I shot him without having to think about it. The wolf was completely out of his mind. I didn’t even have to think twice to know he’d never be saved.
Someone screamed and I hurried down the last few stairs to get a better look at the room.
Another five people hung from chains all around the cellar. Two were wolves who were just as insane as the first. I dispatched them quickly, knowing it would be pointless to set them free, though I knew Jonathan would have wanted me to.
The next victim was a vampire. She’d been skinned so recently, she was still dripping blood. She stared at me with pain-filled eyes as I raised my gun. I think she smiled just as I pulled the trigger.
The last two appeared to be Purebloods. They were swaying in the back, trying to reach for each other. The man appeared to be in his late twenties, the woman a few years younger. They were crying and looking at me as if they weren’t sure if I was there to kill them or save them. It appeared Strinowski had yet to get around to skinning them.
“How many?” I asked, my voice coming out strangled. “Was it just Strinowski?”
The girl burst into tears and didn’t answer. The guy was just barely able to hang on.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I only saw the one.”
I moved through the cellar and checked the corners, keeping my eye on the stairs just in case I didn’t get everyone. There was nothing down there but the heaters and the chains, which were bolted to the ceiling and floor. There were heavy-looking locks near their ankles and wrists, but I couldn’t find a key.
I could have shot the locks off, but chances were good I’d hurt the two Purebloods in the process. The chains had to be strong enough to contain weres and vamps, so it was unlikely I’d be able to break them by brute force.
“Damn it,” I said, turning toward the stairs. As much as I didn’t want to see the freak show I’d killed in the hallway again, I knew I’d have to go back and look for the key.
The couple started crying out to me as I turned by back and headed upstairs. They screamed and pleaded for me to come back and save them. I did my best to ignore their pleas. There wasn’t anything I could do for them until I found the key.
Still, it was hard. I wondered if the girl hanging in the room upstairs had been a friend of theirs, or worse, a sister or mother.
I started in the girl’s room, doing my best not to look directly at her. I checked the table, finding it sticky with blood, but a key was nowhere to be found. I grabbed the flashlight as I hurried out.
Next, I moved to the room the vamp had come out of. It was as empty as every other room in the house. Not even a hanger hung in the closet.
I went back out into the hall and stared down at the vamp I prayed was Strinowski. He was naked, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have places where he could hide the key.
My eyes immediately fell on that pouch of skin on his belly and I groaned. Where else would it be?
I knelt and gingerly lifted the flap of skin, exposing the muscles and organs. At first, all I could see was a mass of blood and guts, and was just about to let the skin fall when I saw the glint of metal.
I retched as I pulled it from his innards. There were at least a dozen keys on the ring, and they kept catching on parts of his body. They were slick with coagulated blood and gore by the time I pulled them free.
I grabbed the vamp’s head and took it with me as I headed back down into the cellar. I needed to know for sure I had Strinowski and not one of his other victims.
I turned on the flashlight as I approached the scared Purebloods. I held the head up for the couple to see.
“Is this him?”
They both burst into tears, nodding and thanking me over and over. I tossed the head aside and used the bloody keys to unlock their chains. I left them there to huddle together on the floor, leaving the flashlight with them.
I all but ran to Jeremy’s car, so sick I nearly threw up twice before I was safely behind the wheel. It wasn’t so much the blood. I’d seen more than enough blood in my time. It was the sheer brutality of the killings that had my stomach doing flips.
It took me a couple tries to get the car started and when I did, I tore out of there like Strinowski himself was after me.
I regretted leaving the couple behind, knowing it would be hard for them to find a way home. They were naked and I hadn’t seen a scrap of clothing lying around anywhere.
But at least I’d given them a chance, something they might not have had if I’d taken them with me. With as screwed up as I was, I didn’t trust myself not to attack them on the way home. It was better this way.
It had to be.
The car coughed and shook as I pressed down on the gas, intent on getting home as fast as I could.
I didn’t even notice the road sign as I shot past Delai.
21
There comes a point when you figure that things can’t get any worse and you do something you probably shouldn’t. The world seems to conspire against you, and you just decide that you might as well dive in headfirst rather than take the cautious approach.
I’d reached that point by the time I got home, still splattered with werewolf blood and brains, not to mention whatever slime that had covered Strinowski.
Jeremy was standing in the kitchen. He jumped when I threw open the door and stalked past him. He watched me go without a word, mouth slightly agape, eyes as wide as they’d go.
I headed straight for the stairs that led to Ethan’s lab without paying him much more than a glance. If I’d been in a better mood, I might have thought his reaction funny. Instead, it just irritated me all the more.
The lab door was firmly locked and I punched it once before pressing the intercom button. “Ethan,” I snapped. “Get up here.”
I had to wait only a few seconds before the door opened. Ethan was bathed in sweat and looked as though he hadn’t really slept. His hair was tousled like usual, his shirt stained with something that looked like ash.
He looked me up and down and gulped. “You’ve got blood on you.”
I glanced down at myself and shrugged. “That happens when people piss me off,” I said. Normally, I would have changed first thing after coming home from a kill, but I was so pissed, it hadn’t even crossed my mind.
And it wasn’t what I’d seen at Strinowski’s place that had me in such a foul mood. I’d seen death before, had seen some pretty sick things, so that wasn’t anything new. Sure, the sight of Strinowski’s victims had shaken me up, but that was something I’d eventually get over.
No, my biggest issue was that Countess Baset had wanted me to kill him. I would have killed Strinowski on my own if I’d known about him, but having a vampire tell me to do it made the act seem vile somehow. I wasn’t given a choice.
I hated having my choices taken away from me.
“Is he down there?” I asked.
“Um.” Ethan glanced over his shoulder, giving me all the answer I needed.
I stepped toward the door and Ethan moved to block my way. I could have forced him out of the doorway, but I might have hurt him in doing so. I was tired of hurting my friends.
That didn’t mean I wouldn’t threaten them.
“Ethan,” I said, putting as much warning into my voice as I could. “Move.”
“You’re free,” he said. “You don’t want to do this.”
“I’ll decide what I want and don’t want to do. I’m in no mood to piss around, so get the fuck out of my way.”
Ethan held his ground. “Kat,” he said. His voice was trembling and he was clearly terrified, yet he still blocked my path, something he wouldn’t have done a few months ago. “If you go down there, he’ll trick you into another mark. Do you really want that?”
“I have to know,” I said. “I’m tired of not knowing, tired of people lying to me, controlling me. If what the demon says is true, I
have
to know.”
Ethan looked uncertain and then slumped. He knew I was going down there with or without him. “Okay,” he said, stepping aside.
I brushed past him and went down the stairs. Heat blasted into me, taking my breath away for a split second before I was able to recover. My eyes watered and my skin felt like blistering, but I stood against it, refused to let my discomfort show.
“Ah, my sweet Lady Death,” Beligral said. He was lazing in his chair, one leg tossed over the arm casually. “Come to see me again, I see.”
“What is this going to take?”
He raised an eyebrow. “What is it you are referring to?” He gave me a wicked smile.
“You fucking well know what I want,” I snarled. “What is it going to take for you to show me what Levi is and what he’s doing to those people?”
Beligral’s smile turned satisfied. “You’ll have to come into the circle with me.”
“And?”
“And you’ll have to promise that once you see, you’ll come back to me. A small price to pay for the truth, don’t you think?”
I looked at the circle and then back to the demon. I really didn’t want to get in there with him. I had no idea what he was capable of. Were his powers diminished here? Or was he as strong as ever, even trapped inside the circle?
“I don’t want to be toyed with,” I said. “If you are lying to me . . .”
The demon laughed. It grated on my nerves to the point I wanted to draw my gun and shoot him just to make the sound stop. I didn’t know if a bullet would break the circle or not. I didn’t plan on finding out either.
“As I’ve said before, when have I ever lied to you? Think back. I’ve been nothing but honest with you ever since the first time we met. I’ve given you everything you’ve ever wanted that was within my power to give. Even before you knew I existed, I was helping you become the killer you are today. Don’t you think I’ve earned some of your trust by now?”
I so didn’t need to be thinking about how the demon had helped make my weapons. I could almost feel them burn through my clothes. They’d been at least partly crafted by him, if not completely. I had no idea what role Ethan played in their creation, if any at all. And as far as I knew, the silver used to craft them had come from the demon realm as well.
What kind of person did that make me in using them?
“Ethan,” I said, glancing back. He was standing at the foot of the stairs, watching the conversation with dismay. “Dismiss him. I’m going in there.”
“Kat, please . . .”
“Do it.”
Beligral smiled as Ethan dismissed him. As soon as the demon was gone, I stepped over the chalk outline and silver circle, and waited for Ethan to set everything again.
He didn’t speak as he worked. He didn’t even look at me. I knew what I was doing was dangerous, but I had no choice. I couldn’t keep going on like I had been. This was the only thing I could do and stay sane.
It was that last trip past Delai that had done it. I’d felt so sick and the urge to drive down that road had been so strong, I knew it couldn’t be natural. Something was going on there. I couldn’t just ignore it.
As soon as the circle was set, Ethan looked at me. “Are you sure?” he whispered. He looked terrified. I had to admit, I was terrified too.
“Yeah,” I said.
He started summoning his demon.
Inside the circle, the heat was almost unbearable. As soon as the candles stopped flickering and froze, it was like standing in the middle of a bonfire. The light blazed around me to form the pentagram and as it faded, Beligral stepped out from the tear between realms. My eyes were burning too much to watch.
He stared at me as if he expected me to try to run, but I held my ground. I knew if I were to break the circle, he’d be free. I was stuck in there with him until Ethan dismissed him.
“You should have left your weapons outside,” the demon said. He sighed as he walked a slow circle around me.
“They make me feel better,” I said, following him with my eyes.
He reached out toward me and I jerked away. He tsked. “I’ll have to touch you if you want me to do this.”
I ground my teeth, but straightened, giving him one sharp nod. God, I hated this.
He didn’t touch my bare flesh, which was a relief. He went for the hilt of my sword. He didn’t draw it, but instead caressed the hilt as if it was precious to him.
“It can feel my nearness,” he said. “It wants to go home.” He bared his yellowed, pointed teeth. “I’m surprised you were able to take them with you to Delai.”
“Get on with it,” I said. “It’s almost morning.”
Beligral glanced toward the wall, though there were no windows down this far. “Is it?” he said. “There is no night or day where I come from. It would be perfect for you. There’s no sun to burn you. Just shadows and fire and things of such magnificence I can hardly describe them.” He looked wistful.
My mouth went dry. I wasn’t sure if it was from the heat or what he was implying.
“Forget it,” I said. “I’m not going home with you. Just get this over with already.”
The demon smiled as he chuckled. “So feisty.”
I really wanted to punch him. Sometimes I wondered if the demon was all talk. I’d never actually seen him do anything. Even his marks appeared on their own without him actually making a move. And when he tried to save Thomas, he hadn’t appeared to do anything at all but look at him. As far as I knew, he hadn’t. It sure as hell hadn’t saved my brother.
“What now?” I asked, frustrated. I just wanted this over with.
“Now? I need you to agree to my terms.”
“I already did.”
“Humor me.” He bared his teeth.
I growled and clenched my fists. Was he making this hard on me solely for his amusement? “Fine,” I said. “You do this and make it so I can see who or what Levi is and what’s going on in Delai, and I’ll come back and see you.”
“And you won’t just walk in and call it done. You’ll spend time with me, listen to what I have to say. You never know, you may learn something. You might even find a way out of your current . . . condition.” He smiled.
“Kat . . .” Ethan said from outside the circle.
I ignored him. “Whatever. Can we just get this over with?”
“Then it is done.”
Searing pain exploded from behind my ear. I gritted my teeth, refused to show how much it hurt in front of the demon. He would take too much pleasure in it.
“You are so much stronger than I’d ever hoped,” Beligral said as the pain subsided. “You’ve made me proud for so long, it almost feels as if you’re my own child.”
I reached up and touched the mark. Had I done the right thing? It sure as hell didn’t feel like it.
“I’m not.”
Beligral shrugged. “We’ll see.”
I could have stood there and argued with him all day, but to do so meant to stand in his presence for far longer than was healthy.
“Okay,” I said, trying really hard not to grind my teeth. “I’ve made my promise. Now do whatever it is you’re going to do so I can get the fuck out of here.”
The demon’s face went blank. We stared at each other, seemingly locked in some sort of battle, though I had no idea what kind of battle we were fighting. Did he want me to kneel, to beg? He was out of luck if he thought I was going to do anything that would show subservience to him.
A small smile quirked the edges of his mouth. “So strong,” he said again as he raised his hand. I managed not to flinch as he reached for me. He poked me gently in the middle of the forehead.
It felt like a nuclear bomb went off inside my skull. Pain like nothing I’d ever felt before became the only thing I knew. I was blinded, struck deaf. I was screaming, thrashing, but I couldn’t feel anything but the pain in my head, couldn’t hear a sound. My eyes felt like they were melting in my skull.
I couldn’t even think. It felt like I was dying, but then again, dying wouldn’t hurt so much.
I have no idea how long the pain lasted. I might have even blacked out, because the next thing I knew, I could hear the sound of my own ragged screams as my hearing returned. Something scrambled around me and hands grabbed me by the arms. I thrashed even more, intent on killing anything that touched me, certain it was the demon come to drag me through the portal, where I’d burn every night in the fires of his hell.
“Kat!” The voice sounded far away but kept me from lashing out more. My vision cleared, and instead of the face of the demon, I was looking into Ethan’s frightened eyes.
I looked frantically around, terrified I’d see the demon bearing down on me. Much to my relief, only Ethan and I were in the circle.
Beligral was gone.