Retribution (Dark-Hunter #20)(25)
Author: Sherrilyn Kenyon

"Then stop them, my brother … with others."

Coyote shook his head. "I’ve unleashed my plagues."

"Then I will unleash mine." Snake placed his hand on Coyote’s shoulder in brotherly solidarity. "We are in this to the end."

Snake for the power.

Coyote for blood.

He nodded to the South Guardian. "At dawn we will feast on the hearts of our enemies."

"And bathe in their blood."

A warrior’s bond.

Snake tightened the grip on his shoulder before he released him. "I will summon the bounty hunters." He started away.

"Wait." Coyote hesitated to say more. He didn’t want to show his weakness to anyone. Ever. But he had no choice. "Tell them not to harm the woman. I want her brought back to me."

"Intact?"

"Preferably."

"May I ask why?"

The answer smoldered inside him like a pressure cooker that was about to explode. "It’s personal."

Confusion marred his brow, but Snake didn’t pursue it. "I’ll make sure it’s done."

Good. Coyote watched Snake make his exit while his emotions churned inside him. But it was his rage that flared brightest. "You owe me!" he shouted, his voice ringing through the cavern. And this time, he would collect on that balance.

Jess Brady would die, and he would finally have the reward he’d been promised.

Chapter 14

Jess cursed as he swerved to miss a pedestrian while they drove down the Great Basin Highway toward the Valley of Fire. All over the interstate, people had abandoned their cars which had been wrecked during either the wasp attack or subsequent storm Talon had sent.

In spite of the media telling everyone to remain in their homes, thousands of people had tried to evacuate and were now walking on the side of the road. Many were screaming that it was the end of the world while others trudged on in grim determination to get wherever they were headed.

It was an ugly sight, and it made Abigail pray that whatever plague Coyote unleashed next didn’t make it to them.

Cell phone lines were completely jammed, which only added to everyone’s panic. There was no way to reach anyone inside or outside the city. Maybe that was what had caused them to try and leave. That need to find your family and hold on to them in a crisis.

Even though she’d lost her parents as a child, she still had that urge to crawl into her mother’s arms whenever something awful happened. That burning need to talk to her and have her chase away all the monsters and fears.

It never went away.

Abigail wanted to weep over what she saw. She wanted to weep for the people who’d been hurt because of her stupidity. "I can’t believe I did all this." Surely, she would burn in hell for it.

Choo Co La Tah turned in the seat to face her. "It’s not entirely your fault, dear. Don’t take that guilt into your heart. The Balance is fragile, and it controls everything in the cosmos. If the scales ever tip-"

"We get screwed," Sasha said in a chipper tone with a big grin.

"You’re not funny, Sasha," Jess snapped.

"Sorry. Trying to lighten the mood." He met Abigail’s gaze. "If it makes you feel any better, this isn’t my first apocalypse. There is hope."

She wasn’t sure what to make of that. "Obviously the world survived."

Even in the darkness, she could see the pain those words brought to him. "Yeah, not really. It kind of blew everything back to the Stone Age. The good news is, people are resilient, and that which doesn’t kill you merely serves as a cautionary tale for others." He glanced out the window and sighed. "It also makes one hell of a bedtime story, especially if the Crypt-Keeper’s your audience."

She sucked her breath in sharply at the unspoken agony that lay beneath those words. "What happened?"

"What always happens when preternatural powers are unleashed or go to war, and no one cares about the collateral damage during the battle." He gestured toward the people on the street. "I lost my entire family in the blink of an eye. But hey, I saved a lot of money on not having to buy Christmas cards."

How could he make light of something that was obviously so painful for him?

Without thinking, she reached out and touched his hand.

Sasha didn’t look at her, but he closed his fingers around hers and gave a light squeeze that said he appreciated it.

Sasha cleared his throat. "So, Choo? How many apocalypses have you survived?"

"More than you, Wolf. More than you."

Abigail was humbled by their experience. The misery they’d seen. It was easy to lose sight of other people’s pain when your own was so strong. What was it that Plato said? Be kind to all you meet, for everyone is fighting a hard battle?

It was so true.

"Are you all right?" Jess asked.

She caught his gaze in the rearview mirror. "Yeah."

No. Not really. Her guilt ate at her.

And one question hung heaviest in her mind. "How did you learn to live with being a hired killer?"

"It’s just like any other act of cruelty. You lie to yourself. You say that they deserved it. You create stories to justify why they needed to die and tell yourself that if you hadn’t struck first, they’d have done it to you. In the end, you do your damnedest not to think about it all."

Yeah, people did have a nasty tendency to excuse their bad behavior and then to hold it against others whenever they did the same thing.

Sasha let go of her hand. "Hey, Choo? Wanna take odds on our survival tonight? We are in Vegas, after all. I think we should up the ante and have a huge payout for whoever calls it." When Choo Co La Tah failed to respond, he turned his attention to Jess. "What about you, cowboy?"

Jess scoffed. "I only gamble with my life."

"Ah … explains so much about you. And off on a random topic in an attempt to divert our attention from the fact that we’re all most likely speeding to our impending doom, how did you get the name Sundown, anyway?"

"You want to know that now?" His tone was incredulous.

"Why not?"

Jess shook his head. "Why?"

"It’s just an odd moniker for an outlaw. Figured it had some deeper meaning."

"A newspaper reporter gave it to him," Abigail said quietly. She’d read the article in something Jonah found years ago. "The man wrote that everyone called him Sundown because he did his best and most gruesome work after dark."

"You believe everything you read in the papers?" The anger in Jess’s tone cut through the truck as an angry tic beat a fierce rhythm in his sculpted jaw. "They get all the facts screwed up, and I think most of them are so crooked, they have to screw their pants on in the morning. Hell, most of them have to go diagonal just to walk in a straight line."

Obviously that had struck a nerve with him. "It was wrong?"

Sasha gave her a no-duh stare.

"Yeah." Venom saturated his voice. "It was wrong. Some…" He paused as if he was about to say something offensive and then caught himself. "Trying to take credit for something that has nothing to do with anything he did. My real name is Manee Ya Doy Ay … it means ‘sundown’ in my mother’s language."

How beautiful. She doubted she could ever say it properly, but it sounded wonderful as it rolled off his tongue. "Really?"

He gave a subtle nod. "It was her favorite time of day. When the sun must make peace with the moon and for a few brief moments, the two touch in mutual friendship and respect. Perfect balance between the light and dark. A time for reflection and for preparation."

What a wonderful way of looking at things, and it made her ache for his loss. A woman so kind shouldn’t be taken from her loved ones. No more than her own mother had. "She sounds incredible."

"She was."

"She was Cherokee, right?"

"Tsalagi," he corrected. "It’s what they call themselves."

Abigail frowned as she saw a strange expression cross Choo Co La Tah’s face. It was like he wanted to say something, but knew that he shouldn’t.

Before she could ask him about it, something hit the car. Hard.

And set it on fire.

"What the-?" Jess swerved again as more fire rained down on them. It hit the hood like a gel egg and splattered, spraying flames that clung to the metal.

Abigail gasped as some hit the window, staining it red. Blood red. "Is that bloodfire?"

Choo Co La Tah nodded. "The worst part? It burns in water."

Lovely. Couldn’t anyone ever invent a friendly plague? Something like raining daisies? Euphoria? Dancing flying pigs?

Nah. They always had to be nasty.

"Uh, guys?" Sasha said in a droll tone. "It’s not just a plague."

Abigail understood what he meant a heartbeat later when the Bronco was literally swatted off the road so hard that it bounced over the concrete bridge wall on Interstate 15 to land them beneath it on Highway 93. Even after the jarring crash, the Bronco continued to roll fast and furiously toward the area where several tractor trailers were parked.

By the time they stopped moving, she was completely disoriented.

And upside down.

She lifted her hand to her brow and touched something wet along her eyebrow. Crap, she was bleeding. At least that explained her sudden headache. She glanced to Jess to make sure he was all right. Like her, he had a head injury on his temple, and his left hand was bleeding. Other than that, he appeared fine. Choo Co La Tah seemed to be the one with the least injuries. He held one arm over his head, bracing it against the ceiling to hold his weight so that his belt wasn’t cutting in to him the way hers was.

Gravity was a definitely a bitch right now.

Sasha groaned from beside her as he struggled with his belt. "I think I’m going to barf a hairball."

Jess let out a frustrated breath as he tried to loosen himself. "You can’t. You’re canine."

"Tell that to the hairball in my stomach."

Jess cursed as his hand slipped while he was trying to get loose. "Bet you’re glad I made you fasten that seat belt now, aren’t you, Mr. I-can-flash-myself-out-if-we-get-hit?"

Sasha groaned. "Shut up, ass**le." He glared at Jess. "And I would have flashed out of the car, but because we were rolling, I didn’t want to get hit by it. Damn those Rytis laws."

Abigail wanted to ask what that was, but there was no time as they were hammered with more bloodfire. The smell of gas was thick. If the Bronco wasn’t currently on fire, it wouldn’t be long before it ignited from the rain.

"We have to get out of here." Jess kicked at the broken windshield with his booted feet.

Sasha flashed out.

Abigail tried to undo her seat belt, but she couldn’t. The buckle had broken during the crash. "I hate to be all girly, but I’m trapped."

"Where’s Sasha?" Jess asked.

The answer came from just outside her window. "Getting his ass kicked while deflecting this ass**le from you. Any time you want to help me, Jess. Step right up."

Jess snorted at the acerbic shape-shifter as he cut his belt, then slammed down to the ceiling. "Whatever you do, keep him busy."

"No problemo. Using my face as his punching bag seems to be working. I’ll just need you to help me find all my teeth later."

Abigail saw Sasha hit the ground near them. Oooh, that looked really painful. His face turned deadly before he pushed himself up and vanished out of her line of sight again.

Choo Co La Tah was strangely calm while the scent of gas grew stronger. And her breathing became more labored. It was hard to draw a breath while the nylon belt dug into her.

"Guys!" Sasha shouted. "You might want to think about getting out now. Flames are spreading all over the bottom of the truck."

She could hear the fire and feel the heat of it. I’m going to die.

And yet she had no fear. No idea why. It made no sense whatsoever. In fact, she was strangely calm, too. Like a part of her might even crave it.

Lying on his back, Jess kicked furiously at the windshield. "Damn. It. Break. Already. You. Sorry. Son. Of. A. Biscuit. Eating. Cat." He had the most colorful way of speaking as he punctuated every word with a solid kick.

Something let out a high-pitched whine. A second later, the windshield flew out onto the ground. Jess moved toward her.

She shook her head. "Get Choo Co La Tah first."

He hesitated.

"No," Choo Co La Tah snapped. "Free her. I’ll be out in a second."

She saw the indecision in those lush dark eyes. "He’s more important than I am."

Not to me he isn’t. Jess barely bit those words back before he said them out loud. Every part of him cringed at the thought of her being hurt any worse. He couldn’t stand to see her trapped and bleeding. It brought back memories he didn’t understand.

Not memories of Matilda. These were something else. Faded images of a time and place he didn’t understand.

But he saw her face so clearly.

Her face. Same black hair and that sassy smile that dared him as she crooked her finger for him to follow after her.

I will always come for you, Kianini. Nothing will keep me from it.

She laughed as she pulled him into her arms and stared up at him coyly from beneath her lashes. And I will never leave you, my heart. Forever yours.