Demon's Kiss (26 page)

She tightened her lips. “I don't believe that.”

Roxy came to a red light and slowed, looking into the rearview mirror.

“I can't believe that. I have to see Gregor,” Briar said.

“Briar, don't—” Jack began.

Too late. Briar yanked the door open and flung herself from the van, rolled to her feet and took off running full speed. She vanished like a blur of darkness in the night.

“Damn,” Jack whispered.

“We're better off without her,” Vixen said softly. “She's evil.”

“And you're a fox,” Jack said. “We all have our little imperfections.”

R
eaper opened his eyes and tried to take stock. His head was pounding, and he wasn't sure where the hell he was. He seemed to be lying on the floor of a small place, and there were others there, too.

“He's awake,” someone whispered.

Reaper turned his head slightly to the right. Two men were sitting in a seat ahead of him. A vehicle seat, its back between him and them. So they were in a vehicle. But it didn't seem to be moving. Both men were turned sideways, their eyes on him intently, expectantly.

His brain cleared a little. The one on the left was Seth. But he didn't know the other man. He closed his eyes tightly, because looking at them hurt. Thinking hurt even more.

“Reaper?” Seth asked. “Can you hear me?”

“Of course I can hear you.” He brought his head up—too sharply—with his reply, and the kid jerked backward at the movement.

There was fear in his eyes. And it was a fear Reaper had seen before. He blinked and tried to remember, but found only a black hole. Then he looked past Seth and the stranger to the next set of seats, where Roxy sat behind the wheel, staring at him, a sadness in her eyes that went beyond anything he'd ever seen. Beside her, in the passenger side, Vixen watched him with all the wariness of a wild animal awaiting attack. She sat very still, the way a rabbit did, as if thinking that made it invisible to a predator stalking slowly toward it. She might even have been trembling a little. And her wide eyes were riveted to him.

A sickness was beginning to uncoil in his stomach. It was one he'd felt several times in his past. He recognized that he was in the van, and that it was parked. He was lying on the floor. He knew some members of his little tribe were missing. Topaz.
Briar.
Slowly he turned his head the other way, to the bench seat in the rear of the van.

Topaz was lying there, still, unconscious, her face bruised, her body in pain—he felt it, and opened his mind to the signals and energy wafting from her. Her ribs were broken.

He'd done that to her.

He sat up all at once, lurching onto his knees, toward the van's side door, then hauled it open and all but fell out. Dragging himself to his feet, he stumbled into a nearby stand of weeds and gagged.

A hand pressed to his back, firm but comforting. Seth's hand.

“Dude, it's all right. Tope's gonna be fine. It'll be daylight soon, and she'll recover with the day sleep.”

Gasping for breath, Reaper wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, even though nothing had come up. His eyes were watering until he could barely see, but he wasn't sure he could look his young protégé in the eyes anyway. “I did that to her.”

“It wasn't your fault. Briar locked you in the club, and then she said whatever word it is that sets you off. Look, it wasn't you, Reap. I know that. We
all
know that.”

“Briar?” He frowned and searched Seth's face. “She did that?”

Seth lowered his eyes and nodded.

“You're sure. It wasn't Gregor or—”

“She admitted it. Everyone heard her. I mean, she said she didn't know what would happen. She said she was just following orders, but I'm telling you, man, I'm not sure I believe her. That bitch is evil.”

“She locked herself in with us, Seth.” Roxy had come out of the van and was standing only a few feet away. “If she knew what that trigger word would do to Reaper, she would have said it, then ducked out and locked the door behind her. She would have been stupid not to.”

“She
was
stupid,” Seth argued. “Following that bastard Gregor's instructions without even knowing why or what the consequences would be. She could have gotten us all killed.”

“I imagine that was the intent. She never claimed to be on our side,” Roxy said. “And I agree, she's a bitch. But I don't think she's a suicidal one. And we can't assume she would have acted the same had she known the consequences.”

“Bullshit.”

Reaper held up a hand, and they both fell silent. “Where is she now? Did I—did I kill her?”

“No, of course you didn't kill her!” Roxy snapped. “Raphael, I've told you before, I do not believe you could murder an innocent, even when you're under the control of the brainwashing.”

“Are you calling that lunatic an innocent?” Seth muttered.

Reaper ignored his comment, instead flinging out an arm and pointing toward the van. “Look what I did to Topaz.
Topaz,
for God's sake!” He lowered his arm, because it was shaking and he was ashamed. He needed to get away from these people—for their own good. If Gregor—and now Briar—had his trigger, he was a weapon, and he could be used to kill even those he…cared for. “I don't suppose you know what the trigger word was?”

“No,” Roxy said. “Briar…left before I could get her out of earshot of you to tell us. And Gregor never gave her the second one, the deactivation word.”

“She left,” Reaper said. “Explain that, please.”

Roxy nodded, coming closer, taking him by the arm and leading him back toward the van. “We stopped at a traffic light, and she jumped out. Not, however, before helping us get out of that club alive.”

“She was helping herself,” Seth snapped.

“That's your opinion,” Roxy said calmly.

“She left with us because it was the best option for her. And I'll tell you something else, that Jack character did exactly the same thing. Those two cannot be trusted. I'm glad Briar left, and I'd just as soon drop her comrade off at the nearest cemetery and be done with the both of them.”

They were at the van now, and none of them was under any illusion that their conversation had been private. Vampire hearing was, after all, acute, and they'd been speaking aloud.

Reaper gripped the sides of the van and pulled himself in. Vixen still sat tensely in the front passenger seat. Jack had moved all the way to the rear, sitting on the edge of the seat where Topaz lay, his eyes on her still form, but he turned when Reaper entered.

“Your fledgling friend is right, Reaper. I left that club with you because it was the option that gave me the best chance of survival. But you can believe any loyalty I felt toward Gregor is long gone. He tried to get me killed tonight. And her, too,” he added, with a long look at Topaz.

“So your loyalty lies with us, now?”

“Don't you believe it,” Seth said, climbing into the van behind Reaper. Roxy got into the driver's seat. “How do we know he's not a plant?”

“If he was a plant, Gregor would have taken steps to ensure he wouldn't get killed with the rest of you when I was triggered,” Reaper said.

“How do you know he didn't?” Seth shot a hateful look back at Jack. “How do you know Gregor didn't give him the second word, the deactivation code? He could have had it all along, with instructions to use it only when his own neck was on the chopping block. Maybe Briar's, too.”

“If I knew the deactivation word, don't you think I would have used it when he was kicking the hell out of Topaz?”

“Right, Topaz, the chick you screwed out of a half million bucks. The chick you left with a broken heart.
That
Topaz, right?”

Jack lowered his head.

“This is getting us nowhere,” Reaper said. “It's enough. And none of it matters, anyway, because it's clearly me Gregor wants, not any of you.”

“He wants us, all right. He wants us
dead.
” Seth sat down hard in the middle seat.

“Only to make it easier for him to get to Reaper,” Vixen said. Her voice was very soft, barely more than a whisper, but she spoke with certainty. And when they all looked at her expectantly, she went on. “I know him. Jack does, too. Gregor is lazy, and basically, a coward. He gets others to fight his battles for him. Others take all the risks, do all the work. He reaps the benefits.”

Then she hesitated, as if suddenly unsure of herself.

“Vixen, keep talking,” Reaper said. “Tell us what you think. You clearly have an idea about all this.”

She brought her head up again, her eyes meeting Reaper's. “He set you up. Locked us all in a room together and convinced Briar to trigger you into a rage. He expected everyone in that room to be killed. He expected all of us to die, except for you, and what would have happened after that?”

Reaper frowned, searching his mind. “I would have continued raging until I was spent, I guess. Until I passed out or the day sleep took me.”

Seth picked up the story. “I can tell you what would have happened next. Reaper would have been found right there, at that club, surrounded by dead bodies. Mortal authorities could never hold him, but they would try. Word would get out that he had become the most deadly rogue of them all. The vampire community would turn against him. He would be hunted, just as Gregor is.” Seth looked Reaper in the eye. “You would have had no one left to come to your aid. And you would have gone after him for vengeance, but you would have gone alone.”

Reaper turned in his seat to look back at Jack. “You agree with that assessment?”

“I do. I don't know why he wants you or what he has planned once he gets you. But this all fits with what I overheard on the phone. He said something about making you the most deadly, dangerous rogue in history, turning both mortals and vampires against you. It's pretty clear he wants you alive. And I personally think he's working for someone else, rather than himself. But, yeah, he wants you alone,” Jack said.

“Then that's what he's going to get.”

“You can't, Reap,” Seth said. “He's still got you at a disadvantage. He's got the damned drones, a whole army of the bastards. He's got your triggers. He can control your freaking mind, pal. It's no good, not like that.”

“We need to stick together,” Vixen said. “If getting you alone is what Gregor wants, then that's the last thing we should give him. Why play right into his hands?”

“Because by staying with you, I'm putting you at risk.” Reaper looked around the van at each of them, his gaze lingering on Topaz, lying so still in the back. “I could have killed you. All of you. Gregor will trigger me again. If getting me alone is his goal, then getting rid of you is essential to his plan. Unless I get rid of you first.”

“I won't leave you, Reap,” Seth said. “No way. No way in hell. I'm with you in this. You saved my life, and I owe you.”

Reaper sighed, knowing he wasn't going to be able to give Seth, or any of them, a choice in the matter. He needed to go after Gregor alone. He needed to see to it that his little gang was safe while he did so. And he needed to find Briar.

His last clear memory, before the moment when they'd walked into the club, was of having explosive sex with her in the front seat of the Mustang. It had been intense. It had been insane. And more than just a mating of bodies—they'd shared blood. That created a bond.

He could feel her, even now. She was thinking about him, too. She was alone, and she was angry. Furious. Cursing him as she searched the night for another man.

For Gregor.

You might as well forget him, Briar,
Reaper thought, sending the message out to her on the wings of the night.
You belong to me now, and I promise you, I'm coming to claim you. Soon.

He didn't expect a reply, so he was surprised when he heard one whispering through his mind, so full of turmoil that it felt like a million tiny electric shocks were zipping through his brain along with the message.

I belong to no one. It was just sex, Reaper. It was a delaying tactic. Get over it.

You lie.

You think so? Try to come for me again and you'll find out, I promise. I'll kill you if I can.

I'm not your enemy, Briar.

You beat the living hell out of me, and all your friends tonight. You took me from Gregor, gave him cause to distrust me. If you're not an enemy, then I've never had one.

I hurt you?
The realization almost made him want to throw up again.
I'm sorry.

Fuck you, Reaper.

She threw a block around her mind then, cutting herself off from him so thoroughly that there was no chance of him reaching her again. He sighed, glanced up to the front seat at Roxy. “Why are we just sitting here?” he asked.

“Well, I didn't dare take us back to the warehouse. Briar's liable as not to tell Gregor where we were. You didn't blindfold her on the way to the meeting.”

“I didn't intend to let her leave with him.”

“I know. Anyway, we need another place. And we'd probably better make it soon.”

“There's a freight yard,” Jack said.