Succubus Tear (Triune promise) (31 page)

Why the hell would anyone use iron for—
 Stella gasped upon seeing a huddled figure in the cage.

Oh my God, she is so beautiful!

There, sleeping upon the cold, hard concrete, was a woman wrapped up in what seemed to be a large piece of brown leather. Stella handed Cain the bolt cutters and stared upon Al’bah’s face, overcome with a strange longing. It was an emotion that felt alien to her. It was like heat from a fire. Neither the heat nor the emotion was her own, but she sensed it for some reason, and with it came the feeling of immense love Al’bah had for Cain—a vibe that just couldn’t be denied.

Cain handed the bolt cutters back to her, pushed the door
 open, and rushed to Al’bah’s side and started to gently shake her awake, calling her name with a pained voice.

“Al’bah.”

Al’bah moaned lightly.

“Al’bah.”

Slowly Al’bah started to open her eyes. They were a startling purple-blue. She blinked for several moments with a confused look on her face. As soon as her eyes fixed on Cain, they flooded with awareness and she sat up.

“CAIN!” she shrieked, grabbing onto him with a ferocity that looked painful.

Stella gathered the bolt cutters and chains, feeling like the world’s biggest ass. The sounds coming from Al’bah were of joy, relief, and a desperate longing.

I can’t believe that I thought she was the one behind all this.

“Al’bah, shhh, we need to get out of here right now. C’mon, we—”

“Cain! I am so sorry! We are in danger! Someone is going to kill you!”

Al’bah’s statement shocked Stella back to reality. They had already spent too much time on this reunion, with the police seeking to take their lives. “Look, as much as I am for teary reunions, we need to get moving right now!” Stella said as she tossed the bolt cutters and chains aside. “That security gate we smashed with the truck is bound to have set off an alarm.”

Al’bah’s frantic eyes darted between her and Cain. “Cain? Why is—”

“Al’bah, please,” Cain said, locking his eyes to hers. “This is not what you think! You are right; we are in danger. I need you to get up!” Cain pulled Al’bah to her feet.

Stella’s jaw dropped as she could see that what she thought was a sheet of brown leather was, in fact, a large pair of wings. Her mind was shocked, but what happened next made her believe that she had gone mad. Al’bah’s brown wings suddenly started to be drawn into her body, and they were gone in seconds.

With a shaking hand Stella pointed at Al’bah, who seemed to be angry and ashamed at the same time. “Cain! What the hell? She has wings!”

Cain had a careful neutral expression.

“Stella, I—”

The moment was interrupted by an elevator chime that drew everyone’s attention. The door slid open with a slow rumble, and a tall man dressed in an expensive suit walked out with a thermos smelling of coffee in his hand. He took a sip and exhaled softly.

“Walter Stratton!” Cain said with a look of fury on his face.

“Mister Lamentson! And Miss Fullson! How lovely! Well, Mister Lamentson, have you reconsidered my firm’s offer? Perhaps we can have our rescheduled appointment right now.” He took another sip and moved his arm to stop the elevator from closing. The silence was interrupted by the chime of the elevator again, almost sounding annoyed at being held on the garage floor.

“We’d be glad to include Miss Fullson in our offer, you know, so both of you could go free in time for lunch,” he added with a grin.

Stella noticed a chill settle into Cain’s eyes. She knew those eyes; it was the look a sniper gets before he pulls the trigger. The look a killer got before he took a life. Stella already was moving to stop Cain, when Shane’s statement rang in her mind.

“That boy is all of six foot four, and two hundred and forty pounds of solid muscle.”

Cain had the advantage of weighing more than twice her weight, and almost stood a full foot taller. If she employed her martial tactics to disable or disarm Cain, he was still just as likely to hit Walter at this range. So, she did the only thing she could think of—

Cain grabbed his revolver from his jacket and brought it to bear—

“No! Damn you, Cain!” Stella cried out, reacting purely on instinct honed to perfection by her training in law enforcement, and seized the barrel of his gun, forcing it away from Walter. A thunderclap sounded in the garage, amplified by the confined space and from the depths of the garage; several car alarms took the cue and cried out in a blaring chorus.

Walter looked at his thermos that was now upon the floor gurgling coffee on the concrete. “Pity,” he said, seeming rather unimpressed, and stepped back into the elevator that chimed merrily as the doors closed.

Cain yanked the gun free from Stella and looked at her with an expression of unrivaled fury. “Damn me? You stupid pig! You have no idea! God damn it all!” he said as he turned away and holstered his revolver.

Stella watched as Cain turned his back and holstered his gun. Seized by desperation, she started to draw her own gun, entertaining notions of turning him in and begging for mercy before the courts.

However, before she could even fully rest her hand on her weapon, another hand closed over hers.

“Who are you to what is
mine!
” Al’bah hissed.

Stella froze in horror; Al’bah’s eyes were
huge,
jet-black with a single red ember burning in the center. Her breath reeked of rotting meat and blood. Her mouth sported broken and jagged fangs that dripped with a vile, thick yellow substance.

The chilling moment was broken by, Cain though.

“Both of you! C’mon!”

Stella watched dumbfounded as Al’bah’s face instantly returned to normal without even a transitory flicker. She moaned softly and turned to Cain with tears sparkling in her eyes. Again her emotions spilled over to Stella like heat from a bonfire. Her chilling Demonic fury vanished, replaced by unsurpassed desire. An alien sensation of emotions washed over her senses, making her feel the love Al’bah felt. For Al’bah, the entire world fell away, leaving behind only Cain.

And God, did she love him.

Stella shook her head, clearing out the alien sensations, allowing reality to come back. And with it, the crushing frantic despair on how the hell they were going to get out of this mess.

Why Do You Tremble?

“I think that’s the last time I make a hostage out of a lady who’s spoken for.”

—Walter Stratton

“You stupid pig! You have no idea! God damn it all!”

Now what?
Cain wailed in his head as he strode toward the exit. The car alarms, the police bulletin, his
entire
life was falling apart right in front of his eyes. And for what? For what, Goddammit? He turned back to the girls who hadn’t moved.

“Both of you, c’mon.”

The city streets had a bit more traffic now. The city was waking up to its normal schedule, taking part in their own little world while his was falling apart. Cain kept his face forward, not even looking back to see if Stella or Al’bah was following him. He rounded a corner and saw exactly what he wanted.

There on a corner was a coffee cart just starting to serve its morning rush. Cain walked up to it and reconnected the circuit board of his cell phone to its battery. He deftly slipped it in a purse of a lady standing in line and flagged a taxi that just dropped someone off. He opened the door and turned around to see Stella looking impressed, and Al’bah looking angry.

“Ladies first,” he said, gesturing to the open door.

Stella got in first and was about to sit down in the middle seat of the minivan when Al’bah pushed her to the back seat and scooted in the middle seat herself. Before Cain could even move or say anything, Al’bah grabbed his shirt to have him sit next to her.

“Hey buddy, where to?” the cabbie said with a wide, gap-toothed grin.

“The South End Harbor,” Cain said, handing him a twenty. “More where that came from if you get outta the city main before the rush really gets bad.”

“No shit?” The cabbie increased his speed, just barely making a yellow.

“Yeah and, uh, might I use your cell? I think I lost mine.”

“Cost ya.”

“Nothing in life is free,” Cain admitted, and handed him another twenty and started on his desperate plan.

“Cain?” Al’bah whispered.

“Not now, I’m busy,” Cain muttered.

“Dammit,” Stella huffed. “What the hell is—”

“Shut up!
” Cain hissed and continued to dig his fingers in the borrowed cell phone.

***

“Bye, thanks,” Cain said, giving the cabbie his fare. He looked at the boats that were on and around the docks.

“Cain, why does she have some of the clothes you bought for me?” Al’bah said in a sad voice.

Cain didn’t even turn around, desperate to keep moving, hoping that an opportunity would present itself that would allow him to get out of this mess.

There! A fishing trawler that has definitely seen better days sat a small distance from the harbor. Obviously the captain couldn’t afford dock space, and might be more receptive to a bribe than most others would.

Cain turned back to glance at both Al’bah and Stella. “Okay, listen, I got one chance to get out of here. I need you two to stay here, and be quiet.”

Al’bah stepped close and clutched Cain to her. “My Bond, are you lost to me? Why does your heart tremble? Why do you despair? Why do you speak only for yourself?”

She sniffed and cupped his face and said with tears sparkling in her eyes, “Why do you speak
at
me? Why will you not speak
to
me?”

“Al’bah,” Cain said through gritted teeth, “my life is in danger, and you’re worried about—” Cain took a deep breath to try to calm himself down. “You’re worried about despair? You’re worried about how I talk?”

Al’bah lowered her hands and half sobbed, half spoke, “At the very least, may I come with you?”

“What? Of course you can, what are you talking about?”

Al’bah wiped her eyes. “Cain, you are saying things like, ‘
I
got one chance,’ and ‘
My
life is in danger.’ Do you seek to leave me with a shattered heart?” She started to gasp slightly, speaking between her chaotic breaths.

“Please…let…let me come with—with you.”

Cain’s eyes focused on Al’bah, as if seeing her for the first time during the frantic chaos. The dock grew quiet, as everyone seemed to stop and stare at the couple. It was as if her sadness gripped the crowd. Many of the people were crying; all seemed to be filled with the longing Al’bah carried within her sad blue-violet eyes.

“Please,” Al’bah begged, still crying. “I do not care what you must face, let me come with you!”

“Al’bah, I—”

“Arnold, me lad! How’ve you been? Long toime, no sea! Get it? See!”

Cain looked up to see a charming middle-aged man chatting right up into his personal space and…

“Awww, now dinnae’ look at me la’ tha’! It’s me, Vincent! Hey, wanna come with me for a roide on me ship, lad? It’s been too long now.”

…was now holding a gun discreetly against his stomach.

“Uh, yeah. Sure, why not?” Cain said quietly.

“Excellent! Lads, prepare to make sail! We’re going ta have a few old friends of moiyne!”

Cain immediately noticed several sailors take notice and stand on Vincent’s order, effectively blocking all possible escape.

“Cain? Why does that—”

“Now look at ya, Betty!” the man said jovially to Al’bah. “Why, aren’t yeh getting skinny!
 Dinnae’ keep tellin’ ya and telling ya tae eat more? Here, try a toffee!” he said, forcing a piece of candy in her mouth as two sailors came up behind her and “helped” her to the boat.

Stella was about to turn and make a run for it when she was nose to nose with two sailors.

“This way?” Stella said, following everyone else.