Sundown & Serena (28 page)

“We’re leaving for the airport, to guard the
truck,” Vince said, taking the last box from me. “We’ll see you
soon!”

“Thanks,” I called after him, then shut the
door. I took a moment and looked over the mostly empty room, saying
good-bye to the place where I’d finally come to know happiness.
But Nick’s right. I can be happy somewhere
else.

Suddenly, Lash banged on the door. “Serena!
Serena?”

I opened it nervously. “Yes?”

He glared at me. “Are you ready? We’re moving
out.”

“All ready,” I replied quickly, and stepped
out into the hallway with my purse with a sigh.

He shut my door, herding me downstairs.
“Devlin is finishing up,” Lash hissed, his eyes flicking everywhere
in succession, taking stock that everything was packed. “I’m going
to bring the Hummer around front. Come outside with him, and we’ll
leave. Everyone else is already waiting there for us except Brock
and Justin, who will be guarding us on the way.”

“Okay,” I nodded, sitting down on the couch
as he left by the front door.

In a moment, Devlin came bounding down the
stairs, looking wired and stressed. “Serena, come on!” he said,
irritated. “We have to hurry!”

“Lash is bringing the Hummer,” I assured him,
swiftly getting to my feet. “He said it would be a few minutes”

“Damn it!” he swore, upset.

I’ve never seen him so
frantic.
“What is it? Does Perseus know you’re here?”

Devlin gave me a shocked look, then a quick
smile, his hand on the door to open it. “No, he doesn’t know.” He
opened the door.

Esperanza staggered in, falling against him.
“He does!” She went to her knees holding her side, blood dripping
from a huge gaping wound. “Get out!” she gasped, looking up at him
with pain-filled eyes. “He’s on his way, with men!” She swayed,
then collapsed.

An explosion rocked the house. Devlin bent
and gathered Esperanza up, then started for the front door. I ran
behind him, wishing I’d taken up some of the guys’ offers to get me
a gun and give me shooting lessons. We emerged to the Hummer
burning on the driveway, Justin’s body on the pavement beside it,
charred and shredded.

“Devlin Dalcon,” a hissing voice called
menacingly. “What a surprise to see you.” A man came toward us with
a gun pointed at Devlin.

“Victor,” Devlin said, his words dripping
malice. “Still working for Perseus?”

“He’s on his way,” Victor said, grinning to
show his snake fangs. “He’s very upset you’ve been here all this
time, and never invited him over. He said you owe him, Dalcon, and
he means to get paid in full.”

Victor screamed as his chest was suddenly
shredded as if from within. He convulsed hard, dropping the gun,
and falling on his face at Devlin’s feet.

“Get to the truck!” Lash hissed, running
toward us from the road, his gun still smoking. “Hurry!” A red
truck was behind him parked halfway up the yard, idling.

“Grab the gun!” Devlin shouted to me, as he
began to run. I reached down and grabbed it up from the ground,
sprinting hard after him. We got to the truck and got in. Lash
closed the door behind me, and then he ducked as a bullet whined
off the truck’s reinforced armor. Devlin pushed me down as more
bullets hit the truck, the impact rocking it on the tires but not
penetrating it.

I peered out. Lash was fighting hand to hand
with a huge red-skinned man. They were slashing at each other,
their knives moving so fast they blurred.

“Take her!” Devlin said, handing me
Esperanza. “Give me the gun! I have to help him! That’s a
demon!”

I took her limp form carefully, handing him
the gun I’d taken from Victor as I tried to put pressure on
Esperanza’s wound. He fired out the window, the bullet striking
Lash’s assailant in his side. The huge demon jerked, but didn’t go
down.

Lash launched himself at the demon, stabbing
him in the heart with all his momentum behind the deadly blow. With
a snarl, the demon sliced again at Lash, opening up a huge gash on
the side of his face in a spray of blood. Lash snarled, but he
didn’t let go of his knife, working it deeper into the demon’s
chest, shoving with all his might. His momentum forced the demon
backward, its body banging into the driver’s side door with a thud.
Devlin shot the demon again and again. The supernatural being
jerked, huge wounds opening in its back, but the monster didn’t let
go of Lash. It squeezed with all its strength, trying to crush him
in its arms.

Lash fought hard, his flailing denting the
truck and cracks spider-webbing the driver’s window. But he
couldn’t get loose.

“Serena, give me your cross!” Devlin shouted
with an outstretched hand. I jerked it from my neck, throwing it to
him. He snatched it out of the air, and punched through the cracked
glass with his other hand, shattering the window. With a quick
movement, he grabbed the demon’s head and tossed the cross down its
throat. The monster screamed, acrid black smoke boiling out of its
mouth. It let Lash go, clutching at its neck.

Devlin shoved Lash into the backseat, the
snakeman staggering but alert. The demon went to its knees, its
torso on fire, screaming. A stench of sulfur and brimstone filled
the air, along with the charred smell of burning meat. Devlin
pushed Lash into the passenger seat, and he got behind the wheel,
peeling out at top speed. Lash alternately hissed and groaned in
pain, holding his injured face.

Devlin ripped off his shirt with difficulty
as he drove, handing it to Lash. “Why isn’t it healing?” he said
frantically.

“I don’t know,” Lash answered, obviously
scared. “The bastard must have had werepoison on his blades. He
knew I’d be here guarding you.”

“Keep pressure on it!” Devlin ordered. “We’re
almost there!”

We drove into the airport at eighty miles an
hour, barely missing passengers leaving the terminal. Devlin drove
to the farthest hanger, where a private plane waited. Nick ran up
to the car with some of the other bears, guns drawn. Devlin stopped
the car, and hopped out. “Everybody get on the plane!” he shouted.
“Perseus will be here in ten minutes or less. We’ve got to get in
the air!” Devlin grabbed hold of Lash, and helped him into the
plane. He was still bleeding badly, and hissing in pain.

Nick hugged me so hard all the breath went
out of me. “We couldn’t get any answer on the cell,” he said
worriedly.

I pushed at him, worried more demons would
come. “We have to leave. Can you help me with Esperanza?”

“She’s dead,” Vince said softly, holding
Esperanza’s limp body. “Should we bring her?”

“Bring her!” Devlin said, calling out to us
from the plane’s doorway. “She gave her life to try to warn us. Get
the last bags from the car and get into the plane!”

We hurried fast to the portable stairs,
climbing aboard the plane and taking our seats. Nervous, I clutched
Vince’s hand as we began our trip down the runway, the engine noise
going from a thin whine to a steady roar. As the land disappeared
beneath us, I glimpsed a line of car headlights racing to the
entrance of the airport. I shivered in relief, knowing we had just
escaped in time.

Chapter
Ten

The journey was a long one to the United
States. I slept most of the way. Most of the men slept, played with
their various electronic devices, or talked. No one was drinking,
though everyone obviously wanted to. The tension level was high,
the unspoken question of what awaited us at our destination a very
frightening possibility.
We escaped one enemy,
but will another be waiting for us when we arrive? Perseus must
have friends. And Dev was in hiding where we were. I wonder if
we’re not heading from the pan to the fire.

Devlin spent much of his time beside Lash, by
themselves in the front of the plane in first class. The bleeding
from Lash’s facial wound had stopped, but the gash remained raw
with no signs of even clotting. After an hour with no indication of
it closing, Devlin sewed up the gash with a first aid kit he’d
found in the bathroom. Lash cursed him intermittently, whenever
Devlin sank the needle into him.

“Damn it hurts!” Lash hissed. “That bastard
better be frying in hell.”

“He’s there burning, and you’re alive,”
Devlin assured, as he tied the last knot. “You’re going to be
pretty nasty-looking for a while, ’till it heals, but I think most
women will see it as an improvement.”

“Fuck you!” Lash hissed, grimacing. “I’m in
pain and you’re being a prick! Best friends are supposed to be
supportive.”

Devlin laughed, then he gave Lash a hug.
“There. Feel better?”

I watched in silence, shocked. I hadn’t known
they were anything more than employer and employee.
Yet, Lash is the only one I’ve ever heard call Devlin
“Dev.”

“Rest,” Devlin said affectionately. “We’ll be
back in The States in another ten hours.”

“Esperanza is dead, isn’t she?” Lash asked.
“I thought I saw Vince carrying her.”

“Yes,” Devlin said softly. “She came to warn
us, but someone shot her with an explosive bullet. It shredded a
lung and most of her heart. She died on the way to the
airport.”

“I told her she could come with us,” Lash
hissed sorrowfully. “I was going to help her start a new life in
the US, maybe help her find a job. I didn’t want a life with her,
but I couldn’t leave her behind.”

“I’m sorry,” Devlin consoled. “She only
warned us because of you, Lash. She cared for you a lot.”

“I know she did,” he hissed softly. “And it
led her to her death. Big surprise.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Devlin said firmly.
“As it is, we’re very lucky we were already leaving. If I hadn’t
learned Sar was dying—”

Sar is dying? No wonder Devlin was so
worried.

“Sarelle’s dying?” Lash interrupted, looking
at Devlin in disbelief. “Of what?”

“Danial said she’s colder,” Devlin explained,
deeply upset. “She hasn’t had any blood from him, and he hasn’t
been with her, so she can’t be turning! I think she might need
regular doses of the virus to live now, but I won’t know until I
see her, or taste her...” He trailed off.

“You know Theo’s not going to let you just be
with her,” Lash hissed meaningfully. “I don’t know why she didn’t
tell him about you and she, Dev, but you’re stupid if you think
that’s not going to come out.”

“He might be leaving her, Lash,” Devlin broke
in, with barely restrained excitement. “He left today for Europe,
to go see Tasha. The Russian girl, the one you found him with after
he went missing.”

“That fucking stupid cat!” Lash hissed
spitefully. “He leaves his mate alone, when she’s sick, to go to
that girl? After all Sar did to find him? Could he be more of an
asshole?”

I didn’t understand any of this, except that
Devlin thought he now had a clear path to Sarelle, and that she
needed him.
Very romantic, especially if he saves
her like he hopes to. But Lash is right, it’s a dangerous
game.

“I need to get to her in time, Lash,” Devlin
said, desperate. “I’m asking Titus to meet us at the airport. He’ll
teleport me home, and I’ll leave immediately for her house.”

“Dev, it’ll be day by then!” Lash hissed, his
eyes wide. “I’m too hurt to go with you. You’re being crazy. Don’t
go getting yourself killed for a broad who—”

“Nick will go with me,” Devlin assured. “I’ve
called Brian. He’s got things in motion so I can get close enough
to see her, to tell if she does need me.”

“She fought you the last time you had her,”
Lash said harshly. “What makes you think this time will be any
different?”

“If she needs me like I think she does, she
won’t fight me at all,” Devlin assured him. “She’ll want me badly,
like she wanted Danial for months now. Like I’ve wanted her for
months.” His voice dropped lower, becoming husky. “And I told you,
that last time with her, she seduced me, Lash, and after, when we
talked...” He trailed off.

“And?” Lash prompted.

Dev gave a sigh. “I think deep down she
always wanted me, from what she said. Things may be very different
when she sees me again.”

“Theo’ll want to kill you, no matter what
happens,” Lash said. “And then I’ll have to kill him, Dev, to keep
you safe. She won’t forgive you for killing her mate, no matter
what he’s done.”

“If I’m right, Lash, I’ll need you to do
something else for me, besides keeping Theo out of my hair,” Devlin
said, appearing not to hear Lash. “But I’m not going to think about
that until I see Sar. If I’m wrong, and she doesn’t need me, then
I’m going to let her go. We’ll move operations to another state,
and that’ll be the end of it.”

“Like hell!” Lash hissed, rolling his eyes.
“You can’t let her go, or you would have already! You’re in love
with her! You’ve talked of nothing else but her for months! For
years! Her and her damned summer blood!”

“Fuck you!” Devlin growled angrily. “You’ve
never been in love, Lash! I’ve got a chance to be with her again,
maybe to claim her for my own! How can I not take it? How can I not
try at least?”

“I’m sorry,” Lash hissed less stridently.
“You’re right, I’ve never been in love, I don’t understand. I want
you to be happy, Dev. I’m just hurting bad.”

“Lie there and rest,” Devlin said forcefully,
making Lash sit back in the seat and recline. “I’ll get you some
more painkillers. Vince has some.” Devlin seemed to notice me for
the first time. “Serena, go ask Vince for some of his pain
pills.”

I nodded, and went back to the rest of the
men.

Vince was talking to Kev. “I told you, I
heard him say we’re going back for her.”

“Vince,” I interrupted. “Devlin asked me to
ask you for some of your pain pills for Lash.”

Vince fished out a few, and handed them to
me.