Demon Soul (24 page)

Stunned at first, his tone quickly turned furious.
Rose? What the hell!

Chazz is on my tail. Damn! 
A body slammed into her and brought her down, one arm guarding her face as they skidded on the sidewalk.

"Going somewhere?" Chazz stood and yanked her to her feet.

"Anywhere you aren't," she retorted. Her knees throbbed and she tasted blood from where she'd bit her cheek.

The motorcycle rumbled up to where they stood at the curb. Chazz lifted her bodily onto the bike, holding her easily despite her struggles as he switched places with the driver.

 He looked at her. "Hang on to me, or you'll regret it."

The other were now slid on behind her, pressing her up against Chazz. Their heat surprised her. Her damp shirt dried swiftly between the two men.

He chuckled, and the sound went through her body. "Enjoy it."

She repressed the retort that wanted to come out and set her teeth when he started the bike.

Making the best of the worst, she wrapped her arms around Chazz. She'd take him down with her, she vowed, and laid her head against his back. She felt Chazz relax a bit as they slipped into traffic.

Still there?
Rose clamped a hold on her emotions, not wanting Gabriel to know how scared she was.
I just went out for milk, I wasn’t doing anything risky. I swear it.

She could almost see Gabriel rolling his eyes at her.

Where are you now?

I think we're heading to Twisted, but I’m not totally sure. I’m on a motorcycle.

She could feel the turmoil Gabriel was in, but didn't know how to soothe him.

Keep this link open. Tell me what's going on as much as you can. We'll try to meet up with you. I'm not going to let them hurt you,
he added, his mental voice a touch softer.

Warmth that had nothing to do with fire filled her and she smiled.
I know.

I've got to talk to the guys. Stay in the background, okay?

Yeah. Okay.
Rose relaxed further. She’d done all she could.

* * *

Gabriel turned from where he'd braced his hands against the window and looked at the men at the table.

Justin spoke up. "Rose?"

“Yeah. They've got her. Found her outside of Maggie's place, going for milk. I should have stayed."

"
Damn
the witch. Who's got her?" Justin demanded.

"Chazz. Satine's were tiger is in the driver's seat." He turned to Danny. "They've got one of our women now. I'd like to get her back before they hit Twisted. Then we can concentrate on freeing the rest of your women while we're there. Does that sound fair?"

Danny tilted his head and looked at Gabriel. "She is your woman."

Gabriel didn't respond. Justin cursed all witches everywhere under his breath.

Danny's eyes warmed with laughter. "These women. Difficult, no?"

"Have you known any who aren't?" Justin asked wryly. He turned to Gabriel. "Where are they?

Gabriel scanned Rose’s mind and brushed the last crumbs of doughnut off his fingers. "Close enough. I say let's go."

Danny also stood. "This sounds good. I'll go with you. Sig, Favor, go with Justin and Kellan. A second wave is good for the surprise element. Bring the cars."

Sig scowled. All the men stood.

"Let's go, then. Keep in touch."

“Wait.” Justin held up a hand. "Let's meet again, tonight at ten. We'll take stock and go from there.”

"Sounds good. Let's go." Gabriel led the way out the door, his gut roiling. Chazz, Satine’s garbage disposal, had Rose. Gabriel clamped a hold on his emotions as his demon struggled to be free.

Danny was wrong. Rose wasn't his woman, but she didn't deserve whatever it was Chazz had in store for her.

* * *

Rose kept her eyes closed and her mind attuned to Gabriel. She'd picked up on their plan and felt some relief that Kellan would be there as back up. If they were too late…she shuddered and thrust the thought away.

The bike's rumbling changed tone and she opened her eyes, lifting her head from Chazz's back.

They'd slowed, turned south. If they went toward the ocean, she didn't have a clue as to where they might go. If they turned away from the ocean - Rose sighed with relief as they turned on Pico Boulevard. Away from the ocean. So, he was taking her to Twisted.

She relayed the information to Gabriel and held her breath.

Got it. Kellan and Justin are in place. The rest of us are on our way.

He shut down the communications between them before she could say anything else. So, wedged between the men as she was, she began to plot. If they took her inside the club, she was as good as dead. So it was up to her, she reasoned, to make sure the Caine boys found her—
outside
. If that meant she needed to play a bit with her borrowed abilities, then that's exactly what she'd do and damn the consequences. So what if she got a little dehydrated? There'd be time to drink water later.

She looked around and realized they were still about a mile away from Twisted. Perfect.

Rose closed her eyes and focused on her rage. Focused on the power of the flames, the voice of the fire as it fed her, as she fed it. Knew again the amazing surge of energy the fire had poured into her. Slowly, her body heat rose.

A simmer, she thought. Warm. She started to become uncomfortably warm, but not too hot. Sweat beaded her forehead with her efforts at control, and the man behind her shifted uneasily.

Abruptly she pulled the mental release on the heat level just as Chazz pulled into the back parking lot of Twisted. Energy consumed her thoughts, a drug more powerful than any she'd ever known. Her head snapped back and she stared at the sky, her eyes filled with flame and the power of the sun.

"Fuck me!" The were behind her jumped off the bike before Chazz could bring it to a full stop. "The chick is on fire! Chazz!"

But before Chazz could get away, Rose tightened her arms around him and whispered to the flame, told it where to lick, how to heat the metal of his zippers. He howled and leaped off with her still clinging to his back. He sent the bike careening from him to crash into the plate glass window facing the parking lot.

Grabbing her hands, he pulled them wide, spun her around and tossed her away from him. Rose flew, laughed as though he were guiding her through a dance. She landed lightly on the balls of her feet. There was nothing he could do to hurt her. She embodied fire—warmth, life, energy, ruin and death.

Demons poured out of the back of the club in response to the bike going through the window, at least a dozen of them. They hesitated at the sight of the Weres, and balked entirely at the flames licking along Rose's body.

Rose ignored the lesser demons and watched as Chazz batted the fire at his crotch. She hovered, not quite touching the ground, outlined by fire, emboldened by it, her mind consumed utterly with the rush. The excitement. No high had ever buzzed through her blood the way fire did. Rose tilted her head as the demons drew closer to her, circling her warily. What kind of demons were they? Were any of them fire demons, like she was? They certainly looked flammable. Things like concrete had a dark, dense look to them, but the demons were more of a papery hue.

As an experiment, she tossed a fireball at one of them and he exploded in flame, his screams high-pitched and almost inaudible. Dogs in the neighborhood barked in surprise and kept barking. Rose pulled together another fireball and eyed the next demon. He backed up, bumped into his neighbor, turned, and ran down the alley, the rest of them scrambling to follow.

Rose just hovered a foot above the ground, watching as the demons parted for Gabriel and a stranger, flowed on by them.  The newcomer with Gabriel gave a great leap and caught Chazz mid-back, took him down to the asphalt. Both men let out a snarl and Chazz flipped, grappled with the other man. Rose turned away to study the building, unconcerned now about her enemy.

* * *

Gabriel approached Rose with caution. This time he got a better look at her demon form, and he couldn't believe what he was seeing—she was beautiful, eerie, flame licking along her arms, forming between her hands, flickering in her summer-sky blue eyes. Fire danced along the strands of her coppery curls. Her skin had taken on fur, an orangey hue with golden spots. He could see the horns protruding from her forehead, the ears elongated and pointy. Behind her, tiny wings, useless in flight, fluttered between her shoulder blades.

His own demon uncurled inside him. It fought to be freed, violently attracted to this transformed Rose. He shook his head fiercely and his demon subsided, pouting, though he knew his eyes still whirled green.

"Rose? It's me, Gabriel. How can you…it is you?" His voice held his demon, a growl that would not be denied.

She glanced at him over her shoulder. Her eyes took a bit to focus, and it seemed to him she'd grown taller. "It's me. I've got a fire demon's powers, and look at me! I know you’ve seen me before, but look. Look at what I can do." Her smile was quick and endearing as she rolled a ball of fire.

Before she could launch it, Gabriel caught her arm. Amazed at how hot she felt. "No." He growled the command even as his inner demon struggled again to be free.

"Why not?" A frown gathered between her eyes and she tossed the fireball from hand to hand. "We don't like that place. We can get rid of it. Easy. Just, poof!"

"There are people to save in there, Rose," he said. Sweat beaded on his face and he wondered how much longer he could hang onto her.

She tilted her head. "Then let's go in and save them. The demons are gone. Come on, Gabriel, let's go be big bad demons together."

Her hands squashed the fireball and she streaked to the open door of the club, as fast as any fire. Gabriel roared a challenge. She turned to him and grinned, did a little dance in the doorway. "Come on!"

Gabriel changed into his demon, his heart in his throat. He caught sight of Danny's eye on him. Focusing, he took the time to tell him the plan. "We go to save the weres." He moved to the back door of Twisted.

The place stank of vampire. Gabriel grumbled low in his throat as he followed Rose's scent of smoke and sunshine down the stairs, traceable among the heavier scent of vampire that clogged at the back of his throat. As a human, he had a difficult time with the stairwell. As a demon, he hated it—too enclosed, the steps too small for his feet, yet he followed her.

Found her. With her demon strength she broke open the locks. All the doors stood open on the floor, but only three of them had held prisoners. She stood now in front of one of the doors, her head cocked to one side, little flames licking along the edges of her hair. "It's okay," he heard her say. "You can come out. We're the good guys."

Gabriel gave off a rumble that might have been laughter. She turned his way and grinned as Danny came up behind them. He looked into the room where Rose stood and cried out.

The woman, thin, pregnant and naked, cringed against the back wall, blinking in Rose's light. Seeing Danny, she flung herself to the floor and crawled toward him, whimpering.

"No, Rebekah. Please. Let's just go. Let’s go." Danny stripped off his tee shirt and gave it to the woman, who put it on gratefully.

They heard a clatter on the stairs and tensed. Gabriel tucked Rose behind him and Danny and Rebekah ducked back into the room, but only Kellan, Sig and Favor came into sight.