Lover Eternal

But his grip slipped on the wet metal. He was scrambling to get a better hold when the rear window slid open and a gun muzzle came out. He ducked, expecting to hear the sharp crack of a bullet discharging. Instead the civilian, who was trying to jump out, jerked and grabbed his shoulder. The male looked around in confusion and then fell in slow motion back into the bed.

The truck ripped free of Rhage's fingers, and he twisted as he fell, landing faceup. As he bounced and skidded on the pavement, his leather coat saved him from getting shredded.

He leaped to his feet and watched the truck round a distant street corner. Cursing like a son of a bitch, he didn't stick around to mourn the failure, but ran back to V. The fight was on and it was a good one, the slayers confident in their skills, far from their recruitments. V was holding his own, his dagger out and doing a number on the slayers.

Rhage fell upon the first lesser he got to, pissed off at losing the civilian to that truck, rank mad at the world because of Mary. He beat the holy hell out of the bastard with his fist, cracking bones, breaking through skin. Black blood kicked up into his own face, getting into his eyes. He didn't stop until V peeled him off and shoved him back against the alley wall.

'What the fuck are you doing!' Rhage had half a mind to go at V because the brother was blocking his access to the slayer.

V fisted the lapels of the trench coat and gave Rhage a good slam, as if trying to get him to focus. 'The lesser's not moving. Look at me, my brother. He's on the ground and he's staying there.'

'I don't care!' He fought to get free, but V held him in place. Barely.

'Rhage? Come on, talk to me. What's going on? Where are you, brother?'

'I just need to kill it… I need…' From out of nowhere, hysteria crept into his voice. 'For what they do to… The civilians can't fight back… I need to kill…' He was cracking up, but couldn't seem to stop the fracturing. 'Oh, God, Mary, they want her… they're going to take her like they took that civilian, V. Ah, shit, my brother… What am I going to do to save her?'

'Shh. Easy there, Hollywood. Let's just cool out.'

V clamped a hand on Rhage's neck and smoothed his thumb back and forth over Rhage's jugular. The hypnotic stroking brought him down first by inches, then by yards.

'Better?' V asked. 'Yeah, better.'

Rhage took a deep breath and walked around for a minute. Then he went back to the lesser's body. He riffled through the pockets, finding a wallet, some cash, a gun.

Oh, this was good.

'Look what I got,' he muttered. 'Say hello to Mr. Black-Berry.'

He tossed the device to V, who whistled under his breath. 'Nice.'

Rhage unsheathed one of his daggers and buried the black blade in the slayer's chest. With a pop and flash, the thing disintegrated, but he didn't feel like he'd done enough. He still wanted to roar and weep at the same time.

He and V did a quick patrol of the neighborhood. All was quiet. With any luck, the other three civilians had taken their asses home and were right now shivering from adrenaline overload in safety.

'I want those lessers' jars,' Rhage said. 'You get anything off the one you took out?'

V waved a wallet. 'Driver's license says One Ninety-five LaCrosse Street. What's in yours?'

Rhage went through it. 'Nothing. No license. Why the hell did he carry—Huh. Now this is interesting.'

The three-by-five index card had been neatly folded in half. On the inside was an address not far from where they were.

'Let's check this out before we head over to LaCrosse.'

CHAPTER 33

Mary packed up her overnight bag under Fritz's watchful eye. The butler was dying to help, shuffling from side to side, aching to do what he clearly felt was his job.

'I'm ready,' she said finally, even though she wasn't.

Fritz smiled now that he had a purpose and led her around the balcony to a room that faced the gardens behind the mansion. She had to give him credit: He was incredibly discreet. If he thought it was odd that she was moving out of Rhage's room, he didn't show it, and he treated her with the same courtesy he always had.

When she was by herself, she thought about her options. She wanted to go home, but she wasn't stupid. Those things in the park had been deadly, and as badly as she needed her space, she wasn't about to get killed over a bid for independence. Besides, how long could it take to install a security system? Maybe that Vishous guy was working on it right now.

She thought about her appointment at the doctor's tomorrow afternoon. Rhage had told her he'd let her go to it, and even though he'd been pissed off as he'd left, she knew he wouldn't prevent her from going to the hospital. Fritz was probably going to take her, she thought. When he'd given her the house tour, he'd explained that he could go out in the daylight.

Mary glanced at her bag. As she was considering leaving for good, she knew she couldn't walk away while being at such raw odds with Rhage. Maybe the night out would calm him down. She was certainly feeling more rational now herself.

She opened the bedroom's door wide enough so she could hear when he came home. And then she sat on the bed and waited.

It didn't take her long to get wobbly anxious, so she picked up the phone. When Bella answered, it was a relief to hear her friend's voice. They talked about nothing special for a little while. Then, when she felt up to it, she said she was coming home as soon as a security system was installed in her house. She was thankful Bella didn't press for details.

After a while, there was a long pause between them. 'Ah, Mary, may I ask you something?'

'Sure.'

'Have you seen any of the other warriors?'

'Some, yes. But I don't know if I've run into all of them.'

'Have you met the one who is… whose face is scarred?'

'That's Zsadist. His name is Zsadist.'

'Oh. Ah, is he…»

'What?'

'Well, I've heard things about him. He has a dangerous reputation.'

'Yeah, I can imagine. But you know, I'm not sure he's all bad. Why do you ask?'

'Oh, no reason. Really.'

At one A.M., John Matthew left Moe's and headed for home. Tohrment hadn't come. Maybe the man wasn't going to come. Maybe the chance to get away with him was lost.

Walking along in the cold night, John was frantic, his need to leave his building approaching evacuation levels.

The fear was so bad, it was coining out in his dreams. He'd taken a nap before work, and his nightmares had been terrifying, filled with visions of white-haired men coming after him, and catching him, and taking him somewhere dark and underground.

As he approached the door to his studio, he had his key in hand and he didn't dawdle. He shot inside and closed himself in, locking everything: the two dead bolts, the chain. He wished he had one of those door poles that plugged into the floor.

He knew he should eat, but he didn't have the energy to deal with the Ensure so he sat on his bed, hoping his flagging strength would magically rebound. He was going to need it. Tomorrow he had to go out and start looking for a new place to live. It was time to save himself.