He wished he was better armed. The small knife strapped at his waist wouldn’t do much. Riah had a few weapons on her, as did Ivy and Adriana. Naomi and Nathan had guns, for what little good those would do. Among all of them, they were a long way from being fully armed.
This vampire had managed to start a war on the streets of this massive city, and as it stood, he felt like they were about to go into battle armed with toys. He’d never wished more for his sword than he did at this moment.
The sound of running feet echoed overhead and he prayed the crowd wouldn’t find Angie. He prayed just as hard that the violence-seeking mob wouldn’t discover the stairwells and come in search of them. The humans in the group might stand a chance, but the vampires? The hysteria gripping the mob gave them the collective strength to break down the cathedral doors. Once through, they would likely destroy all of them. Whether or not they were human wasn’t going to matter.
Why in the hell did he ever let Naomi talk him into coming here? He could deal with anything that might happen to him. In the big picture, he didn’t matter. Ivy was a different story. If any harm came to her, he’d never forgive himself. She wouldn’t be here if not for him. Neither would Riah. Oh hell, he even liked Tory, and that put him in the hot seat of responsibility for all three of them.
He put a hand up and stopped, halting the women as well. “Adriana,” he whispered. “Are you getting anything?” He could feel a change in the air, a heaviness that didn’t bode well. If he could feel it, surely Adriana could too.
She stopped behind him and closed her eyes for what seemed at least five minutes. Probably more like fifteen seconds. When she opened her eyes, she met his gaze, nodded, then turned and pointed down a hallway. “That way but be careful, he’s close. This guy is dangerous.”
“Riah?” Colin said as he stared down the empty hallway. Somewhere down here Nathan and Naomi had to be working their way toward this room too. He didn’t see them, didn’t hear them. That left their band of Spiritus Group hunters to make the call.
She stepped up and put a hand on his arm. “What are you thinking?”
He was thinking a lot of things, like how he could get them the hell out of here in one piece. Turn and run was the first thought. The second was how it wouldn’t work even if they tried. Danger waited for them no matter what direction they fled. The best course of action? Take on one bastard of a vampire and go from there.
“Let’s rush him from both sides.”
She studied the hallway and nodded, seeming to follow his train of thought. “I think you’re right. Let’s do it. Adriana, you stay with me.”
“On your six, beautiful.”
He smiled, thankful for Adriana’s irrepressible spirit. If he wasn’t so in love with Ivy and if Adriana wasn’t gay, well, he could definitely fall in love with her. He had no trouble understanding why Riah had fallen hard.
Flanking each wall, the four of them made their way carefully toward a large room that housed the final resting places of several of the rich, famous, or honored. The closer they got, the more clearly they could make out the quiet sounds of movement. His heart began to race and his pulse pounded. This wasn’t the first difficult fight they’d been in. It was the stakes that distinguished it from the others. Tonight, failure meant death for all of them.
At the door, they paused and he looked over at Riah, where she and Adriana stood shoulder to shoulder on the opposite side of the open doorway. Neither of them had a psychic bone in their body, but he could swear he could almost read her mind. She nodded and they pivoted as one into the room side by side.
He thought they’d have the advantage but he’d underestimated their opponent. In a flash, they were thrown off balance as a man, tall and dark, rushed them. Colin didn’t get a very good look at him other than to register that he was alone and covered in blood.
Chapter Twenty-seven
Naomi’s shot went wide. As the man rounded a corner and blew past them, she only had a millisecond to react. Years of training and experience kicked in, and she pulled the trigger on instinct. It wasn’t enough. She’d gotten rusty in her years at the cathedral. Once, a vampire would never have made it past her. Now she had to play catch-up.
Like her, Nathan had taken aim and, also like her, missed. Naomi screamed in frustration, knowing she sounded like a spoiled child and not caring. This monster had Tory and now he was getting away. She took off at a run.
Naomi didn’t get a clear look at his face because her attention was riveted on his shirt and the deep crimson stain that spread across it. Blood and lots of it. Nobody needed to tell her whose blood soaked the white fabric. A searing pain sliced through her heart and her breathing became rapid, shallow. She was too late to save Tory, but she wasn’t too late to destroy the monster that had killed her.
Reaching out to snag her arm, Nathan tried to stop her. He didn’t even slow her down. His fingers barely touched her as she ran by. She raced through the church, heading for the stairwell door in time to see the man begin a powerful sprint up the stairs.
Now she was breathing hard and her muscles screamed in protest. Her heart pounded so loud it seemed to echo off the stairwell walls. Still she didn’t slow, and up and up she climbed. He wasn’t going to get away.
Once long ago, she’d made a horrible mistake. She’d used her sword to sever the head of a vampire she believed was taking the lives of young women. She’d rushed in to take the vampire’s head only to discover she was the one who was wrong. The vampire hadn’t been trying to kill the young girls at all. This vampire, Anna Meade, had been saving them from lives of slavery and prostitution.
Anna had dedicated her eternity to spiriting misguided and lost girls away from pimps and abusers. She did so to help those girls escape their tormentors and to start a new life. She did it to give those young women hope, and Naomi took it away. The worst part of all, Hannah had witnessed everything. Naomi would never forget the look of horror in her eyes or the way she recoiled when she tried to comfort her. The sights, the sounds, the smells of that night were forever etched in her memory and carved into her scarred heart.
That night, after Naomi killed her, she’d laid down her sword and sworn never to take another life. She didn’t want to ever make that kind of mistake again. She’d been paying for it ever since.
Tonight all bets were off. Yes, she’d been wrong to destroy Anna Meade, so caught up in a web of intolerance and narrow-minded focus that she couldn’t see the truth through the smoke and mirrors. Tonight had nothing to do with intolerance or blinders. She knew what this vampire was and what he’d done, and she couldn’t allow him to live. He was not going to walk away. He was not going to kill again. She’d personally make certain.
That she’d made it to him seconds too late to save Tory was a heartache she’d have to endure forever. For a wisp of a moment, she’d thought that perhaps love wasn’t lost to her after all. After Hannah had left her, she really believed her chance had come and gone—until Tory walked into the cathedral. He had taken that second chance from her.
She would learn to live with the heartbreak but not the reality that she’d done nothing. Even if it was her last act, she was going to avenge the woman who had given her hope that she could love again.
She tore up the stairs two at a time, emerging through the open door. Ahead of her she saw a flash of red as he rounded a corner, the sound of his running steps echoing in the huge building. Good, she was gaining ground. Though she’d given up the hunt, she hadn’t given up the physical stamina that had come with it. For five years, she had run more days than not, cycled every chance she got. She was strong, toned, and ready. He might have his preternatural abilities on his side, but she had experience and practice on hers.
He took another turn and she followed, losing sight of him. Powering after, she caught sight of him again as he headed to the shattered main doors. Suddenly, she stopped, breathing hard. It came to her in a flash of profound understanding. She didn’t need a sword or a
stake. She could end this monster’s reign of terror with a single word.
In a voice as loud as she could summon, she pointed and screamed, “Vampire!”
Like gasoline poured on a raging fire, the crowd of vigilantes that had stormed the front doors of the cathedral turned en masse and fell upon the fleeing man.
She stilled and murmured the words of Galatians: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”
*
The sheer force of the frenzied mob made Colin freeze. He’d just made it to the nave when he heard Naomi scream “Vampire.” Everything after that one word happened as though a macabre taskmaster had choreographed it. Even if he hadn’t been shocked into inaction, it wouldn’t have made a bit of difference. From the moment the mob fell on the vampire, it was a done deal. He needn’t have worried about their lack of proper weapons. They didn’t need them after all.
With screams of triumph and amid hearty cheers, the crowd dragged his headless body out the doors. Behind them came two men holding his head aloft between them like deer hunters showing off a five-point buck. It was not a scene he would ever care to witness again. Yes, an evil creature had met a fate he’d earned. At the same time, he’d witnessed mankind at its worst.
At the triumphant kill the frenzy seemed to fade from the crowd. He thought there’d be trouble, that the taste of blood would incite more violence. Instead, the crowd seemed to move as one body away from the cathedral and back toward the heart of the city. Cheers followed with it, the sounds growing ever fainter the farther away it got. All he could hope for was that this kill would satisfy the crowd’s bloodlust.
“Nice way to turn it,” he said to Naomi. “A sacrificial lamb is exactly what we needed to ebb the flow of violence.”
Her eyes were bright when she spun toward him. “That fucker was no lamb.”
Colin’s eyes widened. One thing that had always set Naomi apart from the rest of the hunters was the grace of her speech. He was famous for throwing the f-bomb, but not Naomi. He guessed if she was ever entitled, this was it.
“Figure of speech, Naomi.”
Her eyes sparked, her body so tense she was ramrod straight. “Bad one,” she snapped.
He put a hand on her shoulder, feeling tension there. He’d been so wrapped up in all that was happening around them and keeping Ivy and the rest of them safe, it hadn’t clicked. Now it did and his spirit sagged. “I’m sorry. I wish we’d been a minute sooner. We could have saved her.”
All the fight seemed to go out of her. “Story of my life, Colin. For a minute I thought God was going to forgive me, but I guess my sins are too great.”
“Bullshit.”
If she wanted to talk sin, he could spend a couple of days detailing his. There was a really good reason he’d never been a choirboy. The black and white of his world had molded him into an unforgiving and inflexible man—at least until he’d met Ivy. He’d been given a second chance and cherished it. He knew damn well Naomi deserved one too. He told her as much.
Her smile was sad, pain reflecting in her dark eyes. “You’re a good man, Colin, and I appreciate what you’re trying to do. I really thought Tory and I might have a chance at something special. I was wrong. I can’t make up for what I did, and the universe has a funny way of showing us that. Tory paid the price for my failure, and that’s not fair.”
He opened his mouth to argue but stopped when Nathan raced up to them. “We can’t find Tory.” His face was pale and drawn.
“What do you mean you can’t find her?” That didn’t seem right. He’d seen the man’s bloody clothes. She had to be down in the crypt somewhere, at least what was left of her.
He was shaking his head. “I mean she’s nowhere in sight. Some blood on the floor and then nothing.”
He looked at Naomi, whose face mirrored his confusion. “That can’t be,” she said.
“No shit,” Nathan snapped. “Adriana says she’s still in the church, and you know, I might have been skeptical before but I’m not now. If Adriana says she’s still here, I’m betting on her. We just gotta find her.”
Colin saw hope flash on Naomi’s face. “Come on, let’s do it.”
The three of them raced back downstairs to join Riah, Ivy, and Adriana. Ivy came to him and put her arms around him. She felt so good. “You okay?” she asked.
He nodded and squeezed her. He was not just okay; he was great now that he was holding her. “What’s up with Tory?”
She shook her head, frowning. “Don’t know. We’ve looked everywhere and can’t find a trace. Adriana is positive she’s still here somewhere.”
“Adriana, what have you got?” Adriana stood next to Riah, her eyes focused as if she was concentrating on something intently.
She finally looked up and swept her gaze over all of them. “She’s still alive, I can feel it here.” She patted her chest. “I just can’t find her.” She paused and looked around again. “You know…” she said slowly. “It worked earlier, so what do you guys say we give it another go?” She held out her hands.
He knew what she wanted except for one thing. The power of seven wouldn’t work with only six of them.
“We’re one person short.”
Adriana studied him with a serious expression. “You know, I always thought that the Old Ways were more suggestions than rules. I might be new at all this stuff, but I’m pretty sure the six of us can kick up a shitload of power. What do the rest of you think?”
Why not? They had nothing to lose if it didn’t work and a whole lot to gain if it did. “I’m game,” he said, and took Ivy’s hand.
One by one, they joined hands until they had an unbroken circle. Riah looked around and smiled. “Come on, ladies and gentlemen. Let’s give the girl some power.”
*
Awareness came very slowly, accompanied by a sharp pain in her chest. Tory was surrounded by a darkness so thick it was like being in the outer regions of space. Not a single sound penetrated the dark. Everything hurt. Nothing made sense.
A twitch at her eye made her try to raise a hand to her face. She couldn’t. Nothing moved—not her hands, not her legs, not her head. For a second she couldn’t figure out why. But when she did, all of Roland’s cryptic comments earlier made sense.
The pressure in her chest was massive, all-consuming, as if a three-hundred-pound man was sitting on top of her. Beneath her back, stone, cold and dank, pressed against her spine. Even though she couldn’t move her hands to check, she knew with certainty that above her face she’d find solid, unmoving stone.
Roland Lyle had kept his promise by sentencing her to a hell only he could understand…and recreate. As she’d unintentionally entombed him inside that stone crypt with a misplaced stake through his chest, he had indeed returned the favor. Only this time, he’d meant to entomb her and had placed the stake through her chest carefully. She would lie here not dead, not really alive, sentenced to exist in limbo with only her regrets.
Her heart hurt to realize she’d never really known Roland. For two centuries she’d mourned a man that didn’t exist. Maybe she’d been blind to the reality of his soul because she’d longed so deeply for something she’d been denied. Loss had been integral to her from the moment of her birth. It was all she knew. When Roland came into her life, he gave her a chance at the kind of normal life she’d only dreamed about. Looking back now, she realized she’d seen only what she’d wanted to see. Her fault, not his, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.
Tears began to gather in her eyes, sliding down her cheeks and falling to the stone beneath her head. It was all so senseless. It didn’t have to be this way. Even in the midst of Roland’s betrayal, she could have found a way to accept it because something miraculous had come into her life: Naomi.
She’d never believed it would happen for her—the kind of love that forevers are made of—yet this woman had walked down the center of a church and into her heart. All gone now.
This church, this mon
ument to the heart of the nation’s capital, gave her the gift of hope, and for that she’d be forever grateful, even when she languished here year after year, hidden away from the world, from Naomi. It was the perfect prison. He couldn’t have picked better. Naomi could walk by the tomb a hundred times and she’d never know Tory was mere inches away. And Tory would still be here, still thinking, long after Naomi left this earth.
Eternity was fucked up.
Chapter Twenty-eight
“It’s really, really dark.” Adriana opened her eyes and looked over at Naomi. “Really dark. There’s not a speck of light or even sound. Where around here would be pitch black and completely silent?”
Where indeed? Even if the power went out downstairs, emergency lights would come on. A total catastrophe would be the only thing to knock out all power and the backups at the cathedral. It would be hard to find somewhere that inky.
The silence thing was puzzling too. Naomi had wandered the halls and back rooms many, many times. Sure, it got quiet, but total silence, never. Seemed like there was always a whisper here or there, a tiny noise, a creak or a groan. The church had its own soul, and it wasn’t above letting those who walked inside its walls know.
So where could Tory be in total silence and total blackness?
“I don’t know,” she said finally, her tone flat. She rubbed her hands over her face at the same time she silently prayed for strength. Tears stung at the back of her eyes and she hoped she wouldn’t break down, especially in front of Nathan.
“Think, sister,” Adriana snapped. “She needs you.”
Naomi dropped her hands and stared at Adriana. Granted, she hadn’t been around Adriana much, but she had the distinct impression that the edge in her voice wasn’t normal.
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