Jonah.
The static returned, and this time, she thought she heard another voice in addition to Jonah’s. Disappointment sent her spirits plummeting. Had she really heard Jonah’s voice, or had her injury damaged the pathway between them and connected her mind to someone else? She tried once again to touch his mind but when that didn’t work, she decided her energy would be better spent trying to find a way out of her prison.
Bracing her hands on the rickety cot, she rose slowly to her feet. She was immediately hit with a wave of dizziness that almost knocked her back down. Fighting the bile that rose in her throat, she continued toward her only means of escape.
At last, the door was in front of her. She curled her fingers around the cold, metal doorknob and turned it, but the door was locked. A crushing sense of despair nearly brought her to her knees. But instead of giving in to the hopelessness, she fought back. She would find a way out. She had to. Jonah needed her . . . Jonah. If they had connected once—and she was certain now that she had heard his voice—they could connect again. Leaning against the door for support, she focused all of her energy on finding the portal to Jonah’s mind.
Jonah.
Angela?
She went weak with relief. It was him. She sent up a silent plea to the heavens.
Please let Jonah reach her before her captor returned.
Chapter Fifteen
JONAH SPED TO his quarters with Scott on his heels. He didn’t have a second to spare. Daniel needed him. Angela needed him. Julian’s words played themselves over in his mind. “Each of us has our own challenges to face.” How well he knew that now.
Scott held out Jonah’s scabbard and Jonah reached for it at the same instant Angela’s mind brushed his.
Jonah.
His pulse quickened. Where are you?
In a room with a barred window and a door.
He finished securing his scabbard and held out his hand for his sword. Are you hurt?
Someone struck me in the head.
His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword. Do you have any idea where you are?
Her sharp gasp sent his adrenaline soaring. Angela, what’s wrong?
My head . . .
Can you make it to the door?
It’s locked.
Are you wearing your watch?
She answered him, but her words were too garbled for him to understand.Jonah?
It was Daniel. He had to answer him, even though it was interfering with his link to Angela. I’m here, Daniel.
The situation is bad, Jonah—the worst I’ve ever seen. Zurik and his entire legion are already here.
Where exactly are you?
Daniel named an area on the outskirts of a town more than thirty miles from the eruption.
Jonah thrust his sword into the scabbard. Have you contacted the Cadre?
Most are here.
He assured Daniel he would be there in a few seconds. Before he left, he needed to make contact with Angela again. Once he was engaged in battle, it would be impossible to reach her.
Angela?
Jonah?
He had no time to waste, so he quickly repeated the question she hadn’t answered earlier. Are you wearing your watch?
Yes.
He let out a rush of air. Thank the gods and goddesses! Take the face of the watch in one hand, press it against the doorknob, and with your other hand, turn the knob until you hear the lock click.
Scott motioned toward the door, silently warning him that he needed to leave. Jonah nodded. He was ready to tele-transport, but first, he had one last question for Angela.
Did the door open?
Yes.
He longed to stay where he was until he knew Angela was safe, but he had delayed his departure as long as he could.
In the few seconds it took him to transport to his destination, he tried to reconnect with Angela, but she didn’t respond. A second and third try yielded the same deadly silence.
Had his heart been pierced by his sword, the pain could not have been more intense. His mate was out there alone, attempting to free herself. And he had no way of finding out if she had succeeded.
ANGELA EASED THE door open and stepped outside into the dark hallway. She stood with her back against the wall and waited for her eyes to adjust to a different darkness around her. A few seconds later, she saw the outline of another door on the opposite wall. Shifting her gaze to the left, she saw a dim ribbon of moonlight close to the floor. A door to the outside. She had found a means of escape. With her hands pressed against the wall behind her for balance, she inched toward the strip of light.
She felt Jonah’s mind seek hers again. She wanted badly to speak to him, but the pain in her head prevented her from concentrating on more than one action at a time. At the moment, escape was her top priority. She would contact Jonah once she was free.
With every step, the pulse in her temples throbbed. Biting back the pain, she silently whispered “Keep going. Keep moving.” The sooner she was out of this prison, the sooner she could link with Jonah again. He would guide her home.
Keeping her attention focused on the door, she didn’t notice the noise behind her until it was too late.
An arm tightened around her neck. And then everything started to go dark again.
DANIEL WAS RIGHT. The scene before him was the most chilling thing Jonah had ever seen.
Gray ash, spewed from the eruption over thirty miles away, blanketed everything in its path. Dozens of vehicles had been forced to a standstill. A throng of men, women, and children, their mouths covered against the dangerous dust tried to flee by foot. Most did not escape. On the ground, dismembered bodies lay discarded like pieces of garbage. At another time, empathy for the victims and their loved ones left behind would have brought Jonah to his knees. But pitying those already lost would do nothing to help those still alive.
He shifted his attention to the battleground in search of his second-in-command, but it was impossible to separate friend from foe in the heavy rain of ash that fell. Nevertheless, he continued to search, and every now and then a shaft of moonlight penetrated the dense, gray curtain and highlighted a human or a demon. Once, he spotted a few of his Cadre doing battle with the deep-earth fiends, but the face of evil he sought was nowhere in sight. In need of a better vantage point, he propelled himself onto the top of an automobile.
The shaft of moonlight disappeared and once more, his vision was obscured, making the sounds around him more bloodcurdling than ever. Men begging for mercy, women shrieking in terror, children screaming like the devil himself was after them. And he was. There was a demon inside every deep-earth bloodsucking vampire that roamed the earth, and tonight, this area was filled with the worst of them.
It tore at Jonah’s soul that he could not help every defenseless human fighting to survive, but he had a larger duty. To save one, two, or a dozen humans tonight would be a noble thing, but to destroy the beast that had commanded this massacre and prevent him from taking the lives of hundreds, even thousands more, was an even nobler calling. Difficult as it was, he closed his mind to everything but the mission still ahead of him.
And, as so often happened when he faced insurmountable odds, Lilith spoke to him. The fatal blow is yours to strike, but my hand will guide you. With Lilith’s last word, another shaft of moonlight parted the dark curtain in front of him and on top of a car a half block away stood his archenemy. A tide of anger drove every thought from Jonah’s mind except for the need to destroy the monster who had brought so much pain to the world.
Jonah wrenched his sword from its scabbard. “Damn your black heart to hell,” he yelled, jumping over several cars until he landed on the one next to his enemy.
Zurik bared his blood-stained fangs. “You’ll get there long before I do.”
“I think not, you black-hearted demon.” Jonah jumped from one car to the next, in order to avoid Zurik’s sword.
Jonah had no sooner found solid footing when one of Zurik’s minions joined in. To avoid both swords, Jonah was forced to propel himself three cars away. When he landed, Daniel landed next to him, ready to assist. Jonah quickly diverted Daniel’s attention to an area behind them where one of the deep-earth vampires held an old woman by the hair, his mouth at her throat.
“Go,” he shouted, pointing his sword in the direction of the woman about to lose her life. “You are needed elsewhere. I can handle these devils.”
With one great leap, Jonah landed on the vehicle next to Zurik, and separated the head of Zurik’s follower from his body. As the slain vampire tumbled to the ground, Jonah took to the air again, this time landing on the top of an abandoned bus several car lengths away.
He called out a dare to his enemy. “I have found us a worthy battlefield. I challenge you to see which one of us will enter hell tonight.”
His eyes glowing like hell’s fire, Zurik leaped atop the bus. Baring his fangs, he shouted, “Let us not talk of battles and hell just yet, Jonah Whitcombe. Perhaps, instead, you should ask where your woman is tonight.”
At the mention of Angela, rage spiraled Jonah to the edge of madness. He fought against the loss of control that would be his downfall.
Zurik continued his taunt, licking his blood-stained fangs. “I can already taste her blood.”Enraged by the thought of Zurik’s mouth at Angela’s neck, Jonah readied himself for battle.
Zurik took one step closer to Jonah, his sword raised. “Can’t you hear her begging you for help?”
Jonah. It sounded like Angela’s voice.
Zurik sneered and gestured around him where some of his followers still sated their lust for blood. “Wouldn’t you rather rescue her than save these wretched souls?”
Jonah. There it was again.
He shook his head. No, that was not Angela. It was a ploy of Zurik’s, a phantom voice. He would not listen.
Jonah.
No.
The hilt in Jonah’s hand pulsed like the hearts of Zurik’s prey waiting for death.
Jonah stepped backward to avoid a blow from Zurik’s sword and teetered precariously on the edge of the bus’s roof. While he fought for balance, Zurik’s sword ripped the sleeve from his shirt and glanced off his forearm. The blow knocked him to the ground.
Zurik looked down on him and laughed. “Hell is not far away now, Jonah Whitcombe.”
White-hot pain radiated down Jonah’s arm. He had to find a way to end this before he lost the use of his arm. With a silent plea to Lilith, he tightened his hand around the sword’s hilt. Fighting through the pain, he rolled his eyes upward and fixed his gaze on Zurik. The instant his enemy jumped, Jonah swung his sword high above his head. The blade slashed through Zurik’s throat. His head fell at Jonah’s knees, mouth agape, eyes wide in disbelief.
In a matter of seconds, everything around Jonah stilled. The blinding particles continued to fall, and the bodies littered the ash-covered ground. There were still people attempting to flee, but they did it without the cries of battle or the agonizing screams of helpless victims ringing in the background. His Cadre had done a worthy job.
Jonah looked down at the ground in front of him. All that remained of Zurik was dust.
A powerful emotion surged through Jonah, temporarily stealing his breath. An enormous weight lifted from his chest and a flood of warmth traveled from his shoulder to the tips of his fingers. He flexed his arm. It was completely healed. He lifted his gaze toward the heavens.
Well done, Jonah Whitcombe.
Despite the carnage around him, joy filled his heart at the sound of Lilith’s voice. He had done his duty. Zurik was gone, forever. But then he thought of Angela and his heart constricted in pain. Where was she? And was she safe?
ANGELA HAD NO idea where she was. She had managed to escape the house, but how, she wasn’t sure. What memories she had were fuzzy—it was impossible to know what was real and what was imagined.
She tried hard to remember recent events, but her thoughts were clouded with bits and pieces of conversations and flashes of faces she could not identify. She pulled her robe close to her body against the cold. A blast of wind drove her to find shelter between two buildings. She leaned against one of the walls and waited. From somewhere nearby, shouts and curses, interspersed with threats, filled the air. She pulled the robe even closer to her body and shivered, more from fear than the cold.
The voices grew nearer. Should she stay where she was and hope she would not be found? Or should she run? But where would she go? Hopelessness gripped her, and she desperately searched her mind for something, someone familiar to latch on to. The voices grew louder, closer, the threats more violent.
Her knees grew weak and her back slid down the cold brick wall. Until now, she had managed to hold back the tears, but she felt them welling up behind her eyes. She sent a desperate plea to the darkness around her and received an answer.
Summon Jonah.
Was she hallucinating? She shook her head. No. This was real. Giving herself up to the force that was clearly guiding her—the goddess Lilith, she knew—she called out to the man she loved.
Jonah.
Angela?
The sound of his beloved voice catapulted her mind to the last time they were together. She lifted a hand as if to touch his beautiful face and her mind whispered his name again. Jonah.
Angela, my love, where are you?
She didn’t take time to analyze what was happening. Instead, she got to her feet and focused on the area outside her sanctuary. To her left, she saw the name Lou’s flashing in a neon red light. And to her right, she saw a street sign. She closed her eyes and held those sights in her mind. Before she took a second breath, strong arms had lifted her and she was flying through the air.
Time stood still, and she basked in the beautiful dream. She was warm and safe. She was home.
“Angela.” The voice was close and real. So were the arms around her. She opened her eyes and her memories came rushing back. The good. And the bad.
JONAH CARRIED Angela to her room, sat on the edge of the bed, and cradled her in his arms. “Thank the gods and goddesses you’re safe.”
Angela pressed closer to his body. “Thank your goddess Lilith. It was she who directed my thoughts to you.”
He dropped tender kisses on her forehead. “It must have been terrible for you.”
Angela shuddered. “I was so frightened, I could barely think.”
“When I couldn’t reach you after I told you how to use the watch, I almost went out of my mind.” He wrapped his arms tighter around her. “If anything had happened to you . . .” He couldn’t finish the sentence.
Angela looked up at him, a tentative smile on her lips. “But it didn’t. I managed to escape unharmed.” She touched the top of her head. “Well, almost. I still have a headache.” She slipped an arm around his waist. “I know I shouldn’t have gone outside, but when the bell rang and Scott didn’t answer, I thought it might be important. Scott had told me about the shipment of Chemi-Plas he was expecting.”
“I know. I found the bogus package. Obviously, one of Zurik’s Watchers saw Scott leave and laid a trap for you.”
“It happened so fast. I don’t remember anything but the pain and the blackness. When I came to, I was lying on a cot. The room was dark. I thought I would die there.” She fell silent and he didn’t press her to continue. He needed to let her tell her story in her own way, in her own time.
“And then I heard your voice and I used the watch like you told me. The door opened and I stepped out into a hallway. It was as dark as the room, but after my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw light under a door at the end of the hal
l.”
“You don’t have to talk about it now,” he said softly, as he rocked her back and forth, gently stroking her back. If only he could wipe away her bad memories so easily.
“He was waiting for me at the end of the hall,” Angela said, her voice barely above a whisper. “He . . . he . . . put his hands around my throat and . . . and . . . everything started to turn black again.”
His heart splintered into a million pieces when tremors wracked her body. He tried again to comfort her. “Everything’s okay now. It’s over. You’re safe.” He was prepared to wait for the rest of her story, but she seemed unable to keep it inside.
“And then I remembered the watch. Since it had the power to open the door, I thought maybe . . .” She shuddered. “Somehow, I lifted my arm and pressed it against his chest.” There was a long pause before she spoke again. “And the next thing I knew, I was wandering along a strange street. I heard loud voices and people threatening each other so I hid between some buildings.
“I didn’t know where I was, what I was going to do. I couldn’t remember anything at all. Not where I was. Not even who I was. And then your goddess spoke to me. She whispered your name and told me to call out to you. Suddenly, everything came back to me.” When she had no more tears to spend, she collapsed into deep, heart-wrenching sobs.
“Lilith is now your goddess, too,” he said, holding her close.
She nodded against his tear-stained shirt, took a deep swallow, and then looked up at him with a wide smile. “I’m so thankful it’s over.”
“So am I, my love. So am I.” He met her smile. “And something else is over as well. I won the battle with Zurik. He is no more.”
The Vampire Jonah Page 17
