Chapter 33
Vince tossed a scarf at her. "Put this on."
"I'm not really in the mood to accessorize, Vince.” The guy was on edge, sweating profusely and twitchy as hell.
"Please, Grace, just put it on." His gaze softened. “You'll come around, you'll see, once you talk to them, once they explain.”
"Come around to what? If you think I’ll turn on the knights, that I’ll willingly help demons take this city, you’ve lost your damn mind.” It was getting harder and harder to keep her tone reasonable and not beat the shit out of him. The only reason she hadn't was Hannah and the other demi being held against their will.
They’d changed cars a little while ago.
She and Vince were in the back and there was a motherfucking demon in the driver’s seat. He kept glancing back at her in the rearview mirror. The disgusting vermin was wiry and well-muscled, and she didn't think he'd go down easy if she attacked. She also didn't know what weapons he had stashed in the front with him.
“I wouldn’t talk like that if I were you,” Vince said, gaze darting to the asswipe driving.
"What the hell is wrong with you?” She searched Vince’s features, looking for any sign of the male she'd believed him to be all these years, but there was nothing. A day ago, hell, an hour ago, she never would have believed he could do something like this. She knew he wanted power, that he wanted to be important, but she never believed he’d do something like this to get it.
“How could you do this? How could you hand over your people, your family, to these monsters?”
Anger flashed in his eyes. "You don't know what you're talking about. I'm doing this for my family, for the greater good, and in time you'll come around to our way of thinking."
The greater good? "Who are you working for?"
“You’ll find out soon enough. Now put on the damn scarf, Grace, or our friend here will make you.”
The demon behind the wheel grinned at her in the rearview mirror.
He shifted in his seat, and she knew their demon chauffeur was hoping that he’d get the chance to deal with any problems that might arise. And by problem, she meant her.
Her options were limited. Jump out of a moving vehicle and leave Hannah and the other demi to die, or face whatever evil was waiting for her at an unknown destination. Not much of a choice.
Securing the scarf over her eyes, Grace remained silent the rest of the drive, trying her best to remember the turns they took, the distances between each one. But the longer they drove, the more impossible it became.
They seemed to drive forever before finally coming to a stop. By that point, she’d lost all concept of place and time. When the car door was opened, she was pulled roughly from the vehicle. No doubt by the demon driver, whose fingers dug deeply into her arm, trying to cause pain. She listened hard. They weren't in the city, not anymore, because the sound of traffic, of car horns and sirens were muted, distant.
"Let’s go," a gruff voice said close to her ear.
Walking blind was not fun, especially since she expected the guy leading her to attack at any moment, or at the very least steer her into a wall or two. The ground beneath her feet was smooth asphalt. The sound of a door opening came next.
"Keep moving."
“This is all very cloak-and-dagger,” she said in as dry a tone as she could manage over her pounding heart. She dropped her block, testing, but the light electric current licking over her skin told her that someone else was taking care of that now, was blocking the demi held here against their will. “I think someone’s been watching too much human television.”
"Cut the shit, demon butcher, or I'll cut it for you,” he breathed right against the shell of her ear.
She gritted her teeth. It was the same name the demon prick who’d shoved her off the side of a building had called her, and the asshole who’d attacked her at the penthouse—and they certainly hadn’t been fans of her work. This new development did not bode well, not at all.
He shoved her into a chair and then took great pleasure, she was sure, in tying her to it securely. So securely it caused pain. “The chains were forged in Hell, your powers are useless,” he said, a smile in his voice. “We wouldn't want our special guest to get away now, would we?”
Fuck, he'd tied her tight enough that there would be no getting free. Bastard. She straightened her spine. "Good to see a demon actually taking pride in his work."
The slap that came was sudden and hard enough to send pain spiking through her jaw.
Oh yeah, that rung her bell. Blood filled her mouth, and she spat it out, in what she hoped was his direction. When he hissed out a curse, she knew she got her target.
Adrenaline buzzed through her, firing her up. She would kill this asshole the first chance she got. “And here I was thinking we were friends,” she said, and grinned.
She braced, knowing the second hit was coming. This time he skipped the backhand and went straight for a closed fist. Her head snapped back when it connected with the side of her jaw, and this time she saw stars.
A door crashed open. "What the hell are you doing? She's valuable, you stupid asshole. More valuable than you.”
Vince was attempting to protect his prize. How sweet.
"If the master doesn't want her, I'm calling dibs. I want to make this bitch scream,” the demon said.
She turned her head to where she thought he was standing and spat out more blood. “You make a lot of females scream?”
He leaned in. “You know it. Can’t get enough of me. I’ll make you scream for more in my bed, then for your life when I’m done.”
“The only way a female would scream in your bed, weasel dick, is if she’s faking it. Screaming in desperation to get the hell away from you, though, I would completely understand.”
There was a crash, the guy no doubt lunging for her, followed by the sound of scrambling feet and some grunting. "Take him the fuck out of here," Vince said.
So there had been more than just the two of them in here, then, because Vince sure as hell wouldn’t have gotten physical with the prick.
“I’m gonna have fun killing you, asshole,” she called when she heard the door open.
She reached out with her senses, trying to pick up the presence of others in the room, but felt nothing, not even Vince's familiar vibes. Someone was most definitely blocking them. “There’s some kind of protective ward here, right? I can't sense you.” Her words came out slightly slurred past the swelling on the right side of her face and mouth.
The scarf was lifted, and Grace blinked at the sudden brightness, and then realized one of her eyes was swollen almost shut.
Vince stared into her one good eye. “Something much better than that, more effective, too." His grin was fucking ear to ear.
"Sounds cool and all, but can you untie me now because I can't feel my hands." The cool and calm act was getting harder and harder to pull off, especially when she was bruised and bleeding, and with every passing minute, she knew her chances of getting out of here alive were decreasing. “Where's Hannah?”
He ran surprisingly gentle fingers down the uninjured side of her face. "I can't untie you yet, Gracie, not until I explain why you're here." He grinned and looked fucking insane. "If you agree to join our cause, you’ll reap the rewards, have the privilege of helping to create a whole new world, a world where our kind will no longer live in fear of discovery, of demons. We will live together in harmony."
She snorted. "Sounds like some kind of hippie commune. Considering a demon just used my face as a punching bag, you'll have to excuse me for being a little skeptical."
"I think we both know why he might be a little pissed at you. But they’ll get over it eventually.”
“I doubt that.”
He shrugged. "Hopefully our leader will agree that your nocturnal activities will work in our favor. A warrior to fight for our cause...and with your new power…" Excitement lit up his whole face. "You could be very powerful one day, so incredibly
valuable to us."
"And what about Oden? What's his part in all this?"
Vince tilted his head to the side. "I owed him, but that debt was paid when I provided him with what he needed."
Her throat was tightened, and she struggled for breath. "Tina...Hannah."
His mouth twisted. "I didn't like doing it, Grace. But I knew it was for the best…for them, for all of us?”
“Do you still think it was the best for Tina?” She sucked in a pained breath and let all the hatred she felt right then show on her face. "You're a fucking coward."
Anger replaced the guilt in his eyes, but then he shook his head and dropped to his knees, cupping her face. "You don’t understand, not yet. I want this so much, and you owe me, you know you do. I saved you, you said it yourself. You just have to do this for me, please do this for me.”
She wrenched her head out of his hold. "What does Oden do with them?"
Vince shook his head. "He’s just a courier. They use the demi for their powers. They’ll help us with this war. And the ones that won’t conform, well, you can siphon their powers. You can do what they won’t.”
"No."
His expression changed to one a father might use on a petulant child. "You'll come around. You just need time." He looked excited. “They have big plans for you. With the way you can take powers into yourself, you could be an army all on your own. And the way you look, no one will suspect you might have the power to tear their world down around them. You’ll be the perfect weapon, Gracie.”
They wanted to make her a freaking demi of mass destruction. “And if I don't? What if I refuse to do it? What if I like the world we have now?"
His expression turned troubled. “Then they’ll make you.”
"I'll end up like Tina, you mean."
He flinched. “No, not you, they promised not to kill you. You’re too valuable, your power too rare.”
"How many have suffered like Tina, how many of us have died for this greater good you speak of? Who does it benefit? Because from where I'm sitting, it's not us."
"Unfortunately, like any war, there are casualties. But when Diemos is released from Hell and takes his rightful place here, we’ll be rewarded for our service to him." He rubbed his fingers over the gold ring he was wearing, one she'd never seen on him before. It was the same as the one Oden wore. That same symbol.
A phoenix rising, she suddenly realized. Diemos, rising from the fires of Hell.
She felt sick to her stomach. "Why did Oden kick the shit out of you if you're cult buddies?"
“I went behind his back, went straight to our leader and told him about you. Even before I knew about your power, I knew you were valuable. You’ve always been special. I saw that from the start. But Oden wanted to be the one to bring you in, to get the reward. To please our leader.” He chuckled. “He actually thought he could make you fall for him, that’s why he kept coming into the club. He thought if you were in love with him, you’d be his, his to control, his to command. It suited me to let him believe it. Idiot.”
Jesus. "Until he beat you. Then you wanted me to stay away from him, would have been happy if I’d ended him.”
Vince shrugged.
“And that's why Oden took me to that party? So he’d be the one to get the pat on the back?"
"Yes."
"But I got away. He must have been pissed?”
“Furious, and so was our leader. I can’t wait to see his face when I bring you in.”
Grace let him see her disgust. “That’s all you really care about—power. You don’t give two shits about me. I thought we were family, Vince.”
He shook his head frantically. “We are, which is why I want you on the right side of this war. If you do as I say, you’ll be fine.”
“You've lost your mind. You realize that, right? What makes you think they won’t kill you like the other demi who were no longer of use?”
“I can provide them with what they want. I’m valuable. And I have you. You belong to me. I found you on the street, I took you in. I own you, which means you are mine to offer.”
"I don’t belong to you." No, she belonged to a controlling knight and he belonged to her. Body and soul, she was his, would always be his.
Pain sliced through her just thinking about Chaos. What he must think right now. He’d be freaking out, thinking the worst.
"I've given you a lot of information, but we have a couple of days until you’re brought before anyone. By then you’ll have come around to my way of thinking."
“You're just going to leave me here?" Wherever the fuck here was.
"I have a business to run, remember. I’ll be back with food later.” Then he walked to the door and stepped out, shutting it behind him.
She was screwed.
Chapter 34
The building was windowless and huge, all concrete and iron.
Grace had no idea how long she’d been there. God, forever. Vince had come back like he said he would, had removed her chains so she could use the bathroom, but kept her hands tied in front of her, a gun pointed at her head. She could have taken him out, he wouldn’t kill her, but she needed him to find the others. And she refused to risk their lives until she could get them free.
She’d been trying to come up with a plan since he’d arrived.
He was currently helping her eat a cheeseburger and she’d just taken a sip of Coke, that she would have spat in his face if she wasn’t so thirsty, when the door on the opposite side of the room opened and Oden walked in. He had one of his goons with him.
Vince stilled, looking pissed. “If you think you’re taking her from me…”
Oden ignored Vince and the gun in his hand, walked right up to Grace, and gripped her chin, tilting her head back roughly. “Miss me, baby?”
Grace smiled. “Like herpes, thimble dick.”
He flushed, going red with rage and backhanded her.
Her head jerked back from the force, and when she looked at him again, she laughed, ignoring the pain radiating through the side of her face. Anger like she’d never experienced before pounded through her. These assholes had no idea who they were dealing with. They saw a female, one who took her clothes off for a living, and stupidly forgot the part where she spent the rest of her time kicking ass.
The moron had also missed that their magic Hell chains were lying on the floor beside her. Her powers weren’t suppressed.
Yes, she was outnumbered, but she wasn’t fucking helpless. She didn’t think they’d kill her, not over Oden; like Vince said, she was too valuable, and if she got to do anything before they took her down, it would be to kill the son of a bitch looking down at her. “You don’t like females who fight back, do you, Oden? That’s why you killed Tina. She didn’t want to join your little army of shit stains so you threw a tantrum.”
Oden shook with rage, that unnerving black gaze boring into hers. “I didn’t kill her.” He grinned, eyes glistening with fury and glee. “I choked her until she passed out, then handed her to one of our demons. He savored her, slowly sucking the life out of her. It took days…then she died.”
Grace slammed her head forward, connecting with Oden’s nose with a satisfying crunch, and before he could react, she fisted his hair with her bound hands and jerked him forward, throwing him to the floor. Spinning, she avoided his goon, spun back, grabbed the gun he had at his hip, and shot the piece of demon shit in the head.
Oden, who had gotten back to his feet, kicked the back of her knee before she could point the gun on him and she went down, the gun flying across the floor. Oden advanced and she rolled, swiping his feet out from under him. He went down hard and she dove for him, fisting his hair as she wrapped her thighs around his neck and squeezed. He punched the side of her legs, the only place he could reach while kicking and flailing.
Grace squeezed tighter. “You don’t get to hurt anyone else, you fucking prick.”
He went red, then started going blue, his struggles slowing. Grace gritted her teeth and
squeezed even tighter, putting more pressure on his throat, cutting off his oxygen supply. She closed her eyes, letting her power build, letting it flow from her into Oden before drawing it back to her like a wave, taking his power from him and giving it to her. He screamed, expending the last of the oxygen in his lungs, and finally stopped moving.
Kicking Oden aside, she crawled to the demon with the bullet hole in his head. It hadn’t been enough to finish him, unfortunately, so she grabbed the knife she could see peeking from his boot. It took effort, but she managed to saw the asshole’s head off, which was doubly difficult with her hands tied in front of her.
When he was ash, she climbed to her feet, advancing on Vince, who had stood by and did nothing while she killed two of his crew. Probably happy she’d gotten rid of the competition. The fucking attention whore.
Vince backed up. “Hang on a minute, Gracie—”
The door behind her flew open, the one across from her as well, and more demons ran in. A lot of them. There was no way she was getting out of this in one piece. There were way too many, but she wasn’t going down easy.
She heard Vince yell for them not to kill her a moment before she attacked.
The clatter and groan of steel as Chaos landed on the fire escape outside Grace’s apartment was loud, but he didn't give a shit if the thing snapped off the side of the building. He didn't care about much of anything except finding Grace and bringing her home.
He was losing the battle with his sanity at this point, his demon right there with him. She'd been missing for twelve hours—and they'd found nothing, had exactly zero leads. Grace could be injured…she could be lying in a gutter, gray and cold and lifeless like her friend.
A roar exploded from him, helplessness burning his lungs.
"Breathe. You need to kept your shit together." Zenon stood beside him, his leathery wings tucked in close to his back, huge-ass fangs down to his chin, his yellow eyes bright against his dark crimson skin. Chaos looked much the same, apart from the eye color, and it was a good thing they were invisible to humans in their Kishi forms or there’d be people running around screaming in terror.
Knight's Dominion (Knights of Hell Book 4) Page 29
