Demon Retribution (Shadow Quest Book 3) (11 page)

Kyra leaned her head on his shoulder again
and explained, “She’s our resident nosy old lady. If we weren’t
leaving tonight, tomorrow everyone would be gossiping about the hot
half-naked man that Kyra brought back to her apartment. But now I
guess they’ll talk about how Kyra was last seen with a good looking
stranger.”

“
Well, which is it? Hot, or
good looking?”

“
Someone’s fishing for
compliments,” she teased. When Cale stepped onto the fifth floor,
she added, “It’s a good thing you are half naked, though. No one
seems to be noticing your horns.”

“
Yes, I was wondering about
that.”

“
What would you have done
if they had?”

Kyra studied his gaze when he went quiet. He
looked like he was weighing his answer, as if trying to be careful
with it.

“
I would do whatever I
needed to,” he finally replied.

Kyra shivered at his dark tone and decided
not to question him further.

When they reached her apartment, she barked
out a curse, realizing she didn’t have her keys. Her muscles
groaned in protest at the thought of having to go back down to the
first floor and request a master key.

When she suggested it, Cale snorted. He
glanced to his right, then his left. Then, with far too much ease,
he kicked in her door. She hadn’t even been jostled by the
impact.

“
Or that works,” she
grumbled.

Rain flooded the balcony, seeping inside
through the still open door. He set her on the couch. After he
stepped away, she shivered, only now realizing how cold she
felt.

She wanted nothing more than to pass out
under a pile of covers.

Cale retrieved his shirt and pulled it on as
he crossed to close the balcony door, his feet squishing on the
rug.

“
Where’s your keys?” he
asked.

“
They’re in my purse.” Her
eyes closed for a second and it felt like heaven, but she pulled
herself to sit and took a deep breath, knowing she couldn’t give
into exhaustion.

She heard Cale grumble from inside her room.
Then he emerged, arms full of her extensive collection of bags.

“
Which one?”

She pointed to the plain black one that
she’d left by the front door. “That purse.”

The colorful pile dropped to the floor,
discarded as junk. She was about to chastise him, but stifled it.
It wasn’t as if she could take them with her. Then she saw he was
about to tug open the zipper of her purse.

“
Hey! Don’t go through my
purse!”

His eyes rolled and handed it out to
her.

Snatching the bag, she added, “You never go
through a lady’s purse.” She opened it to make sure her keys were
there. Then, out of habit, she checked her phone. “Zoey called!”
Seven missed calls, three messages. “I bet she’s worried.”

“
So she’s safe then,” Cale
said, unconcerned. “Is there anything else you need before we
go?”

“
Dry clothes from the
drawers in my room. I’ll change in the car. First, can you get me
an energy drink? There’s a couple in the fridge. The bright orange
cans.”

He did as she asked, handing her a
Jolt-n-Bolt before heading into her room.

She cringed at the idea of him rummaging
through her things. Heat flooded her cheeks. She wasn’t exactly a
grandma underwear type girl. When something like a soft groan
rumbled from her bedroom, she tried to convince herself it was the
wind.

After clicking the sequence to get to her
messages, she put the phone to her ear and slammed the bad tasting
energy drink, needing the chemically induced boost. She nearly spit
it out on the fifth gulp when she heard the panicked start to
Zoey’s message.

“
Ky? Oh, god. Are you okay?
Call me.” Next message. “Ky? I was scared, so I went to Kevin’s.
Call me when you get this.” The next message was above a whisper.
“Ky. Kevin’s going ballistic. He’s mad that I won’t tell him what
happened tonight, and he won’t let me leave to come find
you—”

Kevin’s voice hollered from the background.
“Who are you calling? Give me the phone!”

Zoey’s reply was muffled. “Kevin! Stop it.
I’m trying to—” The message cut off with a loud clang.

“
Shit.” Kyra stood, a bit
wobbly. “Cale, change of plans.”

The row of brownstone apartments was
situated in a pristine line, accentuated by purposely placed maple
trees. Kyra checked the dash clock after double parking in front of
Kevin’s door. Ten after three in the morning. The energy drink was
kicking in, but only enough to keep her eyes from closing and her
body from collapsing.

The rain battered the ground, creating a
hazy wall between them and Kevin’s front door. She hadn’t bothered
to change into dry clothing, since she would just get drenched
again. The cold, clinging fabric actually helped keep her
alert.

“
I’m going to go get her,”
she said to Cale. “She may freak if she sees you, so stay here.”
She popped open her door, and so did Cale. Over the hood of her
car, she added, “It might be best if you stay in the car,
Cale.”

“
I will wait here,” he
replied, closing the door. His tone indicated there was to be no
argument. Under his breath, he muttered, “I don’t understand. If he
hurts her, why does she go back?”

“
Fear of being alone can be
a powerful motivator.”

“
You mean fear makes you
stupid.”

“
Vulnerable,” she
compromised. “Don’t you have any fear of dying alone?”

“
We all die alone. Why
bother worrying about a fate shared by every living
thing?”

“
Then of living alone?” She
walked around to the curb. With its help, she matched his eye
level.

“
We all live alone too.
Some of us just do it in the same place.”

She probed his expression for a sign of his
emotions, but his face remained blank. “Well, that’s a dark
attitude.”

He shrugged, saying no more.

Kyra hiked the short climb to the door and
knocked hard. She looked back at Cale, who leaned against her car
with his arms crossed and his dark hat in place. Somehow, he
managed to look threatening as well as at ease.

The door whooshed open.

Kevin stood rigid, glaring at her. His
attention moved to Cale for an instant and then back to her. “Is
that him?” he snipped. “Is that who she’s been fucking?”

Cale smiled and gave a pinky wave. As Kevin
sneered back at him, Kyra noticed a couple scratches down the side
of his face.

“
Kevin, where’s
Zoey?”

“
Don’t you know?
Supposedly, she’d been with
you
all night.”

“
Let me by.”

He proceeded to cuss her out in a couple
different languages.

“
It’s always delightful to
witness the superiority of an Ivy League education.”

“
Vaffanculo,
puttana
. Get off my property.” The door
slammed in her face.

She pushed her weight against it. “Let me
in, you son of a bitch!” she cried, fist banging.

“
Allow me.” Warm hands came
over her shoulders. Cale had managed to creep up behind her. He
nudged her out of the way and then smashed his foot into the door.
It splintered and burst open just as easily as Kyra’s door
had.

She barged past the threshold, yelling for
Zoey.

The room exhibited a crisp, upper crust
space with the fingerprint of a decorator’s touch.

Huh, she’d never taken Kevin for a
chandelier guy.

To her left, a set of stairs led to a second
floor.

Kevin appeared from a side
room, spouting more curses. “You’re going to pay for that,
puttana
!”

Cale moved to block him, his back to her.
Whatever Kevin saw made his eyes widen and his color drain.

“
You’re going to want to
stop saying words,” Cale sneered. The level of menace in his tone
sent a shiver through her.

“
Where is she?” Kyra
demanded.

Kevin pointed up, not taking his eyes from
Cale.

“
Zoey!” she called again,
leaving the two men and rushing up the stairs.

Through a closed door, she heard a muffled,
“Ky?”

Following the soft click of a lock, Zoey
stepped into the hall. She cried out with a relieved sob and drew
her in for a hug, but Kyra didn’t miss the dark marks around her
neck.

“
I’m going to kill him,”
she spat.

“
No, Ky. He has family on
the force, in the government. If you do anything they’d crucify
you.”

Or you, Kyra added to herself, which was the
more likely scenario.

“
Let’s just get out of
here. I’m so sorry I came here. I was just so—”

“
I know, scared. It’s been
a weird night.”

The adrenalin that had been coursing through
Kyra’s veins a few moments ago seemed all but gone, taking with it
her reserve of strength. For a post energy-blast she was doing
quite well, but tight ropes of exhaustion were snaking through her
muscles, constricting with every breath. By the time they made it
back to the stairs, Kyra couldn’t tell who was helping whom
down.

Zoey froze when she caught sight of
Cale.

“
He’s okay, Zo.” Kyra
looked around. “Where’s Kevin?”

Cale jerked his thumb toward a side room and
replied, a bit amused, “Something must have frightened the poor
boy.” Cale’s hat dangled at his side between two fingers.

Kyra rolled her eyes. “Put that back
on.”

From beside her, Zoey gasped. “What is on
his head?”

Cale replaced the cap and winked. “Perhaps
we should go now.”

Kyra’s eyelids dropped against her will.
Opening them again was like lifting a ten-pound weight with her
lashes. Worse, an equal heaviness flooded her brain. “I’m not going
to last much longer,” she admitted. “Someone else needs to drive.”
Her vision dimmed, and she reached out—for what, she wasn’t
sure—but Cale came forward to help her stand.

“
Are you okay?” Zoey asked,
feeling her forehead in a motherly fashion.

With the both of them focused on her, she
was the only one who saw the door swing open and the outstretched
arm taking aim. Seconds before Kevin’s finger squeezed the trigger,
she twirled her body to cover Zoey. One bullet sliced through the
air by their heads. The second pierced Kyra’s right shoulder.

A few more shots echoed before a terrible
crack rang out, similar to the one created when she twisted the
neck of that creature. Then, for the span of a breath, all was
silent. She could see Zoey’s face locked in horror, looking past
her. Kyra’s mind caught up, and she knew what had happened. Cale
was no longer by her side. Kevin was quiet. Zoey had watched.

“
Don’t freak out,” she
whispered, before everything went black.

Hovering weightless in a stream of water,
Kyra tried to swim to the edge, never quite reaching it. In the
distance, tall trees reached skyward. At the bank, colorful flowers
dotted a line of shrubbery, surrounded by stone that shimmered in
the light. She dove under and pushed forward with her legs, knowing
she would never make it, yet unwilling to give up trying.

Vaguely, Kyra realized the dream was coming
to an end. Fuzzy voices echoed below the water’s surface.

“
Ha! Read them and
mourn.”

“
It’s read ‘em and weep.
And that’s what you were going for
last
hand. This hand you were
supposed to get two runs and a set.”

“
Ah, bollocks. Let’s play
that other one.”

Kyra rolled over and squinted her eyes open.
By the look of the thick window shade, she gathered they were in a
motel room. A silhouette of light bled through the edges of the
ragged material.

Her movement caught the attention of her
companions.

“
Kyra? You awake?” Zoey
asked softly.

“
Well, I’m conscious, I
think.” She rubbed her eyes.

The bed shifted, indicating someone sat down
next to her. Zoey, by the feel of it.

Kyra cleared her throat. “Where are we?”

“
We’re in a motel, near
Stony Point.”

She pushed up on her elbows. Next to a table
filled with open junk food wrappers and cards, Cale leaned in a
chair wearing nothing but a pair of dark jeans that fit him low on
the hips. There were a couple circular bruises on his chest.