by Lizzy Ford
“You’ll tell me to go, won’t you,” he said.
“I think so,” she replied and cleared her throat.
“I’ll behave, but I’m staying.” He rose and crossed to Toby, looping his arm around the baby angel and resting him on his hip. She cringed as he disappeared into Toby’s room, hoping Rhyn didn’t waken him.
True to his word, he stripped off his boots and shirt and lay on top of the covers. She hesitated, her blood burning and her confused thoughts terrified of what might happen. Katie crawled under the comforter. Rhyn made no moves on her, simply rolled to tuck her against his warm body.
“Maybe you’ll keep the nightmares away,” she whispered drowsily.
“If I knew how, I would.”
“Is Darkyn stronger than you?”
“Yeah.”
“If you and the Council worked together, you could take out anything,” she said.
“If I could protect you alone, I’d take you somewhere safe from the demons and the Council.”
“I don’t think you can. Kris is your brother, and family should stick together.”
“You have no idea how my family works.”
“You’ll need your family when I’m gone,” she said, thoughts drifting to her impending death. His body and scent felt too nice. She’d enjoy this tonight and then do what she must the next day. She’d spent the day in thought after her talk with Gabriel, and there was only one solution that might drive Rhyn away before she and Gabriel hurt him.
“You’re not leaving.”
“I know I am, Rhyn.”
At the dangerous note in his voice, she said nothing else. She’d seen the acrimonious relationship between him and Kris and understood some of what made them enemies. As she fell asleep, she couldn’t help thinking Rhyn was the only Immortal on the Council she’d trust to keep humans safe.
Her nightmares that night involved her sister, Hannah, being eaten by the jaguar with the white patch over his eye. She awoke long before dawn, and her eyes went to the corner where Gabriel no longer sat.
“Rhyn?”
He, too, was gone. Toby’s snores drifted into the bedchamber from his room. She tossed the covers off, crossing to the French doors. The half moon’s light made the snow-covered forest glow eerily. Checking the time, she counted backwards. It was afternoon in Maryland, where Hannah was.
Visions of her sister’s death fresh in her mind, she changed into warm clothes and her running shoes, tucked the perfume bottle into a pocket, then sat on the edge of the bed. She closed her eyes to concentrate hard on summoning the portal to the shadow place. Rhyn’s warm power filled her as she drew on their bond as mates, and the portal opened. She stepped into the clammy, wet world of fog and darkness, pausing to focus on the portal that would lead to her sister’s house. Several portals glowed, and one grew more intense as she thought hard.
Katie walked through the shadow place and through the portal, wondering how she’d explain to her sister how she suddenly appeared out of nowhere and expecting a lecture about disappearing three weeks ago.
Hannah’s fiancé, an Immortal, owned a swarthy mansion in Maryland. Katie cringed at his over the top décor of gilded everything and oriented herself. She’d emerged from the shadow world into a sitting room. She walked into the hall and up a wide stairwell to the second floor.
Hannah’s bedroom was quiet, the bed neatly made and her closet door open to reveal a large empty space. For once, she wished she’d paid attention when her sister told her about travel plans. Still disturbed by the nightmare, she rifled through Hannah’s vanity to see if her sister left her appointment book in a drawer.
“They were in a hurry.”
She whirled to see a woman in a servant’s uniform Hannah insisted her household employees wear. The woman was small and pale with eyes so dull, she seemed almost lifeless.
“I think they were going to visit you in France,” the woman added. “A man named Kris invited them.”
Kris! What was his plan? “When did they leave?” Katie managed.
“They had a flight out yesterday afternoon. Ms. Hannah hates to travel in the morning.”
“Do you know when they were coming back?”
The woman shrugged. Katie looked around, unable to tell if her sister’s empty closet was indicative of a weekend trip or something more permanent. Hannah never traveled light, and there was no way of knowing what Kris was doing.
“Would you like a cup of tea?” the servant asked. “I was just preparing one for myself in the kitchen.”
“I should probably get going.”
“Very well, miss. If you want to wait for a few minutes, I can pull up their itinerary.”
“Sure, thanks.”
“Come. Have some tea while you wait.”
A sense of foreboding passed through her as she reluctantly followed the servant from the bedroom into a wide hall with gaudy gilded furniture and picture frames. She paused at the top of the sweeping stairwell to look around her. The house was too quiet for her comfort, and she felt the familiar sense of being watched.
There was no one but the maid, who was halfway down the stairs. She trailed with a shiver, wanting to make sure her sister was truly safe before leaving. If the maid gave her the airline info, she could call to confirm her sister was on board.
The spacious kitchen reminded her of Ully’s lab with its landscape of stainless steel. A tea kettle was already whistling when they entered, and the maid rushed across the kitchen to grab it.
Katie sat on a barstool at the breakfast bar, watching the maid pour tea into two mugs sitting beside the stove. Two mugs, as if she were expecting company or someone else was already there. Katie eased off the chair and reached into her pocket for the perfume. She needed a quiet, safe place where she could channel Rhyn’s power to call forth a portal. Her mind went to the bathroom in the hall.
“I’ve got to run to the restroom. I’ll be right back for the tea.”
The maid turned, looking past her, and Katie spun away. The lanky form standing between her and the door made her gasp.
“Hello, Lunchmeat,” the demon Jared said, smiling slowly. “I see you’re having tea with my blood monkey.”
“Who let you out of Hell?” she whispered.
“More than one way out of that place, as you discovered.”
“Rhyn’s here.”
“If he were, I’d sense him.”
He took a step closer, his blond hair and green eyes highlighting a slender face. His frame was thin to the point of gaunt. She didn’t remember him being so tall in Hell, but she’d been afraid to look too hard at him when she passed his cell.
“You look well,” he said, looking her up and down. He moved closer and she skirted the breakfast bar until it was between them. “Not so brave without those bars between us, are you, Lunchmeat?”
“You don’t want to do this!” she exclaimed.
“Pretty sure I do. The taste of your sweet nectar before I tear you apart?” He smacked his lips, his eyes glowing. He started around the breakfast bar, and she kept pace with him on the opposite side. If she could make a break for the door … she gripped the perfume bottle harder.
“Sasha sent you,” she said, willing him to talk rather than attack.
“Hell no. He’d never let me out of the zoo. The demons released us after Sasha fled.”
“What’d he do?”
“Eh, Sasha killed a couple of demons he really shouldn’t have. Pissed off the Dark One and the demon-leader, who freed us all to hunt him. It’s coming back to bite him now.”
“And my sister? Where is she?” she asked, bracing herself for the answer.
“I don’t give a shit. She can’t be as sweet tasting as you,” he said, his gaze darkening.
“I have to warn you, I’ve learned some things since you saw me. I’m not the defenseless little human you saw in Hell.”
“I like my dinner to fight me. Makes the final surrender so much sweeter.”
She
inched away, her back now to the kitchen door. The maid had set down the tea and retrieved a butcher knife from a drawer.
“Why not make this fair?” Katie asked, her gaze going to the maid. “Why don’t you let me fight her? She can keep what she’s got, and I’ll face her barehanded.”
Jared turned to see the woman on the other side of the kitchen, and Katie bolted. Panic churned within her, and she was about to cry out for Rhyn when Jared snagged her arm. She whirled and sprayed him with the perfume, wildly aiming for his face and almost gagging at the scent.
“What the hell … smells like shit!” he snapped and released her to knock the bottle away. She ran with one glance over her shoulder as she reached the bathroom. He stood in the hallway smiling, his predatory look assuring her he had no plans of letting his dinner escape him.
Katie locked herself in the bathroom, cursing Ully for the skunk perfume that clearly didn’t work. She looked around for something to brace the door and ended up leaning against it. There was a moment of silence before the door buckled beneath a blow that sent her sprawling. The door held, and she scrambled back to brace it.
“Rhyn, any time!” she muttered. The door cracked in the middle beneath the second blow, and she went sailing once again. Jared kicked the fractured pieces of door out of the way. Katie pushed herself to her feet, remembering what pain a pissed-off Hell-creature could cause. She recalled the scent of her blood, what hot agony felt like as an otherworldly creature tore her apart.
She’d rather die than go through that again. God help her, she couldn’t even try to off herself while trapped in the bathroom!
“Long time, no see, demon.” Rhyn’s voice made her heart skip a beat, and she craned her neck to see past Jared, who whirled. Jared moved away from the door into the hall to face his opponent.
“Half-breed,” he hissed. “You dare challenge a full demon?”
“Unless you wanna leave my blood monkey alone.”
Jared’s form contorted then grew twice his size as he shifted into a creature unlike any she’d ever seen. Wings, short fur, fangs the size of her forearm … she moved farther into the bathroom, lest she draw his attention. Suddenly, a blur of brown streaked past the bathroom, tackling the demon. She heard the sounds of fighting, grunts, growls, and gnashing of teeth. Katie inched forward, peeking out as the two creatures smashed into furniture and porcelain figurines on display in the wide foyer.
Her first instinct was to run back to the shadow world, but she had a hard time looking away from the two hideous creatures battling it out in Hannah’s home. The sound of footsteps running down the hall drew her attention, and she flung herself backwards as the maid with the butcher knife tried to cut her. A piece of the broken door slashed her as she fell, and she scrambled away as the maid slashed at her again. The maid lost her balance and toppled over.
Katie scrambled up into the hall and maneuvered her bloodied arm to see the damage, suddenly aware the two demons had stopped fighting. She looked up to find both hideous beasts staring at her, drooling. Their gazes followed the drops of blood as they fell from her arm to the marble flooring. Both inched toward her, the inhuman growling filling the hall.
“Winner takes all,” she said, backing away.
The maid lunged at her again, and she darted for the kitchen, followed by Jared’s blood monkey, who was wailing with frustration. One of the demons launched itself down the hall after her, only for the other to tackle it and the two of them to roll down the hall in a furry mass of wings, legs, and snapping teeth.
Katie whipped around the breakfast bar, eyes roving the kitchen for the knife block or something with which to defend herself. She snatched a wooden cutting board as the maid rounded a counter with the knife raised. Katie ducked again then twisted her hips in a perfect baseball batter’s swing and smacked her hard in the face. The maid dropped silently, her nose busted and blood splattered across her features.
“I have enough problems with psycho Immortal demon jackasses. You really think some stupid human with a knife scares me?” she said, furious. “Now I understand why Kris is such an ass to humans.”
She shook her head to clear her anger and sat with her back to the counter, forcing herself to concentrate on the shadow world and tapping into Rhyn’s power despite the sounds of demons fighting so near the kitchen. The portal opened, and she bounded through it, running to the brightest portal and through it to emerge on the snowy park behind the castle.
It was dawn, and she breathed a sigh of relief at being safe. Ully emerged from the castle, hair mussed and dressed as if for a run. From behind him, Toby tore out of the castle in a snowsuit. He dove into the snow while she stood and waited for Rhyn. Guilt made her resolve to drive him away waver.
“You’ve been using the repellant,” Ully said. His nose crinkled as he drew near. “You ready to run?”
“Not today, Ully,” she said. “Your repellant doesn’t work!”
“I tested it on one of the warriors. I know it works.”
She held up her bloody arm. “I just got out of a fight with a demon. It didn’t work.”
“It doesn’t work on demons,” he said. “Only on Immortals.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Demons are … demons, and Immortals are more closely related to angels. Completely different genealogical make-up. I can make you a demon repellant, if you want.”
She gritted her teeth and wished she’d brought the cutting board with her to knock some sense into Ully. The bloodied arm was making her unusually lightheaded. She lowered it to her side and took a few deep breaths.
“Here, kitty, kitty!” Toby said in excitement. He barreled toward the forest, and she turned in time to see the black jaguar with the white eye patch seated at the edge of the park, tail flicking and intense green eyes on the approaching child.
“Toby,” she called. He continued running. Alarm reignited her adrenaline. “Toby! Stop!”
Ully looked over at the child and jaguar curiously. Katie bolted for Toby, knowing the kid was too young to recognize Rhyn from any other demon-jaguar.
“Toby, if you don’t stop, you’re grounded for all eternity!” she shouted, running hard.
The child slowed as he neared the jaguar and turned, finally paying attention. The beast crouched, and she ran harder.
“Mama, I wanna play with Rhyn!” Toby whined. He looked at the jaguar again and took another two tiny steps, as if testing her resolve to ground him.
The jaguar launched itself at the child, and Toby’s scream shattered the quiet morning as its jaw clamped on his arm. Toby began to panic and pull, and the jaguar lowered itself farther to the ground, planting its back legs and jerking the boy towards the forest. Katie’s dormant maternal instinct roared to life, and she dived at Toby, snatching his legs to keep the jaguar from dragging him fully into the forest.
With his scream echoing in her head, she staggered up and started pummeling the jaguar’s face, shouting for it to let the sobbing baby angel go. The jaguar winced but kept its grip, and Toby’s blood turned the snow beneath them red.
A blast of energy whipped by her, knocking her back, and the jaguar was sent flying. It smashed into a tree. Toby sagged. She looked up, shocked to see Sasha standing over them, his sharp gaze on the creature preparing itself for a second attack.
“Go back to the grass! Demons can’t cross onto sacred grounds!” Sasha shouted, snatching her arm and hauling her up.
She dropped on one knee beside Toby, who was unconscious. Tears in her eyes, she whispered to him as she lifted him, tormented by the sound of his whimper. She half-stumbled, half-ran to the park area before tripping and falling flat. Toby rolled from her arms.
“I went as fast … as I could …” Ully gasped, reaching them. Following him was Kris, dressed in nothing but judo pants, as if Ully had dragged him straight out of bed. She crawled on her knees to Toby, heart hammering and hands shaking as she rolled him onto his back. The slash in his arm was deep, and maro
on blood bubbled into the snow.
“Kris …” she whispered, a different kind of panic rising within her.
He swept the baby angel into his arms with one quick motion and trotted back into the castle. Katie was slower to follow, feeling lightheaded once again. Ully helped her up, and they both eyed Sasha as the Dark One’s servant approached.
“I hate demons,” he said with another look over his shoulder. She recognized the crazed look from when he’d attacked her in Hell and inched closer to Ully.
He motioned to the castle. Ully looked at her, even more pale than usual, and she retreated to the castle, worried sick about Toby and Rhyn, even knowing the half-demon could take out half the demons in Hell if he felt like it. The only two people she cared about in this godforsaken world were both fighting for their lives.
*
Rhyn tossed the demon against the wall with enough power to break its back. The full-blooded demon was slow to rise, and he waited. Jared changed to his human form and held up one hand, holding his back with the other.
“Truce,” he said. Rhyn growled in response but switched to his human form as well. “You know, you’re not too bad for a half-breed.”
“I’m half Immortal, half demon. Means I can play in both worlds, unlike you.”
“I see that now. Your monkey is safe. Why don’t we call it a draw for now, half-brother?”
“Only if you tell me what you’re doing here,” Rhyn replied.
He sensed the demon’s pain behind its attempt at a chipper tone. Most who challenged him soon learned just how wild and deep his power ran. As both a demon and Immortal, he possessed the ability to wield both sources of power but not control them. At least, he hadn’t been able to control them before meeting Katie. If this had been a pre-Katie battle, he’d have wiped out the state. He couldn’t help but feel satisfied at besting a full demon and controlling his powers.
