“Take that Wreath off!” Grant shouted. “What did you do? Break in to the case?”
“Yes,” she said. “I did.”
Grant dragged her dad farther away, inching toward the ledge.
“Grant—”
“Take off the Wreath right now, or I will shoot him in the head.”
She removed the Wreath and set it in the snow next to her. She couldn’t see Grant’s face. His head and body were completely blocked by her father’s. She knew Merrick must be nearby, but he wouldn’t be able to approach them without Grant seeing him.
“What’s this about?” her father asked.
“It’s about your daughter fucking a monster. Flirting and lying with a filthy criminal.”
She winced, but found that the words didn’t really hurt the way he’d intended. The only thing she felt was fear and dread that her dad would be shot or shoved off the cliff.
“What criminal?” her dad asked.
“He means Perseus,” she said.
“Perseus is a hero,” Richard said, dismissing the accusation. Her dad dug in his heels so that Grant had to drag him. “And he’s quite a handyman, which is surprising. You can’t win, Easton, by going to war with him. I’ve seen the sword he wields. Love is never conquered by insults…or gunpowder. Love is immortal.”
Her dad surged forward, making them lurch. Grant’s gun hand swung out and then back against her dad’s body. The gun’s report shattered the night.
Alissa’s breath caught, her body frozen.
No!
Her dad fell forward with a cry, the flashlight dropping to their feet, but Grant yanked him back by the throat, replacing the gun’s muzzle against his temple. Her dad wobbled but held his ground.
“I don’t care if Merrick’s in love. He’ll die screaming, and so will she. Maybe I’ll take him her head before I kill him.” Grant moved his face out from behind her dad’s to look Alissa in the eye.
The crack of another gunshot pierced the quiet. Grant’s head jerked back as the bullet entered his skull. He crumpled into the snow, her dad falling on top of him. Then their bodies began to slide toward the abyss.
She screamed and ran toward them, but Merrick flew past her from the left. His body sailed through the air, grabbing her father’s coat. All three men disappeared over the slope.
She gasped, racing to the edge. She nearly lost her footing and had to drop and scramble for purchase. Digging her feet into the incline, she waited until her body was perfectly still to look over her shoulder. She squinted and spotted her father’s ankle. She reached for it, inching down until she could grip it. She turned her shoulders slowly, getting her other hand around his calf, anchoring him. She couldn’t see Merrick, and the stabbing fear that he’d fallen almost left her speechless.
“James?” She waited, holding her breath.
“Yeah,” he said with strain in his voice.
“I have my dad’s leg.”
“Hold on to him,” he said.
Suddenly her dad became much heavier. She tightened her muscles and held on, pressing her body hard against the incline. She slid a couple of inches down the slope and fought gravity, digging her toes into the frozen mountain as best she could.
It felt like hours before she saw Merrick’s scuffed hands claw the ridge of rock and snow. As he pressed himself up like a swimmer coming out of a pool, she saw his torn shirt and the gash on the left side of his chest. He steadied himself, crouching down at the edge and grabbing her dad’s leg.
“I’ve got him.”
Her half-frozen fingers didn’t move.
“It’s okay, baby. Let go.”
She bit her lip and nodded, uncurling her fingers slowly. She turned back toward the mountain and crawled slowly up the incline. When she was on level ground, she turned to find Merrick hauling her dad over the ridge. He bent and positioned her dad over his shoulder, then turned.
Merrick licked his pale lips, his breathing labored. She stretched out a hand to him, and he took it with one that shook.
He’s weak!
She held his hand with both of hers and leaned her entire weight backward, using her body as a lever. Merrick got onto the flat ground and dropped to his knees, letting her dad slide from his shoulder.
“He’s bleeding,” Merrick said, his voice weary.
“You’re not well either,” she said, bending over her dad. His down coat was heavy and soaked on one side. “Oh,” she murmured, wincing.
Merrick staggered away from them, dropping to hands and knees and inhaling deeply.
Alissa yanked her dad’s shirt up and found a bullet wound in his side where blood flowed out in a steady stream. She pressed down hard to stanch it. Her dad groaned, and his lids fluttered open.
“Hey,” she said.
He tried to push her hand from his wound, but she pressed down harder.
“Be still. I need to hold pressure.”
“They’re coming for you,” he mumbled. “Go now, Moonbeam.”
Her instincts flared, echoing her dad’s warning. She wasn’t safe.
“We’re all leaving here as soon as we’ve had a minute to catch our breath.” She glanced over at Merrick. His sweat-dampened hair curled at his collar. He dragged the Ovid Medallion over his head with a shaky hand and smashed it with his fist. Light shimmered, and he returned to himself. He tossed the fragments over the cliff.
As he drew in a breath, his fangs glinted in the moonlight.
“What’s wrong, Merrick? Do you need blood?”
He didn’t answer, but he panted like he’d just run a marathon.
“James,” she said sharply. “Answer me. Do you need blood?”
His head, hanging a few inches from the snow, nodded.
She held out her arm toward him. “Then take some.”
“You’ve been bled almost dry once this week. A second deep bite this soon could kill you.”
“You won’t drink enough to hurt me.”
He made no move toward her.
“My dad is too weak to stand. I can’t carry him to the car. Think, James. If one of us has to be weak and dizzy, it has to be me, not you.”
“I might not stop in time.” He sucked in air, swaying. “The hunger is bad. I’d be too rough.”
She put her dad’s hand over the wound and pressed down. “You hold that, Dad.”
“Yesterday…all my troubles seemed so far away,” her dad sang softly.
Alissa walked to Merrick and crouched next to him. She put her wrist near his mouth. “Don’t make me slit my wrist open with your knife.”
“Alissa, don’t.”
Alissa grabbed the back of Merrick’s hair and pulled his head up with her right hand, dragging her left wrist across his fangs. Before she even felt the sting, his mouth clamped down, his fangs sinking into her flesh. She gasped at the sharp pain. His body lurched forward, knocking her back into the snow and trapping her beneath him.
Her heart banged in her chest, panic threatening to take hold. The merciless suction of his mouth drained away her adrenaline-spiked blood, making her heart race faster. Her wrist burned, the flesh bruising under the crushing force of his mouth.
She groaned and closed her eyes, thinking frantically, You have to help him control this!
“Easy,” she said, her voice breathy. “Slow down.” She tightened her fingers in his hair and tried to tug his head back, but it didn’t give. She felt the corded muscles of his neck against her arm, solid and strong. She pushed power into her voice. “James…stop.”
He groaned, grinding his body into hers. Attraction tightened her insides. Even dying, a woman could be smothered in lust under a feeding ventala.
“Merrick, stop!” she snapped.
Merrick’s hand clamped on her left forearm and dragged it away from his mouth. He jerked his head to the side, breathing hard. The world swirled like she was on a carnival ride, moments melting away. She fought the urge to faint, digging her fingernails into her palms, focusing on her a
ching wrist. Focusing on the pain. On anything real.
“I know I hurt you,” he whispered.
Her hammering heart finally slowed, the dizzying spin over. He licked his lips and eased his body off hers, finally looking down at her.
“I was too hungry to even try to roll your mind into wanting the bite. A muse’s mind is unlikely to fall. I never wanted you to feel that pain,” he rasped, examining her wrist. It hurt for him to handle it, but she didn’t allow herself to wince. Her arm rested in his hands. “I tore the skin. It’ll scar,” he said and clenched his jaws. “I’m sorry.”
She raised her other hand, laying her palm against his neck. “We’re both all right. That’s what matters.”
He ripped a strip of fabric from his shirt and wrapped her wrist, cinching it tight enough to stop the blood from oozing. His gaze slid to her face again. “I love you.”
She smiled, resting her palm against his cheek. “I know. I love you, too.”
Her father’s Beatles rendition stopped, and he said, “They were coming. Now, they’re here.”
Alissa heard the sound of helicopter blades chopping the air.
Chapter 34
Cerise straightened her tank top and untwisted herself from the sheets. Ileana sat up as Cerise climbed off the couch.
“Why the hell are all the lights on?” Cerise mumbled.
“And where is everyone?” Ileana asked.
Cerise strode into the hallway. A thumping sound drew her to an interrogation-room door. Had someone left Richard North alone in the room? She tried to yank the door open, but it didn’t budge. The light on the security pad blazed red.
“Hello,” a man said.
Cerise jumped, scowling. “Damn, you scared—” As she turned her head toward him, the words died on her tongue. She had to look up to see his face, which almost never happened. Dark blond hair spilled over broad shoulders. His bare chest was scarred but wicked beautiful. Incredibly, inexplicably, the light seemed to fracture around him, as though he were made of crystal instead of flesh.
“Who are you?” she demanded.
“I’m not available for conversation. I’m looking for my friend.”
She cocked a brow.
A slow smile curved his lips. “You smell like oranges.” He took a step back, pushing the hair away from his heartbreaking face, then he frowned and shook his head. “Which is actually an unwanted distraction.” For a moment, he lapsed into a language so ancient, she couldn’t translate fast enough to follow what he said. Returning to English, he managed, “My friend Merrick might be with a muse named Alissa.”
Of course, he’s beautiful. He’s one of them, she thought furiously. She didn’t even have a weapon to defend herself. “So you’re Merrick’s friend, huh? It’s illegal for ventala to be in the Etherlin. It carries a death sentence. Did you know?”
He shook his head. “Laws made by men are—”
She lunged and grabbed the knife sheathed at his hip. He caught her wrist and launched himself forward, slamming her against the wall and pinning her body with his.
“Get off me,” she said, shoving his shoulder with her free hand.
“You’re strong and soft,” he murmured, staring at her mouth. “An unusual combination—which I don’t have time to contemplate.” He grabbed her left wrist and forced it up against the wall so both her arms were pinned over her head.
“Let go,” she snapped, trying to knock him off balance. When her forehead banged against his chin, he jerked his head back, then he spun her body so she faced the wall and was crushed between it and him.
His cool breath blew against her ear, matching her own ragged breathing.
“You smell too good to be part demon, so you’re not my sworn enemy. Calm yourself,” he said.
She was still for a moment, waiting for her chance to throw him off, but his muscles never relaxed. She exhaled hard, frustration thrumming through her.
“You attacked me without cause,” he said. “You should ask my forgiveness.”
“You can kiss my ass.”
His knee rose to nudge her butt. “Be careful what you demand. Someone may accommodate your request.”
“You son-of-a-bitch!” she snapped, whipping her head back to slam it against his face.
A moment later she was free, and she spun to face him. He was several feet away, rubbing the swollen corner of his mouth.
“I don’t have time to teach you a lesson, but your ferocity deserves one.”
“You’re trespassing.”
He smiled, and she hated that it had a devastating impact on the part of her that noticed beautiful things.
“You don’t own the world,” he said. “I trespass where I please.” He turned. “Now, I need to find my friend before he gets himself killed.” He sprinted down the hall in a blur of speed that left her breathless.
She rubbed her wrists.
Who the hell was that?
Merrick moved Richard into the trees and was glad that Alissa was well enough to walk despite being winded. From the cover of the evergreens, Merrick put several rounds into the side of the helicopter, but when it suddenly lost altitude, it was over a clearing, so there was no fiery crash.
Ventala syndicate members poured out.
Merrick shot several before the remainder rushed into the woods. The gun battle lasted ten minutes, and Merrick would’ve cleared a path if a second chopper hadn’t landed behind the first.
“If I go out, they might think I’m alone. If they come in after me, they’ll find the two of you,” Merrick said.
“If you go out, they’ll kill you,” Alissa said.
Merrick shrugged. “I’m almost out of ammunition. When they realize it, they’ll be coming in after me anyway.” He grabbed Richard and placed him under the low-hanging branches of an evergreen. He waved for Alissa to join them, and she did. “Stay out of sight. I’ll see if I can reach a fallen ventala to get a loaded gun.”
He cleared away their tracks as much as possible, then moved forward. Within moments, he was pinned down by their attackers’ cross fire.
Alissa pressed her hand against her dad’s side, which was bleeding again, and tried to soothe him.
A branch lifted, and she froze.
“I smell blood,” Cato Jacobi said with a menacing smile.
She scrambled to the far side of the tree, drawing him away from her dad. Jacobi pursued her as she crept along the ridge. There wasn’t much space.
“Fall,” she said, but when Cato stumbled, he didn’t go over the cliff.
He lunged and grabbed her, slamming them both to the ground. They slid down the incline. She grabbed at the ground, but her hands trailed through snow and over ice.
Over Cato’s shoulder, she saw Merrick sprinting toward them. He dove and she reached. A terrible pain in her shoulder made her shriek when Merrick yanked her toward him as Cato held on.
Cato swung his free arm around and buried a knife in Merrick’s thigh, holding tight to the hilt. Merrick’s fist slammed into Cato’s face, and Cato lost his grip on her. Merrick yanked her up and away from the incline, then shoved her down flat into the snow just as a bullet ripped through him. Cato jerked the knife free of Merrick’s leg and barreled forward.
She grabbed for Merrick, but caught only air as he fell sideways over the ridge. Her scream pierced the night. Cato climbed over her body to reach level ground.
“Hold your fire. He’s gone! I’ve got the girl!” Cato half-carried, half-dragged Alissa to a waiting helicopter.
Alissa fought to free herself—to get back to the ridge and Merrick—but couldn’t. Her mind replayed the last moments over and over.
Everything had happened with mind-blurring speed. Cato kept a hand over her mouth as he climbed into the chopper with her.
“Well, if it isn’t Bitch Barbie,” Tamberi Jacobi said with a smile.
As tears slid silently down her cheeks, Alissa stared out of the open helicopter doors. Merrick was gone. Her dad was bleeding under a
tree. She was captured. It was too much.
She tried to leap out as the helicopter started to rise, but Cato dragged her back inside and slid the door closed.
“Don’t worry, you won’t have time to mourn Merrick. You’re not long for this world yourself,” Tamberi said.
“Pilot, crash,” Alissa said, infusing her voice with power.
The helicopter lurched.
“Motherfucker!” Cato said, jumping on top of Alissa and shoving a hand over her mouth while Tamberi screamed at the pilot. After several breathtaking swerves, the helicopter’s erratic flight returned to normal.
“What the fuck did I tell you? Tape her goddamned mouth!” Tamberi screeched at Cato.
Cursing and yelling the entire time, he covered Alissa’s mouth with duct tape.
“You reach for that tape, and I’ll break your jaw,” he said.
Alissa sat cross-legged on the floor, staring daggers at them. She willed herself to come up with a plan to kill them both, but her mind kept returning to Merrick falling. It wasn’t fair. After everything they’d been through…in the end, they’d had so little time together. Her throat tightened and tears welled in her eyes.
He’s gone. Her mind rebelled at the thought, but she had lost him. And not only Merrick, but also her father, the Wreath, and soon, her life.
Anger and frustration burned through her. She wouldn’t die alone. She would find a way to take the Jacobis with her.
Perched on a ledge, Lysander glared at Merrick, whom he’d saved from a deadly fall.
“Take me to her!” Merrick rasped, coughing up frothy, bright-red blood.
“You need a hospital,” Lysander said, kneeling over him. “I didn’t come here to let you die. I need you to fulfill that prophecy, and you’re—” Lysander reached out to pick Merrick up.
Trying to catch his breath, Merrick shoved Lysander’s hand away. Blood poured from Merrick’s wounds. He didn’t have much time left before he’d be too weak to help her.
Lysander reached again.
“Don’t!” Merrick shouted. “You’ll take me to Alissa, or you’ll take me nowhere.”
“You’re my friend!” Lysander shouted back. “My one friend. I won’t lose you over a girl, no matter how good they smell!”
All That Bleeds Page 29