by Kim Faulks
My top lip curled. This wasn’t just the wrong side of the street…this was the wrong side of the city. I slowed to a stride and pushed past as he stepped in my way. “I don’t think so, buddy.”
The movement was fast…for him. To me, it was a fucking snail’s pace as he dropped his hand to his waist and thumbed the catch on his taser. Lorn’s body came back to me, black and purple with two marks on her skin. Marks where those things drove barbs into her body.
The body I kissed.
The body I loved.
Her pain became my pain…her anger more than my own. The cop dragged the weapon free as I stepped close—close enough to smell his fear—close enough so I could tear out his fucking throat. The bitter stench of gunpowder was all over him…on his clothes, on his fingers. I lowered my gaze to stare at his hands.
Tiny black specks covered his palm and the cuff of his shirt. The brainless twit looked like he’d been playing in the stuff. “Draw that weapon and I’ll take that as an outright attack. I don’t have time for this shit. And I don’t play fight with humans just so you walk away—ya feel me?”
His breath stalled, beady eyes glinted. Yeah, he felt me alright. I lifted my gaze to the blazing inferno that covered the front of the building. “Now, I’m going in there…and you’re going to get out of my fucking way, or I’ll take you with me. Only, I know I’ll walk out of there alive—will you?”
There was a shift of his stance before I pushed past. Something exploded at the back of the building with a deafening boom!
Shouts from the firefighters followed as they ducked and ran for cover. “It’s gas! Get the hell back!”
I cleared the pavement in one stride and climbed the stairs.
Their screams were muffled by the roar of the fire. “Hey! Get back from there…where the hell are you going?”
Where the hell, indeed.
Remnants of glass sparkled as I stepped through the front door and into the fire. The front half of the building was ablaze, red and orange was all I could see…just like home. I lifted my head as the flames licked my arms and raced higher.
I tried to listen over the roar of the inferno…tried to feel life…any life…
“Please.”
The muffled word was barely a hiss. I scanned the foyer, finding the open door to the young sorcerer’s apartment.
“Help.”
The faint wheeze called me. I cut through the flames…past the missing stairs. Weight-bearing beams cracked overhead. I lunged forward as the timber ceiling came down with a crash. Part of the roof followed, pelting the lower floor with bricks and drywall. I pressed my spine against the blackened wall and cut through the inferno.
He was curled in a corner, legs drawn up as the fire raged around him. Just a helpless human. Jesus... “Titus! Titus, it’s me.”
Get rid of those around her. I want the Inspector gone, and by gone, I mean to never surface again. Lucifer’s command filled me as I stared at the singed clothes and blistered skin on his body…here was my chance…obey the Lord of Hell.
Obey my master.
Need raged, filling me with purpose. Just turn around and walk away…it was as simple as that. No one would ever know…
One hand dropped from his hip, revealing the other in a curled grasp. Something fluttered in his hand, something small and pathetic. I took a step closer, tiny green eyes blinked at me. It’s wing was broken, body burned. The creature let out a tiny cry, small and feeble, and around him… the flames pushed back.
It was protecting him. It was saving him.
And he was saving it.
Remnants of my burning shirt fell away. The rubber of my boots stuck to the floor as I took a step and closed the gap. “Goddamn sonofabitch, making me fucking like you.”
One eye cracked open as I knelt at his side and slipped my arm under his knees.
“’Spose you’ll be wanting to go steady now,” his words a savage rasp.
I flinched with the words and moved in closer. “Don’t fucking think so, cop. I’ve seen what you’re packing…and, quite frankly, I’m after a little more.”
“Fuck you.” His lips curled into a tortured smile before his head lolled back.
The creature in his grasp bucked and howled, yet he held onto it as I drove my heels into the floor and rose.
Muscles flexed, thighs strained. The damn bastard was no lightweight. I heaved him higher and curled my spine, covering their bodies with mine.
Flames moved in, swallowing the tiny corner where they’d waited to die.
Not today…those words drowned out the command from my master…not any fucking day.
Not while I was around.
We were a family…a dysfunctional, weird-as-fuck family.
Pain ravaged my shoulder. The mark flared bright under the cop’s shirt. He barely cried out, barely opened his eyes as I stepped over the fallen beam and headed for the door.
Red and blue filled my view as I stepped through what was left of the front door and down the stairs.
“Jesus Christ on a stick. Medic…Medic!” the firefighter screamed as he raced toward us.
He looked at the man in my arms. “He’s human,” I growled, “a cop.”
“Dear God…” he took a step forward and then turned his head. “He’s a cop!”
Yells filled the night. Orders were barked. Stretchers came. They took him from me…him and that tiny damn creature that saved his life.
“He’s human,” I murmured as that mark on my shoulder flared again.
The stretcher’s wheels clattered and clanged as they shoved and pulled, lifting him into the back of an ambulance.
And then they were gone, leaving me standing in the street with the smell of his burned flesh in my lungs and the vision of that small pathetic beast clutched in his hand.
My fingers trembled, and the shakes raced. I closed my eyes and felt the world sway as the blast came from inside the building.
My home was in there…Lorn’s home…Gabriel’s home…I opened my eyes, catching the faint flare of red and blue lights in the distance. “Make it, cop…make it, because I don’t want to tell her if you don’t.”
The pain came once more, searing and burning, hurting me more than a damn inferno ever could. I reached for my chest and felt the world sway.
And then, in an instant, the pain and the glare were gone…
Terror filled me.
Fear made me turn.
Panic made me run. My heavy steps echoed as I raced through the night.
I was going to find him…and I was going to kill him.
It’s the unseelie, Lorn’s words filled me. That’s who she wants me for…the unseelie.
The unseelie…and that pathetic piece of shit, Redemption, filled my mind. I never liked him…not one bit.
The vision of the cop stayed with me—haunting me, as I dropped to all fours and became the beast they wanted me to be…and hunted.
Chapter Nineteen
Lorn
Cold.
So cold…teeth chattered in my ears. A shudder wracked my body. I tried to move, tried to grasp myself tighter. But there was nothing…nothing but cold…
Steel links clashed behind me as an ache jerked my wrists tight. I opened my eyes to darkness. Blinding white stars danced behind my eyes. White light…white glare. I closed my eyes and sucked in a breath. The cold air claimed me, carving through my chest to fill my lungs.
A shudder tore free…followed by a sound…a moan, deep and tortured.
Gabriel.
I wrenched open my eyes as the bright sparks danced. Gabriel…I jerked forward, chains snapped taut, pulling my arms behind me. My murky world was a shroud, closing around darkened shapes. “Gabriel…is that you?”
“She’s awake.”
I flinched at the voice and wrenched my gaze to the right. The shadows moved, slinking in to focus. Red eyes glowed as the tall, thin shapes moved. My stomach tightened as my brain fired...fired…fired…
The war
ehouse.
The attack.
Blood…so much blood, slipping through the cracks of my fingers to slide over my skin. A moan tore through the air, deep and filled with suffering.
Those red eyes glowed as the creature moved. There was a scuff of a shoe at my left…and the rake of nails against the ground.
My heart hammered, slamming against the inside of my chest.
“I think you two already know each other. I know she knows you.”
I flinched as that voice slipped through the dark. Nails grazed the ground, clawing, carving their way in the dark. My stomach tightened as Gabriel let out a deep, guttural moan.
“Looks like sleeping beauty is finally coming to, as well. Man, when you guys go out, you go out hard.”
That voice…that fucking voice.
White bone shone gently in the dark. I stared at the antlers curled above her head. Claws scraped against rock as a jagged hiss slipped into the air as she headed toward him. My belly clenched, driving acid into my throat. I tried to swallow, and unfurled my fingers. I waited for the sigil to come to life…I waited for the fire in my veins.
But there was nothing.
Nothing but the cold…nothing but the cruelty.
Please…
“I forgot to tell you,” that voice murmured. Black on black moved. “Your power doesn’t work here…doesn’t work here, at all. Delightful, isn’t it?”
I knew him now…knew that voice…knew those words.
“If your whore of a mother was here, she’d tell you that…”
I swallowed hard as the lanky shadow moved into the faded light. Red eyes glowed as he dropped his gaze, skimming it over my body. He was different…different to what he was before.
“Forgive me,” he murmured. The scrape of his shoe echoed as he came closer. “I haven’t introduced myself.”
“Get the fuck away from her.”
I jerked my gaze to Gabriel. Blond hair glowed in the dark, perfect pale strands stuck to his cheek as he lifted his head.
Chains snapped taut as he lunged forward. His arms were splayed wide…his wings even wider. Pain ravaged his perfect features as he raged. “I said…get the fuck away from her!”
Those red eyes glowed like embers in the night. The stick-figure man crossed the space to step into my view, but still, all I could see was that fucking bitch slowly crawling along the ground.
“Gabriel!” I yanked, straining until the tendons in my arms screamed. Sharp steel bit into my wrists.
“Big protector, huh?” The bastard snarled. “You know what I am, big protector?”
A mumble filled the air.
“I’m sorry…I can’t hear you?”
“Bodoach.”
The bastard straightened. Bodoach. I’d heard of them before. Evil spirits of the unseelie caste…take little children—the thought stopped me cold—take little children and torture them.
“You want to protect her?” The bodoach sneered and waved his hand. “You want to protect her from her own father?”
Those blue eyes were cold now…cold as ice as my archangel lifted his gaze and snarled. “You are not her damn father.”
That bitch crawled along the ground like a damn spider…and Gabriel was the fly. Midnight eyes stared through the deer-skull mask as a long, shredded cloak trailed behind her.
I jerked my head toward the movement… “No…no…no!”
The night hag rose up from the ground next to Gabriel, leaving the bodoach to step away.
“You are not her father,” my archangel snarled, and stared into the blazing red eyes. “The Lord of Hell is.”
The night hag let out a shrill scream and slashed the air.
Long nails carved jagged lines down his cheek. I saw every cut now. I saw every drop of blood on his perfect face as he flinched and wrenched his head right.
“Get the fuck away from him!” Pain tore along my throat. I threw myself forward, yanking against the binds, staring at the slow slide of blood down his cheek. “Hurt me! I’m who you want, right? I’m right here, you fucking cockroach! I’m right fucking here!”
“Bodoach,” The infernal piece of shit sneered and glanced toward me.
Something deep in my shoulder popped with the strain. I lunged again, until agony consumed me. Still, all I saw was the blood…all I saw was his pain, as he shook his head and found my gaze—blue eyes pleading.
“I’m right fucking here.” The heat of my rage turned into a whimper as I begged. “Hurt me…please hurt me.”
“You have a nice wound there,” the bodoach snarled. “Our master knows his craft well.”
The night hag stilled for a second and then drove a wicked claw into his shoulder.
Gabriel stiffened, a whimper tore free before he roared with pain.
I pulled against the chains…pulled and pulled until the motion slowed and I rocked…I rocked and rocked. I wanted to my cover my ears…I wanted to stop this…just stop this….
And as the unmerciful sound of his agony filled my head, I slipped away to another time…and another space…where the pages of the journal consumed me—taking me back to the past.
He’s going out tonight…and that’s when I’m going to leave. I’m going to take my baby and run…God forgive me…but I don’t love Jay anymore…
The words slipped away, leaving me standing in the same tiny apartment as before.
Mom was there, snatching clothes from a pile on the counter and then she hurried to the bedroom. I followed her, keeping one step away as she threw the clothes into a small suitcase and packed it down tight. There wasn’t much, barely enough for more than three or four days on the run, any more would weigh her down. I looked down at her swollen stomach as she yanked the zipper closed…her top hugged the outline of her belly as she moved to the tall cupboard, gripped the corner, and slid her hand along the wall.
It seemed so crazy to see myself like this, just a tiny life…a small, fragile thing…she stopped for a second and reached further. Fingers tapped against the wall, dragging my gaze from her belly.
“What the…” she whispered, leaned closer to the wall, and reached.
“Looking for this?”
My world stilled as an icy breath danced along the nape of my neck. I turned my head as mom straightened. She didn’t look at him, not at first, as he stepped toward the bed and flicked the handle on the suitcase.
The thump…thump…thump of the plastic handle filled the space, mingling with the echo of my heart.
“Were we going somewhere?” Jay asked.
Careful…careful…mom turned then, pasting a weak smile on her lips. “Mom called me before, she’s not feeling the best. I thought I’d spend a few days and…”
“—without telling me? Is that it…without waiting for me to come home to tell me face to face?”
He closed the distance with one swift stride as the tremble of her lips turned into a whimper. “I was going to leave you a note.”
There was no warning, no cock of his arm. He drove a tight fist into her belly, watching as she cried out and doubled over. A blow came again, only this time he dragged his fist through the air and swung.
The sickening thud filled me. I lunged forward, slicing through the air with fingers raised like claws. But I had no power here…I had no control over the past.
Mom crumbled, throwing her hand out to protect her middle as she hit the floor. There was a wheeze, and then a gasp. She tried to push up…tried to get away as he strode forward again, only, this time, lifting his leg.
“No!” I screamed, but the sound only filled my head as his boot connected with her middle.
The kick came again…and again, fist following. My mom curled her spine, hands covering her middle, as he beat and kicked and screamed.
I stared at him, mapped every blow, captured every howl of fury. He wasn’t just a madman—he was evil.
Time sliced, blurring at the edges as he turned and left.
Mom was still, her hands no longer h
olding, no longer protecting. Her vacant gaze stared into nothing as the faint sound of sirens cut through the void. Red and blue filled our world as men with raised guns rushed in. One dropped behind her, fingers pressed to her neck…
She’s still alive…hurry! he screamed into the darkness.
I stood behind her…watching as the cop held her hand. His lips moved with words I couldn’t catch, until the stretcher came.
They lifted her from the floor and carried her through that tight space, leaving the dull brown comforter and her packed suitcase behind.
I stared at the spot where she’d laid…stared at the glistening dark pool as they trampled through the blood, leaving marks from their boots.
The baby…the baby…
I lifted my gaze…took a step, and then lunged.
Sirens wailed, but the sound was muted and dull. I felt myself pulled into the back of the ambulance with her.
Come on, honey…stay with me…
Voices filtered in as she lay there staring into nothing. Her top was yanked high, the smooth, milky skin of her belly smeared with bright red blood as the paramedic worked.
Minutes slipped by while the paramedics pierced her veins, and still the smooth skin of her belly never moved, not even with a kick…not even with a flutter.
Silence…still, utter silence.
The ambulance pulled to a stop, and the rear doors yanked open, then she was gone…taken from me as I slipped into the dark.
“You feel just like she did.”
I flinched at the sound of his voice and felt the stabbing pain in my chest.
“Lorn…” Gabriel whimpered. “Lorn, come back to me.”
“Just…like your whore of a mother.”
I blinked into the darkness, finding those blistering red eyes staring into mine. The pain came again, spearing my breast. I looked down, and then drove my heels into the ground, shoving away from his hold.
Long, spindly fingers pierced my skin like thorns as he grasped my breast and kneaded.
“Don’t you fucking touch her!” Gabriel screamed as the night hag lunged, slashing nails across his chest.
I stared at the mess…the mess which was once his beautiful body.
