Bring Him Back, Jack

by Holly Day

  Dante stared down at his chains, then at Malik with a frown.

  “If you take him, I’ll trigger the stake.”

  Raina chortled. “Been there, done that. It might not be my favorite thing to deal with. Blood doesn’t go well with my complexion—” She gestured at her body. “—but we sorted it.”

  “He’ll die.” Remington’s face was so red, Malik suspected he’d die of heatstroke soon. “His stake is of ash wood.”

  Malik glanced at Dante, who gave a short shake of his head. Raina saw it, too and grinned wider.

  “It’s been interesting doing business with you, Remi. I say the debt is paid off, yes?”

  “No.”

  “Yes, it is. I’ll send you the necklace. It’s worth enough to pay for three vampires, yes?” She nodded. “Thought so.”

  “Three?” Remington’s breaths were wheezing out in rapid succession.

  “Yes, it would be unfair to leave one behind, and I’m a lot of things, but I do try to be fair.” She gestured at Urien, and Malik suspected he was dreaming, then she focused on Remington again. “Hop in.” She motioned with the gun.

  Remington spluttered but climbed into the van. He unlocked the chains, but Dante was wearing the same cuffs as Malik had, the ones with a spike going through the wrist.

  “Great.” Raina smiled as Remington pulled the chains from the cuffs around Dante’s and Malik’s feet. “Now, lock yourself up.” Remington didn’t have any cuffs. Raina rolled her eyes when Remington gestured at his wrists.

  “You.” She waved her gun at Urien. “Have him remove your chain, too.” Urien didn’t have any around his legs. Not many of them were allowed to drive, but Urien was one of them, and therefore he was often spared the chains other than those around his wrists. That Remington had allowed them all to go without chains in the hotel was something Malik didn’t think had happened before.

  Urien’s hands shook slightly as he held them out to Remington.

  “You’re too late.” Remington ignored Urien and focused on Raina.

  “Yeah?” She tilted her head.

  “Yes. I know he’s still at the hotel, and I sent the wizard there to get him.”

  Raina tsked. “Wenior? Yeah, we know.”

  Remington looked stunned for a moment, then he glared at Urien. “Jack, attack!”

  No one moved.

  “I said attack!” Remington put his hand in his pocket. Malik did attack then. He’d believed he’d left the device to trigger the stake in the front of the vehicle since he hadn’t used it yet, but the motion of him reaching into his pocket was way too familiar.

  The wrestling match was short, vampires were much stronger than humans, and while Malik was afraid of accidentally triggering the stake, he quickly got the device away from Remington.

  “Exactly what does Wenior plan to do with Ivan?” Raina climbed into the van; her gun aimed at Remington.

  “I don’t know.” Remington glared at her. “After Jack’s stake was triggered, I changed the plan. Instead of me handing Snow over at my estate, I told Wenior to get him at the hotel. I don’t care what he does.”

  Raina shook her head. “Your greed is astonishing. I mean, I knew, but to think you’ll have the only shadow walker born this century sacrificed for some small cash.”

  Remington stared at Raina. “What?”

  “Shadow walker. You didn’t know?” She shrugged and glanced at Zev. “Strange, I always thought it was why he framed me, so he could get to Ivan.”

  “It was!”

  Zev growled and Remington jumped at the sound. Malik didn’t think he’d realized Zev wasn’t human.

  “All right, we need to get going. I want to get my brother out of the hotel alive. Wizards are a crazy bunch.” She turned to Malik. “Can you wrap the chain tightly around him?”

  Malik’s hands shook as he did what she asked. Then Dante jumped as she handed him the gun and got closer to Remington. “Hold them tight.”

  Malik nodded and pulled the chain tighter around Remington’s middle, trapping his arms close to the body. Raina held out her hand, mumbled something, and her eyes went the same dark as Ivan’s. Remington gasped, but Malik stared at her without making a sound. She was the same. Ivan had one dark eye and one blue, while both of Raina’s shifted from blue to dark.

  The chain melted under her hand. “I don’t dare do more, or it’ll melt onto his skin.” She grinned at Malik. “You might think I’m a tough cookie, but in reality, I’m a bit squeamish.”

  “You melt things, too?” Should he have known?

  “Yeah, but I can’t melt into things. Blending in has never been my thing.”

  Zev snorted. “We need to leave. We’ve already drawn too much attention to ourselves.”

  Raina nodded. “Let’s go.”

  They all climbed out of the van. Both Dante and Urien looked lost.

  “Okay, hop in, boys.” Raina motioned toward the car blocking the van’s way. “We need to get to the hotel, fast.”

  Malik opened the car door when there was a sound next to him. In the same moment, Urien fell to the ground, his stake having been triggered.

  “Crap!” Raina stared. “He had another device in his pocket, didn’t he?”

  Malik nodded. Why hadn’t he checked? So stupid.

  “Can you carry him? Do we need to take the stake out now, or can we do it later?”

  “He won’t die.” Malik didn’t want to leave Urien, but right now he was more worried about Ivan.

  “Load him in the car. We’ll fix him once we have Ivan.”

  Malik nodded and with Dante’s help, they got Urien into the trunk of the car. Blood was slowly trickling from his chest, but it wasn’t too bad.

  Chapter 16

  Ivan suspected things were going south when the fire alarm went off.

  The hotel emptied of guests, but in their wake came some black-wearing guys—not firefighters. He had nothing against their fashion sense, but a group of eight men dressed that way usually meant they were up to no good. Hell, he dressed like that, and he was seldom up to something good.

  “He’s in here. I have warded the door. No one whose blood wasn’t used in the spell will be able to get out.”

  Ivan held his breath. The man speaking must be the great Wenior. He had long dreadlocks, his eyes kohl-rimmed, and he wore more necklaces and bracelets than any person should wear. His every motion jingled. Ivan sucked at telling age, but believed him to be in his fifties.

  “I want him alive, understood?”

  The men nodded and fanned out. Each had a gun in their hands, and Ivan held his breath. At least, they looked to be human. He could stay in the wall until they left but had they been shifters or vampires, he’d be screwed.

  The man he’d spoken to earlier, the cat-shifter, walked in through the door and up to Wenior. Crap!

  “Is he in here, precious?” Wenior petted the man as if he was the cat

  Ivan suspected he turned into. A second later, the stocky man was replaced by a small black cat. He bumped his nose against Wenior’s leg and rubbed against him for a second before trotting through the room.

  It didn’t take long before he stopped right before Ivan and meowed. Ivan didn’t move and he didn’t dare take a breath.

  “Is he there?” Wenior hurried over to the cat. He moved his hands, trying to sense something in the air. Perhaps he believed Ivan had turned invisible.

  “He isn’t here.”

  The cat meowed again and scratched the wall. Fuck.

  Wenior froze. “In the wall? Are you sure, precious?”

  The cat meowed again, and Ivan wanted to believe he was rolling his eyes.

  “Okay, we’ll have to break it open.”

  Ivan frowned. Break it open? Some spells would force him out of the wall, spells that would make it impossible for him not to reveal himself, but to break open the wall. If they did, he’d move a little to the side.

  Didn’t Wenior know what he was? Why did he want him if he had
n’t figured out he was a shadow walker?

  Wenior shouted at his men, and soon two guys with a circular saw and a sledgehammer came running. Ivan moved from the spot the cat had marked, but he couldn’t move far.

  As one of the men started the saw, Zev, Malik and the limping vampire walked in from the lobby—though Malik’s brother, if he’d told the truth, wasn’t limping anymore.

  Ivan was torn between being happy to see them, to know Zev had saved Malik, and being terrified they’d be shot by Wenior’s guards.

  “What are you doing here?” Wenior glared at them.

  “We’re here to help.” Zev’s eyes swept over the room. “Remington Redwood sent us.”

  Several seconds went by without anyone saying anything, then Wenior shook his head. “Why would he send you?”

  “We’re only following orders, sir.” Zev bowed his head, then as one, they advanced on the room.

  Ivan shouted as shots were fired. Zev roared, Malik and the other vampire bloodied their fangs on the nearest men. Wenior spoke a spell and waved his arms, and as he did, a bubble of shimmering blue formed around him and his cat—his familiar most likely.

  When one of Wenior’s men jumped out of the coatroom and fired a shot at Malik, Ivan jumped out of the wall. “No!”

  Malik convulsed as another shot was fired. Blood flowed from his thigh and chest.

  Several men turned toward Ivan, and while they were distracted, Zev and the other vampire attacked. Blood sprayed the walls as Zev’s claws sliced through flesh.

  Ivan ran to Malik, not caring about the bullets flying around him. Wenior wanted him alive, so they wouldn’t shoot him—he hoped. Malik, on the other hand, him they would kill without a second thought.

  “We need to get out.” Zev was panting and he was covered in blood.

  “He’s sealed the door.”

  “What?” Zev shouted as a bullet buried itself in his thigh, then he snarled and shifted. Ivan swore silently. He believed Zev would understand him, but it made communicating hard.

  “The entrance. He’s warded it so no one can get out.” Ivan patted Malik’s chest, trying to put pressure on the wound. He needed to get Malik away from the gunfight.

  “Hopefully it’s only the main entrance, so we can get out through the kitchen or a fire escape.”

  “He needs to feed.” The other vampire came closer, his face an impassive mask.

  Ivan nodded. “Okay, he needs away from here first though.”

  More shots were fired, china shattered on the floor as someone pushed a table over. The vampire moved toward it. Ivan suspected there was someone behind it getting ready to shoot. He threw himself in front of the vampire, leaving Malik in the open. With closed eyes, he took a deep breath, praying they wouldn’t shoot in fear of killing him.

  “Flee.” He stood with his back against the vampire he didn’t know the name of. “There’s a door in the kitchen. Hopefully, it isn’t warded.”

  “You want me to leave?”

  “They’ll kill anyone but me. If I play shield, can you—” Another shot was fired, followed by a sickening gurgling sound as Zev tore someone’s larynx out. Ivan shuddered but tried to focus on Malik’s brother. He couldn’t turn to look at him, instead he looked for the men with guns. There were three left, he believed. One taking cover behind a table, but where the others were, he didn’t know. Maybe there were two behind the table, but it still left one.

  “Can you get Malik to the coatroom? There’s an elevator. If I can get in there with him, and he can feed…”

  “We need to be quick.”

  Ivan nodded. “I’ll stand in the way; you drag him over there. On three. One. Two—” A gun was fired at the same moment Ivan was to say three, but the vampire didn’t care. He acted as if Ivan had said three, and Ivan made himself as big as he could—not an easy thing to do.

  The vampire grabbed Malik under the arms, locked arms around his chest, and dragged him toward the coatroom. A blood trail was left in their wake. Ivan did his best to take up as much space as he possibly could.

  “Great. Thanks.” Ivan hurried over to the elevator and pushed the button. It took several long seconds, but then the door opened. It was the tiniest elevator he had ever seen. “Shit. Will he even fit in there?” He looked at the buttons and cursed. The elevator only went down to the vault, nowhere else. And there was a card scanner next to the buttons.

  “I’ll hit the emergency stop button, hopefully, it’ll close it off.”

  The vampire nodded and pushed Malik inside the elevator. Zev dove into the coatroom in a hail of bullets. His fur was matted in blood and he was dragging his right back leg.

  “Zev?” Ivan’s gut clenched. Malik, Ivan was pretty sure he could if not heal completely then at least get back to functioning by giving him blood, but Zev? This wasn’t his fight. They’d dragged him into this, Raina and him. He turned to the vampire. “What’s your name?”

  The vampire widened his eyes. “Master calls us—”

  “None of that shit, your real name.”

  “Dante.”

  “Awesome, nice to meet you, Dante. Is there anything in this world you want?”

  Dante frowned. “My brother—” He gestured at Malik. Ivan studied his features for a brief second. They were more alike now when Dante wasn’t schooling his expressions.

  “Let’s negotiate later. I’ll do my best to give you what you want if you get Zev out of here.” He motioned at Zev. “I don’t know where Raina is—” Ice filled his veins. Did Remington have her?

  “Outside, waiting with the car ready.”

  Ivan blew out a breath, and new bullets rained in through the opening to the coatroom. “This is a shitty deal, and I’m sorry for the danger I’m putting you in.” Dante’s eyes widened more, but Ivan didn’t have time to convince Dante he meant what he said. “Get yourself and Zev out without being killed. You can’t use the main entrance, but there is a door in the kitchen and I believe—”

  “I know where the fire escapes are.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes, we were to catch you.”

  Ivan nodded. Of course, Remi would’ve had them study the layout of the building. “Get him out, and I’ll do what I can to get Malik and myself out.”

  Dante nodded and Ivan stepped into the elevator, his feet pushing in underneath Malik, who sprawled in a puddle of blood on the floor. This was a bad day.

  “Good luck.” He nodded at Dante and pushed the emergency stop. The doors closed and locked as he’d hoped.

  Chapter 17

  Malik hissed. Everything burned and ached. He couldn’t clear his vision, and all he could smell was blood.

  “Feed.”

  Yes, he needed to feed. Only fresh blood could save him. He was bleeding out, and while he wouldn’t die for some time yet, he couldn’t move, couldn’t heal.

  A weight pressed down on his lap, and he grunted.

  “Feed.”

  Skin touched his lips, and Malik wanted to bite into it, but…

  “Dammit, Malik. Bite me!”

  Ivan?

  A finger was pushed into his mouth, something pressed against his fang, and then the taste of rich, living blood spread on his tongue. It wasn’t enough.

  The finger disappeared and this time when skin touched his lips, he bit. Blood spilled into his mouth, but the bite was far from perfect. A pained groan, not coming from him, had him opening his eyes. Black dots still clouded his vision, but he could see a little. As soon as he took in his surroundings, panic set in. He was trapped.

  The tiny space had his heart beating fast, blood oozed out of the still open bullet wounds.

  “Malik!”

  His fingers dug into Ivan’s arms. It took another second before he realized his fangs were buried in Ivan’s neck in a savage bite. He let go, pulled back, horrified about what he’d done.

  “No, don’t you dare stop. You’re not healed.”

  “Phantasm.”

  “Stop your shit
! Do I taste dead?”

  Malik frowned. He tasted different from a human, far better than a werewolf, and the blood was potent. Maybe more so than a human’s. “No.”

  “Good, now get to it.” Ivan pushed his neck against Malik’s mouth again.

  “Easy.” Malik ran his hands up Ivan’s arms, trying to soothe the pain he’d caused, though he suspected his grip on Ivan’s arms was less painful than the bite.

  “We don’t have time, Malik. They’re shooting outside these doors. I told Dante and Zev to get out, but I don’t know—”

  “They’re fine.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because killing them is hard.”

  Ivan sighed. “Yeah, well, killing me is pretty easy, so I don’t want to be trapped here for long.”

  Trapped. Malik’s pulse raced again. They were trapped in a box.

  “Malik!”

  His fingers once again dug into Ivan’s arms. “Sorry. I don’t like small spaces.”

  Ivan stilled, then stopped pushing his throat against Malik’s lips and leaned back so he could see Malik’s face. “You’re bleeding to death, there’s a gunfight and an evil wizard trying to kill us, and you’re worried about the elevator?”

  “There is nowhere out.”

  Ivan pointed at the ceiling. “I don’t know how far it goes. According to the buttons, the elevator only goes down one floor, but my plan was to get you healed up and then get out through the shaft.”

  “I can go.” He started to get up.

  “You’re still bleeding.”

  “Let’s go.” He needed to feed, but he needed out of the elevator more.

  “Malik.” Ivan gave him a pleading look.

  “I’ll feed once we’re on top of the elevator.”

  “It’s not safe. It’s better to feed here.”

  Malik grunted as he struggled to get up. The black dots once again invaded his vision. “I can’t breathe in here. I need to…” He reached up toward the ceiling, jumped the last bit and got the hatch open. Cool air washed over his face, and he took a deep breath. It smelled of oil and stale air, but there was plenty of it, far more than in the tiny elevator.

  “Up you go.” He nodded at Ivan.

  “I need help to get up there, and you’re not healed enough—”