Octavian's Undoing (Sons of Judgment) (16 page)

Screw this. She wasn’t going to sit around and wait for something bad to happen. If no one else was going to check, she would, if for no other reason than to make sure Octavian was all right. Even with the three brothers, Billius was twice their size. She wanted to make sure that someone was there to call the police if need be.

Dropping her tray down on the table, she marched after the boys. Her heels made clacking sounds as she crossed the floor, but most of it was swallowed by the lead singer’s howl about synthetic love, or at least that’s what it sounded like.

Ignoring the people waving at her for refills, she reached the door and shouldered her way through and stopped. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the sudden impenetrable darkness. It spilled through everything like tar oozing through cracks, blocking all light. She let the door close behind her, cutting herself off from any possible help, although she doubted the crowd inside would be much use. Those who weren’t already piss drunk out of their mind were too busy dancing to care. She was on her own.

And unarmed. Good job.
The voice added helpfully. Riley ignored it, weaving her way through the graveyard of cars in search of some form of life. The night seemed so hollow, completely without sound, like someone had switched everything off except the crack of her heart against her ribs. The endless echo filled her senses with its eerie chill, enveloping her in its icy grip.

She shivered, folding her arms over her chest, a poor attempt at warding off the cold adamant to seep into her marrow. Her feet kicked up gravel no matter how hard she tried to remain quiet. But heels were not meant for gravel paved parking lots, nor were they any good at being stealthy, not that she was trying to be. It was creeping around in the dark that made her want to be extra silent, just in case the boogieman was lurking somewhere nearby with a bloody axe.

She cursed her overactive imagination. This was not the time to remember all those horror movies she knew she should never have watched, especially when she didn’t have the stomach for them. Not that she was scared, because she wasn’t. There was nothing out there, except maybe rabbits and raccoons and werewolves, possibly mountain lions and vampires. Maybe even Freddy and Jason. Nothing remotely scary.

Scowling at her own foolish train of thought, she deliberated calling out, maybe just to prove to herself that she wasn’t a total chicken, but decided against it as she made her way to the edge of the building. Seriously, how far could they have gone? The parking lot wasn’t that big and they hadn’t got that much of a head start.

Her annoyed question was answered almost instantly when she found the group standing in a circle along the side of the building. She recognized Octavian and Billius, their shapes clashing with the night. Gideon and Magnus stood a few feet away, quietly watching as the pair squared off.

“You have broken the laws of the treaty,” Octavian was telling Billius. “You have caused another intentional harm and for that, must pay.”

“Don’t you mean I have caused your whore harm, Caster?” Billius hissed. “Is that not why I am here?”

“You are here because you broke the law,” Octavian said evenly. “You are as much aware of the treaty as I am and still you attacked—”

“A filthy human,” Billius said.

Octavian sighed. “Very well. As Caster to the Summit and keeper to the north, I sentence you to immediate death for the violation of the Black Law—”

Billius charged, a massive black bull in the dark, straight at Octavian. Riley’s mouth opened, a scream perched on her lips when Octavian moved. It was so fast that she didn’t even see it until the crack of their bodies sent a burst of hot air through the clearing. It slammed into Riley with the force of a shove. She nearly staggered beneath the attack, but remained upright to watch as the two massive forces collided like a pair of speeding trains.

From his sheer size, Riley had been certain Billius would overpower Octavian. The man had hands that could easily fit around Octavian’s entire skull. But Octavian moved as though he were performing a dance. Every bend and twist of his body, every agile sweep of his fists cut through the night like a blade, contacting at every turn with a strength that snapped through the silence like gunshots. He never once gave Billius an opening, ducking and evading every punch that was thrown his way. This was a guy who knew that he was lethal. The aura of danger that permanently surrounded him wasn’t just for show. He had the speed and strength to take a threat down should it come to it. It was probably really wrong and no doubt she was signing a single ticket straight to Hell, but damn if he wasn’t making her hot. God he was beautiful, if not severely frightening. Logic warned her that normal people didn’t move that fast or hit that hard, but she couldn’t wrap her head around anything, except how breathtaking he was.

The moment of fan-girl-ism was short lived when there a streak of light against something silver in Octavian’s hand. Before she could wrap her head around the long, slender object, it had vanished deep into Billius’ chest.

The man barely made a sound as he hit the ground on his knees. The object, a blade, caught the light as he crumpled onto his back. The hilt protruded from his body like a sick joke. Riley couldn’t blink enough times to make the image change.

This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening!

Yet, it continued to unfold before her eyes like a horrific scene from a movie. The gasp she knew was there was trapped in the cavities of her lungs, which had ceased working and she was frozen, unable to so much as blink as Octavian knelt at Billius’ side. He murmured something Riley couldn’t hear then reached out and touched Billius’ forehead with the tips of two fingers. For a moment, nothing happened and Riley thought he was saying a prayer, but then Billius’ entire body jerked like he’d been yanked up by invisible strings. Horror and terror tore through her as Billius’ body shuddering and convulsing as water gushed from every orifice of his body the way a balloon full of water would if holes were punctured into the rubber. It puddled beneath him, filling the air with the sound like a fish flopping out of water.

“What do we do with him now?” Gideon asked as Octavian rose to his feet.

“What we do with all of them, I guess,” Magnus replied solemnly.

“Take him out back and burn him,” Octavian said tiredly, already turning away from the sprawled figure like the sight of it disgusted him.

Without a word of refusal, the two brothers stepped forward and hoisted the limp figure between them, each grabbing an arm. Riley watched in frozen horror as the lump began to take shape, forming a lulling head and a drooping torso with legs dragging out behind it. The gritting sound of weight being dragged across gravel coiled cold and bitter in the pit of her stomach. Was she really seeing a murder take place? She wasn’t. It wasn’t possible.

Yet even as she stood there watching, Gideon and Magnus carted Billius towards the back of Final Judgment and out of sight. But the sound of their footsteps and the sound of Billius’ dragging feet would haunt her for the rest of her life.

“Riley?”

Paralyzed, Riley had no idea what she was supposed to do, while at the same time, every fiber in her being screamed for her to run. The ground had formed claws and held her in place even as her mind raced with panic and terror.

“Riley!”

The scuffle of his shoes on gravel was the last straw for Riley. She turned on her heels and ran, uncaring that the probability of a broken ankle in three inch pumps was very likely when running blindly through a gravel paved parking lot in the dead of night. But a broken ankle was a small price to pay compared to, oh, not breathing. She liked breathing. She wanted to keep doing that.

Adrenaline shot through her, mingling with the panic and fear breeding inside her. Her heart hammered thick and pasty in her throat as she ran for the restaurant doors. If she could just get inside, she’d be safe. No way would they try anything with a room full of people, people with phones she could use to call the police.

“Riley, wait!” she heard Octavian shout after her.

Yeah. Right, pal!
She wanted to shout back, but opted to save her breath. She would need it if she wanted to get out of there with her life.

“Damn it!” She heard him curse two seconds before he materialized in a black puff of smoke right in front of her, blocking her from the door.

Riley screamed, scrambling back. The heel of her shoe caught and she went down with a bone rattling crash that exploded through her like fire. The arm she’d landed on spiked with white hot agony that sent the world sparking with crimson stars. For a moment, she couldn’t catch her breath and everything dipped into a vat of ebony. But even the pain of landing on sharp bits of rock didn’t deter her mind’s determination to flee. She was scampering up and running before the cuts on her leg and the heels of her hands had time to begin throbbing. The blossoming thrum in her hip was another story. It put a nasty limp in her escape plan, but even that was forced aside.

“Riley, please wait.” For the second time, he materialized before her, emerging from a puff of smoke that was as black as the night with soft highlights of purple. He put up a hand, palm out in what he probably considered a calming gesture. “Please, don’t be afraid.”

Riley wanted to laugh, she tried to, but the sound came out a choked wheeze. “You killed a man.” She gasped, wheezed, clutching the stitch in her side. “You came out of smoke.” She doubled over slightly as her stomach rebelled. “You… what the hell are you?”

“Come inside,” he said calmly, in a manner one would use with a spooked horse. “I’ll explain.”

She shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

From behind her, the sound of running feet had her defenses rising again. She whipped around just as Gideon and Magnus came charging out from around the corner, neither looking like they just helped murder and dump a body.

“What’s going on?” Magnus demanded.

“We heard a scream,” Gideon added. His gaze fell on Riley, taking in her ashen complexion, her torn and dirty clothes and the steady flow of blood trickling down her leg and dripping from her fingers. His eyes narrowed dangerously. “What happened? Who did this?”

“Stay away!” she warned when he took a step towards her. “All of you, just… stay back!”

Gideon froze. His eyes widened. They snapped to Octavian, demanding an explanation.

Octavian ignored him, attention turned on Riley. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

She did laugh this time, sharp and bitter. “Right, like I haven’t seen enough Godfather movies to know better.” She stumbled back into the trunk of a car when her knees gave out. She used the cold metal as support, ignoring what a stupid and vulnerable position she was placing herself in. The pain had caught up with her and it was all she could do to keep from giving into it. “Tell me you didn’t kill him.” Breathing hard, she turned to Octavian. “Tell me I saw wrong.”

“We didn’t—”

“We did.” Octavian ignored Magnus’ sharp glower. “I did.”

A strangled sound escaped her, a sound between a whimper and a moan. “Oh God… of all the men I could have fallen for, of course he would be a killer.”

Something dark flashed across his face. “Come inside. I promise I’ll explain everything.”

“You can’t tell her anything,” Magnus hissed.

Octavian spared his brother a weary glance. “I have to.”

“Say something!” Magnus shoved Gideon.

The other man tipped slightly, but remained upright. His gray eyes flickered from Octavian to Riley, his expression blank. He said nothing for several minutes as he weighed the situation. Finally, after several more sharp jabs from Magnus, he relented. “I’ll call Dad,” was all he said.

It was the slow fire burning up her body and the need for witnesses that made her yield and agree to head back inside, all the while keeping a close eye on the trio, who were doing a great job keeping their distance, while simultaneously remaining within distance. Riley was guided to the corner table and offered a seat, which she took with silence. Octavian pulled out the chair across from her while Magnus stormed off to appease the long line that had formed behind the bar. It was a wonder the place hadn’t gotten ransacked in their absence. Gideon left them to disappear into the kitchen. Riley watched the door swing closed behind him and even long after, refusing to look at the man watching her.

“Look at me, Riley,” he murmured as though reading her mind.