The Fury (4 page)

“Ready?” Dagan asked, before pulling onto the deserted road and heading back toward Denver.

The roads were wet but not icy. After last night’s snowfall, the landscape looked like it had jumped off a Christmas card.

“I think I need to contact the police and tell them what happened. You can take me in and I’ll fill out a report.”

“No.”

She glared at him. He wasn’t the boss of her. “You’re really starting to annoy me.”

He barked out laughter. “That’s funny, you started annoying me the minute I saw you.”

“You’re an ass.”

“I’m an ass who’s trying to save your life.”

“Then let me call the police, tell them what happened.”

“No, not yet.”

“Oooooo, you’re…” Reese wanted to choke him.

Dagan gave her a cocky smirk before concentrating again on the driving.

“I want to know what’s going on, Dagan.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Who are those
things
, and why are they chasing me?”

“There is not a lot I can explain right now other than to say that it has to do with your ancestry.”

“That helps immensely. Everything is so much clearer now. Thanks,” she added sarcastically.

“You’re welcome.” He smiled.

“So you’re not going to tell me anything, are you?”

“No.”

“I will call the cops at the first chance I get and report all this to them.”

“What will you say, Reese?” he said in a softer tone. “Some shadows attacked and a strange man appeared out of nowhere to save me. I’ve been with him all night.”

When he said it that way, it did sound far-fetched. The police would think she’d lost her mind.

Maybe she had.

Insanity didn’t run in her family that she knew of. Yesterday had started out as a normal day. Should she try to sneak off long enough to call her colleagues, particularly Joe or Geoffrey? No. What could they do anyway? He hadn’t harmed her. She’d wait it out and see what happened.

“Where are we going?”

He glanced over. “I’m taking you home.”

“Really?” she said with enthusiasm. Uncertainty crept into her voice. “What about those creatures, the
galla
?”

His hand found hers on her thigh and grasped it. “I’ve sent someone to your house to check things out and make sure we don’t have any surprises.” He glanced over. “Don’t worry.”

She nodded. That was easy for him to say.

A few miles up the road, they stopped for gas. After he filled up the tank and Reese used the bathroom, they headed out again. The closer they got to Reese’s house, the more urgent his need for information became. She sat there like a warrior princess. Her unsmiling face spoke of nervous tension, and long, slender fingers had ripped pieces from one of the napkins that had come with the donuts. The remnants were scattered in her lap and on the floor.

“Reese.” She jumped a little as if she’d been deep in thought. “When we were at your house last night, I noticed a picture with you and, I assume, your family.”

“Yes?”

“Where are they now?”

A suspicious shadow crossed her face and she leveled those spitfire eyes on him. “Why do you want to know?”

He sighed dramatically. “After everything, do you not trust me even a little?”

She mulled it over.

Finally, coming to some decision, she huffed. Dagan clenched his hands on the steering wheel awaiting the information he hoped she would offer willingly.

“My sister, Riley, is in Europe right now.”

“How long has she been there?”

“For about two years.”

Europe for two years probably meant Riley was safe for the moment, but he’d send one of their operatives to check it out.

“My mother died three years ago.”

He glanced at her and saw tears well in her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Yes, everyone says that,” she replied in a dry tone.

“And, what of your father?”

She stiffened. “He’s here, I mean, in Denver, at his home.”

Unexpected surprises didn’t please him, especially when it meant another human faced immediate danger. She didn’t say anymore.

When they were a couple of blocks from her house, Dagan pulled out his cell and called Rufus.

“It’s clean. I’ve checked the house three times and have been moving around the grounds. Other than the nasty charred spots on the porch, you’d never know the shit-eaters had been here.”

“Great.”

“Am I playing watchdog after she gets home too?” Rufus snickered.

“Absolutely.”

“Damn cold at night this time of year. Good thing I brought my parka.”

“Quit whining,” Dagan said and hung up.

Reese looked over at him. “Problem?”

“No. Your house is clear. No sign of the
galla
either inside or out.”

“Good, that’s good.”

Dagan agreed but knew it wouldn’t last. With the night came the creeping crud, i.e. the demons of death. He’d leave Reese in the capable hands of the
doghume
. He’d order another to stake out her father’s home and keep watch. The thought of leaving her left him uneasy, which was another oddity that conflicted with his training. He had no choice but to do it.

There was no other way.

He pulled into her drive and parked. Scanning the area, he sent out feelers, but sensed none of Kur’s minions.

Reese scrambled out of the car and grabbed her purse. “I can’t wait to take a long, hot shower.”

Dagan grunted. He felt a strange current of energy buzzing in his head the closer he got to the house. Still watching for intruders, he followed Reese up the stairs and inside. The sound got louder and stronger, playing with his internal senses like a live electrical wire bouncing around on pavement. This could have been the vibration he’d noticed last night. Of course, his senses were concentrating on movement of the
galla
at the time, and were absorbed by the proximity of Reese. Those distractions had demanded his focus, so he hadn’t paid that much attention to the field of static electricity.

He grabbed her arm when she started to take her coat off. “Wait here.”

“Oh for crying out loud,” she said in an exasperated voice. “I thought you said everything was fine.”

He turned a heated glare on her. “Wait here.”

She stuck her left hip out and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring right back. She looked like Mount Cradacus before it erupted, and he knew that eruption would spew toward him.

He wandered through each room, making sure there were no surprises. When he had walked the entire interior and checked all the locks and closets, he strolled back into the entryway and right up to the beautiful time bomb that waited there.

Her soft blue eyes were tiny flames now. It was a good thing he liked playing with fire or his ass would be cooked.

“Are you done?” she asked dryly.

He stared down at her upturned face, appreciating the gentle flush that turned her cheeks pink. She licked her lips and he wondered what she would taste like. Before he thought too much more about it, he placed his fingertips on her temples and began massaging them.

She straightened. “What are you do—”

Dagan closed his eyes and reached out with his mind to touch hers. There, he removed all traces of the
galla
and himself.

“You will wake up and go about your day,” he whispered in her ear before gently lying her unconscious form down on the smoky green couch.

He removed her coat and cast one longing glance at her body before moving to the door. He needed to see Pyre about weapons, and a certain god about the unexpected energy field surrounding Reese’s house.

Kur had just tossed aside the emptied body of a homeless man Vile had brought him when Feral strolled into the throne room. His footsteps echoed on the polished black marble floor.

Kur reached for the golden goblet filled with blood red Merlot before glancing in Feral’s direction. The wine tasted like nectar on his lips. Adding his victim’s blood to his wine gave it that sweeter taste. “What news do you bring me, Captain?”

Feral bowed before saying, “My scouts thought they had found her, but then her trail disappeared.”

Kur growled and threw the sparkling goblet and its contents against the nearest black-draped wall. “That bastard, Dagan, tests my temper.” He stormed over to the long, ornate table of Roman design and splashed more liquid into another opulent cup. Downing the wine, he dropped the piece on the exquisite tablecloth staining it red. “I should have killed him all those years ago when I had the chance.”

“My Lord?”

Waving his hand through the air, Kur said, “Never mind.” He stepped over the human male’s shell of a body. “Do you have a plan?”

“Of course. I have sentries posted in several areas she is known to frequent. My squad will be ready when she reappears, then we will strike.”

“Excellent.” Kur stepped close and glared at Feral. “Do not disappoint me.”

“No, my lord.”

“Very well, get it done. My body grows restless with need for the power.”

“We will succeed.”

“Go then.”

Feral disappeared through the massive archway.

“Wretched!”

A beautiful brunette with a sheer, glowing, blue gown materialized before him.

“Yes, my king.”

A wicked smile curved on his lips. He loved the way his people bowed and referred to him as king.

“Have some
galla
take this trash away, then come back here, and be naked when you do.”

She curtsied, going low to the floor. Her gown pooled around her. “As you wish, my king.”

Wretched left the room. The power from the meager human he had consumed thrummed through his body. When the female returned, he would bend her face-first over the throne and shove his already throbbing cock into her ass. Walking to where the withered body lay, Kur reached inside his black leather low-riders and pulled out his swelled cock. Energy was not the only benefit to sucking humans dry.

He laughed.

Closing his fingers around the straining shaft, he imagined how dark and tight Wretched’s ass would feel clamping on him. He stroked harder and faster until his gray juice spurted over the lifeless form.

The henchmen appeared a few minutes later to remove the mess. Neither of them spoke to their master nor did they comment about the goo that coated the dead man’s clothes.

Kur had not bothered to conceal his erection. Again, his cock filled and jerked with anticipation as Wretched appeared, gloriously nude. She proceeded toward the throne, where Kur ordered her to bend over, and then positioned himself.

Dagan materialized in the dank stone hallway of Mount Cradacus, the oldest and most active volcano of all time. Buried inside the hidden world of the Pantheon, it could not be seen by the human eye. The sulfuric, acrid air of the volcano violated his keen sense of smell. He strolled into the huge antechamber where Pyre and three others worked endlessly to create weapons to help the time walkers fight the minions of the Underworld and their leader.

“Hey, P, how’s it hanging?” Dagan clasped hands with his brother-at-arms.

“Longer and stronger than you’ll ever know, you purebred cur.”

“Is that any way to talk to one of your oldest and dearest friends? Not to mention one of your best customers?” Dagan winked.

“I say it like it is.”

Pyre’s voice had grown raspy from working in this lethal environment for so long. Although he, too, was a purebred, when the call had come, Pyre begged the Goddess Inanna to allow him to serve by forging the weapons the army would need. He had always enjoyed working with his hands. The minerals that lay deep inside Mount Cradacus were perfect for molding. With the precise balance and tensile strength, the weapons were unbreakable and could penetrate any surface. Blades sharpened to perfection sliced through a
galla
’s form like butter, and bullets left huge holes in the enemy. Pyre was fully capable of fighting the battle, but chose to arm the soldiers with the right tools to win.

“So tell me what has you in such an uproar as to bring me to this vile place?”

“I’ve been working on a sword for you.”

“A sword?”

Pyre walked away from the fiery pit where he forged the weapons and headed down a long, narrow, strangely cool tempered hallway. The walls twinkled with an abundance of minerals and stones.

Dagan followed his friend farther away from the fierce heat to a cooler clime.

“I wanted something you could swing with one hand, but would be light enough to carry under your coat.” He stopped in a smaller antechamber where a wide variety of weapons hung from the wall and lay upon tables made of rock. Reaching up, he gently lifted a shiny blade from its hanger. Pyre held the object like a precious child and its silver coloring reflected bright in his eyes.