“You can molest her to your heart’s content later, scrumptious, but right now you and I have a job to do.” Gabe took Sinclair’s head into his lap and waved Drew off. “Go do your thing before it’s too late.”
Drew reluctantly left her side and stood in front of Dominic, looking him over. “Where’s your mark?”
Dominic pulled his shirt over his head. He tossed it to Kerrigan, and she held it to her chest like it was her lifeline. Drew noticed.
“Not to worry, Kerrigan,” he reassured her. “If you two pull this off, you’ll be holding him in your arms again before you know it. And make no mistake about it... it is imperative that you pull this off. As soon as he falls asleep, you’ll need to go to your sanctuary and wait for him to call you into his dream.”
“No pressure, huh?” Dominic said with a shrug and a forced smile.
Drew focused on the mark on his right shoulder, lifting his hand to reveal a ball of white hot light in his palm. “You might feel a jolt, mate.” Before Dominic knew what was happening, Drew slammed the palm of his hand into his shoulder.
Dominic’s head whipped back and he shut his eyes tight as his entire body strained with the power shooting through him. A jolt, my ass, he thought. It was like being struck by lightning repeatedly in the same spot. He clenched his teeth, the vibration of so much energy jarring him and threatening to shatter his pearly whites. He held back a strangled cry even though he felt like he was burning from the inside out. And then, without warning, it stopped.
He opened his eyes and lifted his head. He was warm again, whole again.
Kerrigan threw herself into his arms, but he caught her before the force could send them both tumbling to the ground. Holding onto him tight, she buried her face in the side of his neck. “I love you, I love you, I love you!” Her words were frantic, but she was relieved.
He chuckled and turned his head to the side to put his lips to her ear and whisper softly, “I know. It’s the only thing that keeps me going, so don’t you ever stop because I promise I’ll never stop loving you, Querida..”
“We haven’t started the real work just yet,” Drew said, reminding them of the task at hand. “I don’t know how long this will last, so we need to get you off to bed for the next leg. By the time you wake up, if all goes well, you should be as good as new. Perhaps if we go downstairs, you might have better luck falling asleep.”
Kerrigan slid down Dominic’s body until she was once again on her feet, but she refused to let go. “I’m not leaving him.”
Drew nodded. “Of course. You should be with him.” He turned to see that Sinclair was almost back to her normal self, sitting up with Gabe and Colton on either side of her. She looked like she might even be able to walk, however shaky her legs may be. “Shall we?”
Sinclair nodded and attempted to stand with Gabe and Colton’s help. She was using the wall as leverage and didn’t look to be doing a very good job of it. Drew stepped in and swept her up into his arms. “I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he said as she smiled up at him. He turned to Dominic and Kerrigan before heading out. “You’ll need to come and get me as soon as he falls to sleep. I don’t imagine there’s anything more I can do, but someone should be here just in case.”
Kerrigan nodded and then offered a smile to Sinclair. “Thank you.” Still too weak, Sinclair only nodded in response.
“Best of luck, mate,” Drew said to Dominic, and then he left.
Colton approached his brother. “If you die, I’m going to kill you.”
Dominic laughed. “Deal.”
Gabe stepped away from Colton and hugged both of his roommates. He kissed Kerrigan on the cheek and then turned to do the same to Dominic, his lips landing on the corner of his mouth. Dominic stiffened and drew his head back. “Oh, hush up, you big homophobe!” he said and then slapped his face playfully. “It’s just a kiss. Being a sissy isn’t a disease, so you can’t catch it. Besides, they say a kiss from a fairy is good luck.” He snickered and then he and Colton left as well.
“Well, it looks like it’s just you and me.”
Kerrigan managed a smile before taking his hand and leading him over to the bed. They lay down, and Kerrigan snuggled closer, facing him. She took in his face, drinking him in, and then kissed his lips softly. When she pulled back, she looked into his eyes and whispered, “Come back to me.”
“Siempre, Querida. I will always come back to you,” he said before she put her fingertips over his eyelids and he drifted off.
Dominic found himself standing in that same alleyway in Jacksonville where he had made his first kill at the ripe old age of fourteen. Only he wasn’t fourteen. He turned to look behind him, but didn’t see any evidence that Ricardo was nearby. His heart thumped like a bass drum in his chest, a sound he was sure could be heard in the eerie silence of his surroundings.
His right hand felt heavy, and he lifted it to find a handgun. Smoke rolled out of the end of the barrel as if it had just been fired. He looked toward the corner of the alley where he knew his first victim would be lying. There he was, discarded newspapers covering his lifeless body and the stench of gunpowder and death in the air.
“No!” Dominic shouted, but there was no response. He threw the gun down to the ground and took a step away from it. Looking at the man again, all the thoughts he had that day came rushing back to him. A family, lost without the one person who had kept a roof over their head and food on their table, dying at his hands. His hands. He was no better than his father.
Dominic fell to his knees and bowed his head in regret. “I’m sorry,” he said, needing to say the words aloud. “I’m sorry for everything. If I could take it all back, I would.”
In the blink of an eye, Dominic was hauled to his feet in reverse order. The gun flew back into his raised hand, and the smoke drifted down from the air to be sucked back into the gun. The bullet from the shot dislodged itself from the man’s chest and came whirling back at him in slow motion. He could see the spinning movement of the trajectory and the way the air around it rippled in reverse with its force. His hand jerked up a fraction of an inch when the bullet entered the barrel and slammed back into the chamber as if the shot had never been made, and then the gun disappeared from his hand.
He looked to the place where the man’s body had lain, finding nothing but a swirling wind that picked up the newspapers and carried them a smidge to the left before redepositing them back on the ground.
“Well, now isn’t that touching?” The hair on the back of Dominic’s neck rose, but he didn’t turn to face his father. Something told him that if he did, he’d lose his nerve.
“You say you’re sorry and all is forgiven. Your sins are wiped cleaned. It just warms my heart.” He could hear Drake approaching him. “Demons lie though, you know? I don’t have a heart. Hell, I don’t even have a soul.” He laughed, a deep throaty sound. “It’s why I’m able to do what I do without remorse. That’s your problem. You’re more than capable of performing heinous acts, but your pansy ass soul makes you feel the guilt of those actions. It makes you weak!”
Drake grabbed Dominic’s shoulder and spun him around. Dominic only got a brief glimpse of the demon before a heavy hand lashed at his face and sent him flying backward. Instinct forced a flare of Light to shoot from him and fly wildly without aim. He landed with a hard thud on the hard asphalt, the loss of energy instantly felt. Shit, a wasted shot. He wouldn’t have much time at that rate.
“Kerri—” The demon was on him, grabbing him by the throat and cutting off his words.
“You’d call your little bitch here to die with you?” The demon’s black lips curled up into a sneer. His jagged teeth clenched with a growl, and he raised his hand to reveal razor-sharp claws that tore through his chest in one swipe. Excruciating pain ripped through him, and he tried to cry out, but the hold Drake had around his throat effectively smothered all sound.
The demon laughed, amused by his torment. “Sucks, doesn’t it? Try enduring an eternity of torture at t
he hands of the most vicious and vile beings Satan, himself, created. I’m a pussycat compared to them.”
Drake lifted him up by the throat and threw him against the brick building to his left. Dominic could feel his spine crack before he fell back to the ground. He tried to inhale, but his lungs refused to cooperate, only allowing a quick, shallow intake. A sharp, stabbing pain in his chest alerted him to the fact that his right lung had been punctured by what was likely a broken rib. His chest rose and fell in rapid succession, each inhale sending a jolt of pain from his chest through to his back. A dull ache in the back of his head was all the proof he needed to know his skull had been fractured, but just to be sure, he put his fingers to the spot. Warm, wet, and sticky. He looked at his fingers to find them coated in his own blood.
Shit. This wasn’t going very well at all.
Drake approached him with a purpose in his step, orange eyes zeroing in on him with pure hatred. He was just toying with him, but no way was he going to let Dominic leave that dream alive.
Pushing past the pain, Dominic willed the Light inside of him to take aim. It hit Drake dead in the center of his chest. The demon arched his back—laughing. Granted, he knew he didn’t have as much energy as he’d had in his previous dreams, and he was considerably weaker, but that should have had at least some effect on him. So, why did he act like it was nothing more than a tickle?
“What’s the matter, son? Not feeling quite like yourself?” Drake crouched down in front of him. “Look at it this way. I’m doing you a favor. You’ve got, what... ten, twelve hours of life left?” He shrugged. “Of course, you’ve asked for forgiveness, so you won’t be sentenced to an eternity in Hell, but you’ve got demon blood in you, so you won’t exactly be welcomed in Heaven either.” He chuckled. “I guess that means you’ll get to spend eternity stuck between planes. Boring? Yes. Maddening? Absolutely. But, hey, at least you don’t have to worry about getting ass-raped by a demon with a flaming cock. You’re welcome.”
Drake punched him in the center of his chest, intensifying the pain to an unbearable level. Dominic coughed, tasting the metallic flavor of blood as it pooled in his mouth and spewed from his lips.
That’s it. He was pissed.
Dominic kicked out his leg, catching the demon in the stomach with the thick sole of his boot and sending him sailing to the other side of the alley. It bought him just enough time to crawl to his feet. “Fuck you, pops!” He spat out the blood in his mouth as he stumbled forward. Each word was painful to utter, but he shouted them at the top of his barely working lungs anyway. “I don’t care what you do to me! I’m dying regardless, so bring it the fuck on!”
Drake chuckled. The kid had no hope of winning, so his determination was asinine, but he had to give him credit for trying. “Now we’re talking.” He straightened to his full height and pushed his shoulders back, and then ran at Dominic with his clawed hand raised. Dominic ducked and grabbed him around the waist, pushing him back like a linebacker hitting a tackling sled. When Drake’s back hit the wall, he smirked down at Dominic and then kneed him in the groin.
He laughed when his son took a step back and doubled over in pain. “Demons fight dirty, my boy. Never think you have the upper hand.” He drew his right fist down and back, and landed an uppercut to Dominic’s chin, sending him careening across the alley again. “Oh, that was pretty, wasn’t it?”
Dominic tried to get his bearings so that he could get back on his feet, but had just made it to his hands and knees when Drake’s foot collided with his side. He cried out as more ribs cracked like chicken bones being snapped in half. He rolled onto his side and squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pain to go away.
“Come on!” Drake yelled at him. “I thought you’d be more fun than this. Get up!”
He tried. He really, really tried, but his body refused to do what his brain told it to.
Frustrated, the demon crouched over Dominic and lifted his head by the roots of his hair. Seeing no fight left in him, Drake snarled, “You’re pathetic!”
Dominic parted his lips, a gurgled sound struggling to come out of his throat, but he managed to say, “Go... to Hell...”
The demon’s fist connected with his mouth, breaking two of his teeth. “Been there. Done that. Not too keen on going back anytime real soon, but thanks anyway.” He patted Dominic’s cheek. “Get up, sonny. I’m not done with you yet.”
Dominic spit his teeth out before he ended up choking on them. Then he looked Drake in the eye with a look of determination. Sheer willpower gave him the strength to pull his head free and head butt his dear old dad. The action sent pain ricocheting through his own head, but it was worth it to see the stunned expression on his father’s face.
Drake recuperated within a mere second and hit him in the mouth again, following it up with a crack to his jaw. Dominic’s head lolled to the side like a ragdoll. He could feel his face swelling and the throb of his heartbeat as the blood pooled to bruise the area. His vision blurred, and his consciousness threatened lights-out, but one vision of Kerrigan’s face was all that he needed to stay awake. He couldn’t leave her all alone, but if he didn’t figure out how to call her soon, that was exactly what would happen.
As if sensing his intention, the demon growled a guttural sound that would have frightened even the bravest of men. Drake pummeled Dominic’s face over and over again, showing no mercy. Numb past the point of being able to feel anything, Dominic tried to block the fierce beating out of his mind and concentrate on her—her smell, her touch, the sound of her voice.
Without warning, the demon picked Dominic up and slammed him back down. He writhed on the ground, the excruciating pain too much to ignore. Drake fisted his shirt and drew his fist back to deliver what they both knew would be the final blow of death.
Dominic’s voice was a strained whisper, but if he was going to die there in his nightmare, there was only one word adequate enough to be his last. “Kerrigan...”
A flash of bright white light illuminated and quickly engulfed the surroundings. Dominic shielded his eyes from its brilliance, but he couldn’t make himself look away. Slowly, the light receded, and a shadowed form took shape at its center. He blinked until he could see more clearly, and his heart rate went off the charts.
It was her. She was there in his dream. All it had taken was the last plea of her name to summon her into his nightmare.
She didn’t say a word, but her comforting smile, her knowing in her eyes, and the confidence in her posture said more than he could ever hope.
Hope. That’s what she offered.
Drake’s amused yet sinister laugh echoed through the dark and dismal alley. “I see you’ve learned a new trick, son. How very entertaining. And what, exactly, is it that you hoped to accomplish by this little magic trick? Summoning your little whore here to do the job you couldn’t... Honestly, Dominic, have you no balls to speak of, or is the little missus carrying them around in her purse?”
“Your serpent’s tongue shall speak no more!” The expression on Kerrigan’s angelic face was ever pure and free of the hatred she had every right to feel toward the man whose only purpose in life was to cause Dominic’s demise.
Her voice roared with determination, but she did not yell. She did not scream. She did not seethe. Her eyes pinned Drake in place, their glow tranquil yet focused on the task at hand. She got right down to business, not giving him an opportunity to regain the upper hand. “I bind you, Drake D’Mon, in the name of the Light. This gift that runs through my veins, it demands that you be banished to the pits of Hell where you belong.”
“Shut up!” Thick, gray saliva oozed from the corner of Drake’s mouth, and his face turned up in evil disgust. “You fucking bitch! Shut... your fucking... mouth!”
She raised her arm and turned her palm toward the demon. Like thunder rolling through the heavens, her voice reverberated with no beginning, and no end. “I bind you, Drake D’Mon, in the name of the Light. This gift that runs through my veins, it demands
that you be banished to the pits of Hell where you belong.”
His eyes widened, incredulous of the power that forced him to release the hold he had on Dominic while ripping his shirt to shreds with his razor-sharp claws in the process. The demon cringed and doubled over in pain before bucking upright, screaming. His red skin turned a scorched black until white light cracked the charred shell on his face, neck, and arms. Gurgled sounds of agony clawed their way out of him when he tried to rebuke the awe of the Light.
His attempts were futile. He could do nothing to subdue the ultimate power of life.
“I bind you, Drake D’Mon, in the name of the Light. This gift that runs through my veins, it demands that you be banished to the pits of Hell where you belong.”
The ground shook beneath him as if preparing to swallow him whole. Foreseeing the inevitable, Dominic fought through his pain and made his way toward Kerrigan. Like a delicate vase crashing to a marble floor, Drake D’Mon shattered into a thousand pieces. Dominic threw himself onto Kerrigan, knocking her to the ground in his attempt to shield her from the shards that exploded and rained down around them. He could feel the sting as they nicked his back, but it was nothing compared to the pain he had already experienced.
Once the ground stilled and silence returned, he lifted himself up onto his elbows and looked down at her. “Querida, are you okay?” he asked, searching her face.
She smiled up at his battered face, caked in congealing blood. “I’m fine, but you might not want to rest all of your weight on my stomach. There’s a baby in there, you know.”
“Oh, God!” he said, scrambling off until his face was next to her rounded belly. “The baby! Is it okay?” His hands hovered just over her stomach, afraid that if he touched her he would make things worse.
Kerrigan laughed, shaking under him. “I’m fine, the baby’s fine, you’re fine, and now, we’re all fine. We did it!” She pushed her fingers through his sweat and blood-matted hair.