Darkness Wanes (52 page)

“Be careful,” I warned. “The road gets really twisty through here.”

Fallon’s fingers tightened on the wheel, and he slowed a little. “I am aware. The master owned a house down here while you were living in the area.”

“Oh,” I said, feeling stupid for not knowing that. I added a few more questions to my mental list that I’d ask Lucas later. Now wasn’t the time to get into a deep conversation with Fallon about it.

The vampire stared straight ahead. I had to give him credit for his driving skills and ability to anticipate just the right safe speed for the turns. The way Grant moved on my radar felt more erratic, as if he sped up and braked hard. If he kept going south—which at this point there wasn’t any other way to go for over a hundred miles—then it would get dangerous. Fallon hadn’t gotten close enough to Grant yet for him to know we were tailing him.

“Where in the heck is he going?” I wondered out loud.

Fallon slowed when a sharp curve appeared up ahead. “I have no idea, unless he thought this was the least likely route we’d follow, or he has more people somewhere down this way.”

As we reached the mountainous portion of Big Sur, Grant finally slowed down to a more reasonable speed. It could have been because he was playing it safe with the cliffs bordering sections of the highway, or because another driver in front of him put a damper on his quick getaway. I gave Fallon an update, and he continued to close the gap.

“Don’t get too close,” I warned. “I’d rather find out where he’s going than risk forcing him to do something stupid that could get him or us killed.”

Fallon grunted his reply.

O’Connell called me back, letting me know some of the agency’s people had made it to the townhouse. I managed to give him our current location before my cell phone lost the signal. With my luck, he’d assume I hung up on him. I stared at the dark road ahead, tempted to clutch my seat every time Fallon drove along one of the sharp curves on the highway.

“Slow it down a little. You’re about to reach the distance where he’ll detect us.”

He gave me a quick glance. “Do you want this finished or not?”

I stiffened. “What do you mean?”

“This could go on for hours if we stay too far behind him. We also have no way of knowing if he has a trap set up for us somewhere, which is possible after what he did to your friend. I suggest we bait him now and see what he does.”

“This isn’t a good place to bait a crazy man,” I pointed out.

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take. Are you?”

I weighed all my options. Fallon was right that letting this continue could be dangerous for all of us. We didn’t know what Grant had planned, but it was possible if we waited too long he could find a way to escape and we’d lose him. Maybe my brother had a guy hanging around the highway somewhere ready to run us off the road, or his destination was full of armed guys with RPGs waiting for us. Grant had accepted my proposal at the townhouse a little too easily. I knew that, though I wanted to think my negotiation skills were getting better.

“Alright. Let’s end this,” I agreed, hoping I was making the right decision.

Fallon sped up and broke the quarter-mile gap.

“That’s him up there,” I said, pointing at Grant’s car on the next rise. My brother was speeding up again, but not enough to keep us off his tail.

“Good.”

A couple of miles passed. I held my breath, watching as we edged a tiny bit closer to Grant’s car. Another turn came up ahead with nothing except darkness beyond it.

I leaned forward. “Shit, if he doesn’t slow down…”

My brother’s car suddenly went into an uncontrollable skid. My heart leaped into my throat as the vehicle slammed through the guardrails and the taillights disappeared over the edge. The muffled sounds of it crashing below just barely reached us.

“Stop the car,” I ordered.

Fallon slowed the vehicle and pulled over to the next available shoulder. As soon as he parked, I jerked my door open and took off running. Grant still showed up on my radar, but his life force was weak.

I skidded to a halt at the spot where his car had disappeared and looked down into the murky darkness. As my vision adjusted, I spotted his mangled vehicle about a hundred feet below on the rock-strewn shore. The cliff hadn’t been quite as high as I’d thought and it wasn’t a straight drop-off, rather a gradual one. It looked like his car had rolled down along several rocky outcroppings. I searched for a way down and found a spot about fifteen feet below where I could jump.

Fallon grabbed my arm. “Is he alive?”

“Yeah, but probably not for long.” I had sensed enough people dying to know when they were close. Grant would be lucky if he could fight it out another ten or fifteen minutes.

Fallon let go, and I leaped down. My knees absorbed the landing, and I found more places to leap, using the strength and reflexes my immortality afforded me. A minute later, I reached Grant’s car where his head was resting against the steering wheel. There was a nasty gash on his forehead and blood covered his face.

He looked up at me with pain-glazed eyes and spoke in a raspy voice, “I knew you’d follow me.”

I tried yanking on his door, but it wouldn’t budge. “Yeah, well, now you’re going to die because of your stupidity.”

“Maybe, but I won’t be the only one.” He gave me a bloody smile. “I let the detonator go off after I got a few blocks away. While you were following me, your friends were dying.”

The sick bastard. I would have finished him off right then if he’d really managed it. “Actually, they’re alive and well. We dismantled the bomb right after you left.”

And when O’Connell called me last time, he’d told me the bomb disposal unit was already at the apartment. He would have mentioned if the C-4 had exploded despite Fallon’s handiwork.

“Damn.” Grant coughed and wheezed for a minute. “I guess I’ll just have to satisfy myself with hurting you instead.”

“You’re not exactly in any shape to do that,” I pointed out, glancing at Fallon as he jumped down beside me.

I heard Grant’s hand sifting through glass. “That’s what you think. If I hadn’t crashed and you’d gotten a little closer…”

Fallon grabbed me and leaped into the air, taking us as far from the wrecked vehicle as possible. When we landed on the next rocky outcropping, he jumped to another. A few seconds later an explosion shook the ground. Rocks started to fall, pummeling into our bodies with bone-breaking force and knocking us down with them. Pain exploded in my skull as my head smashed into a boulder. I continued my descent, tumbling farther and farther down until my body hit ice-cold ocean water. It sucked me under. I kicked and fought through the pain wracking my body until I reached the surface.

I’d barely managed to get my bearings when a wave slammed me into a huge rock, knocking the breath from me. I grabbed hold of it, ignoring my aching ribs and hauled myself out of the water. For a moment, all I could do was hack and cough until I cleared the saltwater from my lungs.

I used my radar to search for Fallon next, and detected him about a dozen feet away. According to my senses, he’d been rendered unconscious. My vision was hazy, but I felt my way over the slick rocks, crawling an inch at a time. Every movement hurt. My ribs continued to protest, and one of my ankles couldn’t bend or take any weight. Once I reached the vampire, I checked him over as best I could. Fallon had countless wounds, and his hair was sticky with blood, but at least his head was still attached. He’d live to fight another day.

Someone shouted from the top of the cliff, and lights flashed down toward us. I waved and managed to scream a few times before the excruciating pain in my head made me stop. It was all I could do not to pass out. Gabriel appeared before me, his white wings flapping as he hovered over the water.

“Don’t fall asleep, Melena,” he said, his voice loud and clear above the crashing waves. “I’ve sent humans to help you, but you must remain awake for them.”

“Why don’t you just fly me up there and save them the trouble?” I asked, squinting. Good grief, he was really bright against the darkness.

“I’ve done what I can,” he said, and disappeared.

I decided right then and there that angels were more trouble than they were worth. Slumping against a rock behind me, I waited for the rescue team. At least I could take comfort in the knowledge Grant was dead and that he couldn’t hurt me or anyone else again.

Epilogue

Melena

Party lanterns were strewn about the yard, and a white pop-up tent was set up with food and tables under it as a place for guests to eat. Not far from that, Micah and his band played some light rock music for entertainment. Nearly a hundred people had come out to our house for our late wedding celebration. Tonight marked two weeks since Lucas and I had gotten married. It seemed more like it had been a few days ago, but the time had passed quickly with all that had happened.

Lucas pulled my back against his chest. “It’s good to see you healthy and smiling.”

“It’s good to be all in one piece again,” I replied, craning my neck to look up at him.

He’d been less than pleased when I’d returned from California a few days ago, still healing from my numerous wounds. There had been even more broken bones, cuts, and bruises than I’d first realized while I sat waiting for rescuers.

“Aniya seems to be recovering well,” he said, gesturing toward the food tent.

She, Cage, and Lisette were over there eating and chatting together. It had taken Aniya a couple of days to shake off the trauma of being kidnapped again, but her boyfriend was doing a good job of helping her through it.

He was getting an alarm system installed in his house, protection wards put in place, and he’d already gotten a Labrador retriever named Gunner. Currently, Cage’s new black dog was chasing Sable along the tree line, which was amusing because she was a black leopard at the moment. Every so often they stopped to wrestle around before taking off again.

“Yeah. I think Aniya will be alright,” I replied, and turned to face him. “Much like we will be.”

“If you will ever stop running headlong into danger.” Lucas leaned down and gave me a kiss that left me breathless. Now that was an incentive to stay home more often.

It took me a moment to return to myself. “Just being around you is dangerous.”

“I’ll show you true peril later.” He pulled away and nodded toward the house. “But for now, it appears we have another guest.”

I turned and found Ariel standing on the porch. The former archangel almost looked like her old self again. She’d brushed her brown hair until it gleamed, and she’d donned a long white dress. Her expression was calm and pleasant, but I sensed that she wasn’t entirely whole. Deep inside there was a darkness haunting her that she struggled to keep at bay. Only time would tell if the wounds to her soul would heal, but we’d be there to help her.

Everyone struggled with some sort of inner demons, but what got us through the difficult times was our friends and family. No one could go it alone and hope to survive for long. I’d learned that lesson the hard way.

“Maybe we should go talk to her,” I suggested to Lucas.

“No.” He nodded to a point across the lawn. “The nerou are coming to greet her now.”

We watched as they gathered around Ariel. Their faces were lit up with hope and love for the woman who’d helped make their freedom possible. Some people might give me a lot of the credit, but I could never have done it without the former archangel—and she’d suffered the most for our efforts.

Olivia took Ariel’s hand, and I overheard her say, “We love you, and we are here for you. Thank you for everything that you’ve done.”

The other nerou took turns, conveying similar sentiments.

Ariel acknowledged them with tears of happiness running down her face. “Bless you all.”

“It was a good idea to invite them,” I said, taking Lucas’ hand.

His gaze met mine. “Sometimes, it helps to see the fruits of your labors. It reminds you that your troubles were worth it, despite the high costs.”

I smiled. “Speaking of which, you should give Patrick a call now.”

Lucas looked like he’d just swallowed a lemon. “Must we?”

“Yes,” I said sternly.

“Very well.” He took out his cell phone and made the call, letting Patrick know he could return now.

After he hung up, we made our way to Emily. She’d invited Gabby up for the weekend. The teenage werewolf was still recovering from the loss of her father, but she’d managed a few smiles since she’d arrived earlier in the afternoon. When Emily was determined to cheer a person up, it was hard for them to stay in a depressed mood for long. I felt horrible for what had happened to Gabby, and asked Lucas to set up a college fund for her. It was the least we could do.

Emily narrowed her eyes at us when we walked up. “Where’s my Dad? You told him to get the ice from the store, right? Not fresh from the Arctic or something?”

“I’m certain he’ll be along any minute,” Lucas replied, managing to keep a straight face.

True to his word, Patrick registered on our senses a few moments later. I gazed around at the party to keep my mind off of what was coming. Kerbasi was over at the food table, stuffing his face. Cori was talking to Bartol on the opposite side of the lawn, no doubt telling him the wonderful news that a house near hers was up for sale.