Conquer

by M. S. Willis

  A resigned sigh escaped his lips before he turned to me and said, “Chris was apparently in Tomb again. Once again, Logan spotted him and once fucking AGAIN, he got out before Logan could get to him! I need to head over there.”

  “Well, then I’m going with you.” My voice was matter of fact as I spoke.

  “The hell you are…”

  I put up my hand to stop Daemon from continuing his little alpha male rant. “Not this time, Daemon. You can’t tell me no. You just finished promising me we would be partners in this thing with Chris. Last I checked ‘partners’ indicated that we would do this together. I’m not allowing you to turn this into a hypocritical situation where you get to act alone and I always have to wait for you before I’m allowed to make a decision. That is bullshit and SO not happening.”

  Daemon raised his hands and then brought them back down forcefully on the steering wheel. His palm accidentally hit the center and a little ‘beep’ sounded from the truck. “Dammit Paige! No! I refuse to let you go anywhere near him!”

  My mouth turned up into an arrogant smirk. “That doesn’t sound like partnership to me Daemon. Guess this means I don’t need to run things past you after all.” My arms crossed over my chest and I turned my head slowly in his direction. If his eyes could shoot lasers, I would have been zapped into oblivion at that moment. His normally beautiful mouth was turned up into an angry grimace and his eyebrows were sharply furrowed down the center of his face. I smiled an innocent smile because, for once, I had the advantage with him. It felt good to corner him.

  His hand came up and grabbed me by the cheeks. He held my face in place and my mouth was forced into a little ‘o’ from the force of his fingers. His eyes burned into mine. I couldn’t quite tell, due to the shadows, but I think his face was turning a deep shade of scarlet. He was mad and I was annoyed that he thought he could take it out on my face. I tried to jerk out of his grasp, but I was unable to pull away. Damn, he had some strong hands.

  His authoritative voice sounded when he asked, “Why…must you be…so fucking stubborn?” He let go of my face and I rubbed at my cheek with my hand. “Seriously, Paige. You don’t need to be anywhere NEAR that club while Chris is running around.”

  I held up my finger in his face. “First off, a kid I knew when I was young taught me to never put up with shit, therefore, there will be NO angry face grabbing in this relationship…”

  Daemon smiled the minute I chastised him for manhandling me.

  “…and second, Tomb is probably the safest place for me to be right now. I mean, you have no one at the apartment to watch me since Alex isn’t around, and Chris could be hiding in wait. Maybe he’s trying to lure you away from the apartment so he can get to me. Hmmm, did you ever think of that? What if you drop me off and, while you are at Tomb, Chris somehow breaks in and kills me.” My finger dropped and I smiled sweetly again. “You’ll have to live with that on your conscience forever, with me being dead and all.”

  Cornered him again…I’m feeling quite proud of myself tonight.

  “Sonofabitch!” The fact that Daemon mumbled that explicative was a clear indication that I had won this round. “Fine. I’ll take you with me, but you stay by my side the ENTIRE time and if Chris is spotted, you stay as far away as possible. In fact, if he’s spotted, you are to go lock yourself in the storage room. I had a couch put in there after the last time I dragged you there.” The corner of his mouth turned up into a smirk. “You should be quite comfortable.”

  My jaw dropped at his admission and he chuckled in response. “Wow, feeling pretty sure of yourself there, Daemon. As if I would let you drag me in that storage room again.” I let out a little outraged huff, but couldn’t help my smile.

  Daemon threw the truck back into gear and pulled out on the road. My body was thrown back into the seat from the speed he was driving and it took us very little time to get to the club. Daemon parked in a reserved spot in the back and ushered me in through the rear service door. As soon as we entered the club, my breath rushed out of me and I suddenly realized how much I had missed going out. The music was pounding, it was so loud. The club was busy and people were packed together like sardines. A live band was playing and, although I had never heard of them before, they were actually quite decent. Daemon took my hand and tucked me closely behind him as he navigated his way to Logan’s bar. As soon as Logan caught sight of us, he frowned and quickly came over to speak to Daemon. He waved at me before leaning over the bar to speak with Daemon quietly.

  With my hand still enveloped in Daemon’s hand, I turned to look out over the crowd. I chuckled to myself when I spotted the typical women in their typical club gear. Skin was showing and drinks were being guzzled. The men were in their standard black shirt, blue jean combination. Nothing had changed since I’d been here last. Okay, so it had only been a couple of months, but it felt like forever since I’d been at Tomb. My eyes continued perusing the drunken debauchery when a familiar face came in to view.

  Alex was standing at the guardrails overlooking the pit. A beer was tilted up to his lips and the brim of his ballcap was pulled so low, it nearly touched the bottle. To his right was a shorter, curvy girl with short blond hair tucked underneath a black pageboy cap. She wore a simple, black halter top with a pair of jeans and some decent boots. I was impressed with her appearance and curious who she was. I started to walk over to say ‘hi’ when Daemon’s grip tightened on mine and he pulled me back in his direction.

  Leaning down to whisper loudly in my ear, he said, “Where in the hell do you think you’re going?!”

  My eyebrows shot up in response to his curt tone and I indicated in Alex’ direction with my thumb. “I was going to go see Alex. He’s standing near the pit. I thought it would be okay to see him since he’s previously been given babysitting status.”

  Daemon’s eyes shot over to where Alex and the mystery blonde were standing. A smile peeked out at the corner of his mouth. His expression softened somewhat and he let go of my hand. “Fine. Go say ‘hi’. I need to go in the back office to meet with the police. Stay with Alex.”

  I saluted Daemon before turning on my heel to go discover the identity of Alex’ new friend. I dodged through the thick crowd and eventually made my way over to where he was standing. Alex spotted me as I approached. His hand dropped down to grasp onto the mystery blonde’s hand. He started walking in my direction while dragging his cute date along with him.

  Once we were close enough to talk, he leaned down and put his free arm around my shoulder to hug me to him. His head came down so he could speak close to my ear and be heard over the booming music. “Hey. What are you doing here? Did everything go okay after I left?”

  I looked over to Alex’ date fully expecting a jealous sneer to be plastered across her face from Alex’ proximity to me. Unfortunately, I’d had too many run-ins with jealous women when it came to Alex. Thinking back, I guess it was to be expected considering Alex and my previous arrangement. I was pleasantly surprised to find his date smiling brightly, appearing anxious to meet me. She didn’t seem to have a jealous bone in her body. I was liking the girl already.

  I nodded ‘hello’ in her direction before turning back to Alex. “Yeah. Funny story, actually. Apparently, Daemon is Buddy.” I made that statement nonchalantly, thinking it might lesson the blow of what I just revealed. It didn’t. Alex’ jaw dropped and his arm tightened around my shoulder. I shrugged out of his hold and looked up into a shocked and somewhat pissed expression.

  “What?!”

  I sighed and decided Alex would need clarification as to my statement. “Daemon is Buddy. As in, they are the same person. As in, Daemon is the adult version of the kid I’ve been thinking about for most of my life. Buddy is Daemon.” There. I think that broke it down into the basics. No more confusion.

  I was wrong.

  Alex’ face twisted up into an oddly unreadable expression and he shook his head slightly as if he was trying to connect back with reality. “How the….I don’t�
��are you sure?”

  I chuckled at Alex’ reaction. It was actually quite similar to mine when I found out the truth, well, minus the screaming and crying and falling on the floor part.

  I reached up and patted Alex on the back. “I know. It’s a tough bit of information to swallow, but he’s telling the truth. Not only did I find the necklace, but he also has a picture of himself with his mom. It’s him Alex. It’s Buddy.” I smiled knowingly at him before asking, “So, who’s your friend?”

  Alex appeared to shake himself from his shock and suddenly turned to introduce me to his date. “Paige this is Ava. Ava this is Paige.”

  Ava reached over and shook my hand. She smiled brightly and she had a friendly demeanor to her. We hadn’t spoken one word, yet somehow, I could tell this girl was laid back and easy to get along with. “Nice to meet you, Ava. Where’d you two meet?”

  Ava looked up at Alex and smiled an infectious smile. Alex scooted closer to her to wrap his arm around her shoulder. He pulled her closer into his body and turned to me. “Ava and I met at that tattoo convention I told you about. She was photographing the event and we just happened to start talking and it went from there, I guess.”

  Ava chuckled at Alex’ story and said, “Well, ‘talked’ might not be the right word. Alex actually yelled at me for invading his space with my camera; even though I was at least five feet away. You’ve got one hell of a hothead for a friend, Paige…”

  I laughed at her description. Yes. Alex was, in fact, a hothead, but you had to love him for it.

  “…Anyways, so after he started blowing a gasket over me doing my job, I let him have it for being an asshole. We didn’t speak for the rest of the convention, but ran into each other again when it was over. I had some equipment issues in the parking lot and he came to the rescue, luckily.”

  I could tell there was more to this story by the way their eyes kept flicking to one another, but I decided not to pry too deeply. I was instantly happy for both of them, and especially, Alex. Ava seemed to be a down to earth girl and I hoped that he finally found someone who could be as good to him as I knew he could be to her.

  Ava surprised me when she suddenly turned to me and said, “So, I’ve heard a lot about you Paige. Is it true you went after some nut job by yourself today? Alex said you got stuck in a tree.”

  What the hell?!

  My eyes narrowed and I looked up at Alex. He had a slight grin tugging at the corner of his mouth as he looked around the club while refusing to look back at me. I looked back over at Ava and she had a sheepish look to her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up if it’s something that bothers you.”

  I shook my head and responded, “Don’t worry about it, Ava. Apparently, on top of being a hothead, Alex also has a big mouth…” I paused to quickly glare at Alex. “…But, he was being truthful. I, unfortunately, did have an issue while tracking someone out at one of the preserves today, but, thankfully, everything turned out okay. The man I was tracking escaped, but no one was hurt, so that’s the good part.”

  Ava opened her mouth to respond but was stopped by the deafening sound of an explosion. The floor beneath me shook from the blast and I turned my head in the direction of the loud screams that resonated throughout the club. When I caught sight of the area by the right bar, I saw people running in all directions attempting to escape flames that were starting to consume the bar area and dance floor. I was frozen in place as my eyes took in the pandemonium and chaos that was unfurling while my mind was struggling to grasp what had just occurred. The ringing in my ears was prominent above the screams and cries from the patrons and, like a tidal wave coming straight for us, people poured from the pit as they attempted to reach the exits. I froze in place as I watched a sea of people quickly moving in my direction. Some fell as they tried to shove against each other and were trampled underfoot while others kept moving in an attempt to escape the smoke filled club.

  I felt a hand grasp around my arm and start pulling me in the direction of the front exit, but I was frozen in place as I took in the nightmare that had developed around us. People with blood pouring from their heads and bodies were mixed in with others that had no apparent injuries. When I finally grasped what had happened around me, I felt a stronger pull on my arm and my feet tripped over themselves as I was pulled backwards. I started to lose my footing when I felt one large arm come around my waist to keep me from falling to the ground. Before I could turn to see who had taken hold of me, I was suddenly enveloped in a wall of bodies as they tried to shove past me towards the front doors. My body started to fall once more from the crush of the screaming crowd, but I was hoisted up and forcefully pulled toward the doors. My head turned in the direction of the person who had hold of me. When my eyes met Alex’, I noticed he was screaming something at me, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying. Like a rubber band snapping back, reality hit me and I was released from the stupor the chaotic events had created. My feet started moving of their own accord as I was dragged behind Alex. He held me with one arm, while holding Ava in the other. As we were pushed against the people in front of us, I remembered that Daemon was still in his office. Panic flooded my system and I turned to go find him. Just as I turned, one of the large beams on the right side of the bar broke free from the ceiling. The beam creaked and groaned as it swung down into the fire below it. The screams became louder following the crash of that beam and sparks flew through the air where it landed.

  I pulled against Alex’ grasp as I tried to run back towards Daemon’s office. Alex’ hand gripped tighter and I found myself being jerked back in his direction. “Where the hell are you going? We have to get out of here NOW!” Alex screamed in my ear while he continued dragging me in the direction of the front exit.

  “Let me go, Alex!! Daemon is back there, I have to find him!” My struggles were useless against Alex’ hold. My hand desperately attempted to remove his grip from my arm. I tried to dig my feet into the ground to stop Alex from moving me towards the front, but I couldn’t gain enough traction to halt the movement. I continued screaming at Alex to release me, but he wouldn’t respond to my pleas. The three of us were suddenly crushed together by the swelling crowd as it attempted to squeeze itself through the exit doors. Alex took that opportunity to wrap his arm around my waist. I continued screaming as he half dragged, half carried me outside.

  When the night air hit us, I was relieved as the crowd separated and allowed for breathing room. I attempted to break free of Alex to run back into the building. Alex’ hold never loosened and he continued dragging me until we were a good distance from the building. “

  “Damn it, Alex, let me go!! I need to go find Daemon. He’s still in there!” Tears involuntarily fell from my eyes and my body surged with adrenaline. My fists started striking against Alex’ chest and he turned his head to keep from being hit.

  “Paige, STOP! You can’t go back in there! The place is burning to the fucking ground! I’m sure Daemon got out. I am not letting you go back.”

  My knees gave out and I collapsed to the ground. The sudden movement knocked Alex off balance and he fell to the ground beside me. I watched as people continued pouring from the building. Sirens blasted the air when the fire trucks and ambulances arrived. Police cars shortly followed and I watched as emergency personnel rushed to help those who were injured.

  My eyes moved quickly over the sea of faces seeking Daemon. My panic level rose higher when I realized that mostly everybody had exited the building, yet he was nowhere to be seen. Alex’ arms wrapped around me and I felt Ava hugging on to me from the other side.

  “Baby girl, I’m sure he got out of there. It’s his club, he would know how to escape.” Alex’ words were spoken with such conviction, I wondered if he wasn’t trying to convince himself of their truthfulness. Ava was softly crying beside me and I reached out to squeeze her hand. She nodded at my gesture and we stayed huddled together as we waited.

  The minutes dragged by as my eyes took in the chaos and
carnage that surrounded us. People were crying and looking for their friends. Others laid on the ground waiting for medical help. Many were covered in a mixture of soot and blood. I cringed when I spotted a group a people huddled around a person lying on the ground. I couldn’t tell if the person was dead or alive, but my fears for Daemon only multiplied at the sight. Every muscle in my body tensed as I tried to remain still, hoping that he would come walking out of that crowd. When I couldn’t take it any longer, I turned to Alex and begged to be released so that I could search for him.

  “Please, Alex, please let me go. I won’t go in the building. I can’t, they are blasting it with water, but I need to go look for Daemon. He might not see us if we remain sitting on the ground.”

  Alex’ expression gave away just how torn he was over keeping me on the ground and releasing me to go search. Ava remained quiet as I babbled on about how I needed to go. “Paige, I want to let you go, I do, but I promised your man that when he wasn’t around, I would keep you safe. I can’t let you go. The crowd is still too thick and I’m afraid you’ll get lost in the chaos.

  Different emotions were pouring out of me, all resulting in tears that continued to cascade down my face. My arms came around my mid-section as I became ill with worry. My mind was being assaulted with negative thoughts and concerns. Had I just found Buddy only to lose him again? How could fate be so fucking cruel? Losing him once was enough to damn near destroy me, but to lose him twice? My heart felt like it would tear through my chest and my muscles quivered under the weight of my fears. I was suddenly overtaken by exhaustion and I relaxed into Alex’ chest. I continued my desperate search of faces, seeking the blue eyes that would free me from the agonizing weight of fear.