Dark Secrets (20 page)

“This is priceless!”

Richard’s face filled their minds and he came across as a
larger-than-life pillar of support. They trusted him with one hundred percent
of their beings. He’d told them to jump and they’d amassed with eagerness. How
positively pathetic for them. Beneficial for me, though. I could now kill two
birds—well, more like several dozen—with one stone.

Hannah’s whisper hit my ears as my mirth faded. “She’s gone
crazy.”

A hush settled, the room silent enough for everyone to hear
the shifting of cloth, the crackling of flames gutting this piece-of-shit house
from the inside out, as someone made their way inside.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Eli growled.

“Nope.” I smiled and stepped forward to meet Richard
McGregor—the lowliest prick on the planet—in the middle of the room.

I glanced at the man in the three-piece suit and
contemplated which injury would cause him the most pain and dole out the least
amount of damage. I wanted to enjoy myself and knew I’d have to make my time
with him last. You could only kill a human once. Unless, that was, I turned him
into a vampire and spent the next several millennia showing him what a true
predator was like.

Richard steadied his beady brown eyes on me. His voice was
just as pinched and whiny as he was. “Hold your fire, no matter what happens,
you move at my command.”

A pleased expression spread over his thin, rat-like face. I
decided to let the little man talk for a bit, just so I could tell him to go
fuck himself before I cut off his dick and screwed him with it.

“Tonight, you die,” he said.

“Really?” I asked and forced the hunters to their knees.

They gasped, struggling under my command. I strolled through
the crowd, maintaining eye contact with Richard the entire time. His nostrils
flared. A vein bulged in his forehead as he came to realize things were not
going to go his way.

I caressed each hunter, tasting their minds and searching
for the ones who didn’t belong. Shifter. Demon. Demon. Demon. Shifter. Richard
had been a naughty boy. If the thought didn’t make me want to puke, I might be
tempted to spank him. As I went, I gave a little mental snip, severing the
chains that kept the hunters’ otherness in check.

Richard’s face reddened. “I should have killed you a long
time ago, you vampire whore.”

His lids swept down and I phazed, making it to him before he’d
completed his blink. Hands around his throat, I took a great deal of pleasure
in how it felt to hold his life in my hands.

“Ella! No!” Micah shouted, rushing through the door and
slamming into me.

Inertia forced me back, away from my prey. I phazed
mid-fall, taking Micah with me and pinning him to the floor across the room
when I surfaced.

“You asshole,” I hissed, shoving my arm under his chin and
forcing his head back.

A large chunk of ceiling fell to the ground, the flames no
longer content to be ignored. The hunters scrambled—a collective panic I did my
best to stoke.

“Do not move!” Richard bellowed, struggling to keep his men
in line.

I tuned them out, focusing on my former mate. He growled but
made no move to push me off him.

“Richard planned this, had hoped you would attack him in
front of more than a dozen of his soldiers. He baited you and you lost.”

Lost to Richard? Over my undead body.

“I haven’t lost anything.”

“But you will.”

I turned to the guards and shoved every ounce of power I
possessed at them. I regained control of their weak, malleable minds. I shifted
their weapons, aiming them at each other, at Richard. I focused on the trigger
and imagined fingers sliding into place, applying pressure.

Something hard bit into my cheek, throwing off my
concentration and I blinked. Micah. Beneath me, he used one hand to grip my
face.

“Do not do that,” he growled.

“He deserves to die! I know it, you know it.”

“Killing him proves he was right about you. Do you really
want to give him that satisfaction?”

Another chunk of plaster and wood crashed to the ground. The
sounds of struggles reached my ears as the men snapped, one by one, and started
turning against each other.

A low, rolling ache swept through my lower back and curled
in, toward my womb. I clenched my jaw. The brat couldn’t withstand much more of
my surging energy. Irritation surfaced, but I knew what I needed to do.

My hold slipped and I reluctantly let go of the men. Fear
filled the room as they realized they’d been mind-fucked. When I tried to pull
away from Micah, his strength increased and held true.

“You know as well as I do there are shifters and demons out
there, fed the same line of bullshit you were. He needs to die. You can’t stop
me from chopping off his head.”

He cut his swirling green gaze from mine to the troops who
had control of their weapons. Beams of transparent red light cut through the
haze of smoke.

“Get the fuck out of here,” he called out. “Richard is a
liar and a cheat. Ella hasn’t done anything to merit a death warrant. None of
us have.”

“Wrong,” Richard seethed. Sweat poured off his skin. “I’ve
got a warrant, proof. She killed four agency hunters days ago. She’s a
soulless, blood-sucking bitch. Her time here is done. Kill her! Anyone who gets
in the way deserves to die for protecting her.”

“He lies.” Castro’s voice rang out and a powerful wave of
doubt went with it.

The demon lord’s tall, lithe form came into view. His
emotions crashed against me and I threw up my shields before I was infected.
The men looked to each other, to Castro, back to Richard.

“Do not be his instrument of death! Let your council decide
her fate tomorrow at the trial.”

The moment Richard saw him, something sparked in the agency
leader’s gaze—something more than terror. Silent communication passed between
them that spoke of a long-buried history I didn’t really give a fuck about.

I had things to do, people to kill and dawn wasn’t far off.
A good place to start was right fucking here. I could taste the sulfuric flames
roiling in Castro, how much he craved Richard’s annihilation. Perhaps I could
take control of the demon and help speed the fire along, trap everyone in the
house and listen to them burn to death.

Micah tightened his fingers. “Babe,” he growled, as if he’d
read my thoughts.

I reached out mentally to sync with Castro. A sharp slash of
pain stabbed me in the stomach and radiated out. Fucking brat! I stared at
Micah, the reason for the demon spawn growing inside me, and knew I’d need to
retreat.

I’d leave…in just a second. I grabbed a fist full of Micah’s
hair and brought his face to mine. Dozens of gazes burned into me and I knew I
had a captive audience. “We’ll finish this later.”

I adjusted my position and rammed my knee squarely against his
nuts. He grunted with pain and I phazed to the first place I could think
of—Julian’s mansion. I stepped next to the opulent bed decorated in rich hues
of purple and red. I’d been reborn in this bed seven years ago.

I glanced at my sire’s nude, partially healed body. On a
positive note, I had something to entertain me all day long.

Ella vanished, leaving my cock and balls bruised—my temper
red-hot. When this shit was over, I was going to chain her to the bed and keep
her ass glued to one spot. Thick, black smoke plumed into the air and made each
breath a struggle. Flames licked the walls, consuming everything in their path.
I coughed, waving the haze away as I got to my feet.

What a cluster fuck.

Through the pulsing darkness, I fought my way across the
room to where my uncle advanced on Richard. Rage engulfed the room and I sensed
the squad’s growing agitation. Eli stepped to my side and I spared him a
glance, thankful he was seemingly in one piece. He was a bit bruised, a lot
bloody, but he was still standing. I’d take it.

“Castro,” I warned, stepping between him and Richard.

I pushed on my uncle’s chest where blood oozed from several
gashes splitting his shirt and skin open. He hissed, but the pain got his
attention and the blanket of emotions gave way to the oppressive heat of the
growing fire.

He met my eyes and I flicked my gaze to the men around us
and then back to him. “Now isn’t the time and this place isn’t going to hold up
much longer, we need to get everyone out of here—go after Ella.”

He drew in a slow breath, nodded once and stepped back. I
turned and glared at Richard—the man who’d hurt my mother, killed my father and
then lied to me. There was so much I wanted to say but couldn’t—not yet.

He’d played his cards too early and lost. I wouldn’t make
that same mistake.

“You can’t protect her forever,” Richard snarled, his anger
flushing his cheeks.

The house groaned in an ominous warning. I met his gaze
without flinching and stepped into him. An underlying current of urgency
whipped through the room, self-preservation telling the hunters and my family
to get the fuck out of the house before it collapsed. I focused on Richard, on
the pleasure I got as he backpedaled to keep distance between us. He was
afraid—as he should be.

At my sides, I curled my hands into fists and fought not to
throw a fireball at his head. Two hunters moved through the darkness like
shadows—on their way to intervene, I was sure—but my brother was there to block
them.

My voice was low, a rough whisper. “You made a big mistake
coming here tonight. I suggest you leave before something happens to you or
your men.”

Richard puffed out his chest. He appeared mindless to the
fact he was now outside, the wind blowing the thin strands of his hair over a
bald spot on his head. “Are you threatening me, boy?”

“You bet your ass I am.” All of the beatings he’d dealt me
over the years surfaced. The times he’d gone after Eli when I hadn’t been
around to absorb our so-called father’s anger. Screams filled my head, Richard’s
words playing on an endless reel of hatred.
You’re weak. A pussy. A brat. A
bastard. Your mother was a whore. You are nothing.

I shook off the near-paralyzing hatred. In my gut I knew
Richard would get exactly what he deserved in the end. “I’ve only got so much
patience and it’s been a really shitty night. Me and you,” I pointed between us
and infused my voice with as much venom as possible, “we’ll finish this at the
trial.”

I was going to hammer the last nail in his coffin and spit
on his grave. Anticipation had my blood surging, a quick, pounding tempo.

Shadows passed through his eyes. He reeked of desperation
and sweat. Pathetic. I couldn’t wait to expose him as the abusive, manipulative
fuck he was. We stared at each other, me not backing down, him buckling under
the weight of my demon and my conviction. I let a slow smirk curl my lip,
knowing I’d won this round.

“Move out!” Richard shouted.

Eli wrapped his hand around my arm and pulled me to the side
as the squad followed their orders. The house dissolved into chaos—men
assembling into formation, chunks of ceiling falling to the ground and the loud
pops and cracks of wood submitting to the flames. Dante and Castro shouted at
each other over the roaring whoosh. Through it, I never broke gazes with the man
who’d made my life a living hell.

I stepped out of the oppressive smoke filling the house and
into the pre-dawn night. Wind gusted and streamed over me, soothing the heat
pulsing inside. The agency hunters piled into black SUVs and sped down the
driveway, the red glow of taillights disappearing from sight.

“Now what?” Hannah asked through a cough.

I turned at the sound of her voice and drank her in,
grateful Ella hadn’t snapped her neck. Black soot stained her face, mixing with
what looked like one hell of a bruise at her jaw. Dante stood beside her, blood
dripping from his forehead. Eli and Castro, side by side, both looked the worse
for wear. Behind them, the Victorian went up in a dramatic blaze of flames that
shot into the night sky and whipped in the wind. The house almost completely
engulfed, I couldn’t muster any sentimental reason to try to salvage the house.

“Castro, the files for Ella’s trial—are they still safe in
the Vault?”

He nodded and peeled off his ruined jacket and shirt,
exposing vicious claw marks ripping his skin open. It looked like he’d been
attacked by a pack of dogs.

“Where are the rest of the Fenrir?” Eiven had left some of
his wolves behind—creatures Ella had control over.

Castro’s nostrils flared. His jaw tightened. “Dead.”

No time to ask how or why. I closed my eyes and tried to
think of where Ella would go. The sun would be up within a matter of minutes,
not that she’d be concerned about it. Travel time was a non-issue for Ella. I
paced, my boots crunching over the snow-covered ground.

Anger surged as the answer hit me. Oh, I knew where she’d
go—somewhere she had absolute power. To Julian. To Eiven. Men who’d do anything
for her—to her—when she asked.

I came to an abrupt halt and stared at the violent flames.
They mirrored the battle inside me. Would Ella fuck the wolf? Rage consumed.
She would. The woman who’d just handed me my nuts wasn’t my Ella, not at all.
My Ella would have stayed as far from Julian as possible.

I addressed my family. “We’ll find her at Julian’s.”

Eli crossed his arms over his chest. “We need a plan.” He
motioned to the house. “You weren’t here, but we got our asses kicked and I have
a feeling she was just warming up. Crazy, evil Ella is scary. She got inside my
head, dropped me to my knees and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. We
aren’t prepared to fight her again.”

I rubbed my palm over the stubble on my jaw and cheek. Every
second I wasted here was another she’d be in another man’s bed. I probably
should’ve been more concerned with her ripping out hearts and eating babies.
The demon didn’t give two shits about any of that other crap—he cared about
fucking, killing and vengeance.

Could I, the man, handle her being with someone else? I had
no right to hold it against her—but I didn’t think I could.

“Fuck the plan,” I said. “We need to move. Now. You said her
soul might reject the body. For all we know, she’s stopping for a pre-dawn
snack.”

Castro ran his gaze over me as if studying me, debating on
something, before he looked away and stared at the fire. “Micah’s right—the
situation merits urgency. We should go after her.”

Hannah nodded her agreement. “To restore her soul we need
the Blade of Souls.”

She’d been stabbed with it. If I knew Ella, and I did, she
wouldn’t have left it lying around. She’d keep it close. The thigh scabbard
perhaps? “She’ll have it on her.”

Eli nodded, confirming my suspicions. “How’d you know that? It’s
strapped to her thigh.”

“I know my woman. Soul or no soul, Ella would never leave a
weapon that made her vulnerable lying around for someone to use against her.” I
looked up to the lightening sky. Frustration consumed me. Not only did she have
one hell of a head start, she wasn’t going to just hand me the blade. “This
phazing business is bullshit. She isn’t going to let us get close.”

Dante drew Hannah to his side and pressed a kiss to the side
of her head. “Can you pin her down? Keep her from phazing somehow? You don’t
seem to be affected by her the way we are.”

“She can’t get into my head.”

“Because you were meant to be,” Castro said
matter-of-factly. “You are two halves of the same whole. Neither is stronger
than the other when they tap into their true potential.”

True potential? Sounded like a fucking episode of
Ninjago
,
a cartoon I’d caught Eli watching last week.

“I could detain her, for a second, maybe. But trust me, if
she didn’t want to be there—she wouldn’t be.”

“A necromancer,” Castro suggested.

“You got one in your back pocket? Listen. I’m not going to
stand here and discuss this while she’s out there doing whatever the fuck she
wants.”

My uncle frowned, still lost in his own conversation. “It’ll
take time to round one up. Time we don’t have.”

Hannah’s face lit up and I latched onto the hope radiating
from her. “A spell. I know of one that allows the caster to control the dead.
Technically without her soul, Ella’s dead, right?”

I cocked my head at her, wondering if the fight had knocked
loose some of her smarts. “Technically. But, Hannah, where the hell are we
going to get a witch or a wizard to perform the spell? Roy’s laid up in the
hospital.”

Her smile spread in a way I didn’t like. “I’ll do it.”

Dante cupped her cheek and drew her gaze to his. “Darlin’,
normally I’d be all for you exploring your badass nature but not with this.
Ella wants you dead. I came too damn close to losing you today, and there wasn’t
a fuckin’ thing I could do about it. You stay here.”

This could work.

“Shut up a second, Dante.” I studied Hannah. With her
eidetic memory, anything she read and saw stayed with her. “You could pull this
spell off?”

She nodded eagerly. “I know the incantation—I picked up a
Grimoire one day when I was bored a few years ago. As long as I can find the
ingredients, I’m good to go. The only thing I’m unsure about was the blood
sacrifice it called for—it was kind of unspecific about what kind.”

Castro rubbed his jaw and nodded. “Use your own blood. Roy
is a wizard, magic runs in your familial line. This is the best solution.”

“No,” Dante growled, stepping in front of Hannah. “Find
another way.”

Eli clenched his jaw as if he wanted to say something. My
brother radiated jealousy, something he was going to have to check at the door.
Whatever his thoughts were, he kept them to himself.

“I’m doing it,” Hannah declared, the fierce look in her eyes
making Dante shake his head in resignation. “Who’s going to stay here and talk
to the fire department?”

I turned to the burning house. “Let it burn.”

Eli brushed past me, toward the car. He pressed a hand to
his side, wincing with every step. “Let’s go, then.”

I lifted an eyebrow at the pain etched across his face. I
caught his arm, stopping him from advancing any farther. Shit, I hadn’t even
asked for details about what Ella had done. “You okay?”

He batted my hand away. “I’ll heal. Let’s go get your woman
and save her from herself.”

I made it two steps in the direction of my car, Castro’s
voice stopping me.

“Micah.”

I looked at him and hoped my gaze conveyed the fact that I
was seconds from ripping his fucking head off. I needed to leave five minutes
ago. “What?”

Against the backdrop of the burning mansion, streaks of
purple and pink crawled over the horizon ahead of the sun’s approach, trapping
Ella in place. Somehow this didn’t make me feel any better. Was she above the
wolf, or under him?

“Driving will take too long.” Castro drew out a blade and
slashed it across his wrist. Blood dripped, smoking where it hit the snow on
the ground. “Use a portal. Won’t be pretty, but I can get us where we need to
go, or close enough at least.”

Thank fuck. I closed the distance between us and cupped his
shoulder, gripping tight to show my appreciation. “You go get the ingredients
Hannah needs for the spell and meet me there. I’m going to make sure Ella doesn’t
do anything she’ll regret. I’ll stall her as long as I can.”

Castro took the bloody knife and slashed the air, creating a
swirling vortex. Electricity crackled. When the hole was big enough to go
through, he handed me the blade, hilt first.

“Head in, focus on where you need to be and let your senses
guide you. You’ll feel the tug in your stomach. Use your blood to create an
exit point. There are better, smoother ways to do this, but we don’t have time,
not right now.”

I nodded, wrapped my fingers around the blade. “Should I be
worried about a time lapse?”

“Shouldn’t be a problem, not for something like this.”

I looked to my brother and hoped to hell it wasn’t the last
time I’d see him. “You know where to go?”

He nodded. “Hannah’s got it. Go.”

I took one step and then paused at the realization I didn’t
know how to fix Ella. “Let’s say by some miracle I get the blade from her, then
what do I do?”

“Stab her through the heart,” Castro said.

Fuck no. My heart stopped and I replayed the horror-stricken
look on her face that was forever trapped in my mind when I’d staked her
instead of Julian. One inch lower and I would have killed her.

Oblivious to my reaction, my uncle kept speaking. “The
crystal will shatter, releasing her soul. From there, we hope.”

I repeated his instructions, not able to get past it—shove a
blade through her heart. Right. No. Problem. Asshole. “And if it doesn’t work?”
If I killed her instead of saving her…

He gave one quick, sharp shake of his head. “The Ella you
love wouldn’t want to be a monster. This needs to be done. If her soul rejects
her body, she’ll go by way of the ash. If the soul takes…well, then you’ll
know. Go, we can’t waste any more time.”