Tigress (Night Hawk Series) (14 page)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

The door slammed and I took flight before anyone could stop me. I wanted to hunt for human blood, but I knew better. Right now I needed to lay low and even taking flight was risky, but the distance to the meadow was far enough to drive me to the air.

I was rewarded with a herd of deer and I didn’t hesitate. Swooping down, I plucked one from the midst before the others knew what happened and turned back into the woods. I landed far enough away not to spook the herd and before the animal got its bearings, I sank my teeth into his throat, relishing the hot pulse of blood.

Hunger still sang in my veins and I took flight, repeating the ritual until I had half a dozen carcasses at my feet and the blisters on my hands were healed. I wiped my face and turned back toward the house, opting to walk instead of fly. I needed the time to plot out our next move and as much as I didn’t want to leave, that was probably the best for all of us.

Lucifer would assume Naomi went where I did
, and I had the opportunity to draw his attention away from the three of them.

It took me a couple
of hours to navigate the thick winter woods, even without snow cover. I stepped out of the woods twenty feet from the fence line. Naomi stood with her fingers looped into the fence.

“We need to leave,”
she announced.

“I need to leave,” I
corrected after I covered half the distance.

Her face transitioned to
that hard stubborn stare I knew too well and I knew if I went inside the fence to our underground escape, I wouldn’t get out of there without her. Movement behind her caught my attention and I met Michael’s worried gaze.

I offered him a half-hearted shrug and took a step backwards.

“This is the way it has to be,” I whispered. “My presence is lethal. I can’t bring that down on everyone.” Another step back and the panic formed in her eyes. She had no idea how much strength it took not to give in to her. An invisible hand reached into my chest and squeezed my heart to the point tears sprung from my eyes.

“Don’t you dare leave me,” she begged but my mind was made up the moment I rounded the corner and saw the demons playing with her like they were poking sticks at a caged animal.

I took another few paces backwards, sensing the edge of the woods within a couple of feet now. “I have to.”

“Bull shit!” she screamed.

“I love you, baby,” I said and went to turn. A sharp pain shot through my leg and I stumbled, not understanding what had just happened. My gaze snapped to my thigh. To the blade sticking out of my flesh. Hands grabbed me, but I fought. Unfortunately, I wasn’t hungry enough to override the platinum and change into my shadow form, but I was able to slip from their grasp and I bolted toward the fence.

I had no idea what the plan was as I limped forward. Scaling the fence wouldn’t work but I might be able to jump it if I got enough speed. Naomi was going bat-shit on the other side of the platinum barrier, but Michael held onto her, keeping her from climbing out.

I only got a few steps before a crack filled my head and then nothing.

Chapter
Thirty - Naomi

“Damian!” I screamed and laced my fingers into the fence. I could scale this in a matter of seconds and I got my foothold when Michael’s arms grabbed me around the waist.

“You can’t help him right now,” he said, but I struggled.

I refused to let him pull me away, to stop me from trying to save my husband; but it was futile. Michael’s grip was as strong as iron and the clan that blindsided Damian dragged him into the woods and out of my line of sight.

I
let out a wail of distress that sounded more like the cry of a child than a grown woman and released the fence, collapsing in Michael’s grip. Numbness settled over me, right down to the core. Damian was now in Lucifer’s hands and there wasn’t a thing I could do to save him this time.

Michael
carried me back to the house, but I didn’t care. The man I loved was as good as dead. Despair crept in over the numbness, cramping my muscles and forcing sobs from my throat. Nothing on earth could take this pain away.

“Naomi,” Valerie whispered and I turned my face into my hands, unwilling to acknowledge anyone. I just wanted Damian back. As hard as the last few
days of not touching was on us, we were still together. I began to understand how crippling it was to lose your soul mate.

Was this what Damian endured when Athena was slain in front of him?

God, how did he survive all those years with this emptiness as big as a fathomless gorge?

The questions circled through my brain, drowning out the people in the room and I curled tighter in a ball, trying to escape from this pain.

Damian’s stupid email today probably set the vultures in motion.

I sat up like I had suddenly been reanimated and before anyone could ask what was going on in my head, I bolted downstairs. They followed, like a posse of body guards protecting me from falling to a million pieces.

“What are you doing?” Michael asked when I propped open Damian’s laptop.

“Nothing. I’ll be up in a few minutes.” I didn’t want Michael to know what I was doing. I didn’t want to argue or explain myself. I just wanted to find out what Dami
an said to Lucifer.

When no one moved, I looked up. “I’m not going to do anything stupid. I just want to find out where Lucifer’s emails came from.”

They still didn’t move.

“I promise, I will not engage him or do anything foolish or stupid.” I focused on Ted. “Whatever you’re cooking smells wonderful. I’d love to have some when I’m through here,” I added for good measure.
Valerie and Ted nodded and traded a glance before heading upstairs.

Michael’s lips pressed together and his gaze bounced between the computer and me
like there was something on the computer I shouldn’t see. He crossed his arms and waited.

“I promise I’ll be fine,” I said and he met my gaze. “All I’m going to do is open the last email and run a trace.”

Whether he realized it or not, relief softened his features. “Fine, but if you’re not back upstairs in five minutes, I’m coming to get you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Tracers take a little longer than five minutes.” Besides, five minutes wasn’t enough time for me to look through the other emails from the same address. Michael sparked my interest whether he wanted to or not.

“Ten minutes,” he said and pointed at me.

“Fifteen would probably be better,” I said and he crossed his arms again. “I have to analyze the ping,” I added even though I had no clue how someone traced email, Michael didn’t know that and he nodded.

“I’ll check in fifteen,” he agreed and headed upstairs, leaving me to a bogus task.

I opened up
Damian’s email account and stared at the latest message. It was unopened and the subject line sent ice through my blood.

“If you want to see him alive...”

Instead of opening the email, I sorted on the sender and filtered through the messages to the one that set Damian off in the cave. Each message was short and chilling, but one in particular outlined Lucifer’s twisted plans for me including a demon fuck-fest just for Damian’s benefit. The nauseatingly detailed scenario ended with Lucifer ripping my heart from my chest and draining it at sunrise. Long enough for Damian to feel the loss just before the sun cooked him to oblivion.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The outlined scenario gave me a glimmer of hope. Lucifer didn’t know that I could produce a trinity, and it also didn’t give an indication that he knew what Damian was either. I could work with that.

I glanced at my watch and exhaled. I had five more minutes and I opened the latest email.

The directive along with the address set me in motion. I snapped the laptop closed and bolted down the hall toward the garage
. It was time to plan a full out rescue mission, starting with a hijacking.

Chapter
Thirty-One

I rummaged around in the dark of the garage, looking for the fucking control panel and getting more frustrated by the minute. Lucifer gave me twenty-four hours to make a decision. If I didn’t show up at the address he specified within twenty-four hours, Damian would suffer a great deal before the following sunrise and Lucifer would send me Damian’s ashes.

And then he’d come after me and everyone living in the house. He knew it was vampire
-proof and angel-proof and suspected it was probably demon-proof, but he promised we didn’t account for the things he’d send and there was no known defense against them.

I shivered at the thought of what type of mutant monster that would be.

Shuffling behind me caught my attention and I stiffened.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” Michael’s voice penetrated the darkness.

“I’m going after him,” I said just as my fingertips found the box I was looking for. I turned on my phone and punched in the familiar numbers. When the hand pad lit up, I put my palm to the glass and held my breath.

I
’d never felt as alive as I did the moment the scanner finished and the lights flooded the garage. Platinum plates shifted, disappeared into the flooring with one exception. A panel as wide as the underground tunnel slid to the ceiling and clasped into place.

I turned and scanned the vehicles.
Not one was in working condition and my heart sank. Michael hadn’t said a word but his scan of the collection revealed an appreciation in his eyes and he sighed when he brought his gaze back to me.

“I need help getting one of these vehicles back in shape. Did Ted pick up what Damian asked?” I shot the question at Michael and I received a blank stare.

“Damian’s list that was on the table.” Even I could hear the near hysterical note in my voice.

When he didn’t answer, I
huffed and climbed back down the stairs. Nothing was going to stop me from getting to Damian. Not now that I had a location and if I couldn’t get us free, at least we’d die together, but I’d make sure it was on our terms and not what Lucifer’s sick fantasy dictated.

As I navigated the dark tunnels, I couldn’t help but shrink away from imagined creatures in every shadow. The itchy, uncomfortable sensation of spiders crawling on my skin overcame me and I shuddered, picking up the pace. When I stepped into the brightly lit hallway, I sighed with relief, rubbing my arms and then the back of my neck.

I glanced over my shoulder, and met Michael’s gaze.

“You have no idea how much the paintings down here meant to Damian,” I said. “Especially the path of sunshine in the bedroom.” I didn’t wait for a response, instead I headed right to the kitchen where Ted and Valerie sat eating meatloaf with potatoes and carrots. I glanced at my plate. My stomach growled and I cursed the needs of my human body.

Instead of following through on my questions, I sat down at the table as a sign of respect. “Thank you,” I said.

“You’re welcome,” Ted said and offered me the bottle of ketchup.

Even with my pulse ticking off the wasted seconds, I ate without much conversation. After taking the last bite, I set my silverware down and wiped my lips.

“Did you happen to pick up the things on the list I left on the table?”

“Not yet, but...” He glanced at his watch. “I might be able to make it to the auto store in Torrington before it closes.”

A wave of relief hit.

“I will clean up the kitchen if you pick up what he has listed for the Aston Martin.” That was by far the fastest car in the garage and I know it was one of the top ones on Damian’s list. He wiped his hands and pulled out the sheet, scanning the list before he nodded.

“Is it safe out there?” Ted asked, but he looked beyond me to Michael.

“Yes,” I said, not knowing if Lucifer was bluffing or not, but he was explicit with his directions and while he promised Damian would suffer, he also promised that he would leave the occupants of the adjoining property alone for the duration of the twenty-four hours.

I didn’t want to take either of their vehicles. It was bad enough they were targets, but Lucifer didn’t know Valerie lived her. He knew about Uncle Ted and the inheritance of the land from Valerie’s deceased family. He assumed he was alone and if I show
ed up with one of their cars, their identity could be compromised.

“You’re going after Damian?” Valerie asked after her uncle left.

“Yeah, assuming I can get one of the cars started.”

“I could understand why you would do that before, especially with the tiger thing, but now you’re just human. You’re no match for demons.”

I leveled a sarcastic smile in her direction, remembering some of the conversations I had with my grandfather over the years. All his warnings about the darkness in the world, stories about demons and bloodsuckers and the pending war. And most of all, his description of the savior, the one who makes the darkness flee.

A tiger born of pure blood.

A trinity.

I had no idea those stories were reality until Mark sold me to Lucifer.
All my assumptions about vampires were based on those stories, and Damian certainly hadn’t fit any of the cold-dead-blood-thirsty fiends my grandfather described, but then again, he was born of a pure bloodline too.

“I seem to still be able to turn into the tiger,” I said and both Valerie and Michael froze in place, staring at me like I sprouted another head.

“What?” their voices rang in unison.

“When they were attacking Damian,” I s
tarted and ran my hand over my stomach. The skin was still sensitive where the knife had tore flesh. “I guess I got angry and attacked and my fur protected me from the knife.” I offered a shrug and collected the dinner plates, heading into the kitchen to let them digest both their food and that little nugget of information.

* * * *

It took the four of us the better part of the night to get the Aston Martin to turn over and even then the engine sounded sluggish and unreliable. I just needed it to last an hour on the road at best. I wasn’t going as far as New York this time. I was going south to Candlewood Lake in New Fairfield, and I was going alone.

I leaned my head on the steering wheel and turned the engine off, my eyes closed from the weight of exhaustion wracking my body. I was in no condition for a stand-off.

“Maybe you should get a little sleep before you try to save the world,” Valerie said as she leaned on the open window. She looked as tired as I felt and guilt bit at my skin when I glanced up at the light filtering into the windows.

“Do you have to go to school now?”

She glanced at her watch and gave me a pressed-lip smile.

“Jesus, I’m sorry for keeping you up all night,” I said and covered her hand with mine.

She sandwiched my hands between hers. “Stay safe, you hear?” Her voice choked on the words that we both knew were a prequel to goodbye.

I climbed out of the car and gave her a warm hug.

“I have to do this,” I whispered in her ear and she squeezed tighter.

“I know,” she said and pull
ed away, wiping her tears away. She gave me a quick smile and made a beeline for the tunnel, leaving me with Michael and Ted.

“Well, I’m going to take a shower and head to work,” Ted said looking every bit as haggard as the rest of us.

“Thank you for your help,” I said, feeling small and selfish.

“Just bring Damian back in one piece,” he said like there was no option of failure.

I nodded and he followed the path Valerie took.

“You need to get some rest before we go after Damian,” Michael said.

“Lucifer said I had to come alone,” I said, but I let Michael help me from the car and lead me to the bedroom he’d painted for Damian and me. He didn’t argue, but I knew he wasn’t going to let me leave without him. To prove his point, the keys to the car slid into the front pocket of his jeans. He tucked me under the covers and stretched out on the recliner in the corner, crossing his arms.

Michael drifted off before I did and I considered sneaking the keys from his pocket, but before I could muster the energy, my body pulled me into a succession of brutal nightmares.