by Trina M. Lee
It wouldn’t have surprised me if Shaz was churning with anger. He had been carrying a lot of hard feelings about Arys and me for a while now. It had changed him, and I wasn’t sure it was entirely for the better.
“I went back to Doghead,” he said suddenly, pulling my startled gaze his way. “The other night, after Dayne came by the club. He and I talked. I’m considering joining the pack.”
“Oh,” I said softly, trying to conceal my relief. “That’s great. I think they’ve managed to do a good job of being organized. They seem to have an order that works. That tattoo will be crazy sexy on you.”
I flashed him a flirtatious grin and received a slight blush in response. Damn I loved him. I would always wish that it was enough.
“I just wanted to let you know. I’m not ticked off about it. I know you care.” He navigated through traffic, keeping his attention on the road so I wouldn’t see the wolf in his eyes.
I felt it too. My wolf longed for his. If I could be anywhere in the world, it would be curled up with Shaz on the forest floor.
This was his way of apologizing for our argument. I knew it was only because he was afraid of what would happen tonight. Without saying anything to make a hard situation harder, I simply reached across and touched his leg.
He caught my hand in his and brought it to his lips, brushing a soft kiss across my knuckles. For the first time that night, I felt like crying. It had nothing to do with Shya or death. It had everything to do with my white wolf and the way things would change between us after this night.
We pulled up down the street from the scary-ass, old hospital, and my heart began to pound. It loomed large in the darkness. Already I could feel the restless spirits taking note of our arrival. They likely were not the only ones.
A basic chain-link fence surrounded the property. It was broken in several places, creating the illusion that nobody maintained it. The windows were blacked out, revealing nothing of what was inside.
“Holy shit. This place is phenomenal.” Jenner stared up at the hospital in awe. “I’ve never felt anything quite like it.”
“Be careful, Jenner,” Arys warned. “This place has a way of getting inside your head.”
“You’re telling me,” Shaz scoffed. “If either of you vamp out on me, I won’t hesitate to beat your ass.”
The night Arys had turned on Shaz and me in this place would live forever in my memory. In fact, I didn’t think I’d ever forget a second I spent inside the horrible building.
Kale’s car pulled up behind us. Inside I was a quivering mess, but when I reached for the door, my hand was steady. Five minutes and counting.
I stared up at the hospital, seeking any sign of FPA activity. They were a covert op for a reason. If I hadn’t seen it for myself, I wouldn’t have believed any living being was inside that decrepit old structure.
“What does it feel like?” Jez joined me, scanning the perimeter closely.
“The key to Lilah’s throne? It mostly just feels heavy, and dark.” Just like what’s inside of you, I thought but didn’t dare speak the words. I meant to tell Jez what I’d felt nestled within her, but this wasn’t the right time.
Willow appeared with a ripple of air and the sound of wings though his were not visible. The last time the three of us had been here together we’d been looking for Kale. It hadn’t gone well.
“There’s a demon on the other side of the building,” Willow informed me. “I’m going to intercept him right before you enter the grounds. There’s no way of knowing how much time you have before Shya shows.”
“Great.” I nodded, looking at each of my companions in turn. “I hope you all know how grateful I am to have you back me up. I won’t ever forget it. That being said, I guess it’s pretty much go time.”
Without so much as a word, Kale came forward, took my face in his hands, and laid a passionate kiss on me. It left me breathless and a little giddy. Then he stepped back and turned away before I could react.
It shocked me to find Shaz holding Arys back. My dark vampire was seething and straining in Kale’s direction. Suppressing his emotions with the strong, silent act was working against him, causing him to unravel. Shaz didn’t look too thrilled either, but he was clearly more focused on the task at hand.
My love life was a fucking mess, but this was no time to dwell on that. Duty called.
I grabbed Arys’s hand and pulled him along beside me. Following the fence to the first broken point, I stepped onto the hospital grounds and immediately collapsed on my knees. An overwhelming ill sensation rocked me, and I thought I might vomit. Each breath made the bad feeling grow. Arys pulled me up while throwing a bunch of questions at me. I could only shake my head. The abysmal force sitting like a foreign intruder within me recognized this place. I knew where to go.
I broke into a run as a sense of urgency gripped me. I ran the length of the building until I reached the end and turned to come up on the north side of it where two rows of trees lined an unseen path. With Arys hot on my heels, I ran down that path, certain I was drawing ever closer to where I needed to be.
Excitement flooded me with a rush of adrenaline. I ran like I’d never run before, my feet barely touching the ground. The closer I got to the invisible marker, the greater the force inside me seemed to swell. I was sure that I was going to make it. That we could do this after all without the interference I feared.
I was wrong.
Shya appeared directly in front of me. With the stench of sulfur clouding him and his black wings spread wide, he hit me, a solid body check that flung me backwards.
I hit the ground hard, feeling the impact reverberate up my spine. My teeth smacked together, rattling my jaw. I clawed desperately at the hard earth, scrambling to my feet. Arys put himself between Shya and me, but the demon tossed him aside with ease.
“Did you think it would be that easy to deceive me, bitch?” Shya hissed. His eyes flashed with a deep-rooted hatred that chilled me to the bone. Grabbing hold of me, he shook me hard enough to blur my vision. “How did you get it? Tell me how you got it.”
His shouts hurt my ears. I struggled to get away, but he held tight with a strength so far beyond human it couldn’t be measured. Though his angry shouts were worrisome, it assured me that Falon hadn’t lied. This was no set up. Not for me anyway.
Shya smacked me hard across the face before throwing me down on the ground. He stood over me with a supernatural breeze ruffling his short blue-black hair. In a fit of temper, he kicked me, hitting my side, and I yelped. The wolf inside wanted to shift, to flee or fight. This weak human body was holding me back.
“Fuck you,” I managed to say before lashing out at him with my own power. Arys’s proximity boosted my strength, and the attack actually threw Shya back several feet. It wasn’t much, but it gave me time to get on my feet again.
I sought to take in my surroundings, finding that Shya wasn’t alone. Brook was doing a good job keeping Jenner and Arys busy while Shya targeted me. I couldn’t see the others, but I hoped they were waiting for the right time to make a move. Rushing in too soon would get them killed.
Rather than engaging with Shya, I tried to keep moving. It wasn’t far now. The place where I needed to be lay just ahead, between the two trees at the end. I could feel it.
I threw a shield up around me a second before Shya’s blast of demon magic hit. It burned like someone had poured liquid sunlight over me, but my shield allowed me to keep running.
Until he rushed me with a sweeping kick that took my legs out from under me.
No sooner had I hit the ground than Shya was on top of me. He straddled me, fighting to get a hold of my arms. He couldn’t take Lilah’s orb with me putting up such a struggle. I knew it would require some effort and concentration on his part. I couldn’t allow him that.
“Tell me who gave it to you,” Shya shouted in my face. His usual calm and collected demeanor had been shattered by his irrational need for more power.
“Who do you thi
nk?” I gasped out, fighting to get him off me. “It was Lilah’s. And because she’s a twin flame, now it’s mine.”
“Like hell it is.” He slammed my head against the ground, trying to knock me unconscious. I couldn’t let that happen. “It’s mine by right. I deserve it.”
If I hadn’t been fighting to stay conscious, I would have marveled at the demon’s psychotic belief. Power was a deadly thing. Was there ever enough, or would it always make one crave more? Was this kind of insane pursuit of more in my future?
Desperation drove me to try anything. So I drove a long, sharp claw into his eye. The resulting shriek was ear piercing. He reacted like most would, reaching for the assaulted eye. I brought a knee up between his legs as hard as I could. Then I used a shot of power to toss him off me.
I didn’t hang around to see how fast he recovered. The injuries he’d inflicted on me were numb. Adrenaline surged through me, keeping me moving.
I caught a glimpse of Jez’s golden ponytail as she made an appearance. Silver dagger held high, she plunged it into Brook’s back. Being the only metal I knew of that harmed demons, it had him flailing around in an attempt to dislodge it.
Jenner and Arys let him have it then, throwing everything they could at him before he could recover. A flash of white revealed Shaz, in wolf form, circling the feuding trio with fangs bared.
Willow was up ahead, near the unseen door to Lilah’s kingdom. He was engaged in combat with another demon, one I recognized from Shya’s evil party.
Lungs heaving, I threw myself forward, refusing to let anything stop me. When I reached the place where Lilah’s key had been forged the demon orb inside me pressed against its mortal cage, seeking a way out.
I threw a circle up around me, hoping it was strong enough to buy me a few precious seconds.
It wasn’t.
Shya was suddenly there on the other side. Blood stained the side of his face though his mangled eye had already healed. With no effort at all, he dissolved my circle. Panicked, I drew the Dragon Claw and instead of going for a wimpy wrist cut, I pressed the tip of the blade to my sternum.
“Bit of a one hit wonder, aren’t you, Alexa?” Shya sneered. “You’ve already played the suicide card.”
“Whatever works.”
It was a desperate move, one I never got the chance to follow through on. With a snap of his fingers Shya ripped the dagger out of my grasp. It skittered across the ground, landing in a thick chunk of yellowed grass.
“Don’t make me begin killing your companions. I’ll start with Kale.”
His threat made me glance around frantically for Kale. He was watching Jez’s back as she brazenly continued her attack on Brook. The demon was weakening with every silver blow she dealt him.
Arys and Jenner joined me, one of them on each side as we faced off against Shya. The asshole grinned, and his characteristic amusement was back.
“You can’t take me, Alexa. Even as one of the great and rare Hounds, you’re no match for me. Not with all of that vampire power in your system. It comes from demons, you know.” He seemed quite satisfied with himself, certain he had me now. “Give up now and save those you love. Otherwise, I’ll kill every last one of you.”
“You’ll kill us anyway,” I declared, my wolf shining in my eyes. The beast saw him for the evil he was, and she’d had enough of his shit. “There’s no way I’m going to let you take over Lilah’s kingdom. She was right. You’re not worthy.”
Pissing him off further wasn’t my intent, not really. However, I was pretty pissed myself. The demon had been playing puppet master for far too long.
Shya’s expression didn’t change, but the atmosphere around him did. It grew hotter, tight, like something was about to snap.
“You know I think I will keep you alive after all,” he mused. “Just you. It’s been a while since I’ve had a vampire slave. You’ll make a good one. I’ll let my demons have their way with you, and you will spend the rest of your days begging for mercy.”
It was a sick thing to say, but I wouldn’t have expected less from Shya. Although it most definitely encouraged my need to end his reign of horror.
“Like hell you will,” Arys snapped, slamming Shya with a blast so strong I felt it in my core.
Much to my surprise the hit seemed to have an effect. Shya’s body jerked and smoke rose from his middle. He peered down at the point of impact and chuckled.
“You are a tough one, aren’t you? I knew I was right to choose you to sire Gabriel.” Before I saw it coming, Shya retaliated with a writhing mass of black energy that brought Arys to his knees. “Too bad you’re so damn headstrong. You’d have made a great servant in my kingdom.”
He took down Jenner next while I stood helplessly by. I braced for the blow that I knew was coming. Before it could hit, Willow threw himself in front of me and took the impact.
Willow and Shya struggled, engaged in a combat so violent thunder rumbled overhead. Willow drove him away from us, trying to give us some much needed space. But they were not evenly matched and soon my dear guardian friend began to get his ass kicked.
“That motherfucker needs to go down,” Arys swore as he got to his feet.
“You have to do it now, Arys. You have to kill me.”
Commotion was all around us. Jez and Kale had driven Brook off. He’d disappeared to the other side, or wherever it was that demons went to lick their wounds. The demon Willow had fought had vanished as well. Shaz lingered nearby, watching the perimeter for anything amiss.
Arys stared at me as if I’d spoken the words from his nightmares. I probably had.
Shaking his head, he stepped back. “I can’t do this.”
“You have to,” I cried, my gaze darting fearfully to where the fallen angel and demon slammed one another against the building. “We don’t have much time.”
Jenner grabbed Arys and gave him a shake. “Get your shit together, man. You knew this was coming. If you don’t do it, I will.”
That was not what Arys wanted to hear. He backhanded Jenner with a metaphysical hit to go along with it. I gave a small shriek as Jenner slammed into one of the trees that lined us on either side. He hit the ground and lay there stunned.
“Arys! How could you do that? We need him.”
“There has to be another way,” Arys muttered, continuing to back away from me as if he couldn’t trust himself to be so close. He wanted it, yet he was fighting the urge.
“There isn’t, and you damn well know it.” I advanced on him, determined to force him to do what needed to be done.
“Alexa, stay back,” he warned, a hand raised, crackling with power.
I was saddened and distraught to see our bond being put to the test like this and failing. If I’d had to bet on one of us to fuck this moment up, I’d have said it would be me. There was no satisfaction in being wrong about that.
“Stop this shit right now. You’re going to blow everything.” I was ready for it when he threw the power he held. In a smooth motion, I absorbed the blast. His power was mine too. He could try to turn it on me, but he would fail. We had done this dance before.
For a guy who was usually so smooth and charismatic, a century of waiting had done more damage than I’d realized. Arys was visibly frazzled. I had to do something. In a reckless attempt to snap him out of the strange spell he was under, I ran to where Jenner swayed on his feet with a hand pressed to his forehead. He blinked cold blue eyes at me in confusion.
“Do it,” I demanded, grabbing him with claw tipped hands. “Just make it fast.”
Jenner glanced warily over my shoulder to where Arys stood lost in the chaos. “He’ll kill me.”
“Better him than me.” My claws left deep scratches in his tattooed flesh. I was frantic, feeling our chance slip away.
Before I could bully Jenner further, there was a loud bang, and the earth shook beneath my feet. I turned to find Willow on his back, his face bloodied and his clothing torn. Shya stood over him with a cloud of black smoke s
wirling about him like a tornado.
He faded into the mist. It took me a moment to realize he was changing form, shifting into something other than the human façade he wore. Whatever it was, it was massive. The smoky mist began to take the shape of a dragon. Standing almost as high as the second story of the building with enormous ebony feathered wings, Shya swung his large tail.
It swept Willow off the ground and hurled him through the air. He crashed through the treetops before plummeting to the earth in a heap.
The dragon turned on us, blinking big red eyes that gleamed with murderous intent. Then he opened his mouth full of vicious, pointed teeth and breathed out a stream of fire.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Everyone fled in a different direction. Jenner grabbed my hand, and we ran for a patch of trees near the perimeter fence. It wouldn’t do a whole hell of a lot if Shya wanted to scorch us to death, but at this point, he still needed me alive.
“If we survive this, you fucking owe me,” Jenner said. He was pressed against a tree trunk as if it would hide him. “And I will call in that favor.”
I would have shot him a glare, but I didn’t dare take my gaze off Shya’s bone-chilling new form. So I settled for a middle finger. “You do that.”
Shya settled himself in right over the unseen door. Scanning the vicinity for us, he began to preen his wings.
“Come now, Alexa,” his voice boomed through the night. “You’re only prolonging the inevitable. Why must you make everything so difficult? Let’s talk. Perhaps we can strike a deal.”
Making deals with a demon dragon was not on my to-do list for the evening. Searching the dark for my companions, I was relieved to find Shaz and Arys together several yards away. Kale and Jez were nowhere in view, and I suspected they might have rounded the corner of the building.
With my gaze on Willow’s prone form, I called out, “I have nothing to say to you, Shya.”
