Bittersweet Seraphim (22 page)

“Dad?” She wanted to cry and cry. This work he’d been doing for who knows how long looked so desolate, so lonely.

He kept shoveling, even though he clearly did not want to. “Kate?” He kept working through his scream. “Not my daughter! No!”

Nero’s shoveled desperately, his eyes manic. “Tell me you’re not here. You are not here!”

Kate tried not to take her father’s immediate rejection personally, but as she wiped fresh tears from her cheeks, she knew she was failing. “I’m here to get you out of Hell. I made a deal with the Devil—well, the old Devil—and he said I could have you. On Earth. As my dad. If you still want to be, that is.”

Jason put his hand on her shoulder. Through her distress, she could still feel the pull of their shared power.

Ransom approached Nero. “Hey, care to take a break?”

Nero nodded and closed his eyes. Ransom neatly restrained him on his back on the ground. Kate’s father began vibrating, instantly blurry under Ransom.

“Let go of the shovels, Dad.” Kate dropped to her knees and inched closer.

Ransom quickly gave her his version of the situation. “Nero’s doing his work and Brut’s because he killed that bastard. So he doesn’t get any reprieves anymore, no chance to rest.”

Kate couldn’t even make eye contact with him, Nero was too out of focus. The piece of her mother’s nightgown still on his bicep made an arc, flying like a flag in a hurricane. She turned to Jason. “We’ve got no way to help him. Only the Devil can remove a compulsion, or at least that’s what Jack said. How’re we going to get him out?”

Jason wiggled his glowing fingertips. “Well, we’ve got a little bit to work with, right?”

Kate inhaled sharply as hope rose within her. “Let’s try.”

They approached Nero, getting as close as they could while staying clear of the shovels, still trying in vain to gather coal. The only stationary part of him was his middle, where Ransom had him pinned. Jason grabbed her hand and motioned with his other. They would touch Nero at the same moment. Kate tried to focus the power coursing through her and laid her hand on her father’s flailing forearm. The skin there glowed blue, but it continued to move with a mind of its own. Jason and Kate waited. And waited.

Finally Ransom exhaled with exasperation. “Aren’t you going to say something?”

Kate met Jason’s eyes. He seemed to take a wild guess.

“Release Nero!” he proclaimed.

The power poured from Kate’s fingers. It took everything she had to keep her hand steady. It was as if her blood had solidified and was being pulled out like splinters.

Nero’s buzzing slowed to a stop. His grip on the shovels released. His hands were bloody messes.

Nero stood then, knocking Ransom off unceremoniously. “Kate. My Kate. How? Why?”

He enveloped her in a moist hug. She closed her eyes. This was it. The reason she’d found her courage and balls. Jumped into ponds and followed weird things into Hell. Her father’s hug.

She wanted to cry and laugh, but instead she answered him. “The presence of me is my love for you.” She patted his chest.

“My pride, my sweet, I never wanted you here. We must get you out immediately.” He turned and scanned the area, grabbing her hand to lead her. “They collapsed my escape tunnel after I killed Brut.” He moved back toward the waiter’s cave, collecting a shovel as he went and thoroughly ignoring the men Kate had with her.

She dug her heels in and pulled on her father’s hand. “No, seriously. Father, give us a second.” She hugged his massive arm until he stopped and turned to her. “We need a better plan. Things are crazy right now.”

He raised his hand as if to place it on her cheek, but stopped when he saw all the blood. “You look like Jenny. It’s amazing and hurts so much at the same time.”

“She loved you. She never gave up hoping you would be together.”

Ransom made violin noises. “This is so freaking lovely. But we’ve to get out of this place before it collapses.”

Kate looked at Jason and hoped it wasn’t too soon. “Dad, this is Jason. He’s a good friend.” Jason met her eyes and smiled in a way that made her skin prickle. She felt pure joy when he stepped forward and held out his hand to her father.

“Sir, your daughter is truly amazing.”

Nero wiped his hand on his pants and reached in for a manly shake. “I agree. She’s the only reason this world shouldn’t curse my existence.”

The walls of the cave began shaking, pieces of rock coming loose. Nero pulled Kate to him and covered her body with his. “Where did you get in?” he asked her. “That’s where I will get you out.”

Kate stepped in front, still holding her father’s hand, and smiled in spite of their uncertain situation. “Where
I’ll
be getting us
all
out. Let’s go this way.”

She winked at Jason, who smiled back. Ransom gave them all the finger, but he followed the way Kate led.

Chapter 25

Dean and Violent had carjacked a vehicle so they’d make better time. Now Violent drove, and Dean tried not to watch. She was ridiculous behind the wheel. Road signs, paint markings, and lights didn’t even register as suggestions to her. He focused on his mother in the backseat. She was looking a bit better. Dean patted her hand gently and leaned closer to hear her words.

“He’s going to try to breed her. He’s fixated on it. Your grandfather’s a zealot. The thing they have in a cage as a stud? Dean, we have to find her.” Rebecca squeezed his hand.

He nodded and told her what he knew could very well be a lie. “We’ll find her before that happens, Mom. That’s all I want now: our family together.”

Violent whipped her head around and watched his mouth. He never knew what to expect with her, but she seemed to be saying a little prayer.

In no time they were over the bridge Rebecca had described. She propped herself up. “It’ll look like an old warehouse, but inside he has a little city set up. The cages were in the middle of the compound, and there were always a ton of guards.”

Violent pulled the stolen car into an empty parking lot. She hopped out like a woman headed to a manicure appointment, not a war. Dean tried to convince his mother to stay put. “You’re too weak. We need you out of the way so we can focus on Seri.”

Rebecca crawled out from the back of the car, now able to walk on her own. “No. I’ve been protecting you kids your whole lives. That doesn’t stop now.”

Violent walked right up to a broken-down door and put her foot through it. The loud crack echoed through the seemingly empty expanse of rooms. “There are no guards. Are you sure of this place?” Violent turned to stare at Rebecca.

She nodded slowly. “The only reason they’d be gone is if there’s an event to watch. The mating. We have to hurry.”

Rebecca shuffle-ran until she encountered an empty vending machine. She struggled to move it aside. Dean reached around his mother and pulled, sliding the machine. A long, dark tunnel behind it led to a descending staircase. Violent strode past them like they’d opened it for her personally, but Dean grabbed her arm. She lifted one eyebrow in question.

“You sure you’re with us?” He didn’t trust her confidence.

She almost smiled. “Family was important to Giovanni. Shall we go?”

He had no choice but to believe her. He held out an arm for his mother, and she grasped it.

When they reached the first landing, they could hear the eerie chanting—a tuneless song that sounded like prayer. They began to run at the second landing when the crowd burst into cheers.

Seriana was drunk with him, this beast/man. The crowd began chanting and lighting incense. It took her few seconds to realize the man was whispering to her in between kisses.

“You must act in lust with me.” He lifted her hair and licked her neck.

She moaned. It was actually hard to remember she wasn’t. “Okay.” She pushed his hair out of his face and held it with one hand. The warm water continued to pour down on them. He twirled her through it over and over, using the rushing sound to drown out his words for everyone but her.

“If I get out of this cage, I can get free. I would like that. I can kill them all.” His hands explored her with a primal greediness.

She had to try twice to get the words out. “Me too.”

“You’ll kill everyone?” He sounded amused.

She shook her head. His hair was heavy now that it was wet. He tilted his head back and swallowed more water. Seriana watched his throat move. She took a moment to look around her. The audience of half-breeds was in various states of undress, obviously aroused by the show. Four spotlights came on with an audible pop. Closest to the cage were the elders, some with notepads, others with video cameras. She shivered. This had to be the most surreal experience of her life.

The man was looking at her when she refocused on him. “You have no name. Really?”

“I’m simply yours.” He twirled her, and she was forced to let go of his hair. He pulled her back against his chest. “They think they know how this ends. I mount you, we copulate, and then they part us until you produce a live birth.” His hands were everywhere on her, pressing the wet sheet to her body.

She tried to concentrate on his words, on the horror of being watched during this intimate moment. Instead her veins filled with true lust for him. It shamed her and made her gasp.

“But when they separate us? That’s when we fight back. Are you with me, Seriana?”

“You know my name?” She turned her head to watch his lips.

“I know everything about you. We are destined, Seriana.” His mouth was so mesmerizing.

He leaned down to kiss her, turning her again so they were chest to chest. He was taller than she, so he simply lifted her so they could be eye to eye. The female half-breeds sighed like he was a movie heartthrob.

“Do you know I don’t want to get screwed in front of a crowd?” Hearing the words come from her own lips crystallized the situation, and she swallowed a sob.

He looked concerned. “I did not know that.” He hugged her harder, covering her as best as he could with his arms.

She nodded and looked again at the audience.

He nudged her with his nose until she looked at him again. “Don’t see them. Only me. Only feel.”

Seriana just needed a second to process. Was this man seducing her? Was she part of his escape plan? Would she really have to do this?

He began kissing her face again, and she nuzzled into him. At least he wasn’t hurting her. Then she saw it out of the corner of her eye, heard her grandfather’s words carrying across the room. “He needs to be angry. Electrocute him.”

She was hooked around the middle at the same moment her beast man was. They were pulled apart as the water pouring over them turned painfully cold.

Like mating dogs.

He began growling at the sight of the stick poked into the cage. Seriana put it together too slowly, not that she could’ve done anything but watch.

Her “mate” was hit in the back and stunned silent, the electric current turning him colors, stiffening him rigid. Seriana screamed, begging her grandfather to stop. He gave her a half smile and touched the stick to the water she stood in. She felt lightning throughout her body, turning her senses white, just before she passed out.

Dean pushed Violent forward and ran past her when he heard his sister scream. His mother ran after him, but Violent eventually caught up so she could be in front. The screaming was unreal and distractingly horrifying. Dean couldn’t even get his bearings before he was restrained by a group of half-breeds.