Rowen slammed the BMW into reverse. With the truck advancing on us, he maneuvered the car backward down the street. The headlights in our eyes blinded me. My palms tingled, and instinct drove me to roll down my window and stick a hand out, throwing a ball of fire that exploded across the truck’s windshield.
“Who the hell is that?” I shouted, relieved when my attack caused the truck to swerve.
“Someone who thinks Arrow is in here I’m guessing.” The deadly calm in Rowen’s tone was soothing. “Get ready to hit them again.”
My next shot created a wall of fire, its size directly related to my level of terror. The driver of the truck regained control and came right through it. Rowen swung onto an intersecting street, put the car in first gear and shot through the intersection seconds before the truck hit us again.
We were moving fast as he went through the gears. Arrow’s quest for a pricey car with some serious power under the hood had paid off. We were leaving the black truck behind.
“You think Dash sent whoever’s in that truck?” I shoved my hair back from my face, watching as the truck got smaller in the side mirror.
“Wouldn’t doubt it.” Rowen slowed to a safer speed and made several turns in an attempt to lose our pursuer. “They must know you’re in here now. Arrow doesn’t have fire.”
I swallowed hard, remembering Dash’s threats. “That’s not going to stop them. Dash would be happy to get rid of me.”
“Since when? I thought he didn’t want to risk Cinder’s wrath.”
“He seems to have changed his mind about that.” I had to catch Rowen up on a lot.
I was second guessing our choice to go to Arrow’s house. If we had a tail, they would just follow us there. Where else could we go?
We had no time to decide. The black truck pulled out of an alleyway in front of us, causing Rowen to slam on the brakes. I braced myself against the dash, biting back a scream.
When he tried to back up the car didn’t move. The BMW was frozen in place, going nowhere. Demon power. That was how the truck had managed to head us off.
I spun around to find Ransom standing behind the car, a hand held up as he projected the force that held the car in place. He was one of Dash’s minions, a lower level demon who, though not nearly as powerful as Dash, remained a force to be reckoned with. The truck door opened, and Skylar hopped out, dark ponytail swinging. Just friggin’ great.
Rowen cut the engine, pulled the parking brake, then got out. Not content to let him face a demon and a black-magic witch alone, I leapt out after him. Skylar made me more wary than Ransom did. She was a special kind of crazy, and one could never predict what crazy people would do.
“Wanna tell me what the hell that was about?” Rowen’s demand rang through the night.
Uncertainty flickered over Ransom’s face. He hadn’t expected to find Rowen driving Arrow’s car.
Skylar, however, looked pleased to see us. “Funny finding you driving Arrow’s car,” she said, her tone a sinister purr. “How did you manage to be a step ahead of us? There’s no way you could’ve known we’d be coming after him.”
Ransom stepped out from behind the car, drawing close but keeping the two of us between them. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
“In about ten seconds you’re going to wish that you weren’t here.” A ball of light glowed in Rowen’s palm. Streaks of light crackled between his fingers. He held lightning in his hand. It never ceased to fascinate me.
“Where’s Arrow?” Skylar barked.
With her high ponytail and perfectly applied makeup, she looked like she’d just stepped out of a fashion magazine. A thick but trendy sweater, fleece leggings and Ugg boots completed her look. Nothing about her indicated that she was a witch other than the large, black amulet hanging from a strip of leather around her neck.
“I’m the one asking the questions, bitch.” The vicious sneer that crossed Rowen’s face was downright sexy. Yet there was true malevolent intent in his amber eyes.
Skylar laughed, a high, delighted sound. “Oh my, look at you, all puffed up and badass. Real cute.”
“Did Dash send you?” I jumped in, cautious but ready to rumble with Skylar. We hadn’t gotten off to a good start. She hated me for crashing her creepy demon wedding, and I hated her for being part of the coven that kidnapped and tormented Rowen.
Skylar opened her mouth to retort, but Ransom cut her off with a hurried, “Dash doesn’t need to know about this. It was a simple misunderstanding.”
I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of punishment Dash would dole out if he knew these two morons could have killed Rowen.
Though Rowen himself appeared ready to dish out some punishment of his own. He stalked over to Ransom, carrying himself with self assurance and a little bit of attitude. “Really? It’s just a simple misunderstanding that you were trying to run my brother off the road? You can tell Dash that the more he torments Arrow, the more my hatred for him grows. Whatever it is he wants from me, hurting Arrow guarantees that he will never get it.”
“We’re not here to take messages for Dash,” Skylar snarled. “We’re here to send one.” She took a step forward, causing me to raise a fiery hand in warning. The smile that spread across her face in response said she wasn’t backing down. Hands on her hips, she regarded me with haughty derision.
“Skylar, don’t,” Ransom warned. “Our purpose here has nothing to do with these two.”
“So? Doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun. Dash doesn’t give a crap about this one anyway.” She jerked a thumb in my direction.
Well, she wasn’t wrong. Still, that remark earned the hateful scowl I shot her.
She didn’t give her demon husband another chance to order her around. Uttering a word of Latin, she hit me with a spell that doused my fire like water, following that with another that took my legs out from beneath me.
I went down hard, throwing a hand out to catch myself as I fell. Something tore in my wrist, and all I could think about was what a serious injury could mean to my music career. Rowen’s retaliation came swift and precise. Skylar was on the ground writhing as electricity tore through her body.
Ransom lunged at Rowen, slamming him against the BMW. The attack wasn’t meant to hurt, just to break Rowen’s concentration, which it did. It bought Skylar a few moments to recover.
I was already up, flexing fingers and wincing as pain shot through my wrist. That bitch.
“It was just a stupid mistake,” Ransom shouted, fending off a blow from Rowen while trying to focus on his wife. “Skylar, don’t you do it. Don’t you dare fucking do it.”
She had both hands raised. Though she was noticeably shaky now, her cold cerulean eyes revealed her dark intentions. She seemed to be stronger in her magic, likely a result of her unholy union with a demon. If she insisted on running rogue here, things were going to go downhill fast.
“I want a piece of her.” Skylar inclined her head in my direction. “We still have a score to settle.”
“Are you kidding me?” I gaped at her in total disbelief. This bitch was totally nuts.
She shrugged, ignoring Ransom who barked threats at her. “What can I say? I know how to hold a grudge.”
Conflict was not something I enjoyed engaging in. Jett did, however. And she’d taught me early on that, when it came to people like Skylar, it was best to just put them down hard and fast, then forget them completely.
“Well, I can safely say that you don’t mean nearly as much to me as I evidently do to you, but if you really want to do this, then let’s do it.” The throbbing in my wrist provided motivation enough for me to kick Skylar’s ass. I didn’t need to draw on the past to do it.
“No. This is not happening.” Ransom was adamant. His fast-growing frustration caused his black eyes to glow like beaconing hellpits. The demon was trying hard to follow the rules Dash had laid out for him.
Too bad nobody else was on board with that.
Rowen clenched both illuminated hands into fists and advanced on Ransom. “Sorry, Ransom,” Rowen snarled. “But Spike and I have a message of our own to send Dash. We’re going to take this opportunity to use you to do that.”
“Don’t be stupid, kid. I’m not here for you. We can both walk away right now.” As Ransom pleaded with Rowen, he edged away, toward Skylar. His black gaze shot from her to Rowen, like he couldn’t decide who was more likely to do something to get him in shit with Dash.
“See that’s the thing,” Rowen said, advancing on the demon. “I can’t walk away. You came after Arrow, but you found me. Now we all have to deal with what comes next.”
Cool, calm Rowen was not the type to lose his temper. I’d seen him manage crap from Arrow that would’ve turned me into a homicidal maniac. It wasn’t that Rowen was a pushover. Not by a long shot. He had a way of handling Arrow so that he didn’t even know he was being handled. Rowen had spent years keeping Arrow from self-destructing. Ransom had made a grave mistake by threatening that, and he was about to pay for it.
“If you want to protect Arrow, there is only one way. You know that.” Ransom took his last opportunity to sway Rowen.
With a huff and a ponytail toss, Skylar muttered some Latin, effectively putting the kibosh on her husband’s efforts. The black ball of energy she threw blended in with the night, but I saw it coming. Ready for such a display, I countered with a fiery blast that lit up the street.
This wasn’t safe. We shouldn’t be doing this here. Several houses had a clear view of our confrontation. Though it was the wee hours of the morning and assumedly most people wouldn’t be up right now, we were taking an unnecessary risk.
I preferred to clock the chick and walk away, so that was the angle I approached her from. Before she could mutter another spell, I rushed her. I bent so my shoulder hit her sternum, and the momentum took her down hard. Skylar might be skilled in magic, but I doubted she spent any time practicing physical combat. Thanks to Cinder, I did.
Her shriek became a grunt as the air was crushed from her lungs. Wide blue eyes stared up at me. Skylar lay there dumbfounded. Then she snapped into action, swinging a clumsy fist driven by anger rather than skill.
I caught her fist and thrust it back at her, delighted when it smacked her nose. With my free hand I grabbed for her throat, choking off her voice while trying desperately to ignore the pain in my wrist.
“No talking. No spelling.” I held tight while she flailed about, trying to throw me off. With one arm I deflected blows until I was forced to hold a fireball obscenely close to her face. “Calm your ass down. There’s no reason we can’t all leave here without any more trouble.”
“I’m not going to fight you, Rowen.” Ransom held both hands up but stood his ground beneath Rowen’s vehement stare. “You know I can’t do that. I won’t.”
“So stand there and take it. I really don’t give a shit.” Unfazed by the demon’s protests, Rowen swung, his hit landing with a spark of brilliant white light.
He didn’t stop there. Driven by his protective anger, he fed the demon blow after blow. Ransom took it, fearing Dash more than he feared a white lighter beating. It spoke volumes as to how harsh a punishment from Dash must be. Though Arrow’s constantly bruised face and fucked up life made for ample evidence of that.
When Ransom fell against the BMW and slid to the ground, Rowen bunched the collar of his shirt in one hand and barked, “Get up. Get the fuck up.”
Blood stained Ransom’s face. Even though demons healed pretty much immediately, the hits Rowen had thrown while his hands were engulfed in light had left marks. Marks that weren’t disappearing so fast. I filed that one away for later.
Hands up in surrender, Ransom spat blood. “Ok, I get it. You made your point. Can we be done now?”
“Stay away from Arrow.” Rowen shook the demon before dragging him close. “I don’t care what Dash tells you to do, if you go near my brother again, I’ll go out of my way to find ways to hurt you. Even if that means hurting her.” Rowen nodded to Skylar who glared up at me with rage-filled eyes, though she made no further effort to fight with the fire in my palm scorching her cheek.
Ransom nodded, a pinched expression marring his too perfect features.
“Oh, and one more thing.” Rowen shoved Ransom against the trunk of the BMW. “You can take Vicky back to Dash. Tell him if he lands Arrow in prison because of this, I’ll spend my life being the biggest pain in his ass he’s ever encountered.” Rowen popped the trunk and stood with fists clenched while Ransom gathered the body in his arms and took it to the truck. Every step rigid, his body vibrated with how badly he must have wanted to kick Rowen’s ass.
Once Vicky’s remains were safely in the back of the truck, Ransom approached me with hands up. “Let me get her up. I’ll keep her quiet.”
I wasn’t one for believing a demon’s claim, but Ransom hadn’t wanted to engage with us at all. He seemed to know it was best to leave before something happened that Dash would make him regret.
Slowly I got up, keeping the fire between Skylar and me as I backed away. The instant that the heat from the flame ceased to touch her, she was spewing Latin. Ransom put a finger to her lips and muttered one word of a language I wasn’t sure had ever been human. Right away she went silent, but her scream of fury burned in her blue eyes.
He led her to the truck, more of a drag really as she fought him. That witch had a hell of a temper. Only when they’d driven away with a squeal of tires did Rowen relax.
“Are you ok? Let me see your wrist.” His shoulders slumped, and his righteous anger seemed to melt away.
“I think it’ll be ok. Probably just a small sprain.” I held out my wrist, sucking in a breath when he touched it. Not because it hurt but because the simplest of touches from Rowen could set me on fire.
Stroking a finger gently over my puffy wrist, he sighed and pulled me into a fierce embrace. “Let’s get you home so we can take care of that properly.”
The drive home was surprisingly uneventful. I kept waiting for something to come at us, but as the night drew to a close, most of the dangers of the dark had crept back into whatever hole they crawled out of. There was a huge sense of relief in knowing the trunk was empty. It would still need a proper cleaning, but now our biggest concern was the cocaine packed into the hollows of the car. As twisted as it was, I found great relief in that.
Back at my apartment I finally felt safe. In the kitchen light I was able to see the swollen bruising circling my right wrist, and then I felt ill. Rowen busied himself fetching ice from the freezer. As if falling into a routine, he again wrapped it in a dishtowel and then pressed it to my wrist before pouring a strong drink for each of us.
“When do you think we’ll hear from Arrow?” I asked, uncomfortable with the silence. I could see Rowen was deep inside himself, and I feared what he might find there.
“Who knows? I’m hoping to get some sleep before he calls demanding a ride home. I’m fucking exhausted.” What Rowen didn’t say was how much of that fatigue was mental and emotional. It was all over him from the hunched way he held himself to the despair in his sigh.
I touched his face, drawing his gaze to mine. “Rowen, do you have any idea how amazing you are? I’ve never known anyone who cares as much for others as you do. You never put yourself first. I’m blessed to know you.”
He allowed himself a small smile, but the light of it never filled his lovely eyes. “Can’t say I feel all that amazing. Kind of feel like I’m a glorified babysitter for a dark nephilim, which doesn’t feel like a real job description.”
“You know I’m not Arrow’s biggest fan, but he needs you, and if you didn’t look out for him, who would?” It bothered me to see Rowen so conflicted, exactly as Dash wanted.
My gaze slid over him, and I marveled at how afraid I’d been to let myself love him. Commitment had been something I’d learned to fear and reject. It hadn’t been easy to break free of that fear’s hold on me. I felt it there, lingering, ready to sink its claws back in the first chance it got.
Rowen deserved the fight though. He was a gift, and I knew it with every part of me. Not only had I been blessed to know him, I’d discovered how much could come of giving someone the chance to prove me wrong about myself.
“Looks like you need some ice too.” I gestured to the bruised knuckles on his hand.
He pulled me close and kissed me, a deep searching kiss that still gave me a rush complete with tingles and giddiness. “No, just a little fire,” he murmured, smiling against my lips.
“That’s so cheesy.”
“You love it.”
“God help me, I do.”
After wrapping the ice-packed towel around my wrist, we moved to the bedroom. Right on cue, Rowen’s phone rang. Arrow’s name flashed on the screen. He silenced it before tossing it on the bedside table. With a shake of his head and a tired smile, he said, “He can wait. I need some sleep before I deal with Arrow again. But first, let’s start that fire.”
Tired and sore, I fell into bed with the love of my life. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him. So when an inner voice asked a question I didn’t want to hear, I knew I couldn’t suppress my deep-rooted concerns any longer. Rowen’s dedication to doing what was right would come at a price. It always did. The trouble was that I was sure he wouldn’t be the only one to pay it.
With his hands on my waist and his lips on my neck, I heard it again, echoing in the recesses of my mind. When that time comes, will you be able to let him do what he has to do?