Devon held his glass up and clinked them together, but before he could bring it to his lips someone collided with his shoulder hard. The glass slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground, shattering in a foamy mess. The man who bumped him kept walking briskly as Devon turned to him, “Hey, asshole-” his words died on his tongue as emotions that weren’t his flickered through his mind. Hunger, frustration, and a level of indignation that made him bristle.

Discussion forgotten, Devon turned and followed. Drawn inexorably like a bloodhound, bumping through patrons till he passed the bathrooms and storage room to the rear of the bar. He was vaguely aware of Levi saying something behind him, but it was lost as his focus was drawn away.

The cold air on Devon’s face brought him back to the here and now. Blinking, he stood in the dark alleyway trying to process why he was there. A yelp from further down the alley caught his attention and he turned to see two forms locked together. Even in the dim light he recognized the dappled pattern of the woman’s dress and the man she was with. He had a fist full of blonde hair and was wrenching her head up, exposing her neck. She’d managed to wedge her purse into his face to block his assault but was quickly losing the battle.

The foreign emotions from earlier flooded Devon’s psyche again. His mouth watered profusely, and he felt the familiar pain and pressure behind his teeth in anticipation. He took a step forward eagerly, but when her pleading green eyes turned toward him and a terrified wail tore from her throat, it broke the spell.

Devon’s steps quickened and he lowered his shoulder, plowing hard into the man and knocking him sprawling into the puddle of garbage water that saturated the ground.

Not wasting her opportunity, the woman gasped a thanks and fled. Her footfalls melding with the ambient sounds of the city as the downed man stood up and regarded Devon with a fury that emanated off him like heat from a furnace. Baring his fangs, eyes the inky blackness of a shark, he was on Devon in a flash.

Breath was driven from his lungs as Devon’s back slammed into the brick wall. He didn’t have a chance to block as a fist contacted his cheek hard. “... mine. Get ... own.” The words came jumbled over the ringing in his ears as the man hit him again. Devon tasted blood in his mouth as the world spun.

Suddenly the grip on him released and Devon slumped to all fours. There was a scuffle, grunts, shouts, and the screech of metal as something hit the dumpster hard enough to shift its weight. Looking up Devon’s double vision managed to merge back into one as the man picked up a scrap of metal and took a swipe at ... “Levi?”

Another stab of the metal and Levi pivoted, pulling something out from inside his jacket and plunging it into the man’s chest. Opening his mouth in a silent scream, an orange light began to emanate from the assailant’s throat before fire bloomed from his chest in a crackling rumble. An instant later there was a landslide of flesh as the man locked in Levi’s grip turned to ash and slipped from his fingers like sand.

All that remained was a pile of smoldering soot dissolving into the wet asphalt combined with the smell of burnt flesh and sulfur.

Levi was at Devon’s side in an instant, helping him up. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” he stumbled, gaining his footing as he dragged a tongue along the inside of his cheek. “I think he knocked a few molars lose. What the fuck was that?”

“What was ...” Levi looked at him baffled. “You’re serious? You didn’t know what --“

“No, fuck, obviously I know what he was. I mean what the shit were you ...” The hot scent of copper filled Devon’s nose. “Levi, you’re bleeding.”

Pausing with a puzzled look on his face, Levi checked his hands before opening his jacket and looking down at his torso. His white shirt was already saturated with red, a ruler sized length of rusty metal protruded from his oblique. “Oh ... That’s not good.”