Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) (33 page)

In a moment I had tousled her beautiful blonde hair, raised her t-shirt
, and
started to inch down the zipper on her pants. Belinda stared at me
with a mixture of mischief and disbelief. I focused
on the silver zipper, slipping it down a centimetre at a time until it came to a stop.

Belinda put her hands on her hips and pouted.
“
Now
whatcha gonna do?
”

With an effort that popped out droplets of sweat across my forehead I snicked open the button that held her pants together. Now the two halves fell apart.

“Sweet,” I said.

Belinda wriggled until the trousers slid down to her ankles.
“
I can be, but n
ot tonight, Logan
.
”

I pressed her up against the glass. Our passion,
restrained, yet deep and meaningful
, fired my adrenalin and brought
my heart to life again
.

For a while the Yawning Cave retreated, and all the dark things gnashed their teeth and crawled away from a new light.

Oh, Christ,
I thought later.
I
’
ve gone and fallen again.

How ironic. On the night b
efore we all went down to Miami
to start a confrontation none of us might survive.

I woke in the dead of night, staring up at the ceiling
where v
iolent shadows flickered
in harmony with
the swaying trees outside the window. For a moment I blinked in confusion, not
recognizing
my room. I sensed the weight of someone beside me, something I hadn
’
t kn
own for years, and was
transported back to the past, to where Raychel and the d
ark things that kept her memory
lived.

   I squeezed my eyes shut, battling the memories away. I sat
up in bed and gazed down at Belinda
. She was a vision, a well-turned corner, a light in the dark. In sleep, her face smoothed out and took on an innocent, sheltered look that I guessed not many people
had ever seen
. A curl of blonde hair had fallen across her brow. I reached out to tuck it away, making her stir gently, and a faint smile turned up the corners of her mouth.

I slid
out of bed,
wrap
ped a dressing gown around me and
walked over to the window. The night outside was windswept and violent and black
.
I glanced back towards the bed, seeing the alternative.

I heard noises in the corridor outside my room. A footfall.
A
whisper.

I paused for a second to cover Belinda
’
s naked form with the duve
t, then cracked open the door and
peered through the gap.

“
I want it!
”
Hushed, furious tones. A girl
’
s tones.

Lucy.

My heartbeat suddenly tripled. I stepped out into the hallway. Three doors down stood Lucy, clad in her nightie, facing
an open door. Her hair was wild
and her face was scrunched with anger. Her body language was confrontational.

“
No,
”
I heard Ceriden
’
s squeaky voice say.
“
The answer is no, my dear. Or rather- not yet.
”

“
The answer to what?
”
I asked, my
voice
cutting through the atmosphere of tension and anger that filled the corridor.

Lucy jumped and turned towards me. Someone stepped out of the room and, surprisingly, it was not Ceriden, but a black
-
haired, blue
-
eyed woman with a lithe body and the most striking way of staring at you that I had ever seen. One
look
and I couldn
’
t look away.

“
Hello,
”
she said.
“
I am Eliza. I have just arrived.
”

Eliza was s
teel and silk, leather and lace
. She was all things sweet and all things wicked and every temptation under the sun. But for us, I sensed, for the people of Aegis, she was a welcome light in the dark.

I struggled to find my voice.
“
What
’
s going on here?
”

“
Nothing,
”
Lucy said
quickly.
“
Absolutely nothing.
”

I walked forward.
“
I said- what the
hell
is going on here?
”

Eliza came out in
to the corridor to face me
. Her black bodysuit absorbed all the light in the corridor and gleamed like polished obsidian. She said,
“
Your daughter needs you,
Mr.
Logan. That is all. You would do well to focus on that.
”

“
What do you mean? What have you bastards been doing with her?
”

Eliza appeared to come to a decision. She walked towards me, blocking my view of Lucy. This woman
’
s presence, right next to me, inspired a sense of awe. It also blunted my anger. I noticed her full lips were redder than they should be, probably coated with a sheen of fresh blood. She moved until our bodies touched, and her lips were right next to my ear.

She murmured,
“
Lucy came to
us
tonight. She wants the life of a
Shade. She begged us
, Logan. But, for you, we refused
. You have only one chance left now. Don
’
t fail her again.
”

M
y stomach turn
ed
to acid
. I locked eyes with my daughter as Eliza turned away and walked back into Ceriden
’
s room and closed the door. Lucy stared at me, haunted, lost, alone.

What could
I
do? I was a man who had lost everything.

“
Lucy?
”
I said, and my daughter crumbled, collapsing in a heap right there in the corridor, not reaching for me but hugging herself, curling up
fetus
-like, almost as if she was trying to disappear by sinking right through the floorboards.

“
Lucy?
”

My daughter looked up at me through tumbles of dark hair, her eyes glistening and red.
“
It
’
s
her,
dad. It
’
s mum. I can
’
t let her go.
The only way I can make her go away is to become
something else.
A Shade.
They don’t feel.
What did I do that made her leave us?
What?
”

Tears rolled down my face as I sprinted to her side. I put my forehead against her own, staring straight into her haunted eyes.

My mouth opened but nothing came out. What could I say that hadn
’
t been said already?

4
5

MIAMI, US.A.

The one and only meeting of Gorgoroth’s Destroyers took place in Coconut Grove, in an old gargoyle-encrusted building that used to be a bank but was now a Starbucks. Loki ordered muffins and Caramel
Macchiato
’
s all round, and they could have been five ordinary friends gath
ered for a weekly natter at the
coffee shop. All they
needed, Loki reflected
, was the arrival of Jennifer Anniston.

That would give him ult
imate proof that there
was
a God. Didn’t happen, of course.

Whatever, he thought. That was a great American word
wasn’t it?

I killed your mom last night.
Whatever
…
I fucked your wife, your sister, your secretary, and your dog…
whateverrrr…

We
’
re gonna end the world tomorrow
…
whatever, man, whatever
…

Loki studied his companions. Ashka, with her hard European features and startlingly red eyes
.
Earlier, a Barista had sauntered over, wiping his hands on his fetching green pinny and asked her to put ou
t her cigarette. Ashka had
leaned back and smiled. The Barista
’
s eyes had bugged,
and then
he
’
d gone down faster than a two-dollar crack-whore with busted knees, banging his head on the table as he went.

“
Whatever
,
”
Ashka said as his colleagues dragged him away.
“
Must have really hurt his head.
”
Her smile was like deep, biting winter.

Jondal was virtuall
y a skeleton covered in thin, almost translucent, flesh. Loki thought he appeared on the verge of croaking, and watched him closely just in case. Though entertaining, Jondal
’
s expiration now would hurt their cause. Mena Gaines, on the other ha
nd, was a fighter, and
looked the part. Everything about her caused a stir in Loki
’
s blood- from the way she sipped her drink to the way she studied him with unabashed confidence.

An hour wasted with Mena, he thought, would not be wasted at all.

Finally his ga
ze lit upon Emily Crowe
.
Rockstar.

“Everything ready?”  Loki sipped his drink.

“
Buckets filled with blood,
”
Gaines flicked her tongue across her lower lip in sea
rch of caramel
.
“
Tarpaulins filled with
freshly severed
human limbs. Burning pikes topped with heads. It
’
s all in place. They have no idea that the mall is nothing but a
diversion
.
”

“
The authorities have not interfered?
”
Loki pressed.

“
Recent losses
were not acceptable
, it seems
.
These
last few days they have withdrawn further.
”
Gaines shrugged.

“
The world has been informed of Ubers,
”
Jondal hissed. Even his voice sounded
fragile.
“
Miami is on alert. Army, Navy
,
Air Force
,
Special Forces
. They
’
re all here.
”

“
Good,
”
Loki cla
cked his teeth together
.
“
They’ll make a fine feast for our Master.
”

“
His first beach barbecue,
”
Gaines grinned.

“
Doom of the world,
”
Jondal whispered.

“
Miami Beach then,
”
Loki said, mainly for Jondal
’
s benefit.
“
Opposite the Shore Club, at dusk tomorrow. We
will
teach this sorry world the
meaning of misery.
”

He looked at the three women.

“
Right,
”
he said.
“
I
’
ve reserved a hotel room for us.
”

4
5

MIAMI,
U.S.A

Kinkade was an eager sixth attendant at the Destroyers
’
mee
ting. The knowledge he gave us
, the
f
inal
revelations of Loki’s plan, woul
d give us the thinnest of edges. It also
concluded his part in
proceedings.