by Louisa Bacio
“Leave her alone,” Lawrence said, drawing back the attacker's attention. Maybe if he distracted him enough, Lily would at least be able to escape. She might not be able to fight the demon, but she could run. Lawrence met her eyes for a brief moment, and implored her to flee. With a remorseful and defeated look, Lily shook her head “no,” and sunk into the pillows.
With only one of the demon's hands on him, Lawrence thought he must be able to get away, to do something, but to no avail. Even battling the rogue vampires to save Trevor he'd never experienced anything this strong. It was as if the demon possessed the power of hell in his grasp.
With one hand, the demon held him still, and with the other he pulled Lawrence's head to the side. For a brief moment, Lawrence thought his life would be over, the beast would simply rip his head off, but then he leaned in close and the raw sewage smell from his mouth reached Lawrence, choking him. He tried to twist away, to move out of the demon's hold, and then demon opened his mouth further, showing off a contrast of sharp sparkling teeth. Pain flared through Lawrence's neck as his skin ripped from his throat in gashes.
Such a fool, Lawrence thought as he fell toward the floor, already growing weak from the loss of blood pumping from his neck. He never let his guard down. He'd been so distracted by his raging desire for Lily that he hadn't heard their attacker enter the room. Try as he might, he couldn't keep his eyes open, and couldn't fight the stupor taking over his body, as he slid into an unconscious oblivion.
Chapter Nineteen
Trevor
After the last of the revelers left, Lawrence and Lily headed upstairs, and Trevor stayed behind to help supervise the cleanup. With the bookstore once again looking like a retail establishment, and not a decadent nightclub, Trevor let out the rest of the hired servers and locked up. As he pulled down the front blinds and shut off the lights, a sense of uneasiness haunted Trevor. In the past few weeks, they'd experienced many changes and a few challenges. Someone else entering their lives shifted the dynamics of the relationship. Still, Trevor could barely imagine life without Lawrence or, for that matter, Lily.
Already, she'd ingrained herself into their daily routine. He enjoyed waking up to her grouchy demeanor. Trevor had grown used to being alone during the days, so having another living soul with him proved to be nice. He wasn't quite sure where Lawrence stood though. If one thing was sure, it was that Lawrence was definitely set in his ways. His vamp lover was adventurous enough, but would he want Lily in their lives permanently? And, would she want to stay in New Orleans?
Humming a tune that must have caught his attention some time during the night, Trevor hesitated on the stairway leading upstairs to their living quarters. He thought he'd heard a crash from somewhere above, but then no other noises followed it.
Usually the upper living space would be awash with light and liveliness. Tonight, though, silence permeated the murky air. Were they both so exhausted that they turned in to bed already? He attempted to flip on the hall light, only to be met with an unsatisfying click. Nothing? No power, no electricity, no light.
Cautiously, he stepped forward. Partly, he felt silly for suddenly feeling afraid of the dark, and the other half of him—the half that would never forget all those nights growing up alone in the dark or fearing what could potentially find him—pulled his instincts tight.
“Lawrence? Lily? Are you up here?” he called out. “What happened to the lights?”
No response. Hands outstretched in the hallway, he moved forward, his supernatural eyes already adjusting to the dimness. He was made for prowling through the darkness. He reminded himself that he shouldn't possess many fears. His senses told him something else.
He felt another presence through the darkness. An evilness that oozed through the air like a bloated bug wading through a glass of red wine. Danger to those that he loved. He must protect his domain. His mates. His pack.
Trevor's skin bristled, and it felt like every pore on his body expanded to accommodate his transformation. Jaw open wide in fury, his nose elongated and his vision grew sharper than a human could comprehend. While he could smell the vileness beforehand, now the scents took on another depth—stagnant dirt as if it had been dug up from the bowels of the earth.
Back stretched out, buttocks became haunches, and his chest expanded until his completed howl echoed off the brick walls lining the alleyway. The final transformation didn't resemble a wolf animal, but neither did he morph into one of those hairless, reptile-like creature with ghastly long nails and a snarling slobbering mouth. Instead, he resembled a hybrid between a man and a wolf, upright, muscular, covered in a gray velvety fur and exceedingly well hung.
Chin raised, he sniffed the air, seeking the source of the danger. A crackling of the wooden floorboards drew his attention, and he cocked his head to the side. Even in this more wild state, he erred on the side of caution. To charge in without any knowledge of what he was facing could prove dangerous, even deadly. He preferred to know his foe. He listened intently, taking shallow breaths and doing his best not to make any noise to further give away his position.
A scream broke his resolve. Lily. She sounded frightened, and her fear made his heart pulse. Where was Lawrence? He should have been home, and just about nothing should have been able to get past Law.
Trevor tore down the hallway toward Lily's room, his nails raking through the wooden floors, instincts taking over reason. His eyes automatically adjusted for the void of light. The door to the room was broken off its hinges. Someone had wanted to get either in or out of the room badly.
Quickly, Trev took in the setting. Lawrence lay crumbled on the floor, blood pooling over his gorgeous golden body, and a demon stood on the balcony with Lily in its arms. Her nightgown hung in tatters on her body. She beat against the arms of her captor. Her nails drew blood and the attacker acted like he didn't feel a thing. Uselessly, she kicked her bare feet against his side.
In all of Trevor's years in the paranormal realm and his research into the unknown, he'd never seen a creature as inherently malevolent as this one. It looked like the epitome of Satan, the Biblical, classically depicted version of a demon that much of mankind feared. Dark burgundy skin, black horns, slit eyes like a snake. Except a regular human's mind couldn't comprehend the blackness that surrounded its soul. Rather than the aura that a regular living creature possessed, a darkness enveloped the demon as if its very existence sucked the light out of the world. Trevor wanted to retreat from the room, as if saving his own soul depended upon getting away. Instead, he fought against the instinct.
“Leave her alone,” Trevor commanded. “You have no right to be here, and no right to her.”
Spittle flew as the demon laughed. “Oh, look who wants to play now,” he said in a gravely voice. “Is this your puppy Lily? You better call him off before another boy gets hurt.”
It was as if Lily hadn't noticed Trevor's presence until that moment. Their eyes locked, and he physically felt a pulse of her fear, mixed with anger and confusion. In his mind, she called for help but that wasn't what escaped from her mouth.
“Stay away, Trevor, it's me that he wants,” Lily cried. “Help Lawrence.”
Ignoring her pleas, Trevor surged forward. “Use your powers, Lilianna. Concentrate.”
She shook her head. “I can't. It doesn't work.”
“Do you think you can use powers that I gifted to you against me?” the demon asked, stepping back and looking briefly over his shoulder as if to judge his position.
Trevor used that moment to lunge, making a grab for Lily's arm. Her skin felt icy cold, as if she'd been trapped in a walk-in refrigerator for hours and all her natural warmth had been sucked from her body. Trevor had barely touched her, when the demon reeled his other arm back and hit him full force across the face. He slammed back into the floor, his head cracking against the bed's frame. The cackle of the demon's laugh flooding the room.
Blood flowed through Trevor's mouth, and he looked up from the floor, feeling h
elpless to aid Lily.
“Give up already? You're no match for me,” the demon said, taunting him.
Trevor looked to where Lawrence lay, hoping for help from his partner, but the vampire didn't move. Trevor willed himself up, to keep fighting for them all. Years ago, when Lawrence had been outnumbered by the gang of vampires, he hadn't backed down, he hadn't left Trevor to be senselessly slaughtered, and he certainly wouldn't want this demon to kidnap Lily, as evidenced by the battle that had already taken place.
Trevor fought his way to a kneeling position, taking in deep breaths as streaks of pain ran wildly through his left leg. Something felt broken. Even still, he couldn't give up. Bracing his arm against the bed, he pushed himself all the way up, settling most of his weight on his right leg, and lifting the left one slightly off the floor.
The light of the moon shone through Lily's fiery red hair, and suddenly he had a feeling that he would never see her beauty again, that he'd never be able to help her achieve her full potential, her dreams.
“She's mine now,” the demon said ominously.
Anger pooled in the pit of Trevor's belly, and he lifted his snout to howl once again.
With a final look, the demon leapt from the railing, into the night.
Chapter Twenty
Lily
Lily felt the coldness down to her bones, and the darkness surrounding her possessed a tangible quality all its own. If she had use of her hands at the moment, she was sure that she could be able to grab hold of it.
With her hands pinned behind her back, Lily worked at her bondage. What's the use of having psychic abilities if she wasn't able to use her gifts when it mattered most? It's not like she could levitate a pair of scissors or keys to break her free … not if there was nothing else in the room with her. Room? By the way the wall she leaned against felt, she'd probably be better off calling it a cave. She rubbed her fingertips against the rock, wondering if she could somehow rub the ropes off her wrists.
Tears streamed down her face, and she felt even more unpleasant stuff coming out of her nose. Just when she was feeling settled and had a place she belonged, it all came crashing down. She knew that it had been too good to be true. She never should have gotten her hopes up, or given away her heart. It hurt too much to lose what she'd never had, what she could never have again.
The smell in this place clogged her nose, burning whatever protective nose hairs she may have. She could sense the stench carving its way through her nasal cavities, infecting her brain with its toxins. A weird mixture of ammonia and feces. She'd lived in a house with a collie once. Although the house had a doggie door in the kitchen, one day he had trapped himself in the small master bathroom. When they had gotten home from school, the inside of the house was hot in the almost summer sun. As soon as they'd opened that bathroom door, the smell had hit them: peach potpourri and shit. Just awful. Sylvester had slunk his way out of there, and hightailed it outside. She didn't blame him for having to go to the bathroom after being locked in all day, but she never could stand the smell of those air fresheners again. Her foster mother made her clean up the mess.
* * * *
A moan cut through the darkness. It didn't sound like it had come from someone with a lot of strength. Her heart skipped a beat, and Lily surmised that whoever let it go was probably on their last legs. In a place such as this, she didn't doubt that. What would it take to get her to that moment? She'd lost track of time, had no idea how long she'd been there. Her stomach grumbled a protest, reminding her that she had already missed lunch and without a watch, she guessed that the time was sliding into the dinner hour.
The slight ache that had been lurking behind her left eye pushed through into a full-force headache. How could she feel hungry and nauseated at the same time? She gagged on that damn sickening smell of sulfur. If she, by the grace of the gods, happened upon a Happy Meal right now, she'd upchuck it as fast as she could get it down.
Why had the demon brought her here, only to abandon her for so long? He'd tied her arms together, and hooked a chain around her waist, but hadn't bound her to anything. She sensed time was running out the closer it drew to her birthday. Relentlessly, she worked against her bonds, loosening the ropes until they frayed free.
No way was she waiting for the demon to return. She needed to escape. She followed the wall, until she suddenly reached empty air. She flailed back to solid rock. Ever so slowly, she moved forward until she reached the edge again. A tunnel, perhaps? Now came the big decision—turn down the tunnel or continue ahead. Through the blackness, she swore she could make out the smallest glimmer of light ahead. She didn't know what lay down at the end of the tunnel, but she also didn't know what waited ahead. Someone or something by the sound of the uneven wailing. She could go forward, and then double back to the tunnel if she decided that was a better choice.
Right, because people in horror movies always got to make a second choice. At a crossroads? she thought, more than a bit sarcastically. No problem—choose any direction and if you don't like what the future holds, just go back and select a different path.
As if life worked that way.
It took quite a bit of inner-cajoling and courage to let go of the wall and step forward without a lifeline. The mouth of the tunnel felt like it went on forever, until she finally found the other side and sighed with relief.
Time didn't hold any meaning in the tunnel. Lily continued, skin peeling back from the fingers on her right hand as she rubbed them along the wall. Her torn nightgown didn't offer any warmth. Her aching feet felt raw from walking without shoes.
Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel—such a cliché—grew brighter. Lily felt like it was like a mirage in the desert. She kept blinking her eyes, expecting the lights to disappear when she next opened them, but it remained true and kept getting lighter and lighter, seemingly the closer she got to it.
At the same time, the wailing increased. She was afraid of what she would find once she reached the source, but she would cross that bridge once she arrived at it.
So many hours had passed, or so she thought, since she had started out. Maybe, though, it had only been fifteen minutes. She had no idea. All she knew was that her body hurt, her throat felt raw and she desperately wanted to be back above-ground, feeling the sun's warm rays upon her cold skin and basking in the attention of her two paranormal boys.
* * * *
As she entered the alcove, she immediately took in the sight of a woman chained to the wall on the opposite side of the room. At least it looked like a woman from the long, straggly hair that hung over her face. The figure slumped forward over her body, as far as the binding of her wrists would allow. She'd found the source of the moans. Lily's shoulder sockets ached just looking at her and imagining what it would feel like to get to that point.
Only slightly did Lily falter where she stood. She wanted out of this hellhole and she was going to have a hard time doing it alone. Someone else as weak as the woman looked would add to the difficulty. Her heart and humanity quickly took over, however, and she stumbled forward to see if she could help the other prisoner.
“Are you all right? Can I help you?” Lily whispered as she drew closer to the woman. Such odd-sounding questions, even to hear own ears, but what else was she supposed to say?
The woman pulled up quickly, rattling her chains, as if startled by the sound of another voice, and probably even more so by the voice of another woman. As Lily looked into the other woman's face, she felt an eerie recognition. It was like looking into a mirror of the future. Her own features reflected in the other figure, except the chained woman had done some obvious hard living.
The woman's eyes grew wide. “Lilianna?” she asked, reaching a tentative hand out toward Lily's face but stopping just short of touching her skin. “Tell me I'm imagining you, my girl. A trick of the mind, or of the deceptive bastard that keeps me chained here.”
Lily took a step back, shaking her head. This wasn't happening. The scene that she
imagined so many times over and over throughout her lifetime. That magic mystical time when she would come face to face with her mother. Depending upon her age, she pictured warm, embracing hugs; arms filled with toys from every missed birthday and Christmas; a chance encounter at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant on one of her many jaunts across California. Never, ever within a demon's dungeon.
“I'm Lily,” she said, a bit more defiantly than she planned. “I'm really here, but I don't know who you are.”
“Arimanius!” the woman cried out. “What have you done?”
Arimanius? The demon she'd found through her research. Somewhere from the depths of the caves, a deep laughter bellied through the tunnels. The sound of it sent shivers throughout Lily's body. The dark glee seeped off the laughter, enveloping her soul in web of despair.
“You must get out immediately,” the woman said, “before it's too late.”
Anger seethed in the pit of Lily's stomach. It was one thing to be kidnapped and brought down into the depths of hell, and another for this woman—who claimed to have some type of hold over her—to tell her the obvious.
“Oh, no,” Lily said, sarcasm dripping from her words, “but I'm having such a glorious time here. I don't WANT to go home. And let me ask again, who are you?”
The woman sighed as if she'd lost the fight long ago. “Ah, Lilianna, I'm Julia, your mother.”
Inside Lily, something clenched up. A lifetime of built-up hope destroyed with one statement. Is this what she'd been looking for her entire life? This wasted woman? Is this what was in store for her future?
“Why did you leave me?” As soon as she asked the questioned, Lily slapped her palm over her mouth, in shock that she'd actually asked it. But heaven—and hell—knew that it was the one thing she'd been thinking about … forever.
“I had to protect you. The only way I knew to keep you safe was to leave you.”
“You could have tried. Obviously, you survived …”
“You helped shield me when I was pregnant,” her mother cut Lily off, as if she knew what Lily would be asking, as if she'd thought about this moment many times in her own life. “Without you, he would have found me. Would have found us.”
