by Jenny Allen
Lilith collapsed back against the door frame in the back room, catching her breath. The main room was quiet but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. Where the hell was Cohen? Lilith scanned the command center, catching sight of Haverty sprawled out face down on the floor. Cohen was crouched next to him, staring at the climber’s rope under the window.
“Cohen! Nicci and Timothy are still out there.” Lilith crawled quickly across the floor and checked Haverty’s vitals. They couldn’t lose their only leverage. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found his pulse. He groaned and started to come around as Lilith pinned him to the ground. She looked up to see Cohen still staring at that rope with laser focus, oblivious to anything else.
Gun shots lit up the door frame sending more splinters flying and Stephen panicked, flailing and kicking. An elbow caught Lilith in the chin sending her reeling back with the taste of blood in her mouth. Why the hell did everyone keep hitting her in the head? What happened to a good ole fashioned blow to the gut? It certainly would be a somewhat welcome change of pace, at least when compared to the alternative.
She leapt onto Haverty’s back, slamming him roughly into the floor. With a forearm firmly pressed against the back of his neck, she leaned down, speaking in a clear and ironclad voice. “Stop or you’ll get yourself killed.” He kept fighting with the surprising strength of true terror and desperation, high on adrenaline.
“Andrew! I need a hand here.” Lilith’s heart pounded in panic as she watched his tense back. He knew where the book was. He could take that line down to the street, break into the mailbox and get out. Of course, that would mean leaving the rest of them to die. Right at that moment she wasn’t sure that Cohen saw that as a down side. The memory of Cohen’s cold face staring her down at Phipps Bend flooded her mind. He had stood there, ready to mutilate her to save himself, with a smile on his face.
Finally Cohen turned around and pulled Lilith aside. He casually yanked Haverty to his feet and shoved him into the wall before meeting Lilith’s eyes with a heavy look. “Take the escape line.”
“What?” Lilith blinked in complete shock. That definitely wasn’t what she expected to hear him say. Ever.
“You know where the book is and you know where the cipher is. Take the escape line. Get out of here. I’ll buy you some time.” There was a defeated tone to his voice that clearly said he considered ‘buying her some time’ to be a suicide mission. She thought he’d been seriously considering taking his chance to escape just a minute ago. Could he actually have been weighing the choice of self-sacrifice? It didn’t fit the Cohen she’d constructed in her mind.
When she didn’t respond, Cohen grabbed her shoulder in exasperation, his almost handsome face looming right in front of her. “Take it! If you die and the council never finds the cipher I’m dead anyway. Go!”
Lilith gritted her teeth and backed up against the wall. Cohen pushing her to take the easy way out brought the fire back to her belly, burning away her fear and hesitation. “No. I’m not leaving everyone behind. Not this time.” She ignored Cohen’s speechless look of confusion and peeked around the corner again.
Nicci was now crouched behind the end of the couch just a few feet away from them. More bullets tore through the sofa as Nicci jerked back, curling into a ball, arms hugging her head to her knees.
When the bullets stopped, Nicci looked toward the back room, catching sight of Lilith. She mouthed silently that she was out of ammo, a slight look of panic clear on her face. Movement caught Lilith’s eye. Five men piled into the door, one of them dragging Timothy into the apartment. She could see his chest rise and fall which flooded Lilith with relief. So far they were all alive. Now if they could only stay that way.
If they wanted any chance at all of skipping the direct route to the morgue, they had to drop the rest of the henchmen. Lilith squeezed off some shots at the guy closest to Nicci, but her shaking hands betrayed her fear. Her new found bravado certainly hadn’t lasted long. She missed several times before finally scoring a shoulder hit. The man spun on his heel and cried out in pain as his gun fired erratically before clattering to the ground.
Nicci moved with lightning reflexes and reached for his weapon but bullets erupted across the floor. She pulled back behind the couch just in time with a look of sheer panic as she flexed her hand. One split second of hesitation and she would have lost that hand. Bullets exploded across the door frame inches from Lilith’s head sending her scrambling backward in surprise but not quite fast enough.
One of the bullets caught her in the left shoulder. Thankfully, it hit the meat of her shoulder, missing all the major blood vessels. Somewhere past the blinding pain and the flare of numbness down her arm, she managed to shove herself back against the wall. Lilith clenched and unclenched her fist, breathing slowly through her mouth until the wound settled into a bone-jarring ache. No major damage.
Lilith popped the clip from her gun and counted her bullets. One. Plus the one in the chamber. Shit. “Cohen. I need your gun. I’m almost out.”
Cohen was still struggling to keep Haverty pinned. The man was in a blind panic, fighting to run anywhere that wasn’t here. From the look on Cohen’s face, he was about to just let him, no matter the consequences. “I lost it in the living room when I tore after this fucking coward.” He snarled the words through clenched teeth as he shoved Haverty hard against the wall, watching his head bounce off it with a smug smile of satisfaction.
Dread was slowly knotting in Lilith’s stomach as she fought to keep her focus. “What about your backup?” She already knew his answer before he even opened his mouth and the knot of dread grew.
“I don’t…” There was anger in Cohen’s face that was only aimed at one person. Himself.
“Now!” An authoritarian voice boomed from the main room. Lilith edged closer to the door frame and peeked out. The four remaining guys were grouped around what was left of the front door. They were digging in their pockets for something. Then it occurred to her that they might not need to take them all down. There’s no way that one of the neighbors hadn’t called the police. If they could hold their position a little longer…
Lilith cautiously watched the men shove something in their ears a split second before a shriek tore through the air. Her eyes went wide as the sound turned her blood to ice. No. Anything but that. Lilith swallowed the lump in her throat, eyes glued to the doorway, praying that the sound was just her damaged psyche playing tricks on her again.
Another ear splitting shriek rang painfully through the rooms, doubling her over. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nicci curling into a ball, covering her ears in a silent scream. God no. Dread exploded in her gut as her lungs burned like they were dipped in napalm.
Very slowly, Lilith looked over her shoulder like a victim in a horror movie. The matching looks of lost adoration on Cohen and Haverty felt like a stab to the gut. Another scream tore through her brain like razor wire.
Lilith collapsed on the floor as the panic seized her lungs, leaving her wheezing and desperately trying to take even a single breath. She clawed uselessly at the hardwood as the banshee screech tore through the air. Dimly, she saw Cohen and Haverty step over her into the living room. Then her eyes fell on the personification of her nightmares wrapped in a skin tight, baby blue dress.
Pure, good ole fashioned hate burned in Lilith’s veins as she clicked the clip back into her gun. The noise coming out of the chanteur d'âme’s mouth was like liquid fire in her ears, making her vision blur as she leaned back against the wall. Warm fluid trickled from her ears and, for a moment, she thought her brain might just explode into mush.
Lilith took slow and steady breaths, trying to push back the blinding pain. She still had two bullets. If she could just steady herself, she could shoot that bitch right between the eyes and never have to worry about her again. Lilith and Chance would be free from her threats forever.
Weakly, she managed to peek around the door frame again, her shaking hand wrapped tightly a
round the gun. Nicci was unconscious on the floor or at least Lilith hoped she was. Blood trickled from her ears but it seemed like her chest might be rising. If she was breathing, it was shallow.
That was it. She wasn’t going to lose another partner. Not now. Not like this. With a feral grimace on her face, Lilith pushed past the oppressive pain and aimed her gun. Just as her finger began to squeeze the trigger, Peisinoe’s ocean blue eyes swung to meet Lilith’s. A sadistic smile that felt like knives twisting in Lilith’s gut slid across the siren’s face. She opened her pouty lips and released a forceful screech that blasted through the air like a shot.
The pain was so immense that Lilith collapsed on the floor. She couldn’t hear anything but a high pitched echo that set her teeth on edge. Hands grabbed her but the blackness swallowed her whole in the desperate need for relief.
“That’s enough.” Lilith sprang out of semi-unconsciousness into complete horror. The only thing worse than Peisinoe was her master. Her eyes opened to see the mild face of the man who shot her father. Farren. The slight hook to his prominent nose and the cold cruelty in his ancient eyes looked at odds with the softness of the rest of his face. Of course Lilith didn’t really care how odd his face was, all she wanted to do was put a bullet straight through it.
At Farren’s command, the band saw through her brain finally stopped, leaving only a heavy ringing echo. It felt like a bomb had just gone off in front of her. Cohen and Haverty slowly lost their looks of blind, blissful obedience. Timothy missed the whole show, still unconscious on the floor. Not that it mattered.
In a matter of seconds, all of them had their hands tied behind their backs with gunmen lording over them, except for Cohen. Apparently, Farren wanted the added insult of proving that he didn’t need to restrain Cohen to have him under control. Things had gone from bad to living nightmare in 2.3 seconds.
“Grandfather?” Cohen looked at Farren like he was the greatest unsolved mystery.
“Sir, Griffin just checked in. He’s informed the local police of the FBI raid on a terrorist cell. They are pulling back.” Farren nodded to his hired help and returned his attention to Cohen. The police weren’t coming. Lilith’s heart beat a little faster as it sank in. Farren could hold them here, do whatever he wanted and no one would ever come for them. Hell, the police would probably give him the key to the city when he was done.
“What is going on here?” Cohen still had that clueless look on his face, as if his brain refused to believe what he was seeing.
Farren’s old eyes narrowed with pure disdain. “You do not question me, Andrew. Where is it?” His thin lips curled into a snarl as he spit the words. Somehow Lilith doubted those two ever shared a happy, fluffy Christmas and Lilith would do everything in her power to ensure that Farren never saw another one.
“The book?” Cohen still seemed completely confused. Lilith wasn’t as lost and part of her wondered if this was just part of the pathetic persona Cohen pulled on for his grandfather. Could he really be blind enough to be genuinely confused? Farren wanted the book for himself. As soon as he thought he might get the cipher, he hired a crew to steal it, then sent a group to make sure Lilith didn’t find the book. The car crash and semi-automatic gunfire weren’t exactly subtle, but it was definitely Farren’s style.
The real question was what could possibly be so important about this damn book that Farren would risk circumventing the council like this? The rest of the demons in charge had to be as cutthroat and ruthless as Farren or he’d have taken control a whole lot sooner. Equally puzzling was the condition of the patsies. Killing them was understandable, but why the hell mutilate them in such a bizarre way? Was it simply a way to ensure that the council felt her specific talents were needed? And why the hell would he try to kill them off before they actually had the cipher? She was missing something critical to pull all the pieces together.
A loud crack knocked Lilith right out of her thoughts. She looked over to see Cohen reeling from a hard smack that left the whole side of his face burning red. Farren loomed over him with his cold eyes staring daggers into his grandson. Lilith struggled to contain the rising well of hate threatening to consume her with Farren so close.
“What else would I want, Andrew? Do not play stupid with me.” Farren reached out with surprising speed, snatching Cohen’s throat and drawing him in close. “Where is it?”
To his credit, Cohen remained fairly calm. Lilith got the feeling that the loathing and violence was a very familiar wound. “I don’t know…” Before Cohen could say anything else, Farren brought his forearm down with brutal force against Andrew’s face. The blow sent him sprawling to the floor as blood welled up on his cheekbone.
Cohen pushed himself up, wiping at his cheek. He stared at the blood on his hand and something burned bright inside of him, something Lilith recognized, hate. His olive eyes slowly looked up at Farren with all the years of abuse behind them. “I don’t know where your god damn book is! Ask your hired help!”
A sickening smile split Farren’s cruel, thin lips. “So there is some fight left in you.” He leaned down close to Cohen, his calculating eyes narrowing. “Let’s see if we can kill it, shall we?”
The knot of dread sprang back to life, coiling around her guts like a serpent devouring her from the inside out. Cohen’s eyes widened and Lilith could see his hurried breaths. He knew he’d overplayed his hand. Farren drew back up to his full height and walked down the line of hostages, never taking his eyes off of Andrew. Each step brought him closer to Lilith and she knew with absolute certainty that he would stop in front of her. Cohen’s eyes darting over to hers with a look of trepidation confirmed it.
“Sir, I could easily compel him to tell us.” Peisinoe’s voice was viciously confident which matched her shark-like smile. Apparently, she didn’t like Cohen any more than Lilith and she wasn’t keen on Farren hogging all the fun.
Farren stopped, his body rigid with anger. Somehow, Lilith didn’t think Farren was the sort of boss that appreciated suggestions, no matter how good they were. After all, Peisinoe was right. She could easily force him to tell them anything and Cohen knew more than even Farren was aware of. The thought of all those secrets spilling out terrified Lilith even more than the threat of being slapped around by Farren.
“I do not need to be reminded of your talents, Peisinoe. Hold your tongue or I’ll be forced to reevaluate your usefulness.” Farren hissed the words through gritted teeth. The ancient weight of his reprimanding tone and menace just seemed wrong coming from his middle-aged face.
“Marilyn’s” smugly confident look faltered and she actually shrunk back. “Of course.” Her ocean blue eyes fell to the floor and stayed there, her wavy platinum tresses hanging defensively in her face. She knew her place and didn’t dare even think of crossing Farren. Lilith couldn’t help but find some pleasure in the sight of this brash siren wilting under Farren’s heavy threats.
“My grandson has found something he cares about.” The “old” man swung the immense weight of his eyes to Lilith and narrowed them with sharp precision like a sniper taking aim. “Now he thinks he’s grown a spine.” A dark look passed over the smooth lines of his face that chilled Lilith to the bone. “I intend to rip it out.” With a looming sense of dread, Lilith realized that Farren definitely had more in mind than smacking her around a bit.
“No!” Cohen fought wildly as the flunky twisted his arm tight behind his back. Lilith was guessing something similar had happened before. Cohen knew what was coming and for him to fight like this, Lilith could guarantee she wasn’t gonna like it. “The book is downstairs in a mailbox! The key is on the kitchen table. Just take it!”
The cold, toothy smile that slithered across Farren’s thin lips reminded Lilith so much of Ashcroft that her stomach lurched. In this moment, Farren didn’t care about the book. He only cared about inflicting pain, emotional pain on Cohen and physical pain on whoever would do the most damage. It only made sense that Lilith would be the focus of his attention.
Cohen didn’t really know any of the others.
Farren pulled his gun from its holster and gracefully crouched down in front of Lilith, his cold eyes studying her like an interesting insect. “Where is your little bodyguard?”
Lilith swallowed hard, unable to take her eyes off the gun. A gun just like the one he’d used to end her father’s life.
Farren used the barrel to lift her chin, forcing her to meet his eyes as her pulse quickened with fear and loathing. She hadn’t noticed the color before, but now she felt the chill of their icy blue hue. “He’s chasing a lead.” Even she was surprised how calm and even her voice sounded, especially when fine tremors were traveling all over her body. After all, here was the man that callously shot her father as casually as he’d brush an insect off his sleeve and he was mere inches away from her. She could feel the heat of his breath, hear his heartbeat, smell his overly expensive cologne. Hate churned in her stomach mixed with a healthy dose of horror.
“Obviously not a very good lead if I am here and he is not.” Farren’s head tilted to the side quizzically. He was toying with her like a cat playing with a bug before biting it in half. “Peisinoe. Get the key and retrieve the book. Call Valinski the second you have your hands on it and get back up here.” Farren’s eyes never left Lilith’s for a second, daring her to look away. There was no way she’d give him the satisfaction. Instead, she poured every ounce of venomous loathing she had into her eyes.
After five minutes of the most gut wrenching staring contest ever, a boring Samsung default ringtone cut through the silence. One of the henchmen dug in his pocket and answered his phone. That had to be Valinski getting his call from Peisinoe. The man nodded to Farren and then hung up.
Farren stayed crouched in front of Lilith, the very proximity sending Lilith’s stomach into a continuous round of flip flops. “Berman, we no longer need Mr. Haverty. Please thank him for his services.”
