As if the elements were giving her a clue, her eyes landed on the fire alarm. A devious smile bent her lips as she sent the grappling hook into the nearest light fixture, smashing it. She retracted her device and smashed another light, for good measure, making the space outside the exit darker.
She took the time to sneak around and bar the front door of the large room, ensuring she would herd all of the partygoers in her direction. This back hall didn't have an elevator, so she propped open the stairwell door.
She aimed to take inventory of the monsters as they exited. Once she pulled the fire alarm, it didn't take long for people to come zooming out the door. She'd used her device to boost and post herself above the doorway. As the stampede of people continued to pour from the room, Sevyn noticed that none of the monsters had exited. Had they laid a trap for her?
Once the fire alarm stopped, and the last of the people walked into the stairwell, one of the monsters stood directly below her. He stared around like he knew she was there. Happy he hadn't looked up, she sent up a silent, thank you.
“We know you are here. I caught a whiff of your scent the moment this door opened. Clever, getting rid of the humans. We've all been put on alert that there was a hunter in this city, so we expected to run into you sooner or later.”
Now that a monster stood below her, Sevyn’s odd angle had her arm giving under her body's weight.
Why hadn't she done more weight training like she'd planned to, or drop that extra ten pounds like she'd intended to?
The man stared around for a long while. The darkened doorway helped in keeping her hidden. The man propped the doors open and, thankfully, stepped back into the room.
Sevyn took his gesture as an invite. She jumped from her position, using her speed to surprise the man who'd taken a few steps into the room. He turned, with his hands up. Sevyn sent her machete into his neck so fast, he never uttered a sound.
His head hung unnaturally off his shoulder at a forty-five degree angle; the opening was a wide gaping hole of blood and exposed flesh. The monster was in such distress, his face—even while his neck hung nearly off his shoulders—expressed his fright.
Sevyn was poised to give him a second whack but was grabbed from behind. She didn't struggle against the firm hold. Instead, she leaned forward and snapped her head back with such force, she prayed she’d broken something on the thing’s face. The lick must have been a good one because she was released rather quickly.
Her problem now, she was surrounded by four. All were monsters.
Chapter 20
Taking Heads
They had her surrounded, and they used military precision to close in on her. Her hand shook as she struggled to stave off her impulsive urge to kill them. She spun, taking them all in. What surprised her most was that they were the ones who appeared nervous. Drago had been right; there were monsters here, but none of them was Linkin.
She smiled. At least she'd get a chance to ease her urge and rid the world of some of these blood-drinking leeches. Machete in one hand, Sevyn used her speed to draw and aim her gun. Her aim was off, due to the grappling device still attached to her palm. She adjusted. Sevyn loved the surprise she left on their monstrous faces when they first noticed she was as fast as—and sometimes faster than—they were.
One raised his hands.
“Please, Miss. We don't want no trouble. We have heard about you and have nothing against you and your kind. We are trying to live in peace.”
My kind?
Sevyn let out a huff.
“Trying to live in peace by eating people and drinking their blood? You are cannibals and monsters, and you deserve whatever you're going to get.”
The thing continued to talk to her, but Sevyn didn't want to hear it. She ran, blade-first, into the one in front of her, sending her blade through his chest. Her rapid movement sent two of them back a few paces.
Just as quickly as her blade plunged into one's body, she was turned by a strong force and spun savagely by the one at her back. His rough handing helped with the retraction of her blade, giving her more pulling force.
When her knife forcefully jerked from the thing’s body, out flew chucks of what she hoped was the bastard's heart.
She didn't wait around to see how badly she'd damaged him. She slung her bloody blade blindly, striking some part of the monster that had her back. As soon as her blade planted, she fired at the head of one of the two in front of her. The head shot dropped him, but his jerky body told her he wouldn't be down for long.
Her knife must have been planted deep in the one still hanging onto her from behind. She couldn't jerk it free. Restrained around her shoulders, she was forced to strain her arm at an unnatural angle in order to hang onto her blade. She refused to let go, even as the pull threatened to snap her arm.
Another ran towards her. His gaze on her legs gave away his plan. The impact from the bullets she released slammed into his forehead. His head snapped back with force. Sevyn was surprised his head wasn't torn off his shoulders. The chest shots she'd gifted him with jerked his body backward a few feet. The powerful punch of the bullet’s impact sounded like drumbeats.
She continued holding onto the stuck blade as she let her body fall to the floor. Using her body weight was a good idea. It did the trick, setting her blade free, but the force also sent her to the floor, hard. The impact knocked her breath away for a moment.
The fall didn't stop her from shooting at what was in front of her though. The one she shot earlier hobbled towards her, holding his chest. The hole in his forehead was visible but not bleeding. The one who had her back was still back there, groaning.
She spun, swung and sent her blade through the calf of his leg. The vibration of the blade's impact let her know she'd struck bone. The scream he let out made the hair on her neck stand. Since the knife was planted deeply, Sevyn yanked hard enough to send him tumbling onto the floor. By the time his body joined her on the floor, she'd put two slugs in his head and two more in his chest.
She dropped her empty magazine and reloaded with lightning speed. But the gun was knocked from her hand before she could incapacitate the last two. One took her back while the other clutched her feet. Her machete remained embedded in the leg of the one writhing in pain at her feet.
They were taking her without weapons. If she didn't take their heads soon, they were all going to heal and get back up. She couldn't afford to let that happen.
She struggled to break free, but most of the monsters had an advantage. She may have been faster than some, but most of them were much stronger than she was.
They were speaking again but Sevyn refused to listen. She had a one track mind when it came to these things. Her eyes landed on her gun, which had been flung across the room, and on her machete, planted in the leg of their downed buddy. The ones she'd put down had started to move and groan. She bucked, struggling to break free. The freaks were recovering, and her work to put them down was going to waste. One of the two carrying her, yelled.
“Ma'am. We are not your enemy. Not all of us are killers. Did you notice we were not trying to kill you?”
Sevyn continued to try to jerk herself free of their hands, but her harsh movement only left her bruised.
“You're not trying to kill me because you want your food alive when you eat it. And, if you’re stupid enough to not fight for your soulless lives, that's your business. I want nothing more than to rip your hearts out and chop your heads off, so I can look into your tortured eyes as you burn into ash.”
One had the nerve to say, “Man, she is as brutal as they say.”
His statement put a wrinkle in her forehead.
Did they all know about her now?
Her struggling ceased, a plan had emerged.
One monster supported her under the arms, which left her hands dangling. She twisted her wrist until she found the angle she wanted. If she could line up her hand just right, she may be able to free herself. She let loose a low groan as they approached the
doors she'd torched open. A frown creased the face of the one that held her feet.
He asked, “What are you—”
The rest of his question never registered, Sevyn sent the grappling hook into the wall nearest her gun. She squeezed the retracting device and her body lurched from both their grips. She went flying through the air the first few feet, then slid on her butt the rest of the way across the floor, zooming by the first one she'd dropped. When she slid by the second one, she gripped and snatched her blade from his leg.
She eased her grip on the retracting level, slowing herself in time to keep from slamming into the wall. She didn't have time to unhook the grappling device. Thankfully, she had enough play in the wire to grab her gun and take aim at the two coming her way.
One dove behind a large table. The other was too far in the open to hide as one of her slugs missed his head. Her second shot landed in his chest, knocking the top portion of his body off kilter from the bottom. The bullet slowed him, but he continued his approach. She sent him sliding to the floor with two more shots into his chest.
Finally, she jerked and snatched hard enough that the hook on the grappling device fell from the wall. She retracted, aimed, and shot the hook into the right eye of the wounded but still approaching monster. It pleased her to watch him scratch at his eye, in disbelief. The grappling hook was embedded in his head.
When she retracted the device, his body came sliding, headfirst, towards her. She sat with the machete raised high, waiting for his head to get within striking distance. His head stopped just before it hit her right angle. Kicking him repeatedly, she forced his body into position. Sevyn sent the machete into his neck and enjoyed his suffering screams as she continued to hack at his neck a few more times.
She glanced up in time to see the last one run from the room. She didn't waste any time chasing after him because the rest of his friends had nearly recovered. It was probably a good idea to let one get away. Hopefully, he was scared enough to exaggerate what he’d witnessed tonight and by the time her story reached his friends, she would be the big, badass monster they should all be afraid of.
Sevyn had to collect the heads now or be forced to start the incapacitation process again. She used speed and their weakened states to hack away two and a half more heads. She'd never taken four heads at once, so she took a moment to situate them before preparing to leave the building.
She considered leaving the easy way by going through the lobby but didn't have a good enough story to explain to lobby security why she carried four heads.
Speaking of lobby security, she wondered why they hadn't shown up. She shrugged her shoulders and got back to work, figuring they likely worked for the monsters.
The small sack she carried specifically for head collection was stuffed with three of the four heads. The last head wasn't so lucky. His hair was too short for her to catch a hold of. She sank her fingers into the mush of its butchered neck to get a grip. The moans and screams the head released were unholy, but she enjoyed the misery he expelled.
She didn’t have time to muzzle the condemned beings as she returned to the tenth floor. The heads were a choir of pleading cries and yells. They were all begging to be spared, promising they weren't bad or dangerous creatures.
She made it back to the apartment without a problem. She shoved the sack of heads through the small cutout first. Both she and the head she held like a bowling ball couldn't slid through the opening at the same time. She unsnapped her blade, spiked the head, and tossed it through before she shimmied through.
Once on the balcony, Sevyn stood in place silently assessing her surroundings. The strange sense of being watched washed over her. Un-piking the head from her blade, she stood, poised to fight whatever decided it wanted a piece of her.
The only sound came from the faint drip-drop of blood falling from her blade. Even the heads were quiet, which she found peculiar. After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Sevyn strapped her blade in place, gathered her heads, and prepared to grapple her way back down the building.
Finding the ground level clear, she hiked to her car a half-mile away and headed to the warehouse. She had some burning to do, and she planned to enjoy it.
****
At five in the morning, she only had an hour to clean up and take a quick nap. The idea of climbing into bed with Neal was a pleasant one.
He greeted her as she lowered her head onto his chest and let her tired body melt into his welcoming warmth.
“How many did you kill?”
Surprised by his question, she wondered if he'd been awake when she left.
“How do you know I was out hunting?”
He sat up.
“Drago gave you a lead last night that you never mentioned again. When I woke up and noticed you gone, I figured you went to check it out. I’m worried about you, Dana, but I know you can handle yourself. I also know that nothing I say, or do, will stop you from hunting the monsters that murdered your mother. I’m here for you, no matter what, no matter how dangerous.”
She liked that he exhibited genuine concern for her. What she liked better was that he didn’t try to make her decisions for her, or tell her what to do. It was a quality that made her respect him that much more.
“I appreciate that, Neal. More than you know.” A smile found her face. “I took four heads tonight. You should have heard the dreadful commotion they made while I let them watch me burn their friend’s heads.”
Neal’s lingering stare stalled her words. He eyed her, squinting in thought.
“I say this with no negative connotation intended. But, after meeting Sevyn, I am not sure Dana is who you are. You’re beautifully frightening, and should be called Dana-Sevyn. You have the essence of a princess in Dana, but your soul has been touched by death in Sevyn.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
Neal laughed. “The fact that you took that as a compliment validates my statement.”
Dana’s gaze shot up to the ceiling. She imagined she could be a bit disturbing and scary at times, but she strived to make up for it when she wasn’t hunting monsters.
Worry crept into the edges of Neal's eyes as he checked out her bruises.
“Are you in pain? Those look like they hurt.”
These were the kind of war wounds she didn’t mind one bit.
“For four of their heads, every bruise is worth it.”
Neal drew her onto his chest and kissed the top of her head. Her entire body and mind relaxed. She was sure that killing monsters took pieces of her soul, but she was starting to believe Neal was the key to restoring it. He had no idea he provided her with the most peaceful place in the world.
Chapter 21
Traffic Stop
In the middle of bumper-to-bumper traffic, Neal maneuvered around vehicles until they came to a complete stop. An accident up ahead stopped their trek to work. Dana didn't mind it. Time alone with Neal was fine with her. He cut the engine.
“I don't think we’re going anywhere, anytime soon.”
Dana got comfortable. Turning towards Neal, she put her legs up on the seat as her back rested against the door panel. After kicking off her heels, she laid her head back against the glass and placed her feet against Neal’s thigh. He could see straight up her skirt. Judging by the way his eyes skimmed up her legs, it appeared he enjoyed the view.
He took her right foot and gently rubbed it. Dana relaxed further into the door panel. Not even the door's knob, poking into her back, bothered her while Neal was massaging her. He knew how to make all of her cares and worries disappear with a touch. She released a soft moan.
“That feels good. You have magic hands.”
He ran his hand up her leg.
“You're ruining me, you know. I’m not going to be any good for any other woman.”
She laughed out loud.
“Good. Means I get to keep my claws in you.”
He paused for a moment.
“Are you sure you want to go into the off
ice? You've hardly had any sleep in the last forty-eight hours.”
“I'll be fine. I’ve gotten used to getting by on little sleep.”
She sat up and glanced around; traffic hadn’t moved an inch.
“I’m sorry for getting you involved in this mess of traffic. But, when given the choice of a nap or sex with you, I couldn't resist choice number two. We could have left an hour ago, if it weren’t for me and my overactive libido.”
He smiled as his tongue slid across his lips.
“Dana. Dana. Dana. You have no idea how good this feels. To have a woman like you look at me the way you do, it’s almost too good to be true.”
She truly liked him. He had a quiet way of pulling emotions from her, some she didn’t know she possessed.
She rose and kneeled close to him. Cupping the back of his head, she ran her fingers through his baby soft hair and watched him close his eyes to her caress. He had no idea his mere presence drew her in, so much so she feared the way he stirred her emotions.
She sat higher on her knees, pressing her body into his side. She wanted to kiss him so badly she bit her bottom lip and held it between her teeth.
He wanted her to kiss him, she could tell, but there was worry hidden behind his eyes.
“I don’t think we should…be this close in public.”
The impact of his words was crushed under the weight of their closeness. His statement had no effect on her. As she slid her right leg across his lap, her backside rubbed against the steering wheel.
His hand automatically went to her waist, but something was wrong. He was way too serious, and he carried too much worry in his expression.
“What's wrong, Neal? What's bothering you?”
He stared into her eyes, his gaze searing into her deeply. He appeared terrified. He'd made her stomach come alive with butterflies last night, and the day before, but this was different. This time her stomach clenched with so much anxious energy it made her jittery.
Sevyn: Adult Paranormal Romance (BWWM Romance) (Supernatural Thriller) (The Smoke & Fire Series Book 4) Page 11
