Ryder didn’t like this. Something wasn’t
right. He moved through the bushes, into the vineyard and toward
the house, making no sound. Approaching the back door first,
he made a slight turn on the knob. It was locked. That was
a good thing. He moved to the window, peering in through the
sheer drapes, using his night vision shades to help him discern
objects in the pitch blackness.
No activity. Angelique wasn’t
downstairs. His ear comm was connected to his audio equipment,
and he could hear her
breathing now.
But it wasn’t normal,
restful breathing like she was sleeping.
It was deep and ragged.
The breaths of terror. She
wasn’t speaking, as if her
mouth was covered. He didn’t know how the hell he knew
this, he just did. She was being restrained, and she was petrified.
Goddamit. He had to get in the house now.
So much for surveillance.
Though he’d like to kick the damn door down and rush
upstairs, he couldn’t do that. Not without assessing
the situation first. Which meant he had to take the time to
pick the lock.
Precious seconds ticked
by as he grabbed his pick and worked the simple lock. Thankfully
she didn’t have major armor
installed on the door. Bad move on her part, really good for
him. In a few seconds, the lock clicked. He winced at the sound
and pushed the door open, hoping it wouldn’t creak.
It didn’t. He left
the door open, and moved inside, taking each step with care.
He already knew where the stairs
were and headed at them, wanting to bound up there, but resisting.
Slow. Measured steps. Make sure not to alert whoever was upstairs.
Patience, something that was in short supply right now. Weapon
trained, he reached the top of the stairs and heard the whispers.
“Tell me where the black diamond is or I will cut out
your heart and eat it. And you’ll still be alive to watch
me.”
Cold dread poured through
Ryder as he surveyed the scene. A dark shadow loomed over
Angelique. She was lying in bed,
her body pressed to the mattress, the man’s hands wrapped
around her throat.
But who held her? Was it
a demon? It definitely wasn’t
a hybrid. They smelled so bad he’d have known one was
in the house as soon as he walked in. And those foul smelling
hulking bastards didn’t speak.
Angelique must be frozen
in fear, because she hadn’t
uttered a single word, her eyes wide as she stared at her attacker,
whose face was only inches from hers.
The bastard was going to
die. First thing he had to do was get the guy…or thing’s…attention.
He pulled a knife out of the sheath at his belt, took careful
aim and
let it sail through the air. It caught the guy in the upper
back, right between the shoulder blades.
Instead of jumping up or
falling in pain, the creature--because that had to be what
it was—calmly stood and turned to
Ryder.
Well, hell. Its eyes glowed
a pale blue. Pure demon, maybe? Their eyes were pale blue,
but Ryder didn’t remember
seeing their eyes glow in the dark like that. Almost fluorescent.
The creature advanced on him.
“Angelique, get ready to run,” Ryder
said, unable to determine if she was in shock, hurt, whether
she could even
hear him. All his concentration was on the thing headed his
way.
“She’s not going to do anything you say. She’s
mine now,” the dark thing said, inching closer to Ryder.
Without hesitation, Ryder
raised his laser and fired a stream of ultraviolet light.
Human or demon, it didn’t matter.
Either one would die.
The light struck the creature and it paused, looking down
at the blue fluid spreading over its chest and midsection.
Its arms raised out to its side as it frowned at Ryder, then
let out a pained growl.
“That hurts.”
It kept coming. Okay, not
supposed to happen. UV lasers killed demons. And it sure
as hell would toast a human. So what was
this thing? Ryder braced and fired another round, but obviously
his laser wasn’t going to work. He shouldered it and
went for the microwave gun, blasting the creature and hoping
to melt it from the inside out.
Again, nothing. Other than
irritation and a slight pause, that was about it. The damn
thing smirked at him. It knew Ryder’s
weapons would have no effect.
Fuck. Ryder backed up, wanting to draw the thing away from
Angelique. He moved down the hallway toward the stairs. The
thing kept pace with him, not rushing him, as if he was toying
with Ryder, as if this was some kind of game.
Fine with Ryder. As long as he could get the creature away
from Angelique, he was willing to play. He backed down the
stairs, one slow step at a time, hoping it would follow.
It did.
Ryder continued to backward,
pulling his knife as he did. The high tech weapons weren’t
working, so maybe something more basic would.
“Come on,” he
said to the creature, widening his stance and holding the
knife out.
The thing looked at the
knife, then back at Ryder. “You
can’t kill me.”
“Everything can die,” Ryder returned as the creature
maintained its distance. It didn’t seem to be in any
hurry to attack Ryder. Maybe it was waiting for him to make
the first move, or maybe it was just confident that it was
going to win.
Overconfidence was a bad thing. Ryder hoped so. He was ready
for anything.
“You are human,” it said. “I
can smell it on you, just as I smell it on her.”
“Your point?” They’d
made it to the living room. They were circling each other
now, like wrestlers in
the ring before the attack.
“I was human. Once.”
What the hell did that mean?
What was this creature? “You’re
not human now.”
Its lips curled, revealing
sharp teeth. Ryder made a mental note to avoid those. “No, I’m not. I’m stronger.
I have power. They promised me great things, and immortality.” It
sucked in a breath, its chest expanding. “I’m tired
of toying with you, waiting for you to move, human. I have
things to do.”
“Then let’s
dance.”
