Angels of Darkness (24 page)

They had gotten away.

In her mind the bodies still burned, vomiting fire and ashes. What the hell was Arthur? What were all of them?

“We shouldn't be here,” Henry said next to her, his voice vibrating with alarm. “This is wrong.”

A woman behind her snarled. “The fucking Ripper dropped us into the wrong base.”

A soft thud made her turn. Lucas crashed onto the carpet and Daniel tried to pick him up. Lucas's eyes were closed. He looked so pale, his skin had gained an almost greenish tint.

She set Emily down and knelt by him, sliding her hand on his forehead. His skin was cold, almost clammy. Blood clung to his rib cage and a big purple bruise stained the right side of his stomach. He looked like he was dying. The heavy metallic scent rolled off him, so thick she almost choked. He wasn't just hungry for her blood. He was starving for it and he hurt.

“What's wrong?”

“Too much venom,” Daniel spat out. “He shouldn't have phased into the attack variant so soon after the last fight.”

Arthur stepped onto the carpet out of thin air. “He will be fine.”

A grimace skewed Daniel's face, stretching his scar. He looked like a rabid dog. “We should've evacuated yesterday. You overwork him. You know he needs at least two weeks between phasings, but you counted on him to save your ass anyway, because you knew he would do it. Look at him. Look at him, Arthur. He's dying from the venom.”

Arthur glanced at the skyline. “Not now, Daniel. Where is the Ripper?”

“You are a fucking asshole!”

Henry closed his eyes and opened them. “She isn't in the building.”

“Daniel, stop your hysterics and search the building . . .”

“Fuck you!”

“Will the two of you shut up?” Lucas said. His eyes were still closed. A shudder gripped him. He arched his back, his heels digging into the carpet, his arms rigid, his massive body straining against the pain.

Idiots. Karina wrapped her arms around Lucas, trying to hold him down, but it was like trying to hold down a bull. “We need something for his mouth. He's grinding his teeth.”

“Vault, now,” Arthur snapped. “Pick him up.”

People swarmed Lucas, brushing her away. He lashed out, convulsing, throwing a man aside like a rag doll. They pulled Lucas up and dragged him down the hall.

Arthur bent down, grasped her by the elbow, and pulled her to her feet. “Come with us.”

“My daughter . . .”

Arthur's fingers clenched her arm like a vise. He pulled her down the hallway, after the clump of people trying to move the convulsing Lucas forward.

Emily ran after her. “Mommy!”

Karina jerked. “Let go of me! You're scaring her!”

“Do you want your daughter to live?” Arthur asked.

“Yes!” Bastard.

“Then do as you're told.”

They were almost to the end of the tunnel. Something swung open with a heavy metallic sound. Karina caught a glimpse of a huge vault door standing ajar. The people carrying Lucas ducked into the round opening and parted, and Karina saw a room beyond the door. It lay empty and the light of the white fluorescent lamps reflected off the metal floor and walls.

They would put her into the vault with him. Lucas hurt so badly, he was convulsing. He required her blood and he'd rip her to pieces to get it. If she crossed that threshold, she would die.

“Mommy!”

She dug her heels in. “Emily!”

Henry picked Emily up. “It's okay, little one.”

“You agreed to the contract,” Arthur said. “Time to honor it. Get in there and do whatever you have to do to keep him alive.”

If she didn't go in, they would throw her in. She heard it in Arthur's voice.

Karina jerked her arm out of his hand. “Take care of my baby, Henry.”

“I will,” he promised.

Karina took a deep breath and walked inside.

“No sudden movements,” Henry called out.

The door behind her clanged shut.

L
ucas curled into a ball on the floor. The pain scoured the inside of his spine as if someone were scraping his vertebrae with steel wool. It stretched in tight strings through his ligaments; it pooled in his joints, in his fingertips, under his tongue. He felt it in his teeth. It ground him like a grain of wheat between two millstones.

His ears caught the sound of approaching steps.

He forced his eyes open.

Karina knelt by him. He inhaled her scent and felt it spark a deep, angry hunger inside him. She pulled him like a magnet. His body screamed for her blood and the end of the pain. Tearing into her would be bliss.

She was rolling up her sleeve. Her lips were pinched together.

He had to speak now. It hurt and he was tired, but he managed. “Don't.”

“Arthur said you had to feed.”

“Arthur is a sick fuck. I told you that.”

“I can smell you,” she said. “You need to feed.”

“If I feed now, you'll die.”

“If you don't, you will, and then they'll kill Emily.”

Ah. For a second he thought she had felt sorry for him, but no. “Nobody will touch Emily. And I'm not dying. Just hurting.”

“You look awful.” He heard a soft note in her voice. In spite of everything, she cared a little bit. He would take that. That was more than he usually got from anyone.

She hadn't shied back when he phased. Her knees had trembled but she didn't flinch. For that he was grateful.

Karina brushed the grime off his face, her eyes kind, her voice gentle. “Lucas, don't be an idiot. Feed. It will make you feel better.”

“The pain isn't fatal. It will pass. You'll need all of your blood before long.”

She pulled back. “What does that mean?”

“Do you have a fever?”

“Yes.”

“Tired?”

“Yes. Lucas, what is happening to me?”

He almost told her the truth. “I told you before, you're reacting to the venom.”

The ache had burrowed deep into the base of his spine. Lucas forced himself to turn, trying to shift his weight, and it exploded into a blinding white, mind-numbing haze, twisting his limbs. Like being punched in the mouth by a star. He passed out.

When he awoke, her scent was everywhere. The hunger stirred inside him, demanding. Lucas clenched his teeth and felt a light touch on his cheek. His eyes snapped open. She was sitting next to him, her back resting against the wall.

“How long was I out?”

“Maybe a minute or two.”

“Try to time the next one. I need to know if they're getting shorter.”

“Is there anything else I can do?”

The ache rolled back at him. “Talk to me.”

“About what?”

“You never did tell me exactly why Emily hoards food.”

She sighed and brushed the brown lock of hair from her face. “It happened after Jonathan died.”

“Your husband?”

“Yes. I don't want to talk about it.”

“Why?”

She met his gaze. “Because then you will know things about me.”

“And that would be bad?” Lucas asked.

“Yes.”

Now he wanted to know more.

“Does it hurt to be the beast?” she asked.

“No. Phasing is like being a superhero. I'm faster, stronger. Everything is sharper. There are no consequences. I can let myself off the leash. But my attack variant's venom is toxic to my human phase variant. Turning back into a man is a bitch.”

A small tremor shook his legs. Lucas grunted and closed his eyes, trying to will the pain away.

“How long will we be locked in here?”

“Until I pull through. Hours. Arthur is trying to keep me safe. I'm an asset and I'm rare and difficult to replace. We shouldn't have come here, to this building.” The words came slowly. “This base is not secure. We rent five floors here. We don't own the buildings and don't control access to it.”

Karina bent down, looking closer into his eyes. Tiny red rosettes marked the skin on her cheeks and forehead. Her own transformation was closing in. Shit. He hoped she would have another day. He didn't want her to phase here, in the vault, without medical help, without Henry to keep her calm. She could die and he wanted her to live. He had to heal fast.

Heal,
Lucas willed in his mind.
Heal.

The pain exploded in a white burst and dragged him under.

When the light faded he heard her voice, soothing, calm, warm. Like sitting back in the hot tub, soaking his exhausted body while she floated nearby. “. . . met in college. Jonathan was handsome. Funny. His father was the CFO for Drivers Company. It's a big insurance company in the Southwest. Brian's very driven, very conscious about his appearance. Brooks Brothers suits, expensive watch, a new BMW every couple of years. He and Lynda had Jonathan when they were much older, in their forties. Jonathan could do no wrong. He was their golden child. Good at sports, good at academics. He was easygoing and charming. The perfect son.”

She leaned her head against the wall. He moved closer to her and rested the back of his head on her ankle. She let him do it. From here he could see her face. He could touch her hand. Lucas closed his eyes and let himself sink into her voice.

“Things always went Jonathan's way. I used to watch a cartoon when I was younger. Two mice were living in a lab, and one was very smart and the other one was a knucklehead. So every night the knucklehead mouse, Pinky, would ask the smart mouse, ‘And what are we going to do today, Brain?' And Brain would say, ‘Try to take over the world!' And Pinky would get all excited. See, Brain was serious. He was trying to take over the world. But to Pinky it was all a big game. That's kind of how Jonathan was. The world was his huge playground and every day he'd play at taking it over. Some days he was an athlete; other days he was a student. When we met, he was finishing his MBA and I was getting my bachelor's in accounting. My parents had died in a car accident when I was a senior in high school. I had just turned eighteen when they passed.”

“I'm sorry,” Lucas said and meant it.

“Thank you. They left me just enough money to get me through college and I had to work to feed myself. Before they died, I wanted to go into art history.” She laughed a little, a bitter, quiet sound. “I wanted to be an art appraiser. You know, the person who examines art for auctions and museums to determine if it's authentic. I always thought it would be so neat. But I was on my own then, so I went into accounting instead. It seemed . . . sensible. I was trying to be sensible. To have some structure. And then Jonathan shot into my world like a comet. He could make anything seem exciting. He made things fun. His parents were always very formal with me. I don't think they ever understood why he liked me, but Jonathan picked me and he could do no wrong.”

He very badly wanted to murder Jonathan.

“It was great at first. Jonathan's father's connections got him a position in a private equity firm. During the day he got to play a businessman and during the night he got to play a husband. And then Emily was born. Well, you've seen her.”

“She is pretty,” Lucas said.

“She is. Jonathan loved her. It was yet another new game: being a dad. He used to show her off like a cute purebred puppy.” She sighed again. “I should've seen it then. Anyway, everything was great for a few years and then the bottom fell out of the economy. Suddenly it wasn't fun anymore.”

“The party was over,” Lucas guessed.

“Yes. Jonathan had to start working for his living and buckle down, or the firm would cut him loose. I worked, too, and we were doing okay, but we had to mind our p's and q's and Jonathan didn't want to be bogged down with details. We used to have the stupidest conversations. He couldn't understand why he couldn't drop thirty grand on a membership at a country club. It's like his brain couldn't digest the concept of a budget. I mean, the man had a master's degree in business management, for crying out loud.” Her voice rose too high and Karina fell silent.

“What happened?” he prompted.

“Finally he decided he was tired of playing with us. He started sending me these long rambling e-mails about how he felt constrained and unhappy and about the need to find himself. He wanted to live fully, he said. To find the zest in life. At first I was concerned, then I thought he was cheating, but he wasn't. It's not like we were ever on the verge of bankruptcy. We just couldn't do exciting things anymore, like ordering champagne for the entire bar. I offered to move; he didn't want to do it. No solution I suggested was good enough. He tortured me like that for about four months. In the end I didn't even care anymore. I should've fought harder maybe, but I remember one of my friends calling and telling me she saw Jonathan at her office party without me, and you know what I thought?”

She paused. Her dark eyes were huge on her pretty face. “I thought, ‘Good. Maybe he'll meet someone and I can divorce him.' That's an awful thing to think about your husband. That's when I knew the marriage was over. We were heading downhill, except there was Emily. How do you explain to a four-year-old that Daddy decided he doesn't want her anymore because he needs to go find himself? So I spoke to his parents. I thought maybe they would talk some sense into him.”

Lucas grimaced. “You said he could do no wrong.”

“Yes, it was stupid, but I was desperate. They called him over to have a heart-to-heart. Jonathan took me out to dinner at the end of the week. I knew something was up; I could just tell. It wasn't a date. He told me he had filed for divorce. He had no problem paying me alimony, and I could retain all my parental rights.”