There was no ceiling anymore. A swirling black vortex hovered fifty feet above her head, and the swirling seemed to be picking up speed the longer she stared.
“You need to give me the key!” shouted John just feet from her.
She was finally able to put it together. This was what the key opened. Whatever and wherever the vortex led to, Gena could not allow the rebels to get to it.
As the swirling grew faster and faster, it also appeared to inch closer to her. Her body felt lighter as she saw small pieces of paper around her being sucked into the swirling storm. Her heart sunk as she realized that there was no time to wait for Marcus. The key needed to be destroyed before the black hole above her swallowed her completely.
Gena tensed her arm to throw the key down twenty-three stories. Time seemed to slow down and everything appeared to happen at once. “Gena!” she heard a familiar voice shout from below her.
She looked down and the sight of Marcus looking up at her caused her heart to leap in her throat as relief flooded her. He was okay. Before she could fully form a smile, a blur rushed toward her.
The multitude of distractions proved too much for her balance as her weight shifted to the back. All thoughts of trying to remain balanced left her as the blur, that she now placed as John, approached her. Instead of fighting it, she let herself fall backward as the key left her hands and fell alongside her.
She saw John in the air above her with the same pissed-off expression he’d worn for the past twenty minutes, but even more intriguing was the quick glimpse inside the vortex as she fell.
She couldn’t be certain, but it looked like a bright purple sky peeked through the hole at the center of the storm.
Before she had time to look closer, what felt like two steel bars slammed into her back and behind her thighs before she was gently lowered to the ground. As soon as her feet were holding her on their own, Marcus’s wrapped his arms around her and crushed her close to his chest. She inhaled the familiar scent of him and held him as tight as she could.
She pulled back to look more closely at his face and was dismayed at the sight. His skin was bruised, and blood covered his clothing from wounds that had probably mostly healed. “You look horrible!”
Marcus laughed softly. “Not the reaction I was expecting after rescuing you from a very big fall.”
A corner of Gena’s mouth lifted. “Well, I didn’t expect my knight in shining armor catching me in midair to hurt so much.”
“That gravity is a bitch,” he muttered.
Gena was unable to hold herself back as she reached up and passionately kissed him, releasing all of the fear and sadness that had consumed her ever since she’d seen him dragged away from her.
“You do realize you’re in a room full of people,” came the amused voice of Ironheart from behind them.
Gena glanced over her shoulder and was shocked to see the beautiful blonde standing over a dead John with a sword sticking out of his chest. Next to him were the broken shards of the key, and above them, the ceiling was back to normal. Except for the mess caused by the forceful winds, there was no sign the portal had ever been there.
“What happened to him?” Gena motioned to John’s lifeless body.
“Well, while you two were making out over there, this little bastard got a little upset when he saw his toy was broken. But, really, one way or another he was going to end up on my sword tonight. He just got himself impaled before I had a chance to interrogate him. Hopefully my men can catch some of his allies. They all went running as everything started turning to shit up there.”
Gena felt Marcus stiffen against her back. “We still don’t know who any of them are,” he said.
“You wouldn’t,” said Gena. Everyone looked at her curiously as she reminded herself that she was a semi-human in a room full of vampires, though at least right now most of them liked her.
“Why wouldn’t we?” asked a striking sandy-haired man in a tux that probably cost more than half of Gena’s yearly salary.
“They called that glowing glass thing I had a key. Keys open doors. I think that the key opened a doorway into wherever these rebels came from.”
A few people around her scoffed at the idea, but the secure feeling of Marcus’s arms wrapped around her gave her courage. “Laugh all you want, but I spent the bulk of my night with an angel who has been around longer than any of you. Vampires were never supposed to exist in this world. When they came over, the impact was so great that everyone’s destiny was changed.
“So where exactly did you come from?” asked Gena. Silence was her only answer. She continued, “I think that you and these attackers are from the same place. A doorway was opened thousands of years ago and vampires spilled into this plane. You all call these vampires rebels, but this is no civil war that you are facing. This is an invasion.”
“Your girlfriend is crazy, Marcus,” said Ironheart. “But I kind of like her.”
“You’re right about the crazy part,” came a voice from the crowd gathered around them.
“Said the vampire to the half angel,” muttered Gena. Ironheart’s face broke out in a grin.
The sandy-haired man stopped any further bickering by saying, “No matter how crazy this all sounds, no one can deny what they saw. Marcus, I would like to have a word with you and your human. Everyone else, please remember that the night is still young and this was supposed to be a celebration.”
“I am not human,” said Gena, reminding everyone listening that she was no mere mortal.
The man looked her up and down quickly. “I noticed.” He motioned them forward with his hand as he led the way down the hallway to a plush lounge.
Ironheart also followed them in and shut the door behind her.
“Does anyone want to let me know what the fuck is going on?” asked the man in a quietly pissed-off voice.
Gena looked questioningly to Marcus but kept her mouth shut.
“Obviously none of this was supposed to happen, Aleksander.”
“You had the time to tell me that I should hire extra security, but no way to tell me why or that I should be on the lookout for bombs and non-humans who don’t die?”
Marcus protectively stepped in front of Gena, which didn’t go unnoticed by Aleksander. “Things escalated much more quickly than I anticipated. We both underestimated the skill and numbers of our enemy.”
“You mean the ones from the other dimension,” he said, disbelievingly.
Gena couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “How can you be so skeptical, knowing what you know and being what you are?”
“Maybe I don’t rejoice in the idea of an otherworldly invasion!” shouted Aleksander. A threatening growl came from Marcus's throat. Ironheart didn’t move, but Gena saw her cautiously eying the situation.
“No one wants this,” said Ironheart in a calm voice. “But now that we know, we can prepare ourselves. As troubling as the events of this evening have been, we can count tonight as a win. You should celebrate with your guests.”
Aleksander took a calming breath. “You’re right. We did save a lot of people tonight.” His gaze found Gena. “Thanks to you,” he added.
Gena found Marcus’s hand and intertwined her fingers with his. “Don’t mention it,” she muttered, her adrenaline-fueled courage fading away as it finally sunk in that she was in a room with the vampire king and a famous vampire mercenary.
Aleksander looked to Marcus. “Can I assume that we will be seeing more of her?”
“It’s a safe bet,” he responded, reassuringly squeezing Gena’s hand.
Aleksander nodded in approval. “I hope to see you back at the compound on Monday. Apparently the Council has a lot of work ahead of them. You, too, Marie,” he said to Ironheart.
“I am no Council member,” protested Ironheart.
“Nonetheless, I hope we can count on your experiences to help us in our time of need.” He calmly left the room to go back to the party, making it clear he was not issuing an order, but a re
quest.
Ironheart rolled her eyes at his retreating back. “Fucking royalty,” she muttered as she followed him out, leaving Marcus and Gena.
“That was, um, intense,” said Gena once she and Marcus were alone.
For a moment, he just stared at her, and Gena was suddenly self-conscious. Was he upset that she’d “come out” to his people? “It makes sense, you know? They said they had an army and you couldn’t figure out where they came from. Now we know.”
He tightened his grip on her hand before he pulled her in close. In one swift move, Marcus’s mouth covered hers. His free hand cupped the back of her neck as she kissed him back, the stress of the night all exploding into one fierce embrace.
But before she could push him up against the nearest wall and take things further, he pulled back. “I need to go to the compound,” he said breathlessly. “If they truly do have an army, I need to help Aleksander mobilize our forces.”
She nodded. Gena understood why he needed to go, but there was one lingering question she couldn’t bear to not ask. “If you’re going back with Aleksander, where does that leave me?” asked Gena, afraid to hear the answer. Or rather, where did it leave us?
He blinked down at her as though confused by the question. “You’re coming with me.” The rush of relief that filled her was cut off a second later when he continued, “Considering your mother, you have access to priceless information about these rebels.”
“Oh.” He was right. She might just end up being an asset in this, and for the first time, that didn’t freak her out. She’d looked all those vampires in the eye and held them off. She’d saved the entire building and countless humans and vampires alike. It was rather refreshing to not feel useless for the first time since Ryan had killed her.
“One more thing,” said Marcus.
Gena’s heart kicked up a notch as she met his gaze. “Yes?”
“I love you.”
She stared up at him, practically in awe that he’d said the words. “Really?”
He frowned. “Yes, really. I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.”
Warmth seemed to spread from her heart to all her limbs as she tried to convince herself she wasn’t imagining things. “You love me, right? Not Mary.”
“Mary isn’t the one I just caught while taking a swan dive trying to save my people. Mary isn’t the one I almost tore my hands off to get to. And Mary isn’t the one who has been haunting me ever since the moment you walked into my life. Same person or different, I love you, Gena. Please come with me. Let me keep you safe.”
Gena supposed a more experienced, sophisticated woman would make him sweat a few seconds, but she didn’t even think twice before pulled him down for a kiss. When she finally came up for air, she smiled up at him. “And I can keep you safe too,” she reminded him.
“We’ll keep each other safe,” he amended. “You, me, and Lady, right?”
She was suddenly reminded of the other stray she’d picked up along the way. “You, me, Lady…and Ryan.” Before the shock could wipe away his happiness, Gena kissed him once more. “I’ll tell you all about it on the way to Canada,” she promised. “It’s a long story.”
~~~THE END~~~
Want to get more FREE from Mallory?
Sign up for the author’s New Releases mailing list and get a free bonus Prologue showing what really happened to Anna and Evie that fateful day fifteen years before Finding Fire!
Click here to get started: www.mallorycrowe.com
Check out Book 3 in the Bad Boys Of The Underworld Series; BINDING FIRE!
AMAZON US
AMAZON UK
He's been banished from Hell.
She's been torn from Heaven.
Where will they spend eternity?
Fallen angel, Muriel has dreamed of her revenge against the vile demon, Kier, who stripped her of her wings and returned her to a mere mortal. Her plans don't include his death; she wants more. She wants to watch him suffer as he's banished from Hell--the place he calls home. But having him in captivity isn't what she expected--not nearly as satisfying as she thought.
Or is it?
Will Muriel end up risking her soul to love a demon?
AMAZON US
AMAZON UK
Daring Fire: Paranormal Romance (Bad Boys Of The Underworld Book 2) Page 23
