Sweet Revenge (Dueling with the Devil) (12 page)

The ancient beast unleashed a deafening how
l,
and then dissipated into the night air.

Hands covered in bloo
d,
still lying on the trash-soiled stree
t,
Bell muttere
d,
“
We’re so fucked
.
”

CHAPTER NINE

Her lungs remained constricted. Her heart worked overtime to force the blood back to her extremities. Her throat burned from the impossible note she achieved in her fury. Her claws retracted. Edges of broken cobbleston
e,
worn with ag
e,
dug into her back. Her blood-soaked shirt clung to her skin with a familiar metallic smell. She no longer regretted having sex with Xavier. Without the extra energ
y,
she might be dead.

Strong arms lifted her from the ground. Too weak to argu
e,
Bell rested her head on his shoulder as he carried her down the alley. She struggled to calm her thunderous heart. She wasn’t the only one disturbed by the recent events. Tension exuded from his pores. Xavier protectively cloaked her body like a shield.

They stopped at the AMG she recognized as Jacque's
.“
He let you drive his car
?
”

Xavier's shoulder shrugged under her head
.“
You stole my bike
.
”

“
I did not steal your bike
.
”

“
I went to the garag
e,
it was gone and so were you
.”
He gingerly placed her in the passenger’s seat. For a guy his siz
e,
he had an ease to his movements.

She scooted forward
.“
I planned to return i
t,
so it was borrowin
g,
not stealing
.
”

Bell winced from the pain jackhammering in her head every time she moved. She reclined the seat back and closed her eyes. Xavier squeezed behind the wheel and started the car. She studied the strain in his express. She understood it all too wel
l,
anger and vengeance. A demon like Xavier was rarely crosse
d,
namely because those who tried failed miserably. So much s
o,
it discouraged others from trying

“
S
o,
where are we going
?”
Green eyes focused in on her.

She really didn't know the answer
.“
What do you think we should do? I don't want to lead that thing back to Etienne's. Too many people there
.
”

“
Yeah. I was thinking the same thing. As much as we need to get Jacque and Angel back to Lu
c,
I don't want innocent people to get hurt because some psycho motherfucker is tracking me
.
”

“
Aw...I think he's growing a conscience
.”
Xavier thumped her already damaged head
.“
You wait until this is ove
r
,
”
she growled
.“
Then it's me and you
.
”

Xavier's laugh was a rich baritone
.“
Whateve
r,
Blondie
.
”

“
Let's just find a hotel for now. I
n
ee
d
s
o
m
e
r
e
s
t
a
n
d
t
im
e
to

think
.”
She closed her eye
s,
shutting out the world to slip away from ever increasing banging in her brain.

t t t

When Bell awok
e,
she was laying on a plus
h,
micro suede sofa tangled in a soft throw. Someone had removed her shoes and soiled clothes. She had no idea how long she'd been sleeping or where Xavier had gone. She tightened the blanket around he
r,
as she examined the room.

A quiet knock rapped at the door
.“
Isabell
a,
are you awak
e,
dear
?”
a familiar voice called.

“
Uh. Yeah
.
”

Marie's head peeked around the door
.“
May I come in
?
”

Glancing abou
t,
even more confuse
d,
Bell answered
.“
Sure
?
”

“
How are you feeling? You didn't seem too well when Sean brought you back
.
”

What the hell! He came back to Etienne’s
?“
Where is Sean
?
”

Marie’s eyes moved down at her hands
.“
I’m not sure. He’s probably around here somewhere with the boys
.
”

Marie was a horrible liar
.“
Did he leave
?
”

Another knock at the door interrupted before she could
a
n
s
w
e
r
.

“
Hey. Everything okay in here
?”
Angel and Nat entered the room
.“
Sean said you might need some help
.
”

“
No one needs your hel
p,
human
.”
Bell threw off the b
l
a
n
k
e
t
a
n
d
p
l
a
n
t
e
d
h
e
r
f
ee
t
to
t
h
e
f
l
oo
r
.

Nat giggled
.“
That attitude of yours is why your man dropped you off on us and hauled ass
.
”

“
Shut u
p,
witch. Where did Sean go
?”
Bell stared at Angel.

She shrugged
.“
He said you lost your eva lovin’ mind and attacked him. Said he had to knock you out and you’re our problem. Then he rolled out. Jacque drove him to his bike
.
”

“
That fool left me here? I guess he thinks he can make it on his own
.”
Bell hopped up and paced the length of the sofa. The three other women watched her with caution.

“
Loo
k,
I don’t know what happene
d,
but maybe he’ll cool off and come back
.
”

Bell glared at the witch
.“
Seriousl
y,
you’re trying to comfort me? Forget him. He knows his duties. If he doesn’t follow
t
h
r
o
ug
h
,
t
h
e
n
t
h
e
r
e
’
s a
s
p
e
c
i
a
l
p
l
ac
e
i
n
H
e
ll
w
a
i
t
i
ng
f
o
r
h
im
.
”

“
You seem to have a problem holding on to your men. At some poin
t,
you have to start to believe it’s yo
u,
not them
.”
Angel ducked when Bell swung a fist in her direction.

Marie jumped in between the two
.“
You must stop this. There is no need to fight with one another. There are enough people we have to battle. In order to wi
n,
we must work together
.
”

“
I don’t need anyon
e
,
”
Bell mumbled under her breath.

“
We all need someon
e
,
”
Marie replied
.“
Let’s go down and see if Jacque has returned. He may have information on where your friend went
.
”

Laurent and Etienne stood as Bell and the others entered the sitting room. Concern shadowed Laurent’s face. He wanted to come to he
r,
but she shook her head to discourage him. His sympathy weakened her. One didn’t show their vulnerability when surrounded by their enemies. Jacque parked himself against the ba
r,
his expression just as sullen as her brother’s.

“
Who the hell died
?”
She laughe
d,
but no one joined in
.“
What’s going on
?
”

Jacque stepped forward. A sling strapped his left arm to his body. A cut slashed from his cheek to his right ea
r,
healing as Bell studied it. Angel ran to his side. Bell scanned the roo
m,
searching for Xavier. The only other male was Damon Boudreau
x,
the wolf from Lake Charles.

Angel checked over her husband-to-be
.“
What happened
?
”

“
I’m fin
e,
babe
.”
Jacque kissed Angel on the top of her head
.“
Some fucked-up looking beast ambushed me and Sean when we went to get his bike
.
”

Xavier knew the creature would be waiting
.

“
Where’s Sean
?”
Angel asked what Bell was wondering.

“
That thing was everywhere. It moved so fast. It attacked me. Sean ripped it off me. They were rolling on the ground one minute and gone the next
.
”

“
Whaddaya mean gone
?”
Bell held on to the
s
m
a
l
l
sliver

o
f
c
o
n
t
r
o
l
s
h
e
s
t
il
l
r
e
t
a
i
n
e
d
.“
Just what I said…gone
.
”

Bell turned away from Jacque to keep from smacking the stupid look off his face. She hated that dumb dog look
.“
You
d
i
d
n
’
t
t
r
y
t
o
h
e
l
p
hi
m
?
”

“
I didn’t have fucking tim
e,
Bell. Here one minute. Gone the next
.”
Jacque backed up out of her range.

Laurent came over to her and slung his arm around her shoulders
.“
Calm dow
n,
Sissy. We’ll find him. Do you know what that thing was that jumped them
?
”

“
It attacked us in the alley before he dropped me off here. It’s been hunting him for a whil
e,
I think
.”
She pushed her brother off her. She needed space. The air thinned. Bell sipped short gulps of ai
r,
hoping not to hyperventilate.