by Brenda Trim
“Aye, we have to. There is no other choice. Bhric won’t survive losing her, and I’m no’ losing my brathair,” Breslin declared and sat up, pulling her feet from his lap.
Breslin couldn’t stand his hands rubbing her feet. She glanced at Rhett and wondered what it was about him that drew her.
He was the opposite of what she found attractive. She liked tan skin and big, beefy muscles. She wasn’t a petite female, so her males had to be built. Rhett was muscular, but he was leaner and his skin was luminescent.
And, then there were his clothes. The man was a metro to his fiery core. He wore button-down shirts and loafers. She preferred her males in leather and boots with weapons strapped to their body.
And yet, she found Rhett irresistible. She wanted him beyond reason, and it made no sense. This male was a hit it and quit it, and Breslin refused to be another notch.
“You’re the strongest female I’ve ever met. Your sense of family and devotion is inspiring. You’re kind and loving, yet strong and independent. Not to mention…”
“What?” she asked when he remained quiet for several long moments.
His words touched her. He was always so busy flirting and finding his next conquest she didn’t think he noticed things like family and loyalty. It changed how she looked at him.
“You are an exquisite female, Flame. I can’t stay away from you,” Rhett finally murmured.
His orange eyes met and held hers. Breslin’s heart skipped a beat and she leaned into him as he lowered his head. When his lips touched hers, hot flames ignited on contact.
His firm mouth moved over hers and increased in intensity. Breslin melted into him and gave into the moment. She couldn’t stay away, either. She wanted to know the feel of his lips, if nothing else.
He took advantage when she parted her lips, and with expert precision, speared his tongue inside to glide along hers. The slip and slide, coupled with his heat and masculine scent surrounded her, and the rest of the world disappeared for one precious second.
Rhett grabbed her hair with one hand and deepened the kiss while she grabbed his shoulders. His skill was undeniable and spoke of the practice he’d had. His free hand slipped down her side and cupped her breast, squeezing it. Breslin moaned involuntarily.
“I want to be inside you, Bre,” he murmured against her mouth as his free hand went to the waistband of her jeans.
His aggressiveness doused her desire and brought her out of the sensual fog where she was trapped.
“Are you fucking serious? Do you think I’m that easy? We havena even been on a date, and you think I’m going to spread my legs for you? You doona deserve to be in my bed.”
He shook his head and licked his lips. She didn’t miss the flames in his eyes when he looked at her. She’d never seen anything like it before and almost forgot about her rejection.
“You want to go on a date?” he asked. “Okay, where do you want to go?”
“Ugh!” she shouted. “Get the fuck oot of my room, arsehole. And, doona come back,” she ordered as she stood and practically flung him over the threshold, slamming the door in his face.
He stood on the other side of the door, pleading her to talk to him, but she ignored him and stomped to her bathroom. She was in desperate need of a cold shower. It was the only thing that was going to douse the inferno that burned within for the fire demon.
Chapter 18
Alex was in the fucking city somewhere. Bhric knew it. He didn’t have the mating bond to direct him, but he was positive she was nearby. His gut never failed him, and Bhric wasn’t going to ignore it now. Instinct said Pasha was lying about him fathering her child, and now it screamed the demons were in the city with his mate.
“These fucking bitches are no’ Kadir. They’ve done everything different from the moment they arrived on Earth,” Bhric barked at Zander as his brother continued to coax him to leave.
The ground beneath Bhric’s feet kept icing with every step he took. He’d lost control of his ability hours ago and left sheets of ice in his wake. His attempt at eating dinner ended with him holding a pizza popsicle. Never had his power been tied to his emotions, but he was going out of his mind, so it wasn’t surprising.
“Brathair,” Zander replied as he followed Bhric down an empty street in Capitol Hill.
The sound of Zander’s boots as they cracked his ice sounded like gunshots in the night. “They’d be fools to stay so close. Remember how we found Kadir in Pioneer Square? His failure had to be a cautionary tale to any demon that took his place. Stop and think aboot the situation,” his brother explained.
“I’ve done nothing but think aboot the fucking situation, Z. My mate is missing, and I know she’s in this city. These bitches are no’ playing with a full fucking deck. You know that, brathair. And, why the fuck is our bond still muted? I should be able to feel her,” Bhric growled and punched a street sign as he passed it. The metal caved inward with a loud bang.
As his rage threatened to send him on a rampage throughout Seattle, Bhric slid his hand into the pocket of his leathers, and ran his fingers over Alex’s cell phone.
It settled him to where he could focus, and suppressed his anger. He’d fixated on the pic of them for hours while he waited for the sun to go down. It replaced his scotch and was more effective on his frayed nerves than alcohol was.
“I can send a team to search the forests,” Zander began, but Bhric cut him off.
“Doona bother. We need teams here. Send some to Queen Anne, Belltown, Ballard and Fremont. We need to cover our bases. I canna pinpoint the exact spot, but she is somewhere in the area,” Bhric instructed as he grabbed the collar of his black t-shirt.
Summer nights in Seattle weren’t hot like many places in the country, but Bhric felt like he was suffocating as sweat ran down his back. It felt like he was back in Georgia where the humidity was a stifling blanket around his body.
“Consider it done,” Zander replied as he pulled out his cell phone. “Hayden has C.L.A.W. searching near Belleview, Redmond, Sammamish and Snohomish. I can have them cross the bridge to this side, as well.”
Bhric was grateful his brother had called in Hayden and his shifters. Shifters had good noses, and Hayden’s C.L.A.W. (Core Lieutenants Against the Wrathful) were the best of the best.
Tension was high between the two leaders. Zander and Hayden disagreed on how to handle the new archdemons. Hayden wanted to reveal supernatural’s existence to humans while Zander refused to go against the Goddess’s edict.
Bhric understood the difficulty Crocell and her sister presented when they openly attacked humans, but exposure wasn’t the answer.
“The more, the merrier. And, Bhric is right,” Breslin added as she walked up and grabbed Bhric’s hand, offering comfort. “We need to focus in and around the city. They are no’ isolated in the middle of nowhere.”
“Do you feel her?” Bhric asked, curious about his sister’s comment.
There was no reason his twin should feel anything regarding his mate. The bond he shared with Breslin was based on them, not their mates, but anything was possible.
“Nay. Nothing like that, but I have this knowing, and I canna explain it. ‘Tis foreign to me and I doona understand the dynamics, just that Alex is within the city somewhere,” Breslin explained as she let his hand go and palmed her sais. His sister was skilled with the small daggers, but she was lethal with her fire.
There had been a strain between him and Breslin for years due to his drinking and poor decision-making, but with those simple words, the uncertainty disappeared, and Bhric felt closer to her than ever.
“Och! She’s fucking here, and we will find her,” Bhric agreed.
“‘Tis good to have you back, brathair,” Breslin murmured as her amber eyes met his.
“Aye. I wouldna change things, because it led me to my Alex, but I regret causing you so much pain,” Bhric admitted. “They aren’t here. Let’s move to another area.”
Urgency rode him like an avalan
che waiting to happen. Time was running out for Alex, and he needed to find her.
Alex blinked her eyes open and groaned. It felt as if razors were rubbing across her retina. She hurt. Everywhere. Even her hair felt like needles stabbing her skull. Evil-ass demons.
She was trapped in a strange house, and her naked body was cuffed to a table. Blood and pus oozed from her open wounds. Her body felt hot, telling Alex she had a fever. She was bleeding to death. It was not only painful but highly degrading.
Battling cancer was challenging, and Alex thought she understood pain. In fact, she’d become intimate friends with it until the demons kidnapped her. Their treatment gave a whole new meaning to pain and suffering.
Alex’s stomach was on fire, and her arms and legs weren’t much better. The sisters got their jollies from slicing her open with toxic claws. They had a table full of knives at their disposal, but no, they preferred giving Alex the royal treatment.
She wanted to curl in a ball against the fire that raced through her system. It wasn’t normal, and Alex wondered again if their claws were poisonous. It made sense given that they were demons sent from Hell. Alex’s injuries were slowly killing her, but she had a feeling time wasn’t her biggest concern. Crocell and Cresil promised they’d be back.
There was no way Alex was going to survive their next round of satanic pleasure.
Reality snapped her foggy mind into focus. She needed to find a way out of her predicament. There was no way she was dying at the hands of this evil scum, and, unfortunately, no one was coming to rescue her.
Her eyes darted around the room and snagged on the small vial Tristan gave her. It was lying next to her clothing but looked to be intact. She had no idea of the bottle’s content, but it was her only chance. She couldn’t beat Crocell and Cresil on her own.
She jerked against the cuffs binding her hands and wrists, but couldn’t get free. She gritted her teeth against the pain and yanked again, but the metal wouldn’t budge. Taking several breaths, Alex tried to calm down so she could think clearly about her options.
Her mind traveled back to her encounter with Cresil in the hospital, and the image of the bent scalpel. Alex felt a connection to the metal right before it had softened and curved. Had she really done that? Yes, she believed she’d altered the instrument. It was the only explanation that made sense. It was farfetched, and the idea was crazy, but she recalled Cailyn telling her that her DNA would change after she mated Bhric.
He’d bitten her, and she’d had sex several times with the vampire. Perhaps, she was already experiencing changes. Testing her theory, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her restraints, willing them to melt away.
After several seconds, nothing happened. Alex tried to imagine a connection to the metal, but that was even harder. It had just happened before, and she had no idea how to repeat it.
The distinct chatter of the demons had Alex panicking and throwing more energy into her efforts. Suddenly, the metal softened enough at her feet to where she could move them.
Yes! She was going to get free, she thought, and put more effort into getting her feet out of the restraints.
By the time the sisters walked into the room, Alex’s legs were out of the cuffs, and the ones at her wrist were loose. She hastily laid her legs over the mangled cuffs to hide them and tried to still her frantic movements.
“Tsk, tsk. This won’t do,” Crocell said as she crossed to Alex’s side and latched onto her feet. I bet you thought you could get away. How sad for you,” the demon said with a pout then sneered, “Secure her, sister.”
“Gladly. This might hurt just a tad, pet,” Cresil said with a smile as she lifted her claws.
Alex watched her claws turn from black to orange. The demon carried hellfire in her veins and relished torturing Alex with it. Alex prepared for the agony as the demon sank her fiery claws into Alex’s chest.
Cresil laughed as poison seeped into Alex’s heart with every frantic beat. It was now or never, Alex thought. She would either escape or die on this table. Jerking upward, Alex head-butted Cresil, while at the same time, she yanked her arms free. Her flesh squeezed through the softened metal, freeing them, but not before the demon’s claws shredded muscle and organs.
Adrenaline kicked in, and the intense pain went numb. Alex rolled off the bed and scrambled on all fours to the glass bottle. She quickly turned and hurled it toward the demons. The glass shattered and smoke filled the room with a bright flash. Alex didn’t wait to see what happened next. She was in motion before the smoke cleared.
She grabbed her lab coat on the way out of the room and peered over her shoulder one last time. She caught a glimpse of one of the demons whose leg appeared to be frozen in a block of ice. Alex pivoted and ran for her life, praying for enough time to escape.
As she tried to find an exit, Alex shoved her arms through the sleeves of the lab coat. The fabric rubbed across her injuries, causing another bout of pain, and she fell to her knees. Panting, she told herself that she could do this. She couldn’t stay in the house. Willing strength to her legs, she stood up and continued.
Alex passed the room where she was caged, and immediately thought about Rebecca. She darted into the dark room and ran to Rebecca’s cage.
“Rebecca,” Alex hissed and bent to reach through the bars. “Wake up. We’re getting out of here,” she whispered, and prayed her power could melt the lock to the cage.
She grabbed Rebecca’s shoulder and shook the woman. A chill ran down Alex’s spine when she felt the cold, frigid body.
“No!” she declared, and slid her fingers to Rebecca’s neck, checking for a pulse.
Tears filled Alex’s eyes when there was no thump against her fingers. She held it there for several seconds, hoping against hope. She was too late. She pounded the floor, releasing her hatred for the two despicable women that took a precious life with no regard.
She heard a noise and snapped to attention. If she didn’t get the hell out of there, her fate would be the same as Rebecca’s.
Alex ran from the room and quickly realized she had no idea how to get out of the house. Heart hammering in her chest, she dashed about, trying to find an exit. She listened for the demons but couldn’t hear them. Alex remembered the young males that had stripped her clothes from her body, and stayed alert, just in case they were still in the house.
The adrenaline was enough to keep the worst of her injuries at bay, but Alex was on borrowed time. Her heart skipped a beat and her vision swam. Cresil might have nicked her heart during her last attack.
Her breaths were labored, and she thought perhaps one lung had been punctured. At least that was her assessment when she heard the whistling sound of each breath.
Tiptoeing past the other rooms, she heard the voices of several young men. They were playing a video game from the sound of it and she darted past the opening as fast as she could.
She heard a loud screech echo through the house and knew the demons were breaking free of the spell. She ran into an empty kitchen and saw a sliding door that led outside. It was nighttime, and she couldn’t see much beyond the porch light. She didn’t bother second-guessing her plan and pushed the glass aside.
Cool night air greeted Alex, and soothed her burning skin. Alex pulled her lab coat closed, trying to staunch the bleeding in her chest. She was in bad shape, but she couldn’t give up now.
She ran through the backyard and past another house behind it. She contemplated knocking on the door, but decided against it. She wanted to get as far away from the demons as possible. What if the homeowners answered the door and the demons descended? They would all die, and she wasn’t going to be responsible for the slaughter of innocents, so Alex made her way to the street and ran as fast as she could.
Spots danced in her vision, and she fell to her knees a few seconds later. Sweat beaded her brow and soaked her knotted hair. Grabbing a nearby tree trunk, Alex got to her feet again and continued walking. Again, she considered stopping at a house to ask
for help, but her feet refused to stop moving.
The sound of glass shattering and an unholy shriek told her the demons weren’t far behind her. Alex pushed her aching body to move faster. She made it down a couple of streets before she saw an overpass that she recognized. Aurora Bridge.
She collapsed mere feet from the famous Fremont Troll statue. She rolled to her back and tried to catch her breath. After everything she’d been through, Alex was going to die on a dirty street beneath a freeway overpass. She blinked against the tears in her eyes and resigned to her fate.
Her last view would be this two-story, ugly, stone creature. If she was going to die, the last thing she wanted to see was Bhric. She envisioned his beautiful amber eyes, his warm and loving smile, and his insatiable hunger when he made love to her.
She regretted their time was cut short. There was so much for them to explore, yet she’d freaked out and ran from him, rather than staying and dealing with her fear. She thought she couldn’t handle his paranormal world, but in hindsight, that wasn’t important. Bhric was all that mattered.
Life didn’t wait for people to get their shit together. Time was precious, and wasn’t guaranteed to anyone. God, how she wished she could turn the clock back and do things differently.
“Help me, please. Anyone. Can you hear me?” Alex yelled, hoping a passerby would hear her plea.
She listened, but the only reply was a nearby bullfrog, croaking his love song. If she weren’t in so much pain, she would say the night was tranquil. Alex lay still, her breathing labored. She closed her eyes and imagined Bhric’s warm lips against hers.
Suddenly, the sound of wings flapping tickled her ears. The demons.
“No!” she shouted and her eyes popped open. “Please, God. Help me.”
Seconds later, rocks tumbled down from the concrete statue and Alex thought she saw movement from overhead. She knew she should be frightened, but she didn’t have the energy to act on it. All she could muster was a blink of her weary eyes.