Destroyer of Worlds (13 page)

At the center of it all stood Gray. His hair
and coat streamed in the wind, tiny jags of lightning sparking all
around him. Blood coated almost every visible inch, and he held a
demon by the throat.

He looked…incredible. Beautiful and terrible,
like something out of myth.

“
Lightning?” Tiffany asked, and her
voice shook. “No. Oh shit.
Storm.
He’s the storm. Fucking hell, she’s going to kill
me.”

Demons fled from Gray, scrambling up the
walls, into the buildings, anywhere to get away. Collars around
their necks smoked and popped, and the stench of burning
electronics gusted intermittently on the wind.

Then John realized some of the NHEs fled in
his direction.

“
Retreat!” Tiffany yelled, firing off a
shot at the oncoming demons, even as she fell back toward the
transport blocking the compound entrance. “Retreat!”

Sean stumbled to his feet, grabbing John by
the arm. “Damn it, where’s my gun?”

And for a fraction of a second, John almost
forgot what Sean had done, and it was the two of them again,
watching each other’s backs just like always.

Gray
roared.

Sean backed up rapidly, eyes wide with
terror. “John, run, it’s—”

Gray was on them before Sean could finish his
sentence. Arms clad in leather snatched John up, and he found
himself tossed across a shoulder. Static discharged around him,
crackling in writhing hair.

Gray ran, outdistancing the oncoming NHEs, as
if John weighed no more than a leaf. John got a confused glimpse of
demons, of Sean running for his life, of smoking electronics.
Screams echoed from the walls, as stray demons struggled with RD
troops, but most of them seemed to be making for the open gate and
freedom.

Except the transport blocked the gate.

The rumble of an engine cut through the
night, and Gray poured on even more speed. For a second they were
weightless as he jumped—

They slammed into the back of the moving
transport, Gray curled around John, shielding him from impact.
Someone shouted, and a lot of people cursed as they fetched up
against the bodies already packed inside.

“
Go!” Tiffany yelled, and someone
banged on the metal wall separating them from the cab. The truck
engine roared, and they barreled away. A handful of demons streamed
out the ruined gate behind them, soon lost in the night.

* * *

After a couple of hours driving along narrow
back roads full of potholes and overhung with the interlaced
branches of old trees, the truck pulled off into a clearing, where
two smaller vehicles waited. Caleb wondered if they were splitting
up to confuse any potential pursuers. Tiffany confirmed the
supposition when she climbed out past him. “Jansen, Starkweather,
Chief Kaniyar, you’ll be riding in the white van with Luna Team. If
anyone needs to piss, the woods are right there. We move out in
five.”

Caleb climbed out after her and stood to one
side, while the rest of the Vigilant rushed to transfer equipment
and people. Wherever they were headed, he hoped it included a
shower, because right now he reeked like a butcher’s dumpster. He
felt sorry for everyone stuck riding in the van with him.

John exited the transport, his movements
stiff. Spotting Caleb, he walked over, hands tucked into his jeans
pockets. Caleb didn’t expect him to cuddle in front of Kaniyar and
the rest, but still, after everything they’d been through, the
distance seemed odd.

“
You okay?” John asked, his voice
pitched too low for anyone else to hear over all the
noise.

Caleb sighed. “Well, one of us is
having the best damned day of his life.” And why not? Gray got to
eat a bunch of demons
and
find
out John loved him? Break out the party hats. “Me, not so much, but
I’m coping.”

John winced and looked away, his hands still
firmly buried in his pockets. “What happened back there? With the
lightning and such?”

Was this why John kept his distance? Had they
scared him? “Honestly? I don’t really know.” Caleb shook his head,
ignoring the crackle of dried blood. “I asked Gray, but he just
said ‘We are the storm,’ like I’m a dumb ass for not understanding.
He said something similar once before, when we chased the incubus
down at the old lighthouse.”

“
Tiffany said something about a storm,”
John mused.

“
Then ask her.” Caleb shrugged
uncomfortably. “I think it had something to do with how many demons
we—Gray—fed on in such a short time.” A shiver went though him,
because it had felt damned good. He’d never felt so powerful,
so…whole. “Gorging on so much etheric energy so fast unleashed
something inside us. Something which is always there, maybe, but we
couldn’t reach before? I’m not sure I can explain it, especially
when I don’t really understand it myself.”

“
Huh.” John’s brows furrowed in
distracted thought.

“
Besides, it worked out, didn’t it?”
Caleb asked hopefully. “Gray didn’t mean to fry half the
electronics in the compound, but it kept RD from chasing after us,
right?”

Which hadn’t kept the Vigilant from giving
him scared looks, but whatever. Hell, soaked in blood as he was,
he’d probably scare himself if he caught a glimpse in the
mirror.

“
True enough,” John said, and the
furrow disappeared. “Caleb…are we okay?”

Caleb frowned, taken aback. “Why wouldn’t we
be?”

John peered at him closely, as if trying to
decide if Caleb was sincere or being a smart ass. “With Gray.
And…everything.”

Oh. “Is this about you being in love with
him?”

John sighed. “Damn it. This is all screwed
up.”

“
So yes?”

“
I didn’t…” John bit his lip and stared
down at his feet. “I never meant for it to happen. And I couldn’t
say anything, because I didn’t know how you’d feel. Either of you,
I guess, but
you
especially,
because I didn’t ever want you to think I didn’t love you as much.
And I knew you held Gray responsible for ruining your life. It felt
like I betrayed you by caring about him.”

“
Foolishness.”

You know all the mortal nonsense you like to
dismiss? Well pay attention, because you’ve just resigned yourself
to dealing with it for the rest of our life.

“
Perhaps I did not think
through the ramifications as thoroughly as I should
have.”

Wait a minute. Was that…a joke? You really
need to work at the whole humor thing.

“
You didn’t mention the fact you wanted
to let Gray go free because you worried what I’d think?” Caleb
asked, wanting to be sure he got this straight.

John looked utterly miserable. “Yes and no.
No, because if I got caught and brought up on charges, I wanted you
to be able to pass an empath’s test. And yes, because…because
everything I know about NHEs, about exorcisms, about my duty, said
it was wrong. At worst, I was falling into a trap set by an NHE a
hell of a lot smarter than me. At best, I was out of control.”

“
Don’t worry—Gray definitely isn’t
smarter than you,” Caleb reassured him. “Seriously, his idea of a
subtle plan is to beat something into submission and then eat
it.”

“
You mortals simply make
things needlessly complicated.”

John let out a short laugh. “Yeah, well. It’s
part of his charm.”

“
Oh God, don’t,” Caleb said. “He’ll
preen and be all smug for the rest of the night, and I’ll be the
one who has to listen to it.”

John’s grin turned uncertain. “It sounds like
you’re okay? With this?”

“
Yeah.” Caleb held his hand out,
palm-up. A moment later, John took it, their fingers lacing
together. “I know what I said, about Gray fucking up my life. And
he did, but not on purpose. We reached an understanding a while
back. I wanted him out, sure, but I didn’t want him to die. I
figured it would never fly with you, so when the Vigilant offered
to exorcise me, I decided I’d take the offer. Even though you might
hate me for releasing Gray.”

“
Caleb—”

“
Let me finish.” Caleb hesitated,
trying to find the right words, because he had to make John
understand. “When Sean shot me, Gray could have just let go and
abandoned this body. Jumped to the next corpse. But he poured
everything into saving me.
Me,
not just a body he liked being in.”

John’s eyes darkened with grief. How must he
feel, after what Sean did?

“
I don’t remember much of it,” Caleb
went on. “Which is probably a good thing, to be honest. I do
remember knowing something had me. Held me. And a sense of love I
can’t even begin to describe to anyone else. Not romantic, or
platonic, or familial. Just…total and unequivocal. And even if we
hadn’t been getting along before, even if I hadn’t wished he would
have the opportunity to really experience what you and I
share…there’s no way I could ever be jealous of someone who cares
about me like that.”

John’s fingers squeezed his. “Oh,” he said,
his voice soft and a little thoughtful. Like he was really trying
to understand what Caleb told him.

“
Besides,” Caleb added with a sad
smile, “we kind of thought you’d hate us both after I chose to let
the possession become permanent. So I, for one, am pretty fucking
relieved to find out you’ve got a kink for drakul.”

John swallowed hard. “Sean…” He paused, drew
in a deep breath. “Sean thought he was saving me. From myself. From
Gray.”

Okay, he’d known Sean didn’t like the whole
thing with Gray, but the rest of it? “Saving you from
yourself?”

“
He thinks I’ve got a death wish.” John
tilted his head back, blinking rapidly. Tears spangled his lashes,
gleaming in the moonlight. “He said the whole reason I got involved
with you, with Gray, is because I want to die. And I don’t believe
he’s right, but I have to know what you think, both of you. Because
I thought Sean knew me better than anyone, and I admit the succubus
brothel messed me up pretty good, and then Will left,
and…”

“
No,” Caleb said simply.

John stopped. “No?”

“
No, you don’t have a death wish.”
Caleb squeezed John’s hand. “The first time we had sex, it wasn’t
because you got off on the idea of how dangerous it might be,
screwing a possessed guy. We had sex because I needed something to
remind me I was still human. We…I don’t know, connected, I guess.”
Shit, he was no good at saying this kind of thing. “Not as exorcist
and possessed dude, but as John and Caleb. I may not be the most
sensitive guy around, but I’m pretty sure I would have figured it
out if you were just getting off on the thrill I might vamp out and
rip you to pieces, you know?”

“
I know. Although, I thought I felt
Gray sometimes.” John’s cheeks flushed. “Um, paying
attention.”

Caleb grinned. “It turned you on?”

Another hard swallow. “Yes.”

His dick roused, pressing against the zipper
of his jeans. “Good,” he whispered, leaning over to breathe the
words directly into John’s ear. “Because sooner or later, we’ll
have the chance to be alone again.”

“
Starkweather!” Tiffany yelled. “Get
your ass in the van. This isn’t a limo service.”

“
But not just yet,” Caleb said, letting
go of John’s hand. “Come on, before she leaves without
us.”

A few hours later, the van pulled off onto an
unpaved road going back through the woods. The branches of live
oaks, festooned with Spanish moss, scraped along the top and sides
of the transport. The road eventually ended in front of an enormous
old plantation house, which looked in much better shape than John
had expected from the rutted, overgrown driveway.

“
This is another safe house,” Tiffany
said, climbing out of the back of the idling truck. “Come
on.”

As soon as they were all out, the van
trundled back down the drive, no doubt to be concealed at some
other location. Tiffany turned to the house, snapping her fingers
at two of the Vigilant. “Hose him down,” she said, pointing at
Caleb. Who was, to be fair, utterly covered in blood and gore, and
reeked to high heaven. “After, he can get a shower in the
downstairs bath if he wants. Jared, please show Kaniyar and Pittman
to their rooms. Starkweather, come with me.”

Caleb glanced at John. “See you in a
bit?”

“
Okay.”

“
Come on, Starkweather,” Tiffany
repeated, obviously annoyed.

He fell in beside her, crossing the lawn to
the house. “Shouldn’t we figure out what to do next? Forsyth isn’t
just going to let us get away with this.”

“
No, really? Give me some credit.” Her
dark eyes flashed in the light coming from the house. “This isn’t
the entirety of the Vigilant, not by a long shot. Other things are
in motion. Right now, the best we can do is hunker down and take
the chance to rest a few hours before things heat up
again.”

“
Fair enough. At the compound, what did
you mean when you talked about lightning and storms? About
Gray?”

Tiffany shook her head. “Tomorrow we’ll
answer whatever questions you have, as best we can. For now, it
looks like he’s done zapping things, at least.”

She led the way into the house. He’d expected
something utilitarian inside, but instead he found an elegant,
tastefully decorated interior, with wood surfaces shined to a soft
glow in the light streaming from the chandelier high overhead. He
followed her up two flights of stairs, until she stopped in front
of a door. “Here’s your room. I assume you’re okay bunking with
Caleb?”