Devil Inside, page 46
Harley could see Cutter examining his forearm. Through the blood that dripped from his skin she could see the white glare of bone. Her Nocte laughed and she smiled realizing the attack had been a bit more effective than she had at first thought. She pulled the spare knife from its sheath and prepared herself to fight off all three Ignis with a knife in each hand. Cutter narrowed his eyes at her and began to back away, giving more room to the two Ignis who had joined their fight.
“No,” Harley barked at him.
“Sorry, honey,” he leered. “I’m outta here.”
Before he could turn away from their fight and cowardly run away, a loud blaring air horn blasted over the sounds of fighting. Everyone paused at the unexpected sound. A second blast spurred the Ignis and Nocte alike to turn towards the origin of sound. It was coming from the north side of the gym. The Burners were clearly confused and the Nocte relieved. Before Harley got a clear view of the commotion at the front of the gym she saw the blur of movement coming towards her over her right shoulder. She instinctively lunged forward trying to leap out of range. She only made it part way, however, as Cutter drove his blade into her back. The knife was large enough to be called a machete and it was long enough that it actually broke through the front of her stomach. The force threw her forward and she cursed herself for stupidly taking her attention off him. The air horn blasted again as she crashed face first onto the floor.
“Hey!”
Harley looked up to see Evie and Rafe making their way through the crowd towards them. Evie led the way with the air horn in one hand a shiny, silver blade in the other. She was on edge and watched the Ignis around her warily, ready for one of them to make a move. Harley was surprised by the fierceness on Evie’s face. She was used to Evie’s bubbling cheerfulness and the fight now etched on her face reminded Harley that Evie was Nocte after all and, by nature, a fighter.
Rafe followed Evie through the crowd. The haughty look he usually wore was joined with a look of ready determination as well. His right hand held a fist full of blonde hair and his left held a knife poised at the back of the blonde Ignis that always provided back up for Cutter. The blonde woman looked furious and her face was bloody from injuries that had already healed. Harley smiled at the sight before her and struggled to pull her legs underneath her to stand. She was having trouble because of the blade that still protruded from her stomach. It must have done some serious damage. Every movement caused white hot pain to flash through her entire body.
From behind Rafe, Castor and his crew of Lux appeared. Despite having not been in the fight, the Lux looked exhausted due to the lack of sunlight. They all looked cautious and nervous, realizing that they were as vulnerable as a human would be right now. When Castor spotted Harley lying on the hard floor he began to make his way towards her. Her black eyes locked onto his green ones with a smile that he answered with a worried grimace at her condition. Before he even made up half the distance between them, Harley felt a hand grasp hers. Her initial alarm receded when she realized it was just Levi. His shirt was ragged from knife wounds that were already healing. His face was bruised and bloody and he looked like he could collapse from utter exhaustion. His face was twisted with worry as he knelt beside her.
“Want me to pull that out?”
She gave him a small laugh. “Yes, please.” In one swift motion he yanked the huge blade from her back and she clenched her teeth to keep from crying out. Castor joined them and knelt as well.
“Are you OK?”
“I will be,” she replied through clenched teeth. She started to stand and as Levi and Cas both tried to help her up but she waved them off. She turned to look at Cutter who, having realized the situation, had frozen behind her. His turned his attention from Rafe, Evie and the blonde Ignis to glare at her. Harley made a show of dusting herself off before speaking. Levi pulled his ragged shirt over his head and held it out to her. She wrapped it around her stomach making sure that it covered the entrance and exit wounds and knotted it tightly. It was going to take a few minutes for those wounds to close and she wanted to avoid leaking blood everywhere.
When Harley was sure that she could speak in a voice that wasn’t strained with pain she turned to meet Evie and Rafe. “Welcome,” she said with a smile. “Glad you could join us.”
Evie smiled back, “Glad to be here. Sorry we couldn’t get here sooner. She put up a good fight.”
“Hello, Rafe,” Harley said politely. He nodded back.
Cutter spoke from behind them. “If you think I will trade my life for her life, you are wrong.” Harley turned to face Cutter. “Kill the bitch,” he said simply. His words were cold and hard and, no doubt, mostly true. However, the small twitch in his brown eyes gave the tiniest hint that he might care a little more than he let on.
“Oh, I’m sure you would let her die,” Harley smirked at him. “That’s not what I’m offering though.” Cutter waited for her to go on. “Imagine just how much information she has. Think of all the useful tidbits she has had access to since you have allowed her into your circle.”
Cutter swallowed hard. Harley was gambling. They all had banked on this gamble. Harley had realized that there had to have been a reason that the blonde woman never actually joined in the fights. It wasn’t just that Cutter didn’t think she belong in the fight. A coward like Cutter wouldn’t hesitate to use as many Ignis as fodder that he needed to. There had to have been another reason that the blonde woman always seemed to be around but safely outside of the fight. Cutter didn’t want her involved in potential fighting. Furthermore, she had to have been someone that he trusted enough to be his back up—his escape plan. Cutter began to look doubtful and Harley grinned at him.
“How long do you think it will take to make her spill everything she knows? And you know I can. I made enough Ignis talk to track you down—twice.”
“What the fuck do you want?” Cutter’s control was beginning to slip as he weighed the options. He could do what they wanted and spare the blonde woman the pain he knew they could inflict. Or he could just do whatever it was that they wanted that they were going to get one way or the other.
“What we want is simple. We want you to arrange a meeting.”
“What?” Cutter was dumbfounded. “Who do you want a meeting with?”
“The Rogue,” Harley answered.
“The who?”
“The Lux you have been working with,” Harley’s answer clearly indicated that she fully expected him to know who she was talking about.
Cutter stared at her blankly for a minute. “Seriously? You mean Haddon?”
“Is that what he calls himself?” Harley shrugged. “Whatever his name is, you know who I mean.”
“I should have known,” Cutter mumbled a look of realization coming across his face.
“What? Disappointed that you aren’t my number one target anymore?”
Cutter ignored the jab. “What if I just say ‘fuck you’ and fight our way out of here?”
“You could try,” Harley said fairly. “But then—that would just ruin everyone’s day.” Cutter waited for her to explain. Harley nodded at Rafe who reached around and raised his hostage’s shirt. Under her shirt were several pasty looking blocks with wires that connected them. Evie held up a small remote. “If you try to disconnect it—boom. If you try to leave without doing what we want—boom,” Harley explained. Evie, it turns out, was quiet the bomb expert. Harley smiled at her and Evie returned the gesture.
Cutter’s look should have been able to burn a hole in Harley with its intensity. “Fine,” he shrugged, trying to look more nonchalant than he really was. “Why do you want to meet him?”
Harley’s voice was hard when she answered. “I want to put an end to whatever he is trying to do. One on one—to the death. If he wins—then he continues on his evil way. If I win—” she shrugged, “then his work is over.” Harley could feel her Nocte swell eagerly and she could feel the anxiety radiating from Castor and the steely resolve from Levi. She looked to Nya and the gleam in her eye was pure excitement and fierceness. The Burners began to shift nervously and mutter amongst themselves.
Cutter motioned towards his fellow Ignis. “Stand down,” he commanded. Slowly, all the Ignis began to make their way towards Cutter. A figurative line had been drawn down the middle of the gym. The Ignis stood on one side behind their leader, on the other were the Nocte and the Lux and one lone Burner hostage.
Cutter pulled a cell phone from his pocket and pushed a couple of buttons before placing the phone to his ear. He only waited a moment before Harley could hear the mumble of a voice answer. Even with her superior hearing he was too far away for her to be able to hear much.
“I have someone who wants to meet you,” he said simply. He didn’t look at any of the Nocte as he spoke. He glanced at the blonde female before turning his back to face the rest of the Ignis. He listened for a moment. “Yes. Yes. Her name is Harley—she’s issuing a challenge. Right. OK, I’ll let you know.” Cutter hung up the phone and turned to face Harley. Her heart pounded in anticipation. This was their chance, their chance to put an end to the Rogue—Haddon’s—plan. Their chance to stop Lux and Nocte and humans from being murdered. “He’ll meet you. Name the time and place.”
Harley’s body relaxed a little, but she also went numb at the same time. What was to come was more than she could process at the moment. “How about here. At sundown in two days.”
Cutter glared at her. “Done.”
Harley smiled at him and stepped forward until she reached the invisible line. Cutter moved forward to meet her. She bared her teeth at him. “Just to let you know,” she growled. “After I’m done with the Rogue I’m going to drain you dry.”
Cutter chuckled. “We’ll see about that.”
Harley stepped back in between Castor and Levi. She nodded at the south entrance behind Cutter and the other Ignis. “Go out that door. Take—what’s your name Blondie?”
The woman in Rafe’s grasp glared at her. “Raven.”
Harley rolled her eyes, “Take Raven with you. The remote has a half mile radius. If you follow us we will detonate the bomb. When we are half a mile away the device will deactivate on its own and you can remove it.”
“If you detonate it anyway—Haddon won’t be here to meet you. The deal with be off.”
“Fair enough,” Harley responded.
Cutter continued to glare at her. Rafe pushed the woman towards her fellow Ignis and each group backed away from the other. Harley was the last through the double doors and for pure cheese factor she blew Cutter a kiss just before ducking out.
Chapter 43
Back inside the SUV Harley felt her exhaustion begin to show through her adrenaline. Night had fallen but she had used so much energy in the fights that she was ready to sleep already. Nya, the least tired and injured of them all drove, Levi rode shotgun again, and Harley sat behind him with Cas in the middle of the back seat. Cas flopped an arm behind Harley’s shoulders and tipped his head back. Within seconds he was seemingly unconscious. Harley caught Levi’s eye in the side mirror and gave him a small smile that he returned. No one talked. They just wanted to get back to their hotel safely and rest and recover. She looked at the wound in her stomach. When she pulled the makeshift bandage away fresh blood seeped from the wound. It wasn’t gushing at least--that was a positive sign. With some rest she would be good in no time. The wound was huge and she was just glad it didn’t seem to have damaged any major organs too badly. She sighed, “I really need to get a machete.” The others laughed softly.
“How’s the cut?” Cas asked her with slurring speech, apparently not asleep after all.
“Healing.”
“Good,” he said.
Harley stared at the night sky outside the truck. It was entirely possible that she could die in two days time. Even if she was the hero of this story, the hero died sometimes. She shivered and forced herself to stop thinking about anything. She wished she could talk to her Nocte. She had so many questions she needed to ask. She had never been able to initiate contact before though. She could feel her Nocte’s frustration in agreement. She would almost be willing to have Nya, or someone, injure her bad enough that she could talk to her devil. But she needed her strength to fight in two days. That wasn’t an option.
When they pulled into the hotel, Harley shook Castor until he finally peeled his eyes open and grumpily asked what she wanted. “We are back at the hotel,” she snapped back. She didn’t have the patience to coddle him. “You need to go in and open the back door. We can’t walk through the lobby covered in blood.” He looked around and gathered his wits. Wordlessly, he climbed out of the truck and stumbled into the lobby of the hotel.
“Am I that cranky when you try to wake me up during the day?” Levi asked.
Harley looked at him pointedly in the mirror as Nya put the SUV into gear and drove to the back side of the hotel. The cars that carried the other Nocte and Lux were already parking when they arrived. Everyone climbed from their vehicles and the Lux quickly stumbled into the hotel.
“We look like the biggest disaster party ever,” Nya joked.
“How many did we lose?” Harley asked. She had hesitated to ask until now.
Nya met her eyes, “Two. Eric and Thomas.”
Harley’s heart sank again. She had only just met the two California based Nocte but she hated to lose anyone. She hoped that their deaths would be a part of stopping more from dying. So many had died already. Each death left its mark on Harley’s heart. She nodded at Nya but didn’t say anything. She followed Nya inside the hotel and Levi walked beside her without say anything. Castor held the door open and in his cranky state he wasn’t able to keep the jealous look from his face when he saw Harley and Levi walking together. Harley sighed and chose to ignore it. She was too tired to deal with Castor’s issues tonight.
Castor left them to return to his room with the other Lux. Harley and Levi entered their room and Levi flopped on the bed and turned the TV on, mostly for sound. “You can have the shower first,” he said.
In the bathroom Harley looked at her reflection. She had healing bruises on both sides of her face. There was dried blood crusted around her nose and mouth and when she pulled off her torn shirt she could still see the raised scar that hadn’t healed yet cutting across her shoulder. She untied Levi’s shirt and examine the wound on her stomach. It was still a jagged fresh wound that had only just closed. She stripped off the rest of her clothes and turned the water on hot enough to nearly scald her. She tested the water with her hand and the contrast of the hot water and the air conditioned bathroom raised chills on her skin and her flesh felt raw and sensitive. Before she got into the shower she turned and cracked the door open. The door opening made Levi roll his head towards her. “You want to join me?” she asked. Levi smiled at her and rolled off the bed.
Harley and Levi washed the blood from each other’s backs and rubbed the soreness away from each other’s muscles. After the shower they lay in bed. Dawn was a couple of hours away but they were ready to sleep. Before they drifted off, however, Levi grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. Without preamble he threw her leg over his and suddenly he was inside her. The sex was a formality to the real intent behind Levi’s actions. He pressed her face into his neck as he kissed hers. Harley hesitated. She didn’t want to be a drain on Levi’s energy but they both knew they needed it and neither would feed if the other didn’t. They had both been bruised, broken and cut in the fighting and they would both heal quicker if they feed from one another. The sex was encouragement for them both to take what they needed. Finally, Harley pushed her reservations away and sank her teeth into his neck. Levi did the same and soon they were both satisfied. Together they sighed, falling into the healing pleasure that came from feeding from each other.
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The next day Harley, Castor, a red-haired Lux, Levi, Nya, and Evie sat in Castor’s room. The Nocte had made their way downstairs before the sun set. They all cringed away from the sun on the way to the Lux’s room, except for Harley. In Castor’s room they set about making plans for the fight the next day. Levi and Cas both were on edge and kept arguing with each other and trying to talk over one another. Nya watched with an amused look on her face and Evie mostly looked annoyed by their bickering. The red-hair Lux, Julie, just looked confused and was defensive for Castor’s sake. Harley could tell that Julie just thought they weren’t getting along due to their different natures.
“Enough,” Harley barked. Everyone stopped talking and looked to her. “The only real plan that needs to be made is what to do if I die.” Both Levi and Castor started to protest. “Just shut up and listen. Both of you. If I die, you ALL have to make sure that the Rogue doesn’t make it out alive.”
“Too bad we can’t sneak another bomb in,” Evie said regretfully.
They all agreed. They had already determined that they wouldn’t be able to bring a bomb in again. The Burners would surely be expecting that. And if they found a bomb, Harley was sure, that they wouldn’t let her and Haddon fight it out on their own. A bomb would be a sure indication that they didn’t plan on allowing any Ignis out of the building. And if they came in with a one Haddon wouldn’t show. They were well aware of the fact that once Harley and Haddon got done fighting, no matter how it turned out, it was highly unlikely that the Ignis would just walk away. There was no doubt in any of their minds that the Ignis would attack after Harley and Haddon’s fight. Harley and her partners were prepared for that event they just didn’t want to incite it before it had to happen.
Harley felt the anxiety ball up in her stomach. It was made of excitement as well as apprehension. If I’m lucky—if I win—I will be able finally take care of Cutter. She knew that he wouldn’t miss the fight. And she also knew that if she did win, she would unlikely be in any shape to go after Cutter. “You have to promise me something else.”
