Zoey Avenger (Incubatti Series Book 2) (26 page)

Already he felt the loss of her warmth, the narrowing of their connection, and yearned for her.

She swallowed hard and sat, holding his gaze for a long moment. He waited for her to speak. In the end, she didn’t and rose, crossing to the doorway. Declan’s gaze strayed to the feminine shape of her hips and ass, admiring the way she naturally sashayed. He twitched with the need to bury himself deep into her and soothe the sex-fueled rage building within him.

He trailed her through the foyer to the entrance of his penthouse. Zoey fumbled to replace her weapons, rattled by the intensity of her climax, but finally had them all in place. She snagged the broken armband and stopped, fingers lingering over the two bottles.

“Purified toxin and antitoxin,” he supplied. “Easier than bringing you a head.”

She picked them up carefully, one by one, and placed them into pockets. “Thank you,” she murmured.

“I’ll put it on your tab.”

“You are such an ass!” She faced him, eyeing him with the defiance that made his blood boil. “Tonight was strike one, not that you remotely deserve it.”

Declan smiled and tilted his head, intrigue unraveling at the familiar words used during the three nights of the soul binding rite they’d gone through. “Thirteen minutes and ten seconds,” he warned her. “When you come back, we’re discussing this three weeks issue you keep thinking about.”

“Fuck you, Declan!” Zoey spun and wrenched the door open, stepping into the hallway. Before she’d made it five steps away from his penthouse, she disappeared completely from his senses, a sign she’d arrived with a backup band.

He locked the door behind her and leaned against it, his forehead resting on the cool wood. He felt lighter inside, hopeful where he’d seen only despair before, relieved to know she was damaged but willing to forgive him.

You destroyed me. He couldn’t get her words, or the look on her face when she said them, out of his thoughts. He didn’t deserve to. Seeing what he’d done to her was worse than any other punishment he could imagine. Even now it made his blood run cold and his chest clench so tightly it hurt.

The idea she was giving him a chance, that she was giving them another shot, left him humbled, grateful, and even more concerned about how he was going to juggle his duty and his soul-mate without losing either. If there was a way to prevent the confrontation that loomed, he was running out of time to find it.

My little Zoey. He sent the words through their connection.

She didn’t respond. He didn’t expect her to.

Rubbing his tight chest, Declan glanced at the time before stripping off his clothing and heading to the bathroom for an icy shower.

Chapter Nineteen: Exploded

“Zoey, you okay?”

She blinked out of her stupor, realizing at least three Halflings were staring at her in alarm. She stood in the office at the corner of Olivia’s underground lab. Vikki and Ginny were present, a sign no one had gotten caught during their attempt to distract the Enforcers tracking them the night before. “Yeah, fine. Got your samples, Chrissy.” Tugging the bottles free of her pockets, she handed them over.

Chrissy frowned. “You, uh, look rough.”

Zoey glanced at her reflection in a window. Her eyes were puffy and red, her hair a mess and her features pale.

“Where did you get these?” Vikki asked, taking the bottles.

Zoey felt heat on her cheeks.

“Oh.” Vikki appeared surprised. “Did he do something to make you cry?”

“I wasn’t crying,” Zoey snapped, embarrassed. “Why aren’t you working on fixing this shit, Chrissy?”

The human took the bottles and rolled her eyes, exiting to the lab.

Vikki was watching her closely. Zoey ignored her and shooed the other Halflings out of the office in the lab. She’d seen the guarded entrance of the office where the rightful residents of the lab had been tied and guessed the takeover had gone well, or there’d be a slew of messages on her cell.

“What’s our status?” she asked Vikki.

“So far, so good. We expect about another five to six hours of uninterrupted time. I don’t think it’s long enough for her to do what she needs to, though. Apparently, this shit is complex. But she did finish up one of her new projects using the tools here.”

Zoey’s gaze settled on Chrissy. The genius was a godsend. If she didn’t think they’d have the solution to the issue with the Halflings before their time ran out, then Zoey needed an alternative strategy.

“In the meantime, we have another two Halflings down from convulsions for a total of twelve and two more in the beds here. Grant is stashing the twelve in some secret facility but his people don’t know what we do,” Vikki added. “The others are getting worried.”

“We need to tear this place apart,” Zoey said, leaving the office. “Whatever Olivia was using to dope everyone has to be here.”

“Maybe for the Halflings. Not for us,” Vikki pointed out.

“I’m the only one having blackouts, right?”

“So far.”

Zoey nodded, content with the knowledge only she was suffering. She’d have a meltdown if one of her half-sisters were experiencing the terror of waking up somewhere new next to a body. But she wasn’t going to assume her luck would hold out long.

Vikki reached into her pocket and pulled out three round disks the size of pennies. “These are Chrissy’s newest toys. She calls them buzzers. They’re basically mini-Tazers. Flick it out of the case and throw. When it hits body heat or some shit, it zaps them. They should be disabled for about twenty minutes.”

“Awesome.” Zoey accepted the three button-sized weapons and scrutinized them. “She’s amazing.” She tucked them into her pocket and started towards the lab exit.

“You gonna tell me what happened?” Vikki asked, drawing alongside her as they emerged from the lab into the hallway. “This way.” She pointed down the hallway where Zoey had been dropped in Olivia’s office.

“Nothing happened,” Zoey replied.

“When have I ever believed any lie you tried to tell me?”

Zoey rolled her eyes. “Where’s the Professor?”

“Safe. Now talk.”

Zoey sighed and followed her best friend into a storage room. “We talked. That’s it.”

“You did?” Vikki glanced at her. “About the big issue?”

“Yeah.”

“And … do you believe him? Forgive him?”

“Does it matter?” Zoey snapped. “He’s declared war on us.”

“Yeah but … who really gives a fuck? I mean, how does that change anything? We pulled the plug on both societies when we left. So he’s trying to find us, too. Like I care if one more incubus is hunting me down.”

Zoey laughed. If there was ever a person she knew she could trust, no matter what, it was Vikki. There was no drama, no hurt feelings, no secrets. “I love you, V.”

They stopped in the doorway of a storage room. It was littered with cardboard boxes and shelves of office and cleaning supplies.

“Whatever.” Vikki rested her hands on her hips. “This is the only room where we didn’t take everything apart. There was nothing in the lab or elsewhere.”

“This looks like files.” Zoey nudged one box with her foot. “Who would keep medical supplies here?”

“Someone who didn’t want them found.”

“Hmm. Maybe.” She bent over and pulled a knife free, lifting the flap on top of the box with the blade.

“So do you?” Vikki pried.

“Do I what?”

“Believe Declan.”

“I don’t know,” Zoey mumbled. “I want to, and I want to hate him. He’s done a lot for us recently.” She paused, mind going to the quiver in his voice when he’d admitted to everything. “If someone is drugged and forced to do something against his or her will, does it really count as bad?”

“Chrissy is into like karma shit. She says it’s the intention behind the action that counts.”

“But if you do something really bad without bad intention, you still do bad.” Zoey shook her head and peered into the box. “Files.”

“Same here.”

They pushed the boxes to the side and moved to the next.

“What would you do?” Zoey asked.

“I would’ve murdered him in his sleep. You’ve always been a bit more … human than I am.”

“You’re calling short again, aren’t you.” Zoey shot her friend a glare. After a lifetime of being compared to the other six foot tall Barbie dolls that the Halflings and succubae resembled, she’s always been self-conscious of her size, despite being the best Hunter ever.

“Maybe.” Vikki grinned. “You are short, Zoey.”

“I’m average!”

“For a human. It’s cute.”

Zoey growled in response and hacked at tape binding the box before her.

“Anyway, I wouldn’t have let him have the chance to explain things,” Vikki continued. “I think it’s a good thing this happened to you and not me for that reason.”

“You think I should forgive him.” Zoey grew pensive. “Files.”

“Supplies.”

They pushed two more boxes to the far side of the room.

“Forgive is a really strong word. I’d say you should hold it against him for about ten years and make him pleasure you every way possible every day.”

“I actually like that plan,” Zoey said, almost feeling Declan’s large arousal pressed to her bottom once more. “I just have an issue sleeping with him when I feel so sad.”

“Give it time,” Vikki advised. “Heidi’s dead so she can’t piss you off anymore.”

“Not an ounce of pity for that bitch.” Zoey peered into another box then those around it. “Supplies, files, empty files, cartoon bobbleheads?” She plucked one of the packaged novelties from the box. “Avengers.”

“Damn civilians. They get the bobbleheads and we get to flee for our lives.”

Zoey dropped it, growing frustrated. “We know there were Halflings here! Succubae don’t do real work. That’s what Halflings are for.” She pushed aside the boxes to access the row behind it.

“Ha!” Vikki laughed. “More bobbleheads. Actually, I think these are cool.”

Zoey sorted through more boxes.

“Hey, Z. Are you in meltdown mode?”

“I don’t have a meltdown mode,” Zoey grated.

“Yeah, you really do. It’s why I didn’t tell you about being pregnant. You were stressed enough. I didn’t want to burden you. You’re always calmer after you and Declan … talk.”

“That’s all we did, Vikki.”

“Okay. Well you seem calmer. Like you haven’t melted down or flipped out today when I say his name the way you did the past few weeks.”

“I wasn’t that bad.”

“Yeah, you were.”

Zoey ignored her. The contents of one tucked in a corner caught her eye, and she cut the tape from the second flap before sheathing the knife and kneeling. “Bingo!”

“Watcha got?” Vikki asked, winding through the boxes to her.

Zoey tugged a thumb-sized energy drink shot free and held it up. “There’s got to be a few hundred in here.”

Vikki’s eyes lit up. She peered into the box then began opening those around it.

“This will work for the Halflings,” Zoey said and wrestled the cardboard unit free. “Chrissy can tell us how much we need.”

“This one is full, too.” Vikki motioned to another one.

“Let’s get them to the elevator.”

Together, they carried one box then the second to the lift. Zoey grabbed one bottle and trotted down the hall to the lab, where Chrissy wore lab glasses and was carefully collecting drops of the serums Zoey brought.

“Guess what we found!” Zoey held up the vial. “This’ll work, right?”

“You know for sure they have the toxin in them?” Chrissy asked without glancing up.

Zoey twisted off the lid and took a whiff. Her nose wrinkled at the potent, bitter scent. “Oh, yeah. I’d recognize that smell everywhere. Super strong, though.”

“Probably concentrated.”

“So water down and give to the Halflings? How much should we use?”

“Experiment. Won’t kill them, I don’t think.”

“Um, do you know this will work?”

Chrissy looked up, one eyebrow arched. “Are you asking the doctor or the scientist or the psychic?”

“I’ll let you know if something goes wrong.” Amused by their key source of brainpower, Zoey snagged a water bottle and dumped half a bottle of the bitter energy drink into it. She took a sip to test it. It was still strong, but she guessed the Halflings were going to need more than usual to balance out.

She headed to the prison, which had been converted into a patient ward. Two Halflings were in the beds, pale and semiconscious, strapped down after they went near-rabid. The one she recognized as Wendy was awake.

Zoey approached and sat on the edge of the bed. “Got something for you.” She held out the water bottle.

Wendy turned glazed eyes to her. After a moment, she took it, struggling to focus on the bottle in her hand. “Water?”

“Special water. Drink it. It’ll help.” I hope. Zoey suppressed her excitement, praying she’d found an interim solution to keeping the Hunters safe.