Thirteen
Page 14
I hit the beast with an energy bolt. Or I tried to. What came out was a spray of harmless sparks that showered the thing. It gave a screech, more annoyance than pain, and reared back. Four taloned feet flashed. All four grabbed the man. Grabbed him and ripped. Blood sprayed. An arm landed by my feet. The man was screaming. All that blood, and that arm lying at my feet, and the man was still screaming.
Jaime had to drag me a couple of feet before I snapped out of it. I pushed her along ahead of me as we ran for the second door. My sneakers slid and squealed on the blood. A grunt from across the room. The beast. The man had gone silent now. Thank God, he’d gone silent. But that meant the beast had heard my shoes.
Jaime wrenched open the door. We tumbled through. I yanked it closed. The beast hit it with a thud, the wall shuddering. I held it shut with both hands, my feet braced. It threw itself at the door, over and over, shrieking.
Jaime grabbed my shoulder. I lifted my hand to brush her off, then realized she was holding out a steel baton. We jammed it into the handle. The door rocked twice more. Then stopped. Talons clicked on the linoleum as the beast retreated.
I glanced at Jaime. She didn’t ask what that thing was or how it got here. Right now, it only mattered that it was here.
“It’s looking for another way in,” Jaime whispered.
“Which means we need to find another way out.”
I turned. We were in an office. The chief’s office, I was guessing. Big, spacious, filled with natural light … all coming from skylights overhead. Barred skylights. No other exit.
There was a shout. Then an earsplitting screech. I spun toward the door.
“Holland!” I said. “We forgot about—”
A scream cut me short. The same kind of horrible scream I’d heard from the man who’d been torn apart.
Jaime gripped my elbow. “Too late,” she said. “We need to find a way out.”
I stood frozen as the scream was replaced by wet smacking and grunting as the creature devoured the young officer. Then everything went quiet.
I pressed my ear to the door.
Jaime tugged me back. “It just remembered there’s a bigger meal in here.”
I took a step, and nearly landed on my ass. I looked down at what I’d slipped on—the extension of the blood trail that came through the door.
It continued past the massive desk. I took two steps and leaned around to see what looked like rope on the floor. Another step. Not rope. Intestine, stretched out from what remained of a torso clad in …
“Medina,” I whispered, seeing the name plate on her uniform shirt.
That was the only way I would have recognized her. Her legs and one arm had been ripped off. As for her head, it was still attached, barely. Where her face should be, there was a bloody crater.
Jaime stepped around the desk. I blocked the sight.
“There’s someone behind her,” Jaime whispered.
I looked behind the desk. There were bodies there. Two, maybe three. It was impossible to tell. One face stared up from the pile. The blond witch, Keiran.
“Okay,” Jaime said, taking a deep breath. “We need—” She looked around. “Phone. We need to find the—”
Her eyes rounded. She lunged forward. “Savannah!”
Cold steel pressed against my throat.
SIX
“I’d say, ‘Nobody move,’?” said a raspy male voice. “But I think the knife makes that redundant.”
I started whispering a spell. The blade pressed into my windpipe.
“I’d call that moving,” he said. “Another word and you won’t be speaking. Or breathing.”
“There’s a thing out there,” Jaime said. “Some kind of beast.”
“Demon,” he said. “Demonic, at least. I was testing out a particularly tricky new spell.”
A sorcerer. One who knew witch magic, which explained how he’d appeared from nowhere. Cover spell.
“Who are you?” Jaime demanded, as if reading my mind.
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “That beast wasn’t quite what I hoped to summon, but I’ve sent it back now. With a full belly, apparently. Pity about Jackie Medina. A nice person to work with. So dedicated to the cause. So gullible.”
“She wasn’t drugging us to make us more compliant, was she?” Jaime said. “The drugs were supposed to drive supernaturals crazy. Why?”
“Is this the point where I explain my master plan? Um, no. Thanks, but I have more important things to do.”
“Like cleaning up this mess,” I muttered.
“That’s not on my list either. I’m sure either the council or the Cabals have a crime-scene cleaning team on speed dial. And avoiding fallout … ?” He chuckled. “Definitely not part of the plan. As for the plan itself, let’s just say it underwent a serious change when Ms. Medina called me and said she had Jaime Vegas and Savannah Levine in custody. The Fates must be smiling on me. Well, not the Fates, maybe, but someone is. I wanted a chance to test my spell, and you gave me a better one than I ever could have imagined. Now, Ms. Vegas, could you do me a favor and call Eve Levine? I know you have her on speed dial.”
“I can’t—” Jaime began.
“Yes, you can.” He gestured at the knife against my throat.
Being told to call my mother or I’d die? Serious déjà vu. First Leah O’Donnell, the half-demon who came back from hell. Now this asshole. Everyone wanted Mom. Which meant, while part of me said I should be scared, I was really just annoyed. And impatiently waiting for this sorcerer to get caught up in negotiations with Jaime and relax his grip enough for me to escape.
“You can call her,” he repeated. “And you will, because if you don’t, I’m going to slit her daughter’s throat and leave her on this pile of bodies.”
“You don’t understand,” Jaime said. “Eve is out of contact. Someplace I can’t reach her.”
“You mean she’s off on an angel assignment.”
Jaime let out a squeaky laugh. “Um, no. Trust me, Eve Levine is no—”
“She’s an angel. Ascended angel. Celestial bounty hunter.”
I looked at Jaime, and waited for a real laugh, not that nervous titter.
Her mouth opened. Closed. She swallowed. She looked at me and blushed.
Jaime had to drag me a couple of feet before I snapped out of it. I pushed her along ahead of me as we ran for the second door. My sneakers slid and squealed on the blood. A grunt from across the room. The beast. The man had gone silent now. Thank God, he’d gone silent. But that meant the beast had heard my shoes.
Jaime wrenched open the door. We tumbled through. I yanked it closed. The beast hit it with a thud, the wall shuddering. I held it shut with both hands, my feet braced. It threw itself at the door, over and over, shrieking.
Jaime grabbed my shoulder. I lifted my hand to brush her off, then realized she was holding out a steel baton. We jammed it into the handle. The door rocked twice more. Then stopped. Talons clicked on the linoleum as the beast retreated.
I glanced at Jaime. She didn’t ask what that thing was or how it got here. Right now, it only mattered that it was here.
“It’s looking for another way in,” Jaime whispered.
“Which means we need to find another way out.”
I turned. We were in an office. The chief’s office, I was guessing. Big, spacious, filled with natural light … all coming from skylights overhead. Barred skylights. No other exit.
There was a shout. Then an earsplitting screech. I spun toward the door.
“Holland!” I said. “We forgot about—”
A scream cut me short. The same kind of horrible scream I’d heard from the man who’d been torn apart.
Jaime gripped my elbow. “Too late,” she said. “We need to find a way out.”
I stood frozen as the scream was replaced by wet smacking and grunting as the creature devoured the young officer. Then everything went quiet.
I pressed my ear to the door.
Jaime tugged me back. “It just remembered there’s a bigger meal in here.”
I took a step, and nearly landed on my ass. I looked down at what I’d slipped on—the extension of the blood trail that came through the door.
It continued past the massive desk. I took two steps and leaned around to see what looked like rope on the floor. Another step. Not rope. Intestine, stretched out from what remained of a torso clad in …
“Medina,” I whispered, seeing the name plate on her uniform shirt.
That was the only way I would have recognized her. Her legs and one arm had been ripped off. As for her head, it was still attached, barely. Where her face should be, there was a bloody crater.
Jaime stepped around the desk. I blocked the sight.
“There’s someone behind her,” Jaime whispered.
I looked behind the desk. There were bodies there. Two, maybe three. It was impossible to tell. One face stared up from the pile. The blond witch, Keiran.
“Okay,” Jaime said, taking a deep breath. “We need—” She looked around. “Phone. We need to find the—”
Her eyes rounded. She lunged forward. “Savannah!”
Cold steel pressed against my throat.
SIX
“I’d say, ‘Nobody move,’?” said a raspy male voice. “But I think the knife makes that redundant.”
I started whispering a spell. The blade pressed into my windpipe.
“I’d call that moving,” he said. “Another word and you won’t be speaking. Or breathing.”
“There’s a thing out there,” Jaime said. “Some kind of beast.”
“Demon,” he said. “Demonic, at least. I was testing out a particularly tricky new spell.”
A sorcerer. One who knew witch magic, which explained how he’d appeared from nowhere. Cover spell.
“Who are you?” Jaime demanded, as if reading my mind.
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “That beast wasn’t quite what I hoped to summon, but I’ve sent it back now. With a full belly, apparently. Pity about Jackie Medina. A nice person to work with. So dedicated to the cause. So gullible.”
“She wasn’t drugging us to make us more compliant, was she?” Jaime said. “The drugs were supposed to drive supernaturals crazy. Why?”
“Is this the point where I explain my master plan? Um, no. Thanks, but I have more important things to do.”
“Like cleaning up this mess,” I muttered.
“That’s not on my list either. I’m sure either the council or the Cabals have a crime-scene cleaning team on speed dial. And avoiding fallout … ?” He chuckled. “Definitely not part of the plan. As for the plan itself, let’s just say it underwent a serious change when Ms. Medina called me and said she had Jaime Vegas and Savannah Levine in custody. The Fates must be smiling on me. Well, not the Fates, maybe, but someone is. I wanted a chance to test my spell, and you gave me a better one than I ever could have imagined. Now, Ms. Vegas, could you do me a favor and call Eve Levine? I know you have her on speed dial.”
“I can’t—” Jaime began.
“Yes, you can.” He gestured at the knife against my throat.
Being told to call my mother or I’d die? Serious déjà vu. First Leah O’Donnell, the half-demon who came back from hell. Now this asshole. Everyone wanted Mom. Which meant, while part of me said I should be scared, I was really just annoyed. And impatiently waiting for this sorcerer to get caught up in negotiations with Jaime and relax his grip enough for me to escape.
“You can call her,” he repeated. “And you will, because if you don’t, I’m going to slit her daughter’s throat and leave her on this pile of bodies.”
“You don’t understand,” Jaime said. “Eve is out of contact. Someplace I can’t reach her.”
“You mean she’s off on an angel assignment.”
Jaime let out a squeaky laugh. “Um, no. Trust me, Eve Levine is no—”
“She’s an angel. Ascended angel. Celestial bounty hunter.”
I looked at Jaime, and waited for a real laugh, not that nervous titter.
Her mouth opened. Closed. She swallowed. She looked at me and blushed.
