CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The demon wasn’t letting up, forcing Raz to use all his efforts into trying to stop the awful piece of shit from killing him completely and laughing in his face afterward. Knowing her kind, he was pretty sure that was going to happen, followed by her feasting on his flesh because, hey, they weren’t particularly selective.
Demons, even Greater demons, ate what they could and relished in the chaos they brought.
The same could be said about some vampires, but Raz could argue that there were plenty of good ones to balance out the bad. The thought that more bad was coming if this certain demon’s plan came to fruition pissed Raz off, the balance between the vampires and shifters finally had an alliance and things were relatively at peace.
So Raz fought as hard as he could, scratching and biting the demon as much as she did him. They rolled on the ground and attacked each other. They bathed in their blood, the stench from the demon now more putrid as her true nature came out the more she fought him off. If she kept this up, his strength wasn’t going to stop her in the long run, and he knew he had to end it fast before that happened.
Cries of pain could be heard on the side, but he ignored them and focused his attention on his own fight, knowing one slip up would cause him instant death. The demon managed to wrestle him to the ground, pinning him in place as she grinned in delight, then licked the blood streaking her face with her long tongue. She leaned forward, practically giddy.
“Once I’m done with you, she’s next,” she said softly.
There was no mistaking who the “she” was that the demon meant.
Rage filled Raz, hot and pulsing with life. It propelled him to finally push the demon off, wrestling with her again until he got the upper hand and pinned her down this time. She hissed and spat at him, gleefully telling him he was no match for her and she was going to tear him limb for limb, then relish in the taste of his soft flesh and—
Raz hissed once. Then he used his hands to open the demon’s mouth, ignoring the teeth and using everything in him to pull it open.
The sound of bones breaking filled the air, followed by flesh ripping as the demon’s jaw fell apart. Then Raz was tearing the head off the body, as was what needed to happen to kill it. He watched it roll over and over before it stopped beside the pile of bodies.
Violence was never the answer, but this time, he wasn’t sorry for making an exception.
With a deep, unsteady breath, Raz stood up. Then he limped his way towards where Eva was.
The sight of her still alive had relief pouring out of him in waves. But the sight of who she was cradling on her lap had his heart stopping, even while his mind scanned the situation. Ana no longer had any breath in her, and the odd angle of her head confirmed the horror of her situation in less than a second. Peter lay unconscious a few feet near them, which had Raz moving to kneel beside him and check for his pulse.
At first, there was none. But after a while, Raz detected something faint, which was a miracle in itself considering the bullet holes riddling his body and the open wound on his stomach area. He turned to the person who did this to Peter and waited for her to meet his gaze. Then he asked the question that mattered.
“Do you want to save Peter’s life?”
Eva just kept staring at him, her eyes dull. Then, finally, she whispered the words.
“Yes.”
Raz nodded. “Then we need to get to my home and save him.”
Eva’s hands shook, and she looked like she was about to protest. She closed her eyes.
Then she opened them and let Ana go.
“Okay.”
*****
In the end, they couldn’t leave Ana. So they both cleaned up, buried Ana in the forest, and took the unconscious Peter in the middle of the night as they traveled via a private plane Raz hired that asked no questions. They were in Manhattan in no time, then taking a hired vehicle to a building, where they waited until the vehicle disappeared before crossing the dead end of an alley. It wasn’t a dead end, but a pathway hidden by a charm, and beyond it was a small space where Raz’s house was located.
The place was empty, which was how he liked it whenever he was around. He banked on that emptiness now to hide their presence here for a little bit, giving them the space they needed to deal with the mess that they got themselves in.
The first order of business was to place Peter in the prison in his basement he reserved for enemies. It was made of the best steel and iron, and he knew it would hold. He was still unconscious, and Raz took that opportunity to remove the bullets from his body and clean him up. Then he stepped back and locked the kid back up, watching his innocent figure lying there helplessly and sleeping like the dead.
Beside him, Eva remained quiet. The dull look in her eyes was still there, indicating the shock that still lay on the surface and wouldn’t be going away soon. Her body trembled from time to time, and it was only then Raz realized that they’d passed more than twenty-four hours fighting for their lives, escaping death with no sleep and no food between them.
“I have food. You should get something to eat and get some sleep.”
She looked like she was about to protest again, so Raz leveled her with a look that said he wasn’t in the mood for any. Finally, she nodded.
“Let me know when he’s up.”
*****
Peter woke up eight hours after they arrived at Raz’s house, and the black orbs in his eyes were still there.
The first thing he did was snarl at the sight of Raz. Then he jumped the cell bars, shaking them with his claws as hard as he could. Raz simply watched him until the boy got tired and stopped trying to attack him. Then the glares came, followed by hissing as the boy demanded to be released.
The boy started screaming when Raz left him to get Eva, who was sitting in the dining room and eating something. She drank some water and rushed to the basement, but stopped at the bottom and took a deep breath.
Then she went in and showed herself to Peter.
Raz stayed behind just above the steps, feeling things out. Peter gave out the same reaction that he did to Raz earlier, but instead of staying quiet, Eva spoke.
“Come back, Peter. Come back to me and fight your monster. Please.”
The cell rattled over and over, and the snarls intensified. Eva kept repeating what she said, and in her voice, Raz could hear the pain. But along with the pain was a bright hope that she couldn’t quite hide, showing how much she loved the boy and would fight for him until the end.
She did it every single day—talking to the boy, feeding the boy some blood, and pleading for him to come back. Every single day, Raz watched the changes, from the black eyes steadily going white to the attacks lessening as Peter shook and strained against his body. Finally, four days after the boy woke up, it happened.
It was at night, with Raz and Eva looking over him as he slept. They watched as he stirred, his eyes fluttering open. They watched as his normal eyes took in his surroundings, then zoned in their direction. They watched with bated breath as Peter knelt unsteadily and crawled over to the bars, watching them with a wide, innocent expression.
He said—or rather, asked—only one word.
“Ana?”
Beside him, Eva’s hand trembled. But her voice was steady when she spoke.
“I’m sorry. She is gone.”
If Raz thought Eva’s pain was one thing, it was nothing compared to the pain on Peter’s face now. His body went slack, and his face fell. Grief filled his gaze, and he began shaking over and over as he wrapped his arms around his body and slowly rocked himself.
“It’s my fault,” he sobbed, his voice raw with the pain he was feeling. “I shouldn’t have gone. I want my Ana.”
He was ten. Hell. He shouldn’t have been experiencing something like this.
But he was a damaged boy, and there was nothing Raz could do about it. So he kept watching as Eva comforted him, finally getting into the cage and hugging the boy tight. She kept whispering soothingly as she rubbed his back, the anchor to the wave after wave of sobs that shook the boy. It was a storm waiting to happen, and it happened now, taking over the basement and washing it with darkness.
It only stopped when the boy was finally exhausted. When he fell asleep in Eva’s arms, Raz took over and carried him back in the cage, telling Eva to wait upstairs. It would have been better to carry him to the bedroom, but the boy still had a long way to go towards fully coming back to terms with his humanity.
And Raz was going to have to make sure that it was done properly.
When the boy was tucked in, Raz went back upstairs and looked for Eva, finally finding her standing in his open front door and staring at the front lawn. He watched her back for a long time, her slender neck tempting him and her presence making him ache. He took a deep, inward breath.
Then he finally spoke the words that he knew he should have done so sooner.
“Your brother killed himself. And it’s all because of this.”