Grave Destinations

by Lori Sjoberg

  A busty young blonde at the end of the bar met his gaze and smiled. She was beautiful and obviously knew it, the kind of woman accustomed to getting who and what she wanted. He sensed her attraction from where he stood, a strong, heady blast of unwashed sexuality. But he also sensed nothing inherently alien, so he turned away and focused his attention elsewhere.

  He was about to call Ruby when he spotted Dmitri at the entrance. The big Russian paused, his eyes scanning the brightly colored room before stalking in Jack’s direction.

  “You could have called,” he said once Dmitri moved within earshot.

  “No reception.”

  Jack checked his phone. Shit, the son of a bitch was right. No wonder he hadn’t heard from anyone in over an hour.

  It hit him then, the fact Dmitri wouldn’t have tracked him down unless the demon had been located. He mentally filled in the gaps and the need to protect his woman surged to the surface.

  “Where’s Ruby?”

  “With the target. We need to move into place before she reaches your cabin.”

  “Which is when?”

  “Now.” He took the glass from Jack’s hand and set it on the bar. Jack didn’t need to be told twice. He fell in line with Dmitri’s long strides as they hurried toward the exit. Once the dust settled, he’d demand an apology from the bastard for continually doubting his innocence, but for now the priority rested on ensuring Ruby’s safety.

  They bypassed the crowd waiting by the elevators and jogged up the stairs to deck nine.

  Nodding to the cabin steward as they passed, Jack slipped his key card in the slot and opened the door to his suite.

  “So what do we do now?” he asked as he flipped on the lights.

  “We wait.” Dmitri’s eyes scanned the room, his face void of emotion. “You take the balcony; I’ll wait in the bathroom. Don’t come out until I give you the signal. And don’t forget, we need this thing alive.”

  “Which way to your room?” Glen asked after they exited the elevator.

  Ruby hobbled into the lobby. “Down the hall and to the right.”

  A group of young women sauntered past, leaving a noxious trail of clashing perfumes in their wake. One of them glanced over to give Glen a casual appraisal before ducking into the elevator with her friends. A press of the button and the doors whooshed shut, leaving Ruby alone once again with her quarry.

  It wasn’t every day she lured a killer into an ambush. The sore feet excuse had worked wonders at slowing their pace to a near crawl, but now they stood less than fifty feet from Jack’s suite. She hoped she’d scored enough time for the boys to get into position. But just in case she hadn’t, she crooked a finger at Glen and flashed her best seductive smile. “Come here, you.”

  Glen stepped toward her, more than happy to oblige. When he came into range, she grabbed a fistful of his shirt and tugged him even closer. His lips met hers, and hunger flashed through her body.

  She sagged against him, her knees too wobbly to support her own weight. The spark ignited a flame when his tongue slipped past her lips, her body aching with the need to be touched, to be taken. Only she had no desire to be taken by Glen. No, the very idea repulsed her, even as her body rejoiced at his attention and clamored for more.

  It’s only the pheromone, she reminded herself. A chemical reaction designed to make his prey more pliable. She clung to the knowledge, her mind refusing to comply with her body’s demands.

  His hand drifted upward past her waist and over her ribs. A moment’s hesitation, and he palmed her right breast. Heat blazed through her body as her mind dulled. She imagined this was how a wild animal felt after being darted with a tranquilizer. She moaned out loud while she screamed inside.

  Jack’s handsome face flashed in her mind, looking as he did when they’d made love the night before. Hair mussed. Eyes darkened with passion. A smile so genuine it made her chest tight. She clung to the image like a talisman, used it to banish the fog from her thoughts.

  When she finally clawed free, she broke the kiss. She gulped the air in short, shallow pants as her body quivered with anticipation.

  “Why don’t we go inside before we do something that’ll get us in trouble with ship’s security?” She ran her hands over his chest, the soft cotton of his shirt cool beneath her fingers.

  “Sounds good to me.” He tried to kiss her again, but she playfully dodged his mouth.

  “Easy, tiger. We’ll have plenty of time for that in private.” Before he had the chance to make another attempt, she fished her key card out of her clutch bag and sashayed toward the door. Glen followed close behind, his palm pressed to the small of her back.

  Hands trembling, she slipped the card into the security slot. The lock disengaged, and she flung open the door.

  “Sissy?” she called out. Glancing back at Glen she said, “Just making sure the coast is clear.”

  It wasn’t. Thank God. She sensed the presence of two souls, hidden from view, one at each end of the cabin. Distinctly masculine, they both rumbled with impatience. The knowledge flooded her with a profound feeling of relief.

  Thankfully, the boys had left the lights on. To the naked eye, the room appeared vacant. The bed was made, and everything was neat and in its place. Thankfully, Jack had taken the time to tuck his clothes away and remove all signs of a masculine presence.

  The balcony door had been left open, the curtain rustling in the ocean breeze. Or maybe the movement was caused by one of the boys hiding behind the heavy fabric. She’d put her money on Jack, since she knew Dmitri would want to stay close to the cabin door and was probably hiding in the bathroom or the walk-in closet.

  Outside, the nightly fireworks display began, the still of the night shattered by the crackle and pop of pyrotechnics, followed closely by the cheers and applause of passengers watching from the upper levels.

  Ruby walked past the bed and tossed her clutch on the vanity. When she slipped off her heels, she let out an audible sigh of relief. “Lord, you have no idea how good that feels.”

  “I can only imagine.” He smiled as he touched a hand to her hip, nudging her closer. The contact brought back a familiar zing that her body refused to ignore. “If I can put a smile on your face that looks half as good, I’ll consider myself a fortunate man.”

  “Well, you’re more than welcome to try.” She looked at him through lowered lashes. In her periphery, she saw the bathroom door crack open. A sliver of Dmitri’s face came into view for a split second before disappearing back behind the door.

  “What’s wrong?” Glen’s head twisted toward the bathroom.

  “Nothing.” Cupping his chin, she turned his gaze back to her. “Just making sure the door was locked.”

  “Don’t worry, you’re safe with me.” The casual lie rolled off his tongue. How many other women had he used the same line on, right before taking their lives? They’d fallen under his spell. Trusted him. And he’d used that trust as bait to lure them into a position of vulnerability.

  Anger welled up deep inside, and when he kissed her again she felt no effects of the pheromone. That was interesting, not to mention a huge relief. Seizing the anger, she wrapped the mix of endorphins and adrenaline around her mind like a cloak. Oh yes, much better. For the first time in almost an hour, she could think with complete clarity.

  Mind focused, she deepened the kiss. She wanted Glen to assume that she was still as enthralled by him now as she had been before. She needed to keep him interested and occupied until the guys made their move—whatever that was. Dmitri had never shared that particular part of the plan with her. He’d only said he needed the demon alive.

  Eyes cracked open, she peered over Glen’s shoulder and saw the bathroom door slowly swing open. Dmitri stepped into the foyer, his face a cold, impenetrable mask. She imagined it was the way he’d looked back in the days when he dealt death for a different master. He crept forward, his steps silent against the plush carpet.

  Glen’s hand skimmed down her side and slipped ben
eath the hem of her dress. Inch by inch, his fingers traced a heated path up the back of her thigh. He palmed her ass, his fingers sinking into the soft flesh. Before, his touch felt sensual and erotic; now it forced her to repress a shudder. Instead of batting his hand away, she moaned, determined to keep him distracted until Dmitri did his thing. Which had better be soon, or she’d tear him a new one once everything was said and done.

  Another step, and Dmitri moved within spitting distance. His eyes met hers, icy and unyielding, as he made a long slicing motion across his neck with his index finger.

  Showtime.

  “What is it?” Glen asked when she jerked back from the kiss.

  “Nothing, darling.” She cast him a sly smile as she stepped free from his embrace. “I’m just feeling a little overheated. You want something out of the bar?”

  Frustration clouded Glen’s face, but then he blinked and the emotion was gone. “Sure, what do you—”

  Dmitri cut off his answer with a vicious blow to the back of the head. The demon yelped as he crumpled to the floor. Pressing the advantage, Dmitri retrieved a Taser from the waistband of his pants and pressed the metal prongs to Glen’s neck. The stun gun crackled as it delivered a punch of a million volts of electricity. The demon let out a high-pitched squeal before every muscle in his body went limp.

  “Is he dead?” Ruby nudged Glen’s leg with her toe.

  “No.” Dmitri zapped the demon again before tossing the Taser onto the bed. “But he’ll be out for a good five or ten minutes.”

  He rolled Glen onto his back. Unconscious, the demon appeared harmless, plain. Normal. It was hard to reconcile the wholesome image with the reality of two dead women.

  “You might as well come out now,” Dmitri called out. “It’s over.”

  Shoulders squared and muscles tensed, Jack charged out from behind the curtain covering the sliding glass door. His face was taut with tension, his lips pressed into a thin, pale line. He stalked across the room, stopping only when he came to within a foot of Glen’s slack form. The toe of his right shoe pressed into Glen’s soft midsection. No response.

  Apparently satisfied with the demon’s incapacity, Jack shifted his attention to Ruby. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” He looked her over as if searching for signs of trauma.

  “Relax, I’m fine.” Actually, the encounter had left her thoroughly creeped out, but the feeling was slowly fading as her heart rate returned to normal. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, scrubbing away the feel of Glen’s kiss on her lips. She asked Dmitri, “So what are we going to do with him?”

  “Deliver him to Samuel.”

  “How?”

  Dmitri never got the chance to respond.

  Chapter 19

  Glen’s eyes popped open as his hands shot out and grabbed Dmitri’s ankles. He yanked, and Dmitri crashed face-first to the floor. In a flash of movement the demon sprang to his feet, his upper lip peeled back in a snarl.

  Had his canines been that long before?

  “Bitch!” The stinging backhand sent Ruby flying. She stopped only when she tripped over one of the chairs and crash-landed square on her tailbone. Pain shot through her lower back as she shoved the chair out from under her.

  Jack’s eyes flashed silver. With a growl, he launched himself at Glen, the force of his momentum smacking the demon against the wall. Glen grunted when Jack’s fist slammed into his gut, the surprise on his face giving way to animal fury. After that, the fists were flying too fast to keep track of where the blows landed.

  Dmitri looked genuinely pissed as he picked himself up off the floor. No surprise there. It was a rare occasion for anyone to catch him unawares. He’d kick himself later, but for now he’d compensate for the error in judgment with brute strength and sheer ruthlessness. With his hands fisted at his sides, he stalked toward the pandemonium on the opposite side of the room.

  Locked together in a tangle of limbs, Jack and Glen had gone from punching to grappling. Grunting. Snarling. No rules. No limits. Jack wheezed when the demon’s elbow slammed into his side. He turned his head to the side and coughed, the sound rough and full of pain.

  Without a word of warning, Dmitri shoved Jack aside and slugged the demon square in the face. Blood gushed from Glen’s broken nose, raining down his face and soaking the front of his shirt. In the blink of an eye, Dmitri took him to the floor. He locked his legs around the demon’s torso and wrestled him into a chokehold. Glen gasped, his eyes bulging. Desperate to break free before his lungs ran out of air, he let out an inarticulate gurgle as his fingers clawed Dmitri’s arms.

  Jack dove onto the demon’s chest, grabbing hold of both arms, while Ruby latched onto his legs. Still, the demon struggled against their hold, bucking like a bull at a rodeo.

  Outside, the fireworks display continued, lighting the sky with a cheerful rainbow of colors. A series of mortar shells exploded overhead, so loud it shook the walls and made Ruby’s ears ring.

  “Keep him still, dammit,” Dmitri growled, tightening his grip so the demon couldn’t escape.

  Easier said than done. The creature seemed to gather strength as it fought, thrashing about like a cougar on crystal meth. Little by little, it was abandoning its human characteristics and revealing more of its true demonic nature. Its fingers elongated into talons the size of steak knives; its canines extended to three-inch fangs.

  “You waste your time,” the demon hissed, the silver in its eyes glowing brighter by the second. Its skin had darkened to a reddish black, while horns had sprouted from its skull above the temples. Right arm swinging free, it batted Jack clear across the room. He hit the wall by the sliding glass door, sending one of the hanging pictures crashing to the ground.

  “Son of a bitch!” Jack scraped himself off the floor and scrambled back into the fray, grabbing onto the demon’s free arm and holding on for dear life.

  “I said keep him still!” Dmitri snapped, his patience clearly exhausted. He said something in Russian that no one else understood, right before he flipped the safety off his Glock and fired two quick rounds into the creature’s upper thigh. The demon—at this point, it didn’t look human enough to be called Glen anymore—shrieked as blood spurted from the wound and sprayed across Ruby’s face.

  “Ugh! You could have warned me you were about to do that!” She spit on the floor, trying to purge the metallic taste from her mouth. “Dammit, Dmitri, I had my mouth open!”

  “If you’d done a better job holding him, I wouldn’t have had to shoot him.”

  The demon twisted his head to an unnatural angle, bones popping in its neck as it sank its fangs into Dmitri’s arm. Dmitri cursed a blue streak before cracking the demon between the eyes with the butt of his gun. Its hold on Dmitri loosened, and he tore his arm away, a stream of blood pouring from the jagged open wound.

  “I thought you said we needed this thing alive,” Jack said, sounding winded.

  “We do. For the moment.” Dmitri looked as tired as he sounded. A gash ran along the side of his neck where claws had ripped the flesh. Shifting position, he tugged a pair of metal handcuffs from his back pocket. With a grunt of exertion, he fastened a cuff to the creature’s left wrist. “Bring the other arm back here.”

  After a bit of wrangling, Jack dragged the demon’s right arm behind its back. It took several attempts before they managed to hold the creature still long enough to secure the second cuff around its wrist. But the restraints did nothing to cease the demon’s struggles. It landed a kick to Ruby’s side, the impact throwing her against the vanity. Writhing and thrashing, it tried to bite into flesh again, but Jack yanked his hand out of reach before razor-sharp teeth bit down.

  Dmitri flipped the demon onto its stomach and planted his knee against its spine. Grabbing a fistful of hair, he jerked the creature’s head back and looped an arm around its neck. The demon let out a strangled gasp as it strained against the cuffs.

  “Latch onto its soul!” Dmitri barked at Ruby.

  “I didn�
�t think demons had souls.” She winced as she pushed herself to sitting. That last kick had probably cracked a rib or two. It hurt every time she inhaled, hurt more when she turned toward the ruckus on the other side of the room.

  “Sure they do.” Dmitri’s lungs pumped like a bellows. The demon snarled when he tightened his grip around its neck. “They’re just blackened with evil.”

  Ruby reached out with her mind, breaching the demon’s physical form as she sought out its essence. This was foreign territory for her. Up to this point she’d always waited until after the body expired before making first contact with the soul.

  She found it after a bit of searching, a cold, hardened mass of concentrated evil, centered deep within the demon’s body. In all her years she’d never encountered anything like it, and had to fight the instinctual urge to recoil from its presence. No conscience. No compassion. Only cold, raw animal malevolence. So distracted by its efforts to break free, the demon failed to notice when she secured a mental grip on its soul.

  “Got it!” she shouted, loud enough to be heard over the scuffle.

  “You sure?” Dmitri asked.

  The handcuffs creaked. Another few seconds and the chain would probably snap.

  “Positive.”

  “About fucking time.”

  And with that he jammed the barrel of his gun against its chest and emptied the clip. The demon’s scream pierced the room, its body convulsing as its life force drained onto the carpet.

  “Don’t let go!” Dmitri’s arms locked around the creature’s body as it continued to thrash. “If the soul escapes it can take a new host.”

  No way was she going to let that happen.

  “Christ, it’s strong.” Ruby’s brow beaded with sweat as she focused on restraining the demon. Her mind was beginning to tire from the effort, a dull, throbbing ache piercing her temples.