Page 14 of Magpies & Mayhem
“Coo. Coo.” He bowed and preened, bowed and preened.
Ugh!Pigeons are comparatively quiet birds, so I wasn’t worried too much about him drawing attention with his mating displays, but it was hard to see what was happening below. He was right up in my face with his mating dance.
I grabbed his shoulder with a clawed foot and shoved him away from me. “Personal space, dork!” A loud ‘caw’ in his face sent him fluttering away, but it also made the people in the alley way glance up at me, so I fluttered away too.Just a bird, doing bird things, nothing to see here people.
But as I flew away, I caught a glimpse of a familiar face on another rooftop, watching the same scene below from behind a low wall. As I doubled back, it didn’t escape my notice that I was behaving disturbingly like Pidgy, but thiswasn’t the same thing. Jordan was stalkingme. He was crouched on the rooftop wearing the same black leather outfit I’d seen him in the day we found the eggs, with the same thick hooded cowl, but no helmet. I squinted at the setting sun.Maybe the rays are weak enough to not bother him as much now.
I gained altitude and watched until the people in the alleyway had cleared out, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When they finally went inside, I tucked my wings and dove for the vampire from behind. He was just starting to stand up when I shifted forms and landed on his back with full momentum. Butholy shit-snacksJordan was fast! And strong. I’d grown up scrapping and fighting with my brothers, and even spent some time cage fighting on the weekends in college for quick cash, so I was completely comfortable grappling with people bigger than me. But I had no chance in Jordan’s grip. He launched me over his shoulder before I could get a hold on him, only to haul me around and pin me with my back to his chest. A spike of fear hit me at being handled so easily.
“It’s raining naked shifters,” he said, breathing hard against my neck and sounding strained. “Do you not own any clothes?” He pulled one of the long ends of his cowl from around his neck and draped it around my body, which I appreciated because it was chilly up here without feathers.
“We’ve been over this, Jordan. I guess I could carry a tiny little bird backpack, but it wouldn’t fit anything large enough for me to wear in this form,” I gritted out. I’ve always known I have a few screws loose, and as the spike of adrenaline from his capture of me began to fade, I was reminded of those loose screws by the heat building between my legs. Apparently, being pinned by a much stronger, much faster male—whom I already thought was hot, even if he was a little bit scary—was a turn on for me.Who knew?I squeezed my thighs together, knowing he would be able to smell it.
He recognized it immediately, and his deep chuckle sounded positively wicked. “You like this, do you?” he asked, his grip on me still firm and unyielding. His body responded too. I felt a distinct bulge in his groin pressing into my backside, making the muscles in my lower abdomen clench.
I tried to shake it off. “Shut up, Jordan. You’re following me again.” I wasn’t going to be distracted by how turned on he made me this time, so I tried to ignore the way his hardness felt pressed against my rump. I completely and utterly failed. I gave in and tried to arch into him for more pressure.
His breath hissed out of him as he held me still. “What are you talking about?” It sounded like he was speaking through clenched teeth. “I didn’t even know you were here.”
“Then what are you doing here?” I growled.
“I could ask you the same thing.” His grip hadn’t loosened at all. It was really annoying how hot this was making me, and I was starting to get mad.
“I’m keeping tabs on the Phantoms,” I said as quietly and icily as I could, knowing he could hear me. He didn’t respond, and I started to shiver. He was warm, but his scarf wasn’t enough this high up in the wind. Suddenly, his hands were as warm as heating pads and I could feel extra heat penetrating through his jacket. Him being a fire elementalist was certainly turning out to have its benefits.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because they’ve been after Elara,” I hissed, “and now I’m told they’re blaming me for the financial loss of the dragon eggs and snitching on their operation.” I had to hope against hope that Levi wouldn’t be friends with Jordan if he wasn’t trustworthy. “So, answer my question.”
“I thought you knew what I do,” he said, his words sounding clipped. “I got hired on to a special Enforcement team and our current assignment is taking down Phantom groups.”
I felt my forehead wrinkle. I guess it was true that every time I’d smelled him around was when I’d been looking for Phantoms in their old stomping grounds. “Have you not been able to find them until now either?” Him having me pinned like this was making me crazy. I wanted to either strip his clothes off of him or throw him on the ground. My brain couldn’t make up its mind.
“Not until a few days ago,” he said. “I made the mistake of mentioning to the sparks where their last hideout was and that they’d been harassing Elara, who was helping out their fairy cousins.” I felt him smile against the back of my neck, and it made my skin prickle. “My bad. Now they’re scattered to the winds, and we’ve been having trouble tracking where their new meeting places are.”
“On the plus side, it does seem that their numbers are drastically reduced,” I muttered.
“Oh, yeah, they’re dead,” he said with a dark chuckle that made my heart race.
My adrenaline spiked again, and I acted on impulse, feeling panic flare with him at my back. I gripped his arm and reached around for his neck, intending to flip him in front of me, andhe lost his mind. Before I could blink, he had me on my knees with his weight pressing me down, snarling in my ear like a predator. I couldn’t move, though I briefly considered smashing his face with the back of my head and dismissed it. I couldn’t fight Jordan—he was just too quick, which wasn’t something I was used to—and I feared angering him further could tip him over the edge. I crouched there, in the heavy silence, with Jordan wrapped around me like a cage. The only sounds were his rapid breaths and my own heart hammering in my chest until, eventually, his breathing slowed and he spoke through a clenched jaw.
“Don’t. Touch. My neck.”
My eyebrows shot into my hairline. I hadn’t been expecting that reaction. “Your neck?”
“Sidney, I’m warning you. I killed the last girl who did.”
I felt ice slide down my spine at the casual way he said the words, and I imagined a hundred scenarios for how that could have happened. I needed to get out of here. “Let me go,” I said, and he did instantly, standing and stepping back from me with a wary eye. A quick glance at the alleyway below showed it was still empty, so I hopped up onto the low wall we’d been hiding behind and threw him a glare.
Jordan’s eyes went wide. “Sidney, what—”
I did a backflip off the side of the building and shifted forms mid-air. I had the information I came for.
Chapter 9
Mydreamswereplaguedby a sultry vampire with high cheekbones and pretty eyes. This time, I wasn’t afraid of the sounds of snarling and the feeling of sharp teeth lurking just beside my ear. I was confused and disoriented when I woke up to a dark room with an uneasy feeling in my chest and my heart racing. I lay in my bed panting, listening in the dark, trying to figure out what had woken me. Huck, the baby dragon—I’d tried refusing to name him, but even if I gave in, Idefinitelywasn’t calling him that monstrosity of a name my brother did—fidgeted next to me on top of my covers.
I waited for my heart to calm, and he snuggled closer, rooting around in the covers until he finally came to rest with his head on my chest. I sighed, rubbing the scales between the spikes on his head. His chest thrummed, and it almost felt like he was purring. But then he opened his mouth and made a clicking sound that gave me the same primal feeling I’d had upon waking and made me freeze. It sounded like one stone clacking against another, but from deep inside his throat. I couldn’t pinpoint what about it made me nervous until he opened his mouth again and clicked, and I saw a light flicker in the back of his mouth.
