Chapter 28
CALIX
Olivia’s scream tore through the hangar, and I dove through the opening, gun already raised.
Rack was tangled up with a vampire on the floor, both of them slamming into crates hard enough to shake the cargo stacked beside them. The vampire’s fangs snapped wildly toward Rack’s throat, while Rack had both hands locked around his wrist, keeping the vampire's gun away from us.
Another explosion sounded from the front of the hangar, and the vampire’s head jerked toward the noise for half a second.
That was all I needed.
Bang.
My shot hit him square in the shoulder, and the force launched him backward off Rack. He moved before the vampire even landed.
One second, he was on the ground, and the next, he was on top of him with a silver blade that flashed through the dark.
The knife carved upward through the vampire’s chest in one brutal stroke, then Rack slowly lifted his free hand. Air twisted violently around the vampire’s body, and the thing screamed.
Its chest caved inward before the heart ripped free in a spray of blood and slammed directly into Rack’s waiting palm. Blood streamed down his wrist while his fingers crushed around the organ hard enough to split it open. Then he drove the silver knife straight through it.
The vampire collapsed instantly.
Rack stayed crouched over the body for a second, breathing steadily, while blood dripped from his fingers onto the concrete. He looked up at me, gave one short nod, and immediately turned toward Olivia.
Her face had gone pale, but she was still standing there gripping her weapon with both hands.
Rack crossed the space quickly and caught her hand with his blood-covered one, helping her fully climb through the breach.
“Thank you,” he breathed quietly.
More gunfire erupted outside. Pop. Pop. Pop. Screams followed immediately after, and I smiled. Riot was causing absolute chaos out there.
We carefully moved deeper into the hangar, weaving between stacked cargo crates while staying low behind cover. Every few seconds, another vampire sprinted past us toward the front entrance, trying to reach the fight outside.
“Shit! She’s moving again!”
“Take her down!”
“She’s on the roof. Get her!”
Riot sounded like an entire army all by herself.
Olivia pressed her back against one of the cargo containers beside me and glanced around quickly.
“What exactly are we looking for?” she whispered.
“Anything weird,” I muttered back while peeking around the edge of the crate.
Most of the interior guards were abandoning their posts to deal with Riot. Good for us. Terrible for them. My sister was going to murder them all.
I scanned the remaining dots on the watch display. “We’ve only got the mage and the demon left inside.”
Rack checked the layout once more before speaking calmly. “I’ll handle the mage. The demon’s yours.” Of course you would. I glared at him, but he ignored my ire beautifully.
Demons were unpredictable, their magic depending on what circle of hell they came from. At least a mage had limitations. Dick.
“On the count of three,” I whispered. My eyes stayed locked to the demon moving near the far wall as I crouched, hoping I could catch him off guard before he could use his powers.
“Wait!” The sound of Olivia’s voice grabbed our attention. “What am I doing?”
Her head bounced between us, weapon clutched tightly against her chest.
Rack answered first. “Stay here.” She opened her mouth immediately, but he pointed at her before she could argue. “Cover us. If either of us starts losing, you fire that gun immediately. Understand?”
She straightened at that responsibility, nodding at her new job. “I’ve got your backs.”
God, she’s adorable when she tries to sound intimidating.
The surge of affection hit me so hard I grabbed the front of her suit and pulled her straight into me. Her surprised noise vanished against my mouth.
The second my lips touched hers, her breath caught and she stumbled against me.
The beast inside me surged awake instantly. Mine. Mate. Take more.
Not now! I violently forced it back down and pulled away too soon.
Olivia blinked up at me, dazed, her chest rising sharply while she tried to catch her breath. I winked at her.
Rack clearly decided he wasn’t about to lose that competition.
His forehead rested briefly against hers first, his thumb brushing softly along her cheek, then he gently cupped her face and turned her toward him.
Unlike me, he kissed her slowly. Patiently.
His mouth moved over hers like he had nowhere else to be in the world.
Olivia practically melted into him.
Her weapon lowered completely while she leaned forward, chasing him when he finally started pulling back.
Petty jealousy clawed up my throat. I wanted to shove him to the side and kiss her again, show her how I could really do it. The other side of me that loved her more than my ego won out. Barely.
Rack brushed another soft kiss against her forehead before stepping back. “We’ll come back.”
“Stay alert,” I added quickly.
Olivia looked between both of us, eyes bright beneath the dim hangar lights. “You both better come back to me.”
“Always,” we answered at the exact same time, then immediately turned to glare at each other before rolling our eyes and going back to the situation at hand.
“Stop copying me,” I muttered under my breath.
Rack’s gaze stayed fixed on the mage across the hangar while he whispered back, “You copied me first, dickhead, always trying to steal the show. Is this how it's always going to be?”
I snorted softly while tracking the demon’s pacing pattern. The thing looked nervous. Twitchy. Good.
“You kissed her after I did,” I whispered smugly. “Who's really doing the stealing here?”
Rack inhaled sharply like he was preparing a comeback, but that was when the demon turned his back. Now’s my opportunity.
Grinning viciously, I gave him a wink and a “Bye, bitch,” then I blurred forward.
Aiming straight for the demon’s spine, I was ready to punch through his back and rip his heart free before he could react, but the bastard split himself into three identical copies.
All three turned toward me together.
“Well,” one of them sneered, “nice try, fang scum.”
Greasy black hair hung around his hollow face while dark circles bruised the skin beneath his eyes. He looked like a corpse someone forgot to bury properly.
Slowing to a stop, I stared at him flatly. “…Fang scum?” I tilted my head. “That’s seriously the best insult you’ve got?”
I heard Rack collide with the mage somewhere across the hangar a split-second before heat blasted across my skin. Fire roared past my shoulder while a slicing current of air followed right behind it.
Twisting away, I slammed into one of the demons, driving both of us into the concrete, hard. The impact rattled through my bones, but I was already moving.
Straddling his chest, one hand shot toward his ribcage, my fingers curled to rip straight through him. Suddenly, metal flashed beside my face, and I jerked sideways. I slammed my wrist forward just as a blade crashed into the electric shield wrapped around my arm.
Blue electricity violently exploded outward, and my whole arm bucked from the impact. Sparks spat wildly between the blade and shield. The fae magic coating the weapon hissed and crackled as the electricity chewed through it, then the glow died completely.
The demon beneath me seized that opening, wrapping his hand around my throat hard enough to crack concrete before he hurled me across the room.
I smashed into the floor shoulder first and rolled hard across the hangar. The shield flickered out with a sputter of dying electricity.
Good news? The shield worked.
Bad news? Apparently, all three demon copies hit just as hard as the original.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
Pushing up onto one knee, the demons slowly circled around me. I grabbed my gun, firing at the closest one.
The explosive round hit center mass, going straight for the heart, and the demon burst apart into black smoke before the bullet slammed into the wall behind him.
Boom. The metal wall of the hangar tore open, and the ceiling above us groaned dangerously. Dust rained down while the support beams visibly trembled.
Oh. Okay. No more explosive rounds indoors.
“One down,” I muttered, cocking the gun again. “Two to go.”
The remaining demons creepily smiled at me at the exact same time.
Movement across the room caught my eye, where I saw Rack being pinned against the far wall. Half his body was being swallowed by rapidly growing limestone while a massive stone hand crushed around his torso to keep him trapped.
The mage stood several feet away with both hands raised, his fingers twitching violently while sweat rolled down the sides of his face.
Without thought, I pulled out my revolver and let it rip.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Acid rounds went straight into the stone hand gripping Rack. The impact splattered sizzling green liquid across the rock. Smoke hissed upward as the limestone melted apart in chunks.
Rack ripped himself free the second the restraint weakened, and air exploded out from him violently enough to send debris skidding across the floor.
Unfortunately, saving him distracted me for exactly half a second too long, and pain exploded through my stomach.
I looked down to see one of the demons had buried the now normal blade clean through me. The force of it shoved halfway through my back, causing a second wave of pain to hit. Hot and vicious, it tore through my abdomen hard enough to make my vision pulse.
A growl ripped out of me, and I glanced up to see the demon looking… confused.
His eyes darted from the blade to my face like he expected me to already be dead. That alone made me start laughing.
“What?” I wheezed out through a grin. “Expected me to fold apart or something? Thinking you're using that handy fae magic? Guess again.”
His expression twisted harder when I wrapped my hand around the blade still sticking out of my stomach and yanked it free myself.