Chapter 12

CHAPTER

TWELVE

The silver lining about being surrounded by cops is when the void decided to barf out a tornado of nightmares, we had some extra firepower.

We had gone from an uncomfortable family altercation involving the police, to an all-out fight for our lives in a blink of an eye. The void tear Austin kept trying to warn everyone about decided it was time to prove his point and opened up wide enough for a new swarm of winged bastards with razor talons to make a dramatic entrance.

They burst onto a scene in a long scream, circling all the living bodies ready to be snacked upon. They didn't wait to attack, and to our collective horror, they had a new game plan. Instead of dive bombing a few at a time to take chunks of our skin bit by bit, they moved as a unified swarm of death. The collective group of nightmares—what do you call a group of nightmares? A night terror maybe?—swooped down as one cloud of evil, grabbing a helpless officer off the ground. It took a few agonizing minutes of screaming and panicked firing into the terror to get the body to drop, only to realize that the blood had been drained and he was a dried husk already.

"Nope," I announced, grabbing Barnaby from the ground and heaving him to his feet. "Barns, time to run."

"Dallas," Barnaby's hands shook as he zipped up Funus's carry case and strapped it to his chest. "You're not about to say something incredibly stupid like you're staying behind, are you?"

"I gotta help take these things out. Go. Meet us back at Sias's place."

Barnaby's trembling fingers grabbed my arm and squeezed, a set look of determination almost masking his terror.

"You don't owe them anything," Barnaby told me. "Don't you dare get yourself hurt for a group of people who don't deserve you. Kevin will never forgive you."

"Tell Kevin that I promise I'll be home soon." I gave my fussy, fretting, obnoxious landlord-turned-friend-now-brother a quick hug before pushing him in the direction of safety. "Go."

I was proud that he didn't look back as he ran for his life, hugging Funus's case to his chest with all he had.

Magnus was barking orders at the cops to take cover and retreat, his voice standing out in all the screaming and gunfire. Dust from the few winged nightmares they had been able to hit danced in the breeze, but there was still way too many for us to feel safe.

Preston and Seyyid disappeared into the fray, diving after the wounded to help them escape. I lost track of them quickly after that, Seyyid's silver eyes a fading lighthouse overtaken by the chaos.

I hoped like hell they made it, but I didn't have a chance to dwell on it.

"I have to help Austin get that damn tear closed." I passed Zane my gun. "Zane, Sias, keep us covered. Stay away from Magnus, I think he's trigger happy."

"Work fast," Sias said as he cocked his ridiculous gun. "The corrupted magic around it is starting to splinter, and I desperately need a shower."

"Keep your distance from the tear, hunter," Zane warned. "It's too volatile." He lifted his chin in a silent command to go before turning his attention on the swarm.

Austin was bleeding from a fresh cut to his shoulder when I slid to a stop beside him, the swarm of danger above us starting to bank into a sharp U-turn.

"Please tell me you have something strong to seal this thing," I asked him. "Like maybe a goddamn life essence nuke."

"I wasn't expecting it to be this wild," he admitted, fear pinching his features. "We're going to have to pray the Saint is with us today."

"Maybe with you. We haven't spoken in a while, and I think I technically belong to the Goddess now. Tell me how to help."

Austin ground his worry between his back teeth.

"You can get closer than I can." He pulled a plastic cylinder covered in duct tape, rigged with a few wires and a trigger. "We need to make sure this goes in the tear for it to have any chance."

"Austin." I took a measuring breath. "Why the hell do you have a home-made life bomb and not a professional grenade?"

"Because you stole my last fucking grenade, Dallas," he shot back. "And this trip wasn't sanctioned. I couldn't steal supplies without Magnus knowing, for all the good that did me. I'm not supposed to be here, so I had to make my own bomb."

He shoved the thing into my hand and hooked my finger into the trigger. I felt the thing click.

It was already primed.

"You'll have five seconds before it explodes after you release the trigger," my insane brother told me. "So, hold tight until you're ready to throw."

"You asshole," I whispered, holding the trigger down. At best the thing would blow off my last remaining arm. At worst I'd be flaming Dallas chunks. Needless to say, I was a little pissed off Austin didn't walk me through his plan before I was volunteered into it.

"I'll keep you covered. Don't miss."

"Yeah, thanks," I snapped. "Remind me to kick you in the ass after this."

The swarm above us swooped down and yanked another person off the ground, spinning into a funnel of screaming, black bodies as the poor human in the middle was bled dry. They were moving faster, gaining strength with each victim they snagged. The swarm moved like liquid terror as it dropped the drained body and busted through the windows of one of the cars.

Magnus, the remaining DHAP officers and anyone else with a gun was trying to pick off what they could, but the swarm was getting increasingly harder to hit.

If anything else came out of that tear, we'd be done for.

The tear was having a great time as I approached, spitting and crackling with the growing madness spreading from its seams. Sharp obsidian created a barrier of jagged blades across the ground, which was tricky to navigate through without adding more damage to my jeans. These were already ruined from my wounds, so I barely snorted in annoyance when I felt more of my pant leg get ripped away.

I guessed it was time for me to get fitted for a suit of armor, because it really was getting ridiculous.

The void churning from within the tear was angry and vicious, nothingness clouded by a tangle of magic that shouldn't be there. The corruption reached for the sky like sharp branches, and I inched closer to give myself the best shot at getting the bomb where it needed to go.

The tear hissed and groaned, a fresh wave of screaming behind me was partnered with the sound of peeling tires.

I dared a glance behind me, horrified but not surprised that the DHAP forces had decided to retreat. A few bodies littered the ground, skin like jerky from all the blood being ripped from them by thousands of starving little mouths. I couldn't find Preston and Seyyid, and I quietly hoped that they weren't among the dead.

One of the vehicles trying to reverse had the windshield smashed through before they could escape, the bodies ripped into the air while the car still rolled backward. The air began to smell like burning rubber and ash.

I winced in pain as a shard bit my calf, but I trudged ahead to get the goddamn tear under control.

The tear pulsed, the sounds of crystalizing magic crackled around my feet as I held my breath.

I prayed like hell Austin could build a decent bomb.

I prayed again that I could throw decently left-handed.

And I absently wondered which deity I was actually asking, and which one would answer.

I didn't have to wait long for that answer, and I had a feeling that the Death Goddess wasn't done testing me. Not sure why she thought it would be funny to toss more fuel onto the fire, but I was starting to think this shit was personal.

My throw was fine, albeit a little crooked. Austin's trigger did have a delay, so my arm wasn't blown off.

And, most importantly, the bomb contents were just the right firepower to rip the void tear into pieces and slam the door shut with a hissing, vicious thunderclap of finality.

But not until one last monster came out to play.

I recognized the sound of the grisly bone-breaking roar instantly, and had the natural panic reaction to duck as the huge body of the void beast came barreling out of the tear just as the bomb exploded inside of it.

The creature's dark fur bristled as it landed, claws digging into the earth as its eyeless sockets stared blankly ahead. Its teeth parted as it rumbled a growl, the sound like bone fraying before a clean snap.

The tear sealed shut like a knitting wound, the corrupted magic around it crystalizing into shards that shattered across the pavement. It was a win, but hardly the final nail in the coffin. The beasts above us swirled like a hungry storm, rallying around their fellow nightmare as it bared its sharp teeth our way.

The void hound turned its massive head toward me, the fur stopping just shy of the black bone of its powerful jaws, and lashed its scaly tongue out like a coiled viper. It looked like a bear and a dire wolf had an unholy nightmare baby and had come back from the dead ready to eat faces and cause mayhem. Its fur was midnight with hues of raven blue, its sockets flashing gold for just a second before it snorted out a rush of angry air from its nose hole.

And then it charged.

I snapped off an obsidian blade and rolled to the side, ready to stab the damn thing and hoped to hell it could bleed. A black mist formed around the beast as it stormed toward me, its massive head yanking back as Zane materialized around it and trapped it in a choke hold.

Zane's massive arms flexed with effort as he fell backwards with the beast trapped in his grip, both of them thrashing as he tried to snap its neck. The hound's claws raked over Zane's arms as its teeth snapped in fury, blood lost in the black fur.

"Hold it still!" Sias ordered, voice strained.

I rushed to help, to try and stab the thing or injure it in any way I could, but the rain of gunfire bouncing off the hound's jaw sent me staggering backward.

"You'll hit them!" Austin was yelling at Magnus as he fired. "Stop!"

"I'm not letting that thing get away. Damn the rest," Magnus spat, landing a few bullets dangerously close to Zane's head.

Zane yelled through his teeth as he strained to rein the hound in, his arm bleeding horribly, bullets dancing around his head. I was torn between rushing to tackle Magnus, place myself as a shield somehow, or use all my effort to try and kill the damn hound.

The swarm above us let out a unified screech, spinning in a tornado of claws and teeth as it chose that moment to descend. A hailstorm of little bodies funneled down, spinning around Magnus and Austin like they meant to sweep them up and swallow them whole.

The mass was so thick I could barely see through the storm, black fur and razer teeth flashing between glimpses of Magnus and Austin trying to figure out how to escape.

"No!" I cried out, panic ripping me in half.

I couldn't let them die. I didn't want them to die.

The sounds of Zane screaming, the hound's jaws snapping, and the screaming promise of my former family's demise was almost too much.

Who do I save?

How do I save them?

What the hell was I supposed to do?

A wave of calm began to settle over me like fog, dense and heavy, and for a heartbeat I thought I was about to fall into a blissful high. My limbs grew heavy, muscles relaxing, and the shard of obsidian in my hand fell to the ground as my fingers simply gave up on holding it.

I blinked hard, battling my senses. I needed to fight, needed to keep the hound from ripping Zane into pieces and killing us all.

I knew this. I knew I had to snap out of it but…

Gods, did I feel so…nice. Relaxed. Almost satisfied in some way.

The struggling bodies beside me fell still. Zane's grip on the hound eased, his eyes almost fluttering shut as he grunted in agitation.

"Hunter, something is wrong…" he was saying, fighting to stay angry.

"Yeah," I agreed, watching in quiet fascination as the big ass void hound that had been trying to kill us grew still, newly formed orbs in his eye sockets churning with gold. "Something is definitely wrong right now."

It took me a moment to realize what the feeling was, because I had never felt it quite as dark, as primal and wicked. It was the shivering sensation of nails across my scalp, lips on my skin, leather tightening around my wrists.

"What's…happening?" Zane blinked his red eyes as gold danced around the rim. "I feel…uh."

"Comfortable and a little aroused?" I prompted. "It's charm magic. Really strong…kinda scary charm magic."

"Relax," Sias told us, his voice black velvet stitched with golden threads. "I think I have it under control now."

"What?" I asked in a daze. "You have what under control?"

"All of it," he whispered, the magic around me coiling into something dark, sensual and threatening.

Sias was different.

Very fucking different, bordering on terrifying.

He stood like a regal demigod, cracked gold and black wounds. His long hair was caked in the black ichor that now dripped from the cuts on his cheekbones. The blood ran down his chest and ruined his expensive shirt, discoloring the buttons. The gold at the tips of his horns had cracked where they'd failed to keep shape, the tips curling in harsher than they used to.

His skin was too pale. His fingers ink-stained and sharp.

A black rim held his eyes hostage, the color swirling from vicious hues of emerald and ruby, stormed over with foggy grays.

Something was desperately wrong.

But even with all the black weirdness leaking from his face, or the horns doing funky things…he was hot.

Deadly.

Changed.

Maybe evil. Well. Eviler, let's be fair. He did torture a guy for information earlier, remember? We're all a little complicated.

But goddamn. Sias was sex dipped in black magic.

His horns had twisted a bit more, the gold bent around the new harsher coils and the ink stains on his fingers had grown sharp at the tips. The black ichor that had been falling from the cuts on his face, however, had finally stopped weeping.

I stared at the haunting beauty of the cuts opening for the first time, sleek golden eyes revealed from within. All four of Sias's eyes blinked, the new ones fixed in gold while his normal set churned in vibrant hues of rose.

"That's enough attitude for today." Sias snapped his fingers and pointed to his side. "Come."

The pull to follow his order was almost overwhelming, and it took me a second to realize he was talking to the fucking hound.

The massive beast birthed from the void—the hound, not Zane—rose to its feet and followed the command. It padded over to Sias like a well-trained pet, sitting on its haunches at his feet and looking up to him expectantly.

"What the fuck is happening?" I asked Zane and whatever deity felt like answering me.

Zane shook his head, rubbing his eyes with his fingers.

"Goddess. Sias, what have you done?" The vampire blinked, the gold fading from his vision. "You followed Dallas into the void, didn't you?"

My stomach twisted, fear lancing through me like a knife.

"Please tell me you didn't, Sias," I begged. "Tell me you weren't that stupid."

"Stupid?" Sias lifted his gaze to me, all four eyes hardening. The hound growled, sensing its master's agitation, but Sias settled it with a pat to its bony head. "Let's discuss ‘stupid,' Dallas Wilde. Which one of us tackled this thing into the void in the first place?"

"It was coming right for you, Barns and Funus! What the hell was I supposed to do? Yeah, okay. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to do in hindsight, but it worked! And that didn't mean you needed to follow me in."

The second set of eyes cooled as the others swirled into a calmer purple, dancing toward blue.

"I felt you getting lost," he whispered, like the admission was cutting him. "I felt you slipping away. You couldn't feel me from outside but I felt you spilling out, fading. I took my chances. I paid my price."

"What the hell do you mean ‘paid your price'?" I fought against the ache forming in my chest. Zane had gone quiet, which made the panic etching a cavern through my ribs sting that much harder. "What the fuck does that mean, Sias?"

"Later," Sias promised, his eyes flicking to the swarm surrounding Magnus and Austin. "I have control over the flying creatures for now, but it's slipping. Too many little minds in a flurry, it's like trying to herd feral cats."

"We don't have enough bullets to take these things out." I glanced around at the carnage they had already afflicted. "They're too fast. We might just need to make a run for it."

"If you can get them to fly high enough, an impact with the ground should handle them," Zane said. "Straight up, then down hard."

"Can you do that?" I asked.

Sias set his jaw and focused his eyes on the swarm, his fists curling in concentration. I felt his magic slither by us like an icy python, crawling out and around to choke the mass of flying voidlings spiraling around their meals. The control Sias wielded was choppy, the tiny bodies not completely obeying as he sent them in a careening arc skyward.

Black dripped from Sias's eyes, breath beginning to saw from his chest. Pain pinched his features as he fought against their will, his magic pulling golden threads cracked with black veins.

Magnus and Austin kept firing at the swarm as it lifted around them, some ash falling from a few successful hits. They had been too focused on staying alive to notice the swarm was being piloted away from them. They didn't stop shooting until the little bastards were almost beyond the clouds in a scattered mass of twitching, screaming dots.

Sias exhaled through his teeth in a grunt of pain as he extended his tainted charm magic to its limit before snapping it back.

They fell like screaming rain, diving headfirst into the ground, charmed into ending their undead lives by a sex demon touched by the very void they had been birthed from. Ash erupted all around us as the mass of voidlings met its end.

It was haunting, awful.

And totally badass.

Sias raked his long, messy hair back from his face as the last bits of ash blew past his polished shoes, pale and exhausted from the effort.

"Gods, I need a drink," he said. "And a very hot shower."

I was upon him before I thought better of it, forgetting for a second that there was still a big ass void hound at his side. Sias smelled of ash and blood, with just a trace of amber and tobacco. I held on to that scent as tightly as I held on to his body, my heart and mind a storm of relief and regret.

Where his hair wasn't caked in black blood, it was soft against my skin.

"I never wanted you to go into the void," I whispered to him. "I'm sorry. I'm so fucking sorry, Sias."

"I couldn't let you drown, Dallas," he whispered, lips finding my cheek. "You would, and have, done the same for me."

"Not like this," I argued, heart splintering into sharp, unforgiving barbs. "Goddamn you, Sias. What the fuck are we going to do now? Maybe Funus knows of a way to reverse this, to change you back. Maybe?—"

Sias pulled back to look at me, study me like I was something he couldn't wait to devour.

"It's done. There is no walking it back now, Dallas. You gave a piece of yourself for your vampire, and I gave a piece of myself for you. Win, lose, life or death; we are all tangled together now. There is no untying the threads."

"Perfect word for them," Zane said softly, somehow materializing beside me. His red eyes pinging between us, watching something I couldn't see. "Threads. I saw them in the void like a beacon. Felt the pulse when you called out to me."

"What does that mean?" I watched Zane tracing the invisible bindings.

"I don't know," the vampire confessed. "But there's something here. It hums like dormant power lines. It would be worth exploring."

"Exploring how, I wonder," Sias mused softly, one set of eyes flaring rosy pink for a moment.

"One thread at a time," Zane said, his eyes dark.

Fear danced at the edges of my blooming elation, the feeling as acidic as it was fragile and wonderful.

Was I stupid enough to believe, even for a heartbeat of time, that this would somehow all work out in my favor? That I could be lucky enough to be helplessly tied together with the only two people I'd ever wanted?

A damn incubus and a vampire of all things?

That's not how it works. No one gets to live happily ever after, especially not someone like me. I had known since I was a lonely teenager staring at the dying betta fish in a cup that I would die alone, because I had already set that destiny in motion.

It was supposed to just be me and Kevin until the end. I remembered vividly having that conversation with him the day he got his color back, the first time he blew a little bubble at me.

Just me and you, little guy. Because who the hell else would have us?

Wouldn't it be so nice if it somehow worked out that I had something wonderful?

That would be a great ending to a very fucked up story.

"Dallas," Magnus's voice was always such a fantastic mood killer. The hound at Sias's side growled, reminding me it was there.

"Oh, shit. I forgot about you," I said to the thing, inching away from it. "It's uh…still good, right? Got a leash on it?"

"He won't hurt you," Sias confirmed. "He's mine now."

Zane grunted. "I don't love that you can have that sort of control over void creatures, Sias."

"Don't worry, love. I don't put leashes on people unless they ask."

Magnus was staring daggers at me as I turned away from whatever the hell was happening between Zane and Sias, which admittedly my brain was trying to sizzle about. It took me a few hard blinks to get back into character, shaking off any lingering distractions.

The void hound's growl was like a splintered bone, and it lifted to all four feet as Magnus took a few measured steps our direction.

"We're kinda having a moment, Magnus." I gestured between the three of us. "Can you come back later with whatever bullshit you're about to start?"

"Your incubus is corrupted, kid." The gun in Magnus's hand stayed at his side, but his fingers were twitchy. "Void touched. He's a ticking time bomb, and when it goes off, he'll turn and kill you."

"Pretty sure he's already turned. He's got four eyes." I pointed to Sias's face, which the incubus didn't enjoy. My hand was slapped down and I mumbled an apology.

"You're dealing with shit you know nothing about," Magnus continued. "Step aside. Let me handle this."

"Or I could rip you in half," Zane offered with a shrug.

"I like that option," Sias agreed, patting his snarling void hound on the head. "Optimal for me, if I'm being honest."

"Relax," I told the bloodthirsty duo before turning my attention back to my twitchy father. "No one is ‘handling' anything. We're on the same side. We want these tears stopped, same as you. We leave here in a weird but acceptable truce. That's what's going to happen."

Magnus's jaw clenched, head shaking as he tightened the grip around his weapon.

"Dallas, you need to listen to me. You've strayed down a path that will only lead to darkness and damnation."

"I'm fine, thanks," I tossed back, his sincerity like sandpaper. It was starting to rub me raw. "Mind your own damnation and I'll do the same. Are we good? I want to go home and I'm really sick of you today."

Magnus's eyes hardened, posture stiffening. I saw the change in him like a door locking, whatever love he had for me sealed up tight and buried. My heart responded in kind, letting my compassion for him fall away into the dark part of myself I never wanted to recognize.

Zane relaxed at my side, his form starting to turn misty.

It had gone from a bargaining session to a showdown, each of us with our weapons ready. Only one would be left standing, and I knew it would be me.

Austin did too.

So he reacted first.

Magnus crumpled as Austin knocked the butt of his gun against his temple, the old man folding into a heap from the well-placed blow.

Magnus never saw it coming. None of us did.

I don't think Austin did either, if I'm being honest. The open horror on his face once Magnus's unconscious body was on the ground was proof enough that he had acted on instinct instead of logic.

I stomped down my shock and glanced at the amazed faces at my side.

"Go on ahead. I'll be right behind you."

"You're sure?" Zane glanced between me and Austin, his hesitation clear. When I gave him a nod, I was thankful he didn't press. My head was spinning, my heart in a constant state of flux, and I wasn't sure how well I could explain myself. "Hurry," Zane warned. "We shouldn't stay in the area long. We've wasted enough time as it is."

I agreed, and asked, "Sias, can you still get us an exit out of here?"

"Of course. Zane and I will meet you at the rendezvous point." Sias snapped his fingers and the hound turned its attention back to him. "Don't linger, pet."

"Me or the hound?" I asked, but Sias just smirked. Zane rolled his eyes and followed Sias, leaving me alone to deal with my family drama.

Austin wouldn't look at me as I went to him, his eyes locked on Magnus as he kneeled beside him.

I swallowed before I could speak. "You know what I'm going to say."

Austin inhaled, trying to hide a sniffle.

"He's not going be very happy when he wakes up," I continued. "He'll know it was you."

"I know." He wiped the tip of his nose with his wrist. "But I gotta do this. I can't run."

"Austin, you could come with us—" I tried, but he shook his head, eyes seething and rimmed with tears.

"I don't run. I'm not you."

"No, you're not," I lamented, the verbal stab deep and brutal. "You're a stubborn asshole and I love you. You have my number. Use it if you need it."

He said nothing in response. I was grateful for that.

I left my brother behind to face our adoptive father and his judgment, and tried my hand at one last sincere prayer to the Saint. Maybe it would still filter through, even if I technically belonged to the Goddess now. Magnus had always told us the Saint could hear us if we spoke from the heart.

My heart was begging for Austin to figure out what he needed to be happy. And for Magnus to not be a bastard for once.

I wasn't going to hold my breath on that second part. Some things even a deity can't change.