Dangerous Creatures

  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 alw
ays 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.

  AFTER

  Fade to Black

  The road out of New York unrolled quickly, the same way they’d come. Except this time, Lucille Ball sat in the front seat, between the Caster and the quarter Incubus, purring.

  “What is wrong with that cat? It’s like she has no idea we’re on the lam.” Ridley was annoyed.

  “She doesn’t. She’s a cat.”

  “Lucille Ball is as big a gossip as the Sisters,” Ridley said. “She knows everything. We’re on the run from a bunch of Caster Underground lowlifes. The apartment isn’t safe. The city is worse. Probably most of the country is full of Silas Ravenwood’s thugs. That cat should not be purring.”

  Ridley was twitching enough for them both. She didn’t care if she ever saw a city again. All she knew was they had each other, and they were alive.

  But for how long?

  “Stop lookin’ over your shoulder,” said Link.

  “I can’t help it if I don’t want to die,” said Rid. “And it feels like I’m—like we’re being watched.”

  “You’re not gonna die. Well, I mean, you are. We all are. But not yet.” Link accelerated, all the same. “If Nox did his part, Silas Ravenwood has no idea where we are or where we’re headed—and the rest of the band is long gone.”

  Ridley glanced out the window. She didn’t want to think about Nox and what he was or wasn’t doing. She didn’t want to think about what he’d given up by staying behind. “We can’t hide from Silas forever.”

  “Speak for yourself. I’m great at hidin’. Last year, Principal Harper couldn’t find me for the better part of a semester. It’s just one a my many gifts.” Link winked. Ridley knew it was true. Plus, Link had been hiding most of his life from his own mother, long before that. By now, she figured, he was as good with invisibility as Savannah Snow was with visibility.