Scarlet Assassin (18 page)

“Who?”

“Don’t know, just know he’s a fresh face kid.”

“Gotta name to go with the description?”

“Mark, Marty–”

“Marshall?”

“Maybe.” Ian grabbed his crotch and whistled. “I gotta take a leak. Be right back.”

Signaling the waitress over, Selene waited until the bathroom door closed behind him before she knocked on the divider. “Can you let my friend know I had to leave?”

“Sure, Hon.”

 Selene slipped her a twenty and waited at the corner for Clarissa. “We gotta go, I want to stash you somewhere safe and get to the coven.”

“AJ’s there, isn’t she?”

Selene didn’t have the heart to confirm Clarissa’s worst suspicions, but odds weren’t in AJ’s favor right now.

Chapter Twenty-four

AJ fingered the small capsule, still not believing her luck. It stuck to her damp fingertip as she brought it to her nose for further inspection. She wasn’t about to stick it in her mouth, not if it was rat shit. A shallow sniff was all she could muster, but the aroma couldn’t be denied. Blood.

Crushing it further she stuffed it under her tongue, the sublingual delivery system was the fastest way to get a medication in to the blood supply if you didn’t have a direct line into a vein. She closed her eyes and let the concentrated blood linger in her mouth, mixing with what little saliva she had left. She’d need another capsule or two before she would have enough strength to save her own life, let alone Clarissa’s. Patience wasn’t her strong suit, and waiting for the blood to do its work was exceedingly slow.

She drifted in and out of consciousness, each time her mind more lucid. Suddenly, she remembered her dinner date with Clarissa. She’d be pissed AJ had missed another one of her famous dinners. She’d think of a way to make it up to her, she always did, but she had some unfinished business with the coven’s leader, Gaylord Van der Plume. She hoped Butch had enjoyed watching her almost die, because it would be her turn now.

Voices trailed down the hall, passing her door. She wanted to yell out, but thought better of it as she weighed her options. Eventually they would come and check on her, so she had to play her cards right. Rolling to her back she swept out her hands to her sides and searched for more capsules. If she found one she’d find the rest, even if it killed her. Her search wasn’t in vain, as her hand rolled over another and then another. Hell, she’d be happy to find just one more, but two would give her more than hope of surviving, it would guarantee she’d live.

She needed to find the tin that held the capsules, if her captors found it they would give it to Butch and he would know she lied about having the blood substitute. So she continued to slide around on the floor searching for it. The sound of metal sliding across the floor let her know she’d found the tin box that held her capsules. Slipping one of the two capsules into the tin and back into her pocket. She crushed the second capsule and placed it under her tongue.

Her eyes slammed shut as a key rattled in the lock. The door was pushed open and light spilled into the room. Boots echoed on the stone floor. Two men, maybe more, walked towards AJ. Her eyes, barely slits, followed their movement.

“She dead yet?” A husky voiced asked.

A swift kick to her ribs forced out a short breath loud enough for the goons to hear.

“Not yet. De Marcus said it could take a couple of days, depending on the last time she fed.”

“Yeah, well let’s not risk it.” The sound of a gun being cocked shook her, but she could barely move.

“Hey, he wants her to suffer.”

“Yeah, well maybe I want to put her out of her misery. Besides, De Marcus isn’t here, is he?”

“Nope, but Butch is and he’s psycho lately or haven’t you noticed?”

“Yeah, I noticed. Fucking crazy-ass bastard, gives me the willies.”

“Well, I don’t feel like ending up like this chick here. So leave her be. Besides, I heard De Marcus talking to someone, telling ’em he was going to be taking over the coven soon.”

“What do you think he means by that?”

AJ wasn’t surprised at De Marcus’s plans to take over the coven. She wondered if Butch knew how ruthless he could be.
Poor bastard, deserves everything he gets
.

“How much longer do you think she can last?”

She felt fingers on her neck trying to measure her pulse.

“Not much longer, she’s almost dead now.”

“We better let Butch know.”

The solid door closed but she didn’t hear it lock.
Stupid bastards
. AJ rolled to her side. Butch would want to be here when she died, in fact she was counting on it. Another hour was all she needed for the second pill to take effect.

****

Clarissa needed to get to the coven. AJ was there, she knew it, she felt it, hell she
dreamed
it. Her mind raced, De Marcus was close, his minion Marshall had tipped his hand when he made such a show of introducing himself.

Carol.

Where was Carol? What had the bastard done with her? She pulled out her phone and dialed Carol’s number. Carol narrowly escaped being De Marcus’s victim last year at the masquerade ball. If Selene hadn’t stepped in, god only knows what would have happened. She owed her an explanation, but it had never materialized. Instead, a death in Carol’s family had sidelined any discussion they would have had about Carol’s
creepy
ex-boyfriend. If Carol only knew how close to death she’d come that night. How could she have forgotten her closest friend?

“Hello?”

“Carol?”

“Clarissa, oh my god, I forgot to call you. I am so sorry.”

Clarissa’s body flooded with relief. “I was worried about you. What happened? Some guy shows up, tells me he’s taking your place for the rest of the term and boom, you’re gone.”

“I apologize, sweetie. My brother’s had a stroke, and his wife isn’t in any condition to take care of him so I caught the first flight to Milwaukee. I should have called, I am so sorry.”

“I’m sorry to hear about your brother. This jerk said you had a death in the family and I was worried.”

‘Oh, they found a replacement already? Jeez, I thought I was a little harder to replace, guess not.” Carol sounded disappointed at the news of her replacement.

Selene tapped Clarissa on the arm and shook her head. Clearly, she didn’t want Clarissa saying too much about
Marshall
.

“You’re irreplaceable, so don’t even think about not coming back.” Clarissa tied to sound reassuring.

“Thanks, sweetie. It’s probably going to be a few months before I can come back. My brother’s pretty bad off. I need to handle his affairs and then I can come back with some peace.”

“Oh, Carol, I wish I was there to help you. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Thanks, but my other brothers are coming, so I’ll have help. You can do one thing.”

“Sure, anything.”

“Tell my replacement not to get comfortable, ’cause he isn’t staying.”

“Oh, I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Clarissa said, watching Selene as she motioned for her to wind things up. “How about I call you in a few day and give you a progress report?”

“Sounds good. Talk to you soon.”

“Bye.”

She wished relief came in a bottle. She would swill it in her mouth, bath in and buy it buy the case. She was a worrier and she came by it honestly. A trait passed down from her grandmother, to her mother and now to her.

“What the hell made you do that?”

“What?”

“Call Carol.” Selene tossed Clarissa a disapproving glance before she turned her attention back to driving.

“Carol’s my friend. I was worried about her.”

“We don’t have friends, Clarissa. It never ends well for us.”

“Really, so who was that cute little blond that I saw leaving your office tonight?”

“No one special,” Selene deadpanned.

“So what you were thinking when I arrived doesn’t–” 

“I can’t afford to get involved with someone, Clare. The business I’m in doesn’t exactly make for good bedfellows. So she’s
nobody
.”

“You might be able to fool yourself, but I know what I felt, and she isn’t a
nobody
, Selene.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s over before it started,” Selene lied and Clarissa could sense the turmoil Selene was battling. She felt sorry for her old friend. She wished everyone could be as happy as she and AJ were before all of this started up again. If she was being honest with herself though, she knew she was going cut AJ off, the way Selene was doing with the cute blonde from the club. It was the only way to protect AJ from De Marcus. Clarissa was his property. He was back to claim her and she knew it.

“We’re going to back to the club. I know you’ll be safe there and I need to make some phone calls and see what I can find out about AJ”

“What about De Marcus?”

“Our boy Marshall will lead us to De Marcus.”

“You really think he’s working for him?”

“Yep.” Selene pulled into her reserved parking space at the club. Turning towards Clarissa, she touched her and waited.

“What? What’s wrong?” Clarissa started to panic. Selene’s usually calm mind was frantic and a jumbled mess. Steeling herself, she laid her hand on top of Selene’s and gave a half-hearted smile. “AJ’s alive. I know it. So don’t give me the ‘you should prepare yourself’ crap.”

“Clare—”

“Don’t, Selene. I’m warning you.”

Chapter Twenty-five

“The fucking bitch should be dead or damn close to it.”

AJ heard Butch before he was halfway down the corridor. His arrogant attitude would be his downfall. She just had to be patient. Her tongue licked across dry lips. Her necked popped as she twisted it to the left and then to the right. She’d considered pushing herself up off the cold floor, but she couldn’t risk exposing her advantage if the same two guards from earlier came in again with Butch.

“Open the door and let me see the bitch.” Butch almost sounded gleeful as he barked out orders.

AJ lay rigid, her eyes open just enough to see the boots of the guard step closer. Only one set of boots and a pair of velvet loafers stood next to her.
Bonus
. Butch had made a tragic mistake, one she would take advantage of.

“Turn her over, I want to see her face.”

A boot on her hip tried to push her over, but she held firm in her position on the floor. Unable to move her, the guard cursed and knelt down. He shoved her with his hand. AJ lunged, seizing his elbow with one hand and crotch with the other. He yelled out as she squeezed his balls. Using his body weight against him, she flipped him over her and onto the floor. He landed with a thud that drove the air out of his lungs and loosened his grip on the weapon. AJ rolled on top and snatched the rifle from his hands. With one swift thrust, she smashed the butt of the rifle into his face, and then rotated the weapon, pointing the business end at Butch. He stood rooted to the spot with his mouth agape. 

“No, no, no–” he started to say, raising his hands as if they would stop a bullet.

“Shut the fuck up, Butch.” AJ, still wobbly, sat on the man and tried to catch her breath. “Sit down.” She pointed to the steel bed.

“You won’t escape out of the coven, AJ. You know that, right?” he said, sitting gingerly on the edge of the cold metal.

“Scoot back, all the way against the wall.” she ordered. Her pulse raced. A good sign the capsules were doing their job, but she needed more quickly. Pulling the guard’s wrist up to her lips, her fangs popped and dropped into his vein. Her gaze stayed focused on Butch as he grimaced. “What, you get all squeamish watching others feed? That’s totally out of character for you, Butch.”

Blood drops splattered on the guard’s shirt as she talked. She couldn’t feed fast enough, but she couldn’t pass up the urge to gloat, either. Pulling his wrist up further, she bit down hearing the crunch of bones breaking and tendons snapping, her reward for her feeding brutality. She had to pace herself, the loss of her own blood and the sudden replacement could make her sick. As it oozed down her throat she couldn’t help but enjoy it. She was sure she would have the typical blood hangover later, from consuming it too quickly. Her body craved the replenishing, her mind demanded to be fed and her heart, well the revenge would satisfy her heart. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Butch edging down the bed towards the still open door. In a blink of an eye she was sitting next to Butch, the barrel of the gun resting against his rib cage.

“Where do you think you’re going, Gaylord?” His visceral reaction to his name made her laugh. “You’ve been a bad boy, a very bad boy, and I plan to punish you.” Her maniacal laughter echoed throughout the cell.

“If you kill me you won’t get De Marcus. He’s the one you want, not me.”

“Okay, so tell me where De Marcus is and I’ll consider sparing you.”

“You will?”

“Of course, my beef isn’t with you, it’s with him.” AJ smiled and placed her chin on his shoulder, repositioning the barrel higher up on his ribs. He flinched as she pushed the barrel against them. She wanted to hit his heart if she shot him, so she angled the rifle butt down more.

“But…I almost had you killed…I mean—” Butch shifted away from the gun.

“A minor faux pas. Now where is De Marcus?”

“I’m afraid you might be too late, Alexandra.”

His use of her given name was like finger nails on a chalk board. Only Clarissa called her by her birth name. It was music on Clarissa’s lips when she used it while they were in the throes of passion, but to hear it come from his lips made her sick. Holding her temper, she prodded again.

“De Marcus.”

“He isn’t here, he’s…he’s gone…to get Clarissa.”

“When did he leave?”

“An hour ago. He didn’t care to see your dead body, so he left to get her.”

“Give me your phone.”

“What?”

“Give me your…” she pushed the barrel harder against his ribs. “cell phone. I’m sure you’re like everyone else and sleep with the damn thing, so give it to me.”