Moon Rise Ch. 08

The United States of America had been a joint Cryptozoic ideal. Abrahamic religions had begun sweeping across the world, and the old Gods had seen how quickly they could fall away from any power at all if their worshippers were cut down in war ... in fact, tolerating conversion almost seemed better because where was always the hope that the old ways would stay ingrained within the person, no matter how they chose to worship. If a Druid was forced to convert to Christianity to save his life, maybe he would one day return to his true beliefs when the time changed.

Perhaps it was foolish not to simply kill the unfaithful. Maybe they lost the second they stopped taking lives for disloyalty. It wasn't until the former Olympians began to plant the seeds in America, hoping if they pulled at least some of their people from the shores of Britain and Europe, they might yet stand a chance. But the new faith was as vicious and singular as the God of the Old Testament. It was a luck demon that ended up forever by King George's side that seemed to lend him so much skill in war... until he forgot to feed the poor thing one night, and poof! His faithful terrier disappeared and suddenly George Washington had some new ideas about how to fight a pitched field battle against the red coats.

And so it went. Every so often something happens and we all have to pause because it's just too crazy to be real. Lately, rumor was a rabid boggart, potentially part of the Oompa Loompa clan, had somehow cast a reality altering spell. The powers that be were still trying to correct this fiasco without outing us all. It made me worry. But that was on the other side of the country, thankfully! It still bothered an annoyed all of creation on the daily, but at least it wasn't happening in my backyard. I could frequently pretend I was in a dystopian universe and this was all just a very ugly trick.

Seattle... Seattle was a different sort of place, entirely.

The entire Pacific Northwest was like a massive forest of all the expected with tiny sprinklings of all the things you only suspected might actually exist under the shine of the Emerald City and her Rose covered sister to the south. Sure, there are plenty of places to fish and camp... trees so tall it hurt to try to see the top of them in the sunlight. But it also has the Underground, a fallen ghost town beneath Seattle, including a dead red light district still walked by working girls of the past. It has family-friendly tourist traps and yes, there actually is a Starbucks on every other corner. But there are also old Gods, ancient spirits and more Native American animal guides than you can shake a stick at... And the same city block may include a church, an occult store and an ashram. Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad... but sometimes it felt like it. We were a melting pot of weirdos, but far more sedate than cities like Los Angeles (a glitterpated fairy mecca, if there ever was one!)

I had finished up at work for the day, another dull afternoon and evening doing a fairly brainless job, but it kept my attention for as long as I it needed to, and provided a paycheck that I didn't require, and it added to the lie that I was just a normal girl, living a fairly normal life. I worked swing shift, which always suited the night life of both a twenty-something tech as well as a creature of the night. I got off of work at midnight, just the perfect amount of time to change clothes and go hunting.

Dance clubs were easy in a pinch, so much untapped lust in the air. But I won't lie, it was a minuscule drop in the well compared to a late night burlesque show. The thinking person's strip show, for sure. And the Vermillion Vixen was always good for the mind.

"Evening, Ms. Moon," said the door guy, Svart. He was leaning back on his little office chair behind the glass of the ticket counter, looking nothing so much like an extra in Cabaret. Guy-liner included. He was slight, harmless appearing. But I knew better. His shaggy blond hair dusted his brow lightly as he pressed a small stamp to my hand. "You thinking of joining the girls onstage for once, lady?" Svart gave me a wink.

I laughed, and shook my head. "Your clientele couldn't handle me, Svart."

He winked lasciviously and I didn't mind. It was an old banter between he and I and perfectly harmless. He was a good friend, kind and supportive but he always felt like he needed to remind me that this place could easily be a real food source if I wanted it to be. And it wasn't that I didn't. It was just that the chaotic lust of the place was great to swim in for a recharge, but I didn't feel safe attempting mass feeding the way some of the others did. My skills were only controlled (and often not so much, if Keith was any indication) on a one-on-one settling where I could control all eventualities. At least... that was my excuse and I was sticking with it.

If I were honest I would admit that the idea of feeding from an audience was an intoxicating, heady sort of allure. To touch so many people all at once... to know that a whole room full of people were watching, listening and getting aroused for me...

I shook myself out of the fantasy and just shook my head at the dark elf before me with a smirk. "By the way, love the look." He dropped his glamour for a millisecond so that I could see the look with his true face; midnight dark skin, pale blue eyes and frost white hair. It was definitely a good look for him. I'd never thought of him as particularly handsome, which was definitely a compliment to his ability with glamour, because underneath he was breathtaking.

"Thanks, sis," The dark elf said with a tip of his hat in my direction. "By the way, you should know that even if you do plan to do your usual thing... wine and a quiet table in the back... there are some big names in the club tonight."

"Oh?" I arched a brow and handed him the coat I shrugged off, accepting the little ticket from him in exchange.

"Yeah. Nasim mentioned it. He said that something was happening in the city and that it was clear that things were moving oddly. I don't know who he plans to have here in the next weeks, but he is making all the talent and staff shape up and be on point for it."

Nasim was the owner/operator of the Vermillion Vixen. He had inherited it, rumor said, from a lust demon in his own pantheon. Others said that he had won the club in a game of chance. Either way, Nasim was an odd djinn and not at all something you'd find in a Disney movie. He wasn't blue, though the deities he was in touch with often could be, and he wasn't the sort to grant wishes without something being in it for him. But for all of that, Nasim was a good guy. He was traditional in all the right ways, making sure that lines were never crossed, that all were comfortable and everyone who came to play in his little theatre followed his rules without question. He was incredibly respectful, and seemed to find me fascinating. I liked him very much, but I was careful of what I said and how much liberty I allowed him to take with me. It was a slippery thing, dealing with Djinn. It was impossible to know if they genuinely wanted to be helpful or if they were leaning on darker impulses.

"Tempest Moon!" My name said with so much warmth and cheer made me smile immediately and Nasim bustled over to me, a huge smile on his handsome deep golden brown face. His dark hair was slicked back with a few random flyaway curls framing his face like black waves. His eyes were the prettiest shade of near-copper I had ever seen. They immediately drew you in and asked you to like and trust him. He kissed me on each cheek and held me at arms length for a moment to examine me. "My girl! It has been too long!"

"Evening, Nasim," I said, unable to stop smiling. He has that affect. "Svart was just telling me that you're planning for some interesting clientele soon." The moment of irritation that passed his gaze was a flicker of light in a storm, but he dismissed it so quickly, I wasn't entirely sure that what I had seen was accurate. Interesting.

"Yes, yes, maybe!" he said, sweeping me along to the inside of the club, one arm looped into mine. "You know we are always trying to make our mark in the world, regardless if it is a Crypti world or a human one. But it may be that some negotiations are set to happen using the city as a base of operations. I don't know much only that I received a call from Arachne and she said she had been contacted by the Olympia offices of Cryptozoic Affairs and had been asked to plan for the next month to have slightly fewer "mixed" nights to accommodate the delegates entering the city that might need a place to... unwind."

"You'd think they would ask for more humans to be present, not less," I observed, aware that older Crypti definitely didn't regard human life the same way I did.

"Just so," said Nasim with a nod. "It is... curious."

"Well, we are just the peons," I said with a smile. Nasim may have suspected my lineage, but he was too polite to ask me. He accepted the story I was just one of dozens of Crypti in the Pacific Northwest, no greater or more powerful than any other my age.

"I wanted to escort you in for just that very reason," Nasim said, lowering his voice, his smile falling away. I blinked and looked at him, my arm still in his. "There are some... new faces in town, ya amar." I frowned. He didn't usually sprinkle his English with Arabic endearments unless he was concerned. When he was, he called me "ya amar", which both meant "my moon" and was a compliment to his affection for me. I hadn't bothered to pick up Arabic as a language, but it dawned on me that Nasim probably didn't get to enjoy the sound of his own tongue much. I hoped his next lover was someone he could connect to better. I had never slept with him and I think it was because he didn't register to me as edible. It wasn't that he wasn't attractive; he was so very handsome. But he was an enigma. I had seen him show equal attraction and interest in all sort of people; gender and sexuality didn't really apply. He simply was and I respected that about him. But I was never certain if he had desire for me, and that alone was such a strange thing that it instantly made me want to be around him as I left no draw to devour him nor felt the pressure of his constant arousal.

"I know that...some unexpected guests have entered the city," I said carefully, thinking of my visit with Niberius. "But what does this have to do with me?"

"They are asking for you, Tempest." No smile, no teasing. Worry. It rolled off of him in waves. "Are you in some sort of danger, ya amar?"

I didn't quite know how to answer that. And my hesitation cost me as I entered the room. On stage, an amazingly attractive girl with clouds of dark hair was dancing in a slow, undulating rhythm that made me pause and my mouth go dry. She was a vision, and I was fairly certain Salome should sue her for copyright infringement given the ease she moved around the stage with a half dozen veils. While belly dancing wasn't uncommon in the club, it was given the audience. The power in the room was suffocating, like someone poured too much wattage into a small lightbulb and it was just itching to burst. That she seemed unaffected by it told me two things. She was human, which should have surprised me, but also that she was in some small way protected. Either she was personally gifted at shielding and letting such things roll off of her or she had training. Amongst ourselves, even powerful Crypti reacted to another strong source of power; like recognized like and posturing should have been declared a national past time for the nonhumans. But she... she moved in and out of the energies as if they just didn't matter. And it was sexy as hell.

"That is Amaryllis. She is new," Nasim said with a small smile. "Is she not lovely?"

"As a flower," I responded, making a point to remember the name. I knew it was likely a stage name, but it was appropriate. "That she is so calm in this room is amazing."

"That is why I chose her to perform tonight." Nasim paused as a server bustled up to us, a pretty blond in a cleavage displaying vest sans shirt in a plain black skirt and sensible short heels, a tray under her arm.

"Sir? The... the table in the back, he..."

Nasim waved her away. "I have it, Vanna." He sighed and levelled me with his copper-colored gaze. "There is a gentleman here to see you tonight, ya amar." He took my arm once more and led to where I often sat; a dark little corner with a perfect view of the stage, but recessed just enough into an alcove as to provide some measure of privacy.

I had honestly expected Niberius. He seemed to have a general idea of what my day to day life already entailed and I wouldn't put it past him at all to literally be watching me personally at any moment. The idea should have creeped me out, but... it didn't feel stalkerish. It felt... protective, which was not a feeling I was used to someone having about me. Possessive, sure. One too many nibbles off a human could easily make them crave me, think that they owned me. But that wasn't at all he feeling he gave me. He was overwhelming, to be certain, and very powerful and dangerous and I couldn't ignore that alone was alluring. Power is always attractive. But he didn't seem like he wanted to own me.

"Ah, the lady of the hour arrives." I knew the voice. I didn't want to know the voice, but I did. It had been... Decades? Maybe more? A century? And it still made my blood run cold. I came to a dead stop in front of the table in front of a man. He wasn't traditionally attractive, which is what made him interesting. He was tall, pale, gaunt, thin. His hair was too long and his nose too sharp. And his eyes reminded me of a rattlesnake assessing the actions of a field mouse.

"Ms. Tempest Moon," Nasim said, looking more than a little unhappy to making the introduction. "Might I present—"

"No need," I said tightly, a little breathlessly. "Nasim, please." I smiled at him, but I knew he read the unhappiness on my eyes. "Why don't you return to your duties. Just... send Vanna over with some wine and I'll take it from here. Don't let us disturb your night any longer."

I knew he was watching me, waiting for me to give something more than a coded message to get the hell gone, but when none came, he sketched a courtly bow, kissing my knuckles and swept away, making a motion for Vanna to follow him at a clip.

I turned back to the demon sitting in my chair. His gaze was dark, bland and mildly mocking. His thin lips were curled into a smirk. He was lounging in the booth, his ankles crossed at the end of long legs, and he appeared perfectly content and at ease, smiling like the Cheshire cat. "Long time no see, Tempi."

"What are you doing here, Dominic?" I asked him, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Your mother was worried." He said, sitting up more alertly. "Thought you could use a friend."

"Then why didn't she send one?" I said fiercely. He made a fake gasp and put a hand to his heart, as though wounded.

"Oh, little sister, you cut me to the quick."

"Don't call me that. And it would take a nuclear strike to wound you in any real way, and you know it." He held out a long, elegant hand to the empty booth opposite him. I could have protested and walked out, but I could feel eyes on me and the last thing I wanted to do was to disturb the club so openly. I cared about Nasim too much. I all but threw myself into the booth, but leaned over the table whispering savagely. "You were supposed to stay the fuck out of Seattle, Dom. I don't care what Lily thinks. The last thing I need is you in my city right now."

"And why is that, my lovely?" He asked, but his eyes said he knew way too much.

"Dominic. We're done." I was about to get up when a solar flare entering the club about blinded me, and I was left sitting, mouth watering, unable to look away from the entrance of the theater-space.

"My, my, my," the demon of depravity said in a low, interested voice, his eyes taking in every small reaction I made. "Isn't this a sight?"

He was here. I could feel him. I didn't know how, but I knew it was him. He made the room warm with his energy. That he wasn't a fullblooded anything made it harder for me to comprehend. But I could feel him, smell him, almost taste him and it made things inside my body clench with need. Dominic gave a low laugh, and seemed to enjoy my turmoil. "Get out of here," I growled softly to him, my eyes never leaving the man that walked into the club, saw me almost as quickly as I him, and gave me a delighted smile and wave.

"Not on your life, little sister. I want to meet this one."

I almost snarled aloud, every instinct in me telling me to keep Dominic far, far away from Ezra. Ezra... dear, sweet, clueless Ezra who was walking to me looking like he had just discovered something beautifully unexpected and it had made his night. I wanted to curl up and disappear.

"Tempest! I didn't think—" Ezra finally saw that I was not alone and doubt dimmed his golden glow just a bit. He gave a friendly smile to Dominic and held out a hand. Dominic just regarded it. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," the Nephilim said with a moment's hesitation.

"You aren't," I said flatly, glaring at my ex. "He was just leaving."

"Sure, sure," Dominic said with good grace, and moved with feline alacrity to his feet, and smirked at the other man. "I can see you have plans. But... I'm in town for awhile, Tempest. And I'm afraid you just will have to accept that. I go where I am ordered. And today it's here. Maybe I'll be sent back to Paris or Rome in a week, maybe I get an apartment in the U-District." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I just thought that you should know."

"Just... stay away from me, Dom."

"Wish I could," he said, and actually sounded like he meant that. But he nodded to Ezra and swept from the club leaving me confused, disturbed, and more than a little unsettled.

I gestured for Ezra to take his place and he did so, watching the demon exit, his brow furrowed in concern. "Who was that guy?"

"My ex," I said softly. "He's..."

"A demon," Ezra said with a nod.

"More than that... he's a demon from Edom. He... he's old. And... trouble." I didn't add that he was my first Crypti love. I didn't add that my time with him had fucked me up beyond all recognition. I didn't add that when I had been with him, I had killed... so, so many. I didn't like what I was with him. And he had loved that. And now he was here... in my town, at the worst possible moment.

And my mother had sent him. FUCK.