harley westward

No black magic can control me and no curse can let you own me

It still absolutely boggled her mind that Darcy would assume she wanted to bang him just because she wanted to know him better. Didn't he realize her intention was just the equivalent of knowing your jailer better? Seeing as she was forced to be some kind of errand girl. Or worse, some demented version of a fucking sidekick. Over her dead body. Well, considering it was a possibility she better not use that term so liberally. Receiving not much more than a grunt in reply the conversation fortunately shifted. At least until it was the topic of one of his many nicknames she had come up for the cowboy.

Her explanation however, received not much of a reaction from the vampire besides a mere shrug and a 'seems fair'. How unlike his usual irritable disposition. Yet there was still the callused beast inside, his complete disregard for his fallen comrades was a testament to that. Knowing damn well, he would equal disregard for her if she was simply another body. She could not forget that. Yet she could not shake how baffling this change in Darcy was. What was she to do with it? Her gemstone eyes narrowed upon him as if looking for some kind tell-tale sign of the previous Darcy. How could he look so.... unlike himself?

What could she get away with? What could she uncover that could simply help her understand, so she could survive. Better the devil you know, right? At least that was what she was going to tell herself. An excuse for staying when she should have turned to leave. Surely this also stemmed from some morbid fascination? One that would certainly kill her.

The matter of chicken however seemed to thrill him more that it should. The cowboy content to gorge himself of her leftovers like they were the best damn thing he had ever tasted. How could this man be so ruthless and blood thirsty and somehow become so... so human? Their conversation carried on, simply because she could not stop herself. She could not forget the fact that this vampire was unpredictable as a rabid dog, even though he resembled nothing of the man before. Her boldness returned in full force as she entered deadly territory brining up topics that would certainly leave her in some hot water if not for the venom that affected him. Talking about vampires and their covens and survival of the fittest nature. Why? If they couldn't stand one another. Why band together? The answer was far too simple. Strength came in numbers and with it, power. Power and control. A snort escaped the southern vampire as she leaned in to listen to his unique answer. It was easier to understand him the more she heard him speak so casually about the matter of territories. How much of that West was Risque's domain? Why the west of all places? The raven-haired woman seemed nothing short of engrossed by... all of it. Probably more than she should have. She should have prepared to leave, not pull up a makeshift seat and get comfortable with the enemy. It was unnerving how easy it was. She hardly reacted in the same was as his tongue played with an fang as he seemed to contemplate. Harley couldn't blame him, she would probably do the same if she had knives for teeth. How the man could even talk coherently was a feat in itself. Yet her mind was entirely focused on that topic still. Didn't he get tired of it? The fighting? The endless challenge. The constant need to watch his back. It seemed unyielding. Just as unyielding as her own current place sandwiched in the middle of that violent clusterfuck.

She was tired of being a part of some fucking vampire sandwich.

Darcy said more in that statement than he probably even realized. It summarized the man completely in that very sentence alone. A true gambling man, willing to risk it all, including his life. That made him infinitely more dangerous. Perhaps that sarcasm shouldn't have found her so freely as it had. Making light of something that should have worried her more than it should. "That sounds dramatic, Darcy. That's the thing with gambling though, the odds are that you will eventually lose. Have you ever considered another hobby, like..... gardening? I heard that is..." Boring as fuck. "Therapeutic." Gardening? What the fuck was she saying? Darcy was the furthest thing from a gardener. She could not even help the sound of her own amusement of Darcy possessing a green thumb of any kind. She shook her head as if ridding herself of the image.

It was something that Darcy said that Harley could not avoid, that topic that baffled her more than the thought of Darcy taking up a hobby. Love. What a dangerous topic that was. Might as well throw herself into a pit of starving alligators. Any topic that could be linked the mistress of evil herself was territory she should not be treading. Such topics she should have avoided like the plague. Yet there was something curious about the idea of vampires mating. Vampires were self-serving creatures. Why mate at all? It went against everything that Darcy claimed vampires were. It changed the rules and perhaps for that reason it made it an exception to the rule. Did that mean there were more exceptions? Exceptions to the rules were unpredictable. Which meant in Layman's terms, dangerous. Count on Harley to avoid all the warning signs and travel down that path regardless.

Darcy seemed to consider her question and for a moment and for a moment she thought like he might not answer at all. How did they meet? As if she could make sense of it. Find some weakness within that impenetrable vampire armour she could use. Darcy's voice entered the quiet alley. She was engrossed. More than she should be. The woman even met his eye with no fear, almost like she was enjoying this. His face softened when he spoke of Risque. When he recalled that story so very few must have known. The man seemed like he drifted somewhere else, like Harley simply didn't exist anymore. Harley should have probably expected it to be gruesome. It seemed like them. Of course, they couldn't meet some ordinary way. Boy meets girl. Risque hardly seemed like the blushing kind. Of course, the night they met was the night she killed his maker. What the actual fuck? Wasn't that the equivalent of killing someone's parent? Yet here the cowboy was, speaking of his mate like she was nothing short of a goddess. But that was not all! He was willing to meet his own end by her hand. Yet for some reason the wicked queen spared him. If she was on a murderous rampage, why did she stop at the cowboy? What the fuck was she missing here? Her frown seemed to deepen while she could have sworn that Darcy was about to sigh!

Harley was leaning in so far she could have lost balance and fallen flat on her face or... flat into Darcy's boots, but caught herself casually shifting, but really she kind of felt slightly disturbed and infinitely more curious than ever before. Darcy seemed more than content to speak all about that night, claiming the vampire queen seemed interested in his fangs. That was not at all what she expected. Surely there had to be more. That was a question that only the mercurial Risque herself had the answer to.

'We just fucked instead'. Suddenly Harley coughed, more like choked was the word. Wait what? She sat up then and then couldn't keep that growing grin from her face. That choking turned into a semblance of a laugh. Maybe she heard incorrectly. "You mean... fuck as in the devil's tango in the middle of a bloodbath? Or fuck in the sense that she thoroughly fucked with your mind and corrupted your soul?" She could not keep the amusement from her voice. Yet he seemed to shrug like any of that sentence seemed entirely normal. He meant the prior. "Oh." The thought of all those bodies, all of that blood and who the hell knows what else...and all Risque and Darcy could think of was to have fuck like rabbits? How did you keep blood from getting where it didn't belong? How did any of that... oh... no. She had an image in her mind now. A fucking image and there was not enough bleach in the whole world that could get rid of it. She did not want to imagine Risque and Darcy fucking. No. Not even a little. She didn't care they were hot people. It was just wrong. Fascinating and maybe a little... nope. Sure, maybe the biting could feel... Just no. She was not going there, even though her mind went there.

Harley's face was a cross between disturbed, amused and disgusted. She could only imagine how she looked to him. Darcy's lips began to part as if he was going to say more. Oh no. This time she was filled with dread. She didn't want to hear the gory details. Okay.. maybe she wouldn't be able to not hear them.

Darcy, at least seemed to spare her. His face remained completely soft like he was hit with cupid's arrow.

His choice of words she found entirely interesting. Kept him? Owed her everything? Nothing he wouldn't do? Whatever those words were, no matter how disturbing she found the trance in which he said it... it was the truth. His truth anyways. There was no denying that he was brainwashed or in love. Well, if you asked her.. both seemed one in the same. How was... she to respond to that fucking bombshell? For once the raven-haired feline was nothing short of.... Speechless. Her mouth opened and closed, only nothing came out, at least at first.

"You two.. sound...." Was he expecting for her to comment? "Perfect for one another." That response was the most political thing to have ever come out of her mouth. She deserved a medal. Of all the things that she could have said. This was the safest choice even though the man seemed like he didn't even hear her. The man never seemed higher when he declared that love was fruit. Uh, what? Was this supposed to make any sense to her? Was she supposed to understand? To agree? The woman looked nothing short of baffled. "Huh?" How the hell was love edible? Maybe it was a sexual reference to a woman's vagina. Maybe she shouldn't ask. Yeah.... That was probably for the better.

Darcy seemed to possess the attention span of a.. kid on a sugar high with ADHD in a ball pit. His gaze started to shift around him as if the topic of fruit made him hungry again. He didn't lie when he said he was always hungry when the man seemed to rediscover his love for pasta! Chicken made more sense, but the pasta? He seemed thrilled like he died and went to some kind of food heaven. A peel of laughter escaped her at the sight of it. No one would fucking believe her. No one.

Harley could not pry her eyes from the way Darcy ate that pasta with new zeal, the woman perhaps getting far too comfortable in those moments when he had asked her where that pasta came from. Perhaps she should have just kept it simple. The southern man paused mid-chew to all but send his narrowed gaze her way. The first sign of what seemed more like the aggressive vampire sans venom. 'Dun lie.' He didn't need to say more than that to know there seemed to be a semblance of a threat that made Harley's mouth go dry. An excruciating silence soon filled the air. The vampire made no move and yet neither did she. "Fine, you decided you wanted my food.. so you took it." This comment, at the very least seemed to satisfy the vampire before the chewing began once more and the tension seemed to lift like it was never there at all. Was the venom wearing off? Maybe they were running out of time.

Nah, Arlo said she had time. But Arlo wasn't here to hold any kind of accountability. Maybe it wore off quicker that he realized? Maybe Darcy was different? Maybe the musician intended to truly fuck her over after all. She shook her head. No. Of all that she could gather from Arlo, he didn't seem like he would. At least, not with this. The man almost took the force of a torpedo Darcy for fucks sake. It was with that thought alone the woman stretched out her legs like she was getting comfortable as Darcy shifted himself as if to make room for her. That act alone and the lack of action behind his mild threat attested that Darcy was still high, especially as she scarfed down that food.

Randomly Darcy decided to break that quiet with that declaration that he might one day marry Risque and claimed he hadn't because the timing had to be right. What did he even mean by that? Maybe that was an immortal thing. Harley decided to leave it at that before Darcy shifted into another tangent all together. Saloon doors and being good at math, of all things to ramble about suddenly. She could not help that laugh burst from her after she replied. Maybe she was high too? Was it possible to get a proximity high off vampire venom? That was when she heard the sound, a shocking sound of Darcy's own chuckle that joined her own. He laughed? It was such a bizarre sound that seemed entirely baffling. At that very moment, the vampire and were seemed almost strikingly amicable.

He seemed more than willing to flex how good at cards he was, and how it was legal. "You know in Vegas, they watch on their cameras for that kind of thing. It might not be illegal, but casinos seem to think it's like cheating... I guess its only fine when they are the ones making all money." He shoved more of that pasta into his mouth. The man seemed overly transfixed by food and perhaps the thought of being better than everyone else was enough to keep Darcy content. Forgetting all about Harley's existence.

It gave her the opportunity to study him thoroughly without his know how. Her gaze lingered on that chain that kept glinting in the lowlight. It was thick enough to stand out, as the man always seemed to wear it which meant it had some kind of significance, did it not? She remembered that chain all too well. The cool metal that had pressed against her flesh, when his iron grip pulled her close in spite of her pointless struggling. The way his fangs ripped into her to access the blood he all but stole. The memory tore through her mind with a vengeance, wiping away any kind of amusement that she'd felt by the moment. Reminded that she must never forget who and what he was no matter how deceptively nice he was at that moment. He snapped at her question even though it was more out of being baffled that she didn't know.

"Why would I know about your preferences of jewelry?" She shot back. He shoved the final bite of pasta into his mouth. He seemed distracted before but now, all that attention was upon her. It was unnerving in a way she hadn't felt before, especially being reminded by that violent memory. His answer prompted an even deeper frown. A realization burned inside of her mind. She didn't have a collar and she sure as fuck wasn't an employee. If she was, she definitely was skipped on the payroll. Yet it was an observation she should have noticed. But what did that mean for her? Especially when no collar or chain was around her own throat. Did that mean she was disposable?

Darcy was not at all concerned as he was lost with the mere act of fiddling with his chain, remembering it existed all over again. He revealed that he couldn't take it off, even if he wanted to. So it was just another collar, another sign of ownership. How the thought of that made her feel almost claustrophobic. She wasn't something that could be owned. She found his words deeply worrisome that she began to worry her lip as he spoke, only this time, she was far more focused on a mark on the brick wall beside him. How casually he spoke of Risque's brutality as if it was a memory in which he admired. He even went on to speak of his fondness for that chain! How utterly deluded he was! Darcy was far from but a mere victim.
The vampire almost excited to share with her the types of chains that his so-called sadistic love seemed to possess. Speaking of that abuse like it was normal. Until he claimed he learned fast. Learned how to survive and thrive within the tyranny of his mate that he still seemed to worship. It made no sense and it was one of the most twisted things she had heard of. Maybe it was better not knowing.

Would Nathaniel have forced he to wear a chain too? Was that normal? She felt the pit in her stomach. 'Don't be an idiot', he said in that strange way that caused her purple eyes to lift once more. She stared at him as if defiance clung to her, her gaze narrowing with burning anger of her own predicament. She heard a rustle within the dumpster and ignored it.. far too lost in thought.

She tried to formulate her response and yet she was clouded with feelings of her own oppression. Like hell she was going to be owned by anyone. Let them try. "I don't have a collar." She said finally, her voice turned serious. "I am not an employee either." She spoke with a certain pride like she had dodged a bullet and yet it was the furthest thing from the truth.

Harley didn't know what possessed her to raise to her feet but she did, placing her hands upon her hips like it somehow made her more intimidating.

Did it mean there was actually some hope in escape? Freedom? A loophole of some kind she could exploit here and now. Even if he forgot, she could use it later. Call it a test run. She looked down upon him, her defiance grew like well-fed flame.

"I think that makes me free, if going by your vampire rules." She challenged like she actually stood a chance, like she alone, a one woman army, could take down the system so many have failed before her. Yeah, maybe a proximity high was a thing.