27. Ashe

“Ashe.”

I ignore the barista as I hold Marco's gaze. Although I genuinely felt bad for keeping something like this from her, and even worse that she discovered the part I played in hiding the truth, we did not have time for her endless questions right now. I bite back the irony in the realization that time was never on my side. Not then, and certainly not now.

“Did you grab everything?”

Marco nods, though guilt still lingers in his eyes. It swirls off of him like incense and my insides twist as it invades my senses, leaving a bitter taste on my tongue. The arkoudan really was just a big softie.

I almost feel culpable for convincing him to stay quiet when we learned that Dani's friend was fraternizing with that vitaem from the club—his club, and he was not exactly proud of the fact that it was often used as a hunting ground for the supernatural—but he had reluctantly agreed with my reasoning behind it. With all of the suspicion that already surrounded us and the danger that loomed over all of our heads should Dani's knowledge of our world or my soul ring ever be discovered, we could not risk the barista trying to do something that would throw all of our caution to the wind.

Not everyone can be saved. The sooner she realizes that, the easier all of this would be. Keeping her safe from harm was my top priority until Nadia could remove the ring and unbind us. Once that was over, she would finally be free of the danger. Of the secrets. Of me. Is that not what she wants?

“Good. Take Dani back to your place—”

“Ashe.”

I wince as Dani tightens her grip on my arm, pinching the skin, but I continue to ignore her. I was not a hero. I told her as much when she summoned me that first night.

“I'll follow behind and make sure we aren't followed—”

“Ashe!”

I snap my gaze to the couch, biting back my vexation as my patience wears thin. “What?”

Piercing green eyes glare back at me as she utters two simple words: “Save. Her.”

The command cuts through the air like a knife, stilling my tongue as it seeps into my bones and swallows me whole. This was nothing like the last time, when she unknowingly ordered me not to lie to her. This was specific, each word enunciated with deliberate intent. It was said with purpose.

How did she know?

I feel my body move on its own as unseen magic compels me to obey. I knew better than to try and fight it; I fight anyway.

Fueled by the resolution of her words the invisible force clamps down, steely fingers clawing at my insides as the command burrows its way through my mind, devouring everything until it was the only conscious thought I had. I was a prisoner in my own head, confined to the shadows and forced to watch through glazed eyes as the magic bid my legs to move. If I struggled against it, if I tried to regain authority over my own limbs, the magic would wrap itself tighter around my subconscious and pull me further into the darkness.

I no longer had control over my own body. It belonged to her now.

Save her. Save her. Save her. Save her.

My hand reaches out and grabs my keys from the kitchen counter. “Where is she?” My voice sounds hollow, foreign, and as my eyes sweep across the apartment I can see the evident shock written on Dani's face.

I wanted to get angry. I wanted the demon fire boiling in my veins to rage uninhibited, consuming everything in its path if it had to as it severed the magic that controlled me like a fucking puppet. But I was a backseat passenger in my own body, only able to observe in infuriating silence until the command was executed to completion.

Besides, Dani could not have known that this would happen, that the ring would bend me to her will by her words alone. Could she?

“Goss Hollow, I think,” the barista replies, and before she can say anything more my body turns and I was out the door in a flash. No jacket, no shoes, no way to stop what was to come.

The magic did not care if mortals saw me running down the halls and through the parking garage of the apartment complex as quickly as I did. It did not care about the rumors that were sure to spread, whispering of the woman with red hair and strange tattoos who moved with inhuman speed. It did not care if those rumors reached the ears of the Tribunal or of the repercussions that awaited for breaking the rules and revealing my nature.

It only cared about the command, consequences be damned.

***

I park my motorcycle next to the only other vehicle in the otherwise empty gravel parking lot. There was no light around for miles save for the sliver of moonlight that peeked out from behind a cloud, shining over me like a taunting grin. But I did not share in its mirth tonight.

Sliding the keys into my pants pocket, I walk over to the Audi R8 and press a palm over the hood. Nice car. Still warm.

They could not have ventured far.

The faint glow of headlights in the distance catches my attention for a brief moment before an invisible force pushes me onward, tugging me into the woods like a marionette on a string. I did not need to worry about looking for tracks or listening for certain sounds this close to the objective. Led by Dani's command and the deadly desire she harbored in her mind when she gave it, the magic knew where to go.

And as the Reaper's mark unfurls from my arm and curves out into the shape of a scythe, I realize with trepidation what the price of that command entailed.

Killing in the name of the Tribunal was one thing. Most of the supernaturals they sent me after were criminals and at least then I still had the freedom to choose. I would not like the consequences should I make the wrong choice and spare a life during an assignment, but at least the right to make it was still my own. At least then the blood that was spilt was by a hand that I still controlled.

But this vampire had committed no crime in the eyes of our laws and I had no freedom over the choice I was about to make.

A shadowy form comes into my view on the path ahead and as I creep closer I can make out the silhouettes of two individuals pressed together against the trunk of a large oak tree. The stench of sex hangs heavily in the crisp summer air and I briefly wonder how many feedings they have engaged in by now, and how many more stolen breaths the human could take before her heart gave out.

A twig snaps under my foot, echoing in the quiet and startling the couple only a few yards away. Hastily they pull apart, fixing their appearance like two hormonal teenagers caught in a compromising position.

“Who goes there?” a male voice calls out and a weight settles in the pit of my stomach. That must be the vampire I was looking for.

I remain silent, slowly inching closer. The scythe winks as I slip through a small patch of moonlight between the trees and the vitaem tilts his head.

“Ah, Reaper. I didn't realize there was a hunt going on in this area tonight.” He combs a hand through his hair and I picture a smirk lighting up his face in the darkness. With a snap of his fingers he beckons the blonde to his side. “We won't impose on Tribunal business. I'll take my meal to go.”

He was so arrogant, so oblivious to the danger that stood right in front of him. They all thought themselves to be untouchable—until my blade was pointed at their throats.

“Woah, hey!” the man says as I angle the point of the scythe at his jugular. “What're you doing? What's the meaning of this?”

I say nothing. I feel nothing. Not the warm breeze against my skin as it whistles by us, not the sting of nails digging into my flesh as the vampire's junkie claws at my arm in a desperate attempt to push me away from her lover. Not even the twinge of guilt as the silver tip bites into his skin, smoke wisping from the contact.

The irises of the vampire's gray eyes swirl as he holds up his hands in surrender. “It's my legal right to feed,” he hisses, his narrowed gaze meeting mine. “I've broken no law. This is bullshit. You have no authority here!”

A primal scream erupts from Rose's throat as she lunges at me again, crazed in her determination to protect her date. Willing to die for him while under his charm, if he willed it. “Get the fuck away from him, you devil!”

With little effort I shove the junkie aside, the force sending her flying into the tree with a resounding smack! before she slumps unconscious to the ground.

“Hey, hey, listen! Listen!”

My head swivels back to the vampire, my gaze unblinking. Uncaring.

Footsteps sound on the path behind me, leaves and fallen twigs crunching under hurried feet in the still night air, but my focus remains on my target. I could not look away even if I tried.

The man bares his fangs, eyes flashing blood-red as he tries to coax me into stopping. But you cannot charm a demon. “I've done nothing wrong, you bitch! You can't just—”

He does not get the chance to finish his protest. In one clean swipe I remove his head from his shoulders, watching as it smokes and rolls to the ground. His body topples over shortly after, blood pooling around the stump and saturating the soil.

The moment it was done, the shackles that bound me to the back of my own mind snap open and I'm released from the spell. My synapses spark with renewed vigor as I'm reconnected to my body and sensations assault me like a tidal wave as the magic that held me captive dissipates. I feel everything all at once: the tingling of my skin as the Reaper's mark dissolves back into my arm, the wild beating of my heart as my adrenaline spikes, the incessant thrumming in my ears as demon fire courses through my veins like the surging waters of a river breaking through a dam.

But there was one emotion that raged above all others.

Leaves rustle behind me as a small voice asks, “What did you do?”

My blood boiling, I whirl on Dani and shove a finger at her chest. “Don't you ever do that to me again!”

“Ashe, calm down!”

I see Marco take a step forward in my peripheral and cut him a lethal glare. “Stay the fuck out of this, Marco!”

The muscles in his neck tighten as he squares his shoulders like a brawler before a fight and I could not help but think how ridiculous that notion was. Even as his fingernails splinter into thick claws and his jaw cracks and expands, he did not stand a snowball's chance in hell against the demon fury burning within me if it came down to a fight.

“Not until you calm down.” With a mouth full of jagged teeth, his words are barely more than a snarl.

“I am calm!” But the veins glowing beneath my skin begged to differ.

The arkoudan growls as he takes another cautious step forward. His aura is a bright fuchsia against the gray haze that encompassed my vision, fear and anger melding together as he bristles. “Ashe, I'm warning you—”

“You didn't have to kill him!” Dani interjects as she steps between the two of us, her tone quaking as she foolishly places herself between a bear and a demon. For a fleeting moment I wonder if she was inherently brave or just plain stupid. “I only wanted to keep Rose safe. But I didn't mean like this!”

Stupid, definitely stupid.

I snap my gaze to her, my blood spiking. “What did you think was going to happen? That we'd have a friendly chat about how he shouldn't prey on humans and then he'd just leave?”

She recoils under my fiery glare but she does not back down. “No, but I—”

“You knew exactly what would happen, what you wanted to happen, so don't you dare stand there and say you didn't know!”

“I didn't think—”

“That's your problem, Dani, you don't think!”

Anger swells in my chest, the tendrils that I normally held onto so tightly now thrashing wildly, fueling the fire burning within as it claws at the back of my mind and up my throat. I can taste the spicy heat of that power and I knew that if I did not release it soon then I would start feeding on it until it consumed me. I nearly lost control once before. Even the magic of the soul ring would offer her no protection if I lost it now.

In a fit of rage I pivot and throw my fist into the nearest tree. Chunks of bark splinter into the air, exploding around me as the impact leaves a small crater in the trunk. Gnashing my teeth, I redirect my anger and punch the tree again.

And again.

And again.

Each blow is harder than the last, but as I keep swinging I feel the fire slowly start to simmer as the anger flows out of me. The pressure that had built up in my head, gnawing at me as it sought to devour my sanity, disappears and I can finally think straight.

My arms are shaking as I land the final hit and my knuckles are split to the bone and bleeding, but the energy that was eating away at my insides has ebbed. My vision returns to normal and, with a steadying breath, I roll up the remaining threads and wind them back into a ball.

“I'm a killer, Dani,” I mutter as I turn back around to face her. “What did you expect would happen?”

Dani's wide eyes flick between me and the headless body lying on the ground. Even under the pale glow of the moon I can tell that the color has drained from her face and I realize that this might be the first time she has ever seen a mutilated corpse before. For a brief moment I find myself wishing that I could have spared her from seeing this, from seeing me like this.

But genies did not exist, and wishes did not come true.

“I wasn't expecting this,” she admits quietly. Her gaze lingers on the vampire awhile longer before finally she lifts her chin. “But thank you.”

Her words take me aback. Even when I was expecting the worst, she always seemed to find a way to surprise me. “Dani . . .”

“Look, I'm sorry that I forced you to do this. That wasn't my intention and it wasn't fair to you. But I couldn't just sit by and let Rose die because your stupid rules say it's fine for—” She gasps as she glances over at the unconscious blonde a few feet away. “Oh my God, Rose!”

“She's fine,” I say as the barista runs over to her friend's side. “She's just unconscious.”

“Sugar plum?”

I look over at Marco. Although his hair is noticeably disheveled and sweat slicks his skin, his face and hands are no longer contorted, the beast that threatened to emerge from its cage in anticipation of a fight replaced by the softer features of a concerned friend. Shifting was always a painful endeavor for them, even more so when the transformation is held back, and a twinge of guilt thumps in my chest.

The force of his solicitude rams into me and I answer his unspoken question with a small nod. “I'm good, I promise. I'm in control.”

The tension in his shoulders visibly deflates as relief washes over his features and his chest heaves. “Jesus, Ashe, for a minute there you had me worried.”

“For a minute there I had myself worried.” I rub a palm over my injured knuckles, biting back the sting as I tilt my head. “Come on, let's get the hell out of here.”

Marco carefully loads Rose up into the passenger side of his truck and transports her back to his place. Despite the bear's assurance that all three of them would fit in his small two-seater for this trip, Dani had elected to remain behind.

I could not fathom why she would choose to stay until she started talking.

“You shouldn't have lied to me, Ashe.” Her brow furrows as a scowl twists her lips and she shakes her head. “You should've told me about Rose.”

Was she really giving me a lecture right now? “I didn't lie to you,” I grunt as I grab an empty flask from the cargo box of my motorcycle. What I would not give for even a sip of whiskey right now. “I just didn't tell you.”

“That's basically the same thing.”

“How is that—”

“Omission of the truth is just as bad as blatantly lying. I've been nothing but honest with you since all of this started, Ashe, and more than fair in my cooperation. The least you could do was let me know that my friend was in danger!”

“Goddammit, Dani, do you even realize what you've done here? What you had me do? This vampire broke no laws. His family will report him missing. Public Affairs will trace him back here and our scent is all over this place! How can I protect you when you do stupid shit like this?” I feel the anger welling up again and inhale sharply, willing myself to stay calm.

Silence hangs between us for a moment, the dull hum of cicadas buzzing in the woods the only sound. My skin itches as the Reaper's mark bubbles to the surface, forming a small blade that juts out from between my sore knuckles, and my mind reels. Why was she getting angry at me? She was just thanking me earlier and if anything I should still be mad at her!

And yet all I wanted to do in that moment was comfort her. Why were emotions always so complicated? It was no wonder demons could go mad when they fed on them.

“She's like a sister to me,” Dani finally whispers, her voice cracking as she leans against the sports car with a heavy sigh. “I couldn't . . . I couldn't bear the thought of losing her. Not like this.”

I never had any siblings so I could not relate to whatever bond she felt she shared with her friend. But I knew full well the stabbing pain that came with losing a loved one, and as I watch her eyes pool with unshed tears I feel the sudden urge to wrap my arms around her. To touch her, reassure her. Be anything other than the cause of her pain.

Instead, I drop to my knees.

“I'm sorry I didn't tell you, okay?” For what it was worth, I meant it.

“It's fine, I guess I understand why you didn't. Not exactly happy about it,” she adds with a dry laugh as she wipes away a stray tear. Her eyes flick to the Reaper's blade between my knuckles and her smile wavers. “But I get it.” There was a slight pause as her weight shifts and I sense her gaze upon me as she peers over the trunk of the car. “What're you doing down there?”

“That body back in the woods is evidence.” I belly crawl as far as I can under the car and puncture the fuel tank. “I need an accelerant for the fire, otherwise we'll be here all night.”

“Oh God.”

Once the flask is filled with gasoline I push myself to my feet. “Stay here. You don't need to see this, and I doubt you'll want to smell it.”

“I think I'm going to be sick.”

***

It took a little over two hours for the flames to consume the body and another half hour for me to bury the bones. The smoke should help mask our scent and, given enough time, maybe nature would cover up what was left before anyone noticed his disappearance. Hopefully it would be enough to thwart our trail when Public Affairs comes sniffing around during the investigation into the missing vitaem vampire.

With any luck, hopefully it would buy us a little more time to figure everything out. It was the one currency we seemed to be running dangerously low on.

A sour odor assaults my nose as I walk back to the parking lot, emanating from a dark puddle next to the front of the car, but for Dani's sake I make no mention of it. She has been through more than enough for one night. There was no need to embarrass her, too.

“Ready?” I ask as I place the flask back in the cargo box and fish my keys out of my pocket. I was eager to get out of here.

Dani nods but just as I turn on the ignition a loud buzzing wails up from the depths of the woods, drawing my attention. At first I dismiss it as the persistent droning of the cicadas, but as the cacophonic symphony reaches a deafening crescendo too shrill for simple insects to make, my heart leaps to my throat.

I have only ever heard that sound one other time in my life. It was a sound I had hoped never to hear again.

“Ashe, why are the trees screaming?”

“It's just the wind.” But one look at her face and I know that she does not believe my words, either.

“Wind doesn't sound like that.”

As if on cue a gust of wind whips by, touseling our hair and carrying on its back another earsplitting screech, and my blood curdles as shadows break through the canopy like a flock of birds flying high against the clouds. Can this night get any fucking worse?

“Is now a bad time to mention that I hate birds?”

I pull in the clutch and thumb the starter button. “Those aren't birds!” I shout as the bike roars to life. “They're harpies!”

“What the hell's a harpy?” A loud shriek pierces the night sky as the creatures begin their descent and reflexively Dani grips my arm. “I don't think I'd like them, either!”

“Do you trust me?”

She snaps her attention back to me, green eyes holding my own gaze as her pupils dilate slightly. “What?”

“Do. You. Trust me?”

“With my life.”

There was no hesitation or lack of conviction in her voice, despite everything that had transpired tonight. It was spoken with such surety, such confidence, that all I could do was stare at her for a moment. But I would have to analyze the meaning behind that later. We had to leave now.

With a nod I gesture to the front of my bike. “Then get on. Quickly!”

“That's not exactly safe—”

“Does it look like we have time for that?” When she does not immediately comply, I add, “You'll be less exposed riding on my lap than behind me if those things catch up to us!”

The ghost of a blush colors her cheeks as Dani awkwardly straddles my lap, wrapping her arms and legs securely around my waist. Heat ignites in my abdomen as she grips me tighter and presses her head into my shoulder, but I force those thoughts aside as I peel out of the parking lot.

I can deal with whatever these feelings are some other time. Right now, I had fucking demons to outrun.