Jenna Black - Dark Descendant

“It never occurred to you that there would be extra security on your lady wife once you took a Descendant of Artemis into your household?” Alexis mocked, though I wasn’t sure Anderson could hear him over all the coughing. “I never took you for a fool, but then women do tend to have a negative influence on masculine intelligence.”

Still coughing, though not quite as desperately, Anderson managed to push himself up to his knees. I still didn’t think he was capable of doing anything really useful like fighting or running.

A flash of movement in the distance caught my eye, and I realized I was running out of time: Peter was coming back. When he got here, he would kill Anderson, and that would be that.

Of course, Peter was only human for the time being. I hefted the rock, wondering if I could put enough oomph into my throw to kill.

The thought shocked me, but only for a moment. I wasn’t a killer, but I wasn’t some helpless damsel in distress who would stand horrified and useless on the sidelines, either. I knew next to nothing about Peter, but if he was in cahoots with Alexis, then he was a bad guy, period. I wouldn’t feel bad about killing him.

At least, that’s what I told myself.

“Stay out of this, Nikki!” Anderson suddenly shouted, his voice loud and clear despite all the coughing.

I was so startled I almost dropped my rock. Dean jumped, and Peter started running faster, but Alexis just laughed.

“You think she hung around to try to save your pathetic hide?” Alexis asked through his laughter. “Or is that supposed to make me paranoid?” He looked straight at Anderson, not glancing away for a moment—proving how unthreatened he felt. Of course, his cronies were doing enough looking around; he didn’t have to. I huddled down lower behind the bush I was using for cover.

Did Anderson know I was here somehow? Had that been an actual order? Or was Alexis right, and he’d just been trying to distract the opposition?

The moment of indecision cost me, and by the time I made up my mind to ignore Anderson’s command—if it even was a command—it was too late. Peter had drawn a gun— my gun, I suspected—and was pointing it at Anderson. If I managed to clock him with my rock, the impact might cause him to pull the trigger. I didn’t dare risk it.

Feeling a little like that useless damsel in distress after all, I remained crouched behind the bush, hoping Anderson had some kind of a miracle plan up his sleeve, because I was plum out of ideas.

Anderson spat a coupleof times, then shook his head in an effort to get his wet hair out of his eyes. He should have looked like a helpless victim, kneeling there on the ground in his underwear with his hands cuffed behind his back and a gun pointed at his head. Instead, he looked poised and unruffled.

“Have you ever wondered why Konstantin made a deal with me?” he asked Alexis, and despite the dire situation, a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Alexis looked nonplused, both at the question and the casual tone, but he answered quickly enough. “Because it was not worth our effort to squash you and your little friends like you deserve.” He sounded very sure of himself, but both of his accomplices were visibly worried.

Anderson’s grin broadened. “Really? Why don’t you give your boss a call right now? You’ve got me helpless, after all, and if you have your pet kill me and steal my immortality, my followers would most likely disperse. So call Konstantin and ask him if he wants you to kill me.”

Alexis snorted. “You trespassed on my property. I’m within my rights to kill you, and I don’t need to ask anyone’s permission.”

Anderson shrugged. “Fine. Don’t ask him. If ignorance is bliss, you must be in heaven right now.”

Alexis landed a crushing punch on Anderson’s nose, though he had to bend over a bit to do it. I winced at the crunching sound of cartilage giving way. Blood spurted from Anderson’s nose, and he crumpled to the ground. His muscles remained tense, however, so I knew he wasn’t unconscious.

Alexis bent and wiped the back of his hand on the grass, cleaning off the blood I supposed. Then he stood up straight and resumed his arrogant, cross-armed pose, towering over his fallen foe.

“You and your people have been a thorn in my side for some time now,” Alexis said. “A quick death would be too easy for you.” He pulled back his foot and delivered a brutal kick to Anderson’s belly. Anderson grunted and curled himself around the pain.

Just how slow a death did Alexis have in mind? Enough that I had time to run for help?

I dismissed the thought with only the briefest consideration. With my car all the way back at the church, and the mansion at least a half-hour’s drive away, I couldn’t risk it. But the slow death comment gave me hope. Whatever torture Alexis planned, it would probably mean some relaxing of Peter’s guard. The Descendant still had the gun pointed and ready, but I didn’t think he was quite as poised to shoot as he had been when he’d first arrived on the scene. Maybe if Alexis was going to deliver a beating, he’d get a little careless and place himself between his flunky and Anderson. And wouldn’t it be a terrible shame if I hit Peter with the rock and he ended up shooting the wrong guy?

“I’m sure you’re not enjoying this,” Alexis said. He was panting with eagerness, getting his rocks off on the pain he was inflicting. He delivered another kick before continuing. Unfortunately, Peter still had a clear line of fire. “But I suspect it will hurt you more to hear about all the fun I’ve had with your dear wife since she’s been my guest here.”

Anderson froze, his sudden stillness overcoming even the reflexive writhing. I closed my eyes for a moment in an attempt to stave off my sympathetic horror. Behind my closed eyelids, I couldn’t help seeing the image of Steph, the damage she’d taken, and the pain she’d endured after less than an hour in Alexis’s clutches.

Emma had been Alexis’s prisoner for the better part of ten years, and he might not have kept her in the water all that time.

Alexis laughed, enjoying the pain and horror Anderson couldn’t hide. “Once a year, on the anniversary of her capture, we fish her out, and Konstantin and I share her. Even after all this time, she still cries for you when we—”

Anderson let out a roar, like nothing I’d ever heard before. So loud my bones and my teeth rattled with it, and so savage it froze Alexis and his cronies in their tracks. Three sets of eyes widened to almost comic proportions, stunned by the fury of that roar.

And then Anderson moved, his pain forgotten as he lurched to his knees.

The sudden movement broke all of us out of our stupor. I knew from the terror on Peter’s face that he was totally unnerved and that he was going to shoot. I also knew that my thrown rock would be too late to stop him. I leapt to my feet and hurled it anyway, putting all my strength behind it and aiming for his head.

The gun fired. I watched in horror as Anderson’s head snapped back, blood spurting from the back as the bullet passed all the way through. His eyes glazed over, and his body started listing just as my rock caved in the side of Peter’s skull.

There was another moment of disordered shock as everyone looked around, trying to make sense of what had happened. Anderson and Peter lay on the grass, both staring sightlessly into the night.

I cursed myself for waiting as long as I had to throw the damned rock. Sure, I’d been worried hitting him with the rock would make Peter reflexively fire the gun; however, I’d known for a fact he was going to fire it on purpose eventually, so the smart thing would have been to take a chance that the blow wouldn’t make him pull the trigger or that his shot would miss. I’d wanted a better opportunity, hoped for a sure thing.