Page 16 of Endless Terrors
Every few seconds, I glanced toward the club. I got Logan to the edge of the lot, then behind a tree. There wasn’t anywhere else to hide him, not even some bushes. For now, this would have to do.
Breathing raggedly, I straightened and looked at the trail of blood I’d created. Shit, I thought. The head. I’d forgotten Logan’s goddamn head. Grimacing, I hurried over and picked it up by the hair. His eyes were still wide open, his mouth gaping. As I placed it beside the rest of the dead asshole that had assaulted me, one thing was abundantly clear.
Lyari wasn’t coming.
“Fuck.” I closed my eyes and bent my head, hands forming into fists. If I couldn’t depend on Lyari’s help, there was only one other solution. One other way to clean up this mess before more humans came out and saw everything. I didn’t have a choice.
Stupid, I thought, resisting the urge to hit something. I’d been so stupid tonight. If I’d done even one thing differently, like remember the gun or ask one of the boys to pick me up after my shift, I could’ve avoided what was about to come next.
I’d already wasted too much time, so I lifted my chin and forced myself to say their names. It sounded like someone was pulling my teeth. “Collith. Laurie.”
It took exactly twenty-six seconds. They arrived at the same time, and I wondered if they’d been together. Both of them wore long coats, Collith in the wool one he’d been wearing when we first met, and Laurie, of course, in something much more elaborate. His clothes were blindingly white, and were those feathers on the sleeves?
Normally I wouldn’t have been able to resist making a comment, but tonight, I was silent. With his hands shoved in his pockets, Laurie walked over to Logan’s remains and examined them for a moment.
“What did he do?” was all he said.
The question made a flash of memory go off. I’m going to enjoy this.
I averted my gaze, pain bursting inside me like a flare. “It doesn’t exactly matter anymore.”
“He touched her. He put his hands on her.” This was from Gil, but I still didn’t know where he was, and his voice was nearly unrecognizable. It was as if a hand was grasping his throat, or he had a mouthful of rocks.
He sounded … hungry.
Laurie looked down at Logan’s body again, this time with a mild, pleasant expression. “What a pity his death was so quick. At least being fed on by a newborn is fairly agonizing. Or so I’ve heard—strangely enough, it’s not one of my kinks.”
“Gil didn’t kill him. I did. A human saw us and ran back inside. She’s probably calling the police right now. I think …” I hesitated. “I think she saw my real face.”
Laurie’s expression didn’t change. He just inclined his head in a thoughtless, graceful movement. “Go. We’ll take care of this.”
I bristled at the command, then realized how ridiculous my reaction was. I’d summoned them here. They were helping us. Swallowing, I nodded and turned away, searching for Gil in the shadows. There he was, squatting against the wall, his glowing eyes the only part of him I could see.
“Gil,” I said softly, hoping the sound of my voice would penetrate his bloodlust. “I want to go back to the motel. Will you come with me?”
I chose my phrasing carefully. Gil was still in a primal state, but if I made it seem as though I needed something, I knew it would reach him in whatever dark place he was.
For a moment, nothing happened. But then Gil nodded and pushed himself up. I took hold of his fingers, slowly, carefully, wary of making any abrupt movements when his senses were so heightened. Holding the vampire’s hand as if he were a child, I started in the direction of the car. Then I raised my gaze … and froze.
In the exact spot I’d been standing with Logan, there was a circle of soil. Streaks ran through it where Layla had recoiled. It clearly didn’t belong, especially since the rest of the parking lot was pavement and ice, and I thought of the memory I’d been trapped in during the confrontation with Logan. There had been dirt at the base of the tree Ian had held me against.
More proof of the power that my parents had fought so hard to contain. The power Lucifer had been searching for. Killing for.
I caught Laurie giving me a speculative look, but now wasn’t exactly the time to explain. Just as I moved to leave again, something else occurred to me.
“Laurie?” I turned back and met his gaze. “Don’t kill her. Please.”
“She saw your face, Fortuna.”
“Please,” I said again. I knew the risks, but this time, I didn’t care. I couldn’t bear to have more blood on my hands. Especially not Layla. She was kind, and smart, and she was the rare sort of human who didn’t value perfection. That was how she’d been able to see past the power of a Nightmare.
I wouldn’t lose any sleep over Logan’s death, but if Layla was killed because of me, I doubted even Oliver would be able to keep those dreams at bay.
Laurie didn’t say anything. I looked at him, waiting, and he just looked back.
“She won’t be harmed,” Collith interjected, his voice firm. My gaze swung to him, startled. He nodded at me, and there was a promise in his eyes. Even though he’d broken vows to me before—we both had—I felt the storm inside me subside, a little. My shoulders slumped, and I exhaled slowly, nodding back at him.
“Thank you.”
