Blood Lily (Lilith Adams Vampire Series Book 1) (49 page)

Chance finally turned, still trying to keep her pinned in his arms, but when he saw Cohen, it wasn’t the reaction she expected. He looked…relieved. “Hurry the fuck up.”

Cohen ran up and reached for her wrists, but her mind was completely overturned. Why was Chance helping him? Her foggy brain didn’t want to work. Even with her hands above her head, she’d still managed to lose a lot of blood. All she could
do was try to move away from him, but Chance’s arms were like iron bars around her. What the hell was happening? All she could do was cry and flail her arms around. Nothing was making sense anymore. Cohen betraying the family was one thing, but even the thought of Chance…She couldn’t even begin to comprehend that.

A warm hand smoothed over her cheek wiping her tears away and she felt a warm glow where it touched her skin. The feeling sunk into
her blood, relaxing every muscle all at once. Her eyes met the hazel eyes flecked with green in front of her and all the panic melted away. There were tears in his eyes and so much more. “Lily, please. Listen to me.” Chance’s voice was calm and soothing, but it still held real fear and real pain. “You have to stop struggling so Cohen can unlock the manacles. Okay? He won’t hurt you. I would never let him.”

The basement, the screams, everything just melted away in a sea of hazel as she stared at his eyes. The world may not have made sense to her right then, but this did, and she felt stronger and stronger with each passing minute.
She was dimly aware that Cohen was gripping her arm, trying to fit a key into the lock, but she was distracted. Chance’s lips nudged against hers in a kiss that felt overwhelmingly intimate and then rested his forehead against hers.

Pain shot down her arm, making her whimper and completely breaking the spell Chance had over her. Cohen threw the needle and tubing from her arm down on the floor in frustration and reached for the needle in her other arm. This time she was able to brace herself and the flaring pain wasn’t quite as bad. In a panic he
reached for the manacles again. Seconds later she heard the metallic clink and her wrists fell free, falling limply to her sides. Chance caught her weight and scooped an arm under her knees, hauling her up in his strong arms.

“Come on. We don’t have much time. We need to get the hell out of here.”

“My father!” The screaming, she could still hear it. Dammit, where the hell was he?

Chance swung around and she finally got a good look at what was going on. Ashcroft was pinned to the furnace by Richard Coffee’s massive body. His skin was burning against the hot metal and he wasn’t the only one. Coffee’s massive face didn’t have its usual business-like expression of calm authority, it was contorted in pain. Her father had managed to snap Ashcroft’s arm and he was holding on to it for dear life. As long as he held it at that angle, Ashcroft wouldn’t be able to heal, especially not with half of his skin seared to the hot metal.

Cohen shot past them and grabbed a hold of Ashcroft’s arm, pressing forward with all his momentum. The bone snapped farther, piercing the skin as blood spurted to the floor. The shrill shrieks got even louder as Ashcroft’s face scrunched in pure agony. A dark satisfaction settled over her at that sight. He deserved it, all of it and so much more.

“Gregor.
We have to move! There isn’t time!” Lilith followed Chance’s line of sight as her head started to clear. Several of the lanterns were shattered on the ground, their pools of flaming oil burning closer and closer to the flammable barrels. “This place is gonna go up in flames any second.”
 

Her father hesitated and she knew precisely why. If they let go now, Ashcroft would be out the door before any of them. Hell he might just decide they were too much trouble and just lock the doors.

“Burn! Burn!” The sudden screams caught both their attention and Chance turned just enough for them to see Duncan, pulling and straining against his chains. His red-rimmed eyes were lit with a manic glee. His wrists were completely mangled. He’d managed to wear away the skin and muscle all the way to the bone. He kept sliding in his own dark blood as he flailed around in some sort of macabre dance. His mind was completely gone and it made her heart ache to see her brilliant uncle reduced to some golem-like creature.

“He’s too far gone, Lily.” Chance glanced at her with a look so full of regret that she felt it slither along her spine like ice.

“I know. We have to get out of here before this place becomes an inferno. I’m okay. You can put me down. We’ll both move faster if I can run on my own.” Reluctantly, Chance put her on her feet, but he kept his arms around her, still supporting her weight. It was a good thing too. Her muscles groaned and seized up, and would have sent her right to her knees if he hadn’t been holding on to her.

“I can’t let him go! He has to die, even if it takes me with him!”
Gregor’s voice was strained as he kept fighting against Ashcroft’s broken arm. Even with the bone snapped in several places his hand still tried to claw away at Gregor’s. “Just get her out of her, Chance! Now!”

Lilith was just about to fight her way free and haul her dad away, when Coffee’s booming voice filled the room. “Get out of here. I can hold him as long as I can.
Long enough for the fires to reach. I’d never make it out anyway.”

She hadn’t noticed before, but the basement floor at his feet was covered in blood. A flicker of a lantern lit closer, less than a foot from the barrels and caught the moist glint of something dangling from Coffee’s stomach. It took a few moments for her eyes to register exactly what she was seeing. Ashcroft was trying to claw his way through Coffee’s massive body. A wave of nausea smacked her as she realized that it was part of his intestines dangling in the fire light.

“Go! Now!” That deep, thunderous voice of his sounded desperately resolved. Anything she could do to save him, would wind up killing them all. They had no choice. It was either a few try to survive or they all die needlessly.

Chance and Lilith both raced for the furnace. She grabbed Gregor’s arm, while Chance caught hold of Cohen and they all raced down the corridor as fast as their legs could carry them. Her muscles burned like molten lava but she pushed through it. She had to.

Bloody shrieks and deep, booming screams chased them down the hall. The light behind them was getting brighter. Any second now those flames would ignite the barrels and the whole place would go up. Lilith pushed her aching muscles harder and hit the stairway door first. She ripped it open and threw herself up the stairs, with Chance, Gregor and Cohen hot on her heels.

She hit the first landing and raced around the corner, but when she hit the next set of stairs, she fell hard, smashing her shin against the concrete step.
The pain brought tears immediately to her eyes, completely overcoming her for a second. Without even skipping a beat, Chance swung her up into his arms like she was a paper doll and kept racing up the stairs. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. She definitely wasn’t going to choose now as a time to fight for women’s rights. She just wanted out of the hellish building before it became their tomb.

Cohen reached the door first this time. He swung it open and waited for everyone to pass through before following them. A huge part of her still didn’t trust him, but now wasn’t the time to figure out his loyalties. They all just needed to get the hell out first.

The floor rumbled violently, throwing Gregor and Cohen off balance. Her father glanced against the wall but kept going. Cohen took a little longer to recover, but he stayed on his feet. Lilith’s heart was racing a million miles an hour as they hit the familiar hallway. They were close. She could see the weak morning sunlight around the edges of the double doors at the end of the hallway. Fuck. Sunlight.

“Cohen! Get your keys ready. As soon as you get out there, head straight for your car and pop the trunk.” She held his gaze until she saw that flash of recognition and then looked back at her father. If it wasn’t too bright he might survive long enough to get to the trunk. Staying in the building was not an option. The barrels were already starting to go. He might be able to duck into one of the other buildings, but there were no guarantees that they would be any safer. She hadn’t been able to tell just what kind of chemicals were down there. It might just be enough to blow the building, but if Ashcroft
had planted them for his grand finale, counting on his super speed to get the hell out, he might just have intended for the whole damn area to go up in flames.

They were almost to the door when the whole building began to shake violently, knocking loose ceiling tiles down on them. The air was
thick with dust, making them choke, but they all pushed forward. Just as they all hit the double doors, Lilith heard the hiss of flames growing louder and louder. It was a deafening roar by the time they were outside in the early morning sunlight. Cohen broke off in a sprint, taking the most direct route to his car. Gregor chased after him, his skin already turning bright pink.

Chance was a little slower carrying her weight and the roar of fire was getting louder. Lilith glanced over his shoulder as the double doors started to swing shut and saw a bright burst of light at the end of the hall.
“Oh hell! We have to take cover. Now!”

Chance swerved and ran as fast as he could for the next building. Lilith hung on for dear life, squeezing her eyes closed and praying they wouldn’t escape that damn torturous bastard just to die now.
He ducked behind the far side of the next building and ran down the alley way. That at least gave them a buffer from flying debris.

It sounded like a demolition explosion. The ground shook and the force of the blast, even buffered by the building, knocked them both hard to the ground. The whole world went dark and the last thing she remembered was Chance curled over her like a protective blanket.

Chapter 25

L
ilith’s ears were still ringing. Someone was screaming words, but she couldn’t make any of them out. Her chest hurt with every struggling breath. Why did it feel like a ton of bricks was lying on top of her? She had to blink several times before she finally opened her eyes. Cohen was looming over her, screaming and tugging at something on top of her. Once her eyes focused, she realized that Chance’s full weight was on her. His eyes were closed, he wasn’t moving. Pure panic gripped her until she forced herself to concentrate. She could feel the faint rise and fall of his chest. He was still alive.

Her eyes flashed back to Cohen as realization began to dawn on her. Cohen. He might have helped them escape, but that was after they’d pinned down Ashcroft. Up until then he’d been
a willing, perhaps even eager, participant in Ashcroft’s little games. She wasn’t about to forget the fact that he wanted to study her like some kind of lab rat. He was still screaming at her, barking orders as close as she could figure, but she still couldn’t actually hear anything past the ringing in her ears.

Cohen finally managed to roll Chance off of her and stooped down to check his pulse. While Cohen was busy, Lilith scrambled to her shaky feet and put all her strength into a shot at Cohen’s jaw. “
Don’t fucking touch him!” Being topless except for her bra hadn’t protected her very much. She could feel the abrasions on her back from the rough concrete scream as she cracked Cohen right in the face. He stumbled backward and landed right on his ass.

“Dammit, Lilith.
I’m trying to help!” Cohen jumped back to his feet and grabbed her shoulders. His hazel eyes caught hers and the weight in them took the struggle out of her. In the far corner of her mind she wondered how that was even possible. “Lilith, listen to me. I was never on Ashcroft’s side. Please, let me help you both to the car and then I’ll explain everything. I promise. Right now we have to get the hell out of here before the cops show up.” Cohen pulled off his shirt and tossed it to her. “Put that on.”

Lilith stared down at his blue button up shirt.
On top of the soot from the fire and the dirt from the basement, there were flecks of blood on it. Her blood. How the hell was she supposed to trust him and why the hell did she already feel like she could. Her shrewd eyes glanced up at Cohen. “Did you just ‘influence’ me??” Lilith shot up to her feet with every nerve in her body singing with tension.

Cohen sighed heavily and his head slumped down. “We do NOT have time for this. Put the shirt on. Gregor is safe in the trunk of my car. I need your help with Chance. We can discuss it all in the car.” When Lilith didn’t move or say anything, Cohen pulled himself to his feet and grabbed her shoulders again. “No tricks.” His eyes were the crisp blue she remembered the first time she’d met him.

“Your eyes…” Her brain was trying to comprehend just how they changed colors like that.

“I’ll explain it all. I’ll tell you everything you want to know…in the car.” His voice wasn’t demanding this time. He was pleading. The pain and guilt lay bare in his face. “I never wanted to hurt you. It made me sick, Lilith.” There were tears stinging his eyes when he spoke. His voice was tenuous and vulnerable. Either he was the best actor she’d ever met or he was being straight with her.

Lilith’s logical brain kicked in. She didn’t have any other options. Gregor was in his trunk. He was their only transportation out of this place in the middle of nowhere. Gut feelings or not, she had to trust him. Lilith nodded softly and stepped back to pull the shirt on. The early morning air was chilly and her skin was grateful for any kind of protection from the biting breeze.

Together, Cohen and Lilith pulled Chance up and carried him slowly past the remaining buildings. The explosion had done a lot of damage and they had to pick their way through chunks of cement and debris. Somewhere in the back of her mind it finally registered in her brain. Ashcroft was dead. He’d never hurt her family again. It was all over.

They finally made it to the car and managed to get Chance into the back seat. He was still unconscious, but he was breathing and his pulse was strong. The abrasions and cuts she’d noticed on his back were already healed. Lilith ran a hand softly over his cheek before taking the front passenger seat. Cohen collapsed into the driver’s seat and threw the car into gear, peeling out of the parking lot. He sped away from the ominous site as if his life depended on it. In a way, all their lives did depend on it. There was no reasonable, believable explanation for their presence there that didn’t involve lots of jail time.

Once they were back on the interstate at a normal speed, it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted. They’d survived. Her brain just didn’t seem to be able to comprehend it. Maybe it was because most of them hadn’t survived. Coffee gave his life to let them escape. Alvarez taunted the monster to keep his attention off of her. Tears trickled down her cheek as she thought about her partner, his balding head slumped at that unnatural angle,
his shirt soaked in his own blood. Lilith wiped at her cheeks and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She needed to think about something else. Anything else.

“Were you really close to Alvarez?”
Cohen’s voice sounded soft and tender, even soothing. It just pissed her off.

She wiped angrily at her
cheeks. “Of course I was. He was my partner for the past six years. I had coffee with his wife every Sunday and had dinner with his family at least twice a week. What kind of fucking question is that?” Cohen’s eyes widened, like he was somehow surprised at her tone. “What? You think that just because you helped us out of there after the odds changed that we’d be best pals that talk about our damn feelings. Fuck you, Cohen.”

His arms were tight with tension as he white-knuckled the steering wheel. There were a million conflicting emotions on his face, most of which she didn’t understand. His basic tank revealed every lean
muscles that were still tensed and his jaw was painfully clenched. Why the hell did he look like a kicked puppy ready to bite her? A better question was why the hell should she care? “My name is Andrew, not that you care, and I was never on Ashcroft’s side.”

“
You said you’d explain everything, so start talking.”

She could see the tension easing as h
e took in a deep breath. “Look, I was never in Ashcroft’s corner. I was never going to hurt you.” His eyes flickered over to her and there was raw pain in them. It made her skin itch. The pain in his eyes just seemed disproportionate.

“
Bullshit. I gave you opportunities to give me some kind of signal.”

“I needed your fear and anger to be genuine. We sense emotions, Lilith. You know that. He would have known if I’d tipped you somehow.” Cohen’s jaw clenched again.
“Believe me. I wanted to let you know. I would have if I thought I could. I had to do something. You were trying to goad him into killing you. I couldn’t just let you die. There was a plan in place and I had to keep you alive.”

“Wait. What?
A plan? When the hell did you make a plan?”

“Hold on a second. This isn’t a conspiracy. Just let me explain.”

Lilith clamped down on her temper and sat silently in the passenger seat. Anger was still rolling over her skin, but she needed to hear his explanation and study every single muscle in his face with careful precision.

“
I was exploring the south corridor with Whitmore and I noticed he was acting strange. I know…knew him very well and there were subtle differences in his behavior that didn’t make sense. He normally would have spent most of his time bitching about you and Chance, but it didn’t come up again, not even once. Something didn’t feel right.”

“So your evidence is that for a few minutes Whitmore wasn’t being a total dick? Wow. That’s compelling.”

Cohen decided to completely ignore her and just continue his story. “Coffee showed up just as Whitmore was about to make his move. I heard a shot ring out in the building somewhere and overpowered Whitmore during the distraction.” Cohen paused to look over at her and everything in his face looked genuine. “Do you know who fired that shot?”

“The shot was from Humphries’ gun.” Lilith paled and her stomach churned as the memories of those horrible moments replayed in her mind.
Chance stumbling to his knees, coughing up blood, dying. She couldn’t help but glance back at Chance sprawled out over the back seat. It was if some part of her wanted to make sure he was still there, breathing.

Cohen glanced
away from the road again, his eyes catching hers and his face full of concern. “What happened?”

Lilith had to swallow the lump in her throat as tears welled in her eyes. “He shot Chance in the back.
It just barely missed his heart.” Lilith fought the tears threatening to spill. After a steadying breath she continued. “I knocked Humphries out and tried to help Chance but he was dying.” Lilith glanced down at her wrist. “I panicked. He was losing so much blood and it was getting harder and harder for him to breathe. The shot must have collapsed one of his lungs. So I did the only thing I could. I fed him my blood hoping that whatever healed me was enough to heal him. Obviously it worked.”

“What? You fed him your blood?” Cohen looked panic-stricken.

Lilith bristled at his reaction and crossed her arms over her chest. “You did the same for me. I was not about to let him die, Cohen. If there was even the slightest chance in hell that it would save him, I would have given him every single drop. You aren’t the only one that gets to decide who lives and dies.”

Cohen looked deep in thought as he nodded. Thankfully he didn’t push the issue.
She already had a desire to sock him in the jaw again. Questioning her decision to try and save Chance definitely didn’t decrease that desire.

“So you made your move on Whitmore…” Lilith prompted him to return to the information she needed to know.

“Yeah. I managed to get a hit on Whitmore that sent him down like a pile of bricks. I grabbed Whitmore’s gun and was just about to shoot Coffee, but he just held his hands up in surrender. Coffee pulled me into a side room and started explaining everything.”

Lilith’s brow
furrowed in confusion. “Wait. Coffee just surrendered and started explaining things? Wasn’t he under Ashcroft’s control?”

“No actually. Our influence doesn’t work on his kind. Ashcroft apparently has never come across it before and didn’t recognize him for what he was. Coffee…”

“Stop. His kind? What the hell…”

Cohen glanced over at her, surprised that she didn’t know.
He shrugged and returned his eyes to the road. “That’s a conversation for another time. Can I just finish? I’d rather get you out of the “I want to stab you in the throat, traitor” mood, first. Then we can have a little heart to heart on all the supernatural species out there.”

Lilith rubbed at her temples in frustration and just silently nodded again.
She felt like her mind was going to explode.

“Thanks.” His eyes returned to the road as he
swerved around a stupid white Celica driving under the speed limit in the fast lane. “When Ashcroft and Spencer hit the lab, Ashcroft knocked him out before he could even get out of his chair. They locked him in the cold storage freezer. Eventually, he came back for him and tried to persuade him towards his cause with promises of power. Coffee was smart enough to play along. If Ashcroft knew his powers weren’t working, he would have killed Coffee then and there. So he decided to play the part of the dutiful minion and wait for an opportunity to present itself.”

“So he told you a
ll this while Whitmore was out?” The humor of Cohen knocking out his partner in grand movie-style with a hit to the back of the head was not lost on her. It just didn’t seem to be the right time to joke about the dead.

“Yeah.
We decided that we needed to know more information about the situation before making our move. We still didn’t know where you were and I figured that if Whitmore was compromised, then Humphries probably was too. So we played along. Coffee threw a couple punches to make me look the part and then he woke Whitmore up.”

“You definitely looked the part. Hell, that black eye took up half
your damn face.”

Cohen subconsciously rubbed at his
cheek. “No kidding. I knew it’d heal quickly but still. I barely stayed conscious from one damn hit.”

Lilith found a little smug satisfaction in that.

“Well considering Coffee was big enough to break the Hulk in half, it’s not that surprising.” Chance’s voice from the backseat sounded like music to her ears. She glanced over her shoulder to see Chance’s face looming between the two front seats. There wasn’t a scratch on him. Her blood must have really worked. She wondered if he had the same kind of side effects that she had, but there was no way in hell she was going to bring that up voluntarily right now. Less than half an hour ago Cohen was talking about studying her in a lab and she still wasn’t willing to trust that it had all been an act. She knew some part of Cohen wanted to study her, but she was no one’s lab rat and neither was Chance. She’d die first.

“So nice of you to join us.”
Cohen intended for his voice to be light and friendly, but there was something else in his voice. Disappointment maybe. Although that hardly made any sense.