Forget About Midnight (32 page)

“Willow, get Izzy out of here please. Take her to Doghead.” My frantic gaze darted from one end of the hall to the other. We were going to be surrounded in a matter of seconds.

“I can’t leave you here,” he said. “If you don’t make it out soon, the sun will rise, and you’ll be stuck in here all day.”

“That’s ok. I need to find out what happened to my sister anyway. If I don’t get out before dawn, then I’ll see you after sundown.” Between the two of us, Willow and I had more than enough power to take on a group of Feds. But there had already been so much recent death, and I wanted to avoid adding to the blood on my hands if possible. I just wanted to locate my sister and get my hands on Briggs.

Willow was reluctant, but the quaking werewolf at my side convinced him. “I’ll be waiting in my usual spot.”

With a reassuring smile, Willow took Izzy by the hand and led her down the hall toward the agents approaching from the rear. She shot me a questioning look, wondering perhaps if it was safe to go with the demon she’d just watched lose his mind all over another. I didn’t doubt that he would get through the agents without issue. I sure could’ve used Falon’s help right then, but I couldn’t fault Willow for doing what he’d done.

I turned to face the oncoming agents as they swarmed around the corner into the hall. Briggs was leading the pack. He held up a hand to bring everyone to a halt. A dozen Feds stood there with weapons held ready. Most of them were tranquilizer guns but not all of them. With a snap of my finger, a protective energy barrier surrounded me.

Briggs consulted his watch. “Almost six hours before you broke out. I’ve got to admit, I underestimated you. But I wasn’t expecting an angel to help you get out.”

So he saw the video feed. Oh goody. “Did you really expect me to sit there and wait for you to figure out what you wanted to do with me?” I dropped the keys and swipe card I still held, letting them clatter to the floor beside me.

From a fair distance away, several shouts echoed. Then all was quiet. Willow must have met and subdued the agents coming from the other side. Briggs didn’t react. His expression was hard set, the lines in his forehead furrowed in thought.

“I never planned for this,” he said, indicating that the plan had changed. “Unfortunately, now you know things I don’t want you to know, and you’re proving to be much too difficult to contain.”

“What did you do with my sister?” I cut right to the chase, choosing not to play his game of words and threats.

Briggs smiled, just a little, just enough to make me think he’d done something terrible to Juliet. “We’ll talk. I trust we can do this without any violence. I won’t even cuff you. But I do need you to accompany me upstairs. I’d like to show you something.”

Of course I was suspicious. I was also going to play along for now. I needed to know where Juliet was. Briggs knew something, and I was going to get it out of him.

“All right. Let’s go.” I walked toward him at a normal, human-like pace, hands held palms out to show him I wasn’t going to try anything. As I approached, I dropped my barrier, confident I could defend myself against them should I need to.

Once again his minions surrounded me and herded me along like a rabid animal that needed prodding. This time I caught the telltale tingle of power among them. There was a witch in this crew of agents.

We followed the hall, branching off the main corridor and curving around through a series of halls back to the elevator the agents used. The place was a fucking maze. I doubted many escapees made it far before being caught. It had to have been designed that way on purpose.

“It’s going to snow soon,” Briggs announced, as if this was normal conversation for us. “It seems like winter may come early this year.”

I frowned and crossed my arms, leaning against the wall of the elevator as it took us up to the top floor. Why did I get the feeling I was walking willingly to my demise?

“Time to get the winter tires on before the mad rush.” The agent next to me joined in the mindless conversation.

Briggs caught my eye. “How does your car do in the winter? That rear wheel drive must be a pain in the ass. They come in all wheel drive, don’t they?”

My frown deepened, and I sighed. “It’s a muscle car. All wheel drive on a car like that is blasphemy. It fish tails like a bitch on snow and ice, but I didn’t buy it to be practical. I bought it for the power.”

“Of course you did.”

Agent Briggs, with his easygoing nature and casual chatter, heightened my distrust. This jackass was proving what I’d always suspected about him. He was a power monger, harboring a grudge for anyone who had more than he did. He was more like Shya than I think he knew.

The elevator door opened into the admin area on the top floor. I’d been up there once before, when I’d come for Kale the first time and found him being tortured. Briggs led the way, and I fell into step beside him, refusing to walk behind.

A wry smile crossed his face. I could reach out and snap his neck in seconds. We both knew it. Yet he trusted that I wouldn’t do it. Killing him would be satisfying, but taking on every Fed in the building would be difficult. Not worth the risk.

We strode down a hall with blinding fluorescent light guiding our way. I’d been here before. He was taking me to the security room. Sure enough, he opened a door and led me into the room filled with screens and a panel filled with tech stuff that was foreign to me.

A man with wild, unruly hair and large, black glasses glanced up at our entry. The room was too small to fit every agent accompanying us, but half a dozen crammed in behind us with weapons ready.

“Andy, bring up the video from room eight,” Briggs ordered.

Ah, fuck
. He was going to make me watch my own sex tape in a room full of men. The lack of women in this place was bothersome. There were female agents, just not many. I guess men were more blood hungry by nature.

“Is this really necessary?” I asked, doing my best to look unimpressed.

With utter disdain, Briggs nodded. “I think it is.”

Andy tapped a few buttons on the panel in front of him and pointed at one of the many screens. It was hard to focus on that screen when my gaze was drawn to the others, all of them showing a different room with various occupants, until the video started to play. Then my attention was stolen by the harsh image of Falon and me.

There was no audio, but the video was enough. My face grew hot at the sight of Falon standing between my legs while I clawed bloody lines in his back. I couldn’t look. Dragging my gaze away, I stared at another screen, one that showed the little demon girl happily playing with her dolls.

“Aren’t you glad there’s no audio?” Briggs asked with a chuckle.

“Fuck you, Briggs.”

“Now that’s not very nice. We can be professional about this.”

My fingertips tingled. With just a thought, I could drop every man in this room. Resisting was damn hard when my instinct said to kill them all. No, Briggs was going to be Shya’s. I just had to get through this without incident.

“Are you calling this professional?” I gestured to the video, unable to bring myself to look again. “Do you like to watch, Briggs? Are you taking a copy home?”

His grin faded. “Copies have been made. Not for me though. Come. Let’s go sit down and speak in private.”

He ushered me across the hall to a small office. It looked more like an interrogation room. Just a desk sat in the middle with a chair on either side. The rest of the room was bare.

Much to my surprise, Briggs closed the door on the others, leaving the two of us alone. I hated that he was so sure I wouldn’t kill him, but did he know why I would rather spare him?

He motioned for me to take a seat, then he sat across from me. “I’m not going to beat around the bush here, O’Brien. I want you to know that, the moment anything happens to me that you are in any way connected to, that video will be sent to everyone in your inner circle. Something tells me that you wouldn’t like that so much.”

I almost choked on the rage that welled up. So badly I wanted to hurt him.
Wait. Soon
.

“So what?” I tried for flippant and failed. I was just too angry.

“So this is your chance to have that video destroyed.” He leaned on the table, clasping his hands together. Studying my face, he said, “Join us. Work with me, not for me. Help me cleanse this city of evil.”

“Are you blackmailing me with a sex tape?” My laugh promised horrid things. “Is that what you have to resort to when you can’t find any other way to control someone?”

“No, it’s my way of being nice. Offering you a chance to make the smart choice. We both know what a rarity you are. Why not use your abilities to serve your city? To make a difference.”

I searched his brown eyes, finding them hard and lacking emotion. “You sound like an afterschool special, Briggs. I’m not going to fall for that shit. You’re part of the evil in this city.”

“Let’s not argue. We don’t need to agree in order to work together. I want you on my team, and I’m willing to be very generous in order to achieve that.” He sounded like a politician, spinning nonsense into what he thought was a worthy argument.

“You want me because you see me as a weapon.” I leaned back in my chair and crossed my arms. “I know it was me you wanted, but you settled for Juliet. I will never work for you or with you. I am against everything you stand for. Now where is my sister? She was never locked up at all, was she?”

Briggs had a good poker face. His expression did not betray how mad he was. His energy did though. “You might know how to smell a lie, but I know how to tell one,” he said, looking smug.

I couldn’t stop myself. Without thinking I reacted, lunging across the table. He had to die. Fuck Shya’s demon mark; I’d wear it for all eternity if I had to. I just needed to kill Briggs.

Briggs was ready for the attack. He braced himself when we went down on the floor. The man was no rookie. Not only was he ready, he’d planned for it. In his hand was a syringe I hadn’t seen him produce. The sharp point stabbed into my abdomen, filling me with the cool rush of a tranquilizer.

A deep scratch from a claw marred his cheek. My strength ebbed away before I could do further damage. My vision blurred and grew dark.

Briggs shoved me off him and got to his feet. “You’re too predictable for your own good, O’Brien. Too damn impatient. You’re leaving me no choice. You’re just not worth the risk.”

Everything went black.

I woke up when my face hit the ground. Dirt and leaves pushed into my mouth. I dug a clawed hand into the ground beneath me, finding it hard and cold but vibrating with strong earth energy. Beneath that was the hum of the evil that lived here. It taunted me, but its mocking call was drowned out by my own sense of self preservation.

Suddenly alert and ready to fight, I sat up to find that I was in the parking lot. The night had thinned with the coming dawn. I could feel it in my blood. Sunrise was close, a minute away at best.

Briggs stood in the doorway to the building, watching me with a grim expression. He shook his head and shrugged, as if I’d brought this on myself by refusing to be his weapon.

“It’s not too late to change your mind,” he said. “We can still work something out.”

Forced to choose between the FPA and the sun, I was tempted to take my chances with the sun. There wasn’t much time for me to argue with the puffed up Fed.

“You know Arys will kill you, right?” I got to my feet, holding tight to the earth’s energy. It was grounding, calming.

“Presuming he survives your final death. It’s possible.” Briggs nodded, having already made peace with the domino effect my death would cause.

The old haunted hospital was in a residential area. There were houses nearby. Even as fast as I could move, I knew there was no way I’d reach one in time and get safely inside. Briggs had timed this perfectly.

“So anyone who refuses to join you dies. Is that it?” Could that be why my sister held so tight to the belief that she was doing what was right. Because the alternative was death?

“Sacrificing one for the good of many isn’t a new concept. You’ve been given several chances to cooperate.” He was stiff, unfeeling. Like a monster that he himself had made.

“You know, Briggs, you’re just as inhuman as the rest of us. The difference is, you don’t have an excuse for your behavior.” My skin began to grow warm as the eastern sky blazed with pink and orange rays. My eyes began to burn, and panic gripped me.

Knowing it might be the last thing I ever did, I flung a shot of power at Briggs, seeking out his fragile human heart. He collapsed and clutched his chest. But he wasn’t stupid enough to be alone. The agents watching his back surged forward to drag him away before slamming the door.

It was desperate and made me feel foolish, but I tried the door anyway. It was locked, most likely heavily barred. There was another way into the building. I’d gotten in before. Twice.

I ran for the opposite end of the building but knew that I’d never make it in time. As fast as I was, I couldn’t outrun the sun. It broke over the horizon, and I began to burn.

I fell on my hands and knees, crying and praying, begging anyone who would listen. I couldn’t die this way. The evil entity within the building lurked close, taunting me. It had tasted my death once. Now it would have me again.

‘Arys, I’m sorry,’ I shouted inside my mind, shattering the door between us with my frantic cry. ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry.’

I couldn’t form any other thought. Tears streamed down my face as I waited to burst into flames. The pain never started off small like a sunburn. It was immediate, scorching pain until I was consumed with the raw, burning sensation of fire licking my skin.

Arys was there inside my head, a helpless passenger as the sun roasted me. His panic echoed my own. I hoped it would be fast because it sure as hell wouldn’t be painless.

Instinct took over where rational thought ended. From within me came the guttural snarl of the wolf as it exploded forth. My hands became paws, my face a muzzle, and suddenly I was wolf.

And the sun no longer burned.