Inferno-Kat 2 (6 page)

He set his gun on the ground and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her tight to him.

“What the fuck are you doing?” she demanded while trying to struggle out of his arms.

“I wanted to tell you something.”

“Okay, fine,” she huffed, stopping her struggles to gaze at him indignantly.

He moved his hand up to her face and cupped her cheek. He could see in her face the urge to flinch, to pull away from him. The need to bury her emotions. Sweeping his thumb over her lips, he murmured, “I never stopped hoping you would come back to me. I dreamed of you every night.”

“Hades, we don’t have time for this.”

“I know.” He leaned down toward her mouth, stopping a mere whisper away. “That’s why I need to do this now.” Breeching the short distance between them, Hades covered her mouth with his, separating her lips with his tongue.

He wanted to taste her one last moment. If there had been more time, he would have picked her up, braced her against the outside wall of the church, and buried his cock deep inside her. He’d be a happy man to die like that. Pieced together with the one woman who made him whole.

Sliding his hand to the back of her head, Hades gorged himself on her, nipping at her full, sensuous lips and sweeping his tongue over hers again and again. Low, guttural moans of pleasure erupted from her, and he swallowed them one by one, eager to take everything she would give him. Satisfied that he would go into battle with the taste of Kat on his lips and the feel of her hard flesh under his hands, he broke the kiss and took a step back.

Blinking up at him, her eyes were a deep green, like the trees and grass they had tumbled upon the first time they’d had sex, near the ocean in the Neried village of Atlantis. She looked dazed, unsure of what she felt or how to deal with it. Lifting her hand to his face, she stroked his cheek and opened her mouth to speak….

A scream of terror echoed from the village square.

Kat’s hand fell away, and she grabbed her shotgun. “They’re here.”

Nodding, Hades retrieved his weapon from the ground but glanced at her once more. “Stay alive.”

“I always do.” With that, she turned and jogged to the side of the church just as two Dwellers came charging out of the trees.

K
at fired a round into a female Dweller as she came running and screaming toward her. The shell put a huge hole in the woman’s stomach, and she went down like a sack of hammers. The other one sidestepped his fallen comrade and ran straight toward Kat, his teeth bared and a long, lethal knife in each hand.

Without pause, Kat pumped another round into her shotgun and shot the crazed man just as he was about four feet away. Blood spray misted her face as the bullet went through his neck, nearly decapitating him.

Out of immediate danger, Kat risked a look behind her at Hades. He had just finished dispatching a Dweller brandishing a gun. The guy lay dead on the ground, half his face missing, obviously too slow for Hades’ quick reflexes. Hades glanced up and met her gaze. A slow, sexy smile spread over his face, and he winked.

Shaking her head, she wanted to laugh at his playful demeanor. But as her lips were starting to lift, more screams and gunfire broke into her thoughts. There was a war going on. The last thing she should have been doing was musing about how sexy Hades was and how she desperately wanted to be held in his arms.

Relationships. This was exactly why she didn’t have any. They muddled her brain.

Pumping more shells into her gun, Kat nodded to him. “I’m going around front. Sounds like we’re losing the fight.”

“Do you need more shells?” he asked, reaching into his jacket pocket.

She shook her head as she got moving. “Keep ’em; you might need them.”

“Kat.”

She paused and looked over her shoulder. She could see the anguish on his face, and it nearly made her turn around and run to him.

“Be careful.”

She nodded, unable to form the words she really wanted to say. They would be pointless now, she thought. Without waiting for a response, Kat ran down the side of the church and into the village square, where it looked like a bloodbath was taking place.

As she rounded the corner, she pulled the trigger and took down a Dweller just as he was about to bite into one of the gunmen kneeling in the dirt. When the assailant dropped, a big hole in his chest, the gunman looked up at her, his eyes glazed over as though he couldn’t believe what had just happened to him. She didn’t have time to explain, especially as two more Dwellers came rushing toward her.

She pumped another round and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. She pulled on it again. Still no bullet came rushing out. The Dwellers were barely six feet from her and grinning—they had realized her gun had jammed.

Letting her gun fall to the side, Kat wrapped her hands around two of her metal stars on her belt.

Lifting her arms quickly, she released the throwing stars, sure of her aim while under pressure.

Without watching where the lethal metal stars landed, Kat continued through the square, taking stock of the situation as she stepped gingerly over fallen villagers. She didn’t even pause when she heard the satisfying thud of two more Dweller bodies dropping to the ground.

She approached two of the villagers making their stand near the stone well in the middle of the square. One of them was the marshal.

He didn’t look up from reloading his rifle as she approached. It was obvious he had enough battle experience to know the difference between enemies and friends when they neared. If she had been one of them, the marshal would already be dead.

She turned and put her back to them, making a battle triangle with theirs. “How are we doing?”

she asked as she surveyed the grounds, taking in the few mutilated bodies that were once villagers.

“Six gunmen down. Five of us left, not including you and Hades.”

“Hades is still in back, hoping more don’t come out of the trees.”

“How many are there, do you reckon?”

Kat glanced around the square and to the surrounding buildings that made great places to hide.

“I’ve taken out at least six, Hades two, maybe; I see another four or five on the ground.” She grabbed the handle of her whip and uncoiled the leather, dragging it over her palm. “Another ten, maybe, give or take two or three.”

The marshal glanced over his shoulder at her. “By god, I hope you’re wrong.”

“Me, too.” Kat flicked out her whip, preparing for the next onslaught.

But the next assault didn’t come.

They stood in the square, the three of them, backs to backs, waiting for another rush of Dwellers to come screaming out of the dark. But it didn’t happen. They stood there watching and waiting for what felt like a half hour. Kat shook with nervous energy. What was going on?

“Did they leave, do you think?” the other lawman asked.

“No.” Kat said, peering into the black shadows surrounding them. “They won’t stop until they’re all dead or we are.”

As they waited, Kat could hear the pounding of the others’ hearts and smell their fear like a cloying perfume in the air. Afraid it might arouse her, she tried not to inhale, but she couldn’t hold her breath for long. The aroma of both men’s sweat and panic sent illicit shivers over her body.

Biting down on her tongue, Kat tried to focus on watching for any sign of an attack in the proximate area. She could feel pressure behind her top eyeteeth where her fangs threatened to pop out from the flesh on the roof of her mouth. Every moment proved to be harder and harder to resist the delicious smells emanating from her two companions and from the bloodied bodies nearby. Soon, she knew, the aromas would get the better of her, her fangs would descend, and she would need to satisfy her hunger any way she could, or she would go mad.

She wished Hades were near. He would keep her from going off the deep end. He would keep her sane.

Just as she thought of him, she heard his voice loud and clear as he came running around the side of the building. “They’re going for the church!”

The sound of shattering glass and an ear-piercing feminine scream confirmed his dread-filled statement.

Kat moved like lightning toward the wooden building. As she raced up the front steps, Hades was there trying to knock down the door.

“It’s still barricaded from inside.” He kicked the door again. The wood splintered but showed no sign of giving way.

Kat ran around the side. Two of the stained-glass windows about eight feet up were shattered.

Pieces of the colored glass crunched beneath her boots. Without waiting for help, she scrambled up the wall, finding hand-and footholds in the logs of the building. Once at the broken window, she glanced down. Hades was making his way up the wall to the other opening.

Cradled on the window ledge, Kat waited for him. They would go in together, just like old times, guns blasting, knives flinging. She smiled, remembering the last time they had made a stand together. It hadn’t been pretty, but they had managed to cut down the bad guys and make their escape.

“Having a good time?” he asked as he tried to stuff his wide, powerful frame into the window’s small opening.

“I was just thinking about the last time we had this much fun together.”

Hades grinned, his dimples winking. It made Kat’s heart trip. “Yeah, good times.”

“Yeah,” she agreed, thinking not of the actual battle but of the afterward, when they were alone in her run-down room in the dilapidated warehouse. She had let her guard down then, letting him in. Their lovemaking had been fierce and passionate and laden with unspoken emotions neither one had the guts to voice.

Then she had left him.

Just as she was sure she was going to do again. Their relationship was impossible. Too many horrific things had come between them, the biggest being her slow transformation into the very creatures they were about to slaughter. Well, hopefully slaughter.

“Ready?” he asked.

“Always.”

With slow, awkward movements, he turned on the ledge and looked down into the church.

“Now, let’s get in there, kill some Dwellers, save the people, and then I’ll take you to Inferno City to find the fucking cure.” With another saucy grin, he winked. “Any questions?”

Before she could voice her arguments, Hades jumped through the smashed window into the church.

Bastard
, she thought.
He always manages to get the last word
. With that, she unsheathed one of her daggers, spun it in her hand, and followed him down into what she was sure was a waiting ambush.

When she landed, Hades was already up and blasting away at two Dwellers rushing toward him.

This gave her time to survey the situation.

Another two vampyres had the group of women, children, and elderly cowering in the corner near the front altar. Two torn bodies were behind the attackers, lying like forgotten waste on the wooden floor, blood still oozing from their horrific wounds.

The sight of the savaged women made Kat’s stomach roil in disgust and anguish and, God help her, a little bit of hunger. She lifted her gaze from them and caught sight of something that gave her some hope, if only a slight glimmer.

Mary stood at the front of the villagers waving a hefty piece of wood at the approaching Dwellers. The wood was bloodstained. That lifted Kat’s lips in a smile. Obviously the woman had gotten in a few good shots. She was brave; Kat would give her that.

Taking a step forward, Kat yelled at the two growling creatures. “Hey, assholes!” She unraveled her whip and snapped it on the floor. “Why don’t you come over here and play with me for a while.”

They turned and grinned at Kat. Not a good sign.

Before Kat could even take another step, one of the Dwellers ducked under Mary’s swinging stick and grabbed her around the neck, pulling her away from the other villagers and into the aisle where Kat had positioned herself.

Shit
.

Kat hadn’t expected the move. It was so unlike them to actually think. They had a hostage. One she was not sure if she could sacrifice to get to them. Were they able to sense her feelings? If Baruch were there, he would have no doubt of her emotional state and would have picked Mary for that exact reason.

“Hello, Hell Kat,” the Dweller holding Mary whined, little pointed teeth sticking out between his thin, cruel lips. “Remember me?”

Kat stared at the little ratlike man as memories flooded her head like water through a tap. Oh, yeah, she remembered him all right. Sometimes she could still feel his fingers inside her mouth.

And taste the blood rushing down her throat when she had bitten off two of his fingers.

“I thought I killed you, little man.”

“Baruch resurrected me.”

“How lucky for us,” she said, trying to keep his focus on her and not on Hades as he inched his way along the side.

Sar’s partner was busy growling and hissing at the cowering villagers like a demented cat and not at all concerned about what was going on.

“I’d tell your big boy to stop moving unless he wants me to rip out this bitch’s throat.” Sar squeezed his hand tighter around Mary’s neck, purposely digging his long nails into her flesh.

Fresh hot tears leaked from Mary’s eyes as she implored Kat with her terrified expression to rescue her.
I’m trying, woman
, Kat thought.

Hades stopped midstride but never lowered his shotgun. He glanced at Kat, and she could see the rage in his face. She had a bad feeling this was not going to end well for any of them.

“What do you want?” she asked Sar, knowing he hesitated to slaughter the rest of the villagers for a reason. And that reason, she was sure, had everything to do with her.

“You, of course. Baruch wants you back,” he sniveled.

Just hearing
his
name sent shivers down her back. She remembered too well how it felt when his hands had been upon her body. She cringed inside. Not from fear but something far more dangerous….

Desire.

“Fuck him.” She tightened her hold on the whip, preparing to strike. “And fuck you, too.”

“We’ll let the rest of the villagers live if you come back with us,” Sar said in a rush, probably worried that Kat would initiate an attack and he would have failed bargaining with her on Baruch’s behalf.