The SUV closed the distance from three hundred feet to two hundred to one hundred. When they hit a rut at fifty miles per hour, all four tires left the earth, and the vehicle soared for a few feet before crashing down with a grinding screech. Simone waited for the tires to explode or pop, but somehow they remained intact.
“Oh, shit!” Felipe cried.
Felipe stomped on the brake and gripped the wheel until he was rising out of his seat at an almost half-standing position behind the wheel. Plumes of smoke shot up from the tires, and the rancid stench of something burning filled the air as the backend of the vehicle swung to the side.
Everything seemed to move in slow motion as the following scene emblazoned on Simone’s mind in vivid detail. From within some of the potholes, metal glinted in the headlights and the SUV continued its slide toward holes as Felipe jerked the wheel to try to avoid them. With the backend of the vehicle almost even with the front, Simone watched the jagged edges of metal drew closer.
When she rested her fingers against the glass, she realized she’d done so in a subconscious gesture to push the metal away, but there was no stopping the inevitable. The SUV lurched to the side as the passenger side tires slid into the potholes first and then loud pops resonated through the air.
The vehicle sagged further as air left the tires, and Simone realized what was coming before the ground rushed up to smash against the window beside her. When the window shattered, she threw her arms up to protect herself from the beads of glass raining over her.
The inexplicable sensation of time slowing abruptly ended as the SUV rolled across the ground at a perilous velocity. The seat belt dug into her shoulder and lap while her head bounced back and forth. The roof dented in with a screech of metal before the vehicle went airborne once more.
A scream lodged in her throat as one echoed endlessly in her head.
Killean!
* * *
Leaning against the front doorframe of the asylum, Killean searched the road for an approaching vehicle. The road was so long he never saw them coming until they were only a couple of hundred feet away. And even then, he heard the engine before he saw the lights.
Lucien walked out the open door and halfway across the porch Killean had almost finished building. The newly built porch ran the entire front of the building and had a beamed roof. It would also have a railing running around all of it, but he hadn’t gotten that far yet. When he finished with it, he planned to hang a hammock and porch swing from the beams.
Declan sat on the steps with his hands propped behind him while he studied the sky already turning more gray than black as the stars faded from view. A few feet away from Killean, Saxon leaned against the brick wall with his legs crossed and his chin resting on his chest as if he were sleeping.
“Have you had any more hallucinations?” Lucien asked Killean.
An undercurrent of hostility still tinted Lucien’s tone when they spoke, but his animosity had eased.
“Not in a couple of weeks,” Killean replied. “Feeding regularly, killing Savages, and, mostly, Simone keep them at bay.”
“What about the sun? Does it still bother you?” Saxon asked.
“Yes,” Killean said. Everything else may have eased, but the effect of the sun remained the same.
“That will get better too,” Declan said.
“And what makes you such an expert?” Lucien demanded.
Declan shrugged. “It’s the way of the world; given enough time, everything changes.”
“Hmm,” Lucien grunted.
“Besides, in case you haven’t heard, I’m a genius,” Declan said.
Lucien scowled when Declan grinned at him. Killean knew they were here because they didn’t like leaving him alone until Simone arrived. Some nights, Ronan sat with them too, and on other nights there would only be one or two who stayed with him. He didn’t know if they stayed because they didn’t trust him or if they were offering him support, but he welcomed their company even if they were babysitting him.
Killean glanced impatiently at his watch as a strange sense of unease gripped him. Simone and her guards weren’t late, but something didn’t feel right. Killean prowled toward the steps and strained to hear while he studied the woods.
“What is it?” Declan asked.
“I don’t know,” he muttered. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
“Are you like Declan now and getting feelings?” Lucien inquired.
“Maybe if you showed some feelings you’d get laid more often,” Saxon retorted.
“Enough,” Killean growled as the uneasiness in his stomach spread into his chest and lodged in his throat.
Declan rose and looked to Lucien. “Call Ronan.”
“And say what, Killean has developed feelings?” Lucien demanded.
“Call him!” Declan commanded.
Lucien’s eyes narrowed, but he pulled a phone from his pocket and dialed a number. Declan rarely raised his voice, but when he did, they listened to him.
Killean! The scream, issued from Simone, burst into his head with so much force it rocked him back a step. Her terror battered him like a tornado tearing apart a home before he cut it off. If he didn’t sever their mental connection, he would become trapped in her fear and wouldn’t be able to react.
A cloud of red descended over his vision, and a snarl erupted from him. He still felt her through their bond, and he followed that connection as he leapt off the porch. The trees blurred when he raced by them with far more speed than he’d ever exhibited before. If the others followed him, he’d left them far behind.
With every step, his driving need to get to her propelled him faster, but he didn’t think it would be enough to save her.
Chapter Forty-Five
The vehicle skidded a few feet before finally coming to a halt on its crumpled roof. Hanging against the seat belt, Simone studied her surroundings as she fumbled for the release. A tree had dented in the side and wedged itself against the space between the front and back passenger seats. It blocked part of the window, but if she could get free, she’d be able to climb out the window. The driver’s side of the vehicle faced the road and remained on it, but her side faced the woods and was partially off the road.
The dented roof was only an inch or two above her head, all the passenger side windows and the back had shattered, but the windshield remained intact. Beside her, Sully grunted as he twisted in his seat. Edgar and Felipe hung in front of her; they were both gripping stakes while trying to unfasten their seat belts.
From out of the shadows, something metal glinted in the headlights before it smashed into the windshield. Spiderweb cracks spread out across the glass, but it held firm. The metal was yanked away and then swung forward again to batter the cracked glass. Simone instinctively jerked back when the glass fell apart and maniacal laughter sounded from outside.
The laughter continued as feet ran across the front of the vehicle and past Felipe and Sully. Like children playing a game of tag, she realized these creatures were toying with them and loving every second of it.
What was going to happen when they got tired of playing? She didn’t want to know the answer to that question, but she had no doubt she would learn it.
Beside her, Sully braced one hand against the roof as he undid his seat belt and toppled from his seat. Kneeling in the middle of the glass-covered roof, Sully bent to peer out the windows. In the front seats, Felipe and Edgar freed themselves and landed soundlessly on the roof. Simone jerked at the button as she tried to get it to unlatch.
“Easy,” Sully said as he crawled over to her.
Simone stopped yanking at the belt and took a deep breath to calm herself. Panicking now wouldn’t do them any good.
“Brace yourself,” Sully said.
Simone placed both her hands on the roof, and a second later, the seat belt released. Sully darted out of the way when her legs swung down, and she found herself kneeling on the roof. She rotated her shoulder to ease the discomfort from the
belt digging into her skin.
“Do you see them?” Felipe asked as he craned his head to peer out the driver’s side window.
“No. What was in the road that we hit?” Edgar demanded.
“A road spike, I think,” Felipe said. “They set a trap for us.”
“Assholes,” Sully said.
A piercing screech suddenly filled the air. Simone almost covered her ears with her hands to block out the nails on chalkboard sound, but deafening one of her senses would be a horrible idea right now.
As the hideous noise continued, feet began to circle the vehicle as if the Savages were the monkey chasing the weasel around the mulberry bush. She realized the Savages were using their fingernails or branches and rocks to scrape along the SUV as they walked and some actually skipped around the vehicle.
It’s a game; it’s all a game, and we’re the prizes.
Beads of sweat dotted Simone’s forehead as she glanced at the others. When would these monsters stop playing and launch their attack? It had to be soon as these things must realize Killean and the others were nearby, and they wouldn’t have much time to play these games before help arrived.
Then a horrifying possibility occurred to Simone; what if these monsters did have time to play these games? Killean and the others were always at the asylum before she arrived; what if these things had already launched an attack against them?
The panic she’d recently restrained flared back to life. She tried to mentally communicate with Killean but got no response. Her pulse raced through her veins, and her throat became dry as she struggled to retain her composure.
He’s okay; you would know if he wasn’t!
Taking a deep breath, Simone talked herself back from the edge of panic. She may not be able to communicate with him right now, but she could still feel him out there, somewhere.
And right now, she had to stay focused on the threat only feet away from her. Maybe these things didn’t know Killean and the others were close by, but she didn’t think that was true. She suspected this game was intended to torment them while these Savages waited for Killean and the others to arrive. And then when they came, the Savages would have the four of them trapped in this vehicle and would use them as a weapon against Killean, or at least they would use her.
She had to get out of this SUV.
Simone edged toward the window she’d sat beside. The broken pieces of glass stuck to her palms and knees but only a few nicked her flesh. She was almost to the window when Dallas’s head appeared beside the tree. Simone recoiled so fast from him that she almost fell on her ass.
“Boo,” he taunted before vanishing.
Simone blinked at where he’d been as the awful screeching stopped and their awful laughter replaced it.
“I hate these bastards,” Edgar muttered.
“We have to get out of here,” Felipe said.
Simone gazed out the window as feet danced and twirled by it. She realized they weren’t the mulberry bush; no, they were the sacrifice, and these things were devil worshippers dancing to satisfy their pagan God before slaughtering them.
She held her hand out to Sully. “Give me one of your stakes.”
He did a double take. “Do you know how to use it?”
Though the question annoyed her, she couldn’t blame him for asking it. When she resided in the stronghold, she’d never been a fighter. “Yes.”
Sully hesitated before reaching into his windbreaker and pulling a stake free; he slid it into her hand.
“You’re not going out there,” Edgar said to her.
“We can’t stay in here,” she replied. “Killean will come, and if we’re trapped in here, these things will use us against him when he does.”
“We can’t stay in here, but you can.”
Simone glared at him, but before she could respond, a strange look descended over Edgar’s face, and he was yanked backward. With his legs ripped out from under him, he crashed onto the roof. Felipe dove toward his friend, but his hands fell on the metal roof as Edgar was pulled out the broken front windshield.
Simone’s pulse thundered in her ears as she gawked at the place Edgar had been and silence descended. Then a scream pierced the air before abruptly cutting off. The coppery scent of blood filled her nostrils, before Edgar’s head landed on the ground in front of the SUV. It rocked back and forth before coming to a stop with its dead eyes and gaping mouth facing them.
Simone’s hand flew to her lips as bile rushed up her throat. Beside her, the warmth of Sully’s body did nothing to ease the ice permeating her bones. She didn’t have time to process what had happened to Edgar before Sully lurched awkwardly forward and released a garbled shout.
Thrown off by the sudden movement, the weight of his body shoved her back as his chest hit the ground and his breath rushed out of him. Simone lurched for him when he was dragged backward a few feet, but she missed grabbing his wrists.
Sully threw his hands out and gripped the edges of the window to stop himself from being pulled out of the vehicle. Simone and Felipe lunged forward; Simone gripped Sully’s forearms as she braced her feet against the SUV. Felipe wrapped his fingers around Sully’s wrist before letting out an oomph and collapsing onto the roof.
Felipe’s mouth formed an O as his fingers scrambled for purchase on the roof. His nails left gouges in its metal surface as he was pulled out of the vehicle. Simone’s grasp on Sully tightened as she used her legs to try to pull him back inside the SUV.
She hadn’t moved him an inch before Sully started screaming as if someone were eating him alive. She shuddered when she realized they actually could be feasting on him.
Sully’s scream cut off, and his dazed eyes rolled toward her. She felt his life slipping away as his grip on the window eased, but she was helpless to stop it. From outside, slurping sounds reached her as they consumed his blood. She spotted half a dozen Savages kneeling beside Sully while they fed.
Sully’s fingers uncurled, and his hands fell. When the Savages pulled him back, Simone kept her legs braced, but she was helpless to stop him from being pulled from her grip. When he disappeared, she found herself clinging to handfuls of his tattered shirt.
Tears burned her eyes, and a sob lodged in her throat as she released the pieces of cloth. She scrambled into the center of the roof and huddled there as she tried to figure out some way out of this mess, but all she thought about was the certainty of death in Sully’s eyes before he vanished.
Get it together, or you’ll be next, and they won’t just kill you. They’ll use you against Killean and turn you into one of them.
Gathering her courage, Simone leaned toward the stake she released when she lunged after Sully. She waited for something to reach in and grasp her hand when she snatched it up, but it was eerily quiet out there and she didn’t see any more feet.
More of their twisted game. They were trying to break her mentally, but they would fail.
With the stake clutched against her chest, she remained kneeling in the center of the roof as the first of the feet returned. Come after me, and I’ll make you regret it.
She tried to watch all the feet as the circling began again, but there were too many windows, too many ways in, and she couldn’t monitor them all.
“Boo!”
Simone almost shrieked when an unfamiliar face appeared in the broken window Sully was pulled through before the Savage withdrew.
“Boo!” someone declared from behind her.
She spun but whoever said it was already gone.
“Boo!”
She turned again, but no one was there. Shifting her grip on the stake, she wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans. The weapon wouldn’t do her any good if she couldn’t keep ahold of it. Her heart thudded so forcefully she thought it might burst out of her chest, but beneath her terror was a rising swell of rage.
“Boo!”
This time, she didn’t try to turn and see whoever shouted at her. If they yanked her out of the vehicle, so be it, but she was
n’t playing anymore.
“Boo!”
The face appeared next to her, and reacting on instinct, she swung the stake out and straight into the Savage’s eye. Nausea twisted in her stomach when the weapon plunged into the spongy organ. She clung to the stake when the vampire howled and reeled backward to tear itself free of the weapon.
Despite her disgust, satisfaction slithered through her. That would teach them to mess with her! But then the Savage’s cries ceased, and all the feet stopped moving in unison.
Simone gulped as she realized the game was over; they were coming for her.
Chapter Forty-Six
Killean had traversed three miles when he rounded a bend in the road and spotted the SUV on its roof. At least a dozen Savages circled the vehicle, and he spotted more sliding through the woods. With this many Savages present, the stench of them rivaled a landfill in July.
The coppery tang of blood permeated the air. Not Simone’s blood, he knew the sweet scent of that well, but he guessed it was the blood of those who’d been with her. Judging by the Savage’s surrounding the vehicle, he suspected Simone was still inside.
The red shading his eyes became more intense as the darkness he’d kept at bay burst free. He didn’t care what it did to him, he would destroy every one of these bastards to free Simone.
Killean bounded across the ground, grabbed the head of the Savage closest to him and yanked it to the side. The snap of the Savage’s neck paralyzed him instantly. When the vamp dropped to the ground, Killean’s gaze clashed with Joseph’s over the wreckage of the SUV.
A sly smile spread across Joseph’s lips. “There you are,” he purred. “We’ve been waiting for you.”
Bound by Darkness: The Alliance Series, Book 3 Page 28