Even though I knew where we could find an exit, last time I’d seen the double doors of the high school they’d been chained and padlocked. I didn’t want to make the detour to find out we were locked in. Instead I took us straight to the one non-boarded window. I released Jairdan.
“Okay, I’m going to bust this window and help you out. Then you can pull me up. We need to hurry, because if that demon isn’t already stalking us, it will know where we are when I break this damn thing.”
He nodded and I took a deep breath, bracing myself for the noise. I picked up a toppled chair and tossed it through the old glass panes. The sound was deafening in the silence. Jairdan ran to the window and jumped, pulling himself out. I pushed his legs to give him some help, and he rolled out onto the grass.
He spun around and grasped my hand. I braced my feet on the slick, painted bricks and helped. Under normal circumstances he would have been able to yank me out like I weighed nothing. But today he was working one handed, and probably had some broken ribs.
But I made it out. I took a deep breath as I collapsed onto the damp grass, Jairdan’s hand still wrapped in mine.
Something seized my ankle in a crushing grip, claws digging in. I screamed and scratched at the ground as I started to slide backward.
“You go nowhere. Your body is mine.” The voice was so deep it hurt my teeth. Fear streaked through me. What did he mean my body was his?
Jairdan threw all his weight into pulling me out, but I kept sliding backward as his grip broke something in my hand.
I screamed. “Jairdan, get back up.”
He shook his head. “I won’t leave you here.”
He stumbled forward and braced himself against the building to keep from getting pulled back in with me. I met his gaze. “You can’t do this on your own. We’ll both end up back in there. Go. Hurry.”
I loosened my grip on his hand and he cursed me. “Don’t you dare let go.”
I released him and was pulled into the darkness.
Chapter Fifteen
I hit the ground face first, catching myself on my forearms so the smack into the ground wasn’t as stunning. It still wasn’t what I would term “pleasant.” Braxus dragged me down the hall on my stomach while I scrambled to grab on to anything.
“I didn’t lock you in before because I thought your mind was gone. I should have known better when I couldn’t enter your body immediately. Though sometimes witches still require a ritual for entrance, even when they’re crazy. You should be insane.”
“Why?”
“The demon piece was burned out of you by the sword. It should have killed you entirely. Or at least boiled your brain. But here you are with all your faculties.”
The door to the room I’d been kept in flew open on its own and Braxus released my ankle. Before I could even stand, he wrapped his hands in my hair and jerked me to my feet. He shoved me into the circle and touched it. I felt the power rush over me as the barrier became active again. Great. Captured, again. My week was really sucking.
I rubbed my scalp. “That’s why I feel different. Peaceful. The demon part of me is gone?” Why hadn’t I died? A mystery to be solved if I made it out of this alive.
“Yes, that would be why. But this leaves me with a problem, Kori. I need a host. I grabbed you because I felt the demon presence being destroyed. I can’t enter another person with demon blood in them, but I thought you would be easy once that was gone, and your mind was turned to mush. But now I need your permission to take over.”
“I’ll never give you that.”
The creature smiled. “Oh, yes you will. I live in a place your people would consider hell. It’s brutal, violent, and bloody. I can cause you pain in ways you can’t imagine. I can either convince you to give me your body, or I can drive you insane. Either way, I’ll win this.”
I shrugged. “But you’re all the way out there. You’ll be trapped in here with me.”
It stared at me. “I don’t have to touch you to cause you pain. I can manipulate your own power to hurt you.”
I didn’t doubt he could. I focused on building my psychic defenses. If he was going to attack me, I needed to be ready.
Braxus walked the circle, examining me, looking for a weakness. I didn’t circle with him, though I would’ve loved to keep him in sight. The spot between my shoulder blades itched as he drifted behind me. I fought not to spin around and face him. He was making me twitchy and he wasn’t even doing anything yet.
But my patience was at an end. “Get on with it, bastard. You’ll bore me to suicide before the hour is up.”
I spun around and tried a little experiment. I shoved with my powers. The demon cursed and stumbled, landing on the floor. I felt a surge of triumph. My powers still worked outside the circle. I could hurt the demon from here. I slashed with my magic, using a wave of my hand to focus the energy this time. A deep cut opened in his chest, but it didn’t bleed. However, it didn’t heal either.
Braxus growled at me and clutched the wound.
I arched a brow. “You don’t seem to be healing very quickly.”
He bared his teeth. “Until I find a body I will continue to weaken. I thank you for killing Sherra. I would have stayed tied to her until she dragged us both to the grave. The power animating her was already waning and I could do nothing to stop it.”
Crap. We had made it easier for him to exist here? Why hadn’t Gideon warned us that might happen?
“You’re going to pay for this injury, witch.”
Braxus flicked his hand in my direction and I flew through the air. I hit the edge of the circle like it was a brick wall and collapsed on my hands and knees, grinding them into the broken tile. I stumbled to my feet to face him again.
Braxus stared at me like I’d done something interesting and terrifying to him.
“That should have inflicted much more damage than just tossing you around a bit. How are you unharmed?”
I shrugged. “Maybe you aren’t as powerful as you think you are. Besides, the longer you’re on this plane without a body, the faster your powers fade.” I smirked. “Maybe you’re dying.”
His gaze narrowed. “No. This is something different. You’ve been meddling in some sort of powerful magic, witch. Far above your pay grade.”
This time when his power snaked over my skin, it was cooling. Soothing. My muscles relaxed without my consent. I managed to keep my magic humming around me for protection, but my instincts said to drop it. I hadn’t been prepared for an attack like this.
“There are other ways I can do this, witch. And I want to know what you’ve played with.”
Contentment washed over me. I was so tired. I needed rest. I hit the ground hard on my chest as my legs crumpled, my cheek pressed into the grimy floor and my eyes slipped closed.
“You want to give in to me, Kori. All this fighting and pain. You don’t want that anymore. I can give you peace. That’s something you haven’t had since you were a child. If you stay a vampire, all that awaits you is violence and killing. You’ve become something you hate.”
He was right. I would never be safe. I was a monster, despised by her own family.
“Kori.”
I tensed. Had Braxus heard that?
“What was that, Kori?”
I wasn’t sure. It had sounded like Alaric, but how had he contacted me? And then I felt it. No matter how far away he was I would always feel the bond I’d created with him while saving his life.
I blocked Braxus from my mind and reached through our connection to find Alaric.
Help me. I tried to tell him where I was, but Braxus’s power sliced through me, bringing me back to reality. I laid there gasping on the floor.
His lips curled away from sharp teeth. “Fine, you don’t want to be convinced. I’ll settle for force.”
* * * *
I wasn’t sure how long he’d been torturing me. I’d thrown a few blows of my own, but they didn’t seem to be having any effect. The demon was too strong f
or me. Braxus hadn’t left one mark on me, nor a broken bone, but I was in agony. Had my message not reached Alaric?
Braxus tensed and glanced behind himself. I spit my blood on the floor and tried to breathe. Why had he stopped? What did he hear?
His turned back to me and his eyes narrowed. A pressure slammed into the back of my head, squeezing it like a grape. “Let me in, or I’ll kill you, bitch. I’m out of patience.”
I screamed and someone called my name. Through the haze of pain I connected the dots. He wasn’t out of patience, he was out of time. I was being rescued.
Braxus must have sensed my relief. “I’ll massacre them all if you don’t give in to me.”
I gritted my teeth. “You’ll kill them anyway, and use my powers to do it. They come with the sword, and they can hold their own. I’m not worried.”
The door burst open behind him and he hissed. Alaric swung the sword as he disappeared. It passed through thick, black smoke where his body had been. It took the form of a huge, winged creature and rushed through the ceiling.
I stared at where the demon had gone, dazed. “It got away.”
Alaric dropped the sword and rushed toward me, landing on his knees and skidding to a stop beside me. “Never mind that. We’ll have time to track it. How are you feeling?”
I smiled at him and tried to touch his face, but my hand flopped uselessly to the ground. “You came for me.”
He shook his head. “Of course I came for you. I knew you were alive, and I was tracking you with everyone else, but I was having trouble pinpointing your location. And then Astra stumbled on Jairdan, who led us to you before she took him home.”
Somehow my remaining adrenaline managed to help me grasp his arm and try to pull myself up. “They shouldn’t be alone together.”
Alaric grasped my shoulders and pushed me back down. “Don’t worry, they both agreed to a truce for the time being. My brother can hold a grudge, but for the greater good he’ll put it aside. She’s safe.”
I relaxed a bit. “I’m glad you came for me.”
He shook his head. “I love you. I’ll always come for you.”
“I love you, too.”
And then I let the darkness suck me down.
Chapter Sixteen
Four days. That’s how long it took to heal. With the seriousness of my injuries, everyone was shocked at the speed. Vampire healing is no joke. We stayed at Nyx’s club because of the easy access to “donors” and protection. Braxus was still out there, and no one was sure I was safe.
Alaric rarely left my side, except to check on Fallon, who was back on his feet. Barely. His wounds weren’t coming along as fast as mine. He was recovering at almost a human pace. And he was bitching about it.
We were lounging in bed, watching an old movie, when Gideon stuck his head in the room.
Alaric tensed and sat up. He still didn’t like Gideon for threatening to take me back with him to whatever dimension he lived in, even if the man had agreed that I’d burned the demon out of me and was fully vampire again. Alaric wasn’t taking any chances.
“I’m about to head out. I came to say goodbye and see how you were.”
Alaric glared at him. “That seems unlike you.”
He shrugged. “She’s a miracle. I’ve never known anyone with demon blood living after handling that sword. She also resisted Braxus, though his pull and force were strong. However, I do need a bit of her blood. She was the last to be touched by Braxus’ power, and he tried to inhabit her. I can do a locator spell to track him if I have a vial of her blood.”
He pulled a syringe out of his pocket and I offered my arm without complaint. “So how did I survive the sword killing the demon part of me? I thought there was no chance.”
Gideon shook his head. “The same way Alaric knew you were alive and was able to track you. What spell did you do to save his life anyway?”
I shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t want to admit I’d dabbled with something when I hadn’t really known what I was doing. It is always a stupid thing to do. “I’m not trained in healing. It wasn’t exactly a spell, more energy manipulation.” I explained what I’d done while Gideon analyzed everything I was saying.
He snorted. “Yeah, you messed up. You tied yourself to him. Permanently. It’s the blood that was involved, and the fact that he turned you, so you were already connected. I’m only guessing here, but the sword couldn’t kill you because Alaric kept you alive. You basically drained his life force. He passed out not long after Braxus left with you.”
Alaric ran his hands through my hair. “Tied together forever, huh?”
I grimaced. “Hope you like me.”
He cupped my face in his palms. “I love you.” He brushed his lips over mine, but before I could deepen the kiss, he pulled back. “And even if you kill Jairdan, I’ll keep loving you.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
He glanced away, not meeting my eyes and shifted uncomfortably. “Astra is missing, as is my brother. It can’t mean anything good. I don’t think he’ll kill her, but I don’t know why he would kidnap her. Especially after she saved him and brought him back to us.”
I glared at him. “If he hurts her…”
He shook his head. “I know. I’m there with you. With the help she’s given us, she doesn’t deserve to be tortured by my brother. We’ll find them.”
We kissed again and Gideon snorted. “You people are grossing me out. I’m going to go now. I have a demon to hunt down. Thankfully, he can’t have gotten far.”
Alaric nodded. “Do you need help?”
“Nope. Enjoy your ridiculously happy moment. We killed Sherra, and we saved the damsel, even though she was holding her own. It’s my job to take care of the demon bit. Besides, you have a brother and a vampire hunter to save. Our best plan is to split up.”
Dagger came around the corner. “I’m out, too. The King doesn’t exactly like me, and eventually he’ll get word that I’m here. I’d hate for any of you to suffer for it. That little turd is vindictive as hell.”
He stepped to the bed, took my hand, and kissed the palm. “I’ve already said my goodbyes to Casey, and that leaves you.” He bit his lip and looked like he would say more, but instead he shook his head. “I’ll see you around. And if you ever leave this asshole, I’m all yours.”
I burst out laughing and covered my mouth. “Thank you,” I muttered around my hand.
Alaric scowled at him and draped an arm over my shoulder as Dagger left. “So, going to run off after him?”
I smiled and arched a brow. “Nope. Too crazy for me. Besides, I happen to like you more.”
He kissed me. “Good.”
“So what now? A normal life? Happily ever after?”
There was a loud crash and a feminine squeak somewhere above us.
Fallon shouted. “Oh for fuck’s sake. Damn vampire hearing.”
“Jealous.”
Alaric frowned. “I think maybe we should get our own house. I plan to be as noisy as Casey and Misha, and Fallon might murder us all.”
I slid my hands into the waistband of his jeans and tugged him to me. “Maybe we should just run Fallon out of the house.”
He grinned. “Not a bad plan.”
*The End*
About the Author
HONORIA RAVENA is the author of the In Darkness We Dwell Series and My Cyborg Savior. When not writing or reading romance she’s belly dancing, traveling or spending quality time with friends and family at her home in Texas. Visit her website www.honoriaravena.com and join her monthly newsletter to stay up to date on new releases, win prizes and enjoy tidbits of wisdom from a dancing writer’s daily life.
Secret Cravings Publishing
www.secretcravingspublishing.com
Almost Human Page 15