Wasteland (3 page)

I fired one last glare at my demon-brother and stomped further down the alley. At this moment, darkness was the safest place for me. Hell, I’d been in it for so long, it felt like home.

I threw a look over my shoulder and saw Gage turn the corner.
Good, I was sick of his ugly face
.

Like being yanked out of solitary, shoved on an airplane, then released into one of the sunniest places on the continental US wasn’t enough, I was ordered to a bar packed with half-dressed women. It was a miracle I hadn’t morphed into my demonic half and killed an innocent already.

That had to be Master’s plan. Deprive me of everything, then throw me into
everything
, hoping I’d break and give into the darkness. He’d been tempting me for centuries.

“Hey, back off, buddy.” A female voice reverberated off the surrounding brick walls.

I stopped to listen. I’d made it to the end of the alley and intended to hop the wall, but I couldn’t with witnesses. I glanced behind me. Empty and dark.

“What’s a cute thing like you doing out back here all by yourself?” a gruff, slurred voice asked. The ring of crackling glass filled the air.

I crept to the corner.

“Sir. You’re obviously drunk. Would you like for me to call you a cab?” The woman’s voice had gone from casual to strained.

I heard the squeak of a door opening, then a shuffle. My demon’s blazing nails prickled at my heart in anticipation of action.

“
Let’ssss
call a cab. We can go to my place,” the drunken man said.

I drifted closer to the corner. The bitter smell of alcohol stung my nostrils.

“That shall not be happening, good sir,” the female said. “Come inside, and I will arrange a ride home for you.”

Good sir?
She speaks as if from my era
.

More shuffling. The hairs on my arm stood in attention.

“Hands off. You are not allowed to touch me in such a manner. Get inside or—”

Claps echoed, and I stormed the corner.

The lady in red.

She cranked her elbow to the guy’s forehead and buried her high-heeled shoe into his knee. His face bounced off the edge of the door, and he slumped to the ground, unconscious. Stance wide, knees bent, she stood over the motionless man, chest heaving.

Moonlight spilled its glowing rays over her like a spotlight. Lean muscles along her arms twitched.

She kicked his stomach. “You picked the wrong woman to—” Squinting her eyes, she jerked her attention in my direction. “Hello?”

I filled my lungs with fresh air, hoping to calm my churning insides. The light above the door she stood under couldn’t compete with the darkness and the fifteen feet separating me from her. I knew my demon sight allowed me to see her easily, but she was human. She couldn’t possibly see me.

“Hello?”

I stepped back.

She regarded the guy crumpled on the ground near the doorway and nudged his shoulder with her shoe. “You have a buddy out there?” Her forehead creased. “Who’s there?”

“Ma’am, are you okay?” I managed to keep my voice from cracking with the rage fuming inside. For a man to treat a lady so horribly infuriated my human nature, which, in turn, inflamed the rage of my demon.

“Ma’am?” she whispered. “Wait. Are you the guy from in the club? Come into the light.”

She released the door handle, but the man’s foot stopped it from clicking shut. His body flinched at the impact. She tugged at the ends of her hair and faced the darkness.

The back wall cast a long shadow over me. Coupled with the darkness of the late hour, she should not be able to identify me.

“If you’re okay, then. I’ll be going.” The grit of the asphalt crackled beneath my soles. I wouldn’t be able to hop the wall as planned, but I needed to distance myself from her. The seductive energy rolling off her radiant skin teased my already tensed body. The subtle scent of sweat and lilacs was like a taste of sweet wine.

“Wait,” she said.

Footfalls approached. A rumble escaped my throat, and I hustled around the corner to run the length of the dark alley to the sidewalk. Another figure, shadowed by darkness approached. Broad shoulders. The man who called the lady in red his sister. Whereas the seduction and pheromones rolled off the female, anger and protectiveness flooded from the man approaching.

If I stayed, I would surely fail to keep the demon at bay. I checked beside me and crouched. With one quick burst, I pounced to the top of the wall and disappeared into the shadows, keeping the humans in sight. Behind me lay an empty lot of dirt. I turned my focus back to the area behind the club.

“Wait. Don’t go.” The woman approached the spot from where I’d just jumped. She must not have seen me leap onto the ledge of the wall.

So human.

Yet, she was strong in the way she handled herself with her attacker. And how she spoke. Old language, which I often used, prevented me from assimilating into this strange era. The darkness consumed her when she stepped out of the reach of the dull light. Her brother would soon come from the alley.

Her tall, slender body came into full view. The woman’s skin glowed, despite the void of light. With the blond hair, she almost resembled an angel. I’d seen a handful through the years and with her beauty, she sure could pass for one.

“Beka. Is that you?” the man called out.

Beka. Beautiful name.

“Russell?”

He rounded the corner. “What are you doing out here in the dark?” He scanned the area, then gripped her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

She searched the shadows with wide eyes. “Did you see a man in the alley?”

“No. It’s just me. I’m doing the rounds. What’s wrong?” He guided her to the door, which lay propped open by the unconscious man’s foot.

“I thought—” She glanced over her shoulder.

“What happened here? Who’s that?” Russell knelt by the fallen man and pressed two fingers to his neck. “Are you okay, Beka? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine. Some drunk tried to—how do they say it—get up my skirt?”

“If you would stop wearing that unsuitable attire, maybe they wouldn’t behave in such a manner.”

She turned her back to her tall, brown haired brother and looked in my direction again. Her gaze swept over me, but she didn’t appear to see me. Then her eyes narrowed. I froze, knees aching as I squatted. Maybe she was a supernatural and able to detect me. I sensed nothing of that nature, but despite the lack of light between us, her eyes penetrated the distance separating us. My heart lurched into my throat. 

Beka.

A deep breath stretched the fabric taut over her firm breasts. The sight sparked a wild fire so fierce it nearly toppled me.

“What are you doing?” Russell nudged her shoulder.

“Nothing. I thought I saw someone.” She turned away. “I think I’m hallucinating. I didn’t have any alcohol tonight, but I feel like I am intoxicated.” Her slender fingers disappeared in her long, blond hair, and she combed through the locks.

The air carried a hint of lilac, and I inhaled the essence deep into my senses.

“Tell me what happened back here,” Russell asked.

“Please move that guy inside and call him a cab.”

“You’re too nice. I’d leave him here to deal with the elements.”

“That is the difference between you and me, is it not?” She elbowed his gut, then grabbed the door handle. “And my clothes are not inappropriate,
brother
.”

“I shall never get used to the clothing women wear in this century.”

The door latched shut and silence ruled the alley. Beka and Russell were not human after all. No wonder Russell was able to detect my demonic half. I didn’t sense an angelic presence, and I didn’t recognize them as demons, either. Russell identified my evil so they must be Hunters. Possibly Guardians.

Either way, this complicated things.

I stretched from my crouched position and shook out my numb legs. Dark and quiet. Exactly what I needed. The back door to the bar snared my attention again, and I visualized Beka standing there.

She must be a test. A trap. Something Master had placed in this mission to make me fall. But she wasn’t even human.

Time to figure out what mess Master threw me into.

CHAPTER 3

“Why did you not locate Jessica Hanks last night?” Master’s raspy voice crackled through the cell phone.

“Sorry, sir. I shall try again tonight. Are you certain she is at Club Noir?” I slouched onto the hotel desk chair, the cool, wooden back chilled my bare skin.

“Nothing is certain, son.” His voice rumbled. “But you are my runner, and you are to retrieve that which I instruct you to.”

I hated when he called me son. I didn’t want him as my father, yet, technically, he was since he owned my soul.

Damn you, Mother.

“I will do as you command. Is there any more information about her? All I know is that she’s fifteen, an orphan, and bears The Mark of Elpida on the small of her back.”

“That is all that has been revealed to the Seers. You will have to find your Mark with that information.”

I rested my elbow on the desktop and swiped the square sensor pad on the laptop computer I was given. Amazing device, much like the cellular phone. “I was shown how to use the Internet and searched popular websites called Facebook and Twitter but have brought up nothing useful.”

“Do not waste your time with such electronics. Use your instincts. They will not fail you.”

“Yes, sir.” I ran my hands over my chest, which, after seven more feasts, had begun to fill out again. Soon I would resemble the same twenty-two-year-old man I’d been frozen at four centuries ago.

“Gage will stay with you to help you assimilate to the twenty-first century. You’ve been gone a long time, son.”

“Indeed.” He should know.
He
put me in confinement, and it was beyond my control I did not obtain my last Mark.

“Do not make me incarcerate you again by failing to retrieve young Jessica, do you understand?”

An icy shiver slid down my spine. “Yes, sir.”

A click, followed by two brief tones indicated the end of the call. I clicked the phone off and pivoted in the stiff chair. With a flick of my wrist, I tossed the device Gage had called an iPhone onto the bed across from where I sat. The thick, flower-printed blanket swallowed up the fascinating contraption.

I burrowed my toes into the plush carpet and tunneled my fingers through my hair.

Master never checked up on me while on assignment. The babysitters called in updates. His added interest and his assigning a six-hundred-year old demon as my shadow meant something. Had to. Jessica must be more than a routine soul harvest.

The flicker of the muted television broke through the darkness. I’d stared at the little box mounted on the wall all night, learning more about the pop culture of this decade. Frankly, I was intrigued. Society today tolerated much more than before my punishment.

My human side longed for a normal life, to experience the new world surrounding me, but my demonic contract denied that pleasure. Any failure on my part to secure the Mark identified by Master and his mystics was punished with confinement—
after
fifty years of flesh melting flames.

After a full twenty-four hours of eating, sleeping, and enjoying the use of my senses, I refused to go into absolute darkness again. No, I would get this Mark for Master and become acquainted with this strange era.

I rubbed the black crescent inked over my heart, Master’s symbol of his ownership. Sold to him by my mother, contract signed in her blood. I ground my teeth at the thought. Trapped for eternity because of her.

I bolted off the chair, strode across the large hotel room to the window and heaved the curtains open. I blinked through the explosion of blue lights floating in my vision and took in the sights. Late afternoon sun bathed the quaint town with its piercing rays. At least Master let me live in luxury while on this assignment. From the top floor, south side of town, I had a complete picture of the city.

Signot, Arizona. Population five thousand.

I faced the quiet room. The food service tray, filled with empty plates sat at the foot of the bed. I patted my bulging stomach. The food had improved over the centuries. The bathroom door in the corner was cracked open, and I stared in awe at the luxury of the indoor plumbing. Hot water by command.

Very civilized.

I gripped my neck and kneaded the cramps. My bare back absorbed the sun’s heat spilling through the window. Despite the comfortable wood-framed bed, which occupied much of the room, my muscles remained stiff. I closed my eyes, willing myself to relax. Beka’s image flashed, demanding I open them wide again.

Her beauty led to pleasurable, yet torturous, dreams. Even now my body responded to the thoughts, immediately recalling how she felt so close to me at the club.

Agonizing reminders of what I would never have.

“David,” Gage yelled through the door and pounded. “Let’s go.”

So much for my peace and quiet.

I snatched the cream t-shirt from the back of the desk chair. Guiding the cloth over my head, I slid it over my chest, covering Master’s brand.

I have to find a way out of the contract. Somehow. Some way.

“David.”

The bed sagged beneath my weight as I sat on the edge and laced up my combat boots. No need to hurry for Gage.

I brushed my hands down my chest, smoothing the soft, cotton shirt. According to the TV shows and movies I’d watched over the last twenty-four hours, the wardrobe provided by Master’s staff enabled me to resemble a modern human male. I’d refused to cut my dark cover of hair and wear those strange shoes called flip-flops, though.

I stood and held out my arms in front of me. Even after sitting in complete darkness for so long, my skin was bronzed much like the desert dwellers of this town.

Strange.

I meandered to the door and leisurely opened it. Gage stood, palms resting on each side of the doorframe. The blood vessel on his left temple twitched, and his face held a red tint not quite as dark as his demonic skin.

His outfit resembled mine, yet his sable, short-sleeved cotton shirt had a gray print on the right sleeve. Faded blue jeans and flip-flops topped off his human disguise.