Dangerous Creatures

CHAPTER 34 Symphony of Destruction

This is a hellhole,” Ridley muttered from her seat on the dank basement floor.

“You think?” Link sat next to her, staring up at the ceiling, where some kind of plumbing leaked through the planks and plaster.

Not just a hellhole. A prison, she thought. You could almost hear the rats scurrying behind the kegs.

How did I end up in a dirty basement in the bottom of a nightclub in Brooklyn? Afraid for my future? Hiding from Silas Ravenwood?

They waited in silence. There wasn’t much left to talk about at a time like this.

Twenty-four hours of planning didn’t make tonight any better. The band had still ridden to the club in tense silence. The moldy basement beneath Sirene was still dank and deserted. Nox was still pacing in his office as if it was opening night.

It wasn’t.

There were no Casters crowding in. No DayGlo Sirenes selling Nectar of the Gods. No bartenders, no band.

Not on this level of the club, which had been locked off from the rest of the world, just as Nox had promised Silas it would be.

This storage room made the Underground look like the Happiest Place on Earth.

Ridley could feel the bass beat begin pounding through the walls. Nox had his house DJ covering for them. Every sound made her jump.

“Music’s come up,” Link said, listening.

“Yep.” Won’t be long now, she thought.

“We should be out there.” He sounded wistful.

“Not tonight, we shouldn’t.”

“Guess not.”

Rid smiled at him. “You had a good run, Shrinky Dink.”

“Yeah. Sirensong.” He said the name like he was filing it away in his graveyard of failed bands.

Who Shot Lincoln. The Holy Rollers. Meatstik. Sirensong.

Rid picked at a pink glitter nail. “It wasn’t all Nox, you know. Not all of it.”

Link didn’t take the bait. “Sure. It was also his mom’s Siren lyre.”

“Link.”

“Guess there’s no way to find out now.” Link sighed and looked at her. “It doesn’t matter, Rid. We gotta get outta here and get safe.” Get you out of here and get you safe. That was what he was thinking. Ridley knew Link well enough to know that, no matter how mad he might be at her.

She had always been his first priority. Taking care of her. Doing the right thing by her. Caring about her. She didn’t know why it had taken her so long to believe it.

Guess there’s no way to find out now.

She resisted the urge to reach out to him, if only to lay her hand on his arm. It was strange, having to remember not to touch him.

I did this.

I did this to myself.

“Ow—” A yelp from Link broke the silence, and he shook his hand like he wanted to shake it right off. “Is your ring burnin’ up?”

She held hers up, wincing. The glowing red light cast shadows on the wall around them. “Like crazy.”

It was quiet for a moment.

Ridley stole a sideways look at Link. “I would have, too, you know.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Woulda what?”

“Taken your place. With Abraham, I mean. Back there, what you said. How you would have let him take you instead of me.”

Link stared at the wall in front of him intently. “Yeah?”

Ridley shrugged. “I just wanted you to know.”

He turned to her. “Rid—”

But the banging at the door startled them, and Ridley pulled herself to her feet, Link scrambling up after her. “Nox?”

“It’s me,” the familiar voice said from the other side.

Link unlocked the door. “Took you long enough.”

“Sorry,” Nox said. “I had to organize a few things. A few thousand things. Floyd and Necro are ready to go. I have them at each end of the stage, waiting for my signal.”

Ridley looked at Nox. “Necro. Is she—”

“Fine. Stronger than you think. Believe me.” In some ways, Nox knew her better than any of them, Ridley realized.

Link looked relieved.

Nox took in the dismal room. “How do you kids like it down here? Pretty luxurious, right?”

“We couldn’t have waited in your office?” Ridley asked.

“I said I was holding you down here,” Nox said. “That was the plan. This has to seem legit. Silas has eyes on the club. He’s not exactly a trusting guy.”

“So what’s next?” Ridley asked, shivering. She knew the plan, but knowing it didn’t make her feel any better about it.

Nox pulled a little crimson matchbook from his pocket and held it in the air between his fingers. Ridley recognized it immediately. The word SIRENE was printed across the cover.

Nox took her hand with his free one, and Rid could almost feel Link watching them. “You’re sure you want to go through with this, Little Siren?”

“If you’re sure it’s the only way,” she answered.

He nodded. “It’s the only way I can think of.”

Link’s eyes were fixed on the matches. “Is that for what I think it is? Or are you plannin’ to take up smokin’?”

“It’s time,” Nox said.

“So just a small fire, right? A diversion?” Rid started to get nervous.

“Not that small,” Nox said. “Maybe a little bigger than I let on.”

“Nox.” Ridley pulled her hand away.

“Okay, maybe not small at all.” Nox shrugged. “Don’t worry. I’ve shown everything to Necro and Floyd. The Illusionist can handle it. They’ll get everyone out of the club before they even know what’s going on. And, hopefully, before it blows.”

“Hold on, dude.” Suddenly, Link was paying attention. “You’re gonna burn your own club down?”

“The only way Silas Ravenwood will leave you both alone is if he thinks you’re dead, and it has to be convincing. Something he can see—or at least his men can see—with their own eyes. They’ll see Sirene when she burns.” Nox waved the matches. “Get it?”

“Wait. Seriously.” Ridley put a hand on his arm. “You’d burn down Sirene for me?”

“Why not?” Nox shrugged, looking at her. “I built it for you.”

For a second, no one said a word.

Then Link gave Nox a hard look. “How about you keep that crap to yourself, pretty boy? Otherwise, the wrong Supernatural might go up in flames.”

Nox ignored him.

Ridley looked away. “No.”

“Ridley. Please. Let me do the right thing, for once in my life.”

“I said no.” She shook her head. “Call it off. There has to be a better way.”

Link looked at her. “The guy has a point. As much as I don’t like it, we don’t have a whole lotta choices right now, Rid.”

“Exactly.” Nox sighed. “They come for you. The place goes up in flames. We carry out the bodies.”

“Our bodies.” Ridley was still having trouble wrapping her mind around it.

He nodded. “Eventually, Abraham will figure it out when you don’t show up on the other side. But by then, you’ll have a head start on him. You’ll just have to lay low.”

“Like, witness protection low.” Link nodded. “We’ll figure something out.”

Nox lowered his voice. “You saw the blueprints. You can’t go out the front door, or Silas’ men will see you. There’s only one way out from down here.” Nox pointed down the hallway. “The service door is at the end of that hall. Go out that way.”

“Won’t Silas have men at that door, too?” Rid asked.

“Yeah,” Nox said, “but they won’t be standing very close, if that’s where the fire starts.”

“You’re not saying—” Ridley couldn’t bring herself to finish.

“The fire starts here.” Nox nodded. “You’re going to have to get out through the fire. It’s the only way.”

“Hello.” Link waved. “Hybrid Incubus in the room. We’re not goin’ out the door. I’ll Rip us both out. I’ve gotten a lot better lately.”

“You can’t,” Nox said. “Silas isn’t stupid. He’s already got that one covered. The club is Bound—on top of my own Binding, he’s done his own. Can’t you feel it? No one can Travel in or out. No Rip letter could get through that now. You have to use the doors, like a Mortal.”

Ridley panicked. “But you said I die in a fire.” She stared back at him, her heart pounding in her chest. “This is what you warned me about. Tonight.”

Nox nodded. “You die in a fire. That’s one possibility. But not this one. I never saw anything like this. I never saw a future where we were the ones starting the fire.”

“How do you know?” Ridley felt desperate.

“I saw wooden stairs. I saw a fire. I saw the sky. Not a basement below the club itself.”

She shook her head. “What if it’s the same thing?”

“It’s not. Not if we’re in control of the whole thing.”

“Are you sure?” She could tell from the look on his face that he wasn’t.

“Ninety-nine percent. This isn’t one of the futures I saw for you. This isn’t one of your paths.”

Ridley was silent for a moment.

What other choice do I have?

“I’d rather die in a fire than end up as part of Silas Ravenwood’s harem,” she said finally.

Link grabbed her hand. “Yeah, well, you aren’t gonna do either. Not on my watch.”

“Our watch,” said Nox.

“Back up.” Link frowned. “If I can’t Rip, how are we gonna get outta this place? I’m pretty badass, but I’m not fireproof.”

“I am,” Sampson said from where he stood just outside the door. Ridley had no idea how long he’d been there watching them.

Link raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

The Darkborn gave Link a hard stare. “Of course not, you idiot. But I can control it.” Sampson ducked his head under the doorframe and came inside. “Ever heard of the butterfly effect? They say if a butterfly flaps its wings in China, it can cause a hurricane on the other side of the world.”

“I sorta failed bio in summer school, so you might wanna hit the high points.”

Sampson continued. “When your cousin screwed up the Order of Things, that’s what she did. She changed the nature of the supernatural world, right down to the source.”

“The Dark Fire,” Ridley said in a low voice.

Sampson’s gray eyes met hers, and he smiled. “Why do you think they call us Darkborns?”

“It’s true. Sampson’s kind draw their strength from the Dark Fire,” Nox said. “So Mortal fire? Not such a big deal.”

“Yeah? What about Mortal smoke inhalation?” Link was suspicious.

“There’s fire, and then there’s fire. Let’s just say it bends to my will,” the Darkborn said, looking at Ridley. “The way guys bend to yours.”

“I thought you didn’t care what happens to Mortals?” Ridley looked at Sampson suspiciously. “I thought you didn’t get involved with Caster business?”

He shrugged. “There’s an exception to every rule. I’d hate to break up the band.”

Link stared at Sirensong’s lead guitarist with his mouth hanging open. “You’re the Magneto of Supernaturals. Holy crap.” Magneto was the one comic book character Link revered above all others. It was the highest compliment he could’ve paid Sampson.

“I’d go with Metallica,” Sampson said. “But I’ll take it.”

Link whistled to himself. “You bet your Dark balls a fire it’s a compliment.”

“So that’s it.” Nox held up the matchbook. “It’s time to take the future into our own hands. We light the fire. We set the Wheel of Fate in motion.”

Link grinned. “I’m startin’ to get what you’re sayin’. The Wheel can’t roll over us if we’re the ones pushin’ it.”

Nox handed Link the matches. “You’re not as stupid as you look. For a messed-up Incubus with Mortal limitations.”

“I get that a lot.”

Nox turned to Ridley. “You ready?”

She tossed her head. “I was born ready.” It was the second time she had tried to bluff him.

She hoped this time he believed her.

Link held the matchbook. Ridley and Sampson stood next to him, somber. They might as well have been at a funeral—which, in a way, they were.

“Incendio,” Nox said. He drew a poker chip from the inside pocket of his jacket. “Time to get this party started.”

Ridley stared at the chip as if it was haunted. She was transfixed.

“What’s that?” Link asked.

“A little something I won in a game of Liar’s Trade. A marker. I won a very powerful Cast from a very powerful Cataclyst.” Nox looked at Ridley. “Not, you know, Duchannes powerful.” He smiled. “But a hottie all the same.”

Ridley looked at him. “I guess you never know who you’ll meet at the table.”

He smiled at her, flipping the chip in his hand. “We light this on fire, and the Incendio Cast goes up in smoke. Literally. The Cast, and the club.”

“Really?” Link scratched his head. “Just like that?”

“I have no idea. I’ve never tried it before.”

Nox raised the chip.

He looked around the basement, and then up to the ceiling above them, where the main dance floor was. Rid almost couldn’t bear to watch.

“Good night, Sirene.”

Nox kissed the chip and handed it to Sampson.

“Now. Before I change my mind.”

Sampson twisted the chip in his hand and slowly held it out, palm up. “Light me up, Link.”

Rid stepped back. “Be careful.”

Link turned his head as he held the match, ready to strike. “Always, Babe.” He looked at Sampson. “It’s been real, bro. See you on the other side.”

Link flicked the match and it flared to life. The moment felt like an eternity as he waited for the flame to grow.

Nox looked away. Sampson’s jaw was set. Link took one last look at Ridley. He held the match above the chip and dropped it in Sampson’s hand.

Then everything went white.

The blinding burst of flame and heat blew everyone back. Link hit the wall behind him hard. Ridley fell next to him. Nox was on his knees.

Only Sampson was left standing. He held out his arm, with an intense ball of flame in his hand, glowing like a sun. He tossed it down the hallway toward the exit doors.

Just like Nox had wanted him to.

Within seconds, flames licked up the wooden beamed ceiling and the wood-paneled walls.

Sirene was going up in smoke and taking Nox’s dreams right along with it.

“Time to go,” Sampson said, smoking and soot-covered but otherwise unharmed.

Link stood, pulling Rid up with him. “Remind me to buy you a new shirt when we get out of here.”

“Not from where you shop.” Sampson didn’t even smile. He stared hard at the rest of them. “You need to stay right behind me, unless you want a serious sunburn.”

“Duck and cover,” Link said. “Got it.”

Sampson caught his eye. “I’m not talking about your kind of Third Degree Burns.”

“I figured.”

The fire grew before their eyes, swelling and roaring with every passing second. Wood crackled and snapped as if the whole place was somehow coming alive, if only to die again. Smoke was already filling the basement hallway, and fire rolled across the ceiling in waves. Sampson stepped out into the flames, and even though Nox had told them what to expect, it was hard to believe. The burning waves curled away from Sampson, spreading up the walls and around him, like the Darkborn was enclosed in a bubble.

When it came to Mortal fire, he was.

Nox watched in horror as the whole room ignited, surrounding them on all sides, filling the space behind them each time Sampson took a step forward.

Link reached out his hand toward the edge of the bubble.

“Don’t do it,” Sampson said. “It only works for me, hybrid.”

Link let his hand drop, patting the Darkborn’s shoulder. “You really are Magneto.”

“Just stay close.”

Ridley was behind Link, and Nox kept his hand on the small of her back.

This is going to work. It has to.

Even though the flames bent away from Sampson, the heat was intense, and the walls, floor, and ceiling began to fall apart around them, disintegrating into ash and flame and charred bits of wood.

The floor shuddered, wooden planks giving way beneath their feet as they walked. It was a life-and-death game of leapfrog as Sampson carefully led them down the hall.

Then the exodus began.

They could hear it, all around them, the feet pounding and the people screaming, even through the roaring of the flames.

One by one, the fire alarms began shrilling through the air.

The screaming only grew louder—and then quieter.

Floyd and Necro must be doing their jobs, just like they said they would.

It was all Ridley could think.

At least, it was all she could hope. That they would get the whole upstairs crowd out of the building. Because they had to.

Those girls are as tough as Sampson, maybe tougher.

Even Necro, even now.

As the four Supernaturals moved down the hall, the flames arched over the invisible barrier protecting them.

They made good progress until one of the support beams in the ceiling began to splinter.

Ridley felt it before she heard it. My hand is burning. Why is my hand burning? She looked down to see her ring glowing red.

Something was wrong.

“Link—” she began.

But Nox saw it first. “Rid! Watch out—”

A hunk of burning wood ripped free just as Ridley looked up.

She screamed and jumped back.

No!

Nox tried to push her forward, but there was already too much distance between the two of them and Sampson and Link.

The fire streaked across the floor between them, and the ceiling beam crashed to the ground, taking Ridley with it. The burning beam now separated Ridley and Nox from Sampson and Link, and the flames were closing in quickly.

I’ve seen this, Nox thought. This is how it ends.

That thought was followed by another, only a fraction of a second later.

No. It can’t be. I won’t let it.

“Rid!” Link shouted from the other side of the wall of smoke.

Nox scooped Ridley up off the floor. Her expression was a mixture of confusion and panic. “I’ve got you, Little Siren.”

He coughed as the smoke seared his lungs. The fire was so intense, he could barely see. The world was collapsing around them. Without the Darkborn, they wouldn’t last long.

He searched the smoke for a sign of Sampson, but he could barely see a few feet in front of him. If the Darkborn wasn’t coming back, there was a reason. Nox knew he wouldn’t leave them behind.

Nox stumbled away from the hottest part of the narrow hallway, holding Ridley against his chest with one arm and running his hand along the stone wall with the other. Flames crept closer, and the smoke blew ash and embers in their faces.

Not now. Not like this.

Nox fell back into a recessed doorway, finding a temporary reprieve from the heat and flames.

But they were running out of options.

The door behind them was locked, and they were cornered by the fire. There was no sign of Link and the Darkborn.

Ridley was stunned and coughing. “We’re trapped, aren’t we?” Nox looked around but shook his head. “I’ll figure this out, Rid. We’re going to make it, I promise.”

We aren’t going to make it.

Nox positioned himself between the fire and Ridley in a vain effort to shield her from the heat, but now he was coughing as hard as she was. His back burned as the pain grew too much to bear.

His stinging eyes closed.

“Nox, stay with me.” He could hear Ridley’s voice, though it sounded like she was far away.

I’m here, he thought, though his mouth wasn’t making any sounds.

Because it was hopeless—that was his next thought. And the fact that they were never getting out.

I’m so sorry, Ridley. I’m sorry that the shadows follow me wherever I go. That they followed me to you.

“Stop it, Nox. Open your eyes. I’m right here.”

His head fell onto her shoulder.

“Lennox!” Sampson called out through the flames.

The cloud of smoke cleared and Sampson burst through it, untouched. He grabbed Ridley and Nox with each arm—and the heat suddenly and mercifully dissipated. “The crazy hybrid lost it. He wanted to come back in here and get her himself. Took everything I had in me to knock his dumb ass out before Silas’ men got a look at him.”

“We need to get her out of here,” Nox said, struggling to hold his head up.

“I’m okay. I can walk.” Ridley sounded like herself again, and Nox was feeling better. He didn’t take his eyes off her, now that they were open. He knew it might be his last chance to have her this close.

Sampson led the way, and when they reached the last stairwell, Link was slumped against the side of the stairs.

Nox and Ridley could feel a draft of fresh air blasting toward them.

The outside world is so close now.

Nox pulled Ridley close, gasping for air.

“Thank god,” he said.

Ridley didn’t speak. She was just trying to breathe. Still, she reached for his hand.

Nox bent his face toward hers as he caught his own breath, letting his lips graze her cheek one last time.

Then Nox let go of Ridley, pushing her toward Sampson. “You have to go, Little Siren.”

“You mean we have to go.” She was still holding his hand.

Sampson turned away, trying to give Nox a moment alone with her while still keeping the fire at bay.

There wasn’t much time.

“That’s not part of the plan. Someone has to stick around and face Silas, or he won’t believe the two of you are dead,” Nox said.

“No, I already told you. We talked about this. I’m not leaving you in here. Not with them.”

“I’ll be right behind you, or close enough. But I need to make a dramatic exit for Silas’ benefit. I can’t do that with you on my arm. I have to go out the main doors. I’ll see you in the outside world, when it’s safe again.”

“You’re lying,” she said.

It was true.

Nox looked up to the blackened ceiling beams. How long before these rafters fall? He had to make her understand. “When Silas finds out you’re alive, he’ll never stop looking for you. I can help you, but only if I stay. You have to get out of New York. Go anywhere you want, as long as it’s far away from here.”

Light fixtures began to pop, one at a time.

Old wine bottles began to explode and ignite.

Another support beam crashed against the floor behind them.

The club was coming down.

Ridley bit her lip. “What about my marker? What about what I owe you? Or have you forgotten?”

Nox reached into his pocket and pulled something out, pressing it into her palm. “Take it. It’s yours.”

Her fingers curled around what looked like a harmless poker chip. “Nox,” she said.

“I didn’t forget. I remember every single thing about you,” Nox said gently. “And you don’t owe me anything. You never will.”

“You know that’s not true.”

“You got me my drummer, remember?”

“I’m not talking about that marker, and you know it.”

Nox put his arms around her, pulling her close. “What you owe me, Little Siren—what you owed me all along—wasn’t something that should be won in a game. Not even when you’re playing for TFPs.”

Her voice was trembling. “It was a house marker. It was your call, Nox. You could have taken anything you wanted. Anything I had to give.”

“I know,” Nox said. I know better than anyone. I’ve thought about it a thousand times, every day. “I wish I’d never won it. I wish I hadn’t made you come here. I wish I hadn’t even asked you for the drummer. It was wrong, all of it. I’m sorry.” The truth of his words was undeniable, as well as the emotion behind them.

Ridley leaned and tossed the chip as hard as she could, flinging it into the hot red heart of the fire.

A tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it with the back of her soot-streaked hand. “I forgive you.”

A Siren’s tear.

He’d only seen a Siren cry once. His mother, on the day Abraham Ravenwood took her from him. He’d never forgotten that moment.

And I’ll never forget this one.

Nox didn’t watch as Sampson carried her out the back door. The deception was a good one; Ridley was limp as a rag and covered in soot. Silas and his men would never know a heart was still beating in the little Siren’s chest.

It was an unsettling sight.

I might never see her again. I don’t want to remember her like that. He touched his fingers together, still wet from her tears, wonderingly.

I want to remember this.

Nox walked back toward the doors of the club, probably for the very last time.

By the time he had finally made it out, there was nothing left of Sirene. He watched the firefighters saturate the framework and the remaining roof, if only to keep the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.

Mortal fires, Mortal firefighters. They were remarkably good at their job. Too bad they wouldn’t remember any of it tomorrow.

A black SUV pulled up to the curb behind him.

The tinted window rolled down, and Silas Ravenwood stared back at him from underneath his fedora. He glanced at what was left of the club. “Hope you’ve got insurance, kid.”

You just have to bluff one more hand.

For her.

Nox thought about his mother, and the night he found out his father was dead. He thought about every terrible thing that had ever happened in his miserable life. Then he remembered the one thing that was even more painful—the way he’d felt when he thought of Ridley in chains, just like his mother in a cage.

And the way he felt now.

Totally and completely empty.

Nox raised his bloodshot eyes to meet Silas’ empty ones. “What do you want, Silas?” He gestured at the club. “I’m out. I’ve got nothing left for you to take.”

Silas lit a cigar and climbed out of the car. He walked over to Nox and brushed the ash off the shoulder of Nox’s burnt shirt. “I hate hearing you talk like that, kid. There’s always something left to take.”

Fear shot through Nox’s veins.

Don’t react.

The Incubus slung his arm around Nox’s neck, then tightened it.

Nox struggled against him, fighting for breath.

“Did you think I’d fall for this piss-poor act of yours? I know you let that little bitch go.” Silas tightened his grip, cutting off the air Nox had left. “You’re a sucker, Gates, just like your old man. Threw your life away on a Siren who won’t live long enough to benefit from all that misguided devotion.”

Silas’ driver opened the back door, and Silas tossed Nox into the car. For an older Incubus, he had an iron grip. Dealing in other people’s powers your whole life will do that for you, Nox thought as the door slammed on him. I should know.

Nox laughed at the irony. He had more in common with Silas Ravenwood than he’d ever imagined.

Air tore through his lungs, and he choked on every breath. Nox knew Silas Ravenwood was going to kill him—and enjoy doing it. But his future didn’t matter to him anymore.

Because Nox had seen hers, in the third and final vision. The last time he’d looked at the last days of Ridley Duchannes’ life.

Let her have today. Leave tomorrow to the angels.

There was always more Darkness.

Lennox Gates knew that better than anyone. Whether you were pushing the Wheel or it was headed straight for you, Darkness always found you in the end.

He just hoped he was the only one who knew it.

Nox closed his eyes as the car started to move.

He was going to pass out.

I should have told her how I felt about her, the first time I had the chance. That’s my only regret. All those years ago, when we were kids.

On that beach in Barbados.

The first day I met the only person in the world who would ever be able to understand me. The girl who knew what it felt like to do the things I could do.

I should have told her.

Nox blacked out before he could remember why he hadn’t.