Pursued (55 page)

“I’d rather die than let you touch me again,” she yelled. Lifting the roses, she pushed them into his face, hoping the thorns would do their job. She wasn’t disappointed.

“Ow, you little bitch! My eye!” Charles staggered back for a moment, just long enough for her to open the bedroom door. She fell backward into the room, landing on her back. Scrambling quickly to her feet, she slapped her palms against the white wooden door and pushed with all her might, expecting to hear the door bang closed.

But she never heard the bang. Instead there was a dull thump and the door stopped, just shy of closing. Elise’s heart sank as she looked down and saw the toe of her stepfather’s expensive Italian driving loafer wedged in the doorway. Grimly, she pushed with all her might, trying to keep him out. But Charles outweighed her by a hundred pounds, and he was determined to have her.

“Come on, princess,” he purred. “You know you want it—let me in.”

Tears sprang to Elise’s eyes as she pushed harder, but to no avail.

Like a scene straight out of her worst nightmare, the door slowly began to open…

* * * * *

“Where is she?
Where the fuck is she?”
Merrick shook Elise’s pretty boy fiancé like a rag doll, ignoring the shocked look on his face.

“What…who…?” he stuttered, looking stunned. Merrick supposed that was to be expected. After all, an alien space ship had suddenly materialized in the middle of his huge-ass house, effectively squashing most of the furniture and blowing out one of the walls. Of course, Merrick had done a quick scan to be certain there were no life-forms in the way before he made his jump—he hadn’t wanted to hurt Elise, though he didn’t give a damn about the rest of them. And he didn’t give a damn about property damage, either.

“Where’s Elise?” he demanded again, shaking the other male. “Tell me and I
might
let you live, you sonofabitch.”

“I…she…she’s…” James shook his head, apparently having a hard time getting the words out.

“What’s all this? My God, James, what’s going on?” A middle-aged woman with dark hair and brown eyes like Elise appeared, picked her way carefully through the rubble.

“Oh, Evelyn, I’m so glad you weren’t hurt.” James tried to smile at her. “This…this
person
is a friend of Elise’s. He wants to know where she went.”

“Well, where
did
she go?” the woman demanded. “I can’t find Charles, either. And what
happened
here?” She gestured at the crushed furniture and the demolished wall with the prototype ship sitting right in the middle of it all. “It’s a mess!”

“I
happened here,” Merrick growled. “And I’m going to happen to both of you idiots too, if I don’t get an answer soon—
is Elise here or not?”

“N-no.” James shook his head. “She went back to her apartment.” He looked at the dark haired woman, who was almost certainly Elise’s mother. “That’s where Charles went, too.”

“Oh, James, are you serious?” Elise’s mother looked upset and uncomfortable at the same time. “You
know
how those two are—they just don’t get along.”

Fierce anger surged inside Merrick. “And I bet you know
why
they don’t get along, don’t you?” he asked, glaring at Elise’s mother.

She shifted, looking even more uncomfortable. “What are you implying? I don’t even know you.”

“Yeah, but we both know Elise. And we both know what your mate did to her—only you chose to ignore it.” Merrick bared his fangs at her. “I should rip you to shreds for the pain you let him cause her.”

She shrank back, a look of horror on her face. “You…you beast! Get away from me.”

James put out an arm, as though to shield her. “L-leave her al-lone,” he told Merrick in a shaking voice. “N-neither of us has any idea what you’re talking about.”

“Liar.” Merrick gave both of them a nasty grin. “Lucky for both of you, I don’t kill females or fools. But I’ll make an exception to my rule if you don’t give me the coordinates to Elise’s apartment
right now.”
He turned his glare on James. “And they’d better be correct, you little fucker, or I’ll come back here and rip off your head with my teeth. Understand?”

“I…I understand.” James’ face was pale and sweating. “V-very well, here’s her address…”

“Get off me! Leave me alone!” Elise fought with all her might, kicking and scratching and clawing but Charles had her pinned to the bed, that awful, leering grin she remembered all too well plastered on his face.

“I don’t think so, princess. I came all the way across the country for this, I’m not leaving until I get another taste.” He leered at her, his breath hot and disgusting against her face.

“You sick bastard!” Elise craned away from him, her eyes searching desperately for any escape. Beyond the glass of her bedroom window, she saw a familiar black metal outline she hardly ever paid any attention to. But now it drew her eyes.
Of course—the fire escape.

She lived on the top floor of one of the few apartment buildings in Tampa old enough to still have an outside escape, though she’d never dreamed she would have to use it. Could she even get the window open? If she could just get away from Charles, she would damn well try! She’d
smash
it open if she had to—but she’d have to get away from her stepfather first.

“Come on, princess…” She felt him groping between her legs, just as he had so many years ago. “You want it,” he panted in her ear. “You
know
you do.”

“No!
No!”
Elise shrieked, trying to wiggle out from under him. She managed to kick a wall with her foot but she knew it wouldn’t do any good—the old building had thick walls, and Elise had paid extra to have a corner apartment with only one set of neighbors. Next she tried to hike her knee into Charles’s crotch but he only blocked the move and laughed.

“Nice try. Now let me in, princess. Let…me…
in
.” He pried her legs apart and pawed at her panties, a look of animalistic lust twisting his handsome face into an ugly mask.

Elise felt the panic rising in her, sweeping away all rational thought.
It’s just like before—I’m trapped. Can’t get away!
her mind babbled.
He’s going to do it again and I can’t stop him. Can’t…

Suddenly there was a huge
thump
on the roof overhead that seemed to shake the entire building to its foundation. Elise gave a gasp and Charles looked up, an annoyed expression on his face.

“What the hell?” he muttered.

Elise used the momentary distraction to try and get away. Wriggling with all her might, she managed to squirm halfway out from under her stepfather’s crushing weight.

But her movements brought Charles’s attention back to her in an instant. “Oh no you don’t, you little bitch!” he snarled, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back. “You’re gonna give it up for me, just like you did before. Just like—”

There was a heavy, ringing tramp on the metal of the fire escape and Elise’s bedroom window exploded inward, spraying shards of glass everywhere.

“Get the fuck off her,
now!”
bellowed a deep, familiar voice.

Merrick?
Elise could hardly believe her own eyes, but there he was—standing just inside her window and looking angrier than she had ever seen him. His eyes finally matched—instead of blue and gold, they were glowing red like two hot coals—and the look of rage on his face was terrible to see.

“Who the hell are y—?” Charles began and then Merrick had him by the back of his shirt and was yanking him off Elise. “Hey!” Charles protested and then Merrick slung him against the wall, as though he weighed no more than a rat. With a loud
thump
, her stepfather hit and fell to one side, silent and stunned.

At last Elise found her voice. “Merrick?” she whispered. “Is it…it’s really you? But how…?”

“Never mind how. Come here, baby.” He held out his arms and she ran to him, sobbing, and threw her arms around his neck.

“Merrick…Merrick, I thought you were gone. I thought you were dead. I never thought…”

“I nearly
was
dead, but it wasn’t my time—I was sent back for you.” He hugged her tight, almost cutting off her air, but Elise didn’t care. She pressed herself against his hard, muscular body, breathing in his familiar, comforting scent of smoke and fur, letting herself believe at last that he was real. That he had really come for her.

At last Merrick pulled back from the embrace and looked at her anxiously. “Was I in time? Did he…?”

Elise shook her head rapidly, her hair swishing around her face. “No, not this time. He…he tried. He would have if you hadn’t come and…oh, Merrick…” The sobs rose in her throat again, choking her with their intensity.

“I know, baby. I know.” He pulled her close again, stroking her hair gently.

From the corner of her eye, Elise saw her stepfather getting to his hands and knees. He cast a quick glance at Merrick, and began to slink away, crawling along the perimeter of the room like the rat he was, heading for the door.

Apparently, the motion caught Merrick’s eye too. Gently, he disentangled himself from Elise and set her down on the floor. “Hang on a minute, baby. I need to settle some unfinished business.”

“Merrick?” She looked at him anxiously, noticing that his eyes were still glowing red. “What…what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take care of him.” Merrick caught her stepfather by the scruff of the neck, twisting the back of Charles’s crisp white dress shirt until it strangled him, effectively cutting off his air.

“You…stop,” he managed to sputtered, grasping at his neck as his face turned red. “Stop now…talk about…this.”

“Oh, you want to talk?” Merrick appeared to consider this. He loosened his grip slightly on Charles’s shirt, allowing him to breath. “Go ahead—talk.”

“This…” Charles coughed and cleared his throat. “This is all just a big misunderstanding. I don’t…don’t know who you are, but you seem like…like a reasonable man.” He eyed Merrick uncertainly. “Just name your price and we can all forget about this and…and go.”

Elise could have told him it was the wrong thing to say. Merrick’s eyes narrowed and blazed crimson, as though someone had stirred the embers behind his pupils into a roaring flame. “Name my price?
Name my price?”
he snarled. “You think you can put a
price
on what you did to Elise? On the way you hurt the female I love?” Reaching into his boot, he pulled out a long, sharp, silver knife and showed it to Charles who turned as white as a sheet. “I’ll show you the price—it’s right here.”

“N-now wait a minute,” Charles blustered, trying to get away. But Merrick still had a tight grip on his shirt—he was caught. “What…” He eyed the knife, his eyes rolling nervously. “What do you think you’re going to do with that?”

Merrick gave him a smile so cold it sent shivers down Elise’s spine. “I
think
I’m going to cut off your raping cock and feed it to you, you sonofabitch. And if you happen to bleed to death in the process, that’s just too damn bad.”

“No! No, please…” Charles began blubbering but it was clear Merrick was paying no attention. He was wholly intent on revenge—revenge for
her
sake, Elise realized.

“Merrick?” she whispered in a small voice. She didn’t know how to feel. Part of her was horrified at the impending violence. But another part, a part which had been buried for years along with all the other memories and thoughts in the now-defunct vault, felt a fierce sense of triumph.

Good,
screamed that other part of her.
Good, that’s exactly what he deserves!
But still, how often had she been lectured in law school about due process? About never taking the law into her own hands?
I shouldn’t let this happen,
whispered the sane, rational part of her—the part not obsessed with vengeance.
It’s wrong, I should take him to court instead.
“Merrick?” she said again, a little louder this time.

Merrick turned his head and looked at her. His eyes were still blazing red, yet there was a coldness to him too—a chilly blast of violence and death that seemed to breathe from his skin like an arctic wind.

The killing frost,
Elise thought, and then she knew. Knew there was no stopping this slaughter. No stopping what Merrick was about to do to her hated stepfather.

The killing frost was on him, and only blood could quench its cold and thirsty rage.

“Go on, baby. This is nothing you need to see,” he growled softly, nodding at the broken window. “Get up to the roof and wait in the ship. It won’t take long.”

Elise started to protest, but then she looked in his eyes again. This was going to happen, whether she left or whether she stayed. And as much as she hated her stepfather, she really didn’t want to see it.

Slowly, she nodded. “All right.”

She turned her back and climbed carefully out the window, concentrating on avoiding the few ragged shards of glass that were left. As she gripped the hot metal of the fire escape’s black iron railing, she heard the hoarse, wordless screaming begin.

The temptation to look back was so strong she nearly turned her head, but then Merrick’s words echoed in her ears.
This is nothing you need to see
, he’d said and she believed him. She had enough nightmares to contend with, without adding another one. As the screams sounded again, Elise began to climb.

She did not look back.

* * * * *

After it was over, Merrick washed the blood from his hands in the bathroom sink and tried to straighten his stained clothes. His pants were already stiff with his own dried blood, but at least they were dark. His shirt, however, was a total loss—it was spattered with his blood, troll blood, and fresh blood from his recent kill. Merrick ripped it off and left it lying on the floor. He splashed water on his bare chest and toweled himself off. There. That would have to fucking do.