by T. F. Walsh
She swerved onto the shoulder and zoomed forward, despite protesting honks.
“What’s the plan?” she asked.
“We take the demons to a secluded location and beat the crap out of them.”
Cary’s face paled, and she constantly checked the mirror. SUVs weren’t made for racing, but Cary wasn’t easing up on the gas, no matter how much her car shook along the narrow road.
The snorting motorbikes closed in, followed by the Mustang. Sweat pooled down Levi’s spine.
“Head straight through the next intersection. On the map, it shows a dead-end. When the hunters see the demons, they’ll jump in and help. You stay low in the car. Then I’ll steer the hunters away.” He grabbed Noose from his belt and welcomed his racing adrenaline.
“Nothing like cornering ourselves.” Cary’s voice trembled. “Plus, I’m not hiding.”
“Got any better ideas?”
She shook her head. “I’m just not a fan of being cornered.”
He scanned the map again and spotted a street that seemed to loop right before joining the main road. It might work. “Okay, take the next right. It’s a detour.”
She nodded, her white knuckles working the steering wheel.
They passed fewer houses with much more greenery.
Flat land and a trail heading into a forest appeared ahead.
“Stop after the bend.” He turned around, knowing the hellhound was there. “Time for action, Blinkie.” When a fiery hot tongue swept across his cheek, he didn’t even flinch.
Levi wiped his face and grasped the door handle. Cary pulled to a sudden stop near the curb. He scrambled out, Blinkie thrust himself passed as Levi flicked Noose open. She was out of the car before he could stop her, her weapon in hand.
“Cary, get back in the car and stay low,” Levi begged.
She simply shook her head, and hell if it didn’t grate on Levi’s nerves. But when the two bikes grunted to a stop several paces away, his focus shifted in their direction. The one built like a barrel with no hair was biggest, so that guy was his.
“Blinkie, you take the smaller guy; Cary, please get in the car.” Levi targeted Baldy and sprinted forward, praying Cary listened to him for once in her life.
The fiend threw his helmet at Levi, catching him in the face. Shooting pain lanced through Levi’s nose; Noose fell from his grip. He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose as the blurry biker stomped toward him.
Across the road, a fuzzy Cary faced a demon of her own. He shook his head, but right then, the Mustang came around the corner, tires crunching asphalt.
With hands curled, he swung a fist at the biker’s head, connecting hard. Levi pounded into the guy again, finally sending him reeling back. With a final shake of his head, his vision came back, along with dancing stars.
How did Noose get behind the bike?
An unexpected crack to the face had Levi on the ground in a second flat. Baldy seized his foot. Levi rolled onto his back as the demon snarled.
Off to the side, a black hole opened up in the middle of the street as if it were a sinkhole. Flames burst out from the ditch, licking the edges. It grew wider by the second, swallowing up the curb and even a bench.
So, demons were summoning portals to Hell at the drop of hat? This was new and definitely had to be related to the hit put out on Cary. As if beasts weren’t dangerous enough, now they were armed with extra ammo. That was fucked up.
Levi’s heart pounded. With his free leg, he kicked his assailant. No effect to free his captured ankle. Levi’s shirt rode up to his armpits as he was hauled by his leg like a sack of potatoes toward the flaming crevice.
To his right, Cary recoiled from the two hunters marching toward her. The other biker lay on the ground, unconscious.
“Rick, she’s with me,” Levi called to a hunter he recognized.
Cary glanced over to Levi for a split second, enough for him to see the dread eating up her expression.
He had to get free and help her. Why hadn’t she listened to him and stayed in the car?
“Rick.”
No response. The hunters from Argos eyed Cary.
Levi yelled again, with no success. Bastards only cared about the money for the hit, nothing else.
From his belt, he grabbed the holy water vial and opened it. He splashed the contents at the beast gripping his leg. The demon hissed and arched his back, stumbling a few steps short of falling into the widening portal.
Levi scrambled backward. His head spun like a damn Ferris wheel. He looked across the road, spotting Cary swinging a fist at Rick, while the other hunter snagged her free arm from behind.
“Fuck, Rick.” Levi pushed himself up, but a kick to his ribs from the demon had him doubling over in pain. Air gushed from his lungs, a piercing ache stabbing his chest. Each breath was a struggle. Pushing past his pain, he shoved his foot into the demon’s shin, doing nothing but gaining himself a growl.
“They love fighters downstairs.” The demon’s gravelly voice grated Levi raw. “You’ll fit right in.”
With Levi’s ankle back in the demon’s grip, the beast towed him to the sinkhole.
Blistering heat enveloped Levi, and the roar and snap of the flames escalated. Ash fell around him like snow. White-hot stings dotted his legs, burning holes in his jeans. The heavy charcoal-like smoke clawed at this throat. He coughed uncontrollably as his life flashed before him. Fighting demons. His buddy’s death. His parents gone. Cary!
He thrashed and kicked against the beast.
Suddenly, the biker flew forward, his hold on Levi’s ankle ripped away. The guy stumbled toward the pit from the momentum, hands flailing outward, screaming.
He spun at the edge, catching his balance, his expression no longer resembled human. “Fucking hellhound,” he snarled. The moment he stepped forward, an invisible force drove into his stomach. His body bend over as he was flung backward, plummeting into the hole.
Levi scurried away from the portal and scrambled to his feet. Had Blinkie gone into the hole?
“Blinkie! No!” Cary bellowed from farther down the road.
Levi looked up at Cary. She was handcuffed and being shoved into the backseat of the Mustang by Rick. Levi leapt to his feet and despite the world revolving beneath him, he limped after Cary. He spat out the blood in his mouth. “Stop! Rick. Fuck.”
The hunters jumped into the Mustang and skidded off down the road, leaving Levi behind.
Chapter 27
A growl spilled from Cary. Trapped in the back seat of the Mustang with a lasso around her neck, she thrashed against her cuffs while they increased the distance between them and Levi.
Were the hunters taking her back to Argos? If Argos got their hands on her, they’d stick her in their lab, exorcise her, and when that didn’t work, they’d probably change her into a demon-holding-zombie.
No way would she allow herself to be transformed into a walking corpse with a demon riding inside her. But would she even be conscious of it?
Or would the beast use her memories to track down Tasha and Levi to kill them?
She battled the cord around her neck by pulling her body sideways as her hands were tied up behind her back. The handcuffs cut off the circulation to her hands, and the salt from the leash burned her flesh. With no handle, the tether attached to the lasso was knotted to the door handle as if she was a damn dog.
Then Blinkie came to mind. Images of him plunging into the black hole with the demon churned through her head. Blinkie was all she had left, and now he was gone.
And what about Levi? Last she saw, he was laying on the ground, bleeding. He’d be okay. He had to be. Levi would keep fighting with his last breath.
Up front, she recognized the guy in the passenger seat, Rick from Argos. He leaned toward her, his lips twisting into a grimace. With his unruly hair and denim overalls, she could picture him living near a swamp, wresting alligators. Probably did in his spare time.
“Her skin ain’t sizzling up or nothi
ng,” Rick drawled, his gaze sliding across her body.
“Because I’m not a demon, idiot.” Cary ignored the pounding inside her head. “Come on, it’s me, Cary Stone. I wouldn’t lie.”
“She’s probably a new kind’a demon,” the driver, who she never saw before, butted in.
“Or you made a mistake.”
The hunters exchanged glances, and Rick responded, “Bud and I don’t make mistakes.”
Cary pushed past the shivers threatening to engulf her if she didn’t remove the Noose and quick. “Look, six seconds have passed. I’m not a demon. Okay? Release me and I won’t tell anyone you screwed up.”
Rick studied her, his leering eyes lingering too long on her cleavage. “Why are you trembling then?”
“Let me strangle you, then you can tell me how it feels.”
“You ain’t going nowhere. I’ll take my chance and deliver you to Argos just the same. Not gambling on a hundred thousand dollars. And if I’m wrong…” He shrugged. “Then I’m wrong.”
Yep, she’d kick his butt extra hard. She ignored the quivering crawling along her arms and the stabbing dull pain tapping on her skull. While the salt wouldn’t kill her, it had the power to knock her out if she didn’t get free in time. And she didn’t trust dumb and dumber if she was unconscious.
Outside, clusters of trees with the occasional house whizzed past. Soon enough, they were back on the main road, flying down the almost empty tarmac. Maybe a small distraction was in order?
“I need to pee.” Her voice came out shakier than she’d hoped.
“Hold it.”
“Not sure I can.”
“Not my problem,” Rick said with his back to her.
“It will be if I pee all over your precious leather seats. I’m serious, I need to pee.”
“There’s a pit stop ahead,” Bud said.
“No.” Rick’s demanding tone boom inside the car. “We ain’t stopping.”
“My car.”
“If we get the hit, I’ll buy you a new one.”
Bud grumbled under his breath.
Her attempt at a low, sultry voice, sounded whimsical. “You could help me with my pants.”
Rick peered over his shoulder, his brown-cow eyes devouring her. For those few seconds when he didn’t say a word, she swore he would accept the offer. “Slutty demons don’t do it for me.”
“Fuck you.”
“No thanks.”
A quiver raced through her from the lasso, sending her body into spasms.
Cary couldn’t hold back a whine, her head wavering from the piercing stabs flooding her body. Detroit was a long trip, and they had to stop at some point for gas. Then she’d make a move… If she didn’t pass out first.
“Company,” the driver said.
Rick glanced out the back window. Cary craned her neck to look behind. Gunning down the road was her SUV with Levi at the wheel. Yes, her hero.
She raised her legs and shoved them hard into the back of the driver’s seat, sending them into a zigzag across the road.
“Bitch—”
Levi rammed the SUV into the back of the Mustang, throwing Cary forward. She crashed face first into the back of the driver’s seat. Pushing against her shoulder, she righted into the seat.
Another slam into the back and Cary slid forward again.
“Overtake those cars. Bastard’s not stealing our hit,” Rick said.
Cary slid back onto the seat and lifted her legs once again, whacking her feet against the driver’s back seat.
“Fuckin’…” Bud’s voice trailed off as he attempted to control the car.
Rick was holding onto his seat.
She tensed through the sudden braking. They’d left behind the traffic and barely a car passed by now. The nose of her silver SUV edged alongside the Mustang.
The Mustang revved forward but not before Levi sideswiped them, forcing them off the road. Cary jostled and bounced about in the back, the lasso tugging against her neck. She pushed herself up with an elbow and raised her knees against the front seat, bracing for impact.
“Son of a bitch!” Rick said.
The driver frantically wrestled the wheel, trying to get it under control.
When Levi smashed into the side again, the Mustang swerved and dipped into a ditch. Cary was thrown sideways from their abrupt stop, her head slammed into the door window she was tied to. Her body lost all sensation, and her head slumped forward. Splintering pain sizzled through her skull. Her vision swirled.
The engine switched off, and the rednecks stumbled out of the car.
Screw this. She was escaping and nothing would hold her back, not the nausea swimming through her head, not the sensation of throwing up her entire stomach, or the handcuffs smoldering against her wrists.
She shifted around until her back faced the door so she could reach the handle. Her grip slipped with each attempt to get the door open. She leaned forward slightly and lifted her arms. Her fingers gripped the knob. A quick pull and push, and the door opened slightly. Fresh air fluttered in across her back.
Outside on the road side of the car, Rick was holding onto Levi, while Bud laid punches into his stomach. She had to help him.
She spun around on her butt to face the door and used her foot to kick it open all the way. The cord tethered to the door tugged in the motion and hauled her out of the car. She landed on her knees on dried foliage. The lasso around her neck kept her chained to the car door. She gritted her teeth and pulled her body against the leash, the leather digging into her neck.
Come on, just snap free.
Sitting back on her heels, she took a deep breath before attempting again.
Rick stumbled into her vision a few paces away. He tripped over a dead log and fell over. Levi was there and kicked Rick onto his back before slammed two punches into his face.
The guy collapsed onto his back, out cold. With no sign of Bud, she suspected he had received the same personal attention as his buddy.
Levi’s head jarred in her direction. Blood smeared his nose and eyebrow. Plus, his arm was bleeding through the bandages. He hurried closer. Without a word, he peeled the loop from around Cary’s neck and scooped it over her head.
“Are you all right?” A worried frown wrinkled his brow as his fingers caressed the scorched skin where the lasso had been on her seconds earlier. His touch calmed her burning flesh, and despite the chaos around them, she’d give up anything for the moment to last forever. Just the two of them, the loathing gone from his eyes, him embracing her tenderly.
Cary smiled. “Thanks for coming back for me.”
Crouching in front of her, his fingers traced the wound on her head and she leaned toward his hand.
“Looks deep.” His hand slid around her back and found the handcuffs.
“You don’t look too great yourself.”
“Been worse.” Releasing her from his embrace, he vanished behind the Mustang, then reemerged with a key in his hand. He released her from the cuffs, and Cary rubbed her raw wrists. All kinds of red and purple shades marked her skin.
Levi took Cary’s hand. “We have to leave. Someone’s bound to have called the cops by now.” With a strong hand around her waist, he helped her to her feet. “Get in the car. I’m driving.”
Cary wasn’t complaining. She stepped over Bud, who, curled into a fetal position behind the Mustang, made grumbling sounds as he cradled his gut.
Then her gaze landed on the SUV. “My car!”
It was a heap of junk. The front metal grill was warped and twisted, dents dotted the hood, and both front corners were a crumpled mess. The driver’s side was scratched to high hell and the doors were buckled.
“I just finished paying it off,” she moaned. Cary’s heart died a little on the inside, staring at her baby. Curving around to the passenger’s side, she hopped in, hating how she was slowly losing everything. She didn’t have much left in all honesty. Try as she might, she came up short on what else she had left to lose, except
her own life.
Levi dragged the hunters toward their Mustang, then threw their keys into the woods behind him and dusted his hands down his jeans.
Once in the SUV, he clicked his seatbelt into place and revved the engine. Quickly, Cary fastened hers as well. Changing gears, he drove his foot into the gas pedal and did a U-turn on the barren road.
When he glanced over at her, the bridge of his nose was pinched tight and his lips were thin lines. “I’ve had enough of being hunted. I want this mark removed. Now.”
Chapter 28
“Stop fiddling with the bandage or your wound won’t heal,” Levi said, glancing at Cary in the passenger seat, even thought he knew she wouldn’t listen to him.
“Take the next left. That’s our street.” She pulled on a loose thread on her dressing. “Should be number 304.”
The place reminded Levi of Cary’s house in Watersmeet. Isolated, concealed, with no nosy neighbors.
It might be the kind of place he wanted to look into when it came time to retire. But who was he kidding? He’d never walk away from tracking down demons and destroying every last one of the fuckers.
“Levi,” Cary said, her voice soft.
He glanced across the car to her as she shifted in her seat, her hands wedged under her thighs, and her gaze focused on the forest outside her window. “Yeah?”
The image of the lasso around her neck filled his thoughts, the pain behind her gaze, and the marks on her skin from the lasso.
She was a damn cambion. A freakin’ demon, yet his heart squeezed at the memory of her injuries.
Still, he couldn’t make himself reach across and touch her bouncing knee and offer some sign of comfort. He’d vowed to vanquish every demon from earth, yet the idea of hurting Cary ripped his insides to shreds. The last time he felt like this was when the demon killed Marcos.
Nothing made sense. Not his conflicting emotions, not his attraction to Cary, and not even the ache in the pit of his gut from the loss of the bloody hellhound.
“Blinkie saved my life, and I know he meant a lot to you. I’m sorry he’s gone.” Why would the hellhound care if Levi lived or died anyway? Regardless, he owed him his life.
