Darkest Before Dawn (10 page)

“Back off!” Ryder pressed a gun to Stefan’s temple. Swirling ice vapor teased around the muzzle, dusting the barrel as it crept toward the grip.

Stefan’s eyes bored into mine. His cold leeched the heat from my body, drawing it out of my flesh. I was dimly aware of my seizure-like shivering, but it didn’t seem to matter. My demon kept trying to break through. Her attempts felt like nothing more than a fly bumping against a window. Wrapped in ice, I was solid. Hard. Unbreakable.

“Stefan. You know I’ll do it. Back away from Muse.” Ryder cocked the hammer.

Stefan smiled. Ice cracked away from his lips. He moved back. Those glorious wings chimed. Snow trailed from their crystal-feathered edges.

Ryder grabbed me by the shoulder and shoved me back. “Get out!”

I stumbled backward through the kitchen doorway and bumped into Jenna, standing rigid, gun out, aimed at Stefan.

Stefan gleamed in the sunlight. Glorious. Godly. I couldn’t tear my gaze away. The touch of winter coiled up my legs and slithered around my waist.

“Get it under control, pretty boy.” Ryder drawled, a gun a few inches from Stefan’s head. Ryder’s grip trembled. Ice clawed over his hand.

Stefan still looked at me. The smile had frozen on his lips. He hadn’t even blinked. And I knew now, it was a mask. His demon had complete control. He could draw from the veil with a single thought and kill us all where we stood. He might not even need the veil to do it. Just how powerful was he?

“Go.” His demon voice splintered the layer of ice smothering everything in the kitchen. The windows shattered. Ice and glass exploded.

I ducked away and fled through the door with Jenna hot on my heels. Panting, we stopped by the Mustang and waited for Ryder to emerge from the open door.

Stefan had lost control. No wonder Ryder had said half bloods were dangerous. He’d been dealing with this.

“Is Ryder going to be okay?” Jenna asked. I nodded, teeth chattering too much to speak. She shrugged off her coat and handed it to me. I shook my head. “Take it before you get hypothermia or something.”

“N-no. I’m okay.” He wouldn’t have hurt me, would he? Was that what he’d been doing? Was he killing me with cold?

Jenna threw her coat around my shoulders and bunched it beneath my chin. She smiled. “You’re as stubborn as he is. Deal with it.” She plucked her cell from the pocket and jabbed speed-dial.

“What are you d-doing?”

“I have to report this. He’s out of control.”

Ryder beat me to it. “No you don’t. They already know.” He ambled over, holstering the gun inside his jacket. It was Stefan’s gun, the Desert Eagle, complete with entwined scorpions etched into the grip. Ryder saw me eyeing the weapon. “He recognizes it. Helps ground him. Dunno for how much longer though.”

“Ryder... Why d-didn’t you tell me?”

He nodded at the Mustang. “Get inside the car. I’ll crank the heater up an’ get you warm.”

Obliging, I sat shivering in the passenger seat. Jenna sat in the back, eyes trained on the house, hand resting on her thigh, ready to go for her gun.

Ryder rested a wrist on the steering wheel, turned toward me, and peered at me in that way he did when I screwed up and we both knew it. “What are you doin’ here?”

“I needed to talk to him.”

“He could’ve killed you.”

“I didn’t know he was... like that.”

Ryder raised his eyebrows. “You were in Boston when Stefan brought a snowstorm in summer, right? You remember the dragon-demon eyeing us all for lunch? Don’t kid yourself, Muse. Did you think he was goin’ to be able to brush it off?”

My shoulders dropped. I sunk in the seat. “Yeah,” I said in a small voice. “He’s Stefan.”

“Not any more, he ain’t.”

My demon shifted and resettled. “He just needs time.”

Ryder looked out of the windshield at the house. It looked serene in the sunlight, as it had when we’d arrived. “Yeah, well, the Institute hasn’t decided what to do with him.”

“He can’t go back to Adam.”

“Nope. They aren’t daft. Stefan inside that place again? He’ll make Damien’s killing spree look like a fuckin’ Sunday stroll. The ward-symbols don’t stop him. Dunno why. They used to.”

Even Akil couldn’t get through those symbols. Could he? He’d summoned his true form back at Blackstone. What if the princes weren’t affected by the symbols? What did that make Stefan? As powerful as Akil?

“You’ve been up here all this time. Guarding him? Protecting him?”

“Both. Until Adam issues the order to have him... dealt with.”

“Killed.”

Ryder didn’t reply.

Would Ryder do it? Yeah, of course he would. He wouldn’t hesitate.

I pulled Jenna’s coat tighter around me. The shivers were subsiding, leaving me exhausted and miserable. “Maybe I could...” I shrugged. “I don’t know... help him somehow?”

Ryder’s left eyebrow shot up. “What, like you did just then? Muse, no offense, but you’re the last thing he needs. You push all his demon buttons. Always have.”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t bring my demon to that showdown. It wasn’t a fair fight. You don’t get it.” I glanced back at Jenna. She glared at the house, fingers twitching on her thigh. She wouldn’t hesitate to kill either. “Nobody gets it. I have a demon in me. Like him. I control it every second of every day. Mostly. Not always, but more often than not. Stefan and me, we’re the same.”

“Right, and that’s why I don’t want you in there. I got enough trouble controlling one fucked up half blood, I don’t need two.” Ryder gave me the cold, hard, military-grade stare. “Don’t even think it.”

I sighed and looked away, wandering my gaze along the tree line. “I lost Dawn, the little girl. Val has her in the netherworld. Akil is–”

“In Boston, doin’ his thing.”

“What?” I snapped my head around.

“Yup. Demon chatter has him back on top, butterin’ up Boston’s too-rich-to-care and fending off fangirls too stupid to live.”

“Are you kidding me?” I shrieked. Jenna spat a disgusted curse in the back. “He was bleeding-out in my arms a few hours ago.”

Ryder gave me a discerning glare. “You do too much lookin’ with your eyes when it comes to Akil.”

“You think he played me?” I scowled.

“Well, geez, give the lil’ firecracker a certificate.” Ryder smiled. “I love yah, Muse, like a sister. But for fuck sake, stay away from Akil. He’ll screw you over every which way but Sunday.”

I clamped my mouth closed and frowned at the galloping pony motif on the Mustang’s dashboard. Had Akil set me up to go into the netherworld, guns blazing, in a bid to rid himself of his competition? Levi. If he thought I had that much clout, he was going to be seriously disappointed. What about Dawn? He said she was powerful. He wanted her tucked neatly away, nice and safe, with me so he could manipulate us both later?

I puffed out a sigh. “Screw Akil. I have to find Dawn. I promised her I would.” When I faced Ryder, his face had softened. “I can’t let her live like I did, Ryder. She doesn’t deserve that. Nobody does.”

He nodded, understanding, and dragged a hand down his face. “You came here to ask Stefan for help?” He didn’t need me to reply. He slumped back in the driver’s seat. “Hate to break it to yah, Muse, but Stefan ain’t much use to anyone. And if he can’t control that thing inside him, he’s as good as dead.”

Stefan couldn’t help. That left only one option for back up. And I was going to kick his demon-ass for screwing with me.

A
kil was playing
hard to get. Surprise, surprise.

I swung by his office and got blanked by the tight-lipped receptionist. I left a dozen messages on the three numbers he used. I tried his various houses. Nada. With each rebuttal, I fumed. He was screwing me over again. I’d kill him. I’d suck the life right out of him and shove him in Boston Harbor and see how he liked it. Twisted, sociopathic bastard.

By the time I got home, Jonesy glared green eyes at me, declaring me unfit to own a cat because I hadn’t fed him for what felt like weeks. He twitched his tail and turned his nose up as I begged his forgiveness and unlocked my apartment. I was about to step inside when I heard laughter coming from two doors down. I knew that honeyed laughter. I’d suck the fire out of his veins and hand him over to Stefan.

I stalked up the hall and rapped my knuckles on Lacy’s door, foot tapping.

Lacy answered, bright smile plastered across her face, half empty glass of red in one hand, hair mussed. “Oh, Charlie, you didn’t tell me you knew Akil.” She gushed. Lacy didn’t gush. She wore wellington boots to nightclubs and white to funerals. She was not a fangirl.

I leaned out and peered around Lacy to pin Akil in my sights. He’d draped himself over her leather couch, looking like the cat that got the cream. His shirt gaped at the collar, revealing a tempting V of bronze skin. That smile could melt glaciers.

I put some serious heat behind my glower. How could he be sitting there, drinking her wine, warming her cheeks, while I thought he was dying in the netherworld?

Lacy giggled. “He was waiting for you, so I invited him in. I couldn’t just leave him on the doorstep.” She fanned her face, her black nail polish stark against her pale skin. She lowered her voice and said softly. “He’s hot... I can’t wait to upload this to my timeline.” She yanked down her top, revealing the rise of her breast. “He signed me.”

“Akil!” I snarled.

Lacy jumped. “It’s cool. We’re just friends, like. Right, Akil?” She turned and yelped. He stood an inch from her, towering over her young and impressionable person.

He handed her his wine glass. “Of course.” He eased by her, deliberately brushing against her body.

She practically melted in a puddle of estrogen right there.

I stepped back, let him by, and watched Lacy give him bedroom eyes as he sauntered down the hall. “Go take a cold shower. Then call me when the wine has worn off so we can talk demon-protection.”

She pointed a finger-gun at me. “Gotcha. You have awesome friends, Charlie.”

I rolled my eyes but smiled. “Sleep it off.”

“I won’t be sleeping....” She let the door swing closed.

Akil leaned against the wall outside my open apartment door, arms crossed, eyes alight.

I planted a hand on my hip. “If you think I’m stupid enough to invite you in, think again, pal.”

“That is not what I was thinking.”

“I don’t even want to know.” I stalked down the hall, entered my apartment, and slammed the door in his face. Jonesy nudged my ankles. “Stupid, goddamn demons. I think he’s dying. I’m the one trying to recruit Stefan to launch a raid on the netherworld. What the freakin’ hell...? Ryder was so right. I should listen to Ryder more often. He has Akil pegged.” I slammed cupboards and muttered a whole pin-board of expletives.

Only once Jonesy was chomping on his food did I stare at the closed door. Akil was still out there on the landing. I felt his heat creeping under the door. He wouldn’t knock to get my attention. That was beneath him. He’d wait. Let me stew. He had an eternity to wait. Well, he could damn well wait. I’d die of old age before I let him in.

He knocked.

My thoughts came to a screeching halt.

“Muse, we need to talk.”

I marched to the door and yanked it open. “You can start by telling me why you aren’t dead.”

He had the gall to look sorry, but it didn’t reach those eyes. It never did. “Immortal?” He blinked.

“Ha-feckin’-ha. What, you got a sense of humor while Levi beat the shit out of you?”

Fire flashed in his eyes. “Careful.”

“Or what?” Oh yeah. I was ready for this.
Bring it on, Prince of Hell.
I spread my arms. “You can’t get me in my apartment, mister-I’m-dying-in-your-arms-come-save-me.” I finger-walked the air. ”So just mosey on back to the hole you crawled out of. I’m done.”

His lips quirked. “Is that all you’ve got?”

“Hell, no. Stay away from Lacy. She’s sweet. You’re like the anti-sweet, whatever the word is for that.”

“The devil.”

I gaped then, quick as wildfire, asked, “Are you?”

“No, he’s in Hollywood.”

“Huh?”

“Satan.”

I blinked and shook my head. “Whatever. Where was I?”

“Insulting me.”

“Oh my god, yes. You’re impossible. You’re a murdering son-of-bitch. You get off on pain and control and fucking up peoples’ lives. You lie through your teeth. You wouldn’t know the truth if it crawled up your ass and bit you on the balls.”
Oh yeah, I could get used to this.
“You have no idea about personal space. You’re in my face the whole time. It’s wrong. People don’t do that. People respect each other’s boundaries. You stomp on boundaries. Also, you snore.”

His eyes had softened to a green-flecked hazel. He worked his lips, as though trying to swallow something wriggly and alive. Inside, he was laughing and trying damned hard not to.

Anger fizzled beneath my skin. “You think this is funny?” I snorted. “You would. Your sense of humor is so dark, even the lesser demons don’t get you.”

“Charlie, dear, are you okay?” Rosaline’s fine English accent stopped my tirade.

Akil choked off a laugh. “She’s okay, Rosaline. Just voicing a few grievances. How is the television?”

“Oh, it’s working perfectly. You’re such a nice young man. I’m always telling Charlie how she should find herself a nice man.”

Nice? I poked my head around the door. “Rosaline, you have no idea.”

“You’re very kind, Rosaline.” Akil flashed her a smile. “But Mu-Charlie is too good for me.”

Rosaline placed her hand over her ample bosom. “Oh, modest too.” She was wearing lipstick. She never wore lipstick.

I retreated to my apartment and threw my hands in the air. “You fixed her TV?” We glared at one another as Rosaline’s mutterings wafted down the hall. “You coerced my neighbors into inviting you in?”

“Yes.”

“You’re evil.” I meant it. “If you hurt them, ever, I’ll bring the fire down on you so hard you’ll never be tangible again.”

“Don’t talk dirty to me, Muse.” He stepped over the threshold and into my apartment. “I just might take you up on your promises.”

My jaw just about hit the floor. He was in my apartment. I hadn’t invited him, and yet, there he was. Panic scurried through the debilitating effects of shock. I mentally swatted it aside. Had I mentioned something about the truth, his ass, and other parts of his anatomy? I’d really said those words together in the same sentence to a Prince of Hell. I blinked a few times, swallowed carefully, and flicked my hair out of my face. “You spoke to my landlord too?” I said, voice pitched too high to be nonchalant.

“Yes, I did. He said I could visit at any time. Polite gentleman, don’t you think?”

My heart fluttered so fast I thought it might burn itself out. “What is wrong with people? Don’t they watch the news? You’re a demon.”

“But I’m so charming on television.” He quirked an eyebrow, and I had a hint right there of his grand plans.

This was unacceptable. “Get out.”

“No.” He closed the door behind him.

“Unlike my neighbors, I know what you are. I meant all those things.”

“I don’t doubt it.”

“I don’t want you here.”

“Yes you do.”

I snorted. “I really don’t.”

He moved so fast that all I got was a face of displaced air and then I was staring at his chest. I rammed both palms against him and shoved back. “No. No, I’m not doing this.” I backed away. “You were bleeding-out in my arms, Akil!”

“You wanted answers. So ask questions.”

I pressed my back against the cool apartment wall, grateful for the rigid stability. He stood in my quaint kitchen, looking somewhere between intrigued and mildly bored, the picture of sophisticated elegance in his obscenely expensive suit. Cufflinks reflected the light while his eyes captured it. Immortal. Ageless. Infinite. So toxic, he should come with a danger-of-death warning sign.

“What’s Subject Beta?” I asked. Akil’s eyes widened. He hadn’t expected that question, and that’s why I’d asked it. I hadn’t forgotten about the file I’d skimmed on Adam’s desk the night Nica died. I’d tried to meet with Akil during the last two months, and he’d eluded me. Until now.

He blinked, erasing all traces of his surprise. “Part of an Institute initiative to reproduce and utilize half-bloods.”

My mouth fell open again. I scratched around my own head for my voice, but it was gone. It took me a few moments of blustering to say, “I’m sorry, what?”

“Subject Alpha is Stefan. You are Subject Beta. There are two others in Boston that I’m aware of.”

My mouth worked, but no sound came out. My brain backpedalled. “Why?” I spoke so quietly I wondered if I’d spoken at all.

“You—or more specifically half bloods in general—are their secret weapon.”

“You’re lying?”

“No. I rarely lie. I merely manipulate the truth. I don’t need to lie about the Institute. Everything about them offends. They meddle in the affairs of demons and believe themselves above the laws of nature. It is abhorrent.” He delivered the last word with a disgusted snarl.

I hadn’t expected this. Not only was Akil in all likelihood telling the truth—shocker—but the Institute had been watching me since I was born? “But... When? Val... Sold me... I thought...”

“Valenti controls the half bloods. All of them. He always has. You were to be sold to a nameless demon. That demon had plans to hand you over to the Institute in exchange for unhindered travel to this side of the veil. Val discovered the betrayal. He retrieved you and killed the demon who dared trade with humans.”

I pressed my hands against the cool walls on either side of me. “Okay...” I’d always known my brother was responsible for my troubled upbringing, but I hadn’t realized the Institute had a vested interest in me from such an early age. They’d bargained with demons to get their hands on me. How far did their reach extend? Was Akil in on it? I lifted my gaze. “Where do you come into all of this?”

“Do you mean how I saved you, taught you how to be human, gave you a lust for life, and you threw it all back in my face? That part?”

“No.” Just had to remind me, didn’t he. “How do you know all this?”

“How do you know about Operation Typhon?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. He knew everything in that handsome head of his. I’d been so afraid of him before, I’d never asked the horrifying questions. I hadn’t wanted to know about the past. The future was all I needed. The problem was, you can’t have one without the other.

“I read a file on Adam’s desk.”

He inclined his head and looked at me through dark lashes. “The ancient Greeks believed Typhon the father of all monsters.”

“Adam.” His name slotted into place like the missing piece of jigsaw.

Akil didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. “I make it my business to observe the Institute closely. I knew about you before you were born, when you were an idea, a chess piece on a figurative board. When Valenti decimated the demon for bartering one of his half bloods, I was intrigued. I asked myself why demons and humans alike were squabbling over half bloods. I watched. I learned. I waited.”

“While I suffered?”

He held my gaze and moistened his lips. “I’m not perfect.”

Laughter bubbled up and burst from me, turning from something light and jovial, to dark and menacing. The putrid thing knotted around my heart tightened. I choked back the insane hilarity and clenched a fist to my chest. I never expected the truth to hurt. My legs wobbled. I bowed over and planted my hands on my thighs, trying to control my breathing. I was used to being a worthless half blood, a demon plaything. I didn’t expect anything from demons, only the worst they could do to me. But Adam had tried to buy me? And to know Akil had watched me all those years. While I’d been shoved from demon to demon, he’d eyed me from a distance. Everyone seemed to know all about me while I stumbled about in the dark, groping for answers.

“Who was my mother?” I asked softly, waiting for the tightness in my chest to pass.

“I don’t know. I suspect she succumbed during your birth or was killed soon after. You father, Asmodeus, is brutal.”

I looked up. “You knew about my existence before I was born, but you don’t know who she was? Can you tell me anything about her?”

“No. I had other priorities. I avoid stalking human women, present company excluded, especially females under the wing of another prince.”

“Do you think I’m maybe like her?” I didn’t know why I asked. I’d never really thought about her before. I’d wondered, briefly, what it might have been like to have had a normal childhood, but pining over a past that could never have been wasn’t for me. The future, that was me. I lived for tomorrow. I didn’t ask questions. I didn’t care. One foot in front of the other, always moving forward, always running headlong toward hope.

“I think...” he lowered his voice to a soothing timbre. “If she was anything like you, she’d have rained hell down on them all.”

“You’re damn right she would have.” I straightened and pushed off the wall. I staggered somewhat, but Akil knew better than to reach for me. His dark eyes watched me approach him, drinking in my stride. I stopped inside his personal space, placed a hand on his chest, and stood on tiptoes to plant a chaste kiss on his cheek.

He turned his head and looked down at me as though trying to solve an exasperating puzzle. Surprise muddied the amusement in his eyes.

“You should try the truth on for size more often. It suits you.”