Faith Revisited (27 page)

With a shriek of rage, the remaining demon did a three-sixty, his sword swinging back at her. Faith met the attack with her knife while she went for the demon's sword arm with the one Bale had given her. The blade sliced clean through, the arm falling listlessly to the ground before it disappeared with a poof.

Thinking the demon's sword her biggest threat, she failed to react quickly enough when, with his other hand, he reached for her. She found the meaty appendage wrapped tightly around her throat and her feet dangling off the floor. In a panic she dropped one of her knives, clutching frantically at the hand holding her. As the air was choked from her, she swung the other blade uselessly at the demon.

Knowing she would die if she did not calm down, Faith forced her eyes to focus on the demon. Then, taking the knife in her hand, she plunged it into the demon's throat. Immediately she felt herself falling to the floor. Grabbing the sword the demon dropped, she rose upright and swung, the sword connecting with his neck.

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Just like his friend, the Alu demon disappeared almost instantly. But she wasn't given a chance to even breathe a sigh of relief as another sword came swinging at her through the fog. In a defensive move, she met the attack, only to find herself face-to-face with Bale.

“Damn it, Faith,” he barked, lowering his sword, then yanking the demon's from her fingers. “You were told to run. I swear to God I will blister your ass.”

But Faith couldn't concentrate on his words. She was too distracted by the scent of blood—

Bale's blood—as it hit her full force. From a cut on his bicep, a trail of red ran down his arm. A shudder ran through her, and she unconsciously moved closer to him.

“What the hell are you doing?” he asked just before she slowly licked her tongue up his arm.

With a soft hum of pleasure, she cleaned up the blood rolling down his arm, then moved to the wound. Knowing her saliva would only help close up the cut, she ignored his hiss of discomfort as she went to work on it. His taste consumed her, and she probed through the tissue, collecting every drop she could.

She didn't pull back until the wound had stopped weeping, not even aware that Bale had wrapped an arm around her waist or that he'd dragged her tight against him. He lifted her, forcing her back until she was pressed between his body and the brick wall.

“Jesus Christ,” he said hoarsely before his lips lowered to hers, brutally taking command.

His arms bracketed the sides of her head, his hands in her hair as he angled her for a deeper penetration.

Whimpering, Faith clutched at his shoulders. She'd never felt Bale this out of control, as if he couldn't stop himself, and she was certain he would have taken her right there against the wall if “Bad to the Bone” had not begun to play from one of his pockets.

“Fuck.” Wrenching away from her, Bale raked a hand through his hair as he fished within his pocket.

Faith sagged against the wall, panting as she tried to gain her breath.

“Fuck.” This time Bale's expletive was aimed at his cell phone. “Zeke, we've got to go.

There's been trouble.”

Turning her gaze across the warehouse, Faith realized the fog had dissipated. Zeke stood on the other side, a phone in his hand also. Before Faith could even question him, Bale grabbed her arm and they were running from the warehouse.

* * * *

Remy's phone chirped, and he dragged it out of his pocket. It was a text message that read
SOS 4 Hope
. A sick sensation settled in the pit of his stomach as he realized the meaning of the message. “Goddamn!”

Levi looked at him in surprise. “What is it?”

“Kash has fallen under attack. And Hope is with him.”

“Should I get the car?”

“We don't have time. They are in sector four,” he stated, referring to a section of road leading to the abbey. He had mapped out the entire Seattle area years ago and had required each brother to memorize it just for situations like this one.

“Jesus. That's too close to the fortress for comfort.”

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“Precisely.” His clipped tone was the only indication of the rage that boiled inside Remy.

Demons daring to attack that close to their sanctuary pissed him off. But even more so was the knowledge that they had attacked an innocent human who really had nothing to do with the war that brewed between them. There was a time when at least some rules had been sacred.

Apparently no more, and he would retaliate, like for like.

He teleported to the road leading to the abbey, knowing Levi would instinctively follow. It was not hard to find the scene. Half a mile from where he arrived, skid marks showed the way to the crash site—and the body.

“Jesus Christ.” Remy dropped to his knees beside Kash. He'd been shot in the head and left for dead. Remy didn't even stop to consider the oddity of the gunshot wound. He immediately turned to Levi, who stood a pace away, visibly paled by the carnage. This hadn't been a typical demon attack. It had been personal. “Get Arak.”

Levi nodded and moved to turn, but he didn't have far to go.

“I'm here.” Arak moved quickly toward them, Jet trailing behind. “Good God,” he rasped hoarsely, dropping beside Remy.

Remy nodded briskly, rising to his feet. “Heal him, Arak. The rest of you fan out. Find Hope.”

Arak's eyes narrowed at Remy for just a moment, both of them thinking the same thoughts before he turned his attention to Kash. If their brother was in this shape, Hope was somewhere in the woods, most likely dead. Remy could only pray that, like her twin, if she were injured, her vampire genes would save her.

He turned, unable to look at Kash again. Even knowing that none of what had occurred would kill Kash, Remy couldn't stomach imagining just how much his brother had to have suffered before he had gone down. And on top of that, the knowledge that Hope had likely suffered the same fate made him ill.

Arak placed a hand upon Kash, his consciousness being drawn inside his brother. His broken forearm was easily repaired, as was the gunshot wound he'd acquired in his side. The other two injuries were an entirely different matter. A blade had completely severed his spinal cord, and a bullet had turned his brain to mush. It could take days before Arak would be able to heal him completely.

But thankfully he would live. Arak did not even want to consider Hope. Shit, Bale was going to go on a rampage when he discovered what had happened. And Faith. Arak shut down that thought. He didn't even want to think about Bale's mate at the moment. They'd all made a pledge to protect her with their lives. It seemed it just might come to that.

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Chapter Fourteen

Zeke came to a screeching stop about a mile from the abbey. He immediately jumped out and stalked toward Remy. The other brothers were milling around the road, seemingly looking for something.

“Stay here,” Bale said, his hand on the door.

“Yeah, right,” Faith mumbled after he had gotten out and closed the door behind him. She had just battled two Alu demons and survived. Like she was going to wait in the car, playing the helpless little female. Getting out, she then looked around until her gaze finally latched onto the source of the commotion. Remy's SUV was stuck in a ditch. The significance didn't register until she spotted Arak hovering over Kash, who was a bloody mess. And then she knew. “Where is my sister?” she screamed, rushing forward.

Remy was the first to reach her and grabbed her around the waist, keeping her from approaching Kash. She fought him with all she had. She had to find her twin. She had to know.

“Let go of me, you son of a bitch. I'll kill him if anything has happened to her. Where is she? Hope?”

She broke free, only to find herself trapped within Remy's grip again. He shook her by the shoulders as he hoarsely replied, “Damn you. If he had been anything other than Grigori, he would not have survived his wounds. He would have died for your sister.”

He released her so abruptly, Faith stumbled backward. “Oh God.” His words sank in as her gaze swiveled to where Kash lay. Her knees buckled, and she found herself huddled on the ground.

“Damn it, Remy,” Bale barked as he pulled her into his arms, cradling her in his embrace as he knelt beside her in the dirt. “That was uncalled-for. You are talking about her sister.” Bale's gaze narrowed on his best friend over his mate's head.

“I know to whom I refer,” Remy bit out, his eyes fixing on Kash. “And I know the price Kash has paid.”

“Please,” she begged fearfully. “Where is Hope? Is she dead?”

“We do not know. She is not here.” And Remy turned away from her, moving to where the other brothers had huddled together, watching as Arak feverishly worked on Kash. Except Zeke.

He was nowhere to be seen.

* * * *

As soon as Zeke had learned Hope was missing, he'd immediately teleported from the scene. He found Ray in the room the demon rented in a skanky motel downtown. Ray was startled by his sudden appearance.

“Jesus, Zeke. You gave me a heart attack.”

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Zeke grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling him close. “It won't kill you. Now, before you go crawling into a hole somewhere, you are going to go below and find out where this new asshole would hide a female.”

Ray grabbed at the fist holding him upright. “Man, you've got to be kidding me.”

“Do I look like I'm kidding?” Zeke growled, the muscle in his jaw twitching spastically.

Ray paled and visibly swallowed. “Who is she?” he asked in a whisper.

“Bale's sister. And if anything happens to her, I'll be the least of your problems, Ray.”

Zeke threw the demon away from him.

Ray landed on the twin bed, the metal frame buckling under the sudden motion. He nodded vigorously, the threat of Bale coming after him all he needed to hear. “I'll see what I can find out and call you in a couple of hours.”

“Thirty minutes,” Zeke corrected, his eyes blazing with fury. “You have thirty minutes, Ray, not one minute more.”

Ray's eyes widened in distress; then he nodded slowly, gulping frantically before he disappeared.

* * * *

Faith had finally calmed down enough to listen to Bale as he whispered in her ear, rocking her gently in his embrace.

“You couldn't have prevented this.” Faith lifted her head to meet eyes filled with regret.

“I'm sorry about Kash. Will he be okay?”

Her heart felt leaden. She'd been on such a high after the fight with the demons. Bale had grudgingly admitted she had done well against them, and she felt she had finally made some ground toward his loosening the leash he held her with. Now she wished she had taken him more seriously.

“He will recover.”

“It's my fault,” she said softly. “If I had only listened to you, Hope wouldn't have been on this road tonight. I should have stayed at the fortress where she would have been safe.”

Bale kissed her forehead, then glanced at Remy over her head. He stood before them, his hands shoved within his pant pockets. Crouching down, he met her gaze.

“It was not your fault, little warrior.” Remy smiled sadly. “I am sorry for the things I said.

You had every right to your reaction.”

Faith shook her head. “It wasn't fair of me to insinuate I blamed Kash, because I do not. I know he did all he could to protect her.”

“Yes,” Remy agreed. “And he will heal. Once Jet has pulled my truck from the ditch, he and Arak will take Kash back to the abbey. Arak has done all he can for now. He needs to rest.”

His gaze lifted to Bale. “And you and I need to discuss his injuries. They do not make sense.”

“What do you mean?” she questioned, unwilling to let the males leave her out of anything.

Not when it involved her twin.

Remy studied her for a moment. “Kash was shot. Twice.”

Surprise filled Faith. “Demons do not usually use guns.”

“Or baseball bats. Arak thinks one was used to break his arm.”

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Bale tensed against her. “What the hell?”

Faith pulled away from Bale and rose to her feet. Holding out her hand, she said, “I need your phone.”

Bale's response was an arched brow.

Faith sighed. Nothing was ever easy with her mate. “I know someone,” she explained quietly. “Someone who might be able to give us some answers.”

“Who?” he asked, handing over his phone.

Faith only shook her head as she began dialing the number of one of her waitresses.

On the eighth ring, a sleepy female voice said, “Whoever this is, it had better be good.”

“Chari, it's Faith. I need a huge favor.”

Faith heard a rustling sound in the background as Charity, in a much more alert voice, immediately agreed to anything. Thirty minutes later, a silver FJ Cruiser came to a screeching halt at the scene of Hope's disappearance. Jet and Arak had already removed Kash, but Remy and Levi had remained behind, mostly, Faith guessed, to protect her.

Charity, climbing out of the vehicle, blanched. “Jesus, what happened here? There is so much blood.” Charity inhaled deeply, moving slowly toward the spot where the Escalade had come to a stop. From there, sniffing every couple of feet, she stopped to kneel at the spot Kash had fallen. With a trembling hand, she reached out to touch the blood-soaked ground. Then she stood and began to remove her clothing.

“What the hell is she doing?” Bale whispered in Faith's ear, his voice holding a trace of alarm.

“Shh.” Faith glanced around and noticed the same unease on the faces of Remy and Levi.

“Let her do what she needs to.” When Charity stood before them completely nude, she dropped suddenly to the ground. “This part always amazes me.”