I’ll Be Slaying You

Chapter 16

Dee’s body trembled against his and Simon tightened his hold around her slender form.

Her blood flowed onto his tongue and with it, their link strengthened. The voice that had been shouting in his mind since he’d followed Dee inside this hell finally quieted, and his focus shifted back to—

Her.

Kill Dee?

No fucking way.

His eyes closed for just a moment and his teeth eased from her neck. His tongue swept over her flesh. The sensual caress was the only reassurance he could offer her then.

“I said to kill the bitch!” Grim’s fierce shout.

Simon’s head lifted and he stared at the Born he’d fought to keep out of his head for so long. The man who’d ordered the hit on his family. On Dee’s.

The Ignitor lay on the floor. Still unconscious because his Dee didn’t screw around.

Neither did he.

Dee laughed. “The man might die for me, nearly has, but no way would he ever kill me.”

Damn but he loved her.

He met Grim’s dark gaze. The bastard’s hold had all but vanished now. Whether from Dee’s touch, her blood, or just her, he didn’t know.

But the end had come. Not for them, but for Grim. “Your brother sends his greetings, Grim. I think he really hopes you enjoy hell.”

The Born’s face changed then, went slack with surprise and a flash of pain. Grim’s gaze leapt to the bed. To the still form of the woman. “I’m not…” He shook his head. “Tore can’t kill me, he’s not here, I’d know—”

“He’s not killing you.” Dee’s body vibrated in his grasp. “We are.”

Grim’s stare snapped to them and his lips rose. “Still on that, are we?”

“Yeah, we are.” So fierce, his Dee.

“A fresh vamp and a fool who couldn’t appreciate the new life he’d been given?”

Enough talk. Time to end—

“Your knight, is he?” Grim sneered at that. “Don’t you know, dear Dee, he’s been luring you in—for me—from the beginning?”

Simon’s hands dug into her shoulders.

“That attack in the alley. The near hit with the gunshot. Your lover arranged that. He almost got you killed.”

Dee glanced up at him.

“And that woman, the one who died so well for my men. Grace, wasn’t it, Simon?”

Grace. Dee’s friend. The one he’d used to manipulate her.

“She gave you all that wonderfully wrong Intel on Simon, didn’t she? I wonder…how could she have made a mistake like that?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He should have explained all of this to her before. Should have made her understand—

“I know.” Soft. “I know everything he did,” she said.

His jaw dropped. She knew and she was letting him touch her? Not screaming? Not staking him?

“And I know he wasn’t doing it for you, asshole.” Her dark stare turned back to Grim. “He was working to kill you, not to set me up.”

She knew? How—

“I knew from the first bite. I’m Born, remember? I knew.”

Well, shit.

Hate twisted Grim’s face. “You should have run while you had the chance.”

A ripple of her shoulders. “Not really the running type. More the kick-your-ass type.”

Flames raced across the floor.

Grim’s laughter filled his ears. And Nina—dammit, she jumped up.

“Burn, bitch!” Her scream of fury, directed right at Dee.

Grim slipped through the doorway, his laughter following him.

The flames rose too high, too fast. Nina’s eyes flashed red, the vessels near bursting as she pumped all her power right at them.

Dee stumbled back against him. “Run!”

They charged toward the window. The fire chased after them.

“Burn, burn, burn.” A chant from Nina. Fucking insane. The flames caught Simon’s back and legs, biting at the flesh, and he clenched his teeth at the agony. He fell, the fire rising around him as—

“No! Not without you!” Dee grabbed his arms and yanked him out the window with her. The broken glass cut his stomach and chest and then Dee was hitting him, pounding on his body. No—striking at the flames and putting out the fire.

Burning her flesh, to save him.

A shriek echoed from the house. The flames came at them again.

“Grim has himself one hell of a guard dog,” Dee growled, breath heaving out.

Simon’s gaze scanned the yard. Three vamps came out, claws and teeth ready, but they didn’t attack. They just watched.

Ready to watch us die.

“This is the way it ends for you.” Grim’s taunting voice. He walked from the shadows of the house. Blood dripped down his chest. “For both of you.”

Simon caught Dee’s hand, held tight. Surrounded by fire and vampires.

He looked at Dee. Shoulders back, chin up. Eyes blazing black. Not afraid. Not his Dee. Never afraid.

No, not her and she was—

Smiling?

“I know what happens next,” Dee said, and her soft voice carried easily over the crackle of flames.

“Me, too,” Grim snapped. “You burn. And you scream. Then you die. Right in your lover’s arms.”

“You believe in prophets, don’t you, Grim?” The flames were so close that the heat seemed to graze his flesh, but Nina was holding back now, watching Dee. Why?

Because Grim had his hand up, and like the good lapdog that she was, Nina wouldn’t strike without his order.

“After all, you set all this into motion.” Dee’s right hand—which looked broken—lifted to indicate the flames and vampires. “Because a demon had a vision and told you that I would be your killer.”

Grim’s lips thinned.

“You killed my family,” she continued. “Everyone I ever loved because you thought a fifteen-year-old human girl would one day kill an all-powerful Born.”

“The demon was right! You would have come for me!”

“I came now for vengeance. Because of you. You are the one who set this in motion. You.”

He shook his head. “No, no, I wasn’t dying again. Those bastards, they betrayed me before. I wasn’t going to die like that again!”

His eyes darted to the vampires who stood so still and silent. “My men won’t turn this time. They’ll stand by me.”

“This isn’t about them.” Simon had no idea where she was going with this, but he caught movement from the corner of his eye. Slow, careful movement. His nostrils flared, just a bit, but he couldn’t smell anything but the smoke and blood.

“I won’t stand by you,” Simon called out. “I won’t be your fucking puppet anymore.”

A muscle jerked in Grim’s jaw.

Simon turned his stare on the line of vamps. “Sure you’re on the right team?”

One of the vamps cut his eyes toward Grim. Hesitation there. And anger in the man’s eyes.

He hates that control, just as much as I did. “What did he make you do?” Simon demanded, aware of that shadow slipping ever closer. “Kill your lovers? Your family? How did you prove your loyalty to him?”

Because that was Grim’s way. Loyalty could only be shown in blood.

“And if you didn’t kill them, he did, right?” Like the bastard had taken out his family. “None of us signed on for this shit, but we can get out. He just has to die!”

Grim took a step back. His hand rose again to trace the side of his back. Always checking for the wounds he’d had so long ago. Now, Simon understood.

“I know what’s going to happen,” Dee said and she was so close to the flames. He wanted to haul her back, to force her behind him, but this time, this moment was hers. And he’d follow wherever she took him.

“You believe in your prophets.” She lifted her hands high. “I believe in my witch.”

Unease flickered over Grim’s face and the vampires began to move in closer. Not closer to the fire, but closer to Grim. For his protection? Or—

“She scryed to see how this fight would end.”

Uh, yeah, and that shit hadn’t been so positive. Simon swallowed and ignored the fierce throbbing in the back of his legs. The blisters would heal, eventually, if they survived this night.

“Catalina knew she would die in the fire. That’s why she was running when your men caught her.”

Grim’s eyes widened, just a bit.

“Grim!” Nina’s voice screeched. “Let’s just kill them, now, let’s—”

“She saw you die.” Dee’s finger lifted and pointed at the Ignitor.

“The hell you say! You die, you—”

The shadows seemed to grab her. Nina’s words choked off and a thin line of red appeared on her neck.

“Your throat gets cut,” Dee said, just as Nina’s body fell to the ground.

The flames sputtered away.

The shadow—it was Zane. Standing there, body trembling as he stared down at the woman.

“I saw death. Zane was surrounded by flames. I burned. Nina—her throat was cut.” Catalina’s sad voice drifted through his mind.

But no, after that, she’d said—

“You die, Dee.” The whisper of her words filled his head even as Dee sprang forward and said—

“You die, Grim. You. Die!”

Grim came at her with fury, meeting her armed with the stake she’d used on him.

He drove that stake right at her chest.

“No!”

But Dee was ready. She spun away from the vamp, and the stake grazed her side, not her heart.

Simon grabbed Grim and wrestled the bastard to the ground. He ignored the claws and teeth and fought to hold the Born when he buckled, struggling to keep him pinned as—

“You die,” Dee whispered again and she had a stake in her hands. The stake she’d taken from Simon when his arms were locked around her and no one could see. The stake had been hidden near his waist, just waiting for her.

Grim lurched up.

She shoved the stake into his chest.

Grim’s eyes flared wide and he sucked in a sharp breath.

Then he smiled. “True,” he whispered, and blood spilled from his lips. “Both…right…”

The bastard smiled, and died.

Grim’s vampires inched forward.

Simon glared at them. “Your choice. Die with him or get the hell out of here.”

They stared back at him.

“My mother…” One whispered. “He made me…”

“My wife…” From another.

“My son.” Grief. Fury. “I begged him, but I couldn’t stop him!”

Not born monsters. We are what we become.

Simon stared back down at Grim’s still face. Once, Grim had just been a man, too. A man betrayed who’d woken to the power of a near god.

Dee’s fingers slowly loosened their death grip on the stake. Her breath exhaled on a hard sigh. She trembled.

Grim’s lashes were closed. His lips unmoving. No heartbeat. No breath.

Death.

Simon took Dee’s shoulders and pulled her away from the vampire. Over. Finally.

“Dee?”

He caught a scent then. A wild, fierce scent in the night. Animal.

No, shifter. Jude had to be close. More of the cavalry, but coming too late this time.

The vampires stilled, and he saw their eyes dart to the shadows. They knew when they were being hunted. Fear trickled into their dark gazes.

Then they bolted.

Not as dumb as he’d thought. Just lost, like he’d been.

“Is he dead?” Zane wasn’t looking at them. His eyes stayed on Nina’s body and his shoulders hunched.

The stake was buried in Grim’s heart. The bastard wasn’t so much as twitching. Yep, looked dead.

He pulled Dee toward him. “Sonofabitch, woman, you scared me! Catalina didn’t tell us Grim would die, she said you—”

Her knees buckled and Simon saw her chest—saw the blood that covered her. “Dee?”

A stake. A fucking stake. She’d gotten the Born, but he’d taken his death blow.

Both…right.

Because they were both dying.

Her lashes fell closed. No, no, screw that. Simon grabbed the stake and yanked it from her chest. She was still breathing. Her heart still beating. The stake had missed its mark, it had missed! She wasn’t going to die, no, she wasn’t going to—

“Easy.” Zane’s hoarse voice ordered and Simon realized he’d been screaming. Begging.

“Live,” Simon whispered now.

Grim had missed her heart. He could hear Dee’s heart beating. She’d be all right. She just needed blood. She just needed—

Her lashes lifted. Such dark eyes. Weak, but, still Dee.

“I will,” she promised. “I will.”

He crushed his lips onto hers and kissed the woman as hard and deep as he could.

Surrounded by death, but she was alive.

He leaned his forehead against hers and just held her.

“Missed…heart…barely…” she breathed the words.

“You just scared the hell out of me,” Zane snapped.

And she’d nearly killed him.

“Over,” she said, whisper soft. “He can’t hurt us anymore.”

The voice was gone from his mind. The link cut. “Let’s get out of here.” Away from the death and back to the life that waited for them.

But Dee shook her head and glanced toward Grim. “Always come back…” Her hand lifted to her shoulder. Pressed hard. “They always…come back.”

“Not this time.” Catalina’s certain voice.

She came from the darkness. Soot and blood covered her clothes. Jude walked at her side, clad in a pair of jeans, and his woman held the witch’s arm, helping her to walk. “This time,” Catalina said again, “he’ll stay down.”

She stopped near his body. Catalina stepped away from the shifters and lifted her arms. Her chant came, quick but soft, and the wind stirred.

Power. Licking in the air. So much power.

And not all of it was from the positive source a witch should use. Simon felt the taint of darkness, saw it reflected in Catalina’s eyes.

Changed.

Grim had left his mark on another victim.

A ball of fire exploded—no, Grim’s body exploded into flames. Burned and burned until nothing was left.

Not even ash.

“Guess he won’t be coming back from…that,” Dee managed and they watched the fire sputter.

No, he damn well wouldn’t.

A reminder never to piss off a witch.

Bye, asshole. Have fun in hell.

“I didn’t die.” Dee felt like she’d been hit by a bus or a stake. But then, she had. She winced as she lowered her body onto the chair that Simon had pulled out from who the hell knew where.

Catalina stood a few feet away, rocking back and forth, her eyes on the ashes that fluttered up into the sky.

A cleanup team was en route. Pak’s teams always moved fast. Soon, nothing would be left of this place.

Just the memories of what had been.

“Did you hear me, Cat?” Yeah, good, her voice was getting stronger because the blood flow had finally stopped. “Your future was wrong. I didn’t die. I’m sitting right here, I’m—”

Catalina finally looked her way. “The night’s not over.”

Well, shit. Wasn’t she a ball of sunshine? Not that Cat really liked sunshine these days. Dee blinked. “Uh, you’re still alive, too.”

A shiver worked over Cat’s body. “Doesn’t feel that way.”

“No.” Softer now as she thought about exactly what Catalina might have gone through. How long she’d been with Grim and his little fire-loving friend. “I guess it doesn’t.”

Catalina’s shoulders squared. “I’m not going back to Baton Rouge.”

Not what she’d expected. “Where are you going?”

Her gaze slanted over to the stable. Smoke drifted from the roof. “Somewhere I can forget.”

Forgetting wasn’t always the answer.

“I shouldn’t have left you,” Catalina said. “You needed me. I-I shouldn’t have run.”

“It wasn’t your fight.”

A steady stare. “Wasn’t it?”

Dee swallowed. “How long—” She had to ask.

“I’d just left the parking lot. They got me—” She cleared her throat. “It was fast.”

“And the spells? What all did Grim want?”

Catalina’s eyes darted to the men. Zane and Simon were standing in front of the house. Simon’s gaze kept coming back to Dee. Checking her. Watching.

He’d forced her to drink from him. A good thing because without the blood, she’d have fallen on her face.

“He wanted Simon to kill you.”

Dee met Simon’s gaze.

“Grim wanted me to send out a command spell. One that would force Simon to act.”

“And you didn’t.” Catalina might not have stayed to fight, but the woman had guts. She’d held out against Grim and she’d—

“And I did.” Dee’s stare came back to her just as Catalina’s head sank.

Wow. Hadn’t expected that. “Then why am I still breathing?”

“Because he loves you.”

It felt like another stake had been plunged into her chest. Only this time, it found its mark in her heart. “You don’t—”

“He should have killed you. He should have turned on you and joined Grim. You would have died. I would have died. Everything I saw would have come true.” A hard rasp of breath. “But he fought my spell and he fought Grim.”

“He wanted his vengeance. His freedom.” That was why he’d fought so hard. Not for—

I’ll fucking love you forever. The words she’d never forget.

“He wanted you.”

She glanced back at him.

His gaze bored into her. So much heat. Need.

Was her own stare like that?

“For you, he’d fight magic and monsters.”

He had.

Catalina turned away. “I-I’m going…tell Zane.”

“You tell him.” Those two had some complicated crap going on.

“I’m not what he needs. Or what he wants.” Sadness there. An ache. “I saw his future. She’s not me.”

“You’ve been wrong once already,” Dee reminded her, and she tore her gaze from Simon. Catalina couldn’t just leave. She belonged with them.

But Catalina didn’t look back and her head shook once, slowly. “Didn’t you hear me, Dee? The night’s not over yet.”

Her lips parted, but Dee had no idea what to say. What more could happen?

“I saw you.” Catalina’s voice drifted back to her. “Surrounded by vampires. No way out. No. Way. Out.”

Understanding finally hit. Catalina had never said that Grim took her out.

The others—they were the ones she needed to fear.

They went back to the same seedy motel. They could have stayed at the scene, made sure Pak’s team arrived, but screw that. Dee was about to fall on her face and taking care of her was Simon’s priority.

She’d taken blood from him at the scene. Not too much. Just enough to kick-start her healing, and then she’d stared around at the darkness, worry in her eyes.

The big, bad bastard was dead. What did she have to worry about?

She shuffled into the room before him, wrinkling her nose. “I smell like death.” Common, for many vampires, but not for her.

Never her.

She stripped, right there, even before he’d slammed the motel room door shut, and Simon just took a minute to enjoy the view. World class, really.

Then she headed for the bathroom and his gaze followed her ass. Dimples. Nice, lick-me dimples right at the top of that curve.

He took a step to follow her.

The lady kicked the door closed.

Okay.

The shower blasted on, the roar of the water easily penetrating through the thin door.

Simon hesitated, his eyes on that door. She’d shut him out, so that clearly said she didn’t want him stripping and joining her for some water fun.

But there’d been something in her eyes since Grim’s death. Not fear. Yeah, worry, but—

Pain. More than just the physical wounds.

He locked the motel room door and strode toward the bathroom. His knuckles rapped against the door. “Dee?”

No answer.

His hand dropped to the doorknob. If she told him to fuck off, he’d leave her in peace. But if she was in there, hurting, he wasn’t going to walk away.

He turned the knob and stepped inside. Steam had begun to rise and to drift lazily in the air, but Dee hadn’t entered the shower yet. She stood near the tub, head bowed, shoulders hunched.

“Dee?” He said her name again, softer.

She glanced back at him and the sight of tears on her face was a punch right in his gut. “It didn’t make any difference.”

What? Fuck, but now he hurt. He grabbed her arms and yanked her against his chest. “Babe, what’s—”

“I thought killing him would make some of the pain stop. That it would give me some peace.” A hard swallow. “But when I close my eyes, I still see them.”

Them. Her family. Simon blew out a breath and held her even tighter. “I know.” He did. Because there was still a hole in his heart for his family. A hole that vengeance hadn’t healed.

“My fault.” A whisper. Stark.

The water fell in a hard stream.

“Nothing that happened was your fault. Not then. Not now.”

She tilted her face up to look at him. “They died because of what I am.”

“No.” Absolutely certain. “They died because some sick freak believed he was going to change the future.”

She paled a bit at that. “You really think the future’s set? That the prophets out there aren’t bullshitting?”

Careful now, because he’d heard Catalina’s last words to her. Not that he’d let that come to pass. “I think Grim sealed his fate a long time ago.”

Her hand pressed against his chest. “And what about your parents? Did killing Grim bring you peace?”

“Not peace.” Never that. “But justice.”

She gave a slow nod. “Justice. It still feels empty.” Her lip began to tremble then. Tough Dee, who could face down a Born and send him to the devil with a grin. “I’d rather have just had…them.”

The woman was breaking his heart. He tucked her head against his chest and held her as the water poured. “I know.”

He let her cry. The tears she’d kept inside over the years. The tears she’d stopped shedding once she began fighting.

When the tears finally stopped, he lifted her and carried her to the shower. It was time to wash away the pain and the past.

Maybe, just maybe, it was time for them to begin again.

They didn’t talk in the shower. Simon stripped and joined her. The water beat on them and washed away the blood and the battle.

And they didn’t talk.

He carried her to the bedroom, put her in the middle of the bed.

The water glistened on her skin and her eyes, so very dark, met his.

Then she parted her legs.

He came down beside her, putting a stranglehold on his need. This time wouldn’t be about heat and desperation.

This time, he’d give her something more.

Because that’s what she’d given him.

His lips touched hers. A light, fleeting kiss. Simple. Soft.

His fingers trailed over her body. Caressed her breasts, the nipples that hardened beneath his fingers.

“I want to forget.” Her whisper.

The first thing she’d said.

His cock, fully swollen and thick with need, pressed against her leg. Forgetting—fleeting. The memories would come back. They always did. But he’d give her this.

Hell, he’d give her anything she wanted.

He wouldn’t rush. Because he needed, too. Her taste…

He kissed his way down her neck. Licked the scars from her past battle. Tasted her nipples and sucked her flesh into his mouth. She twisted beneath him, rising and pulling in a quick breath.

And, finally, finally, the scent of her arousal began to fill the air.

Because he’d never take her when she didn’t want him.

His fingers slipped between her parted thighs, found the hot flesh, and eased into her.

This was what he wanted.

Her eyes turned to black.

He licked a path down her stomach. Blew lightly over the blond curls that hid her pink flesh.

“Simon…”

He’d always liked the way she said his name, especially when she wanted him. That hitch, the way the end of his name sounded like a moan on her lips.

He put his mouth against her. Took her cream on his tongue and tasted her flesh.

Her hips arched against him, a helpless jerk of her body. His tongue slipped over her clit. Her gasp filled his ears.

When her fingers sank into his hair, he knew she wanted more. Wanted harder. Faster.

Wanted to come.

“Not yet.” He said the words against her sex and she shuddered. The pleasure wouldn’t be fleeting. Not for either of them. It was time she learned that.

His lips closed around the swollen button of her desire, and he sucked, using lips and tongue to give and to take.

Her moan broke.

He gave to her, slowly. Learning every curve. Exploring her flesh. His tongue drove into her and her legs shook. He licked her. Lapped at her and wanted more.

Everything.

“Simon, I’m going to come!”

No. Not yet.

He eased back and his fingers worked her flesh. Drawing out the release, making the desire build with soft strokes and deep plunges of his fingers.

His cock twitched. The need for her was so fierce he burned.

Bite.

The bloodlust was there, as it always was, because he didn’t just want her body. He wanted her blood. Her heart.

Everything.

And he would have it.

She twisted against the sheets. The water had dried from her skin and her breasts thrust up against him.

So pretty. So perfect.

He caught her nipple with his mouth. Sucked deep and hard.

She squirmed beneath him.

Not about forgetting any longer. About them.

She’d remember that.

One last lick, and he lifted his head. Her eyes had gone blind with need and black with desire.

He positioned his cock against her slick heat. Pushed the head inside, just a few inches.

Waited.

Her gaze met his.

Simon caught her hands. He threaded his fingers through hers and pinned her against the mattress.

He took her then. Thrust deep and sure and felt the sensual heat of her sex around him.

His teeth clenched and he reined in the beast—tried to, anyway.

Her legs wrapped around him, and her ankles dug into his ass.

More. There, in her eyes. What she wanted—

He withdrew. Thrust deep. Again and again. The bed rocked. Their bodies trembled, but he took his time and he took his pleasure.

And made damn sure she took hers.

Bite.

He didn’t look at her neck. Didn’t take his gaze from hers. This time would be different. It had to be.

Her sex squeezed him and the telltale ripple had his spine tingling.

He thrust harder. Faster. The control began to disappear, and the need, that blind, consuming need, had his breath heaving and his hips surging.

She came, the contractions of her sex making his own climax erupt as he pumped into her. The long, hot wave blasted through him, into her, and the pleasure stole his breath.

Still he thrust. Even as his cock jerked and he climaxed inside her, he thrust.

Harder, but slower. Deeper.

His fingers tightened around hers.

She whispered his name.

And came again.

Sweet fucking hell.

Yeah, he’d die for this woman. In a heartbeat.

They began to gather in the darkness. First, just a few. Two. Then three. They came together silently as they felt the psychic snap of the old connection.

The bond was gone. The Born dead.

One there knew his killer. A vampire who’d seen the woman kill Grim.

Vengeance?

A life for a life?

Slowly, the others came. Humans once. Killers, monsters now.

They waited.

More would come.