Blood Before Sunrise (25 page)

As I turned to look at him, the heavy sigh escaped my lips before I thought better of it. The next second, pain and white-hot light exploded in my skull. My head bounced against the window from the impact of the blow, and a swollen knot formed on my temple before healing and shrinking back to nothing. I shook the fog from my brain and tried to calm my suddenly racing pulse and the unpleasant memories that crashed over me like a tidal wave. Too shocked to react, I stared at Fallon in disbelief as he shook out his fist. The coppery tang of blood coated my mouth from the split in my lip, and I passed my tongue over the wound as the skin fused back together.

“You forget, I’m helping you,” he said low, the words infused with rage. “You should be grateful, and instead you’re acting like a spoiled child. I don’t want to hit you, so don’t give me reason to do it again.”

I was dazed, and my breath came in shallow drafts. My heart beat triple time to the passing of seconds, and
I squeezed my hands together to keep them from shaking. I had been the victim of an abusive human husband nearly a century and a lifetime ago. Erratic mood swings came standard issue with abuse, and Fallon’s behavior was no exception. With a single punch and a warning, Fallon had reminded me of the woman I used to be and never wanted to be again.

“Lay your fist on me again, Fallon, and I’ll be more than happy to gut you right here on the freeway.” I seethed with pent-up anger, fire burning a path through my veins and pooling in the pit of my stomach. My hands clenched into fists, the urge to retaliate overwhelming. But even as I tried to raise my arm to give him tit for tat, something stayed my progress—a strange compulsion to keep my fists in my lap and my mouth shut.

“Now,” he said, his tone becoming light once again, “let’s find somewhere to settle in.”

Fallon took the next exit and followed the ramp toward a cluster of hotels and a strip mall. We pulled into the parking lot of a Best Western, and he cut the engine, leaning so close to me I could feel his breath on my face. “Stay here.” It was a warning and a command. “I’m going to get us a room, and I’ll be right back.” He took the keys out of the ignition, engaging the alarm as he walked toward the hotel lobby. As I watched him walk, his form shimmered for just a moment, like heat rising from asphalt. By his next step, he’d assumed the guise of a well-coiffed businessman, suit and all. I tried to contain my fear and amazement, but it came out anyway in a sort of half-choked sob.

My cell hadn’t rung for at least a half hour. I pulled it from my pocket, prepared to call Tyler so I could beg him to come and take me home. When I flipped open the phone, the screen flashed
Low Battery
before going completely black. My chest tightened, constricting the flow of air to my lungs.
It doesn’t matter,
I told myself.
Raif knows where I am. He’ll come and we’ll get the hell out of here
. Fallon might not have been bothered by our situation, but I sure as hell was. “You know what, Delilah,” I
said. “I’d have been a lot better off if you’d kept your big mouth shut!”

Through the lobby window, I could see Fallon standing at the front desk. He cast the occasional glance back at the car as if afraid I would try to bolt. I don’t know why I didn’t leave. The same strange compulsion I felt around Fallon kept me welded to my seat, as though an unspoken command prevented me from actually following through. Moments later, he emerged from the hotel, smug and satisfied as ever. He tapped a plastic keycard against his palm, his face thoughtful as he kept his businessman guise.

“We’re down there.” He pointed to the farthest end of the building. “I told the front desk I was exhausted and needed some peace and quiet.” His gray eyes hardened as he took his seat, moving the car down the parking lot closer to our room. “I’ll deal with the Oracle; you retrieve my glass.”

And, fool that I was, I did exactly as he asked. I wondered at my behavior. It felt like the moment you realize you’ve had way too much to drink. And even though you know you’re acting like a complete drunken idiot and nothing like your normal self, you do nothing to stop it. I slung the backpack over my shoulder, careful not to jostle the hourglass inside. I followed Fallon like an obedient puppy while he led Delilah toward our room. She stared straight ahead, her head cocking to one side and then the other. If she had any inkling of what was happening to her, the only indication she gave was the slight shiver that occasionally shook her lithe body.

Once inside the drab and uninteresting space that was bound to become my personal hell, Fallon flung himself across one of the queen-sized beds, stretching with languid grace. I’d never seen anyone so bipolar. Just three minutes and fifteen seconds ago, his eyes had flashed with rage. And now he looked like a kid on vacation.

“No doubt Adare is hunting us,” I said, slumping down on the opposite bed. “We shouldn’t have run.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Fallon answered. “Where we’re going, they won’t find us.”

Where we’re going?
Uh-uh. No freakin’ way. I’d gone far enough with him. I wasn’t going another foot, let alone another mile. My phone was dead, GPS effectively shut down. I wasn’t taking another step in any direction until I saw the whites of Raif’s eyes.

My assassin’s instincts took over as I studied the layout of our room. I needed to be familiar with every corner when shit went down. And it would. The better acquainted I became with my surroundings and my accomplice-turned-captor’s mannerisms, the better my chance at escape would become. “I’m not going any farther,” I said, though the words carried little fortitude. “Release Delilah’s mind. I’ll give you the hourglass, and you can be on your way.”

Fallon stood, and I felt my head slowly shrink into my shoulders. A wild silver glint chased across his gaze as he approached and seized me roughly around the throat. “You
will
go farther for as long as I say you will,” he said, giving me a brain-rattling shake. “Do you understand me?”

I couldn’t speak or draw a breath deep enough to produce any kind of sound. His fingers dug into my tender flesh, bruising, nearly burning me with the contact. The emerald flared in my pocket, hot and angry, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I nodded my head as much as his grip would allow, and he pushed me away, throwing me down on the bed. As I massaged my neck, Fallon paced the room, muttering under his breath. He rounded back to the bed and hauled me up by a handful of hair, pressing the tips of his fingers to the middle of my forehead. I jerked away, but he held me. I bit my lip so I wouldn’t cry out at the searing contact. Magic flowed over me, binding my body in a second skin.

“I can’t have you leaving,” Fallon said, “or disappearing right under my nose.”
No. He couldn’t have!
But I realized as I tried to merge with the light that Fallon had,
in fact, bound me to my corporeal form. “You’ve done this to yourself.” His chiding tone made me want to vomit. “You can be mad all you want, Darian. But this is
your
fault. Behave, and I won’t have to further punish you.”

I sat on the bed, staring in disbelief as he left my side to tend to Delilah. What the hell was wrong with me? Fallon should have been dead where he stood. If any other man had laid his hands on me, I wouldn’t have hesitated to part him from his head. So why, now, did I cower in fear of this Fae who shouldn’t have one-tenth of the power he held over me? I thought of the times I’d felt drawn to him, compelled to divulge information he had no business knowing. Could it be that his magic had played a part even then? Secretly stealing my will? The thoughts in my brain began to swirl and mull about like mud meeting a pool of fresh water. I had a feeling someone should be coming to get me, but for the life of me I couldn’t remember who.

“Darian, come here.”

I walked to Fallon despite the instinctive thought that I should keep my distance. He knelt at Delilah’s feet in an almost-meditative position, his palms resting on his knees. “Time to spill your secrets,” he said, and pressed the heel of his hand to her forehead.

Delilah came to as if someone had just doused her with a bucket of ice water. As she thrashed her limbs and gasped for air, it took all of Fallon’s strength to hold her down. You wouldn’t think a twig of a girl like Delilah could fight so hard, but let me tell you, she gave him a run for his money.

“Keep quiet!” Fallon growled. “You’ll have all of Washington down on our heads if you raise your voice.”

I waited for him to smack her across the face or kick her good and hard. But he didn’t. Apparently he saved that affection solely for me. Prick. Delilah calmed, the mere sound of Fallon’s voice enough to put the fear of Jesus in her. Not a very hard nut to crack. “Do you know where you are?” I asked.

“Darian.” Her voice, unused for a few weeks, rasped in a near whisper. “You’re swathed in Fae magic. And separated from your protector. Changed since I saw you last. Have you been to The Ring?”

Come again? “I haven’t been anywhere, you crazy pain in the ass. You’re up and talking for one reason and one reason only. Where is Raif’s daughter? You said you knew how to find her. Where is Brakae?”

Delilah laughed as if she’d just heard the funniest, dirtiest joke ever written. She tilted her head in Fallon’s direction, looking very much like the cat that ate the canary and crawling, it seemed, from madness to lucidity. “You don’t know, do you?”

Fallon sat back on his heels, taking in every word Delilah said with perverse interest. I ignored the way my body responded to his movements, swaying backward as if attached by a length of string. My mind cleared as if by his will, and I found the pluck to drill right into Delilah. “No more games, no more riddles. Just plain talk here. I’ve been through hell the past couple of weeks and, goddamn it, I want to take a shower, get some sleep, and go the fuck home. Tell me right now where Raif’s daughter is, and I won’t beat the shit out of you before I give you back to the PNT.”

“In my mind’s eye, she’s very beautiful. Is she still?” Delilah asked, the epitome of innocence. “Did you know that Oracles are blind and not particularly lovely in exchange for their gifts? I’ll never see the sunrise as you do or captivate men’s hearts the way you have. The way
she
has. For the right price, I can show anyone his future. Hers. Yours. Even Tyler’s. Everyone’s but my own. Funny, isn’t it?”

I went for the dagger I kept sheathed at my thigh, ready to stab her out of sheer frustration. But when I reached for it, I found it was gone. I looked around the room, confused. Again my mind felt shrouded in fog, and my memory became hazy. Where was the dagger? I reached for my back. The katana was also gone, but I
couldn’t remember for the life of me where it could be. Had I left it in the car? Put it in the closet? I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and Delilah’s face blurred in and out of focus. Damn Fallon and his magic Fae fingers. What had he done to me?

“Where is she, Delilah?” My legs wobbled, threatening to give at any moment, and my arms felt too heavy to lift. “Spit it out already. Where is Brakae? I need to find her.”

“Darian.” Delilah sat up straight in her chair, her voice laced with bravado. “Darian, Darian, Darian. You broke me out of that prison, abandoned Tyler, and the gods know what else, when what you should have been doing was watching your back.”

Well, she’d snapped back into her old snarky self pretty damned fast. What happened to the bat-shit-crazy girl I’d dropped off at the PNT weeks ago? I should have known she wasn’t going to be grateful and spill her secrets as if we were the best of friends. Nope. I’d have to beat it out of her. Fine by me. Though I’d probably need a solid night of rest before I could do it properly. Jesus Christ, I was tired. When was the last time I’d slept?

“I warned you,” she said. “But you never listen, do you? You’re just
so
very tough. What did Tyler say when you left him? Was he understanding of your running off with another man?”

I answered her with silence. I hadn’t told Tyler I was leaving, or had I? God, I couldn’t form a coherent thought to save my life.

“You didn’t tell him!” Delilah squealed like a girl at a pajama party. “Oh wow. He is going to be
pissed
. You’ve never seen his nasty side, but I can tell you from experience…Tyler has an ugly temper when he has cause to show it.”

“Shut. Up!” I yelled, clarity singeing a path through my brain. I brought my face nose to nose with hers. “You are not allowed to talk about him. Ever. You used him to get to me. You would have let me die thinking he’d betrayed me.”

“Had to get you on board somehow. You were chosen. And the Enphigmalé needed a Guardian’s blood to be awakened. A Guardian…in love, no less.”

Guardian. Again. Fate laughed at my predicament, the separate events of my recent life twining once again into a long, complicated braid. The black-haired Shaede had called me a Guardian. So had Reaver. What the fuck was going on? And why was I
always
the last to find out? “Your plan didn’t go too well,” I said, backing away from Delilah’s stinking face. “I killed your gargoyles. Every last one.”

“Are you sure about that?” Delilah asked, her head cocking toward Fallon.

He stood in a flash of movement and brought his fist down hard against Delilah’s tiny skull. He knocked her right off her chair, actually. She fell to the floor with a thud, out like a light. My knees finally gave up the fight to support my body, and I crumpled to the floor beside her, staring without emotion at her still and fortunately silent form. Fallon stood above me, stroking my hair as if I’d become some sort of pet, and I fought a wave of nausea so strong, I thought I’d empty my stomach right there on the hotel carpeting.

“Shhh,” he soothed as he petted me. “Sleep, Darian.”

Magic twined around me, holding me warm and secure. I fell back against him as his arms gathered me close.
Finally,
I thought,
I’m going to get some rest
.

Chapter 21

I
awoke to a pulsing warmth at my throat. The sensation didn’t disturb me; in fact, it calmed me and turned my bones into Jell-O. A body hovered above me, and warm breath fell on my bare neck as a finger caressed something hard and unyielding that lay against my skin. I felt rested, despite the crazy dream I’d had, as if I’d been sleeping for hours. I snuggled deeper against my pillow, my eyelids still too heavy with sleep for me to open. I recalled the details of my dream as I floated in the hazy realm between sleep and wakefulness. I’d become a thief, a kidnapper, and I’d left Tyler. I groaned as I struggled to fight the lethargy that clung to my mind. Surely my dream was more nightmare than anything. No way in hell would I ever leave Ty.