Firefight in Darkness (30 page)

Biting her tongue to center herself, she stepped forward into the alley, her hand itching to reach behind for her weapon. But she didn’t want to scare him away, didn’t want him to know she was armed. She wanted him to think that she had come to him to surrender, to give him what he wanted.

She stepped forward a few feet, her eyes scanning the alley. It bothered her that she couldn’t see the end, that it was too shadowed by the dark of night for her to make out more than vague outlines. And as she was staring at those outlines, wondering if she was looking at trashcans or something much more sinister, she caught movement off to her right.

Her head jolted to the side, her eyes locking on a figure that moved towards her, sliding over the ground. Her heart lodged in her throat as she stood her ground, determined not to scream. He wouldn’t see her afraid, she wouldn’t allow it.

But when moments later the slithering dark shadow on the ground began to morph into the shape of a human, still guarded by the shadows, she couldn’t help the shiver that raced through her body. And when that figure stepped out into the yellow light of the streetlamp, the sight of his grinning face stopped her heart.

“Blythe.” His voice was a whisper, deep but hushed, as though he didn’t want to startle her, or felt no need to speak louder. And the truth was, she heard him loud and clear in the silence of the alley.

He looked so different now than what she had remembered from the night club in Los Angeles weeks before. Then he had simply been another guy on the dance floor, with dark hair and no distinguishable features. But now that she really took a good look at him, it startled her to see just how unique looking he was. How she had missed any of it was beyond her.

His hair was jet black and long, pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. His raw boned face was tanned and sharpened, with high cheekbones and a narrow, crooked nose that ended in a point. The mouth beneath the nose was curled back over perfectly straight teeth, in a grin that was more evil than any she had ever seen. And his eyes, Lord, his eyes were the same amber as hers, but harsher, and impossibly more vivid. They seemed to glow under the shadow of his dark brows, staring at her with both lust and loathing.

“You have come to me, alone? I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come at all…oh, but you’ve shown up at just the perfect time. I have a surprise that I know you’ll enjoy.” He kept walking towards her, slow and deliberate, each step like a carefully planned waltz, gliding without pause.

She fought back the urge to attack him tooth and nail, knowing she needed to get him right where she wanted him. Just distracted enough for him not to notice the bullet she’d plug right into his gut.

“I came alone because I wanted to thank you, for giving me the truth.” She told him, relieved her voice didn’t betray the rioting emotions rushing through her. Lifting the necklace, she smiled coyly at him. “And to thank you for these. I’m wearing them, after all.”

“I knew you would.” He chuckled as he reached out to her, his hand trailing down her cheek. He was several inches taller than her, and thin as a rail with rangy muscles visible beneath the shirt he wore. She flinched when he touched her, and the fact that she did so made him laugh even more. “Ah, but you won’t let me touch you?”

Gritting her teeth, she cocked her chin up at him. “What do you want from me, Dante? You’ve shown me the truth about my grandmother, what else do you want?”

His eyes flashed wickedly as his grin spread wider. In a swift and dangerous move, he reached out to grip her neck just under her jaw with one hand while the other pressed into her back, pulling her violently against him. He leaned down until his mouth brushed against her ear, and what he whispered to her had bile rising in her throat.

“I wanted to make you my wife…we would make such a great team, you and I…but you’re spoiled now.”

He whipped her back and grabbed her hands just as she was about to burn him, shaking his head, cool madness in his eyes. “Tsk, tsk, Blythe. You’ve tried that already, remember? The revolver you carry would be much more effective, but as you can see,” he reached behind her smoothly and removed the gun, tossing it to the side carelessly, “you no longer have that defense.”

“You bastard, I’ll kill you with my teeth if I have to.” She snarled, bucking against him to try and free herself. He merely grabbed hold of her with surprising strength, pulling her to the ground and pinning her.

“If only I’d realized before what a rotten whore you are, Blythe, I would have never pursued you. Oh, don’t think you would have found me otherwise, I’d be on a beach somewhere far, far away from here. You and the idiot bounty hunter only found me because I wanted you to. But now that I know you’ve let him have you, you’re ruined.”

“I would have never been with you, Dante.” She said through clenched teeth, still fighting against the hands that held her down. “Haven’t you ever heard of goddamn incest?”

The red glow that flashed through his eyes then had her fighting even harder, until her skin was raw and bruised from both his hands and the sidewalk.

“I thought because you looked like her and acted like her that you would be like her, but you are nothing close.” Infuriated, he lifted her and slammed her against the ground, causing her to smack her head hard on the concrete. Stars sprung out behind her eyes as she gasped for air, the pain tearing through her viciously. “Damnit, you are such a disappointment. All of my efforts, for what? For a worthless, selfish slut. Well, none of that matters now, as the second part of my plan is about to begin. You see, I had hoped to take you with me to Euphora as my new companion, and then you could tell them all what you’ve learned and I would be welcome back to my true home. Oh, I would have still killed them all for their sins, the goddamn hypocrites, but at least they’d die knowing they were fools.”

She groaned as he shifted, pulling something out of his pocket. “But, as it so happens, you won’t be at my side. You will be here, helpless to do anything, as I destroy everything you love. That’s justice, darling.”

He uncapped the syringe and before she could do more than flinch he’d slipped it into a vein in her arm.

“Relax now, let this kick in. You should be awake again in, oh, a half hour or so. Then you will be in for a splendid surprise.”

With that, he lifted her bodily and stowed her away nearby where she was hidden in the shadows. The world was spinning beneath her as she tried to fight back, but her arms felt like useless air and the dizziness consumed her as she drifted piteously into blackness.

♦ ♦ ♦

She awoke to the sound of voices. But though her eyes could open, her vision was blurred and her body felt paralyzed. She managed to glance down and see that he had tied her up with rope, and had gagged her. Tears sprung in her eyes as she choked, resisting the gag. But the effort it took to move against her bonds made her stomach riot with nausea, so she stopped, closing her eyes and fighting to breathe it away. No way was she going to vomit against this gag; she would choke and die.

She heard the voices again as her system began to come fully back, and managed to open her eyes again. She spotted Dante standing in the light of the streetlamp, someone else at his side speaking in hushed tones. It sounded like a woman, Blythe thought, her mind still foggy from the drug. Was it her grandmother?

No, Bristol was dead. Then who was it?

Forcing her vision to clear, she stared hard at the figure, and when the woman tilted her face up to look at Dante, she felt her blood freeze.

Mother. What in the hell was Nyxa doing here, in Richmond, in an alleyway talking to Dante?

But the answer came to her with one swift, vicious punch. This was the surprise. Dante was using Nyxa to get onto Euphora. That was why she had been acting so strangely lately, and why she had been disappearing. She had been meeting with Dante, plotting against her own family, most likely Brock, and now she was ready to assist Dante in getting revenge for the two of them.

Feeling sick again, Blythe tried to free herself from the ropes, knowing she had to get home, had to warn everyone.

“This can’t fall back onto me.” Nyxa’s voice rose in a shrieking pitch that shocked Blythe back to reality. “You get to that bitch and destroy her, and take whoever else with you, I don’t care. Just leave Brock. Once Serendipity is gone, he will finally be free of her spell over him and he will love me and only me.”

You goddamn selfish bitch, Blythe thought violently as she felt her blood boil in her veins. I always knew you were rotten.

“Anyone else, but Brock?” Dante crooned, confident and slick as he stroked his hand down Nyxa’s arm. She was too self involved in her own hatred to notice the glint of evil in his eyes.

“Yes, yes, Capri, Thea, I don’t care. Just leave me Brock.”

“Very well.” Dante chuckled as he shifted away from her, his thin frame casting a long, narrow shadow across the ground. He suddenly began to speak in the language of demons, the sound guttural and throaty, and out of the shadows suddenly came men, bulky and dangerous looking, equipped with what looked like demon weapons like what she’d seen back in Phoenix. There must have been ten of them, and Blythe sat helplessly in the shadows against the brick wall, fearing for her family.

Good God, he’s going to raid Euphora again, she thought wildly. She tried to shoot fire from her palms, only to realize he’d covered her hands with aluminum foil and bags, eliminating the oxygen. Without the oxygen, her fire couldn’t form.

Tears spilled down her cheeks as she watched one of the brutes drag a potted tree into the alleyway, setting it in front of Dante. He gestured gallantly to the tree, his eyes on Nyxa.

“Madam, if you would be so kind.” He smiled, watching her as she stepped towards the tree and gripped it tight with her right hand.

“All of you, grab onto the tree.” Dante instructed his men, doing so himself. Just before Nyxa transported the group of them to Euphora, Dante glanced over to where he knew Blythe was hidden in the shadows, and grinned wickedly. And in a flash of golden light, they were gone.

♦ ♦ ♦

In the instant that the golden light faded, Blythe saw Jax burst into the alleyway, pistol grip shotgun in his hands, aimed at what was no longer there. He glanced around wildly, his heart racing as he stared at what looked like a now empty alley. But, damnit, he had just seen the flash of light, it had to of come from somewhere…

Blythe used whatever strength she could muster and shifted her body against the ropes, attempting to crawl along the ground towards Jax. She made it about three feet before she collapsed and her chest heaved for air, but it was just close enough.

He spotted her and raced over, whipping out a sharp bladed knife from his boot and slicing at the ropes.

“Goddamnit, Blythe.” He huffed out as he yanked the ropes off of her, then pulled the bags off of her hands and the gag out from her mouth. She gasped for air, her body heaving with nausea from the drug. He held her upright, fighting for control as he examined her body, terrified he’d find her bleeding. “What the hell happened? Are you hurt?”

In response she gripped his arm with near violent strength, her eyes wild and frenzied. “He’s going to Euphora. He’s going to kill them, all of them.”

“Jesus.” Cursing under his breath, Jax pulled her to her feet. “Can you walk?”

“Damnit, I’m fine, we have to go!” Blythe barely even spared him a glance as she stumbled to the tree that was still sitting in the center of the alley, looking as misplaced as a palm tree in the snow. Without hesitation, he followed her and gripped the tree as she did, and listened as she chanted the words she’d used all her life. Golden light flashed around them as the alley faded away and the meadow appeared in its place. Only it felt as though they had landed not in the middle of a peaceful, nighttime field, but on the precarious outskirts of a war zone.

Beyond the wall of the courtyard, balls of fire shot through the air, exploding in trees and onto the ground. Cries and screams and eerie laughter resonated through the air, echoing off the stone walls. Fear gripped her heart as she sprinted through the meadow and opened the gate, her eyes now seeing the demons wreaking havoc inside her home.

“God, they’re everywhere.” She started to race forward, only to have Jax pull her back.

“Where’s my gun, the one you took when you left me sleeping?” She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was irritated with her over it, but that hardly mattered now.

“Dante threw it somewhere, I don’t know.” She managed, straining away from him. “I’m sorry, okay? I made a mistake, a big mistake. I’ll pay for a new gun.”

“Damnit, it’s not that.” He growled, reaching into his boot for a second, smaller, revolver. “This is loaded with the liquid nitrogen bullets. I don’t want you unarmed.”

She took the gun from him numbly, her eyes meeting his as she blinked away grateful tears. “Thank you, cowboy.”

With that, she raced away from him and plunged into the turmoil. Around her, the demons were darting through the trees, lighting fires and maniacally firing gunshots into the air. One of them had a demon fire whip, which he was snapping in the air as he approached the castle. Dante and Nyxa were nowhere to be seen.

To her relief, she spotted the adult members of her family standing at the entrance to the castle, preparing themselves to fight. The younger ones were likely holed up inside where it was safer. How they had woken up and assembled so quickly was beyond her. Hell, Dante and his crew had only arrived minutes ago…

Pushing the thought aside, she ran full speed down the cobblestone pathway, dodging fire and bullets as she went. Her body was still weakened, but her resolve was iron strong. Determination alone kept her mind set and her body moving. She shoved away all traces of pain from the wounds on her head and arms, and focused entirely on her goal of reaching the castle. Her family needed her.

It all seemed like some garish nightmare, she thought, chaotic and unreal. But then she realized that she had had this nightmare, and now to her horror it was coming true. Whether it had been a premonition of sorts or just a culmination of her greatest fears, she couldn’t know. But the simple fact remained that this was real now, and she was primed to fight.