She sighed. No one would ever know.
Looking down the hall, she squared her shoulders and began her search for salvation.
Friday, February 6th 2015 5:13 p.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
“I heard her!” I shouted as Slade pulled up outside the house. My head whipped around in his direction, but I couldn’t see his expression. “Go back to the city! Go now!”
“Ace,” Slade said. “The demons are probably here—”
“I felt her, Slade,” I said, pressing the heels of my palms to my eyes. “I heard her call out to me, but it was different.”
“The sun just set, man. They’re gonna want to come up with a plan.”
I hit the dash with my hand. “Shit! She asked me where I was,” I said, barely audible, as my throat closed up tight.
“Maybe it was your imagination playing tricks on—”
“No!” I sucked in a ragged breath. “It was her. I swear it was. She’s alive, Slade.”
“That’s good, man,” Slade said. “I’m glad she’s alive. We need to go in there and find out what they can do to help us.”
Feeling defeated and at a crossroads, I conceded. “You’re right. We need help. I can’t do it alone. It kills me to admit that, but I know this handicap holds me back from protecting her like I could if I could see.”
“Let’s do it then,” Slade said.
Grabbing the handle of the door, I pushed my way out, and then just stood there waiting for Slade to come around and guide me in the house, like the helpless newborn blind man that I was. “I fucking hate this,” I muttered as he offered me his arm.
“This doesn’t make you weak, Ace,” Slade replied quietly.
“Well, one of us thinks that,” I said.
“We’ll get her back,” Slade said. “That’s what family is for. She’s one of us. Rely on us, brother.”
I nodded, feeling more confident, and he led me into the house.
My senses were suddenly overloaded with a rush of noise, smell and taste. Yes, taste. I licked my lips when the delectable scent of a mixture of gun smoke, cologne, honeysuckle, rain, coffee and eucalyptus hit my tongue. The fragrance was so strong that I could taste it.
“Um, hello,” I said.
“Ace,” Clay said, “three of them came to offer help, thanks to Abe’s mate—”
“Our Queen,” Rainey corrected, her voice holding a tone of reverence she never used around me.
“Right,” Clay said, “Ariana, our Queen. Sorry.”
“What do they know?” I said.
There was silence in the room for a beat, and then Clay said, “Well, they don’t know anything, but they are willing to help. We need all the help we can get.”
I huffed. “I agree. I was just hoping since they were…”
“Demons?” a guy said.
My brow shot up. “Yep. Not gonna beat around that bush.”
“Yeah, well, we’re not demons anymore,” the same guy said, “but we’ll help all we can. Your queen saved us all. We owe Ariana anything she asks of us.”
“She isn’t my queen—”
“Watch your tongue, Alpha,” Rainey said. “Or I will curse upon you more than blindness.”
I bowed. “My apologies. I meant no disrespect. I owe her my life for your help.”
“This is all really touching,” Phoenix said. “I’m sure this queen of yours is great, but those slayers or whatever they are may be torturing Mena at this very moment. I have her blood in my system. I may be able to—”
My mood dipped and my lips tightened as my fingers curled into fists. “Why do you have my mate’s blood in your system?”
“If you will remember, I was here first. I’m sure you’ve explored our memories together.”
I could tell the prick was smiling by the tone of his voice, and that just pissed me off even more. The muscles around my jaw twitched. “I try to avoid looking at any of her memories where you’re concerned.”
“Pity,” Phoenix said, “and as much as I would like to continue this conversation to see how much your jealousy escalates, I would like to remind you that the woman I love and the woman you think you love is in extreme danger.”
I bit back a curse, knowing he was right, and I turned my attention to where I’d last heard the ex-demon’s voice. “My name is Ace. Welcome to my home. I am Alpha of the pride of lions here in Las Vegas.”
“I am Damien,” a guy said. “I was the prince over the Syde of Sloth in Hell. I offer my skills of speed, stealth and precise aim. If you will call your pride back here, I will temporarily lend these skills to each of them.”
My eyebrows popped up. “You can do that?”
“Yes, but it will wear off in about six hours, so we will need to work quickly.”
My head whipped around toward Slade. “Slade—”
“The mass text has already gone out,” Slade said, and I nodded.
“Good.”
“I am Fallis,” another guy said. “I was the prince over the Syde of Envy. I will gift your people my skill of creating illusions. I’m also good with technology, so I can hack into anything they have and destroy their systems. Clay said the first group that went out looking for the human girl came back with their cell phones fried. I’m guessing the building was either magnetized or they have some sort of high-tech system that enables them to do such things. In either case, we’re dealing with some smart people. You have to know people who know people who know people in order to get your hands on that type of black market shit. Luckily for you, I happen to know all those people. I can disable or unlock anything they have from a hundred yards away.”
“And you can give all of us that skill, too?” I said.
“Uh, no,” Fallis said. “Being a genius wasn’t one of the powers Lucifer gave me when I earned royalty status in Hell. That was something God gave me upon my birth. Unfortunately, I am unable to share that particular gift. Only the illusions, but I will do all that I can to help.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“And I am Baddon. I was the prince over the Syde of Wrath, and I offer to your people the gift of strength without fear. Nothing and nobody will be able to stop us.”
“I think the warehouse you first went to was a decoy,” Fallis said.
“I did the location spell on the human girl myself,” Clay said. “She was there… somewhere.”
“I think that’s what they wanted you to believe,” Fallis said. “You said the crew found no disturbance or footprints at the site. They are either leading you in the wrong direction or they are under ground. Don’t worry, I have ways of finding people who do not wish to be found. And after I find them, we will unleash Hell on them.”
Baddon chuckled—a sound that sent a shiver up my spine, in spite of myself. “And we three do Hell really well.”
Chapter 48
Friday, February 6th 2015 5:47 p.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Andromeda
Pausing in front of a red door that was exactly like the other five hundred doors she’d passed by, Andra’s pulse quickened, the beats thumping wildly against her neck and chest. It wasn’t the door she was searching for. The black inscription didn’t say anything about the memory beyond the door having anything to do with Ace learning how to pick locks. No, it was far different from that. Andra knew that what was beyond this door would either set her mind at ease or make her fear the last man she’d grown to love. And it was only two words.
My revenge
Those two words put together sent a cold chill over her body. She’d known the story Ace told her wasn’t complete, but after getting to know him, she hadn’t wanted to know the rest. She knew it wouldn’t be good, whatever it was. The two words written on the door proved that. Revenge was a vicious word, a word that lacked any sense of calm or solved any real problems. It simply meant that one person couldn’t let a wrong that was done to them go, so they felt the need to retaliate in a harsh way.
Andra had a strong feeling that Ace had not run. He’d told her that stopping was for pussies. Did he think that then, too? Running her fingers over the lettering, she had no choice but to believe that whatever Ace did, he did it out of hatred and a need for vengeance.
Justice had killed everyone Ace loved in a single night. If someone did that to her family, her friends, her pack, Phoenix’s clan, what would be the worst thing she would be capable of doing to that person?
There were no limits to what she would do to them, and she knew that Ace had probably thought the very same back then. There was no reason to open this door, because she didn’t want to know what he did. She didn’t care what he did out of anger to avenge the people he held so dearly to him. He’d gone his whole life since then not letting anyone get close enough to break the ice around his heart. Until her, that was. Until the bond hadn’t given him a choice.
It was clear that he regretted what he did all those years ago, or at least he was ashamed for her to know that he did it. The only logical thing that made sense was Ace killed Justice’s mate and now Ace was afraid that Justice wanted to even the score.
Phoenix had mentioned that Ace knew what would happen before he bonded with her. Now, not only was she in danger, but so were her pack, Phoenix’s clan, Ace’s pride and Ace, himself.
Knowing that cut her to the bone, but didn’t make her love him any less. She knew he would do everything in his power to keep them all safe. Not that it would matter, because if she couldn’t get free of the slayers who wanted her head on a chopping block, Justice wouldn’t have any reason to hurt any of them. Maybe it was for the best. She’d sacrificed her life for less. First with Marc, then with the wolf inside her. Dying was the only logical option then, just like it was now. She would gladly die to save the ones she loved. Was that heroic of her? Not really. What was one life lost to save over two hundred, a thousand, the whole of humanity? For some reason, she didn’t think Ace or Phoenix would agree with her. Well, it wasn’t up to them, now was it?
“Are you asleep?” a female voice said, and Andra turned her head left, and then to the right, looking for the source of the voice, and seeing no one in the long black and red corridor. “Wake up, Andromeda.”
“Freedom,” Andra muttered.
“That’s right, Princess,” Freedom said, and Andra blinked awake and focused on the frowning blond-haired girl. “I thought you would be trying to figure out a way to get out of here. Instead, you are sleeping. I’m disappointed.”
“What makes you think I’m not trying to figure out a way to get out of here while sleeping?”
One of Freedom’s eyebrows rose. “Are you?”
“Absolutely,” Andra said. “But you could unlock these chains and that door and save me the trouble.”
The corner of Freedom’s mouth lifted in a lopsided grin. “Why would I do that?”
“Because I don’t think you’re really the monster that you are trying to impersonate.”
The girl’s eyes popped wide. “I’m not the monster in the room. You’re the one locked in chains.”
“And for wrongful reasons,” Andra said in a stern voice. She reached deep inside herself and found a pool of strength she’d always known she had. Her words were spoken clearly and calmly. She was pretty damn proud of herself. “If I was a monster, would I have brought you food and shown you compassion? No, I wouldn’t have. If I was a monster, would my face have been wet from tears when you found me at the accident? No. I love, I feel, I hurt, and I yearn to protect what is mine. Monsters don’t do any of that. You have kidnapped a sane person. You don’t know any of us well enough to sentence us to death. None of us asked for this curse. We’re simply dealing with the fate we’ve been dealt in the best way we can. I have never threatened to harm you in any way. I even told you that I wouldn’t let Ace’s pride hurt you, yet you capture me and hold me here, chained up, so that I can be tortured and killed, like I’m no better than a rabid animal. I am not a monster. I am of sound mind. I even formed an alliance with the vampires and bonded with a lion shifter to make right so many wrongs. I aim to change the hatred, the violence and the war that go on between the vampires, the witches and my kind. If I die, that dream dies with me. Nobody else has the balls to finish what I started.”
Freedom blinked a few times, and the first sign of doubt settled within the depths of her deep-blue eyes. After a few seconds, she squared her shoulders and set her jaw. “The decision has been made. The executioner is on his way here from St. Louis. There is nothing I can do to help you.”
“You know that’s a lie!” Andra shouted.
With a hint of fear in her eyes, Freedom stood from her squat in front of Andra and backed toward the door. “I’m sorry. It will be quick and painless. I promise. We aren’t cruel people.”
“The hell you’re not!” Andra spat, and then Freedom unlocked the door and slipped from the room, without another word.
Friday, February 6th 2015 6:21 p.m. PST
Las Vegas, Nevada
Ace
As the house grew louder, with each new arrival of my pride, I grew more unsettled. I hadn’t heard or felt Andra again, since she’d called out to me the one time before.
“Ace, my man, you look like you’re about to pop a vein or snap somebody’s neck,” Nikon said, from my right side.
“It’s been nearly four hours,” I said, unable to keep my cool much longer. “I should be able to feel her by now. I need to get back to the city. I have to be close to her in order to hear her thoughts. It has a short range on it, but I should be able to feel her emotions from here, and I don’t. It’s pissing me off.”
“Well, go get demonized and you can ride with me back to the city,” Nikon said. “Sinna and Jensen are riding with me in Veronica. There’s plenty of room in the Camaro for you. Jensen can sit in the back with Sinna.”
I nodded once, and then made my way toward Damien’s voice. He was just finishing up with either Tracy or Heather. Their voices sounded so similar, with the whole southern belle accents, and I didn’t know either of them very well, so I couldn’t be sure which female had told Damien that she felt energized and amazing.
“You next, big guy?” Damien said, and I could sense that he was smiling.
“I don’t understand how the gift of better aim and speed will help me much, since I can’t see to shoot anything or run without tripping over something, but I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give.”
A hand gripped my bicep then pulled me over a few feet. “Have a seat,” Damien said. “I’ll have Baddon and Fallis come to you after I finish.” My aviators were removed from my face, and then Damien pressed his thumbs to my forehead and two fingers to my temples. “Open your eyes, big guy,” he said, and I complied. “How long have you been blind?”
I shrugged. “Two days. It was a spell. Rainey said it will have to wear off on its own. There’s no antidote for this one.”
Damien chuckled. “Who’d you piss off?”
I shook my head. “Nobody. I drank the potion as payment for other potions we needed.”
“They must have been some pretty important potions to willfully bring blindness upon yourself. What do you say we give you your sight back?”
I gasped in surprise, and hope bloomed in my chest. “You can do that?”
“No,” Damien said, “I cannot.” I blew out a breath through puffed-out cheeks as the hope I’d felt popped like a balloon. “But Fallis can.”
Gritting my teeth, I raised my chin, angling my face up toward his. “Is this a joke? Because if it is, I’m not fucking laughing.”
Damien laughed. “It’s not a joke. If it was a spell or a curse, Fallis can break it. He’s a master at illusion, and that is all that is wrong with you. You actually can see, but the po
tion tricked your brain into thinking that you can’t.”
“No, dude, I really can’t see anything but darkness,” I said.
“Yes, I know,” Damien said. “Yo, Fallis!”
“Yeah?” Fallis yelled from across the room.
“Come work your magic on the Alpha lion,” Damien said. “Some dumb witch hexed him.”
Rainey cleared her throat, and I cringed a little, praying she wouldn’t retaliate against a demon for speaking his mind. “I am far from dumb, demon.”
“You did this?” Damien said.
“Yes,” she said. “I wasn’t paying attention to which potion I grabbed as payment for the Nexus spell potions. I use these mostly as a joke.”
“Well, if you were a smart witch, you would know that there is in fact an antidote for this particular hex,” Damien said. “And if you were a smart woman, you would have paid better attention to which of your jokes you grabbed to give a friend.”
The temperature of the room dropped a good twenty degrees from one second to the next. Oh, shit. “Rainey… Please, just let it go. I don’t blame you, okay?”
“How about you and I go outside and get some fresh air, baby?” Déus suggested. “The sun has set and we’ve been cooped up too long. Come on.”
Rainey mumbled something that sounded a whole lot like ‘prick’ and ‘asshole’ and ‘I’ll show him’, but her words were suddenly drowned out as Déus closed the door behind them.
“Whew,” I said, and then felt another close presence.
“What have we got?” Fallis said.
“The witch blinded him and can’t fix it,” Damien said.
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