Chapter Twenty-Two – Luke

 

Whatever this capcaun was, it was strong. And it was fast. And it was solid.

As soon as I’d felt its breath, I’d tried to move out of the way, to give myself room to maneuver. It lifted me bodily from my feet, slamming me front-first into the sewer wall.

Graffiti bloomed in front of my eyes as I fell down the concrete and splashed down into the water. I came up, wiping sewer water from my eyes.

It was on me a heartbeat later, glistening claws flashing in the blackness, eyes burning like the fires of hell itself.

I kept my grip on my sidearm somehow as I rolled back and away. I tried to bring the pistol up, but the capcaun was too fast.

Like lightning, it darted through the darkness, slammed into my chest with its whole body, and lifted me from the water with one arm.

My back popped like a million firecrackers as the air was knocked from my lungs. I grunted as I tried to bring up the pistol, to aim at its belly, but it saw that one coming.

It laughed as it easily grabbed my wrist and thrust it into the wall by my side, pinning me there. Its bristly fur rubbed again my skin like steel wool, stripping me raw.

“You think you can stop me?” it asked, its breath like the inside of a meat locker that had lost power weeks ago. God, it was ugly, with its shadowy dog snout, like a mastiff’s but ten times the size, slammed into my face. Its nostrils flared as it sucked in my smell, and all four of its eyes seemed to search my face as I stared right back at it, continuing to struggle against its grip on my wrist.

I grunted as I put all my effort into trying to break the bond, but it was useless.

“You’re all alone down here, shifter boy,” it whispered. “I’ve lived for thousands of years. I’ve spent more years eating fat fruomo like you than you’ve even been alive, spent decades plucking their flesh from my fangs. You are nothing in my world. You are nothing in the darkness.”

In the distance, I could hear the splashing of the water. Could hear someone else down here. And, more importantly, I could smell her coming. Even through the filth of this creature’s breath, and the fetidness of the water soaking my clothes, I could smell that chlorine and her wonderful citrusy spice.

Molly. She’d followed after me, even though I’d told her to stay in the house.

Dammit. She was going to get herself killed down here.

Maybe, though, maybe I could fire my pistol, get it to ricochet and hit this thing. Startle it, make it drop its guard so I could take my shot. I just needed to wait for my opportunity.

To do that, though, I needed to stay alive. And the only way I was going to do that was to keep it talking.

I grinned through the pain, through the stench in my nose. “So this is what you do when you’re damn near immortal? Hide in sewers and stalk women? Isn’t that kind of pathetic? Is that what monsters have sunk to these days?”

Its fat lips drew back in the darkness in a sick impression of a smile.

“Your zmeu buddy gets to hide out above ground, doesn’t he? Actually get to, you know, screw the pretty women? You just do what? Lick his boots? That why you’re out here being a delivery boy for him? Since you’re not allowed in the house and all?”

It did the exact opposite of what I needed. It tightened its hold on my chest, squeezing more of the air out of me, its wretched, sharp fur pushing up into my face.

I choked out a grunt of pain, coughed as I gasped for air. But, I realized it had also loosened the grip on my wrist with its other arm. “That why your breath smells like shit?” I gasped. “Too busy licking his boots to brush your fucking teeth?”

“Enough,” it growled as it slammed what counted as its forearm across my throat, bruising the tissue and nearly snapping my collarbone.

I gave a pained shout as I tried to move my wrist. I could tell its grip on me had loosened. Almost there.

“You will fear me, shifter,” it growled, bringing its slathering jaws closer to my face, its vitriolic saliva dribbling down the front of my shirt and sending up toxic smoke. “You will fear Stryos!”

“Stry-who?” I asked with a chuckle as I turned away from its snout.

It snarled again, slamming me against the wall like I was a ragdoll that had developed a nasty attitude. Which, in all fairness, I kind of was.

Still, though, almost there. “Shyos?” I gasped. “That what they call you? That’s a stupid fucking name.”

Stryos loosened its grip on my wrist, seeming like it was about to grab me with both hands to just finish the job.

I made my move. I tried to bring my sidearm up, brought up my legs, and kicked at its behemoth-sized chest.

Stryos realized exactly what I was doing, though, and slammed my hand right back down before I could even pull the trigger. “Really? That is the best you have, shifter? Upsetting me, and trying to use the opportunity to shoot me? Pathetic.”

I coughed weakly. “I thought it was pretty good, actually. Worth a shot, at least.”

It smiled again. “Not good enough, I fear.”

“I’ll show you not good enough,” Molly suddenly shouted from my right, her voice like the voice of God himself down here in the tunnels. And then the light from her phone was flooding over both of us, and the fresh smell of burning shadow fur was shoving its way into my nose. Stryos screamed in agony as it dropped me to my knees in the sewer water, its arms up, trying to shield its face as Molly advanced on him, keeping the light trained on its upper body.

Coughing, and with every breath sending a jag of pain through my body, I raised my sidearm and fired. If it’d been hard to miss from across the backyard, then here it was damn near impossible. The gun barked once, twice, three times as I aimed for the four eyes above its gaping maw.

One of the burning red lights on its face was suddenly snuffed out like candles in the wind as it roared like a freight train coming down the tunnels, practically driving the air from the room. It stumbled back into the far wall, and I fired again and again, the gun’s roar as deafening as the creature’s in this confined space.

And then, just as suddenly as it had been there, it was gone, leaving nothing but blackened smoke drifting through the sewer air. Seconds later, Molly was by my side, helping me to my feet. She was like a breath of fresh air after a one-ton monster had pinned you to the wall by your throat.

“Oh my God,” she breathed, putting an arm around my chest and trying to lift me up from the ground as I holstered my sidearm, “are you okay? Did it hurt you?”

I didn’t reply. Didn’t say a word. As soon as I got my feet back under me, I just threw caution to the wind and pulled her to me. She was shaking like a leaf as I pressed my lips to hers, her whole body trembling as I gripped her tightly.

“What are you…?”

No words. Words weren’t going to cut it. Not this time.

I crushed her lips with mine, squeezing her waist tightly as my other hand ran up and down her toned back, savoring the feel of her. She tasted sweeter than honey as her lips parted, and her tongue was like fire on mine as she relaxed into my arms and against my body. She moaned softly into my mouth just before we pulled apart, both gasping for air, our hearts racing in time together.

“I’m fine,” I said, my voice a raspy whisper as we stood there in the darkness of the sewers, clinging to one another. Holding each other up.

“Wow,” she whispered, hand on my chest. “Was that a thank-you for saving your life?”

“Something like that,” I said, smiling a little as I looked down into her eyes, the light of the phone casting shadows over her face from below. “Thank you. You doing okay?”

“Soaking wet, and I think I smell bad.” She smiled up at me as she put both arms around my neck and stared up into my eyes. And, God, what beautiful eyes they were. As dark as molasses, with golden flecks throughout the irises. “Other than that, I’m doing great.”

I sniffed a little. “Nope, you smell fine.”

She chuckled, a wry sound down here in the depths of the darkness. “So I guess this all means I’m not crazy?”

I squeezed her tightly. “No, you’re not crazy.” I glanced up and down the tunnel both ways, checking to see if Stryos was gone. Something told me it had fled, though, and would be licking its wounds for a little while, at least.

“So that’s what took Heidi, then?”

I looked back down at her.

“Luke, why are you frowning like that?”

“Because that was just one of the things that took your friend. There’s something else out there, up at the mansion in the hills. And I think you’ve met it already.”

Her mouth dropped open, and, even in the pale light, I could see the color fade from her face. “I’ve met it? But who?”

“Dominic,” I said, touching her cheek. “We need to talk. There’s a lot you don’t know, Molly. But I’m going to tell you. Tell you everything.”