by J. E. Taylor
I stood and stepped to the stairs meeting her gaze. “No. I’m here to protect you.”
“Are you a cop?”
I sighed and glanced at Damon’s unconscious form wondering if I should lie, but I opted not to. “No, I’m not a cop.” I met her gaze.
“You sure shoot like one.”
I smiled. “My father was a cop and taught me how to shoot,” I said and my smile faded. “He’s dead now,” I added and dropped my gaze. The smell of fresh blood was overwhelming and I wanted a drink. “Why don’t you go upstairs and wait while I clean up this mess.” I waved to the dead men.
Her glance fell on Damian. “Will he be okay?”
The concern in her voice hit a chord and I nodded. “I’ll see to it that he is, now go. I’ll let you know when it’s clear.”
Valerie nodded and I waited until a door latched upstairs before my gaze landed on the expanding pools of blood. I had to get these men out of here and Damian was in no shape to help. I left him there and jumped into action, using my speed to carry the relatively weightless bodies into the woods. When I stepped back in the house, the bloodlust took control and I closed my eyes, transitioning.
Padding up to the first puddle, I licked it clean, even though the taste disgusted me. It wasn’t like the blood bags Damian had and I wondered if the fiends had been human or if they were vampires like we were, or something all together different. I cleaned the first two puddles and stepped to the third, the one closest to Damian. A gasp caught my attention and I raised my head, my gaze falling on Valerie. She smelled delicious and I closed my eyes, dipping my head to the puddle of tacky blood before I did something Damian would hate me for.
“Naomi,” his voice cut through my concentration and I lifted my head. Damian had gotten to his feet, his hand still clamped on his shoulder and he stepped to the edge of the stairwell, blocking the path to Valerie. I glanced in her direction before returning my attention to the puddle, swathing up the blood with my tongue.
“Is that yours?” Valerie whispered.
“Yes. Where’d the girl go?” he asked.
“She said she was going to clean up the mess and when I came down, the dead men were gone and that tiger was cleaning the floors.”
“She must have let my cat out when she took the bodies out,” he said. “Naomi won’t hurt you,” he added and I caught the glare he sent my way.
With the last of the intruder’s blood mopped up, I padded over to the puddle Damian left. His blood was richer and more full-bodied than the others were, but it still had that tainted quality that screamed vampire. Had these things arrived after sundown? I needed to know and once I finished licking the floor clean; I turned and bolted out of the room.
In the atrium, I transitioned back and whistled.
“There you are,” I called out and shut a door.
I walked back into the foyer and glanced at Damian. “Your tiger got loose,” I said hooking my thumb over my shoulder.
“I saw.”
Valerie stepped into view. “Where did you go?”
“I moved the bodies outside and I didn’t realize I let the cat loose,” I said and Valerie put her hands on her hips.
“I’m not stupid, you know,” she said and glanced between Damian and me.
“Valerie,” Damian began and she turned on him.
“I know damn well what you are, Damian. I’ve always known,” she said. “And they confirmed it.” Her gaze transitioned to me. “I just don’t know what the hell you are.”
I traded a glance with Damian, his features hard and unreadable as he took a step back.
“You knew?”
“Dude, you haven’t aged a day since I was born and my father believes you’ve been here since before he was born. We know you’re not human, either that or you have one hell of a plastic surgeon.” She crossed her arms and I stifled a smirk. “The blood trail you left this morning freaked us all out and now my parents are out looking for another place to stay.”
Damian hung his head and took a deep breath. “Have you talked to them recently?”
“No, why?” her clipped voice answered.
“You don’t think?” I interrupted and Damian’s pained gaze met mine.
“Call them,” he said and pointed to the living room where one of the phones sat.
Valerie’s features transitioned from annoyed to wide-eyed fear and she bolted down the steps, her dark hair streaming behind her as she tore past me and slid to a stop by the phone. Ripping it from the cradle, she dialed and waited. After half a dozen rings, she said, “Dad?”
Valerie pulled the phone away and stared at it, before spinning and handing it to Damian. “They want to talk to you,” she said and her voice shook.
Chapter Twenty-six - Damian
I stared at the phone and then met her dark and frightened gaze. Naomi shifted behind me and I stepped forward, taking the handset from Valerie. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was devoid of saliva and my shoulder still throbbed where the bullet shattered the bone.
“Hello,” I managed and the chuckle on the other end of the line bit under my skin. I snapped my gaze to Naomi.
“You took something that belonged to me,” Lucifer said, his voice holding a measure of anger along with a mocking joy. “I want the girl in exchange,” he said.
“Not on your life,” I growled.
“What about her parents’ lives?”
“That’s a joke, right?” I said and he chuckled, making sucking sounds that disgusted me with their familiarity. I could see the still beating heart he clutched and the monument of my failure hit. “You’re a bastard, you know that?” I whispered and met Naomi’s gaze.
“Is my original meal still alive?”
“She tasted better than anything on this earth,” I said, speaking the truth and knowing Lucifer would take that as a no.
He laughed. “So you’re not only running from me, you’ve got Michael on your ass, too?”
I remained quiet.
“And now with another of his descendants dead, I’m sure he’s going to step up his game.”
“Probably,” I conceded. There was no reason to lie. Michael was going to be fired up, even with Valerie still breathing.
“I’ve got a bounty out for your head,” he snickered and I looked at the floor, taking a deep breath. “You won’t get out of that house alive and I’ll have my pure virgin heart that I’ve waited so long to taste.”
“Fuck you,” I whispered and disconnected the call. I put the phone down, trying to frame a way to tell this sweet girl her parents were dead and it was my oversight that caused it. I should have never had them so close, but I figured I could keep them safe in this remote setting.
What a fucking joke.
“Damian?” Naomi asked.
I sat on the couch and ran my hands into my hair, resting my elbows on my knees while I grappled for words. When I came up empty, I just shook my head without bringing my gaze to either of them.
“What’s he saying?” Valerie asked and I kept my gaze locked on the floor.
“He’s saying they’re dead,” Naomi answered and I nodded.
“What do you mean, they’re dead?” The hysterics in her tone brought my gaze to hers. Naomi had moved to her side and wrapped her arm around the girl.
“Just like my grandfather,” she said meeting my gaze.
I nodded. “And Lucifer has issued a bounty for my head.”
“Lucifer?” Valerie’s voice rose. “As in the devil?”
“Yes,” I said straightening my back. “You’re a delicacy to him.”
“Why?” she asked in a voice filled with pain and sorrow.
“Because of your lineage,” Naomi said, taking over the conversation. “But neither Damian nor I will let anything happen to you.” She led Valerie to the overstuffed chair. “I know this all sounds crazy and unreal, but we won’t let your parent’s sacrifice be in vain.”
I laughed and stood, turning my back on their surprised gaze, s
urveying the landscape. The buildings were protected from angels and demons, but that’s not what he was sending to collect. He was sending his hybrid monsters to bring back his bounty.
Her hand on my arm pulled my attention away from the darkness.
“What is it?”
“He knows where we are,” I said. “And he knows how to kill me.”
Chapter Twenty-seven - Naomi
“You can take her away from here,” I said, ignoring the devastating twinge his words carried.
“I wouldn’t get a hundred yards,” he said and wiped his face. “I’m surprised we got the motorcycle out and back without being shot.”
My gaze landed on the glass he stood in front of and I turned, sweeping his feet out from under him a moment before the window disintegrated in a hailstorm of bullets. Valerie dove to the ground, shrieking, with her arms over her head.
“We have to get her downstairs,” I said to Damian and he nodded.
We crawled to her, each taking an arm and we got to our feet, running toward the back of the house, keeping low so the bullets passed over our heads. The atrium was off an enclosed mudroom but the distance between the doorway and the security panel seemed like an impossible feat. The front of the atrium had a line of plants that would help shelter us, but the back wall, that gave a clear view all the way to the wood line.
“Damian, you have to do this as a shadow,” I whispered and his gaze fell on Valerie. “It’s the only way you’ll get across the distance. I can get Valerie through the door if you can get it open,” I said when he hesitated.
“Naomi,” he started.
“We will all die if you don’t,” I said, my gaze planted on a line of advancing shadows.
“I don’t want to die,” Valerie said pulling his gaze from mine.
One minute Damian was the blue-eyed man that held my heart and the next, he was the fiend that almost killed me and Valerie gasped. He shot out into the opening and I wrapped my arms around Valerie and whispered, “He won’t hurt you, neither will I, but those things closing in on the house will. When he hits that panel, you have to climb on my back and hold on, understand?” I met her frantic gaze.
“What?”
I wrapped her arms around my neck. “Hold on!” I yelled as the bullets rained on the glass. The door slid far enough and I saw Damian slip inside and I closed my eyes. Valerie’s arms tightened around my neck and I waited a moment before darting out, my paws hitting the tile with intent, and when I slid through the opening I didn’t stop until I stood on the landing with Valerie sobbing into my fur.
I glanced up in time to see the wall close and Damian shut the door. He stumbled down the steps and closed the door, leaning on it with his breath wheezing. I padded into the room and stopped, putting my paw on the arms grasping me like I had done with Damian the other night.
Valerie cried into my fur and I traded a glance with Damian.
“We have to get out of here,” he said and stumbled, falling to his hands and knees. I shook Valerie off and sniffed her to make sure there were no bullet holes in her and then I licked her cheek in a gesture that stopped her tears.
I left her huddled and shaking and turned to Damian, it took me two strides to be back in my human form and I crouched next to him.
“Baby, where are you hit?”
He glanced up at me with a cocked eyebrow. “Baby?” he asked, his breath wheezed again.
I offered him a soft smile. “Where?” I asked again, not acknowledging his questioning gaze. Instead, I pushed him into a sitting position and peeled off his shirt. “Fuck,” I whispered. “Is the bullet still inside you?”
He shrugged. “You have to get her out of here,” he repeated.
I leaned him forward and didn’t find an exit wound on his back. Closing my eyes, I sighed. His shoulder was one thing, but his chest was another. I couldn’t just tear that open with my teeth and reach in and grab the bullet poisoning him. “I’ll get you both out of here as soon as I get that bullet out,” I said. “Do you have a knife in the kitchen?”
He nodded.
“How long before they get through that wall upstairs?”
“I don’t know. The outer shell is made of platinum.”
“In that case, I’ll assume I have the time to fix you up.” I hopped to my feet and glanced at Valerie. “Think you’ve got your shit together enough to help me?”
“Naomi,” Damian whispered.
“What?”
“Just leave me,” he said, his blue eyes pleading.
I hunched down and ran my palm over his cheek. “Not on your life.” My heart thundered at the request, fear biting me from the inside out. I wasn’t willing to lose him, to lose either of them; and the longer I chatted with him the more likely that bullet would make it impossible for me to bring him back.
“Come on,” I ordered Valerie and to her credit, she stood and followed me. Her eyes still wide amidst the pallor of her face.
“What are you?” she whispered as I rummaged through the drawers until I found a couple specially made steak knives that reminded me of scalpels. I grabbed one and handed it to Valerie. “Hold this a minute,” I said and opened the refrigerator.
It took all my willpower not to dig into the bags sitting on the shelf; instead, I grabbed three of them and turned toward her wide eyes.
“He’s going to need blood when I’m done,” I explained.
“What are you going to do?”
“I have to get that bullet out before it kills him,” I said and plucked the knife from her hand, trading the blood for the blade and made my way back to Damian.
He tried to shake his head, to deter me, to get me to leave, but I met his panicked stare. “I can’t just leave you like this,” I whispered and laid him down. “I think the bullet is in your lung. Just don’t move, okay?” I bit my lip and placed the blade on his skin at the point of entry. “I’m sorry, baby.” I met his gaze and pressed, slicing a slit an inch long from the base of the entry wound.
Damian screamed, but didn’t move. The second cut was just as painful for both of us, and I heard the slump on the floor behind me, assuming Valerie had passed out. My heart slammed against my chest and I prayed I would be able to get the bullet out. I dropped the knife on the floor and slid my fingers into the cut. The bullet was there, wedged between two of his ribs, spreading toxic poison through his abdomen.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered again and pushed down on the rib. He cried out again, but this time it was weaker and the snap of the bone released the bullet. I yanked it out and tossed it across the room, like it was kryptonite and distance would help Damian.
He panted, blinking and I could tell he was barely hanging on. I turned and reached for the blood, ripping one end open with my teeth and pouring the bag into his mouth. Damian choked, and coughed and then his reflex took hold and he gulped, hanging onto my hand in a death grip until the bag was empty. I did the same with a second one and the haze over his eyes sharpened, his breath coming in a more natural un-wheezing rhythm.
When I reached for the third bag, he grabbed my arm. “No,” he whispered.
“You need it,” I said and his gaze traveled beyond me. I glanced over my shoulder at Valerie, still laying unconscious on the floor and turned back to Damian. “You won’t hurt her,” I said, unsure if it was true or not. All I knew is he needed blood, now, in order to have the strength to run.
“Naomi,” he started and I ripped the bag open, bringing it to his lips. He didn’t hesitate and when the bag was empty, I dropped it with the other two. The adrenaline that had propelled me, drained, leaving me shaking.
“I need to check on her,” I said and he nodded, leaning his head back against the floor. The wound on his chest was already patching itself up and I crawled to Valerie, turning her over. I tapped her cheeks lightly with the cleaner of my two hands. “Valerie?”
Her eyes blinked open and when they landed on me, her face scrunched.
“It wasn’t a dream?” she
asked, the tears springing forth from her eyes.
“No sweetie, it isn’t,” I said and climbed to my feet. It was my turn to wince and I glanced at my thigh. Blood streaked my right leg and I took another step before the room spun into blackness.
Chapter Twenty-eight – Damian
Naomi faltered and I was up and moving, catching her before she hit the tile. I traded a glance with Valerie and then focused on Naomi. She had saved my life twice tonight and I marveled at her speed and cunning, but now she lay bleeding and unconscious and my heart thundered as loud as hers had when she was trying to get the bullet out of my chest.
“Valerie, I need you to get me a couple pints of blood, okay?” I asked, meeting her wide stare.
She nodded without speaking and crossed to the kitchen, coming back with two more bags from the refrigerator. I poked a hole in the bottom of one bag and slipped it between Naomi’s slack lips. It only took a few drops before her eyes snapped open and she drank in greedy pulls. When she only sucked air, she let out a growl and I pointed to the hallway.
“Go to the bedroom down that hall and close the door.”
Valerie didn’t move.
“Go!” I yelled before Naomi lost all control. Valerie listened this time and I slid the second bag between Naomi’s lips. By the time she finished the second bag, the hole in her leg had closed and I picked her up, bringing her into the shower, and blasting the water while I peeled off her clothes and mine as well.
“What are you doing?” she asked and glanced around.
“I’m getting the blood off both of us before we get dressed and get the hell out of here.”
She glanced at my chest, tracing the angry scar with her fingers. “I’m sorry I had to hurt you,” she said and when she raised her gaze to mine, her eyes were filled with tears.
I pressed my lips to her forehead and switched the water off. Sweet moments could wait until after we got through the night. I tossed her a towel and grabbed one of my own, leading her to the bedroom and stepping inside to Valerie’s wide gaze.
“The bullet hole…” she trailed off, pointing at my chest.
