| |
They drove home to pick up the tongue then over to the Agency in silence. Not even the car radio eased the mood, so she turned it off with an angry flick of her hand. Upon arriving she went straight to Sir McAdams' office, to report the events of the last few days, including her slight curse problem.
McAdams agreed that she must learn to ward her home, as well as organising a patrol crew to regularly check on her apartment for the duration of the case. Tessa was shocked by the severity of response but was happy to agree with it if it meant no more crucified tongues in her life. She had given her morbid find to the Sir, who quickly glanced at it before requesting that an intern take it to the forensic department. He flat refused to touch it. The poor kid paled when he saw what he was expected to carry, and Tessa wondered if he would ever be back to complete his internship after seeing that particular component of the job.
'Well Contessa, it appears you are doing well on this case, despite the setbacks. I am sure I don't need to remind you of the importance of a quick resolution, given the recent news,' Sir McAdams said, leaning back on his chair. Tessa racked her brains trying to think of a particular news story. Had they already been attacking the Agency after a murder victim had spoken to an Agency employee? Surely the media weren't that attentive, although Nari may have talked for an extra bit of income. Sir McAdams clearly noticed the confused look on her face.
'The uhhh attack which occurred earlier today on some teenagers who stumbled upon a group of shambling corpses hiding out in an alley? I did leave you a voice mail about it. Those kids used up three bottles of iron water between them. A clean up team already went in, but the dead were gone by that point. Here is the report,' he finished, handing her a thin envelope. Thoroughly embarrassed at missing this detail, Tessa thanked Sir McAdams and quickly left. She could review the report later, but for now she just wanted to hide her burning face and move on with the investigation.
More teenagers had been attacked on her watch.
More... kids. It didn't matter that these ones didn't die. She was responsible for it. She was the shitty Agent, the great imposter. What did almighty magickal powers matter when she was unable to use them? When she was too incompetent to protect the street kids around her? All those whispers in the crowds, they were all right. Those whispers deafened her now, pounding through her head, as her heart beat faster and faster. The sound of it rushed through her ears. Her own blood, bombarding her eardrums. It was beating out a rapid tattoo of her failure. Tessa started to run in her panic. Her vision went hazy. Her breath came hard and fast.
Failure...
Imposter...
Incompetent...
Pathetic...
Useless...
Worthless...
Failure. Imposter. Incompetent. Pathetic. Useless. Worthless. Failure. Imposter. Incompetent. Pathetic. Useless. Worthless. Failure. Imposter. Incompetent. Pathetic. Useless. Worthless. FailureImposterIncompetentPatheticUselessWorthlessFailureImposterIncompetentPatheticUselessWorthlessFailureImposter...
Forcing her racing mind and aching body to stop, Tessa leaned up against the wall. Placing her head on the cold plaster, she began to recite the alphabet in reverse under her breath. Slowly she calmed down, her heart slowed and her breathing normalised. The voices faded too. Tottering on her heels, Tessa took a step, a single faltering step, then another. Finally, she could manage a natural gait, breaking into a jog.
Lee had been waiting quietly in the foyer of the Agency, without being staff he could not go any further. Even companion demons were banned from the core of the Agency. Tessa bolted through the halls to tell him the news but skidded to a halt. A far too familiar stench assaulted her nose. Schimpf was sliming all over a water cooler, and an interaction with him would be the cherry on top of this shitty day. Tessa resolved to simply sneak by him. He almost let her escape into the foyer before oozing out into the hallway behind her.
'Well, well Con-tessa, I always knew you weren't up to this line of work,' he called after her, his greasy smile positively lighting up his doughy face.
'What do you want?' said Tessa, not even bothering to cover her disgust and annoyance. His grin widened as she took the bait.
'Well, a good agent would never let a witness become a poor victim of a brutal murder for all to see now, would they? Or let a trio of teens get torn apart?' Try as she might, Tessa could not stop the flashes of guilt darting back through her mind.
How did he know already?
She became even more annoyed at herself for letting slimy Schimpf get to her after all this time. He noticed her hesitation and jumped on it.
'Nothing to say huh? Let’s hope the Agency can bury this particular story before it gets out, I wouldn't want all of the Agent's reputations damaged by your incompetence. At least if all else fails they can finally just fire you, Con-tessa' he practically spat the last words, his face contorting in hate.
'Look, I don't know why you hate me so, or what you think I did to you, but this attack was completely unforeseen. There is no way I could have known Skitch was going to be killed, or that those kids would... would... damn it.' Tessa was so upset now she was shouting, not caring who may be listening. Her voice cracked and tore as emotion took control.
Lee frowned as he heard how shrill she was getting, putting down his magazine and walking over to Tessa with quick strides.
'See? Look how unreasonable and uncontrollable you are. Women can never make good Agen...' Schimpf trailed off as Lee reached them, visibly going pale as the demon stood a head and a half taller than the now sweating man.
'Is there a problem doll?' Lee asked, casually throwing his arm around her shoulders. Schimpf's eyes almost boggled out of their sockets. Tessa shook her head and leant into Lee's embrace, understanding what he was doing. Normally Tessa would fight viciously to be able to stand up for herself without a man, but her emotions were still too raw. Schimpf would take this as validation that women were weak without men, but anything was needed to get rid of him today.
'Not really, just some pathetic attempt to undermine me as always. The usual arduous task with this degenerate really.' She had her control and thus her cynicism back with a vengeance. Redness crept into Schimpf's face as he began to splutter.
'You... and a demon? Professionalism... not allowed... protocol... management must know!' he finished, turning to run and tell on them like a small child. Of course, the pathetic little worm would make a beeline to management. Tessa grabbed his arm and threw him around, pushing him back into the alcove where the water dispenser was. A cold fury iced her veins.
'You dare do that and I will hunt you down and end you, you hear me? I have learnt a lot about torture from this job, and I can get reeeeal creative. You have no need for testicles, right?' The threat was barely a mutter, Tessa moving closer with each word until she was eyeball to eyeball with him.
He visibly shrank away as he backed down, nodding curtly as he took off through the foyer and out of the building. The stench slowly dissipated, as did Tessa's anger. Now Tessa felt oddly satisfied after standing up to her bully, but a worry gnawed at the back of her mind.
Why had she been so defensive of her sexual relationship with Lee? Plenty of other witches of all genders had done it before her. While Schimpf has stuttered about protocol, there really wasn't anything documented against fraternising with the demons because it was impossible to police. It certainly would not threaten her job.
So why was it making her so nervous? Eventually he would have to go back to Hel, and it would be by her own hand. The thought suddenly made her stomach turn.
Tessa found that she couldn't look Lee in the eyes, merely nodding and walking to the car for an equally silent ride home. Once she had settled in with a soothing cup of tea, she finally cracked open the report on the zombie attack, scanning it for anything useful. It was pretty much exactly how he had described; a small group of teens had entered the alley only to find it previously occupied by a group of stiffs. A few had been bitten and scratched but they had all managed to escape regardless. Luckily, they had the thought to work together, even dragging one of their companions out by their hair. The attack had been reported to the Agency rather late, when the kids had presumably dumped the drugs they were going to use.
A sweep and clean team had been sent out, but by the time they had gotten there the zombies had disappeared. All that was left was plenty of blood, hair and congealed gobbets of rancid flesh.
Forensics had found nothing of interest that would pertain to the case. Tessa sighed, sipping her tea. Who knows where else hidden enclaves of the shambling dead would be, waiting for some innocent to stumble across them.
She scanned the report one last time, until finally something jumped out at her. The alley in question was in a Western area of Bayton, and her previous theory solidified in her mind.
What if they had not been hiding out like a sleeper cell, but rather scoping out the alley for the next murder?
Perhaps the murderer sent her drones out before her in order to assess whether the murder site would be acceptable and quiet. Tessa grinned before jumping up and running to her bedroom, where Lee had stalked off to upon returning home. He was brooding again.
'I have a theory for you,' Tessa exclaimed, not bothering to knock in her haste. 'Read this, I think the dead weren't randomly there, in that alley. I think they were poking around for a good spot for their next murder. I was sure there is some weird cardinal points thing going on, and now they appear in West Bayton? I guess it helps with stealing the powers or whatever.' Lee nodded as she spoke, reading over the report which was now crumpled thanks to being in Tessa's possession for more than two minutes. She almost shook with excitement, hoping that this discovery could bring the case to an end.
'Yeah, I think you have a point. What are you going to do though?' he asked carefully, making Tessa suddenly stop and think. She had no real idea when the murderer would attack again, but seeing as the full moon was in a few nights time, she figured it wouldn't be long. Given that this was the magickal variety of nut-bag, she was sure they would take advantage of the power boost a full moon affords.
This was especially important as it seemed that the murderer was a woman, and thus closely bound to the moon's cycles. It would be an unmissable opportunity for her. Tessa doubted that the murderer would want to wait another whole month, given how desperately fast she was currently working.
'Well, I'm not sure actually. I am sure they are planning another attack, and I think it will be any time coming up to this full moon. I will call my supervisor and see if we can't get some help for surveillance or something, finally catch whoever this is while they are hunting. Maybe get some patrols going, looking for a redhead playing with the dead. She has to show up eventually if we just flood the streets there,' Tessa finished, drawing a deep breath after such a litany. Lee smiled weakly at her excitement but just nodded in response. She was already reaching for her phone anyway, not really waiting for him to speak in her rush to catch the killer.
There were only a few hours left of sunlight, and considering that every other murder had taken place at night, they had little time to organise patrols for the entire area of West Bayton tonight. Sir McAdams answered his mobile immediately, listened intently, and by the end of the call had a running roster of interns and hunters ready to patrol at sundown. All she had to do was wait until then to join them and together they would cover most of West Bayton until morning. Lee however, did not seem to share her euphoria at a possible solution of the case. Tessa finally noticed how quiet he had been for the whole afternoon.
'What's wrong? We are so close at last; we will finally stop this nutter and no one will be another victim,' Tessa asked, tilting her head to the side. He tried to smile, but it came out as a watery grimace.
'Well, I am so happy for you to be close to finishing up, catching the baddie and all that. But you know what happens then,' Tessa simply looked confused, so Lee sighed and continued.
'I get sent back to Hel,' he said flatly, dropping his eyes down as he said it. Tessa felt her world stop suddenly, struggling to even take a breath.
What was happening?
How had she not realised the effect it had on him? She had just assumed he was used to it as his role. Demons were often quite the afterthought for Agency witches, something she had always disliked, but now she was guilty of doing the same. Come to think of it, why did it affect her so much? It had only been a few days, but her heart ached at the idea, which filled her with fear.
Tessa simply stared at Lee, a thousand thoughts running through her mind, but none she could catch and vocalise.
'Hel...' was all she could get out before she began to choke up, suddenly feeling like the room was too big, too small, too... something. She sat down on the bed next to him numbly, just looking at him. Moments passed, the silence mounted before Lee finally and awkwardly broke it.
'Well that certainly was an awkward shocked silence thing. Very dramatic, so I appreciate the effort. It will be OK right?' He attempted levity, but refused to meet her eyes as he said it. Tessa sighed, trying to will herself to be able to say the right thing. She rehearsed half a dozen different things in her mind before blurting out the one that was taboo.
'But... I want you, here,' she said before clapping a hand over her mouth and blushing furiously. Lee looked startled, and Tessa instantly regretted her admission. 'I'm sorry, that was inappropriate... I shouldn't have... forget about it,' she trailed off lamely but Lee waved it off.
'Never in the long centuries I have been alive have I heard that and wanted to respond in kind.' Lee spoke formally, stiffly. Tessa simply stared and blinked for a few seconds, trying to comprehend if what he said was really what she had heard. Her brain seemed to rebel at the thought of such happiness. She even opened and closed her mouth a few times for good measure, but still, she could not get her frazzled mind to function. Finally, Lee simply pulled her into his arms, letting his body translate his words. Their lips met; sensuality bloomed between them.
Tessa deepened the kiss, grabbing the handful of hair at the back of his head and drawing him in. She moved to wrap her legs around him, locking them in place as he slid his hands under her shirt, running them up her back. He grasped the nape of her neck with one hand while with the other he simply tore her shirt away, buttons flying off to the far corners of the room. Tessa giggled and was about to point out the cost of clothing, but Lee chose that moment to gently run his nails down her back, eliciting an unfettered moan of satisfaction from her.
He put a hand on either side of her hips, pulling her forward until she could feel his hard erection pushing against her, pulsing with each beat of his heart. It took all of Tessa's self-control to stop herself from grinding against his hard on immediately, wanting to tease a little. Instead, she challenged him back, pulling cheekily at the handful of hair that she still had a hold of. She ran a trail of kisses down Lee's neck before nipping him gently on the small patch of chest revealed by his shirt. He growled in response, the tiny flare of pain merely heightening his arousal. His erection kicked and strained in his pants, begging to be released. Tessa answered its wishes, her nimble fingers popping the button and unzipping the fly in one movement. Her bra was deftly removed as she took him in her hands once more.
A fog of pleasure settled in Lee's mind, numbing his thoughts as he rained kisses on her breasts. He relished the sensation of their softness against his lips. The little witch had a perfect body to him, both soft and hard from well-trained muscles and a network of scars.
With her free hand Tessa gently touched the horns protruding from Lee's head, something she had wanted to do since he arrived. He seemed to feel it, smiling as he continued to devote his attention to her chest as his hands wandered. They were surprisingly smooth, each ridge running into the next. Running curious fingers all the way to the tip, Tessa was delighted with her findings.
Suddenly Lee stood up, taking her with him as if she weighed nothing at all. He stepped forward until Tessa's butt hit the window, pinning her gently to it. He kicked off his pants as he went and stood naked in all his glory. Her legs still wrapped around him, Lee pushed aside her underwear and buried himself deep within her.
'But... what if they see?' panted Tessa slowly, lost in the sensation of having him so intimately bound to her.
'Let them see. I want them to,' he growled, beginning to thrust within her. Tessa loved the thrill of exhibitionism and was endlessly thankful for security plate glass. Even the occasional squeak of sweaty flesh on glass couldn't ruin the mood.
They moved together as one, merging to become a single sweating, writhing, pleasure filled being. Magickal energy prickled between them, as the very core of their beings seemed to rise up with each stroke. She felt above herself, within herself, within him. Their separate energies came together, twisting around each other in an elegant dance. The pace quickened, spinning into a whirlwind of power. There were no longer two separate beings, two separate souls, just one maelstrom of witch and demon.
Tessa felt a connection snap into place between them, but the worry was torn away as she was caught up in the rush.
Shortly after Tessa felt the familiar pleasure rising, prickling up from her feet and building to a raging storm in her chest. Mere moments passed before it all unleashed and she came. Lee was only seconds behind her, having desperately held out as best he could. Seeing her in such pleasure, feeling her clench against him was too much to hold back. They stayed in that position, catching their breath and processing what had just happened.
'Did you just feel that?' asked Tessa, completely struck by what she had just experienced on a magickal level.
'Yeah... there's another first in four hundred years. Did our... magick... or souls... just merge too?' he replied with a question of his own. Tessa just nodded, feeling unable to respond. Breathless and sweaty, she revelled in both the pleasure and the magickal wonder she had just experienced.
Finally, she glanced guiltily over her shoulder to see what kind of audience they had through the now fogged and sweat soaked window.
Only Damien stood on the street below, looking up at them, his face twisted in anger. He looked almost inhuman, a man contorted by rage. His hands flexed angrily around a vodka bottle, which he cast off in fury when he saw Tessa looking down into the street.
'Oh no...' she gasped, dropping her legs to the floor and trying to steady herself on her own feet again.
'What... oh.' replied Lee flatly, as he saw what she had reacted to. He stepped away from her, unsure of what to do. Damien answered their unspoken question, storming off down an alleyway and into the night. An awkward silence descended as Tessa moved to sit on the bed, Lee joining her after he had closed the curtains.
Damien had been, up until recently, the closest man in her life. She had valued him. With the benefit of hindsight, she realised that she had even loved him in some way. But the man in that street was something bestial, transformed by her complete betrayal, seen tonight by his own eyes. It was no longer just a suspicion. Tessa knew that he had been hurting, but now she had destroyed anything between them. The high of the moment had well and truly passed now.
They sat in silence for quite some time before Tessa needed to break it for her own sanity.
'Sooo, soul sex huh?' she joked, knowing there was an uncomfortable amount of truth in what she had said. Lee nodded, relieved for the change of subject, even if it was a fairly forbidden one.
'I guess so Hel Cat, I guess so. That is something totally new to me, but it felt like an out of body thing. Something sacred. The only other time I felt anything similar was with some shamans about three hundred years ago, but that was... well enhanced with fly agaric.'
'Yeah, that is what it was like. I could feel us bind, and kind of inside each other. I still feel some kind of connection there.' she explained, chewing her lip in thought. Clearly this would require much more research. This was completely new, and she could feel that something energetically had changed between them.
His energy coursed through her, this wild tang of demon mingling with her innate witch magick.
Who knows what effects it may have?
Lee lay back on the bed, beckoning her into his arms. Tessa smiled and let him embrace her while she rested her head on his shoulder. They lay together, pondering the mysteries of their unusual relationship or sleeping off and on, without a word spoken.
There they lay naked until it was time to hunt a murderer.
The plan was to patrol the Western areas of Bayton as discreetly as possible, posing as lovers or drunken friends walking the streets and ducking into alleys for their role's various 'needs'. Every Agent that could be spared tonight was on patrol, some paired with disguised demons, others with fellow Agents, even the interns were let loose.
For Tessa and Lee, the lovers act was rather easy to ply. If they weren't out hunting a crazed murderess, they would have rather enjoyed the night. As it was their search proved fruitless, aside from busting a few dodgy types plying their trade. Another team had also caught the main suspect of another investigation in the act.
This happy coincidence had a few Agents positively beaming. A rogue witch was now being carted away, hollering curses to all around. It seemed that he was prone to attacking lovers in alleys and had gone after the wrong bait. Tessa had to wonder how the investigating Agent had not intercepted them sooner, however she had to fake a surprised reaction when she discovered that it was Schimpf. A snarky side of her considered that it was because he could not find someone to pose as his lover.
Overall Sir McAdams was happy enough, his cheeks flushed from a night of actually working and ideas of a regular patrol running through his head. Finally, an exhausted Tessa and Lee could return home to curl up together and sleep most of the day away.