“Looking for me?” I purred.
I emerged from the shadows, striking as fast as a snake, ready to rip Dave’s throat out.
Not fast enough though.
“There you are.”
I barely heard the words as his hand clamped down on my wrist, sending what felt like a thousand volts of electricity through me. My muscles seized, my body was thrown backwards, sailing through the air until I slammed into the side of the police car. For a moment, there was only pain as the world swirled around me, my body twitching uncontrollably with the aftershocks. My heartbeat lumbered, then raced in turns. I shook my head, fighting to clear it, my ears ringing as I did so, but it didn’t drown out the crackle of Rutherglen as he launched himself at me.
Billy emerged out of the shadows for a split second, throwing out an arm to stop Rutherglen in his tracks, then faded again as Dave went wheeling back. I straightened up as he fell to the ground, moving until I was standing over him.
Be careful, Lilith said. There’s something else riding him. The sky father, he’s given him some of his power.
Fine by me. I conjured a ball of fire in each hand, then fell back into a fighting stance.
Rutherglen scrambled to his feet quickly enough, lightning flickering across his eyes as he glared at me, then playing across his fingertips.
“Little bitch. Got your pet dick doing the fighting for you?”
“You mean like you’re literally doing right now? Why are they attacking Ashanti’s people? I get you’re twisting them, but why?”
My eyes were on his shoulders, his hands, wanting to catch the moment he attacked, so I just heard the smile in his voice.
“A man needs to make a gesture to get a girl’s attention.”
“This is you sending flowers? Why am I not surprised?”
His teeth came together with a click.
“This is a message to any and all who will harbour you. It comes at a cost. My master has allowed me free rein with his power to bring you to heel, and this is how I use it. To show them what happens if you stand against the Lord of Rutherglen.”
He sounded all pompous and shit. I yawned dramatically, liking the way his eyes glittered in the night air as I summoned the angry burn of flame within me. My power flicked out like a whip, the fiery tail sailing through the air, so ready to wrap itself around his stupid fucking throat and burn through the pale skin there, when…
His eyes went wide for a split second, god-given power making his hand snap up to catch mine in his hand. It burned into his palm. I could smell the stink of scorched flesh, but he just grinned, ignoring what it did to him, and used it to yank me closer.
I rallied quickly, but I was still thrown off balance, taking a few stumbling steps toward him before deciding to use the momentum in an attack. The stupid fuck… I thought, conjuring a massive ball of fire. I raised it, ready to throw it at Dave as I rushed past, but at the same moment, he flicked his wrist, letting out a long stream of lightning my way.
This is gonna fucking hurt, I thought as the wild electrical bolt arrowed towards me.
Before it could hit, I was yanked off my feet and into the still darkness again, only the arms around me telling me who it was. He held me tight, Billy, keeping me still and quiet when I fought his grip.
“You can’t wage a frontal attack while he has the sky father’s power!” he hissed in my ear. “You shouldn’t be attacking at all. I didn’t bring you here for this!”
“And what did you bring me here for? To win hearts and minds?”
He spun me around, still holding me in his cocoon of shadow, his brows jerking down. “We made a fucking mistake with you. We kept the truth from you because we thought it was the best way to keep you safe. I’m starting to see why. You’re reckless, Kira, but you don’t want to be protected. You want to know and be able to make informed decisions.” He paused for a second, seeming to struggle with the words. “And now I can’t help but want what you want.”
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” Dave sang, throwing electricity around at random, hoping to find us.
“We can walk the shadows, get out of here, go back to Aragide, and regroup. We can alert Ashanti, get real help sent down here from the bonfire. We can be strategic, Kira.”
The logic of his words pressed down on me like a ton of bricks, their sharp, rough edges digging into me, making me hurt. It made sense. Of course it did. Apart from ‘training’ with Aen and floundering around with the sim, I was the least qualified person to tackle Dave.
But I couldn’t walk away.
As he swaggered around, playing blind man’s bluff with Sky Daddy’s power, that manic grin and the cries and screams beyond hurt me physically. I’d fucked up, lolling around in bed having threesomes and ‘bonding’ with my consorts, while people had their fucking lives destroyed. I shook my head, frowning so hard, it made my head ache.
“No. This is my fault. I need to sort this out.”
“Kira—”
“No.” My eyes darted sideways as Dave came close. “I did this.” The words felt heavy, so much heavier on my skin. “I went for flashy. I wanted to stick it to the man, and I created this. I need to sort this out.” I saw the brutal spasms of the little kid’s limbs as he screamed in pain from the tear gas, playing over and over in my mind. I frowned, feeling that instinctive need to deflect.
I didn’t know. I hadn’t planned this. I would never have attacked Rutherglen head-on if I knew this would happen. I would’ve gotten Jen and Vervain out another way. I’d had a moment of self-congratulation for rescuing Marlow and the girls, but that was all just bullshit. It didn’t take much to put two and two together about Rutherglen and how he would respond. I hadn’t thought, because I didn’t want to, because I was in a privileged enough position to not have to. I squared my jaw, my eyes flicking sideways as Dave prowled.
“I have to do this, Billy. I can’t undo my fuck up, but I can make amends.”
I tensed my muscles, ready to spring free of the cocoon and take down Rutherglen or go down trying, but he stopped me cold. Billy’s hands went to my shoulders, his mouth descending, pressing his lips to mine, just feeling their weight, and then it was gone again.
He was gone again.
Billy emerged out into the night, leaving me locked up in my cocoon, and no pushing or pulling could free me. He drew shadows to him like great black wings, approaching Rutherglen’s back on silent feet before lashing out.
He was beautiful, an avenging dark angel as he conjured great scythes from the darkness. Rutherglen snarled his disdain, but Billy just attacked, slicing into Dave as he spun them around. The fuck’s expensive suit fell in ribbons, the first cut opening on Dave’s skin, a gash of red blood and pink flesh that thrilled me. I watched the rapid spin of the blades, the grim look of determination on Billy’s face, and found myself jumping up and down like some kind of fangirl. Dave fell backwards, scrabbling back on the asphalt, and Billy was on him moments later, raising a scythe above his head and…
It was Rutherglen’s smile that alerted me. His wounds closed like mouths, his hands going up. Get me out of here, Lilith! A massive bolt of lightning shot out of his fingers. GET ME OUT!
The shadows parted just in time to see Dave pour his destructive power into the now twitching body of my lover. For a second, I could only stand there, watching Billy thrash and spasm on the road under Dave’s onslaught, his eyes rolling back into his head, his back curved at an angle completely unnatural.