“Shut up.”
“Why? Have I hit a nerve?”
“No, you’re irritating me.” Cyrus wiped a sleeve over his face, then straightened his jacket. “And your jealousy is rather pathetic.”
“Jealous? Of her?” Rosali slashed her nails across my throat, choking me again before I could cry out. “This is nothing but revenge.”
Her hand tightened, crushing my windpipe, tearing at the broken flesh of my neck. The pain blinded me, flashes of black and white, throbbing across my eyes as my skin ripped open. I clawed at her hand. Her grip never loosened. Blood filled my throat. Soaked through my shirt.
Cyrus lunged into Rosali, knocking her away from me. I hit the stone floor hard, covering the gaping wound on my throat to staunch the blood. I’d lost so much. Taken too much damaged to rise. The flames were closer. The smoke rushing over me burned.
Rosali screamed, throwing Cyrus toward the flames billowing down the stairs. He caught himself on the railing. She pulled a small knife from under her sleeve and threw it at him. He ducked, but the blade sliced his cheek open before impaling the stone wall behind him.
Reaching back, Cyrus grabbed the knife, but before he could free it, Rosali was on him. His back hit the wall and he grunted as she tore into his throat with her fangs.
He shoved at her, but she’d locked onto him, slowly draining him even as the burning cinders rained down on them, catching in her hair. Tears trailed down her cheeks as the fire ate at the long, glistening black waves until nothing was left but a blazing halo. Her beautiful dress flared up, and still, she clung to Cyrus.
She lifted her head, her once smooth flesh blistered and raw, the fire surrounding them both as she kissed his lips. “You were always a monster. A terrible beast who was exquisitely cruel. The nightmare I’d given the world.” She shuddered as the flames destroyed her dress and caught more of her skin. “You were mine when all this began. And you’ll be mine as it ends.”
Tipping his head to the side, Cyrus caught my gaze. “Go…you have to get out.”
I dragged myself to my feet, hanging on to the edge of the broken wine rack. The room spun, but my throat was healing. I’d be weak, but if I had enough blood to heal, I had enough to keep moving.
Not up the stairs, there was no way I’d get through that fire.
There had to be another way.
Cyrus let out a rough sound of pain. The flames were around him, licking at his jacket, but slowly, as though controlled by his many victims who’d want to make his final, agonizing moments last.
I’d have wanted that too, once.
But he’d just saved my life.
Striding up behind Rosali I jerked her fiery body off him, burning my hands, jumping when she turned her head, her hollowed out eyes seeming to stare at me. She wasn’t dead yet. It wouldn’t be long, but her still moving with her skin sizzling and her bones breaking through charred flesh would haunt me for the rest of my life. I shuddered, wiping the oily substance that slicked her remains from my blistered hands before grabbing Cyrus’s jacket and tearing it off him. The fire had burned through it, leaving angry red patches on his chest. Half of his face was smeared with black, but I couldn’t tell if he’d been burned there as well.
I threw his arm over my shoulder and dragged him toward the other end of the wine cellar, which cut off abruptly into a short hall. At the other end was a room with a high table and two stools. The room was lit by candles in several sconces along each wall.
And a skylight that glowed like the sun was blazing orange in the sky, much too close. Looking through it I could see the whole mansion burning, an inferno reaching up into the sky.
I lowered Cyrus to the floor and grabbed the table, moving it under the skylight so I could reach it.
Cyrus stared at me as I climbed up on the table. “Why?”
“Why what?” I punched the glass. Winced. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“Why the fuck didn’t you let me burn?”
Shaking my head, I bent down and picked up one of the chairs, using it to splinter the thick glass. “I don’t know.”
The glass burst inward. A man leaned through the hole, holding out his hand.
“Take him first!” I hopped off the table, forcing Cyrus to his feet. Once he was on the table, the man pulled him out, then came back, latching on to my wrist. I gasped in the fresh air as I collapsed on the grass.
Then sat up abruptly at the smooth glide of metal.
“I know you…” The man shook his head, glaring at Cyrus, then shooting me a confused look. “And you’re Lydia, right? Some of us agreed to stay and look for you. Your man is injured. The elders had to force him to leave.”
“He’s not my man.” I gritted out the words, but my chest lightened just knowing Daederich was still alive. We’d lost what we’d once had. Maybe it was never real at all. But the idea of him being out there, somewhere, comforted me.
The hunter shook his head. “That’s none of my business. But we thought this one was dead.” He lifted his sword. “Now he will be.”
I rushed the hunter, catching him off guard. His sword slipped from his grip as his back hit the ground. I did my best to pin him down. I had to move fast. I didn’t have the strength to fight him once he gained his bearings.
We rolled in the grass. He knocked my hand away from his sword. I kneed him in the balls and he grunted, trying to push me off him. Feeling through the grass, I tried to find his sword. My fingers brushed a large rock and I grabbed it, cracking it into his skull.
He went still and I bowed my head. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
I didn’t want to kill him. He’d helped me. But the blow to the head wouldn’t keep him down long. I needed time to get Cyrus to safety, especially now that I knew there were other hunters still around, searching for me.
Standing, I looked for the sword. Held it with both hands, aiming for his heart.
Don’t do it, Lydia.
Tears blurred my vision. I blinked them away.
A severe wound will slow him down. Cyrus isn’t worth another life.
My breath locked in my throat as the blade pierced his chest. Cutting into his heart. Hopefully not doing enough damage to end him, but enough to put him out of commission for a while. The other hunters would have to find him before the sun rose. He had a good chance.
A much better one than I did if they saw me now.
Fishing through his pockets, I found some car keys attached to a starter. Stuffing them into the pocket of my jacket, I returned to Cyrus, who lay crumpled on the ground, unconscious. I cursed as I did my best to drag him through the grass, toward the end of the parking lot. If the hunter’s car wasn’t here, I could steal another, but I wasn’t that great at hotwiring.
I pressed the button on the starter. Lights went on nearby. A black SUV. Big and not the least bit inconspicuous, considering most of the residents in the area likely drove expensive cars, but maybe the hunters still lingering wouldn’t stop us, assuming the driver must be one of their own.
Lifting Cyrus onto the backseat, I glanced back at the mansion, wondering why the fire department hadn’t shown up yet. The next house was some ways down the road, but with all that smoke, someone should be here by now?
Didn’t matter. I climbed into the driver’s seat, wrapping my hands around the steering wheel, a vision of Daederich by my side reminding me of when he’d taught me how to drive again. Or for the first time, I didn’t know which. For such a hard-ass, he’d been a very patient teacher. And he’d had so much to teach me. There’d been so much I’d forgotten how to do on my own.
How could he be the same man who’d betrayed me and Elah? I hadn’t let myself question what Cyrus had told me, the anger had been part of what kept me going. But I wasn’t trapped anymore, not really. Not if I accepted that I wasn’t the only one who could protect Alrik. The only reason I was still with Cyrus was because of some fucked up sense of gratitude.
I knew that, but I still pulled ou
t onto the road, considering the best place to hide Cyrus while he healed. And I still hated Daederich, which made no sense.
Only…I had to hate him. Because if I didn’t, it would be too easy to love him again. To wish he was with me. To miss him.
To remember the look on his face when Elah died.
Chapter Eighteen
Daederich cursed as a large bullet was pulled out of the bone in his thigh. The hunter playing doctor wasn’t gentle, smirked every time Daederich made a sound, and hadn’t said a word since he’d pulled out the scalpel. Daederich had tried to bite his tongue at first, but fuck these pretentious assholes. He hadn’t asked them to bring him here.
He had to go back. Lydia was still alive. Still with Cyrus.
And getting her away from him wouldn’t be easy.
The hunter who’d pulled him out of the line of fire stepped into the room, nodding to the ‘doctor’ as he dropped the last bullet in the trashcan by the bed. Once he’d left, Daederich faced his rescuer. The man was young, almost as tall as Daederich, but lean. And he wasn’t immortal. Daederich wasn’t quite sure what the man was. He had dark brown eyes with the same cold stare of every hunter.
Every one except Elah. Elah whose death was on Daederich. He should have reacted faster. Should have stopped Rosali. He’d assumed she’d enjoyed toying with Elah too much to end his life so suddenly, but she’d used him as one final way to break Lydia. One that might have been more efficient than anything Cyrus had ever done.
“They still haven’t found her…” Shit, Daederich hadn’t gotten the man’s name.
“Jase. And no, but the man she stabbed lived, so those still looking might not kill her when they do.” Jase’s jaw ticked. “She could be free now. Why save Cyrus?”
Bringing his hand up to rub his face, Daederich sighed. “I don’t know. He’s had her for months. There’s no telling what he did to her.”
“He can’t be controlling her.”
“Can’t he? Don’t you train your hunters to endure torture for that exact reason? So pain can’t be used to manipulate them?” Daederich eyed the IV bag hanging from a nail in the wall next to his temporary bed. The last of the blood coated the sides of the tube. He jerked the needle out of the vein in his inner wrist. “She’s tough, but she’s endured so much. And she’s desperate to protect my son. Cyrus knows exactly how to get inside her head.”
“So do you.” The hunter pulled up a chair, turning it backward before straddling it. “You might be pissed that I dragged you here, but you’ve had time to heal. You won’t be a liability when we send a team to take them both. You can force her to cooperate.”
“Not unless I have no other choice.” Daederich pushed off the bed, reaching for the clean black shirt and jeans the ‘doctor’ had left for him. Now all he needed was to get his hands on a weapon. “I can feel her, but faintly. I won’t be able to track her down.”
“You won’t need to. We’ll find them the same way we found the mansion.” Jase grinned when Daederich glanced over at him. “Cyrus has been a target for a very long time. One of our contacts spotted him in the area, so I set up shop a few weeks ago, hoping to catch his attention. Our intel says I’m his type.”
Daederich grunted. Cyrus’s type was anyone who’d make his sick games interesting. The hunter must have played his role very well. Most hunters didn’t have what they considered weaknesses. Pain didn’t faze a hunter, so Cyrus wouldn’t have had much fun with this one. For a mortal, Jase was as impervious as the rest. Sure, the guy was easy on the eyes, but looking at him now, Daederich couldn’t figure out why Cyrus would have even noticed the hunter. Not when there was more ‘entertaining’ prey out there.
“So he just picked you out of the crowd because you’re cute?”
“No.” Jase folded his arms over his chest. An oddly defensive posture. “She did.”
Inhaling slowly, Daederich leveled his gaze with the hunter’s. “She chose you.”
The hunter inclined his head. “He forced her to pick someone to play with for the night. I assume she figured I was more expendable than the sweet young lovers strolling around the park—I could tell she didn’t want to choose at all. But I was alone. Suitably pathetic.”
“She wouldn’t have looked at you that way. But she might have considered your life less valuable than my son’s.”
“I would have told her he was safe—as I told you when I pulled you off that stage.” Jase gave Daederich a hard look, as though to make sure Daederich believed him. Daederich wouldn’t be here if he didn’t. He motioned for the man to go on. “But the priority was tracking Cyrus.”
“You could have killed him that night.”
“And lost the chance to eliminate a dozen fuckers just as bad—if not worse—than him.” Jase sighed. “I know Cyrus seems like the ultimate evil to you, but he’s just another monster. He will die. This is nothing but a delay.”
A…delay. Daederich went still. He closed his eyes. Saw Elah, wasting away, forcing Daederich to cut off his hand in a last desperate attempt to free them all. Saw him dragged onto that stage for the last time, his final moments nothing but pain, more pain Daederich had given him because there was no way out.
Only, there had been a way.
Elah’s own people had known exactly where they were.
They’d been in the crowd.
Waiting.
He stepped up to Jase and cracked his fist into the hunter’s jaw. Jase hit the wall. The door opened. Two hunters rushed at Daederich.
Jase held a hand up and they stopped. He didn’t even glance over at them. “Leave us.”
The door clicked shut as Daederich glared at Jase, ready to hit him again.
“I wouldn’t. The first one’s free.” Jase rubbed his jaw. “The next will cost you.”
“Elah is dead.” Daederich snarled, grabbing the front of Jase’s shirt. “Because of you. You could have saved him.”
Blood trickled from the corner of Jase’s mouth. Dripped off his chin onto Daederich’s arm. The hunter didn’t seem to notice. And he didn’t try to pull away.
“I know.” Jase’s stoic expression cracked. Just for a split second, but Daederich could see the pain in the man’s eyes, even after he schooled his features. “I could have saved him if I’d come sooner. If the priority hadn’t been saving your son because Elah wouldn’t have cooperated if we’d tried to extract him without securing the boy first. I could have saved him if those girls weren’t in the way. He taught me to put the protection of the most vulnerable above my own life. Above his. The man who was my mentor, who was the closest fucking thing I had to family, ensured I’d make the same damn choice he would have and I will regret that until the day I die.” He let out a cold laugh. “But it doesn’t matter because I’m a hunter and I do the fucking job I was trained to do. All that matters is that you lost him. And I’m very sorry.”
Releasing Jase, Daederich backed away, shaking his head. “I’m grateful that you got my son out of harm’s way, but you fucking hunters… Elah mattered. His life was worth something.”
“After what you did to him?” Jase’s tone went cold. “I doubt he felt the same.”
“I had no choice.”
“You could have kept your promise. But you didn’t.” Jase’s lips slanted. “And that’s something you’ll have to live with.” Jase leaned close, speaking low. “I hope it haunts you. I hope you spend every damn night with visions of what you put him through in the back of your mind.”
A chill slid down Daederich’s spine. He clenched his jaw, refusing to retreat any further. “If you hate me so much, why let me live?”
“Because this is all I can give him. You, her, and the boy.” Jase lifted his shoulders and headed for the door. “He died because he thought you were worth giving up everything he’d worked for. I plan to make sure it wasn’t a complete waste.” He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “But I’m still a ‘fucking hunter’. If you can’t get her away from Cyrus, if she puts any of my men at
risk—”
“She won’t.”
Jase hesitated, then shrugged. “You have the power to make sure she doesn’t. Whether you use it or not is up to you. Be ready to go in fifteen.”
“I’m ready now.” Daederich didn’t want to wait. If he could find Lydia on his own, he’d leave. Ahead of the hunters. Give her some warning.
But there was no way to do that without alerting Cyrus as well.
“Fifteen minutes.” Jase smirked, as though reading Daederich’s uncertainty. And taking pleasure in it. “You might not want to mention Elah in front of the other hunters. They’re not as nice as I am.”
After Jase walked out, Daederich glared at the door, resisting the urge to go after the man. Maybe punch him again. He punched the wall instead, absorbing the sharp pain slashing up from his knuckles into his arm. Again and blood smeared the wall. Again and something inside him shattered.
He choked back the broken sound that tried to escape, refusing to give the hunters another reason to mock him. He was trapped, no better off, no more in control, than he’d been in his cell. Lydia’s life was in danger and he was powerless to help her. He’d have one chance to get through to her, but what would she see when she looked at him?
She’d see the man who’d raped Elah.
Who’d severed his hand.
Who’d whipped him bloody moments before he died.
He’d promised her she’d be free.
He’d promised Elah he’d kill him rather than let him be captured.
He’d made so many fucking promises.
All absolutely worthless.
Forcing himself into Lydia’s mind was one more thing he’d promised never to do again. He’d already lost her trust. Maybe he’d never deserved it in the first place. Any more than he’d deserved her love.
The End (Deadly Captive Book 3) Page 17
