by Kresley Cole
A bellow sounded over the gunfire. Cadeon hurdled the line of bullets to get to her. Scooping her up in his arms, he tucked her against his chest. Just as the shots reached them, he pressed her against the wall until his body covered every inch of hers.
He gritted his teeth when the first bullet hit him, unable to turn to run without risking her. She burst into tears. Two bullets, three, four…
He stared down at her, those jet eyes seeming to consume her, and grated, "No more…running from me. Yeah?"
"Y-yeah," she whispered brokenly, crying harder every time his big body jerked from the impact.
Over his shoulder, he roared at them, a furious warning growl, and she whimpered. His voice a harsh rasp, he said to her, "No, no, female. Shh." He petted at her tears with huge fingers tipped with short black claws.
The shots abruptly stopped. Holly peered over Cadeon's shoulder. The robed demons were attacking the gunmen.
As the others clashed, Cadeon sprinted toward those double doors with her in his arms. He turned in midstride, hitting the doors with his bullet-riddled back, bursting them from their hinges.
Charging out into the night, he made for an older truck parked off to the side of the manor. After opening the groaning cab door, he tossed her inside on the cracked vinyl seat and followed her in. He pinched the key and turned. Nothing.
"Is the battery dead?" she asked, shaking off some of the shock and fog. "Does this thing still run?" Wrappers and crushed cans littered the floorboards.
"Hey, hey, no disrespecting The Truck. She's gotten me out of a lot of scrapes." He finessed the gearshift up and back. "I just need to make sure…she knows we're in neutral." Holly thought she heard a click. "There."
The engine roared to life. He cast her a patronizing glance as soon as they were tearing up the shell drive.
She peered back at the manor. From the outside, the residence was stately, the grounds immaculate. She would never have guessed what beings lurked in the bowels of that place.
And now she was with another of their kind. She turned to him, studying this being—this…demon.
He had blond stubble on his tanned face, and his hair was thick and straight, reaching past his masculine jaw. Uneven strands looked lightened by a life in the sun.
The gold band he wore on his right arm appeared to be permanent, as if he'd have to cut it to get it past that bulging bicep. And those horns…
When they'd straightened earlier, they'd become much larger and darker. Now they were smooth, the color of a shell, lying close to his head. With his hair tousled over them, they probably wouldn't be easy to discern.
"How am I measuring up?" he asked, his voice deep and rumbling.
She flushed. "I've just never seen…horns before tonight."
"Figured you'd be in for a shock."
"Where are we going now?"
"I've got to get you out of town," he said. "This place is too hot for us to stay."
She noticed blood on the back of his seat. "How are you still moving with all those bullets?"
"With a lot of fucking pain, Holly."
She gasped, his foul language grating on her like nails on a chalkboard.
"Oh, come on, halfling! My language's only going to deteriorate from here."
"I…it's just habit. Are you going to be okay?"
"I should be able to shed them." When she frowned, he explained, "My skin should push them out when I heal."
Holly couldn't scarcely wrap her mind around that. "What did those men want with me? Who were the ones shooting?"
"The gunmen were leeches. Vampires."
"Vampires," she said softly, but her mind was screaming, This is insanity!
"They must know you haven't turned fully immortal yet. Our kinds never use guns, as evidenced by their shite aim."
She winced at the vulgarity, but managed not to gasp this time. "Again, why?"
"Because you just became the most popular girl in town."
"What does that mean?" In the stern tone she usually reserved for her students, she added, "This isn't the time for cryptic answers, Cadeon."
"This isn't the time for questions whatsoever, Holly."
Headlights met them on the drive. An SUV blocked the gated exit.
"Fuckall," he snapped, wheeling around, spraying up shells. "More vampires."
She clamped hold of the dashboard to brace herself. "Where are we going now?"
"Only one other way off this property. Into the swamp."
"How would you know?"
"Been here before." At her look, he said, "I've met with the demons here on occasion. As a representative of my breed."
"You…you fraternized with those animals? Does your 'breed' kidnap women as well?"
"Kidnap women? I can hardly keep the chits off the jock as it is, pet."
Eyes wide, she said, "Chits? Pet? Are you from the nineteenth century or just trying to be misogynistic?"
"I'm from medieval times, and I never have to try to be misogynistic." He slammed on the brakes, and cranked the four-wheel-drive gear, peering at her hard. "It just comes to me natural, like a gift." Stomping on the gas once more, he sent her flying back into the seat as they lurched forward, racing over pristine greens.
"Why did they want to hurt me? I've never done anything to deserve this!"
"It's not what you've done—it's what you are."
"A math instructor?" she said in a strangled tone.
"You're a Valkyrie now. And a special one at that. Your mum must've been one."
"Valkyrie! My mom was a pie contest winner! And she was human. She died two years ago."
"Then your biological mother must have been one."
She was shocked into silence for a moment. How had this demon known she was adopted? "I didn't even know her." Holly had always imagined her as a scared teenager who'd had the incredible good sense to leave her baby on the most wonderful doorstep imaginable. Now this demon was saying that her mother was a Valkyrie? "What exactly is a Valkyrie? And how did you know I was adopted?"
"Questions later. Right now we've got to get through the swamp."
The dark line of brush loomed. "I don't see a road!"
"There's a service trail," he said, then added in a casual tone, "It might be a shade grown over."
"A shade! Are you certain there's no other way to get out?"
He nodded. "The property's surrounded by bayou and swamp."
"What are the odds that we'll make it through?"
"I give us one in fifteen."
Her eyes went wide. "I wouldn't take those odds!"
"You would if there's zero chance otherwise."
"Oh, God," she muttered, feeling around the seat. "Where's the seat belt?"
"Broke a few years back."
"And you didn't get it fixed?" she snapped.
"Don't usually ferry around mortals, then!" he thundered back.
Struggling for calm, she said, "Cadeon, I do not see even a hint of a trail."
"Demon senses. I can find it." But he pressed his straightened arm over her chest as they closed in.
"Y-you're not really going in there?"
"Trust me."
This being had saved her life, had even taken bullets for her, and yet there was something so markedly untrustworthy about him….
He flashed her a rakish grin with barely noticeable fangs. "Though if you're the praying type, now might be a choice time."
4
Holly catapulted forward against his arm as the truck burst into the brush.
Leaves and branches slapped the windshield as the cab bounced. They smacked something that left feathers and squawked an angry retreat.
She turned, clutching the seat-back to scan behind them. "They're just going to follow us, trap us back here!"
"Their nice, fancy SUVs are lower to the ground than older trucks like mine. With a little luck, they'll bottom out. At least before we do."
Over the sound of their wholesale destruction of native flora and fauna, she asked, "Why
are you helping me?"
"I'm a mercenary—my current gig is to keep you alive."
"A mercenary? Who's paying you? Who would know to hire a demon to protect me from a demon threat?"
"There were also the leeches."
"How could I forget?" She pinched her forehead. "Who paid you?"
"We'll talk about it later."
"At least tell me why those demons chose me. I am the most boring person you have ever met!"
He met her gaze. "Not anymore, halfling."
She glanced behind them again and saw headlights. "They're coming."
Biting out words in a language she'd never heard, he sped up even more.
"Cadeon, is it safe to go this fa—"
Shots rang out, plugging the back of the truck and her side-view mirror. His big hand palmed the top of her head and shoved her down, making her slump in the seat.
When shards from the mirror speared at her window, she shrieked.
All around them, the glass shattered; he gave a roar of pain. Cracks forked out over the windshield before it exploded as well, raining glass chips against them.
"Mind the shrieks, pet!"
"How did I do that?" she cried, frenziedly brushing glass off herself.
"Nature of the beast," he grated. "Valkyrie shrieks crack glass. Lesson learned, yeah?"
When she spied blood trickling from his ear, she bit her lip and brushed glass off him as well.
He seemed shocked by her care. "Now, there's a sweet halfling. But a little lower and to the right would be sweeter—"
"Watch out!"
The trail was gone. Murky black water covered at least a three-meter-long span of it.
"Hold on!" He yanked her upright, his arm crossing over her again.
"Why are we going faster toward it?"
"So we don't bog down!" he said just before they hit.
She flew against his arm once more. With the windshield gone, water sprayed over the hood, shooting against their faces.
The front of the truck dove down. Water poured into the cab. Mud, lily pads, and several crayfish were scooped up as though with a net. The engine roared with effort as they chugged through to the other side.
Back on semisolid ground, Cadeon shook his hair out like a beast. "I can't fuckin' believe we just made that!"
Holly dragged her soaked hair from her eyes, then swiped the end of the shirtsleeve over her wet face, clearing the spattering of blood from earlier.
He grinned at her. She gaped at him.
Headlights on their trail again. Those vampires were dogged. They must think that the demons had already had their way with her. They couldn't risk that all good or all evil would be in the form of a demon. "Bugger me."
She shrieked again.
"The language? Is that it? 'Cause—"
Like a shot, Holly launched herself into his lap, whimpering.
He swallowed, intensely aware that she had her knees spread over his groin and wore nothing under the shirt. At any other time, he'd be loving their position, might have manufactured a scenario to get her just like this. But he could barely see around her bobbing head.
"It's only crayfish!"
"N-no, not only—"
The truck dived sharply into a gulch before rearing up. Then down into another and another. Cade grabbed for her waist; she listed to the side. "Watch your knee with the goolies, pet—"
He'd cupped her between her thighs.
As he felt her soft flesh, giving and hot again his palm, he growled low. The engine was clamoring, the truck bouncing, and they still met eyes. Hers grew wide as she shoved his hand away. But she still didn't get off him. "Not only crayfish!" she cried.
"Then what is it?" he snapped.
"Th-that!" She pointed down to the sloshing pool of water covering the floorboard.
A small water moccasin was along for the ride, swimming dazedly among the crushed Red Bull cans, looking as freaked out as she was.
Cade dared a quick snatch for it, but it slithered under the seat. He'd never thought he'd say this, but…"Off me, Holly. Back to your seat. Just keep your legs up."
She shook her head. "Not until it's gone!"
"Then you're going to have to drive."
"Okay," she said shakily, taking the wheel as he edged under her.
His hand shot under the bench. "Come here, you little fuck."
"Cadeon!"
"Ah, come on, halfling!"
The truck began to slow. He jerked upright, facing backward, and was blinded by the nearing headlights. "What in the bloody hell are you doing?" he barked at her.
"Something moved in the water down there!"
"Holly, you slam that pedal down or you die! Clear?"
With a visible shudder, she stretched her leg far down, barely reaching the pedal, tamping it down with her toes. Each time she was jounced in the seat, the gas let off, but she doggedly kept at that pedal.
He snared the moccasin. Knowing that his female would have to see it to believe it, Cade held up the snake as it merrily envenomated him. "Here, look. Visual confirmation." He tossed it out the window hole. "Now, move your little ass over here, and let's lose these miserable pricks, yeah?"
"Yeah?"
When she shimmied over his lap, he resisted the urge to plant her there, then took the wheel. As they crested a small rise and started back down, he spied another washout. He sped up, yanking her into his side. "Hold on to me."
She wrapped her slim arms around his torso, burying her face against him. Tension shot through him, desire for her eating at him, even now.
He was holding her. Forty miles per hour. His female. Forty-five. He tightened his arm around her as the frame of the truck vibrated, sounding like rocks rattling in a tin can multiplied by a thousand.
The truck hit the washout at nearly fifty miles per hour, plowing through the water. Midway through, the engine strained, sputtering. Water in the exhaust. He floored the gas.
"Come on, baby," he muttered. He smelled incongruous smoke. Churning, churning, and then…
The old girl surged out the other side. When he glanced back and saw the trailing SUV bottom out, he couldn't resist a pat on the cracked dashboard.
"We lost them. Truck's not so bad, then, is it?" he said. "Holly?" He frowned down at her in confusion. She was still holding his torso like he was a tree in a storm. As if she needed him for comfort.
Cade couldn't remember the last time anything had felt a fraction so good.
5
"Little busy here, Rydstrom," Cade snapped when his brother rang again.
"What's wrong with your phone?"
"Got wet."
"Are you back at the house yet?"
"On my way," Cade answered. "I'm fifteen minutes out. Where're you?"
"An hour from the city." He paused. "You sound excited. You sound…not miserable."
Discerning Rydstrom knew him well. For so long, Cade had wanted Holly from afar, and now he was with her, talking with her, touching her…. "Naff off, Rydstrom."
"Something's up with you. Whatever it is, lose it. We've got work to do."
Cade glanced down at Holly still latched onto him, then back at the road. Switching to the demon tongue, he said, "Don't think you want me to lose this. I've got the Valkyrie."
"How the hell is that possible? We didn't know who she was—"
"She's my female. Did you know she was one and the same as the target?"
"That's impossible. Holly Ashwin's human."
"Not anymore."
"You're sure? And you're certain she's the Vessel?"
"The hall you described is where she teaches math. And she'd already been taken by the Order of Demonaeus. We just got free of them. There were vampires in play as well. They're trying to kill her."
Rydstrom exhaled. "I didn't know the Vessel would be yours. But the fact is—this changes nothing. We're out of options."
When Cade didn't answer immediately, Rydstrom said, "Just last week, Nïx asked if you woul
d give up your female to get the kingdom back. You said you would. Did you lie?"
"I'll do what I have to do."
"If we can't kill Omort, we lose Rothkalina forever."
"Even I can remember that!" Cade snapped. "I've had nine centuries to get that into my thick skull."
"Good. Now, the airports are hot. We'll have to drive her out of the city."
"To where?"
"Groot's compound."
"Where the hell is that?"
"We don't have the end destination," Rydstrom said. "There will be three checkpoints in different parts of the country. Each will render information about the next until we have the final directions to the compound. I've only got the first checkpoint."
"Why the hassle?"
"Groot wants the Vessel, but he doesn't want his fortress discovered. He's taking extra precautions to make sure no one follows us."
"You have no idea where it could be?"
"Somewhere obscure, difficult to get to, with a lot of land. I've heard tales of the Yukon. Maybe even Alaska."
"I wonder that he trusts us with this at all."
"Though your means are questionable, you complete jobs. Hard ones. And he knows how badly we want that sword."
"Why doesn't he meet us?"
"He never comes out of hiding. Omort would destroy him. Groot's the only one who has the means to kill him. At least that we know of."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Cade asked, but he knew what his brother was alluding to. They'd had a lead, a vampire who knew of a way to kill the sorcerer. But to save that leech from certain death, Cade had accidentally taken the life of the vampire's Bride. A young human named Néomi.
Unbidden, the memory arose of his sword slipping into Néomi's body…. He blocked it out. Cade was the master of blocking out unwanted realities.
Even if they had captured the vampire and tortured him for the information, there was nothing they could inflict worse than losing a Bride. That lead had been extinguished.
Cade's fault again.
"Omort probably already knows our intentions," Rydstrom said. "He won't take this lying down—he'll send out everything he's got to prevent us from getting the Vessel to Groot."
"Little ironic that just when I find out my female's no longer a forbidden human, I have to turn her over."