Fallen Giant

by Monica Owens

  Levi slung the sword over his shoulder, the leather strap on the end a perfect fit. “I’ll carry you.”

  “No,” she said again, her good hand clinging to his T-shirt. “I can walk.”

  “It’s quite a ways,” Arnaud interjected. He also raised a brow at Levi.

  Levi nodded at Arnaud. “Trish, listen to me. Me carrying you doesn’t mean you can’t do it. It means we have to do it faster than you can go. Do you understand?” When she didn’t answer, he leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “Do this for me, babe.”

  Arnaud watched her, saw the moment when she capitulated and nodded at him. This human interaction was new to him. He never normally got this close. Levi and his woman must be deep in their relationship. He watched as Levi scooped her up, careful not to jostle her arm. She wrapped her good arm around Levi’s neck and leaned her head on his shoulder.

  “See?” Levi said with a kiss to her temple. “This’ll go faster.”

  When Levi nodded to Arnaud, he turned back to the trail he’d long since forged in these underground tunnels. He moved swiftly, making sure Levi was keeping up, but not pausing. Sometimes he noticed the woman gritting her teeth or even breaking out a moan as she was jostled. But she didn’t complain. And she didn’t pass out. He was in awe of her strength.

  Arnaud felt the first spurts of guilt settle into his long frame. He’d hurt her. Levi would surely kill him.

  Guilt and then…relief.

  *****

  They were moving at a fast pace. Trish’s face was pale under all the dirt and mud. Arnaud kept glancing back, but he had the good sense to remain quiet except for the random instructions on their trek.

  Arnaud eventually began to move upward.

  That’s when they felt the movement beneath their feet.

  Arnaud stopped.

  Levi did as well.

  Trish turned her head, a frown on her face. “That’s not an earthquake, is it?”

  Levi met Arnaud’s eyes. When the other fallen angel, now no doubt a living, breathing vampire, faced him, Levi saw the confusion. No, not an earthquake.

  “What is it?” Arnaud whispered.

  The rocky walls around them began to shiver.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Levi answered. He hefted Trish higher in his arms. “We almost there?”

  Arnaud nodded and took off at a run.

  Levi blew out a breath. “Babe, this might hurt.”

  Trish stared out over his shoulder, behind them. “Levi, if you don’t run right now—”

  He wasted no time and sprinted behind Arnaud. The movement became a rumble and rocks rained down over them. Trish buried her head in his neck and he ignored the glancing blows of the rock. In front of him, Arnaud was climbing a ladder where the wall ended. Levi followed Arnaud’s form until the latter hefted a door in the ceiling, disappearing up and out of sight.

  Levi skidded to a halt at the ladder.

  “I have to put you down a second, Trish.”

  “Leave me here,” she murmured.

  His eyes zeroed in on her face. “What?”

  “I can’t climb that—”

  “Yeah, I know. So I’m going to put you down, then you’re going to climb on my back and hang the fuck on. You think I’d leave you?”

  Her lips parted.

  “Yeah, we’ve got some things to talk about, woman. And one of them is this insane belief that I’m going to leave you behind. Fuck that.” He swung her legs to the ground and made sure she could stand before presenting her with his back. He knelt and held his arms out. “Climb up. Hang on as tight as you can.”

  There was a pause. He thought he might have to tell her again, but then he felt her ease close to him and wrap her good arm around his neck. Her legs twined around his waist.

  He reached back and hooked his arm around her neck. “Before we go any further, you need to know something.”

  The rumble along the ground grew louder and closer, but he stubbornly waited.

  “What?” she asked shakily.

  “I love you, you obstinate woman. I love everything about you. You better believe that.”

  She leaned her cheek against his neck and he swore he felt tears on her skin. “Levi.”

  “Hang on, babe. I need to climb.”

  *****

  Trish had barely any strength left. Rocks fell from the ceiling of the tunnel they’d just been down. The rope ladder looked less than stable. She wanted badly to look away, but she couldn’t. Her will superseded the pain in her body and she mentally urged Levi onward and upward.

  When they were close to the top, Levi shouted.

  “Arnaud!”

  The blond peeked out over the ladder. “Yes?”

  “Get Trish.”

  “Levi, no,” she murmured. But strong arms reached down and hooked under her armpits. As Levi climbed the last few rungs, Arnaud supported her weight so they could go faster.

  Levi crawled out of the trapdoor into a small, dark room. Arnaud helped her get down off his back.

  “Put some fucking pants on, you perv,” Levi lamented.

  Arnaud got Trish settled on a hard, wooden floor and scuttled off to the other side of the room.

  Levi reached over and slammed the trapdoor. The rumbling increased. Levi frowned.

  “What the fuck…?”

  Trish pulled herself to her feet, ignoring the pain, ignoring all the fatigue. She followed as Levi went to one of the windows in the little cabin they were in. He shoved aside a blackout curtain.

  “Dammit!” Arnaud yelled.

  “Oh my God,” Trish whispered.

  Levi snaked an arm around her waist.

  “Close that!” Arnaud yelled.

  “Hold on, old man,” Levi said over his shoulder. “We’ve got a problem.”

  *****

  When Elliott had insisted his two cousins create a meth lab, Olivier thought it was a stupid idea. However, Rusty and Mel thought the idea had great merit and gleefully allowed cousin Bernard Charles Elliott to get them set up as the Meth Masterminds, as they liked to call themselves. Olivier rolled his eyes, then figured the two deadbeats would be kept out of his hair and might blow themselves up if he was lucky.

  He hadn’t been that lucky, but he still had a meth lab.

  The town emptied out, the two deputies doing drive bys with a bullhorn, telling everyone to get out because of a chemical spill. Olivier watched, fascinated, as these peons packed up their shit, not even questioning what kind of chemical. They just put their crap in their cars and got the fuck out.

  Then Olivier remembered he did have chemicals.

  And he smiled.

  Rusty and Mel weren’t the tidiest of men. But they kept their meth lab meticulously clean. They’d taken their job of bringing opiates to Magnolia very seriously. Olivier glanced around the shack the two cousins had previously lived in, all the junk on the floor, the fly trap paper strung up in the kitchen, the bugs crawling in the sink. Disgusting.

  How perfect.

  Olivier was not concerned about investigators. He’d already started one house on fire. Now he needed to start them all on fire.

  He grabbed what he needed and headed back to the center of town.

  Elliott’s pride and joy had been that ostentatiously obscene fountain in the middle of town. Olivier always curled his lip at it. Now, it seemed to actually have a purpose.

  Olivier dumped chemical after chemical in the fountain. He didn’t know exactly how this was supposed to work, but dropping a match into the mix sure wouldn’t hurt.

  So he did.

  *****

  Levi stood behind Trish, watching fireball after fireball shoot into the sky. No doubt the town of Magnolia was now completely engulfed in flames. He couldn’t imagine what had started the chain reaction, but he knew who had.

  Olivier.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  “I told you, we’re trapped.”

  Trish shivered against the pain and the incessant arguing Levi and A
rnaud were involved in. She pulled the ratty blanket Arnaud had given her tighter around her shoulders. It was barely all she could do to stay awake and to stay alert.

  Levi paced. Arnaud sat on the floor over the trapdoor. Trish had the only chair.

  They could still hear explosions. She imagined every home in Magnolia exploding in epic measures. Fire shooting out of windows. Furniture flung high into the air on waves of flames. Doors flying off their hinges. Her imagination couldn’t even begin to comprehend what Olivier was doing. Ultimately, she didn’t want to. She’d find out the truth soon enough.

  Levi passed by her and put a hand on her head. She looked up at him and attempted a smile. Instead her teeth chattered.

  Levi fell into a crouch before her and took her good hand. “Babe, we’ll figure this out. I promise.”

  After coming to the conclusion that Magnolia was exploding right before their eyes, Trish had moved away from the window. She’d fallen into this chair and hadn’t moved since. Levi and Arnaud began their fight after that and, even though she hadn’t taken part, she’d followed their argument from start to finish.

  “The bars…” she chattered.

  “What’s with the bars again?” Levi spun to look at Arnaud.

  “I told you. They’re electrified. If you don’t believe me, try for yourself.”

  Levi got to his feet and approached the bars. “We can’t stay here.”

  “This is where he kept me. When I found the trapdoor, I escaped as much as I could. But there’s still nowhere to go.”

  Trish’s eyes moved to Levi, still standing in front of the bars, his hands fisted. He wanted to touch those bars, but didn’t want to be electrocuted. Trish didn’t believe Arnaud. Hell, she didn’t even know him.

  Levi reached out and grabbed the metal.

  The room sizzled and Levi flew backward, hitting the wall across the room.

  “Fuck!”

  Arnaud shook his head. “Told you.”

  Trish slithered off her chair and crawled to Levi, who was sitting up looking at his hands. Well, looking at the black char his palms were.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” He glared at the bars. Then he turned and glared at Arnaud. “Maybe you better tell us about Olivier.”

  Arnaud hadn’t been able to look Trish in the eye since they’d been here in this cabin. Because that’s what it was. They might be in a big metal cage, but that big metal cage was in a cabin that Trish hadn’t even known existed. And Arnaud might be whole and sane right now, but he hadn’t been when he was trying to kill Trish.

  She also was trying to overlook the dried blood on the floor and walls.

  “You said he found you,” Levi prompted.

  Arnaud nodded. “I got kicked out.”

  “Kicked out?” Trish asked.

  “Yeah. Look, I don’t want to get into it because it doesn’t matter anyway, but I got kicked out and I had a Hell Hound pull me to a portal.”

  “A Hell Hound,” Trish murmured.

  “Scary looking thing,” Arnaud said with a shiver. “Anyway, I got shoved through, and well, let’s just say, you don’t come to this plane of existence the way you want.”

  Silence descended over the three of them. Arnaud contemplative, Levi considerate, and Trish confused. She hoped it was the pain, but she didn’t think so.

  “So how do you come through?”

  Levi put his arm around her and pulled her close. She didn’t think it was for her benefit. She had the distinct impression it was for Arnaud’s.

  The man, now dressed in a pair of torn jeans, rolled to his feet and took up the pacing Levi had been doing earlier.

  “I can’t explain it to her, Leviathan.”

  “Yeah. You can.”

  “Leviathan…”

  “Tell her, Arnaud. She deserves to know. She’s only been searching for answers for weeks.”

  Sluggish as her brain was, Trish felt a switch flip. Her broken arm still throbbed, but she ignored it and Levi, as she struggled to her feet. She advanced toward Arnaud, stopping him in his tracks.

  “Trish…” he held his hands out, palms up. “I couldn’t control myself…”

  “You killed those people,” she accused.

  “I didn’t understand…”

  “You killed those people!” she shouted.

  Arnaud dropped his head in defeat.

  Anger twisted inside of her. This-this thing was responsible for the death of Mrs. Feeney, that poor boy, and the two hikers. How many times had she wanted to be locked in a room with a murderer after the murderer was caught? How many times had she just wanted one minute with a murderer to give him what he deserved? Too many times to count.

  Now she was here.

  She might not be a leftie, but it was all she had.

  With all her strength, she launched her fist in his direction. It hit his jaw dead on and he stumbled backward. Surprised, he tumbled into a wall and slid down the smooth surface. He cradled his jaw.

  Levi was next to her, holding her shoulders.

  Her body shook.

  “Consider yourself under arrest.”

  He nodded.

  Trish wilted. This was too much. Just too much. Her hand searched blindly for Levi’s and she felt his strong warm fingers curl over her own. She leaned into him and began to sob.

  “Levi, I can’t…”

  “I know. I know.”

  He picked her up and took her back to the chair. She felt numb. Her arm didn’t hurt so bad anymore. Her knuckles stung from hitting Arnaud, but the sting was going away. Her feet were cold. Levi’s face danced in front of her. She felt herself get light headed but she didn’t have the strength to fight it.

  “No more,” she whispered. She wavered slightly, then allowed herself to sag forward into Levi’s chest.

  “We have to get out of here,” she felt Levi’s rumble against her ear.

  “Leviathan, there’s nothing I can do—”

  “Figure it out!” Levi shouted. “She’s going into shock.”

  Trish moaned and let the tears come. She couldn’t hold them back anymore. She’d been strong. So strong. But she couldn’t anymore. How much could she take? Why did she have to take it? She was so tired. So very, very tired.

  Far, far away, she heard a door open and a voice call out.

  “Honey, I’m home!”

  As she slipped into unconsciousness, she heard Levi swear and whisper softly, “Olivier.”

  *****

  Olivier felt better than he had in years. He’d finish this mess with Magnolia and he’d move on to the next town. The next victims. He’d spent too much time here as it was with these people. Maybe he’d hunt down Semi again and do more jobs for him. Scaring those fallen angels in Germany had been fun.

  He busted into the cabin and noticed the smell was almost gone. Dumping that old bitch had been a good idea. She’d gone bad faster than the others. He laughed to himself.

  “Honey, I’m home!”

  He paused.

  Something was off.

  The floor creaked under his boots. He moved quietly toward the bedroom, where the massive cage held Arnaud. He stopped in the doorway.

  Arnaud was there, huddled on the floor.

  But Leviathan also stood near him and that damn detective was passed out toward the back.

  He chuckled, deep in his throat. “What have I caught in my little trap?”

  Levi curled his lip at Olivier.

  Olivier moved closer. Lack of a face had never bothered him, but emoting was sometimes a problem. So he fancied a mouth and spread it wide in a grin.

  “Let us out,” Levi demanded.

  “Surely you don’t think it’ll be that easy?”

  Arnaud slid closer to the detective.

  “Oh, it will be,” Levi answered.

  Arnaud grabbed something from under the chair the detective sat on. Olivier couldn’t make out what it was, but if he had eyes, he’d narrow them.

&nbs
p; Olivier heard a sound behind him. Just a slight movement of a broken piece of furniture.

  He heard the scrape of metal against wood.

  He swiveled his head back to see Arnaud spinning the blade across the floor to Levi.

  “Yes, I’ll need that back,” he told them.

  “Absolutely,” Levi answered.

  Then Levi bent down to pick it up.

  *****

  Standing there waiting for Olivier to come closer, Levi saw Colton and Henry hiding in the shadows. Olivier hadn’t sensed them, probably because of the stench in the little cabin. Levi made a staying motion with his hand and Colton nodded. As Olivier moved closer, Levi motioned to Arnaud behind his back. The vampire knew immediately what Levi needed.

  The blade he’d stolen from Olivier came scraping along the floor to him.

  Levi wasn’t planning on giving it back.

  When Olivier noticed the blade, Levi caught Colton’s eye. He didn’t know how the little boy got to be here, and didn’t really care. But he was going to get Colton to help them.

  However Olivier had electrified the bars and that electricity would go down the moment Olivier went down. Levi couldn’t touch him. Colton would have to do that.

  Levi bent to pick up the blade. With a flick of his head, he got Colton to come out of the shadows, Henry flanking him. The boy would be safe. Physically. Emotionally, yeah, Levi would have some work to do.

  “This is what you want?” Levi asked Olivier.

  “You fucker. Yes, of course. It’s mine.”

  “Suit yourself.”

  Levi lined the blade up between the bars and pulled together all the supernatural energy he could muster. He had to get this past Olivier. He had to get this into Colton’s hand or all would be lost.

  Levi pulled back on the blade and sent it sailing through the bars, across the floor, picking up speed. At the last second, he used his mind to spin the blade so the handle would be available to Colton to grab.

  Olivier’s hand reached out to the metal.

  He missed.

  The cold handle hit the palm of an eleven-year-old boy instead.