Once Broken (Dove Creek Chronicles) (18 page)

We got out and looked through the trees.
The old school building was dark save a few windows on the first floor that glowed with dim light, I thought maybe from candles. Of course. How haunting and mysterious.

Garrett passed out special headsets that we could use to communicate with each other, a little something new. I
slipped mine on over the shell of my ear and made sure that the microphone was positioned correctly, just like he instructed.

“Okay, I’ll go in first since it’s my brother in there.
If it’s me they want, then that’s what they’ll get. The rest of you be ready.” My mind was made up.

There were protests all around, but I heard one more clearly above the others.

“You’re not goin’ in there alone,” my father said. I doubted he would accept any arguments to the contrary.

“Fine,” I agreed. “Let’s get a move on.”

Flanked by my father and his many years more experience, I felt more courage than I would have by myself. I would have done it alone to rescue Dylan, but I would have been far less confident.

Though I was armed to the teeth, I kept all of my weapons concealed for the time being. I noticed that my dad did the same, and wondered if we both had the same strategy. My idea was to be as non-threatening as possible until my brother was out of harm’s way, then use every means necessary to take out the Triple Six. Whether or not my father’s thinking was similar, the
effect was at least the same.

We walked at a brisk pace and covered the span of the parking lot in a few short moments – too short. As we got closer to the building, I did as Jescha had instructed earlier and I relaxed my mind. My eyesight seemed better, sharper.

“Two at the doors,” I said. I could just make out the silhouettes of a face in each little square window that was set into the entrance door.

We reached the heavy wooden double door, and each side swung open toward us. The man on the left was tall and wiry, with prematurely thinning hair and sickly pale skin. There wasn’t a wrinkle on him that I could see, either in his skin or in his clothing. But he looked aged beyond his years, and dressed the part to boot. In a pressed golf shirt tucked into creased khakis, he sure didn’t look
like a Triple Six enforcer. The guy on the right – my side – was shorter and stockier, much stronger looking but cow-eyed and slack-jawed. Like a motel with a roadside billboard, his expression advertised vacancy. I guessed he was good at taking orders and that was about it. He looked like he was trying much harder than Golf Shirt, dressed in a black t-shirt with cut-off sleeves, black jeans, black motorcycle boots . . . I was seeing the theme.

“We’re to take you to Cerise,” said the tall one. “Surrender your weapons.” From the sound of him, he’d been playing a little too much Dungeons and Dragons. I snorted derisively, and his gaze snapped onto me. “Something funny?”

“Yeah. You.”

There was finally a change in the shorter one’s mien, as his blank look shifted to a leer that told me he was thinking he’d like to search me for weapons. I gave him a hard look, communicating something in his direction that wasn’t amenable to his wants. I doubted that he was intelligent enough to pick up on the non-verbal rebuff, though.

“What Remi here is trying to say is we’re not walking into this hornet’s nest unarmed. Now let us through,” my father said, unwavering.

We marched forward, not waiting for an answer. The lunker tried to grab me, but I jabbed my elbow at the side of his head and connected. He fell
even harder than I’d imagined he would. My dad pointed his revolver in the face of Golf Shirt, who stepped out of the way with no more than a sour look.

Following the empty corridor, we went toward where we had seen the dim light in the windows. It
didn’t take long before we came face to face with Cerise, exactly where we’d thought we would find her. She was draped on Valan like some sort of seductress, which made me about ready to gag. They were at the center of the most powerful members of the Triple Six, including the mountain of a man who had tried to strangle me outside Benny Jenkins’ house.

The room looked like it had been a children’s music room, complete with a stage at the center. Candles were arranged in clumps here and there, providing the only light. A heavy, heady scent filled the air, like they had a corner in the incense market. The smell and the dim light made the room feel claustrophobic in spite of its size. It was too hot. Between the heat of the room and the adrenaline pounding its way through my veins, I could feel sweat start to trickle down my spine.

Cerise made a grand gesture, making a show of welcoming us like guests. “Well, come right in Remi,” she said, trying as always to sound otherworldly. If she was surprised to see the two of us fully armed instead of only little old me, she hid it well.

“Where the hell is my brother?” I growled.

Valan disengaged himself from Cerise’s embrace and took a slow step toward us. He bared his teeth in an expression that I was sure was supposed to be a predatory smile. I saw the remnants of his dinner clinging dark red to the tips of his fangs, and then glanced toward the dragon lady. A pair of puncture wounds that perfectly matched the vampire’s bite marred her porcelain throat. I felt nauseated anew.

“He’s here . . . Ready to be freed or ready to die. The choice is yours,” Valan said with an air of nonchalance that chilled me to my very marrow. He tucked one hand behind his back and casually examined the fingernails of the other.

“Fine,” I said. “Take me. Let him go.”

Cerise looked ready to accept my terms, but the vampire spoke first.

“No,” he looked up from inspecting his hand and toward my father. “Him instead. Father for son.”

I looked at my dad, aghast at the proposal. I saw no such surprise on his face.

“Absolutely not.” Cerise shook her head furiously. “It’s
her
I want.”

“You’ll get me, sister. Don’t you worry,” I said.

“You have a deal, Valan,” my dad said.

My head snapped toward him at the sound of the vampire’s name coming from him.
“You knew all along. You knew he’d want you instead.”

He regarded me with a
bleak look and took me by the shoulders. “I suspected. But I had to keep my kids safe. It’s all I’ve ever tried to do.”

The thought that I hadn’t quite been able to grasp finally solidified in my mind. I stepped back away from my father’s grip. “He attacked Dom and me because of you, didn’t he?” I questioned, pointing toward Valan.

“I didn’t know at the time. I didn’t figure out what he was up to until David died.”

“How could I
not
come after you, Remington?” The vampire said with startling glee. “Daddy’s little girl . . . I just knew killing you would lure him back to the fight, but your wolf saved you and daddy couldn’t be bothered to come home for your poor, dead husband’s funeral.”

I couldn’t breathe. I vaguely registered the Triple Six looking on in arrested silence, watching the exchange between Valan, my dad, and me like some sort of twisted entertainment.

“I didn’t know, Remi. If I had . . .”

“Dad, I—
”

Valan interrupted. “While this is all quite touching, you’re wasting my time. Do you want the boy or not?”

“Yes,” my father answered. “Take me. Remi and Dylan get to leave. Safely.”

“You have my word,” the vampire answered.

“You’re letting her go? She’ll be back. She’ll bring the others and they’ll—”

Valan silenced Cerise with a dangerous look. “Get the boy.”

Looking sufficiently cowed, Cerise glanced toward a pair of the others who were waiting to one side. She gave a tiny nod and they jumped into action at her signal. I watched them disappear through a door situated to the side of the stage, and my anticipation ramped up. I wondered how Dylan would look, if they had hurt him.

I was still shaken by the knowledge that I hadn’t been a random target, that Valan had attacked me because of my father. It hadn’t been a horrible coincidence like I had always thought. But that didn’t matter
, not right then. My brother needed me to keep a cool head and get him out of there.

My thoughts were interrupted by the man and woman coming back through the door, Dylan between them. Other than the duct tape on his wrists and his clothes being in disarray, he looked untouched. My lungs emptied on a very audible sigh of relief. He looked at me first, surprise and confusion written plainly on his face. Then he spotted our dad and looked even more thrown by the
situation.

Dylan looke
d back at me. “Remi?”

“It’s okay, Dyl. I’ll explain later,” I told him as I started toward him. “For now, let’s just get you outta here.”

I was only a few feet from him when Valan appeared in front of me, cutting me off.

“Where do you think you’re going in such a hurry?” He asked, barely louder than a whisper. The vampire
looked down toward my mouth, then back into my eyes. He was close enough that I could see the unnaturally pale green of his eyes, even in the wavering light. My skin crawled. From the corner of my eye, I could see Cerise pouting.

“We made a deal,” I reminded him.

As a reflex, I grabbed the handle of one of the silver knives sheathed at the small of my back.

“No need for things to turn uncivilized,” Valan said, perceptive of
my movement. “You may have your brother after your father has properly surrendered.”

Valan didn’t move away from me and I got the impression that he wouldn’t do so until he got what he wanted. I turned to my side so that I could see both my dad and Dylan without turning my back on the vampire.

Without a word, my father unburdened himself of the revolver in his hand and the various blades he had hidden on his person. When he’d finished, he gave Valan a hard look.

“Let my boy go. You have me, my kids go free.”

“Of course. As you say,” Valan agreed. He turned his attention back to me. “Take your brother, Remington, before I change my mind.”

Before he slithered away, he inhaled long and deep. I barely masked a shudder as he savored my scent. By then, Cerise looked like she wanted to roast me alive.

I took out the knife I had reached for and closed the distance between myself and Dylan. He held out his hands obligingly and I sliced through the tape that held his wrists.

“Dylan, take care of yourself, son. Do everything your sister tells you,” our dad said. He looked at the two of us as though for the last time. “I love you both.”

It all happened too fast for me, but I knew I had to get Dylan out of there before the Triple Six decided they preferred three hostages for the price of one. We both told our father that we loved him, too, and I hoped I had conveyed sufficient gratitude for saving Dylan’s life and probably my own. Dylan looked too dazed to grasp exactly what had just taken place.

We hightailed it out of there and left through the same door our dad and I had come in. I inhaled the fresh air and took a few seconds to catch my breath. Dylan didn’t wait long before he was pelting me with questions.

“What just happened, Remi? Who are those people? Why was Dad there?”

“Did they hurt you? What did they tell you?” I countered.

“I got hurt when they took me, but I’m fine. They didn’t tell me anything. Just that they were gonna make you pay,” he said. “I don’t know what that means, but I don’t think they were exaggerating. They . . . They killed Diana,” he added, so frightened by the recollection that his voice dropped to a whisper.

“I know, sweetie. I found her when I came looking for you,” I said. “There’s no time to explain everything now, not if we’re gonna save Dad. I promise you’ll get answers after this is over.”

Dylan looked dubious, but agreed to wait. “Okay. What are we gonna do? They’ll kill us both if we go back in there.”

“Not if we have help. There are others who do this sort of thing. They’re waiting right on the other side of the creek,” I said, pointed toward the creek bed and oak thicket just beyond the schoolyard.

With my brother briefed enough that we could at least make it through a rescue attempt, I started walking again. Dylan followed as I led the way down the narrow trail I had taken with our dad just a few minutes before.

“Just so you know, these are people you already know,” I said, attempting to find something reassuring to tell him. “Jocelyn’s one of us. So is Hugo and all the others that were out at the pool hall last week.”

“Joss? That explains a lot,” he said.

“It does?”

“Yeah, she’s a tough little cookie.”

“You have no idea,” I told him. Under normal circumstances, we both would have had a good laugh. We sure needed one right then, but it didn’t feel appropriate.

We crossed the creek where it bubbled along slowly and came out into the open field where everyone was gathered. Jocelyn broke away from the others and met us halfway. She threw her arms around Dylan and I heard her telling him how glad she was that he was okay. I kept going and went straight to where Hugo and Jescha waited.

“They let me and Dylan go, kept our dad instead. Seemed to want him pretty bad,” I told them. Neither looked surprised.