Red Rain: Book 4, Night Series

by RS Black

  “Sucks, doesn’t it?” I choked on my laugh. “Pestilence is a rotten bastard.” I coughed weakly, making my way drunkenly to my feet.

  My eyes threatened to roll into the back of my head with the crushing pain sweeping through me. Sometimes being immortal wasn’t fun at all. My body fought desperately to rid itself of the disease while simultaneously healing itself. When Cacus had taken Pestilence, he’d taken the worst of it. Which was why he was now curled onto his side, vomiting up blood and bile.

  A surger could only hang on to your powers for ten, fifteen minutes, tops. Which was generally enough time to end a foe, but in this case, it meant I had to push through the pain to end him before he regenerated. I doubted that little trick would work twice.

  Gasping as my lungs struggled desperately to draw a breath that didn’t hurt, I forced my feet to keep moving when all I wanted to do was lie down and die.

  He mumbled incoherently, pitifully moving his sweaty head from side to side as he feebly attempted to swat me back. But Pestilence was running amok through a system that’d likely never felt the sting of disease before.

  And while I wasn’t exactly immune to the bastard myself, I’d learned how to work through it. Ignoring the heave of my stomach that threatened to bring up what little I’d eaten earlier, I finally made it to his side and dropped to my knees in front of him, exhausted and shaking as though I’d just run a marathon.

  Cacus grunted when my hands moved to his neck. “You take my head, you take my soul,” he whispered through cracked lips.

  I curled my lip. “That’s the point, you idiot.”

  Using the last dregs of energy I possessed, I twisted his head off and dropped it a second later by my knees, feeling as though it’d weighed a ton. With no reserves of strength left, I dropped like a stone next to the headless corpse and screamed when the keeper’s soul slipped inside my own.

  ~*~

  Asher

  I came to to find Pandora ripping the demon’s head off and passing out beside it a moment later.

  I’m not sure how long it’d taken me to heal. The moment the demon had laid its hands on me I’d lost all ability to reason, fight, or do anything other than lie there and take a pummeling.

  Body aching all over, I dragged myself over to her side.

  Pandora was convulsing and foaming at the mouth. Her eyes were open and an opaque black.

  “Little demon,” I whispered, glancing down at her helplessly. I couldn’t touch her. She was covered in open sores. The keeper himself was riddled with disease. Which told me she’d had to defeat him by tapping into Pestilence.

  The only one of us who could handle that venomous touch was Luc, and he was down for the count back at the carnival.

  A violent shudder ripped through her and I clenched my teeth, praying to God that it would pass soon, feeling more helpless than I’d ever felt before in my life.

  “Baby doll,” I murmured, slipping easily into terms of endearments with her despite that she’d nearly ripped one of my wings off last night.

  The sounds of her gurgling made me want to throw caution to the wind, grab her up, and hug her tight to my chest. But I knew the moment I touched her, she’d infect me too, and I was already weakened from the beating the keeper had given me.

  “You’ve got to wake up. Come on,” I urged, lifting a hand, fingers clenching with my desire to give her whatever scraps of comfort I could.

  “Throw up your shields.” Dean’s twang caught my attention.

  I glared up at the man. “And just where the hell were you?” I snarled, pissed off that she’d had to face this animal alone.

  Death merely gave me a cocked eyebrow and an insolent look. “In two seconds, that corpse”—he pointed to the LCD—“is gonna explode from the toxins running through it. You’ll be infected. In one. Tw—”

  Completely sure I couldn’t trust a word this man said, I still threw up a shield—a very thin layer of power that rippled around me like heat off asphalt. It wasn’t good for much—a solid blow could break right through it, which was why I generally didn’t waste my time using one. But it was definitely good enough to fend off the bodily spray of demon guts and blood that suddenly coated it.

  Dean, being Death, merely flicked off the tendrils of bloody flesh like he was batting away at pesky flies and knelt beside her, reaching over quickly to snatch up a circular pendant still draped across the severed neck of the demon beside her. Pocketing the jewelry, he then turned his attention to her.

  I latched onto the hand he currently had splayed open an inch above her abdomen. “What are you doing?”

  He didn’t look at me as he said, “Taking out the disease. She’s not absorbing the soul the way she should be because of her body’s weakened state.”

  Conflicted, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want Pandora suffering anymore, nor did I want another piece of darkness encased inside her.

  “What side are you on, Dean? You send me here to try and stop her—”

  He frowned. “Whoever said I sent you here to stop her? You couldn’t. I knew that. The only being capable of bringing down that filth was Dorrie.”

  I bit down on my tongue to hear his pet name for her.

  “The more time we spend here debating, the longer she’ll suffer.” He jerked his chin in her direction. She spasmed so fiercely this time that her entire body became as rigid as a board.

  And he knew as well as I did that I’d never be okay with that.

  “You’re a rotten bastard.”

  Snorting with mirth, Dean extracted his wrist from my hand and palmed the flat of her belly.

  Immediately a greenish fog enveloped him and the color that’d leeched out of her face during the fight with the demon began to return. But as it did, a soft wash of blue radiance seeped from her pores.

  It was the demon soul getting absorbed.

  I closed my eyes, not wanting to watch it happen.

  “You can hold her hand now. If you must,” Dean said.

  Snatching up her hand, I slipped my fingers through her clammy ones. She squeezed me tightly back.

  I opened my eyes just in time to see the last of the black bleed out of her now fully twilight-colored ones.

  “How do you feel?” I asked cautiously. She still looked flushed, her cheeks stained a bright red. The fever that’d gripped her had now cooled.

  Rolling to a sitting up position, she let go of my hand and clutched onto her brow. “Like I got steamrolled.”

  Forgetting all about Dean for a second, I shook my head. “Pandora, stop this. Please.”

  I framed her face with my free hand.

  She leaned into it for a mere fraction of a second before pulling away and making her way gingerly to her feet. Rather than answer me, she said, “Why are you here, Asher? I broke your wing. How many more times am I going to have to say it? You don’t belong in my world anymore.”

  I ignored that comment and looked at Dean, who merely nodded an okay back at me.

  He’d let me know wherever they were headed to next.

  “You’re determined to see this through?” I asked her one final time.

  To be honest, after tonight, I had little hope of her ever returning to our side. The keeper had been a true devil. She now had him inside her. She was one step closer to becoming the legend, the monster.

  I still loved her, probably always would, but I couldn’t let her take the world down with her.

  “Yes,” she whispered, hugging her arms to her chest. “Yes, I am.”

  “Then it’s my duty to stop you, by any means necessary.”

  Her smile was small, but sad. “I understand.”

  Clenching down on my molars, I turned away, hoping with everything inside me she’d stop me.

  But I knew she wouldn’t.

  We were a King and Queen at war. Dean’s words of long ago echoed in my ears. Unfurling my wings, I made for home. It was time for a plan B.

  Chapter 9

  Pandora

/>   I took my time getting back “home.” I hated to even call it that, but when I didn’t call it that, I also had a tendency to believe I had options, when the fact was I had none.

  Or at least none that anyone was aware of.

  I had one big, fat, giant maybe and that was it. But Luc was nowhere near strong enough yet, and—I rubbed the ache in my chest from where the new soul currently sat taking up space—after tonight the likelihood of that impromptu plan actually standing a chance of succeeding now seemed more and more like a pipe dream.

  Dean had left me to my devices hours ago. I’d taken the opportunity to flash to at least thirty different locations, possibly even fifty, just to throw the jerk off my scent and give me a few moments of actual privacy.

  Dick might own my mark, and when he beckoned me I had no choice but to comply, but after tonight I was hoping he’d lengthen the leash just a little. I was now one hundred percent fully invested in his program. I’d sucked out that first keeper’s soul.

  But unlike the other demons I’d absorbed, Cacus’ powers weren’t ones I could use. I’d tried to surge earlier, not that I’d had a clue what I was doing, but I’d been fortunate enough to stumble across a vampire in a derelict section of New Orleans. The moment I’d laid my hands on the undead freak I’d expected him to wilt at my feet, but instead he’d turned and with a roar made a lunge for the artery in my neck.

  I’d been so astonished that for a split second I’d failed to fight back. I licked the last of his blood off my fingers.

  Currently my legs dangled off one of the exposed steel beams of an old bridge and I watched as the moonlight danced and rippled across the navy blue waters below.

  I didn’t know where I was at right now.

  Judging by the terrain, deep South somewhere. But I could be in the East for all I knew. I really didn’t care.

  Bullfrogs croaked a gentle, soothing mating call. The night was cool and fragrant with the rich scent of newly bloomed honeysuckle.

  I wanted to talk to somebody I trusted.

  Problem was, I really didn’t have any more of those. People I trusted.

  I could talk to Ash, but I didn’t care to hear another tongue-lashing. Not from him. He didn’t understand. And Dean, I didn’t trust that horseman as far as I could throw him.

  Grace had in all likelihood died months ago. Thinking it brought an uncomfortable flutter to my chest.

  So who was left?

  Tucking a knee beneath my chin, I rested my head against a steel plate and closed my eyes, mind wandering with too many thoughts before they finally settled on an old, familiar face.

  My throat squeezed up when the image of Kemen’s amber eyes stared back at me.

  “Sandman,” I whispered.

  It was a myth that time healed wounds. Time really didn’t. Time merely helped you not to want to kill yourself every other second of every other day because living on without that person was a constant and terrible ache.

  Where once there’d been a fresh wound, there were now many layers of scar tissue over it. But if I picked at it too much, I’d open the wound back up again.

  I guess tonight was a night for picking at wounds, though.

  “Kem.” I looked up at the stars, talking to the moon as if it were him, as if he could actually hear me. “What am I going to do?”

  I sat that way for several long, quiet minutes. Long enough to note the different crags and dips on the moon’s surface, to see that it wasn’t just one shade of blue, but many different shades of it. Some darker, others lighter.

  That moon was older than me. Maybe even older than Dean.

  How many wars had it seen?

  How many hearts broken?

  Lives lost?

  “Sucks to be you.” I laugh-snorted and shook my head slowly. Was I really trying to have a conversation with the moon?

  “God, Dora, you’re losing it, girl. Totally losing it.” I smiled, because that’s exactly what Kem would have told me if he were still around.

  “Yeah,” I muttered to him, “I know, buddy. I miss you too.”

  Basically I was having a one-sided dialogue here. Which made me just this shy of crazy. I comforted myself with the knowledge that crazy people never actually thought they were crazy, ergo I must be completely sane. And since I was sane, I waved a goodbye to the moon, ’cause yeah, it’d been a nice chat, even if I had been forced to answer my own question.

  I knew what Kemen would tell me now if he were here. He’d tell me not to give up like this. He’d tell me to keep trying with Luc.

  I sighed.

  Last time I’d tried tapping into Luc’s head the place had been a frenzied mess of chaos and noise. The night I’d stabbed him, he hadn’t been that way. I’d stabbed him not to harm him—though I’m sure that’s not what it looked like to everyone else—but to enable the transference of our minds.

  A joining, if you will.

  I’d known once the Triad had me that there’d be no going back to my home or my people. I’d made a split-second decision then. I’d chosen Luc to be my vessel. Because of our long history together, yes, but also because Asher would never have the fortitude to let me go if I needed him to.

  That possibility was still very much on the table.

  But Luc was so wrong now. I wasn’t sure what I’d done wrong, but I’d clearly done something wrong because he was deteriorating.

  I nibbled on the inside of my cheek.

  Palms clammy, I rubbed them down on my jeans and closed my eyes, reaching out to him once again.

  Luc.

  For several heartbeats I heard nothing. Just that randomness of noise, the static of several signals all mixed up together so that you couldn’t focus on just any one thread of sound.

  But then...

  Dora.

  The voice was faint, but definitely his.

  I laugh-sobbed, biting onto my knuckle to hear the sound of his tenor move through me.

  Dora. Dora! Are you still there?

  I nodded at the sound of his panic. I’m here, Luc. I’m right here.

  Fuck, Dora. His relief was palpable.

  What’s wrong? You don’t sound right.

  I don’t feel right.

  Anger threaded his words.

  This place has got me so loopy, half the time I don’t know what’s going on. How are you reaching me in here?

  You let me.

  I let you?

  I smiled; as much as I sometimes hated the jerk, he was still my jerk, even after all these lifetimes.

  What do you remember about that night in the cage?

  His laughter echoed through my head. Other than the fact that you fucking stabbed me, not much.

  I snorted. It’s not as bad as all that, whiny baby.

  It hurt like a mother.

  There was actual laughter coming out of my lips now. Silly, but with the world burning down around my feet, it was ironic that it was Luc holding me together right now.

  Yeah, well, before you so unmanfully passed out, you gave me permission. You might not remember, but when I tapped your soul you said yes.

  I remember nothing.

  You’re such a terrible liar. Even after all these years, when are you gonna figure out I can see right through you?

  He snorted. Okay, so maybe I do remember something. But I don’t remember what. And I don’t know how you can do this. You could never do this before.

  I debated whether to tell him. Knowing Luc, what I was about to say would probably make him all cocky and gloaty. The man was already entirely too vain, but...

  You and I are linked, Luc. It’s why I can.

  Ah. Interesting. So only me? Not Asher?

  I pursed my lips. The demon was getting entirely too close to the truth here. No, Ash and I are linked too, I reluctantly admitted.

  And yet you chose me. Now that is really interesting.

  Yeah, but only because you’re such a heartless bastard.

  The silence was long and it was brutal. L
uc knew why I’d chosen him and it had nothing to do with love. I was using him, plain and simple.

  I should tell you no.

  I know.

  But I never will.

  I know that too.

  He sighed. Your idea could work.

  It could. Sure, it could. There’s only one giant problem and as cruel as I’ve become these past few months, even I’m not that evil.

  I left the word “yet” just sort of dangling out there. Luc could feel what I was becoming. It was the side effect of connecting our minds as I had. He would experience everything I did. He would know me down to my soul. There were no more secrets between us.

  It’s why he knew the plan so intimately already. The life-saving plan with one giant hurdle standing in the way. In order to implement this lifesaving plan I’d need to kill members of my own family.

  Who was I to make a decision like that? I swallowed hard, on the verge of tears. I’d had no choice in becoming the Triad’s puppet; could I really do that to someone else? Members of my own family, people I’d broken bread with, hugged, laughed with?

  Pandora, he said softly, we will figure out a way.

  Yeah, but I’m afraid by the time we do it’ll be too late.

  I needed a hug I couldn’t get.

  Severing the open channel that let me speak directly to his mind, I got to my feet. Luc might feel what I was feeling, but he didn’t actually need to hear it.

  Swiping at my eyes with my palms, I sniffed and readjusted my clothes.

  I was probably pushing it staying away this long. If Dean was searching for me, he’d stumble upon me anytime now.

  I traced back to the compound and immediately spied Dick and Dean.

  They looked as though they’d been waiting.

  And Dean looked pissed.

  Which was totally weird.

  But there was no denying that he was mean-mugging me big time.

  I cocked my head, slipping my hands into my pockets. “What?”

  “Where were you?” This from Dean.

  “Uh,” I gave a nervous chuckle, “not really any of your business. I came back, so chill the piss out.”

  When I made to move past them to head to my sterile room that was as inviting and warm as a hospital morgue, it was Dick who blocked the way, casually rubbing my mark and making my body tingle and burn as it readied to be commanded.