“Nev, no!” Kenny shouted.
A twig snapped behind her and Maddie spun around on her haunches then fell over and stared straight up the barrel of a .45. Slowly her eyes traveled up the barrel to the hand gripping the hilt, then the arm, neck, and finally… to black soulless eyes. “Ohmigod. Nev.”
“Intruder found,” Nev called out.
“Nev, no,” Maddie whispered. “Please, no.”
His finger twitched on the trigger in time with a muscle in his cheek. “Copy that.” He stepped back and kept the gun trained on her. “Hands up.”
“Nev, I—”
“Shut up or I shoot.”
A strange sort of calm descended on Tango as he watched Nev haul Maddie by the arm out into the open. She stumbled and almost fell, but Tango didn’t flinch. Instead, his eyes stayed glued to the unfolding of his worst nightmare as his mate, his one, his only, his anchor that kept him from unleashing his full powers on a world that didn’t care that Maddie was about to be handed over to an enemy. Then killed. By the man who’d pretended to be her father.
“Rafe!” Derek called.
“Eight minutes,” Rafe answered.
Layer by layer, one by one, every iron band Tango had spent years hammering in place between himself and his inner badass wrenched back. With each deliberate incineration of the emotional baggage that’d kept him stuck into two halves of one whole being, his mindset shifted and changed.
“Shit. That’s too long!” Derek glanced nervously at Tango. “He’s powering up now. Hell no, we won’t survive if he does! Caliv, options!”
No, they wouldn’t survive. No one would survive. Not if he lost her. And there was only one way to stop his mate, his unborn sons, and his only reason for living from being snuffed out of existence.
“Are you out of your mind,” Derek screeched. “The plane will depressurize if I open the doors and—Caliv, move!”
Caliv jerked away from Tango and leapt to his feet. “None of us will make it if we don’t! Get out of his way, Derek!”
Tango’s shoulders twitched. Wings burst from his back and power rolled up his spine into the base of his neck, then out his forehead and traveled through space and time until he pinpointed the exact location of his mate. He turned and took a step toward the door as the air around Maddie cleared and he felt her terror vibrate down the line. His fangs dropped with a growl.
They would die. Every damn one of them would die.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Maddie tried not to show her fear, but it was damned difficult with her brother pressing a gun to the back of her head and the man she’d spent the vast majority of her life calling father at her front. “I told you. Van is not with me. No one is with me.”
“Lying little slut.” Colby Jack spittled on her cheek. “Just like your mother. Your mouth is moving so you must be lying.”
“Go to hell.”
“Been there, done that, married your mother.” Colby Jack shoved her towards the helicopter that had just landed. “Move.”
Maddie stood her ground. “No.”
“What did you say?”
“No,” Maddie repeated with a false sense of bravado. Not like it would do her any good. Unless a miracle happened, she was dead. Well, if she was destined to die in this moment, then she was destined. Better to go out with some dignity than none at all.
Colby Jack narrowed his eyes on her and held out his hand. “Nev.”
“I don’t know what you’ve done to Nev, but he’s my big brother and loves me. He won’t kill me.”
Nev passed the gun over her shoulder and laid it in Colby Jack’s waiting hand.
“But I can.” Colby Jack pointed the gun at her face. “Goodbye, Madeline. You could have turned a nice little profit for me on the black market, but this will be much more satisfying.”
Fully aligned in purpose and intent, the two halves of Tango’s soul converged into a single entity. Fire and magic spread through his system, touched every cell in his body, then snaked out his back until it rippled through to the tips of his feathered wings.
“Bloody hell. Rafe! Door! Now!” Caliv yelled.
Tango took another step and runes sizzled into existence on his arms, neck, face, and back. The air around him crackled with energy and magic.
Caliv scrambled back into his seat. “You can’t stop him! No one can stop him! He’s pure magic!”
“But—aaargh!” Derek went flying. To the front of the plane. Into the cockpit. The door slammed and bolted shut behind him.
Zed’s men were lifted then slammed back into seats. Seat belts took on a life of their own and strapped the men in, then clanged and clicked into place.
Team secure, Tango waved a hand. “Open.”
The exit door locks started to disengage.
“I’ll bind the door once he’s clear,” Caliv called. “Hang on tight and start praying!”
The door burst off the hinges and disappeared into the night sky.
Head down, wings tucked, and his god slayer fully manifested, Tango dove out the door.
“Seriously,” Maddie said on a laugh. “That was your big plan for me? Sell me on the black market? That’s… just stupid.”
“I agree,” the witch murmured. “She’d be much more valuable as a breeder.”
“Mmm, no,” Maddie said. “Try genius scientist that’s worth way more alive than dead. Especially to my boss.”
“She works for Michael Sinclair,” Colby Jack spat out.
The two men behind him growled deep in their throat. “Kill her.”
“Don’t,” Maddie rushed to say. “I’m serious, Jack.”
Colby Jack swooped in and backhanded Maddie. “Don’t call me, Jack!”
Maddie’s head snapped to the side and she hit the ground. Hard.
“Stupid fucking bitch,” Colby Jack sneered. “Think you’re better and smarter than everyone else. You’re not. You’re just a stupid slut who couldn’t keep her husband or a baby.”
Maddie drew back in horror.
“That’s right. You didn’t think I knew. But I did.”
“What did you do,” Maddie breathed.
“What I should have done when your slut of a mother got pregnant with you.”
A low whirring sound filled her ears and Maddie felt rage. Pure unbridled rage that immediately destroyed whatever affection she may have felt for the man she’d once called father. She didn’t know how he knew about the miscarriage, but she damn sure knew he had nothing to do with it. Because she’d made the doctors check and double check to find a root cause. “No. You didn’t kill my baby.”
Colby Jack snickered and chambered a round. “Oh, but I did.”
A shadow passed over her and a chill ran down her spine, but Maddie wasn’t giving in to another round of Colby Jack and his emotional abuse routine. “Liar.”
“Maybe, maybe not, but you’ll never know.” Colby Jack lifted the gun and aimed it at her head. “Goodbye, Madeline.”
Colby Jack laughed into the strong breeze that gusted between them.
Then pulled the trigger.
Tango dropped, wings spread, and flinched as the bullets aimed at his mate slammed into his thigh, stomach then chest. With eyes locked onto Colby Jack, Tango commanded the fuckers with the bastard to stand down while Colby Jack unloaded his clip.
Clip emptied, Colby Jack gaped at him. “How the…?”
Tango wasn’t about to answer that question and instead released a whole shit load of god slayer essence. The bullets lodged in his body jerked, then reversed course, dropped from his body, and hit the sidewalk in a harmless ping.
Colby Jack’s eyes went wide and he fell back a step.
The scent of fear hit his nose and Tango smiled. It was evil, complete with fang and promise of retribution. “My turn.”
“Van,” Maddie gasped. “Thank God.”
Tango ignored her for the moment and kept eyes locked on his prey as he held out his hands and summoned the electricity humming inside
the power shack to him.
Bolts of white hot energy exploded from the building straight toward him, passing through Colby Jack and his men. Their eyes went wide and they screamed. Then dropped to the ground. Dead.
Maddie shrieked.
Tango spun around and faced Nev, then demanded from Maddie, “Did he hurt you?”
Nev blinked and shook his head. “What the… Tango? What are you doing here and… when the hell did you sprout wings?”
Maddie stared up at the love of her life. Who had wings. Giant wings that had feathers and— “Ohmigod. Van. You’re… an angel.”
“You keep thinking that when I get you home and my hand is paddling your bare ass.” Van advanced on Nev. “Did you hurt my mate?”
“What? No! Maddie’s my sister. I’d never—”
Van growled menacingly. “Dell!”
A second later, Dell blinked into existence behind Nev. “Good. You… who the hell hit Maddie?”
“I don’t know,” Van ground out. “But until I do know, Nev is on lockdown. Take him back to the plane then come back for Maddie.”
“Will do.” Dell gripped Nev’s shoulder. “Nighty-night.”
Nev jerked in shock, then collapsed unconscious.
Dell caught him, then heaved him on his shoulder. “Be right back. One minute. Tops.” Then he was gone.
Immediate threat to his mate dispatched, Tango pulled Maddie up and into his arms. “So help me God, Maddie, you ever do stupid shit like this again and I will fucking chain your ass to the bed and never let you up.”
Maddie hugged him back. “I had to try, Van! Sinjun and Andrei are outnumbered and I didn’t know if you’d got the message and I knew if I could just get the frequency jammer out of commission then I’d be able to call you and—”
Tango cupped the back of her head, tilted her face up to look at him then covered her lips in a hard kiss that silenced her rambling excuse. And he didn’t let up until he was satisfied that she was alive, breathing, and not dead.
Moderately satisfied, Tango eased back and immediately regretted it. Her cheek was red with a bruise already starting to form. “Who hit you?”
Her eyes drifted open. “My father.”
“Colby Jack is not your father.”
“I know.” She blinked and sobered. “Tolstoy. Ivanov. He’s in the building.”
Tango nodded. “I know. This shit ends tonight. When Dell returns, you’re going to the plane. No arguments. And you will stay there. This isn’t a game, Maddie. You stay on that plane.”
“I will, but—”
“No buts. I can’t do my job if I don’t know you’re safe.”
“I promise,” she cried. “I’ll stay on the plane and wait for you.”
“You better.” Tango sensed Dell’s arrival and looked up as his teammate materialized out of thin air. “K-dog good?”
Dell nodded. “Relieved his sister’s alive and guarding the prisoner. Delta team’s plane is coming in now.”
“Good. Have them check Maddie over for injuries.”
“I’m not the wounded one,” Maddie mumbled against his chest. “You are.”
Tango squeezed her to silence her and spoke to Dell. “You stay with her until I summon you.”
Dell nodded. “Then I’ll help you—”
“No,” Tango interrupted. “You’ll grab Black and Ajax and take them back to the plane.”
“Van, no,” Maddie said. “You can’t go in there alone.”
“Not up for discussion. If I don’t make it out,” Tango said. “You make sure she gets back. And move her into Oak Haven.”
“Of course, but—”
Tango cut Dell off. “I can feel Ajax weakening. I have to go.” One last hug to his mate and he released her, then stepped back. “Protect her, Dell. I’ll be back. Maddie, baby, stay safe and… wait for me.”
Last line delivered, Tango launched himself into the air and headed for the final battle.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
The second the world stopped spinning and Maddie recognize where she was—on her plane—she was off Dell and grabbing Kenny by the shirt. “Move! I need to see what’s happening!”
Kenny spun out of the seat at the computer station in the main cabin and stumbled to his feet. “I was working on that.”
“The frequency jammer is down and—” Maddie typed liked like a mad woman whose life depended on it. “Got it! I’m in.” She sat back and frowned up at the hotel surveillance cameras showing the ballroom. “Ohmi…. Dell.”
Maddie watched in stunned silence as Van grabbed a shifted tiger off his back then hurled him—as if it weighed nothing—off screen.
“I know,” Dell murmured. “But he needs me here. To protect and keep you safe.”
“Holy… Tango… he… wings?” Kenny sputtered.
Maddie gasped as a giant wolf lunged at Van. “Look out!”
Its jaws open were easily the size of her head and its canines the length of her fingers and it’d latched on Van’s arm like it was a chew toy and shook.
“Dell, you need to help him!”
Van yanked his arm and the wolf with it, then smacked it on the head and said something that looked like Heel! The wolf immediately dropped from Van’s arm, sat at his feet, then rolled over onto its back and showed its belly.
“How the… no wonder Lily listens to him,” Maddie mumbled dazed and slightly overwhelmed. “He’s… really good at this.”
“Yes, Maddie, he is,” Dell said softly from right behind her. “But only when he knows you’re safe. Do you understand?”
Eyes glued to the screen and the disturbingly beautiful dance of battle that Van was executing, Maddie slowly nodded.
“No.” Dell gripped the chair, spun her around, and then crouched down in front of her until they were on eye level. “Do you really understand? Your mate has a calling, a destiny, a job to do and he can’t do it if you don’t accept your role.”
“I… what role?”
“You are his anchor. His mate. The god slayer’s mate.”
He said it as if she were supposed to know what he was talking about. She did. Sort of. “I know.”
Dell shook his head at her. “No, you don’t. But you will and until then, you need to remember that no matter where you are or what you’re doing, he will always come for you.”
“I know. He came for me when I needed him.”
Again Dell shook his head. “You didn’t need him. But he needed you to. Do you understand?”
“But I did need him. I didn’t know about the attack and—”
“Give it up. She’s too dense to get cryptic.” Kenny dragged his attention away from the fight onscreen long enough to look at Dell then her. “Tango needs you to let him be a man.”
“No, not a man” Dell corrected. “A god slayer.”
“What does that even mean,” Maddie demanded. “I keep hearing it, but I have no clue what him being a god slayer means? And if I don’t know that, how in the world can I let him be it? And for the record, I’m not stopping him. He is what he is. I mean, look at him! He’s slicing, dicing, tossing, and barreling his way straight toward Andrei. Nothing is slowing him down.”
“He’d stopped in a heartbeat if he felt a threat to you. He’d rip out his own heart and throw it on the line if it meant saving you.”
“I know that,” Maddie declared. “Why do you think I’m here instead of out there watching his back? I’m here because he needs me here. Safe and sound so he can do what he needs to do.”
“Not just in this moment, but always.”
Maddie frowned. “You’re trying to tell me something.”
“I am,” Dell admitted. “Look at the markings on the back of his wings.”
Maddie turned and looked. On the back of each wing were black feathers in a U shape that mirrored each other. “They’re pretty. What about them?”
“Two halves of a single whole. They’re not fully combined. When you accept him, for who and what he is, and love
him in spite of everything it means he will have to do without you physically by his side, then they will move and bind together. The soul rite will be complete and he will be free to do what needs to be done.”
Maddie stared at Dell. “What’s does he need to do?”
“End the world to save it.”
Dell read every emotion that passed across Maddie’s face. She was concerned, afraid, curious, hopeful, but mostly confused. He couldn’t blame her. Being mate to the god slayer wouldn’t be easy. But she was strong. Much stronger than the last god slayer’s mate.
She could do this. And then he’d be free to give Tango the other part he needed.
But not until after he convinced Maddie to complete the last technical hurdle to the completion of their soul rite.
“Do you accept him and what he is,” Dell asked.
She nodded.
“Then say it and mean it.”
“I accept him.”
“Not good enough. Do you accept him and what he is?”
“I accept him and what he is,” she repeated.
Dell nodded. “Do you accept your role as anchor to his darkness? Light to his soul?”
Maddie frowned, but nodded. “I accept my role as anchor to his darkness and light to his soul.”
Dell smiled and lifted his hand, then laid his palm on her forehead. “And I, High Priest of the Supreme Temple of Eros, decree that what this God hath put together, no being shall tear asunder.” A jolt of pure, focused, energy shot from him into her.
Maddie jolted back in her seat and grasped at the seat back. “What the…? Dell?”
He ignored her and looked up at the screen. Tango turned at the right moment and Dell chuckled. Softly at first, then it gained strength.
The soul rite was complete.
And he was free.
Pain seared Tango’s back and he roared. A vamp charging him took one look at his face, pulled back, missed a step then tripped over a body in his way. Done with playing nice, Tango spun, palm out and a bolt of electricity shot out of his hand straight down the vamp’s surprised throat. The vamp exploded in a cloud of charred dust from the inside out.
Devil's Tango (Running with the Devil Book 1) Page 32