How had Declan not seen the stain? How did they all miss the shadow? It was inconceivable. He saw it clearly every time he looked into her eyes; a hint of evil lingering in the farthest reaches of her soul. Did she sense it too? Was it possible that no one knew it was there besides him? They didn’t see it because they didn’t want to. Perhaps love really was blind after all.
Fascinating. He’d just tuck that little bit of intel away for future use.
Setting her away from him so he didn’t do any permanent damage, he waved a hand at the door and she nodded again. Walking stiffly, dilated eyes focused straight ahead, she stopped at the door and opened it as instructed. He stepped over the unconscious woman on the floor and slipped into the hallway. Once on the other side, he waited for Rori to close and lock it as he instructed. As the deadbolt slid home, he allowed himself a smile.
Good girl.
Time for vengeance.
Chapter 16: Now or Never
THE DRIVE UP I95 WAS BORING. Seth could be doing a million other more entertaining things right now. Draping his wrist over the leather-wrapped steering wheel, he let his eyes swing back and forth across the endless line of cars stopped before them. Tapping his thumb in annoyance, he shifted in his seat. They weren’t going anywhere fast. Damn it. It was times like this when he wished he could simply shimmer. No can do though. This car was one of his favorite parts of wearing the mask. If he had to act human, he’d do it in this Porsche. Checking the dashboard clock, he mentally calculated their arrival time at the next stop. It was the last one before the auction.
Beside him, Number 422 tossed and turned in the middle of a restless nap. She’d exhausted herself trying to maintain the cold wall of silence between them and finally drifted off. Reaching slowly so she wouldn’t sense him until it was too late, he wrapped his fingers around her thigh and wedged them between the crease of her groin. As hoped, she was less than thrilled.
Jerking awake and slapping at his arm, she bared her teeth in a hiss that made his day. Shrinking as far away from him in the cockpit-sized front seat as was possible, she snarled, “Get your filthy hands off me!” just before making the sign of the cross. Again.
Would she never learn?
Her breath huffed; her chest heaved. She flushed with righteous anger. He burst out laughing and eased the car a few feet forward. “You can cross yourself as many times as you want. It has no effect on me.” Still laughing, he winked, and she sputtered, “You . . . You . . .”
“Demon, babe. And don’t forget it.” Reaching for her again, he gripped her wrist before she could slap him. Grinding her delicate bones to the point just shy of snapping them, he relaxed his façade and let his elongated pupils glide into place. Her horrified gasp was all the encouragement he needed. In the next second, he dropped his fangs and brought her wrist towards his mouth with a smirk.
She tried to struggle. He’d give her points for courage or at least for having survival instincts. But he couldn’t let her attract attention from the cars around them. He increased the pressure on her wrist, and warned, “Keep still or I’ll snap your hand right off of your arm.”
“You wouldn’t dare! You said I couldn’t be damaged!”
Pressing down until she cried out, he stated flatly, “Maybe I’ve changed my mind. Now give me your wrist. I’m bored. You can entertain me.”
As an SUV full of teenagers hovered beside them, he brought the tender skin to his nose, breathing in her humanity while keeping an eye of the humans. They gawked at the powerful car as her pulse tripped against his mouth. He ran his tongue lazily over the vein, playing with it as it swelled with her blood.
Her husky voice dropped even lower with fury. “Go ahead. Do it. I’ll find a way to kill you, demon. You—”
“—won’t get away with this?” He stopped smiling and said, “You already know what happens when you try my patience. Do you need more exercise, sweetheart? We’ll be at our stop soon. We’ll check in and get comfortable. Think how much I’ll enjoy fucking you and drinking from every vein in your tender little body. You might want to be nice to me. I’d hate to drain you dry.”
She stopped actively struggling but her instincts kicked in. Not wanting to be eaten by the big, bad predator, she unconsciously pulled her arm back, causing her tendons and muscles to tighten and her veins to swell around his grip. He didn’t usually drink blood, and had no intention of draining her, but she didn’t need to know that. For now, he was content to mess with her head. Unfortunately, the cars ahead had started to move at a quick rate of twenty miles per hour. There was no time to tap into a vein and terrify her properly.
Too bad. They had time later on though. Maybe he’d take it further once they’d settled into the hotel for the night. He could mute her and enjoy her all night long—one sip at a time—letting her recover before dipping into a different vein. He could keep the terror going for a couple of hours if he timed things right. For now though, he’d leave her with a little something to keep her mind busy. She’d been thinking too much of escaping the past two days. It was amusing to watch the wheels turn inside her head. Did she really think he didn’t know?
As he pressed the accelerator, he sank the tip of one incisor into the nearest bulging vein and flattened his tongue to catch the drops of blood that leaked out. Number 422 sucked air between her teeth as he coaxed her precious lifeblood into his mouth. Her hand trembled in his grip; her breathing was shallow, fast. Her heart pounded as he swallowed and murmured, “Good girl,” against her flesh.
Taking his time as he nosed the car around a stalled truck, he drank from the wound long enough to give her an idea of what might come. By the time the car was up to cruising speed, he’d made his point.
She was out cold.
It was dark when the car slowed and stopped. The change of motion brought Irina jerking awake to see the entrance of a building that must be a hotel. They’d stopped under a covered section in front of two glass doors. Of course the signs were in English, but she assumed one must read Death and the other Damnation because those were the only two things that waited for her within the red brick walls. The demon who held her life in his hands made that perfectly clear. Cradling her wounded hand to her chest, she swallowed the lump in her throat. He wouldn’t be moved by tears. There was no point in showing him how much she’d been hurt. It didn’t matter.
The black-haired beast finished folding his wallet and slid it into the back pocket of his jeans. Glancing across the console, he studied her in silence. His expression impossible to read, he let his gaze sweep over her face, lingering on her throat, before settling onto her cradled wrist. One eyebrow lifted in question even as his cruel mouth curled into a mocking smile that chilled her to the bone.
“Get out of the car. We’re going to check in and wash up. You stink like fear. I need to feed you so you don’t collapse tomorrow. Once you’re fed, we’ll go back inside and entertain each other until it’s time for you to go to sleep.” His eyes burned with a terrible red flame that sprang to life as she shrank away. He reached for her face, cupping her jaw with his palm, tightening his hold when she flinched at his touch.
Crowding her against the door, he brushed his mouth over her ear, whispering, “You’ll like what I have planned tonight. I guarantee it.” To make his point, he dragged his hot tongue over her throat, nipping at her skin, sucking at the artery in her neck until she pushed him away with tiny lights dancing behind her eyes.
To her horror, her voice thickened with tears. What was meant as a defiant shout came out as a gasped plea. “Leave me alone!”
“Not a chance. Now pull yourself together so we can go inside.”
Sniffing hard, she dashed the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and smoothed sticky tendrils of hair away from her face. She tucked the loose strands behind her ears as he expected. When she was as presentable as possible, he opened her door for her, taking her by the elbow as if he cared about her. In reality, she knew he wanted to be sure she didn’t r
un. He didn’t need to warn her this time. She still had the bruises from her last attempted escape. As if he read her mind, he shot her that cold smile again. How she wanted to wipe that smile from his face! He would not be smiling with a knife stuck in his belly. The smile deepened into an arrogant chuckle while he steered her towards the glass doors.
The lobby was empty except for the person who sat behind a counter. Not much older than herself, the girl didn’t glance up when they walked inside. Completely focused on her cellphone, she nodded and spoke into it as they waited for her.
The demon rapped his knuckles against the counter and announced, “We have reservations. The name is King. Seth King. We’re ready to check in.”
The girl shot him an irritated look and held up her palm. He stiffened beside her and frowned. The woman’s voice was raised in some kind of argument with whoever was on the other end of the phone. She felt a tremor of annoyance run through his body. The girl should hurry and do what he asked. The demon did not like to be ignored.
Irina glanced around from beneath her lashes. The lobby was still empty. There was no one to appeal to here. The young woman was useless. The demon would simply kill her. There was no help coming from there. But outside? Outside the big highway was just on the other side of a parking lot and some trees. There was a lot of traffic. Could she run to the road and flag down another car? If she could get a head start, she might be able to make it. It was dark. He wouldn’t be able to see her once she got past the lights of the hotel and into the trees.
Seth sensed the tension in 422’s body. Was she thinking of running again? He hoped not. The last thing he felt like doing was chasing her down. He actually wanted to stretch out and relax. Maybe surf a little porn. Sometimes using a human body sucked. His back ached from driving all day. How did humans do this all the time? Yeah, he was ready to stretch out and have a beer if he could just get the room keys. The stupid cow on the phone was so close to death he could almost feel her hot, sticky blood coating his hands. If she didn’t get off the fucking phone in one more minute, he was going to make her eat it—possibly through her asshole. Smiling as politely as possible, he rapped his knuckles on the counter and said, again, through his teeth this time, “We would like our room keys. Now.”
The cow shot him a scathing look and snapped, “I’ll be with you in a minute.”
He leaned over the counter and said, “Shall I call your manager for you?”
Damn it to Hell and back!
Number 422 took off like a shot.
Irina waited until he was totally engrossed in arguing with the girl before sidling towards the door with one eye watching him. When he didn’t pay her any attention, she launched herself through the door. Too terrified to look behind her, she sprinted for the trees. The darkness would hide her. It had to. She kept moving, shoving aside clinging vegetation, not caring if she left a trail to follow. Branches clawed her face, snagged in her hair, pulled her braid loose until it hung in her eyes. Shoving it back, she kept running, straining to breathe through the hysterical tears that clogged her throat. Her heart thundered so loudly she couldn’t hear anything else.
Run, Irina, run!
A stitch in her side finally forced her to slow down. Throwing herself behind a tree just before the road, she panted and gasped for air. Just one second. Wheezing with desperation, she tried to catch her breath again. The highway was only a few more yards. The traffic flew by. She just needed to make it a little further. She could do this. Peering over her shoulder, she let herself hope. He wasn’t there. He hadn’t found her! Her plan worked. Spinning back around, she took off at a lurching run, crossing the remaining distance to the access road before half climbing, half throwing her body over the guardrail and onto the side of the road. Waving her arms at the first vehicle she saw, she burst into tears as it slowed down and pulled over.
Chapter 17: Of Wrath and Af
HALLELUJAH! HE WAS FREE! Gulping the fresh air, Af raised his face towards the sun that graced the glorious blue sky. Breathing deeply, he felt optimistic for the first time in days. Step one of his plan was a success: he was out and his powers were humming at full capacity.
Now on to step two . . .
Torture, maim, and kill the demon. Then piss on his ashes. Then scoop up the mess and bury it in the center of the deepest pit in Hell. Then piss on it again.
Then maybe he’d feel better. Then again, maybe not.
Striding down Park Avenue with Seth’s smirking face front and center in his mind, he ignored the scattered storefronts and residences that lined the sidewalks. Seth wasn’t there. The ornate entrance of the Church of Our Saviour blurred right by too. Seth damn sure wasn’t inside that building. Waaaay too much holy water.
And priests. Seth wasn’t big on priests since he was exorcised during the Inquisition.
Bottom line? Seth wouldn’t be hanging around Park Avenue. Period. This was too high end for his activities. The demon would surround himself with thugs and criminals and his favorite demon soldiers in some decrepit, skanky warehouse by the riverfront or up in one of the boroughs. He might do business here, but he wouldn’t linger. If he could only get a bead on his prey, he could zoom in and end this once and for all. But where was he? Hunting with intense focus, he swept his eyes back and forth across the road while dodging a woman with a rat-dog on a pink leash before stopping at the crosswalk. Tense and impatient to move, he tapped his fingers along the side of his thigh.
He needed to think. Needed a calm place to gather his thoughts and come up with a real plan of attack. Charging through the city like his ass was on fire wasn’t going to help him find Seth. He had to put together a strategy, but between the traffic and the heartbeats of millions of people, he was bombarded with brain-numbing sound. Friggin’ angel hearing didn’t have a low enough volume setting. Going back to the penthouse was a no-go. Was there anywhere around here that was quiet? The drawn out wail of a fire engine grew louder as the truck inched its way through the congested traffic two streets over. The cars either didn’t or couldn’t move so it sat there with its damn siren destroying his eardrums. Stuck in the mass of pedestrians waiting to cross, he ground his teeth at the delay.
Tick-tock, humans! I’ve got a demon to kill.
By the time he spotted a tree-filled park on the other side of Union Square, he was one more car horn away from smiting every person in a five-mile radius. Clenching and unclenching his fingers to keep them from strangling someone, he zigzagged through clumps of aimlessly wandering humans. The ungrateful animals would never know they were saved by trees. He loved trees. Trees were calming. Trees were quiet.
Trees didn’t have sirens.
This park would be a good place to get his thoughts together, but he had to cross through Union Square to get to it. The massive concrete square was filled with the rank stench of thousands of sweat glands competing with the heavenly fragrance of cooking meat over smoky coals. He wrinkled his nose in disgust. This is why I hate people.
Here and there, small tents and tables stacked with cooked food or farmer’s produce broke up the large stretches of pavement. Shoving his way to the middle of the square, he tried to get his bearings. Good God! It was chaos! Everywhere he looked there were people, people, and more people. He was surrounded by the exact creatures he wanted to avoid. Like cockroaches in a storm drain! They swarmed around him with their chattering cellphones and their music players. Every heartbeat and breath battered his ears, every nasally voice assaulted him; even the subsonic hum of their souls seeped into his brain. And the motherfucking fire engine was still stuck in traffic!
What the hell was wrong with these people? Let the truck through for fuck’s sake!
Narrowing his eyes, he heard himself growl, “You want the city to burn? I can make that happen. Keep this shit up, and I’ll burn the city to the ground!”
Behind him, the sound of two vehicles colliding only added to the racket. Really? Couldn’t these morons drive? The horns, the sirens, the breaki
ng glass was all too much. Too friggin’ distracting! He needed to get the hell out of this shithole of a city before he lost his temper and killed everyone.
Sucking in a deep, steadying breath, he searched the crowd for a path to peace. To his right, a woman balanced a toddler on one hip while trying to pay a vendor for a plate of something that smelled like burnt cow. Instead of waiting quietly like a good child, the boy was busy trying to grab the money and shrieking his head off. Every time she tried to hand the money to the vendor, the brat grabbed at it until the vendor finally had to lunge for it. As Af watched with his nose curled against the smell, the child let loose an earsplitting screech that went on and on and on until the mother slapped him. The kid shut up immediately. Bravo! Better her than Af. He was on the verge of decapitating the noisy creature.
“Hey! Don’t slap that child!” Red faced with indignation, another woman shoved her way forward and grabbed the mother by her arm. “What’s the matter with you? You can’t do that!”
“Get your hands off me, bitch!” Disregarding the child completely now, the mother set him down and punched the first woman in the face.
And then all kinds of shit hit the fan. The rangy vendor began yelling in Ethiopian. Another customer cut in line to get his meal. As soon as he did, a third man scolded him on cutting. A fourth man pushed his way between them, trying to settle things until someone punched him in the nose. He let loose with a string of curses and tackled the man who’d cut first. The two women fell to the ground and were rolling around, punching, and slapping each other. Meanwhile, the boy wandered into traffic. Tires squealed. Yet another person screamed. Metal crunched.
Saol Mates (Primani Book Six) Page 18