twice cursed mage 05 - claimed (22 page)

Ricky slammed the car into gear, and not for the first time, I wondered why she got to drive. I mean, okay, she knew the way there, had supernatural reflexes, and I didn’t like to drive, but then again I was the man. Wasn’t I supposed to drive? Still, I was all about giving women what they wanted.

“Won’t we want his help?” I asked, glancing back at the vampire. He didn’t look very good.

“Look, Mac. Your ex-girlfriend’s buddy has my brother and is taking potshots at him for fun. I’m going after him right now. You of all people should understand that.” The sad thing was, she had a point. I did understand that. Only, let’s be fair. My way of doing things hadn’t exactly been super effective. I was a hammer and so everything looked like a nail. Ricky was supposed to be the rational one in this relationship, which yes, is particularly sad because she was a red-headed werewolf spitfire, but yeah.

“I do understand,” I said trying to talk sense into her. As I spoke, I realized I was totally unsuited for it. Before I could follow up that statement, she turned on the radio. “Hungry like the Wolf” by Duran Duran blasted over the speakers, and as it did, Ricky snarled loud enough to make me want to hide in the back of the cab with Jack, or you know what, the bed of the truck seemed fine too. Hell, I could walk.

“Of all the fucking songs,” she snapped and changed the station.

“I’m not sure this is better,” I replied as One Direction’s “Wolves” blared from the radio.

“I hate this fucking thing,” she said and violently shut it off. The silence between us stretched to fill the whole of the cab as she wove through the streets like a goddamned maniac.

“This reminds me of the time Jet’s ‘Cold Hard Bitch’ came on the radio while I was in the car. I hate that song with a passion and tried to change the channel, but every other station was playing commercials so I just wound up turning off the radio, much to Jenna’s annoyance since she was driving.” I smacked my hands on my thighs. “I know, I know. The passenger shouldn’t fuck with the radio, but that song is just terrible.”

“Who’s Jenna?” Ricky asked, and I immediately wished I hadn’t said a fucking word.

“Jenna would be the ex-girlfriend who is the member of the seven,” I mumbled pointlessly because my current girlfriend who may or may not have imprinted on me with extreme jealousy, was a werewolf and in addition to having the ability to turn into a snarling rage beast, also had excellent hearing.

“So tell me more about this Jenna,” she said, keeping her eyes fixed on the road as horns blared around us. The light ahead turned red and Ricky didn’t so much as slow down, eliciting a very annoyed flash from the camera at the intersection. I guess it was a good thing Jack hadn’t gotten his plates after all. Then again, the photo would show Rick’s glaring face. Assuming they did mail it to him, Jack could totally be like “nuh uh, I totally don’t know that crazy bitch.”

“Like what?” I asked, and then went with the truth because I didn’t want to lie to her. “I really don’t remember much about her.”

“Like how to fucking kill her, since evidently, I can’t do it and you can,” Ricky snapped and turned her eyes on me as she swung the car into a skid around an old lady in a wheelchair like some kind of drifting street racer. “Or is that going to be a problem?”

“I promised Mammon I’d kill her,” I said, breaking eye contact and staring outside because part of me didn’t want to kill her, especially since I felt partially responsible for being in the position she was in. It didn’t help that I still had the feeling if Jenna wanted me dead, I’d fucking be dead. She could have shot me in the head so easily it wasn’t funny. Instead, she’d shot me in the gut in front of a fucking hospital, practically guaranteeing I’d survive. It didn’t make sense.

“Like that fucking matters, Mac. You’re the type of guy who’d just kill Mammon if you decided Jenna needed to live and that asshole wouldn’t back down. So I ask again. Will you kill her?” Ricky wasn’t looking at me, and it was a good thing because I wouldn’t have been able to meet her eyes.

“I don’t know.” As I said the words her shoulders slumped.

“Okay,” she replied, but her voice had deflated a little. “Well, when it comes time, just stay of my way, okay?” Her grip tightened dangerously on the wheel. “I may not be able to kill her but encasing her in cement and dropping her in the middle of the ocean works just as well.”

“It seems like it would,” I said, shutting my eyes and staring at the ceiling of the truck. As it stood, my demon seemed to have a vested interest in killing these fuckers. Granted, it seemed like she did it just when they were about to reveal who she was, but still. It was weird. Unless, of course, she was hiding something from me. But that was the thing. What would she be hiding from me?

Presumably, I had sought her out and made a deal with her, and only lost my memory as a side effect to the deal. Or so she said. What if it’d been a lie? Still, thinking back to our talks, I didn’t get the impression she’d been lying to me. She didn’t seem like the type if only because she didn’t strike me as the type to care what I thought. No, the cat held all the cards, and she knew it. Still, something was up, and one way or another, the cat was going to get out of the bag.

That said, right now didn’t seem like the best time to go pissing off my demon by demanding answers. If I did, I risked having her not help me at a pivotal event. Then I’d get my ass incinerated and spend my life getting ass-raped by a demon with fishhooks on his dick. That didn’t sound exactly pleasant.

“We’re here,” Ricky said as we pulled to a stop under a broken streetlight. The street we were on was completely deserted, probably because every building on the block looked to have been condemned. It struck me as one of those places that had built like crazy thinking they’d have tenants out the wazoo during some kind of industrial boom, but when the boom had crashed found themselves up to their eyeballs in debt as client after client bailed.

“Looks inviting,” I said, eyeing the building. It had a bunch of overgrown hedges out front and while two of the windows were boarded up, the third one was just an empty maw of broken glass. Darkness seemed to emanate from the structure, and something about it gave me a bad feeling I couldn’t explain. And no, it wasn’t because crags of crabgrass stuck up from between the cracked cobblestones. That was just extra. No, it was mostly due to the creepy statues lining the walkway and filling the long forgotten remains of the flower beds.

“Yeah,” she said, unfastening her seatbelt and throwing the car door open. She leapt onto the pavement with a crunch and started toward the entrance. “Next time we have to track down someone from your past, can we do it in a theme park or somewhere with pie?”

“I’ll try my best, but I doubt I pissed off Mickey Mouse or his pastry chef,” I said, following her out of the car. Admittedly, I felt bad about leaving Jack in the car and was half-tempted to turn on the AC or crack the windows, but it wasn’t like he was a dog or a baby. He was a vampire, he’d be fine. Probably. I mean, the only thing I knew about vampires was that they were good at pool. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but either way, I had no idea if they could get heatstroke.

Ricky glanced at me as I stepped up next to her on the sidewalk in front of the building. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen when you confront your girlfriend, but I trust you, Mac. If something seems weird, I’ll follow your lead, okay?” She tapped her forehead. “I’m imprinted on you. That’s for keeps.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” I replied as a wave of relief crashed over me. I wasn’t sure what would happen when Ricky and Jenna actually met face to face after everything, but it was good to know, she would let me handle business my way. I couldn’t have asked for a better girlfriend, so what did I do? I smacked her on the ass because I hadn’t actually gotten to do that yet. It was everything I thought it’d be and more. “And not just because you’re an eleven out of ten smoking hottie.”

“Even though I have braces?” she asked, looking at me, and I got the feeling it was a serious question.

“Especially because you have braces,” I said and leaned in to kiss her. Alas, it was not to be because her fucking phone started ringing again. Man, that thing needed a long dip in a deep pool.

“Seriously?” she growled, jerking it out of her pocket. Bobby’s picture smiled up at her from the device, and without a second thought she hit the speaker button. “Hello?”

Instead of a response, the sound of gunfire exploded from the device. It was weird because I heard it coming from both the phone and from the building. I wasn’t sure if it’d been on purpose but as people yelled in the background, I started to wonder if we’d gotten butt dialed.

“Bobby?” Ricky asked as I stepped past the broken gate and onto the walkway leading toward the building. I fingered my Desert Eagle as I did so, but I didn’t draw it in case someone drove by and saw us. Then again, what would it matter? At worst, they’d call the cops who would storm the place and, well, probably get shot full of holes by Sargent. I couldn’t let that happen, even if I wasn’t super fond of cops.

Bobby burst from the window on the third floor in a way that made me think he’d jumped through it. As he fell, I saw Jenna appear in the frame, her rifle aimed down at him. As she sighted on him, I whipped out the Deagle and fired in her general direction.

The bullets crashed into the frame before she could fire, and she pulled back inside, but I knew it wouldn’t be long before she found another window to pop me from. Assuming she did.

Bobby crashed into the brown lawn with the audible crunch of broken bones and fell flat on his face. His femur had punched through his skin, but he ignored it as he crawled toward us.

“Bobby!” Ricky cried, rushing toward him, but before she reached him the statues filling the grounds around us launched themselves at the three of us. The sound of stone on flesh as the first one kicked Bobby in the ribs and sent him flying into the wall of the building filled my ears, but I’d fought more than enough gargoyles by now.

Instead of running away, I called upon my magic and charged forward. I leapt onto the first one and smashed my right fist into its face. “Ignis!” Hellfire exploded from my knuckles like I was the Iron Fist. Flame punched a hole straight through its rocky face, and as the creature fell backward in a heap, I leapt off of it and dove over the canyon.

I hit the ground in a roll, and as I came up on my feet, Ricky dove between two more creatures and sprinted toward her brother. I wasn’t sure what her plan was since there were still half a dozen walking statues still trying to pound us into putty, but I was willing to let her take the lead since she hadn’t shifted. If she had, I’d have tried to fight. Clearly she had another idea.

“What’s the plan?” I called as she scooped up her brother with enough ease to make me envy her physical prowess and shouldered through the building’s barred door. It crashed open in a cloud of splinters as the two by fours nailed across it snapped in half.

“We get into quarters where they can’t easily follow,” she called over her shoulders right before a gargoyle burst through the wall like it was made of tinfoil and charged after her, tearing through wooden beams and drywall alike.

“Ignis!” I cried, launching a fireball at the thing’s back. It struck it right between its massive shoulder blades and burned a hole straight through the creature. It toppled forward in a heap as I darted after it. Ricky was a few feet away evidently sticking to her plan despite its failure when confronted with an enemy.

“We need a new plan,” I said as I approached her. “This isn’t going to work. They’ll bring the place down on top of us.”

“Yeah, that’s why we’re taking the elevator.” With those words she gouged one clawed hand into the steel doors and jerked it roughly open. I found myself staring at empty cables that led only one way. Up.

“This is a terrible idea,” I replied as she leapt inside and began scaling the inside of the shaft like something out of a horror movie. Her hands and feet gouging into the steel like it was tissue paper as Bobby lay unconscious over her shoulder.

I glanced over my shoulder to see the rest of the gargoyles coming toward us. I didn’t have long, and even though I actually wanted to take the stairs for once, I decided to follow my girlfriend. Yeah, I know, I should have known better.

Chapter 27

I’d barely stepped into the empty elevator shaft when Sargent kicked open the door to the stairwell next to me. His eyes met mine, and as they did, he drew his revolver and fired in one quick motion. The sound of the gunshot was deafening in the small space as I dove sideways behind the wall of the shaft. The bullet ricocheted off the steel beside me, and I felt the ping of it off the body armor on my back.

“Come out, Mac,” Sargent said, but he didn’t venture closer. “If you do, I won’t go after your girlfriend. Promise.”

Ricky had stopped climbing up the shaft and was looking down at me from about twenty feet up. Her muscles tensed, and as they did, I realized she was going to come back down and help me. If that happened, things were going to turn into a clusterfuck and fast. Besides, part of me wanted to take on Sargent one last time mano a mano. What can I say, I’m an idiot.

I took a deep breath and let it out through my teeth. “Ricky, get Bobby to safety. I got this.” Before she could object, I stepped out of the elevator and found myself staring into the barrel of Sargent’s Colt.

“I always knew you were the honorable type,” Sargent said, and there was a touch of respect in his cold eyes. “Not so many of you around anymore.” He gestured at my arm with his empty hand. “Those tend to turn you into bastards which is why I always passed on ‘em.” He tapped his temple. “No demon living up in here for me, thank you very much.”

“You still sold your soul,” I replied, and he shrugged at me.

“The difference may be in degrees, but it’s a lot of fuckin’ degrees.” He pressed the barrel of the Colt against my forehead. The muscles in his hand tensed, and as his finger started to depress the trigger, I twisted my body to the side.