by Austin, RB
She didn’t know how long she sat on the bench. The now darkened sky held no moon and all the businesses had closed for the night. It took a half a minute to recognize her surroundings and head in the right direction. Another few minutes to realize she’d ditched her semi-interview at Van’s Art Supply. Terrific.
Emma was one block from her car. She’d planned to trade in the POS for a newer model during the summer after she’d saved the whole school year. Yeah. That wasn’t going to happen. Hopefully the big guy upstairs realized he’d dumped enough shit on her plate at the moment. She didn’t need her car to break down before winter was over. No promises there, blasphemer. Emma stiffened.
She was being watched. Again. Without losing speed, she darted a glance over her shoulder. No one was there. The shadows across the street were empty, too. Her steps quickened. Emma dug in her purse for her keys, rushing to locate the correct one to her car. What she wouldn’t give for keyless entry. Stupid, old car.
Maybe it was still the sugar. Once in her car, she’d lock the doors and drive home. Nothing would happen. Then she’d laugh herself silly for acting like a freak.
Four more feet. Her hand holding the keys began to shake. Almost there.
Boots thudded on the pavement behind her. Too fast. A hand banded across her mouth. Emma was yanked back into a solid body. A man. She struggled against his firm grip. Punching her arm down, she jammed her key into solid flesh. Her attacker grunted, and his hand dropped.
She screamed.
A chuckle reached her ears. She whirled. Her attacker wore a hood pulled over his head. His face was shrouded in darkness. Only his eyes showed. Black pupils against white irises.
“No one can hear you, Emma.” The attacker’s voice was low, scary. His breath blew on her face with every word even though he stood a few feet away.
Emma shivered and took a step back. He advanced slowly. Like he had all the time in the world. He could do whatever he wanted. The street was empty. The stores closed. There were no bars on the street. No open late buildings. No apartments atop the stores. No one would know.
A whimper escaped at the truth of those words. Another step back. Emma bumped into a solid object. She shrieked. Only her car. Her car! She pawed at the door handle, throwing a glance over her shoulder. He was still coming. Open. Open. He was closer. She yanked on the handle. Keys dangled in front of her face. Emma jumped. Turned. He was there. Right in her face.
“Time to go.” His words came with a blast of cold air. Shivers raked her body.
Cade was ten blocks from the center of town itching for a Fallen or, better yet, the UF to walk in his path. He’d barely slept. She and Lucas swirled in his mind each vying for the top spot. Cade let Lucas win. He wasn’t supposed to be thinking of her.
He hadn’t asked Lucas to keep an eye on her yet. His ach was a loose cannon right now. When Cade’d analyzed it, because sleeping wasn’t an option anymore, he realized it wasn’t necessary. She wasn’t in danger. The Fallen didn’t target their prey. They took whoever was handy. As a Behn it was his job to protect all Followers not to pedestalize one certain nheqeba. A Behn following her, even unobserved, could unintentionally impede her life plan.
All right, Lucas came in as a close second.
A loud noise brought him from his reverie. He pivoted, crouching low, his hand near his shoulder. Ready to grab his katana.
Two Followers stood by their car. Mouths open. Shocked expressions turning to fear. Cade straightened, surged into their minds and removed the last few seconds before continuing down the street.
No more distractions. He stopped. Heat rippled down his spine. As if he were standing too close to fire. Wait a minute.
Cade closed his eyes. Lifted his head. Sifting through the different scents, he discarded local bar and restaurant odors, the Followers in the surrounding buildings, and the cars on the street. He turned to the left and inhaled. There. Cade searched the top of the buildings across the street. Yes. Right there. Someone stood. Watching. He tensed, but didn’t reach for his weapon. Not yet.
It wasn’t a Follower. No ringing in his ears, so it wasn’t a Fallen either. The figure hadn’t moved. Still stared.
A scream pierced the night air. Breath left Cade’s body like a punch in the gut. Heart rate increased. Fangs punched out of his gums. Eyesight became pronounced. Blood pumped harder through his veins.
The man on the roof turned toward the sound. His gaze swung back to Cade’s.
No. Forget him. Cade would deal with it later. Emma needed him. A distinct whooshing came from the roof. Cade’s eyes flew upward then widened. Giant white wings sprang from the man’s back. WTF? They stretched out eight feet on either side. The man bent his knees, pushed off and soared in the air. Heading toward the scream.
Heading toward Emma.
Cade broke into a sprint. He cut through buildings. Streamed past cars. Invisible to any Follower he passed.
“Sarid.” He called, heart pumping, barely able to speak through the knot of fear in his throat. His earpiece’s microphone would transmit his voice to his four achs on patrol and Michael at the HQ.
“Heading there now. Two blocks to go.” Sarid’s voice was cool and calm. Cade’d never been happier to be patrolling with Sarid. The Behn was the best fighter of the Sept, monster aside. Growls vibrated in his throat. Although today he’d tear whoever was hurting her limb from limb. Follower or no.
“Need back up?” Gabriel’s voice came through.
“It’s Emma,” Cade growled.
Gabriel’s response was immediate. “ETA ten minutes.”
“Twenty-five for me.” Lucas said.
Another scream wrenched through the air. His gut tightened. Cade pushed for another burst of speed. One block to go. Sarid’s pounding footsteps were ahead. He zeroed in on Emma’s Camry two blocks in front of them. She struggled in the back seat, putting up a fight. Relief spread. Still alive.
The abductor’s hood obscured most of his face. Despite the loss of peripheral vision, he still detected them. His gaze zeroed in on Cade and held.
A growl tore from Cade’s throat.
The abductor smiled. Shoved Emma into the backseat. Her head hit the window with a crack. She slumped down, no longer visible.
Cade snarled. He’d rip him apart. Make him wish he’d never been born.
The abductor was in the driver’s seat. He threw the car into gear. Tires screeched. Cade chased after the car. Sarid next to him. Then at some point Gabriel.
Using all of his Behn strength, Cade dug deep. Held nothing back as he lunged forward. The car was faster. Panic speared. He all but flew over the pavement. In less than a minute the car was out of sight.
Cade lifted his head and roared.
Chapter 23
Emma kept her eyes closed. Her head was pounding. What the hell? Time to invest in some extra, extra strength medication. Maybe she needed to rethink the brain damage bit. She squeezed her eyes tight. This one was a doozie. The pain was centralized on the right side of her head. At least that was new. What—her reaching hand jerked to a stop. Wait. This was familiar. Hope speared the exact moment the loud clinking registered. Chains?
Her eyes flew open. Adrenaline whipped through her bloodstream. She was standing, not lying down in a bed. Her wrists were shackled. The attached chains hung from a peg in the wall. The room was not that other place or her townhouse. It was small. Contained no furniture, a concrete floor, concrete walls, three high windows with sunlight streaming in, and a door directly across from her. Where was she? Emma stiffened. The last moments of consciousness replayed in her mind.
Someone had been watching her. The dark, empty street. Hood Guy. The struggle. Fighting. Losing. Hitting her head on the backseat window. Her breath came in gasps. Loud. Raspy. The noise echoed through the small room. She began t
o shake. Her chains rattled.
Emma yanked with all her might. Lifting her feet, she hung in the air. Running forward, her arms wrenched back. She pushed harder. Her shoulders screamed in protest. Pivoting, she used the chains as leverage and put the soles of her feet on the wall. Pushed out and pulled down at the same time. Sweat dripped down her forehead and into her eyes. She yanked. A cry escaped from her lips. Again. Strained with her feet. No. No. No. Twisted. Turned. Pulled. Yanked. Wrists became raw. Burned. Her legs trembled. Emma didn’t stop. Wouldn’t give in. When she became tired, she imagined the Hood Guy and tried again. Tiptoes on the wall, body extended as far as she could go. Using her right arm, she yanked on the left arm’s chain.
A cold breeze blew across her sweaty limbs. Emma froze. Her memory clicked. She dropped to the ground, panting. Fear pumped wildly through her body. It overruled all pain. Slowly, she turned.
Hood stood in the doorway. The sunlight from the window didn’t reach him. His face was in shadows. His gaze was on her though, she could feel it. Shivers raked her body that had nothing to do with the cool breeze circulating the room.
“I’m impressed.” Breath left his mouth with every syllable like they were standing outside in the Artic. “When I first saw you I wondered what the excitement was all about, but I’ve been watching you this past hour.” His gaze swept to the top corner of the room. “Your determination is a close match to mine.”
Emma missed the black electronic device near the ceiling during her examination of the room. Even if she’d managed to get free she wouldn’t have gotten far. She slumped against the wall. The chains rattled.
Hood stepped into the room. He stopped just before the sunlight streamed against the floor. The breath of his words was tangible and circled the room in a long stream of cold wind.
Emma stiffened and forced her trembling legs to hold her weight.
His expression was speculative. “I might like you.”
“What do you want with me?” Her voice wavered. She raised her chin. Show no fear.
“I don’t like anyone.” He continued as if she hadn’t spoken.
Goosebumps rose on her arms. “Why did you bring me here?”
“You did me a favor by abandoning your friend and sitting on the bench until the streets cleared. Like you knew I was coming.” He strode forward.
Emma began to shake uncontrollably. So much for no fear.
The tip of his shoe hit the sunlight. Hood jerked back. Carefully he placed his feet back at the line between sun and darkness. “I’d planned to wait until you were at home. This was better.”
“What do you want with me?” Her voice rose. She needed to prepare for the worst.
“It will end soon. They saw. They’ll come.”
They? The end? “Why am I here?” She couldn’t hold back a sob. No. Don’t quit fighting. Don’t give into fear. With teeth clenched, she yanked on the chains. Pulled with all her strength. She ran forward. Tried to reach him. Her cold muscles protested. A cry escaped from her lips.
Emma collapsed against the wall. Slid down onto her knees. Arms suspended above her head.
“Perhaps when this is over I’ll take you to meet Apollyon.” Hood waited.
Was he expecting her to comment? She said nothing.
He walked to the door. Paused at the entrance. “We’ll see how you do when they show.”
The door banged shut. A small sob forced itself through her throat. Her shoulders began to shake. Was this it?
There was no one to come for her. Jenny might try to reach her in a few days when she didn’t return her calls. Sean too. Emma never gave her new family a chance. She was as alone as when she’d been at fourteen.
Cade stood in the middle of the street, staring at the spot he last seen Emma’s car. Sarid and Gabriel’s voice were in his ear but he couldn’t process their words. His chest heaved. He didn’t know what to do. Where to go? How to fix it? Who took her? Where was she going? How was he going to get her back? A tornado of questions and no answers.
Gabriel squeezed his shoulder. “Come on, Boss.”
Cade shrugged him off. Stepped away. Kept walking. Why’d he stopped running? He lost the car. Lost her. It was his fault. Should’ve put a tail on her. Screw the other Followers. She needed protection. Emma needed it the most.
Lucas arrived. His boots pounded the concrete as he ran to them. “What’s the situation?”
Cade whirled. “Where the fuck were you?”
Lucas took a step back, eyes wide.
“You were supposed to be no more than five minutes from Gabriel. That would’ve left you fifteen minutes away from here. Not twenty-five.” He advanced toward Lucas. “We could’ve saved her.”
“I was following a lead.” Lucas’s gaze darted to Gabriel, Sarid, back to Cade. “I heard ringing.”
“Bullshit.” Cade was in Lucas’s face. “You. Are. Lying.”
Lucas stilled. Straightened. Gaze narrowed and locked on Cade’s. Fangs elongated. Eyes began to glow at the same time a dull dusk color swept over his baby blues. “No. Fuck. You.”
Cade jerked back.
“It’s my fault, Cade? You brought the nheqeba into our HQ. You formed an attachment to her. You allowed her to stay at the HQ long after it was necessary. You broke Elias’s command and continued to see her after the mind sweep. You followed her when she was free. You brought the Fallen’s attention to her. This is all on you.” Lucas inhaled a haggard breath. His eyes were no longer glowing. The gray spread to the whites of his eyes, the pupil disappearing. He began to gag. Bending forward, hands on his knees, he dry heaved.
“Take him to the HQ infirmary.” Cade’s voice was hollow, devoid of emotion.
“I’ll stay with you.” Sarid said.
“No. Both of you go. It’ll take two of you in case he has another episode.”
“What about you?” Gabriel asked.
“I’ll follow. Elias needs to be called.” Cade wasn’t going to wait any longer. Lucas couldn’t continue to beat back the anger building inside him. He took one more glance at the dark, empty road. He’d find Emma or heavens help them all.
Vetis sat in a small room next to the Follower’s. He stared at the black and white screen. The female was kneeling on the floor, head bowed, hair covering her face. Hours passed and she was still in the same position.
Did he break her spirit already? Followers were weak. Vetis thought she was different. He’d enjoyed her struggles, the shouts of pain then going back for more. So determined to escape. Her tenacity mirrored his drive to become second. And when he talked to her for a moment there’d been a connection.
A strange experience. Vetis had no emotional ties to any being except Apollyon. The tie was not of love but of respect and admiration for all he’d accomplished and what he planned to bring into existence. Would this tie have been different?
He flicked his gaze to the screen, scoffed then stood abruptly. The metal folding chair fell to the ground with a loud clack. Vetis stopped, bent to the screen. His eyes narrowed. The female was in the same defeated position but her shoulders were stiff. Her head was cocked to one side.
“Are you playing possum?” He cursed and wiped the fogged screen with his fingertips.
The female’s body remained tense for a half a minute before relaxing. Her shoulders drooped, her head lolled back to the middle, her toes no longer pressed into the ground ready for action. Vetis smiled. It switched to a low chuckle. The sound felt awkward as it grated against his vocal cords. It wasn’t a completely uncomfortable feeling.
A door in the warehouse opened, crashing against a wall. Vetis cursed Kobal’s complete lack of stealth but smiled with another glance at the screen. “Soon.” He left the fog on the screen, stepped over the fallen chair, and exited the room.
Kobal
stood in the main area.
“Wellllll?” Vetis drew out the word, pushing the cold breeze until it wrapped the demon like a blanket.
Kobal rubbed his arms. “Done. I left enough clues for them to follow. They should be here by night fall.” The sentence was punctuated with a clap of his hands.
“Excellent.” Vetis would extinguish the Behnshmas and be on his way to Apollyon before dawn. He’d have to bring the female, of course. Treat her like any other recruit in order not to raise suspicion. Soon Sonneillon would be out of the way. The quicker he acted the less time anyone—Kobal—could fuck it up.
“How’s the female?” Kobal danced from foot to foot like he was eager to skip over to the room and braid her hair. The demon smiled and his pointed teeth showed a different side of what he wanted to do.
Vetis’s hands squeezed into fists behind his back. “She’s been relatively quiet.”
“Perhaps I should check to make sure she hasn’t escaped.”
Vetis planted himself in the demon’s way. “I’ve been watching her on the monitor. The female has not escaped.”
“She may need something.”
“She needs nothing.” The words escaped quick. Too quick.
Kobal’s eyes narrowed suspiciously.
Vetis forced himself to relax. He stepped to the side. “Never mind. Do what you want.”
Kobal giggled, then skipped toward the room.
“Remember,” he called out. “The female needs to be alive in order for this plan to work.”
Kobal threw a grin over his shoulder before flinging open the door. “Hello there, beautiful,” he crooned. With another manic grin to Vetis he closed the door.
