Entanglement

“I have to do it, Gabe,” Azlynn said. She had called him after she had presented her idea to Chief Lawson. Lawson hadn’t been thrilled by the idea at first, and neither was Gabe.

“Az, this is extremely dangerous,” Gabe said warily. “Are you sure about this plan?”

“Yes,” Azlynn replied firmly. “I can finally do something useful, Gabe. You know what this means to me.”

He sighed resignedly. “All right, Az. But we’re going to be sticking close when you go. I promised your mother I would keep you safe.”

“Fair enough. But you and the others stay hidden unless there’s real trouble,” Azlynn warned. “I can take care of myself, and I don’t want a scene if there doesn’t need to be one.”

“Agreed. Be careful, Azlynn.”

“I promise.” She flicked her phone shut, chewing her bottom lip thoughtfully.

“You know it’s downright criminal that you can stand there in a jacket that’s way too big for you and a ratty pair of pajama pants and still look that hot.” Dante’s voice made her spin around. He was lounging in the doorway, giving her one of those half-smiles he was so fond of.

“Are you going to cuff me and take me downtown?” she asked, propping her hands on her hips. Dante was across the room so fast that she barely saw him move. He didn’t flaunt his Were powers often, and she blinked up at him, startled.

“I might,” he said in a low voice, his arms slipping around her waist.

“Maybe I don’t want to be cuffed,” she said evenly, placing her hands against his chest. “What if I prefer having more…freedom of movement.”

Dante laughed quietly. “You’re full of surprises, angel girl.”

“You have no idea.” The air around them crackled, and Dante inclined his head as if to kiss her.

“DeMarco, Azlynn! Where are you?”

“These damned cock-blocking cops,” Dante growled. Azlynn big back a giggle as they trudged back to the conference room.

“Azlynn, if you would please explain this plan of yours again,” Lawson said, still looking unhappy.

“Stanton McNitt,” Azlynn began. “He’s the one we need to go to for information. There’s no sense in wasting time picking off lower level lackies. We need to go for the throat now.” She paused. “McNitt owns a lounge downtown, in one of his fancy hotels. But he has something special for his more wealthy clientele who have kinky tastes and fetishes. It’s a secret burlesque that they hold in a penthouse suite on the top floor of the hotel. You have to pay extravagant amounts of money to get in…unless you’re one of the dancers.”

“I have a feeling I know where this is going,” Miller interrupted, his eyes narrowed.

“If someone likes a girl, or two, they can pay extra to have her hang on his arm all night,” Azlynn continued, ignoring him. “There’s also gambling; including a special room that only top clients get into. McNitt spends much of his time, after the initial performances, there, playing poker and roulette. Girls who aren’t picked to cater to a specific bidder just keep performing on the stage. They don’t do have these exclusive parties every night, but the day after tomorrow they’ll be having one.”

“How do you even know about this?” Lawson asked, giving her a hard stare.

“I overheard some things when I went undercover at McNitt’s mansion,” she said coolly. It wasn‘t a total lie; she had found the thoughts in McNitt‘s head when she was undercover. “Charlotte and I can go in pretending to be dancers, and-”

“No,” Miller snapped. “Absolutely not.”

“I’m not a baby, Drew,” Charlotte grumbled. “Although, won’t McNitt recognize us?”

“It’s a masquerade,” Azlynn said. “The girls all wear masks, until someone bids on them and asks them to take it off. By then the clients are usually either in the gambling room, or so drunk that it doesn’t matter. If you’re all too uncomfortable with it, I can go in alone,” Azlynn said testily. She wanted McNitt’s head in a pike; she wasn’t going to sit around here and let Lawson’s team think of a better way in. She didn’t have that kind of time.

“Hey,” Charlotte protested. “I never said I wouldn’t do it.”

“Charlotte…” Miller muttered.

“What? You’re the one who pushed me to be part of the team,” Charlotte said, scowling. “I can handle it.”

“I don’t like the idea of letting my little sister go into a place like that, but I can’t let Azlynn go in there alone,” Lawson said. “She’s human; if something goes wrong then she could get hurt.”

Charlotte scoffed. “She’s not-”

“I don’t mind going it alone if you don’t want to send Charlotte,” Azlynn said, kicking Charlotte in the ankle under the table. She redhead grimaced, glowering at her.

“No, it’s best if you have back-up,” Lawson said firmly.

“Suit yourself,” Azlynn said.

“Then we need something in case you need an out,” Miller interjected, looking extremely put out. “You need a wire or something you can use to signal us if things go bad.”

“They’re going to a burlesque, Miller,” Dante said. “Where do you think you’ll be able to hide a wire?”

Miller shot him a scathing look. “I’ll find a place.”

“Well I’m sure you and Charlotte will enjoy that experience, but you’re not sticking a wire anywhere near Azlynn’s-”

“Hey, boys, knock it off,” Azlynn interrupted. “I’ll put my own wire on, all right?”

“Now on to the matter of where you’ll be staying,” Lawson started.

“I’m staying in my apartment,” Azlynn said quickly. “Trust me, it’s more than safe enough.”

“And given how safe your last safe place was, I’m gonna vote we don’t go to any more,” Dante remarked dryly. “Although I don’t really have much of an apartment to go back to at the moment. I just talked to Brian on the phone, and it seems they were more or less kicked out of our current one, so-”

“You can stay at my apartment,” Azlynn blurted. Four pairs of eyes turned to gape at her. She flushed. “I mean, I’m sure Sergeant Miller is going to be taking care of Charlotte, so you may as well stay with me instead of inconveniencing him,” she said hastily.

“I do not need taking care of,” Charlotte grumbled.

“So it’s settled then,” Lawson said. “Charlotte, you’ll stay with Drew for the time being, and Dante can stay with Azlynn. All of you meet back here Saturday night. I’ll have the rest of the team here and we can do surveillance outside the hotel while Charlotte and Azlynn are inside.”

“Aye, aye captain.” Dante saluted and rose from his chair. Azlynn stood as well and followed him as he beat a fast retreat from the room.

“Catch you later, Sarge,” Dante called over his shoulder, winking at Miller. “Don’[ do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Charlotte flushed and Miller rolled his eyes. “That doesn’t rule out much.”

“Pretty much just golf, nails, and girly drinks,” Dante agreed. Azlynn followed him out to the car, and gave him directions to her apartment building. He let out a low whistle when they reached it. “Damn, you angels sure know how to live,” he said. They didn’t encounter Gabe or any of the others as they rode up the elevator to her suite.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Azlynn said, padding into her bedroom. Dante raised his eyebrows suggestively. Azlynn grabbed one of the pillows off of her bed and chucked it at him. She stood under the hot water for a long time, then toweled off and slipped into a pair of silky pink PJ pants and a matching tank top with cream colored lace on the collar. As she opened the door and stepped out into her bedroom, she found Dante sprawled across her bed, flipping absently through TV channels and dressed in red flannel pajama pants.

“A bit presumptuous, aren’t you?” she asked, perching on the edge of her bed. She drew her hair forward, running a brush through it.

“Do you want me to leave?” Dante asked, continuing to aimlessly change channels on the television.

“No,” Azlynn said softly. “You can stay.”

“Really?” Dante paused, the TV going mute and staying on some ridiculous sitcom. Azlynn nodded, nervously toying with the bristles on her brush. She felt the bed shift, and then Dante was right behind her. She could feel his breath against her neck.

“Do you really want me to stay, or are you just being nice?” he asked. His hands slid up and down her bare arms, and goose bumps erupted across her skin.

“I want you to stay.”

“Ah, she admits it.” Dante chuckled softly, his hands dropping to her waist.

“Don’t let it go to your head,” Azlynn warned.

“Too late.” His lips pressed against her left shoulder blade and made a slow trail across her back to the other one. Azlynn shivered faintly. “Dante?” she whispered.

“Hmm?” he murmured, lips still pressed against her skin.

“If…this happens, what happens to us afterwards?”

He drew back slightly. “What do you mean?”

“Usually if a man has a fantasy, and then he finally lives it, it’s not so special anymore.” She bit her lip, waiting for his reply.

“Azlynn,” he said quietly. He gripped her shoulders gently and turned her so she faced him. “You’re a fantasy I want to have over and over again.” Azlynn smiled faintly. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her lips to his. He pushed her back onto the mattress, slipping his hands under her shirt and running his fingertips up and down her sides. Molten sparks danced through her veins, and her whole body seemed to hum.

She trailed soft kisses across his jaw, and then lightly bit his ear. He sucked in a sharp breath and stared down at her, his eyes dark and glowing.

Azlynn then found out exactly what Dante had been fantasizing about.



“Are you two sure you’re up for this?” Miller asked, for about the millionth time. They were in the back of the surveillance van that he, Lawson, Dante, and some of the other agents would be using to monitor Azlynn and Charlotte while they were inside the hotel. They both nodded, and shed the long coats they’d been wearing as they pulled up down the block from the hotel. Charlotte was wearing a black, long sleeved shirt. The sleeves hung off her shoulders and the bodice was tight. She also wore a black miniskirt over black tights and tiger-print pumps.

Azlynn was dressed in a more classic burlesque-style outfit; complete with a strapless red dress that revealed her entire back, and around her ribs and stomach the fabric was see-through, covered in glitter. The jagged edge skirt was the same deep crimson color, but was covered in black sequin roses. She had black tights as well, with black heels that were tied halfway up her calf with red ribbons.

She had curled and teased her hair, and a small top hat headband rested jauntily on her head. Azlynn ignored the stares of the men in the van and placed her mask over her face. It was a black swan and a white swan facing each other, their beaks coming together over her eyes. The white side was adorned with white feathers and iridescent pearls, while the black swan had gleaming black pearls.

She thought it fitting. Charlotte was wearing a mask shaped like a butterfly, and it too was tiger print, to match her shoes. Azlynn couldn’t help but smirk slightly at the choice. Charlotte had tied her long hair up into a braided bun and tinted it more blond with a temporary dye, just to make sure McNitt didn’t recognize her through the mask.

“Careful in there, you two.” Lawson warned. As Azlynn was turning to climb out of the van she caught Dante’s gaze. His expression conveyed the same order that Lawson had just given, and Azlynn nodded slightly. She and Charlotte made their way into the lounge.

* * *

“When should we make our move?” Charlotte whispered. McNitt himself had specifically asked for the two of them to accompany him into the VIP room, so to speak, and they had been sitting at his side while he played poker and talked with the other men at the table. He had just gone to the bar to refill his drink, and Azlynn could tell Charlotte was getting restless.

“Soon,” Azlynn whispered back. “A lot of the clients will be leaving soon; and it will be better to confront him with as few people here as possible.”

“How do you know they’re going to- oh. Right. Angel.” Charlotte sighed and took a drink of the virgin Bloody Mary she had ordered.

Twenty more tense minutes passed, and then it was time. Most of the clients filed out, leaving behind only a few vampires, and a small handful of demons.

“Now,” Azlynn whispered. She and Charlotte rose; Charlotte slipping a silver knife out of her boot and Azlynn tugging one free of the sheath she had kept under her skirt.

“We need to speak with you, McNitt,” she said, circling around to face him and digging the blade into his side. The good-natured smile he’d been wearing all night vanished.

“Who are you?” he demanded. Azlynn tugged off her mask and lessened her glamour. McNitt’s eyes widened in a combination of fear and excitement. Charlotte joined Azlynn, flicking off her own mask.

“Hey Stanton, remember me?” she spat.

“Oh that I do, Miss Lawson,” he chuckled. “Tell me, how is your arm?”

“What the fuck did you do to me?” Charlotte snarled. “I was told that no one could find me for three days.”

“Ah, yes, well I do apologize for that. It seems the anesthetic we gave you to knock you out was a tad bit stronger than we had thought.” He shrugged.

“Bastard,” she muttered.

“I know you’re working for Leviathan,” Azlynn said. “Why? What does he want?”

“He simply wishes to recruit supernatural creatures to his side.”

“For what?”

“Everyone needs a hobby.” He smirked.

“Clearly yours is being a spineless pawn for a real demon,” Azlynn sneered. His eyes went black and he bared his teeth at her. “This has ceased to be amusing,” he snarled. “Take the dark haired one, and kill the skin walker,” he commanded. The vampires moved for Charlotte, eager for blood. The demons lunged at Azlynn. She whipped her blade through the air, severing one demon’s head from its body.

She shed her glamour further, landing kicks and punches in a deadly whirlwind. The heel of her stiletto went through one demon’s throat, blood spurting like geyser as his body fell limply to the floor. Charlotte was cursing while she fended off vampire bites. Azlynn saw her pull something out of her boot; some kind of animal bone.

Unfortunately, while she was concentrating on that, she didn’t see the vampire that hurled himself at her.

“Charlotte, look out!” Charlotte jerked her head up just in time for the vampire to slam full force into her. They fell back against the plate glass window. Glass shattered, and Charlotte and the vampire fell along with the shards of window. Azlynn stabbed the two demons she’d been fighting off, and leapt at the window. Almost without thinking she spread her wings, hurtling through the air. She caught Charlotte halfway down, swooping down onto the sidewalk and setting Charlotte on her feet, unharmed but for a few cuts from the glass.

Azlynn realized there were faces everywhere, human and Were and demon alike. They were crowded outside the hotel, and now they were all staring at her. With her fangs and her multi-colored wings. She jerked back, feeling trapped.

“Lawson you found something like this and you didn’t bother to tell the bureau?” Azlynn jerked her head towards the voice. A man with dark blond hair and hard gray eyes dressed in a sharp suit was standing with Lawson.

“I didn’t know, Director,” Lawson stammered. “She said she was human.”

Azlynn reached her mind toward them; and learned that the blond man was Vance Walden; Director of Homeland Security. He was the one that Lawson had been reporting to, apparently. The one who had put together Lawson’s team.

“We have to take her, Lawson, you realize that,” Walden was saying.

“Like Hell you will!” Dante was pushing through the crowd, Miller hot on his heels. Miller immediately pulled Charlotte into his arms, asking if she was all right.

“Lawson you better not let this prick lay one finger on her,” Dante growled.

“DeMarco, please,” Lawson said, eyes flicking nervously between the enraged Weredragon and the cold director.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Azlynn said, her voice thrumming with power. She didn’t use any Compulsion, but her voice without glamour always sounded something like an ominous symphony. It was enough to make everyone but the director and Dante draw away from her.

“Director, is it really necessary to-”

“Yes, Lawson,” Walden interrupted curtly. “She’s unlike anything we’ve seen before. We can use her. And you will be able to retire with more than a full pension for being the one to discover her; accidentally or not. Don’t argue further, Lawson. I can make your life very difficult, and we’ll be taking the angel one way or another.”

“I don’t think so.” Gabe’s strong voice rang out, and he and the other four Warriors moved through the crowd, their glamours slipping slightly. A lot of men in Kevlar vests and holding very big guns appeared, forming a circle around the director.

“Guns aren’t going to stop us,” Gabe scoffed. He unfurled his golden wings, tensing for battle. The others followed suit. Azlynn sensed the bloodlust in the air; it rolled off the assembled demons and vampires in the waves; and even many of the shifters and Were’s grew restless, waiting for a fight. The humans were frozen in fear. Azlynn supposed she could compel them all; make them leave her alone. But there were by now hundreds of curious on-lookers, plus the people looking down from their hotel windows, and several news vans had appeared.

It would be too hard to Compel them all; and Azlynn needed to stop the outright war that was about to begin in the street. The angels were coiled to strike, and the FBI agents had their guns at the ready. Gabe moved first, and all guns fired at once. If they hit the delicate part of his wings…

“No!” Azlynn screamed, throwing herself in the line of fire. There was one odd trait that she had inherited from neither her demon blood or her angel blood; it was simply an unusual ability that somehow formed with the two combined. An angel’s wings were strong; they could take a lot of damage. However, there were critical and delicate veins and bones that ran through them. If those areas were hit, it was impossible for an angel to heal them right away. It destroyed their ability to fly. In battle angels usually wore armor over their wings to protect them. But Gabe and the others had not come prepared for a battle like this.

Azlynn, however, could form a shield around her wings, deflecting any damage. It shimmered around her wings like diamond, but was more impenetrable than steel. She flung herself in front of Gabe, spreading her wings to their full span, taking all the bullets. They bounced harmlessly off of her shields. When the gunfire ceased, she stood completely unharmed.

“Enough of this,” she said, folding her wings again. “I’ll go with you.”

“No!” Dante and Gabe said in unison.

“Put her in the van,” Walden ordered. “She should be able to fit back there.”

“That’s not necessary,” Azlynn said tersely. She folded her wings, allowing them to turn back into their tattoo form.

“Very impressive,” Walden drawled. “Put her in the back of my car, then. Lawson, you and I need to speak later.”

“Azlynn!” Dante called after her. Azlynn met his eyes over her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. Then she was forced into the back of Walden’s black Crown Victoria.