Tigress (Night Hawk Series) (16 page)

Chapter
Thirty-Four

Lights blinded me and I clamped my eyes closed against the bright fluorescents. An ominous chuckle filled the room and I shivered despite the hot rush of fear in my blood. I squinted and a formidable shadow was cast across the spotlight and all I could muster was an, “Aw, fuck.”

Lucifer.

Lucifer in angel form, not human form.

I was beyond fucked and my body quaked against my will, rattling the chains holding me in place. My gaze moved from him to Eve standing by his side, her arms crossed and a bitter smile filling her features.

“You fucking bitch,” I growled.

“Did you know Damian is Gabriel’s son?” Eve asked and Lucifer’
s head snapped in her direction before focusing back on me.

“
Gabriel’s son,” his voice rumbled through the room and he swatted Eve, sending her catapulting through the room. The crunch of bone filled the air as she smashed into the wall and crumpled, unconscious to the ground. Lucifer turned his attention back to me.

My heart thundered in my chest at the spark of interest in his eyes as he crossed the distance.
I clenched my jaw; anything I said now would be futile.

“Funny, your father never mentioned you,” he said as he towered in front of me. “But then again, he was too busy begging for his wife and unborn child.”

I blinked and actually took a step back, his words slapping me harder than a physical blow. “My...my parents died because of a...a volcano,” I stuttered, hating that I stumbled over the words. My brain couldn’t wrap around this new fact.

“Your father died in the blast, but your mother’s death was what triggered the eruption. He was actually trying to kill me, but without his angel form, he was at a distinct disadvantage. He burned in the explosion that was intended to take me out.” Lucifer had the audacity to chuckle.

I clamped my jaw against the curses posed on my tongue and mustered up a glare instead.

“I never thought to look for another child,” he added just before his fist shot out, connecting with my cheek and sending me back against the restraints.

The dig of platinum tore at my shoulders, pulling an unwanted grunt from my chest. In angel form, Lucifer could deliver the kind of damage I couldn’t walk away from and the grinding throb of the smashed bone in my cheek was just the beginning. The burn of anger rushed through me, tempering the pain.

“You sadistic bastard,” I whispered. “Why don’t you let me out of these chains and we can see just how well you’d
stand in a fair fight.”

He raised his eyebrow and snapped his fingers. The sudden release of burning tension made me stumble, but I caught myself. Lucifer stepped back and waved me in. My gaze jumped to the glint of on his fingers and shock snaked over my skin. His nails were as sharp as Naomi’s when she donned her tiger form, but it was the platinum sheen that made my throat constrict. I shifted and refocused, standing in ready form swallowing the bloom of fear.

As we circled, I got a better look at my surroundings. This wasn’t the dark dungeon I last awoke in. This was a living space with dark curtains blocking the outside world. The spotlight used to disorient me sat in a round alcove and to my right stood a bright entry way. My gaze lingered on that doorway and Lucifer’s clucking pulled my attention back to him.

“Tsk, tsk,” he said. “Before you make a run for it, I suggest you take a good look at that escape route.”

I glanced back at the entry and what he was saying sank in.

Daylight.

My gaze snapped back to him and then the curtains beyond.

“Why the fuck are you toying with me?” I asked, my thoughts registering out loud in the barren room.

“You are my bait,” he answered. “And now that I know who your father was, I understand my brother’s need to protect you. As long as you’re alive, he’ll move heaven and earth to save your ass. I’m betting he’d even send that little minx into the lion’s den because he thinks his secret is safe. He has no idea that I’m aware of her lineage. That she has the bloodline of not just one, but two angels.” He grinned and continued circling, toying with both his words and his footwork. “I can’t think of anything more delightful than building an army of dark trinities, can you?”

The mocking tilt of his eyebrow set a rash of rage through my bloodstream. His dirty insinuation
s clear in the knowing smile passing over his lips.

“I hear she’s a tigress in bed,” he taunted.

A couple of weeks of not being able to touch my wife without blisters because of this lunatic sent me over the edge. Fury filled every fiber and I launched at him, letting the anger drive me forward. But it wasn’t enough to get the jump on Lucifer. He easily blocked my swing and delivered a bone-crunching punch to my ribs. My feet left the ground with the power of it and I landed on my knees, coughing up blood between the painful draws of breath.

I forced myself to my feet, still trying to pull in oxygen through sporadic wheezes. “You aren’t going to get the chance,” I managed to say, but speaking took more effort than I realized and when he swung at me, my delayed reaction cost me a cracked eye-socket.

Pain flared in the left side of my face despite the rage wracking my form. I growled from my position on the floor and I stood, retreating into shadow form. This time my fist connected and I was greeted with the sickening crack of bone. It took a moment to realize it was my hand and not his chest that broke.

The power of his next punch connected with my nose, sending me onto my back. I wasn’t sure if my eyes were open or not, but the star pattern blinking on the black canvas gave me a hint of my current state. The last sensation that registered in my brain was pure agony.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lights danced on water and I pulled myself to my feet, shaking the cobwebs from my head. My face felt like I had put it through a meat grinder and I closed my eyes for a moment assessing the rest of the damage. The platinum chains were back, but I couldn’t feel the burn of it anymore, just the restraint.

My eyelids fluttered open and I scanned the magnificent view.
If I hadn’t been on the edge of catatonic, I might have been able to appreciate the scenery. I scanned the night image and then the room.

Eve still lay crumpled where she had landed and I suspected she might actually be dead.

A burning sensation crossed my chest and I clamped my teeth together against the bellow of pain. Warm liquid scaled down my stomach and I glanced down at the cuts across my chest before raising my gaze.

“Tic
-tac-toe?” I managed to rasp.

Lucifer stood with his back to me, his wings fluttered as he glanced over his shoulder. “I had to keep myself entertained,” he smiled.

“Sadistic bastard,” I whispered under my breath and it occurred to me that I’d have to expand my vocabulary where he was concerned.

“Tonight will be your last night on earth,” he said, refocusing on the
scenery in front of him. “The sunrise over Candlewood Lake is breath taking.” There was no humor or mocking in his voice, just a quiet calmness that left my skin numb and meant only one thing.

“Naomi,” I whispered, the ache in my soul grew and I slumped in the chains.

“She and my brother are planning a half-assed rescue mission,” Lucifer said and swiped his finger across the empty space again.

The immediate burn made me gag, and I hitched my breath in
. More warm liquid slid down to the edge of my jeans. This time it continued down, tickling through the fine hairs on my legs.

“If she doesn’t get her
e soon, you may end up bleeding out before sunrise.” This time he turned and stared me down, crossing the distance. “You may even miss the opportunity to witness our union.”

This was the one weapon he had to crush me and he knew it. I was beyond physical pain but the mental anguish of his intent grew through me as fast as the bloodstains on my jeans.
I snarled and lunged but the chains kept me in place. My teeth made a brief appearance driven by both hunger and fury but exhaustion won out and I slumped against the chains again. I didn’t know when the last time I ate was and the smell of my own blood made my mouth water.

“How long has it been since you’ve been able to taste her,” he said
, tapping his finger on his lips. “A couple of weeks? It is really too bad you couldn’t suffer longer.”

I pressed my lips together, refusing to play his game. If I had a chance, I’d rip her throat out so she wouldn’t have to succumb to his diabolical plan.

He leaned closer. “I’m not talking about her blood, either,” he said and winked.

The moan on the floor pulled both our attention away. Distaste carved into his features and he brought his gaze back to me.

“I have no idea what my brother saw in her,” he said, waving toward the semi-conscious vampire. “And I don’t understand why Lilith chose her over me, either.”

I snorted and glanced away. I could think of a million and one reasons and one of them slipped from my lips before I could catch it. “Perhaps it’s because you were a royal bastard even back then.”

The stab in my side drew a wince, and I looked down. Four fingernails were embedded between the bones of my ribcage. He tilted his head and smiled as he yanked them from my flesh. Lucifer stared at the blood streaking his nails and slipped them one by one in his mouth, tasting and raising an eyebrow.

“She was right. You do taste a little like her son.”

I could see the wheels turning in his head and his gaze dropped to my chest. The image of him drinking blood from Athena’s beating heart flashed in my memory just before his eyes flicked back to mine.

“You’re lucky,” he said and stepped back.

“Why am I lucky?”

He smiled crossing to the spot in front of the window with his back to me.

My gaze scanned the sky and I sighed at the ambient light signaling the imminent sunrise. The report of a gun snapped my head in the direction of the entryway. Naomi’s voice rang through the ruckus spouting the foulest curses, and my heart shriveled.

Chapter
Thirty-Six - Naomi

I stood with my back to the wall, forcing my breathing back to normal. The sprint across the open front yard left me exposed, but there was no indication that anyone saw my approach. Perhaps they believed a mere human no longer provided a threat to them or their diabolical plans. I smiled at the thought and glanced toward the woods, wondering if Michael’s body would stay hidden until I could release him. I did my best to hide the body in the dense foliage surrounding the pristine house. Twenty five acres of forest swallowed the white waterfront monstrosity, enough to provide the right amount of solitude needed for torturing Damian until the sun rose.

The angelic power pressed against my
skin and I closed my eyes, reining it in. I still had to be careful. If Lucifer got whiff of what I had done, he would never let me near Damian and all three of us would be as good as dead.

I checked the guns on my belt, making sure the safety was
set on each pistol before I slid through the open window. I had a moment of déjà vu, my mind reeling back to the warehouse five years ago and I squatted, closing my eyes and getting my bearings. I wasn’t sure where I was in relation to where Lucifer had Damian, but I’d bet my life that he was on the far side of the house. The back faced due east with a magnificent view of Candlewood Lake’s western shoreline and the full force of the sunrise.

I slid the safety off each gun and scanned the small room. Another office
, and I inhaled, blinking my eyes against the change in lighting. Shadows startled me and I had to keep a check on my reflexes. If I let a round go before I had the demons in sight, I’d be overwhelmed and that would be the end of my little rebellion. God, how I wished for the clarity of my vampire eyes right now, and I bit back on the uncertainty flooding through my veins. I had Michael with me along with all the knowledge of shooting that my father armed me with, never mind the silent stalk of the Mohegan tribe in my feet. My heritage was built for this and I clung to that thought as I made my way through the open space of the office. The door wasn’t closed, but cracked just enough for the sounds of torture to reach my ears.

I considered trying to transition, but I wasn’t sure
if I would be able to. I still don’t know what triggered it, whether it was seeing Damian get blindsided by the second demon or if it was my overwhelming fury. Even in tiger form, I had a bear of a time with those lowly demons without the vampire strength, and Damian had been beyond frantic when he finally got a clean shot.

Michael said
if I transitioned into the tiger and Lucifer got the upper hand, this rescue mission would fail. I needed my human cunning more than sharp claws and the thirty two bullets I had would eviscerate at least thirty two demons. I just hoped like hell there weren’t more than that; otherwise this rescue mission would indeed be an epic failure.

The moment I slid into the hall, I knew something wasn’t right. No demons were within sight, but the cold chill
in the air told me they couldn’t be far. I closed my eyes and tried to tap into my tiger psyche, to sense where the bastards were, but a frigid hand clamped down on my wrist before I had the chance and I knew I was just as doomed as Damian, even with Michael riding my bloodstream.

I got
off three shots before my guns were stripped from my hands and none of the self defense moves Damian taught me over the last five years worked against the superhuman strength of the dozen demons now surrounding me.

Still, I fought, scratching and thrashing in their grasp until I was thrown to the floor in the middle of a semi-circular row of windows. I didn’t dare move, or take my gaze off the formidable man standing with his back to me. Lucifer looked so much more deadly than he had
before and when he sent a raised eyebrow over his shoulder at me, fear struck my breath in place.

He flicked his index finger to the side and it took a moment for me to understand the sharp instrument fitted over his finger tip. A platinum blade formed a single deadly claw and when he flicked it to the side again, Damian’s c
urses filled the room.

Five years had made Lucifer a much deadlier foe. Instead of relying on the personal touch or a loaded gun, or even his demon horde, he was using every ounce of his power to infli
ct pain without touching Damian and his glare promised I was next.

Even Damian’
s pained cry didn’t unlock my muscles. It wasn’t until Lucifer fully turned that I found the strength to stand and adopt a glare, forcing my quaking muscles to still. No matter what happened, I couldn’t act until the sun hit the horizon and even then, Michael wasn’t sure it would be enough to save Damian.

Lucifer’s features filled with fury and he swatted his hand to the side like he was flicking an annoying fly out of his way.

An invisible hand hit my cheek, rocking my head to the side and spinning me with the force of a power punch. In the time I took to sprawl on my hands and knees, the pain flared, locking the air in my lungs. I felt like a hot iron branded my cheek and when the burn abated, I raised my hand to the spot, wincing at my own touch. When my vision cleared, I blinked at the image of Damian’s bare feet.

My heart jumped into my throat at the odd streaks of color
running down his jeans and the pool of deep crimson liquid at his feet. I forced my gaze up and a pain deeper than that branding my cheek shot through me at the full view of my broken husband. Deep, angry welts covered his torso and arms in patterns that set my blood boiling. The bastard played with him, carving crude tic-tac-toe games across his torso, drenching him in blood. The waistband of his jeans soaked the trails, turning the blue into a saturated purple that matched the patterns on his face where he had been beaten. Only his bright-blue eyes and the dark curls of his hair told me it was Damian suffering before me.

A wordless scream of fury erupted and I stood, spinning in Lucifer’s direction. The scream cut off along with the flow of air and my glare dropped from the sadistic smile on his face to his hand, curling like the invisible fingers crushing my windpipe. The tear of fabric accompanied
the slow and deliberate progress of his clawed finger through the air.

Dark spots flared in front of my eyes and I blinked at the sound of Damian’s growling roar.
The grip on my throat ceased and I crumpled to the floor wondering how the hell I was going to beat this asshat.

I looked down and understood Damian’s growl.
My clothing was now hanging by shreds, exposing my flesh to the roomful of demons and Lucifer alike. I glanced at Damian and if pain racked his beaten form, I couldn’t tell. He was straining against the platinum chains, his face a mask of fury that went beyond anything I had ever seen and I understood what Lucifer had in mind, or at least I thought I did, until he spoke.

“I
am not going to kill you,” Lucifer said and curled his finger, willing me to crawl to him. I tried to resist the hands dragging me forward, but it was as futile as wishing the sunrise away.

“Instead,
you will be my slave. My concubine.” He sent a wicked grin as I knelt at his feet, my gaze locked on the crotch of his pants and the bulge that appeared like a poisonous snake curled and ready to strike. “My whore.”

I shivered as his fingers touched my face and tilted it so I looked up at him. “Until you
’ve delivered an army of children and your womb can no longer conceive.” He glanced up at Damian. “Then I’ll let all the demons in hell have a turn at her.”

“You fucker,” Damian whispered.

“Once they’ve used her to within a breath of death, that’s when I’ll tear out her heart and drink the last drops of her precious trinity blood.”

“Fuck you,” I growled but his laugh sent m
e into a fit of shivers.

Lucifer’s hand clamped under my chin, his clawed finger piercing my cheek as he squeezed and pulled me to my feet.
“If you insist,” he said and slammed me against the wall, his body pressing against me in an all too suggestive manner.

“But
, before I take what is rightfully mine, I want you to indulge me and give your husband a blow job before the sun cooks him alive.” The smile that accompanied the request sent terror through me.

“I can’t,” I whispered.

“Oh, come now. Mark told me that you had a mouth that won’t quit. I’d like to see you in action,” he sneered and glanced at Damian. “I’ll give you a dying wish. Would you like a blow job...or would you prefer to watch?”

Damian blinked at the question and I had a moment of clarity when his eyes met mine. He pressed his lips together and they quivered and then his eyes met Lucifer’s
gaze.

“I think I’ll watch,” he whispered and a tear slid out of the corner of his eye.

Lucifer’s eyebrow rose and he threw me toward Damian. I landed on my hands and knees at his feet and a quick glance over my shoulder into Lucifer’s malignant glare told me I didn’t have enough stall left. It was now or never and there was no way I would be reduced to Lucifer’s whore for the foreseeable future.

Before the command left Lucifer’s lips, I shot to my feet, throwing myself toward Damian.
I had a second where Damian’s gaze met mine and I knew he would do anything to avoid Lucifer’s plans, even if it screwed both of us. The minute my skin came in contact with his, I heard his sharp inhale and I flipped my hair out of the way, giving him full access to my throat.

“Bite me,” I whispered and I saw the brief passage of lust overcome the pain just before he sank his teeth into my throat.
Raw agony flared and I tightened my grip on him, knowing each pull of blood brought us closer to death.

Death on our terms. Not Lucifer’s.

With a yank, I found myself on the floor, dizzy and disoriented and Damian stood, defiant despite his blistered skin and the raw guttural groan of pain coming from his chest. His knees gave out and he collapsed, trying to draw his arms in as his body spasmed, his groan turning to a scream as my blood ate him from the inside out.

I blinked at the ray of light filtering in the window, illuminating the wall behind Damian.

“Please Michael,” I whispered, too softly for anyone to hear but Lucifer turned toward me anyway and the glare in his gaze froze my blood in place. I pushed with my legs, putting more distance between us and prayed that I could set Michael free before Lucifer reached me.

Something to my right caught my attention and I nearly gasped when a demon tossed Michael’s unconscious body onto the floor
, his face was the pale pallor of death and his chest lay still. I couldn’t even detect a pulse in his neck and despair wrapped around my heart.

“You really think he can help you now?” Lucifer asked
with a grin as wicked as my husband’s dying screams.

My gaze darted from Michael’s prone body to Lucifer. Movement in the corner pulled my attention and Eve’s wide eyes met mine before falling on Michael. A wealth of emotion crossed her pale features and when her gaze transitions from me to Lucifer, her face scrunched into a feral snarl, making my focus snap in the same direction.

Lucifer stood over Michael with a dagger clasped in his hands. He raised it over his head and closed his eyes, reciting an ancient alchemy.

The stench of burning flesh filled the room and my gaze landed on Damian.
Rays of sunshine encompassed his black curls, but he wasn’t burning.

It was
Eve and I swore my heart stopped. Her dark eyes held knowledge and love when they passed over me and the moment they took in Lucifer, her gaze altered, becoming silent and fierce. She streaked across the room with deadly intent written across her fiery features.

Lucifer didn’t have a chance to react before Eve hit him full force, knocking him through the plate glass window but not before she ri
pped a mighty gash in his throat.

I didn’t wait for him to return or for the shell shocked demons to react. I crawled to Michael’s body and grasped his head in my hands
, praying his heart still carried a beat. The incantation tumbled from my lips and the flow of power drained me. Within a blink, Michael was on his feet in full angel form and every demon in the room fell under the heavenly burst of white light.

The last thing that registered in my shell-shocked brain was
Damian framed in sunshine, but before I could move, my vision flashed white and then faded.