Killer Vixen

Running Amongst Wolves

The flight was anything but pleasant. Babies cried, women argued with their husbands, and children crawled under each and every seat. Normally, things like this made me sick but I only felt nervous.
    On my right, Nark slept as if he were laying on the clouds that were just outside his window. To my left, an elderly woman sat quietly, knitting something that looked like a scarf. Over the seat in front of me a little boy, no older than eight, stared at me.
    "Whatcha got there?" He asked, pointing at my neck. "It sure is pretty."
    "A gift from a friend." Is all I could manage to say. I never really talked to outsiders, nonetheless knew what to say to them.
The little boy made his eyebrows dance before he asked me, "From your boyfriend?"
"No. Not my boyfriend. I don't really have one."
"Well, why not? You're mighty purty."
"Purr tee?"
"No, purty. It means you're a real nice looking lady." He smiled at me and i noticed the weird pattern of missing teeth.
"Oh, well um, thank you. I've never been called purty before."
"Don't mention it." And with that he flopped back down into his seat, leaving me alone again.

After five to six more hours of sleeping and eating airplane food (that Nark inspected constantly for food poisoning), we'd finally reached our destination. People walked slowly towards a conveyor belt and waited until they saw their suitcases before leaving the airport. Nark and I did the same.
"What does yours look like again? Pink with ponies?" Nark asked, a hand resting under his chin.
"No, black with skulls."
Before he can spot it, I grab it from the other side of the belt and hoist it over my shoulder. "Where's yours?"
Nark walks around the belt slowly like a cat stalking a mouse."Should be with yours."
"What does it look like?" I ask, standing on my toes to look.
"It's navy blue."
I nod and walk around to the other side of the airport and back looking for any navy blue suitcases. On a nearby rack, I notice a blue suitcase. I wait a couple of seconds just in case it's for someone else before marching over to grab it. When I reach the rack, a hand clamps my shoulder and spins me around.
"What do you think you're doing?" A man asks, his breath smelling faintly of a cigarette. "Only staff members are allowed to handle this."
"I'm sorry, sir. I was just-"
"You were just leaving." He says, steering me back in the direction of the conveyor belt of suitcases. "This is where you can find your luggage. Got it?"
I grimace at his touch before nodding. "Yes, sir."
When I get to the belt, Nark is already walking towards me with his suitcase. "Found it."
"I can see that now." Rolling my eyes, Nark ushers me to the door leading to the dark streets of New York and pulls out his phone.
"Boss said for me to use his name when checking in so we won't have to get another room."
A light shiver trails my back."Does that mean we sleep in the same room?"
"Yeah. I'll just have to sleep on the couch."
"Works for me."
Nark and I put the hotel's address in our phone's GPA and discuss the night's events.
"First I have to check you in, feed you, have you bathe, and make sure you are well rested for tomorrow."
Smiling down at my shoes, I sat to myself, "You make it seem like you're watching a puppy."
"Sorry 'bout that. I've never worked with a younger female." Nark scratches the back of his balding head before turning to face me. "At least we're here."
    A hotel looms above us and the bright yellow lights shine blindly. When we walk inside, we're greeted by two bellhops in a black uniform.
    "Welcome! Welcome!" They say in usion.
    A woman saunters from behind the lobby's desk and grabs my hand.
"Let's check you in." She says. "Name?"
    Nark steps behind me and places a hand on my back, "Lucifer Macneal."
    "Ah, yes. We have a Lucifer in the shared suite with an Ace and a Leonidas ." The woman hands us our room card and plasters a smile. "Room 431."
    Nark tries his best to match her smile before leaving and guiding me to the elevator. During the ride up Nark whispers to me, "My real name is Judah."
    Confused, I whisper back, "Judah? I thought it was Nark."
    "No, that's just a nickname given by Boss."
    "Boss? You mean, Lu?"
    "Sure. Whatever you call him."
    When we reach the fourth floor, room 413 sat on the other end of the hall. Inside the room, there were two separate rooms. One with the note, BODYGUARDS; The other with the note MISSION. From the bodyguard's room, a man emerged.
    "I'm Ace. I'll be staying here with you while the two chosen assassins take out their mission." He says. Ace had long hair, a body full of tattoos, and a snakebite piercing. "Leo is napping right now so don't be loud. He's real cranky when he wakes up."
    Walking past Ace, I drop my suitcase and open the door. "Wake up, Partner! We've got some discussing to do."
    Deadbolt after deadbolt later, a man who I assume is Leonidas opens the opposite door from Ace slowly like a vampire awakening from a two thousand year rest. "Who the hell are you and why did you wake me up." He runs his hand through his jet black hair and smirks. "Please keep in mind this isn't a question and that you're answering it. Now."
    "I'm Avivah Walker and you're my partner." I smirk back and throw what looks like a towel in the direction of his head. "Aren't you happy to see me?"
    "I'm so not happy to see a girl in my room." Leonidas' smirk turned into something wilder as he flexed, his bare chest revealed. "Let's just make this stay interesting."
    Before I could come up with anything smart to say, Judah clears his throat by the door. "Time to eat, Avivah."
    "Go on, doll." Leonidas yawns and points at Judah. "We'll continue this later."
    Judah remained in the doorway while Ace warmed what he called leftovers but in reality was a frozen meal that you could get just about anywhere.
    "It tastes the same as any fine cuisine." Ace noted as he stirred what looked like pasta into a larger bowl. "All you have to do is spice it up a little."
    Walking to the hotel's wall phone, I push the pound key and two other digits. "I'll stick to room service, thanks."
    Judah walks around the suite before stopping in front of my bag. "Hey, weren't you supposed to open this when you made it here?"
    "Is that a band of cash or am I seeing things?" Ace asks, chewing on a mouthful of pasta and grease.
    Not paying any attention to the conversation brewing behind me, I ask the lady at the desk tonight's specials. "Do you guys have any chinese food, here?" She speaks quickly of their 'Night at Korea' meal deals. Something told me not to go with their jalapeno sauce pork with a side of fried rice and to stick with the basic hot and spicy vegetable noodles.
    "Will that be all?" She asks.
    Before hanging up the call, I smile. "Yes. Thank you."
    "Avivah!" Leonidas calls from the kitchen. "Are you ordering food? Cause if you are, you might wanna share. Ace's frozen dinners are making me feel sick."
    Before I can catch myself, I peek my head in the kitchen and snarl. "I'm not sharing with the likes of you."
    "And why not?! We're partners, aren't we?" Leonidas bats his eyelashes and puckers his mouth. "Not even just a little bite?"
    Judah throws a couch pillow at Leonidas, barely hitting him, and folds his arm over his chest. "Can you be serious? You remind me of the snotty version of myself."
    "If I go bald, I'm suing you."
    "Try me, boy."
    Ace sits his bowl of pasta on the counter before adding. "If you two don't stop it, I'll make you room together."
    Together, Judah and Leonidas scream as if seeing a rat run across the floor, "Never!"
    I'd never shared a room with males before so I didn't really know if it were going to be so bad. Everyday is a learning experience.
    On the side of the room's service phone, I grab and open the envelope that Lu gave to me before my departure. Inside there were two tickets, a wad of cash, and a note.  I knew what the note said already. I was to go to the party with Leonidas, converse with the host, and possibly kill him on the spot depending on his statement. Judah was to our getaway driver and Ace was our distraction. I didn't need to see the note to know that I had to give this mission my all or else.