by Susan Bliler
“Don’t die on me yet, princess.” Strutting to her, he snagged her collar, dragging her a few feet to a utility van. Walkers and humans employed at StoneCrow kept their vehicles unlocked and their keys inside at all times. Walkers didn’t steal, so it made no sense to do otherwise.
“Don’t pass out on me now. You need to look alive and healthy. Megalya don’t pay for dead bodies. Odium’s gotta wanna keep you.” David opened the backdoors to the vehicle as Harlow was finally able to wheeze in a breath.
Chapter 15
Recker’s words carried to Remy on the mist. “I’ve got eyes on Harlow. She’s alive! That asshole, David, has her!”
Remy ushered the last of the Crows into the Estate house, barking for Gauge and Haka to get them to safety. Chaos swirled around him as Walkers rushed into battle, others ushering women and children to safety within the Estate. Turning, he lunged off the front steps, shifting mid-stride and landing in massive mountain lion form. “WHERE?”
“South end of the parking garage!”
Remy’s rage lent strength to his muscles as he propelled himself with inhuman speed toward the parking garage. All around him war was raging. RedKnife, Bishop, Leto, and Mason fought in varied stages, some shifted, some as human. Ash and Lok were rushing to the aid of Delain and Cason, and on the far side of the Estate, Fatal and his Keepers were laughing. Actually fucking laughing, as they unleashed their beasts onto the battle. Where in the fuck is Monroe?
Animals of all breeds battled the pasty, bald, pale creatures with razor sharp teeth that were the Megalya. In front of him, two Megalya took down a blond bear, Stoney. He wasn’t surprised that she’d left Jenny to handle the infirmary while she joined the fight.
Remy leapt over the mound of fighting bodies, raking his nails into one of the Megalya as his teeth sunk into a shoulder all the way down to bone, jerking the thing off Stoney. He flipped, taking the creature with him as he used his weight to throw the creature’s mass away from him while keeping his teeth locked in flesh. Rolling to his feet, Remy looked back, snuffing once at the lifeless corpse, spitting out the flesh that hung from his maw. Stoney was back on her feet, doing a number on her remaining enemy, so Remy darted for the garage.
As he ran he took in the sight of the Estate as he’d hoped never to see it. StoneCrow had been breached. Walkers fought alongside Keepers and their Soul Sentries against Megalya and….human soldiers? Remy had always known that the Megalya employed humans, but he’d never envisioned those humans actually joining the war to fight against the Walkers.
Skidding around a corner, he slammed into where Recker stood holding up a hand for him to stop. Remy’d been going too fast, and the two Walkers collided, but not once did Recker take his eyes off where they were fixed.
Righting himself, Remy turned his head and allowed his shift to rip through him as he changed back to his human form, BDUs regenerating over his flesh with the change. His eyes locked on where Harlow was on her knees beside David, blood dripping from her lips, running down her chin to slide down her throat. A throat that currently had a blade pressed into it. She looked tired and she was cradling her elbow, but Remy could read the relief in her eyes when they landed on him, and that relief made him proud. Proud that she knew he’d never let her be taken. Proud she knew that his arrival signaled her salvation. His eyes snapped to David. “Let her go now, and I’ll kill you quickly.”
David knelt behind Harlow. “I’ve got other plans. You two back off, she and I drive out of here, and you don’t have to tell Mason that you let his sister die.”
Remy curled his lip back, hiding his surprise that David knew Harlow was Mason’s sister. “Fuck you!” Remy snarled, taking a step forward. Recker’s hand shot out, gripping his forearm, holding him in place.
“It’s pretty fucking simple,” David panted, sounding deranged. “If I leave without her, I die. If I kill her now, I die. The only way I live is by leaving this Estate with her, and you’re going to let me do it. Because the only way she lives is for you to let me take her.” He shook his head, slight manic ticks contorting his features. “I’ve got nothing to lose, Commander.” He pressed the blade more firmly into Harlow’s throat. “Do you?”
***
Harlow saw Remy round the corner and her relief was instant. Recker might have been able to save her, but him and Remy together… Thank God!
“Let her go now and I’ll kill you quickly,” Remy barked, his features sharp with barely checked rage.
David went through some spiel about them letting him take her, but it would never happen. She knew as surely as she knew the sun was going to set that Remy would never let David take her.
“Fuck you!” Remy snarled, taking a step forward. Harlow tensed, prepared to do her part to aid in her own escape. An escape that never came. Recker stopped Remy, and her confused eyes shot to the Walker.
“Wait.” Recker gripped Remy’s arm, and Harlow felt a bone-chilling fear seep into her with the look Recker gave her. Pity?
Remy turned to snarl at his fellow Walker, but when he attempted to jerk free, Recker held strong. Dipping his head, the black sweep of Recker’s long bangs hid his expression, but Harlow could still see his lips moving, proof that he was speaking to Remy.
Remy’s eyes slid to hers and his expression changed. He went from looking furious to almost…apologetic? When his full lips parted, Harlow was already moving her feet, preparing to get to her knees. She knew he’d demand her release. He had to. He was a Walker, her Commander, and they didn’t leave their own behind; they didn’t let their own be taken.
The lines around Remy’s mouth deepened as he stared at her, his brows no longer holding that edge of rage. Hell, his expression looked damn near soft as he stared at her. It was terrifying. Finally, his lips parted and he spoke. “Take her.”
Harlow froze as disbelief rocked her to her core. Had she just misheard?
Remy commanded, “Be strong, Sentry.”
Her mouth fell open, and she could only stare at him in dismay as she tried to decipher what in the hell had just happened. She had misheard, hadn’t she? There was no way in hell that Remy had just… But he had! Maybe this was his way of letting her prove herself? He’d called her Sentry, and he’d never called her that before. Maybe he was telling her to soldier up, trying to convey some message, some… She didn’t get to finish the thought. David punched her in the arm, and she recoiled from the pain, but it only lasted a second before her limbs turned to liquid. It wasn’t a punch. He’d injected her with something, and the world blurred around her even as she crumpled to the floor.
Somewhere in the haze she thought she heard a furious snarl seconds before David bellowed, “We have a deal. Back the fuck off! Control him!”
Someone grabbed the back of her shirt and though her haze, she realized it was David hauling her away from Remy and Recker. She tried to lift her head, but it refused to move. She was hauled up and then she felt a sudden drop. Her heart skipped a beat, then thudded back to life, her bones jarring as they connected with unforgiving steel beneath her. A vehicle? David had been smart, he’d planned this getaway.
Pulling her back further, David jerked her upright hard, shoving her against the frame of the vehicle. The inside of a van. Harlow was registering as much information as she could. Clearly, she’d have to get herself out of this if she survived whatever the hell David had just injected into her.
David left her propped up facing Remy and Recker as he exited the back of the van. She half-expected him to slam the doors closed on her, but he didn’t. Instead, David snickered loudly as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the vehicle. Her eyes locked on Remy’s. If she could move her arms, she would have flipped him off. As it were, she was lucky to be able to swallow as weakness and exhaustion flooded her.
She heard David punch something. The console? There was a motorized hum as the open van door slowly closed, cutting off her sight of Recker even as her head lolled to the side as the van turned to exit the parking
garage. She was going to pass out.
As one rear door clicked into place, the second slowly began to close. Seconds before it did, her heart seized when she caught a glimpse of a bright flash at Remy’s throat, an instant before he hit his knees with an agonized growl.
Her eyes rounded, her heart thudding to a halt. He’s been hit!
“REMY!” Recker shouted, dropping to a knee beside him, and she caught a second flash just as the door closed.
As angry as she was with Remy, she’d had a little faith that he had some form of a plan, but now…
She willed her arms and legs to move even as the second rear door clicked shut with an odd, high-pitched whine, cutting off her view of the outside world. NOOOOOOOOOOO!
The vehicle lurched under her ass sending her crashing to the side, unable to catch herself as her shoulder collided painfully with the filthy floor, her head bouncing off shortly after, sending shooting pain through her temple. Whether it was the blow, or the damn injection, Harlow never knew. She had fought the drug as long as she could. Leaving the mountains, there was no chance of memorizing turns in hopes of ever making it back. The roads were bad and she was thrown around the back of the van until, mercifully, the drugs claimed her.
Chapter 16
Fuck! Not now, not here…not…HER! Remy gritted his teeth at the pain slashing through his middle, his beasts lending no aid to defend against his agony. They were pissed. He’d just allowed the Megalya to take his Angel. Throwing back his head he roared, fisting his hands and willing the throbbing anguish to subside so he could go and get what was his, so he could bring Harlow back.
“Easy!” Recker barked from beside him. “Take it slow! Get your breath.” He turned, watching the van drive through the rubble that was once the front gate. “I’ll follow and keep you posted. When you’re ready, come rescue your Angel.”
Recker shifted into falcon form and, with a few strong flaps of his wings, he spiraled up and up until he was just a dot in the sky above the Estate.
Forcing past the affliction, Remy shoved to his feet, dropping back down just as quickly.
The affliction, as it was known to all Walkers, was an instantaneous animalistic attraction to their destined mate. Designed to force Walkers to recognize that their female holds significance to them, they are instantaneously incapacitated. There was no mistaking the affliction when it hit, and once it did, a Walker knew that his Angel was found. However, instant incapacitation was the least of a Walker’s worries where the affliction was concerned. Once able to get to his feet, Remy would be consumed with claiming, collaring, and binding Harlow with his halo. It was an animalistic phenomena, designed to ensure that only the seed of the strongest and most virile of the male Walkers passed on their genetics. Survival of the fittest. Walker men were even known to challenge other males that came into close proximity to their unclaimed mates, and right now, Remy’s unclaimed mate was in enemy hands. Hands he’d put her in!
***
Harlow came to with her head at an awkward angle. Her arms burned like all the blood had left them, and her legs ached from the weird position her body was in. Keeping her eyes shut, she wondered if she was still in the van, but there was no movement and an odd scent in the air. It smelled damp and musty, the kind of rotten air that hurt to breathe. Mold? The air was much cooler than it’d been before. Too cool, her skin felt…wet.
She feigned sleep for several minutes, trying to decipher if anyone was near and how much time had elapsed since she’d gone out. There was no sound, no light, and no way of knowing anything, not with her eyes shut.
Sliding an eye open to a slit, she saw an old wooden wall, the kind that time had forgotten and nature had tried to reclaim. The boards in front of her were gray, patched black with water stain and rot.
Her arms were trussed behind her back, her legs bound to the chair she sat on in the center of the room. Peeking around, she realized she was alone. Looking down, she was shocked to find her BDUs gone. She was wearing her panties and bra, but they’d been painted over. Her entire body had been coated, slick and shiny, with what looked like bright-red paint. The words from David’s cohort came back to her. ‘Have her red ready.’ Earlier, she’d thought he’d simply stuttered, ‘Read-ready.’ Now though, she knew he’d meant it as it came out, ‘red ready’. He was referencing whatever this was coating her skin.
What the fuck is going on? Why the red paint? Now she had a chance to study it though, the stuff slathered on her didn’t smell like paint. Shifting from side to side, she discovered the substance was thick and oily when her ass slid several inches back and forth on her chair. Whatever it was had goose bumps rising on her flesh. She was cold everywhere except her face and head. She jerked her head to the side and her hair swished before sticking in the paint on her shoulders. Her face and head weren’t painted.
Lifting her arms, she found there was very little give in her bindings, but oiled as she was, it shouldn’t take her too long to get free. She worked quickly, ignoring the burning friction on her skin as she tried to get some of the oil between the bindings and her bound forearms and wrists.
From somewhere behind her, light poured into the room. She stilled when David spoke from somewhere behind her. “We’re here. Where’s my money?”
Harlow strained to look behind her, but could only make out one form. There was silence for a moment, then David asked, “How long?” He was talking on a cell, and he didn’t sound happy. “Make it sooner.” Then she saw the phone bounce hard off the wall in front of her as David growled in frustration behind her.
“Don’t do this,” Harlow demanded. She was beyond begging David for anything. “You know what Remy’ll do once he gets his hands on you.”
David came forward. “I’ll be long gone by the time Remy gets here.” He squatted in front of her, running his hands up her thighs, making her tense as he smeared the paint then smoothed his hands back and forth on her skin to evenly coat the red oil again. When he looked up at her, his expression was solemn. “Remy.” He snorted and shook his head. “He finally got back at Mason, huh?”
His stood, rubbing his hands down her shoulders, smearing the oil and revealing her skin underneath before stalking to the corner, lifting a bucket and returning with it. He bent and dipped his hands inside the bucket and when he pulled them out there were cupped and overflowing with more red oil.
“Wh-what is that?
He ignored her, pouring the oil over her shoulders and collar bone, using his hands to smear it over her skin. His hands smoothed over her shoulders then met at her neck before he slid them down her chest, cupping her breasts through the material of her bra.
“David!” Harlow couldn’t hide the tremor in her voice.
When he looked up, David’s eyes lit with excitement. “He didn’t tell you. Did he?” His lips curled in a sneer. “You’re dumber than I thought. How could you not know that Remy was playing you? You’re just a pawn in a game that Remy’s been losing for years…until now. Until you.”
“That’s a fucking lie.” Remy’s vicious growl had David jerking upright, pulling his oiled hands from Harlow as he spun her and her chair, one arm wrapping tightly around her neck while the other snapped down, pulling a long knife from a sheath at his hip. Jerking the knife to Harlow’s throat he faced Remy.
“Is it?” David snarled, then spoke to Harlow as he sneered up at Remy. “Remy used to be with Amanda.” He didn’t say anything, just waited and watched. When Remy’s eyes dipped to Harlow, expression blank, David smiled. “Yep, that Amanda. It’s common knowledge that Mason stole Amanda from Remy. Your brother stole the Commander’s Angel.”
Common knowledge? How could it be? She’d never heard…
David stared at Remy. “Tell her, Commander. Tell her I’m lying.”
When she looked up at Remy and he dipped his head, she felt like she was going to throw up. Remy wanted Amanda? Does he still?
“Everyone knows that Remy’s been plotting revenge on Mason for years.
In fact, I heard he once kidnapped Aries Drago because he thought she was you.” He turned giddy eyes back to Remy. “He’s wanted to fuck Mason’s sister for years, just to get back at Mason for stealing his girl.” When Remy began to shake with rage, David laughed. “He’s wanted to hurt you for years.”
“It wasn’t like that, Harlow.”
She heard Remy’s words, but they didn’t register. She was in shock. Remy had used her? But no! She’d seduced him. Right? But now that she thought about it, what had he been doing at the masquerade ball? If he’d been tailing her… would he have known her at the masquerade? Could he have scented her? Was he just pretending he only discovered her identity once she arrived at the Estate? Had he known she was Mason’s sister the whole time?
She tried to look at David’s face. There’s no way he could know that she and Remy had been together before training had begun.
“It makes sense now why he pulled you from our team and put you on his. You weren’t better than anyone else. He just wanted to put his plan into action, to make Mason pay, little by little. Pulling you close to him was his first step.”
“I put her on my team to…”
David cut off Remy’s defense. “You know,” he leaned in closer to whisper to Harlow. “His seducing you was only to get back at Mason. He did seduce you, didn’t he? He had to have fucked you for his revenge to work.”
She felt the blood drain from her face.
David leaned to the side to study her. “Holy shit! He did, didn’t he?” He leaned back, squeezing her throat tightly as he howled, “Whoo Eeee! You let him fuck you, didn’t you? He used your pussy to hurt your brother. How does that feel? Dirty, right?”
Her head jerked to the side, pain shooting through her neck as David wrenched her face toward him. “Well say something, whore.”
“Do that again, and I’ll rip your fucking hands off.”
Harlow attempted to blink back her tears but they fell anyway. In her confusion, she wasn’t sure if they were the result of the pain in her neck, or the pain in her heart.