I dart towards the door after he drops, but as soon as I open it, I see four sets of hungry eyes. Shit.
‘Caine is back, waiting for the signal.’
“That’s not playing nice.” Derik grabs my arms and pulls me back into the room, while kicking the door shut. This is not good. I have nowhere to go. ‘What do I do?’
‘Don’t let him touch you,’ he growls.
“Your little boyfriend won’t know what happened to you.” Little does he know, Seth already knows. “Your guard dogs can’t even save you here.”
‘My mom is taking your mom and Alex home right now. They’re safe and were not followed. Also, she seems pretty relaxed. But she hasn’t seen Leland or Henry, yet.’
I let out a sigh of relief. “They don’t know where I am,” I lie. “I was supposed to be in my room.” Make him believe I snuck out, and that there’s no chance he won’t be disturbed. That’s the plan. But all I want to do is get out of here, leave and hope he just goes away.
“That’s a good girl,” he croons and strokes my cheek with his cold hand again.
I want to gag.
As a last ditch effort to get out of here without the fight I feel is coming, I decide to plead sense with him. “If you let me go, I won’t tell anyone,” I whisper. “I’ll do whatever you want, just let me go home.” I let the locked away tears flow. He drops his hand from my cheek and closes his fist.
“You won’t leave here, human,” he says through his teeth.
The tears are real tears of panic now. “Please,” I plead one more time. He punches me in the jaw, and I fall back. I ignore Seth’s outrage, and stand.
“You are mine!” He yells.
‘Fane says to just agree for now. He seems crazier than normal. Who knows what he’s capable of?’ Seth warns me.
I mentally groan. Fine, placate the psycho.
“Okay.” I answer both of them. “What do I have to do?” I ask Derik, when all I really want is to call him a deranged lunatic or a psychotic moron.
Chapter 23
Demonic Playground
His eyes flash with something I can’t name. Want? Lust? “I can make you happy. I know I can,” he says, and licks his lips. “I’ve never gotten a complaint before.”
I shift nervously. “What’s so special about me? Why’d you go to such lengths to get me?”
He sighs. “Don’t you know how special you are?” He whispers and strokes my cheek again.
“I’ve been told that before, but what I don’t understand is that I’ve never shown interest in you, and you really haven’t either.” I shrug, mostly to try and bump his hand away from me.
“You’re the savior of our race. You’re my savior from being damned to hell. You’re the start of a war with deeper meaning than you’ll ever know. You’re the one to end the world. Do we need to name exactly how special you are? What’s important is that you’re finally mine,” he rolls his eyes.
‘They’re demons. They’re all going to be sitting next to Hades, trying to make friends.’
I mentally laugh and try to keep a smile on my face, to show I’m playing along. “What do I need to do?”
“You need to accept your fate. As long as you truly want me, you’ll live,” he pets my hair.
My eyes widen. “And if I don’t?” I whisper.
“Don’t what?” He raises a brow as he looks down to me.
I swallow and force the words out my closing throat. “What happens if I don’t want you?”
“You’ll die,” he smiles.
This is the situation Charlotte was talking about. If this goes much further, we’ll be walking on thinner ice to keep me from that fading and confused line. It’s going to take a fight, I know that. But it’s more than just a fight for my life. It’s a fight for my soul and my soul mate.
He clears his throat. “I used the wraiths against you to try and flush you to my side sooner. Had I known I only needed to take your mom and cousin, I would’ve done it sooner,” he shrugs.
I suck in a quick breath and my ribs scream for the thousandth time today. “The dreams,” I say quietly. He nods. They actually have a name? Of course they do, everything has a name, a place, a fate destiny.
‘The shifters are almost in position,’ Seth yells.
I just need to reach my dagger. If I can, I can hopefully take care of Derik once and for all. The only thing I can think to do to get to my dagger is to piss him off.
‘Be careful,’ Seth says.
‘Careful won’t get the results I need,’ I respond.
“Are you ready to stand at my side?” He asks and holds his elbow out in a gentlemanly fashion.
I take a deep breath and tense up in preparation for pain. “I will never be ready for that,” I spit.
He growls and his face becomes a vicious mask of the Derik I saw in the reverie. His movement is so fast, I don’t see it. His hand connects with my face, and I crash into the wall behind me. I slide down the wall, holding my cheek, trying to catch my breath, and his foot connects with my side. I buckle over and scream out. He’s hit the same damn side again. From this position, I can reach my dagger without him seeing, but my vision is spotty, so I hesitate.
‘Do it, I’ll push the Aerial’s forward,’ Seth shouts into my mind. I slide out my dagger, holding it behind my thigh, and slowly stand, using the wall for support.
Derik laughs at my weak attempt to stand. “If you wanted to die, why didn’t you just say so?” He screeches then reaches for my hair.
In a kneejerk reaction, my hand rises to stop him, and that sends the blade into his side. He gasps, and the putrid smell of burnt flesh fills my nostrils. It’s like he’s burning from the inside out. He opens his mouth in a silent scream. Pain and rage mar his features as he stumbles away from me.
I killed him?
I choke on a sob and bring my free hand up to my nose and mouth to shield the smell. I’m a murderer.
‘Calm down. He was a demon. He wasn’t just anyone.’ Seth sends me peace with his words.
Derik’s body collapses to the floor as smoke and light fill the room.
I killed a person. My breath comes in rasps, harsher than normal. He’s dead.
‘Jaz, listen to me.’ I hear faintly in my mind.
Derik’s eyes are dim, lifeless. I feel nothing.
‘Jasmine!’ Seth shouts.
I swallow. “I did it,” I say out loud.
‘I know, but please calm down.’
The smoke acts like an alarm, two of Derik’s buddies barge into the room, looking murderously at me.
‘Um, Seth, can you tell the Aerial’s I could use some help right about now?’ I screech through my mind to his.
‘Already on it,’ he answers.
The two devuxen circle me. Not good, I don’t know which one to focus on. These two had training, they had to have. Their moves and the wickedness on their faces temporarily root me to the floor.
The shorter one makes the first move, but luckily I thaw and deflect his hit, and throw a punch of my own. But he blocks me. Shuffling behind me pulls my attention away from the short one. I quickly duck and sidestep, sending the taller one into the shorter one. I release the breath I’ve been holding and hear a door busting, not the door to this room, unfortunately.
The taller one notices my attention on something else and attacks me. In a moment of panic, I throw both my arms out and end up slashing the shorter one in the face.
The man screams and swears at me. And agonizingly slower than Derik, he releases smoke and light before collapsing in the same lifeless fashion.
I just watch it all in slow motion.
Completely forgetting where I am, what I’m doing, and nearly forgetting who I am.
All I see is this strange man falling to a lifeless heap. Does he have family? Children? Siblings? Who did I hurt by taking this life?
Cold hands grab hold of me, smashing my back into a freezing wall of flesh, yanking my arm towards my throat. I scream at the
top of my lungs, realizing that the enchanted blade of Avan’s dagger is descending towards my throat.
Seth screams in my mind as my vision becomes spotty.
Glass breaks, among the debris flying around, two giant birds burst into the room, commanding attention, respect, and authority.
I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to see birds in my whole life.
In mid-flight, the bird’s forms begin to shimmer, shift, and change, until Kass and Chase are visible and completely pissed off. The devux shoves me aside and engages in a hand to hand with both the Aerials. I fix my grip on the dagger and crawl past them as quietly and quickly as I can. When I’m clear, I jump to my feet and run for the door.
I pass through the door that the attackers came in through, and see Dax, the creepy voiced devux, in a fight with Barry’s wolf. I simultaneously panic and smile before slinking away to get to the main hall that I came in through. I twist the last doorknob blocking my path, and a cold hand grabs my arm, yanking me through a hidden door. I scream, and another hand covers my mouth. ‘Seth!’ I shout through our bond as I get slammed into a chair, knocking the wind right out of me.
The devux moves so fast I can’t see his face as he ties me to the chair and slaps a piece of tape over my mouth. He grabs my dagger and lobs it over his shoulder, where it lands in the wall, down to the hilt. As he walks behind the chair, I notice he left my legs untied. I’ll kick him when he’s close enough.
But then what’ll I do?
I’ve got no weapon and I’m stuck to this damn chair!
Idiot! You’re screwed! I think to myself. A kick isn’t going to hurt a devux for long, if at all.
He finally stands in front of me. He’s an older man, graying hair, black eyes, and wide beak-like nose. “You’ll pay for what you took from me.” He sounds like a chain smoker, without a cough. “Don’t worry. I’ll be quicker than Derik.”
My scream comes out a muffled whimper as the man inches towards me. He leans in close to the side of my face and uses a hand to move my hair. I don’t want him to touch me. I thrash in the chair as much as I can. ‘Seth, help me!’
“Don’t worry, you won’t feel a thing,” he mutters unconvincingly. I ignore him and continue to thrash.
“I’m not turnin’ you, idiot girl!” He hollers in my ear and raises a hand as if to hit me. I squeeze my eyes shut and brace myself for the pain.
“You killed my son,” he says, and my eyes pop open in surprise. “Now it’s your turn to die,” he says, spraying my face with spittle. His eyes are nearly glowing, rage marring his features. Twisting them and turning them into an evil mask of hate. Tears leak from my eyes and leave a hot trail down my cheeks. I have so much left to do, and so much unsaid. This can’t end now. But I deserve this fate.
The door bursts open. Seth enters the room and for a moment, he looks like an angel, before the wings behind him shimmer and fade, and Caine emerges. Derik’s father swings at Seth, and my heart leaps into my throat. Caine snatches the dagger from the wall with ease. He cuts the ropes to free me and tosses Seth the knife. Then he peels the tape from my mouth, luckily it’s not duct tape or else it would’ve hurt as much as waxing.
Caine pulls me out of the room. I want to go with him, I do. But something won’t let me leave, and that something is my soul mate, who is now six feet away fighting the man who just lost his son. Caine tugs me again. I stumble sideways but refuse to leave, watching a fight that’s moving too fast for my human eyes to catch every move.
“He’ll be fine,” Caine says hoisting me on his shoulder, minding my injured ribs. We pass through another room, and I watch as wolves and amaranthine fight off members of the clan. It almost reminds me of a playground, jumping, ducking, running, rolling and laughing. But what reminds me that it’s not a playground, is that it’s a demon’s funhouse, the blood, swearing, and the putrid odor of the light and smoke as another devux falls.
Movement on my left catches my attention, Cory and Steve sneak up behind one of the wolves, and I scream out in an effort to warn the protector. Caine shifts me into a cradling position and presses my face into his chest. When he releases me, we’re in the front room. He sits me on an overturned desk and begins to check me over.
I brush his hands away and take as deep a breath I can. “I’m f-fine,” I stutter, and he raises a brow, giving him that intimidating look from earlier today. I look to my lap, hiding from his gaze.
“This was too easy,” he says distractedly.
My eyes snap to his as I worry a hole in my borrowed pants. “What do you mean?”
“They seem to be going down like they haven’t fed properly in years. I don’t know what’s going on,” he frowns.
“I wouldn’t know. I’m not experienced in this department,” I say and look away from him again.
“You did fine,” he nudges my arm. “You should train more, but I’m hoping you won’t have use for it,” he says glaring towards the door we just exited. “This kind of stuff doesn’t always happen, but it’s good to be prepared.”
“Thanks, I think,” I nod.
His eyes come back to mine. “Your brother is a good fighter. He needs to bulk up a bit, but he’s good, nonetheless.”
My eyes go wide. “How would you know?” My chest tightens as worry and fear constricts around my heart like a boa constrictor. Henry better not be here!
“He’s in there,” he says and throws a thumb towards the door. “Don’t worry, he’s fine, he’s holding his own,” he shrugs.
My stomach rolls and churns, stirring up unwanted acid. “Why isn’t he with our mom?” I whisper.
“From what I understand, your mom sent him to find you,” he shrugs.
I can’t. I just can’t deal with the thoughts. So I change gears, “Is the whole clan in there?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t think so. And if it is, it’s a very small one.”
I nod in response but before I can say anything else, a wolf comes straight over to us, and nuzzles my hair.
Caine smiles, and I watch him watch the wolf. His expression changes to grimace before nodding. “Tony says Derik’s father escaped and that Seth is helping Barry finish off the ones that didn’t run. Athan is sending over a team for cleaning up. And Tony said to tell you . . . ” he pauses and stares at Tony. “I will not say that,” he glares at Tony. The wolf’s chest rumbles against my hand and a strange bark came out of his muzzle.
“Has anyone heard from Avan?” I ask.
Tony shakes his head back and forth. I look over to Caine.
He shakes his head slightly, too. “Not that I’ve heard.”
I hope Avan is okay. Rhenata is his sister, but she’s evil.
I feel Seth before I actually see him. I run over to him as he enters and throw my arms around his middle. I’m so thankful he’s okay, my eyes well up again.
He chuckles lightly. “It’s time for us to go.”
I put the brakes on and back away from him. “Are you okay? You’re not hurt at all, are you?” I tug his hands away from my sides and inspect the visible skin before looking up to his handsome face.
“I’m fine,” he smiles. “Let’s get you home.” He leans down and kisses my forehead.
Tony rubs against my side before heading back toward the carnage.
“I’ll follow you,” Caine says and gets up from his crouch.
“Thank you.” Seth tells him and shakes his hand.
Caine nods and runs out the door.
I smile to Seth, and let him tug me towards the exit. Part of me wants to stay to make sure Henry gets out of here okay, but I don’t think I’m allowed to.
By the time Seth and I walk out the door, there’s a hawk waiting just ahead.
I smile as I watch him take flight into the evening sky.
Chapter 24
Fight Night
“How are we getting home?” I ask Seth, as we walk hand in hand down the sidewalk.
“We’re walking to the lot and then waiting on
your brother,” he tells me and looks up to the sky. I follow his line of sight and see Caine as a hawk above us. “I know you think you did something wrong back there.”
I swallow the lump in my throat. “Seth, don’t,” I say and squeeze his hand. “Not yet.”
He squeezes my fingers and lets me have the peace, even if it’s just for a moment. It’s nice to breathe and not have to think. When I’m with him, this is how it is. I don’t have to think of the shit that surrounds me. I just focus on the tingles he sparks on my skin and my mind clears. I know I should think about it, I just can’t.
‘I know,’ he whispers in my mind. ‘For what it’s worth, I’m proud of you.’
“So, Derik’s dad,” I swallow the new lump forming in my throat. “He got away?”
He nods once. “I’m not really sure how it happened,” he pauses and looks back up to Caine. “I don’t know. The fight was fast. I’m no expert fighter, but I should’ve been able to get him immobilized.” He shakes his head in confusion. “I can’t pinpoint what it was, but he’s different somehow.”
“What do you mean different?” I frown.
He shrugs a shoulder as we cross the street to the lot. “I don’t know. He was faster than I thought he’d be and that knife did nothing to him,” he explains.
I raise a brow at his words. “How’s that even . . . ”
“We gotta go!” Caine yells, appearing in human form out of nowhere.
“What?” I scream, startled, as Seth pulls me towards Fane’s Expedition.
“Bo sent the distress. He and Avan need help, now!”
“Oh, my god!” I release Seth’s hand and run for the back door. Caine starts the engine and no sooner does Seth close the passenger door, the Expedition is spitting gravel.
“Jazzy, this is extremely important. You do not leave that seat for whatever reason,” Caine shouts to the review mirror, eyes turning into that icy steel again.
I shiver. “Okay.”
“That’s it?” He asks in disbelief. “You won’t fight me on this? You understand the importance of your safety and you’re not in fact working out some stupid plan to get yourself killed?”
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