The light shifted and the car jerked forward, trying to stay in it’s lane. As the drive looked out of the windows the neighborhood itself made her uncomfortable. Run down shops, gates over doors and some windows just flat out shattered. The only people that she saw on the streets were people holed up in corners to try and hide away from the early biting cold.
“Turn here Judy.”
She nodded doing as she was told. “Yes Ms. Fang.”
They turned and the neighborhood didn’t improve much. The view did because down the street she could see the heart of the city. If they just drove straight forward they would be able to go there and leave behind this shady place.
They drove for a few more minutes and then her passenger said, “Stop here. Pull over.”
She slowed and looked back into her passenger seat, meeting her eyes and then looking back down embarrassed. “Yes Ms. Fang.”
She pulled over to the street, sitting in front of what looked like a garage. A large door was pulled down with some cracked windows and stained metal sheets. Something creaked around the corner and she almost jumped before looking back at her passenger. “Are you sure this is the place?”
“Yes Judy,” she glared at her driver unlocking the door. “God. Just go back to the studio. I can make my way back.”
Judy locked the door and stared at her, “I’m making sure that you don’t find yourself in trouble again. The last time I dropped you off somewhere you overdosed on drugs and alcohol. You almost died. In case you forgot that, Ms. Fang.”
“Trust me. I haven’t.” Gen glared back at her and something about her eyes made Judy recoil back. Gen blinked slowly looking away and shook her head. “Sit here on the curb. I’ll be back.”
Unlocking the door, she forced it open before Judy could lock it again and stepped out. She pulled her jacket around her tighter staring at the decrepit place. Her blue dyed hair twisted into the furred collar as she looked back and forth. Walking up to the garage she went to a smaller door near the side and twisted the rusted knob.
It resisted but she leaned her shoulder into it and forced it open. The inside of the garage was empty, some loose chains hanging from the ceiling and old rusted car parts against the wall. A door here, a tire there, long dried oil stains on the ground. Some light poked in from holes in the roof and it smelled like cold rubber.
Shivering she walked in leaving the door open, her boots echoing across the ground. She looked up seeing a shape move in the darkness and her eyes narrowed honing in on it. A tall man walking forward, a hoodie covering his chest and tight jeans on his legs. A beanie rested on his head and when he looked up at her, his grin was sharp and his chipped teeth flashed in the light.
“Wow. Who woulda thought the famous japanese movie star was Vixen this whole time,” he said barking out a laugh. His skin was pale and scarred, his nose thin and eyes large. If she didn’t know better she’d say he was high but she knew what high looked like and he wasn’t quite it.
“Chinese,” Gen brushed her hair back over her shoulder and raised her eyebrow, “And some kind of nobody like you is Hawk. But I already knew that.”
Hawk walked forward snorting. “Yeah yeah. Funny.”
“Why’d you want me to meet you here Hawk,” she asked tapping a finger against her arm. Just looking at the man she knew he was bad news in a very specific and special way. The kind of unhinged she’d seen in fans that she definitely kept at an arm’s length.
“I asked because we’ve got a problem.”
“And what’s that?”
“Aegis. The little shit of a kid fucked up our last run in with them. We could’ve killed them all right then and there,” he swung his arm around and scowled. “I should have wrung his neck.”
She waved her hand back and forth, “I’m sure you could have fought them all on your own.”
“Funny you should mention it like that,” he held his hand out to her. “Without Aegis it’s just the two of us. But I know for a fact that their bitch is dead so it’s just the five of them. Key said that without all six of them together they won’t be able to handle us.”
“So what you want to finish the job?”
“No shit. But first I want to find Aegis and take his power. He isn’t going to use it,”
Fighting the urge to balk she hid her face behind the fur cowl, “You want to kill the kid?”
“Why not? We’ve done worse.”
“You’ve done worse.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and walked around the garage slowly. Going to a far wall she kicked at a tire and it bounced back still having some weight to it. “You know I think about what Key promised me. And the more I think about it, the less I give a shit about it. Turning into more of a terrorist than I already am isn’t high on my to do list. Especially not for something like fame.”
Hawk’s face turned into a quick scowl as he looked her way. “What the hell are you trying to say then? You want to bail out on this too?”
“Yeah. Not everyone is a psychopath like you,” she threw out over her shoulder. “You want to go back on your warpath then do it. Leave me out of it.”
That made him break into laughter. She took a step back and made a face of disgust. She turned to leave out the door and something made her shiver. A chill of fear that trickled down from the nape of her neck to the base of her back. The power that Key infused in her raced along her body like the second skin it was.
The feathers bounced off her arm though the pressure of them connecting stung. A few had missed embedding themselves into the ground. Turning around she stared at Hawk who had one wing extended pointing at her as the rest of his armor quickly covered his body.
“I didn’t want to have to kill you but I’m very okay with doing the deed,” he said as his helmet formed across his face.
“Of course not, you psychopath,” she said spreading both her hands as her foxes materialized at her side. “So let’s do this.”
The Harlequin Library 