The knife cut deeper. Rose didn"t make a sound.
"The lips of a witch..."
"I say the spells, dumba.s.s!" The yell seemed to echo around them. "It"s not like my mouth is magic!"
The knife sank-hilt deep-into Rose"s chest. "And the heart of the undead."
"You"re...crazy," she gasped out. And she realized why she hadn"t seen anyone in the last cell-that cell was for her. "This is just...nonsense. You aren"t making..."
"I know magic." He smiled once more. She hated his smile. "I"ve made it my point to know ever since she was taken from me. Killed by a f.u.c.king beast. Her beautiful face slashed, her body torn."
He had a knife in her chest and he was talking about someone else being a beast?
"Okay, witch," the blonde muttered. Was she the muse? "You"ve got your fourth in here. Do your s.h.i.t."
Rose had no idea what the muse was rambling about but...
The witch started chanting.
"Bend to break, bend to break," the witch called out. "Bend to break, my f.u.c.king magic to take...bend to break..."
Rose twisted her hands against the bands. Was it her imagination or did the band around her right wrist feel looser? Was it...bending?
"Bend to break, bend to break." Now the angel"s voice was joining hers. "Bend to break, my magic to take..."
Simon ignored them. His eyes burned down at her. "You think humans are helpless? I learned the magic to change life. To imprison. To control. I learned the darkest powers when I first began to hunt. I learned that with the right pain, any creature can break. And that was my key. I broke so many, but I found my way back to her."
He started...moving the knife. Cutting her chest.
He"s cutting out my heart. Rose screamed.
"Bend to break," the blonde"s voice-the muse-was the loudest of all. "Bend to break, my magic to take. Bend to break-"
"You"re extra special, you see," he kept cutting, still ignoring the other women as if they were of no consequence. "Because you weren"t born to be a vampire. You were a human who was made-you"re the one with the magic of rejuvenation that I need. You came back from death once. You were brought back. And your heart will bring her back, too."
"Who?" G.o.d, she hurt! "Who are you bringing back?"
He paused. "My Helene. My wife. A beast took her, but I will make her live again. She will come back to me. I"ll pay any price. I"ll do anything..." The knife cut again. "Just like your shifter."
No, no, he was nothing like Julian. Not a d.a.m.n thing. And he was cutting her heart out of her chest while she just lay there, trapped.
"You know why you were warned never to be staked or burned?" Simon asked.
Her chest felt as if it were on fire.
"It"s because Luke Thorne wanted to protect your heart. He knew it was the center of your magic. A heart that came back from death to beat again, a heart that was brought back not through the bite of a vampire, but through pure dark magic." He exhaled. "The perfect heart for me."
And he pressed down with the knife again.
"No!" The cry broke from Rose...and so did the band around her right wrist. Her hand flew up and locked around his hand.
He stilled. His eyes had gone wide with shock.
"My heart isn"t...for you." Her breath heaved out. "It...already belongs...to someone else." Then she twisted his wrist. He was leaning over her, shocked, and she used that against him. She drove the blade into his chest.
He lurched away from her, but it was too late. The knife was hilt deep in him. He staggered back then his knees seemed to give way as he fell to the floor.
Her breath heaved out. "Okay, okay...keep up that chanting...and get me out of here." Blood pulsed from her chest. She was bleeding like a stuck pig, but she still had her heart. And Simon wasn"t going to get it.
He heard her scream and the world f.u.c.king stopped for Julian. Rose"s cry was full of pain and fear and he went a little crazy. He didn"t shift back into the form of a man, he was too far gone for that. He leapt out of the gra.s.s and ran straight for the building.
He heard a wolf howl behind him.
The guards started screaming. They fired their weapons, but he dodged the bullets as they flew at him. The dirt kicked up near his body as the bullets thudded into the ground.
Then he was on the first guard. He slammed into the b.a.s.t.a.r.d and his teeth sank into the guard"s throat. The man never had a chance to cry out.
"Freaking monster!" The other guard yelled. "Go to h.e.l.l!"
Julian whirled around.
But the wolf beat him to the attack. Rayce jumped onto the other guard, sending him crashing down.
"Guess that means you have to deal with me."
Julian turned at the taunt. The scent of brimstone made his nose twitch. The guy was shifting in front of him, transforming into the stone figure of a gargoyle. Growing bigger, stronger, and standing between Julian and the thing that mattered most to him.
I"ll get to Rose even if I have to claw this b.a.s.t.a.r.d apart.
Time to see if his panther"s claws were really strong enough to cut stone. He was betting they were.
He growled then sprang forward. His mouth was open, his sharp teeth bared and- The gargoyle was grabbed from behind. Hefted high up into the air by...Leo?
"My turn, you sonofab.i.t.c.h," Leo snarled. "Let"s see how well you fly without your wings." Then he grabbed the stone wings and he shattered them in his grip. As the stone rained down, Leo shot higher and higher into the air, taking his captive with him.
One less problem.
Julian roared again and broke down the doors of that facility. An alarm began shrieking, loud enough to wake the dead, and more guards rushed toward him. They fired and he realized they weren"t using tranqs when one of the bullets sank into his side. The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were shooting to kill.
He used his claws on the man to his right, raking him open. The other jerk who was trying to shoot him in the head? Julian tossed him through a wall.
Rayce rushed in behind him and the wolf leapt for the throat of a third guard.
Julian stood, his chest heaving, and he glanced around. His nostrils flared. He didn"t hear Rose any longer but he could smell her...
Her blood.
Someone is about to f.u.c.king pay.
He raced down the hallway to his left. I"m coming, love. I"m coming. He"d promised to have her back, and he intended to always keep the promises he made to Rose. Always.
"Bend to break, my magic to take..." The witch was leading the chant. "Bend to break, my magic to take..."
The others were chanting with her, like a coven that had formed, and Rose could feel the power swirling in the air. "Bend to break," she heard herself whisper. "My magic to take..." She thought the chant might be working. She could feel- Simon lurched upright.
Oh, s.h.i.t.
"He"s still alive!" Rose screamed.
"No..." The muse had stopped chanting. Her hands fisted around the bars of her cell. "That"s the problem. He hasn"t been alive, not really, in a very long time."
Simon stared down at the knife in his chest. Then he looked up at Rose. "You b.i.t.c.h."
"You b.a.s.t.a.r.d!"
He grabbed the knife and pulled it from his chest.
She"d stabbed him in the heart. She knew she had. But...he was rising to his feet. He was walking toward her. His shirt was drenched with his own blood but he was walking.
He brought that b.l.o.o.d.y knife to her cheek. "Got a secret to share with you."
She didn"t want to hear any of his secrets.
Her left wrist was almost free. The metal had bent, and if she could just slide her hand free...
"I don"t have a heart. I cut it out myself, a long time ago. Because it hurt too f.u.c.king much to keep living without her and feeling so d.a.m.n much."
Her gaze dropped to his chest. And...
Oh, sweet h.e.l.l. How was that even possible?
Simon smiled at her. "But, unlike me, you won"t keep going once your heart is gone."
"Bend to break," the witch chanted. "My magic to-"
"Shut the f.u.c.k up!" Simon bellowed. Then he spun away from Rose and rushed toward the witch. "You think I"ll stop with you? I"ll go after your coven. Every single one. I"ll burn those witches to ash. Say one more word. Utter one more chant, and I"ll send my stone beast after them tonight."
She stopped chanting.
"Should have f.u.c.king thought..." Simon tapped the blade against his forehead. "I locked her magic down so it couldn"t leave the cell, but you get enough creatures of power together...and you made a new circle, didn"t you? A circle with just enough juice to bend those metal straps that hold my vampire." He laughed. "Clever, but the fun"s over. Utter another word and everyone you all care about-" His voice boomed. "Will suffer! I will give them such agony you can"t even dream about the h.e.l.l they will face." He laughed. "Your precious husband, witch? I will make him scream. He will bleed and scream and the pain will not end."
The witch backed away from the bars of her cell.
"That"s f.u.c.king right." He whirled from her cell and rushed toward the angel-the angel who retreated with a sharp cry.
Rose jerked against the straps. The metal didn"t feel as strong and she was sure she could break free, if she just tried hard enough.
"Got to have more..." Simon was snarling. "Because of the vamp...she made me weak..."
She"d wanted more than him weak. She"d wanted him dead.
He put his index finger to the keypad near the angel"s cell, scanning it, then he typed in a quick code. The cell sprang open.
"Leave her alone!" It was the muse who"d yelled. "You"ve hurt her enough! Just leave her alone!"
But he yanked the angel out of the cell. She fell to her knees and he lifted his knife. Her wings flew out, covering her.
And he stabbed them. Again and again.
"No!" The muse screamed. "Stop it!"
Every time that a feather fell from the angel"s body, a flare of bright light shot toward Simon, as if power were running straight to him. His chest stopped bleeding. The wound sealed up.
He kept stabbing the angel"s wings.
"Stop it!" Now the witch was screaming, too. "You"re killing her!"
Simon laughed. "That"s the point, isn"t it?" But he took a step back. The angel lay huddled on the floor. "I need all the power from her wings if I"m going to get my Helene back. An angel"s wings for magic. A muse"s eyes for inspiration. A witch"s lips for spells. And the undead"s heart for life."
The strap on her left wrist snapped free.
Rose immediately grabbed for the metal straps that held her torso down. She would get free and he would die.
"No one can stop me now." He laughed and in a blink, he was at Rose"s side again. He grabbed her hands and jerked them over her head. Then he pinned her wrists there, holding her easily with just one hand. His strength was incredible. Terrifying.
And he"d gotten it from an angel"s wings?
How many feathers had he cut from the angel?
Simon leaned toward her. "Humans don"t have to stay weak. We can take your power."
The wings...the feathers...that was how he"d been able to use a compulsion, one that hadn"t broken without her blood to dilute his power. And now he was super strong, amped up on the magic of those wings like an athlete on steroids.
"I"ll take that heart of yours," he said. "Right now." Only he wasn"t using his knife. He drove his right hand straight into her chest.
Rose screamed in agony as she felt his fingers against her heart.
The door crashed in. A panther roared.
"What the h.e.l.l?" Simon yelled as he let her go and whirled to face the new threat. "Why didn"t my guards kill your a.s.s? I know that was what I told them to do. Why is it so hard to find good help?" Her blood was on his fingers.
The panther roared again and leapt at him.
But when the beast hit him, Simon didn"t go down. He caught the panther, holding him tightly, and laughed once more. "Surprise!" Simon tossed the panther across the room, and the great cat"s body slammed into the wall, leaving a deep impression. "Guess who isn"t going to lose this battle?"