“Oh, but that’s where you’re wrong,” Kristoff replied. He seemed to be in a pretty good mood at the moment – and like most adults, I learned a long time ago that people are usually only in a good mood when they want something. So I wondered what this clown wanted.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about city politics lately,” he went on, “and this little tiff between you and Serenity has really brought the issue to a point for me. The simple truth is that Serenity and Ronin are getting stale. I mean, it doesn’t help that they’re both over a thousand years old – but that’s not what I mean. Their politics are ancient. They’re too rigid, too formal. And frankly, they’re a bit crass. I mean, you show the slightest bit of spine towards Serenity – and that, only to protect a woman whom you’ve marked – and she issues a warrant for your execution? That might have been the way things were done three centuries ago, but not in this day and age.”
Risa was watching him with a wary expression. She knew just as well as I did that this little speech was leading up to something, and she seemed anxious to get that part over with.
“Meaning what?” she asked. “What’s your role in all this?”
Kristoff smiled, and I’ve gotta tell you, I didn’t like that smile one bit. It was cunning and calculated, filled with guile and deception. This was certainly not a man you’d want to play poker with.
“It’s time for someone else to take control,” he said plainly. “Someone strong. Someone with the intelligence and power to rule this city effectively and diplomatically. I think it’s fairly obvious that I intend for one of those people to be me, so I won’t beat around the bush.”
“One of those people?” Risa echoed. “You don’t mean to rule alone?”
“I don’t,” Kristoff replied. “I mean to be a powerful lord – but I also mean to have an equally powerful lady by my side.” His dark eyes flashed with unholy fire, and he added: “She’s standing right in front of me.”
Risa’s face went totally blank. Whatever she’d been expecting – it obviously wasn’t that. Personally, my hackles rose at the very idea, and I tightened my grip on Risa’s hand. She squeezed back, but kept her eyes on the strangely evil man before us.
“There’s just one little problem with that,” she said in a steady voice. “I’m gay, and I’ve already found my soulmate.”
“And no one’s saying you can’t keep her,” Kristoff answered. “I haven’t decided whether or not I’ll hold onto Brooke – she’s been getting rather tedious lately – but the relationship I’m proposing isn’t a sexual one. It’s a political one. Think of us as unwed co-rulers. You’re one of the strongest vampires in this city, Risa, though I don’t think a lot of people realize that. But that’s only because you downplay your strength. You don’t want trouble, so you’re quiet about it. Well – the time has come to stop being quiet. The time has come to take what’s ours.”
“Why are you even asking me?” Risa inquired bitterly. “You can make me do whatever you want.”
“Ah, but that’s not how I want this to be. I want us to have a relationship based on mutual respect and trust. If you agree to rule with me, I’ll lift the thrall I placed on you. Your decisions will be your own again. Just think about it! You’ll no longer have a bounty on your head; your lover will be safe; and you’ll have limitless power. It’s a win-win.”
“Well, it would be,” Risa agreed, “if it weren’t for the fact that you’re a heartless monster. It’s true that I want Serenity out of power – but how could I ever agree to work with someone who sells young girls to be tortured and raped? And that’s only one of the terrible things you do. Putting you on Ronin’s throne would be no improvement. It might even be worse.”
Kristoff’s eyes flashed again, and he strode towards Risa. “Think very carefully about your next words,” he advised her. “I’m offering you a boon. If you don’t take it, Serenity will kill you. What’s the sense in that? Who wins in that situation? Please explain it to me, because I certainly don’t understand it.”
I had my gun tucked in the back of my belt. Only problem was, Kristoff was standing just a few yards away. Could I draw, take it off safety and fire quickly enough?
Only one way to find out. Git along, little dogies. Annie Oakley was about to take one of the most important shots of her life – and she for damned sure better not miss.
I hadn’t lied when I said I was a crack shot. I did manage to draw, release the safety and fire – and if Kristoff were an ordinary human, he would’ve been down for the count. But he wasn’t human. He was a lightning-fast vampire, and the second he saw me move, he responded. As a result, all I managed to do was wing him in the left bicep. Not really all that big of a deal for a vamp. He knocked the gun out of my hand and kicked it across the floor, glaring at me with fury boiling in his nearly black eyes. Yep, that was one pissed-off vampire. Oops.
“You may be brave, human,” he hissed at me, grabbing hold of my upper arm hard enough to tear my muscle, “but you’re stupid as fuck. That was the biggest mistake you’ll ever make.”
“Let go of her,” Risa raged, stepping forward to put her hand around Kristoff’s throat. But he held up a hand to stop her, and she froze in place, unable to move. She looked at me helplessly, her eyes shining with fear.
“I’ve seen and heard all I need to,” Kristoff said gruffly, tightening his hand around my arm. I wanted to cry out, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. The fucking bastard wanted to make me beg, but I’d be damned if I gave in.
“This could have been so much more pleasant,” he went on, starting to drag me across the warehouse floor towards the hole in the ceiling. “So much more civil. But no – of course we couldn’t do it that way. Fucking women. You’re all impossible.”
“I’ll come for you, Dani,” Risa promised me in an unwavering, stalwart voice. “I’ll find a way.”
Kristoff paused beneath the enormous hole in the ceiling, looking back at Risa. “No, you won’t,” he corrected her. “You’ll stay right there, exactly where I’ve put you – and I won’t let you go until she’s dead.”
I watched Risa’s face with an aching heart, more distressed than I’d ever been in my life. But it wasn’t because of anything I was afraid might happen to me. It was because of the tears that were streaming down my lover’s cheeks, tears of anger and hopelessness. Tears of defeat. She watched me with quivering lips, and I knew her heart was breaking. Because mine was breaking, too.
Chapter 14
Kristoff threw me into the back of his van with no more fanfare than one of his kidnapped girls, then squealed away from the curb and peeled off into the street.
Okay, so the only real way to say this was: I was up shit creek without a paddle. On a hot summer day. With blazing sun shining on aforementioned shit to increase its already rancid odor. This was just not my fucking day.
I tried the van doors, but of course I didn’t really think they’d open. This was a vehicle Kristoff used to kidnap people, for God’s sake. I was fairly certain he’d have accounted for any attempts to escape.
I knew Risa was probably beating herself to an emotional pulp back at the warehouse, and that cut me deeply, but I tried not to allow myself to think about it. If I ever wanted to see her again, I had to think about survival. And since I couldn’t even imagine never seeing her again, I had to bust out my A-game. This was do or die. No pun intended.
The rear windows of the van were blacked out, and there was a partition between the back and the driver’s area, so I was alone in the dark. I felt like a caged dog, just waiting for a chance to spring at my captor. I felt the rapid turning of the van, swerving so violently that I went tumbling around like loose groceries in the trunk of a Hyundai, but of course I wasn’t some weird savant who could track our direction that way. I had no clue where we were. I wouldn’t know until we got there – and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like it.
After about twenty minutes, the van came to an abrupt stop, the wheels screeching against
asphalt. Kristoff was an aggressive driver. He’d been cool and collected when he first arrived at the warehouse, but I was beginning to suspect that wasn’t his true nature. Between his reckless driving, and the way I’d seen his eyes flash with that violent, dark fire, I guessed that his genuine self was much more savage. Brutal and bloodthirsty. And I had a feeling that it was about to be unleashed on me.
Like I’ve said before, I’m a tough bitch, and I can throw down – but I wouldn’t have been human if I hadn’t felt at least the slightest twinge of fear. And feel it I did. I swallowed thickly, my heart pounding in my ears, waiting with bated breath for my captor to come and open the door.
He slid the door open roughly, slamming it back and gazing in at me with eyes that blazed with a desire to wreak destruction. Gone was the mask of calm civility. His beast had come to play, and I guessed it was here to stay.
“Get out,” he growled, pulling his upper lip back over his teeth to expose his long fangs. Oh, great. He was in full vampy mode. That wasn’t a good sign.
I didn’t think it was a very bright idea to argue with him, so I slid out of the van without hesitation. I stood beside him on the asphalt, trying to avoid looking into his wrathful face. But he grabbed hold of my chin and made me look at him, hissing viciously. “You’re going to regret what you did,” he snarled. “Your death will be slow and painful. You’ll beg for the end – but I’ll make you wait for it.”
I wasn’t going to lie, my fear level significantly increased with this threat. Yet I refused to let him see my panic. I kept my expression blank, kept my body still, even though it was freezing cold and my arms were bare. Finally, he let go of my chin and spit on the ground in disgust. Then he grabbed my arm, dragging me across the pavement.
We were standing in a large, fenced-in parking lot, which surrounded what looked like an abandoned hospital. Kristoff pulled me towards the back entrance, then swiped a key card at the door. The lock clicked, and he yanked the door open, pushing me into the building.
The long, dingy corridor was lit by dirty-looking fluorescent light. The first thing I noticed about the place was the overwhelming stench of blood. It filled my nostrils like heavy smoke, you know, like when you walk by a house on fire. The smell clings to you, staggering your senses. I fought the urge to clamp my hand over my nose.
Kristoff just breathed in deep, like he was walking through a field full of wildflowers or something. His grip tightened on my arm, and I couldn’t help wincing. He grinned cruelly, looking down at me with those blazing, demonic eyes. The fucking prick.
I noticed that the doors to all the rooms stood open. As we passed by one of them, I glanced inside, and my heart dropped down into my stomach. I saw a young woman in a modern-looking hospital bed, in her early twenties maybe, hooked up to a drip and wearing a white johnny. She looked so cold and pale, as if she were close to death.
“My little snacks,” Kristoff explained, laughing wickedly. “I’m trying to stay on Serenity’s good side for now, and her number-one rule is: No feeding in the streets. She doesn’t want the humans getting wise to our existence. I have a pretty big appetite, and it’s too much work to go out and drag them back every time I get hungry, so I skim off the top of the supply those idiotic dealers bring me. There’s more than enough to go around, after all.”
I was horrified. I glanced into a few more of the rooms, and I saw additional examples of this monster’s diabolical activities. My eyes burned with angry tears. I wanted to help these women – but how could I help them, when I couldn’t even help myself? It was starting to look like I was facing the end of the line, and that was enough a bummer, in and of itself. My mind worked desperately, trying to come up with some ingenious method of escape, but I had nothing. Nada. Zip. This chicken wasn’t flying any coops on her own – and my one chance of survival was currently frozen in place, cursed and powerless under Kristoff’s thrall.
Poor Risa. I hoped she wouldn’t blame herself when I was gone. I wished I could tell her that somehow . . .
“I’m going to show you how you’ll die,” Kristoff said, his ungodly voice filled with glee. “It’s just down here.”
He opened a door on the right-hand, which led down a dark, seemingly long set of steps. He pushed me in front of him, and I nearly tripped, righting myself at the very last moment to avoid falling down the stairs. But then again – maybe I should have just gone with that. Falling and breaking my neck probably would have been a lot better than whatever this evil bastard had in store for me.
I wasn’t the suicidal type, though. Whatever was coming, I knew I had to fight until the end. It’s just the way I was programmed.
I started down the stairs, and Kristoff kept prodding me in the back, trying to make me go faster. “Fucking quit it,” I snapped back at him.
Boo ya, I thought proudly. This girl’s got her fire back. You’ll get no more sniveling out of me, you depraved vampire scumbag.
I came to the bottom of the stairs, and there was more light here. The basement was an enormous, open plan – but I’m telling you, it wasn’t like any basement I’d ever seen before. For one thing, and I’m flipping kidding you not, practically the whole thing was on fire. There were red and orange flames everywhere, burning at about waist-level, covering most of the floor and the walls. The place looked like a realm of hell itself.
“Welcome to Balam’s lair,” Kristoff said, pushing me forward. I stepped quickly to the side, trying to avoid getting singed by a wall of flame. “The demon loves to meet tasty young women. Come – come and let me introduce you!”
I swallowed thickly, glancing towards the stairs. God, I wished I could get back up to the main level somehow. How could I escape? There had to be a way. I wasn’t a lightweight, after all. I was a fucking detective! I had to be able to figure this out. Had to be able to devise a method to save my own skin. Because I really, really didn’t want to meet this Balam character. And I doubt you would, either.
Kristoff grabbed my arm – I was getting more than a little fed up with the manhandling – and began to drag me across the blazing floor. Luckily, I managed to avoid getting set on fire, and we crossed the hundred-yard distance without any drama. For now.
“Human,” Kristoff said, gesturing reverently before him, “meet Balam, vampire demon of the sixth circle of hell. He has taken a liking to our little planet, and I am trying to make him feel welcome.”
Jeez, no wonder this place looked like hell. That was actually where this thing – this demon – came from. I knew that it was right in front of me, and I could tell that it was massive, but I didn’t want to look at it. I knew that it was going to be horrific. Even I didn’t want to throw down for this one.
“Pay your respects to the demon,” Kristoff said severely, tightening his grip on my arm.
It took every shred of my willpower to make myself look up. And when I did – when I finally laid eyes on the demon – I beheld something that I had never dreamed I’d witness, even in the darkest depths of my very worst nightmares.
Balam was seated on a gargantuan throne made of an ebony-colored material, and it was hard to judge his exact height, but he must have been no less than twenty feet tall. His body was thick as a tree trunk, and his limbs were powerful and muscular. His flesh was dark red, with scales like a dragon, and on his head there were two pointed horns. His eyes were bright green, but they were filled with a darkness unlike anything I’d ever witnessed.
“Have you brought me a treat?” the demon inquired, his voice rolling through the open basement like thunder. The flames crackled and spit all around me, and Kristoff held my arm in a vice-like grip.
Happy place, happy place, think about your happy place . . .
But hell, who was I kidding? No way was that gonna work on this one.
“Indeed,” Kristoff replied. “A very special one. I want you to make her suffer.”
The demon laughed – and no lie, it was the creepiest sound I’d ever heard. Ever. It was a million times wors
e than Freddy Krueger’s razorblades squealing down in the boiler room.
“I’d be happy to oblige,” the demon said. “You’ve been most hospitable since my arrival, and I’d appreciate an opportunity to repay the favor.”
Kristoff bowed deeply. “Thank you, sire,” he said. “But I wonder, would you be willing to perform a demonstration? I’d like her to anticipate her death for a few hours. As part of the punishment, you know.”
“Ah, a very wise idea,” the demon said in admiration. “I’m perfectly willing. If you’d be kind enough to wake one of my snacks . . .?”
“Of course, sire,” Kristoff replied, stepping around the throne. I honestly didn’t want to see what he was doing, but I felt like I had to know. I moved a little to the right so I could peer into the shadows under the throne, and I gasped in shock. There, on a spot of bare floor, surrounded by dancing flames, were a few young women, lying motionless like my friends back at the warehouse. They must have been under Kristoff’s sleeping spell.
Kristoff passed his hands over one woman’s face, and she came awake slowly, blinking groggily and sitting up as if she were drunk. “Where am I?” she murmured in confusion.
“You probably don’t want to know,” Kristoff answered with a cruel grin, hauling her up to her feet.
The demon reached down with a colossal hand, and the young woman looked up with those slow-blinking eyes. The bewilderment cleared quickly from her face, and she began to scream shrilly. The demon wrapped his hand around her, nearly covering her entire body with his red, scaly appendage. Her screams were horrible, but the demon just smiled, apparently enjoying the sound.
I didn’t want to see this. I really didn’t want to see this. What could I do, wasn’t there any way I could save this girl . . .?
The demon raised the young woman to eye-level with him, so he could look into her face, so he could see her terrified expression. His grin became wider; and then he began to squeeze her.
She cried out, still fearfully at first, but soon her screams changed to proof of her intense pain inside the demon’s massive fist. I suddenly wished I was blind and deaf. But I couldn’t look away. It would have been like leaving her alone.
Marked (Shadow City Book 1) Page 12