“You bitch,” he rasped incredulously, blood spitting from his mouth. “I trusted you. I wanted you with me. You bitch!”
Lilo went for the handle on the van door and opened, but he shoved her back into her seat with a forearm to her neck, choking her. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Screw you, Donnie.” She locked onto the gun, fallen in the gap between the car seat and the center console. If she could just reach it. She’d—
A glimpse of something moving in the rearview mirror. It was the money from the van. Bags had indeed fallen from the back as they flipped. Cash went everywhere, flying, twirling and floating in the air like an expensive tornado. And like clockwork, the greedy citizens of Cardinal City came out of the woodwork to capitalize on the accident.
“They’re stealing your money, Donnie,” she rasped through his chokehold. “Money is power, right? If you don’t get it, you’ll be weak. You’re done for.”
It was all she needed to say and his eyes flashed wide, his pupils were tiny pinpoints of rage, and then he howled. “NO!”
He let go of her and fumbled in his jacket pockets to pull out a leather compendium which he unzipped. Three syringes filled with a substance similar to what he’d already injected himself. Wide-eyed and erratic, he darted a glance outside to where Griffin helped secure the train, to the approaching two dark figures—Griffin’s deadly back-up—and then back to the people thieving his money.
“I need more. I have to use it all,” he murmured to himself and began to inject himself with haste.
All she could think was to get the gun. It was protection. Get it. Get it. She reached in the gap, but the weapon was wedged hard, caught on the under wire of the seat. Her fingers couldn’t get a stronghold. The gun kept slipping, falling deeper under the seat.
The growl that ripped from him as he breathed through his pain wasn’t entirely human, and when he depressed the third and final syringe into his neck, Lilo watched, petrified, as an animalistic transformation came over him. That monster peeking out from behind his eyes became real.
Veins in his head, neck and hands bulged. His shoulder muscles expanded, stretching his coat, creaking and groaning until the seams split. He grunted and snorted like a bull at a red flag, and when he finally faced her, she saw nothing human left. His eyes were vacant.
“Mine,” he grunted and reached for her, but his new larger frame took some getting used to and he knocked his head on the rearview mirror. He shook it, dazed.
She abandoned her efforts with the gun, snapped open the car door, and tumbled into the street.
An almighty beastly roar reverberated in the cabin of the van, shaking its foundations.
Adrenaline scorched Lilo’s body. She crawled as fast as she could from the van, heedless of the asphalt scraping her knees and hands. When she looked over her shoulder, Doppenger tore the roof off the van from the inside, and burst out to land adeptly. He spied the thieves stealing his money, and he spied Lilo on the floor escaping him. He roared and it thundered through the air.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Griffin strained, his power at the brink. The amount he’d expended on holding the van at the same time as the train had seriously taxed him. Now he took too long pushing the train car back on the rail. Parker was inside the train, helping passengers move to the rear of the cabin in case Griffin’s power collapsed and he lost his hold. Once evacuated, they could disconnect the front car from the rest of the train and let it fall. Then Griffin could help Lilo. God, he needed her. Every ache in his bones cried out for her soothing touch. Just a few more minutes. Just a few more. Until everyone was out of the train. Hold. Hold.
Dressed as Envy, Evan jogged up, arriving at the scene. “What the fuck is that?”
Dragging with lethargy, Griffin turned around and wished he hadn’t. The scene behind him was chaos. The twisted and deformed features of a man too big for his clothes—too beastly to be human—swatted bystanders as they tried to collect the fallen cash bags. It was Doppenger turned monster. He had the same horrific aura of greed, but now had a face to match his sin. That was the darkness inside made real.
Could that have been Griffin once?
Was that a future without Lilo?
Bodies went flying through the air as though they were soccer balls, and then the beast turned—caught sight of Lilo crawling away—and bellowed in outrage.
Griffin’s throat closed up. He stepped toward her, but the train came with him. Passengers screamed.
“Hold steady, Griffin.” A voice through his ear comms.
Lilo.
The beast made a grab for her ankle, snarling and growling. He missed, but then swiped again, this time catching and dragging her toward him. She screamed.
“Lilo!” Griffin shouted and his hold wobbled. He turned to Evan. “Help her!”
“Shit. Fuck!” Evan swore. “I can’t electrocute him while he’s holding her. It’ll pass into her.”
Evan pulled shuriken from his belt and threw them at the beast’s head, but the metal throwing stars glanced off as though made of plastic.
Thousands of screams overhead snapped his attention back to the teetering train. Griffin was tired. So tired. If he didn’t let go soon, he’d break. And people were in danger. But he had to save Lilo. He would die before he let that happen.
“Power me up,” he ordered Evan.
“He’s like a fucking ape. King Kong. Jeezus.”
“EVAN. Focus here. I need a boost. Just like we spoke about at training. Give me a boost.”
Evan turned on Griffin, noticing for the first time his dangerous strain. “But Parker said it was risky. You could die.”
“I don’t care!” he shouted, one eye on Lilo struggling against the beast. “There’s no time. Do it.”
Evan frowned, but acted immediately. He placed his hands on Griffin and electricity surged into his nervous system. Griffin seized in agony as the power threatened to rip his atoms apart, but with each millisecond of charge, his magnetism boosted and he grew the strength to push the train back on the rails until it reached safety. The instant it had, Griffin twisted out of Evan’s grip because the subatomic manipulation was excruciating. His vision blurred. He tasted metal. Gasping, he dropped to his knees, not only cramping from the recent surge, but the deadly greed hitting him from the beastly version of Doppenger now gathering Lilo in his large claw-like hands.
Lilo.
He had to keep going. Had to get up. Had to go hard.
Trembling, Griffin lifted a knee and then pushed himself upright, reaching for his metal bo-staff still wedged in the asphalt. It trembled and shook until it dislodged and soared through the air to his awaiting hand. Biting through his pain, he ran toward her, legs pumping. Two meters out, he leaped and swung his staff toward the beast’s head. When the force of the rod hit the monster, vibrations rang along Griffin’s arms and he went flying backward from the transfer of energy.
When he landed, he rolled and returned to an attack position, staff poised to his side for balance.
Doppenger had let go of Lilo and was crouched, shaking his head for focus.
He shouldn’t be able to withstand that sort of blow. It would have caved any normal person’s skull in. For the first time since arriving, Griffin’s battle confidence disintegrated. This was no normal foe. Nothing liked they’d faced before. He was bigger than them, stronger than them, but not smarter than them.
“Lilo.” Griffin dashed for her and lifted her to her feet, guiding her swiftly away. “Are you okay?”
Blood oozed from a wound at her temple, and her brown hair was covered in white dust, but she held her head high. She barely had a chance to nod before a deafening growl filled the street, rumbling the ground: “Mine!”
The grating sound froze Griffin for a good moment before his instincts kicked in. He turned to see the Doppenger beast approach with murder in his eyes. “Give me!”
Tiny in comparison, Evan launched onto Doppenger’s back and gripped h
im around the neck. What the hell happened to make Doppenger that way? What had the Syndicate fed him?
Evan loosed his power. White and blue light sparked at his fingertips, sizzling into the giant whose eyes rolled back in his head.
“What happened to Doppenger?” Griffin asked, hand on Lilo’s shoulder, still guiding her toward the safety and shelter of a building.
“He injected himself with something,” she said, breathing hard. “Triple the dose he was meant to have. No wait. Four times the dose.”
“Do you know what it was?” Parker came up behind them, dressed as Pride—full leather combat gear, purple mouth mask, dark hood shadowing his eyes.
Lilo shook her head, then winced, hand moving to her bruised and bloody cheek. “Only that it doesn’t last long, that’s why he took more doses.”
“Must be what gave him the power of Greed,” Griffin said. “And it’s twisted him into something else.”
Sirens blared in the distance.
“Shit,” Parker said. “Cops will be here soon. We gotta wrap this up.”
The passengers must be safe. All that was left to do was secure Doppenger for the authorities to deal with. Or perhaps it would be better to take him back to HQ for investigation.
The instant the thought formed in Griffin’s head, Doppenger rallied and resisted the electrical charge pumping into him. His eyes stopped rolling, they refocused on Griffin with his hand on Lilo and broke free from his constraint like a raging bull. He threw Evan from his body and charged.
“Get back, Lilo.” Griffin pushed her away. “Get to safety.”
Griffin wasn’t sure if it was pride or stupidity, but Parker charged at Doppenger first.
“Pin him down like you did with those guys in the alley,” Lilo said to Griffin. “Then all you need to do is wait until the serum wears off.”
“Good idea,” he said and scoured the area for something suitable. He was still searching when he noticed Lilo hadn’t moved.
“Go!”
She got two steps, but hesitated and turned back. “I won’t go far. I have to be close so I can report the truth.”
She must have seen the fear in his eyes. What if he blacked out? What if he killed everyone, including her? He was running perilously close to the bottom of his reserves, and he didn’t want to know what he’d do if he was pushed to the limits, but it might take a monster to beat a monster.
“You need to be as far away from me as you can,” he ground out. “I can’t have you hurt. Parker and Evan won’t hold him for long.”
“Griff.” She saw right through him. “Don’t hold back. You got this.”
He shook his head, denying it.
She limped back to him, gripped the base of his neck and forced him to look at her. She took his bare fingers, letting her touch soak into him.
“I know you’re holding back. You’re afraid I’ll get hurt. You’re afraid of losing control. But you need to do this, Griffin. I trust you. You have to give it your all. He could hurt everyone here, not just me.” She touched her forehead to his, her silent proclamation of solidarity, and two-seconds later, she was gone, back to a group of bystanders under the butcher shop awning, asking around for a camera phone.
Give it your all.
Her words rang in his ears and he knew she was right. He wasn’t the same man he was back then. He’d trained, he’d taught himself to manage his sin, and now thanks to her, he was balanced. She just gave him an extra boost with her touch. It was time.
Griffin turned back to his brothers and assessed. Parker had just been hit and stumbled. Evan whipped out his Katanas, now going for the deadly option. He rotated them by his side as he studied the beast, circling him.
Pushing off with burning thighs, Griffin bolted forward. As he got within a few meters, he used his staff to vault feet first at Doppenger’s chest—kicking him in the center. The ground quaked as the beast crash landed, sliding backward until he hit the box-curb on the other side of the street.
“Envy, pin him,” Griffin ordered. “I’ll help.”
“With pleasure.” Evan stabbed through Doppenger’s shoulders with his swords, driving through with all his might until the metal went through soft skin, flesh and maybe bone. Griffin used his power to continue the Katanas’ momentum and slammed them through to the asphalt, embedding them deep. When Evan let go, the blades were almost buried to the hilts.
Doppenger’s whine of pain shook the sky, and he thrashed about on the ground, back arching ineffectively. Froth foamed at his mouth. Griffin clenched his teeth as he held on with his power. “Pride and Envy, reinforce the Katanas. I’ll find something else to pin him with.”
For once, Parker took the order and joined his brother in holding a fist to each Katana handle, keeping the beast pinned like a mounted scientific specimen. Griffin dropped his bo-staff, and with his power, ripped a gutter pipe from a side building. Water sprayed, dripping as the metal pipe levitated closer. Griffin slammed it lengthwise over Doppenger’s thick legs, stapling him into the asphalt, locking his ankles in place.
“Get another two for his wrists,” Parker added.
When he had done the same for Doppenger’s hands, they all stood back, gingerly taking their hands from the beast’s body.
Heedless of the swords in his shoulders, Doppenger writhed and snarled, gnashing his teeth, spitting foam. “She’s mine!” he kept repeating.
“She’s not yours.” Griffin's words solidified something he’d been contemplating. He wanted Lilo to be his. Committed forever.
He shot a look in her direction and found her filming the entire thing. Tension loosened his shoulders. She was safe. The police were coming. It was over.
A thousand voices in his head screamed for him to stay put, but he needed to be with her. He took a few steps. Lilo lowered her camera, their eyes met, perhaps thinking the same thing. She stepped away from her group, and into the street, hesitant. It was as though his magnetic power pulled her straight to him. She took another step.
A steady grip landed on Griffin’s shoulder.
“Not now. People are watching.” Parker’s gruff computerized voice rumbled. “You can’t be associated like that. You’ve already shown her too much attention. More will put her in danger.”
Damn him. He was right. Evan had already skated up the damaged gutter pipe brackets and headed for the rooftop like a shadow’s afterthought. Headed home.
The police arrived, getting out of their vehicles further down the road blocked with traffic. Red and blue lights flashed, reflecting off the city buildings.
“You know I’m right,” Parker added as though reading his thoughts. “Let’s go before the—”
Greed flared.
A colossal weight landed between Griffin’s shoulders, slamming him face first into the ground. His forehead smashed on the rocky surface and everything jarred in pain. Warm, wet liquid ran over his face. He barely caught the beastly “Mine” before the weight lifted from his back.
In horrifying slow motion, Griffin understood—Doppenger had broken free from his constraints, had torpedoed into him and used him as a stepping stone to get to Lilo. The beast lunged with lethal speed, but he wasn’t fast enough. Griffin’s hand snapped out and caught the meaty ankle as it soared over his head, tugging them both back to the ground. Beast and man grappled and scrambled to their feet, but with Lilo’s blurred face in the distance, Griffin’s determination turned rock hard.
I trust you.
Give it your all.
Time to end this.
A calming sense of peace settled over him. He threw out his hand, calling his bo-staff through the air. The cold metal surface hit his palm, and he swung the pole around Doppenger’s body, using it for a chokehold. He pulled tight across the larynx, blocking the beast’s airways, using his power to boost his strength and pull the metal bar closer.
Choke.
The injured beast struggled and Griffin wasn’t sure if the serum wore off, or it was his irrational need t
o protect his mate, but Doppenger choked out within minutes, slowly going limp within Griffin’s arms until his massive body slumped to the ground unconscious. Heaving air into his burning lungs, Griffin refused to remove his eyes or fists from the beast, now slowly shrinking to become the man once more.
The serum. It wore off. He was vulnerable again.
Parker tapped him on the shoulder. “He’s done. We need to go.”
But Griffin kept the pressure on.
“Greed,” Parker warned.
Choke.
“Greed!”
Griffin let go.
Gathered behind them were city cops, pistols out warily, unsure who to point them at. He couldn’t see Liza among them. Shit. Had they stepped out of the frying pan, only to land in the fire?
Someone shouted, “They saved us.”
The police slowly lowered their weapons.
“I have a recording,” Lilo said to the closest officer, stepping toward him. “I’ll show you everything.”
While she distracted with her camera-phone, she shot Griffin a meaningful look full of urgency. Get out of here while you can, she seemed to say. I’ve got your back.
And in that moment, Griffin knew she would. Always.
Taking advantage of the confusion, he turned and followed Parker swiftly and expertly to make their escape.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Straddling his idle Ducati, Wyatt Lazarus watched the aftermath of the monorail disaster unfold. His vantage point from the hilltop street leading to the City Bank gave him a full view of the cluster-fuck incorporated. Cops swarmed over the place like a pack of drunk bees. Obviously no one knew what the hell was going on because bystanders contaminated the scene, same as the dumbass police officers. All they needed now was for—fuck it. There they were. The press scooting into the cordoned off area with their cameras.
His fists squeezed his motorcycle’s handlebars until metal creaked and his knuckles went white.
It should have been him down there helping his family put that beast to bed, but instead he’d been stuck up there, paralyzed and watching from the sidelines like some pre-schooler afraid of his own shadow. But Wyatt wasn’t afraid. He was angry. Pissed. Furious.
Greed Page 27
