Ash to Embers (Courting Shadows) (14 page)

Sio came to the muddy realization that she'd been manhandling near 300 pounds of him as if she were dragging around an errant child. She wasn't tiny, at 5'8" maybe 5'9", she was taller than a lot of women, but he still had a good nine inches and 160 pounds on her. For all intents and purposes it didn't add up. In fact, his considerable bulk hadn't made a damn bit of difference to the succubus either. When that bitch had hit him she'd almost put him on the ground. That kind of thing hadn't happened in years, but the woman on top of him had traded ugly blows like it was nothing.

Sio cleared his throat, "Where are we?"

Her head snapped towards him, amber eyes wide and fringed with abnormally long dark lashes. His libido went berserk. His mouth was dry as he lay there staring up at her. This was not happening. Sio fought to function around the pulse hammering in his throat.

"If you hold onto it any tighter, you're going to tear it off my body," he said.

He glanced down to where the front of his shirt was balled in her fists as he struggled to erase the visuals his own words had evoked. When he got his face under control he looked at her again. She was staring at her hands as if they were foreign objects. Her fingers uncurled from the material, smoothing the fabric back against his chest.

Her lips were parted and her breath burst out in shallow pants as she watched her hands slide down his torso. Sio's abs bunched tight as he sat up into her. On impulse he leaned forward and said against her mouth, "I want to kiss you."

She pulled back, eyes burning with warring emotions that shifted and shuddered like a real flame. If he didn't know better, he would have said they glowed. He was so unsteady his ears were ringing. It was a shrill metal on metal whine that set his teeth on edge. She winced as if she'd heard it too and looked away.

Sio reached over and cupped her jaw, bringing her back to face him. Sparks shot down his arm, starting at her skin and sizzling through his overstimulated finger tips. Something hummed electric next to his right foot, sending static through his nervous system. It didn't matter. The world that was insistent on bleeding back in around them could kick rocks.

"We're not done yet," he told her. "Say yes."

The metallic screeching became unbearable as it rode on a wave of acrid metal tang, concrete, and grit. He still couldn't see anything but her. She balled his shirt back into her fists as her whole body tensed. She moved in close to his mouth.

"Why the
fuck
would I do that?"

Sio swallowed hard, willing his dick to deflate as she hauled them both to their feet and pitched him into a flat surface that ended at his lower back. The blow caused his vision to snap into focus. He stared into a long dark tunnel and the blinding lights of a rapidly approaching subway train.

"Step up," she said through clenched teeth as she brought her body in front of his.

"You first."

She didn't argue with him and lunged for the platform. At the same time, he did what she'd asked and stepped up onto one of the pipes affixed to the concrete behind him. He felt hands on his shoulders. The pipe bent under his weight, but she twisted and dragged him on top of her. The momentum propelled them into a roll while the Good Samaritan who'd been trying to help became an awkward part of the dog pile.

When the dust cleared, Sio was braced with his forearms on either side of her head. He pushed up to keep his weight, coupled with an extra two hundred pounds of the guy on top of him, from crushing her. The guy on top of them muttered unintelligibly and Sio glanced around.

They were in a subway station. The forgotten renovation around them made everything look decayed and ominous. Rickety wooden beams covered in flaking green paint barely held the ceiling up. The cement platform they were piled on was separated into two mostly equal sides by a few scattered cement barriers and a chain-link fence that curled over itself from years of neglect or abuse. A thick layer of grime smothered everything else, hiding it from the prying eyes of bored commuters. The place was spooky as shit.

Dim lights flickered and Sio made a move to hoist himself up. The guy on top of him had become leaden, a sudden and disquieting dead weight. Good Samaritan's limp bulk pinned them to the ground.

"Does it seem colder in here to you?" Sio asked.

The woman exhaled and watched the steam pour from her mouth and nose. "This is bad. We need to go," she said, shoving at his chest. "And stay away from the train track."

"What?"

The response she was about to make was cut off by the harsh crackle of what sounded like static from an old-time radio program. Old-time as in 1938, War of the Worlds, TV hadn't been invented yet, radio broadcast, and it was coming from the smothering Good Samaritan on top of them.

"Too late, my friends."

The chilling phrase was issued from the bellows of the barrel-chested bastard who'd been so eager to help. The guy's arms wrapped around them with limp determination. He began to push, legs waving maniacally, ass airborne, back arched, sliding them through the grime on the ground towards the yellow line at the edge of the platform.

Sio hadn't noticed before, but the safety strip was the only flat surface not covered with a thick layer of dust. The wide plastic band looked exactly the same as it did on hundreds of other platforms. On any other day it would have acted the same, he thought. It was innocuous, even cute in its cheery attempt at safety, right up until the point where they fell in.

They landed in a heap in the cavernous darkness and it wasn't nearly as pleasant as the moment he'd had in the white light before he'd been told off. The woman moved beneath him in an effort to roll him off and get up. Sio shifted to the left and muscled his ass out of the way. He was blind in the darkness while his other senses scrambled to compensate. They left him still acutely aware of her. There was a cough close to his left ear and Sio jumped as a hand grazed his thigh.

A flashlight clicked on, illuminating the barrel of a large handgun. It was pointed at the sprawled form next to him.

"On the floor, show me your eyes." Her voice was throaty, an elegant combination of dangerous and beddable. "That wasn't a request. Do it now."

The body on the floor shifted its head and rolled to raise itself onto all fours. Sio didn't know what he had been expecting but...

"You're human," she said, lowering the barrel.

"What the hell else would I be?" the guy asked. He seemed normal, nothing like what had come out of his mouth on the subway platform.

The woman didn't answer. She did a quick sweep with the light before setting the butt of the flashlight on the ground so the torch faced the ceiling. They were deep in a tunnel that bore an unwelcome resemblance to a mine shaft. It was cold, claustrophobic, and, like the subway station, horror flick ominous. Sio wasn't sure how far underground they were, but it was deep because he could see his breath. Something smelled of desert and frozen dry air.

"Honey," he said. "You take me to the nicest places."

She snorted, palming a flat piece of metal from the inside pocket of her leather jacket with the hand that wasn't holding the gun. "Only the best for you, big man."

"What's that?" The guy on the floor gestured to the L shaped metal scrap in her hand. She gave a wolfish grin as she ran her thumb up the side, releasing some sort of catch with an audible click. The thing expanded outward, whirring with the soft sounds of small gears until it was the exact size and shape of the gun in her right hand.

"I'll give you two guesses."

"It's not that I'm not grateful. I am, but why didn't you use them on that thing in the bathroom?" Sio asked.

She stopped searching the darkness and looked at him. They stood staring at one another long enough to make him wonder if she was going to respond. His blood started to slow boil with want and she averted her gaze as if she could sense it.

"What thing in the bathroom?" asked the Good Samaritan.

"They wouldn't have done any good," she said. "Demons have to be incinerated. Besides, it would have alerted the Guardian. Now both of you shut up."

She went back to surveying the darkness around them like she was waiting to be attacked. Sio felt the same fear spiked rush of adrenaline that hit before a fight. "Should we be worried right now?"

"What the hell do you mean, demon? And how did you do that with the gun?"

"Way to not be talking," she said. She looked down at one of the guns in her hand and a sheepish expression flitted across her face. She shrugged. "I tinker...and yeah, we should be worried."

She looked at him again, reassessing with some modicum of respect. "We should also be moving. Do either of you know how to use a gun?"

Sio shook his head negative. He'd never had any need or desire to learn until now. Now he was pissed he couldn't give the good answer.

"I do," piped average Joe with the accent.

Fucking great.

"You feel up to it, Linda Blare? I don't want you shooting me in the ass by accident."

"I'll deal," the guy said, meeting her cold stare.

She took him at his word, handing over one of the small arms without further hesitation. Sio stooped down to pick up the flashlight feeling useless. Her eyes flicked back to him and lingered. She reached for something at the small of her back, coming away with a bright sliver of metal that gleamed in the darkness. She flipped it, catching it blade side, and handed the knife to him handle first.

"Wouldn't want you to miss the party," she said.

She turned and looked at the Good Samaritan. "If something happens to me, empty the magazine and run like hell, because it's not going to stop them."

"Not going to stop who?"

Sio held the hard weight of the blade in his palm and wondered if she'd 'tinkered' with that too. "Since you're playing fairy godmother and all, I want one more thing," he said.

A strange expression crossed her face. "You can ask, but I'm not making any guarantees."

"I want your name."

There was a beat of silence as she turned and started off down the tunnel. "My name is Tian, Sio."

Sio blinked, struggling with the gravity of burgeoning intimacy. Whatever had caused it (because it couldn't have come from such a simple exchange), he felt the need to get closer or just get the hell away from her in equal measure.

"Uh, not that anyone cares, but mine's Loren. I'd say it was nice to meet you guys, but I'm still a lil iffy about that."

"You and me both," Sio said.

"Are you coming, or are you gonna stand there waiting to bleed?" Tian asked.

"We're coming," Sio told her.

Beside him Loren moved with the muzzle at eye level, as if he really did know what he was doing. "One more thing?"

"Go for it," Sio answered palming the knife. It was comforting to be armed and he didn't have the slightest doubt of his capabilities with a blade.

"You want to hit that too, don't you?"

Sio was blindsided by his body's whacked response. The wave of endorphins nearly dropped him. He fisted the dagger in his hand. "Don't be an asshole," he snapped.

"Whoa, calm down big guy. No offense was intended to either of you."

Sio reigned himself in. Unease twisted his guts and he grunted.

"Any idea who we're not going to stop with fifteen rounds center mass?"

"No clue."

"Oh good."

They trudged along in silence as Sio tried to wrap his brain around the latest onslaught of psychosis. He assumed Loren was wondering what he'd done to end up here. Chances were, they'd both deserve what they got.

****

Tian's skin itched with tension. The Slaugh were unpredictable and dangerous, and she spent ninety percent of her time in an effort not to get entangled with them. She closed her eyes and focused on the absence of noise around them. The quieter it became, the farther in the wrong direction they were going. Unfortunately, the conversation behind her was putting a serious dent in her concentration. And that was before Loren dropped the bomb that made her want to punch him.

Sio's response, however, was something she hadn't expected. And damned if she didn't like him a little bit because of it. He was a sexy bastard, but the decent part, well, that was a surprise. It did nothing to dampen the inconvenient and inappropriate reaction she was having to him either.

She extracted her left hand from the double handed death grip on her 1911 and rubbed it against her thigh, burning off pent up energy as she went back to listening for signs of the nothing that had her so worried. Tian jumped, muzzle coming up fast as a hard-core bass beat blasted down the corridor. It was the last thing she'd expected, which cranked her anxiety level.

Sio caught up to her, and the quiet weight of him at her back sent additional electric tracers over her skin. With anyone else the proximity would've felt like an invasion of personal space. As he stood there silent and looming, the idea that she wasn't opposed to his presence didn't automatically lend itself to comfort. To her right the human, Loren, stood in a shooting stance. Hard lines of concentration were etched into his clean face. Punchable comments aside, the kid didn't deserve this, but here it was and he was taking it like a man. Her chest grew warm, vibrating softly from the inside. On impulse she started talking and what came out was a surprise.

"Loren." He turned to look at her as she spoke. "If you are with us. Then I am with you. As long as I draw breath in this endless night and you step true, I will fight to protect your life from those who would take it."

"If you are with us then
we
are with you," Sio said. His voice resonated against the stone walls, echoed against the vibrations in her cells. The hand he placed on her shoulder, slid to her collarbone as he pulled her back against him. He leaned down and whispered into her ear. "As you are with me I'm with you."

The rumble of his voice reverberated through her body as if it were a tuning fork. He spoke as if he'd been compelled. The goddess sign burned in Tian's chest fluttering in time with her heart.