His finger twitched on his gun and he pushed open the door. He took a step back and covered his nose with his arm in an effort to keep from vomiting at the smell. Bile gagged him forcing him to get a hold of himself before stepping in the doorway again.
The dirty, crumbling room was mostly bare except for a wooden chair and a small broken table. An enormous old claw-foot tub loomed in the middle of the worn wooden floor. In the tub lay a man. Two female vamps held a third over the side of the tub, her throat slit and bleeding out. Neeman’s stomach lurched again.
The man held a cup in his hand and he dipped it into the liquid filling the tub. His smile fell at the sight of Neeman. He looked Neeman up and down for a minute but said nothing. The females paid no attention to him, continuing to hold the dead vamp over the tub.
“It’s not as good as human, I’m afraid,” he said. “But it’s better than what we get where I’m from. I’m assuming you were sent to fetch me.”
“Get out of the tub,” Neeman ordered.
The two females noticed him for the first time. They looked between Neeman and the man in the tub.
“I’m Rexius,” said the man. “But my friends call me Rex.”
Neeman cocked his gun. “I said, Get. Out.”
Rex laughed. “Put the gun away, it’ll do very little against me, I’m afraid.”
Stephos and Riley entered the room. They holstered their weapons, took the dead female from the other two vamps, and set her on the floor. Then Stephos grabbed both women by the arm and dragged them kicking from the room.
“No need to be rude,” said Rex. “If you’d just asked, I would have told them to go voluntarily. My wives are very obedient.”
“I’m not going to tell you a third time,” said Neeman.
Rex shrugged and stood. Dark blood oiled his body. He stepped out, dripping onto the floor, tossed his cup into the tub, and raised his hands over his head in a dramatic fashion.
“Well, now you’ve got me. What are you going to do with me? Beat me into telling you what I’m doing here?” The demon’s dark hair was matted to his skull and drying black vamp blood clung to his form in a similar fashion. Rex licked his lips and then his fingers, making Neeman’s stomach turn.
“Where are your clothes?” Neeman demanded.
“Sorry, haven’t gotten any. The portal doesn’t let you bring anything through.”
Son of a—
“Let’s go.” Neeman gestured toward the door. He backed up, his gun still trained on the demon. He stepped in the doorway of the adjoining room and waited. How the hell was he going to get Rex in the car without ruining the interior? He could send Riley to get some clothes from a neighbor, but he didn’t want to stir up the vamps any more than needed.
With Rex in front of him, Neeman moved down the stairs toward the entrance. Outside, Riley, Stephos, and John waited. The female vamps huddled together and walked down the street.
Neeman stepped out the front door, grateful for the fresh air. He did no more than blink and suddenly Rex was no longer in front of him. Riley and Stephos looked around, but it was Neeman who spotted him. Quicker than any of them could move, Rex had John on the ground, tearing at his throat. John’s eyes widened and he looked at Riley. He gurgled once before his eyes went dead. The whole process had taken less than seconds.
Rex stood from John’s limp body and turned, a huge smile on his face. Row upon row of razor sharp teeth peppered his mouth. His eyes were completely pitch black.
“That was amazing. I haven’t had human in I can’t tell you how long!”
Neeman crossed the yard in a blink and knocked Rex upside the head with the butt of his gun.
The monster swayed on his feet. “Ow. That hurt, you—”
Neeman bashed him in the head again and Rex dropped to the ground. Riley rushed to John and felt for a pulse. He looked up at Neeman and shook his head.
Neeman cursed a blue streak. He reached down and smashed the unconscious Rex in the face several times before Stephos pulled him off.
He’d never wanted the humans to be trackers. He’d never wanted to train them. He’d told Danika it was a bad idea. He turned from Rex and kicked at the grass before yelling into the night. Simple assignment, his ass.
“Get me a collar from the car,” he barked. “And strip off John’s pants and put them on this bastard.”
Stephos and Riley exchanged a look.
“Did I stutter?”
They both shook their heads. Stephos went for the collar as Riley removed John’s cargo pants.
Neeman shook his head and stared up into the night sky. He tried to concentrate on finding Orion, but couldn’t locate him. This bastard didn’t deserve pants. He didn’t deserve to live. He deserved a lifetime of torture and misery for what he’d done.
Neeman reached for a cigarette and pulled out the gum. Why had he chosen now to give up smoking?
One thing was for sure. The tactics they’d learned, to fight Vampire, vampyr, vamp and human, were not going to work on demons. If this was a lesser demon, they were screwed. All of them. Totally screwed.
* * * *
Neeman pulled the car up to the side of the compound and pushed the button to open the bay door. John’s death weighed on him. He’d told Riley they weren’t ready and now he had a human’s blood on his hands. Something he’d never wanted.
He rolled the vehicle inside and waited for Riley to pull his in before closing the door. Stephos opened the back passenger side and yanked Rex out. The still unconscious demon flopped to the floor, his head smacking the cement.
“Owww!” Rex awoke and grabbed the back of his skull.
Stephos slammed the door. “Get up, scum.”
Dazed, Rex sat up and looked around, still rubbing his head.
“Scum? That hurts coming from a Vampire.”
Stephos yanked Rex to his feet and punched him in the gut. “If you speak to me again, you’re going to wish I’d killed you back on that lawn.”
Rex laughed heartily. “Oh please, do you know where I came from? This is nothing.” He smiled and his lips moved silently.
“Don’t!” Neeman raised the remote. The collar lit up. Rex cried out and fell to his knees. Neeman continued to hold down the button on the remote until he was satisfied, with Rex curled in a ball on the floor. He released the button. “This is the collar we use for slaves. If you get far enough from me, your head will explode and I don’t think even you could survive that.”
Rex gagged and then vomited all over the cement. Blood splattered the ground. Neeman covered his nose and choked down his own bile.
“Get him up,” he said. “And hose down the garage. I don’t want that sinking in.”
“Sure.” Stephos covered his own nose. “Come on.” He dragged Rex along by the arm to the elevator.
“What should I do with John?” Riley asked, his voice subdued.
Neeman locked gazes with him. “Get a couple of the humans. Wrap him in a sheet and we’ll bury him.”
Riley nodded and started toward the elevator. Neeman grabbed him by the arm. He wanted to reassure Riley it wasn’t his fault, but Riley was at least partially responsible. As much as he himself was. Neeman patted Riley on the shoulder, gave him a grim smile, and nodded once.
Riley nodded back.
It was the best Neeman was going to be able to give. The group squeezed into the small elevator, the smell of blood and vomit permeating the air. The doors opened to the first floor, the area used as offices and interrogation.
“Bring him.” Neeman motioned Stephos forward. He headed for the interrogation room when the scent of cinnamon and vanilla hit him and Selene rounded the corner. Dammit, really? The woman was everywhere.
“What are you doing up here?” He strode toward her. “I told you to stay put.”
* * * *
Selene had been so bored she thought her brain might explode. After sitting in her room for over an hour with th
e voice in her head incessantly bugging her to leave, she’d decided if she had to be in this jail, she might as well explore it.
There was the bedroom wing, which encompassed an entire floor of the compound along with a large common room and the kitchen. The common room had nothing she found of interest besides a stereo, some music discs, and a few comfortable couches.
After locating the elevator, she’d gone down a level and ended up above the large training arena. A few Vampires and humans were practicing below. She watched them for several minutes and shook her head. They were practicing the same moves as earlier. She was tempted to go down and teach them herself, but she didn’t think Neeman would appreciate that.
After watching the training she headed up to another wing of bedrooms. She assumed it was where the humans stayed.
Finally she’d ridden the elevator to the floor below the exit. Offices stocked with anything they might need for several months lined one wall. A padded room with a table in the middle sat beyond. Thick straps hung from the table in all four corners. Kinky.
She’d just come out of the padded room and was heading to the elevator when it opened and Neeman stepped out. They locked gazes for several seconds. Oh crap.
He glanced at someone behind him and then back at her. “You need to go to your room and stay there.”
“Are we still going out?” She skipped up to him.
“Maybe.”
She clenched her jaw. Liar.
He sighed. “You need to go. This is not the time.” The veins in his forehead stood out and he was clenching and unclenching his fists. “Go.”
Anger rolled off his body, enticing her, but the hardness in his eyes told her something was off.
“What’s wrong?” She wanted to reach for him but her gaze travelled past him to the elevator and she sucked in a sharp breath. “Shred.”
Neeman looked over his shoulder. “You know him?”
Selene swallowed and nodded. The dark-haired, pitch black-eyed demon stared at her. He was covered in blood and filth.
“Kill it. Kill it now!”
Selene’s hands shook. A wave of nausea hit her and her head pounded. The voice screamed for her to kill it, over and over.
“His name is Shred,” she managed. “He’s a shredder demon.”
“My name is Rex!” he yelled.
Selene stepped to the side, but Neeman caught her by the arm.
“Your name is Shred. Like the rest of your kind.” Anger and fear pulsed in her veins. Her insides felt like she’d swallowed razor wire as her inner voice clamored to get out.
The demon elbowed the Vampire behind him in the stomach and rushed toward her. “Do you know what it feels like to have the same name as hundreds of your brethren? To not have an identity? Of course you don’t, Seraphine Hianag di wer ith di Bekilip.”
She sucked in a breath.
“He knows. Strike now!”
Neeman’s gaze bore into her. “What did he just say to you?”
She shook her arm free of his grip and walked to stand directly in front of Rex. From the smell of him, he’d been doing exactly what he loved best, bathing in blood.
Quick as light, she placed her palm in the middle of his chest.
“Si meage wux persvek wer ominak di sia opsola ti ekess utter sia identity ekess tikilvi shafaer nomeno togofor.” She hadn’t spoken in her native tongue in close to a century, but the command to not reveal her identity flowed from her like water. He gasped and his eyes went wide.
“Si nymuer vur tyrtrol,” he swore through gritted teeth. He threw daggers at her with his gaze. His mouth opened and closed several times and she cocked an eyebrow.
“Was there something you wanted to say to me, Rex?”
His eyes flickered and he licked his lips. She’d commanded him to do something, but then had respected him by calling him by his chosen name.
He smiled and inclined his head. “No. Nothing. But I do wonder why you are here. Could it be we seek the same male?”
Neeman grabbed her by the arm and ushered her toward the elevator. “Let’s go.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be sure to give your regards to Dout Opsola.”
“Fool! You’ve endangered us all. Kill him.”
Selene ripped her arm from Neeman’s grasp and ran at the demon. Rex laughed as she neared him, but Neeman hoisted her up by the waist and threw her over his shoulder.
“If you utter a word, I’ll gut you like a fish. You know what I am capable of, you know what I can do. I am my father’s daughter and don’t you doubt that for a second,” she screamed in the ancient language.
“I look forward to the torture.” Rex laughed.
Neeman tossed her into the elevator and stepped in. “Get him on the table,” he yelled over his shoulder, his eyes never leaving her.
The doors closed and she got to her feet. Her breathing was hard and fast. She pounded on the elevator wall with her fist. She couldn’t afford for anyone to know she was here. It would endanger Mason and her. Her inner voice cursed so loudly that she was tempted to bang her head on the wall.
“What the hell was that?”
“What?” She pushed her hair from her eyes.
“You know what. What did you say to him?”
“Nothing.” She turned away from his prying gaze, rubbing at her head.
“Don’t give me that. You said something. What was it?”
“I said nothing.” She continued to rub her temples. Why the hell did all elevators have to move so freakin’ slow?
“What language was that? Fae? I’ve never heard it before.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
She stopped rubbing her temples and looked up at him. Her shoulders slumped. She’d blown it. “You’re not going to take me out, are you?”
He crossed his arms over his chest.
Suck. “I didn’t think so.”
He was pissed, but she didn’t care. The anger in his eyes and stern set of his jaw held a sensual masculine quality that hit her to the core. Desire pooled in her. She hated that she needed to be with a male. And she hated it even more that the male she wanted most was immune to her advances. Sure, sleeping with Neeman might make things complicated, but she was pretty sure if she didn’t have sex soon she was going to burst into flames and die.
“Let’s go out. Find someone else.”
In the fae world, her hormones had been suppressed after her initial lover. The lack of virile males, and her time strapped to the stone altar had stripped any desire to be with a fae right out of her. But here there were so many strong, lean, sexy men. Vampires, vampyr, and human alike.
The elevator stopped and she pushed past him.
“Hey!”
“Hey what?” She didn’t turn.
“I’m talking to you.”
She raised her hand and continued down to her room. Selene threw the door open with a huff, strode to the bed and flopped onto it. Neeman’s boots pounded down the hallway toward her.
“Tsk, tsk, stupid girl.”
Selene growled and pushed her palms over her ears. Shut up! Shut up!
The anger rolled off Neeman in waves. It was obvious he wasn’t used to being disobeyed.
“Don’t you have a demon to hurt?” she shouted.
She threw her arm over her eyes, blocking him out. The room pressed down on her, the walls closing in. Her inner voice’s demands to get out of the compound had her on the brink of shoving a spike through her brain. She needed to calm down. She couldn’t afford to lose it.
Minutes passed before his footsteps headed away from her door.
“Don’t take the collar off,” she yelled after him. “No matter what you do, don’t take it off.”
She lay on her bed and the voice quieted but a buzzing sound escalated and a throbbing in her temples grew steadily stronger. Her stomach rolled and she pressed her palms into her temples. No, no, no! She couldn’t let this happ
en.
The elevator bell rang and she sat up. The room spun and she swallowed and blinked several times trying to focus. Lunging for the door, she looked out, just as the elevator closed and Neeman disappeared.
She slumped to the floor. The light around her dimmed. The room fell out of focus and like a movie projector in her mind, everything shrunk to a pinpoint of light.
“Don’t do this,” she whispered
“Time for some fun.”
Chapter 7
Seraphine ascended in the elevator to the top floor, which opened into the warehouse. She jogged to the far end and located two SUV’s sitting by the exit. She hopped into one before noticing a different car a few yards away.
“No way!” She jumped out of the SUV and headed for the sports car smiling broadly. She ran her hand over the yellow hood. Sliding into the driver’s seat, she ran her fingertips over the leather steering wheel. Nice!
She pulled down the visor, but there were no keys. Damn. Setting her palm over the ignition, she took a deep breath and concentrated.
“Ignis.”
The engine roared to life and she whooped. The purr of power that enveloped her made shivers travel up her spine. She hit the remote button and the garage door opened. Shifting the car into reverse, she looked over her shoulder and then rolled onto an open parking lot.
She pushed the radio button and a voice said, “Hello, Neeman.”
She looked around for the woman, but couldn’t locate one. On a screen in the front of the car, it said Max.
“Max?”
“Hello. You’re not Neeman.”
Seraphine stared at the dashboard. “Uh…No, I’m not. What are you?”
“I am Max.”
A computer? “Do you know where the nearest clothing store is?”
“The nearest clothing store is ten point three miles away. You can choose from—”
Seraphine stopped listening. “Tell me how to get there.”
“Go one hundred yards and then turn left at the fork.”
This was going to be fun.
* * * *
Seraphine made it to the first clothing store, where she convinced the male store clerk to give her several new dresses, a week’s worth of bras and panties, three pairs of pants, ten blouses, a myriad of t-shirts, and six new pairs of shoes. Happy her abilities still worked after years of being dormant, she pulled away from the curb and asked Max for the next store’s location.
Rise of the Fae Page 7
