The Ghost and the Darkness Volume 1 (The Fallocaust Series Book 2) (89 page)

I quickly put my jacket on... but I paused halfway through. “Wait a moment... Elish never told us you were on our... our side.”

Caligula pulled his ski mask back down over his face. “It was Reaver who saved Nico’s life. I repay debts I don’t make them.”

“But...”

Caligula held up a hand. “I have my reasons and they’re my own. Follow us, we have a Falconer waiting.”

That was good enough for me. I slipped and laced up my boots and followed them towards the door.

But as my hand touched the door frame I paused. I turned around and looked behind me at the apartment.

He would understand... and if he didn’t understand...

I turned from Garrett’s apartment and followed Caligula and Nico down the hall.

My engagement ring on the table.

Chapter 33

Jade

I snorted in my own cruel amusement as Deek looked around confused. The snow falling lightly around him, covering his grey coat in white dust.

The deacdog looked at me. And because he was the trusting, friendly dog he was, he wagged his tail.

So I did it again just to be a jerk.

I picked up some snow, the snow cooling my hot, flushed hands, and formed it into a ball.

“Okay, fetch!” I said trying to sound as excited as I could. I chucked the ball into the parking lot where it fell into the two feet of snow never to be seen in ball form again.

Deek lurched up on his back legs before running after it, kicking up snow into the air. But once he got to where the snowball was he stopped, his tail cautiously wagging.

He looked behind his shoulder at me; I looked away and glanced at the sky watching him look at the snow, perplexed.

I loved this dog; he was such a happy dumbass. I whistled him over and gave him a raver finger as a treat. Then I grabbed some wooden boards from the stack we had made in front of the lobby and made my way inside to find some warmth.

We had been hauled up in this lobby for at least ten days now and it had been the most stressful, aggravating days of my life. Though no one was really happy, everyone was getting cabin fever, itching to get back on the road. No one could believe the snow had lasted this long, it was unusual for Fallocaust weather.

So I took as much time as I could during the day to play with the dog, or go with the scavenging party to pry boards off of the interior of the hotel; anything to keep me occupied and to try and sway Killian away from Perish.

I hadn’t told Killian... I hadn’t told Killian what Perish had been doing to me.

I just –
I shook my head as I walked through the entrance of the lobby and towards the back room the three of us slept privately in.
I just couldn’t put that on the kid right now.

What could Killian do? We were stuck here in this lobby, and there was nothing we could do about it. If I told Killian I knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it from Perish he would confront him and right now, that was too dangerous.

I closed the door behind me and swept the dimly lit room with my gaze. I saw Perish and Killian in the corner playing Pokémon together.

Right now Perish was only seeking to control me; to use my own empath abilities against me. He wasn’t hurting Killian and I was afraid if I confronted Killian with proof that Perish would start hurting the boy. I knew I was walking a dangerous tight-rope with these two, but I felt like I had little choice. Elish would know what to do when he found us, when he came to get us with Reaver.

Was it the best of ideas? I didn’t know. Perish was constantly on me, constantly picking apart everything I did, and never missing a chance to belittle me. He liked pulling Killian aside to talk to him, warning him about me probably but...

I think we were okay as long as we were in the lobby. The scientist knew it was unsafe for him to do his by proxy killings right now, not with his precious Killian so close-by. If the slavers turned on us we were trapped here with them, no place to escape and no place nearby save the hotel that we could shelter in.

At least Perish was smart enough to know he couldn’t do his scopa control of me right now. I had that going for me and I think that was the push my mind needed to justify keeping my mouth shut.

I think this is what Elish would have wanted me to do...

Killian looked up at me with his bright, sunny smile. Though I knew it was fake, like all his smiles were lately. His aura was as toxic and dark as it had ever been, barely any of his bright sunshine yellows to be seen.

And Perish’s had been continuing to heal.

Lycos... Lycos, you idiot. Why couldn’t you have told Elish what you had done when you saw him?

I knew that answer though.

“Catching lots of Pokémons?” I put on a smile and pulled up my bedroll so I could join the group.

Perish, of course, gave me the stink eye before turning back to the Game Boy. I laid down and bundled myself up in blankets and stuck close to the fire. I always got cold easily. I had been enjoying my life as an inside pet.

The dog came over and lay beside me and as the evening went on we were treated to the smell of not only wet dog, but singed dog fur. Once he was dry though he made a great pillow. I had been using him as a pillow and a heat source since we had started on this journey.

Tonight would be a rare night for us. It wasn’t often that all three of us got an evening where we weren’t taking sentry shifts or on wood gathering duty. It was thanks to Hopper. He had decided that since we were all snowed in that the slaves might as well start helping. They were wood gatherers now which lessened the load on us.

So we got to be comfortable and warm in this back room. Even though the insulation was sparse it was closed in and also windowless, so it kept the heat in good. It was frozen enough outside for us to keep the fire on all night too. It was the most comfortable I had been in a long time.

Though, no matter how comfortable I was my ears were always listening for the Falconer. For Elish to come and find me and take me into his arms.

Even thinking about my master brought a twinge to my heart. I missed him and I missed his protection.

I watched the wooden boards burn in the fireplace; snapping and crackling as it consumed the over two hundred-year-old wood. I shifted closer to the small blaze and rested my head against Killian’s satchel.

Before Elish left... after I had jumped out of that plane with a parachute he had reminded me how joined we were. He showed me our matching wedding rings before taking me into his arms for the last time.

Out of earshot of the others he whispered to me.
“I love you and you know this. Now you must be strong and prove to me you are the chimera I know you are.”

He was making a point to be affectionate with me and I knew now it was because Elish knew he would be gone for a long time. My master and my husband knew that dangerous times were ahead for both of us.

“I love you, Elish. Please... come back for me soon.”

“I will.”

I could count the number of times he had outwardly said
I love you
to me. It hadn’t even been a year since the first time he had said it. This relationship, something that had grown beyond master and pet, had been new to him too.

I swallowed down the restricting feeling in my throat and closed my eyes as my heart gave a throb. Would he be proud of me that I wasn’t telling Killian about Perish? Would he have advised me to do this? I hope so.

Everything I was doing now was for him; it was for his end game, and I would die before I disappointed him.

This thought put a pressure on my brain. I squeezed my eyes and held my head feeling the first signs of a headache. To try and dispel the pain I knew was coming I buried my face into Killian’s satchel and drew the blankets over my head.

After a few minutes in blissful, silent darkness I heard Perish snort out a laugh. “All that pet does is sleep. Fucking lazy.”

“Perish!” I heard Killian snap. “I fucking told you to lay off him a thousand times. If you keep doing this I’m not playing Pokémon with you anymore.”

Great threat, Killian. But I guess that’s all Killian could really threaten... I appreciated the gesture all the same. I ignored Perish and tried to shut my ears off, though every time he said something his voice seemed to tweak and annoy the inner registers of my mind. I managed to push all outside stimulus away though, and with the fire warming my body I fell asleep.

Sometime in the night I was woken up by a needle in my skull.

Once again my body spasmed from the sheer surprise of it, before I felt a hand against my mouth.

“Shh, shh,” Perish soothed. He clenched my face in his hand before pushing down on the plunger. I groaned and bit down on Killian’s satchel as I felt the liquid get shot into my skull. Though it thankfully had no taste to it, it was still the water.

“There we go...” Perish whispered. I shifted my face away from his hand to get a deep breath. I inhaled cold air, the fire beside me burning down to smoldering coals. It was deep in the middle of the night and I could hear Killian snoring beside me.

“Go lay down!” Perish hissed and my mind picked up another sound. Deek growling. But with Perish’s dismissal I heard the dog patter away.

My face twisted when I felt his lips kiss my neck. I stared forward and tried not to show the disgust on my face. I wished for this to be nothing but a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from, but here he was... doing it again.

Now what did he want? What questions did he have now? Each kiss he laid on my neck left behind its own imprint of acid. Once again I asked myself how far I would let him go before I snapped.

“There we go... let it take you, you little whore.” I laid there limp and lifeless as he crawled on my back. I fixed my eyes on the back of Killian’s head as he lay there asleep. Even when I felt his hard penis grinding into my ass I didn’t shift or move. He hadn’t given me an order yet and I knew until the controller did... you didn’t move.

You stared off into space, you were helpless; a puppet on strings.

The scientist commanded me to lie on my back and I did. Then he proceeded to remove my pants and then underwear. I lay there exposed to him, soft and cold.

Perish trailed his tongue along my earlobe, before whispering into it. “Get on top of me.”

He wants me to fuck him again? If that was the worst thing I did tonight I would take it. As I had deduced before, I wasn’t a goody-goody. Elish would understand.

So Perish took my place and I straddled him. He drew me in and kissed me, then I felt his warm hands start to tug and rub my cock.

“Yes, get hard for me, little slut,” he whispered with a low growl to his voice. Like before, he had transformed into the normal, sane Perish. I was starting to think he was just pretending to be crazy most of the time now. Maybe it wasn’t something that came and went.

He growled and smiled at me, blue eyes brilliant and bright, holding small glows inside of them from the dying coals. “Now, draw up your aura”

My aura? No... if I do that he will do that immortal trick, the same one that Silas had. The dark smoke that fucks up your mind... no, fuck you, Perish. I’ll play your little game; I’ll let you molest me but I won’t say a fucking word to you about Elish’s plan or this sestic radiation shit you were asking about.

And as soon as this snow melts, I’ll show Killian my evidence I have on you and we’ll tie you to a fucking tree for the ravers to eat.

But until then... until then...

“I can’t anymore...” I leaned down and started rubbing my hardening dick against his hand. “My headaches...”

Perish stared at me for a moment, his brow furrowing. Then he drew me in for another kiss.

“Just a... hint for next time. People under the influence of scopa, do not talk back.”

My body froze as Perish kissed my lips, then suddenly he screamed at the top of his lungs. “KILLIAN!”

What!? Ice, more frozen than the landscape around us, coated and sunk into my body. I felt like I was going to throw up at the sheer horror of what I knew was about to happen.

Here I was naked from the waist down on top of Perish, grinding my hardening penis, not in his hands, he had withdrawn it... I was grinding myself right into his groin.

Perish pushed me off and screamed again. “Get off of me!”

Then Killian... Killian was shouting... a lump of sludge formed in my stomach because all I could do was stare at the two of them, paralysed in shock as they threw me down onto the floor.

“Why!” Killian cried. “Jade? Why!”

Perish was crying... what a great actor... he had crawled backwards until he hit the edge of an old couch we were dismantling for firewood. Tears streaming down his face. He was going to win an Oscar for this one.

“Killian, Killian... make him go away. Killian, Killian... he’s going to rape me like Nero.”