by R. R. Virdi
Ortiz stifled a groan. “I thought as much. Let’s hear it.”
“I’m going to drive Ashton into the Neravene, trap him, and get him to null all of his contracts.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “That easy?”
“Hell no. Easy’s got nothing to do with it. I don’t have an option. Besides, I’ve got a feeling Ashton’s already set up a way for him to bolt if things get hairy. In fact, I’m counting on it. And it’s the only place a Faust’s really vulnerable.”
“As in killable?” She kept her gaze fixed ahead, but it felt like part of her managed to eye me as well.
“I think so. I didn’t get a chance to test that out. What I do know is they can’t take as much of a licking in there.”
“I hate that place.”
So did I.
We came several steps from the end of the hall. The room ahead was unlit and too far back into the gallery to receive any sunlight from the front windows.
Wonderful.
I held up three fingers for a countdown.
Ortiz nodded.
I folded my middle finger. My ring finger next.
My heart felt like it beat harder in the moment before I lowered the final finger.
I curled my pinky finger and made a fist.
We stepped into the room, my hand smacking against the side of the wall in search of a light switch. I found it and gave it a quick flick.
Light flooded the room.
Someone shrieked.
A sectional wall sat in the center of the room, leaving enough space to look past it and into the room where the scream had come from.
The area was much like the others. Canvas paintings, works in pencils and pens, and some physical pieces as well. An oversized mirror hung on the far wall. It was framed in old, worn wood and stretched wider than several canvas pieces put together. The thing looked like it’d been picked up secondhand from a yard sale.
I broke into a singsong voice. “One of these things doesn’t belong.”
Ortiz glowered at me then tilted her head to the monster in the room.
Ashton stood near the far wall in his human form. Caroline sat with her back against the same wall, a dozen feet from the Faust. Her hands and feet were duct-taped. Mascara bled from her lashes as tears streamed over her cheeks.
It was easy to see why.
Ariel, the brunette fitness video blogger, was a living piece of abstract art. Her body was bound to a rack made of metal pipes much like the piece I’d trashed in my tussle with the troll. Her wrists and ankles were the only anchor points, leaving much of her body limp as it hung from the metalwork.
That wasn’t all.
Blood pooled from a fresh gash in her throat.
Ariel didn’t struggle. She didn’t look like she was capable of putting up much of a fight anyhow. Dark bags hung under eyes like she’d gotten the worst night’s sleep. Her skin quickly lost its color.
We were too late.
Chapter Forty
Ashton held a folding knife with a serrated edge. Ariel’s blood trickled down the weapon, beads dripped to the floor.
My teeth ground, and the shotgun flew to chest level as I trained it on him. I slipped a finger over the trigger going so far as to exert pressure. It wasn’t enough to squeeze off a shot, but the urge was overwhelming.
Ortiz hissed, giving me a look that advised restraint.
The small muscles in my hand shook. It felt like someone had flooded my marrow with lighter fluid and ignited it. Part of the rage came from me, the other half from what remained of Daniel.
It’s never easy seeing your friends murdered. Doesn’t matter if they’ve asked for it or even dug the hole; it’s not something you can lie down and accept.
I exhaled and pulled my finger away from the trigger.
Ashton waved the knife in a gesture of admonishment. “Now, now, not too fast.” He held the weapon up, examining it under the light. “You don’t want to do anything hasty.” Ashton pointed the tip of the blade at Caroline. “She won’t come out of this in one piece if you do. Not to mention…” He trailed off and pointed the knife to the far wall.
Ortiz and I advanced slowly, keeping our weapons trained on him.
We passed the wall dividing the two rooms with different exhibits. Kelly sat against the wall Ashton pointed at. She rested on her knees, legs folded beneath her. The left corner of her lips was swollen and discolored.
That wasn’t what made my heart feel like a rung bell. Her eyes were wide open, staring both at me and through me. Kelly’s mouth hung half-open like she wanted to speak but couldn’t find the words. She wore an expression of disbelief, either at her current predicament or that we’d actually come to help her.
My finger twitched, itching to pump as many rounds as I could into Ashton’s chest cavity. None of which would free Caroline from her contract or ensure Kelly’s safety.
All it would do was piss off the bat.
I put that out of my mind and focused on what mattered: Kelly. “Ortiz, watch him.” I nodded my head towards Ashton.
She took three steps away from me, keeping the Faust in her sights while giving me some room.
I took a step towards Kelly, lowering the weapon so its weight came to rest on my shoulders via the strap. “Hey, Kelly.” My mouth refused to stretch into a smile. I made it happen anyway.
She licked her lips, casting a darting glance to Ashton. Her shoulders shook once.
What the hell did he do to her?
“Hey.” Her voice cracked and sounded like rougher than broken asphalt. “I’m sorry—I—”
“No, hey, none of that crap.” I cut a swath through the air with my hand. “I’m sorry for letting you get caught up in this. Don’t blame yourself.” Every word rang that bell in my chest a little harder. “It’s my fault.”
Ring.
“I could have sent you home at any time, kept you away from all of this.”
Ring.
“I knew something like this could happen.” My voice dropped lower. “It always seems to.”
Ring.
Kelly gave me a broken smile. There was no light or life in it. “Nobody makes me do anything. I chose this.” She forced her smile wider. Her cheeks quivered as she did.
Ring. Crack.
She was trying to make me feel better. The kid was sitting there as a consequence of my world, and she was trying to make me feel less guilty.
My hands balled into fists, shaking at my sides.
“She’s right, you know?”
I turned to Ashton.
He waggled the knife again. “She didn’t come here because of anything to do with you. Okay, that’s not entirely true. She did. Curiosity is one of the greatest mortal pushes. It drives them into all sorts of dangerous things. They just have to know.” A Cheshire-like grin spread over his face.
Ortiz took a series of smooth, almost gliding, steps in a semi-circle towards Caroline.
Ashton pivoted, stretching out his arm to point at Ortiz with the knife. “I wouldn’t.” He looked over his shoulder without turning. “Don’t feel too guilty. Kelly wanted answers for herself. She wants to be a part of this world. That’s what I gave her.”
My heart fell into the pit of my stomach. There must have been a look on my face, because Ashton sensed what I was thinking.
“Oh, no. She hasn’t made a deal, yet.” His smile grew. “I just decided to show her what monsters were like up close. I gave her a peek at some of what this world has to offer. The ups, the downs. How rough it can be.”
I pointed the weapon at him. “Yeah? Do tell.”
“I gave her a taste of what she wanted. Showed her all the knowledge she could dream of. Every bit of the paranormal world. And then, I took it away.” He tapped the side of the knife to his temple. “The mind remembers, you know? There’s a part of her that’s going mad at the fact she knew it all. Somewhere buried inside her, at one point at least, were all the answers to all the questions she ever had. Well, many
of them anyway.”
My finger exerted a modicum of pressure on the trigger again. Blowing him away would only jeopardize Caroline. She was too close to him. It wasn’t a stretch to believe a Faust would be able to take a slug or two to the chest and still make it over to her in time to kill her.
I didn’t need any more dead bodies. Not if I could help it. “And you just took those away from her? You ripped memories, knowledge, thoughts, right out of her freaking mind?”
He nodded. “It sounds a great deal more violent when you say it like that.”
Ortiz took another step, trying to position herself between Caroline and Ashton. “I could show you violent.” She flashed him a wolfish grin.
Ashton shook his body in mock terror. “Oh, I bet.” He hooked a finger to his collar, pulling it like he was afraid.
Ass muffin.
“I just offered what was on her mind and in her heart. And I did it without charging her. I think that was pretty decent of me,” said Ashton.
“Yeah, you’re a real charitable soul. Oh, that’s right, you freaks don’t have those. Only way you get them is by stealing them.”
He bucked at my comment. His lips peeled away from his teeth, the skin under his eyes wrinkling. “Is that what you think?” He thrust his hand towards Kelly. “You think we kill people just because?”
I nodded to Ariel.
He waved me off like that was inconsequential.
It wasn’t. And I was keeping score. I was going to make sure he paid for that.
“Making these deals isn’t a crime. They give us their souls by choice. Do you understand that? They are. Them. We’re completely up front about it, what it costs, and when it’s time to pay up. It’s not pretty. But for whatever amount of time they get, they get what they want. They get what they asked for.” His body quivered in rage.
It’s always the crazies, the monsters, who get bent out of shape in self-righteous anger.
“Doesn’t make it right.” My voice was cold stone.
“Right? Is that what your problem with this is? Right? What right do you have? This is their choice. Free will. People make choices that kill them all the time. Drugs. Alcohol. Stupid, reckless acts. Hell, some of you kill each other just because you can.” He smacked his hands to his chest. “At least we give them something for it. There’s consent. They asked for this. Each and every time—they asked!”
“Yeah, preying on desperate, broken people who need a miracle. You’re nothing more than a parasite—a fucking leech. You and your supernatural skank of a partner find people so low that they’re willing to trade anything for a little high in life. Something to take the pain away. You—”
Ashton screamed and whipped his hand around. The knife hurtled free, tumbling towards Ortiz. He used the distraction to move in a burst of freakish speed and rushed me.
Ortiz reacted faster than me. She twisted and unleashed a short burp from the automatic weapon before the knife struck her. It hit her shoulder hilt first. The speed and impact caused her to wince and stop short with her attack. The rounds cracked into the spot Ashton had been standing in.
Caroline screamed and flinched as drywall and bits of canvas dusted the air.
Kelly kicked at the floor as if she could backpedal through the wall behind her.
I steadied the weapon in my hand.
Ashton zigzagged as he closed the distance, too close for Ortiz to let loose with another salvo without fear of hitting me.
I squeezed the trigger. The shotgun thundered, a round striking Ashton in his core.
He lost his momentum and tumbled back like he’d take a sledgehammer to the chest. The Faust rolled head over heels. He landed flat on his back, looking up at the ceiling and blinking.
I pumped the forend of the gun, ejecting the spent shell. I took a short step towards Ashton, aiming the barrel at his fallen form.
He lay there panting. His hand shook as he tried to bring it to the wound. It was a nasty thing, like someone had driven a spike through a ripe melon, splitting it open. The center of his chest needed more than a few stitches.
It was a good look for him.
“You know…” He coughed blood, choking off any further comment.
“Ortiz, get Kelly and—”
Ashton surged to his feet and drove his palm into the area below my sternum.
The air left my lungs, and I fell to my side.
He followed me to the ground, staying too close for Ortiz to fire.
Smart bastard.
Ashton slid to the floor with sinuous grace and smacked his hand out. The shotgun was ripped from my grip and slid across the room. His wound still wept blood and other internal fluids. Some droplets landed on my new shirt.
Of course.
The torn mass of his chest knit itself together before my eyes. Skin and sinew spread like vines, intertwining until whole. A healthy color flooded the area of gray mass, taking on its original flesh tone.
He leaned in too close for comfort, bringing his mouth close to the side of my face. “That hurt.”
I lashed out with a hand, cuffing him over the side of his head.
Ashton growled and got to his feet, hauling me along with him. He snaked an arm around me, holding my back tight against his chest. “Who gave you the right to decide? Why do you get to intervene with free will and what humans choose to do? It’s their choice!”
“Dude.” I coughed once, trying to work through the pain in my sternum. “Personal space.”
“You think you’re clever?”
“Funny, Anna asked me the same thing. You should ask her for the answer. Oh, that’s right, you can’t. I stuck the bitch in the proverbial looking glass.”
Ashton’s fingers dug into my chest before he let loose a snarl. He shoved me towards Ortiz, staying close to my stumbling body as he advanced.
Ortiz shifted, trying to catch me with her free arm and fire on Ashton at the same time.
It didn’t work out that way.
I staggered a step before falling.
Ortiz sank her weight and reached out to grab me under one of my arms. Her balance was off, and the submachine gun lowered in her grip.
Ashton saw the opportunity and took it. He moved out from behind me, stepping gracefully around Ortiz and driving the bottom of his fist down on her wrist.
Ortiz’s face flashed through a series of expressions. Her eyes snapped shut, and she winced as her grip on the weapon broke. It clattered to the floor as she shook her wrist. Her hold on me faltered, and I followed the gun, crashing to the ground.
Ashton didn’t let up. His fingers dug into Ortiz’s hair, and he pulled hard.
She screamed, grabbing his wrist with her good hand and wrenching.
He struggled to hold her, leaning back to use the added leverage to haul her.
I panted for a two-count before scrambling to my feet. My fingers dragged along the floor as I snatched up the automatic weapon and lashed out with it. I drove its barrel into Ashton’s ribs, breaking his grip on Ortiz’s hair.
She found her footing and lashed out with a kick to the inside of his thigh before launching a knee into the underside of his chin.
Ashton’s head snapped back, throwing him off balance as he staggered back.
I leveled the machine gun at him and loosed a micro-burst of several rounds.
The Faust shook and toppled to the floor. A fresh torrent of red coated his recently healed chest.
Blood-red was definitely his color. Shame it wouldn’t last. The good things never do.
I pointed the weapon at his prone form and squeezed the trigger. A five-round staccato cracked out before the weapon clicked.
Crap. It’d been a stretch to believe there must’ve been a decent amount of ammunition left in the weapon after the Night Runners had tried to gun us down.
I tossed the weapon aside, falling to my knees over Ashton.
He wasn’t breathing. His eyes showed no sign of movement.
I knew better. I balled a
fist and drove it into his face. A wet slap filled my ears as my hand impacted Ashton’s cheek. I clawed at what remained of his teal, collared shirt, and pulled him close. “You wanted to know what gives me the right to intervene with free will.” I punctuated the statement with another blow to his face as I kept my hold on his shirt. “What gave you the right to lure them into temptation? To prey on them at their weakest?” I sank my fist into his nose. Cartilage folded and gave way with a sickening crunch.
The hollowness in Ashton’s eyes vanished. A maniacal light filled them. His chest shook, the bullet holes gone, and he laughed. Blood and saliva frothed at one corner of his mouth as a violent cough took over. He laughed through it. “To be tempted is to be human. It’s part of you. Your kind always wants something, and you’re all too willing to pay the price. Even at the cost of others.”
“Shut up.” I socked him in the mouth. His lips split, and tendrils of his blood hung between his mouth and my fist as I pulled it away. I shook the fluid clean from my hand.
He sputtered, small bubbles of the saliva-blood mixture formed between his lips. “Feel…better?”
I decked him again. “Getting there.”
His chest shook with a deep cough that sounded like it racked his lungs. “I bet.” Ashton inhaled a long breath that was more of a wheeze. “You know, it’s true though. People are always going to want things, sometimes terrible desires. And your kind has a long history of paying horrible prices for equally horrible wants. Don’t believe me, ask Caroline.”
My hand froze, and I glanced at her.
Caroline watched us in silence. Her mouth moved like she couldn’t find the right words.
“What do you mean?” I kept my gaze on her.
“You never figured out what she asked for, why she’s here. Her art career is still in the dumps. I know you know that much. So, what was it?”
Oh, hell.
I thought back to the memory from earlier and the swell of feelings that accompanied it.
Caroline and Daniel were in the hall. Close contact quickly led to a touch of intimacy. A touch that passed as quickly as it’d come.
Her letters came to mind. She’d laid her feelings bare in them. Caroline had also told me that she pulled her art from Daniel’s gallery, a place that was successful. There was no financial reason to do that. It must’ve been personal.