Souls of the Damned (Kat Redding) (9 page)

Burn cream took away most of the pain, but not all of it. I hissed in a breath as I ran my finger over the tender flesh. My vampire blood was already healing the wound now that I was out from under the sun. I might even be able to walk by the end of the night without screaming in agony with every step.

“Don’t touch it, stupid,” Ethan said, smacking my hand away.

“Kat, I’m so sorry.” Sienna sat on the floor across my bedroom. She was wrapped in the blanket Jeremy had thrown over me to keep my burns from getting worse. “I couldn’t help myself.”

“It’s okay,” I said, forcing a smile. Even that hurt. My face felt chapped. I’d burnt it more than I’d realized.

“Do you think a cold bath would help?” Jeremy asked. “And I really think you should let us check the rest of you over. Sunlight can get through fabric, you know?”

I considered saying something smart about him trying to get me out of my pants, but kept a lid on it. The time for joking had passed.

“I’m fine,” I said. “I just need a little time to heal and I’ll be as good as new.”

“You sort of smelled like fried chicken back there,” Ethan said with a nervous laugh. “Anyone else hungry?”

“Ha, ha.” I smacked him on the arm and winced. My hands hurt too, though they only appeared faintly reddened.

“I couldn’t help myself,” Sienna said again. “It was like I had to leave or I would die.”

Ethan approached her slowly and then sank down beside her. He put a tentative arm around her shoulder. He looked stiff and awkward, like he was afraid she’d reject him. He only eased when she leaned in against him, putting her head on his shoulder.

“What could have caused that?” Jeremy asked. “I mean, she fought so hard, I wasn’t sure you’d be able to stop her.”

“I very nearly couldn’t.” I shifted uncomfortably on the bed. “And it had nothing to do with the sun. It was like she was possessed.” I winced when Sienna cringed. “Sorry.”

Jeremy ran his fingers through his mussed hair. He looked exhausted, as we all did, but I had a feeling there’d be no more sleep for anyone. I was just thankful my body didn’t need sleep. I just needed to rest long enough to let my body heal and I would be able to do something to keep this from ever happening again.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think I’d be able to wait. The burns could take a full day or two to heal completely and I was positive Sienna would have another attack before then. Something needed to be done now.

“Okay,” I said. “So what can we do to keep this from happening again?”

“Lock her up?” Jeremy suggested.

“No freaking way.” Ethan hugged her close to him. “I can stay with her.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “I don’t want to be a bother anymore.”

“You’re not a bother.” Jeremy and Ethan said it at the same time.

“So what can we do?” I asked. “I’m not going to tie her down or lock her up in a cage like an animal. There has to be a way we can stop this from happening.”

We all fell silent. I could feel my pulse in my feet. The ache thumped right along with the blood. I was just thankful I hadn’t been burned enough for my flesh to turn black. It was scorched and blistered, but the blisters were slowly fading. It was a miracle I wasn’t crippled. My feet could easily have burned right off, leaving me with stumps that would never grow back.

“It’s like a mark.” Ethan’s hand ran up and down Sienna’s arm. “Just like a demon mark.”

Sienna sucked in a breath. Her eyes were wide as she looked from face to face. I’d almost forgotten she knew nothing about angels and demons. She might have lived with Levi, but that didn’t mean she knew what he really was.

“It can’t be,” Jeremy said. “He’s not a demon.” He looked to me for verification. I nodded.

“It doesn’t matter,” Ethan said. “They’re from the same place, aren’t they?”

“But . . .” Jeremy trailed off, his face looking troubled.

“He’s right,” I said. “Levi gets his hold onto people and won’t let go. I know what it feels like. I’ve been sick from the urge to go back to Delai and I’d barely spent much time with him compared to Sienna.”

Sienna slipped out of Ethan’s arms and stood, pressing her back against the wall as if she wanted to push her way right through it. “This doesn’t make any sense.” She took a step to the side, moving as if she was trying to put distance between herself and the rest of us.

There was nothing I could do but tell her.

Those few minutes were some of the hardest of my life. The look on Sienna’s face as I told her what Levi really was just about broke my heart. She didn’t trust her stepfather, knew he was doing horrible things, but she never really suspected what he really was.

“If he’s an angel, doesn’t it mean that he’s good?” she asked about halfway through.

“You can’t think of him that way,” I said, knowing how I’d thought pretty much the same damn thing when I’d found out. “He’s just another type of demon.”

She didn’t speak again until I was done talking.

“How do you know all of this?” she asked at a whisper. Her eyes fell on Ethan as if searching for something to grab hold to in the only normal person in the room. “This can’t be true.”

He looked at his hands, which were folded in his lap. I didn’t think he would tell her, but his love—it had to be love—for her shone through and made him unable to lie.

“A demon told us.”

Sienna stared at him in horror.

“I have been marked,” he said. “I was stupid when I was younger and ended up getting myself trapped. I have a compulsion to summon him and work with him, though I do my best to do good with what we do.” He looked up, eyes pleading with Sienna to understand. “I don’t kill people. I don’t hurt anyone.”

“But a demon?” she said with a disbelieving shake of her head. “How could you?”

“He’s helped us,” I said, not sure it would help. “He’s the reason you managed to escape from Delai. He might be a demon, but he’s on our side.”

Jeremy stood silently by the door. He knew about Beligral, knew Ethan dealt with him, but I could tell by the way he stood that he didn’t approve. He frowned at the floor between us, fist clenched.

“I was picked on a lot,” Ethan said in the silence that had fallen.

“Like I said, I was dumb. Someone gave me a book and told me what to do. They told me that it would make my life better, would keep people from hurting me.” He sighed. “I didn’t think it would actually work. I sort of just did it, figuring I could pretend or something, like it was a game. When the demon appeared, I just about crapped myself. I would have turned away then, but it was already too late.”

He glanced at me. I’d never heard the story before now of how he’d become what he was. I’d never asked, figuring it would be too hard to talk about.

“You don’t have to do this,” I said. “We all understand.”

He quirked a smile and looked over at Sienna. “Not all of us.”

He was right, of course. She looked terrified, as if her escape from Levi had put her in the grasp of something far worse.

“Little Ethan Brown,” Ethan said with a bitter laugh. “Who would have ever thought he could do something like this? I was stupid. Still am.”

“No, you’re not,” Sienna said, her fear subsiding as she looked at him. She knelt at his side and rested a hand on his arm. “We all make mistakes.” She tried to smile, but it didn’t come close to reaching her eyes.

“How old were you?” Jeremy asked.

Ethan’s eyes welled as he looked to the ceiling as if for help. Finding none, he shrugged and answered.

“I was eight.”

Jesus Christ, eight? I’d known he was young when he’d first started summoning Beligral, but to think he was only eight years old? How bad had his life been to cause him to resort to summoning demons at such a young age?

While he’d said he didn’t do it on purpose, I also remembered him telling me that someone had to
want
to summon the demon in order for the ritual to work. That meant that while a part of him didn’t believe in it, there was a big part of him that had. What in the world could have happened that forced him down that path? I couldn’t even imagine.

Jeremy broke the silence as he stepped forward. “We should let her go,” he said.

“What?” Ethan and I cried in unison.

“When the next attack happens, we should let her leave.”

“No.” I would have stood and slapped him if I could. “I’m not going to give her back to Levi.”

“It might be best,” Sienna said, her eyes going to my feet. “Look what damage I’ve caused already.”

“No,” I said again. “And that’s final.”

Jeremy smiled. “Who said anything about letting her go back?”

A frown crept across my face. “What do you mean? You just said we should let her go.”

He sat down on the edge of the bed where he could see us all.

“What if we wait for the next time she feels the need to go back and then follow her? You said the road only appears when he wants it to, so if he wants her bad enough, it would appear, right? Then, we can all go in, take care of the bastard, and set her free for good.”

“It’s too risky,” I said. “I won’t risk you or Ethan there. You don’t know what he’s like. He has too much power.”

“Then go alone,” Jeremy said, angrily. He was clearly unhappy I was shutting him out again. “If you want to go back and deal with him, wouldn’t she be your best option?”

I thought about it. The road had never appeared while someone else was with me, but then again, I rarely traveled with anyone. I’d always found the place in the middle of nowhere, on a road only a few people traveled. As far as I remembered, no one had been around when I’d turned onto it.

“You’re not using her as bait,” Ethan said.

“Do we have a choice?” Jeremy countered.

Beligral’s offer flashed through my mind, but I pushed it away. This wasn’t the time to bring that up.

“I’m scared,” Sienna said. “What if only I can see the road?”

Ethan nodded and looked a challenge at Jeremy. “What then, hmm?”

“Then we stop her from going and figure something else out,” he said.

“You can’t,” Ethan all but whined. He stood, looked as if he wanted to hug Sienna close to him, thought better of it, and started pacing instead. “If she were to get away for even a second, you’d lose her. You saw how hard she fought downstairs.”

“We’ll be more prepared this time,” Jeremy said. “Don’t you want to keep this from happening to her again?”

I turned to Ethan. “What happens if we don’t let her go? From what I’ve experienced, the urge is so strong, it can knock me flat on my ass, even on a good day. No offense, but I’m a whole hell of a lot stronger than she is.”

Ethan squeezed his eyes closed and clamped his mouth shut. He refused to look at me.

“Ethan,” I said, gently. “What will happen?”

When he opened his eyes and glared at me, there was real anger there.

“It will kill her,” he said. “If you ignore the mark, or whatever angels call it, long enough, it will kill you. She’ll get sick and suffer horribly until her heart bursts or her brain seizes.”

Sienna looked horrified. Somehow, I’d already known the answer, so I was far more prepared, though my stomach did a small flip at the thought.

“Do we really have any choice?” Jeremy asked again.

Sienna stepped forward, dropping the blanket to the floor. “I’ll do it,” she said. “I can’t go through that again. I can’t suffer like this anymore.”

“Please,” Ethan said. “Don’t.” A tear ran down his cheek.

“I think we have to,” I said. I hated to admit it, but it was probably the only real idea we had outside of doing what the demon wanted. I would only take that route as a last resort and I wasn’t even sure I’d do it then.

“When?” Jeremy asked.

“Tonight,” I answered almost immediately.

“You’re in no condition to do much of anything tonight.” Jeremy frowned at me.

“We can’t keep waiting. If she makes a break for it tonight, I won’t be able to stop her. It would be better if we did this now rather than waiting and risk letting her get away while I’m laid up in bed.”

How I was going to deal with Levi, I had no idea. Maybe once I was back in Delai, I’d be able to find his summoner right away and put an end to him for good.

Either that, or I’d fall under the angel’s control. I was willing to take that chance if it stopped Sienna from ever having to go back.

“I’ll be fine,” I said before anyone could protest. “The blisters are almost gone. By this evening, I’ll be walking.”

Ethan gave me a pained look, but didn’t argue any further. Sienna made sure of that.

She walked over to him and rested a hand on his wrist. He looked at her, their faces mere inches apart.

“We have to do this,” she said, her voice low. “I can’t live like this any longer.”

Ethan’s shoulders sagged and he nodded. “Okay.” His jaw firmed. “But we’re going to make sure there are no accidents.” He glared hard at me. “If you lose her . . .”

“I know,” I said. “I won’t let it happen.”

Ethan turned and walked angrily out of the room, presumably to get things prepared for later.

“Go with him,” I told Jeremy. He gave me a quick nod and followed after him.

Sienna and I were left alone. She looked at me for a long minute before sitting down on the bed. For the first time, I really think she realized how dangerous things had become for not just her, but all of us.

“You’ll stop me if I try to go, right?” she asked. Her voice trembled and she was practically shaking herself apart.

“I stopped you before,” I said, forcing a smile. “And I’ll keep doing it until you are safe. I promise.”

She smiled and hugged me. “That’s why I came to you. I knew you’d save me.”

I hugged her back, basking in her warmth. For her sake, I hoped she was right, because if I failed and Levi got hold of her again, I wouldn’t just lose her; I would lose Ethan too.

“Where are we going?”

I eased into the front seat of Jeremy’s car with a wince. My feet were killing me, though I could walk on them well enough to get from place to place. How I was going to deal with Levi like this, I had no idea, but I wasn’t about to wait. The next time Sienna made a run for it, we might not be ready. I wasn’t going to take that chance, no matter how bad I felt.

“We’re going to wait for the road to appear.”

Sienna stood just outside the car, looking into the backseat like it was a cage. I didn’t blame her. We were going to do whatever it took to keep her trapped inside, so in a way, it was a cage, but it was there to protect her, not to hold her hostage against her will.

“When I left, I ended up here. Why do we have to leave to do that?”

I looked down at the slippers on my feet. They were the only thing I could get on them without agonizing pain. I was just thankful they didn’t have bunny ears on them like Pablo’s. That would have been too hard.

“We told you about the road,” I said. It had taken a good hour to explain it to her. It was strange to think that she’d lived in Delai most, if not all, of her life and knew so little about it. “It can appear anywhere.”

“So why not here?” She crossed her arms over her chest. It looked defensive, not petulant.

“It’s safer if we do it elsewhere,” I said. I wasn’t sure if the watcher from last night was still out there or not. I wasn’t going to risk finding out at the worst possible time.

Sienna gave me an uncertain look before getting into the backseat of the car.

I closed my door, hoping I was doing the right thing. While it would definitely be easier to this right outside my home, I didn’t like the idea of doing anything here anymore. Too many people knew where I lived. Oddly, I felt more secure out in the middle of nowhere than I did in my own backyard. How awful was that?

Ethan stood at the kitchen door, looking for all the world like he wanted to go. He watched Sienna as if his will alone could save her. He’d very nearly tried to make a go of it, but one look outside caused him to change his mind. His agoraphobia was kicking in at probably one of the worst times possible. I imagine his fear for Sienna wasn’t helping matters any.

Jeremy slid into the driver’s seat next to me. He hesitated, keys still in hand, and looked at me. “You sure this is what you want to do?”

“I’m sure.”

“We could always do this later.”

“We’re doing this.”

He frowned. “I don’t like leaving,” he said. “I could always check the grounds before we start.”

“And what happens if she has an attack while you’re out?” I asked. “This is better. Trust me.”

With a sigh, Jeremy slid the key into the ignition. The car roared to life and we were on our way.

We’d planned all afternoon about how to do this and yet I still wasn’t sure this was the best way to go about it. I’d seen the road to Delai in one place and one place only, so I felt better about looking for it there. I knew it could appear anywhere, including at the end of my own driveway, but I just couldn’t wrap my brain around the idea of finding it anywhere else.

Outside the slippers, I was wearing my usual attire, including all of my weapons. I’d brought along an extra gun and handed it to Jeremy before we’d left the house, just in case he’d need it. There was no telling how this would go and I’d rather he was prepared than to leave him unarmed and vulnerable.

The gun rested at his waist. He’d found a belt holster somewhere, and while it was too big for the gun, it worked well enough. I wasn’t sure if he’d brought it with him when he’d moved in or if Ethan had one lying around somewhere. He looked kind of like a cowboy in his jeans and white T. All that was missing were the boots and hat.

“I have the child locks engaged,” he said as we headed down the road. “There’s no way she’s going to get out.”

I glanced back. Sienna sat with her arms crossed, eyes peering out the window. She was wide-eyed with wonder, marveling at the sights. It was hard to remember that she’d never seen the world outside of Delai.

“Are you certain?” I said, turning back to him. I’d considered riding in back with her, but decided against it. Not only would I be crowding her, but I’d also be putting my weapons within easy reach. There was no telling what she’d do while in the throes of her agony.

He shrugged, turning off onto another road. “Unless she has superhuman strength, she’s not getting out.”

I wasn’t convinced, but it was all we had.

We rode the rest of the way in silence. I was worried we would get there and nothing would happen. She’d had her attack this afternoon. Levi might not try to draw her back again until tomorrow.

But we had to try. I refused to sit on my ass and wait around for the next moment when she’d start screaming and thrashing about. I needed to be doing something.

I half expected the road to be sitting there waiting for us when we arrived, but all I could see was the same old empty field. Jeremy pulled off the road, but left the engine running and the lights on. He turned in his seat and gave me an expectant look.

“We wait,” I said, eyes straying to the emptiness. I shifted my legs and hissed in a breath as my foot bumped the floor.

“We could do this another night,” Jeremy said again. “You really don’t look up to it tonight.”

“I’m fine. Once things start happening, I won’t even notice the pain.”

Jeremy snorted. “Right. There isn’t an off switch for pain, you know. You’re allowed to admit you’re not ready or that you’re hurting. I won’t hold it against you.”

I looked pointedly away.

“Fine,” he said. “Will you at least let me go with you? Right now, I’m faster than you. If there’s a chase, you’ll need me.”

I ground my teeth together. I didn’t like the idea of putting Jeremy at risk in Delai. If Levi realized he was there, all it would take is a thought and he could turn the wolf against me.

But what choice did I have? He was right; I couldn’t run after anyone as I was. If I was going to be stubborn enough to do this while I was hurting, then I should use every weapon I had at my disposal, which included Jeremy. If we were careful, Levi might not even know he was there until it was too late.

Besides, I’d been promising him I’d take him with me sometime. The guy needed to feel useful. It was killing him to sit at home while I put myself in danger. This was the perfect opportunity to allow him to take part.

“Okay,” I said, glancing out the window. I couldn’t meet his eyes as I said it.

“Okay?”

“You can come.”

“Really?” He sat up straighter in his seat. “Wow.”

I bit my lip. “Don’t make me regret this.” I peeked at him to see him grinning ear to ear. I was
so
going to regret this.

Sienna sat silently in the back. She wouldn’t look up and when I tried to talk to her, she simply shook her head. She was terrified she’d get loose somehow and Levi would have her. We both knew she wouldn’t manage to escape him again, with or without the demon’s help.

“It’ll be okay,” I told her, which earned me another shrug.

“How long do you think we have to wait?” Jeremy asked. “It’s not going to be night forever. We’ll have to get you home eventually.”

“I know that,” I said. “We have time.” We’d left at first dark, so it wasn’t like we were running out of time. “If we are forced to head home before she’s called, we can take her to my room and keep a close eye on her. Then we’ll try again tomorrow night.”

I could read Jeremy’s thoughts behind his eyes. If I wasn’t there, they could wait forever if need be. Werewolves weren’t bothered by the sun like vampires. In a way, I was their weakness.

Of course, that made me think of Jonathan. This would have been so much easier if he’d been here. He could have brought Keira and Nathan along and sat with Sienna. They could have kept her safe when I couldn’t.

Instead, he was hiding away at Doctor Lei’s, pretending like the world wasn’t spinning around him. The thought had me seething. I didn’t hate him for it. In fact, I understood where he was coming from. I also knew that when I’d run away from my problems, things only got worse.

A little over an hour had passed when Sienna gasped in the backseat. I spun around to face her. Pain lanced through my leg as my foot whacked the door, but none of that mattered. Sienna was clutching at her head, trembling.

“It’s happening,” I told Jeremy, who’d been lost in thought and hadn’t heard her gasp.

Sienna looked ill as she began to make a low keening sound. Tears ran down her face. Her teeth were clenched so hard, the muscles of her face seemed to push out from her skin.

I turned to the window, heart hammering. I stared hard at the empty field, waiting for the road to appear. The moment it did, I was going to make a run for it. Levi might not want me back, but he sure as hell was going to get me.

Seconds ticked by. Nothing happened.

“Damn it,” I cursed, looking away.

Jeremy looked like he wanted to drive off now that the moment had arrived. His hand was tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel.

“Do you know when it’s going to happen?” he asked.

“I don’t know.”

Sienna jerked upright, drawing both our eyes. There was a terror in her face that caused my blood to run cold. We’d made sure there was nothing in the backseat she could use as a weapon, but I was seriously beginning to wonder if this had been a bad idea.

She grabbed the door handle and yanked hard a few times before scrabbling for the locks. They were flush with the door, so there was no way she was going to get them unlocked with just her fingers.

“It’ll be okay,” I told her, knowing deep down that it wasn’t. “Just focus. Can you feel him?”

She started to nod, but her head jerked back and she hissed in a breath as another stab of pain hit her. Her chest was rising and falling so fast, I was afraid she might hyperventilate or worse, stroke out.

“Kat?” Jeremy asked nervously at my side.

It was then Sienna screamed.

The sound reverberated through the car, causing both Jeremy and I to jump. It had sounded inhuman. When the sound stopped, my ears continued ringing.

Sienna’s head lowered. Her face was blank, though her eyes burned with need as she looked at me.

“I have to go,” she said.

She moved fast. Before I could so much as shout out a warning, Sienna darted forward and grabbed Jeremy’s gun right out of its holster. She spun, aimed, and with five rapid-fire shots, blew out the back window. She was through it before the echo of the shots had ceased.

“What the fuck!” Jeremy shouted. He looked at his side, found the empty holster, and gave me a look of absolute horror. “How?”

I didn’t have time to answer. I hit the locks and threw open the car door. Sienna was already up and running. She was bleeding from cuts on her knees and hands caused by the busted window. My hunger rose, but I squashed it with fear. If she got away, I’d never see her again.

I leapt out of the car and immediately went to my knees with a cry. It had felt like I’d tried to run on molten lava peppered with broken glass. The skin might have healed most of the way, but there was still a lot of damage to the underlying tissue. There was absolutely no way I was going to catch Sienna in time.

Thankfully, Jeremy was there. He was out of the car and past me in a flash. Sienna cried out as he hit her from behind. They both went down hard and for a moment, I was worried he’d seriously hurt her, but she started thrashing beneath him almost immediately.

And that’s when I saw the road.

The sign was right where I remembered it. I thought I detected headlights coming toward us, but it was hard to tell. It was like I was looking at it through a haze. The road had appeared for Sienna, not me. I wasn’t even sure I could walk through the blurred air. It very well might repel me if I tried.

Ignoring the pain, I pushed my way to my feet. I had to try. I needed to get to Delai, put an end to Levi, no matter the cost. I was so focused on the road, I very nearly didn’t hear Jeremy call my name.

He was lying on the ground, holding his side. Sienna was picking herself up a few feet away from him.

“Damn it,” I said, altering my course. Sienna could
not
reach that road.

My injuries slowed me. I ran for all I was worth, but it wasn’t fast enough. Sienna reached the sign and looked about to step onto the road when she hesitated. Something of her fear must have broken through the agony Levi was causing because she stopped, foot in the air, and looked back at me. A single tear trailed down her cheek, almost as if she knew this was the end.

That second was all I needed.

With a scream that was part pain and part determination, I hit Sienna hard in the side with my shoulder, knocking her away from the road. We both went down together and rolled a few feet away. Sienna screamed at me and hit me so hard in the gut, I swear she’d used a sledgehammer. I grunted in pain, but refused to relinquish my hold.

“No,” I gasped, barely able to breathe, let alone speak.

Sienna fought beneath me. I could hear the rumble of an engine approaching and was positive Levi was a few yards away from us. I would have drawn my gun if I could, but if I were to take a hand from the girl, she’d be gone.

Sienna went limp as a door thumped shut.

“Is everything all right here?” A light shone over us.

I turned my head to find not Levi, but an older man wearing a ball cap and overalls. He held a shotgun and it was aimed in my general direction without appearing threatening. The light was coming from the passenger side of the truck where an elderly woman held a flashlight. The truck wasn’t in Delai, but rather parked behind Jeremy’s car.

“We’re fine,” Jeremy said, standing. He winced and was still holding his side, but otherwise looked okay. “Our daughter . . .” He faltered and shrugged. “She’s trying to meet her were boyfriend.”

“I see,” the older man said. He eyed each of us in turn. “You okay, miss?” He aimed the last at Sienna.

She nodded and somehow managed a smile. “I’m okay.”

I stood and helped Sienna to her feet. The road was gone. We’d missed our chance.