Craving (28 page)

His jaw tightened. “And he’s persuading you by threatening Katherine? What about the other girl? Nanette.”

“I don’t know. I think she’s here somewhere.”

He rubbed his chin and stared at me. “Do you have any idea how to get out of this? Or were you planning to serve me up as dessert?”

I spoke slowly, thinking as I went. “If the Talismans were destroyed, he might let Kitten go.”

Josh closed one hand protectively around his bracelet, already shaking his head.

“I know.” My brain churned furiously. “But if he
thought
I was going to do that, wreck them, it might give us time to come up with something better.”

“Wreck them like how?”

My mind was a blank. I stared at the wall opposite, hoping for inspiration. A scruffy poster advertised a band I’d never heard of and a brightly colored arrow pointed to the fire exit.
Fire
. I patted my pockets, dug deep into my leather and produced my Zippo. I met Josh’s eyes and nodded.

“No way. Not my Talisman.”

“Do you want him to go after Suki?”

“
No
.”

I crouched down, tugged my own bracelet off and laid it on the floor by my feet. “I need yours, Josh. I’ve not got much fuel left. This is a one shot deal.”

13.10 Katherine

The pain drilling into my skull was unbearable. I felt impaled on Alistair’s finger but at the point where I thought I would pass out, it ceased. The pressure eased. I gulped in a deep breath to quash the rising nausea and let my head drop forward, my eyes tightly closed. Had he done this to Dante? Would he do it again? “What do you want from me?” It came out as a croak.

“You have such potential. What do you want most in the world, Katherine?”

I shook my head. The words ‘see my mother’ were on the tip of my tongue, but I held them back. He knew anyway, the bastard.

“Your mother. How badly do you want to see her, hmmm?” His voice wrapped around me, insidious and tempting. “I could take you there. Would you like that?”

“She’s dead.”

He chuckled. “I could take you to her now.” I felt an icy finger trail down the side of my face, and nausea rose, burning my throat. A memory of Dante flooded into my head. He’d made a deal with Alistair to have his grandmother back, and Alistair had tricked him. Was he trying to trick me now?

The icy touch rose back up to my forehead and settled dead center. I shuddered.
Not again, please not that
. “Little Lost Girl. Don’t you want to tell her you’re sorry?”

“
Yes
.” I blurted it out without thinking.

13.11 Josh

I stared at Dante, hunched over his Talisman, Zippo in hand… remembered when he’d trusted me with his Talisman. With a gut wrenching sense of foreboding, I loosened it and slipped the leather over my wrist, holding it a moment longer. “You’d better be right about this.” I spoke softly, my words laced with menace. Placing it on the floor, next to his, I stepped back and watched as he trickled lighter fluid from his Zippo over them both.

He nudged at them with the lighter, turning them over in the small puddle of fuel, making sure they were well coated.
Flammable
. I swallowed.

“What now? Do we wear them like that?”

I read indecision on his face. “I don’t know,” he muttered, and I groaned inwardly. So much for his bright idea. “Do you have a bag or anything?”

“Yeah, sure.” I glared at him. “I always have a handy little box for carrying fucked up Talismans.”

“Bingo.”

I watched as he rummaged in his pockets and produced a crumpled cigarette packet. “It’s for my roll-ups.” He shook out the flakes of loose tobacco and then gently slid the stinking bracelets inside the carton and closed the flap. “Best if you keep them.” He held out the packet to me.

I didn’t particularly want to let mine out of my sight, so I took the box and pushed it to the bottom of my jacket pocket. “Okay, Einstein. What’s next in the plan?”

He gave me a crooked smile. “I deliver you to Alistair.”

13.12 Dante

My chest was tight with fear. Alistair’s predictions had come true. I’d watched Kitten being attacked by the bouncers, and Josh had followed me inside
Armageddon
. He hadn’t shown me anything beyond that, which could mean I might not be around for much longer or…

My neck prickled, and Eve appeared. “Nanette’s here.” Her gaze slid to Josh, then back to me. “And you need to get your arse in gear, Tat-Boy.”

Ignoring Josh’s look of confusion, I replied to Eve. “Where is she? Is she okay?”

“She’s not hurt.” Eve seemed to choose her words with care. “She’s in a room upstairs. You need to demand to see her.”

“Eve. Can I save Nanette and Kitten? Or is this all just a waste of time? Are they already fucked whatever happens?” I desperately wanted a crumb of hope.

Behind her I could see the Asian woman advancing. I stared at Eve, willing her to say something positive.
Something to help.

“You have to make a choice, Dante. Choose wisely.” She vanished, her words ringing in the air.

Someone else had told me that recently… I racked my brains. The spirit at the party of Josh and Suki’s friends. He’d shown me the blackness that covered my face.
What fucking choice?
I wanted to yell after her, but it was no use.

The Asian woman nodded to us. “Come with me.”

As before, we went through a secure door and then into a room, shocking and familiar.
The other side of the glass.
Kitten, wide eyed and panting, tied to a chair.
The fuckers.
Adrenaline slammed through me along with a rage so deep it could have been primeval. It was hard to breathe, my lungs rasped with the effort. I clenched my fists and with hard won control, didn’t launch at Alistair.

Beside me, Josh made a low noise of horror. I stared at Kitten and recognized the shell-shocked trauma on her face. Alistair had been sifting through her memories and nightmares—something else I hated him for. She didn’t acknowledge me at first, but then she blinked and some of the confusion cleared from her face.

Alistair spoke first. “Raphael.”

I stepped forward. “Let her go. I’ve brought you Raphael. I’ve kept my end of the bargain, you don’t need Katherine as well.”

Kitten frowned at my words.

I advanced a step, fury making me bold. “I know you have Nanette here. If you let Katherine and Nanette both go free, I’ll give myself to you. Raphael and me, for the girls. Seems like a fair trade.”

13.13 Katherine

I stared at Dante and Josh, and tried to think clearly, past the insistent buzzing in my head. A glint of metal caught my eye. Alistair held a thin, curved blade. He raised the knife, and Dante locked onto it. If I’d thought he looked furious earlier, when he dragged Nash from me, that was nothing in comparison.

He took another step toward Alistair. His voice harsh, his jaw so tight I’m surprised he could speak. “She’s not making a deal with you. Leave her out of this.” The two bouncers inched closer, one either side of him.

“You cannot give her what she most desires. But I can.”

“I know what you can do.” Dante’s eyes darkened as he took another step. He lifted his right hand and held out the palm. “Make your deals with me, Alistair. Bring Nanette down here, and then we’ll deal.”

They stood in a little tableau: Dante in the center, a bouncer on each side; Josh by the door, a tiny Asian woman beside him, and Alistair, standing next to me. For a long moment, nobody moved.

Dante didn’t take his eyes off Alistair.

My heart thumped viciously, and my lungs were still struggling to inflate. Even if I hadn’t been tied to the chair, I would have been useless. A bump at the door made everyone turn.

Nanette burst into the room, carried over the shoulder of another massive bouncer. She thumped at his back with her fists, the sound muted, and I was briefly surprised that she was making no other noise, until I saw the bright red gag. The bouncer set her on the floor and whipped the cloth free of her mouth, but stood behind her, holding her securely.

She coughed and spat then looked around the room, recoiled from Alistair and started crying when she saw Dante. “Chuckles,” she sobbed, “oh my God, you came for me.”

I saw relief in his eyes, but his focus zeroed back on to Alistair.

“Let them go.”

“I will give you a choice.” He drew out the last word. It sounded like a snake hissing. “Katherine or Nanette. Which are you going to save?”

Nanette’s broken sobs were the only sound in the room. Dante stood firm. “They both go free. One for Raphael, one for me.”

“No. Raphael was a separate deal. Give yourself to me, and one girl goes free. Make your choice.”

13.14 Josh

How much did I trust Dante?

Did I trust him at all?

So this was Alistair. It had to be the same guy that attacked Dante outside. I hadn’t been imagining the mist swirling around his body, obscuring his face. What the hell was he? Everything about him set my nerves on edge. All my instincts told me to run. I tried to listen to Dante, while weighing my prospects of taking out the little woman standing guard on the door. Even if she was out of action, that still left three enormous bouncers and Alistair to contend with.

Hearing him call me Raphael was a shock. Hearing that Dante had agreed to hand me over was worrying. Had I been set up? Or was it all part of some elaborate ruse to free Katherine and the other girl? I couldn’t be sure.

Deep inside my pocket, my phone vibrated. Everyone stared at Dante, facing up to Alistair. I eased out the phone and glanced at the screen. A text from Suki.
Shit
. I looked up, but nobody paid me any attention. I moved my thumb over the touch screen and read the message:

You ok? Not in the club are u? Pls call me. Urgent! Sxxx

Chapter

~14~

14.1 Dante

I
forced a cocky smile to my face. “I know you want the Talismans, it’s no secret. But,” I paused and drew out the word, “if you don’t let both girls go free, you won’t get mine
or
Raphael’s.”

Alistair chuckled. More mist drifted across his face. “You think you can deny me?”

Show time.
I squared my shoulders and stuck out my chin. “Josh?” I held out a hand and he handed over the ciggy packet. Please God, don’t let me screw up here. “This,” I held it up high, “holds them both. They’re soaked in lighter fluid. One flick of
this,
” I pulled out the Zippo, “and they’ll both burn to ash. Do you want to take that chance?”

The mist thickened around Alistair’s head. “You won’t gamble their lives.”

I moved the lighter closer to the crumpled ciggy packet. Years of winning at poker had taught me when to push and when to back off. “Wanna bet?”

In my peripheral vision, I caught a glimpse of Eve sidling up to stand next to me. I kept my focus on Alistair. The mist had thickened and now looked almost solid, as though it had real substance. I inched the Zippo nearer to the Talismans and flicked open the cap of the lighter. “Let them go.”

Alistair made a sighing noise, and the mist flew outwards in two thick streams, one wrapping around Kitten’s throat, the other around Nan’s.

I gaped. I heard Josh gasp, and then Kitten coughed and wheezed, her eyes wide with fear. Nan tore at her throat, her hands scrabbling at the white strands wrapping tighter.

“You still want to gamble, Dante?”

Kitten’s agonized face and Nan’s moan were more than I could bear. With a sense of impending doom, I recapped the Zippo and shoved it back in my pocket. “Let go.” The shimmering threads continued to squeeze their throats. Kitten’s eyelids fluttered. She was losing consciousness. “Let them the fuck go!” I yelled.

“Choose, Dante. I am losing patience. Choose, or lose them both.”

14.2 Katherine

The room grayed out in front of me, black spots dancing before my eyes. Somewhere in the distance I heard Dante yelling. The pressure on my throat was immense but just as full blown panic set in, it eased. I sucked in a small breath, then a huge one, my lungs wheezing and hurting, as though I had a hot knife in my ribs.

Dante looked agonized. His focus darted back and forth. To me, to Nanette, to Alistair, and then to me again.

“No,” he murmured. His eyes locked on to me.
I love you,
he mouthed. And then he dragged his gaze back to Alistair.

“I’m choosing Nanette.”

14.3 Josh

I felt totally useless. There had to be something I could do. My phone vibrated, and I glanced at the screen. Another text from Suki.

Police are raiding the club tonight. They expect trouble. Stay away. Ring me, babe, Sxxx

It took seconds to access and read the text. My attention was not diverted for long, but in that short space of time everything changed. Again.

Nanette stumbled forward, her tears continuous. “Chuckles, oh baby.” She bent over at the waist and coughed. Her voice was feeble when she spoke next. “Let me see your Talisman. What have you done to it?”

I looked up, puzzled.

Katherine’s mobile face had stilled, her eyes huge and frightened, her lips wobbling. “D-Dante,” she stammered.

He ignored her. Taking a step forward, he held out his free hand, moving the Talismans securely behind him. I guessed he was keeping them away from Alistair. I stashed my phone and stretched out, taking the bracelets back and holding them tight in my fist.

“Come here, Nan.” Dante spoke softly but the girl didn’t move.

“Let me see the Talisman, Chuckles.”

“You don’t need it, Nan, and you’re not having it. Come here.”

Her head whipped up. In her right hand she held a gleaming blade—a butterfly knife. Where the fuck had that come from?

“Just give me the fucking Talisman.” She closed one hand around Katherine’s chin and held the knife to her throat.

14.4 Dante

From the moment Eve reappeared, she hadn’t shut up. “Nanette,” she warned, “choose Nanette.” While I tried to bargain with Alistair, she bounced up and down on her toes, and began to chant. “Nanette. Nanette.” Her voice dug into my brain, relentless and insistent. “Dante, you
have
to choose Nanette. It’s the only way you can get out of this in one piece.” When Alistair demonstrated how powerful he was, and I watched Kitten choking, Eve yelled. “It’s your
only
chance to free Katherine.”

I flicked her the briefest glance. “
No
.” I couldn’t choose. I would find another way.

She stood right in front of me, nose to nose. “For your grandmother, you have to trust me, Dante. Choose Nanette.”

I swallowed. If Eve was wrong… if this was the last time I ever saw Kitten.
I love you
, I mouthed to her.

There was a long moment of confusion when Nan pulled a knife on Kitten—
my fucking knife—
and then my brain ticked over, and the cogs slipped into place, smacking me hard on the way. Nan had been behaving strangely since the messed up séance. She’d asked me about my Talisman. She’d almost certainly spiked my drink at the poker night and planted the dud notes on me.
She had my knife.
An icy chill flew down my spine. Had she stabbed Ash?

A cold hand slapped my cheek. Eve. “Get your head back in the game, boy.” She must have seen my confusion. “You need to touch her. You
need
to make contact with Nanette. Go and ask her for the knife.”

Kitten’s eyes pleaded with me. Stray hairs had escaped from her ponytail and stuck to her forehead. I wanted to smooth them back, to kiss away her fear. I wanted her to get out of this.

I had to trust someone so I paid attention to Eve. I took a deep breath, gulped down the terrified lump in my throat, and stepped forward.

“Nan,” I crooned. “Put down the knife. You can have the Talisman, no problem. But I’m scared you’re going to hurt someone with that thing.” I inched closer. The blade pressed to the base of Kitten’s throat. I could see little beads of blood along the skin, and I balled my fists to prevent swinging out with them.

“Touch her, Dante.” Eve watched as I approached Nan.

Why did I have to touch her? Would the spirit jump to me? Why couldn’t Eve just tell me what was happening here?

“Don’t come any closer.” Nan’s fingers tightened around the knife, and Kitten whimpered. Another drop of blood erupted, a garish bright red in stark contrast to her pale skin.

My gut clenched, but I gritted my teeth and lifted my right hand toward my one-time friend.

“Now!” shrieked Eve.

I snatched at Nan, catching her free arm.

A surge of power shot through my body coming up from my toes and pouring out through my fingertips, channeling into Nanette as she lifted the knife and swung it in my direction.

The last thing I saw was Eve, dissolving into a cloud of gray smoke. There was pain in my shoulder, a blinding flash of light and a boom to rival the loudest clap of thunder…

And then Eve’s voice in my head. “Get rid of him, Dante.”

14.5 Katherine

I was scared to even breathe in case the knife slipped.

Dante’s entire focus lay on Nanette. It looked as though he stumbled and Nanette whipped the blade away, to sink into his shoulder.

I heard the crunching noise as it tore through his leather jacket, then a metallic clatter as it fell to the floor.

A stream of smoke poured out of Nanette’s open mouth a moment before she collapsed.

Dante turned to Alistair, and I saw a flash of metal, a struggle between them for
his
knife. It happened quicker than I could draw breath.

I tried to shout to Dante, but a deafening crash shook the floor and a shower of dust drifted from the ceiling. I blinked as more dust began to rain down around me, covering my head and shoulders. I had dust in my mouth, in my throat. I struggled against the ropes that held me, twisting and turning, looking for the others. Dante lay near me, blood pouring from his shoulder, Nanette a crumpled heap with the bouncers, and there was Josh, face down next to the little Asian woman. I was the only one still conscious.