by A and E Kirk
“You will be again. You were awesome, by the way.” I tossed the empty ice cream container in the sink and faced Cristiano. “Ready? We need to find Heather and am-scray.”
Armani frowned. “Am-scray?”
“Skedaddle. Blow this popsicle stand. Make like a bakery truck and haul buns.”
Cristiano blinked.
“She means leave,” Ayden said, then put the heel of his hand to his forehead. “Oh my God, now I’m translating Jayden and you.”
Jayden grinned. “Outstanding.”
“No,” Ayden said. “Not outstanding. And Aurora, neither is this idea of you running off with him and his,” he waved a hand at Cristiano, “shirtlessness. We’ll find another way.”
“Not one that won’t put all of you in any more danger,” I countered. “You’re supposed to be heroes for uncovering this demon infestation, but instead you’ll be treated like criminals for trying to help me.”
“Her logic is sound.”
“Not helping, Jayden,” Ayden snapped.
“I know you do not trust me,” Cristiano said. “But there is no other choice. I give you my word, I am on your side. More importantly, I am on her side. Keep your secrets, just let me help. Stay out of trouble, and you will be home soon. In the meantime, I will keep her safe and do nothing untoward.”
Logan studied him for a moment. “What exactly is your power?”
“Staying alive,” Cristiano answered.
“You’d better be sure she does,” Ayden said. “Stay alive, that is, because if anything happens to her, Sicarius or not, I’m coming for you.”
After a beat, Matthias added, “And he won’t be alone.”
“Ahhh,” I smiled. “I knew you cared.”
Matthias groaned. “Why do you ruin everything?”
“Part of my charm.”
Ayden frowned. “Quit kidding around, Aurora. This is dangerous. I don’t like it.”
“Neither do I.” I took his hands in mine. “But we’re running out of time to get Heather. Look, if he tries anything ‘untoward’…” Seriously, his English was ridiculous. “…I’ll burn this place down with my bare hands. Like you know I can.”
Liked we hoped I could. If I could get my powers working. But, hey, those were details I’d worry about later. I kissed Ayden’s cheek. My lips wanted to linger, but I was afraid if I didn’t go right now I’d lose my nerve, throw myself into his arms, and beg him to take me away.
Which he would do. I could see it in his eyes when he looked at me. He’d risk everything, all I had to do was ask.
But I couldn’t. It was too dangerous. For all of them. So I let him go, hugged Tristan, Logan, and Jayden, then went to Blake on the gurney and thumped his chest a few times.
“Hey, big guy.”
After a moment, he said, “Babe?” He blinked and sat up, making the gurney squeak and groan. “Guys? What’d I miss?”
A better family life? Your mom and sister? The kind of great dad you deserved? I wanted to say all of that, but I didn’t. I swallowed and had to blink back a few tears.
“You’re my knight in shining armor.” I hugged him hard. “You saved the damsel. Now it’s my turn.” I hugged him again.
Blake lifted me off the ground. “Double hugs? I’m so her favorite. You can all suck it.” He sang the last two words, then tensed and whispered into my hair. “Hey, I don’t remember much, but isn’t that the Sicarius assassin trying to kill you?”
“Yeah,” I whispered back. “But we’re all good now.”
“That’s a relief. He is the Seduction Guru and my hero. I’d hate to have to hurt him. But for you babe, not a problem. Just one question, why isn’t he wearing a shirt?”
I laughed. “The guys will catch you up. I’ve got to go. You get some rest. And quit getting into trouble.” I thumped his chest again. “Or else.”
“Anything you say, babe. Love your bossy side.”
“Great. I’ll see you all soon. Armani, let’s go.”
I opened the door. Jumpsuits stared, blocking the path.
“Out of my way,” I ordered with more than a dash of hostility. “Or incur my wrath.”
Okay, that last part might have been overly dramatic, but I was doing my best. Worst part was the jumpsuits didn’t move. They just stared blankly. Probably couldn’t handle my awesome vocabulary skills. Well, if at first you don’t succeed…
“Move!” I spat while leveling my most ferocious glare. “Now!”
Single syllables. That was the trick. They moved. Even jumped a bit before doing so.
Hah. Don’t mess with Sicarius.
As I left, I heard Blake say, “Why didn’t you guys wake me up when babe went all dominatrix again? You know there’s nothing hotter.”
That made me smile.
CHAPTER 70
Cristiano wore a serious expression until we made it around the first corner. Then, as if he couldn’t contain it any longer, he broke into a wide grin.
“What’s so funny?” I asked.
“I do not mean to criticize, but…incur my wrath?”
I winced. “A bit much?”
“Even for a Sicarius.”
“Well, I was in the moment, and it worked.”
He continued smiling. “That it did.”
We made it away without incident—or further critical commentary—back to the patient wards. Heather was still absent from her room and the new shift of nurses hadn’t seen her, so in hopes of finding clues to her whereabouts, we were headed to the area where I’d been jumped by Jumpsuit.
“The rules still stand,” Cristiano said, letting me lead the way. “Even more so now that I have given my word to the Hex Boys. Do we need to review?”
“Oh, yes, let’s!” I said with bright enthusiasm, then lowered my voice and put on a haughty Italian accent. “Time is blah-blah short. If I say go, you must do as I say or I will conk you over the head and drag you out of here like the shirtless blahbity-blah-blah caveman you know I am capable of being.” I smiled sweetly and returned my voice to normal. “Did I get that about right?”
“Close enough,” he said pleasantly.
It took me a couple of tries, but I finally got us on the right track. I hoped we weren’t too late. If we didn’t find Heather, well, I didn’t want to think about that just yet. How would I get Cristiano to keep looking? What about Buttefield? Was she okay?
This could turn into a disaster and a half. Maybe three-quarters. My stabbed hand started to ache again. I rubbed it with my other. Just phantom pain, I reminded myself. Sure felt real. At least I wasn’t seeing a phantom knife sticking out of it again.
Looking for a distraction, I asked, “So why do you have scars?”
“I have been injured.”
“Ha ha. You know what I mean. Why didn’t you have Healers get rid of them? You said you’d tell me the truth.”
“I said there would be truth between us, and so it shall be, but that is a question I prefer not to answer at this time. Tell me. Do you find this unpleasant to look at?” He gestured stiffly at his bare torso under the lab coat.
I laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”
He was built like a brick house. Big, broad, chiseled from head to toe. Not that I’d seen anything below the waist. Or ever would. But the term “physically fit” didn’t begin to cover the glory of his physique.
“The damage does not disgust you?” he asked.
“Oh, you mean the scars. No.” Actually, they were kind of sexy. Yeah, I know, chicks dig scars. I glanced self-consciously at my own. “Why? Do mine disgust you?”
“Of course not,” he answered without hesitation. “I only had the Healer work on you today to relieve your pain and save you from explaining your injuries to your family. Why is it you feel they would be in such danger if they became aware of your…unusual experiences?”
“I prefer not to answer at this time.”
He chuckled softly. “Very well. Better than a lie. As for your scars, the only disgust
I feel is for the circumstances in which you received them in the alley and the mob of your friends.”
I stumbled.
He caught my elbow.
“How do you know about that?” I said quietly.
“The background check when I found you in Gossamer Falls. The attack in the alley is public record.” A darkness fell across his features. “Do not worry. I will not let something like that happen to you. Which is why if we do not find this girl soon—”
“We leave, caveman style. Yeah, I heard you. Fine.”
I didn’t like the determined set of his jaw or resolute tone of his voice, because it wasn’t fine. Because if we got to the place where I’d last seen Heather and she wasn’t there, I’d need him to keep helping me find her, otherwise I was screwed. My nerves ramped up as we traveled through the empty corridors, getting closer to where I’d lost the battle, and Heather.
A door opened to my right. A hand shot out and grabbed me.
CHAPTER 71
Cristiano shoved me aside. The hand on me somehow lost its hold without even tugging on my arm, and then we were just…in the room, a small bedroom, and Cristiano had a knife to someone’s throat.
“No!” I shouted. “That’s Buttefield!”
Cristiano looked down at the cowering woman. “The doctor who provided you assistance?”
“Yes!” I said.
Wide-eyed, Buttefield nodded with vigor, until she stopped and grabbed her head. “Ow.”
“Apologies, my friend.” Cristiano lowered the knife and clasped Buttefield’s shoulder to help her stand steady.
A soft moan came from the far side of the room. It was Heather, slumped in a wheelchair. In two strides, Cristiano was upon her. With one violent yank, he had her pinned against the wall, a forearm pressed against her throat, the tip of the knife digging just below her ribcage.
“Stop! That’s Heather!”
But this time Cristiano didn’t heed my warning. Instead, the knife dug deeper. Heather’s feet dangled off the floor. She remained unconscious, not even knowing she was so close to death.
“I recognize her,” Cristiano’s voice rasped with venom. “She tried to kill you.”
“How do you know that?”
“My research was very thorough.”
My hands fisted in frustration. Great, by trying to save Heather from one death, I’d brought her another.
“Okay, look. You’re right, but there was a Hallucinator involved. Not her fault, and with her alive, I can get answers. Please, let her go.”
He didn’t.
Then Buttefield ran forward and launched herself at Cristiano’s back. I suppose she was planning to save Heather, grab Cristiano from behind or something, but Cristiano simply swung a leg back, kicked Buttefield in the gut, and sent the doctor flipping through the air with way more force than seemed possible.
Luckily, she landed on the bed. Air omphed from her lungs. She made some pathetic noises and stayed put.
“Please.” Cristiano rested his head on the forearm that was choking Heather. “It has been the most trying of days, and I am genuinely in the mood to kill someone. Right now. Is there not anyone you would like me to dispatch?”
Good grief.
“Not at the moment, but if I do, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, could you please let her—”
Cristiano stepped away. Heather dropped to the floor in a crumpled heap.
“—go?”
Cristiano was already helping Buttefield to her feet and into a chair, dusting her off, muttering apologies and remarking on her bravery. I couldn’t lift Heather’s dead weight by myself, so just tried to arrange her in a less awkward position on the floor and get her to wake up.
Cristiano and Buttefield seemed to be engaged in a heart-to-heart, and after several moments of quiet conversation, Cristiano handed her the wastebasket, made a phone call, and pulled me aside.
“According to the doctor, the other man who was with Jumpsuit came back looking for her, but your friend managed to hide them both and gave her,” Cristiano shot Heather an ugly look, “enough sedatives to keep her quiet. The good doctor is injured and has been in and out of consciousness this whole time, unable to get help, unwilling to leave this Heather,” he spat the name, “and I believe your doctor friend to have a—”
We were interrupted by the sound of Buttefield vomiting into the trashcan.
“A concussion,” Cristiano said. “She needs medical attention. I have called for medical assistance. They will arrive shortly. We must vacate this position immediately.”
“What about Heather?”
“We will take her with us,” he said, not sounding happy about it as he slipped his fingers into the waist of my cargo pants.
“Hey!”
I tried to jump back, but his fist tightened around my belt, and he yanked me close.
“Relax,” he said. “I need this.”
Off of my belt, his other hand unpinned the round metal brooch, the one Jumpsuit had called a medallion. Cristiano paused, his face so close I could see bronze flecks in his eyes.
He flashed me a wry grin. “You are very jumpy.”
“Because I think you are very handsy,” I huffed.
He laughed. “If I am ever…handsy?…with you, you will not think, you will know.”
He missed my sneer because he abruptly released me and turned back to Buttefield, murmuring quietly. A few moments later, I shared a goodbye with the good doctor, and we headed out the door with Heather slung over Cristiano’s shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
“Hey,” Buttefield said, beaming at Cristiano. “Thanks for this.” She held up the medallion that Cristiano had removed from my belt. “Grandpa will be so impressed. You guys are famous.”
Cristiano nodded solemnly. “More importantly, only the truest and bravest friends of the Sicarius may receive such a gift. Your grandfather will understand. But remember, as for the events of today…” He brought his index finger to his lips.
Buttefield snapped her fingers, pointed at Cristiano, and gave him a conspiratorial wink. “Mums the word, compadre.”
As we made our way down the hall, I asked, “So what was that medallion you gave her?”
“A Sicarius badge. Each team has its own design.”
Ah, that explained a few things.
“And they’re a pretty big deal?”
“Considered precious.”
I smiled at Cristiano. “Why, you big, old softy, you.”
Cristiano shifted Heather on his shoulder. “I do not know what you are talking about.”
CHAPTER 72
We hurried across the neatly trimmed Novo lawns, passing a large fountain, the splashing water a welcome, tranquil sound after the craziness of the morning. Hot and sweaty, the desert sun beating down, the thought of dumping my head, heck, my whole body, in the cool blue water was tempting.
I kept moving. “I totally forgot. Eros is sending someone to meet me at the northeast gate. Do you think they’re still there?”
“Yes and no,” Cristiano said. “The one whom Eros sent was me. I have a jet waiting on the tarmac.”
“Of course you do,” I muttered. Stupid Eros and his—
“Fiamma! Watch ou—”
Cristiano’s voice was lost as a vision blurred into my brain. My mind raced across the compound and saw two black military helicopters swoop down in front of Novo’s entrance gates. They crisscrossed each other and just before arcing back into the sky, several swirling balls of green mist tumbled out.
The green spheres reminded me of bubbles, floating lightly, but when they hit the ground, each burst and morphed into a reptilian looking demon the size of a grizzly bear. The giant lizards crouched on all fours, snarling, then slithered toward Novo’s front gates, teeth bared, long serrated tongues darting in and out, even longer tails flicking back and forth.
Rain suddenly poured down in buckets. But not just water drops, the deluge w
as mixed with mini shards of ice and chunks of hail.
Lightning flashed through the sky. Thunder boomed! Guards shouted. Several unleashed a multitude of powers. Fire, earth, air, water, and more. The demons stood their ground as the guards rushed at them.
My mind jerked back just in time to see more black helicopters swooping toward us, blurry against the falling sheets of water and ice. Bright flashes of orange light from the sides of the choppers coincided with the loud, rapid-fire rat-a-tat-tat of machine guns blazing.
Bullets hit the ground ripping up chunks of dirt and grass. Directly in the line of fire, the serene fountain was obliterated into shattered bits of white marble and frothing water.
And we were next.
Too scared to scream, I lifted my hands in a futile defense against bullets and flying debris, felt my blasty power start to rise, heating up my arms. Then a shadow fell upon me. Someone bellowed. I was flung to the ground and kept there by a great weight.
My head hit hard, causing me to see stars and bright bursts of light. I blinked. Things were blurry, but several feet from me I saw that Heather lay sprawled. A sitting—or lying, or surely soon-to-be-dead—duck. I reached for her, but it was a useless gesture. I was pinned down. And even my outstretched arm was immediately grabbed and yanked underneath me, my whole body swallowed in a cocoon.
A series of hits pounded from above, swapping into the wet ground, making water sprout like mini-geysers in the lawn. Racing closer.
Then the bullets arrived. Loud and hard. Screaming. Pummeling the ground around us and tearing it up in flying, muddy pieces. A sharp cold stabbed my chest, followed by a bright light that no amount of blinking could help me see through. The body on top of me jerked and spasmed again and again. The roar of the helicopter passed overhead and faded off.
I opened my lids. Heather lay on her stomach, staring with flat eyes.
“No,” I breathed.
A moment later she coughed and blinked. She focused on me and smiled through a sigh. “Hey Aurora-bora.” Then her eyes fluttered closed.
My head stung. I felt crushed, struggled to breathe from the weight upon me. Oh my God. Cristiano. He’d thrown himself on top of me. He had to be hit. I started to push up.
