that age, they had made a pact that they would always look out for each other like family. Amber had grown up bouncing in and out of a string of foster homes, and Thea had always had a strained relationship with her only parent, so they both needed each other. They formed a friendship that helped them get through a number of distasteful jobs and dodge tricky situations until they finally got to a place where they felt relatively secure. And the whole time, Amber still managed to keep her inherent kindness intact.

While Thea didn’t want to see that change, she wished her friend would leave Leo. Even though she stood up for herself, Amber was solidly attached to her boyfriend, probably because she met him at fourteen and felt safe with him. She’d never had a stable home before and Leo offered that to her. But he struck Thea as the vindictive, cruel type who only had his own agenda in mind. He had no business dating her petite, sensible friend, but who was she to criticize their relationship? She much preferred criticizing just him.

“I honestly can’t think of anyone,” Amber said finally, picking up her drink.

“That’s because there are none.”

“Yeah, well,” Amber said, between sips. “We don’t exactly hang with a bunch of saints.”

Thea chuckled. It was true. Everyone they knew had some dirty past or was involved in something dishonest. Decent people generally avoided their run-down neighborhood, which was filled with shadowy corners and even shadier people. Thea was used to it and embraced her life with relish. She didn’t need to rely on anybody to get by—she lived alone, worked mostly alone, and made sure she and Amber could survive. The small group of people they knew weren’t really friends, just connections from various jobs they did along the way and people they had known growing up.

It was becoming trickier to find a man for her bed when she needed it, though. The last time she had sex with a local guy, it’d been hell to get rid of him. They always seemed to want to look after her and force her to give up her independence. Fuck that. After the last douche-bag coward left her high and dry, she swore she wouldn’t allow it to happen again.

After their meal, they headed into the cool night strolling towards a nearby nightclub called Fever. They were almost the complete opposite of each other in every way. Tall and shapely with long, mud-brown hair, Thea had blue eyes while Amber was petite and graceful with curly golden hair and green eyes. Amber remained positive and upbeat no matter what; Thea had been told she was fiery, distrustful, and goofy at times.

“I can’t wait to dance the night away,” Thea sighed, tucking her hands into her jacket while the breeze played with her hair. “It’s been too long.”

“Since what?” Amber’s eyes sparkled. “The last time your bed was busy?”

Thea shoved her gently with her shoulder, a laugh escaping her. “Shut it, Amber.” She sobered, her breath quickening. There was another one—a glowing crimson beast, lounging on the other side of the street. Thea’s heart jumped into her mouth.

“—find a cute guy that you’ll keep this time.”

“What about him?” Thea asked, tilting her head toward the monster on the other side of the road.

“Who?”

“That one hanging out by the warehouse.”

Amber looked over and frowned. “No one there, Thee.”

Thea glanced over. The thing was still there.

Amber linked her arm with Thea’s as they moved towards the club. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you someone.”

Thea smiled but inside her heart pounded. She must be the one going mad if no one else could see these things. She shook off the thought. Tomorrow she’d figure it out but tonight was her birthday, and she was going to use the rare night out to forget about her problems, including this one.