Means set aside his brush, one of the tools he’d stolen from the dig site, and lifted the sleeve of his coverall. Wrapped around his wrist was a silver cuff, inlaid with semiprecious stones and crystals, and with a large blood-red crystal cabochon at the center of radiating rings of etched flames.
“Might want to stand back,” Means said, a grin beginning to slide across his face. Then he bent and dipped a finger into the remaining blood inside the bucket and held it above the cabochon.
One drop slid onto the stone. The drop disappeared, melting into the crystal.
Around them, the humming grew louder, the air began to move, building until it whipped around the barracks floor like a cyclone.
Then a pinprick of bright light burst in front of Means, expanding instantly, tearing at the fabric of this dimension, opening a gash of bright intense light and heat. The Wizard laughed gleefully, and reached into the tear, pulling back the edges with his hands until it opened wide, revealing another place, another world inside.
Darkness lay in wait, moonlight filtering through the gash to touch the floor of the barracks.
“Quickly,” the Wizard shouted. “Anyone who wants to come with me, step through!”
Murmurings sounded all around them. The prisoners shifted on their feet, exchanging glances, a few, namely the ones The Wizard had befriended, stepped eagerly forward and climbed through the rift.
Gabriel stood, his hands clenched at his sides, unable to warn them what awaited them. It sure as shit wasn’t freedom. But he needed the cuff and had to get close enough to Means without being jumped by his minions.
He stepped closer to Means and touched a jagged edge of the portal, then grasped the burning rim and opened it wider, smiling across at demon. More prisoners stepped forward, ones not quite so eager, but with jaws sliding tight as they stepped through the gaping hole to the other side.
A dozen entered, many more hung back, their expressions stating their unease and disbelief.
The Wizard shook his head. “Once it closes, you’re stuck here.”
But no more stepped forward.
With an angry growl, Means stepped in front of the portal.
It was now or never. Gabriel lunged for him, gripping the cuff and slinging it away, and then shoving the demon through. Mean’s body dropped to the floor as the demon slid from his skin to land in a heap on the other side.
Without looking back, he dove toward Billy.
“Left pocket,” Billy shouted, and came up on his knees.
He dug his hand into Billy’s pocket, wrapped his fingers around the cylinder, pulled it out, and then biting off the clip, he tossed the explosive inside the portal. “Get down,” he shouted to everyone around him.
The demon on the other side, clad in slick blue skin, caught the grenade and lifted his arm to throw, but it exploded in a flash of heat and light that engulfed the barracks.
Gabriel ducked his heat as heat flamed outward, and then was quickly snuffed away. When he looked back, the portal winked out, but rumbling began to ripple beneath the flooring, spreading outward like the epicenter of a small earthquake.
The barracks lights flickered out. Dead silence engulfed the room. The emergency spotlights above the control booth flashed on, and he had his first glance around.
Jagged edges of concrete rose in concentric circles, like ripples on a pond. Men knocked off their feet by the blast and the subsequent inter-dimensional shift slowly picked themselves up.
Gabriel turned back to the row of officers. Billy had flung himself over Gillian and was rising on his knees again. She moaned, lying between rings of rubble. Everyone was covered in cinder dust, but otherwise seemed unharmed.
Then shouts sounded from outside the barracks, and men rushed in, dressed in ERT helmets, carrying shields and tasers as they flooded inside.
Gabriel slumped on his knees on the ground and placed his hands behind his head, surrendering. As soon as the commotion cleared, he’d search for the cuff. His mission was completed.
Chapter 8
Gillian rubbed her wrists while her gaze scanned the conference room. She wasn’t sure why she’d been invited. She wasn’t part of the operation the men surrounding her kept mentioning.
But Billy was. Between him, Gabriel Vlahos, who apparently wasn’t a prisoner at all, and Deputy Warden Kalicek, the details of their undercover sting were shared.
At the center of the table lay the silver object that had apparently been the key used to open a doorway into the demon’s dimension. She understood that much anyway. Most of the rest of the discussion went right over her head. Not because they talked in any secret code or military acronyms, but because her mind and body were numb. This much she did know. Nothing was as it seemed.
Kalicek really was a Deputy Warden, and when the first rumblings and disappearances had started, he’d contacted his brother in San Antonio, who had ties to a special unit that hunted demons and searched for portals in order to protect humans.
Billy wasn’t a prison guard but had been brought on board to work the housing unit that seemed to be at the center of the rumblings. Because they needed someone even deeper on the inside, they’d brought in Vlahos, a demon, someone who could “walk the walk.”
She shuddered at the thought that he’d touched her, even in her mind. She’d seen what remained of Means, understood he was a “skinwalker,” a demon who’d stolen the body of a human in order to hide among them. She wondered what sort of creature Vlahos really was, and whose life and soul he’d stolen to live among humans undetected.
Billy’s hand slid over her clenched fist.
She didn’t force it away, accepting his comfort. For now. Just a few more minutes, and they should have it all wrapped up. Then she could go home, bathe until the dirt and scent of fear were gone from her body, and then sleep for a week.
She’d never felt so weary or so lost. At last, it finally sunk in that she’d been transferred here, not so much for her sake to get over the attack at Bentonville, but because she was an attractive female, and a demon had to do what he had to do in order to fill his appetites.
And everyone in the room knew she’d had sex with Vlahos—and with Billy. They knew she’d been an eager participant, an eager “host.” She’d been a complete fool.
Her job here was over.
Everyone stood, preparing to leave. She guessed they’d wrapped up, but she’d missed it. She stayed in her seat, not wanting to call attention to herself until everyone else had gone.
“Let me take you home,” Billy said quietly, letting go of her hand and rising.
She shook her head. “I have my own wheels.” His gaze settled on her face, and she wiped her expression clear of emotion. “I’m tired. I just want to get some sleep.”
“Billy, if you’ve got a minute—” Gabriel said, nodding coolly toward her.
They’d fucked. He’d fed off her emotions. Now, he treated her like a stranger.
She was fiercely glad about that fact. Giving him an equally impersonal nod, she turned to Billy. “Looks like you’re not done here anyway.” Then she left, walking stiffly from the room, through a crowd of men she’d never met. More of the team from San Antonio who’d been observing the prison through the security system’s cameras from afar.
Thank God, they couldn’t see into her mind.
Which got her wondering if they actually could. She shivered, hoping they just hadn’t been all that interested in Gabriel’s sly trysts to care.
The drive home was over before she knew it. She must have been on autopilot, because it seemed liked she’d just slammed her car door shut and was suddenly there. She went through the everyday motions—picking up the paper in the driveway, unlocking her doors and slinging her bag and keys on the counter, stripping as she headed toward her bedroom, turning on the faucets to get the steam going and spilling half a bottle of bubble bath in the swirling waters before she looked at herself in the mirror.
Her body was a mess. Bruises from McPh
ee’s rough shove to the floor marked her knees and one hip. More bruises encircled her wrists and smudged the side of her face from where Ames had hit her jaw.
Her hair was straggling from her bun, mostly down, and she slowly reached up to remove the pins and rubber band, wincing at a dull ache that throbbed in her shoulder and her scalp.
The bathwater, so hot her skin tingled when she submerged her body, soon eased her aches. She drifted, exhaustion pulling her under. Just a quick doze, then she’d drag herself out. The cooling water would wake her.
A hand cupped her chin. Warm lips gently smoothed over hers.
Her eyes shot open to find Billy sitting on the edge of the tub, bending over her. She jerked back and hit her head against the tile. “What are doing here?” she said, her voice tight. “And how the hell did you get in?”
Billy’s chest, still clothed in blue, rose around a deep sigh. “Had to see you. Make sure you were okay. I knocked.”
“I didn’t hear you.”
“I got worried and picked the lock.”
“Not something they teach you at the Academy.”
He shrugged, the casual gesture at odds with his dark expression. “I’ve picked up some unusual skills along the way.”
She gritted her teeth against the urge to scream. “As you can see, I’m fine. Now, get out.”
“I can’t. Not until we talk.”
Her blood pressure spiked, pounding against her temples. “Is that a euphemism for have sex?” she said acidly. “Because I can tell you right now, I’m not up for it. I want to sleep.”
“I’m leaving today.”
A deep ache seeped into her chest, which angered her. She was not going to miss him. “Have a safe trip,” she bit out.
“Gillian, enough,” he said, anger flaring in his eyes. “I’m not leaving until we get things straight between us.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. You used me. Both of you did. And every man in that room—hell every man in that prison—knows it by now. You have no idea how that makes me feel,” she said, her voice roughening toward the end.
“I think I do,” he said evenly. “You’re a proud woman. You’ve survived a lot of heartache. This can’t be easy for you.”
“Well, I certainly don’t have an ounce of pride left.” She drew in a big breath and shouted, “And I don’t have goddamn job—because there’s no way in hell I can ever look those men in the face again. I don’t have control over myself or my own destiny. Everything’s changed.”
Billy’s eyebrows raised. His hands tightened around the rims of the tub. “You can’t close the door and pretend everything’s as it was. I know. I’ve been where you are. When the marines buddied me up with Gabriel, my whole view of the world was turned on its head. Upside down. And there was no going back.”
“Thanks for letting me know it’s going to get so much better,” she said bitterly.
“I’m sorry.”
She jerked her head down. “All right, you’ve had your say. Would you leave now? Please?”
Hands plunged under the water, and he lifted her in his arms.
Gillian gasped, her fingers clutching his shirt. “We are so not doing this,” she said, feeling another flush of anger flood her body. Then she began to wriggle inside his embrace, her legs scissoring violently.
Billy cursed softly, nearly dropped her, then hiked her higher in his arms. “Don’t know how else to get you to talk to me,” he said, grunting and turning to take her through the doorway into her bedroom. “Now, I don’t want to hurt you, so stop fighting me.”
“Too late. I have the bruises to prove it. And maybe, I want to fight—to kick the hell out you!”
He dumped her on the mattress and stood with his hands fisted on his hips, which only managed to make him look more intimidating. His broad chest was rising and falling fast. His face was reddened, his lips clamped into a narrow line.
And for some perverse reason, arousal stirred deep inside her, pricking her nipples into taut little buds, sending those dangerous little darts of excitement toward her belly where they curled around and around her womb.
She jackknifed off the bed and flew at him, her arms swinging, her hands smacking his chest, a fist connecting with his jaw.
Billy took it, opening his arms and holding them wide while she gave him her best shots. She hit his solid jaw again and pain radiated up her arm, and she stumbled back, cupping her hand.
“You through?” he said, and she didn’t miss the humor edging his deep, rumbling voice.
She stomped her foot. “Completely! With you. With all of you. Get the fuck out of my house.”
He dropped his arms, dragged in a breath and blew it out in deep, long sigh. His shoulders slumped. “All right.” Turning on his heels, he walked steadily out of her bedroom.
“All right?” she croaked.
He halted at the door, not looking back. “It’s what you want. I’ll go.”
“And you believe me?”
The glance he shot over his shoulder was dark, annoyed, watchful…
“You said you loved me,” she said, wishing she could take it back, because she knew she sounded needy and pathetic. And she really was still furious with him. But Jesus, he couldn’t go.
He turned and leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his massive chest. “I do love you,” he said softly.
She shrugged then realized she was still naked, with clumps of suds sliding down her skin. “Then how can you just leave me?”
“I wanted to ask you to come with me. Part of that conversation you don’t want to have.”
Her eyes filled, blurring his image. His arms dropped, and he strode forward.
Then she was in his arms, crying against his chest, clinging to his solid frame.
Those powerful arms closed tight around her, then loosened so that he held her as though she was fragile, breakable. “Shhhh…it’s gonna be okay. I promise,” he crooned against her hair.
She shook her head. “I don’t see how.”
“You’ll get through today, and the next. And when you wake up scared, I’ll be there. You can thump me however often you need. I’ll fuck you until you can’t remember your name, much less the fact you’re still mad at me.”
She sniffed. “Promise?”
His chest shook beneath her cheek. “Want me to start right now?”
Her body was way ahead of her heart. She nodded, scraping her cheek up and down.
He bent, and once more, he was carrying her, lowering her to the mattress.
“I don’t want to see Gabriel ever again in my dreams,” she said, reaching out to him.
“Can you manage to be polite when we’re at work?” he said, lying on top of her, fully clothed.
She blinked. “I’m going to be working?”
“Only if you like. It’s all cleared. We can’t be on the same team, but they want you. Gabriel recommended it.”
“I don’t like owing him a thing,” she said, frowning.
“You don’t. It’s payback for what he took from both of us. But I wouldn’t have agreed if I hadn’t thought you could be an asset. Have to warn you though, it’s not an easy job.”
“Or particularly safe?”
“No. I wouldn’t mind at all if you wanted to stay home and eat bon-bons all day.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I’d just get fat. Besides, I like being in the middle of the action. But I like the thought that my family didn’t die for nothing even more.”
They fell silent for a moment, and then Billy’s gaze sharpened. “Have we talked enough?”
She wrinkled her nose. “You’re the one who insisted.”
“Never claimed to be particularly smart,” he growled.
She raised her chin, gave him an equally quelling glance. “Make love to me.”
“Giving orders?”
“Since you just admitted you’re not the sharpest tool in the shed…”
He shook his head. “I’m gonna have to w
atch everything I say around you or it’ll come back to bite me in the ass.”
“I’m not spiteful. Just impatient. And Billy…” she said softly, “I’m very, very wet.”
His eyelids dipped, a small masculine smile stretched his lips. “Sure you’re up to it? You’re covered in bruises.”
“There are a few places that could still take a pounding.”
He snorted and kissed the tip of her nose. “I meant it, Gillian. I love you.”
She knew he hovered over her, waiting for her to say it back. They’d had a very strange courtship, and their lives would no doubt get stranger and darker in the days ahead. But she couldn’t imagine being without him. She bracketed his rugged face between her hands. “I love you, too.”
Then they both went to work on his uniform, starting to unbutton it, then both getting annoyed with the process. Fabric ripped, buttons popped, clothes sailed to the far side of the room, and then he was covering her, his large body settling gently over hers.
She opened her legs, inviting the insistent nudge of his cock.
He found her entrance and shoved inside, not stopping until he was balls-deep.
Her breath hitched, and her mouth opened around a moan that didn’t stop as he began to move.
“Tell me if I hurt you.”
“You’re hurting me. So good. Please don’t stop.”
“Don’t know if I can ever take it slow and easy with you, baby.”
“I’d be disappointed if you did.”
He planted his elbows beside her shoulders and cupped her cheeks between his large hands, fingers gently threading through her hair. “You don’t know how good this feels. You’re so damn wet.”
Lockdown: A Veiled Alliance Story Page 8