The Audacity of Demons Read online

  Did they have any idea what was about to happen?

  In tense silence, we waited. And we watched, ready to act.

  The FPA transport van came into sight. A basic black panel van with no markings, it coasted through the intersection. Then seemingly out of nowhere the ice cream truck barreled through the stop sign on the opposite side of the road, smashing into the van. In a blur the van careened toward the edge of the road, doing a half spin before it rolled onto one side down into the ditch.

  That’s when the action really started.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  I started to get out of the car, amped by the violence of the crash. Rayne caught my arm before I could open my door. “Wait. There will be an escort car following.”

  Right on cue a black sedan with dark windows squealed up to the scene. In the same moment our SUV screeched to a halt next to them. Everyone erupted into action.

  Rayne and I exited the car at the same time, rushing toward the fight. Up ahead Dalyn’s blonde hair glowed among the headlights as she leaped around the SUV and threw open the back door. She freed the two wolves waiting within, Corr and Vic.

  Two Feds jumped out of the escort car with guns raised, but they didn’t seem to know where to aim. Not once they saw the wolves prowling toward them. One of them shouted for the other to help those in the overturned van.

  “Prisoner first,” Rayne shouted as we ran toward the van.

  Obeying his instruction, I dipped down into the ditch, running full tilt toward the smoking van. Rayne kept pace with me as we darted through the shadows, so far unseen. With so much chaos on the road where the van went off, the Feds hadn’t noticed the two of us yet.

  Ghost and Adam emerged from the wreckage of the ice cream truck with little more than scratches. They might feel sore later, but it took a lot to damage a vampire. They converged with us near the transport vehicle. One of the wolves darted between me and the van. When the gleam of headlights bounced off his ash blond fur, I recognized Corr. Large and burly but sleek and beautiful, he moved with the night.

  Up on the road Vic snarled and snapped at the two escorts while Tavi stood next to him with a dagger in hand. From the sidelines Dalyn and Ira worked a spell, something that had the two agents on their knees, clutching their skulls.

  Shouts came from within the van. Someone flung the driver’s door open and climbed out, falling to the ground due to the van being on its side. Adam jumped on the guy. Before anyone could tell him to stop, he tore into the man’s throat with a savage spray of blood.

  Loose cannon, as I’d predicted.

  The rest of us went for the back of the van, where the shouts came from. Damaged from the crash, the crumpled door was jammed shut.

  “I’ve got this.” Ghost motioned for us to stand clear. He gave the slightest flick of his wrist.

  The door flew off like a bomb had gone off behind it. That sucker landed with a loud shriek of metal in the dirt several yards away.

  Ghost’s power left a strange sensation on the atmosphere, charged like right after a lightning strike. Before I could wonder at the extent of his abilities, we were faced with three irate federal agents and one bound and gagged vampire.

  Immediately we had two guns trained on us and one glowing psi ball floating above the hands of the third agent. So they had a witch among them. Every agent was human though, so that worked in our favor. We didn’t yet know how many supernaturals were willingly employed by the FPA, but I was betting it was much less than they’d like. I simply couldn’t imagine many supernaturals willing to sell themselves out that way.

  “Hands where we can see them,” the woman closest to the door barked. Her gun hand wavered, betraying her nerves. She was bleeding from the forehead. “Now.”

  “I don’t think so, sweetheart,” Ghost crooned like he was gently breaking the heart of a hopeful lover. “You’ve got someone we want, and we’re not leaving here without him.”

  The witch didn’t hesitate. He whipped that psi ball straight at Ghost, who merely batted it aside. A shout from the female agent stopped the witch before he could throw another.

  “Give us the vampire, and you all get to live to see another day.” In an effort to remain civil despite the circumstances, Rayne tried to appeal to their good sense. “I won’t make this offer again.”

  “Not happening,” the woman spat, her finger hovering on the trigger. She leveled the gun on Rayne.

  Stepping closer to him, I pulled the dagger from its sheath, relieved when the blade lit up in a golden light. It gave them pause as they assessed us more closely. We couldn’t give them the time to do that.

  They were trapped in the back of the cramped, crumpled van with us blocking their only way out. Afraid and desperate, someone was bound to make a stupid move. Of course it was her, Ms. Wavering Gun Hand. Her gun went off, and the light from my blade glowed wider and brighter. It spread out, shielding both Rayne and me from the bullet, which ricocheted off the barrier and into the grass.

  Ghost snapped his fingers. That shot took the witch down and dragged him out of the van as if a poltergeist had seized him. Ghost snatched the witch up to his feet and sneered viciously into his face. The guy brought his hands up. When he tried to chant more Latin, Ghost squeezed his throat until his voice stopped. Then in a swift and sudden motion, he snapped the Fed’s neck and let him fall face down in the ditch.

  The woman with the itchy trigger finger took aim at Ghost and fired. But he was already moving, tackling her in the back of the van. Her next shot went through the side panel above.

  Lunging forward, Corr’s large furry body jostled me as he went for the remaining agent. He knocked the guy down and dragged him from the confines of the van with powerful fangs latched into his leg. The man flailed about, trying to hit and punch Corr before going for an eye gouge. Rayne swooped in to assist, slashing a clawed fingertip across the man’s throat.

  I rushed into the van to grab the vampire who struggled onto his knees despite being bound. The shackles around his ankles allowed him just enough slack to shuffle forward. Magic-dampening restraints secured his hands behind his back. Grabbing his arm, I hauled him to his feet and none too gently ushered him away from the van.

  “We’ll have to deal with all of your bindings when we get you somewhere safe,” I said as I tugged the gag from his mouth. “Do you know where they were taking you?”

  His bearded face was cut and bruised from the accident, but he appeared ok. On the outside anyway.

  “No idea. Never said anything to me unless it was a taunt.” He glanced about frantically, ready to flee in any direction now that he was free of the van. “Who sent you?”

  “Later. We’ve gotta move.” I wondered what they’d done to him.

  Now that every agent in the van had been dealt with, I looked up to the road. Tavi stood over one body, bloody blade in hand. Vic bared fangs at the other agent who pressed her back against the car she’d come in, cursing him as the hellhound she believed he was. Why else would any federal agent agree to be on a paranormal task force? In their own way they believed they were ridding the world of evil. Protecting humankind.

  But who protected the humans from themselves?

  Rayne barked a command for everyone to retreat. Before we could vanish into the night, three more dark vehicles with blacked out windows squealed up to the scene. Four agents jumped out of each vehicle. Shit. Our fast, easy job had just gotten a lot harder.

  “What now?” I tried to suppress the rise of panic that left a bitter taste in my mouth.

  Ghost emerged from the van with an easy jump, his body loose, like the new arrivals didn’t bother him in the least.

  Not me though. All I saw was a dozen agents leveling guns at our crew up on the road. All I heard was the sound of shots going off, a wolf’s yelp, and Dalyn’s shriek.

  Ghost, Adam, and I sprang into motion. However, we each approached the unfolding scene differently. Ghost glided through the ditch, becoming one with the shadows as h
e slunk closer to the road, while Corr prowled after him. A calculated, stealthy approach.

  Admittedly, I wasn’t thinking straight when I rushed straight toward the road. Rayne raced after me, almost tackling me in his effort to bring me to a stop. He grabbed me by each arm, jerking me back against him.

  “Don’t run directly into the line of fire,” he growled into my ear, his beast fierce and forceful. “Getting yourself killed won’t help them.”

  He jerked me back behind the van where we could assess the situation without being seen. But I couldn’t just stand there hiding while our team faced potential massacre. I strained against Rayne, testing his grip.

  “We have to help them,” I hissed, furious at him.

  “Look.”

  Together we watched as Adam ran headlong into the melee. He threw himself at a handful of agents, taking them down like dominoes. Blood sprayed as more screams rang out. His slaughter was cut short when a crossbow bolt found its way into his heart. No surprise. They shot him with at least six of them.

  “That fucking idiot,” I said in disbelief, watching Adam’s body dissolve into ashes. “Did he think that kamikaze effort in any way helped us?”

  Of course it hadn’t helped. It had only made the Feds hungrier to take down every last one of us.

  Rayne pulled his phone out, releasing me to awkwardly tap the screen with clawed fingertips. “We need backup. I don’t care where Nova is, he needs to get his ass here.”

  “We can’t wait for him,” I insisted with a shake of my head. “If he’s keeping the rest of their people busy, he’ll have his hands full. We’re on our own here, and I’m not hiding out while our team gets their ass kicked.”

  “Blaze, just wait. If you rush in, you’ll get yourself killed too.”

  “There’s no time for waiting.”

  Another scream from Dalyn broke down the last shred of patience I had. When her magical shield faltered, I was done waiting. I broke away from Rayne, propelling myself into a run.

  In an attempt to stop me, Rayne made another grab for me. Much to my horror, his claws slashed along my arm, tearing the fabric of my shirt, slicing into my flesh. The initial sting of pain was nothing compared to what would happen now.

  Now that my blood had spilled, I was a volcano ready to erupt without warning.

  The sudden surge of power almost tripped me up. I recovered and continued to run straight toward the chaos on the road. Somehow I managed to shout at Rayne to take the vampire prisoner and go.

  The gash was deep and the blood flowed. Magic bubbled up inside me, magma filling the caldera. I didn’t know if I could keep from hurting my own people, but I had no time to do anything but throw myself toward the commotion.

  Racing up the incline of the ditch to the road, I tried to resist the force that coursed through me, intent on only one thing: destruction.

  I crested the edge of the road. Several agents fired at me. No warning, no hesitation. The FPA motto appeared to be Shoot to kill. I raised the dagger to deflect the bullets, many of which ricocheted dangerously back at the shooters.

  Vic was dead. His lifeless body lay unmoving on the gravel. A few feet from him four Feds had Tavi pinned. It took that many of them to keep her down while they struggled to cuff her. Ira and Dalyn had both been grabbed as well. A bullet wound in Ira’s leg bled profusely and I feared they’d hit an artery. I didn’t have time to get a good look at Dalyn, but she was on her feet, sobbing loudly.

  Alive. That’s what mattered.

  I sensed Corr’s calm presence as he slipped up beside me, analyzing our odds. In wolf form he stood tall, up to the top of my thigh. His lean, toned frame rippled with strength. For just a second I let my fingers trail through his surprisingly soft fur, marveling at the magnificence of him. With a soft whine Corr nudged my bleeding arm with his wet nose.

  Through clenched teeth I said to Corr, “You all have to run.”

  He blinked blue-hued eyes at me and bounded away without hesitation, darting among the many vehicles to dodge the few shots that were taken at him.

  And then the volcano inside me erupted.

  My hands glowed with a brilliant red light. The dagger in my grasp fell to the ground as the power poured out. I didn’t want it to happen like this. What if I hurt the wrong people? It had happened before.

  The first target was the closest FPA vehicle. It lifted off the ground several feet before smashing into a group of agents popping off quick rounds. I cringed as the shriek of rending metal assaulted my ears.

  Nobody cared about detaining Dalyn, Ira, and Tavi. Not anymore. As soon as the agents released them, they ran. Injured, Tavi lagged behind.

  Eyes wide, I did everything I could to rein in the flow of dark magic, but it didn’t obey. It never did.

  As my magic swept through the agents, Rayne grabbed Tavi. Corr followed closely, watching their backs. I couldn’t check to see where Ghost had ended up, but I knew he could take care of himself. The others disappeared into the ditch, just ahead of the wave of destruction. Every living thing before me succumbed. Heads exploded, agents turned guns on themselves and each other. A stray bullet whisked by, skimming my arm. A large tree crashed from a windbreak on the other side of the road. It narrowly missed our black SUV, landing atop several agents instead.

  Blood and limbs.

  So fast. So violent.

  For a boom like this, Rayne’s claw must have gouged much deeper than I’d thought.

  Once my blood magic obliterated everyone in range, I collapsed to the hard ground, exhausted. The greater the burst of magic, the greater the resulting fatigue. Chest heaving, I tried and failed to rise. All magic came at a price. This was mine.

  I needed to get into that SUV and get the hell out of here. Hopefully everyone else had left in the BMW Rayne had driven.

  “Get your ass moving,” I told myself with a groan.

  Hands splayed on the gravel road, I clenched my teeth and willed myself up. Like a baby deer standing for the first time, I rose on fragile legs and promptly collapsed.

  Nova had been so sure that I could learn how to master this, but even Remington’s blood magic hadn’t rivaled the volatile nature of mine. What was it about me that made the effect so different? And why did it feel so much like my own power wanted to destroy me?

  Questions for the living. Which I would not be if I didn’t get up and flee the scene. It was only a matter of time until more FPA came along.

  Strong arms encircled me from behind and I stiffened.

  Ghost’s familiar smoky voice murmured in my ear, “Nice job, baby girl. Now let’s get the fuck out of here.” He swept me into his arms.

  I sank against him with relief. “Yes, please.”

  Moving with that stealthy gait I’d come to associate with him, Ghost shoved me into the passenger side of the SUV and jumped into the driver side. Gunning the engine, he pulled a U-turn that had the vehicle fishtailing in the loose gravel.

  As we flew past the entrance to the farmer’s field, the gray sedan pulled out. Rayne had waited. He should have gone, gotten a head start on whoever might pursue us. But he’d waited. And though I didn’t want it to mean anything to me, right then it meant the world.

  “Thank you, Ghost.” Head lolling back against the headrest, I watched him navigate through the dark night with nothing but the narrow beam of headlights to guide us.

  “You’re a fucking badass, you know that?” The garish green dash light illuminated his hand as he reached over to smooth the loose hair off my face in a surprisingly gentle caress. “Never think I’d leave you behind.”

  As I gave up fighting the fatigue, I alternated between glancing at the headlights of the sedan following behind us and Ghost. It had been a long time since I’d had a reason to have faith in anyone. Tonight that changed. I didn’t know what terrified me more: the satiated glow that settled over me after unleashing my lethal blood magic or the deep attachments I was forming.

  I was pretty sure they both had the
power to destroy me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  RAYNE

  “Are you trying to get us all killed? Let’s go. Some of us are bleeding here.” Tavi snapped from the backseat.

  Blaze fell to her knees on the road.

  I willed her to get up, to get into the SUV and flee. Lingering after an operation like this was dangerous. Still I couldn’t drive away and leave her there.

  “Shut it.” Hand tight on the stick shift, I was ready to go any second, but I held off. A shadowy figure slipped through the dark near the road. Prepared to fling myself out of the car, I relaxed when I saw that it was Ghost.

  He got Blaze safely into the SUV, and I readied myself. As it flew past us, I hit the gas. The BMW slid on the gravel before righting itself. Knuckles tight, I gripped the steering wheel like it was the only thing grounding my emotion right then.

  “You have a car filled with injured people and a goddamn wolf in the front seat, but you waited for Blaze? What the fuck?” The force of Tavi’s anger projected throughout the car; her voice was like tiny needles digging into my nerve endings.

  My wolf bristled at her tone. If Tavi was looking for a fight, she would get it. “Check yourself right now,” I barked, glancing at her in the rearview mirror. There wasn’t much light to see her by, but I could make out the glower she wore. “I’m the one in charge here. If I choose not to leave someone behind, then that’s my call to make.”

  Tavi refused to be silent. “A call you made because you’re fucking her too? Didn’t take long for Blaze to sink her hooks into all the authority figures around here. Holy shit that woman is a genius.”

  I slammed on the brakes. The car slid several yards before coming to a stop. Whipping around in my seat, I met Tavi’s eyes. My wolf looked out at her. She sat crammed against one of the back doors, meeting my gaze with unsettled wariness.

  Baring fangs, I snarled, “If it had been you out there, would you have wanted us to leave you behind? Question my authority again, and you better be prepared to fight me.”