by Lisa Sanchez
Closing my eyes, I raised my arms so they circled Idiot Boy’s neck, letting my head rest against his shoulder as we moved. It was wrong of me to take advantage of him, dancing so sensually, but I didn’t know what else to do.
As the music drove on, I continued grinding my hips against Idiot Boy, giving myself over to the music. I stiffened when his hands traveled from my hips, blazing a trail up my sides, his fingertips brushing against the sides of my breasts. That was most definitely not what I was looking for.
“Get your fucking hands off of her, boy.” My eyes shot open to see Quinn standing in front of the Idiot and me, his eyes wild, his fists clenched, anger rolling off him in spades.
My arms dropped to my sides instantly and I stepped forward, placing space between Idiot Boy and me. I wanted to make Quinn jealous, yes, but I didn’t want the poor boy to die in the process.
“Quinn,” I said, doing my best to try and calm him with my eyes. “We were just dancing.”
“Yeah, relax, bro. It’s all good.” The Idiot was blissfully unaware he was about to become a broken bag of bones.
“Touch her again,” Quinn said as he pointed to the Idiot, “and I will tear you the fuck apart and make sure no one finds the pieces.”
I stepped forward and got in his face. “Quinn. You can’t just…Hey!” He grabbed me by the waist, threw me over his shoulder and stormed off the dance floor, depositing me in my seat at our table.
“What the hell did you do that for?”
“I know what you’re doing, a ghrá, and it won’t work. We’re leaving.” He picked up a bottle of beer that sat on the table and downed it.
“But I don’t want to leave.”
“Too bad. I’ve endured this cesspool long enough. I refuse to sit and watch you be groped by worthless idiots. I refuse to share you.”
“Share me?” I shouted as I shot out of my seat. “You won’t even touch me. At least Idiot Boy over there thinks I’m sexy. Unlike you, he’s not afraid of getting physical. Maybe I should go back and find him.”
The bottle of beer that Quinn gripped shattered in his hand. “Enough!”
“Hey,” Jessica shouted as she hurried over to where we stood. “What’s going on? Why are you two fighting?”
“We’re leaving,” Quinn snapped. “Now.”
Wide eyed, Jessica nodded and grabbed her purse from the table. “Yeah, okay. I just need to hit the little girl’s room before we go. Ryann?”
I grabbed my purse and attempted to follow when Quinn stepped in front of me, halting my movement. “Where do you think you’re going?”
“I have to pee, Quinn. It’s a bodily function that I have no control over. I’m not holding it, sorry.” I sidestepped him, treating him to a nasty glare. I followed Jess toward the restroom, Quinn’s eyes burning a hole into my bared back the entire way.
The restrooms were located in the very back of the club, at the end of a long hallway. Staying close together, we hurried into the crowded bathroom to take care of business.
“What happened?” Jessica asked as we washed our hands.
“Not now,” I said, fighting back tears. “If I talk about it now, I’ll just lose it.” My grandiose plan to seduce Quinn failed miserably and I was dangerously close to falling into the shiteous realm of hysteria.
She nodded and we exited the restroom in silence.
I’d taken all of two steps into the hallway when I saw Stan round the corner, his eyes cast downward to the floor.
“Hi, Stan,” I called out, anxious to catch his attention.
Stan looked up from the floor with a dangerous smile on his face, and I gasped. Two soulless black eyes stared at me, chilling me to the bone.
“Ryann,” Jessica screamed, but was quickly silenced.
With a crushing backhand blow, Stan sent Jessica flying backward. She crashed into the nearby wall and fell to a lifeless heap on the floor.
Stan stood inches from me in the empty hallway. I froze, a mixture of shock and horror gluing my feet to the floor. My demon stalker, the vicious creature who haunted not only my dreams, but my every waking thought, was none other than my lanky, bumbling boss, Stan.
“No—” I opened my mouth to scream Quinn’s name but everything went black.
Chapter 19
OVER THE YEARS, I’d heard endless accounts of what it was like to face death. Some said significant events that happened in your life came barreling into the forefront of your mind, while others merely saw flashes of their loved ones. Some felt an overwhelming sense of peace, as if some higher power controlled the outcome of their situation, guiding them to safety, yet others said they’d never felt more alone.
Me? I felt angry. Crazier than a shit-house-rat. Actually, anger didn’t even cut it. I was a ticking time-bomb filled with enough rage to make an atom bomb look like nothing more than a firecracker. I wasn’t going down without a fight. To hell with that, there was too much at stake. I was not about to lose Quinn when there was still time to save him. I needed to get away from Stan, or the Zmeu, or whatever the hell the thing was, at all costs.
I woke up a few seconds after blacking out to find myself being dragged out the back entrance of Fire and Ice by the demon who still wore a Stan suit.
“What do you want from me? Let me go.” I screamed as loud as I could, kicking and punching, doing everything I could to try and escape the demon’s iron grasp.
The evil dirtbag looked down at me with its soulless black eyes and let out a ghastly chuckle. “It is you I want, Ryann. Such a pretty little gem, I find I cannot be without you. I must have you as my own. You are mine,” it hissed with a baleful voice. “Cease your screaming, for it will not save you.”
“I don’t belong to anyone, you demon freak.” With a deep breath, I screamed as loud as I possibly could. “Quinn!”
An icy, cold hand clamped over my mouth, its clammy, leathery skin squelching my cries for help. “I said, silence!”
Once outside, the Zmeu scooped me into its bony arms and took flight, launching itself from the darkness of the alley behind the club, into the cool night air.
Petrified with fear, I clenched my eyes shut and curled into myself with my arms covering my face. I didn’t want to see the Zmeu, and I sure as hell didn’t want to look down. I had problems flying in commercial airliners due to my fear of heights and lack of control, so I wasn’t about to take in the sights while being stolen away by some underworld freak.
The cold night air ripped across my body as we flew through the air, freezing me to the bone. My body shook and spasmed, fighting to keep warm.
“Cease your incessant wiggling!”
“I…c…can’t help it, I’m f…freezing.” My teeth slammed together painfully as I spoke, and I was certain I would die of hypothermia if I didn’t get out of the cold.
We flew for what seemed like an eternity. The wind that tore through me slowed to a breeze and moments later we were on the ground. I opened my eyes to find we were standing in an industrial area near an old abandoned warehouse.
“Where have you taken me, you ugly-ass bastard?” My teeth continued to clank together as I struggled to free myself from its hideous clutches.
“Somewhere where your faerie lover will never find you.”
The Zmeu set me on my feet, and I struggled, somehow managing to twist my body so I faced it. I grabbed hold of its shoulders and brought my knee up hard into its groin, causing it to double over with a shriek of pain.
I wasn’t gonna waste time; I turned and got the hell outta Dodge, running as fast as my legs would carry me, across the pavement toward the front of the abandoned building. I made it all of fifty feet before the demon appeared in front of me, having swooped down from above.
Enraged by my escape attempt, the Zmeu raced forward and clutched me by the neck. Lifting me several feet off the ground, the demon threw me sideways, sending me flying into an old Dumpster.
A loud cracking sound rang through the night as pain the likes of which I�
�d never felt before shot up and down my left arm. I lay in a heap on the cold pavement. I tried to lift myself up and fell back, crying out from the pain. A terrible wave of dizziness came over me as I looked down at my broken arm. A cold sweat broke out over my skin and my stomach churned, threatening to unload its contents. Twisted like a jigsaw puzzle piece, the lower half of my arm stuck out in odd angles, my hand hanging lifeless from the wrist down.
I rolled over and threw up, the force of my heaving causing more pain to shoot up and down my arm.
The Zmeu hissed. “Tut, tut, little one. Look what you made me do. Do not force my hand again, or I will have no choice but to damage you further.” Kneeling down, the creature took hold of my broken appendage, inspecting it carefully before snapping the broken bones into place. The force of the snap sent a shockwave of pain throughout my entire body. A bloodcurdling scream ripped through my lungs, and I once again fell into unconsciousness.
Unsure of how long I was out, I woke and found myself lying on a broken down couch in the center of what was, no doubt, the abandoned warehouse I’d been taken to. The building was huge and largely empty save a few metal barrels that were strewn throughout. A rusted out staircase rose from the floor on the far side of the abandoned repository, leading to what once must have been an office of sorts. The cold night air billowed in through several broken windows that sat high above me and served as an entrance for a family of crows I heard fluttering and squawking.
I looked down to see my broken arm, cradled against my chest, a makeshift splint holding it in place. Taking care to not place any pressure on it, I lifted myself into a sitting position. Careful or not, my arm still hurt like hell, and I cried out in agony.
“Silence. Enough of your sniveling.”
My head shot around to see the demon glaring at me from across the room. Standing on some type of workbench, it paced back and forth as if it were nervous.
You should be nervous, freak. When Quinn gets his hands on you, you’re dead.
“You broke my arm,” I shouted, my voice filled with hatred for the despicable creature. “It hurts!”
“Pain is merely weakness leaving your body. Embrace it, for it will only make you stronger.” He leaped from the workbench, sailing through the air, and landed in front of me with an evil grin smeared across its face.
I flinched, turning my face away as it moved to touch me. This only served to make it angrier.
“Do not turn away from me.” It grabbed hold of my chin, forcing my head around so I had no choice but to look into its evil face. Except it was Stan that looked at me. The face of my goofy looking boss stared down at me with a mix of malice and dominance, his Coke-bottle glasses gone, his eyes a lifeless obsidian.
I whimpered. “I can’t look at you. You make me sick.”
“As you wish.” He cast an evil sneer at me. There was a brilliant flash of light so intense my eyes felt like they were being singed. Covering my face with my good arm, I cowered on the dilapidated couch as the demon shifted forms just inches away from me. The horrible, crunching sound of bones snapping and changing filled the air.
“There now,” a familiar voice called out to me coolly.
No!
“No,” I screamed. “Not her. You can’t be her. No!” Standing before me with a sinister smile, was the exact likeness of my best friend, Jessica. Once again, her eyes were replaced by two empty, black holes.
“Are you not comforted by the likeness of your best friend?” It hissed as it paced back and forth in front of me. She…it…whatever the hell it was, glanced over its shoulder every so often before turning its attention back to me.
Yes, be afraid. Quinn will come after me and when he does, you’ll be sorry.
Filled with disgust, I turned my face away from the demon once again, knowing my refusal to look at it would piss it off but good.
“No,” I said, my voice filling with contempt. “I am not comforted. I’m disgusted.”
Jessica’s voice echoed off the walls of the empty building as the demon shrieked, and once again shifted its form with a blinding flash of light.
“Perhaps I’ve been going about this wrong. Maybe you prefer the face of your faerie lover?”
Quinn’s voice filled the room and my traitorous body felt drawn to it, letting out an involuntary gasp, though my mind knew it was an illusion. That was, most certainly, not the voice of my soul mate. I shook my head like a madwoman, smashing my face against the moldy fabric of the beaten down couch, and stubbornly refusing to look upon the demon’s face.
The sofa shifted and I felt its cold presence leaning toward me as I sat hunched over and cowering. Its cool, rancid breath tickled the back of my neck.
“Look at me,” he whispered coolly.
“No,” I screamed and pressed my face further into the rank fabric.
“Look at me.” The voice that screeched into my ear was terrifying. Though on the surface it sounded like Quinn, it held an undertone of pure evil Quinn’s voice could never possess, and it chilled me to the bone.
“Never,” I cried out, tears spilling freely down my face. It would take nothing short of an act of God to get me to look at the Zmeu while it wore the face of the man I loved. The idea of seeing two gaping black holes where Quinn’s vibrant blue eyes should have been made me sick to my stomach.
Bile shot up into my mouth, choking me. Gasping, I struggled to pull precious air into my lungs as I sobbed. A pair of cold hands wrenched me from the refuge of the musty sofa, forcing my head and body around, leaving me no place to hide.
“You will look at me, my pet, and you will love me, one way or another.” The demon clamped down onto my broken arm, sending waves of searing pain throughout my body.
I cried out in agony and my eyes shot open to see an evil replica of my true love sneering at me with a nefarious grin. Not once had my Quinn looked at me with such malevolence. The sight of the demon’s poisonous grin sent me reeling, but it was his eyes that shoved me off the deep end.
Gone were the deep sapphire blue eyes that brightened Quinn’s godlike face. Gone were the eyes that so thoroughly bewitched me, that captured my heart and filled my soul. Dark, lifeless orbs devoid of any semblance of goodness stared at me now, and it was more than I could bear.
“No,” I screamed. “You are not him. I will never love you. You are nothing to me. Nothing!” Filled with uncontrollable anger, I spat at the demon and swung my good arm back to hit it.
The Zmeu deflected my blow with ease and sent me flying over the back of the sofa with a powerful backhand blow to the head.
I held the side of my face that throbbed with my good hand, as I lay dizzy on the cold cement floor. Another flash of light exploded throughout the room, and then a low, sinister chuckle made its way around the couch toward me.
“Foolish child. I gave you the chance to look upon a familiar face to ease your transition into your new life, and you spat upon me. I will coddle you no more. You will look upon my true self, and you will love me for all eternity.”
My right eye swelled shut from the beating I received at the demon’s bitter hand. I struggled to see the dark figure that stalked forward, its labored breaths bouncing off the walls of the warehouse. As the evil freak came closer, I gasped, wracked with revulsion. The same devilish being from my dream the month before looked down at me.
Bathed in black, the Zmeu towered over me. Black, spidery veins covered his waxen skin and crept across his face and neck, somewhat obscured by his long, greasy, ebony locks. A mouthful of razor sharp, jagged teeth smiled down at me as he spoke.
“Look upon the face of your new lover, my pet, for you are to be mine, both in body and soul. You will be my bride and will reside with me for all of eternity.”
The Zmeu moved to lower himself over me, and I screamed with every ounce of air and strength I had left in me.
“Quinn!”
The demon’s mouth hovered just inches from my own when the double doors that led into the warehouse
exploded into the large room with a deafening bang. The walls of the structure shook violently, and the few glass windows that remained imploded into the room, sending a shower of glass raining down into the room.
“Faerie!” The Zmeu let out a grizzly howl as it tore itself away from me to face its opponent.
Quinn!
I rolled over, pulling myself forward along the cement floor with my good arm until I was able to see past the edge of the sofa into the center of the storehouse.
Like a powerful tempest, Quinn’s anger and wrath filled the large warehouse. Channeling his anger along with his supernatural strength and speed, Quinn flew across the open space like a rocket, delivering a powerful strike to the Zmeu, sending him flying up and back into the empty office space that sat high above. Blind with rage, Quinn continued his attack, leaping to the top of the metal staircase, and again into the office space where he’d thrown the Zmeu.
I cursed my wretched mortal eyesight and swollen eye. I couldn’t see a damn thing that was happening above me. Several loud crashes, followed by a high-pitched keening, rang out into the night.
As I pulled myself up onto my knees, I was finally able to see Quinn as he wrenched the Zmeu from the office floor and threw him down onto the concrete slab below. With a running jump, he followed behind, landing just in front of the demon that writhed on the floor. Pulling his Scían from its sheath, Quinn stood over the demon ready to strike, when it suddenly whipped around, kicking Quinn’s legs out from under him, bringing him to the floor. The Scían slid across the floor out of his reach.
Wasting no time, the Zmeu launched itself onto Quinn and pummeled him with a barrage of vicious blows.
There was no way I was going to sit on my ass while the demon attacked Quinn. I shot up from the floor, adrenaline pumping through my veins, and raced over to the edge of the building where the glass from the shattered windows fell. Grabbing a large shard of glass, I whirled around and raced toward the ensuing fight with the sole purpose of killing the underworld bastard or, at the very least, maiming it.
As I approached the fight, I saw that the Zmeu had Quinn in a chokehold, doing its level best to strangle the life from him.
