From Burning Ashes (Collector Series #4) (36 page)

“Stay here,” I whispered in his ear and
zipped to the door, placing myself behind it. I tugged at my back
pocket, palming the item. I only had the element of surprise to my
advantage. Leaving Ryker in place would at first lower suspicion.
In the moment between seeing him and then noticing his arms were no
longer confined I would strike.

“Let’s see if my son is ready to negotiate.
Go retrieve his little half-breed pet. Slitting her throat will
help motivate him.”

I saw Ryker’s shoulders constrict, his fists
rolled into balls.

The handle of the door moved, my heart
scaling my throat.

Creak
. The door opened.

A figure stepped into the room.

Three.

Two.

One.

No battle cry or noise escaped my throat as I
slipped behind the demon. He stiffened and turned back toward me.
Too late. I drove the scissors into the side of his neck with a
gruesome squelching sound. Blood sprayed over my face. Vadik
stumbled to the side, and I followed as I pushed the metal in
deeper. I snarled, wanting to inflict triple the pain he’d ever
caused Ryker and me.

The second his men got past the shock of my
attack, chaos ensued. Men yelled behind me. Some crashed into me.
My body went flying, slamming on the ground. Ryker bulldozed past
me and hurtled for the man who hit me. The large, dark-haired
muscleman sprang for Ryker, their large forms colliding midair in a
crunch. Cadoc.

Vadik lay on the floor, blood gushing out of
his neck as he tried to wiggle out the scissors. Garrett leaped
around the two men and advanced toward me. I rolled forward, using
my momentum to hit Garret at his knees and push him backward, the
tendons behind his knee snapping. He howled, his elbows slamming
into my back. I grunted but didn’t let go until we rammed against
the wall.

Another figure entered the room, reaching for
me. Maxen. A brown ball of fur came flying at his face, clawing and
biting like a cat. Sprig got some deep slashes across the fae’s
face before Maxen ripped him away, his fingers wrapping around his
neck.
Oh. God. No.
Maxen smirked at me, then twisted.
Crack
. The sound of Sprig’s neck breaking echoed in my head
and detonated my heart.

NOOOOOOO!

Maxen threw my best friend across the room
like a baseball. Sprig’s body hit the cupboard with a crunch and
fell to the ground.

Lifeless.

A sound drove up from my soul out of my
mouth. It rang in my ears and shredded my throat. I shook with
wrath and whirled around, pouncing on Maxen. We both hit the
ground. This man had killed Daniel. And now… Another crazed scream
soared free of me, and I tore into him like a frenzied Tasmanian
devil. There was no skill or thought, simply blind rage and wrath
thumping in my fingers.

Maxen fought back, but I didn’t feel any of
his strikes, only the desire for his death. Revenge burned through
me for Daniel, the man I had once loved, my friend, my partner, my
fantasy of what could have been. And for Sprig.

All I could feel was bottomless violence and
rage. He killed Sprig. Took my best friend from me. Death would be
the least of his problems.

Vadik hunkered down near me, his hand trying
to slow the blood gushing from his neck like a river. Seeing him
there, my hands moved on instinct. Vadik wailed as I twisted and
ripped the scissors from his body, creating a flow of blood that
surged in waves out of his neck.

I flew back, my head smacking the ground as
Maxen bore down on me, his punches knocking me onto the floor. He
leaned over me. His face was torn, and he was missing a tooth.

“You fucking little bitch. I will enjoy
taking your life like I did your partner’s.” He cupped my neck, his
thumbs squashing my vocal cords. He banged my head back onto the
ground over and over as he strangled the last bit of air from my
throat. My legs kicked wildly underneath him, my nails tearing at
his hands.

I had died before like this, but I knew he
wouldn’t just leave it at that. Before I woke he’d probably cut off
my head or burn me.

It’s what I would have done.

My vision started to blur, my ears
ringing.

“Die,” he seethed. “Go join your freak pet.
Say hi for me.”

“You first.” I lifted my hands and drove the
scissors right into his heart.

He froze, losing his grip as he looked down
at his chest. His jaw slackened, and his eyes darted back up to
mine in shock.

I twisted the handles, rotated the shears,
and dug in deeper. The deep shade of scarlet began to soak in and
color his shirt. I shoved him off me. Maxen tumbled to the ground,
his eyes wide with panic.

“I will enjoy watching
you
die,” I
said hoarsely, straddling him. I tugged the shears out of his
chest. “This is for Daniel.” With all the force I could muster, I
propelled the scissors down into his throat till the handle halted.
His lips parted for air. His body jerked and flapped. I yanked them
out of his neck. “And this is for Sprig!” My arms swung back down,
the metal sliding through his gaping mouth, embedding into the back
of his throat with a gurgling tear as it ripped through to the
floor. I kept pressure on the scissors till he went still, his eyes
void of life.

My hands shook as I let go of the shears and
scrambled backward off his frame. I stared at the horror before me,
only the tips of the handles sticking out of his mouth. My darkness
could still frighten me. My gaze was unfocused as I scanned the
room. Ryker was fighting. His shoulders rolled as he battled
against four fae. Blood covered his torso, dripping down his back
like sweat. He would not last.

At the sight of Sprig’s crumpled form on the
floor, fury flooded bone deep.
Get up, Zoey. Keep fighting.
I got to my feet, ready to join Ryker, when a tall form suddenly
blocked mine.

“I am a demon, little girl. You think a pair
of scissors is going to bring
me
down?” Vadik’s navy eyes
turned black, his skin paper thin, displaying the bones and veins
under it.

A desk leg scraped across the cement floor,
drawing white lines as it moved across the floor. Lars’s power
could actually move people, control them. Vadik’s level of demon
could only move inanimate objects. Still, he was incredibly
powerful. And fast.

My mind barely grasped what I saw before the
desk collided into me, pushing me back into the wall, pinning me in
place. I yelped as the edges dug into my skin.

“I can see why my son picked you. You remind
me so much of his mother. Strong, defiant, smart, self-sacrificing.
You impress me, Zoey, but you will lose. In the end you will
forfeit your life for his just like she did.”

A sucking slurp sounded as the scissors
wiggled free of Maxen’s throat. Goo and blood matter dripped from
the blades. Vadik was controlling them with his mind. They flew for
me, stopping at the base of my throat, their sharp tips tapping at
my skin.

I heard a roar from across the room that
sounded like my name. My gaze found Ryker through the chaos. His
white eyes blistered like a neon sign, ignoring all the men
punching and stabbing him. He drove forward, dragging some with
him.

“I wouldn’t do that,
son
.” Vadik’s
words broke my attention from Ryker. “You move another inch, so
does the blade.”

He stopped.

“Here we are again.” Vadik gazed at me then
back to his son. “But unlike Peru, you two will have a dreadfully
tragic ending.” The scissors twirled like a screwdriver, digging
in.

I screamed.

“Stop,” Ryker snarled, barely able to stand
fully straight. His fae magic was probably trying to heal him, but
it could only stay even as a flood of new wounds descended upon
him.

“Not this time.” Vadik shook his head, his
blond hair sticking up in bloody points. “Look at what my
generosity got me last time.”

Another cry broke from me as the sharp edge
of the scissors pierced past the skin of my neck, hitting muscle.
Pain eclipsed my vision, blurring the room. Ryker bellowed.

Then noise and commotion at the door broke
Vadik’s attention from me. The scissors dropped to the ground,
tearing a larger hole in my flesh as they fell. Vadik whirled
toward the entrance.

The door to the office burst open. Figures
rushed into the room.

I blinked a few times, regaining my vision.
My eyes locked on a tall, scarred blond man. I knew him. Goran.
Lars’s men were here. I almost burst into tears with relief.

Vadik stood in place, which surprised me. He
watched his men go down one by one but did nothing. His eyes moved
wildly around the room, but not a finger twitched.

The fae, Rimmon, who was the size of Goliath,
crashed into the room, tearing down half the wall with him. Rimmon
swung his arm and knocked into Garrett, smashing him against the
wall. Garrett’s body collapsed to the ground in a heap.

Cadoc leaped over and slashed his sword at
Rimmon’s waist. Rimmon’s eyes flashed with anger, his fist slamming
down on Cadoc’s head. Cadoc stumbled trying to keep upright but
teetered to the side and fell. His head knocked into the desk.

More and more men pushed their way into the
room like silent ninjas. They didn’t say a word. They didn’t have
to. There were so many of them, trained and efficient, and quickly
took control.

Vadik and the rest of his men halted, finally
seeming to realize they were outmanned and overpowered. Goran and
another man moved to each of Vadik’s men, disarmed them, and lined
them up against the wall.

Vadik didn’t flinch a muscle, as if he were
actually frozen in place.

“Everything is secured, sir.” Goran spoke
into a walkie-talkie.

“Took you long enough,” Ryker snarled and
limped over to me. His one eye stayed swollen shut, and fresh
bruises and cuts bloomed across his face and body. He clutched the
desk and shoved it away, kicking the shears.

“We’ve been here for several hours now,”
Goran replied.

“You knew the whole time we were here?
Caught?” Ryker snapped over his shoulder, then returned to me,
reaching up to cup my face. His thumb brushed over the hole in my
neck, and I gasped at the stinging pain. “You okay?”

I nodded. I couldn’t quite make myself speak
yet.

Sprig
. My feet went to where his body
was. “Sprig! Oh god. No.” I went down on my knees, sobbing,
scooping him up in my arms. “I am so sorry. I didn’t protect you.”
I buried my face in his fur, tears racking my chest.

My buddy. My best friend was dead.

I sensed Ryker squat down next to me, leaning
his head into mine. He reached over and ran his fingers over
Sprig’s fur. His hand stopped.

“Holy shit.”

“What?” My head shot up, tears streaming down
my face.

“I can feel him breathing. He’s alive,
Zoey.”

A joyous whimper bent me over farther,
cradling him closer to my heart. It was soft, but I could feel his
heart patter against mine. Relief so tangible wound my broken heart
back together. I kissed his head softly. “You’re okay, buddy. I’m
here,” I whispered.

“He’ll be okay. He’s still fae. He’ll heal,”
Ryker whispered and kissed my temple. I let my forehead fall onto
Ryker’s shoulder.
My boys were all right
. He rubbed my arms,
peering over at Goran.

“Did you know we were being held prisoner?
Tortured?”

“Yes.” Goran nodded.

“They were waiting on my orders, Wanderer. I
don’t rush into situations without knowing my outcome.” A deep
voice spoke from behind Goran. Goran stepped to the side, letting
his King pass.

Ryker and I scrambled to our feet. Magic so
thick I could taste it on my tongue crowded my lungs. My seer
qualities went into overload as the King’s magic pressed down on my
shoulders. My gaze locked on to the man strolling in. The whole
room focused on him. He commanded attention. His power and
confidence gave you no choice.

“I told you before I’m always sure things are
in my favor.” Lars stepped into the room, stealing my breath for a
whole other reason. He was seriously one of the most striking men I
had ever seen. Today he wore a dark gray suit with a buttery yellow
tie, which blended with his green-yellow eyes. With his wavy hair
styled perfectly, he looked like he stepped out of a
G
Q
magazine.

His attention snapped to the other demon.
“Valefor, my old friend,” his voice mocked. “You are giving me yet
another reason to regret my decision to let you live. I showed you
kindness, and this is how you repay me? Trying to take over
my
city?”

Vadik’s eyes flashed black, but he didn’t
respond.

“I already know I am going to regret this.”
Lars tugged at his cuffs. Vadik’s body drooped, and he leaned over
his knees, sucking in air.

Ah, Vadik hadn’t moved or spoken because he
couldn’t. I knew the feel of the King’s control.

“Kindness?” Vadik’s nose flared, and he
glared up at the ruler. “Is that what you call it?”

“Yes,” Lars snapped. “A while back, I allowed
you to live. I warned you what I would do. I should have taken care
of you then. For Rez. A mistake I will not make again.”

“And one I would never have made.” Vadik
stood up, pushing his shoulders back, looking like a puffer fish.
“
Your city
, as you call it, has fallen apart. And you have
done nothing. I did what needed to be done. You are a sad excuse
for a king. You let the humans have control, have free will, and
look what happened? Chaos. I put order back in this city. What were
you doing, Lars?”

Vadik’s body flew back against the wall near
me, his feet hanging off the ground. His fingers clawed at the
invisible fingers around his throat, croaking out choked noises.
Ryker tugged me away, inching us both out of Vadik’s reach.