Vengeance of the Demons (20 page)

Evan looked over her seat. “Lou’s comin’ down the road.”

Tommy backed the vehicle up and then put it in drive. The tires squealed and spun as they rammed the gate a second time.

William was tossed around like unbagged groceries as they backed up and headed for the gate again.

“Thomas! Evangeline!” Lou’s voice raged from somewhere outside the car.

William’s whole body tensed at the thought of jumping out and sucking every drop from the man who’d turned him into this thing.

Tommy floored the vehicle again, and William braced for the impact. The sound of grinding metal reverberated through the car as they burst through the gate.

They bumped over the drive for half a minute and then the vehicle skidded out onto the road.

“They’re following us,” Evan said.

“Pop doesn’t give up so easily. Which way are we going?” he called.

“East,” William replied. East, toward home.

Evan tried to shake off the itch that scratched up her spine by having William seated behind her. She tried not to think about the look on his face when he’d bitten her. The barely-there thread of humanity that kept him from attacking Tommy. The animalistic predator gaze that he tracked her with. He was not her William. Not that William was hers, but this William, the injured and starving William, was different.

She’d never seen a being so starved. Even in all of her years on the run with Lou and the boys. She’d seen and experienced hunger, thirst, and fatigue, but she’d never seen anything so primal in all her life.

When he’d sucked the life out of the tech on the floor, she’d not been able to believe it. William would never hurt anyone. Yet he had. Right there in front of her, in front of Tommy.

She tried to keep her eyes trained on the endless blacktop in front of her, but she couldn’t. She swiveled her head and glanced in the back seat. William sat stark still staring at her. Like a pale, blood-soaked statue, he neither blinked, nor smiled… nothing.

She turned back around and faced her side window. Tears formed behind her eyelids and rolled down her cheeks. She prayed that Danika would be able to help him.

* * * *

Six hours later, they pulled into an abandoned gas station just outside St. George, Utah. Pop had followed them for almost an hour, but they’d pulled off an exit and lost him in a subdivision maze of tract housing.

They took a different route back to Chicago then the way she’d come. She couldn’t remember exactly which way she’d told Lou she’d driven so she thought it best that they went a different way.

The bright sun blared through the front window, blinding her. Tommy cut the engine off, and they both stared at the boarded-up convenience store.

“Hope the pumps still work,” he said.

“Me too.”

He stepped out of the car and crossed to the building. Evan’s stomach rumbled and she opened her door.

She glanced through the headrest at William, who lay on the floor in the shadow of the seats. Covered in a UV-proof blanket, he stared up at her. He hadn’t spoken a word since they’d left.

“You want anything from inside?” she asked.

“Can I drink another Savor now?” His flat monotone voice sent a chill up her spine.

Her chin quivered and she cleared her throat. “Sure.”

He ripped into the bottle he’d been holding the entire time and drank it down in three large gulps.

There was a crash from the store as Tommy ripped a board from the door and threw it aside.

“I’m gonna go get something to eat and I’ll be right back. You stay here.” It wasn’t a request. She grabbed her backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

Her boots crunched on glass as she pushed the doors open. Tommy stood behind the cash register and flipped on the switch for the pump.

“What do you want?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Not much left after looting. Whatever you can get, I guess.”

She nodded and turned.

“Sis.”

The heavy tone of Tommy’s voice held all the things she didn’t want to hear him say.

She turned back to him. “He’ll be fine. We’ll get him back to Chicago and he’ll be fine.”

“You don’t know that.” Tommy’s eyes held compassion. “If he can’t make it that far… If he attacks you or me—”

“Then I’ll do it myself,” she said. The thought of killing William was an icy bullet to her heart. “If he attacks you, I’ll kill him myself.” She turned and headed down the aisle. She didn’t want to even think about that happening.

* * * *

Evan drove for the next eight hours while Tommy slept. She stopped beyond Denver about five-thirty in the evening. The sun had begun to set and her eyelids were growing droopy. She’d driven close to one hundred the whole way and had been able to gain some time.

Tommy snorted awake and stretched.

“What’s going on? Where are we?” He yawned.

“Colorado,” she said.

“Damn, is that all?”

“Afraid so.

“How much farther?” he asked.

“About fifteen hours.” She reached behind herself and rubbed her shoulder.

“Fifteen’s not bad,” he said. “I can take the next stretch and then we shouldn’t have too much left.” Tommy got out and stretched then headed to the convenience store to turn on the pumps.

She opened her door.

“I have to get out,” said William.

The sound of his voice startled her.

“You can’t. It isn’t dark yet,” she said.

“We need to stop for the night.”

Evan swallowed hard. She didn’t want to stop. She wanted to keep driving. To get to Chicago. To fix William.

“If we don’t stop and you don’t let me out of this car, I’m going to drain your cousin dry.”

The words sent a chill up her spine and anger stormed her brain. She spun around in her seat.

“Now you listen to me. We saved your butt even after you drained that tech back there. If it wasn’t for Tommy you’d still be strapped to that bed. So don’t you even think about laying a fang on my cousin.”

His icy blue eyes narrowed. “You should have let me die. It would have been better than to live a few more days like this.”

Her heartbeat pounded against her ribcage.

“I hear your heartbeat, Evan. You’re terrified of me.”

“No, actually, I’m not. I’m pissed off at you, you stupid jackass. I know you’re thirsty—”

“You don’t know anything.”

“Stop talking to me like that!”

“I can’t,” he yelled. “Don’t you get it? You think I’m thirsty but you have no idea what thirst is. This thirst inside me. It’s not like a mild, I haven’t had water in two days thirst. It’s a bone-parched, muscles rubbing against your skin like sandpaper thirst. An everything-I-see-is-blood thirst. A drain-the-only-woman-you’ve-ever-loved-to-sate-it thirst. That is the thirst I fight, and every minute in the car with you and Tommy is as agonizing as if you’d impaled me on a bed of nails.”

“Did you just say you loved me?” she asked.

He didn’t answer.

She crawled between the two seats and he sat up, his back to the side door. She straddled his hips and pushed the hair from his face.

Bloodstains smeared his cheeks and chin and throat. He was a ghastly sight. But he needed to know that it didn’t matter to her. The only way he could beat this was if he knew she still believed in him.

“I trust you,” she whispered.

She bent her head and pressed her lips to his lightly. He stiffened but she coaxed his lips apart with her tongue. She felt the tips of his fangs, sharp and ready to tear her to shreds, and a thrill of desire washed over her.

He tangled his fingers in her hair and plunged his tongue deep into her mouth. Powerful and strong, he kissed her hard, pulling her closer. He growled like a thunderstorm and her body pulsed with need.

The car chimed as Tommy opened the door. “Pumps aren’t working,” he said.

She broke the kiss and sat up quickly. Tommy’s cheeks reddened when he spotted her.

“Uh… yeah… okay,” she said. “Then I guess we’ll have to find another station. We have about fifty miles left in the tank.”

He swallowed hard and nodded. “We could go into town a bit, see if we can find another station.”

“Or another vehicle,” she said.

“That would take time.”

“I know, but we’re gonna need to stop for the night anyway.”

His brows furrowed. “Stop? I thought we were going to drive all the way through.”

“Yeah… about that. William is still covered in blood and needs to get out of the car and stretch. I think it would be good for him to get some air. He was cooped up in that cell and then the lab…” She gave him a pointed look she hoped he understood.

“Yeah, sure. I’ll see if maybe I can find a motel and drop you guys off while I search for gas or a new car.”

She gave him a tight smile. “Great.”

Tommy hopped into the driver’s seat and started the engine. She pushed off William and sat on the back seat. His grip remained tight on her ankle.

* * * *

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

Evan stopped and hefted her backpack over her shoulder. She glanced at the open motel door where she’d helped William rush in minutes before.

“I’ll be fine.” She gave Tommy a tight smile.

“If he hurts you…”

She stepped up to the car and kissed Tommy on the cheek. “He won’t hurt me.”

She walked to the motel room and waved at Tommy.

“I’ll be back within the hour,” he called.

“Don’t get lost!”

He chuckled and shook his head before pulling off.

They’d driven further off the freeway and found a small motel on a side street. If they were still being followed, Lou would be looking only at places easily accessible from the freeway, not places further in. There was no way they could search every exit as well.

She dropped her back onto one of the beds next to William’s duffel bag. He sat waiting for her, an empty bottle of Savor in his hand.

“How many bottles are left?” she asked.

“Four.”

She hoped it was enough. “We should get you cleaned up.” She headed for the bathroom and turned the water on in the white-tiled shower. For being crummy on the outside, the inside of the motel was pleasantly remodeled. As if the owners hadn’t gotten around to upgrading the outside before they went under.

The water didn’t warm, but she supposed with William’s body temperature it didn’t really matter. She walked back out to where William sat and then kicked off her boots and pants. He pulled her close and traced his hands up her bare thighs to her buttocks.

She tugged him to his feet and ran her hands under his shirt. He moaned and she tried to keep her arousal at bay as she lifted his arms and tugged off his shirt. He bent in close and rested his lips at the base of her throat as she undid the button of his jeans and then pushed the clothes over his hips and dropped them to the floor. He pressed his arousal onto her long and hard.

“You should shower.” Her voice came out in a harsh whisper and his eyes met hers. He dropped his underwear to the floor and followed her command; stopping at one of the black bags and pulling out a toothbrush and toothpaste before heading into the bathroom.

The sight of his tight firm rear almost had her overlooking the fact that he was covered in blood. When she heard the sound of him brushing his teeth she tossed herself back on the bed and threw her hands over her face. Her body ached to feel him. As much as she wanted to distance herself, to shut down, to be objective, she couldn’t. William had seeped inside her and brought her stone heart back from the brink.

No matter what happened now, she wouldn’t leave him.

The water in the shower turned off and after a few seconds, William re-emerged in a small white towel, water dripping from his lean, muscular frame.

He walked to her and pulled her to her feet. His cool body made her skin pebble. His hungry gaze stayed fixed on her face as his hands snaked under her shirt. She winced as his fingers ran over her cuts.

His gaze lowered and he pulled her shirt higher.

“What happened?” He removed her shirt and then dropped to his knees in front of her, inspecting the bandages that covered her sides.

“I had a little trouble getting into the ammunition building. The window was a bit small. I’ve always been too curvy.”

“Never. Your curves are one of those things I love most about your body.”

Her abs quivered as he ran his fingers gently over her skin. He peeled the tape off the blood-soaked bandages and gently removed them. He sniffed her belly and unwrapped her entire stomach. He let out a shuddered breath as he finally reached her skin.

“Your curves. Your little scars. Your warm peachy skin.”

Licking across her wounds, he swirled his tongue in the dried blood. She twisted her fingers into his hair as he moved from her hip up her side to the outside of her bra. He kissed across the peaks of her breasts and up over her collarbone finally to her mouth.

Nothing about him was gentle as he yanked her closer by the hair and claimed her mouth with his. His hands roamed her body, and he fumbled with the front clasp on her bra. He growled in frustration and she unlocked her lips from his.

“Easy,” she said. “It’s the last good bra I have.”

“Get it off.”

Usually she didn’t like being commanded, but the fire in his eyes made her skin flush with heat. She undid her bra and flung it to the floor. His mouth covered her left breast as his fingers pinched and kneaded the right one. She ran her fingers down his spine, and as his fangs grazed her nipple, her knees almost buckled.

“William,” she moaned.

He released her breast from his mouth and licked up the side of her neck. Picking her up, he backed her into the nearest wall. Sliding his fingers inside her panties, he rubbed at her most sensitive nub.

She clawed at his back and panted hard and fast as he brought her spiraling closer to release. She’d needed the feel of a man for so long that her body was ready to explode at the slightest show of interest.

“Say my name,” he demanded. “Say it.”

“William.”

He rubbed her harder and faster. “Who do you belong to?” he asked.