Immortal Grave (16 page)

“Should we split up? Hit two houses at once?” Melanie was staring at the house, her mouth pressed into a line so tight her lips were white.

“You’re right. That way if the others get news of it, they won’t be able to portal out before we get two houses down.” Ree nodded her head.

“I’m staying with you.” Melanie looked at Ree with determined eyes. “I want to watch these jerks burn.”

Ree appraised her friend for a long minute before nodding her head. She turned to look at the rest of the group. Paden starred at her intently, and she knew he was worried she would send him with Weylin and the others. There was no doubt in her mind it would only cause a fight, and that was the last thing they needed.

“Who brought explosives?”

“That would be me. I’m demo.” Weylin reached into the bag he had looped over one shoulder. Drawing out two small devices, he held them up for everyone to see. “Stick it to the wall and press the button in the center. You’ve got twenty seconds to get the hell out of the way.”

“Roland, can you, Bryce, and Juliette handle the other house?” Ree looked at Roland steadily. She was worried about the conflicting emotions that rolled off of him any time he looked at her or Melanie. Frustration, confusion, and pain tore at him, and it made Ree beyond nervous to see Roland—the rock—so mixed up. He bowed his head in understanding and moved toward the next rooftop. Ree turned her gaze to Juliette. “I want you with them because you can use your gift if everything goes wrong.” Juliette nodded her head and silently followed Roland and Bryce.

“Okay.” Ree sat down with her back against the wall. “Now we wait.” She closed her eyes and blocked all of the emotions around her. She waited for the cold trickle that signaled approaching Dark Ones.

It wasn’t long before she had a tingle of warning. She opened her eyes to see the purple and light pink of sunrise brightening the sky. Her eyes went to Paden’s first, and he looked at Ree with a calm that made her even more relieved to have him with her. Weylin was running his thumb over the leather wrapped around the handle of his dagger. Ree turned and peeked over the edge of the wall just in time to see the Dark Ones turn the corner. The one in the center was laughing, his hands miming something in front of him. Melanie shifted next to Ree and growled low in her throat.

The female Dark One closest to the building stopped and sniffed the air. She said something quietly to the others and they all looked around. Ree ducked down, pulling Melanie with her. She forced Melanie to look her in the eyes and raised her eyebrows. Ree needed to know if Melanie could handle this, because she was fairly sure Mel couldn’t. Melanie nodded her head and looked at Paden over Ree’s shoulder. Apparently he was telling her to get herself together. Ree hoped she hadn’t been wrong about bringing Melanie.

 Ree closed her eyes and listened to see if she could hear anything from the Dark Ones. They were arguing, but apparently the leader thought she’d heard a human. The rising sun made the decision moot. There wasn’t enough time for the Dark Ones to check out the situation, and the big guy from the center wasn’t willing to send the darklings away from the house to investigate. Ree opened her eyes when she heard them enter the house and slam the door.

“They’re in.” Paden barely breathed the words, knowing if they could hear the Dark One’s whispered argument, the Dark Ones could hear them.

“Sun all the way up.” Ree pointed at the shadows along the roof before pointing to the ground in front of them. “Stay.”  She looked at Melanie and Weylin and held her finger to her lips. At the rate their attempted arson was progressing, they’d have done more damage throwing flaming dog poo at the front door.

Weylin crouched down next to Melanie and put a hand on her shoulder. She looked at him and nodded her head in some unspoken conversation. They seemed to understand each other’s grief more than anyone else could. Deciding she would let them comfort each other, Ree sat back down on the wall and concentrated on their surroundings.

Once she could see the pink glow of the sun through her eyelids, she opened her eyes and looked at the others. Standing up, she ran for the edge of the building and jumped to the next roof. They all climbed over the railing on the back side and made their way for the house. Paden leaned around the corner and checked out the area before they headed to the empty house next to the Dark Ones’.

Ree noted the darkling loitering in the living room, along with a darkling on the front and back porch. The emotions they exuded made her want to take a long, hot shower. She didn’t know what they were doing in there, but she didn’t want anything to do with it. In fact, she was starting to wonder if any of them were worth saving. Weylin wanted the explosive as close to the center as they could get. Ree could feel the cold, dead spots congregated in the center as far from windows as possible. She knew they were out, literally, so her friends only needed to deal with the darklings.

Ree shrugged out of her jacket and pulled the rubber band out of her ponytail. If she could tempt the darklings away from the house, it would be easier for Weylin to slip in unnoticed.

“Melanie, take your sweater off.” Ree pulled her shirt down so it hung as low as possible and looked at her friend. “We’ll tempt the ones on the front porch away. Weylin, slip inside and set up the explosive. Paden, watch for more trouble.”

Melanie pulled her sweater off, revealing a little tank top. Carefully, she tied the sweater around her hips to conceal the knives she shoved in her pockets. She ran a hand through her hair and nodded at Ree.

“I don’t like this.” Paden stared at Ree and she could feel his lust mixed with his concern. It made her shiver, but she knew this was the best way.

“We’ll be fine.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Let’s go.” She stepped away and grabbed Melanie’s hand, laughing loudly. On their way out of the little alley, Melanie swooped down and grabbed an empty beer can.

“Nah-ah!” Melanie leaned on Ree’s shoulder and grinned up at her friend. It was spooky to see the loopy expression on Mel’s face, combined with the seething emotions underneath.

“He did! He totally did!” Ree laughed again and pretended to trip a little on the broken sidewalk. “Stupid piece of crap.”

“Naughty!” Melanie laughed. She held up the beer can but frowned before turning it upside down and shaking it. “Oh no!”

“You are so drunk!” Ree cackled.

“Not drunk enough.” Melanie threw the empty can and pretended to be shocked when it hit the porch in front of the darklings.  “Oh my gosh. My bad!” She covered her mouth and giggled.

One of the darklings leaned down and picked up the can before leering at Melanie and Ree. “Looks like you two had a fun night.”

“The bestest!” Ree shook her head so her hair fell over her shoulders and she smiled up at the men. She had never tried to be coy, but she had a feeling it wasn’t going to take much to entice the goons.

“Why let it end? I think we’ve got some drinks.” The larger one sat down on the edge of the porch and patted a spot next to him.

“Mom says we aren’t supposed to talk to strangers.” Melanie giggled.

“What kind of drinks?” Ree hollered.

“Oh, a bunch of different kinds. Why don’t you come up here and pick something out.” The big darkling leaned forward and gave a nasty grin. Ree could see the red welts on his neck and wrist where he had recently been bitten.

“I don’t know. Your friend doesn’t look like he’s much fun.” Melanie pointed at the other darkling, who was leaning against the house as if bored. He looked at Melanie and smiled. Ree traced the collar of her shirt with her fingers and winked at the thin darkling.  She felt his eyes run over her body and his lustful response. It disgusted her, but she needed them distracted. Walking forward, she swayed her hips as much as possible and licked her lips.

“I think he looks like fun.” Ree stepped onto the bottom step.

“Looks like you found a friend.” The other darkling laughed loudly and turned toward his accomplice.

The thin darkling stepped into the light and smiled down at Ree. He was missing a bottom tooth and smelled like a sewer. He grabbed Ree’s hand and pulled her close to him. She giggled and squirmed when he leaned his head closer and sniffed.

“You smell like sex.” He didn’t let go of her hand but looked down at her with a new intensity.

Ree gasped, partly in an honest response and partly because she needed to keep up the charade. She pretended to try to pull out of his grasp but he held tight. He leaned down close to her face, and she tried to not gag at his terrible breath.

“That would be okay with me. If you didn’t also smell like a godling.” He tried to throw her against the wall, but she held on to his arm.

“That’s because I am one.” Ree deftly freed the dagger strapped under her shirt and held it to his neck. 

“This didn’t go quite like we hoped.” Melanie was standing over the other darkling, who was unconscious and drooling on the dirty floor boards.

The darkling hissed at Ree and tried to break her hold. She pushed him against the house so no one would be able to see her knife from the street. Weylin ran toward them, his pack strap clutched in his hand so it wouldn’t make any noise. He jumped onto the porch and looked at the two darklings.

“Better get them out of here.” He ducked through the front door without another word.

“Let’s go.” Ree pushed the darkling toward the street. He turned to fight her, his eyes crazed.

“What is he doing?” He fought Ree with all of his might and she had a hard time not stabbing him with her knife.

“Quit it. Or you’ll die too.”

“What do you think he’s doing?” Melanie hefted the unconscious darkling onto her shoulders and glared at the one Ree was holding on to.

“My wife. My wife is in there.” His voice was frantic and his eyes had turned to the angry black a darkling wore when ready to attack.

Chapter Nineteen

“There are no humans in there.” Ree said. For a moment she felt sorry for the disgusting creature in her arms as she fought him down the steps.

“She’s a Dark One! You’re trying to kill my wife!”

Ree’s heart stopped and she looked at Melanie. Her friends’ face was a frozen mask of horror, matching the cold sensation in Ree’s stomach. Weylin barreled out of the door, grabbed the guy Ree was fighting, and helped drag him away. They pulled the incensed man down the road and into the shadow of the alley. Paden was only a few seconds behind them. Blood was splattered on his shirt and his face was grim. As soon as he cleared the entrance to the alley, the house exploded. Dust, debris, and smoke filled the street. Weylin let go of the darkling and ducked back out to make sure all of the Dark Ones were destroyed.

The darkling howled in fury and fought free of Ree’s grip. He tried to run out into the alley, but Paden caught hold of his shirt and threw him to the ground. “What is his problem?”

“His wife was a Dark One.” Melanie looked down at the darkling starting to stir by her feet.

“Oh, shit.” Paden looked at Ree, his eyes a little wide.

“Let me go to her!” The darkling pulled himself up.

“It’s done.” Weylin walked into the alley and covered his ears when the darkling howled in pain. “Dude, you were hitting on teenage girls. It can’t be that serious.”

“I was getting her dinner.” The darkling snarled and tried to run at Weylin. “You killed her. You killed my wife.”

“No, I didn’t. Someone else did that a while ago.” Weylin grabbed the guys’ arms and penned him to the wall. In the distance, another explosion sounded, and their group looked at one another. They needed to get back to the boat before the place was crawling with cops.

“You have a choice.” Paden looked at the darkling over Weylin’s shoulder. You can let Ree take your taint away, or we end this all now. We don’t have time to fight.”

“Don’t touch me. We chose this! This was our way out.” The madman fought harder and managed to pull one of the knives out of the sheath of Weylin’s waist. He stabbed Weylin in the gut and tried to slash at his neck, but Weylin reacted quickly. Using both hands, he grabbed the darklings’ head and snapped his neck.

“Weylin!” Melanie rushed over and pulled his shirt up. The wound was puckered and angry, but starting to heal. Paden walked over and placed his hand over the red slash for just a moment.

“We’ve got to go. I can hear the sirens.” Paden nodded his head at Weylin and turned to look at Ree. She let her gaze fall on the dead darkling and felt hollow inside. She looked at the larger darkling that had finally woken up.

“It’s your turn to decide.” Ree looked down into his eyes and knew the moment he made his decision. As he launched himself from the pavement, Ree raised her hand and sent him careening into the wall. The crunching sound of his skull meeting brick made Ree angry. Angry she had been put in a position to hear it. Angry she had been put in a position to cause it. Turning on her heel, she sprinted out of the alley and toward the boat. She didn’t want to think about it anymore. She just wanted to get out of that alley and make sure her friends were all safe. The soft sounds of her friends’ feet following closely behind her was reassuring.

Paden slid next to her and laced his fingers with hers as they ran. He was offering the only assurance he could, and Ree was willing to take it. She felt the other group of her friends nearing them as they ran. Eventually, she caught sight of Roland as he slipped into their group. When they neared the edge of the city Ree slowed down to a walk.

“I think we should hit one more.” She squeezed Paden’s hand, because she knew it was going to bother him.

“The city is crawling with cops. And very likely gods now too.” Paden looked down at Ree, his eyes serious.

“The cops will be paying attention to the two houses we already destroyed and the gods will be waiting for us to run back to the island.” Ree stopped and looked at all of them. “We hit one more house. I’m tired of running. I’m ready for a little payback.”

“Ree, this is dangerous.” Roland stood behind Paden, his eyes intense. “There are a lot of things that could go wrong.”