Twilight War (19 page)

“Please,
Flame…stop!” Chuck gasped.

“Did you
actually say please to me?” She drove a Sai into his shoulder. “I’m
touched.”

“End it, Flame,
we have company,” Von muttered close to her ear.

“So long,
Charles,” Flame growled out his birth name, then raised both
daggers overhead before bringing them down and straight into his
heart. He slumped to the floor in a heap.

“Damn, woman,
you barely left any of him for me.” Von dropped to one knee and
lopped off Chuck’s head. “Let’s go.”

“How’d you do
the fire thing?” She pulled her Sai from his chest.

He flashed her
a grin. “A little trick I learned from a woman I know.”

“But—”

“You didn’t see
me squirt lighter fluid on the floor. Nobody did. Remember, I have
the ability to make others see as I wish and soon you’ll have it,
too.” He took her by the arm and led her toward the door. “We
should get out of here.”

“You seem edgy.
Is the Twilight Master really coming here?”

“Yeah and we
just killed an entire clan of ancients. I don’t want you in his
line of fire.”

“But you
betrayed him and helped me.” She wrinkled her brows. “I have a few
questions about your method of operation though.”

“I thought as
much. Until our trust is sealed, I’d rather not let him mess with
your head.”

She understood
his reasoning. Everything happened so fast that her head was still
reeling from the craziness of it all. Sealing her trust with Von
sounded like a wise course of action before facing the evil ruler.
They headed outside.

“Leaving the
party so soon?” a man’s voice called from the front entrance.

Flame swung
around with Von to see who’d arrived on the horrific scene. A
petite blonde clung to the man’s arm, staring back at them with the
same haughty eyes Flame had seen the first time they’d met.

She stared in
disbelief. “What are
you
doing here with
him
?” Flame
shook her head and blinked to clear her mind. This morning
continued to unravel in a series of mind-boggling events. “Sandra?
Where’s Aiden?”

Sandra gave her
wispy bangs a snooty flip and smiled coyly. “Aiden is dead and you
can’t touch me, Flame.”

Chapter
Twelve

Flame staggered
backward and straight into Von. He caught her and pulled her close.
They faced off with the couple, who in some uncanny way, made a
perfect match.

“Aiden had one
job to do and the man couldn’t even get that right,” Sandra snipped
in her characteristically annoying manner. “He was supposed to make
you see Von as the good guy.”

“How do
you
know?”

“I know more
than you think, dear Flame.” Her green eyes carried a devious
glimmer. “Your ex was nothing more than a tool to get you and the
Satellite together. Von was supposed to take it from there. Then
stupid shit started happening. Aiden decided to betray the realm.
He was going to try and use you as a way out.”

“Aiden wanted
out? He really was trying to help me.”

“Sadly so, but
that plan didn’t go well for him. His family lost control and made
matters worse.” She sighed in open frustration. “And of course
Mister Casanova here tried running off with you. I had to do
something.”

“So you’re the
one who called Hatch?”

“Don’t look so
surprised. I couldn’t let you slip away with our renegade
Satellite. Aiden wasn’t the only one with an agenda.”

“You’re still
into leftovers, I see.” Flame scowled.

“Don’t be a
poor sport, dearie. I’m sure you and the Satellite have plenty in
common. He’s definitely more your type than the other two. I, on
the other hand, use my head when choosing a man. I live in a
civilized world where women aren’t driven by their need to
mate.”

Flame inwardly
fumed over the digs, yet kept her cool. “If taking my trash out
gives you a rush, then by all means, knock yourself out.”

“Newsflash…not
everyone’s universe revolves around you. Aiden was only
using
you to help himself and his foolishness got him
killed. Twilight does not tolerate traitors. Why anyone would want
out of the most powerful realm in the universe is beyond me.”

Flame ignored
her attempted sting. “You signed yourself into the evil realm?”

“Someone had to
be around in case Cassie failed, which she did. It seems the only
woman immune to Von’s obvious charm is me.”

Von tightened
one arm around her waist. “Don’t break an arm there, missy, I’d
never let a woman like you near my bed.”

“Beast,” Sandra
spat, then shrugged. “Whatever. I went over your head, Von Calder.
Now you will bow to me.”

“What the hell
are you talking about? You think that because you struck a deal
with the devil, anyone will bow to you?” Flame snapped. “Just
because you found a rich boyfriend and a new life doesn’t give you
magical powers. You’re nothing but a narcissistic slut!”

Sandra appeared
completely undaunted. “Not just any rich boyfriend, Flame. My man
has more power in his little finger than your Satellite has in his
entire, worthless soul.”

Flame laughed
outright and pointed to the man at Sandra’s side who had so far let
his woman do all the talking. “Him? You think
Hatch
is more
powerful than the evil realm?” She glanced at Hatch. “And you
thought
I
was delusional!”

“No…I don’t
think
he’s more powerful.” Sandra laughed in her face. “I
know
he is. Hatch
is
the evil realm.”

“What?”

“Wow, Flame
actually didn’t know something.” Sandra snickered. “Guess what,
prodigy child, you now bow to me!”

“You’re
insane.”

Finally, Hatch
joined the unpleasant conversation. “I’m afraid Sandra is right. I
see that you’ve killed a family of my ancients and brought Von out
of hiding. Someone has been schooling you, Flame. Have you defeated
my new Satellite again?”

“If you think
for one minute that I believe all this bullshit, you can go to
hell.” Flame scoffed.

“Allow me to
elaborate,” he said with a cocky grin. “My original Satellite, who
you killed by the way, had a job to do. However, he needed a bit
of…
supernatural
help to pull it off. You are very sharp,
Flame, you almost had me cornered when I came to see you. But your
feelings toward Raef made it very easy for me to get inside your
head.” He paused with an ominous glare. “You’d have hit the nail
straight on the head if you’d used the right hammer.” He laughed.
“It was
me
, not Coop, who employed necessary persuasion to
cover up the crime and make everyone—the police, the doctors, the
medics—see what I wanted them to see.” He thought for a minute.
“Except you, I almost had you convinced, but your mind is strong. I
confused you but I see that you cannot be compelled like the
average mortal. Then again, you have never been the average mortal.
Twilight
blood runs in your veins.”

She cringed at
the stark reminder. “You called me delusional? You really are an
arrogant bastard. Now you think you’re the master of an evil
realm?” She let out a short, sardonic laugh. “I have no doubt that
you serve the fiends somehow, but really, Hatch, this is over the
top even for you.”

Hatch pulled a
small brown package from inside his trench coat. “Then why would
Coop, my original Satellite, give this to anyone but his
master
?”

She remembered
that package. The recollection of Hatch secretly meeting with Coop
in a bad part of town sprang to mind. She hadn’t given it another
thought after that night. Her eyes became fixed on the brown
wrapper as he began to open it. The few seconds it took for him to
reveal the contents were agonizing. When he unfolded the last of
the brown paper bag, she clutched a hand over her chest.

“No!” Her
panicked gaze shot to Von. “Did you know?”

“No, I swear.”
He held her steady. “Don’t let him fuck with your head, not
now.”

Flame’s eyes
burned on the bloody knife in Hatch’s hands—the very weapon Coop
had used to kill Raef. Her body began to shake uncontrollably with
a mix of rage and buried sorrow. “You killed Raef?”

Hatch shook his
head and grinned sadistically. “Not actually. My soldiers are more
than willing to do my dirty work. You saw what you saw.”

She watched in
horror as Hatch gripped the knife with both hands and incinerated
it with the sheer will of his mind. His icy green eyes turned black
and suddenly she recognized those black eyes flecked with green.
No! Oh my god, we were engaged…I slept with the Twilight
Master!
She shuddered and forced herself to look away.

The master
can only mate with her via his Satellite.
The words echoed in
her head.

“You will never
have me. If it’s the last thing I do, I will destroy you and your
realm for taking such a pure life.” Fury inundated her. “You came
to his house, lied to me, and tried using your head games to make
me believe Von had killed Raef. What
did
you do with his
body?”

“Took it. We
needed his flesh in order to trap his soul.”

“You evil
son-of-a-bitch! You’ll pay for all of this!”

Hatch glowered
at her. “Raef was holding up my Satellite. The only way I can take
your soul is by mating with you via my Satellite. Otherwise, you’d
already be mine. We were engaged if you recall.”

“I’ve erased
you. I will make it my life’s mission to ruin you for killing
Raef.”

“An eye for an
eye, babe!” he bellowed. “You killed Coop’s daughter so I took the
only person you loved!”

Flame’s mind
raced.
The only woman I’ve ever killed in my entire life was…oh
my god!
She grabbed Von’s arm to steady herself. “Cassie?
Cooper sired another child?” Ian’s reply sprung to mind.
The
crescent moon will answer your question.
“That’s what Ian was
trying to tell me.”

“Unlike you,
Cassie gratefully accepted her calling. Though she was born of an
ordinary bitch, she inherited mystical allure from her father.”

“You sent
Cassie after Ian?”

“Ian was
already in by his first marriage but like your ex, he wanted out
and thought Cassie was the key,” Hatch growled with open rage.
“Cassie was my best kept secret. She could turn any man and you
killed her…your own sister!”

“She was no
sister of mine, nor was Coop my father.” Flame paused in disbelief.
“Cassie was the vital link…born of a Satellite and able to carry
Twilight’s seed to term.”

“Now you will
take her place at my side, in the Twilight Realm where you belong
as my queen. I see that you and Von have grown quite close.”

“I guess all my
questions about the players really don’t matter now. You saw me
fight. You staged everything.”

“It was so easy
once I found you. You fell for it all…” He let out an evil laugh.
“Even Ian’s sad story, which actually is quite sad,” he added with
another sadistic laugh. “I hid my thoughts from you, played my
part. I knew you’d rebel against me and take on the Satellite. I
felt your doubts about us, felt you slipping away into the arms of
pretty boy Raef. After I saw you fight backstage, I ordered my
Citizen Soldiers into action. They all fell into place quite
nicely…all but one.” He turned angry eyes on Von. “The loss of Coop
was a worthwhile sacrifice if it pushed the two of you even closer.
Your rebellion against me fell to my favor because you’ve joined
yourself to the warrior woman—the chosen daughter of Twilight and
my strongest Satellite.”

“I was never
one of your
soldiers
,” Von said low and mean. “I’d never run
with a pack of pussies like them.”

“Doesn’t
matter,” Hatch said with a wry grin. “I fueled your hatred because
I knew it would push you that much closer to Flame. You think you
fooled me. I knew why you wanted to come back. I was well aware of
your lust for the prodigy.”

“No,” Von
countered. “You’re the fool. I’m not in lust with her. I’m in love
with her.”

“If professing
your love eases your conscience, so be it, now hand her over. Now
that you’ve mated with her, the time to reproduce hybrids has
finally arrived. You will sire her offspring while she reigns at my
side.”

A thwarted look
traversed Sandra’s face. “Her? What about me?”

Hatch kissed
her forehead. “No worries, darling, you’re not going anywhere.
You’ll be busy recruiting new men into the fold and rebuilding our
army of creepers. I have instilled the art of seduction into your
soul.”

A host of mixed
emotions flashed across Sandra’s face, yet she held her tongue.
Most likely out of fear, Flame mused. Her eyes were drawn to
Sandra’s forehead where Hatch had placed his kiss. A crescent shape
began to glow—the confirmation of the truth.
Sandra is Cassie’s
replacement and doesn’t even know it yet!
Twilight’s shrewd
tactics astounded her.

“Now give me my
queen, Von, your job is done until the next mating.” Hatch reached
for Flame.

“I don’t think
so.” Von’s hand shot out at uncanny speed and blocked Hatch’s
touch. “She belongs to me.”

Hatch sighed
and laughed sardonically. “Okay, I can appreciate the whole
protective hero bit, but the game is over. Time to give her
up.”

“I told you, I
love her. You can’t stop that.”

He backed off
and stared at them curiously. “Love? Love has nothing to do with
it. You are cursed. You can’t feel anything but burning lust.”

“Not anymore.
She shattered the hold you had over me. I feel everything a
real
man should feel with a woman. Something you’ll never
have. If she does bear offspring, they sure as hell won’t belong to
you—another thing you’ll never have.”

“Impossible,”
Hatch growled while his gaze shifted between them. “You can’t break
the curse unless there is—” He stopped short but continued his open
scrutiny.