~ TWENTY-ONE ~

Something was wrong, seriously wrong. A cold, dark shadow moved through Jessie’s mind. She struggled to force her body to function. She was in and out of consciousness, her head pounding.

“It’s time for you to wake up, Jessie,” Tobias whispered.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him. “What’s happening?”

His eyes were deep dark brown, nearly black. They weren’t Tobias’ dark blue eyes. They were murky pools of evil staring into her eyes, attempting to penetrate and poison her soul. She felt his hatred. His hatred for her. His hatred for Tobias. “You have slept long enough. You need to wake up.”

She stared at him. “I am awake.”

“No. You’re dreaming. I need you to wake up. I need you to reach for me.” It wasn’t just his eyes. His mouth set in a cruel grin, caused his face to look different. Not much. But enough for her to know beyond any doubt that she wasn’t looking up at Tobias. “Guide me to you.”

“No.” Her heart raced wildly, pounding in her chest.  

“You will suffer for your defiance.”

“I know you are not Tobias.”

He slowly faded until he completely vanished in a cloud of greenish grey smoke, leaving her alone. Her entire body, from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet, hurt like hell. She struggled to get into a sitting position, each small movement intensifying her pain. The instant she got to her feet, a terrible, bone deep stabbing pain shot through her right leg. She leaned slightly to the left to keep the bulk of her weight off it.

A chill came over her as she glanced around at her surroundings and immediately recognized the bar. The walls, the furnishing, and even the ceiling was coated with a thick black tar substance. She felt something move against her shin. She glanced down at her feet and, even though it wasn’t on the floor seconds ago, she was standing knee deep in sludge. She needed to get out of it. Her mind was in a strange fog. She turned in a complete circle slowly, studying her surroundings, trying to find the exit.

Feeling a threat from behind, she turned and scanned the area. An icy shiver started at the bottom of her feet and ran up her spine to the back of her neck. Something dark, threatening was close, watching her, preparing to attack. Guss’ pet. It had to be his monstrous dog. She knew in her heart she wouldn’t escape its growing hunger, its wicked lust for her blood.

She was cold, and getting colder. So cold, she clenched her jaw to prevent her teeth from chattering. The pain in her leg had become excruciating. She considered sitting down in the sludge and waiting for the dog to kill her when a flash of light caught her attention.

She waited for a few seconds and saw another flash and realized it had come from outside a window she hadn’t been able to see before. She limped over to it. It was too dark too see much of anything other than an occasional streak of lightning.

“What are you doing here?” Amber asked, as she approached from behind. “Where the hell is Tobias?”

Jessie studied her, trying to figure out if the woman was truly Amber. “We decided to go our separate ways.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I know the truth. It’s okay. I never bought into the idea of being his mate. We’re nothing alike. He’s…he’s just so much more than I am. You know what I mean. He’s immortal. Just like you.”

Amber shook her head. “Someone has lied to you.”

She didn’t know Amber well enough to be certain the woman was her. She knew Guss could take any form. “He said it.”

“You heard my brother say you aren’t his mate.”

“He admitted it to Wes.” She purposely opened her mind, allowing just the memory of Tobias and Wes having a conversation about her to be easily read. 

“Wes said it. Not Tobias. Other than the fact that Wes is one hell of a stubborn ass male, I can’t tell you why he said something so stupid. But I can tell you that it isn’t true.”

“Tobias didn’t disagree with it.”

“He probably just wanted to get the hell away from Wes before he ripped his head off.”

“I’m not his mate.”

“We’re in the heart of a hell of a trap. A very dangerous trap. Like it or not you need to call Tobias to you. He’ll come. We need him to get you out of here. I can’t. I don’t even know if I can get myself out. I’m sure Wes will come eventually. He always does.”

“I tried to call out to him. I can’t reach him,” she lied, refusing to be fooled into calling him to his death.

“You need to keep trying.” Amber took a step toward Jessie. “And you need to stay close to me.” Jessie took a step back. “There are things here that, as a human, you can’t fight. I can’t believe you made it to this point and you’re still alive. We’re about to get some really nasty visitors.” She reached behind her back and pulled out a knife. “They’re close.” She handed the knife to her. “Don’t try to fight them. If they get too close and you don’t have a choice, go for their eyes to blind them.”

“How many?”

“Two.”

“You don’t have to stay.”

“I am not abandoning you.”

“Helping me right now is suicide. Tobias wouldn’t want you to risk your life trying to save mine.”

“He wouldn’t want either of us to die.” She smiled, baring long, sharp incisors, her eyes glowing red. “But your death would be his. He needs you, Jessie.”

The ground rupture beneath their feet, throwing them backward. Twisting and spinning in mid-air, she landed on her bad leg. She glanced at Amber. “What the hell was that?”

“Ghouls. Stay behind me. Remember, don’t try to fight them. One bite from a ghoul will kill you within a few hours.” Amber looked down at Jessie’s leg. “How bad is it?”

“It’s busted.” 

“My healing abilities aren’t as potent as Tobias’ powers, but I am sure I can help you. Do you mind if I touch your leg?”

“No. Don’t try it.” Still unconvinced that Guss hadn’t taken Amber’s form, she didn’t dare risk any physical contact. “Tobias drained his power when he healed me. I’m not entirely sure how your powers work, but I assume wasting any right now would be a very bad idea.”

Amber nodded. “You’re right.”

A blackish grey vapor started to rise from the hole, swirling and spreading outward in every direction.  Two dark, shadowy images of dogs, reeking of decayed flesh, solidified as they crawled out of it.

Jessie gagged. “Holy shit.”

“Who’s a good boy?” Amber asked.

“My experience is limited but I don’t think you should try to play with them. How do we kill them?” Just then, Jessie realized she’d lost the knife when the ground burst open. She repositioned her head slightly and searched her immediate surrounding for it or something else to use as a weapon. “I dropped the knife.”

“Here.” Amber tossed her a piece of wood from a broken floor board. “Stay put. Don’t try to stand on your leg. Just in case one comes at you, the best way to disable and prevent them from biting is to shove something down their throats. Something big.”

They inched toward them, growling, baring their teeth. From the corner of her eye, Jessie saw Amber reach to her right and pick up the knife.

“You’re going to be forced to get up close and personal to do any harm with the knife. Don’t you want something bigger?”

“Nah. If I get bitten it won’t do any lasting damage. It’ll just piss me off. Stay down low to the ground and brace yourself. If one pounces use its momentum and weight to your advantage.”

“Will do. They smell terrible.” She gripped the wood in both hands, holding it in front of her.

Amber took a step forward, waving the knife. “Who’s in the mood for a game of fetch?”

“Again, I really don’t think you should try to play with them.”

Amber laughed. “I’m hoping to tame them with kindness. They have one hell of a nasty bite.”

***

Amber couldn’t believe Jessie was still alive after being in the trap. She knew it was only due to the fact that Guss wanted Tobias to witness her death. But she wouldn’t last much longer. Every time she tried to connect with Wes and Tobias, she failed.

The ghouls attacked fast. One bit down on her forearm. It hurt like hell. Her initial impulse was to pull away, but knowing it would cause its teeth to dig deep and rip her flesh, leaving her with a nastier wound, she glanced around for a weapon.

Finding a jagged piece of glass, she picked it up and shoved it into its eyes socket. It released her at once, but immediately lunged for her. Before it could sink its teeth in her again, she pulled the glass out and stabbed its other eye, blinding it. It turned and wandered off, whimpering and whining.

Before Amber could get to the second ghoul, the damn thing lunged for Jessie. Spotting the wood, the ghoul bit onto it and ripped it from Jessie’s hands. “Get the fuck off my sister,” Amber yanked the beast away from Jessie and ripped its head off.

“Were you bitten?”

“No.” Jessie shook her head.

“Not bad,” Guss said as he approached from behind, clapping his hands. “Not bad at all for a female.”

Amber whirled around to face him. “Nice pets, ass wipe.”

“I get her, right?” Oliver came up from behind Guss.

“They were wonderful pets.” Guss seemingly ignored Oliver. “I should be mad, but I’m actually impressed by your ability to put them out of commission so quickly.” He turned his gaze to Jessie. “Where is Tobias? Normally a demon would never leave his mate weak, injured, and alone. But, to be entirely honest, I am not shocked. He has no doubt many reasons to be disappointed with his fate.”

“Have you looked in the mirror?” Amber asked, trying to redirect his attention onto her. He was rather disgusting to look at. He’d obviously started mixing his blood with tainted blood. His filthy, shoulder length hair was matted, and his flesh was a deathlike bluish gray.

 Guss kept his gaze on Jessie. “A human for a mate. His life took a major downward spiral the day you were born. He’ll likely be very grateful to me for killing you. You’ll always be a liability to him, a weakness.”

“What do you want?” Amber asked.

“Do you want me to take Amber now?” Oliver asked.

“Not yet.” Guss held his hand up to stop Oliver, but turned his attention to Amber. “I truly enjoyed watching you with the ghouls tonight. I’ve missed you, Amber. After I’ve taken care of Tobias and his wretched human we can spend some time getting reacquainted.”

“Not if I have to look at you. When did you start sipping from tainted vampires? Never mind. I actually don’t want to know. You should turn around and go back to whatever sewer you crawled out of while I’m feeling generous enough to let you go.”

“You think you’re strong enough to take me on.”

“Just go. Hurry up. I can’t stand to look at you. I am considering grabbing a chunk of glass and stabbing my eyeballs out.”

“Perhaps when I return, I will bring more pets for you to play with. I do enjoy watching you play with them.”

Amber repositioned her feet, one behind the other and slightly to the side, keeping them a little more than the width of her shoulders apart and her knees bent for balance and mobility. “It’s probably a good idea since, from what I’m seeing, you’re in shittier shape than your twice dead mutts.”

“Stop talking or I’ll shut you up for good.”

Keep reaching out to Tobias. This is going to get bad. You need him. Guss is blocking my powers. I don’t know how he’s doing it. “How are you going to shut me up? You look terrible. Clearly, you’ve spent a great deal of time guzzling blood from tainted vampires.”

“You shouldn’t judge something you have never sampled.”

“I wouldn’t touch the rancid shit for anything. Are you seriously too much of a moron to notice the blood you’ve been sampling is way past its sell-by date.”

“Back away from the human.”

“Now?”

“Get away from her unless you want to pay the price for fucking with me?”

“Fucking with you? What are you talking about? No foreplay? Forget it. When you look like the walking corpse of an old, emaciated rat, you need to work on your pregame warmup if you plan to score.”

Growling, his red tinted gaze locked onto hers, he took a step toward Amber. “You’re going to die, bitch.”

“Not today. Not by you.”

He reached behind him, pulled out a knife with a nine-inch blade and threw it at Amber.

“Well then,” gripping the handle, she pulled the blade from her thigh, “since you brought a toy, I truly hope you like it rough.”

“I’m going to slice you into pieces.”

She held the knife out in front of her. “With this?”

“That’s right, bitch.”

“Sure thing.” She raised the knife and carved a circle in the air. “Just turn around and bend over if you want me to return it to you.”

Amber reached for Jessie. The blade was coated with poisoned. It’s weakening me. It’s working fast. Keep calling Tobias. He’ll hear you. He’ll come for you.

How can I help you?

I’ll be fine. I have a feeling jackass Oliver will be taking me somewhere. Just stay alive until Tobias gets here. He will come for you. Nothing will stop him.

“Get the bitch out of here.”

Oliver rushed toward Amber. “My pleasure.”

Amber dropped to her knees and Oliver grabbed her hair and pulled her across the bar.

Can Guss kill him?

Amber looked at Jessie. “Tobias?” she asked aloud, shocked to hear the question from Jessie.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“No.” Amber shook her head vigorously. “Never.”