Dark Solace (11 page)

“Why are you anxious?” he whispered, stroking
my hair back from my face. “I can scent your change in mood.”

“Just worried that forever won’t be long
enough,” I quipped, unwilling to bring heaviness to the
conversation.

Devlin had no such compunction. “You don’t
live a long time by working hard, being careful, or even being
bold, Love. It’s all luck. There were several times I came close to
dying, and clawed my way back. There were just as many that I
couldn’t stop, that Lash saved me from, or his friend.”

“What friend?” I asked curiously.

“There was another guard who was a good
friend to both he and I for many years,” Devlin said, heavy sadness
in his voice. “But let us not mention that tonight. There will be
other nights to tell you of my past. This night is for us to think
about the future, Sar.”

His use of my name instead of an endearment
got him all of my attention.

“We’ll do this every year from now on,” Dev
continued softly. “I’ve ridden over this bridge many times, Sar,
sometimes with Lash, and sometimes with some of the bears. It was
just another bridge to cross, and it didn’t matter very much—”

This wasn’t about bridges at all.

“—
but this is our bridge now,” he said
softly, touching my face gently. “Because I want you to know it
means a great deal to me that you’ll be here with me next year.
That we’ll share nights like this one again, for the rest of
eternity.”

There was something heartfelt in Devlin’s
tone which brought to mind Danial’s tender words of affection..
Even though his words seemed a little too smooth, I decided to give
him the benefit of the doubt. “It means something to me, too. I
want to be here with you, Dev. I don’t want to ever be without you
again.”

“You won’t be, Love,” he said softly, kissing
me.

We lay together for a while after, just
holding each other, enjoying the warm breeze caressing our skin
with feather touches. “We need to get going, Sar,” Devlin said
reluctantly. “The night is passing. In three hours or so, it will
be dawn.”

Quickly, we dressed, and he helped me strap
the armor back on. With a last look at the river, I let him lead me
back to the bike. After a careful check, Devlin and I got back on.
We were less than halfway back when I felt the tire under me began
to slide.

I don’t know what happened. Suddenly Devlin
swerved, we were leaning too far left, and all of a sudden the
motorcycle was no longer beneath me, the ground rushing up to meet
us. Devlin twisted in the air, trying to wrap his body around mine
to protect me. As we hit the pavement with a bone-jarring crunch, I
heard something snap in him. Dev let out a hiss of pain through
gritted teeth as we rolled over and over, finally coming to rest on
our backs near some bushes.

I lay there breathing hard, thanking God to
be alive and promising fervently to never get on a motorcycle
again. Devlin lay partly under me, his body still enfolding
mine.

“Dev—” I whispered.

His hand covered my mouth in a flash. I went
still immediately, waiting in silence, my heart hammering.

“Dalcon,” a voice called. “Get up.”

Our accident had been an ambush. Who was out
there? Why the hell hadn’t Devlin said there was someone looking to
kill him? I would have insisted on guards if I’d known.

Devlin made no reply.

“Answer me, Dalcon, or I’ll shoot your lady.
When you start screaming, I’ll know your vocal abilities are still
there.”

God. I felt frantically for my cell phone,
then remembered it was in my purse on the front seat of Lash’s
truck.

“I’m here,” Devlin said spitefully. “Who are
you and what do you want with me?”

A familiar figure walked into the light.
“It’s him,” Catherine said, rancor in each word as she stared at us
with red eyes. “That’s his Oathed One, Sar.”

Devlin hissed, baring his fangs at her. She
gave him a cold look.

A man stepped out beside Catherine. I didn’t
recognize his handsome features. He had brown hair to his
shoulders, and green eyes like mine. His body was similar to
Aran’s, tall and rangy, though his shoulders were narrower, and his
waist thicker. He looked to be in his twenties, but if he was
vampire like Catherine, he could have been far older.

Devlin did recognize him. He hissed again,
baring his fangs. “Ulysses.”

“How gratifying, Dalcon,” the man said. “I
thought you had forgotten me.”

“I had, until now,” Devlin said easily.

“Get up, both of you,” Ulysses said.

He had no gun or weapon. Why wasn’t Devlin
kicking his ass? We’d lost our gun, sure, but still...

Devlin got up and faced Ulysses, keeping me
behind him. “You’re a fool to ambush me. You’ve only brought
yourself more misery—”

“I beg to differ,” Ulysses said in a charming
manner. “You owe me.”

“I owe you nothing,” Devlin said
arrogantly.

“You owe me,” Ulysses repeated with white-hot
anger. “Grab them!”

Arms grabbed me from behind, pulling me away
from Devlin. I screamed, kicking and pushing, but the limbs were
immovable as steel bands. Devlin lunged for me, snarling, but four
men grasped him, restraining him as he thrashed.

“Let us go!” I screamed. “You’ve signed your
own death warrant—”

Ulysses strode up to Devlin, and shot him in
the heart, the brief flash illuminating Devlin’s explosive bullet’s
gun. Devlin convulsed with the impact, and went down hard.

“Dev!” I screamed, struggling hard. The man
holding me laughed, then squeezed, making me choke.

“Get up,” Ulysses said in contempt. “I know
that leather is more than it appears.”

Devlin rolled over onto his side. I sagged
with relief, to see him moving. “What do you want?” he said, his
words coming with effort. “I can’t bring your sister back.”

“You knew she was in love with you! You used
her! You turned her!”

“She knew what she wanted, and I gave it to
her,” Devlin said contemptuously. “It’s not my fault she ran afoul
of some vampire hunters. If she hadn’t been dumb enough to leave
drained corpses lying around—”

Ulysses shot Devlin again in the back. This
time, Devlin screamed.

“Stop it, Please!” I screamed. “Please!”

Ulysses shot him twice more, each bullet
booming in the quiet. Devlin screamed each time, his smoking form
writhing on the ground. I began sobbing, still pleading for Ulysses
to stop.

Ulysses crouched down and held the gun to
Devlin’s head. Devlin looked up at him, his eyes red and hateful,
hissing in pain.

“You think you’ll heal a gunshot wound to the
head, if the bullet’s explosive?” Ulysses said thoughtfully. “I’m
thinking not. There are all those stories about vampires being
decapitated and dying. But maybe it would just paralyze you. Unless
of course, I aimed for your throat, and it took your head clean
off—”

This wasn’t about ransom. This man wanted
revenge. He was going to kill Devlin unless someone saved us. Tears
flooded my eyes and ran down my cheeks. No one knew where we were.
No help would come in time to save Devlin.

“—
but you aren’t getting off that
easy,” Ulysses said hatefully. “I’ve heard there are more than a
few ways for you to die. Fire, decapitation, a stake, an explosive
bullet, or pretty much anything that destroys your heart. But it’s
universally agreed that the most painful way is burning by
sunlight.” Ulysses leaned closer, his soft words ringing out in the
stillness of the night. “You and I have a date with Mr. Sun at ten
a.m., Dalcon. I want you to think about that tonight—”

“Fuck you, and fuck your sister!” Devlin spat
with cold malice. “She was just a whore anyway—”

Ulysses shot him four more times. When the
smoke and echoes cleared, Devlin was keening softly. I shuddered,
knowing how badly he had to be hurt.

Ulysses got to his feet. “Bring them to the
vans and let’s go.”

“I want my money,” Catherine said to Ulysses,
flashing her fangs. “I told you I could get that tracking device
onto his bike—”

“You’ll get it when he’s dust, vampire,”
Ulysses said, not looking at her.

“You sold me out for money?” Devlin hissed
with effort and agony, his eyes glowing faintly red. “You fucking
bitch! I should’ve carved out your mercenary heart—”

“Why not?” she said back hatefully. “You’ve
treated me like dirt ever since you turned me. I was fine to fuck
every few decades when you were bored.” She glared over at me, then
back at him. “This was about me hurting you. The money’s just a
bonus.”

Devlin and I were shoved into separate vans,
the majority of men, Ulysses, and Catherine with Devlin, and two
men with me. They clearly feared his power, even wounded. I’d
glimpsed the bloodstained pavement where he had been lying. Even if
he’d healed his wounds, Dev had to be very weak, losing that much
blood. But maybe I could use their fear to my advantage.

* * * *

We drove for what seemed like a long time.
The dark night was suddenly no longer magical, it was terrifying,
and I couldn’t think of anything except what they might be doing to
Devlin. But my mind shortly moved on to thinking frantically of
what they might do to me after they finished with him.

Finally, we were taken out of the vans and
ushered into a large, shadowy building. As we entered the stained
glass doors, I realized it was an old church. Titus wouldn’t be
teleporting in to save us. He couldn’t walk on hallowed ground, nor
could Terian. Desperately, I tried to teleport myself over and over
as they dragged me inside, to no avail.

I was thrown into a room, the door locked
behind me. At once I huddled and began sobbing my heart out,
letting my terror and fear break free. Ten minutes later, I dried
my eyes on an old sash and began getting myself together. If Lash
didn’t come, I’d better find some way to get out of here myself.
There was no hope for Devlin unless I got help in time.

I got up and searched the room, than sat
there for a long time, thinking of different scenarios and options.
I was in the small, cramped room that brides had once used to get
ready for their wedding. There was a phone, but it was
disconnected. I couldn’t use any lock picking skills, as there was
most likely a guard at the door. Besides, I didn’t have my tools,
and there was no tool of any kind in this room. The only possible
weapon was a metal cross on a stand. While helpful against demons,
it wasn’t heavy enough to knock a hole in the wall, especially not
knowing what was on the other side. Besides, the guard would hear
the noise.

I considered seduction, then bravely
attempted it, calling sweetly to the guard that I was scared and
lonely. There was no reply. Stymied, I sat down with my back to the
wall and tried again to teleport, with no success.

Finally at about two a.m., footsteps walked
up to the door, and then Ulysses came in. He shut the door behind
him, then turned to me, green eyes staring into mine.

I curled myself up tight in a ball. I wanted
to plead for Devlin, but I knew it wouldn’t do any good. Telling
him he was a bastard probably also wasn’t a good idea.

“Sarelle,” Ulysses said softly. “Be calm. You
won’t be harmed.”

That was bullshit for sure. “Then let me
go.”

“I want no quarrel with Racklan, or
O’Connor,” he said, crouching down beside me.

He was going to get one with Danial shortly,
for killing his brother. “Then let Dev go—”

“It’s well known your lovers don’t get along.
O’Connor hates Dalcon. Racklan will probably thank me, as you’ll
revert solely to him—”

I kept my expression neutral. Enemies like
Ulysses were the reason Danial and Devlin kept their kinship
secret. “If you hate vampires so much, why are you partnering with
one?”

“It’s necessary,” Ulysses replied. “When
Devlin is dead, I’ll call Racklan on his company line, and tell him
where you are. Perhaps he’ll even pay a good faith ransom for
you.”

That would be too late. “Please let me go,” I
said in the most pitiful tone I could muster.

“You are Oathed to Dalcon,” Ulysses said
flatly. “That’s what I heard, though I don’t see his symbol at your
throat. You’d try to save him. You aren’t going to leave here until
he’s dead.”

This was useless. “Can you have someone take
me to the bathroom then?”

He got suspicious immediately. “Don’t think
about escaping,” he growled.

“Look,” I said, holding up my hands. “This
isn’t a movie, and I’m not a super spy. I just want to use the
ladies room and then you can lead me back here.”

“You have any phones on you?”

“I don't have a phone, credit card, keys, or
even any money,” I said, real defeat in each word. “I’m going
nowhere.”

Ulysses nodded, satisfied. “Come with me,” he
said, gesturing to me to follow.

I got up and followed him down the hall to
the bathroom. I looked in each room we passed, but there was no
sign of anyone; no screams or even talking. Worse, there was
nothing in any of the rooms to help me: no phones, no exits, no
keys lying on tables, no tools, not even some gasoline and pack of
matches conveniently within reach.

When I was finished, Ulysses put me back in
the room and locked the door, then walked away.

I sat down, debating courses of action. I
wanted to remove the armor, as it was stifling, and hadn’t been
made to sit in for long periods of time. Yet I didn’t, too worried
that I’d be unprepared if a chance to escape presented itself.
Instead, I walked slowly back and forth for a half hour, and then
rested for a half hour lying prone on the floor. I alternated
between the two actions all through the rest of the night, waiting
and hoping for rescue. But dawn came and went and no one
appeared.

Devlin began to shriek around ten a.m. The
horrible sounds of pain went on and on, undulating in volume and
strength as the minutes ticked by. Unhinged, I sobbed as I listened
to him scream. They were burning him, and there was nothing I could
do but listen. I cursed my inability to teleport, furious at fate.
A month ago we would have been safe back at Hayden the moment I’d
known we were in danger. I’d forgotten everything that mattered,
and relied too much on my teleportation power. If I’d brought even
one clip and my gun, I’d be free now...