A brisk walk on a cool night does wonders for frayed nerves; well, that and to chain smoke like an old lady playing Vegas nickel slots. The night was quiet as I carefully made my way along the back alleys. The unshakeable feeling of being watched bore down on me. I knew this area well and if someone really was following me i would have to shake them. There was no way a tail after meeting some guy who openly admitted to watching me could be a good thing. Silently I skulked down the backstreets like a hunted stray cat. My ears strained against the deafening stillness of the night. As far as I knew there was nothing chasing me.

Seeing not one soul over nearly an hours walk I slipped into a little pub hidden away from the main streets. The door scraped a bit over the old cobblestones as the door opened. The buzz of light conversation and the smell of alcohol embraced me like an old friend. Walking down the interior stairs I let out a sigh of relief. A few scattered regulars were make a low buzz of conversation. I walked up to Richard from where he stood behind the bar. He was a portly man that looked to be approaching his sixties. His steel gray hair and hard set jaw gave the impression that he was a man that didn’t converse idly. Turning his head on his equally thick neck with the speed of a tank turret he centered me as I came down the stairs.

“Evening Richard. Two pints of your new dark brew please.” Nodding he turned and filled two mugs with his latest microbrew. “Thanks. Point Kyra in the right direction when she comes in would ya?” Handing off a twenty I retreated to a back booth. The malty flavor was a soothing comfort as I settled down to wait. I drained the first mug drained steadily as the days events flashed past seeming more akin to a prelude of my nightmares. I could feel my stomach growl a protest to only being fed more booze rather than solid food but this was no time for food. I felt the buzz set in and the tension of my rigid muscles begin to relax. I was beginning to feel like myself again for the first time since early morning. It was days like today that the blissful song of drink helped the most to make me feel human again.

I stiffened as I felt a pair of hands on my shoulders. The hands began to massage my tense muscles and relaxed into the pleasant sensation. I had thought it would have taken Kyra a bit longer make her way here, but I was glad she was here now. “I suppose she could tell how rattled I had been on the phone and rushed out.” The thought faded away with her feeling of her strong fingers. She could be so good to me when she wanted. She worked to melt away the tension of the day locked away in my shoulders. Finishing the last of my glass I sent motioned to Richard for another pair of glasses. Her hands begin to wander down my arms and chest before I spoke. “Thanks for coming so quickly. I really need to talk myself through this last day.”

“Oh your welcome.” an unfamiliar voice said. “I came out as soon as I noticed you. I must say you have quite the instincts of an appropriate amount of paranoia to be quickly alerted to someone looking for you.”

Turning slowly a stranger came into view. Long fiery red hair framed a beautiful pale face. Red lips quirked into an amused smile at my sudden reaction. A red dress hugged her sensual curves that entice the eyes to wander. Golden eyes stole my breath as I froze beneath her apaising gaze. She slowly looked me up and down before she came around to press her body against my side. Richard had just made it up to the table with two more glasses. I looked up with pleading eyes and mouthed a silent “Help me.” Rolling his eyes, he turned and left me to suffer whatever fate she had planned for me.

Taking one of the glasses she locked eyes with me. Her golden eyes seemed to glow in the dim light as she pinned me with her gaze. “So good of you to buy a lady a drink. You would be surprised at how rude some people in this city can be while entertaining guests.” A cold sweat begin to chill me as she stared into my soul. She took a slow pull, her eyes never leaving me. A slow, predatory smile spread across her face.

She made a pleased little sound before continuing to talk at me. “You have a good taste if this is any indication.” Her body felt hot like coals against me. She seemed to be moving languidly, like she was trying to draw the eyes to the plunging neckline of her dress. “I have a nose for things so i can tell you’ve been in this town for quite some time. Yet somehow you have gone unnoticed. Someone that has enticed me like this should at the very least be new, but you are not.”

Swallowing hard, I found it hard to concentrate between her unnerving demeanor and the closeness of her body. “I don’t know what you mean. I think you have the wrong person.”

Placing a finger to her nose she smiled again, as beautiful as it was terrifying. “Oh no I have the right person. I just need to know who. You. Are. Call me Lynda.” She was clearly throwing the charm on thick, trying to persuade more than commanding answers. “Please tell me who you are. I just want a name not your Name.” Strange emphasis aside she didn’t seem to be anything like that man from before. If anything she had implied she was connected or had some knowledge about people in this town maybe she might illuminate who that man was.

“I can’t let her keep me on the defensive. I need to turn this around, to get her to make sense. Dammit I'm just gonna have to lean into this and she might tell me something useful” I thought.

I took a moment to take a drink, my eyes locked on hers like they were magnetically attracted before speaking again. “Why should I tell you anything? You already admitted to following me around.”

She theatrically huffed at me. “You caught my attention and there are few untethered that can do that.” Those she had tried to cover it, her eyes had gone flat when she snapped back. She hadn't expected me to deny her so maybe if I give a concession I might learn what she saw and get a motive for that “man” whatever it is. She continued, “I merely wanted something to call you by I wasn't trying to tie you down.” There was a desire in that gaze but it didn't seem physical. It seemed like she was referring to something else.

I made a show of giving up before I answered. “I am Fynn.” I paused to let the moment ring for a beat before i asked. “So why chase me down? What are you after me for? I’m not the type anyone would want, well, for anything.”

She smiled at that, more genuinely than before. “I felt a hunger, a power steeped in avarice. It was suddenly there as bonfire on a lightless night.” She shivered against me before I felt a finger trace up my chest. “I suspect this is your problem.” Her finger hooked into the neck of my shirt pulling on a silver chain. I had entirely forgotten about the chain but that wasn’t what confused me most. On my necklace I had an eight pointed star contained within a circle, but it wasn’t how I remembered. It looked burnt and broken like someone had used it to complete a circuit and it had blown up. It had been months since I last remembered thinking about it and now it had been destroyed.

“My question,” Lynda purred he voice full of smug satisfaction, “Is why, or what were you hiding from?”

“I don’t understand.” I said a bit dumbfounded.

Taking the pendant from me she examined it a bit closer. Her eyes seemed to glow softly in the dim light. She stared intensely for a few minutes before setting it on the table. Turning those fierce eyes back to me, “That is some good work for someone who’s not even thirty yet, it’s subtle but that same hunger is there. It’s far too strongly ingrained for anyone else to have made it but you.”

“I made this? What do you mean I got it from... from?” Thinking back I could only remember having it not so much when I got it. Even those few, scant memories were brief and fleeting. It seemed like the necklace’s purpose was to hide but anything more was like trying to remember a dream.

My musings lasted barely a few seconds before a figure sat down in front of me. Green eyes framed by dark hair looked at me before they shifted to the woman still clinging to my arm. Lynda pulled my arm closer against her chest as she stared at the newcomer. I could feel through my arm the pounding of her heart and something I could only describe as a growl.

“Kyra!” I exclaimed, one part glad to see her one part uncertain of her reaction to the woman clinging to me. “You got here pretty quick.” I laughed a bit nervously. She was still in her protective leathers from her drive over. The purple lines running down the black leather drew my eyes to her hands where she was squeezing her gloves. Thankfully she had put her helmet on the bench seat beside her so I could try to figure out just what she was thinking before things got out of hand. It’s just too bad for me she had gone for her poker face.

Her eyes looked up both up and down as we three sat in silence for a few minutes before Kyra let herself fall into a familiar smirk, “Is this the person who found you? You sounded much more spooked than she should be able to manage, unless…” she trailed off.

I spoke quickly, “No no, she came after me later. That, thing, only had the shape of a man. I can’t explain how I know but something just screams at me to run and hide when I think back to it.”

Lynda spoke up, “Did it give you a Name?”

“It said to call him Nathan Temple. That it would do as well as the others, like he had dozens if not more.”

Kyra stood from the table, “I’ll see what I can dig up can you tell me what you were looking at when he showed up?” I told her the volume and where I found it. She nodded before making a show to look back and forth between myself and Lynda. “I’ll leave the two of you since you already have enough company.” She turned and left me to whatever ever this woman had in store for me.

I sat there stunned for a moment. Lynda, now seeming very pleased with the fact she had me mostly to herself again, addressed me again. “That was certainly a lot to happen just today now wasn’t it? Why don’t you come home with me tonight? I’ll be sure to give you everything you need.” She took my worn coat between her thumb and forefinger, feeling the rough material. “You don’t have to say anything just come with me and be mine.”

Her forward offer stunned me for a moment. I shook it off and said very bluntly, “Nope, I’m out.” I extracted my arm walked up to the bar, “One for the road, Richard.” I slammed my last drink before leaving a five and heading out into the night.