by Kim Faulks
There was a flicker of something…fear…apprehension as he looked at her before he jerked his gaze to me. “Has she woken yet…said anything?”
I shook my head. “No, and I don’t expect she will for the rest of the night.”
He took a step closer, sparks detonated like bombs in his eyes as he closed them and breathed in deep. “That power…what is it?”
I flinched. “Unseelie.”
“It’s dark, and powerful. There’s an animal feel about it, a savagery.”
“Like I said, it’s Unseelie. That’s what we are…savages.”
He opened his eyes, gave a small nod, and then stepped backwards through the door. “If she wakes up, tell her I’m sorry…tell her…tell her she was never supposed to see it.”
And he was gone, striding down the hall, leaving me to shake my head. Such a strange kid.
The house was filled with silence. I knelt beside her, watching her pale skin turn pink once more. I couldn’t save all of it, she’d left so much behind in that place.
I glanced at the wound and pulled her shirt down, the fabric no longer soaked. Every drop of blood had been drawn back into her body…and the wounds were now closed.
Wait, that’s all I could do now. Wait and watch and pray.
Thunder roared in the sky above us. I felt his rage. I felt his fury.
Lorn was never supposed to be caught up in this war.
She was never supposed to be hurt.
Not by the Nine, and not by Lucifer.
I’d tried to protect her by breaking her heart. I’d tried to protect her by breaking mine, and we ended up here anyway, with me staring at her shattered body and wishing like hell I could take her place.
Chapter Nineteen
Lorn
Silver medallion glinted…turning over and over and over as it fell.
And between the space where one side became another flared perfect colors.
Purple.
Blue.
Red.
Green.
And in the flashes of light came an image…an image of a man…dark brooding eyes, a hard, square jaw…Titus’s father. He turned his head, smiled at me the way a father does.
“Why are you?” my voice echoed, as purple became blue and then red. “What are you?”
He lifted his hand as though to wave and I was caught by the glint of light…a medallion—just like the one Ace had around his neck.
Only it wasn’t…there were no words on this, just a carving. A dragons’s head, just like…
Just like…
The Keep.
The Keep, we call it, Rival’s voice floated back to me. The Watcher, the Protector, the Order…And down there…that’s what we call the Dragon’s Breath.
Dragon’s Breath…colors dancing across his skin, catching the outline…
Like scales…
Dragon’s scales.
Pieces slipped into place, and then fell through the cracks of my memory…over and over and over again, until darkness swallowed them. Darkness and pain and anger.
Red skies crowded in, filled with a father’s rage. I could feel him now, feel his rage shuddering.
“Lorn,” a voice crowded in. “Lorn, wake up, for Christ’s sake.”
My eyes fluttered open, bright lights flooded in.
“Thank God…thank fucking God,” Redemption leaned over me…his dark eyes filled with panic. “We have to go, now. Can you walk?”
Walk? I tried to think and nodded. “I can walk.”
The vibration was growing, shuddering the bed underneath me…I shoved up and stared around the room. “Where are we?”
“Don’t have time for that.” He grabbed my arm and swung my feet over the side of the bed. “I’ll explain everything on the way.”
He pulled and pushed. Pain flared deep in my side. I held onto his arm as he gently lifted until I was on my feet. The night hag was coming. I could feel her power, feel it in my veins, like a poison.
A poison that could never be killed.
My steps stuttered and my knees gave way as I tried to make it to the door. But Redemption was there to catch me. His strong hands held me like I was made of glass.
“Through the door, down three stairs, and to the truck,” he urged.
I followed where he led, just as I’d done all those years ago. My body fell into the rhythm…the rhythm of him. His touch, his voice—his body. He leaned close and pulled open the door before easing me through.
And that vibration came once more, shuddering like a twang through the entire house as I left it behind. We scurried down the stairs and to the four-wheel drive. I gripped the front before shoving his hand away. “Go, I’m fine. Go, Redemption.”
He lunged around the front of the truck and climbed behind the wheel as I yanked open the door and slid inside. He was always the better driver. Always the one in control. Just like he was now.
I gripped hold of the dashboard as he started the engine and threw the car into gear. We were high on some mountain in a house I’d never seen before.
Power spilled in through the vents in the dashboard. Power like I’d never felt before, and as the four-wheel drive shot forward, I saw what kind of power this was.
The valley was covered with some kind of magical shield, woven like a spider’s web across the tops of trees, down into the valley.
And it was that web that twanged…sending a blast through the strands of the web just like a fly caught by a spider.
If we were the spider…
Then who was the fly?
Trees crowded in as we left the house and the web far behind. I wondered what kind of witch crafted that…not Redemption...not Unseelie. The truck bottomed out on a gully. I slapped one hand against the dash and gripped the handrail overhead with the other as Redemption worked the wheel, taking us back down the mountain on the other side.
“Who is it?”
He cut a gaze toward me and then back to the road. “I don’t know.”
It was a lie. He knew, just like I knew…Capture was coming, and all the hunters just like him.
And with that thought, it all came back to me. The pickup, the guard, the house…the night hag.
A whimper slipped free with the memory. Fire burning in my fist, hitting her again and again and again, until there was nothing left to hit…until there was no hag left.
My teeth gnashed, shuddering and chattering, as cold shot through my middle. I held on while the truck rocked and rolled until eventually we came out to a paved road.
Redemption knew where he was going. Folded maps were wedged beside him on the seat. The GPS glowed bright, showing the way, as he punched the accelerator and the truck picked up speed.
I left him to drive in silence, watching the rear-view mirror and the road ahead. I had my own demons that waited for their five seconds of fame. Henry Mughausser, Jerry Leander…the night hag…the guards.
All dead, because of me.
I dropped my hand, and turned to stare out the window as the pain of that settled deep. I knew now—knew why it had to be Redemption. “You’ve come to take me in, right?”
The temperature in the car plummeted. Frigid air danced across my skin.
“What did you say?”
I couldn’t look at him, couldn’t say the words that needed to be said. It’s okay. It’s okay. I’m glad…I’m glad it’s you.
The end would be over soon. There was no trial by jury in the supernatural world. Once the act was confirmed, the death swiftly followed. I thought of Mom and Alma, and I was okay with this. I was ready.
The only question was…how?
“You think I’m here to take you in to The Circle?” He turned his head and growled. “You really think I could do that?”
I caught the flinch in his eyes. Both of us already had the answer.
We’d been skirting one another, playing nice, staying friends…as well as we could. But there was a distance, a cold, unfathomable distance that demanded to be seen.
>
“I’d fight to goddamn death to save you, don’t you know that by now? Has none of this…none of what I’ve done made an impact at all?”
I turned to stare at the shadowy trees reaching out for me. I wanted only one thing…to see Titus one last time…
Titus…
His name conjured an image, a coin turning over and over in my head while Redemption let out a snarl and then punched the steering wheel.
He glanced into the rear-view mirror, and then pulled the truck off the road.
I grasped the door handle as we hit a pothole and then pulled into a pathway between a thick thatch of trees.
“Get out of the truck.”
I wrenched my gaze toward him. “What?”
He fumbled for the latch on his door. “Get out of the goddamn truck, Lorn, or so help me God…”
I tried to catch hold of the image in my head, tried to understand why this was so important, as Redemption’s anger cut deep. I wasn’t afraid of him. I’d never been afraid of him.
We’re just not right for each other, Lorn. I think it’s time we went our own ways…
Those brutal words had been a sledgehammer to my chest.
I yanked the latch and spilled from the car.
He was a blur in the darkness, pacing back and forth until the red glow of the truck’s taillights caught the edge of his jaw and his unfathomable, brooding eyes.
Unseelie…dark…dangerous…an ache speared through my side.
I love you, faint words slipped in…faint words he’d whispered. Pieces slipped together…the house, the fire…the agony in my side, and his arms holding me, caring for me, touching me. I love you so much, Lorn. I’ve always loved you. I can’t live like this anymore, not being with you…I won’t live like this…
“I. Fucking. Love. You.” He wrenched his gaze toward me and then stopped.
The walls of our little game had shattered and we were staring at the mess we’d left behind. All those memories, all those moments. We were happy then…we were so fucking happy.
“You want me to beg? Fine, I’m fucking begging,” he took a step toward me, red taillights spilling against his face. “I’ll do whatever it takes…just don’t shut me out. Don’t make me out to be something I’m not. I’ll never hurt you, not from this moment forward. I’d protect you, in any realm, in any way. I’d protect you.”
My pulse hammered as he took a step closer. My will was weak. I loved him…I loved him.
His fingers brushed against my hand, soft, perfect—and a memory broke through. Soft lips against my stomach, my breasts, my lips. Whispered words of old…words I’d heard him say only once before.
“You…you healed me?” I flinched with the words and stared into his eyes. “You used Unseelie magic and healed me?”
There was no answer, no hint of anything but raw, honest desire. He stepped closer, grasped my wrist, and lifted. My fingers splayed against his chest, over his heart.
“Feel my heart beating and know this is the truth. I love you, and I’d kill anyone, or anything, that tries to take you away from me. I want you. I want you back into my life…however I can.”
He lowered his head, soft words weaving a web around me, drawing me in, taking me under. Warm lips met mine. I lifted my head, mouth opening for him like nothing had changed.
His hand went around me, while the other pressed my palm against his chest. Through the tips of my fingers I felt him, his love, his power. It ebbed and rose like a tidal wave, drawing power from the full moon.
Warm lips pressed mine, moving deeper, taking more. Taking all I had to give as he pulled me harder against him. The pulse under my fingers speeding now, climbing higher and higher. Massive thighs shifted between mine. He took a step, taking me with him until I hit the side of the truck.
There was nothing more now, nothing but him, nothing but heat, and the past seemed to slip away. His body hardened, his cock thickening against my belly.
It’d be so easy, just climb into the back seat of the car, shed my clothes. Let him do to me what he wanted…what he used to do.
His lips would be warm on my body, following the arc of my calf, and then my thigh. He’d always been a powerful lover, always pushing me to the edge of my limits. He was brutal. He was powerful. He was…Unseelie.
I was spinning, my head, turning over and over and over.
Like a coin.
Like a medallion…
I flinched with the memory and broke the kiss. “Stop…wait.”
He stilled, and then pulled away.
Fragments…that was all I had…fragments. “I can’t do this, not yet—not without Rival and Gabriel and Titus. I love them. I love each and every one of them and that’s where my loyalties lie.”
He pulled away. But there wasn’t pain or anger in his gaze…there was acceptance. “I get it. I missed my chance and now I have to wait. I’m okay with that. I’m okay with there being a chance. I don’t mind sharing, Lorn. If it means I’ll have a second, a minute with you, then I’m all fucking for it.”
“It’s not just that,” I whispered, my mind spinning out of control. “The medallion…Dragon’s Breath.” I jerked my gaze up to meet his as all the fragments slipped into place.
My own heart was thundering now, slamming against the inside of my chest. “I know what he is…I know what Titus is. What time is it…what day is it?”
“Day?” He murmured as he searched my gaze. “It’s Saturday…maybe…”
“Two days…that’s what Rival said. Two days and then they were turning off life support. I have to get there…I have to get to the hospital, Redemption…I know how to save him.”
Emotions were chained as my words hit home. He stepped backwards, glanced at the open door of the driver’s seat. “You sure?”
I wasn’t…but I was willing to take the chance. “As fast as you can, Redemption. Get me to that hospital as fast as you can.”
He gave a nod and then lunged, cutting across the truck’s taillights toward the driver’s seat.
My hands were shaking as I scrambled for my open door and pulled it closed behind me. “As fast as you can…”
Please…please let me get there in time…please.
“My phone,” Redemption growled as he slapped the truck into gear and punched the accelerator. “In the console. The hound’s number is there.”
Rival…I scanned the darkness, trembling fingers probing, searching, until I touched his cell phone and yanked it free.
Desperation owned me now. It owned every thought and every shudder as I skimmed my fingers across the screen. Hound. I pressed his name and the phone dialed.
Shame filled me, my lips sore and warm from Redemption’s mouth, my body alive and wanting. I wanted something else now. I wanted Titus alive. I wanted Gabriel happy. I wanted Rival’s loyalty, and I wanted Redemption…I wanted them all…
The call was answered, anguish spilling through. “Did you find her? Tell me you fucking found her!”
“Rival, it’s me…I’m okay…listen…listen to me…”
A whimper and then a snarl. Heavy breaths, shuddering heavy breaths. “Thank God…thank you God…”
“I need you to listen to me, please. It’s Titus…I know what he is now…I know how to save him. I need you to go there. Stop them, do whatever you have to until I get there.”
“Lorn…” Rival whimpered.
But I wasn’t listening. I was scrambling, clawing for any idea I could. “You have to stop them, Rival. You have to stop them.”
“Lorn!” His snarl snapped me aware. “I’m not there. I’m not in Harbor. I’m in Ulrich. Honey, I’m about four hours away.”
Four hours…four hours…I glanced at the GPS on the dashboard. Four hours…I lifted my eyes to Redemption, our gazes connected.
“I’ll do it in three,” he snarled, and slammed the accelerator harder. “Hold on, baby. I’ll get you there.”
“I’ll be there as fast as I can,” Rival growled. “I’ll be there
.”
The pounding of his boots on pavement echoed through the phone. He was running now, sprinting, not for his life…but for Titus’s.
“I’ll be there, Lorn. I promise you, I’ll be there.”
“Hurry,” the word slipped from my lips as my hand fell away.
I hit the icon and ended the call, watching my world slip past me in a blur of trees and white lines.
Three hours. Three hours was torture. I held on while Redemption worked the gears, spearing us toward life…or death.
Forest gave way for small towns, and then a city. We passed by in a blur, the GPS flickering, desperate to catch up. We stopped once. Redemption refueled as I hurried to the bathroom and then back to the truck.
The sky was lightening, turning back into gray, and tinged with red. Somehow, we’d left the violent storms behind…
No, not behind…just waiting.
The truck was filled with silence…a purposeful silence—a desperate silence, and as the sky grew brighter, the familiar sights of Harbor’s outskirt towns filled my view.
Every mile was torture…every second was pain.
“Cannot leave me alone, can you?” Redemption snapped and glanced into the rear-view mirror.
I leaned forward and stared into the side mirror. A dark sedan sat behind us, bright headlights hiding the plates. I knew what it was though. I could smell a cop car a mile away.
“He followed me out of the city, must’ve been waiting.”
“Who is it?” I tried to make out the driver’s face in the blur.
“I don’t know, a cop gone rogue.”
Jeffries…the name cut through my mind. He’d always had it in for me, hated me from the first moment we met. I’d given him a taste of my power, just enough to give him nightmares for a month. But the bastard enjoyed arresting me for any bullshit charge he could.
His cousin had been there that night I first saw the night hag. He may not’ve been the one to unleash the taser, but he’d been a cop who said nothing while his partner did what he wanted.
