The window at the end of the hall was my best escape route. It led right onto the lower roof of the Den where I could quickly climb to the higher point that towered over the houses around us. Standing on the tip of our roof, I closed my eyes and felt my change happen in the same instant I breathed. I stretched my wings and gave them a few test flaps, hovering a few inches off the shingles to make sure they wouldn't sprain. Once i was satisfied I could fly unrestrained I shot into the night sky with a single flap. It was so peaceful in the sky. No customers asking for orders, no contracts to hunt, no Soulless to kill, and none of the King's dogs to bother me. Under me the dim lights of Lyca flickered. It was easy to see where the town was split into two sections by the Okami River. On one side of the river was where many markets, taverns, and people who were well off lived but it was a small section compared to the other side of the river. The Slums was twice as large as the other side and housed the poor, homeless, and criminal and it was ran by a gang that was becoming a growing problem for me.
"One day Robert Hart will stick his neck out too far and I'll finally be able to cut it off," I grumbled as I settled on top of the bell tower. "The people here will be better off without him bleeding them dry."
I leaned back stared at the stars above me, glad to finally have a moment to relax. "I need a vacation," I sighed. "I wonder if things could slow down enough here for that to happen?" As if to answer my question the sounds of a struggle and a woman yelling came from an alley nearby. "That would be a no."
I followed the noise to an alley, hoping I wasn't too late. "Gods what happened here," I landed next to three bodies, changing back to my human form the second my feet touched solid ground. "This must be where the fight started."
All three victims were men and the first only had a single, smooth slice across his neck. He didn't see his death coming. The other two died in a similar way, a sliced jugular, but it wasn't nearly as clean, they had other injuries from an ensuing fight. Kneeling next to the first man I checked him to see if he was attacked for his money but found something much more interesting to me. On his wrist was the tattoo of a heart that bled black blood.
"These are Hart's men!" I hissed as the wrists of the other men held the same tattoo. My eyes followed a blood trail that led farther into the alley. "And it seems they weren't alone."
I made my way back to the rooftops and ran along them until I could hear voices. The ally opened up into a slightly larger area that was a dead end and revealed four people. Three were men and the final was a woman. She had been brought to her knees, a blindfold over her eyes, and her wrists were tied behind her back. One man stood guard at the only way in or out of the area, the second one paced angrily with a hand holding a cloth over his bloody eye, and the third man knelt in front of the woman with a knife pressed threateningly at her throat.
"You know we just wanted that pretty necklace of yours," the one with the knife spoke in a cool tone and gently tapped the edge of his blade on her collar bone. "But you made quite a mess of my friends back there so now I think you owe us a little bit more."
My eyes widened in impressed shock. So she killed those men in the alley. Must be why they've tied her hands.
"She owes me a new fucking eye!" The angry one seethed. "I say we kill her, take the necklace, and I take her eye as a souvenir."
"You wouldn't have lost your damn eye if you hadn't lost your grip on her," the lookout snapped and kicked a rock at him. "So quit your bitching!"
"You can have her eye when I'm done with her," the knife wielder smirked and traced the tip of his blade down her throat, over her collar bone, and cut the collar of her shirt to reveal more tanned skin. "I wanna have some fun with her first."
Pigs! My lips curved into a snarl and my vision flashed red for a moment as my body changed in a rush of anger before I dug my nails into my palm and took a few calming breaths. But I can't charge them while that knife is at her throat. One wrong move could get her killed. So I waited for an opening and, thankfully, I didn't have to wait long.
"We aren't here for you to dip your wick! Just kill her and take the necklace so we can get out of here," the lookout chastised.
The second the knife wielder lowered his blade to snap at his friend the woman connected her head to his. Now! I shot off the roof with one quick flap of my wings and tackled the knife wielder away before turning on the lookout. I grabbed him by the back of his jacket and tossed him at a nearby wall where there was a crack as his head connected with the brick and he slumped to the floor, lifeless. Before the other two could catch on I slipped behind the one missing an eye and effortlessly snapped his neck. By this time the knife wielder had come back to his senses and charge at me, his blade held desperately out in front of him.
"You bastard!" He cried and the blade came flying towards my face but he wasn't nearly fast enough.
I grabbed his hand and twisted it, making him drop the knife, before I wrapped my hand around his throat and flew us into the air. "You are done here," I growled and locked eyes with him.
He grew pale and recognition crossed his face as he grasped at my fingers in an attempted to break my hold. "Please," he choked, "have mercy."
"Mercy? Like the mercy you were going to show this woman? And who knows who else you've killed or assaulted under Hart's name."
"She's not as helpless as you think she is, she-" he choked as I tighten my grip, cutting him off.
"You. Are. Done," with another, tighter, squeeze of my hand his body went limp and I dropped him from the sky where his body found the wrought iron fence I was hovering us over. "That could have been a lot slower for you," I hissed as I landed and changed again. "That's as close to mercy as you'll get from me."
I rushed to the woman, who had remained silent and statuesque the whole time. Taking out my own dagger, I quickly cut her binds and then found myself immediately disarmed and pushed against the wall, my own blade pressed against my throat. She's still blindfolded! I huffed a small laugh, impressed. But she hasn't killed me yet which is probably a good thing for me.
"Who are you?" She demanded, her voice revealing an accent, one I've heard but couldn't place, and now that she was closer I could tell that she smelled like a forest, like nature. I know that smell.
"No one who is a threat to you," as I spoke I gently raised my hand to her blindfold. She flinched when I first touched the fabric but she still allowed me to remove it, revealing bright green eyes. Once they refocused I flashed her a smile. "Not that I'm not flattered or anything but this more of a second date sort of thing don't you think?"
Once the realization hit her that I wasn't one of her attackers she quickly lowered the dagger and took a step back. "I'm sorry," she stammered and handed my blade back to me. "I'm a bit on edge."
She's blushing. I noted, thankful for the night vision my daemonic traits granted me. Cute. "I would be worried if you weren't. A situation like that would put anyone on edge," I sheathed my dagger and held out my hand. "Sapphyre Rose. I own the Wolf's Den tavern across the bridge."
"And you just save damsels in distress in your spare time?" She chuckled as her hand grasped mine delicately, completely unbothered by the three dead men surrounding us.
"Sometimes, though I usually charge for rescues," I teased.
"Oh? And what is the price of a rescue?"
"I'll take a name."