by Storm Savage
But now—now the picture was changing.
“You told me that my ex-husband and his family were involved with Hatch somehow. I didn’t believe you. Yet here you are, helping me again. Why?”
“Aiden told me that you were in danger so I helped him. When I saw what they did to you, I changed my mind. Believe it or not, I do have a mind of my own.”
She wiped her eyes with the hem of her shirt and sniffed back tears. “What common bond do we have?”
“We both want Coop dead.”
“Oh yeah, I do recall hearing about the power struggle between the two of you and that is why you started your own biker group.”
He settled on the floor and pulled her onto his lap. She didn’t resist. The gentleness in his touch right now was soothing.
“What I’m about to tell you must never leave this house. We are in a protected domain, so-to-speak. The Twilight Master cannot invade my thoughts where innocent blood has been spilled.”
Flame wrinkled puzzled brows but nodded in agreement just the same. “I know how to keep a secret.”
He half smiled. “I know, which is why there are some things I need to tell you.”
She took a deep calming breath and gave him her undivided attention. “Go on.”
“You asked me what I did to end up in the evil realm.”
“Yes. You said you trusted a friend.”
His expression deepened and his eyes stared straight into her, making her shiver.
“About fifty years ago, give or take a few decades, I’ve lost count, I started a biker group with someone I considered a friend. Didn’t take him long to rise within the ranks and win the respect of the entire pack. He was a strong leader, fearless without a shred of mercy. Everyone felt safe riding behind him.”
“Cooper O’Toole.”
Von nodded. “You put that together rather quickly.”
“Just a hunch. I figure a man capable of cold-blooded murder is probably intimidating enough to draw a following.”
“I didn’t know that Coop was part of the Twilight Realm until he killed me.”
“He killed you, too?” Flame gasped. “Coop is immortal?”
“Yeah, but that was only the beginning. Coop is a recruiter of sorts. He chooses his targets carefully then hands them over to the ruler of that realm as future Satellites. I was preselected. If I refused the position then my ass would’ve been thrown into a fiery sulfur pit for eternity.”
Immediately she thought back to the nightmare that plagued her only days ago, but she didn’t speak on it. Those details had been revealed to the Supreme Lioness during a sacred visitation.
“So you accepted the mission to come after me. You did know who I was.”
He gave a reluctant nod. “When Aiden told me what he’d heard about you, I had no choice. I was trying to save my own ass and hoping to save yours in the process. My only hope of redemption was fulfilling Twilight’s plan. But when Aiden’s family lost control I took matters into my own hands.”
“Redemption?” She couldn’t believe he uttered the word.
“The only way to break this hellish curse is by joining with a Sai warrior from the sisterhood, as you already know. Once you came into the open, once I met you…I devised a plan of my own. I was going to take you into hiding and gain your trust somehow. Then Twilight unleashed the hounds so I let you go without a fight to spare you more suffering. You were in pretty bad shape that day. Later, when you came after me, I tried again but you killed me before I got close enough. I guess I could’ve gone about gaining your trust another way.” He sighed. “I don’t know. Trying to stay two steps ahead of Twilight and win you over at the same time didn’t work out so well.”
His openness surprised her. She wanted to believe him. “There’s another way to dispel your curse.”
He gave her a pointed look. “Really? I doubt that.”
“If you let yourself feel again, I can pull you over. You’ll be truly free.”
“As promising as that sounds, I don’t believe there is any entity that has more power.”
“Then why are you telling me this?”
“Guess I don’t want you to think I’m the bad guy.”
“So this little moment we’re having is some kind of confession to ease your guilt?” Her hope began to sink.
“I want Coop to pay. There is only one way to kill him. Don’t you think I’d have taken him out by now if I had the power?”
“You’re the Satellite, revived. You are Twilight’s most powerful tool.”
“Typically that is true. But there’s only one way to kill creepers and the Satellite. You are one of very few people who know how.”
“I can’t believe this.” She turned away from him. “You want me to kill Coop because I’m the only one who can kill creepers, just to settle an old vendetta.”
Von guided her face back toward his with a gentle hand. “He’s not a creeper, sugar.”
Panic rose in her throat. “What is he then?” She dreaded his reply and felt certain Raef had been slain by the Twilight Master just as her mother had. “Coop is the evil ruler?” She swallowed hard. “He’s the one who killed my mother and now he came after the only person I loved. He’s going to strip away anyone I love until he breaks me.” Her heart felt cold.
“No, that’s not it. Nobody knows who the Twilight Master is. He’s an unseen force of energy that commands us to obey. If he does have a human body, we are not aware of it. We just feel his presence and hear his voice and believe me, it’s not pleasant.”
She exhaled, almost in relief. “Then what is Coop? Why can’t you kill him?”
His eyes held hers captive as he spoke. “Only a flaming dagger can kill a Satellite.”
“Cooper O’Toole is…is…a Satellite?” Her voice faltered. She could barely speak it.
“The original, the very first tool sent to earth by the evil realm. He’s older than dirt.”
“No…you’re lying…he can’t be…” Her mind blurred. Suddenly she felt ill. “Do you have any idea what this means?”
Empathy flickered in his eyes for just a split second. “Yeah, I do.”
Tears burned her eyes. An uncomfortable knot formed in the pit of her stomach. Cold sweat beaded her skin. She slammed her fist into the wall so hard her knuckles began to bleed. Von tried to hold her but she jumped to her feet and repeatedly pounded her fists against the wall, crying hysterically. “He can’t be! How could my own father kill the man I love? The names he called me…the cruel way he spoke, I-I…why has he done all this to me? Does he even know that I am his daughter?” The questions were maddening.
Von wrapped strong arms around her from behind. “He knows who you are.”
“I thought my father had some good in him. He helped my mother save me from the evil realm when I was born. What made him turn on his own flesh and blood?” She twisted the fabric of his shirt in both hands, burying her face against his chest. “I was still struggling to accept the fact that the blood of the original Satellite runs through my veins. This is too much.” Her sobs came out in a frenzied rush. “It was bad enough to find out I was sired by an evil fiend of Twilight but to know that man is Cooper O’Toole…I can’t process that. He saw me, rode with me, and never once let on.” She looked up at Von through teary eyes. “And he murdered Raef right before my eyes! He’s a beast! My father is a horrid, heartless monster.”
He held her tightly as she sobbed with unbearable grief. Everything she’d hoped for, everyone she’d loved—gone. Icy fingers of hate and death gripped her heart. The urge to run, strike out, and kill consumed her, anything to get away from her new reality. Yet a tiny voice, a seedling of something she couldn’t explain held her back. Von petted her hair with more affection than expected from a man she’d killed. Maybe it was his hope in her that kept her from bolting into the streets and releasing her rage on the first deserving target.
He rested his cheek against her head. “Now you know why I need your help. Together we c
an hunt and destroy.”
“Together? Why would I help you?” The dawning of this revelation began to take root. Every muscle in her body tensed. “You want me to use flaming daggers on Coop. What makes you think I won’t turn around and use them on you?”
“Your desire to win. If you kill me, the war will escalate to the next level. It will never end until one of us wins.”
“You don’t understand.” She pushed him away. “Get out. I’m not helping you. You’re taking advantage of my vulnerability. Get out!”
He gripped her shoulders with both hands. “No, you don’t understand. If you don’t kill Coop, he’s already selected the next Satellite in the event I fail. I have been given one last chance to win you to our side. If you kill me, they’ve already lined up another to take my place. I should know—he did the same damn thing to me. He was demoted to recruiter after he failed to get your mother. I was his replacement…but you already put that together.”
“No, no, no, no!” She clapped her hands over her ears. “Stop talking! I don’t want to know anything else!”
Taking her hands in his, he pulled them away and forced her to look into his eyes. “Do you think you’ll be able to resist Raef if he returns as a Satellite? He’ll come back with supernatural seductive power and you’re in love with him. You won’t stand a chance!”
“Nooo…” she cried while shaking her head. “This can’t be happening.”
“Listen to me.” His voice was firm. “We have to destroy Coop and find a way out of this thing. He’s got your boyfriend in holding. If I fail again, they will send him after you. They use careful calculation in choosing the tools to use. They pick men who attract women naturally then they enhance that power. Mark my words—Raef will be the next Satellite if we fail.”
“I’ll kill Coop but I’ll do it alone. Now get out.”
“You’ll never find his camp without my help,” Von growled, clearly determined to do this together.
“Fine,” she snarled through clenched teeth. “Right after I drive a fiery blade through his icy heart, I’m going to turn the same blade on you and bring Raef back.”
“You’d do that to the man you love? Allow him to be cursed for eternity?”
“At least we’d be together.”
“I never thought a woman of your stature could stoop that low. I thought you were a rare breed.” Von stared in open bewilderment. “Apparently I was wrong.”
She stared back in fury. “Yeah…I guess so.”
With a shake of his head, he turned to go. “Have it your way, Flame with-no-last-name.” He slanted her a thwarted look. “By the way, the flaming daggers are no longer a threat to me, only to Coop. I bet Ian forgot to mention that.” He vanished without a sound.
Flame slid down the wall with her back to it and slumped on the hard, cold floor in the dark. She managed to scrub all the blood from the ceramic tile until her fingers throbbed with pain. Her mind struggled to process what Von had said. If his words were true, then Cooper O’Toole was not only the original Satellite, but also her biological father. The dawning of such facts overwhelmed her. She had no tears left to cry so she dragged her weary body upstairs and dropped into Raef’s bed.
Scruffy, old, belligerent Coop is my father. The thought nauseated her. Somehow, she imagined that her father had been a daringly handsome man for her mother to fall for him. How could my mother love that old weathered coot? This is just all so wrong. If he knows who I am, how can he do these things to me? He must have truly turned to darkness. The original Satellite of all things and now I have to kill him. Not only is he a murdering bastard but a liar, too. He lied straight to my face about everything and even pretended to want the creepers killed.
She thought back to the night she rode with Coop’s band of Citizen Soldiers in search of the elusive Satellite, who’d actually been right under her nose. Coop had created an impressive smokescreen to hide his true identity. At this point, she didn’t know what to believe. She tried to sort fact from speculation. Von was indeed the Satellite, this she knew. However, as to his account on everything he just said, she had doubts. Coop did kill Raef. That was her harsh reality so either the man had gone insane or he truly was an enlisted soldier for the evil realm. That would lend insight as to the name of his biker group only they were anything but soldiers for citizens. They were nothing more than a band of evil creatures spawned from hell.
And what of Ian, she wondered. Where did he fit into all of this? Was he another pawn like my sweet Raef? Did the Twilight use him, too? Exhaustion claimed her thoughts.
Raef’s scent lingered on his pillow. Rolling onto her stomach, she clutched his pillow to her face and sobbed. “Raef…if I can kill Von, then you will come back. Would you want to return at any price so we could be together again?”
But how, she wondered. If her daggers were powerless against Von then how could she kill him? How could she even win this war? Her options seemed severely limited. Either focus on stealing Von from the Twilight or find a way to kill him. I’d probably have a better chance of helping Raef accept his humanity again than penetrating the unpredictable heart of Von Calder. She wondered if killing Coop would remove Raef from the equation. If so, she’d be back to square one.
Do I want that? If joining forces with Von to destroy Coop sends Raef away forever, what hope do I have? All that would be left is winning a war I’m not sure I still care about. What is the point in any of this if I can’t be with the only man who ever loved me? Hopelessness swept through her in wave upon wave of agonizing torment. Her thoughts retraced her options over and over until she finally dozed off without any answers.
She woke hours later, parched and bleary-eyed. After making her way downstairs and into the kitchen, she found a bottle of juice in the fridge. Her soul felt empty and ached for warmth, ached for love, and silently screamed for Raef’s loving touch. While sipping the juice she gazed out the huge bay window, facing the ocean. Waves frolicked on the sand beneath a waning moon. Dawn would soon arrive. She didn’t want it to come. She wanted the darkness to stay and shroud her grief forever.
A peculiar fog gathered around the window. She assumed the warm day and cool night had blown a night mist in off the sea. Absorbed in thought, she stared mindlessly as the mist thickened to the point where it blocked her view of the beach. Thinking this strange, she got up and walked to the window, then opened it a crack and stuck her hand outside to feel the air. The fog rushed into the room and filled it with a pungent yet strangely enticing scent. Suddenly an eerie presence surrounded her—one she couldn’t see but felt it very strongly. An unseen force slammed her to the floor. She gasped for breath.
“Flame, you are foolish to think that you can take on my Satellite,” an unfamiliar male voice spoke from out of nowhere. “If you kill him, you will have to deal with me. Let me show you a little bit of me.”
In the next instant, commanding lust consumed her. Invisible yet skilled hands swept over her body, under her shirt and down her shorts all at once. She writhed on the floor, fighting against the force attempting to take her. Whatever had entered the room possessed staggering power. Lips and tongues swathed her body until she cried out in anguish. The ache in her core brought tears to her eyes. Then without warning, she climaxed against her will. Her body shuddered in forceful release, yet not in a pleasurable manner. The evil encounter left her feeling empty and consumed by cold lust.
“Now you’ve seen a small measure of my power. If you destroy Von, I will torment you night and day until you mate with my next Satellite…you will not be able to resist him.” He let out a wicked laugh. “Nor will you have the heart to kill your pretty lover boy. I will have you one way or another. The choice is yours.”
Before the mist dissipated, she saw black eyes flecked with green peering through the fog. She curled into a ball on her side and wept. Von must have been telling me the truth. Raef has been taken by the evil realm and placed in holding as a backup plan. Cooper must really be as bad as Von sa
id. She released a jagged sigh and wiped her eyes.
“I can’t do this to you, Raef. I can’t let them curse you for eternity. You deserve to be among my ancestors, well the good ones anyway.” Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the ceiling. “I’m so sorry that your involvement with me has done this to you. Everyone who gets close to me gets hurt. I’m so sorry, baby. Whatever it takes, I will free your soul.”
She scraped herself off the floor and padded up the stairs. After a long shower to wash off the filthy scent of Twilight’s ghostly touch, she’d track down Von and work on a plan to destroy Coop. That was all she could handle at the moment. She decided to deal with this new dilemma one piece at a time.
Chapter Five
While towel drying in the master bath an unexpected visitor manifested himself in the vanity mirror. She jumped backward and smacked into the shower doors.
“What the hell?” Flame pulled the towel around her breasts and held it tightly. “Where did you come from? What do you want? Was that you in the kitchen, Ian?”
Other than looking ghastly pale, his appearance hadn’t changed much. He still had a head full of brown curls but his eyes looked dark and void of feeling.
“No, that wasn’t me. You had the privilege of meeting our master first hand.” He smirked. “Did you enjoy it?”
“Go to hell!” She snapped. “Oh wait…you’re already there.”
“Ha ha, funny. I’m here to keep an eye on Von. The master doesn’t really want to send Raef in as the third Satellite. He went to a lot of trouble bringing Von back and giving him increased capabilities. If you beat him a second time then his ass is going into the pit.”
“Noted, now get the hell out. I’ve been talking to ghosts for too long.”
“Aren’t you the least bit curious as to all the missing pieces in your emotional thicket?”
