by Sherry Soule
“Of course.” Darion scoffs. “What do you think I’m gonna do, kill my own cousin?”
Hayden is alive. Thank, God.
“Is he here, too? Wherever here is?” I ask.
A warehouse? A storage unit? Underground alien lair?
“I just don’t get why he risked everything…on a weak human,” Darion rambles on without answering my question. “Hayden drove Tama to this. She was perfectly happy until that bastard broke her heart.”
“I know you believe that, Darion, but please, think about it,” I say. “People in their right mind don’t go around killing other people over breakups. They go on expensive shopping sprees, they date rebound guys, listen to depressing music, or go on junk food binges with lots of ice cream—”
“There’s nothing wrong with Tama!” He storms toward me, his cowboy boots squeaking on the cement floor. “She’s my best friend, and I love her more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”
What is this? Some kind of demented alien love triangle?
“Hayden’s a coldhearted ass who hurt my Tama. So that’s why we’re going to take you away from him. Then he’ll know what it’s like to lose someone he cares about.”
My eyebrows scrunch up. “But if you like Tama, shouldn’t you be happy that Hayden dumped her, so you can have her?”
“That’s not the point! He can’t just break our laws without consequences—it’s not fair! Hayden hurt her, and no one gets away with hurting my girl.”
I’m dealing with a psycho who’s two cans short of a six-pack. My basic survival instincts kick into high-gear. My blood pumping hard and fast.
Time to use everything I know about scary movies and put it to good use. I will not be a cliché or some dumb clueless victim. There’s a reason that the “final girl” is usually the only survivor at the end of a horror flick. She has intelligence and guts. Mental prowess and major toughness. And someone’s gotta survive to tell the story, right?
And that girl is gonna be—me.
“Think about Hayden. If you kill me, he’ll never forgive you,” I say, fighting to keep my voice calm. “And he’ll want revenge.”
He drags a hand over his spiky flattop in exasperation. “Shut it, human!”
The metal door groans open. I pray it’s Hayden or Dixon with a swat team. Instead, two shiny black heels appear in the doorway.
“Darion, don’t you dare kill the bitch without me,” Tama orders.
Drawing in several deep breaths, I grip the edge of the mattress and hope I can stand. That I can fight. Neither of them is carrying weapons. Maybe they don’t need them. If they can bend metal objects in two, then they can undoubtedly break my neck with just a thought.
All things considered, the longer I can keep these two crazyass hybrids chatting, the better chance I have of coming up with an excellent plan of escape. I scan the room. Yeah, I got nothing.
Okay, brain, no time like the present!
Wait...Arcane is not with them. He may not know what they’re up to.
“Let me speak to your leader before you do anything you’ll regret.” My voice carries the sour aroma of desperation.
“Regret?” Tama’s lips stretch into a twisted, sinister smile. The single scariest thing I’ve ever seen outside of a horror movie. “Please. Killing you will be the highlight of my night.”
Just keep them talking.
“Where am I?” I ask, licking my dry lips.
“Does it matter?” Darion asks. “An abandoned warehouse on the other side of the island. Where no one can hear you scream.”
“Hayden will rescue me,” I say confidently.
“Not likely. Zach gave us a hand tonight. Hayden’s a little busy getting his ass chewed out by Arcane and his parents for dating such a lower being,” Tama says, her tone laced with disgust.
Oh, god. Hayden’s not here. He’s not coming to save me.
“If your inferior ass hadn’t come along and seduced him, then we’d still be together,” Tama says, sending me an accusing glare.
Adrenaline fills my veins, bubbling hot as lava. I’ve had it with Tama’s superiority crap. I stagger to my feet and glare into her hateful face.
“Enough with the psychobabble! You actually believe that you’re better than I am? That I stole your boyfriend?” I mockingly laugh, but there’s a hysterical edge to it. “Get over yourself, Tama. You might be the next step on the evolution ladder, but I got more heart than you’ll ever hope to have. And it must kill you that Hayden wants to be with me—a lowly human—more than he ever wanted to be with you.”
Tama stomps forward in her clacking heels, and her hand zooms out so fast I don’t have time to duck the slap. The crack of her hand against my skin ricochets throughout the space. Eyes watering, I massage my stinging cheek.
Darion laughs. “That’ll teach you to talk back, bitch.”
“I’m bored,” Tama says with a fake yawn. “Hand me the knife.”
Uh-oh. Time’s up.
“Violence is for idiots, Tama. Use your words,” I say.
My sarcasm falls on deaf ears.
Darion reaches behind him and pulls out a scary-looking knife from his back pocket. “Here you go, baby. Try not to get blood on your new shoes ’cause they make your legs look hot.”
Tama turns and gazes at him. They’re sharing a moment that makes me want to gag myself.
“I’ll go pull the car around while you finish up here.” Darion spins on his heel and exits the room.
Heat boils my insides. I will not die tonight. Not at the hands of two bloodthirsty hybrids.
Tama twists around to watch him go, and her back is to me. Wrong move.
The second the door latches, I use that moment of distraction to seize the knife with my right hand. My fingers curl around the hilt, cold against my skin. Tama whirls around with her eyes wide. She grabs for the knife, and we wrestle with the blade. She seizes it from my grip and jabs at my chest. I dodge the strike and elbow her in the ribs, knocking the butcher knife from her hand.
Crouching, I grasp the handle. As I turn to face Tama, she lunges, accidentally plunging the knife into her gut. Unable to release my frozen grip, I yank the blade from her stomach, blood dripping from the shiny metal. Shit! I hadn’t meant to hurt her. Only get the knife away from her crazyass. She staggers back in shock, mouth open, with both hands clutching her abdomen. Blood seeps between her fingers.
“You fat bitch!” she screeches, then collapses to the floor.
I wave the knife at her, my fingers trembling. “Don’t move.”
Tama gapes up at me from the ground, as if she can’t believe I’m standing there alive. She curls into a tight ball and moans.
At that moment, Hayden teleports into the room in a bright flash of blue light. His eyes widen as he takes in the scene, Tama mewling and bleeding all over the floor, and me clutching a wicked sharp knife.
He came to my rescue! I nearly lose it then. In a wild torrent of relief and happiness, there are at least a dozen things I want to tell him.
“It’s about time.” I smile. “I was starting to worry.”
“Are you okay? What happened?” he asks.
I shrug. “Nothing much. Tama just tried to kill me.”
“Looks like you’ve got things under control. Sorry I’m late for the party,” he says. “I had to escape the firing squad at my house and give Arcane the slip.”
I toss the bloody blade onto the mattress. “How did you know where to find me?”
“Just a hunch. The hybrids own this warehouse and it’s far enough off the main road to be private.”
“Ah, the perfect place to interrogate and torture.”
“You could say that.”
“Arcane wasn’t in on my kidnapping?” I ask.
“Not that I’m aware of.” He yanks me into his arms, ignoring a withering Tama on the floor, and lowers his face to mine. “I was so afraid that I’d lost you.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Good.”
“What about her?” I jerk my head at Tama. A surge of guilt hits hard. I move to help her, but Hayden pushes me back.
“Don’t, Sloane,” he says. “She can’t be trusted.”
My stomach clenches. Even though I know the hybrids have extraordinary healing capabilities, I can’t just stand by while she bleeds out.
“Tama doesn’t look so good,” I say.
“Don’t worry, she’ll live. Our advanced medications should heal her wound in no time.” He glances at his blubbering ex-girlfriend, the hy-bitch. “I need to call Arcane to come get her. I doubt she’ll be a problem anymore.”
“Finally some good news.” I nuzzle my face against Hayden’s warm shoulder.
Something moves in the doorway, and I lift my head. My eyes go wild.
Darion’s hands are wrapped around the handle of a Glock 45. Pointing right at us.
TWENTY-NINE
Hayden moves so fast, it’s almost a blur, and stands in front of me, shielding me from the barrel of the gun.
“Oops. I forgot all about the creepy boyfriend waiting in the car,” I say.
Hayden sighs. “That info could’ve come in handy sooner, Sloane.”
“Next time.”
He glances over his shoulder. “There’s going to be a next time?”
Darion’s face pales and his hand quivers around the handle of the weapon. “What the hell have you done to Tama?”
“Nothing that she didn’t deserve,” I say over Hayden’s shoulder.
“Shut up!” Tama yells from the floor, her hands still covering the bloody injury. “Shoot her, Darion!”
“Settle down, baby.” Darion squeezes the handle of the gun, his knuckles turning white. “And don’t even think about teleporting out of here, Hayden. No one’s faster than a speeding bullet,” he warns, and then glances at Tama. “You all right?”
“I’m fine. Just kill her,” Tama says with a soft moan. Her skin is ashen and sweat dampens her forehead. Her eyes close and her body goes limp. She sure doesn’t look fine. More like Tama’s already knocking on the grim reaper’s door.
“No, you’re not.” Hayden takes a cautious step forward. “Tama’s going to bleed to death if we don’t help her. No one else needs to get hurt, Darion. But if you murder Sloane, I’ll have no problem ending your life.”
“First get Tama help,” Darion says.
“She’ll get it soon enough.” Hayden’s body is coiled tight, his shoulders tense. “Just let Sloane go and we’ll talk.” He jerks his head at Tama. “If she doesn’t get to one of Sector Thirteen’s medical clinics soon, she’ll die…so you have a choice to make here, Darion.”
The air feels charged with hostility and apprehension. My gaze settles on Darion and the gun, my heart pounding.
Darion glances from Tama, lying in a pond of red, then back at us. The sleek weapon shakes in his outstretched hands. “Tell me what to do, baby.”
“Dammit, Darion! She’s dying.” Hayden rubs his nape as if to ease a pinch of tension in his neck muscles.
“Execute the human,” Tama whispers, her eyelids heavy.
Darion raises the weapon and points it at Hayden’s forehead. A kill shot. This is not the time to find out if my superhuman boyfriend is faster than a bullet. And even if he is, I’ll have to duck with my slower reflexes or I might be shot in the face.
“Move away from the human, Hayden,” Darion says. “Or I’ll kill you both.”
Hayden inches closer to our enemy, but I stay put. Not sure what I can do to help get us out of this colossal mess. My skin chills, as if my flesh misses Hayden’s warmth in the damp room. Our death chamber. Every muscle in my body tenses as the distance between us grows. If only I can find a way to make things right.
With a shaky turn, I scan the small room, noting the only escape is the doorway blocked by Darion and the gun in his hand.
“If I kill the girl, then we can all walk away from this, Cousin,” Darion says, his voice shaky. “We’ll dump her body and no one will ever have to know.”
Hayden closes his eyes for a second. I’m no mind reader, but I know what he’s thinking. He has one of two choices: kill his cousin or teleport us out of here and pray he’s fast enough to dodge a bullet.
“Wait!” I say. “Hayden, don’t do anything reckless, please. He’s right. If not Darion then someone else will come along and want to erase my memories. The hybrids won’t risk exposure.” I skirt past Hayden, slowly and warily until I’m standing in front of Darion. “Spare his life and take mine. Tell the others it was all my fault. And don’t let them hurt Hayden. Do we have a deal?”
Darion aims the weapon at my head, his finger hovering over the trigger. “You’d die for him?”
Stupid question.
I nod. “Yes. Please. Just do it.”
Tama leans up on one elbow. “You heard her. Kill the sub-human.”
Darion glances at her, and then says to me, “Get down.”
I drop to my knees and say a silent prayer. At least I’ll get to see Grandma again.
A rush of air and bluish light consume the room. Hayden teleports in a blinding flash of wind and power, and within an instant, he’s standing behind Darion. He knocks the gun from Darion’s hand. The weapon skids across the floor and crashes into the far wall safely out of reach. Hayden’s right arm snakes over his shoulder, and grips the back of his cousin’s head in a classic chokehold. His other arm comes over Darion’s left shoulder, reaches across his neck, and grabs his own forearm. He applies pressure while Darion thrashes his legs, but Hayden has him locked down tight. After a few seconds, Darion’s body goes limp and Hayden flings him facedown onto the cement floor. His head makes a dull cracking sound.
“No!” Tama is loudly blubbering and clutching her stomach.
Grabbing some rags in the corner that appear somewhat clean, I kneel beside Tama and press the fabric into her stab wound. “Hold these tight to slow the bleeding.”
With a glare, Tama melts into the icy concrete, holding the cloth over her injury. “I still hate you,” she mutters.
Hayden and I stare at each other, neither of us speaking.
“Great reflexes, Daryl Dixon,” I joke, and a small smile flits across his face at The Walking Dead reference. I pull away from him and glance over at Darion. “Is he dead?”
He moves closer to me, pulling my head against his chest, and I inhale the calming scent that is unique only to Hayden.
“No. Just unconscious. When he wakes up, he’s going to have one helluva headache.”
“What will happen to them?” I ask.
“Darion and Tama will be taken to a special prison for hybrids where they can’t teleport.”
“That’s it?” My blood begins to boil. Shoving Hayden away, my chest clenches painfully. “What the hell? They weren’t just trying to wipe my mind—they were going to blow my brains out!” I bite my lip, trying to control the sudden rush of anger that surfaces.
Hayden’s arms go around me tight. “That’s not our way, Sloane. Advanced species aren’t supposed to resort to murder. These hybrids have obviously gone rogue. Usually, the Brotherhood only erases the human’s memories. Not that that doesn’t suck…” He sighs. “Let’s go.”
“Hel-lo! Have you read my column?” I roll my eyes. “This is like a total gun cliché in scary movies. You cannot leave the firearm behind in the same room as the killer…or any type of sharp stabby weapon.”
He throws his hands up. “Okay! Okay! I see your point. We’ll take the Glock with us.”
“And the knife.”
He grabs the gun off the floor, pushes the safety back on, and tucks the weapon into the back of his pants. Then he picks up the bloody knife, wipes the blade off with a rag, and slips it into his back pocket. “Happy now?”
“Very.” I slightly relax and the tension in my shoulders dissolves. “But I’ll feel better if you give me the gun.”
Hayden jerks his head, looking at me quizzically. “Why?”
“I’m the final girl—duh. And I’m human, less evolved, and I’ll have no trouble shooting either of them, if they try to attack us again.” I reach around him and pull the gun out of his pocket.
I can feel the daggers Tama is visually throwing at me as I rise up on my tiptoes and briefly lock lips with Hayden.
He takes the weapon from my hands and puts it back into his pants, pulling his shirt over the gun. “You don’t need it. I’m here now. And I’ll feel better holding onto the gun. You might be the horror movie expert, but I’ve had some weapons training.”
“You continue to surprise me, Mr. Lancaster.”
“Right back at ya, Miss Masterson.” He kisses my forehead, and with one arm still securely around me, he slips his cell from his pocket and dials a number. Lifting it to his ear, he says, “Dixon, how soon can you get to the docks? We’re in the warehouse.” He listens to something the agent says, and then hangs up the phone. “The Calvary is on their way.”
“Goody. But can’t Darion and Tama just teleport and escape?”
“Not in their weakened conditions. And Sector Thirteen has the means to permanently restrain them.” He takes my hand, leading me out the door, and into the dim corridor of the warehouse. “We can wait out here.”
Still holding me close, I close my eyes and his mouth presses to mine feather-light. Hayden kisses me with uncertainty, his hands gentle on my waist as though I’m made of glass. He deepens the kiss, and it gets hotter and more intense. My mouth opens and his tongue lightly touches mine, causing the world to fall away. He tastes of exotic spices and cool peppermint. I wind my arms around his neck and pull him even closer until there’s not an inch of space between our bodies. Clinging to him, I kiss him with all the passionate emotions swirling inside my heart. I’m so happy that he’s alive and he still wants me that feelings of euphoria and lightheadedness strike hard. It’s another great movie moment, and this one lasts a good ten minutes. PG-rated, of course.
Maybe victims, especially the “final girl,” can have a happy ending.
I could stay in this cold, ugly place kissing him until my lips are swollen, but Tama’s loud whimpering is like cold water hitting me in the face.
