'Can you tell how they died?'
'I can tell if magic was involved, like it was with the woman. Other than that just rudimentary details-age, sex, that sort of thing. But if I come across their blood again, I'll know it's the same. So if we find those men, I'll know they're the same ones who were chained in that basement.'
'So, how does your magic work? Can you just keep using it forever?'
'No, too much use and I start thinking that magic is the solution to all my problems. And if I don't stop… well, it wouldn't end well. Magic wants to be used, and if a sorcerer isn't careful, it'll change him, turn him into something… wrong. We call them nightmares.'
'Can you ever get rid of the nightmare?'
'Learning magic sort of like long training for a marathon. You train by running until you can't run anymore and then next time you push yourself past that point. You keep doing it until you reach your goal, moving little by little. Magic is the same. When you feel the magic inside trying to take over, you stop. And then next time you push it a little further. You do it again and again as you gain power and experience.'
'So the magic stops trying to control you?'
I shook my head. 'Nope. It never stops; it just gets further and further pushed down inside you. But it's always there, waiting until you use too much to turn back.'
A breeze swept through the clearing and Sara hugged herself, rubbing her arms despite the coat she wore. 'I can't stop seeing her,' she said. 'All that blood. How do you deal with it?'
I thought about telling her a lie to make her feel better, but if she stuck with Tommy, it was likely that she'd be seeing more dead bodies. Although, they'd hopefully be in picture form instead of tied up and tortured in a basement. 'As unpleasant as it seems, seeing the dead really does get easier the more you do it.'
'Have you seen a lot of dead bodies?'
'I've seen quite a few, yes.' And been responsible for more than my fair share, though I didn't say that out loud.
'I don't know if I can do this,' Sara said. 'Work for Tommy, I mean. I love it there, but… your world is so…'
'Violent? terrifying?' I smiled. 'Pretty much both of those are right. There are a lot of non-humans who'd like to think they can do whatever they like, including killing. But there are also a lot of men and women out there who stop those people. Or try to. Tommy is one of them. He'd move heaven and earth to make sure his people stay safe.'
'If I stayed would you keep training me? And not just in fighting. But to use weapons too.'
'Do you want me to?'
'I think I need you to.'
'Good. But today was special. You won't be out on assignment. Hell, Tommy only took you today so you could get a feel for what his people do. It was meant to be an easy trip.' I stood up and stretched.
'Do you miss it?'
I stopped what I was doing and glanced down at the still seated Sara. 'What?'
'I saw your face when we were searching that farmhouse and after the fight. You were in your element.'
I leaned against the car's bonnet, and half sat on the front bumper. 'Sometimes.'
'Tommy said that you were some sort of Special Forces guy.'
'I was whatever I needed to be — soldier, thief, spy, or… well, whatever I needed to be to get the job done. I did that for over a millennia. Using that knowledge and training, like I did today, feels good. But I'd never go back to what I used to do.'
Sara stood and brushed her trousers, removing any stray grass. 'I think Tommy told me about you to make me stay away from you.'
'He's a wise man,' I said. 'You should stay away from me.'
Sara looked me in the eyes. 'Is that because you're dangerous?'
I nodded.
She stepped toward me and placed a hand on my chest. I could feel her warmth through my t-shirt. And I suddenly realised just how alone we both were, and how incredibly bad that was.
'You're a good man,' she whispered and kissed me on the cheek. 'Don't let anyone say otherwise.'
Our closeness lingered for a moment longer than necessary, until our lips touched. Gently at first, but then I had her in my arms as our mouths explored one another with hunger and need. Her hands ran across the back of my neck as one of mine ran up her back into her hair.
My ringing mobile brought me back to my senses and I pulled away, removing the phone from my pocket and answering it.
'Where the hell are you, Nate?'
'On my way, Tommy,' I said 'Be about forty-five minutes.'
I returned my mobile to my jeans pocket “We need to go,' I told Sara, who was staring at the ground, seemingly lost in through.
I picked up the blanket and shook off the grass. 'I'm sorry about the kiss,' I said after the silence between us grew almost unbearable. 'Shouldn't have happened.'
'No. No, that can't happen again.' Sara closed her eyes and sighed. I watched her, my eyes travelling from her beautiful face, down her body, taking in every detail. It was beginning to get dark, and the lack of streetlights nearby meant part of her face was cast in shadow. Yet still she shone. The words tumbled into my brain and I felt foolish for thinking them. Women do not shine, they do not glow, the trite idea that any lust or love could somehow illuminate the darkness was just that, trite. A stupid notion held by romance writers and teenagers. But damn it if she didn't glow all the same.
I was sixteen-hundred years old and felt like I was sixteen. That's not normal, I was pretty sure of that. And for someone with the kind of enemies I held, it was downright destructive.
'You already have someone, and I'm not good for you, Sara. I can't risk people coming to me through you. From now on, if we can't resist temptation, I'll have to ask Tommy to get someone else to teach you. And I don't want that.'
'Neither do I,' Sara said softly. She smiled briefly and then climbed back into the car. I hoped we could put the intense attraction between us aside, because if someone went through her to get to me, the wrath that would fall upon them would be biblical.
It was almost an hour later by the time I'd taken Sara home and made my way back to Tommy's office. I rolled up to the front entrance of his building and found him waiting outside. 'Took your damn time,' he said as I got out of his truck.
'I've had a crap day. Murder and explaining about our world will do that to a person.' I figured what had happened between Sara and me could wait for a more private setting, considering Tommy would probably start yelling.
Tommy caught his trucks keys in one hand and in turn he threw me my bike keys. 'Before you go,' Tommy said. 'Come back to my place. I've got some things I need to explain to you.'
That didn't sound like something I was going to enjoy. 'How angry am I going to be?'
Tommy shrugged. 'Pretty angry to begin with, then probably not so much.'
My bike was exactly where I'd left it, just in front of the main entrance of Tommy's building. I straddled the black 2009 Suzuki Hayabusa, and placed the key in the ignition. 'You drive, I'll follow,' I said and pulled a black full face motorcycle helmet on. The skull motif on the front ensured most drivers gave me a wide berth when on the roads. No one wanted a skeletal face riding behind them.
The bike's engine roared to life and I was soon following Tommy, struggling not to open the throttle and overtake him. Instead, I waited patiently as he drove at just below the speed limit. I could almost imagine the grin on his face, too. The evil bastard.
Eventually we arrived at his… home wasn't quite the right word; mansion was probably closer to the truth. I hadn't been to Tommy's home in over ten years, but the last time I had, he'd been living in a two bedroom house, near London.
The electric gates opened slowly, allowing Tommy and me to enter the property. Tommy parked the truck near the front door, where the flood lights lit up everything around us. I parked the bike next to the truck and
