by D. N. Hoxa
She looked down at me and smiled, pure satisfaction reflecting in her yellow eyes as she ran her fingers over her hair. Something fell to my side, and through the corner of my eye, I could see Adrian lying right next to me. Shit. Cirko hadn’t killed the second bodyguard.
No, he was very much alive still. The bullets hadn't even slowed him down, and he was still standing, two guns in his hands now—one aiming at Adrian’s head and the other at Cirko, who was on all fours right in front of his feet. My arms were stretched wide to my sides, but my knives were still in my hand. If I was fast enough, could I stab Loretta in the leg and win myself some time?
I got my answer when she practically disappeared and then reappeared kneeling on the floor, in between Adrian and me. I hadn’t even seen her move—just felt a whoosh of air, and there she was again.
“A trapper, a human, and a…”
She turned her head to look at Cirko. It was exactly the opening I needed. I swung my arm with all my strength with aim this time. If she was wounded, I could finish her off. It didn’t matter where I stabbed her, just that I did.
But I couldn’t. Even with her head turned the other way, she heard me move and raised her hand just in time to grab my wrist and stop me. Her skin was ice cold, and her strength was incredible. She squeezed her bony-looking fingers, and my bones cracked. The pain shot through me, spreading through my body like wildfire. She’d broken my fucking wrist, but I gritted my teeth and swallowed hard. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction of hearing me scream in pain.
“And a traitor,” Loretta finished, and she was in no hurry. When she turned to me again, she didn’t look concerned in the least that my bone knife was a couple of inches away from her face.
“Tell me,” she said. “Am I the reason that the three of you got together?”
“Fuck you, bitch,” I spit, hoping to release some of the pain with my words. It didn’t help as much as I’d have liked.
“It’s rare that I choose to feast on two instead of one, I admit,” she said, making my stomach turn. Feast? She called killing people feasting? “But tonight, all of my stars must be aligned. Innocents are delicious but enemies?” She raised her head to the sky and moaned a sound that would put porn stars to shame. “The best taste in the world.”
“You’re going to die,” I said through gritted teeth. “Back up is coming any second now.” I don’t know what the point of lying to her even was. Maybe I was just trying to postpone our deaths.
Loretta pretended like she didn’t even hear me. She turned to Adrian, and so did I. He’d been right all along. If I’d just listened to him and waited, we’d have had at least another day. Now, I was going to be the reason he died, that that bright light inside of him diminished. Tears sprung to my eyes. How could I let this happen?
“Don’t touch him!” I shouted when the vampire raised a perfectly manicured finger and scratched Adrian under his chin. He tried to move his head away, but it was no use.
“Or what?” said Loretta, feigning surprise. “What are you going to do?” She brought her finger, her fake nail coated in Adrian’s blood, to her lips, and her tongue slid out.
Suddenly, the grip around my wrist loosened, and she flinched, surprised for real this time.
Her eyes wide, she looked at Adrian like he was the monster in our midst. “You,” she whispered and slowly stood up. “How dare you come close to me?”
She pulled her right leg up, aiming for Adrian’s chest with that sharp heel of hers. But I was free. My wrist might have been broken, but I could still move. I jumped at her with my arms wide open, certain that she’d move away at the last second. She didn’t. My body slammed against hers, and we both tumbled to the floor. I buried my left knife in the side of her waist and aimed the other for her heart. But I was slow, the pain making it impossible for me to move fast enough, so she blocked me with her forearm and threw me to the side like it was no trouble at all. I rolled on the ground twice before I could take back control of my body. By then, she was coming for me, fangs in clear sight. A gun fired again, and I almost asked her to step aside so I could see if Adrian was still breathing. I had only one knife left—the other was buried in her waist, and she didn’t even seem to notice. I made it to my feet just as she stepped in front of me and grabbed me by the throat. I tried to stab her again, but she dug her fingernails in my forearm and squeezed. It was impossible not to scream as the pain took control of my mind. When she let go, I could no longer feel my arm, and my last knife slipped out of my fingers. She opened her mouth and hissed at my face, and I could smell the scent of blood on her. She’d just drunk two people. They were going to die soon, if they weren’t dead yet, and she was going to kill us, too.
I couldn’t let that happen. I tried to break free from her hold with all my strength, kicking and hitting her everywhere I could, but she didn’t budge. Instead, she raised her arm and my feet no longer touched the ground. Air no longer made it through my throat. I was choking, and she knew it. That’s why she was smiling.
Then, she cringed, and her fingers loosened. My feet hit the ground just in time to see Adrian standing behind her.
Run! I wanted to shout. Run before she turns around!
But she was faster than anything I’d ever seen in my life. I barely saw her arm move back, and Adrian flew to the side, landing on the bed of the VIP room. He’d stabbed Loretta in the back—I could see the handle of my bone knife sticking out of her, and I tried to reach for it. She pushed my hand away, no longer smiling but very angry. So I reached for the other knife, still in her waist where I’d put it. Maybe she forgot that it was there, or maybe she didn’t see my arm at all. Either way, my fingers wrapped around the handle of the knife, and I pulled back with all my strength.
The sounds she let out were monstrous, but before I could use that knife to finish her off, she slapped me. My ear whistled, and I couldn’t even tell that I’d moved until I hit a wall with the back of my head. Darkness swallowed me for a long second, but the gunshot opened my eyes wide. Cirko was standing in the middle of the hallway, two guns aiming at Loretta. He never took his fingers off the triggers, but he only shot her four times before he ran out of bullets. Loretta didn’t seem to mind the bullets at all, though judging by the blood on her white dress, there was very little of it left inside her body. Maybe that’s why she moved like a shadow and grabbed Cirko by the hair, pulling his head to the side before burying her face in his neck. Cirko cried in agony, his body suddenly going limp. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what she was doing, but as long as she was distracted, I’d take it. Holding onto the wall, I stood up and ran forward, but Adrian beat me to it.
He took the knife he’d stabbed Loretta with just minutes ago out of her back and stabbed her again before she turned with a hiss and blocked his hand.
“Get down!” I called, and with all the strength I had left, I jumped in the air. Adrian kneeled at the last second, and I slammed into Loretta for the second time.
Apparently, I didn’t calculate the time I’d have to use my knife once we hit the floor because the next thing I knew she was rolling off me too fast for me to catch, and in one swift movement, she jumped to her feet. Adrian went after her again, knife in hand, but she hit him in the face, and he fell against the wall like he was light as air. I didn’t have time to check if he was okay or not—this was my last chance.
Loretta was no longer amused. She no longer bothered to comment on how much she’d missed this or how delicious her enemies were. I could barely stand on my feet, but I still had one knife. All it would take was a stab in the right place. We looked at each other for a second, barely three feet apart, and then we both shot forward.
My knife buried in her chest, and for a second, the world was right again.
But then she smiled, and I knew, I’d made the worst mistake I could have made: I’d missed her heart.
Her fingers slid like snakes behind my neck and into my hair, and then she was gone. I couldn’t see her,
but I felt her.
I felt her teeth breaking my skin, and no matter how much I refused to believe it was real, it was. My body let go of me and I fell to the ground. Loretta looked down at me, and for a second, I wondered what the actual Devil would look like. If she was only a demon, though, I hoped I would never have to find out.
The guilt erased the little energy I had left, and all I could do was stare as she slowly leaned down to finish me off for good. Were Cirko and Adrian next? I couldn’t bear the thought of that. I’d never thought about death before. I never imagined I could actually get killed by a demon. God, I’d been such a fool. Such a stupid fool to think I had it all figured out, that I’d seen it all. But I’d seen nothing. My life didn’t pass me by in a blink. I didn’t think about all the things I’d done, the things I still wanted to do in my life. I didn’t think about my mother or my father.
Instead, all I could think about was Adrian.
Just as Loretta was about to sink her teeth in me again, she stopped moving as if someone had pressed an off switch. Was it too much to ask that she’d suddenly have a change of heart?
Loretta turned around, no longer interested in me. That’s when I realized that either Adrian or Cirko was coming for her. Maybe I’d get another chance. Maybe…
“You know, I was wondering when I’d run into you for a while now,” someone said.
Someone that wasn’t Adrian or Cirko.
Was it Elton Maine maybe? Had the Trappers somehow found us? I couldn’t be sure.
Taking in a deep breath, I made myself forget about the pain and focused on turning my head. Just a bit. Just so I could see who it was, just so I’d know if we were saved or if an even worse fate than Loretta awaited us.
“Stay away from me!” Loretta suddenly shouted.
To say I was surprised would be an understatement. She sounded positively terrified. Before I could move a single inch, the vampire turned around, jumped over my body, and she began to run for the door.
Laughter reached my ears, a rich, velvety sound. Who on Earth could make a vampire like Loretta run the other way? I wanted to see. I needed to see, damn it!
Just as my head turned slightly to the side, the face of a man filled my vision. All I could focus on were his eyes—blue like the ocean on a stormy day. He put his hand on my shoulder and smiled.
“Sleep,” he whispered, and my eyes closed as if he’d pushed my lids down with his fingers. I heard his footsteps as he, too, walked over me. Sleep sounded mighty fine in that moment. It sounded like everything, but the need to know the identity of this man was stronger. I didn’t know how I opened my eyes again or how I managed to turn my head the other way, but I did.
And I saw.
I thought I knew it all because my father taught me, trained me, showed me the world for what it really was.
Then, I thought I’d seen it all after being on the receiving end of Loretta’s wrath.
But as I watched the grey wings on the man’s back, so big their ends touched the floor as he walked without hurry, I realized that I’d barely scratched the surface, if that. And if I ever woke up again, the world was never going to be the same.
Chapter Sixteen
The pain on the right side of my neck was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. When I came to, my every thought was focused on it. Blood covered my skin and my red dress, but I could at least move. The desire to close my eyes and sleep again, just forget about the pain and what had caused it, was overwhelming, but I resisted the urge. I needed to see Adrian. I needed to see Cirko. I needed to make sure they were okay, that that vampire bitch hadn’t come back and killed them while I was out cold. Gathering every last bit of strength in my body, I sat up.
My hand moved to my neck as the pain intensified. It felt like I was being torn open, like my shoulder was coming off my body. Dark clouds dotted my vision, and it took a while to blink them away. When I did, I saw Cirko trying to get the red curtain of the VIP room off him, right next to a pile of black ashes—what was left of the second bodyguard. But Cirko was moving—and faster than me.
Adrian was on the other side of the hallway, against the wall. Getting up on my feet was torture, and by the time I did, Cirko was already next to Adrian, feeling his pulse. Our eyes met, and for a second, the world hung on his lips. I couldn’t breathe. Even my heart refused to beat until he spoke.
“He’s alive,” Cirko said, and my eyes closed. It took everything I had not to fall to the floor again. A shitty moment to realize just how much I’d come to care for that man. The thought of losing him had been so much worse than all the pain in the world.
But he was alive. He had a pulse. And I needed to get to him.
My legs were numb, so it took me a while. Adrian’s face was covered in blood and bruises, but his chest moved up and down steadily. Definitely alive. He looked like he was sleeping. Cirko had gone to check the pulse on the man and woman still lying on the bed.
“They’re alive, too, but won’t be for long. They need an ambulance,” Cirko said.
I’d left my phone back at the apartment, so I had to take Adrian’s out of his pocket. By some miracle, it had survived. I dialed 911 with shaking fingers while Cirko pulled Adrian up by the arms. I had no idea how much time had passed, or if the police were already on their way after hearing all those gunshots, but now that I’d called them myself, it was time to get the hell out of there.
We put his arms around our shoulders, and we pulled him up. It was a wonder my body didn’t break. An eternity later, we made it outside. Putting my trust in Cirko to lead the way was no longer an issue. After what we’d seen and been through, I trusted him with my life. People watched us as we dragged Adrian down the busy street to the car, but we didn’t care. Couldn’t care. We just wanted to get out of there.
We put Adrian in the backseat, and Cirko drove us away from the madness. I don’t remember how we got to Adrian’s apartment. I must have fallen back to sleep until Cirko nudged my arm.
“We’re here,” he said. He’d parked the car right in front of the building. Getting Adrian out of the backseat was worse than when we put him in there. He was much heavier than he looked, or maybe it was just me. Someone must have answered my prayers because we made it inside and laid him on the couch.
“Are you okay?” Cirko asked, but I couldn’t answer. I didn’t want to lie. I sat on the couch and took Adrian’s head on my lap. “Willow, I need to move the car. Someone might recognize it. I won’t be long, okay?”
Maybe I answered, but I couldn’t be sure. And when I heard the door closing, I leaned my head back on the couch, and let go.
When I woke up, it was already noon. I was in the guest bedroom, wearing only my underwear. The boys must have taken my dress off. I had bandages on my neck and forearm, and my wrist was swollen, but not as much as I’d feared. The pain seemed to intensify with every breath I took, but I found some Advil and a glass of water on the bedside table. Hopefully it was going to make me feel better soon.
I was in desperate need of a shower, but I had to make sure the boys were okay first, so I put on a pair of sweatpants and a shirt, and I walked out of the room.
I heard their voices before I saw them. Adrian and Cirko were standing by the kitchen isle, drinking coffee. They looked okay. Perfectly fine, if you didn’t count the bruises on Adrian’s face. I leaned against the wall, so relieved I could cry. I didn’t, of course, but I wanted to.
They smiled when they saw me, and I let myself forget the night before for just a moment.
“Coffee?” Cirko said, sliding a blue mug to the edge of the counter.
I laughed. I absolutely loved to have some coffee. “You’re okay,” I said. I wasn’t dreaming—this was real. We were all alive.
“We’re fine,” Adrian said, looking at my neck. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ve been better,” I mumbled, but the pills were already doing their job. The pain had begun to fade, and the coffee, though a bit cold, made me feel even bette
r. “I’m not going to turn into a vampire, right?” I asked Cirko, touching the bandages on my neck.
“Nope. She’d have to feed you her blood for it to work, and even then, it rarely does. You have to want to become like her, and not many people do, despite what the movies tell you.”
That definitely made me feel a thousand pounds lighter.
“How’s the wrist?” Adrian grabbed my hand in his, and a jolt of electricity shocked us both. To be able to look into his icy eyes after being so sure that we were going to die just a few hours ago was amazing.
“It’s fine. I think it’s broken.” It had felt like it.
“Just sprained,” he said, shaking his head. “You’ll feel better when you put some ice on it.”
“Later.” There was time for ice. “When did you wake up?”
“A couple of hours ago,” Adrian said and nodded at Cirko. “He hasn’t slept at all.”
I smiled at the demon, as if he wasn’t a demon at all. Just a man.
“The perks of being a demon,” he said with a grin. “And you probably didn’t see it, but I was shot—three times.” He waved his hands over his body. “I’m already healed.”
That’s when I remembered that Loretta had bitten him, too. But his neck looked perfectly normal. There wasn’t a scratch on him. Not gonna lie, I envied his incredible healing abilities.
“It looks like we did it,” Adrian said and raised his coffee mug to us.
“I’ll be honest—I didn’t think we’d make it out of there alive, but I’m proud of us,” Cirko said, raising his own mug, then turned to me. “Especially you.”
“Me?” He’d killed one of the bodyguards, too.
“You killed that bitch and both humans are alive. I called the hospital earlier. They’re both going to be fine,” he said and clinked his mug to mine.
“How do you know I killed her?” I asked, only because I didn’t. I’d been seconds away from dying at her hands—or fangs—but I hadn’t killed her.