God of Destruction (20 page)

“We need to focus on getting out. If
that…
monster’s
got us here, it can’t be for anything good,”
Scottie said. Janie was far from disagreeing, knowing exactly how
monstrous Natalia could be.

“Your best bet would probably be to find out
why they want you here. They wouldn’t have you here if they didn’t
have something to gain,” Janie clarified. “Do you have any idea
what it could be?”

The new arrivals shared a look, knowing they
could only be there as bait…or worse.

“What’s the matter?” Janie asked when they
said nothing.

Hayden choked when she tried to speak. “What
do they do to you here?”

“I told you, I don’t…” Janie explained,
before halting. She didn’t want to scare them, but she wanted to
prepare them all the same for what was to come. “They have this
tub, and they try to drown me in it constantly. My leg is broken,
and I’m bleeding from my hip from a stab wound. And, above all
that, I’m starving to death. How I’ve survived this long is nothing
short of a miracle.”

Hayden paled, but Scottie was determined to
get out at whatever the cost. “And that other guy—”

“Taran.”

Scottie bit the inside of his mouth so he
wouldn’t lash out. He sighed loudly. “
Taran
, is getting
help?”

“Yes,” Janie nodded fervently.

“And you’re sure he’s coming back?” he
whispered.

“I
know
he’s coming back! He
promised.”

The door flew open without warning, slamming
against the wall with a force that shook the very floor beneath
them.

Janie fell back to the floor and froze,
hoping it was the police but knowing it was the person who would
undoubtedly deliver her inevitable end. When she raised her eyes,
she found a group of them standing just over the threshold, led by
the woman she hadn’t seen in weeks.

“Ms. Campbell!” Natalia greeted cheerily in
her cold, thick accent. “I hope you’ve made our newest guests feel
welcome.” Approaching them with slow steps, Natalia stooped to
Janie’s level, stepping on Janie’s bad leg as she did. Janie
shrieked, praying she would eventually catch a break. “I heard you
became very well acquainted with my friend Taran.”

Janie said nothing until Natalia twisted on
the ball of her foot, turning the raw flesh of her leg. “Yes! Yes,
I was.”

“It’s a shame he left you here. Is it not?”
she sneered with a cruel smile.

Janie’s face contorted with rage, realizing
exactly was she trying to do. “He’s coming back for me. Don’t worry
about that,
Natalia
.”

She laughed. “I see you’ve been talking about
me. I always knew Taran was secretly in love with me.”

Janie said nothing.

“Well, little one,” she continued. “We’re
going to send a message to your Taran,” she raised her voice. “A
message to all of your little friends. I want them to know
exactly
where to find you.”

Janie watched helplessly as the men dragged
Hayden and Scottie into the light before she was grabbed by the
throat and pulled along behind them.

Chapter Seventeen

Paris, France; June 30
^th
, 2012

The rat in the chair cried out as the final
rope burned against his wrist, recoiling when his protest was
followed by a sharp slap to the face. The rat, immensely proud of
himself only moments ago, trembled so hard against the dining room
chair binding him that it shook with him. His shoulder blades were
pressed flush against the back of the seat, trying fruitlessly to
melt further into it and away from the ashy smell of Kierlan’s
breath. Perfectly straight, yellowing teeth grinned at him, barely
two inches from Russell’s nose.

Claire hugged Alex tightly, holding herself
together and her emotions at bay. She grasped a brown paper bag in
her hand, breathing deeply into it to the point of lightheadedness.
She felt fragile, seeing herself now as what everyone else seemed
to see; a glass figurine. She was shattering.

Slowly.

Blowing away like dust in the wind just as
the last remnants of her grasp on reality did. James hadn’t
returned since Mainyu’s escape, leaving them to wallow in Kierlan’s
vengeful threats as well as their worry for Scottie and Hayden. If
not for the unnatural abilities he’d freely demonstrated that day,
they would’ve worried that James had been lost to Mainyu as
well.

And, of course, there was the case of Kierlan
and where he fit into all of this.

She’d tried to explain what had happened
before they’d come back to the hotel when Alex asked. She couldn’t
form the words. Rather than sit through a long bout of stammering,
the two girls sat in silence, trying to tune out Kierlan’s voice
and think of nothing. The cries of pain from behind them brought
images to their minds of Scottie and Hayden and all the things that
could possibly be happening to them.

Alex stared longingly out the broken window,
seeing the God jump through the glass behind her eyelids. She
wanted to sleep, to receive some reprieve from the worry and the
world they seemed to know nothing about. Every time she came close
to falling under, another shriek erupted from the other side of the
room, dragging her back to the surface. While she was entrapped in
consciousness, she put on a brave face for her best friend beside
her, but, in truth, she was nearing a mental break.

The suite’s door swung open and closed so
quickly, it was almost too fast to be humanly possible.

Claire was the first to her feet, along with
Alex, who, at the sight of James, ran headlong toward him, throwing
her arms around his middle. The blonde man hugged her back for a
split second before he stepped away from the guest she hadn’t
noticed. With a gasp, Alex flinched away from him. “Who’s he?”

Sighing warily with a roll of his eyes,
Kierlan pulled his newly acquired gun from the waistband of his
pants. He said nothing as he directed the barrel in their
direction.

“Wait!” James pleaded, standing in front of
the silent addition.

Taran’s breathing was labored from running,
otherwise he would have said something. Or, more likely, he
would’ve tried. He wanted to beg for help or, at the very least,
demand an explanation for the horrific sight he’d just seen, but
neither reached his lips.

“James,” Alex snapped, standing behind the
man with the gun. “Who is he?”

The angel gestured calmly to Taran. “Just
somebody else Mainyu will be looking for. He’s no threat to
us.”

“I don’t really care about him,” Kierlan
growled, keeping his gun trained at the doorway. He gestured
pointedly to James. “I’m more worried about what I saw
you
do
. With your
hands
!”

James ground his teeth; he didn’t have time
to explain again. “Ya, I understand you have a lot of—”

“Hell ya I got a lot of questions,” Kierlan
said. “Questions I want answered. And if I don’t get them now, I’m
gonna put a
bullet
in your
skull
.”

“I’m sure we can explain everything when the
situation isn’t so
extreme
,” James mumbled, taking a step
further into the room.

“Don’t take another step!”

James froze, humoring him. “Now’s not the
time.”

“Perfect time,” Kierlan challenged.

He rolled his eyes. “I swear to God, Kierlan,
I’ll explain
later
, just put the gun down!”

No such thing happened, everyone caught in a
deadlock.

Skeptically, Alex watched the two of them.
Sighing dramatically, she pushed Kierlan’s arm back to his side.
“Oh for the love of God!”

Kierlan cast her a withering glare.

She nodded to Taran. “It’s just…James, it’s
getting a little
crowded
in here.”

Taran looked around for the first time,
finally seeing the man tied to the chair fervently mouthing pleas
for help. When their faces met, Russell paled, letting his head
fall. He stared at the floor.

“You?” Taran growled, crossing the room
despite the gun that suddenly smacked his face. Whatever he’d
thought of these people originally, he felt immediately safer
knowing that they were obviously on the same side.

He definitely recognized the captive from
when he’d been abducted from New York. His face appeared in Taran’s
drug-altered memory of those days before he’d met Janie.

He spun to face Kierlan. “Is Natalia here,
too?”

Kierlan shook his head, but it was James who
answered, “She’s in league with the man who attacked us on the
sidewalk.”

Taran snorted. “Man? That
thing
was a
monster!”

James nodded. “He
is
a monster. If
you’d let me explain, you’re in danger—”

“Don’t explain,” Taran interjected, rolling
his eyes. “We don’t have time for that now. I need your help.”

“H…How do we know he’s not working with
R…Natalia, too?” Claire mumbled, eyes glued on Russell and
Kierlan.

“I know,” James said. “He’s…like you,
Claire.”

“Oh,” she muttered. “
Oh!
”

“I’ve been starved and kept in a dark room by
Natalia for days,” Taran explained.

Claire and James shared a knowing look.
“How’d you get away?” he asked.

“I had a friend there; she’s been there since
December. She showed me the way out and we ran, but she was
injured. She couldn’t get away.”

“What happened to—?” Alex began.

Looking toward the window and wondering how
long it had taken him to reach this point, he begged. “I need your
help to get her out of there. She needs a doctor, badly. If she
stays there much longer, she’ll die!”

“Would you be able to find her, again?” James
asked.

Taran nodded zealously. “Yes! We have to go
now!”

James looked around, his eyes falling
scathingly on Kierlan’s back. He couldn’t take them all to go
looking for this girl, the consequences could, and would, be dire.
On the other hand, he couldn’t leave the girls alone or, worse,
with Kierlan.

He’d done nothing to prove himself
trustworthy and James still had his doubts.

But, he had no choice, knowing Taran wouldn’t
stand a chance when Mainyu, inevitably, came for him.

“You all stay here,” James instructed,
striding toward the exit.

“Wait!” Alex begged. “What if Mainyu comes
back? You can’t leave us here alone!”

“I have to side with her on this one,”
Kierlan announced. “The last time he showed up, my gun didn’t do
anything
. What are we supposed to do if he comes back?”

“He won’t come back,” James assured them. “If
anything, he’ll send Natalia or another mortal. With all the damage
he’s sustained, he won’t risk going out in the open again.”

“Even if you’re right, I think we have some
things to discuss,” Kierlan added, feeling the severity of the
situation crashing down on him.

“Like what?” James asked, ignoring the look
on Taran’s face, urging him to follow him out the door.

“Your weirdo parlor tricks for one thing.
Besides, we should probably think of a plan,” Kierlan said,
gesturing broadly to the girls behind him. “One that doesn’t
involve anymore of us getting taken by these…people.”

“What did you have in mind?” James grunted
through his forming headache.

“I have connections that can have us out of
the country in an hour.”

“We can’t all leave. A blood sacrifice is the
only thing separating Mainyu from God-like power,” James explained.
“We need to kill him now, while he’s still vulnerable, otherwise we
won’t be
able
to kill him.”

“My team will handle it in your absence.”

“I can’t trust that responsibility to you and
your team. I’ll stay behind to help. You’ll need my powers to kill
him. No mortal weapons stand a chance against him, even in his
vulnerable state.”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Alex snapped, crossing
her arms, “we are
not
leaving without Scottie and
Hayden.”

James nodded along with her. “I know, baby,
but…I think...we should do as he says.” As the first protest left
Alex, he put his hands up in silence. “I don’t mean leave Scottie
and Hayden. I’ll go out myself and get them. But, you two, at this
point, are a liability, and we should send you home.”

Claire shook her head while Alex gave a
resounding, “No!”

James had expected such a reaction. “Alex,
baby—”

“No,” she repeated, lip quivering. “I wanna
help, you
can’t
send us back! What if—?” she halted
abruptly.

James narrowed his eyes. “What if what?” he
demanded.

“Nothing,” she sighed.

“What if what, Alex?” he said.

She didn’t answer. Beside her, Claire,
thinking in the same direction, ran her fingers roughly through her
hair, dropping the paper bag in her hand. “W…Why did they take
Scottie and H…Hayden, James?”

His eyes flickered momentarily to the blonde,
but the only response he gave was the shake of his head.

“Is it because they want a trade?” Alex
added.

No response.

“James!” she continued. “If you send us home,
you
know
they’ll kill them! Don’t you care?”

He exhaled deeply. “Of course I
care
,
Alex. Some things are just more important now.”

Alex gasped, stepping away from her
boyfriend. “I can’t believe you just said that.”

“It’s the truth, Alex,” he insisted quietly.
“My job is to protect you and Claire. Scottie and Hayden’s lives
just aren’t as important.”

They hung suspended in the silence for a long
time, the girls glaring at James while he, guiltily, averted his
eyes. The only sound in the room was breathing, and some of them
didn’t dare to do even that. Kierlan looked away, focusing on his
captive while they dealt with their issues. On the other hand,
Taran was quickly losing his patience.