And just like that, I found the stairs. I skidded to a halt and threw my body at the door as I grabbed the handle and twisted it. To my utter surprise, the door flew open, and I almost went barreling down the stairs. I caught the banister at the last moment and steadied myself with a nervous laugh. It would be just my luck that I’d finally find a way to escape, only to break my neck before I could make it outside. Shaking my head, I gripped the banister tightly and raced down the stairs as fast as I dared. I was halfway down when I heard the door bang open. Looking up, I saw Charlotte smiling down at me before it shot another acid spitball. Its aim was off, but it was still too close for comfort. No longer caring if I broke my neck, I let go of the banister to cover my head with my hands as I flew down the stairs.
Charlotte simply jumped over the side and met me as my feet touched the ground level.
“Noooooooooooooooooooooo!” I screamed, pushing open the door to the lobby and promptly crashing into something solid. I flailed wildly, fully convinced I had met another demon. “Let me go, you a—”
“Gabiella?”
I paused mid-flail and looked up to see a very confused Kain staring at me. His hands gripped my shoulders—not so he could pull me close to eat me, I now realized, but to steady me from toppling over (and probably to prevent me from smacking him in the face). I still wasn’t sure what side Kain was on, but at that moment, I sure as hell didn’t care.
“Demon!” I pointed behind me, a bit hysterically. “With lots of arms and eyes and acid and kill it, Kain, please!”
His blue-green eyes widened as he watched me, probably thinking I had completely lost my mind. “A demon? Here in HQ? Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure!” The door to the stairwell burst open and Charlotte stalked out, snarling as acid dripped from its fangs, making holes in the floor. “See!”
Kain’s mouth dropped open. “What the bloody hell is going on?” he swore, his British (sorry, English) accent back in full force. Pushing me behind him, he drew a quick silver crescent moon in the air, the same as Rafe always did, and summoned a skinny sword. Assuming a fighting position as he and the demon eyed one another, he asked me over his shoulder, “What are you even doing here? You were supposed to escape! And where’s Philip?”
I could definitely hear the concern in his voice, which only confused me. I had been certain Kain had betrayed us, but he was either a really good actor or…
Actually on our side.
I didn’t have time to question him, however. The demon let out a bellow of rage and launched itself at Kain. He deflected its first attack, but Charlotte quickly spun, hitting Kain with one of its extra arms. The hunter took a couple of stumbling steps, but kept his balance and turned, slashing low with his sword, striking Charlotte in the arm. The sword sliced through the demon’s skin easily, and the arm flopped to the floor with a sickening plop. Charlotte howled in pain, green blood spurting everywhere, and Kain took the opportunity to jump away and position himself between me and the demon once more.
“One down,” he said a bit gleefully, “seven more to go.”
“Please just kill it,” I moaned. “Just cut off its head and kill it, Kain!”
“Why, Gabiella, and here I thought you enjoyed looking at these creatures. Why else would you have gone to the autopsy room?”
“I don’t mind if they’re normal—” Kain raised his brows and I flushed. “Normal as in, not spiders, okay?”
“You’re afraid of spiders?” Why was he grinning? I was going to kill him!
After he killed Charlotte, I meant.
I gave him my best death glare. “Listen, Wentworth, kill the damn thing first, and you can make fun of me all you want afterwards, all right?” My fist would be in his face, but I decided to leave that little bit out…
Kain laughed. “As you wish, Gabiella.” He raised his sword and charged forward, yelling a battle cry that echoed off the walls of the lobby.
Chapter Forty
Charlotte stopped crying to meet Kain, lifting its remaining limbs and slashing at the dark-haired hunter. Kain avoided three arms, but two more hit him on his shoulders, and he let out a groan, stumbling backwards. Charlotte went on the offensive, opening its mouth and hurling spitball after spitball. Dropping his sword, Kain rolled across the floor, a dark blur of movement that took him across the room and away from me.
With Charlotte’s attention directed elsewhere, some of the icy fear that had immobilized me began to melt, and I realized my chance at freedom was only a few feet away. I stared at the door. It was so easy. I could walk out, while Kain and Charlotte were fighting, and never look back. Sure, I had no money or phone, but I was sure I could find someone to help me. I could leave it all behind right now.
I heard Kain let out another oomph of pain and winced. No. There was no way I could do that. Maybe he had betrayed us, but Philip cared for Kain, and I liked Philip. What kind of giant bitch would I be if I just left Kain in the middle of a battle? I mean, it’s not like I could contribute much, but I could stick around for moral support!
Just then, Charlotte let out another shriek, which was followed by a wet plop as a second arm hit the floor. Kain, panting loudly, rejoined me at my side, wiping green blood from his face. “Messy bastard,” he said, still grinning. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Why did they always grin when they were covered in disgusting demon goop? Did you have to be semi-insane to be a hunter? Or was it just a boy thing?
“Can’t you just,” I waved my fingers vaguely, “cast a spell and make it go boom? Please?”
Kain eyed the demon, his lips pursed together thoughtfully. “I suppose I could, but where’s the fun in that?”
“Fun!” My raised voice bounced off the walls of the lobby. “That’s why you’re teasing it? Because you want to have fun?”
“Gabiella, in this line of work you need to have a little fun or else you go insane.”
“I think you’re already there,” I muttered, watching as Charlotte stalked toward us, a little lopsidedly now that it had lost two of its arms. Blood dribbled from the stumps, making an emerald trail across the once spotless floor. I wondered who would have to clean that up, and hoped it was Jonathan. Or better yet, Scott.
Where were they, anyway? They had been so eager to prove themselves last night, and today, when an actual demon was running around HQ, they were nowhere to be seen. As if reading my mind, Kain asked quietly, “Where is everyone?” He had resumed a battle stance, his eyes on Charlotte, but his question was directed at me.
“I saw Charles earlier, and he said he would come back with food, but that was hours ago,” I said. “When did you last talk to him?”
Kain shook his head. “I don’t make it a point to speak with Charles ever, if I can manage it. He’s a douche-dick, remember?”
“But then how did he know we were trying to escape, if you didn’t tell him?” I blurted out accusingly. “How did he know to send Jonathan and the others after us, stopping us before we reached the subway?”
The dark-haired hunter dropped his battle stance to stare at me incredulously over his shoulder. “You think I betrayed you?” Hurt flashed across his face. “Why would you think that? I was the one who warned you to leave in the first place! If I wanted to get you lot in trouble, I would have told Charles to detain Philip before he led you out of the building!” Kain paused. “Did I hear you correctly? Did those twits really fight you in the middle of Manhattan?” He groaned before I could answer. “We try to avoid unnecessary detection, not flaunt our powers for all to see…”
Charlotte made a sudden retching noise and Kain threw up a hand, creating a shield to block its flying phlegm from hitting me in the face. I took a step backwards, heart racing. I had been so distracted by what Kain was saying that I had completely forgotten about the demon. Our eyes met, and Kain raised his brows, silently asking me if I was okay. Shuddering, I nodded.
“I didn’t betray you,” Kain said softly. “I would never do that to you, to
Philip. I would never let Charles abuse your powers and kill you. I—”
“I believe you,” I said in a rush as Charlotte shot more spit at us. Each projectile bounced against Kain’s shimmery shield with a soft hiss, evaporating into smoke. The shield seemed to be holding, but it was impossible to miss the sweaty sheen on Kain’s forehead. How long would he be able to keep it in place? I wasn’t about to stand around, having a serious discussion while Charlotte still lived. There would be time for that after Kain beheaded it. I shot a pointed look at his sword. “I get it, you didn’t betray us, and I’m sorry I suspected you in the first place. I should have listened to Phil.” And I wasn’t just saying that to get him to fight Charlotte. I did believe him. Kain was right; if he had warned Charles about our plans to escape, we never would have made it out of the building at midnight. Jonathan and the others had been waiting for us to show up—as in, they didn’t know when we were going to leave, just that we were.
But how had they known?
“Philip defended me?” Kain’s lips curled into a lazy smile. “Can’t say I’m surprised; I am a person of admirable characteristics, after all.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, yes, you’re wonderful. Now please kill Charlotte!”
“Charlotte?”
I pointed to the demon, which had started whacking at the shield with its numerous remaining arms. “Charlotte. Demon.” I moved my finger to Kain. “Kain. Hunter. Sword.”
“Rapier,” Kain corrected.
“I don’t care what you call it, just use it to cut its freaking head off!”
Kain hefted his sword—sorry, rapier—and said, “You know you’re going to owe me a favor for this.”
“What?” I felt a flash of outrage, despite the situation. “Are you kidding me?” One look at the smug smile on his face confirmed that no, he wasn’t kidding. I threw my hands up in the air. “Fine! I’ll give you my firstborn child, if that’s what it takes to get you to kill it!”
Kain dropped the shield and launched himself at Charlotte, laughing at the same time. “Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to pass!”
Hmph. Should I be insulted that he didn’t want my kid? I kept my snarky question to myself, so as not to distract Kain from the battle. He had finally turned serious, bobbing and weaving away from Charlotte’s arms as he slashed out with both his rapier and magic. Yes, he was finally using magic—little multi-colored zaps of light that caused Charlotte to snarl in pain each time it connected with the demon’s skin. Quickly, the air filled with the smell of burning demon flesh which, let me tell you, was not a nice smell. Think of a slab of meat rotting in the sun during the hottest day of summer and multiply that horribleness by one hundred. I actually had to pinch my nose shut and breathe through my mouth, which made me taste it and ugh, I’ll stop right now. If Kain didn’t kill Charlotte, I was seriously going to be sick all over the damn place.
There were a couple of times where Kain could have gone for the kill, but his movements were getting slower, and I wondered if the continual use of magic was rapidly draining him. Davenport had done the same thing to Evan, waiting for the blonde to use up his magical arsenal before going in for the easy kill. I refused to just wait for the same thing to happen to Kain.
He managed to chop another arm off, but Charlotte quickly retaliated with a punch to Kain’s gut. Faltering, he slipped on demon blood and landed hard on his side, all of his breath coming out in a giant whoosh. In my mind, an image of Evan getting stabbed from behind suddenly appeared, and I gritted my teeth together. Gathering my courage, I grabbed one of those hideous fake potted plants that had insulted the gardener in me the night before, raced over to Charlotte, and brought the whole thing crashing down on its head before it could strike Kain again.
The pot cracked into brown jagged fragments, and Charlotte stumbled sideways. Kain, having recovered, kicked Charlotte square in the chest, sending the demon tumbling. He looked at me, breathing hard. “You just saved my life.”
“Well, duh,” I said, still holding on to one of the pieces of the broken pot. “Now I don’t have to owe you a stupid favor.”
“Oh no, no, no, that’s not how it works,” he said, waving a finger. “I pick the favor, not you.”
“Are you kidding me!”
Charlotte let out another roar (really, did this thing ever shut up or take a moment to catch its breath or something? It was a demon on steroids!), and Kain, echoing my frustration, muttered, “Oh bloody hell, not again.” I bet he wished he had beheaded it right from the start now!
Before the demon could charge us, there was a sudden low swish and a bright silver flash, and Charlotte’s head split from its body and hit the floor, bouncing a few times before rolling away. Green blood spurted from its neck like a mini-volcano, drenching both me and Kain, but I barely even noticed it as I stared at the person who had come to our rescue.
Rafe.
It was Rafe.
Chapter Forty-one
I was on my feet and dashing across the room before I even realized it. As I threw myself into his arms, Rafe shouted, “Wait, careful! Don’t impale yourself on my sword!”
I pulled back slightly to glare at him. “Seriously? We’ve been separated for four days and that’s the first thing you say to me, you pervert?”
“What?” Rafe’s mouth hung open slightly. I saw the exact moment when he realized what I meant—two pink spots blossomed on his cheeks. “What! NO, that’s not what I meant—”
“Suuuuure it wasn’t.”
“No, really—” Rafe broke off when he saw me struggling to hold in my laughter. “Gabi! We’ve been separated for four days and that’s the first thing you do? You tease me?”
“Only because you make it so easy,” I said, throwing my arms around his neck and clutching him as tightly as I could. He smelled like winter air and his favorite cologne, and I inhaled deeply, burrowing my face into his neck. Rafe’s free arm encircled me, bringing me even closer. Well, as close as he could, considering he was wearing a stupid bulky winter jacket. I was two seconds away from unzipping it and hurling it across the room so I could partake in some major snuggle action with my boyfriend when he whispered in my ear, “Does this mean I get a second chance?”
I froze. Pulling away slightly (and missing the contact immediately), I looked into his green eyes and saw only sadness there. He’s been hurting as much as me. Even though I had been shocked by his violent behavior, I felt awful for saying the things I had said. I shook my head, which only made Rafe look sadder. Realizing my mistake, I said, “We’re not up to second chances, Rafe, because we’re still on our first chance.”
Hope began blossoming in his eyes. “Oh.”
“And if Evan hadn’t stupidly done what he did, I would have called you the next morning and apologized for being a bitch,” I continued. “And we would have been fine.” I paused. “I mean, we are fine, right?” He wouldn’t have come here and he wouldn’t be holding me this tightly if he didn’t still care, right? I chewed on my lip nervously, waiting for him to answer.
“You and me?” Rafe asked. “We’re definitely fine. But me and Evan?” His expression darkened.
“One thing at a time,” I said, leaning in for a kiss. But Rafe glanced behind me, staring at Kain, who was still on the floor, breathing hard. I let Rafe pull away (just a little—he kept his arm wrapped around my waist) so he could approach Kain.
“Rafe Fitzgerald,” Kain said, smiling up at him. “Never expected I’d need you to come to my rescue someday.” He bowed his head. “Thank you.”
Rafe let go of me to hold out a hand. Kain stared at it for a moment, then allowed my boyfriend to pull him to his feet. Immediately, Rafe’s arm went back around my waist and I leaned into his embrace. “The way I saw it, you were helping my girlfriend. Whatever happened in the past doesn’t matter much, after seeing that.”
Kain’s grin grew. “Actually, Gabiella was saving my sorry arse just now. You’re a lucky man; your girl is fierce.”
Rafe’s face shone with pride as he pulled me closer and planted a kiss on my forehead. “Very lucky.”
My face was growing red from all of the praise (not that I minded it!), and to distract them from my embarrassment, I asked Rafe, “How did you even know to find me here?”
His smile slipped away. “I called you the day—the day after our fight.” He looked away, and I felt a flash of shame as I remembered the thoughtless words I had said. If I had known what would have happened immediately after saying those things, I would have stapled my mouth shut to prevent myself from hurting him so carelessly. “No, don’t look like that. I said awful things, too. It wasn’t just your fault.” I nodded, my throat tight from unshed tears. “I tried to call you, to apologize, but you didn’t answer.” Rafe’s shoulders slumped. “I figured you were really pissed at me and I couldn’t help but wonder if I had destroyed everything between us. I tend to lose precious things really easily, you know?”
Now the tears came, and I swiped them away quickly. “No, Rafe, I tried—”
“I know,” he said with a soft smile. “It’s because of what happened with my parents that I refused to give up. I called Penny and asked her for Chloe’s number. I came up with some excuse, so she probably thinks I’m on my way to Vermont to surprise you or something.”
“Oh, no,” I groaned, wondering how the hell I was supposed to fool my best friend into thinking I had had the best vacation of my life instead of a total nightmare.
“Yeah, sorry,” Rafe said, wincing. He knew how Penny could get almost as well as I did. “Anyway, I called Chloe, who informed me you never went to Vermont because you were sick.”
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