Dance with the Devil Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine—Thistle Burke

"Thistle. Thistle!" A hand shook my shoulder. "The dog is making a weird noise. What's she doing?" Marcus asked frantically.

"What?" I asked in a mumble, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. I heard the noise and started opening my door automatically. "Stop, stop the car! Stop the car, quick!"

We barely made it before Eris was puking all over the floor and onto the shoulder of the road when I managed to get her out. She let out a hacking cough, then a burp, then looked up at me with sad eyes.

I rubbed her stomach gently, sitting next to her with my legs splayed at odd angles. "Oh, I bet that was horrible, wasn't it baby?" I cooed, trying to soothe her.

I looked up to see Marcus looking across the cab to the puddle of pup vomit on the floor. I winced.

"I'll clean that up." I said, standing up to start.

"No, I'll do it." He sighed, rolling his eyes and getting out to round the truck to our side.

I knelt next to Eris again and started stroking and cooing.

I looked up when Marcus sat back, shaking his head. "Did she eat something bad or what?" he asked, stuffing the paper towels into a plastic grocery bag.

"No. I think she was car sick. The road is bumpy here." I nuzzled against her. "But she's better now."

"I think she should ride in the bed until the road smooths out." He said, wiping his hands on his jeans.

"Oh, but what if she jumps out?" I asked, stroking her ears.

She thumped her tail and looked up at me adoringly.

Marcus snorted. "I doubt she'll leave when she's got you doting over her."

"What, you want me cooing all over you because she got sick in your car?" I asked, smirking.

He shrugged. "It might make me feel better about the whole situation." Then he grinned at me, his   pale gray eyes (that fascinated as well as gave me chills—there was a thin red ring around the irises) sparking.

I gave his shoulder a light slap before picking Eris up to cuddle. She squirmed a little before settling. "Alright, I can ride in the back with her."

Marcus set his jaw in a way that I had learned in the past three or four weeks meant he was about to get supremely stubborn. "She'll be fine, Thistle. It's not safe to ride in the back, and it's getting colder."

I angled my own chin. "I'm dressed for it, and she's a baby. I have to look out for her."

"That's just your-" he cut off, flushing. "I didn't mean that. I'm sorry." He shook his head, sending his shaggy dark brown hair everywhere.

"Let's just ride with the windows down," I suggested, ignoring what we both knew he'd been about to say. "That way the smell gets aired out and if she starts getting sick again, her head is out the window, at least."

He considered, then, sighing, tossed the trash into the bed and held out a hand to help me up. Eris snapped her jaws at him, growling playfully—I think it was playfully.

Scowling, Marcus just stomped over to his side of the cab again.

"You can't do that, honey." I said softly against Eris's head. "He's giving us a ride and he's letting you stay even though you vomited all over his car." I gave her a light kiss before hopping into the truck.


It got very late while we drove. Marcus took traffic in stride, just nudging the radio up and relaxing. He did, however, get furious when people cut him off or honked, and he expressed that by scowling and cursing them, then flushing and apologizing to me—as a warning that he wasn't done.

"We..." I yawned. "We should pull over for the night. There's a rest stop in a few miles." I pointed to the sign as we passed.

"M'kay." He mumbled, clearly struggling to stay awake.

"So," I started in order to distract him, "how far north do you think we should go?" I angled my body toward him.

"I dunno. Just thought that we should get far away from there. We had a lot of north and not a lot of south."

I giggled. "Wake up, Marcus." His driving hadn't swerved, but his words had definitely slurred.

He blinked hard and smiled at me. "I'm awake, I swear." He rolled his shoulders and stretched a little. "There's the rest stop. I hope it's deserted." He pulled in and circled until he found a spot that had no other cars anywhere near it.

Then we both sort of sat there, as if trying to figure out the sleeping arrangements.

"You can sleep in here," he said gruffly. "I'll sleep outside."

"Marcus." I said quietly. "How about we let Eris sleep in here so we can both stretch out?"

He looked over at me warily, then shrugged. "Okay."

We brought out the two blankets we'd been using for awhile. We laid one down and Marcus offered to use his jacket as a blanket so I could have the blanket, but I just rolled my eyes.

We hadn't really established any actual relationship. We kissed sometimes. We held hands when we went to buy food or something we needed. Occasionally, when we just pulled onto the side of the road to sleep, we cuddled together and stuff. But we weren't really sure what to call it, if we were going to call it anything.

Personally, I felt myself tumble head over heels for him when he took the time to buy a bright red collar for Eris because he thought it'd make it easier to spot her when I took her running on a few of our stops.

"This is stupid." Marcus mumbled after a few minutes of staring at the sky blankly.

"What is?"

"I was dead tired while driving. Now I'm wide awake."

I laughed. "Yeah, that's how it always seems to work." I turned on my side to look at him and smiled.

He used his thumb to tilt my chin up and kissed me. With a little sigh, I gripped his shoulders, trying to rein in the urge to slide my hands under his shirt and touch his gorgeous wings.

I jumped when his thumb brushed the edge of my wings as if he'd read my mind.

"Sorry," he gasped, moving his lips to my jaw, then my neck. He touched my wings again, and I could tell from the look in his eyes that he got an odd little thrill from it, from the way I jumped every time, so I felt like I should return the favor.

His back was hot and smooth, and I could feel the coolness of his wings when I touched them. He jumped, too, but there was a fascinated light in his eyes and a softness I couldn't identified.

Startled by my own boldness—I knew what it meant when fairies touched each others wings, but I doubted Marcus did—I jerked back, breathing hard. "Sorry. Maybe we should go to sleep." I started to roll away, but he just slipped his arms all the way around me and nuzzled against my curls. I smiled.

"'Night, Thistle." He murmured.

"Goodnight." I said quietly, snuggling in.


When we woke up, Eris was scrabbling through the rear window that we'd left open, yipping and trying to get to me. She let out a snort and nosed her way between Marcus and me.

"Go away. Mom and Dad are sleeping." He mumbled, pressing his palm to her face and shoving her away gently while cuddling me closer.

"She's probably got to use the bathroom." I muttered, sitting up and scooping my curls off my face.

Eris gave a growling whine and danced around until I got out to take her over to use the bathroom.

When we got back to the truck, Marcus started it and gestured for us to get in. He yawned widely and shoved his hair back, turned the radio on, and started driving.

"What is this?" I asked, wrinkling my nose.

He gaped at me, then scowled. "This is Charlie Daniels, girl." He shook his head. "Old music, but please. You wound me."

I shrugged.

"I want to clean up," he said after a moment. "Let's find a place to wash up and...stuff."

"There's a...creek that way. If that's good enough." I said, tilting my head to follow the trail I could sense. Another fairy power.

"Sure, no problem." He shrugged and merged in the direction I was pointing.


We picked our way to the creek, keeping Eris in a straight line, though she wanted to play off in the woods.

"The water is clean," I declared, sticking my fingers in. "A little muddy, but clear enough. A little cold, but I'm sure we'll be okay." I tugged off my shoes, then my socks. I glanced at Marcus, who was already down to his boxers.

When he saw me looking, he grinned and rolled his shoulders, then stepped into the water; it went up to his knees, but the flow was gentle enough. I looked at his tanned back and his fairy wings. They were jagged instead of curved, and translucent red with black swirls mixed in. I wanted to trace them, to run my lips over them gently and to...do other things that I should not have been thinking about while we were both nearly naked.

Speaking of, I stripped out of my shorts, but kept my t-shirt on over everything. Eris bound into the water, splashing and ready to play. Laughing, I followed her and got down to her level.

I felt a tug and glanced up.

"No point in keeping the shirt if you're going to get it wet." Marcus said innocently, smiling.

"Uh-huh," I said dryly. "I think I'll keep it on, though, thanks."

"Had to try." He said, grinning now.

"Well, doesn't matter how much you keep trying, I'm not going to-" I found myself suddenly underwater, my hair tangling around my face.

I sputtered to the surface, shoving my hair back. "You—you—I will destroy you." I gasped, leaping at him and tumbling us both under the water.

Eris danced around us, barking and yipping. I wondered briefly if she was part dog, instead of full wolf—she certainly made dog noises sometimes.

Then Marcus put his mouth on mine and I lost my train of thought. The kiss was cool and wet and slippery. His hands fisted in the back of my shirt, pressing me closer against him. When we went under, we broke apart, laughing and gasping.

Eris nipped at Marcus's arm to see if she could get away with it and I told her, sharply, no, she could not.

"Well." Marcus dunked his head and shook his hair when he came back up. "I'm going to go get some food, if you want to take her for a little run."

"Sure!" I said a little over-enthusiastically. I mean, how was I supposed to feel when he just kissed me like that, and then decides to go get breakfast?

He glanced at me, gray eyes narrowing a little. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing. I really want to go on a run, and she needs the exercise." I smiled.

"Thist..." He jerked his shoulder, then reached forward and pressed his thumb to my bottom lip, startling me. Then he smiled and stood, wringing his boxers out while he went.

I wondered at the small, strange gesture while he dressed in fresh clothes from his backpack. I didn't dare ask, though, because maybe I didn't want to know the answer and also because I was suddenly finding myself becoming a wimp.

"I'll be right back." Marcus promised. "Don't take too long, okay? We shouldn't stay in one place for a long time."

"M'kay." I managed, nibbling my lip to rid it of the warm, tingling feeling that his finger had left. "What was that?" I murmured to his receding figure.

My heart flipped when he glanced back—three times—to smile, or to check if I was still there.

After he was gone, I got out of the water and stripped down. Eris, recognizing the routine, started dancing around anxiously, wagging her tail and playing.

When I'd made it to my fur, we ran through the woods together, and I let Eris figure out how to hunt something. Or at least try. She chased a rabbit for a bit until I went in for the kill, then let her eat it. I sat back and watched clinically, telling myself that I could wait for Marcus to bring breakfast and that I didn't want any of the rabbit.

I was just buttoning my shorts when Marcus came rushing toward me, his eyes wide and his hands glowing red. I jumped back when he reached for my arm.

"We have to get out of here, we have to get out of here right now."

"Why?" I asked breathlessly, slinging my backpack over my shoulders as we started to run.

"I saw—I saw those people we saw in the woods. The people who were trying to get you when we first met." He gasped, propelling me forward quickly.

"Your hands are hot." I said, twisting away as we ran.

"Shit, sorry." He growled in frustration and shot a look over his shoulder. "Don't look back, you'll just trip, they're about twenty yards back." He lifted his hand and, when a fireball flared in it, flicked his wrist so that it flew at the people following us.

To my terror, I heard people swearing and moaning in pain.

"Oh, God." I groaned, squeezing my eyes shut, then snapping them open again when bark exploded from the tree I ran under seconds before. "They're shooting. They're shooting."

"The dialogue is really unnecessary right now." Marcus snapped, throwing more fire.

"There's no reason to get snarky." I managed as I stretched my legs to keep up with him. "I'm scared, okay?" I let out a thin scream as more gun shots rang out around us.

The embarrassingly girly sound got Marcus's attention. "Oh. Right." He shook his head, then ducked just in time, which made me scream again. When he came back up, he was holding Eris in his arms, racing faster.

"The truck. The truck." I gasped, trying viciously to make up for the girlish sounds I'd been making while we were in the woods.

We made it to the road and raced for the truck. I threw myself into the driver's seat and without a qualm Marcus jumped into the passenger's side, gripping Eris in his arms tightly enough to have her yipping lightly, but not struggling.

I twisted the keys and threw it in drive, pressing my foot to the gas.

Thankfully, our pursuers didn't seem to have a vehicle, and if they did they were too far from it to get in it so quickly. That didn't stop me from driving like the hounds of hell were on our asses, and gritting my teeth over the bumpy road. Marcus kept an eye on the hunters, releasing Eris so he could toss fireballs, or long streams of fire.

"What are you shooting at?"

"They're shooting at our tires." He mumbled, pressing his face against the window.

"Still? I can't even see them anymore." I pressed harder against the gas, then took a sharp turn when I felt a dirt road coming up.

"Where are we going?"

"Shortcut." I said quickly, maneuvering over the uneven ground carefully but quickly. Okay, not quite so carefully, as we flew over the bigger bumps, but I tried.

"I think we lost them." Marcus said a little while later when we were well into the mountain area.

"I hope so." I gasped, easing off the gas until we were at a full stop.

For a few minutes, we just sat there, breathing heavily and just generally trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Then, suddenly, we jumped each other. I grabbed fistfuls of his dark hair and pulled his face down to mine. He pressed his hand through my wildly disordered curls and the back of my head, his other hand at my back, pressing me up against him.

We kept our eyes opened, on each other, watching and comforting and a little wild.

I let go of his hair and my hands raced over him, trying to pull his shirt off, but instead just sliding my palms up over his wings. He gasped. That fascinated light came into his eyes again. I jumped a little when I felt him touch my wings, that overly sensitive area of my back tingling at his touch. I ran the tip of my finger down the middle of his spine, the middle of his wings, and he gasped, shuddering and arching his back outward, pressing against my hand.

"Marcus..." I started, then let my eyes close and stroked his wings again.

He let out a little groan, biting down on the side of my neck hard, then running his tongue over the bite mark soothingly.

"We should leave..." I murmured, running my fingers up and down his wings softly.

He murmured back unintelligibly, shuddering a little and touching the edge of my right wing. "If you say so." He breathed, his muscles contracting and releasing under my stroking fingertips.

"Come on." I started to sit up, then fell back and blinked. "Oh, God. How did we fall down?"

"Hmm?" he asked, kissing his way down my shoulder. Then he looked around.

We were lying down, all wrapped up in each other and warm and comfortable. I didn't want to move, but it would be best.

"Sorry." He rolled off me and sat up. He reached out and straightened my shirt, giving me this grin that was so innocent, I might've missed the wicked edge to it if I hadn't made a study of that equally wicked mouth of his.

"You want to drive, or should I?"

"I'll drive." He said, still grinning as he sauntered over to the other side.

I scooted along the seat, then gasped when I almost stepped on Eris, who was crouched on the ground, with an expression on her wolfy face that could have been described as glowering, if I didn't know better.

"Shush, you." I nudged her. "He carried you out, remember? Not me."

"Who are you talking to?" Marcus asked, starting the truck.

"Eris." I answered, running my fingers through my curls in a useless attempt to tame them. I cleared my throat and folded my hands in my lap as we started driving. "Um, about the, uh, wing touching, um, thing." I started, hating myself for stammering and flushing. "I figure you don't know what that, uh, means in—to a fairy, or fairies. To fairies couples. It's, um. It's really—I mean I guess you don't know that it's really intimate...and like, it—it sort of symbolizes permanence..." I stammered myself into silence under his long, cool stare.

"I already know that." He said flatly, before turning back to the road.

I wanted to drop my forehead onto my knees in mortification and slight fear, but instead I just turned to look out the window.

What does that even mean? He knew that already? So why did he do it? What does he mean about it? I know that there are fairies out there that touch other's wings as a sexual game, but it has nothing to do with sex, really. Oh, God, what am I thinking about? I let out a little groan and banged my forehead lightly against the window.

I nearly jumped when I felt Marcus's hand cover my knee lightly for a moment. I glanced at him and he returned the look warily, but there was still warmth there. So I offered a hesitant smile, which he returned; I relaxed.

We drove for two days nearly nonstop. We didn't talk about what had happened in the woods or the lecture I tried to give after the frantic, terrified groping. We talked about everything else, it seemed like, but I felt like I was walking on eggshells around him, which hurt both of us, but I didn't know what to do about it.

"Do not turn around."

The male voice startled me while I was waiting in line at the latest gas station, holding a bunch of junk food we were going to eat.

"I-"

"Don't turn around. After you pay for your items, go outside, and meet me around the back of the building. Bring your friend and your pet."

"But-" I turned around, but he wasn't there.

Swallowing hard, I paid for the food and raced outside where Marcus was waiting, tapping a beat on the steering wheel with his fingers. He looked over at me and smiled.

"There was a guy in the store," I said without preamble, "he told me to meet him around the back of the building. He told me to bring you and Eris."

"What?" Marcus snarled, going easily from pleased to pissed in a graceful shift of mood.

"He didn't tell me his name. I didn't even see him. He was standing behind me and he told me not to turn around and I couldn't tell if he was-" I stopped to get a breath, and Marcus put his hands on my shoulders.

"It's alright. Let's just go."

"Marcus, we should see who he is." I said slowly. "If he was one of those people trying to get us, he'd have just dragged me outside and they'd be ambushing us right now. Right?"

He worked his jaw. "I suppose." He said through his teeth. "Stay behind me." He snapped, his hands glowing as he started toward the back of the building.

I stuck right behind him, trying not to get in his way or fall behind.

"Stop there."

We froze as a man emerged from the shadow thrown by the gas station. He was a trim six feet tall, with light blond hair that had sprinkles of gray in it. He was wearing tough cargo pants and a black t-shirt tucked in, with hiking boots that had many scuffs on them.

"My name is Leo Pecora." He held out his hand.

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Pecora? I've heard about someone named Leo Pecora. He's supposed to take in hybrids when they're in trouble."

A handsome smile spread over his face. "That's me. I'm glad you've heard of me." He reached into his back pocket, holding up his free hand when Marcus leaned forward anxiously. "Just getting my ID." He held it out.

We had no way of knowing if it was real. It stated that he was human, in his mid forties, ex-military, young millionaire, and that all seemed to be stupid things to duplicate just to lie to a couple of kids.

"Marcus." I touched his arm and he whipped his head toward me; I nearly shrank back, but the wolf in me demanded I stand up to him, show my own dominance. "We should try."

"Try? Try? We just had people shooting at us! We can't just try to entrust our lives to some stranger who can have a fraudulent ID for all we know."

"I have more forms of identification." Leo Pecora offered dryly, reaching into one of his many pockets.

"Just...shut up." Marcus snapped. "Just because she wants to trust you doesn't mean we should."

"Excuse me?" I demanded.

He shook his head hard, but I could see his eyes, and, to my shock, I saw the red rings around his irises was growing, nearly overcoming the gray. I put my hand on his cheek and he nearly jerked back, but he relaxed instead.

"Marcus," I whispered, "calm down."

"I can't." He growled, not sounding like himself at all.

"Why not?"

"Because what if he's going to hurt you?" his voice cracked, but just a little.

"Well, you'll be there to protect me." I said, though it scraped against my pride to say that. "Okay?"

That seemed to placate him, as he turned back to Leo. "I will kill you if you're not who you say you are."

Leo raised his eyebrows and glanced at Marcus's hands. "Point taken. Though since I am who I say that I am, I don't see that being a problem." He gestured. "You guys can drive. Just follow me and we'll get there soon enough. It's about an hour's drive. I've been trying to find you guys for weeks. There are a lot of hybrid children that are in danger right now, and I have been trying to find all of you." He spread his hands in front of him. "Well, let's go."

"You can walk in front of us." Marcus said flatly, tugging me behind him.

"Alright, alright. No one can accuse you two of being careless." Leo said casually, going ahead.

"We stopped being careless when one of those psychos had me by the throat." I said lightly, following with my hand folded in Marcus's.


The place Leo Pecora led us to was nestled deep in the mountains and a forest. And huge. It was like a gargantuan stone palace.

"Just keep driving." Leo said, waving us on. "Follow me down the path."

We followed him. It was just getting dark out, but there were lights lining the paths. The dirt path he led us down trailed to a small cottage nestled on the borderline between the palace grounds and the thick, tall trees.

"This is the groundskeeper's cabin, but, seeing as I don't have a groundskeeper, you two can stay here. It's close enough to the woods so that Thistle can run with the wolf pup, and so that if you decide you don't want to stay, there's your escape route."

I frowned at him. "How do you know my name?"

He smiled. "I know all of the children I'm looking for. I knew all of your parents."

My breath caught. "You knew my mother?" I asked in a quiet voice, though I'd meant it to be a little louder.

"I did."

He gave us the keys and pointed to the cut wood for us to use for the fire place if we got cold; he told us that there was food stocked in there regularly and that we should be fine. If we wanted or needed anything, we should come up to the main house.

Then he left us.

"Well, we should go in and check it out." I said carefully, cuddling Eris against my cheek. She gave me a reproachful look and turned her head away.

"Okay." Marcus took the keys and opened the door.

It was cozy. The kitchen had a wood table and two chairs in the middle of the floor, but it left enough room to move around and cook. The living room area was furnished with a chair and a couch and the fireplace. There was no TV, but there was a book shelf stuffed full of books that I wondered about. Then there was the door to the bathroom, and a door to the bedroom.

One bedroom. One bed.

Really, that's all his apartment had had, but then things were...different. The situation was different.

"I can sleep out here." Marcus said gruffly, turning to drop his backpack on the ground near the couch.

"Don't be silly." I said lightly, as if my stomach wasn't twisting nervously. "We slept next to each other in the truck, it's no different here—except maybe a little more comfortable." Despite the slight awkwardness hanging in the air.