“Well, when you put it like that,” I said, shaking my head sadly, “I guess I’ll have to die, then.”
“Excellent,” he said. “Finally, some sense…” He then glanced up at me, looking baffled. “What?”
“I’m not going to help you, Gabe,” I stated firmly. “In fact, I’m going to do everything within my power to stop you.”
The look on his face was a mixture of sadness and irritation.
“Pity.”
Chapter 43
The one thing I wasn’t sure of was how my sister fit in to all of this. If it was just me against Gabe, I was cool with that, but Wynn was probably a lot like me, meaning she’d be tough to beat.
On top of that, I had no idea what other tricks Gabe had up his sleeve. I doubted he was unprepared, though. He just wasn’t the type.
Still, I was taken by surprise when he sprouted fangs and long, sharp fingernails.
Even more surprising was that my fangs and nails popped out a moment later. It was as if he could control what my body was doing, too. That was my guess anyway, seeing that I sure as hell didn’t purposefully dive into vampire mode.
“I will battle you with each fathet of our genetic makeup,” he declared, demonstrating that he, too, had yet to master the vampire lisp. “Thith will demonthtrate to you firththand that you cannot win againtht me.”
“Wait,” I said, “are you thaying that you’re an amalgamite altho?”
“Yeth,” he replied. “My path wath not as eathy ath yourth, though. I had to thuffer through the entire protheth ath an adult. It wath…difficult.”
He lunged at me, raking his claws at my head in a burst of speed that caught me off guard. One of his nails connected, slicing its way across my temple, causing blood to pour into my left eye.
I swung back, but he jumped away before I could connect. If he continued moving at this speed, I’d be dead in no time.
Then, he leaped backward and turned into a werewolf. It happened all in one motion. Smooth. I’d dare say, he’d practiced. Then again, if that were the case, why wouldn’t he have practiced speaking without a lisp when in fanged mode?
The other thing I noticed was that he didn’t howl.
There was no time to think about that right now, because my body twisted, sending shocks of pain radiating through every fiber of my being.
My howl was intense.
Too bad it was silenced by the crushing blow of Gabe plowing into me, knocking me flat on my ass. Then, my belly exposed, he went to wrap his massive jaws around my throat.
Uh…no.
I kicked up, sending him flying overhead as I struggled to get back to my feet.
We both spun to face each other at the same time, growling and showing our teeth like a couple of Rottweilers who were fighting over the same treat.
His eyes flashed.
He was going werebear, and that meant I was too.
As if the pain of turning into full wolf wasn’t bad enough, going full werebear was fucking ridiculous. I finally understood why Portman was gruff and often grumpy.
That shit was unbearably painful.
Gabe and I collided, tearing at each other with massive paws and teeth. Our roars were so loud that I wouldn’t have been surprised to learn the people in the Absinthe tent above us heard us.
We wrestled for a solid minute, neither of us getting ahead of the other. Sure, there were bites, and slashes, and plenty of blood, but nothing that either of us couldn’t withstand.
Gabe pushed away and changed again.
This time, into a pixie.
Chapter 44
I’d never seen the world from such a vantage point. Everything was gigantic. The already large room appeared multiple times larger than before.
“What the fuck?” I said, looking at my hands.
“Quiet, you penis-hole taster!” Gabe demanded.
It was really strange hearing him talk that way, but I did take some solace in that he didn’t seem to be very good at it.
“What’s your plan now, cum donut?” I asked. “Are we going to race around the room or something?”
“No, you gargantuan taint stain,” he replied, crossing his little arms. “We’re going to have a Joke-off!”
Oh, goodie.
I’d wiped up an actual pixie at this not long ago. Somehow I thought Gabe wasn’t going to have a chance. He was too proper. Of course, that could also prove to be a problem for me since Joke-offs required the other side to laugh in order for the current joke-teller to get a point.
Gabe was not one who seemed prone to jocularity.
“Fine,” I said, feeling weird at hearing my voice sounding so small and tinny. “What kind of jokes are we going to do?”
“Free-for-all,” Gabe replied.
“I didn’t know that was an option.”
“It’s my game, pube-comber,” he sneered. “That means we play by my rules.”
Gabe clearly had a thing about people playing by his rules.
“Okay,” I started. “A guy is at the shrink’s office in the middle of a session. The shrink pulls out a bunch of cards that have inkblots all over them.”
“A Rorschach test,” affirmed Gabe. “Go on.”
“Right, well, the doctor tells the patient to say the first thing that comes to mind upon seeing each picture.” I cleared my throat. “He shows the first one and the patient says, ‘That’s a guy and a girl doing it on the bed.’ The doctor shows the second one and the guy remarks, ‘That’s a guy and a girl doing it on the kitchen table.’ The doctor says, ‘Hmmm,’ and shows another image. This time the patient says, ‘That’s a guy and a girl doing it on a park bench.’ The doctor finally sets the cards down and remarks, ‘I think I know what your problem is. All you think about is sex.’ The patient looks affronted at this diagnosis and shoots back, ‘Hey, Doc, they’re your pictures!’”
Gabe didn’t even crack a smile.
“Tough crowd,” I mumbled. “Right, well, your turn.”
“A three-legged dog walked into a pub in the Old West,” Gabe began. “He scanned the room with menace and said, ‘I’m looking for the man who shot my paw.’”
I didn’t laugh.
I did do a facepalm, but that didn’t count as points against.
“What did Cinderella do when she got to the ball?” I asked.
Gabe tapped his chin for a moment. “What?”
“Gagged.”
Again, nothing.
In fact, he didn’t even wait a beat before starting in on his next joke.
“How do snails fight?” he asked me.
I shrugged in response.
“They slug it out.”
Okay, so he was going for the really corny jokes. That made me think that those were the kind that made him laugh. So…
“What do you call a guy with a rubber toe?”
“Hmmm,” he mused. “I don’t know.”
“Roberto.”
It started as a twinkle in his eye, then turned to a grin, jumping next into a full-blown smile, and finally laughter ensued.
Right, so corny jokes were where it was at with him.
Unfortunately, he caught on quickly that I’d just bested him. His laughter stopped abruptly and he snapped his fingers, bringing himself back to his normal look and size.
I returned moments later, happy to find that my PPD suit was still in almost perfect shape. Obviously these things were magically imbued.
“I’ll give it to you that you were the better pixie,” he admitted. “I have never been one who excelled in humor.”
“Nooo,” I said, layering on so much sarcasm that it even made me feel I was being a bit douchey. “But you’re sooo good at it.”
“I sense your sarcasm,” he said, his voice just above a simmer. “No matter. We’ll now joust in something I know I’ll beat you at.”
“Being a dick?”
“Exact— What?”
“Nothing,” I replied. “You were saying?”
His hand
s began to glow.
Chapter 45
Fire struck against my shield with such power that I thought certain I was going to be fried to a crisp, but it held.
There may have been a fair bit of yelling coming from my side, though. It wasn’t the kind of yelling that you’d hear someone belt out due to fear, it was the kind that said, “Youuuu shallll notttt passss!”
After what felt like an eternity, Gabe stopped his flow of magic. That gave me time to drop my shield and let my energy fly.
There was no more holding back, either.
“You wanted to unleash the Kracken, Pop?” I barked at him. “Well, here it comes, motherfucker!”
I gave it everything I had, and then some.
I’d never felt power like this. And with each casting, it seemed to grow stronger and stronger.
My mages all got more and more tired as they fired off spells.
I didn’t.
My rage spilled forth like lava.
There was no pain.
Just pure, white-hot menace, and it felt terrifyingly wonderful.
I cackled like a madman as I walked around Gabe, throwing spell after spell at him, doing everything I could to destroy that son of a bitch.
“Yes,” he yelled over the noise, his shield somehow managing to contain my best. “You are growing, my son!”
That statement kicked the wind right out of my sails.
I stopped.
“What?”
“The more you use your power,” he said, his crazy-eyed face full of the same hate I was also feeling, “the more intoxicating it will be.”
My anger began to fade instantly as I looked around the room, down at my hands, and across at the man who was the impetus for all this insanity.
He was right.
It happened when I used compelling magic, it happened when I cast even the smallest of spells, and it was seriously happening when I threw massive ones like I’d just done against him.
I dropped my hands by my side.
“You’re a real piece of shit, Gabe,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re like the Darth Vader to my Luke Skywalker.”
“Huh?”
“You fucked with my life since I was born and now you’re trying to completely change who I’ve become.”
“Oh, please,” Gabe said, looking up at the ceiling. “You’ve had cars, clothes, a great place to live, and you’ve got more money than most CEOs in this country.”
I hated it when people pointed that out to me. Yes, it was true, but problems were relative. I’d have despised Gabe’s sorry ass even if I’d been destitute growing up.
“I’m not going to help you,” I said in a cold voice. “You may do your worst to me, but I’m done here.”
The look on his face was priceless. Years of research, waiting, pushing buttons, and releasing ubers on me had clearly failed.
He had failed.
I crossed my arms. “The one thing you didn’t plan for, Pop, was how so many decent people over the years would influence my personality.”
His eyes were burning, but they eventually cooled.
“Then there is nothing more I can do for you,” he whispered sadly. “After I kill you, your sister and I will rule the world. It’s a shame, boy, but I have no stomach for weak-minded fools.”
“Before you go and put me out of my misery, Pop,” I said, holding up a finger, “I just wanted you to know that I’ll be forever grateful for one thing that you did give me throughout all of this.”
He tilted his head as his hands dripped flames.
“And what is that?” he asked in condescending fashion.
“Time.”
His eyes shot open an instant before his world slowed. There was nothing he could do now, though, because I had the element of speed on my side.
Gabe was the one who had warned me not to use the Time power word unless it was absolutely necessary.
There were only three uses available of it, after all.
I’d called on the first one during Dr. Vernon’s awesome orgasm, the second one when we’d faced Charlotte in the Badlands, and now this.
It seemed fitting that Gabe was going to bite it due to this gift he’d given me—or was it a curse? I supposed it depended on one’s perspective.
Right now, I’d call it a gift.
I rushed over to him as his face continued to slowly contort into something that was beyond hate.
“Sorry, Pop,” I whispered, “but you’re just too much of a shit to be allowed to live.”
With that, I bypassed magic completely, having the sneaking suspicion that it might backfire on me. Knowing Gabe, that was a definite possibility.
Instead, I took out Boomy, stuck it under his chin, and ended his sorry ass.
But the fun didn’t end there.
The moment Gabe hit the floor, a swelling of magic began building up around his body like some type of self-destruct mechanism.
Time ceased a moment later, returning the world around me to its normal speed.
I glanced back at the door, seeing how far I was from it. That explained why this room had been so goddamn big. Gabe wanted to make sure that if he didn’t win, I sure as hell wouldn’t either.
My legs pumped with everything I had, but there was no chance.
I couldn’t escape it.
It was not the kind of explosion you’d expect from a bomb, though. I didn’t fly across the room and slam into a wall and there weren’t any concussive effects. In fact, there wasn’t even a sound.
The magic merely shredded the layers of venomous power I had throughout my body. I felt wave after wave fading away, piece by piece, until there was nothing left but who I was before the infamous Sylvester biting event.
I was drowning in anguish, like someone had given me the most tremendous high of a lifetime and then snatched it away, leaving me in a state of horrendous withdrawal.
Finally, I crashed to the ground, fading in and out of consciousness.
My groans were so weak, it was hard to tell that they even belonged to me. But seeing as though I was the only live body in this room…
Footsteps sounded.
Okay, so maybe I wasn’t the only live body in this room.
Shit.
I fought to open my eyes, to stay conscious, but it was damn near impossible. My brain just refused to cooperate.
But then I felt a set of hands lift up my head, sending a wave of power into me, bringing my mind back online slightly.
Hers was the face of an angel.
She had black hair and hazel eyes. Her skin was olive and as smooth as silk. Unlike my brothers, though, she looked finished…like she had a soul or whatever the hell you wanted to call it.
“Wynn,” I rasped as she continued her curious study of my face, “is that you?”
“Yes,” she replied. “And you are Ian. I have studied you alongside Father for years.”
“Yes.”
“You have killed him,” she said without inflection, no anger in her voice. “I was unable to do so.”
I swallowed. “Got lucky, I guess.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
“But now that he’s gone,” I promised her, “we can be a family. A real family.”
She smirked as a wave of evil caressed her eyes.
“I’m afraid that won’t work for me,” she said. “With you out of the way, I’ll be free to run Father’s…my empire without interference.”
“But…” I started, but I trailed off as she dropped my head on the hard floor, bringing the haze back to full.
“Time to die, brother,” she whispered in my ear.
“Back off, bitch,” came a louder voice, one that I’d heard many times over the years. “Do it now or you’ll be so fucking full of holes that you’ll look like a goddamn springboard.”
Rachel Cress had entered the room.
Chapter 46
Wynn stood up and looked across at my officers. I couldn’t see them, but I knew they were all there.
They had to be.
Everything went dark for a moment and then came back.
I was clearly fading in and out of consciousness at this point.
“We’ll meet again, brother,” Wynn said, giving me a gentle kick to the stomach. “Mark my words on that.”
Then she turned and walked away.
The next time my eyes opened, I saw Rachel kneeling next to me.
“Babe,” she said, slapping my face lightly, “are you there? Come on! Answer me!”
“I’m here,” I said through ragged breaths. “I’ll be fine. I just need to rest.”
“So you’re okay, then?” she asked, the look of concern grave on her face. “You’re going to make it?”
“Yes,” I answered, already feeling the healing effects of my body underway. “I just need time.”
“Good,” Rachel said, drawing her fist back. “You son of a bitch.”
The punch cracked me square in the jaw, turning the world black again.
Chapter 47
The next time I awoke, I was in the hospital. My entire team was in there with me, and they didn’t look happy.
Rachel walked over to my bedside.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
I pulled my hands up to protect myself.
“Yes.”
She rolled her eyes at me and grunted. Then, without much effort, she pulled my arms out of the way.
“Why did you do it?” she asked.
I knew what she was talking about, of course. Why did I leave them all behind while I went out and fought this battle alone? They knew the answer to the question already, but they clearly wanted to hear it from my lips.
“Because you’d all have been killed,” I said.
“That wasn’t your choice to make.”
“It damn well was my choice to make, Rachel,” I shot back in a raspy voice, pushing her away from me. “Whether or not you all like it, I am the chief of the Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department. That means that I have to make decisions from time to time that you will not like.”
Clash of Flames: An Ian Dex Supernatural Thriller Book 7 (Las Vegas Paranormal Police Department) Page 17