Born of Silence (Immortal Guardians) (38 page)

Garrick looked out the windshield, blinking in disbelief. There was a human lying dead on the road, and just beyond her was a demon. It was a yellowish-green color, and possibly scaly, though that was a guess from that distance. Its eyes reflected off the headlights as it crawled to its feet. It stood to its full height and roared in anger as it approached the dead human. He—most definitely a
he
—bent over the human remains and bit, pulling off a chunk of flesh and organs.

The warriors were outside the car in an instant, Garrick included. The creature noticed their approach and snarled again, using its claws to drag the body farther away. All of them went in, fisting their blades and attacking the demon en masse. Draven and Ethan ended up getting control over the demon, so Garrick and the others backed off so they could finish him. There were hissing and wailing, snapping and biting, and through all of that he heard a high-pitched screech off to the left. He knew that sound, recognized it even as his heart beat wildly. He didn’t know if that was from triumph or fear. He turned, focusing on the trees that lined the road. There were other sounds too, not too far in the distance. There was also a dark cloud of smoke, rising into the dark sky above.

Garrick took off running, not waiting for the others. He pumped his arms and legs
,
willing himself to get through the snow faster. He didn’t dare trace, not when he didn’t know what he was running into. The others were behind him, their own boots crunching in the snow just like his, their panting breaths barely noticeable over his own. No, some had traced and were ahead of him now. Another shriek and he surged faster, toward the orange glow ahead. He broke through the trees, reaching Blaze, Nitro, Draven, and Ethan as they stood. Garrick stopped as well, horrified at the sight. Ash caught up then, and he uttered a curse through his heaving breath.

Dani was high above, her form showing clearly from the fire that torched the forest rangers’ shack. Her wings flapped rapidly as she hovered over them,
eyeing
the massacre on the ground. She shrieked again and dove, cannoning into a demon. She picked him up and shot into the sky. One, two, three seconds before she’d gotten her claws clear through him and split him in two. The chunks landed on the ground with sickening
splats
.

“
Holy fuck
,” Blaze breathed. “What is she?”

“I know exactly what she is,” Nitro hissed. “She’s one of Ekhart’s.”

“No, she’s…” Garrick
saw
Nitro’s gaze
turn
red-hot. Something, almost a flash of another being, took over her and she hurled a fireball at Dani.

“Dani!” Garrick yelled. The fireball was near her, and Nitro had already run forward, readying another.

Dani heard the warning and spun, but the flame caught the edge of one wing. She shrieked, and it was so high-pitched that
they all
covered their ears from the onslaught. The burn hurt her, but she still flapped her wings, anger roiling out of her. She did a nosedive for Nitro. She tackled her to the ground, both women rolling in a ball of flesh and black leather. Raider was there in the next instant, readying a strike of his dagger.

“No!” Garrick lunged forward. “Raider, no! She’s mine!”

He didn’t wait to see his reaction
.
I
nstead Garrick barreled into the women, breaking up their bloody claws and snapping fangs—which, he realized, both of them had. Nitro rolled free of Dani’s hold, and his Harpy was now up in the sky, looking down on them.

“What did you do that for?” Nitro asked.

“You can’t fight her. She’s mine.”

Nitro took three steps closer, her mouth drawn in a sneer. “You’ve taken up with the enemy?”

“No.”
H
e flicked his gaze upward, trying to keep Dani in his sights. “Jesus Christ, I need to get through to her.”

A man screamed from the other side of the clearing, and Dani’s attention was immediately drawn to his wailing. She dropped from the sky and landed on the human, her fists and claws pummeling. He vaguely noticed that the other warriors were engrossed in their own battles, having been attacked by demons. Garrick traced to where his Harpy was.

“Dani,” he yelled, hoping that his voice would make it through whatever haze she was in. He knew she could control herself, had seen it himself. He needed to get through. He took a step forward, knowing full well that it was already too late to save the human. She’d already finished him off.

There was a catch of breath, and he
watched
her face as she continued to pummel the body, flattening it into the ground. Her face was drawn up in distress, and her chest hitched as she breathed.

She was crying.

“Dani,” he said again. “Stop. Stop this.” He was close to her now, only about four feet from where she kneeled over the remains. And yet still her fists kept connecting, bones still snapped from their force.

“I can’t,” she cried, her voice rasping with pain. “Punishment.”

“Just stop!” he demanded, no longer able to look at what was left.

“I can’t
!
” she screamed back, her voice rising high above all other sounds. “They’re controlling me.” Still she kept clawing at the bones and the skin. “Remember what I told you that they did to me. Remember?”

His teeth ground together as he let a long, slow breath out through his nose. Gods damned fucking Ekhart! He turned away from Dani, focusing on the other warriors. “Find someone with a remote control!” he yelled.

Ash heard him and gave him a questioning look.

“Find whoever has a remote control
.
S
he’s being controlled!”

Ash’s surprised face disappeared from view as Garrick turned around and faced Dani again. “Come after me.”

“Garrick, no,” she cried. “I can’t
.
I’ll kill you.”

“Come after me.”

“Not you. Not
you
.” Her head lowered as her body shook, her breath still c
o
m
ing
out of her in sobs. “That’s what he wants me to do.”

“Who?”

“Ekhart.” She stopped moving and stared straight ahead, almost as though she saw a ghost. Garrick looked in the same direction, though he could see nothing besides snow and trees. She rolled to her feet and
stared
up into the sky, an eerily familiar war
cry wrenching from her. He knew too well what that sound was. It was the cry of the Harpy. Her eyes focused on his and he knew her puppeteer had fully taken over. “Remove threat.”

She stepped off of the body, and leapt at him.

****

“Dani. Dani! Listen to me. Listen!” Garrick flew from her impact and rolled on the ground, barely getting up in time to avoid getting swiped by her poisonous claws. Dammit! Hadn’t anyone found the remote yet? His instinct to fight was strong, but this was Dani. He could never hurt her. He faked a punch and she spun, but the claw of her wing spun out toward him. He barely saw it in time and traced out of the way, only to have her intercept it. Her claws wrapped his neck, digging into the sides, as she lifted him off his feet. “She’ll
feast on your entrails until there isn’t a single piece of you left to roam this earth,” she growled. “And while you watch her consume you from the bottom up, you just remember who the better man really is.” Her eyes glowed red with menace, her anger boiling to a fever pitch. “Your essence is mine.”

Her master wasn’t Ekhart. It was Pyro.

“Dani,” he wheezed, trying to pry her grip from his neck. “You can have it.” Still he pulled on her fingers, but her vice grip didn’t ease. “
I give it willingly to you
.”

Her entire body twitched and her expression changed; her face show
ed
different emotions, one right after the other, as if her mind was in the middle of its own struggle. Garrick still couldn’t breathe, though he tried to move his head to open his airways. “Find the remote.” He could
only hope the others heard him, but he was afraid his voice hadn’t carried worth a damn. Dani’s hold loosened silently, and Garrick sucked in as much air as he could. His eyes found hers. She was staring at him as tears streamed down her cheeks. “Can’t.” Slowly, she lowered her arm the few inches it took until Garrick’s feet touched ground.

He took a few more breaths, wishing she would release her hold on him. He had the compulsion to drop his head between his knees in order to regain his senses.

It was suddenly quiet around them, no more sounds of fighting. Only the crackles and pops of what was left of the fire. He didn’t know where the others were. Didn’t care at this particular moment, either. It was him and Dani. Only Fairy and Harpy. Garrick lifted his hand and gripped her wrist lightly. “You can beat this.”

Dani shook her head slowly side to side in silent reply.

She could beat this. She had to. Garrick’s eyes stayed trained on hers and watched her eyes light up as he passed strength to her. She jerked her hand backward as if he’d stung
her
and she hissed.

“Hey,” Nitro growled. Both Garrick and Dani whipped their heads toward her. Nitro was stalking toward them, fury in her heated gaze.

Dani’s breathing quickened again and she took off at a run. A quick flap of her wings had her in the air in no time.

“Chase her,” Garrick said.
Each of the warriors
rushed forward, the vampires in the group taking the lead to keep her in their sights. “And don’t hurt her!”

****

“Gods dammit!” Draven growled.

Dani had disappeared from the sky and by the time Ash and Garrick caught up to the others, they were scouring the mountainside thoroughly.
They all
palmed
their blades lest a demon get the drop on them. They fanned out as Draven ordered, becoming part of the forest as they silently perused their surroundings.

Garrick did the same, only he was using his connection to Dani
to
guide him. Minutes ticked by before a bird-like whistle bounced off the trees. He looked to his left and spotted Ash, who was waving him over. Garrick rushed toward him, trying to keep his boots quiet as they traveled over the har
d-packed snow
. “What’s up?” he whispered.

“Cave entrance.”

Within seconds
the others found Ash and Garrick, and had deduced that this was likely how Ekhart and his men reached the caves.

“I’ll go in first,” Garrick whispered to the others. “I can try and lead us right to her.”

“I’m right behind you,” Nitro said. “I’ll watch your back and keep an eye out for Ekhart.”

“And I’m with you,” Raider insisted, gripping her hand. “You’re not going against him alone.” Nitro smiled and squeezed his hand.

Ash and Blaze rolled their eyes at the lovey-dovey couple. “I’ll team up with Blaze,” Ash said. “I know who to look for too.”

“Guess that leaves us,” Draven said, gesturing to his younger brother. “We’ll take up the rear and work on getting captives.”

Perfect. The plan was perfect. Garrick had filled the others in on anything he could tell them during the drive.
As a unit, Garrick, Ash, Nitro, and the Guardians slipped into the cave’s opening and made their way silently through the meandering rock formations.

“Are you sure we’re in the right cave?” Raider asked.

Garrick had started asking himself the same thing, and just when he went to answer Raider, he spotted a change in the rock. He stopped and pointed up to the dark opening before walking toward it. Inside, the walls that surrounded the hallway looked all too familiar. With the different rock type, it exactly matched the dark stones that he’d bunked with for weeks. The very same that Dani had spent
over
nine years of her life entombed in.

“This is it,” he whispered to no one in particular. He didn’t look back. Didn’t need to. He knew the other warriors were right behind him, ready to jump into battle if the situation called for it
again
.

And it would. There was no doubt of that. After a few more seconds of following the hallway, they came to the first fork in the tunnels. “
Split
up or stay together?” Garrick asked. It wasn’t just his life on the line. Not just Dani’s either.
All
of these men—and woman—w
ere
risking their lives because he’d asked it of them. He was responsible for each and every one of them if anything happened.

“
Split
—” Nitro said.

“—Stay together,” Raider said.

“Split up,” she repeated,
eyeing
her vampire.

“I think we should stay together,” he insisted.

“I’m with Raider on this one,” Draven said. “Who knows how many forks there are in here. We’re better off staying together.”