Priceless (29 page)

A thought hit me.
“
Don
’
t lose them. We need what they have.
”

He barked out a laugh.
“
Shit, they
’
re exactly what we need.
”

“
I think we have
the
diversion we need to get past the Harpy
and our rigging all in one shot
.
”
I
stared
out the back window as O
’
Shea dodged in and out of traffic.

The chase, if it could be called that, was pretty sedate in terms of what I was thinking would happen. There were no
more
gun shots, no car crashes and no squealing tires. We led, the black vans followed
,
and no other law enforcement showed up. That
alone
made me wonder. What if this was the mysterious Arcane Arts division of the FBI? A chill inserted itself into my middle. That would make the most sense, but it also had the
biggest
ramifications.
O
’
Shea dro
ve and
I
focused on India. She was alive, terrified
,
but still with us. As I connected with her, I felt a shard of pain rip through her psyche, one that rolled over into me
,
stealing my breath away.

“
What?
”
’
T
he concern
was
evident
in O
’
Shea
even as he
worked to lose the two vans.

“
India, they
’
re hurting her
,
”
I whispered, the pain making my throat close.

“
Are you psychic?
”

I didn
’
t answer. Couldn
’
t. I was too busy trying to stem the pain India was being forced to endure. It start
ed
as it always did when a supernatural
had
had enough of being patient. The
Coven
was t
rying to break her;
make her pliable to their will.

While O
’
Shea drove
, I fought hard to give India the strength she needed.
“
I
’
m here
,
”
I whispered
.
“
Just hang on a little longer.
”

It didn
’
t take long for us to be back in the badlands, skidding down side roads and hitting the same bumps Alex had been so excited about earlier. The mineshaft came into view and
,
hovering
above it
,
was the last Harpy
.
Eve
;
her eyes even at this distance glittered with hatred
.
We
’
d
killed two of her sisters
.
S
he had every reason to
want our guts on a platter
.

The downside was we had no weapons, no spells, and no back up.

The upside?
You got it,
there wasn
’
t one.

The vans were pretty much right on top of us
when
we spun to a stop
.
Eve r
ose
into the air
above us
with a screech. She could have hidden herself from the other humans
,
but the fact that she didn
’
t told me a great deal about what was going to happen. She planned to kill us all. No witnesses, no need to hide.

I ran around the side of the car and ducked as Eve slammed into the hood
, her claws swinging straight for me. Rolling, I dodge
d
the razor
-
sharp talons, feeling them slice through my leather coat
,
the rip of the material far too close to the sound of flesh being pulled at for my liking
.
A hand yanked me back toward the mineshaft as the Harpy launched a second attack.

“
Bitch, I
’
m going to pull you apart, one tendon at a time
,
”
she
screamed.

There was no doubt in my m
ind she could do just that, and I wasn
’
t sticking around to watch her try. If I could free her while I got India out from under the
Coven
’
s
“
loving
”
care, then I would
, otherwise I
’
d have no choice but to kill her
.
One did not control a Harpy
;
not even the spell the
Coven
had on her would last forever.

O
’
Shea dragged me
over
to
the mineshaft and we ducked down behind it.

A wave of India
’
s fear hit me hard, buckling my knees. If this kept up, I was going to have to block her completely and I didn
’
t want to do that. Right now
,
I had the feeling she was only hanging on because she could sense me.

The Harpy rose up in front of us and her body started to buck
;
puffs of feathers erupted out of her as arrows protrud
ed
from
her body. Not that it would kill her, she needed a blow from a spelled weapon or another supernatural creature to actually kill her. But the men in the black vans didn
’
t know that.

It was my turn to pull O
’
Shea down as Eve streaked over
the
top of us
and
into the group of
—
I did a quick count
—
ten men.

Blood sprayed up in a fountain as an agent
’
s head was ripped off
with
a single pull from the
Harpy
’
s
powerful beak. A second followed suit
,
and then the real bloodbath began. O
’
Shea and I stood, open mouthed
in
horror
,
as the Harpy spelled the men, freezing them where they stood, then eviscerate
d
each of them, letting them slump to the ground to die slow and painful deaths. Her voice sung a lullaby that echoed across the badlands
,
and
the pack of wolves in the distance
picked up the harmony. Creepy, beautiful, deadly
,
and horrifying. There was a sense of loss in her song, the words unrecognizable
,
but the tune made me think of someone mourning.

O
’
Shea stumbled forward and I caught his arm.
“
Oh
,
no you don
’
t.
”
But it was
as
if he didn
’
t hear me. Again
,
he
took a
step, to go around me
,
and I put my body directly in his path.
“
O
’
Shea, stop!
”
He didn
’
t listen.
I slapped him hard across the face
,
but there was no response.

“
Liam,
”
I said
,
and he turned to face me, his eyes
full of
confus
ion
. Taking a deep breath
,
I slid my hands up over his face.
“
You can
’
t go to her.
”

“
She
’
s hurting
,
”
he
whispered.
“
I don
’
t want her to hurt anymore.
”

I glanced over at the Harpy; we didn
’
t have much time before she w
ould
finish the gore fest and turn her attention back to us. I wasn
’
t so sure calling her by name would be enough to stop her, no matter what her sister said.

I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him,
and
felt his arms wrap around me after a brief pause.
I t
ried not to think about how good it felt to be held against a warm, hard male body, how much I missed just the simpl
icity
of human contact, how much I didn
’
t really want to let go of him. His tongue explored the inside of my mouth, taking
its
time tasting me
,
and I returned the favour, finally pulling back to star
e
up into those midnight dark eyes. They were clear of her song
;
the hypnotic effect of her singing gone.

“
Did you just save my life by kissing me?
”
H
e didn
’
t let go, but held me tighter still against him.

I wanted to believe it was some last remnant of the spell from the
Coven
, but the way my lower body tightened and my pulse sped up, I knew it was much simpler than that.

I wanted him
.

“
You know what they say
, a kiss a day keeps the Harpy
away.
”
I tried for humour, but
my eyes slid to the bloodbath going on
.
If I
’
d thought we could have made a difference, I would
’
ve tried to stop her.

“
I guess I
’
d better keep
you close then
,
”
he
said
, his eyes dipping to my lips
.

I
pushed him back before his
arm
s tightened anymore.

“
We don
’
t have time for this
.
”
I
fought
the feelings he
a
roused
,
as well as the guilt wash
ing
over me
.
Here we were
,
kissing while men were being eaten by a Harpy
;
not what I
’
d call good manners on our part.

He nodded, his face shutting down, all business again. Which was good. Really, it was. As I tried to convince myself of that fact, O
’
Shea led me around the side of the van
closest to us
while Eve dug into the fresh meat on the ground.

“
These vans are equipped for anything, even scaling buildings
.
”

There was a click
when
he slid
the door
open
that
,
to me
,
sounded like a shotgun blast
,
and I spun to face Eve. But her head was still down, the edges of her neck covered in blood and intestines as she pulled the men apart.

I clamped my teeth together, unsure of whether it was to keep the vomit from spewing up and out of me or to keep my teeth from chattering. Either way, I had to hold it together. O
’
Shea grabbed the rappelling gear, one harness and a massive coil of rope. I peeked into the van. It was chock full of weapons, my kind of weapons. Blades of all lengths, whips, leather armour and even a couple of shields. What the hell? No, there wasn
’
t time to qu
estion this, though I had a snea
king suspicion this was no
coincidence
.
T
his was my first real look at the Arcane Arts division of the FBI. At least they came prepared, though their training was sorely lacking.