Devil's Playground (Wrath & Vengeance Book 2)
Page 15
In a movement of pure instinct, Evelyn reared back and drove her head into his face. The solid plane of her forehead crunched against his already damaged nose before he could turn away. Blinding pain exploded behind her eyes, rattling her brain against the innards of her skull. The only consolation was that it hurt him just as much. With a string of bellowed, half-muffled cries, Radmiar doubled over. She ran, twisting herself up in the curtains as she fought for her freedom. The needle might have been thin, but if felt like a dagger as it dug into the back of her leg. She kicked wildly, trying to dislodge his grip before he could push the plunger down. Her knee collided with something solid. The rollers popped free and the thin curtain tore in two, dropping her out into the hallway.
People were already coming to see what was going on. By the time she was back on her feet, the crowd was closing in on Radmiar, drawn in by the blood that was currently pouring from his nose. Evelyn ripped the syringe free from her leg and stabbed it as hard as she could into his back. His scream coaxed the nursing staff to break into a run. The world rippled across her vision. That, along with the cold sweat that covered her palm and the calls for security prevented her from pushing the plunger. She chose instead to run while she still could.
Getting through the first wave of people was the hardest. Everyone behind them was too confused to know that they should stop him. Shoving and panting, she weaved through the hallways, struggling to stay focused. Everything blended. The colors. The people. The walls seemed to come from nowhere and disappear just as quickly. She alternated between believing that the Furies had arrived and that her head injury was a lot worse than she had thought.
“Evelyn!”
She skidded to a stop as the officer from before blocked her path. He had one hand on the hilt of his gun. The other was stretched out before him to keep her back.
“Just stop right there, Evelyn. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”
Slowly, she backed up a step.
“Evelyn–”
The sentence was cut short when Aleksandr slipped up behind the officer. He moved like smoke, silent but swift. One hand held the gun in place while the other smacked the officer’s head against the brick wall. The resounding crack made Evelyn flinch. Her breath caught as the officer slumped to the ground.
“I thought you were staying in the car,” Evelyn mumbled in disorientated shock.
“There wasn’t any traffic.” Aleksandr kept his voice low and hurried her along with a wave of his hand. “Let’s go.”
Evelyn moved around the officer, her eyes flicking between the limp man and Aleksandr.
“He’s not dead, is he?”
“What do you take me for?” Alek snapped. “He’ll only be out for a few seconds.”
“That can’t be good for him.”
“He’s in a hospital. Hurry up or we’ll miss our ride.”
The world was still rolling around her and she had to lean against Aleksandr before they made it to the exit. He wrapped an arm around her waist, but his growing limp kept him from taking much of her weight. The dawn was starting to lighten the sky as they hurried out of the side door, barely able to keep ahead of the people hurrying to gain some control of the situation. She didn’t know how they got out without someone stopping them. They lurched and stumbled across the parking lot as a deep growl started to roll out from behind them. Feral. Monstrous. Hungry.
They didn’t look back as they piled into the waiting taxi. It said a lot about what happened in Las Vegas that the driver didn’t even bat an eye over the whole situation. Evelyn leaned back against the seat, staring up at the ceiling when she could focus her vision enough to see anything. Every breath was a struggle. Exhaustion crept down into her marrow. She hoped that was why it was so hard to keep her eyes open. It didn’t seem like there were many good alternatives.
The drive passed in a blur, and she was just regaining her senses as they staggered into the airport. Their attempt to look presentable was half-hearted at best. She wondered if people simply assumed that they were hung over because, again, no one seemed to mention it. An ocean of people and they were completely left to their own devices. Aleksandr took over when it came to the formalities. This time, he spoke with a French accent. Pretending to struggle to recall certain words really sold the illusion of him being a baffled tourist. Evelyn thanked everything in Heaven and Earth that she still had her I.D with her. She only got a glimpse at what Aleksandr pulled from his wallet, but she was sure it said his name was Etienne. The combination of confidence, a credit card, and lies already established by the twins before them got them all the way to the boarding gates. She had no idea where they were going. It didn’t really matter. As long as it put some distance between them and what was coming.
“I’ll be back,” Aleksandr said abruptly. “Stay right here.”
She snapped out of her daze. Looking around, she saw that ‘here’ was an open space right in front of their gate. No protection. Nowhere to hide.
“Where are you going?” she asked.
He licked his lip, glanced around, and sighed. “I need you to stand right where you are until I get back.”
You can only get away from the Furies when they’re busy, a voice in the back of her head whispered. He wants you to be what keeps them busy. Ice crept along her spine as she met his gaze.
“Why?”
“I just need you to trust me.”
He’s getting the twins away and leaving you to die, the voice whispered. She sucked in a deep breath. All the while, images of that day with her mother, or the pure terror she had felt, the longing for someone to help her, played in her mind. They’re so little. Suck it up, Eve. Let them do what they have to. Besides, an air marshal will probably shoot me before the Furies can have too much fun.
“I’ll be here.”
The agreement startled him, but he recovered quickly. Squeezing her shoulder once, he disappeared into the gathering crowd. Evelyn didn’t try to keep track of him; her focus was on breathing. On planning what to do next. Survival instinct told her to run but she locked her knees and worked the kinks out of her shoulders. A part of her was still back in that moment the Furies had shown her. She could almost feel the scratch of the blankets against her skin. The push of humid air against her face. And the ever-repeated melody played by a discarded music box. Don’t make it too easy for them, she told herself. Fight long enough to give the twins a chance. Nothing that happened after that really mattered.
A chill curled up her spine and her gut gave a familiar squeeze. She was being watched. She knew it. Squaring her shoulders, Evelyn kept her eyes focused ahead, locked on her own reflection in the night drenched windows. Between one blink and the next, the world began to decay. The plastic chairs cracked and crumbled. Paint flecked off of the walls. The carpet became a squishy sludge beneath her feet. Human skin wasn’t spared from the rot. Everyone who passed her began to fester. Flesh turned gray, faces bloated, eyes turned milky, and hair fell from their scalps. The sensation of being watched increased. All of her instincts screamed that a predator was closing in on her. Despite this, she wasn’t ready for the hand that grabbed her forearm like a vice. It was as strong as iron but unmistakably human.
“The cops are looking for you,” Radmiar hissed into her ear.
“Were you just waiting for Alek to get out of sight?” she asked. “Didn’t know you were that afraid of him.”
Radmiar growled but ignored her comment. “Assault and battery. Although, I think I heard some of them throwing around the term ‘attempted murder’. Doesn’t matter though. You’re mine now.”
Something hard rested against the soft skin of her back as he spoke. It pushed forward, not breaking skin but enough for her to know it was sharp.
“How did you get that through security?” she asked, eyes still locked on the world falling apart around her. Vaguely, she was aware of the last boarding call. Although she couldn’t be sure if that tether to reality was real or not.
“My dad
taught me well.” His breath was humid against her cheek as he whispered. “Be a good girl and come along.”
“Don’t you see this?”
“We’ll be gone before–” The rest of his sentence was lost as a passing person carelessly bumped into Radmiar’s back.
Evelyn tried to rock with the blow, avoiding the knife tip while surging forward. He didn’t follow, didn’t strike out or try to pull her back, and she moved to whip around and face him. Before she had time to blink, both of her hands were captured by tiny fingers. She was coaxed to walk forward, her legs obliging the pull while her mind struggled to understand what was going on.
The twins kept their grip on her hands, smoothly tugging her forward while never glancing behind. There was a slight clatter of metal against metal as the child on her right passed by a trash can. Evelyn was quick enough to catch a glimpse of a syringe as it toppled into the depths and out of sight.
“Don’t look back,” the one on her left said with a pleased smile. “Just keep moving.”
The flooring was mush under her feet. In a split second, a small pocket of commotion broke out. Evelyn saw the moving corpses slip past her. A few voice speaking over each other. ‘Are you okay’ overlapping with ‘get help’ and a flurry of other questions.
Aleksandr arrived as they approached the putrid body taking the tickets. He handed them over and let the twins go on ahead. As they stepped into the tunnel leading to the plane, Evelyn couldn’t resist a glance behind. Radmiar had slumped to the ground, gaping and sucking on air as a half dozen people ran around him.
“Air bubble,” Aleksandr said. “Ivan’s really good at hitting the vein in the inner thigh.”
As she watched, Radmiar’s body endured the same ravaging as the world around him. His eyes withered and shrank, reducing his eye sockets to bottomless black holes as his lower jaw cracked and drooped. Out of the mass of bodies swirling around him, Evelyn noticed three that stood unmoving. In a split second, the figures turned from shadows into skinned hunks of human flesh with bare animal skulls serving as their heads. She flinched back. Beside her, Aleksandr did the same.
“We should go,” Aleksandr said.
Evelyn heard the words, but she could not stop staring at the Furies.
“Come on, let’s hope the flight takes off before they get bored.”
“Right,” she mumbled. We’ll get away. They won’t follow tonight. She knew these two facts as surely as she knew her name. Faced with the demented world they had created, they seemed to be the only things that made any sense. Why she put such trust in them, she couldn’t say.
But she knew. They’re satisfied.
For now.
* * *
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
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