Almost Human (20 page)

I shrugged. “But you’re all the way out
there. You’ll be trapped in here with me.”

It stared at me. “I don’t have to touch you
to cause you pain. I can manipulate your own power to hurt
you.”

I didn’t doubt he could. I focused on
building my psychic defenses. If he was going to attack me, I
needed to be ready.

Braxus walked the circle, examining me,
looking for a weakness. I didn’t circle with him, though I would’ve
loved to keep him in sight. The spot between my shoulder blades
itched as he drifted behind me. I fought not to spin around and
face him. He was making me twitchy and he wasn’t even doing
anything yet.

But my patience was at an end. “Get on with
it, bastard. You’ll bore me to suicide before the hour is up.”

I spun around and tried a little experiment.
I shoved with my powers. The demon cursed and stumbled, landing on
the floor. I felt a surge of triumph. My powers still worked
outside the circle. I could hurt the demon from here. I slashed
with my magic, using a wave of my hand to focus the energy this
time. A deep cut opened in his chest, but it didn’t bleed. However,
it didn’t heal either.

Braxus growled at me and clutched the
wound.

I arched a brow. “You don’t seem to be
healing very quickly.”

He bared his teeth. “Until I find a body I
will continue to weaken. I thank you for killing Sherra. I would
have stayed tied to her until she dragged us both to the grave. The
power animating her was already waning and I could do nothing to
stop it.”

Crap. We had made it easier for him to exist
here? Why hadn’t Gideon warned us that might happen?

“You’re going to pay for this injury,
witch.”

Braxus flicked his hand in my direction and
I flew through the air. I hit the edge of the circle like it was a
brick wall and collapsed on my hands and knees, grinding them into
the broken tile. I stumbled to my feet to face him again.

Braxus stared at me like I’d done something
interesting and terrifying to him.

“That should have inflicted much more damage
than just tossing you around a bit. How are you unharmed?”

I shrugged. “Maybe you aren’t as powerful as
you think you are. Besides, the longer you’re on this plane without
a body, the faster your powers fade.” I smirked. “Maybe you’re
dying.”

His gaze narrowed. “No. This is something
different. You’ve been meddling in some sort of powerful magic,
witch. Far above your pay grade.”

This time when his power snaked over my
skin, it was cooling. Soothing. My muscles relaxed without my
consent. I managed to keep my magic humming around me for
protection, but my instincts said to drop it. I hadn’t been
prepared for an attack like this.

“There are other ways I can do this, witch.
And I want to know what you’ve played with.”

Contentment washed over me. I was so tired.
I needed rest. I hit the ground hard on my chest as my legs
crumpled, my cheek pressed into the grimy floor and my eyes slipped
closed.

“You want to give in to me, Kori. All this
fighting and pain. You don’t want that anymore. I can give you
peace. That’s something you haven’t had since you were a child. If
you stay a vampire, all that awaits you is violence and killing.
You’ve become something you hate.”

He was right. I would never be safe. I was a
monster, despised by her own family.

“Kori.”

I tensed. Had Braxus heard that?

“What was that, Kori?”

I wasn’t sure. It had sounded like Alaric,
but how had he contacted me? And then I felt it. No matter how far
away he was I would always feel the bond I’d created with him while
saving his life.

I blocked Braxus from my mind and reached
through our connection to find Alaric.

Help me.
I tried to tell him where I was, but Braxus’s
power sliced through me, bringing me back to reality. I laid there
gasping on the floor.

His lips curled away from sharp teeth.
“Fine, you don’t want to be convinced. I’ll settle for force.”

* * * *

I wasn’t sure how long he’d been torturing
me. I’d thrown a few blows of my own, but they didn’t seem to be
having any effect. The demon was too strong for me. Braxus hadn’t
left one mark on me, nor a broken bone, but I was in agony. Had my
message not reached Alaric?

Braxus tensed and glanced behind himself. I
spit my blood on the floor and tried to breathe. Why had he
stopped? What did he hear?

His turned back to me and his eyes narrowed.
A pressure slammed into the back of my head, squeezing it like a
grape. “Let me in, or I’ll kill you, bitch. I’m out of
patience.”

I screamed and someone called my name.
Through the haze of pain I connected the dots. He wasn’t out of
patience, he was out of time. I was being rescued.

Braxus must have sensed my relief. “I’ll
massacre them all if you don’t give in to me.”

I gritted my teeth. “You’ll kill them
anyway, and use my powers to do it. They come with the sword, and
they can hold their own. I’m not worried.”

The door burst open behind him and he
hissed. Alaric swung the sword as he disappeared. It passed through
thick, black smoke where his body had been. It took the form of a
huge, winged creature and rushed through the ceiling.

I stared at where the demon had gone, dazed.
“It got away.”

Alaric dropped the sword and rushed toward
me, landing on his knees and skidding to a stop beside me. “Never
mind that. We’ll have time to track it. How are you feeling?”

I smiled at him and tried to touch his face,
but my hand flopped uselessly to the ground. “You came for me.”

He shook his head. “Of course I came for
you. I knew you were alive, and I was tracking you with everyone
else, but I was having trouble pinpointing your location. And then
Astra stumbled on Jairdan, who led us to you before she took him
home.”

Somehow my remaining adrenaline managed to
help me grasp his arm and try to pull myself up. “They shouldn’t be
alone together.”

Alaric grasped my shoulders and pushed me
back down. “Don’t worry, they both agreed to a truce for the time
being. My brother can hold a grudge, but for the greater good he’ll
put it aside. She’s safe.”

I relaxed a bit. “I’m glad you came for
me.”

He shook his head. “I love you. I’ll always
come for you.”

“I love you, too.”

And then I let the darkness suck me
down.

Four days. That’s how long it took to heal.
With the seriousness of my injuries, everyone was shocked at the
speed. Vampire healing is no joke. We stayed at Nyx’s club because
of the easy access to “donors” and protection. Braxus was still out
there, and no one was sure I was safe.

Alaric rarely left my side, except to check
on Fallon, who was back on his feet. Barely. His wounds weren’t
coming along as fast as mine. He was recovering at almost a human
pace. And he was bitching about it.

We were lounging in bed, watching an old
movie, when Gideon stuck his head in the room.

Alaric tensed and sat up. He still didn’t
like Gideon for threatening to take me back with him to whatever
dimension he lived in, even if the man had agreed that I’d burned
the demon out of me and was fully vampire again. Alaric wasn’t
taking any chances.

“I’m about to head out. I came to say
goodbye and see how you were.”

Alaric glared at him. “That seems unlike
you.”

He shrugged. “She’s a miracle. I’ve never
known anyone with demon blood living after handling that sword. She
also resisted Braxus, though his pull and force were strong.
However, I do need a bit of her blood. She was the last to be
touched by Braxus’ power, and he tried to inhabit her. I can do a
locator spell to track him if I have a vial of her blood.”

He pulled a syringe out of
his pocket and I offered my arm without complaint.
“So how
did I survive the sword killing the demon part of me? I thought
there was no chance.”

Gideon shook his head. “The same way Alaric
knew you were alive and was able to track you. What spell did you
do to save his life anyway?”

I shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t want to
admit I’d dabbled with something when I hadn’t really known what I
was doing. It is always a stupid thing to do. “I’m not trained in
healing. It wasn’t exactly a spell, more energy manipulation.” I
explained what I’d done while Gideon analyzed everything I was
saying.

He snorted. “Yeah, you messed up. You tied
yourself to him. Permanently. It’s the blood that was involved, and
the fact that he turned you, so you were already connected. I’m
only guessing here, but the sword couldn’t kill you because Alaric
kept you alive. You basically drained his life force. He passed out
not long after Braxus left with you.”

Alaric ran his hands through my hair. “Tied
together forever, huh?”

I grimaced. “Hope you like me.”

He cupped my face in his palms. “I love
you.” He brushed his lips over mine, but before I could deepen the
kiss, he pulled back. “And even if you kill Jairdan, I’ll keep
loving you.”

I frowned. “What do you mean?”

He glanced away, not meeting my eyes and
shifted uncomfortably. “Astra is missing, as is my brother. It
can’t mean anything good. I don’t think he’ll kill her, but I don’t
know why he would kidnap her. Especially after she saved him and
brought him back to us.”

I glared at him. “If he hurts her…”

He shook his head. “I know. I’m there with
you. With the help she’s given us, she doesn’t deserve to be
tortured by my brother. We’ll find them.”

We kissed again and Gideon snorted. “You
people are grossing me out. I’m going to go now. I have a demon to
hunt down. Thankfully, he can’t have gotten far.”

Alaric nodded. “Do you need help?”

“Nope. Enjoy your ridiculously happy moment.
We killed Sherra, and we saved the damsel, even though she was
holding her own. It’s my job to take care of the demon bit.
Besides, you have a brother and a vampire hunter to save. Our best
plan is to split up.”

Dagger came around the corner. “I’m out,
too. The King doesn’t exactly like me, and eventually he’ll get
word that I’m here. I’d hate for any of you to suffer for it. That
little turd is vindictive as hell.”

He stepped to the bed, took my hand, and
kissed the palm. “I’ve already said my goodbyes to Casey, and that
leaves you.” He bit his lip and looked like he would say more, but
instead he shook his head. “I’ll see you around. And if you ever
leave this asshole, I’m all yours.”

I burst out laughing and covered my mouth.
“Thank you,” I muttered around my hand.

Alaric scowled at him and draped an arm over
my shoulder as Dagger left. “So, going to run off after him?”

I smiled and arched a brow. “Nope. Too crazy
for me. Besides, I happen to like you more.”

He kissed me. “Good.”

“So what now? A normal life? Happily ever
after?”

There was a loud crash and a feminine squeak
somewhere above us.

Fallon shouted. “Oh for fuck’s sake. Damn
vampire hearing.”

“Jealous.”

Alaric frowned. “I think maybe we should get
our own house. I plan to be as noisy as Casey and Misha, and Fallon
might murder us all.”

I slid my hands into the waistband of his
jeans and tugged him to me. “Maybe we should just run Fallon out of
the house.”

He grinned. “Not a bad plan.”

About the Author

HONORIA RAVENA is the
author of
the
In
Darkness We Dwell Series
and
My Cyborg Savior.
When
not writing or reading romance she’s belly dancing, traveling or
spending quality time with friends and family at her home in Texas.
Visit her website
www.honoriaravena.com
and
join her monthly newsletter to stay up to date on new releases, win
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www.secretcravingspublishing.com