The Everlast Series Boxed Set

by Juliana Haygert

  “I’m here,” I answered, disentangling myself from him.

  “What is it? What happened?” he asked, standing and seizing my arm, pulling me around so I would face him.

  “I’m so sorry.” God, why was this happening right now? Couldn’t my visions have waited thirty minutes? I had finally gotten some response from Victor, the real Victor. He had touched me the way the vision Victor always had, and now I had to walk away from his warm, yummy body. Damn it. “You have no idea how much I want this, how much I want you, but we have to leave. Now.”

  “Wait, why?” He cupped my face. “You had a vision, didn’t you? That’s why you were so still.”

  I stepped out of his reach and grabbed my boots—shoes I could run in. I turned to him. “I don’t know how long we have, but we’re about to be attacked.”

  23

  Victor and I ran from my room to the pub and found the guys still at the same table, drinking and talking under the smoky light.

  “Where have you been, darling?” Micah asked as we approached.

  I didn’t have time to play his games. Demons were about to descend. We had to get the heck out of here.

  “Brock, here”—I jabbed a finger in the man’s direction—“is setting us up. There are monsters and bats surrounding this place, waiting for his signal to strike at us.”

  “Excuse me?” Brock asked, pretending to be stunned by my accusation, but I could see past his act.

  Suddenly serious, Micah asked, “A vision?” When I nodded, he stood and grabbed Morgan by his arms. “Let’s go.”

  “Wait! Where are you going?” Brock shot up. “I didn’t finish telling you about the gateway yet.”

  Micah pivoted and punched the man, who fell over the table. “How long do we have?”

  “I have no idea.” I took a step back in case Micah wanted to hit someone else. I had seen how violent and scary he could be, and I didn’t want to be in his way. “I only saw them preparing to attack, so I don’t know when, but I know we have to hurry.”

  Startling me, Micah turned to Morgan and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “Spill it. Do you have something to do with Brock’s plan? Are you helping him?”

  “No!” Morgan’s eyes were wide and fearful. “I swear by the love of my dear gods!”

  “Why should we believe you?” Victor asked, his voice spitting the same venom as Micah’s.

  “I-I don’t know,” Morgan said.

  Then I heard in my ear, over the pounding of the music and chatter of the bar crowd, “Trust him.” It was the same incorporeal voice from my vision.

  “Morgan is on our side,” I said, pushing Micah’s arm so he would release the grip on Morgan’s neck.

  “How do you know?” Micah asked.

  Some of his anger spilled onto me. I glared at him. “Trust me, I know.”

  His grip didn’t lessen. Morgan’s skin grew purple.

  “Let him go,” Victor said, his tone authoritarian.

  Finally, Micah released Morgan, and then turned to Victor. “Never speak to me like that again.”

  “Why?” Victor scowled. “Do you think I’m afraid of you?”

  I saw Micah’s rage surging upward, and I threw myself between them before it was too late. “Boys,” I called out. “We have to go!”

  This time they heard me. The three men followed me as I ran to the hotel lobby, where I stopped in front of the glass walls, motioning to the guys to stay inside with me. I didn’t know if the demons and bats were out there. Yet. As fast as I could, I told them the details of my vision—the demons, the bats, the dead people in the corridor, the look that had passed between the demon and Brock. As I spoke, I glanced around and tried to locate anything or anyone suspicious. A few customers milled around the lobby, talking to themselves and hotel workers, but I saw no demons. Or bats.

  “How are we going to get out of here?” I asked. Victor’s car was in the parking lot, yards away. Even if we made it to the car, how would we be safe? The demons seemed fast; they could easily catch up with us and yank off the car doors, like plucking wings off a ladybug.

  “I could run to the car and drive it closer to the exit,” Micah suggested.

  “I don’t think that will work,” Morgan said. “There are too many of them and too many of us. They must be tempted to risk everything to get to us. Together, we’re like a beacon of power they can’t resist.”

  “So what?” Victor asked. “We can’t stand here and wait for them to attack. Besides, they must know Brock was discovered by now.”

  He shifted, drawing nearer to me. Warmth radiated from his body. I blinked, wishing his arms were still around me, with his perfect body touching mine, his sweet kisses intoxicating me, his inebriating scent … I cleared my mind, then refocused. Control of the situation was slipping from our hands.

  “I have an idea,” Morgan said. “My aura is much weaker. I’ll go outside and check it out. Perhaps they’re still in the back, like Nadine saw in her vision, and we can run away before they see us.”

  “I don’t like it,” I said.

  “It’s all we have,” Micah said.

  As if we were voting, we turned to Victor. He shrugged. “I’m impartial. Though, I’d rather find a solution where none of us takes risks.”

  “I agree.” I glanced up at him. He returned my quick look with a warm shine in his eyes. I wondered what would happen between us when we were done with this adventure—if we survived.

  “We don’t have time to brainstorm,” Morgan argued. Then he took off.

  I watched, wide-eyed, as he passed through the hotel’s main door, then looked up and down the street. He seemed to see nothing alarming, but I found myself twirling my hair with both hands. Beside me, Victor squeezed my wrist, causing me to stop my nervous habit and my heart to beat even faster.

  Through the glass walls, I saw Morgan give a shrug. He came back inside with an easy smile. “Nothing out there. Are you sure about your vision?”

  His words felt like a punch in my stomach. I didn’t like when people doubted me. I ended doubting myself too. “I-I don’t know.”

  “Just to be sure, I’ll go out again and get the car. When I pull up to the front, we leave.” He motioned to Victor who fished the car keys out of his pocket and handed them over.

  “Do your visions ever betray you?” Micah asked, his gaze following Morgan as he strode outside, then down the sidewalk.

  I thought about Micah’s question for a moment. Even if what I had seen wasn’t real—my time with Victor, for example—all the things I was told or saw in my visions had come true.

  “Never.”

  That was when Morgan started to run toward the car. I squinted and stepped closer to the door, trying to see what had triggered him to run, but stopped when I saw bats descending.

  “We need to help him,” I yelled, ready to sprint outside.

  Micah’s hand on my shoulder prevented me. “Want to get yourself killed?”

  “We can’t let him get hurt.”

  At that moment, a bat landed on Morgan’s back. He fell onto the pavement. He tried to crawl away, but another bat landed beside him.

  “I’ll go,” Victor said.

  I recoiled, watching as Morgan tried to protect his face from slashing claws.

  “Don’t be stupid,” Micah snarled. “I’m the best one for this. I hope I still can repel them.”

  I didn’t like the idea of any of us going out there, but I also didn’t like the idea of leaving Morgan alone to serve as bat food. So, I didn’t stop Micah when he ran outside.

  But Morgan did. “Don’t,” he shouted, wrestling one of the bats that was trying to bite his neck. “It’s you they want. Go!”

  We didn’t have time to process. The bats’ attention turned to us just as the demons I’d seen in my vision rounded the corner of the hotel. They hurtled toward us and growled like gorillas, saliva streaming out of their gaping mouths and baring sharp teeth. Yellow eyes burned with pure death and desire.r />
  I froze. Victor and Micah pulled me back, though I had no idea where we could run to, especially since Brock was coming toward us, holding a gun pointed at my face.

  The guys stiffened, and my knees quivered, threatening to buckle. Brock shoved his way through the lobby, pushing the doorman to the ground. A woman saw him and screamed, shifting the attention to us.

  “Turn around and step outside,” Brock ordered.

  “Or what?” Micah asked, clenching his fists.

  “The demons won’t like it, but I’ll kill the girl.” Brock pulled the gun’s safety off.

  Behind me I felt Victor move, and then a lamp flew past me, smacking Brock in the temple. His gun wobbled, and Micah jumped at Brock and punched him again. Hard.

  When Brock seemed too weak to stand alone, Micah let go.

  Victor grabbed me. “What now?” His arms around my shoulders tried to steady me as I shook uncontrollably. My head spun. I heard women scream and men yell, but Victor and Micah didn’t seem to care that the customers and staff were freaking out around us.

  Scenes flashed in my mind. The front desk, two guns under a table, a back door, a covered alley.

  “We find another way out.”

  In four steps, I reached the front desk. I jumped over it and, from inside, opened the side “employees only” door for Victor and Micah.

  A hotel employee ducked and tried to hide.

  “Shut the front door,” Victor ordered. The employee nodded and pressed a button that canceled the automatic opening of the front door. I doubted the barrier would hold the demons for long, but the closure would give us a few precious seconds.

  From under the table, I took the guns and passed them to the guys. Micah didn’t hesitate, while Victor took one with wide eyes.

  Scratching sounds came from the main door.

  “How can we get out of here?” Victor asked.

  “Here,” I said, opening a door that led farther in. I turned to the employee cowling in the corner. “Where does the alley in the back lead to?”

  “A-a department store. Then a residential building.” His voice cracked.

  As we closed the door behind us and ran down a long corridor, a strident bell warned us the front door had been breached. The demons were now inside the hotel, hunting.

  Micah opened a door labeled “Exit” and stuck out his head.

  “Not that one,” I said.

  He quickly closed the door again. Something bumped into it—hard. I winced.

  We continued down the hall until we found another exit. Confident but holding my breath, I opened the door and stepped into a narrow, dark alley. It had a low zinc roof to protect passersby from rain, but in this case, the roof protected us from being devoured.

  “What was that?” Micah asked as we ran down the slippery alley. “You knowing what to do?”

  “Visions.”

  “Really?” He showed me a half-smile. “Interesting.”

  I nodded, though I wasn’t sure “interesting” was the right word.

  Soon the hotel was behind us and the wall of the alley gave way to a steel fence.

  “This must be the residential building,” Victor said, spying through the fence. I only saw a garage filled with cars. “Any more tips from here?”

  “Not yet,” I muttered.

  A loud bump sounded on the zinc roof. We ducked and the guys pointed their guns skyward.

  “Let’s go,” Micah whispered.

  Victor and Micah grabbed me and shoved me over the fence, while the sound of demons and bats pounding against the zinc roof grew closer.

  Victor was the last to cross the steel fence. He climbed over just in time to escape a claw swiping through the roof.

  Micah dashed to the cars. He tried opening several doors but had no luck.

  Again, images filled my mind. A blue Range Rover, a guy walking out the back door of the building, keys in hand.

  I gulped, not happy with what we had to do. “Come on,” I called to the guys. After a few steps toward the building, I gestured to the SUV parked a couple of spots ahead. “That car”—I pointed to the door as it was opening—“and the key is with him.”

  The guy stepped out of the building and froze upon seeing us.

  “Sorry, pal,” Micah said, charging him. They struggled, but Micah was stronger. He took the keys from the guy’s hand and shoved him back inside. “Stay there if you want to live.”

  With the keys in hand, we ran to the SUV.

  Victor grabbed my arm and shoved me in the backseat, then sat shotgun while Micah took the wheel. Behind us, more bats broke through the roof and entered the garage. From the opposite side, a guard approached, holding up his flashlight and gun.

  Micah smiled and started the SUV. From one side, claws and teeth came at us, and from the other, a man with a gun pointed at our heads, and Micah was … smiling?

  “Hold on,” he shouted, stepping on the gas.

  The SUV jerked. I fumbled around and put on the seatbelt. Victor had found the garage door’s remote and held it ready, even though we didn’t know where the exit was yet. Guessing the way, Micah drove toward the guard, who crouched and held the gun in both hands.

  “Stay low.” Micah said. The guard shot at the car, bullets smacking the metal with an eerie, dull thud, loud and echoing. Another great noise behind us meant the bats had broken down the fence. “Anyone hit?” Micah asked. Unable to utter a word, I shook my head.

  Instantly, Victor whipped his head back and looked at me with wide, concerned eyes. His gaze ran the length of my body and relief flooded his features once he saw I was okay.

  A sense of warmth washed over me. It was comforting to see he cared.

  I wanted to reach out to him, to hold his hand, to feel his skin on mine, but before I could, he turned back to help Micah look for an exit.

  “There.” Victor pointed to the left, past another row of cars and columns. The exit gate. He pressed the button on the remote. “Come on, come on.” He looked out the back of the car at the demons I knew were approaching.

  I heard the screams of a man, deep and guttural, then high-pitched and gurgling, and closed my eyes, trying not to imagine the guard being eaten alive.

  Micah revved the engine. His fingers went white against the wheel. “Come on,” he yelled, as if he could order the gate to speed up. I saw him looking through the rearview mirror. His eyes widened. A second later, a bump shook the car. “Hell,” he cursed, accelerating.

  The top of the SUV scratched against the bottom of the gate as it rose up enough for us to slip under. I was glued to the backseat. Victor leaned out of the window and pointed his gun to the back.

  Following his shots, shrieks filled the air, but they soon grew fainter as we sped down the street. The creature had been hit. No others followed. We were getting away.

  For now.

  24

  We remained silent for a while as Micah continued to drive into the night. The surroundings were nothing but a black blur, but I didn’t hear any shrieks or ruffling of wings.

  He watched via the mirrors. “Did we lose them?”

  “I think so,” Victor answered as he looked around, observing the exterior. He stopped when he faced me. “Are you okay?”

  I held onto the back of the seat, fighting against the urge to crawl on his lap and have him hold me while telling me everything would be all right.

  Instead, not trusting my voice, I nodded. If I tried to speak, I would scream or cry. God, I wanted to press “pause.” I needed a break, time to breathe, to rest, to think about all that had just happened.

  “Morgan?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

  The guys didn’t say anything. Victor sat back in his seat and stared at the black horizon.

  Poor Morgan. He had done nothing more than be on our side and help us in any way he could, and now he was dead.

  “What now?” Victor broke the silence and my unsettled thoughts. “We can’t continue with our plan to go to Cathedral Ro
ck. Brock knew where we were going. If he was with those creatures, they know now too.”

  “Do you have a better idea?” Micah asked, an edge to his voice.

  “Yeah. It’s called remaining alive.”

  They bickered between them even as I heard the voice say, “Go to Cathedral Rock.”

  “We gotta keep with our plan,” I said. I earned a shocked and upset look from Victor. It hurt, but all I could do was sigh. I could see that whatever had happened in my room back at the hotel had already been forgotten by him.

  “Are you certain?” he asked, not looking at me.

  “I am,” I said.

  “And how are we going to do this?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Micah cleared his throat as if noticing the tension in the air. “We have to get there first.” His usual smile shone against the rearview mirror as the car accelerated. It should take us about fifteen hours to get to Sedona, but with his heavy foot, we might make it in half that time. I leaned forward and looked at the speedometer—almost 130 miles per hour. He would get us killed without the help of any demon.

  We stopped twice to get gas and food and use the restroom. The second time we stopped, it was four in the morning. We were due to arrive at our destination in two or three more hours.

  When I came back to the Rover holding a mochaccino, Victor leaned against the SUV and asked, “How are you doing?”

  “Good,” I answered. The heat from his gaze spread and confirmed my cheeks were growing pink. Inside, even with everything that was happening, I yearned for his touch, for his kiss.

  Avoiding his eyes, I opened the back door of the SUV, putting it between us.

  He leaned over the door. “We should talk about what happened … in the hotel.”

  My chest ached, afraid of rejection. No, I didn’t want to hear him. Not yet. What if he said it had been a mistake, and he wasn’t into me? What if he said it had been a spur of the moment thing? I glanced around. Micah was buying something inside the diner, and the waitress melted before him—poor girl. I knew how she felt.

  I shook my head and returned my gaze to my mochaccino. “No, it’s okay. You don’t need to say anything.”