by Jen Pretty
I liked having Nick at my back; it made me feel like nothing could get me down here, but I had conflicted feelings for him. Julian was crowding my mind and pushing thoughts of Nick out. I had liked Julian before I realized he had been part of the plot to bring a demon to New York, though maybe he hadn't been part of that plot after all and I had just assumed he was.
I tripped on a steel bar and landed on my ass so fast I didn’t have time to make a sound. “Shit,” I moaned rubbing my broken ass cheek. Damn, I needed to pay attention and stop thinking about the infuriating half-demon lord of New York.
Nick scooped me up and set me on my feet, chuckling at my clumsiness.
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“No problem,” he whispered right in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine.
The half demons hadn’t stopped to wait for us, so I stepped away from Nick and hurried to catch up. Nick was hot on my heels. If we got lost down here, we’d never find our way out. I carefully walled off all thoughts of Julian. Once I saved his hot half-demon ass, we would have to have a serious talk and get things out in the open. Or maybe not. That sounded hard.
Finally, Al and Celia stopped in an open area that looked like it could be a subway station someday, right now it was mostly hanging sheets of plastic and heavy equipment. There were scaffolds to one side that reached to the cavernous ceiling, and puddles along the dirt and rock floor. A ragged hole in the wall led back into a smaller tunnel on the far side, but above was a giant hole that let in some streetlight and sounds of the city floated down with it. A base was thumping from a night club above and horns honked.
Celia turned back to us. “Now, listen. I'm not going any farther than this because I enjoy living, but if you continue through that tunnel you will come out to the original out-of-service subway system. This is the only entrance because they sealed it off and it should have stayed that way, but the idiot contractor digging this new station made a little error and cut too far south causing the shit storm before you.”
Hunks of pavement and gravel that had been the street above at one time were piled on the far side of the open area. I’d say that was an oops.
“I have seen half-demons in this area and can only assume they are with Collin since I don’t recognize them.”
With that, she walked past us and back the way we came. I watched her go. She didn't even glance back — the moment of truth time. I turned back to Nick and raised my eyebrows. Were we really doing this?
He nodded to my unspoken question. All right then. I took the first steps forward towards the jagged hole the wall. Nick was behind me, and when I glanced back Al was behind him. I was leading my own little rescue mission. I shook my head as I stepped over a pile of debris and through into a narrow tunnel. That's when the second thoughts started. This seemed like the dumbest idea ever. Last time I confronted Collin, he almost killed me. I wanted to be home in my bed with pizza and beer.
I walked with my hand on the smooth cement wall. It had to have been some kind of access tunnel or for maintenance, maybe. It was made for people walking, not subway trains. I couldn't see the ceiling but I sensed it above my head, and our boots didn't echo like in the taller subway tunnels we had left behind.
The air was heavy and damp. I prayed not to see any rats. That would be one thing too many in this situation.
My hopes were dashed on the rat front when I heard a squeak and could see a small shadow scurry along. I slammed myself to the opposite wall and bit my lip hard so I didn't scream. A soft chuckle from behind me made me reach out and slap at Nick. Jerk.
He stifled his giggles, thankfully, just as we came to a new tunnel with the echo of voices moving in our direction. I scuttled around a corner, Nick and Al right behind me and I held my breath, hoping we weren't visible pressed up against the wall in the darkness.
“You know the boss won’t like that,” a male voice said.
“I don't give a shit. I'm not staying in this rat hole all the time. I need air,” a second male voice said. “And women.”
They both laughed. Their boots scuffled on the cement floor, approaching our terrible hiding spot. My heart raced in my chest, and I silently begged them to go the other way.
At the last second, they turned down the tunnel from which we came and moved away from us.
We didn't move for several more minutes, and my legs were stiff from holding in place for so long, but when we crept back through the tunnel there was no sound and no one in sight. Nick tapped me on the shoulder and I turned to look at him. He pointed to himself and me and then the tunnel the men had come from and then pointed to Al and the other tunnel. I'm no expert in hand signals, but I guessed we were splitting up. I gave him a thumbs up. Then watched Al disappear into the darkness.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
This tunnel had a few dim tap lamps stuck on the wall illuminating the way. I didn't like the feeling of being a sitting duck in this tunnel. It was long and straight. If anyone came upon us, we wouldn't have anywhere to hide. I kept focusing on Julian. The sound of him screaming on the phone rang through my head, forcing my boots forward. I kept repeating to myself that I had to save him. It seemed weird to be saving an immortal half-demon. I was hardly a hero-type.
Nick tapped me on the shoulder and I stopped, turning to look at him. He pointed to a small tunnel that branched off the one we were walking down. I had been distracted and didn't notice. Some ninja turtle I turned out to be. I didn't want to split up, but we would probably have more luck if we did. I used fancy hand signals and he nodded. He leaned in and brushed his lips across mine, then he was gone and I was alone in the stupid tunnel.
Time for a pep talk. I told myself it was fine and just kept walking on quiet feet. It was a few more minutes before I heard the faint sounds of people moving around — chairs sliding around and what could have been cutlery on a table — but once I heard it; the sounds grew louder with each step I took.
I rounded a curve and before me was a large, open space set up like a cafeteria. Dozens of half-demons occupied rows of folding tables and chairs. Everyone seemed to have demon characteristics, so I figured this was the right place. I pressed myself against the wall and waited. I couldn't exactly walk out and announce myself. I was kicking myself for being an idiot and coming here. I was so over my head.
“Hey, let's go. Boss is waiting,” a man called in the make-shift cafeteria. The clanging of dishes and cutlery echoed the scraping of chairs on the floor and muttering of voices.
Finally silence fell, and I peeked around the corner. I wished, not for the first time, that I had my net. It wouldn't help me much with half-demons, but damn if it didn't make me at least feel armed and dangerous. I took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows into the lit cafeteria, telling myself to be cool and it would all work out. I walked purposely, my eyes trained on the far wall where all the half-demons had gone, weaving through the rows of tables. The scent of bacon lingered on the air, making my stomach gurgle. This was not the time for a snack, damn it!
“Hey, you better hurry,” a voice said behind me. I startled and spun around.
“What?” I asked. A woman with black eyes and long pointed fingernails was picking up plates from a table and stacking them on a tray.
“Mr. Gamagin won't be happy if you’re late,” she said. Then she squinted at me for a hard moment and her face registered shock. “You’re her.” Her voice came out as a whisper. “Come this way.” She set down the stack of dishes and waved her hands at me.
I was still frozen like a frog in an early frost. My heart was racing and I couldn't decide what to do. She knew who I was, but I didn't get the sense she wanted to hurt me.
“Hurry,” she said just loud enough to shock me out of my indecision. I followed her as she hustled in the opposite direction of the half-demons who had already left. “You have to trust me.”
For some reason I did, and that trust paid off when she slid open a door and before me was a bloody and broken Julian, chained to a
wall. He was only wearing pants and his bare chest had been slashed into ribbons.
I turned and puked on the floor. The half-demon woman had already plucked the keys off the hook and was unchaining him from the wall when I wiped my mouth and joined her.
Julian was limp and cold to the touch but he was breathing. Once his arm was free, I slid it over my shoulder and tried to support his weight as the woman unlocked his other arm.
He collapsed and dragged me down with him. I wasn't strong enough to carry him, but the small woman hitched him up and started moving him towards the door. I scrambled up and grabbed his other arm again; between the two of us, we got him back through to the cafeteria and out to the dark hallway before anyone saw us.
She stopped in the hall and pressed Julian against the wall, breathing heavily.
“What's your name?” I asked her around my own ragged breaths.
“Ann,” she said. “I can't go with you. My husband is back there. Is there anyone else with you?”
“Shit. Yes, but we split up.” I stared down the hall, willing Nick or Al to arrive.
“I can walk,” Julian mumbled. I looked back at him and his eyes were partly open.
“I doubt that,” I said. I didn't know much, but I knew if you couldn't stand you probably couldn't walk, and Julian's knees buckled. Ann was the only thing keeping him upright.
“I can,” he said and pushed himself straight. He moaned in pain and grit his teeth, but he was standing.
“All right, let's get the fuck out of here. Thanks, Ann.”
She smiled and bowed quickly to Julian before disappearing around the corner back into the cafeteria. Julian's breath was ragged, and he was mostly leaning on the wall, but we made slow, silent progress down the hall. My brain was screaming at me to say something to Julian, but my heart was racing too loud, afraid a guard would catch us. This was the craziest thing I had ever done, and now that I had Julian back, I wasn't sure what to do. We needed to get out of here so he could heal or whatever he did, but we hadn’t stopped Collin, and I had no idea where Nick or Al were.
We made hardly any progress, and the time was ticking by.
“We have to move faster,” I whispered to Julian.
He groaned and pushed off the wall, giving himself some forward momentum into a slow jog. The sounds coming from him were painful enough. I didn't need to imagine what it felt like for him to be moving like this after what he had been through. When we passed the first light, I saw the glistening of his blood still oozing from his shredded skin and the white of a rib poking out. I swallowed the rising vomit and continued to pace him until we came to the branch off where Nick had left me. I stopped ahead of it and slid against the wall like a ninja. Julian leaned heavy against the wall, too, but he was not stealthy about it. I peeked around the corner, and a set of arms grabbed me. I squeaked before I realized it was Nick, and then I was suddenly grabbed from behind by Julian and pulled back around the corner in a tug of war between the two idiots.
“It’s Nick,” I whisper-yelled and a moment later all the arms let go of me and Nick came around the corner.
“Thank God, let’s go,” Nick said before seeing Julian's chest and making a grossed-out face. I didn't blame him. I wanted to puke again, but the first time hadn’t helped so I swallowed it down and gritted my teeth.
“We need to get out of here now,” I whispered.
Nick nodded and jammed Julian's arm around his shoulders. I got on the other side. Nick had picked up a flashlight from somewhere and it helped speed our exit. With the two of us holding up Julian our pace increased, giving me a sense of hope we might get out of here before we were spotted. However, my optimism was misplaced. As we got back to the turn in the tunnel where we had hidden on our way in, I could hear those two half-demons that had almost found us then coming back down the tunnel.
“I told you we would get in shit,” one of them said.
“Yeah, yeah. You don't have to rub it in. Just stick to the story. We heard something and went to check it out.”
Nick flicked off his flashlight, and we pressed ourselves against the cement wall right at the corner. Nick took out a knife. Apparently, we were not just gargoyle hunters anymore. Now we were half-demon hunters and shit got real.
My adrenaline spiked, and the hot heat of whatever superpowers I had been given after my last run in with the demon started to tingle in my stomach. Sweat beaded on my forehead and the burning coals moved my blood like lava down my arms and towards my hands. I took one last deep breath as the sound of the men's boots got closer and closer.
The first man around the corner walked right past Nick, and I launched myself on him at the same time as Nick attacked the second half-demon.
My hands gripped the first man's head, and the burning heat leapt from me to him with the rage of an inferno. I bit my lip and tasted blood to keep from screaming as the temperature in the tunnel rose to boiling. The man's mouth opened in a silent scream and his arms came up to try and push me off, but instead he froze, and I collapsed to the ground in a heap. I stared up at the man who was now a statue. My vision was blurry, but he looked like a gargoyle with his teeth bared and his arms up in a defensive stance. I reached out and touched his leg and he was as hard as a rock.
I panted, trying to catch my breath as Nick stabbed the other half-demon in the chest and knocked him to the ground. Blood gushed from the hole in his chest, and he made a watery gurgle sound before he stopped moving altogether.
Nick dropped the knife and pushed past the man I had turned to stone. He fell to his knees beside me and ran his hands over me like he was checking for injuries.
“I’m fine,” I said.
“That was too much. You shouldn’t have done that,” Nick said.
“I’ll be okay. I need a second.” I knew I would need more than a second. My eyes were trying to close and my head kept spinning, begging me to pass out. If I passed out here, Nick would have to drag Julian and I back out, and that was not going to work. I slapped myself in the face a couple of times and slid my eyes to look at Julian. He was a mess and still standing. I guess I could, too. I pushed up onto my elbows and the world went black for a moment before my vision returned. I kept going until I was on my feet, leaning against the wall of the tunnel.
“We have to go,” I said, my voice shaking. I pushed off the wall, and Julian did, too. His hand slid into mine and we made our way forward. Halfway down the pitch-black tunnel, I heard a boot scuff behind us and we all turned to face the new foe, but it was Al’s lumbering frame that greeted us.
“Shit,” he whispered, taking in our ragged appearances. “I missed all the fun.”
“Yup, it was a real party, Al,” I said sarcastically.
He had the good sense to look abashed, but scooped me up and carried me along until we made it to the opening where the road had caved in. Then his giant wings spread out and he flew me up to the surface, setting me down in an alley beside the sinkhole.
“Be right back,” he said.
I slid down the brick wall to the ground and rested my head back. I couldn't believe I rescued Julian. I was an idiot, and when this was over I needed to work with this power I had. I was no use to anyone if I was out for the count after freezing someone. That was the last thought I had as my eyes slid shut and the blackness took over.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I woke up in bed in the hotel room. The rustling of a newspaper told me I wasn't alone, and I had a pretty good idea of who was beside me. I kept my eyes closed and breathing steady, replaying the last things I could remember.
Rescuing Julian and then freezing a half-demon. Oh shit. That was terrible. I wondered if the man was still frozen.
“I know you’re awake, Har,” Julian said softly. There was a rasp to his voice that made him sound sick, or like he had been screaming. I shuttered. I had heard him scream and saw the results of what Collin had been doing to him. My eyes flicked open and I looked up to see him sitting in the bed, chest exposed aga
in. It was clean and unmarred now, like he had never been tortured. I slipped a hand out from under the covers and touched his abs. The muscles bunched under his warm skin and he set the newspaper down. His hand moved slowly to brush the hair out of my face.
I swallowed hard and pulled my hand back under the blanket, but he didn't stop stroking my hair. His eyes burned into mine and I looked away. My heart was racing, but I felt strangely comfortable around him, like I had when we were driving across the country on his motorcycle. His presence made me calm and I wasn't expecting that. He had been there when I almost died at the hands of Collin. Julian stopped him, but not until it was almost too late. Half-demons weren’t good people — at least that was the conclusion I had drawn after my experience in New York.
I forced myself out of bed and away from Julian. No matter how much I wanted to curl up beside him and go back to sleep, I wasn't safe.
“Harlow, wait,” he said as I walked towards the bathroom door.
I was only wearing a large t-shirt and underwear. Someone had stripped me out of my leather clothes. My feet stopped walking, but I didn't turn around, feeling too exposed.
“Sorry. I should have said that sooner. I tried, but you wouldn't answer my calls and Lincoln told me you had opened none of the packages I sent you. It’s just…” He sighed.
I turned to look at him. His face was a mess of sadness. I hadn't seen that emotion on his face before and it didn't fit. His features were too strong for that expression. It tore down my walls, and I walked back to the bed.
“I swear I didn't know what he was doing,” Julian said as I slipped back under the blanket and curled up beside him.
Taking a deep breath, I spoke. “I’m afraid. Of you, and the half-demons and Collin. I don't enjoy feeling like this.”
“You don't have to be afraid of me,” he whispered, sliding down, so his face was right in front of mine on the pillow. His arm slid around me, drawing me closer to him so his warmth flooded me, making my muscles relax and my breathing slow. His dark eyes traced my features as we lay there in the dim room. There was a lot more I wanted to say but couldn't find the words.
