Inferno-Kat 2 (7 page)

Kat let out the breath she was holding and swore. Why did it always have to come down to this?

A life for a life. Well, in this case, hers for several, including the woman Sar still held deftly by the throat, blood starting to trickle down the side where he had dug in his nails.

Glancing at Hades, Kat tried to read his thoughts. He met her gaze, but she couldn’t tell what he was thinking. She could see the anger in his face, but she wasn’t close enough to see his true emotions in his eyes. Would he tell her to sacrifice herself for the villagers? People he had come to know and like? She knew that if it were Hades, there would be no question, no hesitation. He would easily give himself up to save the others. He was selfless like that, even if he didn’t want to admit it. But was she?

In the past she would have said no. Now she couldn’t be so sure. Somewhere along her last travels, she had changed. For the better? Possibly. But it wasn’t helping her out personally in any way.

She turned her gaze back to Sar. He was bouncing from foot to foot anxiously, still squeezing Mary’s throat in a long, taloned fist. Damnit! Was there any way she could save herself and these people, too? She really didn’t want to go back to Baruch. She didn’t know if she’d be able to escape this time, not with her mind or body intact. He was too powerful, too seductive. What if being with him again made her transformation complete and she turned into a Dark Dweller, feeding on the blood of the innocent?

She needed more time to think, more time to plan. There had to be a way out of this. She could take the two of them out before they could hurt anyone else.

Before she could formulate a definite plan, Sar’s loopy partner put a shiny piece of metal in his mouth and blew. A loud, piercing sound blasted through the church. Kat cringed at the earsplitting noise. What was he doing?

It took only a few moments before she knew.

Several more Dwellers jumped into the church through the broken windows. It was no longer a fair fight. She had just run out of time.

“You have ten minutes to decide.” He leaned into Mary’s hair and took in a deep breath, smelling her. “Or this bitch and everyone else dies. And I’ll still take you to Inferno where Baruch is waiting.”

Inferno
. Baruch was in Inferno City.

Kat dropped her whip. “You have a deal.”

As she spoke, she looked at Hades. He was beseeching her, shaking his head. She glanced away from him, not wanting to witness the agony in his face. It ripped at her heart. She knew what she was doing.
She hoped
.

Grinning, Sar released Mary, pushing her to the ground. Kat watched her slump on the wooden floor, struggling for breath, blood still trickling down her neck to drip on her skirt. The woman lifted her head and met Kat’s gaze. Mary didn’t need to speak for Kat to know the relief she felt.

She could see it in the woman’s wide, tear-filled eyes.

“You know, you’re not as tough as I thought you were,” Sar snarled as he scurried toward her like a cockroach. “I thought for sure you’d refuse the offer and fight to the end.”

“Well, I’m happy to disappoint you, dickhead.”

When he was close to her, she snapped at him with her teeth. Flinching, he nearly fell to the floor in fear. That brought a wide grin to Kat’s face. The little rat was definitely afraid of her.

Hopefully that would aid her in the future. She didn’t plan to remain a prisoner. Just long enough to get to Inferno City.

“Hold out your arms,” Sar demanded when he gained his composure.

Kat raised her arms to the sides, knowing that was not what he had in mind when he asked.

The slap across the face came so quickly, she didn’t have a chance to duck. Blood trickled down her cheek to pool at the corner of her mouth from the cut near her left eye. Kat licked it away and grinned. It wouldn’t take much to antagonize Sar and force him to make a mistake. She filed that interesting piece of information for later, too, where she knew she would need it.

“Put them together,” he snarled.

Letting her arms fall back to her sides, Kat then lifted them straight out in front of her. Sar took another step toward her, but he stopped, wide-eyed with a look of outrage on his pinched face.

She guessed he wasn’t expecting the two throwing stars launched from her hands that found their marks perfectly, downing two Dwellers. That was his first mistake.

His second was not seeing the boot coming toward his groin. It served him right for not paying attention. She almost smiled when he went down to his knees, his hands uselessly trying to soothe his pain.

Screams of terror from the cowering villagers echoed around her. But she blocked them out. She had to if she wanted to finish what she started. Nothing would stop these foul creatures from killing the villagers. It was their nature to destroy without thought or feeling. To trust them now would be foolish.

Unsheathing her knife from her thigh strap, Kat moved like the wind toward Sar. Grabbing his hair, she yanked up his head and put the knife to this throat, preparing to slide it in.

But something gave pause to her hand.

Glancing up, she spied Hades in the corner, three Dwellers holding him down and a gun to his head.

“Let Sar go and we won’t blow his head off.” This from the vampyre jamming Hades’ own shotgun into his temple.

Still gripping Sar’s hair, Kat glared down at him. Blood beaded on his neck where her blade pushed in. Oh, how she wanted to jab it in, to see the light from his beady black eyes go out. She could almost taste the kill on her tongue like freshly churned honey. Sweet. Delectable.

Sar’s lips lifted up in a grin. He already knew what she was going to do.

Dropping her knife hand, she pushed Sar away. He stumbled back, falling to his hands and knees. Locking eyes with Hades, she sighed, shaking with bridled fury. She’d been so close to unleashing the beast inside, she hadn’t stopped to think. Hades was strong, stronger than any man she knew, but not strong enough to take out three or more Dwellers.

Chuckling, Sar stood. Blood still trickled down his neck where she’d cut him. She had some small satisfaction in seeing that trail of crimson. But it wouldn’t be enough. By playing her emotions, she had let them win. Emotions completely and utterly tied to Hades. She couldn’t watch him die knowing that she could stop it.

Deep down inside, she knew they wouldn’t keep their word. They were going to kill everyone anyway. But the small fleeting hope that Hades would live, that she could stop his death, stayed her hand at Sar’s throat. If her retreat could mean a few more hours of his life, she’d give it freely.

Sar tossed her a pair of metal handcuffs. “Put them on.”

Kat sheathed her knife and then clasped the shackles around her wrists.

Once she was restrained, Sar began to take her weapons, stripping off her utility belt, knife holsters on each thigh and ankle, and her shotgun. When he was done, Kat felt quite naked and vulnerable. She watched in dejection as the other Dwellers stripped Hades of his weapons, too.

He kept her gaze as he handed over knives, his gun, and shells. She could see the awareness on his face. Awareness of their demise.

“Well, now that that is taken care of,” Sar said, “we can be on our way.” He grabbed hold of Kat’s wrists and pulled her toward the door. She wanted to kick him in the back and snap his spine in half. She hoped she’d get the chance.

“Get all the villagers in here, and barricade the door.” Grinning, he glanced over his shoulder at Kat. “We also need to take care of your boyfriend. Can’t have him following us, now, can we?”

Kat knew it was coming, but, still, the first punch across Hades’ jaw caused her to turn and jerk out of Sar’s grip. She didn’t get very far before Sar and his stupid partner were on her back, holding her down, forcing her to watch the beating. After Hades had finally fallen to the floor, Kat closed her eyes and gritted her teeth until she could taste blood in her mouth.

Sar would pay for that, too.

An hour later Kat was in the back of the Dwellers’ transport, chained to the roll bar. All the villagers were barricaded inside the church. Bound at the wrists behind his back, Hades was sitting on a horse tied to the vehicle, with a noose around his neck. The solid rope was tied securely over a thick branch of the tallest oak tree in the town square. He had survived the beating, but it was all for naught as he sat waiting to be hung.

His face was all cut up, his right eye swollen shut. Kat could tell he favored his right side by the way he sat on the horse. She imagined he had a few broken ribs. As she had watched them string up Hades, Kat agonized over how this could have been avoided. Was this her fault? Could she have saved him, the villagers, and herself all at the same time? Why did there always have to be a sacrifice?

With an aching heart almost too painful to endure, she held Hades’ gaze. She couldn’t turn away.

She respected him too much not to bear witness. And loved him too much not to stay with him to the very end. Yanking on the chain, she tried to break free. That did nothing but bloody her wrists. She pulled and twisted until she slumped to the metal bed of the vehicle, too exhausted and sore to stand.

Sar jumped into the transport and slid into the passenger’s seat in front of her. “It’s time to go, little Kitty Kat. Say good-bye to your boyfriend.”

Kat swung around her head and glared at Sar. She had some small satisfaction when he flinched.

“I will make you pay for this, rodent,” she growled low and menacingly. “Baruch will not be able to resurrect you from the tortuous hell I will put you in.”

Without waiting for a response, Kat turned back, wrapped her hands around the chain holding her to the roll bar, and heaved herself up. She couldn’t leave Hades while on her knees. He deserved her full attention.

“Kat?” Although hoarse and gruff, her name on Hades’ lips sounded like melodious music.

“Yeah?” She kept her voice even and calm, although she wanted to weep and rage until every last Dweller lay dead at her feet.

“This isn’t over,” he grunted. “I’ll find you again, and we’ll play ping-pong with these fuckers’

balls.”

Tears falling, she choked, “I can’t wait.”

“Tell me you love me one time before you go.”

Her heart clenched as if squeezed in his fist. She could hardly breathe with the agony of it. Tears streamed freely now. She was powerless to resist them any longer. She had been fighting with her emotions for far too long. For Hades she would release them. For Hades she would break down and sob. For Hades she would do anything.

“I love you.”

He grinned then. Through the blood, she could see the dimple at the side of his full, sensuous mouth wink at her. She had always loved his smile. It was sexy and mischievous, just like him.

Now it was full of love and sorrow. “I know.”

“How fucking touching,” Sar grunted. He stood up in the transport and waved his hand back and forth. “Too bad it’s for nothing.”

Within seconds Kat witnessed four flaming arrows soaring through the sky to land on the wooden roof of the church. She didn’t panic until she saw two red jerricans of gasoline tilted on their sides on the front steps.

Struggling against her chains, she screamed, “You cock-sucking son of a bitch! I’m going to fucking rip out your spine with my bare hands!”

Chuckling, Sar said, “Did you really think we’d let them live?” He patted the transport driver on the shoulder. “Let’s roll!”

With that, the transport roared to life and pulled away, tugging the horse with it.

Kat watched in horror as the animal walked out from under Hades and left him swinging by the neck with the church starting to burn behind him.

“No!” She yanked on her bindings again. She pulled and twisted until blood poured down her arms and dripped onto the vehicle. She pulled until a chain link burst. She pulled even more, but it wasn’t enough.

The metal held, and she fell to her knees, unable to hold in her grief any longer. As the transport sped up, she continued to watch as Hades struggled against the rope. She prayed to God that the branch would break. That it was not strong enough to support his weight.

But it held.

And Kat couldn’t watch anymore. She closed her eyes and curled into a ball as agonizing sobs racked her body.

I
am going to die.

The thought circled his mind as Hades continued to struggle against the rope choking him. The more he struggled, the tighter the noose became. But he couldn’t stop and let death take him.

He’d been a fighter for too long to let go so easily.

His head pounded like a drum, especially behind his bulging eyes, as his air supply dwindled.

Thankfully he had a solid neck, but it wasn’t thick enough to keep the heavy rope from squeezing him like a vise. He had maybe another minute before he passed out and died.

He shouldn’t have let Kat make the deal. He knew the cowardly Dwellers wouldn’t keep their word. The sound of the raging fire behind him confirmed all his fears. He was going to die, so were the villagers, and so would Kat. He knew she wouldn’t allow them to take her to Baruch now. She would fight them the whole way and be shot down in the end.

Would they meet again in the afterlife? He certainly hoped so. There were many things he still needed to tell her.

Consumed by his maudlin thoughts, Hades almost missed the shape running through the town square. But he certainly saw the shotgun pointed at his head. Just as the blast resounded through the air, he closed his eyes and prepared for the end.

“Hades!”

Someone slapped him across the face. Was he in hell and the devil himself had come to wake him?

Slowly he opened his eyes.

A pale, young face with big brown eyes stared down at him.
Satan sure is scrawny looking. And
female?

“Take in some air, my friend. I need to save the villagers.”

Hades rolled over onto his side and sucked in much needed oxygen, which just caused him to cough and choke some more. Through the tears in his eyes, he watched as Leucothea rushed up the church steps and tore at the barricade blocking the doors. He didn’t think she’d be able to push the heavy timber out of the way before flames encompassed her.