Revelations: Book One of the Lalassu

by Lewis, Jennifer Carole

  Was it because of Michael? He certainly knew them. He’d been speaking to one of them, a fine Hispanic hunk of manflesh, for at least ten minutes. Could he have convinced them to take Tanisha seriously? Uncertainty only added to her roiling frustration. She couldn’t keep her eyes or mind away from Michael for any length of time, and every moment only added to the Huntress’s determination.

  He was talking to Tanisha again, writing something down, probably a name of someone who would help her. Redneck was gone, hauled away. Everything was wrapping up, coming closer to the moment when she would have to face Michael again. The Huntress hissed in anticipation.

  No. I won’t let you. It was the first time she’d ever completely denied the inner predator. She’d delayed the Hunt before, turned aside from potential prey, yes. Flat-out shut it down, no.

  Inner rage flared, betraying its inhumanity. Colors and noise began to bleed together again as she struggled for dominance with her feral nature. NOT HIM!

  Then choose another.

  Another. Find another man and tempt him into orgasm. Simple, but the thought of letting some jerk paw her was disgusting. The idea of letting some asshole inside of her brought bile rising. No.

  The Huntress hissed its displeasure, coils clamping around her brain. Dani pulled back, heading blindly back into the club. Maybe another drink would help. Sirens had scattered some of the clients, but not all of them.

  Choose my prey, the Huntress urged. It began flicking her gaze around the club, evaluating each male as a potential target.

  Dani tried to look away, but her back and neck cramped, holding her in place.

  Take one of them. Feed me.

  No. She wasn’t doing that again. Not now. Her jaw ached from her clenched teeth, as if it might crack under the pressure.

  The few remaining clients were snarling at each other, shouting loud, blame-filled accusations. With sickening clarity, Dani knew the rising anger was her fault. With each denial, the Huntress’s influence grew stronger. It added to the horror of knowing the Huntress’s thwarted influence had tipped Redneck from leering to attack.

  I have to get out of here. It became the only clear thought in her mind. Raoul leapt over the bar to separate fighting patrons and send them on their way.

  Dani fled, all too aware that she needed to put physical distance between herself and the Huntress’s potential targets. Adrenaline flooded her body, narrowing her senses to practical blindness. Thin chipped wood slammed into her fingers. She barely identified the staff bathroom door before she pried it open and collapsed inside. Curling up on the broken tile floor, she buried her hands in her hair and hid her face on her knees. The act of inhaling escaped her as if her lungs had forgotten a lifetime of practice. The Huntress coiled impatiently through her veins, demanding action.

  Time ceased to have meaning as she fought her inner nature. Buried memories clawed back to the surface. Crushing weight pinned her down. She had no leverage to throw it off.

  Voices floated above. “I’d say she owes us all a little something. She won’t remember it anyway. Besides, she said she wanted to have some fun.” She couldn’t tell if she was hearing it or remembering it.

  Why wasn’t her body doing what she asked? She should be able to fight them off. Instead, panic clawed at her, shredding the calm she needed to keep her monster contained.

  “Dani, honey?” The female voice floated in and out of her awareness, not fitting with the crushing memories.

  Dani’s fingers dug into her scalp, ripping out long strands of hair. The fresh sting gave momentary contrast with the remembered pain. It’s not real. Not happening. She told herself over and over again, fighting against the choking memories of terror and agony.

  After the cops took Opal and Redneck away, Michael returned to the utterly deserted bar. He guessed most of the clients hadn’t wanted to stick around when the flashing lights and sirens arrived. He couldn’t see Dani anywhere. Had she left?

  Raoul circled the room, collecting discarded drinks and bottles. “Nice work tonight,” the bartender said. “Want a beer?”

  Michael nodded, automatically reaching for his wallet.

  Raoul arched one eyebrow in an expression better suited to Spock than Cheers. “Keep your money. This is on the house.”

  “Dani is the one who saved her.” He couldn’t quite repress a wince. No matter how much he tried to tell himself the violence had been necessary, something in him rebelled.

  “That’s something to keep to yourself,” Raoul warned.

  “Sorry.” He really wasn’t any good at the clandestine stuff.

  “But it wasn’t what I meant. You talked to the cops and got them to take care of Opal. But that’s not the only reason.” Raoul handed him a bottle. “I’m talking about the kiss.”

  “Oh.” Michael looked down, embarrassed.

  “I’ve been here five years, you know?”

  “So you know her pretty well?” He wondered if the bartender could help him put what he’d seen into context.

  Raoul frowned, toying with an empty bottle. “I wouldn’t say I know her at all. Likes to keep herself to herself. But I’ve never seen her like tonight.”

  “Me, either.” Michael took a long pull on the beer to erase the coppery tang of blood on his tongue.

  “You’re the first guy I’ve seen in here who treats her like a person. Every one of these fuckers wants to be in her bed, but you look like you want to talk to her over breakfast,” Raoul told him.

  “Why are you telling me this?” Michael forced himself to meet the other man’s eyes.

  “Because I don’t want her to get hurt. The Stone Lady does not do emotions well.” Raoul’s fingers tightened around the glass he was cleaning.

  Michael’s instincts shrilled a warning, sharpening his senses. “What do you mean?”

  Raoul glanced toward the back of the club and shook his head.

  “What is it?” Michael demanded, the prospect of Dani being hurt pulling him up out of his seat.

  “She’s freaked out about what happened. You need to give her some time.”

  Michael winced at the memory of her pummeling Redneck. “It’s hard to imagine. She seemed pretty comfortable.”

  “She’s not invincible. She acts tough but I never met a tough guy who didn’t have a scared little kid somewhere inside,” Raoul insisted.

  Whatever Dani had inside, it was not a scared little kid. Michael couldn’t think what to say. He was confused, emotionally exhausted and desperately wanted to return to the blissful ignorance of a few days before. But then he wouldn’t ever have met Dani. The price felt indescribably high.

  “Raoul!” Ruby’s shrill shout cut through the theater. She came rushing out from backstage.

  “What is it?” Raoul tensed.

  Michael followed suit, preparing himself for the next round.

  “It’s Dani,” Ruby babbled. “She’s locked herself in the bathroom and won’t talk to me. I’ve never seen her like this.”

  Michael’s long legs devoured the distance across the room faster than Raoul despite having farther to go. He got to the bathroom and heard the sickening thud of flesh against concrete.

  “Dani, open the door!” Ruby called out.

  Michael slammed into the rough plywood door to force it open. Dani lay curled up against the wall, her eyes blank and empty. Harsh red scratches ripped across her skin. Her fingers were curled tightly in her hair, distorting the skin underneath.

  “Oh my God,” Raoul breathed.

  “Dani, honey, what’s wrong?” Ruby asked, joining Michael to kneel beside Dani.

  She didn’t respond to them. Michael had a sudden taste of what Dani must have experienced when he’d gone into a trance in Vapor’s apartment. She was right there, but her body seemed heartbreakingly empty.

  “Did that asshole do something to her?” Raoul snarled.

  Michael shook his head, his mind whirling. Could the thing inside have taken over?

  “Is it drug
s? A bad trip?” Ruby glanced at Michael.

  “She didn’t take anything. Can you give us a minute here?” Michael barely noticed when Raoul pulled Ruby away, giving them privacy. All of his attention stayed with Dani. He had to find out what she was experiencing if he was to have any prayer of helping her.

  He reached out and cupped his hand around her ashen cheek, feeling the coolness of her flesh. Immediately he caught jumbled flashes of memory.

  A pale young girl with wide dark eyes and dark hair cut close to her scalp, curled up around a teddy bear as she screamed.

  Crowded rooms full of teenagers drinking out of plastic cups.

  A pin-up girly poster stuck to the ceiling.

  “Dani, come back to me,” he called. “Whatever happened, it’s long over. It can’t hurt you anymore.”

  She didn’t respond. He held her wrists firmly, pressing his fingers into the pressure points to release her grip. Gently, he disentangled her hands from her hair, almost drowning in the sickening regret that threatened to swallow her.

  “Look at me, please,” he begged, fighting the first ragged edge of his panic. “Come back. We’ll make it okay.”

  He kept talking, repeating over and over that it was safe, that it would be okay. Sense slowly returned to her dull eyes. She looked at him for the first time since the attack in the alley. He felt her awareness returning, and then a new memory flashed across their bond.

  His fist smashed into lax, boozy flesh, and he wanted to crow with the vicious satisfaction of hurting someone who threatened someone else.

  Michael snatched his hand back before he could relive any more of the attack. Whatever she regretted, Redneck’s beating wasn’t it.

  Dani slowly closed her eyes. He could still sense her weariness, the effort she’d expended to put the monster back into the bottle.

  “How long?” he asked, keeping his voice calm and his movements slow.

  “Since I was a teenager,” she answered, her voice flat and expressionless.

  “Is there a way to get rid of it?” he asked hopefully.

  A short bitter laugh barked out between her lips. “No. I could go through the High Priestess ritual. Then it would become me, take over whenever it wanted to.”

  “Why would anyone do that?” Michael whispered, disgusted by the idea. No good could possibly come from that thing.

  “Everyone tells me I shouldn’t be afraid of it. But they don’t feel it the way I do.” A humorless smile twisted her mouth. “Maybe I broke it. Maybe it’s the awfulness inside me that made it the monster it is today.” He could feel the shame and self-hatred spreading through her heart like a noxious green mold.

  “Was that it outside? Did it take you over?” he asked. If it had been the monster, it would mean Dani wasn’t responsible.

  “Yes. No. Sort of.” She shook her head. “We both wanted Redneck to pay for hurting Tanisha. For threatening you.”

  “And in here?” he asked cautiously.

  “No. That was me denying both of us the use of this body. I didn’t want it to hurt any more people.” Dani winced as she touched the bruise forming on her temple. “If I surrender, it gets to move in full time. I become a sideline act in my own body.”

  “That’s terrible,” Michael gasped.

  “That’s the Babylon legacy. It’s what everyone expected me to do. My mother was High Priestess for a time. We moved all the time, staying out of public attention. Most lalassu do. Coming home, I’d never know if the trailer would be hitched up to the van and we’d be leaving. Mom used to scare the crap out of me when she was in Goddess mode. We never knew what she was going to say or do. We mostly took care of ourselves and tried to stay out of her way.” Her voice might be flat, but Michael caught the tremors.

  “But your mother is okay now?” There had to be a solution somewhere.

  “Not even close.” A bitter laugh escaped her cracked lips. “She spent years barely coming out of the trailer. It wasn’t until we moved to Perdition that she started talking to us again and then only to demand that I take up my appointed role. She’s relentless.”

  Michael could feel the echoes of abandonment and horror in Dani. He wanted to hold her, but he forced himself to focus as she continued.

  “I think she feels guilty because she burned out her connection to the gods when I was a kid. It blinded her, and that’s when she retreated. I had to go through the transition of the Huntress becoming part of me all on my own. I knew what I was supposed to do but the idea of surrendering to that thing… Well, you’ve felt it.” Dani stared at her hands. “Our ancestors were the temple harlot priestesses in ancient Babylon. Our touch could bring a man or woman face to face with the Goddess. That’s how it’s supposed to work, but that’s not what it feels like to me.”

  He couldn’t pull together the words to respond to what she’d revealed. Knowing she had a monster inside her, that it would eventually consume her. What could anyone possibly say to alleviate such knowledge?

  Her phone trilled, forgotten on the cracked tile floor. Dani picked it up wearily to answer it. “Hi, Mom, what is it?”

  Tinny screams and smashing came through the miniature speaker. Dani straightened, energy returning along with purpose.

  “Dani, you have to come home. Now!” A woman’s voice came through clearly.

  Followed by the click of the line going dead.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Michael didn’t ask any questions, matching Dani stride for stride as they hurtled out of the club, leaving a shocked Raoul and Ruby in their wake. But he was careful to avoid any accidental contact with her. It hurt, cutting deep into her soul, but she couldn’t blame him, not now that he knew what was inside her. If only the pain could slash out the Huntress, slice into its coils to leave it to bleed to death.

  Reaching the convertible, Dani barely gave Michael time to slide into the seat before her foot slammed the gas pedal to the floor.

  “Do you think they found your family?” Michael struggled with the seatbelt.

  Dani’s only answer was the tightening of her fingers on the steering wheel and the increasing thrum of the engine. She refused to arrive too late again. This would not be a repetition of Vincent and Eric.

  “How long is it going to take to get there?” he asked.

  “Not as long as it usually does,” she replied grimly.

  The trip may have defied the laws of physics on several levels. Dani kept the gas pedal firmly pressed to the car floor, ignoring stop signs, stop lights and all other traffic. Fear threatened to cloud her mind and her focus, so she ruthlessly suppressed it—or so she told herself.

  If the people who held Vincent and Eric tracked down the rest of the family, this could be a trap. Chewing at her lip, Dani discarded the possibility. They already held Vincent and Eric, leaving Gwen as the next logical prize. They wouldn’t care if she was insane as long as her visions could give accurate information.

  Each second ticking by grated on her raw nerves. Knowing she was traveling as fast as humanly possible did nothing to reassure her. Hold on. Just hold on. She didn’t believe in her family’s gods, but she still prayed.

  To her right, Michael’s knuckles and face blanched in stark contrast to the dark seats. Each glimpse added to the thick stew of guilt and fear. I did the right thing. The assertion rang hollow, even to herself. He would never understand.

  I should be glad. If he hates me, he’ll be out of range. Nothing further to explore. She tried to spin the night into something reassuring, but nothing changed the memory of his face after seeing what she’d done to Redneck.

  She’d disillusioned him. Part of her wanted to be angry about her guilt for failing to live up to his white-hat hero expectations. But all she felt was the shame. She’d pulled him into something ugly and nasty, showed him the monsters in the closet and under the bed… and the ones inside her.

  Dani risked a glance at him. He leaned against the door, clutching the oh-shit bar and staring out the windshield. As fa
r from her as it was possible to get in the confines of the car. He didn’t want to be anywhere near her.

  Shoving self-pity and introspection away to reexamine at a time when she wasn’t hurtling down narrow country roads at four times the legal limit, she scanned the countryside with a predator’s instincts. Any movement, any deviation caught her attention.

  The disguised turn-off loomed in the distance. Dani spun the car hard, spraying gravel and ripping away concealing foliage. Forced to slow down to avoid becoming a crash-test on the winding lane, she resented every tap of the brake.

  The engine roared as they broke through the protective forest into the family’s clearing to find…

  Nothing.

  No goon squad. No black-ops helicopter. Just slumbering country scenery.

  “What the fuck?” Dani swore as she stepped out. The lights burned peacefully in the house windows. No gunplay interrupted the silence of the woods. Granted, her arrival probably scared every woodland animal into shock, but from the call, she’d expected more. Her instincts screamed that she must have missed something.

  “Where is everyone?” Michael asked.

  Dani stood perfectly still, outlined against the yellow light beaming from the windows. He could see her inhaling deeply. Testing scents, Michael realized.

  “There’s nothing here.” She frowned, chewing on her lip.

  You mean you nearly turned us into road pizza or tree sculptures for nothing? He’d never been more sure he was about to die than in the last half hour. He wanted to yell, vent the tension drawing his skin down tight, but he kept quiet.

  The door of the house opened, and a man in a wheelchair came onto the porch. His broad shoulders and strong arms gave him a strong, commanding presence despite the chair. From the thick dark hair and olive skin, Michael guessed this was Dani’s father. “Thank the gods. You’re here,” the man sighed. “Both of you. Hurry inside, she’s waiting.”