Ulysses shot him four more times. When the smoke and echoes cleared, Devlin was keening softly. I shuddered, knowing how badly he had to be hurt.
Ulysses got to his feet. “Bring them to the vans and let’s go.”
“I want my money,” Catherine said to Ulysses, flashing her fangs. “I told you I could get that tracking device onto his bike—”
“You’ll get it when he’s dust, vampire,” Ulysses said, not looking at her.
“You sold me out for money?” Devlin hissed with effort and agony, his eyes glowing faintly red. “You fucking bitch! I should’ve carved out your mercenary heart—”
“Why not?” she said back hatefully. “You’ve treated me like dirt ever since you turned me. I was fine to fuck every few decades when you were bored.” She glared over at me, then back at him. “This was about me hurting you. The money’s just a bonus.”
Devlin and I were shoved into separate vans, the majority of men, Ulysses, and Catherine with Devlin, and two men with me. They clearly feared his power, even wounded. I’d glimpsed the bloodstained pavement where he had been lying. Even if he’d healed his wounds, Dev had to be very weak, losing that much blood. But maybe I could use their fear to my advantage.
* * * *
We drove for what seemed like a long time. The dark night was suddenly no longer magical, it was terrifying, and I couldn’t think of anything except what they might be doing to Devlin. But my mind shortly moved on to thinking frantically of what they might do to me after they finished with him.
Finally, we were taken out of the vans and ushered into a large, shadowy building. As we entered the stained glass doors, I realized it was an old church. Titus wouldn’t be teleporting in to save us. He couldn’t walk on hallowed ground, nor could Terian. Desperately, I tried to teleport myself over and over as they dragged me inside, to no avail.
I was thrown into a room, the door locked behind me. At once I huddled and began sobbing my heart out, letting my terror and fear break free. Ten minutes later, I dried my eyes on an old sash and began getting myself together. If Lash didn’t come, I’d better find some way to get out of here myself. There was no hope for Devlin unless I got help in time.
I got up and searched the room, than sat there for a long time, thinking of different scenarios and options. I was in the small, cramped room that brides had once used to get ready for their wedding. There was a phone, but it was disconnected. I couldn’t use any lock picking skills, as there was most likely a guard at the door. Besides, I didn’t have my tools, and there was no tool of any kind in this room. The only possible weapon was a metal cross on a stand. While helpful against demons, it wasn’t heavy enough to knock a hole in the wall, especially not knowing what was on the other side. Besides, the guard would hear the noise.
I considered seduction, then bravely attempted it, calling sweetly to the guard that I was scared and lonely. There was no reply. Stymied, I sat down with my back to the wall and tried again to teleport, with no success.
Finally at about two a.m., footsteps walked up to the door, and then Ulysses came in. He shut the door behind him, then turned to me, green eyes staring into mine.
I curled myself up tight in a ball. I wanted to plead for Devlin, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. Telling him he was a bastard probably also wasn’t a good idea.
“Sarelle,” Ulysses said softly. “Be calm. You won’t be harmed.”
That was bullshit for sure. “Then let me go.”
“I want no quarrel with Racklan, or O’Connor,” he said, crouching down beside me.
He was going to get one with Danial shortly, for killing his brother. “Then let Dev go—”
“It’s well known your lovers don’t get along. O’Connor hates Dalcon. Racklan will probably thank me, as you’ll revert solely to him—”
I kept my expression neutral. Enemies like Ulysses were the reason Danial and Devlin kept their kinship secret. “If you hate vampires so much, why are you partnering with one?”
“It’s necessary,” Ulysses replied. “When Devlin is dead, I’ll call Racklan on his company line, and tell him where you are. Perhaps he’ll even pay a good faith ransom for you.”
That would be too late. “Please let me go,” I said in the most pitiful tone I could muster.
“You are Oathed to Dalcon,” Ulysses said flatly. “That’s what I heard, though I don’t see his symbol at your throat. You’d try to save him. You aren’t going to leave here until he’s dead.”
This was useless. “Can you have someone take me to the bathroom then?”
He got suspicious immediately. “Don’t think about escaping,” he growled.
“Look,” I said, holding up my hands. “This isn’t a movie, and I’m not a super spy. I just want to use the ladies room and then you can lead me back here.”
“You have any phones on you?”
“I don't have a phone, credit card, keys, or even any money,” I said, real defeat in each word. “I’m going nowhere.”
Ulysses nodded, satisfied. “Come with me,” he said, gesturing to me to follow.
I got up and followed him down the hall to the bathroom. I looked in each room we passed, but there was no sign of anyone; no screams or even talking. Worse, there was nothing in any of the rooms to help me: no phones, no exits, no keys lying on tables, no tools, not even some gasoline and pack of matches conveniently within reach.
When I was finished, Ulysses put me back in the room and locked the door, then walked away.
I sat down, debating courses of action. I wanted to remove the armor, as it was stifling, and hadn’t been made to sit in for long periods of time. Yet I didn’t, too worried that I’d be unprepared if a chance to escape presented itself. Instead, I walked slowly back and forth for a half hour, and then rested for a half hour lying prone on the floor. I alternated between the two actions all through the rest of the night, waiting and hoping for rescue. But dawn came and went and no one appeared.
Devlin began to shriek around ten a.m. The horrible sounds of pain went on and on, undulating in volume and strength as the minutes ticked by. Unhinged, I sobbed as I listened to him scream. They were burning him, and there was nothing I could do but listen. I cursed my inability to teleport, furious at fate. A month ago we would have been safe back at Hayden the moment I’d known we were in danger. I’d forgotten everything that mattered, and relied too much on my teleportation power. If I’d brought even one clip and my gun, I’d be free now...
Dev’s screams finally died off about eleven. I cried harder at the silence, wondering if he was dead.
The day wore on, the time passing at a crawl. No one came back to check on me, or to even offer me water, much less food. I was hungry, and desperately thirsty. In my frustration and need, I began screaming, hammering at the door with my gloved fists. But no one came.
Around three, Devlin began to shriek again. I cried out with relief that he was still alive, but despair engulfed me, knowing I couldn’t do anything to stop his pain...
My head snapped up, realization dawning. I could hear him...that meant he could hear me. “Please, hold on,” I screamed out tearfully. “I’m okay, Dev. Hold on! I love you!”
Devlin didn’t reply, his screams continuing. I shouted out that I loved him and to hold on a few times more, then burst into frenzied sobbing, collapsing on the floor.
* * * *
When I came to, my watch said eight p.m. I groggily got to my feet, stretching my sore muscles.
The screaming had stopped. Whether that meant Devlin was dead, I wasn’t sure. How much burning could he withstand? In the movies, a vampire was toast after being exposed for a minute or so. A few seconds of clouded daylight in a snowstorm had burned Devlin badly. He’d had two hours of late summer sun today. How much pain could his mind and body endure?
I hammered on the door. “Please, I have to go to the bathroom!”
Despite my hammering and pleas, no one came. Eventually, I did what I had to in the closet,
crying at the shame of it. Asking God to understand, that I’d never have done this willingly if I’d had a choice, I put some old boxes of hymnals over the mess, and then closed the closet door, shutting off the stink.
Dejected and hopeless, I went back out to the middle of the room, and sat down on the floor. I was sitting there an hour later, my head on my hands, when the door opened silently, and a man wearing body armor came in.
I blinked, amazed Theo had found me. Then I took in the dull black armor.
“Sar,” a familiar hissing voice said. “Come. Hurry.”
I got to my feet and ran to him, stifling my cry of relief. Lash helped me put my helmet on, and then grabbed my gloved hand, leading me fast through the darkness. I followed him as fast as I could through the shadows, emerging from the church into pine trees. We ducked into the thick stand, then began running fast. When we were a hundred yards away, Lash ducked behind a tree, and took off his helmet, facing me.
“Where is Dev?” he hissed urgently, his tongue flicking the air. “Do you know?”
“I don’t know,” I gasped, pulling off my helmet. “I haven’t seen him since they brought us here. They tortured him twice today with sunlight. I heard him screaming, Lash—” Hysteria laced my words and I clamped down hard on it, fighting for control.
Lash gave a grimace of pain. “How long?” he hissed.
“An hour each time,” I replied, tears in my eyes. “Can he survive that?”
“Yes, but it’s going to be bad,” he said softly, rubbing his brow. “I’m telling you now, so you can prepare yourself.”
“Just get him out of there, please,” I said. “It doesn’t matter to me. Just save him.”
Lash put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “I’ll get him. Follow this line of trees to the edge of the road. A Hummer is waiting there—”
“It’s a church,” I said quickly. “Titus won’t be able to teleport in.”
“Go, Sar,” Lash ordered harshly. “We don’t have time for this.”
The feeling of being immersed in ice-cold water bathed me from head to toe. Lash was here all by himself. “You can’t do this alone.”
“I need your help,” Lash hissed urgently. “Get to the Hummer. There’s a rifle in the back; it’s loaded and ready. Wait here and cover us when you see me coming. I’ll be carrying him. With that much daylight, he’ll be hurt too bad to walk.”
I nodded. “I can do that.”
Lash nodded once. “I know you can. Go.”
I leaned in and kissed him. Lash grabbed me and kissed me back for a second, then broke away, giving me a shove towards the road.
I turned and ran for all I was worth, my legs pumping, my lungs burning. By the faint moonlight, the tree line was easy to follow. In a few minutes, I reached the road.
Breathing a sigh of relief, I opened the SUV door, grabbing the rifle sitting in the front seat. I’d expected an assault rifle, something automatic or semiautomatic, at least. This was semiautomatic, but it was a target rifle. Why had Lash brought this? At least the scope on top was familiar. I checked the chamber, ejecting the loaded round in the process.
When I retrieved the familiar-looking round, I understood. This rifle was loaded with a type of explosive bullets. Had Lash converted it? I’d never seen a rifle that took this kind of ammunition, only handguns.
Shouldering the gun, I checked the Hummer for more ammo, discovering a handgun that shot explosive bullets on the back floor and some extra clips. Grabbing them all, I loaded the gun and put it in my pocket, putting the clips in the other pocket. There was also one more clip for the rifle on the dashboard, which I put into the pocket with the handgun.
Gunshots sounded behind me suddenly. Terror and adrenaline spiking through me, I turned and began running as fast as I could back through the trees.
I got to the tree where Lash had stopped, then looked around for a gun rest with a clear view of the route from the church that offered some kind of concealment. Quickly, I headed twenty yards sideways to a nearby double trunked tree, laying the rifle through the crotch. Thank God, it was just the right height.
More gunshots sounded, then shouts. Lash had been discovered.
I began sighting in the gun, focusing the scope. This was going to be hard; they would be running and moving fast, and I’d have only a second for each shot before I’d lose the target. I was going to have to aim and shoot faster than I ever had, and make every shot count.
Lash appeared, a body swathed in cloth on his shoulder, a gun in his hand. He ducked behind a tree, shielding Devlin, then fired a few shots at his pursuers. Bullets kicked up leaves and needles all around him.
I saw glimpses of the men after him, a shoulder appearing here, then a hand with a gun there. They didn’t have armor, but they were some kind of were. I’d have to get their hearts or heads to kill them.
Shaking, I took careful aim at the lead one. He was behind a tree, only his arm visible.
Lash fired again. The lead man ducked behind a tree, hiding from Lash and giving me a clear view of him. I shot him in the chest, and he fell, his heart exploding in a burst of blood.
The remaining men fired at me. I shot back a few times, making them duck their heads, trying to give Lash cover to get Devlin away. But each time he went to move they fired en mass, pinning him down.
There were too many of them. We needed something to flush them out...
Lash suddenly threw something back at them. A few seconds later, there was an explosion. Knocked off balance, I gripped the tree to steady myself, then grabbed for my gun, looking through the scope.
Lash had made it another ten yards closer to the Hummer, and killed another man with grenade shrapnel, yet they were closing in on him. But with that action, he’d given me targets aplenty.
I acted fast, picking off two more, and then another two. The last one I hit in the leg, and Lash finished him off for me, his bullet catching the man in the throat, decapitating him in a shower of gore. One raised up his head to shoot. I sighted and squeezed, the gun uselessly clicking on an empty chamber.
Swearing, I popped out the clip, pocketed it and slammed in the new one, shoving back the slide to chamber the bullet. Re-sighting, I picked off another man, hitting him in the leg, then the arm, then the heart.
There were too many left, and they were close to Lash, only fifteen feet or so. In panic, I let loose a barrage of bullets, making them duck for cover as tree trunks blew apart and toppled. Lash bolted, making it to a tree ten yards away just as my rifle clicked on empty a second time. A hail of bullets ricocheted around me as the men returned fire, blowing the double trunked tree into pieces, the large trunks crashing down in opposite directions as I huddled behind the tree stump.
The gunfire faded. I stayed down, waiting.
“He’s out,” an unknown voice called. “Move in.”
I peered out carefully. No one shot at me. Slinging the empty rifle over my shoulders, I took out the handgun and clicked off the safety, then began moving furtively towards the Hummer. The men and Lash were in front of me now, with no clear targets. I’d have to get closer to be of any use. Hopefully, this armor worked against explosive bullets.
I moved from tree to tree, nearing the men closing in on Lash. They ignored me, focusing on him and Devlin. Just as I got close enough to shoot one, Lash made a dash for it. They shot him twice in the back, and he pitched forward from the impact, Devlin’s prone form falling in the dirt.
The men came out from behind trees, walking openly towards Lash and Dev. I shot three of them down in succession, but missed the last one, who ducked behind a tree, the shot for his heart thudding harmlessly into the thick pine bark and blowing a huge chunk from the left side.
I waited carefully for him to move, my gun aimed at the remains of the trunk. Lash stayed prone, on the ground, Devlin’s form still before him. One pale hand with a gold ring was visible, the skin black in places, scorched. My face twisted in anger. Bullets were too kind for these men.
<
br /> “You aren’t going to just walk out of here,” the man shouted. “Your leader’s dead. Put down your gun, and we’ll let you live.”
Pleased that he thought I was a professional, I almost thanked him. Biting my tongue, I sighted in on the trunk, then blew the right side into pieces. The trunk swayed, then fell, exposing the man as he made a dash towards Lash, firing three shots at me.
I ducked down, then peered around the trunk just in time to see the last man approach Lash, and ease him over with his foot. Lash made no sound as he flopped bonelessly onto his back. The man lowered his gun and shot him again in the chest. Lash’s body jerked.
Fury filled me. I didn’t have a clear shot! I broke cover, moving fast, my gun held in both hands.
The man pulled off Lash’s helmet, looking down at him in contempt. “So this is the famous Lash,” he said with sarcasm. “I’d heard you were the best. What a lie that was.”
I almost had a shot! Just a little closer...
The man eased back the trigger, the click loud.
He was going to shoot him in the head. If Lash wasn’t already dead, he’d be killed. I stopped where I was and fired, the shot hitting a tree. The man wheeled around, and shot back. I dove for the closest tree, the bullets whining past me taking the bark off inches from my side. I took a breath, then peered out, immediately catching a bullet in the arm. With a cry of fear, I fell backwards from the sudden impact.
“Argh!” the man screamed.
The bullet hadn’t gone through my armor, or so I hoped. I staggered to my feet, my arm numb, grasping the tree for support.
“Arghhh!” the man screamed again. Another gunshot sounded.
I stumbled towards Lash, bathed in fear, my mind screaming at me to move faster before it was too late.
Yet another gunshot sounded.
Lash had the man fast on his knees, fangs buried in his throat. But his poison wasn’t working. The man was flailing and fighting. I ran towards them just as the man put the gun to Lash’s temple, and eased back the hammer. Lash glared up at the man, still biting him hard.
I took aim and fired. The side of the man’s head exploded, and he sagged, the gun dropping from his hand.
Dark Solace Page 9
