Chapter 37 Lark
LARK
Istumbled again, trying to slow Dean down. Trying to find my moment to attack.
“Keep moving.” He yanked on my arm.
The large sewer tunnel smelled bad, and the only light was from his flashlight.
We splashed through ankle-deep puddles. I did not want to know what was in that. I heard the steady drip of water echoing from somewhere.
“Where are we going?”
He jammed the knife against my side a little deeper. “Shut up.”
“You look ridiculous in that outfit.”
He’d ditched the jackal mask, but was still wearing his black outfit and bronze collar. The sleeveless showed off muscular arms. He was in decent shape.
He let out a growl. “If things had gone to plan, you would have gone with the young server to fix your dress. I would have slipped you out without Thorne noticing.”
Ah, so that other server had been part of the plan.
“Bastian will be coming.”
“I hope so.”
The certainty in his voice made unease trickle through me. “Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere private. Where I can take my time with you.” He smiled and it looked distorted in the light of flashlight, making him look evil. “You’ll be my masterpiece.”
No, I wouldn’t.
I was going to kill him.
“When Thorne comes for you—” his smile widened “—I have a bullet with his name on it.”
I made a scoffing sound. “A bullet won’t stop the Reaper.”
Dean scowled. “I have an entire magazine of armor-piercing rounds that will stop him in his tracks.”
Oh, God. My stomach clenched into a painful ball. Even if Bastian was wearing a ballistic vest, which he wasn’t, it wouldn’t stop these bullets.
I couldn’t let him catch up with us and walk into an ambush.
“Lark.” That’s when I heard his steady, sexy voice in my ear. I didn’t react. “We’re getting closer.”
Shit. I squeezed my eyes closed. When I opened them, I stared at Dean’s back ahead of me.
He would not hurt Bastian.
I slipped the earpiece out of my ear and dropped it on the ground. I wouldn’t risk Bastian’s life. I still had on the bracelet, but I wasn’t sure he could track it underground.
“Move it.” Dean gripped my arm and dragged me down another tunnel.
Debris was scattered across the tunnel floor. It looked like people were living down here. Probably homeless people or drug addicts.
We turned another corner and the tunnel branched into three. They all loomed like dark, gaping mouths.
Dean paused, studying the tunnel entrances.
I saw something, or someone, stir in the darkness off to my right. My heart leaped, but then nothing. I realized it must be one of the people living down here. Not wanting to get involved.
It was safer for them not to come out.
“This way.” Dean’s fingers dug into my arm as he yanked me forward.
We moved deeper into the central tunnel. A rank smell filled the air, and I breathed through my mouth.
I needed to take him down. I needed the right moment.
We came out at another junction. Graffiti covered the concrete walls. He stepped in front of me, muttering under his breath.
I stared at his back.
Now was my chance.
I slid my hand through the slit in my skirt, and pulled a knife from the sheath.
Then I leaped at him.
He cursed, and I stabbed at him. My blade hit his arm, his shoulder.
His roar echoed down the tunnel. I stabbed him again, in his side. I was aiming for his kidney, but he moved, throwing me off target.
Reaching back, he grabbed at me, and turned in a circle. He slammed me into the wall and my knife fell from my nerveless fingers.
He yanked me over his head and I hit the ground. Before I could move, his hands were on my throat, choking me.
“Little Lark. Ed always thought you were so perfect. So much better than everyone else.”
I kicked at him.
“Not so perfect now.”
Anger ripped through me. I elbowed him in the face. He yelped and his hold loosened. I rolled free and leaped to my feet.
We faced each other across the tunnel. Blood ran down his arms.
He smiled. “You and I are so alike.”
“We’re nothing alike,” I snapped.
“We’re killers. Loners. We’re Ed’s creations.”
“No, Ed didn’t create you. He didn’t train you. You took advantage of his weakness.” I shook my head. “I’m not like you.”
I’d been alone. But I didn’t want to be anymore.
Bastian had showed me something different.
I ground my teeth together and pulled another knife from my sheath.
“I think deep down, you’re exactly like me,” Dean continued. “You have that little core of darkness that likes to kill. Ed saw it in both of us. He had it in himself.” Dean’s laughter echoed in the tunnel. “We’re evil, Lark. Like Ed.”
“No,” I whispered.
“No family, no connections, just living for the exquisite feel of taking a life. You like cutting, Lark. You liked the feel of stabbing me, of my blood sliding down my skin.”
I tasted bile. No. I was nothing like this man. “Ed was broken and you manipulated him. I’m nothing like you. And I’m not alone.”
I had Bastian.
Bastian would come for me, and wasn’t alone either. He’d come in force with his deadly friends.
I didn’t need to run. I didn’t need to sacrifice to protect him.
And I didn’t need to fight Dean alone.
I was stronger with Bastian.
I threw the knife. It hit Dean in the neck and he shouted.
I ducked past him and ran, my dress billowing behind me. I sprinted back the way we’d come.
Back to Bastian.