Fury’s Kiss (25 page)

It was time to end this.

Chapter 23

I leaned over to whisper in Perris’s ear, an invitation to follow me outside. He turned to meet my eyes, and I didn’t pretend not to know who he was and what he had done. A predatory gleam lit him from within, and I knew he would follow. Though he could have had any woman in the place—easier prey, certainly—I had something that no one else in the bar did.

I was his obsession.

Somehow, somewhere, Christos Perris had seen me and decided that he wanted me. And what he wanted, he got. It would have taken far more than the knowledge of what I was to keep him from following me. In fact, it was that very knowledge that urged him on—a Fury would be his ultimate conquest.

Not to mention the fact I was the only obstacle between him and the oracle I had sworn to protect. I knew from his memories that Ruby had something, some piece of information, Perris wanted. Since his discovery of her presence in Hawthorne, it had only been his arrogance and love of playing games with other people’s lives that had kept him from coming to take the girl sooner. Miller, Priest, and the attempt on Ruby’s life had all been nothing but a test. Perris wanted to see what I was capable of, to make his domination of me even sweeter.

Jackson, seeing that I was leaving the bar with Perris, tried to follow, but the crowd surged, making it impossible for him to get to us. I didn’t waste any time waiting for him to catch up; it was for the best. Although he would blame himself if anything happened to me, it would be worse if Perris hurt him as well, leaving Ruby with no one to protect her. Once outside, Perris led me to his car, an expensive foreign model with a shining black paint job and tinted windows.

“I hope you’ll excuse my presumption,” he said as he held the passenger door open for me, every inch the perfect gentleman, “but I assume you desire privacy as much as I do.”

I nodded tersely and slid into the passenger seat. His civilized facade was nothing but a mask for the monster he hid inside, but I felt confident that I could handle whatever he was up to. The tinted windows were the perfect cover for whatever happened inside the car, and if he tried to take me anywhere I didn’t want to go, I would simply break his arms.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t scream too loudly.

Perris went around to the driver’s side and slipped behind the wheel. He locked the doors in one smooth motion and turned to look at me. “Alone at last. I’ve waited for this moment for a long time. Your photos don’t do you justice, you know.”

I stayed silent, watching him, and he smiled.

“Now, now, there’s no need to play games. I know what you are.” He leaned forward and lowered his voice as though we were sharing a confidence. “A little bird told me.”

“If you do know what I am, you’re either very brave or very stupid to lock yourself in this car with me.”

“Oh, no,” he replied. “I’m neither. In fact, I’m a very smart man.” He undid a button at the cuff of his shirt and rolled up the sleeve to reveal a sharp, serrated blade holstered against his forearm. I remembered the joy he’d felt holding it; this was his favorite blade.

“You’re the Slasher,” I accused. Again, I saw the image of a woman menaced with that same blade. My stomach clenched in disgust.

“Clever girl.” He grinned at me as he unsheathed the knife, admiring its weight and balance. Its sharp edge gleamed evilly.

“Do you really think I’m just going to sit here and let you slice me up?” Bloody tears formed at the corners of my eyes and my hair started its serpentine dance. “You clearly have no idea what I’m capable of.”

I shot my hand out and grabbed him by the wrist that held the knife. “I ought to carve you up myself.”

“I’d like to see you try.” He was still smiling. “I really would.”

What a lunatic. I’d just threatened to carve him like a turkey, and he still talked like he had the upper hand. I squeezed his wrist, forcing him to drop the knife, then grabbed him by the throat and prepared to give him my Fury’s kiss. This time, I would take all of his memories, not just the ones I’d been able to glean in the bar. I needed to know exactly what he wanted from Ruby.

As I pulled him close and sealed my mouth over his, he squirmed against my hold, fumbling something out of his pocket. He held it up, breaking my concentration. “Sweet little Ruby,” he gasped, choking out the words as I looked at the picture he held. “Do anything to me and you’ll never know what I have planned for her.”

“Trust me. I’ll know.”

“Maybe. But it will be too late by then.”

“What are you talking about?” I growled at him. “And tell me quick, or I’ll get it out of you a piece at a time.”

“I have another little bird at home just like sweet Ruby.” He was speaking in riddles again. “He told me what to expect from you, so I put certain protective measures in place. All it will take for Ruby to die is for me to miss one little phone call.”

And finally, everything started to come together. Perris had another oracle. That was how he’d known about Alecto even before she’d appeared in my head. How he’d known to send Miller and Priest to watch me. My mind raced. Another oracle just like Ruby—did that mean there was another child involved? Hadn’t Rachel said the Perris’s had adopted a boy named Nikos, the orphaned son of an employee?

“You killed Ruby’s father to get to her. Did you do the same to Nikos’s parents?”

“Collateral damage.” Perris’s voice was still hoarse. “No fun in it at all. Not like the fun we could have.”

I tightened my grip on his throat again. If the sick son of a bitch didn’t tell me something useful soon, I wasn’t going to be able to stop myself from killing him, and to hell with the consequences. He started to choke again and I grudgingly loosened my hold enough to let him speak.

“What did you mean, all it would take is one missed phone call?” I demanded.

“I’ve had people watching you and the girl for days. If anything happens to me, they’ll go after her. With terminal force. Of course, I’d hoped to have you both alive, but I can be flexible.” He grinned again. “I do have a spare, after all.”

I hissed in frustration and threw him hard against the driver’s side door. I wanted nothing more than to punish him for the things he had done, but I needed him alive and able to speak. He had out-maneuvered me.

“By the way,” Perris said as he pushed himself upright. “
Great
show in the backyard the other day.”

Unable to control myself, I punched him in the face and had the satisfaction of seeing blood gush onto his expensive white shirt. His hands flew up to his face, gingerly feeling the now-crooked cartilage of his nose under the flood of red. “You bitch!” he screamed at me.

“You can still call your goons with a broken nose.” I might have to hold off on killing him, but that didn’t mean he was going to get VIP treatment.

Beneath the gush of blood, Perris’s features twisted hatefully to reflect the evil inside. “You’re going to be very sorry you did that,” he said thickly, wincing as he tried to stem the flow of blood with the hem of his ruined shirt. I felt an extra twinge of satisfaction when I thought of how much he must have spent on it.

“Maybe,” I answered. “But I wouldn’t count on it. When I get out of this car, you’re going to call up whoever you’ve got watching Ruby, and you’re going to tell them you’ve changed your mind. Send them far away and make it clear that no one is to come near her again. Or I will hurt you. Slowly. Are we clear?”

In answer, Perris moved quickly, reaching under his seat to pull out a gun. He held it at point blank range in front of my face and I grabbed the gun, jerking it up so it pointed at the roof of the car instead of me. I twisted, and something inside his arm snapped. Perris let out a strangled scream and the gun fell to the floor.

The bastard really was a glutton for punishment.

“Seriously,” I said, “what is it with you? Get this through your head—you are not smart enough, fast enough, or tough enough to take me. Now, are you going to call off your men, or do I need to hurt you some more?”

He didn’t waste his breath answering me, just lunged for the gun again. He managed to snatch it off the floor with the hand I hadn’t just crushed, and I rolled my eyes. The guy was like an evil Energizer bunny—he just kept going and going. But instead of leveling the weapon at me again, he put it to the side of his own head. He smiled at me, a ghoul covered in his own blood, and I froze for a split second. He wouldn’t…would he?

A split second was all he needed.

“Bitch,” he said clearly. His finger tightened on the trigger. His eyes went dead. Blood spattered.

Fuck
. I stifled a startled scream and fumbled for the door handle, scrambling to get out of the car and away from the body. He was one sick bastard, but shooting himself in the head just to incriminate me? That was beyond crazy. Even for a psycho like him, it didn’t make sense. Maybe he’d realized he couldn’t get away and had decided death was preferable to giving up all that power? It was beyond comprehension that someone as arrogant as Christos Perris, who had spent his entire life using and abusing others, would just give up like that.

But the grisly evidence was right there in front of me.

And all over me. I gagged, but managed not to vomit. Regardless of what had gone through his twisted mind in the last few seconds of life, Perris had pulled me even further into his deadly game when he’d pulled the trigger. I had God only knew how long to get Ruby to safety. There was no time to give in to my horror and disgust. Not to mention I’d been left standing in a parking lot with a dead body.

Again.

Ethan Graves hadn’t yet identified the fingerprint found on the first body as mine, but he would come for me sooner or later. And surely he’d be interested in knowing why my prints were all over Perris, too. The only saving grace to the whole thing was that it would be clear from forensic evidence in the car that Perris had pulled the trigger himself.

I paused. Or would it? What if Perris had somebody on the inside? Somebody uniquely positioned to make evidence that said one thing seem to say another. Somebody who had shown up at the track just prior to the shot that nearly killed me.

Somebody like Special Agent Ethan Graves.

I looked around the parking lot desperately. What was I going to do? I could drive away with the car and the body…and then what? Park it in my driveway?

I shoved my hands through my tangled hair, trying to think things through. Burning the evidence would leave nothing for Graves to accuse me of, but how long did it take to fully dispose of a human body? And where would I find a secluded place to burn a whole car on tourist-ridden Cape Cod?

I got my ass in gear and headed away from the car, wiping my face and arms on the hem of my dress as best as I could. If I could just make it to my car, there was a chance this might all be OK. For now, at least. If I got away from Spyder’s unhindered, I could grab Ruby, call the others, and be on the move before anyone else came after us. The band inside the bar was cranked up so loud, it was possible no one had heard the shot. Once we were safely out of Graves’s reach, I could figure out my next move.

I rolled my head on my neck tiredly as I approached my car. I hadn’t gotten the boost of energy I needed, but the clock was ticking and I had to get Ruby to safety. The security of my little Honda was just a few steps away when a voice shouted at me from behind.

“Freeze! FBI!”

I turned slowly. Speak of the devil. Agent Graves, arriving just in time to catch me with blood on my hands. Literally.

What a coincidence.

By now, the crowd outside the bar had noticed something was going on and had started to form into a clump of spectators. I even saw one or two taking pictures with their phones, but I didn’t have time to worry about it. I had to think of a way out of the mess I was in. I raised my hands in the air, but I knew I couldn’t let Graves cuff me and take me in. Not when there was a chance he’d been in on the whole thing with Perris.

I looked around, searching for a way out, but I didn’t see any options. I couldn’t use any of my more interesting abilities with so many witnesses around, so I just kept edging toward my car. There was no way Graves would shoot me in front of all of these people.

I hoped.

“Get on the ground,” he warned me, “and put your hands on your head. I will use force if you give me no other option.”

I kept edging. I was almost there.

“This is your final warning,” Graves yelled at me.

A shot rang out and gravel flew at his feet. He dove behind the closest car, yelling for the crowd to get down and stay back, and I took the opportunity to jump into my own car. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw Jackson running toward me, staying low. He had a gun in his hand and I watched with wide eyes as he hauled open the passenger side door and jumped in.

“Drive!” he ordered. I obeyed and peeled out of the lot as fast as I could. As I screeched out onto the blacktop, I spared a second to glance over at him.

Jackson Byrne had just shot at a federal agent to rescue me.

Chapter 24

“Are you insane?” I shouted as I swerved out onto the road. “You just shot at an FBI agent! What are we going to do now?”

“Would you rather have been arrested? Or shot? Didn’t you see me trying to get to you before you left the bar? What were you thinking, leaving with Perris on your own?”