“Amy, take them to their friend,” he commanded.

  Well, at least we were making some progress. Now we just had to get Kane out of there without too much bloodshed. We were vastly outnumbered, which meant we needed to reduce the violence as much as possible so we could increase our chances of getting out there in one piece.

  50

  Addison ate another fig before he apparently changed his mind and joined us in following this “Amy” down into the heart of the building. There were very few windows down there, the lights overhead pure white and giving off a harsh clinical light that only made the red on white creepier. I didn’t know if that was their plan or if they just had really bad taste.

  The holding room, as they called it, was three stories down with only one route in and out as far as I could see. Gideon was alert at my side and watching for new enemies and ways out. The room was a simple plain room with white walls, white floors, and a black ceiling just to mix things up. Kane sat in a small cage in the middle of the room. A trio of what I assumed were purists were tied down to metal chairs with needles in their arms and blood bags attached. They were being slowly drained and, if we weren’t careful, then Kane would be next.

  “Let him out,” I demanded.

  Addison gave me an infuriating smirk which reminded me a little too much of Dante. Gods be with me, I hoped he was still alive.

  “Anything for you, my Sofia,” he said.

  An older man with short grey hair huffily let Kane out of the cage. Kane immediately came to my side and gave Addison a furious glare.

  “Sofia was the one to trap you,” Amy said.

  Addison looked between me and Amy. This wasn’t going to plan.

  “Why would I do that to the love of my life?” I asked.

  I felt Addison’s magic slip into my blood. I fought to look nonchalant while fighting with everything I had to drive his magic out of my body. It felt like a sick and twisted violation. His magic finally slid away as he walked towards me.

  “I’m sorry, but I need more from you,” he said softly.

  “We go, now,” Gideon growled.

  Amy was trying to close the door and lock us in. Gideon was right, we needed to get the fuck out of there. Now. Dante was counting on us.

  Kane drew his sword from the ether, Gideon caught fire, and I unsheathed my daggers. I definitely needed something more badass if I was going to fight alongside those two regularly.

  Addison casually strolled out of the room. Amy and the cultists, however, flooded the room, and they were pissed.

  They didn’t have much fighting experience and fought with teeth, nails, and weak punches, but there were so many of them. Amy left the fray at some point, leaving us to fight our way through the mass of bodies between us and the exit.

  “Dammit, Wren, use your magic!” Gideon growled.

  “I concur!” Kane shouted as he took a fist to the temple.

  I ducked under a clumsy punch, stepped over the bodies fallen in front of me, and called up my magic. I couldn’t wipe out the entire room. The exhaustion would leave me useless. I slashed at the throat of the middle-aged woman in front of me and reached into the young man with bright blue hair. I crushed his blood in my mind and felt the life essence extinguish within him. He dropped to his knees, dead in the blink of an eye. Another fist came at my head while a foot connected with my lower back.

  I continued to hack and slash at every throat and artery within reach while trying to focus enough to extinguish the life of those further back. My movements were growing slower, but the pile of bodies was mounting around us. We were winning.

  Finally, we had a way to the exit as we jumped over the piles of dead bodies, some of them charred and burnt beyond recognition, and ran into the hallway. Gideon led the way, a walking infernal fire. Kane slowed some and put his arm around my waist to help me keep going. The exhaustion was threatening to overwhelm me, but I needed to keep going. I couldn’t fail Dante. I couldn’t have that beautiful man’s death on my conscience.

  Gideon led the way down the twists and turns. We were met with small resistance that the guys easily disposed of. It was too easy, but I wasn’t going to argue. We burst out into the bright sunlight and kept running down the road. I looked for assassins, fae-vampires, something up in the hills. It never came.

  We made it to the car. Kane helped me into the back seat, where Gideon joined me.

  “I can give you my blood,” Gideon said.

  “No, no, I am not like that,” I said horrified.

  Gideon pulled me to him and held me tenderly while Kane drove like a mad man.

  “We’ll get her lots of food and then go and get Dante,” Kane said.

  Gideon stroked my hair and my eyes closed. I couldn’t fight hard enough to keep them open.

  “Initiated… stronger…” was all I caught from Kane before I lost consciousness.

  I’d never worked that much blood magic before, but I’d clearly found my limit. Of all the times, I didn’t think it could be much worse than that one.

  I came to in Gideon’s arms with Kane stroking my hair and waving something under my nose.

  “How long was I out?” I asked as I pushed myself up into a sitting position.

  “Fifteen minutes. Here, you need to eat. I’m going to make a tracker so we can go and get Dante,” Kane said.

  I bit into the wrap Kane thrust into my hand. He walked over to the armchair and started poking at a small, flat, white pebble. He began painting symbols on it before he rubbed his thumb over it. Finally, he wrapped it in a scrap cut from one of Dante’s shirts. Dante was going to be pissed.

  I ate the following three wraps as quickly as I could while forcing the final one into Gideon’s hands.

  “I can feel your hunger, you’re no use to anyone if you pass out like I did,” I said.

  He smiled at me and ate it in two bites.

  “The tracker’s ready,” Kane said as he held the pebble in the palm of his hand.

  “How is that going to show us where Dante is?” I asked.

  “It gives me visions, which I can follow,” Kane said with a grin.

  I really didn’t understand how magic worked. The fact Kane could take a pebble, some paint, and a bit of fabric and turn it into a tracker that gave him visions was just insane. That was the world I lived in.

  Gideon nipped my ear.

  “Time to go rescue Dante,” he said.

  “I’m never letting him live this down,” Kane said with a grin.

  I laughed. “You sure you’re going to see him again after this?”

  He shared a look with Gideon. “Yea, I’m pretty sure.”

  “What are you hiding from me?” I demanded.

  “We’ll talk about it once we have Dante back,” Kane said.

  Gideon gently pushed me into a standing position. Kane gripped the pebble in his hand, and we headed back out to the car to do the second rescue mission of the day.

  51

  Kane’s driving was erratic as he clutched the pebble in one hand and had me handle the gear stick when he needed to change gear. I grabbed onto the wheel and stopped us from going off the cliff at one point. He was struggling to see the real world clearly through the vision, and the closer we got the clearer the visions became.

  Gideon gripped onto the back seat with everything he had, leaving deep tears present in the seat when Kane finally slowed down and got away from the cliff edges. There was no way we were getting the deposit back on the car. Rain turned the windscreen into a blurry mess, which made Kane’s driving even worse. He almost ran some poor person off the road. I was doing half of the steering for him by the time I turned the wheel down a narrow road that led up between two of the smaller hills. He slammed the brakes on, sending me flying forward. The seatbelt bit into my skin and I groaned.

  “Was that really necessary?” I asked.

  He dropped the pebble and looked around him with a frown on his face.

  “The place is that way, through the trees. There will be guards with guns. We’re going to need to hit this hard and fast. They’ll know we’re here,” Kane said.

  “I’m not gun proof, and I can’t afford to pass out again from using my magic,” I said.

  “We’ll handle it. We have no choice. I don’t think Dante has long,” Kane said as he got out of the car.

  Oh, fantastic, we were rushing into a strange place, guarded by gunmen, to save the half-demon who was going to be killed. This was exactly how I wanted to spend my day.

  “Don’t get shot,” Gideon said as he kissed my cheek before he ran off ahead.

  Kane and I took off after him; bloody hellhound, was he bulletproof? I hoped so as the first shot rang out.

  The bullet hit the tree about four feet to my left, so either the person was aiming to intimidate, or they were a really shit shot. I was hoping for the latter as I ran with Kane into the dense pine trees. Gideon was ahead of us with fire coating his hands. I felt the thrill of the hunt and the exhilaration from running flow down the bond. I allowed it to fuel me and pushed aside my fears and doubts; they would only slow me down and stunt me during the incoming fights. Gideon leapt up into a tree, and a man came flying out of said tree a few seconds later. He landed badly on his back and stopped breathing. We didn’t stop to check on him, the building Dante was in in sight.

  Gideon leapt from tree to tree, throwing out the gunmen who were shooting wildly at him. I thought hellhounds were meant to be strictly ground creatures. Maybe he was part hellcat or some shit. Kane stopped dead and grabbed onto my shirt to stop me as well.

  “We need to break the magical barrier here before we go any further,” he said as he poked at the air with his sword.

  The air turned sunshine yellow and smelled of honeysuckle and bubblegum.

  Kane jabbed at it with the tip of his sword and wiggled it as the air became more opaque. Gideon jumped out of the trees and came to my side, where he ran his fingers over mine. He was having a fantastic time.

  Kane thrust at the air and it shattered into small, bright yellow shards of something that looked like thin acrylic. I jumped over it, not sure what it would do to me if I touched it. The fact Kane hadn’t wanted me near it suggested it was bad.

  The building the Olapireta had chosen was mundane, a simple, cream stone building with a grey roof. It didn’t look big enough to hold more than twenty people, which was a relief after the mass of cultists we’d dealt with. Gideon circled around the building while I felt for bloodsongs.

  “Four that I can feel,” I said.

  They all had the high-pitched whine of terror, which suited me. Terrified people made mistakes.

  Kane broke down the front door, which wasn’t actually latched, meaning it swung open easily leaving him to half stumble through it in surprise. Gideon and I followed him into the small open room that was the entire building. Four people in pure white robes (how did they keep them clean?) were standing in the middle of said room with small daggers in their hands. They looked petrified, their hands shaking and their skin having lost all colour.

  No Dante.

  Gideon snarled at them, and one of them threw himself out of the closest window. I smiled sweetly at the younger woman near me and spun my blades.

  “You have my friend, and you’re going to tell me where he is, otherwise they,” I gestured at Kane and Gideon, “will show you just how much pain you can handle before you black out.”

  Her eyes went into large saucers and she dropped her daggers while looking at the window.

  “I wouldn’t. Hellhounds love to chase their prey down,” I said.

  She swallowed hard.

  “Below. The cambion is below.”

  “How do we get there?” I demanded.

  She pointed shakily at a small rise in the floor, a trap door.

  “You wouldn’t lie to me, would you?” I asked.

  She shook her head so fast I thought she’d hurt herself.

  Kane lifted the trap door, and Gideon jumped down into the space before anyone could say anything.

  He called up from below, “He’s here!”

  “Bloody hellhound,” Kane said, shaking his head before he started down the ladder.

  The three remaining purists had run away by the time my foot was on the top rung. Cowards.

  52

  I heard Dante’s bloodsong when I stepped down onto the floor, a raging war beat that called to me and drove me to action. Not that I had a choice; Gideon had already taken off down the passageway into the main room up ahead. We were going to have to put him on a leash.

  Kane and I ran after him and burst into a dark square room full of candles. Large white pillar candles were crowded into the corners and formed a large circle around the solid wooden altar they’d strapped Dante to. He was in his full demon form, or as full as a half-demon got. Small red horns had burst from just next to his temples, his eyes were bright gold, and his teeth, which he was baring at the purists, were sharp points. He strained against the silver bindings on his wrists, forearms, and ankles, but they didn’t budge. They had to be magically enhanced.

  The purists were all in pure white floor-length robes complete with large hoods that covered their faces. They really got into that whole crazy cult role. One of them was standing next to Dante with a long ritual dagger over his heart while he chanted something in a language I didn’t know and the rest of the circle of people chanted along with him. Someone needed to take away their cheesy horror movies.

  Gideon was pacing a circle around them. I felt his desire to protect Dante, but he was waiting for my say-so. At least he had some sense and restraint.

  “I’ll cut him loose, you and Gideon take down the morons,” Kane said.

  Gideon heard what Kane said, and we all ran at the purists. Gideon leapt on the closest one, taking them down to the ground, their robes splaying out behind them and quickly catching fire. Gideon didn’t notice as he broke their neck and moved onto the next person. I had to give it to them, they stuck to their formation and only chanted louder and more furiously in response. I reached out the one closest to me and slit their throat. The chanting took on a higher wailing tone, and I saw the knife getting closer to Dante’s heart.

  Kane hacked at the bindings around Dante, his sword glowing brilliant white. Shouting came from the passageway we’d come down, and a great number of people in white robes rushed into the room. Something hit me in the side of the head and stopped me from slashing the throat of the next purist. I turned around to see a very large man wielding a hammer. Not a war hammer, a standard hammer you’d find in any home. I was mildly insulted.

  I ducked under his next swing and slashed at his thighs. The robes were too loose and tangled around my blade, stopping me from cutting open an artery. The next swing almost connected with my shoulder, and I was getting pissed now. I drove my blade into his stomach. The robe wasn’t as loose there. He gasped and paused long enough for me to slit his throat and move on to the next one.

  Gideon was breaking purist necks and smashing their skulls while Kane fought to free Dante. There was only one binding left, and Dante was furiously scrabbling to take down as many purists within arm’s reach as he could. A pair of young women came at me as a united front. They’d clearly had some martial arts classes, as their balance was fantastic and their kicks well practised, but they still weren’t good enough. I sliced through their robes, leaving their legs exposed, which I cut into small ribbons. They fell to the floor sobbing and wailing. No one so much as thought about helping them.

  Dante was finally free.

  He threw himself off the table onto the bastard that had been holding the sacrificial dagger. I didn’t see what happened. I just heard the wet crunch and tearing sounds of muscle separating from bone. The next thing I knew, the entire room was engulfed in infernal fire. Gideon threw himself on top of me and protected me from the heat. I squirmed and tried to get to Kane, but the damn hound wasn’t budging until the flames were extinguished. He nipped my neck before he let me up.

  Kane was entirely unharmed and looking quite smug standing next to Dante, who looked furious, his mouth fixed in a thin line and his eyes hard and uncaring. The purists were gone. There was nothing but ash left. Dante must have had enough wherewithal to keep Kane safe, which made me wonder if Gideon had just been looking for a chance to throw himself on top of me. I didn’t ask.

  Dante bellowed something in what I assumed was an infernal language. It was thick and guttural. I walked up to him and placed my hand on his bare chest, my fingertips pressing against the fine lines of the sigils around his heart. He wouldn’t hurt me; I trusted that. His skin was hot enough to burn to the touch, but I refused to back away even as he glared at me. Slowly, his expression softened, and he wrapped his arms around me, his face pressed against my neck.

  I felt his horns recede, and his skin slowly cooled beneath my touch. He was returning to me. He caressed my cheek, and before I knew what was happening, he’d pressed his lips hard against mine. I melted against him and embraced the passion and lust that had been building from the moment we met. He kissed me like his life depended on it, a hard, intense kiss that couldn’t have come from anyone else. I was left gasping for breath when he pulled away.

  “I know you’re a blood witch, Wren,” he whispered.

  There went that high. I had so many questions that I didn’t have any coherent words. I ended up sputtering a string of nonsense. He held me close to him, and what had felt like a safe romantic embrace now felt like a cage.

  “I put the pieces together when you came back with Gideon,” he whispered.

  His eyes were soft and caring, but I could have been desperately projecting.

  “You make me feel alive. I’m more myself, I have more control when I have contact with you.”

  “You’re not going to have me executed…?”

  He smiled and rested his forehead on mine.

  “No, I couldn’t give up something as beautiful as you.”

 

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