Dead Ink (Karma #4)

by Donna Augustine

  There had to be thirty of them squeezed into that hallway, but no one looked like Keith. He’d never seen him in person but he’d know him immediately. He’d watched surveillance footage of him, outside his shop, from when he’d shown up for Faith enough times to have his face burned into memory.

  Malokin’s men came at them in droves while he wondered where Keith could be. He threw a punch right to one guy’s throat, taking him out instantly, to duck before a knife sliced at his arm.

  He was taking blows and swings but luckily no one was shooting. No one would’ve been able to get a clear shot anyway, between the fighting and movement.

  Malokin had probably anticipated catching them unawares, sitting in the office. They might have thwarted his plan somewhat but Lars was more than aware Karma was still on her own downstairs.

  “I gotta get down there,” Fate said from where he fought beside Lars, shoulder to shoulder.

  Lars looked down both ends of the hallway, seeing the line of guys waiting to get at them through the bottleneck.

  “Fate, get the guys and duck into the office.”

  “Are you insane?” Fate asked, in between taking a blow to his midsection and then giving the guy back twice what he’d just dished out.

  “It’s the only way.”

  “There’s too many.”

  “I got this. Just get the hell out of my way so I don’t need to be concerned with it spreading too far,” Lars said, hoping Malokin’s men wouldn’t know what was coming. There was a reason he’d been the number one threat on Malokin’s list. “But do it quick.”

  “Bic, Angus, Cutty, you hearing this?” Fate asked.

  “Yeah. We hear you,” Cutty replied.

  “On my count,” Fate said.

  Decision made, Lars took in a long breath as he heard Fate count down. Filling his lungs to over capacity and letting his talents loose, death itself seeped into the air he’d taken in, infusing into it the way only so few had ever been able to do.

  He fended off the blows coming his way as he tried to cover the guys’ retreat. The second the door closed, giving them some barrier, he let the air out of his lungs.

  One after another, the men in the hallway grasped their throats and fell to the ground. With one end of the hallway clear, the guys burst back through the door and down to help Karma while he finished off the rest of the men who were scrambling to escape. He followed them down the hall and into the stairwell, all the way out into the parking lot before he turned back around to find the guys and his true target.

  Lars walked into the office to find desks overturned and blood spattered everywhere. There were bodies on the floor and Bic, Angus and Cutty were walking around the place, making sure there were no threats left.

  “What happened? Where’s Fate and Karma?” Lars asked as he started looking at the bodies on the ground, looking for Keith.

  Cutty grabbed a pack of tissues that had fallen to the floor to try and wipe some of the blood from his hands. “We don’t know. There were more guys when we got down here. It was chaotic. We were fighting, and by time we stopped, they were gone.”

  “What about in there?” Lars asked, moving toward an interior office nested within the larger one, frustrated he wasn’t finding Keith among the dead.

  “Nothing but a pool of blood,” Cutty answered, following closely.

  Lars walked into the smaller room and knelt by the blood. He took a long breath but couldn’t get any read off it besides that it wasn’t human.

  He stood and looked around at the destruction. He didn’t know if they were dead or alive. He’d feared something bad was coming and here it was.

  “Malokin is gone,” Cutty said, standing beside him.

  “For good?”

  Cutty nodded. “Positive. It’s coming through like Mike Tyson himself punched me in the gut.”

  “Nothing on Fate and Karma?”

  Cutty shook his head.

  Lars walked back out into the exterior office again, looking for a body he might have missed. “Keith isn’t here.” Lars let out a curse but knew there were more pressing issues. “Someone should go by Fate’s house.”

  “We will,” Bic said, from where he was standing beside Angus, and then left.

  “I’m going to go see if I can get a trace on his phone,” Lars said to Cutty.

  Cutty grabbed his arm before he could walk out. “Hang on. I want to call Faith.”

  Lars took out his phone to do it instead, fear gripping him, but Cutty stopped him.

  “She might not answer for you,” Cutty said.

  Lars gripped his phone tightly and then forced himself to put it away.

  Cutty, with phone already in hand, dialed her number. Lars could hear her voicemail kick in.

  Cutty dropped the phone from his ear and looked at Lars. “She’s not answering and I’ve got a very bad feeling.”

  Chapter 35

  Faith was just where Keith had left her when he walked back into the basement. The pipe had been much stronger than it looked. She hadn’t screamed at first, afraid of drawing some of the gangs that roamed the streets. Then she’d let loose, deciding she’d rather take her chances with them. It hadn’t mattered. No one had shown up, for good or bad.

  He walked over to her face her, stopping about two feet in front of her. “Malokin is gone,” he said.

  Even in her current situation, she felt some relief.

  “You shouldn’t be happy. It means I’m probably going to die. It’s just me against them now, and I’m not stupid. They’ll get me eventually. But I’m not letting you live without me,” Keith said, and she watched as he moved about the basement. “Malokin’s gone, and he’s taken my future with him.”

  “That’s not true. You can still have a life.” She tried to keep her voice calm and not rail at him, or call him the lunatic she believed him to be, especially as she saw him walk over to a pile of discarded debris and pull a length of chain from it. “With him gone, maybe you could take charge?” she asked, grasping.

  He walked back over to her slowly and then behind her and out of view. “You idiot, it’s over. I just told you that. Things are going back to normal now. Take over what? I’m in charge of crap!”

  “But why kill me? I’ve never done anything to you?”

  “Because you will never be his. If I die, so do you. And when your boyfriend gets here, I want to see the pained expression in his eyes as I kill you.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend. He won’t care what you do to me.”

  She heard the length of chain rattle before it struck. A stinging pain ripped across her back, making her feel like the flesh was being torn from her body. An involuntary scream ripped from her chest. Her sore wrists, and the ache in her shoulders, now felt like a tickle in comparison.

  “Keith, think about what you are doing. I can talk to them. I’ll convince them to leave you alone, they will.” It was flimsy but she was desperate. She tried to keep her voice as steady as she could, even as her body shook from the shock of what was happening to her.

  “You’re a liar. They’ll kill me no matter what you say. Don’t lie to me!” His voice became frenzied as an even harder blow struck her back. “And I’m going to take every ounce of hope from you before I die.”

  After the first several blows, just the sound of the clinking chain made her cringe, waiting for the next one. She might not be human anymore but the pain still felt horribly the same.

  And then she realized, after everything she’d been through, this might be her final end.

  ***

  When they’d reached Cutty’s house, it had been empty. A broken kitchen window and puddle of spilled tea left an ominous trail to nowhere.

  They’d made a list of every known location they had linked to Malokin. Each place they entered, Lars lost a little more hope that they’d find Faith in one piece.

  When he walked into the fifteenth place on their list, and still there was no sign of Faith, he was ready to tear down every building o
n the entire East Coast if he had to.

  Cutty walked up beside him. “We’ll find her.”

  “I kicked her out. It’s my fault.”

  “I don’t—”

  “We both know it.”

  “I think you need to take a break, just for a couple of hours.”

  “No. You can, if you want, but I’m not stopping until I find her.”

  “I’m not going anywhere.”

  It was five A.M. when he stepped into the cellar of the hotel Malokin had used on one of his very first times in South Carolina. The moment they stepped into the building he could smell her scent. They searched the small hotel, which was only about eight floors, and he almost gave up hope until they stepped into the basement.

  She was strung up, hanging from a beam above her head. Her dress was torn as she stood on her tiptoes, with only a bra covering her from the waist up. There were marks all over her body, bruises and welts crisscrossed over each other as if there wasn’t enough surface for the damage doled out.

  She hung so still he thought she was dead at first, but then he heard a thready heartbeat. If she’d been alone, he would’ve had her in his arms in seconds, but she wasn’t. Keith was there. He was standing alarmingly close to where Faith was hanging, a knife in his hand.

  “Look,” Keith jabbed at Faith’s back with his hand and she winced. Her head, which had been hanging down, pulled up slightly, looking as if it had taken every last ounce of energy she had to accomplish that small movement.

  Her eyes met his and he could see the pain shadowed in them. A rage grew within him, the likes of which he’d never experienced.

  “He’s finally made it in time for the finale! Isn’t that nice of him?” Keith said, a psychotic laugh echoing through the basement. He closed the several inches between him and Faith until he was standing right behind her, his knife raised to her throat. “Are you ready for the show, Lars? Should we do it quickly or drag it out a bit longer, for entertainment value?”

  Keith would do it. Lars could see the crazed look in his eyes. He didn’t doubt him for a second.

  “Do you have any sport to offer yourself? Maybe something to keep her alive a while longer?” Keith asked. “Perhaps you’re willing to gouge out one of your eyes to save her some pain?”

  “Keith, you’re wrong. I told you he doesn’t care for me,” Faith said, the pain she was feeling leaking into her voice.

  Lars couldn’t tell if she believed what she’d just said or if it were for Keith’s sake.

  “You’re lying,” Keith said.

  “He kicked me out. Didn’t you?” she asked Lars.

  Lars nodded slightly, the guilt flooding him as he did. But he couldn't let this be the end. He swallowed back his emotions. He needed to get her out of here.

  He visually measured the distances. He could kill Keith where he stood this very instant; but being so close to Faith, she’d die with him. But if he could get Keith even a couple of feet farther away, it might work.

  “Do it,” Faith said, looking directly at Lars, as if she had read his mind.

  “Shut up. Don’t speak,” Keith said, pressing the knife more firmly to her until a trickle of blood ran down her throat.

  “Do it,” she repeated, not caring.

  Lars looked at her, bloody and battered but still so strong.

  “Cutty? You need to leave,” Lars said.

  “Again?” Cutty asked.

  “Yes.” He heard Cutty step out of the room while Keith gloated, having no idea what was going to happen.

  “Take me, too,” Lars said to Keith as he raised his hands above his head, trying to lure him closer.

  He moved a little closer, hands still raised, and acted like he was going to get to his knees. Keith let a few inches of space grow between Faith and himself. For the second time in one day, Lars let death seep into his breath.

  Keith took another slight step away from Faith, and it was going to be barely enough clearance, but he could do it. Lars was in range and started blowing a stream of air toward Keith, avoiding Faith as much as possible.

  Keith’s hand immediately went to his throat and he fell to the ground under a second later.

  “Hold your breath,” Lars quickly said to Faith.

  The emotions that had been rushing at Lars surged to the surface. He grabbed the discarded knife and cut through the ties holding her up as he grabbed her, lifting her off her feet. He got her out of the basement as quickly as possible so she wouldn’t take in anymore of the poison he’d released.

  Cutty was waiting for him just outside the building, having had the forethought to grab a comforter from one of the hotel beds. He quickly helped Lars wrap it around her unconscious body.

  “Is she okay?” Cutty asked as he looked at her limp form in his arms.

  “She didn’t get much of it. I think it was the pain of the injuries that knocked her out,” Lars said. “Let’s get her back to your place.”

  “My place?” Cutty asked surprised.

  “Yes,” he said. “You said it yourself that she didn’t want to speak to me before. How do you think she’ll feel about me now?”

  Cutty tried to disagree with him but Lars ignored him as he got in the passenger seat of Cutty’s car. Lars didn’t blame Faith for the disgust she’d feel for him after all of this. He held her close, trying to forget that this was going to be the last time he’d feel her in his arms.

  ***

  “Is she okay?” Lars asked from where he sat on Cutty’s couch.

  Cutty poured himself a drink and then joined him in the living room. “She’s roughed up pretty bad but she’ll be fine. I woke her up long enough to get some painkillers in her and she went right out again.” Cutty sighed and leaned back. “It’s not your fault. Not what happened to Faith, or Fate and Karma. Wherever they are, whatever happened, it was their choice.”

  Lars rested his forehead in his hands before they raked through his hair. “Any sense on where they are?”

  There were a lot of bloodstains in the office downstairs but none of them had actually seen what had gone down. Fate, Karma and Malokin had been in the smaller interior office.

  “That I don’t know.” Cutty took a swig of whiskey. “It’s not your fault. And, Lars?” He waited until Lars looked up at him. “It’s not her fault, either.”

  “I agree. It isn’t her fault.” But he did have a healthy dose of the blame. If she had been at his place, this never would’ve happened. But at least they were gone now, Keith and Malokin.

  Lars stood, feeling that old haunting emptiness fill him again.

  “Where you going?” Cutty asked.

  “Back to my place.”

  Cutty shook his head but let him go.

  Chapter 36

  She woke up in Cutty’s guest room, not at Lars’ place. She scanned the room quickly, to see if he was there, but all she saw was Cutty hanging out, reading in a chair across the room.

  “There you are!” he said with a warm smile. “You had a rough go of it but I’ve got some good news.”

  “Malokin’s gone,” she said. “Keith told me. Is everyone else okay?”

  “Karma and Fate are missing.” The smile dropped from Cutty’s face.

  Faith tried to sit up in bed but then froze as the pain decided it didn’t want her going anywhere. “Shouldn’t we be looking for them?”

  “We tried.” Cutty waved his hand. “If they still exist, they aren’t anywhere we can find them. They aren’t in this world anymore.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “They might be back. Stranger things have happened.”

  She could see the sadness in his eyes, although he tried to keep a smile in place for her. She didn’t say anything else, just waited for him to lead the conversation when he was ready.

  Cutty leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs. “The good news is that since this all went down, things are already a lot calmer out there. Everything is going back to normal. The gangs are disbanding.” />
  “That quick?”

  “Not that quick. You’ve been out of it for days,” Cutty said. “But as soon as Malokin was gone, it seemed to die down. Life should go back to normal soon. So, how are you feeling?”

  “Better. How long have I been out for?”

  “Few days.”

  “Where are the guys?” she asked, though she really wanted to know about one in particular.

  “Angus and Bic are hanging out downstairs, waiting for you to wake up.” There was an uncomfortable pause and then Cutty cleared his throat. “Lars had to—”

  “I don’t care,” she said, cutting him off. He hadn’t even hung around with the other guys, to see how she was, after what had happened. It was really over. “It doesn’t matter,” Faith lied, deciding she’d need to start lying to herself as well.

  She rested her head back down on the pillow, feeling worse than when she’d been hanging there from the pipe in the ceiling, bloody and beaten. He’d come and saved her. She’d thought that meant something, but then he’d left without a word.

  Cutty let the subject drop and she was glad. Words couldn’t fix this. Time might make the hurt fade but she wasn’t even sure if eternity would be long enough to erase the pain she felt right now.

  “Are you hungry?”

  “No, I’m actually pretty tired still.” Another lie. She’d been ready to run down the stairs a few minutes ago when she’d thought Lars might be waiting for her.

  “Okay, I just wanted to make sure you’re feeling better. I’ll give you some space.”

  She pasted on a fake smile as he left the room.

  It took her three days to get out of the bed in Cutty’s guest room. The first two days she’d pretended she needed to stay there because she was in too much discomfort. The third was spent coming to terms with the fact that what hurt most wasn’t going to heal anytime soon.