by Nashoda Rose
Shivers coursed down my spine. Tears teetered on the rims of my eyes, and if I blinked, they’d fall and Jasmine would win. I wouldn’t give her that satisfaction.
“Leave her alone.” Liam stopped pacing the hardwood floors.
“Soft spot for the girl?”
“No, sick of hearing your voice,” Liam shot back. “We need to make plans.”
“Don’t be such a—”
The door burst open.
I jerked and the spikes cut into my neck. My eyes widened and my heart pounded when I saw Waleron standing in the doorway.
“Release her, Jasmine,” he said, striding into the room, his face a mask of stone.
I waited for more Scars to follow in after him, but he was alone.
No, he couldn’t be.
His eyes flicked briefly to me then back to Jasmine and Liam.
She put her hand on my neck. “Well, this is a surprise. I didn’t expect you to find us so quickly. Let me guess—Roarke? He is resourceful. Did you kill him after you got the information?”
Waleron ignored her and spoke to Liam. “Abby is with us. You’ll have her, but Rayne is to be released first.”
Jasmine flicked her hand in the air and four of her followers took off through the house. She strolled back to me and put her hand on the back of my neck just above the collar.
“Abby first,” Liam said.
“No.” Waleron walked further into the room to stand twenty feet from Jasmine with the wall at his back. “This is what you want, isn’t it, Jasmine? Me.” I heard her breath quicken with anticipation. “Once Rayne is free of your toy,” he nodded to the contraption, “I will bring Abby in.”
Jasmine laughed, and goose bumps popped along my skin. “That’s not how this works,” Jasmine said. “I don’t trust your word, Waleron. First we will make certain you cannot escape me—again.”
Waleron didn’t say anything; he merely nodded and walked toward me and Jasmine.
“No, Waleron, don’t.”
“This is how it’s supposed to be.”
“No. No, please she’ll kill you.”
“No.” He paused. “No, Rayne, Jasmine will never kill me.”
“But you don’t negotiate. You said that.”
“True,” he stated.
His eyes briefly went to mine and there was nothing in him that suggested he was submitting. I saw in his cold eyes that held discernible power.
He stopped in front of us.
“Turn around. Hands behind your back,” Jasmine said.
He did without hesitation.
Jasmine let me go and pointed her fingers at Waleron as the white webs wrapped around his wrists. Then she grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him around to face her, a slow, sensual smile on her lips. “Mmmm, finally. You, my love, are in for a treat.”
My stomach cramped as I thought of what could only be Jasmine’s idea of a treat.
She slithered up to him, her lips a breath away from his mouth. “I have a new place for us. One you’ll never be able to escape.”
The snake tattoo’s eyes blazed bright red and slithered up over his ear then disappeared behind his neck. “Release her from the collar,” Waleron ordered.
Jasmine sighed. “I could get you to do anything if I keep her.”
Liam strode across the room. “And they won’t give me Abby without releasing her.” He grabbed the necklace around Jasmine’s neck and yanked. The leather snapped and he pulled the key from the locket and slid it into the prong collar’s latch at the front of my neck. It clicked and the collar released. He tossed it to the floor.
I sagged against the chains, every muscle straining from remaining paralyzed for over an hour. God, Roarke had been kept like this for days. No, weeks.
Liam glared at Waleron. “Where’s Abigail?”
Balen appeared in the open doorway, Abby beside him with what looked like a tiger guarding her. There was a thin string of light connecting Balen and the tiger.
He dropped his hand from Abby’s shoulder and she hissed and sneered at him. The tiger swiped at her with his paw and she darted out of his way.
“Abigail, come,” Liam ordered.
She walked across the room toward Liam, but there was a shift in the emotions, the sudden alert of danger as heartbeats escalated. I didn’t know what was happening, but I felt it all around me.
Waleron stiffened and his gaze went from the girl to the staircase.
“Damien,” Waleron shouted. “No.”
The Scar dropped from the second floor and landed in front of Abby, blocking her path to Liam.
No way in hell was I allowing this to go down. Abby was not becoming Liam’s slave.
I reached out to her and she flinched. “Abbs.” She shook her head and looked from me to Liam then back again. The draw to Liam and his blood would overpower her whether she wanted it to or not.
“You bastard,” Liam roared.
“Damien, move away from her,” Waleron ordered.
I ignored him, my focus on Abby, but ready to react if Liam attacked. A tear slipped from her right eye and trailed a wet path down her cheek before dripping off the edge of her jaw.
“The promise,” she said, her voice a scratchy whisper. “Damien, please. Before it’s… too late.”
The promise. That one promise I wouldn’t give her, and she wanted it now. She was asking me to do the unthinkable—to end this.
Kill her.
“Abby—” That was all I managed before she was shoved out of the way and Liam dove on top of me, his fangs at my neck. I plowed my fist into his throat, shoving him off as I flipped and kicked him in the abdomen. I leapt to my feet at the same time he did.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the commotion as the Scars crashed through the windows and attacked Liam’s underlings.
Balen dove for Abby, his arms locking her to his chest as she flailed against his hold. My attention on Abby instead of Liam, I missed his attack and his fist slammed into my jaw. I staggered back several feet, banging into the banister. He hissed then dove for my throat again.
I ducked and side-kicked Liam in the chest, sending him backward into another vampire. They both crashed into the glass coffee table and it shattered beneath their weight.
The burning in my eyes swirled. Energy building.
Liam slowly came to his feet, eyes glaring at me. “You’re going to die knowing that little witch will be spreading her legs for me.”
“Fuck you.”
We lunged for one another.
KILTER, JEDRIK, DELARA, TYE, Keir, Balen, and Roarke. Roarke? He was helping the Scars? Grit’s were the Scars’ enemy, Kilter’s enemy, and yet they trusted him enough to help them.
They attempted to hold off the vampires and CWOs who filtered into the house from every direction. It was chaos, and yet controlled chaos, as they fought in harmony, as if they knew one another’s moves before they did it. Even Roarke.
The only one who didn’t move with them was Damien, and he was fighting Liam—well, he was. Now he was on the ground with Liam on top of him. I couldn’t see what was happening other than hearing Damien’s roar of agony.
“Get to Waleron. Now!” Keir shouted to Tye, Jedrik, and Balen.
Jasmine’s webs wrapped around Waleron’s chest as she backed out of the room with him. Every step caused the webs to tighten and his breath was ragged.
I looked up at my chains and jerked on them as hard as I could. Blood dripped down my arms as the metal cut into my skin. I tried to slip my hands through the manacles, wincing as my skin scraped the edges. They were too tight. Shit.
“Rayne, stop,” Kilter shouted from across the living room. “I’m coming.”
God, I was helpless standing here. I wanted to help. I could help with my ability. I could stop Jasmine if I could get my hands on her.
She was nearly at the back door with Waleron. Tye and Jedrik were close. They fought two of Jasmine’s Long Necks who guarded her.
Oh, God, they needed mor
e help. Jasmine was going to disappear with Waleron. I looked around the room and Delara was closest. “Delara!” I screamed.
She raised her head just as she drove her dagger into a Long Neck’s neck then twisted his head. The body sagged and she tossed it to the floor.
“Waleron,” I cried.
Her gaze shot from me to Waleron and Jasmine through the living into the kitchen and five feet from the back door. “Balen,” Delara nodded to the kitchen.
Balen ran for Jasmine. Delara followed, dagger in one hand and some machete-type weapon in the other.
An arrow flew through the air ahead of them and embedded in the door inches away from Jasmine’s head. She raised her hands and webs shot out and ensnared Tye’s legs. She shot more at Balen, but he dove left and they disintegrated when they touched the floor.
“Rayne,” Delara shouted. She threw the machete at the ceiling beam where the chains to my manacles were locked. It clanked into the ring and snapped it in half. The chains dropped to the floor with a heavy thud and I collapsed to my knees with them.
“Knife,” Delara warned and threw a dagger toward me. It embedded in the hardwood two feet from me, and I crawled over to it and yanked it out of the floor.
Five more CWOs ran from upstairs. I recognized them immediately—Worms, that’s what Roarke had called them because they grew back their limbs and were stronger in damp weather. They smelled like apples and had cold, gray skin that sweated profusely.
“Balen, down,” Delara yelled as she threw a knife at Jasmine while she kicked a Worm out of her way. The knife plunged into Jasmine’s thigh as she staggered back and hit the door.
Balen leapt. He landed on Waleron and dislodged Jasmine’s grip on him.
“Nooooo.” Jasmine flicked her fingers toward Delara and webs shot at her, but she rolled to the right while Balen sawed at Waleron’s webs with his knife.
“Bitch,” Jasmine screamed and yanked the door open.
She threw both hands in the air and webs shot in every direction. For a second, I was blinded and couldn’t see what was going on.
When the webs disintegrated, she was gone.
A hand grabbed me from behind and I swung around with the knife, the chains, luckily, slowing my movements because it was Roarke.
“Roarke,” I said.
His hands cupped my head and he leaned in to me, bending his knees so his eyes were level with mine. “You have the Scars now, Rayne.” He glanced over at Kilter. “Stay close to him.” He stared into me as if it was going to be the last time he ever saw me. “I’m sorry for everything. It’s not enough, never will be, but it’s all I have.”
“Roarke.”
“I won’t give up. Not until she’s dead.” He let me go and ran for the door Jasmine disappeared through.
“Rayne, damn it,” Kilter yelled from across the room, trying to get to me, but several Long Necks stood in his way. “Move.” Something yanked on the chain attached to my wrist and I was pulled off my feet, landing face first on the floor. I raised my head and saw a vampire with the chain wrapped around his hand pulling me toward him. I scrambled back, but he yanked hard again and I fell forward hitting my chin.
I kicked out as the vampire drew closer, his fangs dripping with blood.
“Rayne,” Waleron said, “use your ability.”
He hauled me to my feet, and I put my palms on his chest and, instantly, his bloodlust swarmed into me. His coldness. The rage. And even his desperation.
I sucked his emotions into my body, trembling as the darkness dragged me under.
I saw the moment he noticed what was happening, but by then, it was too late. He was already weak as my ability removed him of all emotions. He fell to the floor lifeless.
“Good girl,” Kilter said then tossed me something. “Use it for the manacles. Then get to the front door. My Ink will come for you.”
I picked up the small metal key and quickly inserted it into the lock. The chains dropped from my wrist and I ran. My legs trembled as I dodged in and out of overturned furniture.
“Rayne, hit the floor,” Waleron shouted.
I dove to the ground just as a vampire swept down from the second floor. I rolled to the side beneath a table as Waleron sent a bolt of energy toward him, knocking him off his feet.
I jumped up again and swerved around Jedrik, who tackled a Long Neck that was reaching for me.
I grabbed the door handle and tugged it open.
A scream emerged as I came face to face with a tall, broad man who filled the doorway and blocked my escape. I froze, my feet glued to the floor, eyes wide with horror, as I stared at his furious expression. But he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at the fray behind me.
“Get back,” he shouted.
He pushed me aside so hard, I landed on my knees to the left of the door. At first, I thought he was an enemy, but when a Long Neck attacked him, I realized he’d been shoving me out of harm’s way.
I watched as he slammed his fist into the Long Neck’s chest and yanked out his still-beating heart. My stomach lurched and I looked away. The Long Neck writhed and screamed before it shriveled up and disappeared only to emerge again in its original form—a cockroach.
The man stomped on it.
He briefly glanced at me. “Stay there.” Then he went into the heat of the battle. I noticed he headed toward Delara, who struggled against a blue-haired vampire. She was on the defense and losing.
I climbed to my feet again, noticing Waleron look at the scary new guy and nod. The guy in return did the same. Animosity was evident, but they were willing to put it aside for this fight.
I kept my back to the wall, sliding toward the door again when I saw Abby suddenly vault away from the Ink holding her. The beast, which had scales and looked part dragon with its body and yet stood on two feet like a human, appeared shocked and confused. I looked across the opposite side of the room to Kilter, who staggered then fell to his knees.
“Kilter, you’re too weak. Call your Ink to you,” Waleron ordered.
Abby ran toward Damien and Liam. Neither one had any clue she was free and was going to jump right between them.
I took off after her. “No, Abby,” I shouted.
I ran hard and fast across the living room into the next room, but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to intercept in time.
I was too late.
Abby ran right between Damien and Liam and took a kick to the gut when Liam aimed for Damien. She went flying five feet through the air and landed in a heap on the floor.
Both men stopped and stared with shock. Then a deep, deafening roar emerged from Damien’s throat. They both went for her.
But I was closer.
I landed on top of her, shielding her with my body. I looked up to see Damien struggling against a vampire’s hold and Liam standing over me.
He grabbed my forearm, ripping me from Abby. Then he threw me like a rag doll. I bounced off the wall and hit the floor.
My vision blurred as pain shot through my shoulder where I took the brunt of the impact.
I ignored it, grinding my teeth as I crawled to my feet again.
“No, Rayne,” Kilter shouted as he tried to get to me.
Liam held Abby around the waist. She appeared dazed as she squinted her eyes as if she tried to focus.
Damien broke free of the vampire, grabbed the wooden chair closest to him, snapped a leg off, and pierced the vampire underling in the chest with it.. A shrill scream echoed then abruptly ended as he collapsed to the floor.
Damien turned to Abby and Liam, his face a mask of fury.
Liam backed away toward the stairs, Abby as his shield. Neither paid attention to anything around them but one another. I saw my opportunity. I grabbed a knife that had slid under one of the overturned chairs.
I’d need every bit of strength in order to make this work.
“When I put my hands on him, take Abby,” I said to Damien.
“No. Get out of here before I have to save your
ass, too,” Damien said, his tone menacing. His eyes remained locked on Abby and Liam.
I approached Liam and Abby. “I can do this. If he takes her, we are all dead.”
I didn’t wait for Damien’s reply as I ran at Liam.
His eyes darted from Damien to me, but he didn’t seem too concerned as he half-grinned.
I slammed into both of them and plunged the knife into his shoulder. He fell back a step then chuckled. Regardless, it was enough of a distraction as Damien leapt, dragging Abby away as I put my hands on Liam and called to my ability.
“Simian, now. Rise,” Damien said.
Liam’s emotions plowed into me with red-hot fury. The intensity gripped my mind, bleeding my thoughts and filled them with his anger.
“What the…” He shook his head and staggered into the wall taking me with him, his arm locked around me.
I screamed when his fingernails pierced my skin and sunk deep into my back. Liam, shoved me aside and I fell to the floor on my hip.
“Fuck,” Kilter shouted.
I crawled to my hands and knees as Liam stood above me, but his eyes weren’t on me; they looked around the room. His face scrunched up and he hissed, revealing his long, white fangs. Then he went for me.
Damien said, “Liam’s going for Rayne. Two seconds.”
Liam bent, grabbed me by the neck, and lifted me to my feet. Then he grabbed me on either side of the head so hard it felt as if he was going to crush my skull.
His head jerked to the right and he laughed a high-pitched tone. “Your daughter is mine.”
He lowered his head and his fangs pierced my throat.
I heard a loud wail as I struggled to get free. Then my eyes hazed over and everything went black.
