Invincible (A Centennial City Novel) (36 page)

“Seems a little harsh, doesn’t it?”

I wished she would stop smiling. “Does it? Have you ever seen whelps consumed by that which bore them, gave them life? He serves me no purpose, not any more. By refusing the throne, he refuses me. And
no one
refuses me.”

Another scream split the air.

“So what?” I asked. “What happens now?”

Why wouldn’t she stop smiling? “I gave him life. He was not thankful for it. So now I will take it away.”

“Is it really that easy?”

Something passed in her eyes. Perhaps it was just my imagination. “I’m sorry, Ran. It is.”

The sword felt completely wrong in my right hand, but I didn’t have a choice: I would either fight or die. “You know I can’t let you do that, Reiko.”

She nodded. Once. “I know.”

“Will I die?”

Her gaze flitted away. “I am very old.”

“I’ve seen you fight before.”

“I know.”

Ryder put a hand on my shoulder. “Step back.”

I looked at his hand. “I can’t let you fight my battles for me.”

“You misunderstand,” he said, shaking his head. He was oddly serious. I had gotten so used to seeing the laughing Ryder, to see this new Ryder with the grim look in his eyes, the furrow between his brows, was quite a strange feeling. “You need to get to Jason. You can’t afford to waste time with her. Let me take care of her so you can find him.” Then, a corner of his lips quirked up. “Besides, I’ve always pretty much reconciled myself to being the sidekick guy. You know. The one that never gets the girl.”

The one that never gets the girl.

“We’ll talk. When this is over, we’ll talk,” I said. “I promise.”

He tapped my nose. “You bet. Now get out of here before I change my mind.”

Reiko shook her head, clucking her tongue. “Don’t be stupid. Do you think I couldn’t handle the both of you? Ran, you’ve seen me fight. You know how strong I am, you know what kind of damage I can do.”

Ryder stepped forward, hands balled into fists. “Yeah, but she hasn’t seen what I could do.”

I had, back at the trap during the vampires meeting regarding Jason’s fate. He hadn’t done well, but I couldn’t bring myself to bring it up.

Reiko vanished in a whirl of silk and red cheeks and almost instantly, was astride Ryder’s chest, her fingernails digging into his shoulders.

Ryder screamed, long and loud.

“Ran! Go!”

I didn’t have to be told twice.

Heart pounding a mad tattoo in my chest, I rushed past the pair, trying to ignore the sickening sounds of impact that echoed in that narrow hallway, trying to ignore the stench of blood that was overwhelming enough to mask Jason’s sandlewood scent.

I wanted to look back.

But I couldn’t afford to. Not now. Not when he seemed so close.

He had to be down here.

I could feel it.

I could almost taste it.

I began to run, arms pumping, feet pounding on the rickety wooden floor that threatened to cave every time I took another step.

But I couldn’t stop now.

I would not stop now.

But I couldn’t find him.

Throwing caution to the wind, I drew in a deep breath and opened my mouth.

“Jason!”

If he could scream in pain, then he could scream for help.

At least…I hoped so.

“Jason!”

I think I have waited for you…

My vision wavered and I dashed the tears of frustration from my eyes as I pounded down the flight of stairs that lead into a cold, clammy basement that smelled like dead things.

Another scream.

To be my left.

Much closer.

I swerve around a wooden post and almost dashed headfirst into an old, dilapidated door that did not yield to the twisting of the tarnished golden knob.

I pressed an ear to the door and heard someone talking quietly. Then another voice.

Another scream.

I pounded on the door, kicked it, punched it, but it would not relent.

Jason screamed again.

It was him.

And he needed me.

I took a few steps back, adjusted the jian into the back strap Van had lent me, and rushed forward, left shoulder first.

If I broke my arm, then I would rather it be my left arm. Granted, I was ambidextrous, but no matter what anyone says, everyone has a stronger hand.

At the moment of impact, I closed my eyes and felt that curious weightlessness as I fell to the ground, the wood giving way under my charge, heard the splintering of wood, the screeching of hinges, the frenetic beating of my heart.

When I opened my eyes in the next second, I found myself staring at Jason’s pale, wan face contorted with pain, his bare chest covered in a river of blood that smelled like pennies.

Annabelle stood next to him, still dressed the same, only it was completely red.

Dyed in Jason’s blood.

My throat convulsed as I fought to keep my body under control.

Throwing up right before a rescue seemed so passé.

Her hand clenched around a thin, studded whip and her companion, a dark haired young man with a vertical scar over his left eye gaped at me.

Annabelle shrieked.

“Don’t just stand there! Get her!”

And now the moment of truth.

Could I use this borrowed sword just as well as the sword that had seen me through ten years of my life?

I would find out.

The hilt felt empty in my hand, lacking the braided cord, when I pulled it free of the sheath.

It was light.

And I could work with light.

The man stared at me. “But…but she’s got a sword!”

“Just do it!”

A human. He was just a human.

But responsible for Jason’s pain because his whip dripped blood as well.

He drew the whip back and when it snapped, I saw droplets of red splash through the air.

His face was drawn back in terror. The poor bastard didn’t have the faintest idea what to do. The only person who could’ve fought with a whip was Indiana Jones and he wasn’t even real.

But I was.

“Annabelle, I can’t—”

I ran him through.

It brought me that much closer to Annabelle, to Jason, to the man who shuddered like a wind-up doll on the end of the sword that had been surprisingly easy to wield.

With a sickening slick sound, I pulled the blade back and he fell to his knees, mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

I wished I could have felt something.

Anything.

But I was empty.

And tired.

My entire body ached, the right side of my face throbbed and my left shoulder felt numb from the elbow down.

I was worse than useless.

But I was the only one here.

And Jason had to live.

I promised.

And if I couldn’t even keep my promises, I was worse than any other monster I had ever fought.

I faced Annabelle and tried to keep the pain out of my eyes. “Getting humans to fight your battle for you?”

She grinned tightly. “You knocked off Marcus, did you?”

“You blackmailed him.”

She shrugged. “Ah well. Cie la vie, hm? If not me, then someone else would have used his blood against him. But really, I must commend you. Taking on an alpha when you’re just a human woman. Impressive.”

Jason sagged in his bonds, but he would heal.

For now, there was no damage being inflicted on him and that was good enough for me.

“You know, most people would have dispensed with the talk and taken me down before you even bothered to open your mouth,” I said. “You like to hear the sound of your own voice, don’t you?”

She cocked her head to one side. “You’re an idiot. You think this is wrong? I am doing my kind a favor. A monster like him cannot be allowed to survive.”

“So you’re the savior of all vampirekind?”

The smile slid off her red lips as though they had never been there in the first place. “Don’t you dare take that tone with me.”

I hated that I wanted to take a step back in the face of her wrath. She was close enough to touch me and that was way too close for my comfort. “I’ve come for Jason. And I’m not about to leave without him.”

“Well, then you’re going to be one disappointed cookie then, won’t you?”

With that, she vanished.

I heard Jason scream again.

But it wasn’t just any scream.

He was screaming for me.

“Ran!”

A teeth rattling impact slammed into my midsection and sharp, excruciating pain radiated from my chest outward.

Rib broken. Possibly more than one. If I was lucky, maybe one of them even punctured a lung. Maybe even a kidney.

And I’d always considered myself to be lucky.

Another moment of weightlessness and I slammed into the opposite wall, my vision sparking black and white at the edges.

Considering how much time I spent in the air, maybe I should’ve invested in a parachute.

I bit my tongue at the sudden blow and the sickly sweet coppery taste filled my mouth, dribbling out the corner of my open mouth as I tried to relearn how to breathe.

For one moment, just one moment, I saw Annabelle crouched over me, one hand reared back, her fingernails impossibly sharp and jagged.

She was going to rip my throat out.

Over her shoulder, I saw Jason’s beautiful dark eyes widen, his mouth open in a soundless cry.

My muscles screamed in protest as I brought up the sword just enough to stop her nails from gouging out my throat.

Her fingers wrapped around the blade, bringing forth blood that covered my neck in her warm, thick blood.

“Why. Won’t. You. Die?” she hissed, her face a mere inch from mine and I did the only thing I could.

I slammed my forehead into hers.

She reared back, one hand on her split forehead, one hand still wrapped around the blade.

My head butt had given me three seconds of time and I took full advantage of the break.

I pulled back my right arm, cutting her fingers to the bone and levered myself from under her weight, my shoulders and chest, one pulsing ache that left me feeling dull, used.

She screamed, high, shrill, clutching her ruined fingers to her chest.

I watched as the fingers refused to knit.

“You bitch!” she shrieked. “I’ll tear you into pieces, I swear it!”

I stared at her unhealing body and then stared at the sword, shining in my hand.

Silver.

There was silver in the blade.

And it was enough to stop vampires from healing.

I had a chance.

I had a chance!

“I can kill you with one hand. Once I suck you dry, then I’ll rip your lover’s throat from ear to ear. Fuck, maybe I’ll even keep you alive long enough for you to watch,” she hissed, hair hanging into her eyes.

Stupid idiot. If she really did kill me, I deserved every damn second of it.

“You talk too much,” I said and moved forward.

Was it a bad thing I couldn’t feel anything anymore?

Her hand was lightning fast as she punched me in the side of the head. It would have caved my skull in, but I brought the sword around and her fist rebounded off the fuller of the blade. The sudden contact with silver made her rear back, screaming so loud I thought my ears would bleed.

But the blow was enough to dull my senses and a faint ringing echoed in my ears as I struggled to regain my bearings.

Pain erupted along my waist and I screamed, my voice raw, as a trail of fire seemed to burn me from the inside out.

Annabelle laughed hysterically, the whip dangling from one hand, my blood mingling with Jason’s and flowing down the tilted tile floor with the rusted drain in the middle.

She lashed again and the whip licked its way around my arm. She pulled back and the force was enough to pull me closer, pull me closer to her nails she raked down my face.

My world turned shades of red and I felt a strange heat pulse in the wake of her blow and I slipped on the bloody floor, falling heavily on my side, knocking what little breath I had out of my body.

Gasping, sputtering like a fish thrown out of water, I tried to get back on my feet.

Annabelle did not let me.

One foot planted firmly on my chest, she pressed down and I screamed as my broken ribs grated under the unrelenting pressure.

“Does it hurt?” she crooned. “Tell me, does it hurt?”

I clenched my teeth, trying to rein in the pain, the tears.