Beg Me to Slay (16 page)

Gripping the dagger, she approached the half demon. Mara reached for her, and Tegan answered with a solid uppercut with her left hand. Dark, almost-black blood oozed down Mara’s chin. She smiled, sending a chill down Tegan’s spine. Blood seeped through her teeth, her eyes glowed, and a sick smile curved her lips.

“I carry the blood of the white dragon,” Mara growled, pressing her right hand to Tegan’s chest. Heat radiated, followed by pain and the disgusting scent of burning flesh. Tegan’s flesh. “I sacrifice the last of the red dragon’s bloodline to my father to welcome him back to his throne in this world.”

“No.” Tegan tightened her hold on the Celtic dagger. Her father called it a dragon killer. “
Y Ddraig Goch ddyry gychwyn.
” Tegan forced out through clenched teeth. “The Red Dragon will show the way.”

With the last of her strength, Tegan slammed the dagger into Mara’s abdomen. Mara’s hand fell away from Tegan’s chest, but the pain didn’t recede. The half demon’s eyes were wide. She moved her hand to grip the hilt of the dagger protruding from her belly.

The minions stopped attacking, and Gabe yelled over his shoulder. “Get her through the portal. Now.”

Tegan grabbed Mara’s shoulders, trying to shove her back, but Mara’s demon strength hadn’t ebbed. The minions shoved forward, reaching for their leader. Gabe fought hard, keeping them away from Tegan.

She needed to do her part.

Tegan landed a punch to the Mara’s ear and followed up with a roundhouse kick that would’ve made Bruce Lee proud. Tegan let out a loud
kiai
that echoed down the alley, all of her frustration, fear, and anger in her spirit combined to power the kick.

Her boot landed right in the center of the half demon’s pelvis, knocking Mara off her feet and through the portal.

Chapter Nineteen

The second Mara crossed over, the demons stumbled backward, away from Gabe’s ax. He pursued them until they scattered and ran away. The fire around the portal flashed and vanished, taking the door to hell with it.

Dropping his weapon, Gabe rushed to Tegan’s side and knelt beside her.

“Tegan?” He scooped her bloody, burned body into his arms.

She was alive. Tough as nails, beautiful, and alive.

Her swollen, cracked lips curved into an exhausted smile. “We did it.”

His heart lodged in his throat. “We did. Now we need to get you cleaned up. You might need a few stitches.”

She closed her eyes, resting her head against his chest while he carried her to the car. Tegan drifted in and out of consciousness as he drove the Mustang around the block to the alley behind the Eden Club.

After dressing her wounds, he snapped the ice pack and pressed the cool pad to her left eye. She moaned but didn’t wake up. He needed to clean up the evidence of the fight, then he’d wash the demon blood off her and get her to the ER.

She’d have a few more scars to go with the one on her collarbone now. Her elbow and her calf had ugly bites, but it was the burn over her heart that filled him with the most remorse. If Tegan hadn’t stabbed Mara when she did, the half demon would have burned a hole right through her chest. He’d almost lost her.

Just like he’d lost Laura.

His gut twisted. Burying the guilt and pain would be impossible now. Tegan’s smile and everything he loved about her had been paid for with Laura’s blood. How could he live with the knowledge that he’d been saving Tegan while Laura died?

He ground his teeth together and opened the trunk.

Maybe this was Tegan’s chance at a normal life. The demon’s minions only fought because their master called them. With Mara and the Hingo demon dead, he could find Tina and silence her, and then no one would know Tegan was the last of the red dragon’s bloodline in her generation. But if he stuck around, the demons would come sniffing around again. They’d come after her to hurt him. Eventually she’d have to close her dojo. It wouldn’t be safe for the kids if demons were lurking around. And what about her parents? What if the demons went after them?

He grabbed the canister of necro powder and started dusting the demon bodies and blood.

This was going to be a long night.

…

Tegan woke up long enough to tell him she wanted no part of a hospital visit. After naming the months of the year and telling him the names of all the kids in her karate classes, he was pretty confident she didn’t have a concussion. Finally he took her to her place instead of the ER.

The sun cracked over the horizon when he pulled into the Red Dragon dojo parking lot. She’d told him she named it after the Welsh motto of “the red dragon will show the way.” The Welsh flag also hung on the wall inside, a nod to her heritage.

It had a much deeper meaning now.

Gabe carried Tegan up to her apartment and got the shower going. He helped her clean up and then hopped in himself after he got her settled on her bed. The hot water soaked him, soothing battered muscles, and washing all the demon blood down the drain. They’d lived. Tegan’s attacker was safely back in hell.

So why did he still feel like utter shit?

Stupid question.
He knew exactly why. He got out of the shower and toweled off. In the mirror, his demon bites looked like red, angry scratches. They were already healing, leaving behind more scars to remind him how close he’d come to losing the fight.

Gabe pulled on his sweatpants and walked out of the bathroom.

Tegan had moved and now sat at the table in her robe with a bag of frozen peas against her forehead, a bottle of wine and two glasses in front of her. “I’m on my second glass and feeling much better. You want some?”

“Got any whiskey?” He went to the cupboard so she wouldn’t have to get up. Tegan didn’t have much in the way of a liquor cabinet, but he did find a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
Good enough.

He brought the bottle over and poured a glass. He knocked it back, embracing the burning numbness on his tongue and down his throat. He poured another and downed it with a groan.

She winced. “We’re going for relaxed, not unconscious.”

“I’m fine.” He glanced at Tegan. The whiskey didn’t touch the ache in his heart. “Guess we can go pick up your car now.”

She put the bag of frozen peas on the table. “I forgot about my car.” She took a sip of her wine. “We can worry about that later, though, right?”

He shrugged, shifting his gaze to the bottle of Jack Daniel’s. Knocking back one more shot, he forced himself to put the lid back on the bottle. He couldn’t pretend the past didn’t exist, that Laura hadn’t existed. Laura never knew him like Tegan did; she’d never fought beside him, but she died because of him. Because he saved Tegan instead of going to dinner.

He couldn’t stay here.

“I need to get back to my office. Martie’s up to her ears in cases that should’ve been worked a couple weeks ago.”

“All right.” She set her wineglass on the table. “I canceled classes for next week anyway. I can help you get caught up.”

“Nah.” He got up to put the whiskey away. “I can handle it. You should rest and heal.”

He could almost feel her gaze boring a hole in the middle of his back. “Is everything all right?”

He leaned his hands on the countertop, his shoulders tensing. “I need to tell you something.”

“Okay…”

What was he supposed to say? He turned around. Tegan sat in the chair, her face covered in bruises and scrapes. Leaving was definitely the right thing to do. But, damn, he loved her.

Love wouldn’t save her
, he reminded himself. In fact, it’s what had gotten Laura killed. Guilt coiled like an angry, hateful snake in his gut. It had almost killed Tegan already.

“I need to go back to work. Alone.”

A wrinkle creased on Tegan’s forehead. “What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that you’re better off without me.”

She stood from her chair. “Wait a second. Last night you said you didn’t want our partnership to end.” She crossed her arms. “You told me you loved me. Are you saying that was all bullshit?”

The heat of the whiskey in his belly stoked the embers of anger. He would never get a happy ending like most people. He couldn’t change his destiny or his life. And losing Tegan was the price he’d pay for his failure to protect Laura.

“It wasn’t bullshit, but look at you, Tegan.” His voice stayed low and even, only the volume cranked up a notch. “We barely made it out of that fight. I’m not going to lead you into another one.” He went to his duffel and pulled out a T-shirt. “I wish it could be different, but demons are still out there. Tina’s out there. Once we’re sure she’s taken care of, there won’t be anyone but us and Lago who know about your bloodline. You’ll be safe. This is my path, my problem. Not yours.”

He yanked on the shirt and started tossing his loose clothes back in the bag. Tegan approached him as if she might be staring at an alien. “I thought we were past all this. I had your back.”

“And I left yours unguarded.” He pulled his hair back from his face in frustration. “I can’t risk your life. Is that so hard for you to understand? I failed Laura. I won’t fail you, too.”

“She didn’t understand what you were. She didn’t know how to protect herself. I do.” Tegan reached out, her fingers brushing his forearm, searing his skin with the ache to hold her. “This isn’t about Laura.”

He jerked away from her touch, his eyes burning. “Tegan, I was the one who saved you that night. She died while I was saving you.”

…

The air blew out of her lungs as if she’d just been sucker punched in the gut. Her heart clenched in her chest. “What?”

“That’s why I lost it when you pointed the Hingo demon out. I recognized him.” He picked up his duffel bag. “You ran off so fast that night I never saw your face. I didn’t realize you were the woman I saved until tonight. Hell, I didn’t even know if you were still alive. I wasn’t sure if I’d gotten to him before he bit you, or if I was too late and he’d planted a minion inside your body.”

She sat on the arm of the chair where his duffel bag had been. Her brain fumbled with puzzle pieces she didn’t want to fit together. Laura had died on the night of her birthday four years ago. She looked up at Gabe’s tortured face at a loss for words.

What could she say? Would he think of Laura every time he looked at her? Did he regret the choice he made that night?

She didn’t want to know the answers.

Tearing her gaze from his face, she stared at her hands. “I still don’t want you to go.”

The honest, bare truth left her standing before him naked and vulnerable.

“I don’t want to go either, but how can I stay? Tell me that one, Tegan.” He shook his head, staring at the ceiling. “How can I put the past behind me when every smile, every laugh we share is shadowed with Laura’s blood?” He slammed his bag on the table and opened the whiskey again. She watched him down two more shots. “I wish things could be different.”

She stood, fighting the light-headedness. “You told me not to let that attack hold me back from living. Maybe you should take your own advice.”

He left his duffel on the table and crossed to her, pulling her into his arms. The comfort broke down the weak barrier she had around her emotions. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes as his lips kissed the top of her head.

“I love you, Tegan, but the second I recognized that demon’s face, it hit me. You’re alive because I was fighting to save you instead of meeting Laura. If I had been where I was supposed to be, she’d be alive.”

And if he’d been where he was supposed to be that night, she’d be dead right now.

His embrace tightened as if he might never let go. His heartbeat pounded in her ear.

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she clung to him. “Please don’t walk away.”

“I can’t stay.”

They held each other in silence until his hand gently lifted her chin. His lips caressed hers as another tear slid down her cheek. He broke the kiss and whispered, “You deserve better than all this, anyway. You shouldn’t have black eyes and scars. Let me go.”

A sob choked her throat. “This isn’t what I want.” She forced her arms to release him. Staring up into the green eyes that had started to steal her heart from that first afternoon when she walked into his office, she took a step back. Her heart ached in her chest, but she swallowed the hot ball of emotion. “Good-bye,” she whispered.

A muscle in his cheek clenched and he nodded before grabbing his duffel. He brushed a kiss to her temple. “I love you.”

He turned and walked to the door, picking up his coat on his way out. Tegan didn’t go to the window. She didn’t want to see if he looked up before he left, and she couldn’t bear to watch him drive away. She went into the bathroom and turned the shower back on. Safely in the steam and heat, Tegan rested her head against the cool tiles and wept.

…

Gabe glanced at the window as he tossed his duffel bag in the car. She wasn’t standing there. Probably for the best. This wasn’t going to be one of those chick flicks where their eyes met, and they ran in slow motion to embrace and live happily ever after.

He got in the Mustang and revved the engine. He hurt from the inside out. No rapid slayer healing this time. This wound might never heal. Slamming his hand against the steering wheel, he growled his frustration. For once, he’d been happy, no longer alone in his secret life.

The memory of Laura’s mutilated body polluted his mind, reminding him he didn’t deserve happiness. Jamming the clutch to the floor, he pulled out of the parking lot.

When Gabe pushed through the large oak door of his office, Martie shot up from her chair. “Gabe, you’re back.”

He nodded, pulling off his coat. “Yeah. Ready to get caught up on cases.” Once he had his coat hung up, he turned to find Martie staring at him. “What?”

“Are you all right? How did it go in San Diego?”

“Yeah.” He ground his teeth together, fighting back the emotions. “We got her demon. She’s safe. Case closed.”

“Okay.” Martie didn’t look convinced, but she had the good sense to keep it to herself. She pointed a blue fingernail toward the door. “Her car is still over in the long-term lot.”

He cursed his damned heart for sputtering at the thought of seeing Tegan again. There was no way he could see her. He’d never be strong enough to walk away a second time.

“Can you give her a call to arrange a time to pick it up?”

Martie quirked her lips to the side, then slowly nodded. “Sure. If that’s what you want.”

“Thanks.”

Gabe avoided more questions and settled into his chair, flipping through the case files that were piling up on his desk. Four surveillance cases, two missing persons, and one attorney requesting he locate a couple of witnesses. Great.

He opened one of the missing-persons files, skimming the details Martie had gathered, but he couldn’t focus. He kept hearing Tegan’s voice saying good-bye. Each echo stabbed him in the gut. He missed her already.