Bearly alive

19

Roman

“You’re headed in the wrong direction, vampire.” I growl, ut don’t turn to look at the extra shadow that insists on following Stella and me.

“No, I’m not.” A much too cheerful voice answer’s back. She’s definitely almost healed now. I f*****g hate vampires! Also, she sounds nothing like the woman I met at the motel, which makes me think she’s also crazy, so definitely not a great idea to let her come too close to my safe place.

“I was actually on my way to find you, Roman. You know, before all this happened and your friend caught up with me.” She finally speaks. “And the name’s Autumn, by the way.”

A momentary flash of something resembling panic hits me so hard that I almost trip and fall like a toddler. If she was coming to find me, though Goddess knows why, then she made it pretty f*****g close, dangerously close.

My home was always mine. None of my associates ever knew the location, and I worked hard to keep it that way. But the fact that this woman managed to track me down so easily, freaks me out. I’ve been slacking, leaving breadcrumbs without even realising it, and it’s all because of Stella. Now I have a vampire practically knowing where I live, not to mention that she brought an assassin dangerously close to the only place I could relax and not have to keep my guard up at all times. An assassin I’m not particularly fond of, either.

“If you want more money, I think it’s fair to say that saving your ass from the Grim Reaper makes us even. Despite me having no debts to you.” I say and keep walking. My ears are peeled in case our mutual friend is still lurking around, though I highly doubt it. If the Ghost ever did have a flaw, that is his laziness in completing a job properly. He just assumes, never doubles checks, never makes sure. He’s too cocky and that's why I’m better than him.

“I don’t want your money, bear.”

This time I stop and wait until the bold vampire walks to me, not stopping we are almost toe to toe. She’s back into the same cold and calculated personna I had the displeasure of meeting at the motel.

“Then whatever is it that you want, I’m not interested, so turn back around and do us both a favour and forget we ever met.”

“I have a job for you.” She says, tentatively waiting for my reaction. I try my hardest to keep my expression impassable while I try to read her actual intentions. When the staring contest borders on awkward and Stella’s teeth clattering reminds me that we needed to get back home and to safety, I abandon the fight and turn to leave.

“I already killed that small d**k human for you. Feel free to return my money and I’ll consider the job paid. Now scram!” I talk under my breath but I know the vampire heard me loud and clear. Yet she's still following us like a f*****g stray dog.

You know what? I take it all back. Stella the not so Omega is a f*****g saint, an angel and just everything that’s too good for her own, well, good.

In my piss poor attempt to make the vampire give up and be on her way, we have been basically circling the same area in bigger or smaller hoops. It’s creeping closer and closer to dawn so it’s f*****g cold, yet the shivering bunny hasn’t complained once. I’m part impressed and partly annoyed that she hasn’t asked for help. My help. I’m not exactly sure how I would have been able to help safe for carrying her, since I’m practically naked too and I can’t offer her my clothes. A tiny voice in my head suggests that the best help I would offer my freezing captive would be to get her back to the house, but I still have the pest to deal with.

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m already on a job. So I can't help you, vampire.” I speak without stopping or looking in a certain direction. I know she’s close, I just can't pinpoint exactly where she is. Again, Stella doesn’t even flinch. Something tells me she has a pretty good idea of the vampire’s whereabouts at all times. We haven’t discussed this, but I think she relies on me to keep her safe while she’s doing her part and knowing exactly where our uninvited guest is. I can only hope she kept her ears peeled in case The Ghost decides to return and actually check to see if he finished the job.

“I told you, the name’s Autumn.” The f*****g oversized bat appears out of nowhere right next to me. “And I’m pretty sure you could do it. Take another job, I mean.” I remain silent, not wanting to bite. When she gets tired or waiting for me to ask what exactly does the job entail, she lets out a loud, dramatic huff and moves closer to Stella.

My growl does cause the vampire to think twice and puts some distance between her and Stella again, though I suspect her main goal was to gauge a reaction from me. Show me that she can get me to react.

Realising that I fell into a vampire’s silly trap, all because of Stella, makes my blood boil. Losing my patience I finally snap and stop to talk with the vampire

“What’s the job? Give me all the details and I will assess if I can take it or not. I would refer you to someone else, but it looks like it may be a conflict of interest for him.” I test the vampire to see if she knows what I do for a living or not. Based on her subtle and controlled reaction, she had a feeling I was an assassin but didn’t know for sure.

Autumn stuns me when she proceeds to tell me what she wants to hire me for. I mean, I know she has the money to afford me, she has my money.

“I need protection.” She lowers her voice for some unknown reason. Stella’s ears perk up and I briefly wonder if she’s emphatic to the sob story the vampire hints at or if she detected someone else around.

“Try the human town about 10 miles east. They give them out at the free clinic.”

“Hardy har har!” The vampire seems unimpressed, but a stray giggle did escape Stella. It caused a rush of wind into my chest. I don’t like it. She's making feel again.

“Look. Someone’s after me and it’s not something I can weasel myself out of. This s**t is serious and it started after you two messed up my operation at the motel. And before you ask, no, it’s completely unrelated to said operation, I checked. My gut tells me it’s related to you though…” She says that last part looking toward Stella. “... so I figured I’m better off sticking close to you guys than running the other way since I have no information nor leverage to use if being caught.”

I scan Autumn's face, impressed that she laid all her cards on the table. That tells me she’s scared. Despite being tired, my mind goes back to our interaction at the motel. Autumn knew what Stella is or at least guessed something close enough to the truth, she hinted at much in what she said before Stella and I left. What if the King doesn’t trust me not to keep Stella for myself or sell her to one of the many rivals that itch to overturn him? What if the King thinks I’ve figured out she’s a lycan?

What if, what if, what if. All questions and no answers. If two days ago I couldn’t wait to get rid of Stella, now I’m starting to rethink this. I may not agree to whatever plans the King has for her, but I would have done my job and delivered her to him as agreed if not for these stunts he might be pulling. Getting rid of any loose ends without asking me to do it? Commissioning another assassin to presumably clean up after myself? That’s practically breaching our agreement.

Stella remained quiet yet observing during the interaction between me and the vampire. She didn’t show much emotion or hinted at what she might be thinking besides her chin trembling from the cold. Yet when I told the vampire to follow us and looked in the direction that the house is in, Stella’s face illuminated and a victorious smile appeared. Her eyes briefly met mine and I hate that I read gratitude in them.

We begin walking in silence but with purpose. I need to catch a little rest somehow, maybe I'll; shackle both of them so I can get some decent sleep, then I need to figure out my next move and make a decision. Either I ignore the King going around my back and wait until my job is done and he takes Stella, or I start thinking ahead and finding the best plan that doesn’t involve me never waking up again. I have a feeling I have to go for option 2 because something tells me that even if I play dumb and see the job through until it’s done, the King might still decide that I’m a loose end myself.