Requiem (31 page)

“
Don't!” I said,
recoiling.

Isaac smiled, and then shoved the same black
covering over my head, tenderly helping me to a spot next to
Ryan.

“
I don't tolerate violence
against women,” Isaac said.

A part of me was relieved, but knowing they
meant to kill me, I obsessed about the meaning behind Isaac's words
for the entire trip to our destination.

Still blinded by the fabric over my face, I
was pulled out of the car, and then escorted up a short flight of
stairs. We paused for a moment, but quickly continued after the
sound of a creaking door.

“
More stairs,” Isaac said,
patiently waiting for me to find my footing. Our footsteps echoed
against a hardwood floor, and then I was seated.

The fabric was lifted from my face.
Instinctively I gathered my surroundings. The room was large, and
as my eyes scanned over the axes and swords that hung on the walls,
absolute horror struck me.

“
This is Shax's building,”
I gasped.

“
Yes,” Isaac said. “The
last place you'll ever see.”

I swallowed, hard. Isaac's voice was so
pleasant; almost maniacal. His soft tone, coupled with the absence
of all humanity in his eyes, was beyond frightening.

“
Nina?”

I rotated my neck to its limit to see Ryan
sitting in a chair directly behind me, his back to mine. “Are you
okay, buddy?” I said.

Blood saturated his hair line just above the
temple. “Besides my head throbbing so hard my eyeball feels like
it's going to pop out? Peachy.”

He squinted, obviously in pain.

“
You didn't have to do
that,” I growled at Donovan.

“
That's the beauty of it,”
Donovan smiled.

“
Where's Shax?” I
asked.

“
Whoa, there, Cupcake.
Don't be in such a hurry to die,” Donovan said, scribbling
something on a notepad sitting on the desk. “He'll be here soon
enough.”

Isaac stood before me, and then crouched
just a few inches from my face. “I knew Jared as a child. Did he
tell you that? I remember the way he spoke of you. Now that I see
you,” he said, gently touching my cheek, “I can't fathom what he
sees in you that is so special. You are such a plain little
thing.”

“
Ow!” I yelped, looking
down.

Isaac dug his thumbnail into my wrist, and
blood oozed from the half-moon-shaped gouge.

“
Leave her alone!” Ryan
said, jerking in his seat.

Isaac licked the crimson liquid from my arm.
“I thought maybe it was something I couldn't see. Merovingian, and
nothing to set you apart from the rest of them. Very
disappointing.”

I lowered my chin and glared up at him.
“Like you must be to your father. With all of your amazing talents
and abilities, and you're a sell out—a sycophant for the other
side.”

Isaac reared his hand and let it fly,
back-handing me so hard I fell over onto my side, crashing to the
floor in the chair I was tied to.

“
You son-of-a-bitch!” Ryan
screamed, wildly struggling to get free.

“
So much for not tolerating
violence,” I groaned.

“
That was just a warning,”
Isaac said, setting me upright. “I have less tolerance for
disrespect.” He slowly leaned in, kissing my forehead.

“
Let's go,” Donovan
snapped. “They'll be here soon.”

Isaac nodded, and then they were gone.

“
You okay?” Ryan said,
scooting his chair until I was in his line of sight.

“
I'm not going to lie. That
hurt.”

Ryan leaned in, inspecting the bump quickly
rising above my eyebrow. “Jared's going to be pissed.”

“
I'm sure he already
is.”

“
They should be here by
now. Something's wrong. Jared said if they weren't here within a
few minutes, that I should get you out of here.”

I looked around. “We can't leave. There's a
safe behind that desk, in the wall. The book is in there.”

“
How do you
know?”

Ryan's wrists and feet were tied to his
chair like mine, and he pulled and twisted his arms, ineffectively
attempting to escape.

“
Jack told me. We have to
get into that safe.”

Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Did Jack tell you
how to do that if you're tied to a chair? Because I got
nothing.”

I sighed. “Didn't the Special Forces teach
you anything?”

Ryan smiled. “Yeah: Keep a knife with you at
all times.” He wiggled his right leg. “In my boot.”

The chairs complained against the wood as we
positioned ourselves so that I could reach the knife. After several
minutes of grunting and groaning, I finally felt the handle.

“
I think,” I grunted again,
straining against the tight restraints, “I think I've got it!” I
said, grasping the hard plastic between my fingers.

“
Don't drop...it,” Ryan
said too late, watching the knife fall from my fingers to the
ground.

“
Crap,” I huffed, blowing
my bangs from my face.

“
Okay,” Ryan said, taking a
deep breath. He jerked to the side until his chair tipped over, and
then maneuvered his body until his hand was within inches of the
knife. “Nothing's ever easy when I'm around you, Grey.”

“
Shut up,” I said,
unamused.

“
What the hell is going on
in here?” Claire said. She stood in front of the half-open window
sill, arms crossed, her hot pink duffel bag over her
shoulder.

A wide grin erupted across Ryan's face.
“Better late than never, Gorgeous.”

“
Shut up,” Claire
said.

“
Wow, I'm getting it from
every angle,” Ryan said, letting his entire body relax and fall
against the floor in protest.

“
Where's Jared?” I
asked.

“
Behind me. We don't have
much time,” Claire explained, tearing the cloth around my wrists
and feet with a flick of her finger.

“
I'm on the floor,
bleeding, and you save her first? I'm hurt,” Ryan said to
Claire.

Claire freed him, and then lifted Ryan to
his feet. She pushed back his head to inspect his wound, overly
rough. “You'll live.”

Ryan winced. “Thanks, Honey, I love you,
too.”

I walked over to the window, searching
through the dark for Jared. “I thought you said he was behind
you.”

Claire chomped on the large wad of gum in
her mouth. “He had to calm down. When he sees that knot on your
head and that hand print on your cheek, he's going to freak out all
over again. Back up.”

I took a step back, and Bex appeared in the
window, barely making an effort as he pulled himself through. “You
smell like beer,” he grimaced.

“
Nice to see you, too,” I
frowned.

“
Where's the safe?” Bex
asked.

“
Where is
Jared
?” I said with an
impatient tone.

“
Right here, Baby,” Jared
said, crawling into the window behind Bex. “I'm right here.” I
didn't wait for him to crawl all the way into the room before I
grabbed him. After a few awkward maneuvers to stand while
encapsulated in my arms, he kissed my forehead, and then inspected
the remnants of my brush with Isaac. His jaws fluttered under his
skin. “I'm going to enjoy killing him.”

“
The safe!” Bex said,
intent.

“
Behind the desk,” I said,
pulling Jared with me. “It's there,” I pointed.

“
But,” Claire said, bending
down to touch the wall. “It's just wall.”

Bex twitched, and then closed his eyes.
“They're coming.”

Claire ran her hands over the drab paint. “I
don't feel anything.” She knocked. “It doesn't sound like
anything's back there.”

“
Are you sure? Maybe we're
in the wrong room?” Ryan said.

I looked around, seeing the same paintings
on the wall. “No, I'm sure. I've seen this a million times; the
safe is right there.”

Bex looked to Jared. “We have two
minutes.”

Jared sighed. “Claire? Move.”

Claire obeyed, and Jared rammed the wall
with his fist, pulling back broken sheet rock. Claire helped him,
and within seconds, the entire panel was open, revealing the safe,
three feet inside the wall.

Thousands of dust motes flurried in the
air.

“
That explains why you
always saw them waist-deep in the wall,” Jared said.

Claire held up her hand. “Quiet.” She leaned
her ear close to the safe, and then moved the dial back and forth,
nodding intermittently. Within moments, the safe clicked open.
Claire seemed stunned. “That was too easy. It's rigged with
explosives or something.”

Jared shook his head. “I don't smell
anything, do you?”

“
No,” she said.

“
Shax is notoriously
pretentious, Claire,” Jared said. “I'm not surprised.”

She stood. “This whole thing is too easy.
They take our bait, sit Ryan and Nina in the room with the safe,
knowing we would come after them...and then leave?”

Bex pulled out the book. “Got it!”

“
Make sure it's the real
thing,” I said.

Bex flipped through the pages. “It's real,
all right.”

Jared grabbed my hand. “They left because
Shax is bringing his legions to end us, Claire. They wanted us to
come here and give them a reason to take us all out. Heaven can't
step in if we provoke them.”

Bex took a few steps toward the door, his
head jerking in every direction. “Legions is right. I think the
whole of Hell is coming. We should get them out. Now.”

“
The roof!” I said. “They
always used the roof!”

“
Who did?” Ryan
asked.

“
We don’t want to repeat
what Jack and Gabe did, Nina. That leads to the same end,” Claire
said, looking out the window, planning an escape.

“
Maybe not,” Jared said,
looking up. “Maybe she had the dreams to show us how to get
out.”

“
Fine,” Claire said,
grabbing the book from Bex.

Screeching from below echoed throughout the
halls, turning my blood cold.

Ryan’s eyes darted in every direction. “Is
that…?”

“
Yes. Let’s go,” Claire
said, shoving the book into her hot pink duffel bag.
“Bex?”

Bex nodded, running across the room and
diving out the window.

Ryan’s expression was a mixture of disgust
and alarm. “It sounds like a dying animal…a thousand dying
animals.”

Claire pulled her sidearm from its holster.
“You should hear one when you send it back to Hell.” She gestured
to me, “Show us the way, Nina.”

The howls and screams of Shax’s minions grew
louder. Jared turned to me, cupping his hands on each side of my
face.

“
This is it, isn't it?” I
said.

Jared looked deep into my eyes, as if he
wanted to pass the truth through them instead of just saying the
words. But he said them, anyway. “I won't let them touch you.”

“
I'm afraid,” I said,
shaking. The fear was so intense I felt powerless to control my own
body. As the screeching grew closer, it became a physical effort to
avoid slipping into a flew blown panic. I looked to Ryan, then.
“Remember what we talked about.”

Ryan nodded once. “I remember.”

I grabbed Jared’s hand and we fled, climbing
the staircase, and then sprinting down the hall.

“
This way!” I yelled. I
stopped in front of a closed door at the end of the hallway. It was
pointless to whisper, with the deafening shrieking of the demonic
filling the air. I pulled on the knob, but it was locked. Jared
moved me aside, and then landed a lethal blow with his foot. The
door swung open, and hit the concrete wall, wooden pieces
splintering and then falling to the ground.

“
Come on,” he said, pulling
me up the crumbling staircase.

On the roof, the wind mercilessly whipped
all around us, and the night sky crowded even the brightest lights
below.

Jared ran to the edge. “Which building?”

I lifted my chin in the right direction.
“That one.”

Ryan frowned at Claire, unsure. “You’re
going to jump the length of a football field?”

She smiled. “Yes. And you're coming with
me.”

Ryan shook his head. “I’ll take the fire
escape.”

I grabbed his coat, and then pushed him into
Claire’s arms. “Thousands of those things are going to swarm this
roof in about seven seconds. You won’t make it to the landing.”

Jared wrapped his arms around my waist, and
then took three long strides, grunting when he leaped from the
edge. My fingers locked around his neck. I didn’t dare look down,
afraid the second I realized we were doing something impossible,
his powers would fade, and we would fall five stories to the
ground.

He made the same grunting noise to land as
he did when we departed, but the landing was not as rough as I had
anticipated.

I could hear Ryan’s yells somewhere between
our building and Shax's. His voice grew louder as they approached,
and when Claire's feet hit the ground just ten feet away, she let
him go.

He fell to the ground,
rolling onto his back. “Let’s never…
ever
do that again,” Ryan
puffed.

Claire grabbed his hand and yanked him to
his feet. “Don’t be a baby,” she grinned, pulling him to the roof
access.

After two flights of stairs my lungs begged
for air, but the adrenaline surging through my body made my legs
feel they could go on forever.