23. Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Zeke
As Ernesto’s villa loomed in the distance, I slowed the bike to a stop and gestured for Rory to climb off.
“What are you doing? I’m not staying here.”
I took off my helmet and ran my fingers through my hair. “I’m not expecting you to. It’s important you know what you’re getting into. This could go bad. We don’t know what’s waiting for us. He could have an army of men and demons. He knows we’re coming. Don’t doubt that.”
“This has escalated way more than it needed to. How did we get here from kidnapping to murder?”
“He hasn’t killed anyone yet, but the intention is there so he can have Carlotta.”
“I don’t get why he’s so adamant about having her. She’s just a little girl that lost her mamma.”
“He thinks Mia’s death was your fault and that Carlotta is better off with him. He knows you’ll never give her up, not while you’re still living. There is only one outcome for him. He’s a psychopath. No other explanation.”
“Should we wait until she’s home? I’m not sure we should do it now.”
I could see his point, but he’d already sent people to grab him. It needed to end so he and Carlotta could live their lives. Whether I was part of it remained to be seen. My demon and I both hoped we were.
“If you want to call it off, now’s the time to say. Mal, Jason, and Dante will be there soon. They won’t do anything you don’t want to. It’s your call, Rory.”
He walked to the edge of the road and peered over the edge at the drop below.
“He won’t stop, so we have to stop him.”
Determination. That was what I saw as he turned to face me. We replaced our helmets and climbed onto the bike.
When this ordeal was over, a celebration would be in order. He deserved it after the tough years he’d endured since Mia’s death.
As we approached, the gates to the villa opened. We drove through, followed by Mal and Jason. Dante had got out beforehand, not wanting to be seen to be in league with us.
Ernesto greeted us, a smirk on his face. “Ah, you just missed Carlotta. She’s gone shopping with Isadora, but I think you know that already. To what do I owe this dubious pleasure?”
Rory vibrated with rage behind me. He’d be no use to me in a fight, but I couldn’t deny him this confrontation.
He climbed off the bike and walked towards Ernesto, confidence in his stride.
“I don’t know what your deal is with Carlotta or why you think she belongs here with you, but she’s my daughter. Not yours. Your daughter died two years ago, and you’re not taking mine to replace what you lost. I lost my wife, but I’ll not lose Carlotta.”
“What do you think you can give your daughter? I can give her everything she could ever want. A beautiful home, untold riches, a family, stability. You can’t offer that, Rory and never could. Plus, when I’m gone, she’ll inherit all this.”
There was something else at play here. He was lying through his back teeth. It was a puzzle I couldn’t fathom. All the clues were there. What were we missing?
Movement on either side suggested we had company, and when a familiar face appeared next to him, all the pieces fell into place.
“Have you met my friend? This is Selena.”
Fuck. I knew what this was about, and Rory wasn’t going to be happy.
“Mal and I both know Selena.” She was a demon from the Underworld. An influential one at that, always looking for ways to increase her power and standing.
There was only one reason he was being friends with her, and that was for her status. My guess? He’d promised Carlotta to her for some reason. There was no other explanation.
“Who is she?” Rory asked quietly. “What does she have to do with all this?”
“It’s not good, and I fear we may be grossly outnumbered. She’s a powerful demon with lots of men at her disposal.”
“So we’ve essentially walked into the lion’s den.”
“Pretty much, yes. You should go to the car with Jason and wait there. This could get ugly.”
“I said no, Zeke. I’ll not leave.”
“You could die, Rory. This isn’t only about you. It’s a power play by Ernesto. He wants Carlotta to give to Selena. Not to live here in the lap of luxury but to live in the Underworld as a pawn. Now, I’ll not put your life at risk.”
“Zeke’s right.” Mal stood behind us. “You should leave while you have the chance. Jason has already gone. I’ll not risk my mate’s life.”
Rory was conflicted between doing the right thing and staying here, but by the set of his jaw, I knew he’d decided to stay.
“How could he do that? She’s my fucking daughter. I thought he loved her.” Rory shook his head.
“I can’t protect you if this gets nasty. I’ll do what I can, but there are a lot of demons here intent on killing us all.”
“I’m prepared to die for my daughter.”
An admirable stance, but if we all died, there was nothing to stop Ernesto from carrying out his plan. Even Isadora wouldn’t be able to stop him on her own.
I turned back to face Ernesto and Selena. “What’s the prize, Ernesto? Why are you selling your granddaughter to Selena?”
“I’m not selling her. She’ll go willingly. You see, the joining of our families will be the ultimate prize. Selena has sons, and Carlotta, well, she’ll soon be old enough to be mated.”
Rory rushed towards him. “You bastard, how could you do that?”
“It’s just business.”
“Business! Fucking business!” I grabbed him in a tight body hug and hauled him back to where Mal was standing.
“You’ll get yourself killed,” I shouted, my demon raging inside of me, begging for release.
“I don’t care. I’ll kill the fucker myself. Let me go, Zeke.” He fought against me, but ultimately, he had no chance of getting away.
I handed him off to Mal. “Take him out of here. I’ll do this alone. You need to watch him and Jason.”
Mal struggled to hold him and, in the end, lifted him off his feet and out of the vicinity. I stood alone, waiting for the inevitable fight I knew would come.
It was one against many, but it was worth the fight. Rory and Carlotta needed to be kept safe.
I was ready. One by one, demons appeared until there were around a dozen. Some I recognised as belonging to Selena; others I’d not seen before.
Mal spoke next to me. “Did you honestly think I’d leave you here alone? I brought reinforcements too.”
I looked around me, and a handful of men stood behind us. I recognised Conrad, one of Dante’s men, and a few others.
At least now we had a fighting chance.
“Ready?” he asked.
I nodded. I was ready.
In an explosion of power, demons shifted around me. The noise was deafening as they clashed. It was a war zone. Thank fuck, Rory wasn’t here to see it.
Out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed Dante standing with Austin. He’d come after all, although what they were waiting for, I didn’t know.
Next to me, Mal had shifted. He was impressive and worth five of the demons rushing towards us. I shifted too and ran into the fray, shouting as I hit one, then another, knocking them to the ground.
Fists flew, tails whipped, and blood spattered as demons fell, some injured, others dead. Ernesto stood at the doorway to his villa along with Selena, a demented smile on his face.
I refused to allow myself to become distracted and continued to fight. Blow after blow rained down on me as if they all had converged in one place.
Mal stood with his back to me, and as brothers, we fought together.
“On your right,” he shouted. A behemoth of a demon barrelled down on me, a flail in his hand. He swung it around his head and aimed it at me. There was no way I could dodge it, and I closed my eyes, waiting for the blow.
Metal on metal clanked, and I opened my eyes. Conrad stood next to me, his sword holding back the spiked ball mere inches from my head.
He waggled his eyebrows, flung the flail aside, and decapitated the demon with his weapon.
“Thanks, man. I owe you one.” It was all I could say before the next one was upon us. Where were they all coming from?
For what seemed like hours, we slogged our way through the horde, ripping and pulling limbs, wings, anything we could get our hands on until eventually, we prevailed and the last one dropped to the ground.
Pure carnage. That was the sight before us. The once pristine courtyard was littered with bodies, the fountain in the centre running red.
Blood and guts clung to me, and I was pretty sure there was some brain matter mixed in with it too.
“Is that it?” I shouted to Ernesto, whose smile had been wiped from his face. “Is that all you have? Admit it. You’ve lost.”
Selena had already disappeared, always one to run from a fight.
Then Dante appeared, Austin still by his side.
“Tut, tut, Ernesto. What a mess we have here. If it were up to me, I’d drag you back into the depths of hell.
I own your soul, and you have abused the power afforded to you.
I can overlook many things, but selling your own flesh and blood into what would be effectively slavery.
I’m sorry, but that’s not something I’m willing to let go, especially when she’s twelve.
For fuck’s sake, Ernesto. That’s just gross. ”
“I-it…” Ernesto stuttered in the presence of Dante and struggled to find the words to justify his actions.
“Zip it, old man. What Dante’s trying to say,” Austin said, “is that I find it distasteful that you’d do such a thing to one so young, so it’s only right you lose your life. Do you agree, Zeke?”
“I mean, I’m not going to say no.” I was sure Rory would agree, but then I thought about how Carlotta would react to her grandfather just disappearing. “But how about we punish him a different way? I’m assuming that a condition of him selling his soul also grants him a longer life expectancy.”
Dante nodded, and his eyes lit up. “Oh, that’s a great idea.”
“What do you mean?” Ernesto looked puzzled.
“If I give you your soul back, you lose that advantage, and from the state of your body, I’m not sure you have much time left anyway.”
“I’m fine. There’s nothing wrong with me,” Ernesto protested.
“We both know that’s a lie. Our agreement has been keeping the illness at bay. The moment I rescind my offer, it will kill you. Sooner rather than later. I think that’s more than a fitting punishment for what you intended to do.”
“I agree.” Rory approached with Jason, stepping carefully through the blood and guts. “He deserves to suffer in the worst possible way. How painful can you make it?”
He looked at Dante, determination on his face.
Dante laughed. “I like you. You humans have a way about you. I once thought you were weak, but now, I like this spunk you have. Consider it done.”
He clicked his fingers, and we all turned to Ernesto. I thought he’d drop to the ground, stone dead, but instead, his face aged, and the clothes he wore hung from him as the disease he carried ravaged his ancient body.
It was cruel, but his plan had been diabolical. This was less than he deserved.
“Are the clean-up crew close by?” Dante addressed Conrad, who nodded.
“We’ll have it sorted in no time. Isadora has called to see if the coast is clear. She wants to bring Carlotta back.”
I looked at the men who had helped us. Most were still in demon form, but some, like me, had shifted back.
“You might want to cover up.” Rory removed his shirt and handed it to me. “We can go back to the villa, get cleaned up, and return. I’m not leaving her here a moment longer. We’ll make some excuse, but this is no longer her home. Her home is with me… and you.”
Relief flooded me. This was finally over, and if I wasn’t mistaken, Rory still wanted me around. Even if we weren’t mates, having him as a friend meant more to me than anything.
We could work on our relationship, and maybe in time, a mating could happen. What mattered most now was getting him and Carlotta back to a life they knew, back to reality, back to normal.
Mal and Jason drove me to the villa while Rory rode the bike. He said he needed time to think.
“Thank you for having my back, Mal. It meant a lot to know you were there.”
“You get yourself into so much trouble, and you always rely on me to get you out of it.”
I laughed. Of course he’d say that, but I knew it was his way of showing me he cared without actually saying it.
“How did you know anyway, and how did you get here so quickly?”
“Isadora called Dante. She was concerned that Ernesto had something planned. He got in touch with us, as he knew about you and Rory. He thought we should be there. You know he can open up portals, so we did that. Must admit it’s cheaper than airfare, but I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a bit turbulent.”
“Either way, I’m happy you turned up and that Dante brought backup. We’d never have managed with two of us. It would have been a completely different outcome.”
“Dante wouldn’t have let it come to that. He always has his reasons. I doubt we’ll ever know what they were.”
I sat quietly for the rest of the journey, wondering what the future held. Whatever happened, I was a changed man.
By the time we arrived at the villa, the motorbike was sitting outside. Rory had beaten us to it.
“You don’t have to come in. I think we have a lot to talk about.”
“Take care of him, Zeke. He’s going to need a lot of support. Tell him to call me if he wants to talk about anything. You both know what I mean.” Jason reached into the back of the car and took my hand in his. “If it’s meant to be, it will.”
I entered the villa and headed for the terrace, where I knew Rory was waiting. I could sense him, both his presence and his mood.
It was full of sadness, but underlying it all was a huge sense of relief.
Not knowing what to do, I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight.
“Is it really over?” He leant back and rested his head on my chest.
“Yes, it’s over. Time for you to move on, Rory. Time for a brand new beginning.”