Sunset to Sunrise (11 page)

“If angels are protecting the churches with the most to guard, what makes Shya think I can walk in and find the object he seeks? Wouldn’t the angel stop me?” Something didn’t feel right. I was starting to get the feeling Shya had sent me on an errand he knew I might not come back from.

“Possibly,” Brook answered, tapping out a few macabre notes on the organ. “It’s more likely that they would silently watch you pass right by, unaware. Only another creature of light can retrieve it.”

“Like Alexa?”

Brook’s mocking smile grew, and he shook his head in silent refusal. “No more chit chat. We have work to do.”

Demons are very good at what they do. I was both confused and afraid. I knew better than to ask anything further. Not only would Brook tell Shya I’d been asking, he might even start twisting his answers just to fuck with me. They couldn’t be trusted.

The next several hours were spent going from one address to the next. Most of them, Brook had no problem walking into, which made me insanely curious about those that stopped him dead in his tracks. The last church we went to was one of these.

I hid a smug grin as I left him standing at the car. Excitement surged through me. As I let myself into the building, I secretly hoped to encounter the angel that stood guard.

It took me a moment to realize it wasn’t empty. There was a human here still. Leaving was my only option if I wished to remain unseen. I turned to go and found him standing there behind me, eyes wide, hands held up in surrender.

“Please,” he stammered, at a loss for words. “Don’t hurt me. Not here in the church.”

“I’m not here to harm you,” I said, taking advantage of the opportunity to talk. “I’m looking for something. Maybe you can help me.”

The man’s clerical collar spoke volumes. He might not have been an angel, but he served the same side. Maybe I could level with him, tell him the truth. The knowing look in his eyes told me he knew just what I was. That might make this easier.

“Do you have a name?” I asked the ashen faced man.

“Father Andrew.” Boldly, he offered me a hand that was calm and steady, despite his pale appearance. “Whatever it is you’re seeking, it isn’t here.”

I scrutinized him. From his carefully combed hair to the shine of his shoes, Father Andrew was squeaky clean. The telltale scent of fear surrounded him, but it was accompanied by a determined set to his shoulders and a fierce readiness in his eyes.

“You know exactly what I’m here for, don’t you?” I was glad Brook couldn’t come inside, but if I lingered too long, he would grow suspicious.

Father Andrew nodded. “Shya sent you.”

“He did,” I admitted. “But I don’t serve him. What he wants is something I need to ensure he never gets his hands on.”

Father Andrew was understandably skeptical. I wouldn’t have believed me either if our roles were reversed. “I can’t help you.”

“I think you can. You know something. I know you do.” I felt a sudden desperation to connect with this man. Staring hard at him, trying to find a way to gain his trust, I felt it. Demon power.

I grasped his arm and jerked his sleeve up, exposing the demon mark etched into his flesh. It was a perfect match to the one Alexa bore.

“What is this?” I demanded.

“It’s the price I paid to save a friend,” he spoke through gritted teeth. “I will not help Shya in his quest. If that’s why you’re here, I beg you just kill me and get it over with.”

“Goddammit, listen to me. I am not here on his behalf, but there’s a demon outside who is. He can’t enter. I can. So let’s take advantage of this and work together. Please.” My voice dropped as I became aware of its volume in the large but painfully quiet building. “My friend, she bears the same mark you have. She took it for me. Shya wants to use her as a sacrifice once he obtains the scroll. I can’t allow it to happen. I owe her.”

Father Andrew blinked at me in sudden realization. “Alexa? The Hound? Is that who you’re talking about?”

“You know her?”

“I do. We spoke. Once. She came here to have me bless a very old cross pendant.”

I had to turn away for a moment then. Emotion battered at me. That cross had been a gift, from me to her, for her birthday. Hearing this from the priest brought me such relief and grief all at once that I quickly became overwhelmed.

“She’s in danger,” I finally managed to say. “That scroll needs to be found and either hidden or destroyed before Shya can use it.”

“I’m not sure it’s that simple.” Father Andrew held his hands up in uncertainty. “I don’t know where it is.”

I turned in a slow circle, surveying the grand church. There was an angel here somewhere. Did the priest know that?

I must have stood there in silence for some time because the priest laid a gentle hand on my shoulder. “She is a rare but vital creature. Most of the Hounds were killed many years ago. If anyone can foil Shya’s plans, it is Alexa.”

“But how?”

“That I do not know. All we can do is watch, pray and be ready.”

I met the dark eyes of the grey haired man. There was much understanding and awareness in their depths. He smiled, a curve of the lips that was supposed to be gentle and encouraging. It just made me feel like shit though.

“I’ll leave the praying to you, Father.”

I turned to leave, feeling like I’d come so close to finding someone who could help only to have it yanked away. A tease.

“Can I ask your name?” He called after me.

“Kale Sinclair,” I said with a shrug. I had nothing to hide.

“I don’t need to tell you there are dark forces at work in this city, Mr. Sinclair. What I can tell you, though, is that we all must choose a side and stand ready to fight.”

As I looked back at him then, my self-deprecating chuckle echoed around us. “I’m a vampire, Father. I don’t think I get to choose a side.”

“Of course you do. You came into this world a man and you will one day leave it as one.” His voice followed me out. “By not choosing, you have already chosen. Don’t let it be so.”

It took everything in me to muster a poker face and keep it firmly in place. I was certain Brook would see right through me when I told him I had found nothing. He shrugged, caring little, more than ready to be done with this treasure hunt for one night.

“
If I were Shya, I wouldn’t be looking in the most obvious places,” Brook mused, crushing a cigarette on the edge of the church lawn with his heel.

“Neither would I.” It had already occurred to me that this was nothing but a wild goose chase, a way to keep one or both of us busy and out of Shya’s way, for whatever reason. Or perhaps we were simply a distraction for someone else. Either way, I kept my theories to myself.

My phone rang, a steady vibration in my pocket. I knew when I saw Justin’s number that this was a call I didn’t want to receive.

“Kale, buddy, we’ve got a problem. There’s a group of vamps in here trashing the place. It’s getting hard to handle with so many humans present. There’s already been a casualty.” Justin was almost drowned out by background noise. It sounded out of control.

“That stupid bitch,” I muttered to myself. Rebecca had to be behind this. She must have been more attached to Phillip than she let on. “Do what you can. I’ll be right there.”

I was expecting the worst. Brook vanished after promising to check in with Shya, leaving me free to deal with whatever was happening at The Wicked Kiss. That place had been off the rails since Alexa went out of town.

After spending most of the night with a demon hunting down an item I hoped would never be found, I wasn’t in the mood to see what the last of Phillip’s rebellion were doing to the club I shared with Alexa. She’d been so sure something like this would happen on my watch. The last thing I wanted was to prove her right.

Human patrons were pouring out the front door when I pulled into the nightclub parking lot. A loud bang accompanied their hasty exit.

The scent of gunpowder greeted me as I passed through the lobby. I stopped short in the entryway, a string of my favorite obscenities on my lips.

The Wicked Kiss had seen its share of damage. I wasn’t sure it had ever been this bad though. This was a three day clean up at least. Furniture had been reduced to rubble. Tables, chairs, even one of the couches behind the bar, all of them smashed into several pieces. The couch might have even been set aflame from the looks of the remains. The air was smoky.

I didn’t have a lot of time to take in the rest. Justin and his small but usually effective security team had managed to subdue three vampires. As suspected, Rebecca was among them, wearing a haughty smile.

“Let her go,” I said to Justin who had pinned her arms behind her back.

He released her with a shrug. She stood there, fearless and arrogant. I barely resisted the urge to smack her.

“I guess you changed your mind about that whole no ill intent thing.” My body hummed with power. If she tried to run, she wouldn’t make it out the door.

“It appears to be that way, doesn’t it?” She exchanged a smug look with her companions, neither of which seemed to share her confidence. “The least I could do for Phillip after what you did to him was refuse to be silenced. He was right. You’re part of the problem.”

Exchanging barbs with Rebecca was beneath me. So instead I backhanded her. She flew across the room, landing in a tangle of limbs. It wasn’t enough to keep her down though. She rushed me with a strangled cry, hurling her full weight against me. I was ready for it. I leaned into it, using her momentum to flip her across my back where she hit the floor hard beside me.

Placing a boot on her chest, I laughed. “You are a prime example of what happens when vampires have too much time on their hands.”

“Oh that’s rich coming from the poster boy for vampires gone insane,” she snapped. “Your head is so far up that werewolf’s ass, you can’t see the light. You can’t be trusted, Kale.”

“I’m a vampire, bitch. None of us can be trusted.” With an anger-fueled shout, I reached down and tore Rebecca’s head from her body. It took great effort, but the end result was satisfying.

I brushed the dust from my hands and turned to the remaining two vampires. Before I could deliver a similar punishment, there was an explosion of light and a deafening boom.

I was airborne. Landing in the sharp and potentially deadly remains of a smashed table, I did my best to protect my face and chest. With a groan, I hauled myself up. Justin lay sprawled several feet away. The vampire who had been stupid enough to blow himself up was nothing but dust. His buddy had gone out along with him. Unfortunately, he’d taken one of our guys down too.

“What the fuck was that?” Justin wore a dazed expression. Placing a hand to his head, he frowned when it came away wet with blood.

“That was someone who never should have been a vampire.” I drew closer to the point of explosion, finding myself disoriented. The stage had collapsed. Good thing the band had bailed out a while ago.

“Is this a bad time to tell you that Alexa’s flying home tonight?” A drunken voice broke through the ringing in my ears, and I turned to find Willow in his usual seat at the bar, bottle in hand.

“You’re kidding me. Have you been here all night?”

“Nope. Just arrived.” He picked through the tray of limes, frowning as he tossed some aside. “And no, I’m not joking. They caught a flight back tonight. But hey, it looks like you’ve managed to deal with that pesky little rogue vampire problem.”

I exchanged a look with Justin who shrugged his broad shoulders. He had no worries. We both knew I’d be the one to catch hell for this.

The club had emptied out save for a few stragglers in the lobby. If Alexa arrived home tonight she would likely head straight home. Which meant I had until tomorrow night to clean this place up. It would never happen. Not without a miracle.

“Are these organic?” Willow held up a lime wedge, scrutinizing it with bloodshot eyes. “I don’t think they are. They taste funny.”

“I don’t know,” I muttered, unable to focus on the drunk angel and his ridiculous question. I threw my hands up, frustrated and ready to tear my hair out. “Where do I even start?”

Sunrise wasn’t far off. Most of the night had passed while I searched church after church when I should have been protecting my club. Rebecca’s death had been too easy. If only I could have dragged it out a little.

“I’ll stay all day to help you clean up,” Justin offered. A lazy grin spread over his face, revealing pearl white fangs. He pointed to a woman standing in the lobby, staring at her phone. “I just need a little pick me up before I get started.”

I followed his gaze to the lobby, spying a pair of brunettes waiting for a cab. “That’s not a bad idea. Thanks, J. You’re a good man.”

The disaster surrounding me was temporarily forgotten. With two potential playmates in sight, I had only one thing on my mind. Fucking and feeding. I was screwed either way, so I might as well get some action before the vampire queen ripped me a new one.

Chapter Eight

Long before sunset, I ushered the ladies out of my bed. With great difficulty, I’d managed to leave them both alive. Knowing Alexa was back in the city had sucked some of the fun out of it.

A quick shower, some casual attire, and I was back in the club doing my best to create a pile of debris in the middle of the room. Justin joined me soon after, and together we picked up the pieces of the only thing Alexa and I would ever share.

Letting her talk me into taking ownership of the nightclub had probably been a mistake on my part. But looking into those deep brown eyes, I couldn’t say no. Anything she asked of me, I would do for her. That’s why something had to give. And soon. Loving her was taking me to places I didn’t think I could come back from.

I often thought about leaving. Slipping away, hitting the highway with just my car and my memories. It would be good for us both. Those thoughts didn’t linger long though. There was no way in hell I would take off before everything went down with Shya. If she needed me and I wasn’t here, I’d never forgive myself.

“How much time do you think we have?” Willow’s sudden appearance was quickly followed by the clink of shot glasses.