She took the bait.
Lana jumped into view, swiping at me with her talons. They clawed through my coat, tore through the sweater beneath. Not quite snagging flesh. I wanted her to get in a strike to keep up appearances.
“I’ll kill you for real this time!” A cackle. “You’re fucked! You’re so fucked!”
I moved quickly, pushing myself up and kicking her in the face. She howled and fell back, readying herself for a scream.
“Bastard!” she yelled.
I had seconds to stop her.
I drew the machete and flung it at her. It skewered her chest, cutting off the beginnings of her wail. She looked down in horror at the wound in her chest, her talons balling into fists.
Her white eyes widened with shock, and she grabbed the hilt of the blade. A mazoku shrieked and made another attempt on me. It was soon sent away.
This creature had murdered me, had joined Mama Rita in stabbing me repeatedly at the pagoda, slitting my throat, killing me even after I’d died. A brutal show for Aki, to break him, to tear us apart.
I pulled the pistol and blew out her left kneecap.
She screamed and went down on her ass.
I blew the other kneecap.
“Mercy!” she cried, blood spilling from her mouth as she begged. “Please. She made me do it! She made me—”
I moved closer, taking in the pathetic sight of her. The mazoku made another attempt and failed. Movement around me, extra light. My companions were safe, covering my back as I took what was mine.
Revenge.
I didn’t say anything, didn’t give a grand speech about how this was the end of her. No sharing my feelings in some sharing circle of death. She wasn’t worthy of my words.
Except: “Looks like I got you first after all.”
This had been the essence of our entanglement. Her or me. She’d wanted revenge on Aki for the hunting job he’d taken against her famous relative, Daria, and me too for being his loyal companion. It was a question, then, of who would gain the upper hand first. She’d temporarily had it when she thought she’d butchered me.
Now it was my turn.
I yanked the machete out of her and drove it into her heart, pushing it all the way through until the hilt was up to her chest. She collapsed, the blade clanging on the road behind her.
She was dead.
It was a hollow feeling to see her corpse. Not satisfying, not anything.
Just dead.
I drew a deep breath, watching the mazoku curl through the rain and vanish back into the apartment block.
Zach wiped blood from his nose with his sleeve, nodding and giving me the thumbs up.
I echoed his moves, as did Junto.
We were okay.
“Let’s go,” I said, and ran for the tall building.
I’m coming, Aki.
Chapter Thirteen
Was that a banshee scream I‘d heard?
Hadn’t seen them anywhere, and Bob and Rose had both kept an eye out for them on my way up to this floor. Didn’t mean they weren’t lurking somewhere. Might even be outside or across the street on standby. Who knew how this operation worked?
Whatever. They were on the hit list next—Lana and her male banshee buddy.
I kicked the door down. Balls to stealth. I mean, it wasn’t exactly a ‘surprise, bitch!’ moment. Still, might make her jump hearing the door bang open.
Sweet thought.
With Bob and Rose charging ahead, I stormed through to the living space. Mama Rita was on her feet, face drenched with sweat, not looking so sick now. In fact, she was in ‘ready to kill’ mode.
There were mazoku inside her. She wasn’t as smothered in black veins like usual, yet, but there were a few spidering across her skin.
Violet stood at her side, not conjuring up any magic. She’d got the memo, unlike Sean, and wasn’t taking any risks around me with her mojo. What a shame! Behind the pair of them were three mazoku, hissing away, red eyes aglow.
“Hi,” I said. “Fancy seeing you here.”
Mama Rita glared at me. “You’re such a cockroach, Akira.”
“Cheers. I’ll take that. Again. You need a new insult.”
She snarled.
Ha ha! “They say cockroaches are proper durable creatures and can even survive apocalypses.”
“You won’t survive this one.”
“What one’s that? Oh, the one you think you’ve got all sewn up, yeah?”
Waited for a smirk. It didn’t come. She was mega pissed off. Worried too.
Fucking excellent.
“What’s up?” I asked. “Mazoku got your tongue?”
“Shut up,” Violet cut in. Her normally immaculate image had gone. One thing I hadn’t really noticed before was her hair color kept changing. Brown to blonde, and now black. Okay, then. It wasn’t the sleek bob anymore, just a tangled nest, and she looked proper knackered. Her light skin was grubby like she’d showered last century, and she had on some smelly jumper and trackies—not the usual expensive clothes and perfume.
This room stank of sweat.
My eyes met her amber peepers. Violet Cross. The witch who’d ‘killed’ me with her poison at the pagoda. She’d taken so much pleasure doing it. Why not? She wanted me dead, so what a happy sight to see me suffer.
Only, here I was. Alive. And it was my turn.
The witch’s eyes narrowed. “The soulless man.”
“Right. You might wanna check yourself first.”
“You killed—”
“Know what? I don’t wanna hear your whining fucking voice. Oh, no! He killed wankers in my crew who attacked him first. So sad, so sad. We’ve been through this before. You’re a murdering arsehole, so am I. We play on equal ground like that. Well, used to. Not anymore. You’re fucked. You’re both fucked.”
“You—"
I cut Mama Rita off. “There’s so much I could do here. Burn this place down like you did the pixie hollows, watch the flames lick the sky and know you two are trapped inside, burning to a crisp. Pass me some marshmallows.” I shrugged. “Won’t happen, though, will it? Violet might barbeque, but you won’t. You’re like me—hard to kill.”
Mama Rita cocked an eyebrow, her lips zipped.
“Always had a bond, didn’t we?” I added. “Still do.”
“She was never bonded to you,” Violet said. “She hated you.”
“Who asked you? What, you’re her spokeswoman now?”
Wow. What a sneer. “I’ll—”
“You’ll what? Poke me in the eye? Don’t make me laugh. You know you’re screwed. You’ve got nowhere to go.”
I crossed my swords into an X, reaching out for the power I’d taken from that vile king.
Pure death.
Pure death for her. “It’ll stick,” I said.
“Yes.” Caramel Man was so happy. I was so happy. Maybe some of the death juice would bounce off Mama Rita and hit the witch, taking them both down.
I watched her, my old best friend, the fear in her eyes, in the mazoku behind her. They were frightened, hopeless. Just like I’d been in that pagoda, how I’d felt when my bullies had sucked the joy out of life, when Colin crushed the starlight I thought I’d found when I’d got free from those bullies.
Mama Rita had hurt a part of me too. Just like Colin. Abuser of my love. Twisted love. Dad’s twisted love. He didn’t really care. Caramel Man was right about everything.
Things were gonna change.
“No more,” I said.
“Aki!”
A sharp shock to my chest. “The fuck?”
“Release the death upon your enemy!” Caramel Man?
“Aki! I’m coming!”
“G…” I looked over my shoulder. G out in there in the corridor?
Glowing green. Magic in the corner of my eye. I snapped my head back to the witch. “Don’t even try it.”
The glow dimmed but didn’t go away.
Shit. I was giving myself up to distraction, and these two
would milk it. And what was with this ignoring Caramel Man? He’d just said something, right? I’d heard him yelling.
“Caramel Man?” I asked. “What did you say?”
“Akira!
“Aki!”
“Akira!”
Warmth flowing through the cold, tickling my babies, making them happy. They loved G… I loved G. G was here!
More warmth, cold pushing back.
“Kill her, Akira! Kill her now!”
Whoa. Caramel Man wasn’t happy at all. He didn’t like G. He wanted G dead.
G dead?
He wanted G dead.
Wait a fucking minute… “You wanted me to hurt him.” I lowered my blades.
My head spun, and I staggered back, a clash of heat and ice within me.
I didn’t understand. Why was I here, in this room? I blinked, noticing the growing green light, the red eyes, the collective hiss of mazoku… Mama Rita… Violet…
“What’s going on?”
“Aki!”
Footsteps… Running…
Bob and Rose dashed past me. G was coming. G and Zach and some guy, all of them holding torches, mazoku chasing them.
Cold and hot and cold and hot… “Shit…” I breathed. “Shit… What… Here to… Why am I here?”
“Destroy her,” a man, a voice, silky tone. “Unleash the death you hold. End her. Bring the new dawn.”
“Who are you?”
The cold really pushed against the warmth. “You know who I am. I’m Caramel Man, remember? Your friend. The one who listens, who understands your pain, the sorrow you feel, how this world has left no place for you in it.”
“Caramel Man?”
“Remember me. I am the only one.”
“But G…”
“G isn’t enough. He will hate you for doing the right thing.”
“What?” My eyes met Mama Rita’s. Her and Violet were staring at me, magic growing in Violet’s hands.
“Why are you here?” I said to them, totally confused.
Violet smiled. “You have no idea how great that is to hear.”
Just as she released her green bolt, something heavy crashed into me. The magic flew overhead, struck the ceiling and rained plaster down on top of us.
Me and G. Him above, me on my back, our eyes locked together through the balaclava that covered his face.
“Akira! No!” Caramel Man again.
“I’m here, Aki.”
Traveling frost… “I have to kill… Caramel Man says I have to… End it… New hope. This death power is for her.”
“No, it isn’t, Aki,” G answered softly.
His lips met mine, and the world spun, the ice cracked. My babies and me howled, and my body bucked and thrashed as a scream ripped through my mind. Not my scream, but that… The man… The… The…
“Elf…” I whispered.
“Aki…” G stroked my face then hauled me up, my arms dropping to the sides as everything went soft.
The elf was still screaming in my head, his cold hand clutching at me, trying to get his grip back on my soul.
“Elves will die…”
“No, Akira!” That desperate voice of Caramel Man was rife with agony. Wasn’t so smooth now. “Elves will not die! You will die if you do not end this now! Break her! Destroy her with the death you wield! The mazoku will rise and claim you all. Do not be a fool! Akira!”
It was too late.
G held me close. “I’m here, Aki. I’m here.”
He was safety, he was warmth. My lips tingled from the kiss, and it spread through my body, making me literally weak at the knees.
The mazoku were shrieking, Mama Rita was yelling, gunfire, and something crashed. Rain and wind ripped into the room, a freshness cutting through the stagnant air.
This room… This place… It was a smelly place, but confusing. I knew I’d come here but didn’t know why. I needed a breeze for my brain to blow away the fog.
“She’s gone,” G said.
“You what?” The screams of the elf were fading away.
“They’re both gone.”
I blinked, clearing my head as the sound of the wind and rain drowned out the elf now screaming way out in the distance.
“I was… There was an elf inside me.”
“Yes, Aki.” He held me tighter, my face buried in his neck. “Is he still there?”
“No… He’s… He’s going.” I gently pushed against him, so I could look up, take in the room.
A living room. The living room Mama Rita and Violet had been in. Not here now. Balcony windows. Broken. The moth-eaten curtains billowing.
“How high… Wait. I remember. Floor twelve.”
Zach was out there on the balcony, looking over the banister with a torch. The other guy was standing near us, waving his torch at the one mazoku circling the room. Those lights seemed to scare off the shadow creeps.
“Zach…” I said.
“Yes, Aki. We came for you.”
I turned to face G, touching his lips, the waterproof material covering his face. “But you’re hurt.”
“I’m fine.”
“You shouldn’t be outside.” Lost in him, stuck in a bubble. “You’re really here.”
“I’m here, Aki.” I closed my eyes as his hands ran up my arms, coming to my face. “How are you? Can you walk?”
“I can.” I wanted to kiss him again but thought better of it. Anyway, the memory of what’d happened was raw, coming into focus. Kissing would have to wait.
Gunfire. The guy who’d been waving the torch let rip on the mazoku, the bullets tearing its flesh. Not to kill. Injure was safer, scaring the shit out of it was awesome. And it worked. It flew out the broken window over Zach, who waved his torch and plunged straight down.
Zach came back into the room, gestured that there were no bodies down there. Then he came to me, took my hand and gave it a squeeze.
“Hi,” I said.
He let my hand go, giving me a gentle smile.
My bro was here.
My. Brother.
Mama Rita’s face flashed across my vision. Her and the witch had got away. So close. They’d been so close to kill.
My babies were my gray wolves again. Not silver. Shit! They’d been turned silver by that elf. Is that how he’d got to me? Through Bob and Rose? What the actual fuck? A step up from luring me out. That must’ve taken some skill to pull off.
The two wolves came into me, curling up together, sending warm love to G.
“We need to leave,” the guy I didn’t know said.
G nodded and threw his arm around my shoulders. I could walk fine without his help, but I wrapped it around me like the snuggliest blanket ever. I needed it, to lean on him, to feel him close. I kept pace with him as we hit the corridor, my arm snaking around his waist.
I’d charged in here to kill Mama Rita, to kill all of them. I’d cut down Sean and Liam. And I was—
“Him inside me,” I said to G. “Wanted me to use the pure death. On her. Because then it would be gone, and we’d be left with the silver moon. Everything… Shit. I was so close to fucking over the world.”
“But, you didn’t.”
We reached the stairwell, having to break apart. I went first, him close behind, covering me. Zach and the other guy were only a few steps ahead.
“You didn’t,” G repeated.
“Because of you. Not me. If you hadn’t come in and kissed me, then the shit storm would’ve hit hard.”
“I can’t take all the credit. I bet you put up a fight.”
“Not really. He had me by the nuts.”
“Floor nine,” the guy called back. “Pick up the pace.”
I did just that.
“You really are a gift by my side, G,” I told him. “Truer words were never spoken, bruv.”
“Oh, I’m still getting the bruv stuff?”
I smirked. “Sorry. Habit.”
“No problem. Kind of sexy.”
Oh, tenshi. It was so good t
o have a small bit of banter.
“Floor six!”
Cool. We were making better time now.
“Mama Rita’s team is falling apart,” G said. “Lana and the other banshee are dead.”
“Hold on… I thought I’d heard a banshee scream.”
“It was them. The SCU should be outside now to clear away the bodies. Junto put in a call.”
The other guy calling the floor numbers. SCU. Yeah, that’s right. Didn’t really register. “I take it Junto is that geezer?”
“Yes. He helped us track you here.”
“Cool. I’ll thank him properly when we’re more level.”
“Floor two!”
Back here again. I stepped over Liam’s body sprawled out in the stairwell. His blood had made a little river down the stairs.
“Does this clean up come with a pickup?” I asked.
“It does, Aki.”
There were two SCU vans waiting outside the building. Their lights were off so not to draw attention. Two agents jogged past me with some equipment—for dealing with the warlock and elf bodies.
So awesome, Lana and her buddy were dead. Glad I’d never have to see their twisted faces again.
“I hope you made it hurt,” I said to G. “For the screamers.”
“Junto shot the guy, I took care of Lana. Yes, I did make it hurt.”
“Nice one, G. Hey, Junto?”
He turned to face me. “Yes, sir?”
“Thanks so much for the help. Really appreciate it, bruv.” We shook hands.
I climbed into a van Junto gestured me and G towards just as a massive crack of thunder boomed overhead. I paused, one foot in the van, looking up to see lighting flash. But that wasn’t normal lighting. Nothing bright or white or violet about it. A dull gray forking through the dark clouds.
The rain stopped like someone had turned off a tap.
“What the hell?” I said.
Then it fell again, coming down harder than before. I had to hold my hand over my eyes when I looked up. Man, that was some rainfall. Monsoon more like it.
“The rain’s got a… Is that a glow?”
Rain had a metallic scent. This was different. Musty, much more metallic. And rain didn’t glow the same dull gray as the lightning had.
“Is that iron?” I said. “Fuck! Is that iron rain?”
“Be ready for the rain,” G responded.
Four Moons: The Complete Collection: (Books 1 - 4) Page 75
