happened to Gloria, had held more weight than all the urgings my father had previously given me—I might have ended up as Jack’s lunch one day.
I glanced back at my sister, perched on Jack’s horse, her eyes wide as she took in Nocturna for the first time. Who knew if Jack had even intended to take her into town like she’d asked him to? For all I knew, he’d been heading to his cabin with Lena, intending to get in a little snack before he went back out patrolling.
Well, that snack turned out to bite back, didn’t it?
I led us around the back of the cabin, tying Jack’s horse out of sight by his shed instead of in its usual stall, where someone might see it. Then, with Lena’s help, I dragged Jack inside his cabin, not being particularly gentle about it. Once inside, I lit only one candle, then sat him up in his favorite rocking chair, winding more duct tape around him until he looked like a bug caught in a spider’s web.
“Lena, hand me that crossbow on the wall,” I directed, smiling at Jack as I looked around. “All these nice weapons you have. I always liked how you decorated the walls with them. Now they come in awfully handy, don’t they?”
Jack’s blue eyes burned with hatred at me. I accepted the crossbow from Lena and jerked my head toward the back of the cabin.
“Go in the bedroom.”
“But I don’t want to!” Lena burst out.
I rolled my eyes. It was debatable whether it was the rebellious teenager or the one-eighth demon behind her protesting, but it didn’t matter.
“Go. Or I’ll tell Dad about you skipping school last week.”
“Bitch,” she muttered, but then went into the bedroom as directed.
I pulled out a small pocketknife as I approached Jack, making a small slit lengthwise in his gag. Jack sucked in a deep breath, but I dug the tip of that blade against his crotch before he released it.
“Scream and I cut your balls off. Understand?”
Jack let out that breath in a furious, but quiet, puff. “How’d you get away from Ashton and get back here?” he growled, the words somewhat garbled from the remaining tape.
I smiled. “Call me lucky, but that’s not what we’re going to talk about. You’re going to tell me who the other Purebloods are here, and you’re going to do it
His mouth twisted in a gruesome parody of a grin. “Or what? You’ll kill me? We both know you’re gonna do that anyway. Or you’ll have someone else do it, if you don’t have the guts. You’ve got nothing to threaten me with, Mara, and even if you do cut off my balls for not talking, dead men don’t need balls anyway.”
I set the crossbow down to clap my hands. “Bravo! You’re a brave man, even for a filthy Pureblood. So brave that I guessed threatening you with death or dismemberment wouldn’t be enough to make you tell me what I want to know. But, see, I met a new friend while I was in the other realm, and I bet she can encourage you to talk.”
Then I rose and opened the cabin door. “Oh, Rachael…,” I called out.
A rushing sound from the sky preceded my future mother-in-law’s approach. She landed with an abrupt, predatory grace, those obsidian wings folding to allow her to pass through the doorway as she strode inside. Even though I’d expected her, the sight of the gorgeous Fallen still made me tighten my hand on my knife. Without her wings, Rachael might have looked like a normal, exquisite blond, but with those black wings trailing behind her and the aura of menace she exuded, Rafael’s mother was more frightening than beautiful.
Jack must have agreed, because I had to slap my hand over his mouth to stifle his instant scream.
“Ah-ah-ah. We talked about screaming,” I reminded him, wagging the knife.
Rachael’s mouth curled as she looked between me and the Pureblood taped to the chair. “You amuse me, little Partial,” she drawled.
Normally I’d have taken offense at the patronizing tone, but considering that amusement in her case was a good thing—it was novelty that had led Rachael to spare Rafael’s life when he was born, after all—I wasn’t going to complain. Hell, I hoped she found me downright
“Jack, meet Rachael,” I said. “She ate your friend Ashton, but you know women. Just not satisfied with one thing if they can have two. See, I promised Rachael that if she took me back here, I’d give her at least one more Pureblood to munch on, so you might want to rethink telling me about who the others are. Or I’ll have no Purebloods to give her except you, and after I saw what happened to Ashton… you really, really don’t want that. Trust me.”
Jack stared at Rachael with the same horrified fascination with which I’d once stared at Drew and Ashton. I knew from experience what he was thinking: that he was trapped by a monster who could take far more than his life. Regular death still meant an afterlife, but Fallen fed from a Pureblood’s supernatural essence—the same eternal imprint that would ensure existence after this life—and Rachael would take that, devouring Jack until there was truly nothing left.
Some things were more frightening than death, and oblivion was one of them. But since Jack had sentenced countless Partials to that same fate when he’d fed from them, I felt no pity for him.
Rachael smiled, revealing twin dimples that somehow lost their charm when her wings extended like a black cloud behind her.
“You test my patience, Pureblood,” she said, her voice melodic and chilling at the same time.
Jack began to talk.
Chapter Ten
I rode down the main street of Nocturna, not acknowledging the various mutterings from Partials on the sidewalk as I passed by.
“… didn’t I hear she was dead?”
“… Jack said Rafael killed her…”
“… sure doesn’t look dead, does she?”
But the lit skulls that marked the front of Bonecrushers were the only thing I focused my attention on. Every stride from the horse brought me closer, while a curious calm replaced my normal impatience. In so many ways, my journey for justice had started here, so it was fitting that it should end here.
I didn’t bother tethering the horse when I reached the corral, instead jumping down and leaving it to wander at will. Its former owner wouldn’t need it anymore, and soon someone else would claim it. Nothing valuable was wasted in Nocturna, and it was a fine horse.
“Heard you were dead, Mara,” a cool voice noted behind me. “You sure stink like death, but I don’t believe in zombies, so I guess Jack was full of shit about Rafael doing you in.”
I turned to face Billy, noting the burly Halfie looked pissed. Not that I blamed him. Jack had told me all about how he’d spread the word that Rafael was a Pureblood. Had even added a nice touch about how he’d watched in horror as the ruler of Nocturna had dragged me through a barrier for munching on later. As Rafael’s friend, Billy had a right to be mad, seeing me stroll around as though I hadn’t been instrumental in smearing Rafael’s name.
“I stink because I went through a sewage system,
Billy tugged on the end of his tattered leather jacket. “This better be good. I’m in no mood for bullshit games.”
I came nearer until we were close enough to kiss, but Billy didn’t flinch. He just stared at me with hard brown eyes.
“Oh, it’s good. I promise.”
Then I whispered what I needed him to do, waiting until I got a nod of confirmation before walking through the double doors into Bonecrushers.
Several heads turned, and mutterings swept through the crowd. Even the singer on stage paused in his rendition of the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Disarm” to stare at me. It seemed like everyone had heard the tale Jack had spread, but then again, such shocking charges against Rafael would travel at the speed of light. I was only relieved that my aunt and uncle hadn’t had the chance to tell their Partial friends about my initial, mistaken belief about Rafael. If I hadn’t used those gateways to cross back over right when I had, I would’ve been too late to stop the
