“What the hell are those things?” demanded Vincent, leaning in toward Serenity and Sebastian to be heard.
“They are what we’re trying to stop happening,” said Iona.
Serenity spun to her, having to shout above the storm. “I thought we were trying to stop Elizabeth’s murder?”
“We are,” she shouted back, holding her hair back with one hand so she could see. “But if we fail, this is the world we will all find ourselves living in. The veil between our world and Dominion is almost completely gone now and some of the demons have been able to get through. We must only have a few hours left.”
“We need to find Elizabeth,” said Sebastian. “And we need to do it fast.”
The demons didn’t appear to be paying the small group any particular attention. They needed to remain unnoticed. If the demons decided to focus their attention on the two vampires and women, they would surely slow them down. At least Sebastian still had his strengths here, Serenity reminded herself. When they’d been trapped in Dominion, his strengths had been failing him and he’d struggled to fight back. She hoped if the demons did attack, at least the two vampires at her side would crush them.
Sebastian’s strong arms lifted her again, and she tucked her face against the side of his neck, thankful for the protection and to be able to hide her eyes from the terrifying world around her. The initial jolt of his movement felt like her whole body had snapped back in time, and then the world rushed around her as he ran. She closed her eyes against the wickedly heightened force of the wind and rain and prayed they’d left the demons they’d seen far behind.
His movements drew to a stop once again and she found herself being set back on her feet. She blinked and lifted her arms to shelter her face from the driving rain. They stood in the parking lot of a motel. In front of them, the rundown motel had suffered badly from the storm damage; the sign had toppled from the top of the building and now hung in darkness across the front of the single story building. The rest of the lights were out as well—a power outage she assumed—but she was still able to make out the broken window of one of the rooms.
Elizabeth ...
Sebastian’s nostrils flared. “I can smell her. She was definitely here, but her scent is mixed with the smell of fuel, so she was taken in a car like she told Iona.” He nodded to the west. “They went in that direction.”
“So what are we waiting for?”
“It’s going to be almost impossible to track her with this storm. Individual scents of cars are always hard to distinguish from one another, never mind with this storm going on. The rain will wash away most trace, and whatever is left will be intermingled with whatever water might be running down the street at the same time.”
For once, he turned to Vincent for back up. The other vampire nodded his agreement. “We’d lose them within seconds.”
Serenity turned to Iona. “So what are we going to do?”
The sorceress pulled Elizabeth’s comfort blanket from beneath her shirt. Serenity blinked in surprise, she’d not realized Iona still had hold of it. The wind almost whipped the item from Iona’s grip and she pulled it closer to her body.
“I can try to make contact with her again. Find out if she’s seen anything else that might alert us to where she is.”
“Come this way,” Serenity said, catching hold of Iona’s hand and tugging her into the shelter of a porch which opened out into the small reception for the motel. The storm probably wouldn’t bother the vampires too much, but Iona was human, however powerful her sorcery might be, and Serenity’s first instinct was to take care of her.
They stepped in out of the worst of the weather, though the wind still gusted beneath the door and rain hammered against the roof and windows. The place seemed deserted, no sign of the demons or anyone else for that matter, and the reception area was in darkness. But then it was the middle of the night in a storm, most people would either be in bed—though probably too nervous to sleep—or had boarded themselves in. This area wasn’t used to storms of this magnitude and so didn’t have the storm cellars so common in many other parts of the country.
“It should be quicker this time … reaching her, I mean,” said Iona. “I’ve already created that connection with her.”
“Okay, good,” said Serenity, relieved they wouldn’t be standing around in the storm for too long, but also because of the knowledge that with every passing minute, Elizabeth was probably being taken farther and farther away from them.
She tried not to hold her breath in anticipation as Iona knelt on the floor, closed her eyes, and fell into a trance-like state. Serenity’s eyes darted around the forlorn parking lot, every pool of shadows now potentially hiding something she’d thought would never exist in this world. Every movement—pieces of debris lifted by the wind and spun, twirled and skittered across the asphalt—had her catching her breath, her heart leaping in her chest. At least she had Sebastian and Vincent by her side to protect her. But what if the demons were after Elizabeth? Who would protect her baby?
Iona gasped and lifted her head.
“Well?” Serenity asked, her anxiety too great for her to hold her tongue. “Did you see her? Speak to her?”
Iona nodded, the movement making her sway as if she was disoriented, and Serenity put a hand out to steady her. “She’s fine. Scared, but unhurt.”
“Did she tell you where she was?”
“She thinks they’re on the Santa Monica Freeway, heading west.”
Thank God, she thought, though the idea of her daughter being frightened made her more furious than anything else she’d ever experienced in her life. When she caught up with the man who had taken her child, she would kill him herself.
Chapter Seventeen
The car slowed to a crawl as Conner was forced to negotiate increasing amounts of debris and flooding on the road. The vehicle behind, the one Elizabeth had first been brought to the motel in, followed close, Liam at the wheel with Mary in the passenger seat.
Elizabeth sat in the back seat of the Lincoln with her hands clenched in her lap, her lips pressed together, trying not to cry. She refused to give her captors the satisfaction. Every inch of her body tensed with anger and hatred toward Ryan and Conner, but especially Ryan. She’d never trusted his father, but she’d trusted him. Part of her still wanted to cling to the hope that he was lying to her now about not being half vampire to protect himself somehow. Yet, deep down, she realized that was no more than wishful thinking, praying she hadn’t found herself alone in the world once again.
Frightened of the things occurring outside as much as by the people inside the car, she didn’t want to watch the road go by, but she knew she needed to in case Iona contacted her again.
She’d been sitting in the car, staring out the window and trying to pretend Ryan wasn’t there, when she’d heard her name called—a woman’s voice. Surprised and confused, she turned her head to find Iona sitting in the seat between herself and Ryan. The young sorceress smiled at her and a wave of relief had washed through her. Elizabeth glanced nervously at Ryan, Conner and Orla, wondering if they’d noticed the vehicle was suddenly one person up.
“Don’t worry, Elizabeth,” Iona said with a smile. “They can’t hear me or hear you speak to me. We’re on a different level than them now. Can’t you feel it?”
Elizabeth looked around and realized she could. Though she knew she still sat in the back of the car, the scene around her seemed pale in comparison to Iona and the conversation they were having. “Can you see where I am?” she asked in desperation. “Is my dad coming to get me?”
“I can only see you, Elizabeth, not your surroundings. Your dad and mom are with Vincent and I back at the motel where they’d been keeping you. We can’t follow your trail, the storm is too bad. You need to tell me where you are, where they’re taking you.”
“I don’t know where they’re taking me. Conner kept talking about me making a blood sacrifice at sunrise. But I don’t know how much of what they told me wa
s the truth—” Her voice broke. “Ryan was lying to me. He told me things …”
Iona’s warm hand slid over hers and she squeezed it in comfort. “Hey, it’s okay. Don’t upset yourself. You’re right not to believe them, but we can’t worry about that now. Are you able to tell me where you are so we can come and get you?”
She shook her head miserably. “I’m not sure. I’m in the back of Conner’s car and we’re on the freeway.”
“Which one?”
“Err, the Pacific Highway, I think.” She wished she’d been paying more attention, but she’d been too caught up in her fear and anger to think about their route. She turned her head and looked out of the window, hoping to catch sight of a sign to confirm her suspicions, but none appeared on the side of the freeway. Instead, black shapes ran alongside the car, some keeping pace, while others darted off, vanishing into the storm. The sight made her heart beat hard, a lump of fright forming in her throat. She swallowed her fear and forced herself to concentrate, straightening her head and peering through the rain-lashed car windshield.
There!
Up ahead, huge metal girders ran across the freeway, holding the green signs to tell drivers where they were headed. Quickly, she read them: Santa Monica, 10 West; San Pedro; and another at a junction reading Exit 14A. She reeled them off to Iona as the car passed beneath.
“Got it,” said Iona. “We’re coming for you.” And with that, the sorceress vanished.
Elizabeth felt herself fall, her consciousness, or her soul perhaps, actually dropping down a level to re-engage with her body. Nervous, she glanced over at Ryan. The atmosphere inside the car hadn’t changed; no one noticed anything had happened.
At least now she had the little nugget of hope tucked away inside of her, wishing for her father to reach her before anything else went wrong. The car had picked up some speed again and was rapidly increasing the distance between them and the sign she’d read to Iona. If they went too far, she worried they wouldn’t be able to find her again.
In her head, she read off the street signs they passed beneath, trying to commit them to memory. She counted between the junctions … one elephant, two elephant, three elephant … trying to get a solid idea of how much time passed between each landmark.
Rain ran down the highway like a river, the wind creating small waves in the flow. Even though Conner drove slowly, the tires made the water spray up from both sides of the vehicle, the water cascading away from them. On occasion, she felt the car lose traction on the asphalt and they skidded until rubber hit road once more. The vehicle behind kept a decent stopping distance, Liam clearly aware of the hazards.
On the other side of the freeway, she saw another vehicle skewed across the road as though it had been forced to a stop. The driver’s door was open, darkness filling the empty space. But, as she watched—rubbernecking as they passed by—the black took the shape of one of the tall, human-like demons and, together with the driver, seemed to clamber out of the car and onto the road. The demon stood straight, one arm locked around the man’s neck, so it pinned the man’s back against its strange elongated chest.
Elizabeth clamped a hand over her mouth, a squeal of shock escaping her throat. Her heart thumped so hard it felt like the organ filled the whole of her chest cavity, banging against her ribs. This time, when Ryan took her hand, she found herself squeezing it back in terror. She turned to him, about to ask him if he’d just seen what she had, but she could tell by the way his face was drained of all color and his lower jaw trembled that he had.
What were those things? So far, the creatures had left them alone, but she kept catching their gaze focused on the car, as if they thought something of interest was housed within. Yet they made no move to leap for the vehicle or grab at them. Somehow, the black things seemed to know to stay away, as though they wanted the small group to reach their destination.
The freeway cleared of debris and other vehicles for a moment, and they started to pick up speed again. Wind buffeted the side of the car as if threatening to push them off the freeway and even Elizabeth felt its force.
Tall palms intermittently lined the side of the road, bent double under the strength of the gale, the trunks curved, leaves flapping. Branches tore off, dancing and skittering across the asphalt.
“Look out!” Orla screeched, her arm outstretched as she pointed to something through the windshield.
With a moaning crack, one of the palms came crashing down just in front of the vehicle.
Conner slammed his foot on the brake and Elizabeth flung her arms up in front of her face as she was thrown forward. She expected to hit the back of the seat in front, but instead was held back at the last minute, her body jolting back against her own seat.
The car skidded to a halt, narrowly missing the fallen tree trunk. The vehicle behind also slammed on the brakes in response, skidding across the waterlogged road to stop just short of the fender.
Her brain took a moment to process what had happened. She realized Ryan’s body was crushed against hers, his face against her hair, his breath warm on her cheek. She took great heaving breaths of panic, his chest moving in time with her own. He had saved her from mashing her face on the seat, she realized. He’d flung himself across her torso, holding her back, pinned against the back seat.
Awkwardly, Ryan sat up and pulled away from Elizabeth, sliding back into his seat. She didn’t know whether she should bother to say thank you; after all, she was only in this situation because of him. He glanced over and mouthed, “You okay?” but she could only bring herself to shoot him a narrow-eyed glare and give her head a quick shake to show she wasn’t.
“Damn,” spat Conner. Elizabeth noticed his hands clutching the wheel hard enough to turn his knuckles white.
That had been a near miss. Though tall and elegant when these giants stood upright, now the tree was down, she could see how huge it was, the vastness of its green fronds like a jungle directly in front of them, the trunk thick and solid. If it had landed on the car, they’d have been crushed.
She couldn’t be certain, but she thought she caught glimpses of small, black creatures hiding within the fronds, causing them to tremble out of sync with the movement caused by the wind.
Pulling himself together, Conner wound down his window, stuck his arm out into the rain, and made circling motion with his hand to the car behind. They couldn’t drive around the tree; it stretched from the edge of the freeway to the dividing barrier. They’d have to go back. The other car reversed, then did a three-point turn so it pointed in the opposite direction. Conner maneuvered his vehicle in the same way and then passed by the other car so it could continue to follow, heading back the way they’d just come.
Oh, God, we’re driving the wrong way down the freeway, Elizabeth thought in alarm. Where the hell were all the traffic cops? What would happen if they met someone head-on? Falling trees might be the least of their worries if they weren’t seen due to driving rain and poor visibility.
Within a few minutes, Conner swung the vehicle, causing Elizabeth to lean to one side so she found herself pressed up against Ryan’s shoulder. He took the exit ramp seemingly without any concern that another car might be coming the other way, but they made it safely off the freeway and onto the road below.
She sighed in relief and pushed away from Ryan. Thank God most people had stayed indoors and the roads were so quiet. She’d felt sure they were about to have a head-on collision. She glanced behind to check if the other car was still following and for any sign of her father. The other car still tailed them, but, otherwise, she remained alone.
The car passed below an overpass. Creatures hid in the darkness, clutching to the concrete crevasses with clawed feet like bats. Elizabeth lifted her face to stare from the passenger window, craning her neck to catch sight of their bright red eyes, which surveyed her in return as the car drove by, heading into the suburbs. This area was faring far less well in the storm. On the upper level of one of the apartments, the front of the buil
ding had been torn away, exposing the insides like some kind of bizarre show home. In the distance, she saw a giant crane knocked in half, dangling precariously over the street, swaying every time a fresh gust hit the warped metal.
Conner drove through the suburbs while staying relatively parallel with the freeway. Elizabeth assumed he was cutting through until he could find another junction to get back onto the freeway, past the point where the palm had come down. If he stayed in these built-up areas, they were bound to get into more trouble. At least on the freeway there was little chance of the side of a building coming down on top of them.
To the north, on the horizon, a power plant exploded in a ball of bright white light. All around them, the wail of sirens rose and fell. Small fires were breaking out all over—the torrential rain and increasingly rising flood waters seeming to do little to put them out. Elizabeth wondered if the Los Angeles River had burst its banks.
The city looked like a disaster zone.
Conner left the streets and headed back toward the freeway,away from the wrecked houses and apartments. She could see the freeway just up ahead and they passed beneath another smaller flyover, looking for another junction where they could get back on the main road. With jaded eyes, Elizabeth noted the graffiti marked on the concrete pillars which held up the road above and the flooded pockets of wasteland, plastic bottles and torn trash bags floating in the pools.
Something landed on the roof of the car with a thump, the metal caving at the impact. Elizabeth squealed as the change in weight caused Conner to lose control of the car and it skidded across the road, sliding on the water. She managed to glance over her shoulder just in time to see the car containing Liam and Mary do exactly the same thing, but this time she understood the reason why. A huge shape was mounted on top of the car roof. The shape didn’t stagger or fall, but remained crouched as the car spun on the wet road. A demon! she thought in alarm. Then it turned to face her, pale features visible in the darkness, and her heart leapt.
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