Before the Fall (2 page)

 

Chapter Two

7:30 p.m.

4 hours and 30 minutes before the fall . . .

L
ance agreed to meet Zach at Key West International Airport at eight o'clock. It wouldn't take that long for Zach to get there, but before he could borrow Lance's private jet and make haste to the closest connection to Olympus—St. Augustine—and answer his summons to Ares, Zach had something he had to take care of. Someone he couldn't leave behind.

Shanna.

Getting her to come without argument would involve a longer fight than the one he'd just experienced with the Vampyre, but as he pulled into her driveway, the beacon bounced against his chest, still warm from Ares's summons. Knowing what was about to happen to her world made him more determined than ever to make sure she was on that plane with him.

Keeping the guitar case securely over his shoulder, he strode up her steps and paused, before knocking, to check his watch again. She should definitely be home by now. Her police cruiser was in the driveway, but that didn't mean anything, since she only drove it while on duty. Maybe she'd gone out for a quick dinner—or, gods forbid, a date. He rapped once, dispelling that thought before it made him angry enough to leave her ass here.

No one answered. He knocked again, waited a full minute, then peered through the garage window to make sure her personal car was there. It was. Still didn't mean she was home, though.

Shit.

He made his way around the side of the house to the window that peered inside the bedroom he knew all too well. It was cracked open, which meant she was, indeed, home. Shanna was a creature of habit. She came home, cracked all the windows for fresh air, tidied up the house, then showered. Every day. At least, she had when they'd been together. He doubted her rituals would have changed drastically in the past six months.

As he inched the window upward and it gave a tiny squeak of protest, he stopped, winced, and waited to see if she'd heard. The last thing he needed was for her to think he was an intruder and pull her weapon on him. But she wasn't answering her damned door, and was leaving him few options. When no sound of movement came from inside, he inched the window open enough to squeeze his body through, and landed quietly on the carpet beside the bed.

He spun in a slow circle, surveying the room, the uniform on the bed, and the tiny crack of light coming from beneath the bathroom door. The sound of footsteps on tile inside made him pause, and his gaze caught sight of her gun and handcuffs on her nightstand. He grabbed them and slid the gun into his waistband. Then, he stuffed the cuffs into his back pocket and slipped to the corner of the room. He didn't want to scare the shit out of her, but now that he had her gun, at least he didn't have to worry about how to get her out of here without getting shot.

He waited, inches behind the door, trying not to breathe too loudly. The minute the bathroom door opened, he grabbed her, startling a scream from her as she brought her elbow back to pummel him in the gut.

He grunted but held her tight. “It's me, Shanna. Zach. I knocked but you didn't answer.”

He gave her just enough leeway to turn in his arms, and as she did so, the towel she was rubbing her wet hair with snaked to the floor, leaving him holding one damp, sexy-as-hell woman in his arms. He caught her wrist before she could slap him, then let her go and took a step back.

“So you broke in?” She punched his arm hard enough to make him wince. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Get dressed. I need you to come with me.”

“Have you been drinking?”

Damp brown tendrils clung to her face and ivory throat, and he followed their path down her full, white breasts spilling out of a black lace bra and the smooth, flat tummy, to the place cruelly hidden by the tiny triangle of silk panties. Everything inside him tensed and ached, and it took him a second to remember why he was here. Why he
wasn't
reaching for her right then and there.

But as he licked his lips to draw moisture back to his mouth, he forced his gaze back to hers, forced his temperature to cool. He'd come here to save her, not to fuck her.

“Stone-cold sober,” he said, half wishing it weren't true. “But get dressed anyway, princess.”

Suddenly realizing her vulnerable state, she snatched the towel from the floor, wrapping it around herself as she backed away.

“You're scaring me.”

He watched her gaze stray to the nightstand. Saw the momentary panic flash on her features when she noticed her weapon was gone.

“Get dressed. Do that for me, and I'll explain everything when we get out of here.”

“Screw you,” she said, hugging the towel to her breasts. “I'm not going anywhere with you.”

Zach clenched his jaw. “Remember all the shit I told you? About what I used to do for a living?”

The stuff she'd called him crazy for and left him because of?

“O-of course.”

“Yeah, well, things are getting really bad, princess, and I need to get you to safety before I can do my job.”

She snatched a pair of jeans off the chair in the corner and slid them on beneath the towel.

“Your job,” she said, her voice mocking. “You mean, slaying demons.
That
job?”

He didn't like the amusement in her voice one bit. “I only
slay demons
when they're in my way.”

He unbuttoned his shirt and let her see the claw marks from tonight's exploits that still burned like hell. “Like tonight.”

Her eyes widened, fixated on the long slashes that he hadn't yet had time to tend. “Good God, Zach. Who the hell did that to you?”

“I said I'd tell you everything when we get out of here. Put on a shirt.”

“No.”

He sighed, seeing the resolve in her eyes, in her tight shoulders. He was going to have to do this the hard way. He strode to the dresser and yanked out a t-shirt.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?”

He held out the shirt. “Put this on.”

Her darting gaze landed on something over his shoulder, and she made a mad dash across the room. Zach shot after her, catching her around the waist.

“Let! Me! Go!” She kicked out, trying to break his hold.

Twisting, he grabbed the cell phone she was reaching for and tossed it out the window. He set her on her feet, holding out the shirt again. “Get dressed.”

“Go to hell.”

“That's gonna be a short trip, sweetheart.” He pulled the shirt over her head. When she slipped her hand through the opening, he clasped one cuff to her left wrist and the other to his right.

“What the—” Shanna rattled the chains holding him to her. “Do you know how many laws you're breaking right now? Uncuff me!”

“I will. The minute we're on the plane.”

She sat on the bed, yanking his arm painfully toward her. “You're crazy, Zach, and I am
not
going anywhere with you.”

He was sick as hell of her calling him crazy.

“We don't have time for this shit.” Shifting the case toward his right shoulder, he jerked his arm back, hauling Shanna to her feet. Before she could regain her balance, he bent and lifted her over his shoulder.

He paused long enough to grab her keys from the hook by the door, her screams for help echoing in his ears as he carried her outside.

S
hanna's small pickup wasn't a comfortable fit for a six-foot-five man, but Zach squeezed behind the wheel and leaned as close to Shanna as he could to ease the pain from their linked wrists.

The minute his door closed, she stopped screaming for help and began wailing on his biceps with her small, clenched fists. “You bastard! I swear to God—”

He pressed a brutal kiss to her mouth. “Shut the hell up,” he said as he pulled away. “Damn it, you know I'm not going to hurt you.”

“No, just kidnap me! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Turn that up,” Zach barked, something the DJ on the radio said catching his attention.

When Shanna didn't obey, he jerked their bound wrists forward and twisted the volume so he could hear.

“The carnage that has taken place here in Marathon, Florida, is unexplainable, according to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office. Bodies are piling up in the city morgues with mysterious wounds that look to have been caused by wild animals. Similar reports have been submitted in other cities, including as far north as Washington, DC. Eyewitness accounts of rabid, large wolves and other wild animals continue to pour in—”

“Wolves?” Shanna said, obviously forgetting she was supposed to be pissed.

Zach cast a glance at her, hating the worried expression on her paling face.

“Zach?” she asked as they rolled out of the driveway. “What's going on?”

“I tried to tell you, remember?”

“You mean demons.” The laughter in her voice was muffled by a whiny pitch of fear. “You think what the radio is referring to are really demons? They're
wolves.
”

He pulled the truck onto the main road, watching the sides of the street for any shadows that didn't belong there. The streets seemed quiet enough, but so had his own. He wasn't letting his guard down for a minute. “You're not going to believe anything I tell you until you see it with your own eyes. And I'm going to try to make very sure that doesn't happen, because if you can see it, you're too close. Got it?”

“No! I don't
got it
.”

He should have just knocked her ass out and stuck her in the bed of the truck.

“Damn it, Zach, if you don't start talking—”

“I told you, I used to work for the Order of Ancients—”

She groaned. “No, not that again. Greek gods looking out for humans with the aid of Witches and crap. That conversation didn't end well last time.”

No, it hadn't. After a year of dating, he'd finally felt close enough to her to let her in on his most precious secrets, and she'd laughed at him just before calling him crazy and walking out of his life, taking his heart with her.

“Do you want me to talk or not?” he demanded.

She fiddled with the cuff, twisting and turning it until the skin beneath it puckered and turned red. “I just want you to let me go.”

The tears in her voice almost broke him. “As soon as I get you to St. Augustine, you can go wherever the hell you want.”

“Why? What's in St Augustine.”

“Divine intervention.” He turned the radio down and the A/C up. Despite the cool January wind, he was sweating like mad. He had enough body heat radiating off him to keep Shanna warm, too, but aimed the vents at his face to keep her as comfortable as possible. “Listen, you know me. You know I'd never do anything to hurt you, right?”

“I used to,” she whispered. “Not so sure now.”

“Well, be sure. I'm taking you to the airport. We're meeting a friend of mine. You can ask him all your questions since you won't believe my answers.”

“Why would I believe his? He could tell me anything you wanted him to say.”

Zach hit the steering wheel with the palm of his hand, the sting numbing some of his frustration. “Damn it. Just give me one hour. If I don't have you convinced before the plane leaves the ground, you can go. All right?”

He had no intention of letting her go anywhere, but if it made her less skittish to think he might, he was willing to offer her anything.

When she didn't respond, he sighed. “It's important to me. Just say okay.”

There was a long moment of silence while she stared at him. Finally she exhaled.

“Okay.” Her voice was quiet as she pushed her wet hair away from her face. “But Zach, if I don't start getting some answers soon, I'll arrest you myself. Or maybe shoot you. Depends on how much more you piss me off.”

He glanced at her and couldn't hide his smirk. “I have your gun.”

She glared. “Don't try me.”

Knowing this was an argument neither of them would win, he suggested, “How about we agree to shut the hell up until we get to the airport?”

She tried to cross her arms, but ended up with his hand on her breast. She shoved him away. “Fine.”

“Fine,” he mimicked, glaring out the windshield and taking the turn a little more sharply than required.

Trying to save Shanna was likely going to end up with him throttling her. If she didn't bust a cap in his ass first.

“What the hell?” Shanna pressed her hands to the window to see into the darkness, dragging Zach partially across the console in the process. “Zach, look!”

Sirens screamed to their right and the faint flicker of orange lit up the evening sky. “Fire,” he muttered, turning his attention back to the road.

“No, look! There, in the parking lot. Jesus, just pull over a sec.”

Zach didn't trust her enough to stop the car, but he did slow, and steered onto the shoulder so he could get a better look. Dozens of people poured out of an apartment complex, one that sat a good three blocks from the fire. With no immediate danger to them or the structure, their screams were out of place. Yet half-naked men and women screamed and wailed as they carried children across the lot and toward the grassy banks that led to the main road.

“What do you think it is?”

Zach checked his watch. He'd already wasted almost forty precious minutes getting Shanna. He was due to meet Lance in twenty. Chances were, the residents of the complex were simply being evacuated in case the fire spread. But even that logic couldn't explain the look of true terror etched on some of the closest people's faces.

A huge shadow cut through the darkness, sailing over the hood of the pickup and nearly causing Zach to careen into the guard rail. He righted the vehicle, wincing as Shanna's panic caused her to reach for the dash and their shackles to rip the hair from his arm.