by Trina M. Lee
I stared at him, trying to determine if he was just fucking with me. “Um, I have to do what now? How the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“That’s where I come in. You take my power and channel it through you. Make it light.” He was dead serious. Not even a sliver of teasing or sarcasm lurked in the stone-cold expression he wore.
I scoffed, unable to accept his preposterous idea. “Ok, you’re fucking with me. Or you’re trying to get me killed.”
“You were well on your way to doing that yourself.” Falon jabbed a thumb toward Arys. “He wants it. More than anything. He’s obsessed. Maybe you can’t die so easily now, but you only get one more death. And then it’s over. If you die, you’ll probably take him with you. Is that really what you want?”
“Of course not.” Angry and suddenly afraid, I shoved away from Falon and paced back and forth across the hallway. I paused and turned back to find him watching my every move. “Why do you care anyway?”
Looking like he just stepped off a GQ cover, Falon cast a scathing glare my way. “I don’t. I’d be content to stand here and watch you kill each other. However, we all have a role to play, and right now, this is mine. So stop wasting time and start acting like a Light Flame.”
Suspicious. Mysterious. Intriguing.
Falon encompassed all of those things and more. Figuring him out now topped my personal to-do list. Although I didn’t think it would be possible.
“As much as I’d love to pick apart what you just said, I need the vampires in control. So tell me what to do to beat this thing back.”
Even as I spoke, the damn thing murmured illicit promises and temptations in my head. It had gone from manipulating me into embracing my own demise to dredging up memories of my first time with Falon. Right here in this haunted hospital. It sought to distract me from what I’d come to do, which was to free those imprisoned here before I became one of them.
“Lilah’s empire has taken on a life of its own. You destroyed the key, but her empire remains, trapped in the spirit realm. The spiritual unrest in this place allows it to cross between worlds, to affect those here. Including us. Obviously.” Falon paused to shoot me a dirty look when I motioned for him to talk faster. “Don’t boss me, wolf. I’m doing you a favor.”
“Sure you are. Can we get to the point? If the vampires are losing it, I probably don’t have much time.” I glanced at Arys who watched us with malevolence gleaming in his eyes.
Falon sighed, a hard, exaggerated sound. “Draw on my power, run it through you like the conduit you are, and use it to force the thing back to the spirit realm. It won’t stay there forever, but it’ll keep the murmur quiet for the rest of the night.”
He made it sound too simple. There had to be a catch.
“And what are you leaving out?” I asked, knowing better than to trust Falon implicitly.
His face became a mask of cool indifference. “Not a damn thing.”
“Liar,” I spat, angry with myself for my certainty. When had I gotten to know him so well? The realization left a bad taste in my mouth. “Just tell me whatever it is you’re holding back.”
Falon’s lip lifted in a hint of smirk. He ran a hand through his silver hair and shrugged. “It might try to take you with it. To the other side.”
“What the fuck? And you just happened to leave that part out? What the hell are you trying to do to me here, Falon?” Clenching my fist, I managed to keep from throwing it in his face.
“I’ll be here to keep you anchored to this side.” He rolled his eyes like I would be a fool to doubt him. “Relax; you’re so tightly wound. It will be fine.”
I didn’t want to do it. Trusting the fallen angel was stupid. Maybe things weren’t so bad. I reached out to Briggs, forcing my way into his mind. Through his eyes, I saw the vampires running amok. The wolves they’d fought beside now fought to defend themselves.
Even as I watched the madness unfold, the entity again spoke to me. ‘Come, lost wolf,’ it said. ‘Show the angel who he belongs to now. Take him. Bleed him.’
A frustrated growl vibrated my throat. “Ok, let’s get rid of this thing. I’m sick of listening to it.”
Falon nodded, wearing a knowing, weary expression. “What’s it saying to you?”
Despite the circumstances, I laughed. “Trust me, you don’t want to know.”
He raised a brow in scrutiny, displeased that I wouldn’t share. “Yeah, well it’s telling me to take you up against the wall with your vampire watching. So we’d better hurry.”
“Oh, please, do,” Arys sneered from his metaphysical cage. “I enjoy watching Alexa mind fuck prey too weak willed to resist her.”
I held up a hand. “Both of you shut up. I need to clear my head.”
Ignoring the snarky vampire, Falon held out a hand. When I didn’t take it fast enough for his liking, he all but flung it at me. Shooting him a warning glare, I placed my hand in his.
He reached for the other as well. Slipping his fingers between mine, he pulled me to face him. Right away, his touch elicited a sinful response. I choked back a few choice curse words.
“You know what to do,” Falon said, holding my gaze.
I found it so unnerving when he was sincere. The lack of sarcasm and insults made me uncomfortable. Staring into his ethereal eyes, I couldn’t help but be enchanted. Dammit.
The entity’s smarmy voice continued to yatter on in my head. It wanted me to seduce Falon, then take it a step further and make him mine, leaving my mark on him in a way that would proclaim him as mine to all other immortals. I didn’t even know how to do that, though the entity promised it would show me.
But I didn’t want Falon to be mine. What a ludicrous idea.
‘He already is,’ the voice assured me. ‘It’s just a matter of ensuring the underworld knows it, lest they underestimate who and what you really are.’
I told myself to ignore it, not to engage. Yet, I couldn’t resist asking, ‘And what am I?’
‘You are a queen, fit to rule in the absence of another.’ So innocent it sounded as it tempted me to rule in Lilah’s place. Such lies. No demon would answer to a vampire ruler. The entity surely sought to kill me.
Turning my focus to Falon’s head-spinning essence, I drew it in. Desire hit me hard, dragging a groan from me. I wanted to get naked and wrap that delightful, dizzying sensation around me like a fuzzy blanket.
Yet simply pulling on his energy wasn’t enough for me to take on an incorporeal entity. I needed the root of his power, which lay in his blood.
Without breaking eye contact with Falon, I used our joined hands to pull his wrist to my mouth. Because I couldn’t resist, I dragged my tongue over his pulse point. Immediately it began to thrum faster.
My fangs grazed his skin, and Falon sucked in a breath. The weight of Arys’s midnight stare upon us grew heavy, as my fangs plunged into the fallen angel’s flawless skin. Otherworldly blood spilled, filling my mouth.
Falon’s desire soared.
My vision swam as the power in his blood hit me like a brick to the face. I became less aware of our surroundings and more aware of the entity hissing angrily in my ear. It seemed to be everywhere, filling the entire building. And it wasn’t happy that I chose not to listen.
Concentrating hard on the entity, I was able to feel it like a thick, slimy mist that clung to everything. I reached out for it, tentative and uneasy. I found no reassurance in the way it welcomed my attack.
Tapped into Falon, I kept his power flowing through me, channeling it into light, something it hadn’t been for a very long time. Though I didn’t know what the hell would happen, I hit the entity with the full force of it. In my mind, I thrust a demand at it. Go back to where you came from. You don’t belong here.
As expected, it resisted.
I pushed harder, growing confident when I felt it shudder beneath my assault. It was evil, and I was a Hound made to combat evil. I could do this.
The entity put up a fight. It shrieked its ref
usal in my ears. It was powerful, but as I picked it apart, I saw that it was built on illusion. Born of the evil Lilah had spread during her reign, it thrived on trickery and manipulation. Without her, it had no purpose, yet it existed. Feeding off the death energy of the building, it had become able to control those linked to death such as vampires and ghosts.
But I was a hybrid and a Hound. It might have gotten in my head, but I didn’t have to let it stay there.
The entity stopped fighting my attempt to force it to the other side. On this plane, it conceded the advantage to me. As I pushed on the entity, it pulled, intent on taking me with it to the other side.
I realized with a jolt that, since I’d already crossed through death once, the laws binding a mortal to this plane no longer applied to me. As tightly intertwined with it as I now was, I could feel its intent to take me there in order to gain the upper hand.
Falon’s continuous immortal power was more than enough to drive it back. Too bad the thing clung to me as it recoiled into its own realm. Metaphysical hooks dug deep into my aura, refusing to let go.
A cry tore from me as the entity began ripping me from my body.
The sensation of Falon tightly gripping my hands faded. Along with it went the dank hall and the watchful stare of my vampire. My physical awareness slipped away.
Leaving my body felt liberating. No longer trapped in a physical form, my limitations dropped away. Still, I knew what awaited me on the other side. The entity had plans for me.
Plans to crown me with Lilah’s tarnished tiara.
It didn’t seem to know, or perhaps it didn’t care, that I could see its demented plan. As a byproduct of the demon queen’s power, the entity struggled without her. Trapped here at the haunted hospital, this bottom feeder existed solely on death. Putting me on her throne would give it new life, a new ruler to nourish it.
“Fuck that shit,” I muttered, though I didn’t know if I’d spoken aloud.
Floating almost entirely outside my body, I fought hard to cling to the mortal plane. I’d had more than enough separation from my physical form for one month.
The damn entity refused to let go, all the while assuring me that I would make the most feared and renowned leader. ‘So much darkness within you,’ it cooed, stroking a possessive metaphysical tentacle across my aura. ‘Such potential for you, lost wolf. Come with me. Find yourself.’
And damn if it didn’t sound convincing.
I wrestled against the temptation to obey, struggling to maintain my focus. “I am not a lost wolf,” I hissed. “I know exactly where I belong.”
From far away came a smooth-as-silk voice, luring me back. “Right here. Right now. With me.”
Pain, sharp and unexpected, jerked me back into my body.
Falon’s hand had cracked against my face hard enough to rattle my teeth.
I blinked several times, uncertain if I should be ticked off or relieved. I was both. Firmly back in my body, I was, however, able to concentrate again. “Don’t let it take me,” I pleaded through clenched fangs.
“I said I wouldn’t. Should I smack you again? I can really let you have it.” He quirked an eyebrow at me and smirked.
Seeing as I struggled to stay grounded while battling the spirit, I didn’t quite share Falon’s humor. “Try it. I dare you.”
“How about this?”
Without further warning Falon laid a provocative kiss on me. His tongue slipped between my lips, delving into my mouth. The power flowing between us remained steady and strong as he freely gave what I needed.
At first I resisted. Then the rush of desire hit me, grounding me to that place. That moment. Holding tight to Falon, nearly crushing his hands in mine, I threw everything he gave me at the entity. Beating it back was easier now that its hold on me had broken. The words it whispered were meaningless, having no effect on me now. Its hold on this world had slipped.
Kissing Falon back, I stayed firmly planted on the mortal plane. The physical rush of lust and pleasure kept me right there, immersed in him. Immortal power ran rampant through me, overflowing, and I hit the entity with all of it.
Because the murmur was all dark and I was not, it had no choice but to bend to my will. Acknowledging defeat the entity slithered away, retreating from my onslaught.
But it didn’t go without a parting shot, a breathy promise. ‘I will always be here. And you will always come back.’
Great. Kicking its ass had only made it want me more.
I dropped my hold on Falon’s power but didn’t let go of his arousal. Caught up in the heat of the kiss, I reached for his belt.
His hand closed on my wrist, and he chuckled. “Much as I’d love to, I’m pretty sure your vampire would want to join, and that’s not my style.”
I stepped back, embarrassed, and the connection between us fell away. Arys stood there with arms crossed, mild amusement dancing across his face. The malicious light had faded from his eyes. He was himself again.
“It could be,” Arys offered with a sly grin. “Get rid of this damn wall, and we’ll find out.”
Falon put about as much distance between him and me as he could without vanishing completely. With a caustic glare at Arys, he snarled, “You assume you know what I get from my encounters with Alexa. I assure you that you have absolutely no idea.”
The two of them shared a look that made me uneasy.
“We have to find Shaz.” I broke in before Arys could fling a cocky retort. “Falon, drop the wall.”
“You’re on your own from here on out.” Turning his back on Arys, Falon gave me a withering glare. “You should be able to handle it from here.”
Without waiting for a reply, he disappeared, leaving the faint sound of wings in his wake. The wall holding Arys promptly dropped.
“I hope you get something out of that angel that makes putting up with his shitty attitude worth it.” He sauntered out with what was supposed to be an apologetic smile but came across more as a feeble attempt at something he didn’t feel. “You know the entity exploits the worst in us, right? The last thing I want is to hurt you.”
I held his gaze, finding the lie we both knew he lived. He always wanted to hurt me. He’d said as much himself. His urge went deeper than a vampire’s desire for blood and death. It was a twin flame’s destiny to hurt the one they most loved. And in so many ways, hated. Again Lilah’s words rose up from the recesses of my memory. To hate that person as much as you love them. Oh, and how you love them. So much you start to hate yourself.
Why must her certainty that a twin flame union is a curse haunt me so?
“Come on.” I turned away before Arys could see the doubt creep across my face. “Let’s go find Shaz.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Having had enough of the power-struggle bullshit, my wolf took over. On the hunt for her mate, she refused to remain complacent. I knew better than to fight the wolf’s instincts. She led me right back to Dr. Collins’s lab, where Briggs had taken me. Much to my surprise, Collins was there, along with the lady lab tech I’d seen during my last visit.
Did they not know what was going on elsewhere in the building?
Glasses perched atop his battered nose, Dr. Collins glanced up at our arrival. A black bruise spread out from his nose beneath each eye.
I smiled at my handy work.
“Not you again,” he muttered. “Where’s Briggs?”
But I paid him no attention now. My gaze locked on the two tables in the corner of the room and the men strapped to them: Dayne and Shaz. They were conscious though seemingly disoriented, not fully aware of what was going on. Heavy steel bands were locked across their torsos and legs. Their arms and ankles were shackled. Each had a tube leading to a needle in the vein at the crook of his elbow. A deep red fluid flowed into them.
Collins was forgotten as I launched into motion. I had to get to Shaz.
“No,” Collins shouted after me. “You’ll skew the results. Stop. Don’t touch anything.”
The w
oman moved as if to intervene, so I took her down with a psi ball. She collapsed on the floor and was smart enough to stay there.
Arys grabbed Collins by the neck, choking off his protests. “You’re a real fucking cliché, you know that? Did you always want to be a mad scientist when you grew up?”
“Don’t kill him yet.” I reached Shaz, finding his eyes rolling, like he couldn’t focus on any one thing. Lightly I patted his face. “Shaz? I’m here. Talk to me.”
He tried to speak, but it came out slurred and incomprehensible. I grabbed the tube feeding into his arm and jerked it free despite the strangled protest from Collins. A quick sniff confirmed Winston’s words.
Not just any blood, my blood.
I ripped the tube from Dayne’s arm as well, finding him equally wacked out.
Holding the wolf back was a fight when I turned to face Collins. “What the fuck is going on here?” I snarled, baring wolf fangs. “Explain fast.”
Collins quaked in Arys’s grasp. He stuttered and stammered before getting the words out. “Just a simple transfusion.”
Malice lit Arys’s eyes, but this time it was all him. “Explain. Better. Details. Now.” With each word, he shook Collins so hard the glasses slipped further off his face.
The scent of absolute fear quickly permeated the lab as Collins damn near pissed himself. “Blood transfusion. Hybrid blood. It was our next step.”
My blood made a soft splat as it dripped onto the floor from the tubes. Right then it was the most damning sound. “You mean to tell me that after the psychosis experienced by the others, you thought it was a good idea to transfuse a large amount of my blood into these two?” My tone was surprisingly calm but ice cold. The wolf demanded death for this.
“The vampire blood caused the psychosis. We used only the smallest amount of hybrid blood as a stabilizer, so it wouldn’t kill them. We thought perhaps straight hybrid blood may foster better results.” Collins shoved his glasses back onto his nose, wincing at the resulting pain.
