Beautiful Monster: The Hunt (Book 2) (7 page)

Chapter Nineteen

Alina flicked on the small lamp she’d set up on the floor. Its glow was harsh and yellow but even her eyes weren’t keen enough to be able to see what she needed to in the usual darkness of the apartment.

She sat down in the middle of the dirty floor and unrolled a rectangle of worn leather. Inside were small slots where she kept her tools of the trade. There were only three items. The first was a slender rod, its tip as sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel. The second was a branch cut from the oldest tree grown in the soil of the most ancient of all creatures of the night and the progenitor of all her kind, Vlad the Impaler. It was twice the thickness of a regular lead pencil but harder than any diamond. Its tip was fashioned into a needle-like point. Like the slender rod, it only had to pierce the flesh of a creature of the night to obliterate them.

The third item was the most lethal and the one even Alina feared. It was the tool of last resort—a simple syringe but it was not meant to be used on the victim, its contents were to be injected into her. If all were lost, she’d do just that. There would be no beating her with the blood of Vlad running through her veins but once only a minute had passed, it would be useless having run its course.

In all her years working as an assassin for Those on High, Alina had only once ever needed a tool to do her job. It had been on her first assignment. She’d been scared and plunging the slender rod into the heart of her target had been easy. Actually, it had been too easy, stealing the fun from her job. She’d vowed to always kill with only her bare hands from that point on. But disposing of Boris was different. First, the element of surprise was already gone. He’d know she was coming for him. Second, and more importantly, he was one of the ancients and much stronger than she was. Face to face, hand to hand, she didn’t stand a chance.

ZoZo wandered into the living room from the bathroom, pudgy hands rubbing tired eyes. The girl had witnessed Alina’s work several times and she was so used to it that she didn’t even ask questions anymore. This time, however, ZoZo was intrigued by the leather pouch of tools, something she’d not seen before. She plopped inelegantly to the floor beside her mistress and reached out, her fingers grazing the leather before Alina shot out a hand and caught the child’s hand.

“No! Don’t you ever touch these. They’re dangerous; very, very dangerous.”

ZoZo’s eyes brimmed with tears as she scooted away from Alina. She stopped when she bumped into Jack’s raft. “ZoZo love Jack more,” she said as she stood and made her way into Jack’s makeshift bed.

Alina would have comforted the girl but her heart at the moment was hardened to everything and everyone. It had to be that way for now.

Alina pulled the raft containing ZoZo close. “I need to feed now.”

ZoZo shook her head furiously and rolled her tiny body into a tight ball.

Alina grabbed the child. “I don’t have time for your nonsense.” She plunged into ZoZo’s jugular and drew hard and fast. The girl struggled but only for an instant. Soon, she was dead weight in Alina’s arms and once sated, Alina carried her back to the bathroom, deposited her into the tub and then covered her to the chin with the comforter.

There was nothing to do now but wait. Wait and hope that all was going as planned. Alina disliked having to lean on others, after all, her success over the years had come from executing her job well and quickly. Time was running short and if she wasn’t back in Romania to report to Those on High, Alina risked her life. Her stellar reputation afforded her small allowances and one of those was, for the most part, being left to her own devices.

She took a seat on the floor, her weapons within reach, and waited.

* * * * *

Jack laughed at everything Boris said and hoped he sounded convincing. Boris may be beautiful, with his muscular frame, shoulder-length black hair and a wicked smile, but Jack knew the truth, that beneath the façade lived a beast. Gone was the thrill he’d experienced while waiting outside Boris’s house. Now that he was so near to the man, he realized a body could be claimed but one’s true essence could never change.

They had drinks at the dining room table, an ornate cherry wood monstrosity that looked like it belonged in an English castle. It was too large for the room and Boris had to stack piles of papers at one end of the table just to make room for them. The chairs too were occupied by mountains of rubbish.

The liquor was good, though, not the cheap stuff he was used to. They talked of the old days, the times they’d spent together. Jack, of course, did most of the talking and Boris nodded and tried to look as if he were following along. Jack played with him, making up stories for his own amusement and when Boris reacted with a smile or laugh, saying, “Yes, yes, I remember now!” Jack really did laugh. But he could tell the small talk was beginning to bore Boris and soon Jack would have a decision to make. Would he sleep with the creature and take a chance with his eternal life? Or, would he try the spell sooner rather than later? T

Boris was beside him now, a hand on Jack’s cheek, caressing him, stroking lovingly. Boris turned the boy’s face to his and bent to kiss him. Just as he did, Jack uttered the words he’d trained his mind to not just memorize but know as well as he knew his own name. “Te vinctos. Vires inutilis. Tu mentem.”

Boris pulled away, eyes wide and for an instant, his face held the look of a man who’d just been shot and knew he was about to die.

Chapter Twenty

The door to Jack’s apartment flew open so hard the handle embedded itself into the drywall behind it.

Alina was one her feet in a heartbeat when she saw Jack at the threshold with Boris tossed over a shoulder like a rag doll.

“Lay him here.” She pointed to the spot on the floor where she’d just been sitting. She wanted to say more, like, “Good job, Jack. You were quick. Quicker than I’d anticipated” but there was no time.

Jack let go his grip and Boris fell to the ground, landing awkwardly with an inelegant thud and lay immobile except for his eyes, which darted about the room in a frantic search for escape. Not much good that would do in the state he was in Alina thought and this brought a smile to her face. Boris looked like a corpse in the throes of rigor mortis. Fear shone in his eyes.

Alina toed his body into a more comfortable looking position, first straightening his arms down by his sides, then his legs which were bent at the knees making him look as if he were trying to run away—a statue caught mid-flight.

She knelt beside him and plucked the rod from the leather pouch. Then Alina ripped open Boris’s expensive designer shirt to reveal the muscled chest beneath. How she’d loved that chest, the hardness of his pecs, the well-defined shoulders. But that was when he was Alexei, she reminded herself. The creature before her now was a monster; an out of control creature of the night that had to be put down.

Alina looked up to see Jack standing nearby. She threw him a narrow-eyed glare and then gave a sharp nod of her head pointing him toward the bathroom and ZoZo. “Get her and go!” she said through gritted teeth.

He stood frozen for a second then took a step toward her. “Maybe I can—”

“Go!” Alina screamed making Jack jump. He turned on his heel and headed for ZoZo.

Alina turned her attention back to the paralyzed Boris, pulled his shirt open just a bit more and felt around with deft fingers for the right spot. Then she pressed the razor-sharp rod to the flesh above his unbeating heart.

A hand shot up. Boris had her wrist and easily cracked it backward, snapping it like a twig.

Alina screeched but had the sense to grab her weapons as she scrabbled away. Boris clumsily pulled himself to his feet. Alina stood too. She had the second of her tools in hand now, the branch cut from the oldest tree grown on the property of the Vlad the Impaler. She held it in her good hand above her head. When he came near enough, she’d plunge the needle-like point into him. They circled each other like boxers in a ring. Damn it but he was stronger than she’d given him credit for. The spell would have kept an ordinary creature paralyzed for a half a day.

Half his face twisted upward into a crooked smile. “Think you can take me?” he said in a slurred staccato.

She had to act fast or he’d be back to his old self soon.

Jack was in the room now carrying ZoZo and her bag of toys and treats. The child was still sleeping; her large ungainly head nestled in the crook of Jack’s neck. Alina’s gaze flitted to Jack then back to the monster before her. “Go,” she said, her word a steely command.

Jack stood frozen to the spot, a look of uncertainty on his face.

“So you sent him for me, did you?” Boris laughed. “Good idea. I have to give you credit. A good-looking man was always my weakness. And, you know I was going to come for you eventually.” He swatted the air nonchalantly as if waving away a mosquito. “You are no match for me. You weren’t a priority but I may as well take care of you now.” Boris lunged.

Jack was between them in an instant, a palm on Boris’s chest, holding him back. But with one flick, Jack was tossed across the room like he weighed nothing. He smashed against the drywall and slid to the floor.

ZoZo, who Jack had deposited by the front door before jumping in to help Alina, hobbled to him, her crooked legs propelling her as fast as possible. Before she reached her destination, Boris plucked her up, a handful of unruly red curls in his fist.

“Ahhhhh!” the child screamed. Her feet dangled a foot above the ground. Her chubby hands flew to her head. “Hurt, hurt, hurt.”

Alina stepped to the side so she could see both ZoZo and Jack.

“Who’s more important? The imp or the boy?” Boris held the girl against his chest, one arm wrapped around her waist, he carried her as if she were as light as a pillow. He lowered his mouth to her neck as he eyed Alina, his lips turned up into a smile. His fangs dropped into place and he let them rest on the pulsing artery in the girl’s neck.

“Don’t move, sweetheart. Not even an inch.” Alina held out a stilling hand as if she could stop Boris from a distance.

A tear made its way down the girl’s cheek, falling to the floor. It was as if that single drop was an explosion in Alina’s head, sending a shudder of fear and anger through her.

Despite her fury, she was paralyzed. If she made a move, Boris would kill ZoZo. “Okay, look.” She held up the weapon which looked as benign as a tree branch for Boris to see, then threw it down the hallway toward the bathroom. Her leather pouch lay on the floor behind her. She didn’t think Boris had seen it. The last of her weapons was tucked inside but it was too far out of reach. “Please, you can see I’m unarmed now. Put the girl down.”

Boris pricked through ZoZo’s skin with one fang, bringing a dollop of blood to the surface. He flicked it up with the tip of his tongue and savored it. “She’s divine!”

“Let her go. You can have me.” Had those words really left her lips? And did she really mean them? No. Alina would never give up without a fight. She would battle Boris to the end. Maybe she could take him. What difference would it make anyway, either way, her life would be over. Those on High would dispose of her without a thought if she failed in her mission.

Boris let out a sigh and then smiled as he bent over. When ZoZo’s feet hit the floor, she ran to Alina and buried her face in the fabric of her mistress’s sweatshirt. Boris nodded to the weapon Alina had thrown down the hallway. He chuckled. “By the way, what was—”

Jack smashed into Boris, sending him skidding across the room. Boris left a man-sized indentation on the opposite wall giving Alina time to scoop up the pouch. Quickly, she pulled out the needle. “Go, little one. Open the door and leave,” she hollered to ZoZo.

ZoZo looked up at her with pleading eyes, tears threatening to fall.

Alina screamed, “Now!”

ZoZo jumped and hobbled over as fast as she could to grab her meager belongings but before turning the doorknob, she threw both Alina and Jack a kiss. Then she was gone, dragging her comforter behind her and lugging her grocery bag of goodies.

Alina held the needle in place over her arm, then stopped and looked up to see Boris grinding his forearm into Jack’s windpipe. Jack’s fingers bore into the hard flesh of Boris’s arm as he tried to peel himself free.

With one plunge, Alina emptied the contents of the syringe into Jack’s thigh.

Now it was Boris’s turn to struggle. Alina stepped back and watched as Jack the Flash as she’d just recently come to think of him, turned lightning quick and had Boris pinned to the wall. Jack was no longer a creature of the night but a super-charged killing machine. His eyes, once blue glowed red in the dim light. A growl escaped him as he bit into Boris’s shoulder. He came away with a mouthful of bloody muscle and spat it onto the floor.

Boris screamed and managed to land an uppercut to Jack’s chin sending him backward a step, but the boy was on him again. This time, Boris was prone on the rough wooden floor. Jack held Boris’s arms above his head with only one hand and with the other he took hold of Boris’s throat.

Should she step in? Alina couldn’t help but wonder if Those on High would think less of her if she wasn’t the one to actually make the kill. She took a tentative step toward them but Jack turned to glare at her. A growl rolled deep in his throat. Would she be next? She knew what that blood in that syringe could do; what it was meant for. She had to ready herself. She moved away from Jack and Boris and made her way to the second of her tools, the enchanted branch lying in the hallway.

When she returned only a few seconds later, everything had changed.