Eternal Craving (6 page)

“Now I’m going to release you so you can voice your support or rejection.” He lifted his arms to signal that they could once again move. The arm-lifting was simply show-boating, but it gave his workers a visual of his power. Lower beings needed such demonstrations.

A babble of voices all trying to be heard at the same time hurt his ears. He raised a hand to still them and everyone instantly shut up. Good. They could take direction.

“Any questions?”

The expected hand went up. “I don’t wanna be part of any damn army. I get everything I need without your help.” The demon had “dumbass” printed in bright neon letters across his tiny brain. “So whatcha gonna do about that?”

Stake smiled gently. “I’m going to send your stupid ass back to hell.”

The sudden flash made everyone gasp. Then they took a few seconds to look around the room. When they realized the demon was truly gone, their gaze returned to him. He didn’t miss the new respect in their eyes.

“Let me clarify things. I can’t kill humans directly, but I can dispose of nonhumans quite easily.” His smile never wavered.

Another hand went up. A tentative hand. “Umm, what should we call you?”

Supreme leader? God?
Stake resisted the temptation. “Just call me Stake. Not my real name. Only a fool hands out his real name. I like Stake because it reminds me that I have a huge stake in your success.” Always make the workers think you’re doing it all for them.

“Anyone else want to walk away from my offer?” No one raised a hand. The example of one dumb demon had done the trick. Too bad. The demon hadn’t been any fun. Anything that didn’t involve blood couldn’t be classified as entertainment.

“Good, good. My people will pass out forms to everyone. Name, address, phone number, that kind of stuff. Fill out the forms and leave them on the small table by the door as you leave. Someone will contact you in a few days. And I’m going to stand by the door to shake every one of your hands.”

The forms meant nothing. The handshake was everything. As he touched each hand, he’d slip into the worker’s mind and know immediately if he or she was truly committed. Any who were lying or planning to betray the movement would be dealt with.

He’d let them think they’d fooled him. But once he’d touched them, they were his. They couldn’t run far enough to escape him. He could call them to him, or if he didn’t feel like taking the time to destroy their betraying butts, he could send other workers out to do the job for him.

And when he’d completed his recruitment duties in Philadelphia and was ready to move on to the next city, he’d use the memory of that touch to gather them together one last time. By then he’d have a well-oiled organization in place to carry on in place of him.

Once finished with the handshaking, he allowed his thoughts to wander. Fin and the other Gods of the Night had to be dealt with. Gods of the Night? His leader had chosen that name, but Stake thought it gave them a lot more importance than they deserved.

“What do you want done with the body parts, boss?”

Stake abandoned his thoughts to deal with the worker’s question. “Move them, then come back and clean up this place. Find a public building and dump them there to be found in the morning. Make sure you smear lots of blood on the walls and floors. It’s time for the real fear to start. Wars are won on many levels. A terrified enemy is an easier enemy to defeat. Philadelphia is about to get its first taste of battle waged on a level it can’t begin to understand. Or stop.”

Seir stood in the shadows and watched. Perhaps he’d show up at Stake’s next party. Maybe he’d even offer his help. After all, he’d been a big help to Nine. In a twisted sort of way.

Of course, he was playing both ends against the middle. He’d played the game so long, he’d almost forgotten which side he was really on. Loyalties were a bitch. Oh, wait. He didn’t have any loyalties. That made things a lot easier.

He watched as they all came out, the ones who had survived that is. Finally, Stake, aka Eight, emerged. Self-satisfied bastard. All eight of them were. Zero was the exception. Zero had his head screwed on right. Could he help it if the hired help was less than he was? Jeez, it was hard to find good immortal flunkeys nowadays.

The thought dragged a grin from him. His grin died, though, when he realized Stake’s followers were carrying body parts out in big plastic bags. Seir could smell the coppery scent of blood. He scanned their thoughts. Looked like Stake was firing the first major shot in his war against Philly’s human population. The terror was beginning.

“As you knew it would.”

The voice in his head startled him. Balan. Seir slid his gaze to the many shadowed places not lit by the lone security light. There. Amber eyes glowed intense and intelligent as the blacker shape of the jaguar almost, but not quite, blended into the shadows.

Why was Balan here? Seir knew he was the immortals’ messenger, but he owed his allegiance to the head guy. Allegiances could be fluid, though. He should know.

Balan had hung around the edges of the action in Houston. What did he know? Had he been in the Astrodome on that final night when Fin wiped out Nine’s recruits? Seir didn’t think so. He would’ve sensed the big cat.

The important question was how much did Balan know about
him
? Nothing, he hoped, other than that he wasn’t human. Balan could sense that much. After all, Seir had changed everything about himself. He wasn’t what he once was. If Seir’s luck held out, Balan would never know who he was or what part he’d played in Nine’s exit from Earth.

He reached out to the cat with his mind.
“Who are you and why are you here?”

“I’m Balan. I’m here to observe and report. Nothing more at the moment.”

“At the moment” was the operative phrase. Seir knew what Balan was capable of. Now for a little probing.
“Why did you speak to me? Have we met before?”

Balan’s soft chuckle made Seir uneasy.

“I know you for a demon. I know you worked for the one the Gods of the Night called Nine. That is all I know.”

Seir felt some of his tension drain from him. But Balan’s next question ramped up the tension again.

“Why did you leave Houston?”

“Yeah, I worked for Mr. Wyatt.”
Think.
“Too bad he failed in Houston. I don’t like failure. So I watched the news until I found a city where the murder rate had skyrocketed. Figured that was a good clue that another one of the immortals had set up shop. I’m here to help finish what Nine started.”

Balan was silent for a moment.
“Then good luck…with what ever you plan.”

What the hell did he mean by that? Seir sensed rather than saw Balan leave. One minute the jaguar was there and then he wasn’t. Now that Seir knew Balan was in Philly, he’d move more carefully. It wasn’t just coincidence, though, that Balan had been in Houston when Fin was there and now once again he’d shown up in the same place as the Gods of the Night.

But wondering about Balan was pointless. Seir walked to his car, his footsteps echoing along the dark, empty street. Somewhere in Philly, the dead were being left to be discovered by the living.

Once in the car, he drove toward home. He didn’t need a vehicle, but it was a prop like everything else in his life, something that made him look normal if humans saw him.

Seir had the ritual down pat. He parked his car as close as he could to his small apartment—unlike Fin, he was into keeping a low profile—and then dematerialized only to reappear in the park at Ritten house Square. With no humans around at this hour of the morning, he didn’t need to play the “normal” game. Then he sat in the shadow of a large tree and stared at the windows of his brother’s condo.

Jenna stared at the back of the men’s heads and wondered what she’d gotten herself into. Maybe she should’ve insisted on telling her sister where she was going. But Fin was right. Kelly would have tried to stop her. And even though her sister had promised to tell all, Jenna got the feeling she’d avoid it as long as possible. This would have been a wasted night waiting around for Fin’s meeting to be over.

She compromised by pulling out her cell phone and trying to call Kelly. No luck. Phone turned off. She and Jude and Al had been driving around for hours now, but better to let her sister know late than never. Jenna sent a text message. There. Duty done. Not that she didn’t trust Fin. Okay, so she
didn’t
trust him. But thinking that he’d knock her off and dump her lifeless body in the Delaware River was a bit of a stretch.

She wasn’t totally unprepared for trouble. All the women in the Maloy family carried pepper spray in their purses. And of course, she always had her cell with her.

She glanced out the window. Jude was driving slowly down a dark street with far too few streetlights. Or maybe it was just that half of them looked like they’d been shot out.

“So what’re you looking for?” She aimed the question at anyone who’d answer.

“Someone who’s lying around on the sidewalk or staggering down an alley.” Al didn’t sound enthusiastic. So far, they’d found no one in need of saving.

Jude stayed silent.

Jenna returned to staring out the window. Well, that had been informative. She hugged herself. Even with her heavy coat, she was cold. Maybe if Al would shut the damn window, she’d warm up a little.

“Why do you have the window open? It’s freezing in here.” She’d promised herself she wouldn’t complain about the open window. No way would she give either of them an excuse to go back to Fin with tales about Kelly’s whiny sister. But enough was enough.

Jude answered. “He has preternatural senses. So he’s trying to catch a scent or hear something.”

Al swung his head around to stare at Jude. Jenna didn’t have to use her intuition to know that Al was ticked at what Jude had revealed.

Jude shrugged. “Sorry. I forgot.”

Forgot what? “Preternatural senses? Want to explain?”

“No.” Al sounded definite about that.

“Why not?” She prided herself on being persistent. It was part of who she was. No one got a dynamite story without being a pain in the ass at least part of the time.

He didn’t answer. Instead, he said, “Stop.”

Jude obeyed, stomping on the brake.

Jenna braced her hand against the back of Al’s seat. “Jeez, thanks for the warning.”

With no explanation, Al shoved his door open and got out. Then he leaned into the open window. “Stay here. Both of you. Do not even
think
about getting out of the car.” He speared Jude with a hard stare. “Don’t let her do anything stupid.”

“Jerk.” Unfortunately, he’d disappeared into a small park they’d been passing and hadn’t heard her opinion of him.

Jude pulled to the curb, put the car in park, and closed the window. Then he cranked up the heat.

“You’re my hero.” Jenna meant it.

He turned and flashed her a grin. Being amazed at every great-looking guy she met in Philly was starting to get old. But she couldn’t deny the facts. If she used her fave dessert, ice cream, to compare the men she’d met, Jude would be smooth dark chocolate. Long dark hair that flowed over broad shoulders, eyes so dark they seemed black, and a face that had all the necessary angles to capture shadows and women’s imaginations. And Al? Al was Rocky Road. Delicious but never predictable.

She was busy trying to decide what flavor Fin was when the shouts and screams began.

Her first thought was that saving souls sounded like a violent business. Her second thought was that maybe Al might need their help.

“Believe me, he doesn’t need our help.”

Startled, she met Jude’s gaze and quickly looked away. Something in his eyes seemed to have changed. They were still dark, but a hungry gleam had crept into them. And wait, how had he known what she was thinking?

He laughed softly. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t reading your mind. Your expression said it all.”

“I thought helping the downtrodden was a more peaceful business. Either one of the down-and-outters is beating our guy to a pulp”—not very likely—“or else Al is making a little too compelling an argument for change. Either way, I think we should take a look.”

“No.”

Okay, now she was ticked. Her business was gathering info and crafting it into an interesting story. Well, a story was happening out in the darkness, and she wasn’t there. But she would be. “Come on, Jude. I want to find out what’s happening. If you won’t come with me, I’ll go alone.”

The click of the remote locks was her only answer.

“I don’t believe you!” But she didn’t get a chance to give him a piece of her mind, because suddenly a shadow emerged from the stand of trees.

Distracted from her mad, she glanced out her window. And froze.

Oh. My. God! Whatever was coming out of that park was so huge she had to look up to get the full effect. It wasn’t close enough yet to see details, but she recognized the shape. Every person who ever saw
Jurassic Park
recognized that shape. As she stared in unblinking horror, she could
feel the vibration
as massive feet brought it closer and closer and closer…

Jenna screamed. Not a polite ladylike squeak, but a full-throated bellow.

“Son-of-a-bitch. What the hell does he think he’s doing?”

Jude’s response made no sense at all, but neither did the monstrous thing bearing down on them out of the darkness.

“Drive! Get us the hell out of here.”

Instead of obeying her, Jude did the unthinkable. He shut down the engine, pocketed the keys, unlocked the doors, and got out of the car.

“Are you crazy?” Her shriek was drowned out by an animal roar like nothing she’d ever heard before or wanted to hear again.

In response, he leaned back into the car. But he was a different Jude. And this one scared the crap out of her. The eyes that a few minutes ago had promised sensual nirvana now glowed red. Then he opened his mouth and hissed at her. He sure didn’t have those sharp fangs the last time he opened his mouth.

“Stay here,” he ordered, and ran around the front of the car to confront the thing that now towered over them.

“Get your fucking head screwed back on! Stop right there!” Whatever Jude was, smart wasn’t part of it. He was about to get either torn apart or stomped on.

She was in a waking nightmare. Jenna had always wondered what she’d do in a crisis situation. Would she calm everyone around her while she called the bomb squad, talked the jumper off the ledge, or saved the woman who’d fallen onto the tracks? She’d always liked to think she’d keep her cool and do the right thing.

Jenna panicked. Pure and simply freaking panicked. Her breaths came in great wheezing gasps as she flung open the car door and ran. Wildly and without any thought about where she was going. Her pounding heart was so loud she was sure the creature would be able to track her by that alone. She imagined the thud, thud of its massive feet gaining on her.

She didn’t think. Thoughts were beyond her.
Run, run, run.
The words took on a rhythm in her mind as she matched her pumping legs to the cadence. If she could just run fast enough, far enough, the nightmare would go away.

And then, unexpectedly, there was light. One of those all-night convenience stores, a beacon in a lost world. Finally, the first thoughts trickled into her mind.

There was only one person she trusted in this strange city. She had to call Kelly. Oh, God, she’d left her purse in the car. Frantically, she tried to think of a lie to tell the clerk. She glanced behind her. Would the monster follow her here? Would it hurt anyone in the store?

Jenna forced herself to breathe more slowly, channeled inner quiet to her completely berserk mind, and tried to think calm thoughts as she pushed open the store’s door.

She didn’t have to try hard to look traumatized as she walked to the checkout counter. “Please, you’ve got to help me.”
A monster is chasing me.
“Someone just mugged me. Took my purse. Can I use your phone to call my sister?” Did she sound pitiful enough?

“Not going to call the cops?”

She shook her head. What would it accomplish? If what she’d seen was real, lots of people would have called the police by now. They’d be too late to save Al and Jude anyway.
Al.
Her heart gave a primal scream of despair. What had happened to him, and why did she care so much?

It was a testament to the neighborhood that the clerk didn’t look shocked. “Shouldn’t be on the street this time of night, lady.” His expression said she was too stupid to live. But at least he let her use the store phone. “Make it short.”

She offered him a watery smile—when had the tears started?—and quickly punched in Kelly’s number.
Please, please have your phone turned on.

“Hello?”

The familiar sound of her sister’s voice almost made Jenna’s knees buckle.

“Kelly, you have to come get me.” She couldn’t keep the panic from sliding into her voice.

“Where are you, sis? I got your text message. I had my phone turned off during the meeting.”

Good old Kelly. She didn’t waste precious time asking what happened. “I don’t know. I heard Jude say we were in North Philly.” Jenna glanced at the clerk. “Address?”

He gave it to her, and she passed it on to Kelly.

“Ty and I are on our way. Stay where you are. Will you be okay until we get there?”

“Sure. But hurry. I’ll explain when I see you.” Now that she’d calmed down a little, reason told her that neither Jude nor Al—if he was still alive—knew where she’d gone. And since the monster hadn’t shown up yet, she felt a little safer.

Jenna ended the call and handed the phone back to the clerk.

He propped his elbows on the counter and studied her. “Been lots of homicides around here lately. Weird stuff. You’re lucky he just took your purse.” Unspoken was the belief that someone stupid enough to be on the streets alone after dark didn’t deserve much luck.

Jenna just nodded and wandered over to the window to watch for Kelly or anything else that might come out of the darkness.

Her brain had finally returned to a functioning organ, and she allowed herself to think about what had happened.
What had happened
was impossible. Had she just gone through a mental breakdown? Was everything some demented brain burp? No, she felt normal.
You’ll never feel normal again.

Every story has a past. And the past often explained the present. Jenna focused on everything that had happened since Kelly first met Ty. All the unexplained little things that had made Jenna suspicious from the beginning. Up until tonight, she’d been leaning toward Fin and the others being part of organized crime. She should be so lucky.

She shook her head to clear away the stuff that didn’t make sense. Couldn’t do it. Because to night
nothing
made sense.

Were Jude and Al still alive? Just thinking about Al being dead made her stomach flip and then drop. Nausea rose on a wave of dread. What had happened to him? And why had she panicked and left him behind? She’d failed him.

And what about Jude? Had she really seen what she thought she’d seen, or were the glowing eyes and fangs all a result of an imagination gone wild? She shuddered.

The story she might have was only an afterthought right now.
If
she was ready to accept what she’d seen as real. She didn’t know. God, she just didn’t know.

It felt as though she’d been looking out at the parking lot for hours, trying to make sense of the madness, when Ty finally pulled up to the store.

Jenna’s relief left her weak and shaky. She wanted to fling herself into her sister’s arms and bawl like the baby she felt she was. In all her imaginings, she’d never believed that in a time of crisis she’d run away, abandoning another human to God knew what. She’d have to come to terms with her new diminished self-image. But not now.

Not wanting the clerk to hear any part of the coming conversation, Jenna ran from the store to meet her sister. Kelly flung her arms around Jenna and hugged her tight.

“What happened?”

Jenna stepped away from Kelly and waved Ty back into the car. She climbed into the back while her sister returned to the passenger seat.

Then both Ty and Kelly turned to stare at her.

“Let’s hear it.” Ty looked grim.

How could she tell them what she’d seen without both of them looking at her like she was crazy, without her
feeling
like she was crazy? But if Jenna trusted anything, she trusted Kelly’s belief in her.
This time you have a whopper to believe.

As calmly as she could, Jenna told her story. When she finished, there was a charged moment of silence.

Then Ty exploded. “Damn them to hell! The dumb shits. What the fuck were they thinking?”

Jenna cringed. She never cringed. Not even when the main crazy in one of her stories had told her that giant bugs the size of rats were crawling through the sewer lines and would soon pop up in her toilet.

Kelly’s reaction was more subdued. “Oh, no. They didn’t.”

This wasn’t the reaction Jenna had expected. For once in her life, she had nothing to say. She fell back against the seat with a startled
oomph
as Ty peeled out of the parking lot.

“Get Al on his cell,” Ty threw at Kelly as he drove way too fast in the general direction Jenna had indicated she’d run from.

Other than a terse, “Where are you?” from Kelly, Jenna didn’t get any other information, but at least it seemed as though Al was alive.
Thank you, God.

A few minutes later, Ty pulled up to the curb at the park where Jude and Al waited. Panic shadowed Jenna, a sense that something horrific still lurked in the darkness, ready to pounce.

“What about Jude? Don’t let him into the car.” What if Ty and Kelly
didn’t
believe her story? Panic slithered closer. Her gaze darted from tree to tree, searching for the menacing shadow and finding none. Self-doubt crept in. Had there ever been a shadow? Had Jude ever had glowing red eyes and fangs? Was she the victim of a psychotic event?