Speak Thy Name (The Nephilim Book 3)

by Dana Marie Bell

  Precious nuzzled a window, one that she could jump out of. But Sam wasn’t leaving her dogs behind. She lifted the window, grateful she’d kept the hinges oiled and in good condition, because there was barely a sound. She lifted Precious up, helping her out before picking up Donny.

  Donny whined, but Sam didn’t have time to soothe him. She let him out before going out herself, careful not to step on the prancing Chihuahua.

  The pounding at her front door was louder, more insistent. There was a crashing sound as Sam lowered the window back into place.

  They’d broken into her home, her sanctuary. Her heart racing, Sam moved. With any luck her butt cheeks would remain bite-free.

  As silently as they could they maneuvered away from the house. The low murmur of voices was audible now, marking two, maybe three people. Her skin crawled at the thought of checking it out. She continued through her yard, thanking God the darkness covered her escape. The chain link fence between her and her neighbor was going to make noise, but there was nothing she could do about that.

  Or was there?

  Sam got out her phone and dialed Damien’s number as quietly as she could.

  “Hello? Sam?” His tone was both surprised and pleased.

  “Shh!” She tried to shush him, hoping he’d understand. “I’m in my backyard with my dogs. There’s someone out front, and none of us like the feel of them. I’m pretty sure they broke into my house.” She shivered in the cold air. “I’m scared, Damien.”

  “I’m on my way.” He’d gone from happy to fierce as soon as she was done speaking. “Try and get out of there as quietly as possible.”

  Every time she spoke upped the chances that she’d be heard, so she kept her reply brief and to the point. “Already out. Going over a chain link fence.”

  “Shit.” She heard him take a deep breath. “Can you get over it quietly?”

  “I’ve got the dogs with me.”

  “Then go, and don’t stop. Don’t turn around. I’m calling in reinforcements. Don’t stop moving until we find you.” He hung up, leaving her alone once more in the darkness with Precious and Don Pablo.

  “Up and over, then.” She grabbed hold of Precious and lifted her as high as she could, dropping the dog over the fence on the other side. There was some minor noise, nothing that couldn’t be explained away by a breeze, but whoever was at the front of her house would come looking. Don Pablo went over, then it was Sam’s turn.

  She hitched herself on to the steel bar at the top of the fence, her feet accidentally kicking the bottom. She grimaced as she got her legs over the top and dropped down into her neighbor’s yard.

  Her neighbor who had no fence, thank God.

  She crouched down and darted across the back lawn, Precious and Donny right next to her. When she went to dodge around to the left of the house, Precious and Donny went right, taking her away from the lighted driveway she’d missed from behind the house. Precious led the way after that, Donny occasionally dodging back to Sam to make sure she was keeping up.

  Something metallic-sounding rattled behind her, loud in the quiet, cold evening air. Had someone come over the fence? Were they after her now?

  She rubbed her hands up and down her arms, praying help arrived before she froze to death. It had to be forty degrees out and she was dressed in yoga pants, a long-sleeved T-shirt, and sneakers without socks. She was boned if Damien didn’t come soon.

  Precious froze in the middle of the street, snarling at something Sam couldn’t see. Donny began mimicking his bigger sister. His fur bristled as he began dancing in place.

  Sam was panting with fear. There was a monster in the darkness, hunting her, and now she was afraid it had found her.

  Precious lunged, teeth snapping in the night. A human yell sounded, but Sam wasn’t fooled. Precious had never shown aggression to a human before.

  No, this was something beyond human. Shem. The word reverberated through her mind. She’d been a fool to think she could help Damien fight them. Even their presence made her feel helpless and terrified.

  “Bitch,” a voice hissed in the darkness. Blue flame erupted from the thing’s hand, and Sam got her first look at a Shem.

  Blackened lips, blotched, pale skin, fangs, and hatred made up the…thing standing in front of her, its hands on fire. Sam took an involuntary step back, frightened out of her mind.

  Precious shook her head and whined.

  “My blood is poisonous.” The Shem spoke softly, as if it too didn’t want to wake the neighbors. “Say good-bye to the mutt.”

  Sam scowled. No one threatened her dogs, no one. “Fuck you.” She straightened her back, aware she had nothing to fight with. “You aren’t laying one scabby finger on my babies.”

  The fire flicked out, catching Precious on the nose. The dog screamed, shaking her head.

  But the Shem had been so focused on Precious that he didn’t see Donny. Don Pablo had managed to get close enough to the Shem to attack. Those sharp little fangs of his had to hurt, because the Shem once more cried out, hopping on one foot and shaking the other.

  Donny hung on, his weight possibly more damaging than his teeth. Even with the poisonous blood he refused to let go, giving Precious the chance to once more attack.

  Precious leapt, her powerful hindquarters giving her the momentum to knock their opponent to the ground. Off balance, the Shem fell under the onslaught of her dogs, his fire going out as he desperately tried to fend off a two-pronged attack.

  Now that he was down, Donny released, going for more…sensitive targets. Where he learned that she didn’t know. Maybe he remembered from when she’d had him fixed.

  Sam couldn’t let her dogs do all the work. She ran toward the Shem as well, just as determined to protect her dogs as they were to protect her. She landed next to Precious and began pummeling the Shem with her fists everywhere she could reach without interfering with the dogs. The Shem now had three of them to deal with.

  A car squealed to a halt next to them. “Sam!” Damien’s panicked voice reached her just as the Shem tried to light himself on fire again. “Get out of the way!”

  Sam jumped back, calling Precious and Donny to her. “Come.”

  They obeyed, moving away from the Shem to her. She dashed behind Damien’s car, kneeling next to her dogs and studying their faces.

  Each of them had burns, and both were making sounds like they were going to puke. She got out of the way just in time to watch green goo come out of them. She heard two muffled gunshots in quick succession but tried to ignore the sound of Damien killing the Shem. It was more important that her dogs were all right. They’d saved her life. They deserved all the hugs, pats, and treats they wanted for the rest of theirs.

  She was crooning to them both, almost crying over their burns when Damien approached. He hauled her to her feet and hugged her tight, keeping her from looking toward the Shem by holding her face against his chest. “Did he hurt you?”

  The quiet fury in his voice almost hid the fact that his hands were trembling. “I’m fine, but he hurt my dogs.”

  He squatted to inspect them, grimacing when they puked up green goo again. “We have to get them to Gabriel. They’ve ingested Shem blood. He’s the only one who can save them now.”

  She let out a soft sob. “No. Please? They saved me. They were the ones who sensed something was wrong and tried to protect me. They fought that thing off until you got here.” She clutched his jacket. She didn’t care that she couldn’t stop crying, her dogs needed to live. “They’re my babies, Damien.”

  He nodded silently, lifting the now prone Donny in his arms. “Let’s get them in the car. They don’t have much time.”

  Once Donny was settled she helped Damien put Precious in the car. It frightened her how still both of them were. “They can’t die, Damien. They just can’t.”

  “We’ll take care of them, I swear.” Damien got her into the car.

  She sank against the seat, grateful for the heat that blasted her. She was chi
lled to the marrow of her bones. Her hands were shaking so badly she couldn’t even get her seatbelt latched.

  Damien helped her before taking off, leaving the dead Shem in the road. “Dante is on his way. He’ll deal with the body while we get your dogs taken care of.”

  “Do you think he was the only one? Because I heard someone break into my house right before the flaming Shem found us.”

  “No, I don’t.” He scowled and pressed a Bluetooth symbol. “Call Dante.”

  In response to his voice command, Sam heard the comm system voice respond, “Calling Dante Zucco.”

  From the speakers of the car, a phone rang. A click sounded and Dante answered. “Zucco.”

  “There was more than one. Sam heard someone break into her house right before she was confronted.”

  Dante began swearing in Italian. “I’ll warn Seth.”

  “Thanks. Stay safe, my brother.”

  “Stay safe, my brother. And keep our Sam safe, too.”

  “End call.” Dante hit the highway. “We’ll be at Gabriel’s soon.” He glanced at her, his expression confused. “How did they find you?”

  “I must have left something behind or triggered an alarm I missed when I hacked into Armitage Computing.” She rubbed her eyes wearily. “They traced my IP address and discovered where I was.”

  For a while, he was silent. When he finally spoke, his tone was suspiciously bland. “You hacked into their system.”

  “Yes, and I managed to download some encrypted files that caught my attention. I also got the CEO’s email on file, as well as some of his private documents.” She turned, hoping she could reach one of the dogs. Were they still breathing? She couldn’t tell in the darkness. Please let them be breathing.

  “How long were you in the system?” He turned off the highway, taking a road toward a wooded area. Gabriel must live nearby. She caught sight of a house on a hill not that far away. It looked huge.

  “A couple of hours.” Far longer than she’d meant to be, but she’d been working hard not to get caught. “I was as careful as I know how.”

  “The Shem have checks in place not many could get by. The fact that you were in their system for hours and they caught you only at the tail end…” He shook his head, but she glimpsed his scowl as they turned down a road that lead toward the hill. “You could have been killed, Sam.”

  “I was trying to help.” Her voice had gone timid, and she hunched in on herself. It was her fault her dogs were hurt, and that knowledge burned.

  “It’s not worth your life. I told you that.” He pulled to a halt in front of a mansion on the hill. He pulled the keys from the ignition. “Let’s get the dogs inside.” He shook his head. “I hope you like it here, because this is where you’re staying until we get this situation back under control.”

  “What?” She had to be at work tomorrow. She couldn’t stay here.

  “I’ll let Piotr know. Trust me, he’ll understand.” Damien hefted Precious over his shoulder.

  “You mean he’s like you?” She’d suspected, but there was less proof of Piotr Romanov being Nephilim than there was concerning Damien.

  Damien nodded as he pushed open the door of Gabriel’s home. Sam had no idea who Gabriel was, but Damien obviously trusted him. They had to be family of some kind, maybe cousins?

  But Gabriel turned out to be much more than she’d bargained for. The tall blond man with the striking violet eyes wasn’t what she’d expected. “Welcome, Samantha, to my home.” His voice was deep, soothing. It made her think of a mix of Morgan Freeman and James Earl Jones.

  Gabriel placed his hands on each of her dogs, and they instantly woke. He stroked Donny’s ears, earning her Chihuahua’s eternal love. Donny was a slut for a good ear rub. “You were brave, little one. You protected your mistress despite the odds.”

  Donny wagged his tail weakly and licked Gabriel’s wrist.

  Gabriel smiled and spoke to Precious. “Well done, warrior. Your mistress is safe now. You can rest.”

  Precious sighed and went back to sleep.

  “Will they be all right?” She was watching her dogs through watery eyes. She hadn’t stopped crying since she got in Damien’s car. She couldn’t stand the thought of losing either of them.

  “They’ll be fine.” Gabriel took Don Pablo and gestured for Damien to follow him. “I’ll see to them personally. Micah, please show Samantha to her room.”

  “No. I want to be there for my dogs.” Sam crossed her arms over her chest. “They were there for me, after all.”

  Gabriel smiled, looking pleased. “Very well. Follow me.”

  Sam did as told, praying all the while that Damien knew what he was doing.

  Chapter 10

  Damien watched as Gabriel worked on Sam’s dogs. Sam was biting her nails and pacing back and forth, waiting for any sign they would wake up. He was amazed at the deep bond the three of them had. The dogs were getting a big treat from him as soon as he could get one. They’d protected someone precious to him, making them heroes.

  “Sam.” She stopped and stared at him, her eyes damp with unshed tears. He took her hand away from her mouth and kissed the poor, abused digits. “They’ll sleep when Gabriel is done. Shem blood poisoning is nothing to sneeze at, but when he’s finished healing them, their bodies will need rest to fully recover.”

  “I can’t sleep until I know they’re okay.” She grasped his hand tightly, her gaze never leaving Don Pablo and Precious. “We take care of each other, you know?”

  He didn’t. He’d never had a pet, so living with dogs was completely foreign to him. He already liked Don Pablo and Precious, so he doubted he’d have any trouble learning to adjust to having them around.

  He sat her down on the only chair in the room. This was where Gabriel took anyone who needed healing. Usually Rafe was here, working with Gabriel, but not even Rafe could cure Shem blood ingestion. Gabriel was the only one who could. “Tell me more about them.”

  She smiled sweetly through her tears. “Donny is so sweet. He likes to sit in my lap and watch TV with me. Precious sits on the sofa next to us and cuddles up close.”

  That sounded great to Damien, except he wished he was in either dog’s place. Or rather he’d want Sam in his lap, not the other way around. “It sounds nice.”

  “Yeah.” She wiped away a tear with her free hand. “They remind me to eat, because I tend to forget a lot.” She laughed weakly. “I feed them twice a day, but they won’t eat until I do.”

  The woman needed a keeper, someone to take care of the details while that brilliant mind of hers worked. The dogs were good, but they weren’t him. “They protect you from strangers like me.”

  “They’ll love you, trust me.” She gasped as Gabriel straightened.

  “They’re asleep, the good kind.” Gabriel strode toward them, and for a moment the fatigue seemed to overwhelm Gabriel before Gabriel quickly hid it again. “Do you think you can rest now, Samantha?”

  She stood and went right to her dogs, dragging Damien with her. She hadn’t let go of his hand since he’d taken it. She petted them, watched their breathing, and sighed in relief. “They look good.” She turned to Gabriel and lunged at him, letting go of Damien. She hugged the angel tightly. “Thank you.”

  Gabriel looked like he’d been hit in the ass with a bat, but he hugged Sam back anyway. Damien couldn’t remember the last time someone had dared hug the archangel. “You’re welcome.”

  She let Gabriel go, but not before pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. “If there’s anything I can do for you, let me know.”

  Though there was no sexual intent in her words, Damien found himself near to growling anyway. Sam shouldn’t make those kinds of offers to anyone but him.

  Gabriel shot him a knowing look before turning Sam gently toward the door. “I promise I will. Now go to bed.” She started shaking her head violently, and Gabriel sighed. “If you still can’t sleep, perhaps you and Damien can go over the data you collected. There has to be a reaso
n the Shem attacked you tonight of all nights. I’m betting you’ll find it in the files you gathered.”

  “I agree.” Damien took hold of her hand and pulled her back next to him. She’d scared the hell out of him with that phone call, and he still couldn’t believe she’d come out of a confrontation with a Shem unscathed. He’d expected to find her bleeding, being fed from, or worse, dead. Instead, he’d found her and her dogs beating the shit out of their attacker.

  All right. Her dogs were beating the shit out of the Shem. She’d been flailing away like a spastic Muppet. He’d have to either get one of the others to teach her how to throw a punch or take her to the gun range and get her a license to carry. He’d be more than happy to keep her supplied in holy water bullets if need be.

  “I think we need to decrypt the files first.” Sam’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Where’s Gabriel’s computer?”

  He chuckled. “Follow me. I think you’re going to like this.” He’d set up Gabriel’s computer room himself, making sure the angel had access to top quality machines and the best in security.

  He led her into the security room. If Gabriel’s mansion was breached, the room not only locked down the most sensitive areas, but it led to a bunker built into the hill. A duplicate security room was built down there, along with an escape tunnel that would take them a couple of miles underground into Pennsylvania and a safe house waiting for them. Seth had designed everything and hired the crews to build their safe house. Piotr had built the bunker and the escape tunnel using the same men who’d built his own, leaving the electronic security to Damien.

  Gabriel took care of the spiritual security. Damien wasn’t certain what Gabriel did, or how, but the Shem never seemed to be able to find it. He hoped that held, because with Sam there they’d need that extra layer of protection.

  “Wow.” She touched the computers, lovingly running her hands over every inch. Her thin fingers began to fly over the keyboard, bringing up the computer’s stats. “There’s a newer BIOS version we need to upload,” she muttered. “What security program are you using?”