Unseen (The Heights, Vol. 1) (24 page)

“Addison!” Rhyse yanked her around to get her
attention. “You must get out. Quickly.”

“How?” The drapes around the front doors were
already on fire. Only those who’d been right next to the exit
before the blaze started could’ve gotten out. Everyone else was
already being pushed back by the flames. Any second, they would
understand that they were trapped and had to find another way to
escape.

Rhyse handed her a key. “This unlocks the
door over there.” He pointed all the way across the room to a door
painted to blend into the wall. “Behind a Van Gogh is the entrance
to a tunnel leading outside. I will meet you at your horrible
little apartment.” Then he kissed her. “Lock the door behind you.
Protect yourself. Do you understand? No one matters more than
you.”

“But—”

“Go.”

“What are you going to do?”

He looked
way
too amused for the
situation. “It has been a very long time since I have fought a
demon. There is far too much fun to be had before the evening ends.
Now go, before I hurt you.”

She hurried across the dance floor, beings of
all kinds knocking her in every direction as they searched for a
way out and ducked from balls of fire being hurled at them from
above. Bodies were already littering the floor, but she refused to
look down, just in case she recognized one of them. And she had to
stay low and move slower than she wanted to, so none of the demons
would notice her. All factors that turned the trip from one side of
the room to the other into a damn epic journey of survival.

When she was a few feet from the door,
someone careened into her from behind. Only by turning her head at
the last minute did she avoid slamming into the door nose-first,
her cheek hitting instead.

Fuck
. She was probably bleeding. Her
blood was dangerous on her face, but if she wiped it off with her
hands, it would be even more so. Even if all the vamps had already
phased out, other races were attracted to the scent of blood. Super
big turn-on for the supers, the scent of blood. Add that to the
enormous list of reasons why she needed to get out of here.

As soon as she shoved the key in and turned
the knob, the door was ripped out of her hand. The were would’ve
gone right through the wood if Addison hadn’t so kindly opened it
for the bitch. Other beings rushed past her, pushing her farther
and farther from the only escape. She glanced behind her, hoping to
locate another, instead spotting a group of seers just standing
there as if they were cornered animals.

“There’s no corner!” she screamed, waving her
hands to get their obviously limited attention. “Come on!” She
followed that up with some more colorful expressions and creative
name calling. When they
still
didn’t budge, she ran over to
them and grabbed whatever she put her hands on. “You are going to
die if you don’t move. Do you understand that?”

Jumping, waving her arms and shouting
obscenities wasn’t working with the seers, but any second now it
was going to get her noticed by a demon or two. So as gently as she
could, she used her feet, not landing any of her kicks, but using
whatever she had to scare them into moving.

“
Please
, you have to go. You’ll all
die if you stay here. Please!” Finally, one of them ran towards the
open door and the entire group followed him.

“It’s about fucking time!”

“Get out of here, Addison!” someone yelled.
She tried. She really, really tried, but there were too many beings
trying to squeeze through the same door at the same time. And
because she was bleeding, getting too close to
anyone
was
dangerous. There had to be another door.

She spun around again, scanning the room, and
saw Logan. Even though his back was to her, that stupid champion
outfit made him easy to recognize.

“Logan, run!” But he didn’t. The big idiot
didn’t run away. He stood in the middle of the action, right by
Rhyse and Micah. The room was in complete chaos, overrun with panic
and fire and the wicked laughter of demons.

Rhyse and Graham seemed to be arguing about
something. Addison blinked and Rhyse was gone. No, he’d phased.
Appearing inches away from his marshal, he shoved him to the ground
and snatched the arm of a demon who’d nearly grabbed Graham from
behind. The pain must have been excruciating, but Rhyse only
grimaced before hurling the creature against the nearest wall. It
slowed the demon down but didn’t stop him.

Addison screamed Rhyse’s name when she saw
the demon rally. But Rhyse seemed to already be anticipating the
next attack, knocking him into another wall even harder.

Okay, so he seemed to be able to take care of
himself pretty well without Addison’s pathetic help.

Angels disappeared with their arms wrapped
around whoever they could reach and reappeared with empty arms
moments later. The alpha werewolf and a few of his kind were
alternately pushing people out of the way and trying to put out
fires near the door so others could pass. But this was no ordinary
fire—this was demon fire, about a hundred times more unpredictable
and hard to extinguish.

“I told you to get out!” Rhyse’s eyes were
large and furious when he caught hers.

“I’m trying!”

“Try harder!”

She tripped over a body, catching herself
with one hand, feeling human skin under hers. It was a woman’s
hand. And it moved. Addison grabbed the woman’s arms and dragged
her towards the door, simultaneously watching how the demon war was
playing out.

Rhyse, Micah, Logan, and Graham formed a wall
between the demons and all the beings who couldn’t transport
themselves out of this mess. They were going to get themselves
killed. All of them.

An angel standing by the front door shoved
his hands directly into the flame and parted it, steam billowing
out all around him. A few beings knew what to do and ducked past
him, hurling themselves through the open door. When others realized
the escape had opened up again, more and more of them ran towards
it, knocking the angel forwards. As soon as his hands fell, the
curtains of flames repositioned themselves, lighting whoever they
touched on fire.

Everyone who was running that way turned
around and ran in every
other
direction, including in
Addison’s. She moved as fast as she could, but the woman she was
dragging was dead weight and would only be deader if Addison left
her to be trampled.

When she finally got back to the door, it was
closed and the key was gone. “Damn it!” She hefted the woman’s body
as far away from the fight as she could, then rattled the knob,
pounded on the door, and screamed for someone to open it. She
wouldn’t have expected a super to care, but what about the other
seers? The ones she’d helped avoid getting slaughtered? “Open the
door!”

“Addison?” Dawn’s head was bleeding, and she
couldn’t stop blinking as she stumbled along the wall. Half of her
dress was missing, the edges melted.

“If I can find the key to the door, I can get
you out,” Addison said as calmly as she could, knowing Dawn was
hearing every other word. Tops. “I need you to help me find the
key. Okay?”

And the answer was…no answer. Dawn stared
blankly at Addison as she slumped into an antique chair, her eyes
falling to half-mast.

“I’ll get you out. We’re not going to die
here.” Hopefully.

The key had to be somewhere. Addison’s gaze
darted around the floor, searching for a flash of metal. She fell
to her hands and knees, looking under chairs and everywhere else
she could. But all she saw were bodies and fire and fear.

She screamed as nails dug grooves into the
back of her neck. She was yanked off the floor by her hair, and
then slammed against the wall. Her body went limp, her mind and
vision blurred.

“Open the door.” The were towered over her in
all directions, no more than two inches separating them.

“I can’t.” She had to yell to be heard over
the noise. The pressure of the increased volume felt like a spear
being shoved into her head. “I don’t have the key.”

“I saw the Prime give it to you, so open the
fucking door!” His beast began to surface, his eyes darkening, his
lips curling up to make room for longer teeth.

“Why would I still be here if I had it?”
Pinned between him and the wall, her only way out was to convince
him she wasn’t lying. “Someone knocked it out of my hand.”

Unconvinced, he shoved her chin up so hard,
her feet lifted until only the tip of one toe still touched the
ground.

“I don’t have it.” Without any air, her voice
was barely a whisper.

“Useless seer bitch,” he growled, his voice
altering as his nose and jaw elongated into a muzzle.

She felt the earth under her feet again and
even got a good breath in before he moved to strike. She couldn’t
duck fast enough, only throwing off his aim by a few inches. His
teeth dug into her skin where her neck met her shoulder, instantly
immobilizing her body as if he’d just flipped her on/off switch.
Someone called her name. Then the were yelped and was gone, his
body flying across the room and hers slowly…sliding…down…the
wall.

Strangely, the pain wasn’t as bad as she
would’ve thought. Or maybe it was
so
bad her mind had
already red-zoned and stopped feeling anything. Nope, it wasn’t
that. She definitely felt the ground hit her ass. Or was it the
other way around? Was the room moving or was she?

She looked down at all the blood. That was
hers, and it ruined her dress.
I liked this dress…wanted to keep
it…wanted to keep that blood too.
She tipped over, unable to
sit up anymore, even with the wall helping.

Shit. I’m dying right now. I kinda thought
that wouldn’t happen.
The last thing she would ever see was the
ceiling. Wait. Was Rhyse. She smiled up at his beautiful face. Even
though it was a hallucination, it was way better than the ceiling.
Then it bit the underside of its wrist.

“Drink from me.”

Her smile grew. It could speak. “You’re
sickeningly handsome, you know that?” It reacted with only a slight
grimace. Maybe it didn’t hear her. “You’re—”

“Addison, take my blood, or you will
die.”

“Noooo.” She shook her head. “That’s
gross.”

“Drink, but do not move. Our blood cannot
mix. Do you understand?”

Not at all.

He tore at his wrist again and put it an inch
above her mouth. Blood dripped onto her cheek when she turned away.
“Open your mouth.” Not really knowing why, she did. “You will enjoy
it, I promise.”

A drop landed on her lip.
Eww
. She
tried to get it off with her tongue and then realized what a stupid
mistake that—

Oh, shiiiiiit.
She opened wider as his
blood poured in, instantly knocking her out of her stupor, tossing
her into a whole new stupor—a
way
better one. When he
lowered his arm onto her lips, her tongue snaked out for more. Just
to taste his skin, to taste him. When she felt a drip escape her
mouth, she formed a seal covering the gash, so none of him would be
wasted.

Heat filled her body. Heat and pleasure and
lust and satisfaction and confidence, as if nothing could ever hurt
her again as long as she had this. And life was wonderful and
simple because all she needed was this.

They moaned in tandem, and she knew it would
feel exactly the same when he sank his cock into her. That moment
of stillness when two people come together in pleasure, unwilling
to move for fear the sensation would end if they did. Before the
feeling changed and the need for friction grew to an overwhelming
level. Like now. She didn’t
need
to suck but she did,
wanting to pull him inside her however she could. Deeper. Until he
filled her completely.

He held her eyes, his lips mirroring the
pulls hers were making. If she didn’t stop, she would come right
here. She didn’t want to stop. Ever.

He closed his eyes and sighed. “Enough.”

Not even close to being enough.
Theoretically, women could have multiple orgasms. And a theory
should always be tested.
Now seems like a good time.
Her
hips searched for his, but they were so far away.

“Enough, Addison,” he groaned. “Please…no
more.”

She whimpered as he tore his wrist away from
her. He leaned forward as if to kiss her but stopped.

“You will not leave me until I have felt you
come around my cock as many times as I desire you to.”

What a great idea.
She felt herself
nod, her body melt into the floor.

He looked at her with pained eyes, and she
wondered if she’d hurt him. “But not now.” Her disappointment hit
as hard as the realization of where they were and why now was a bad
time.

Right
. She jolted up, wondering why
she’d ever thought she was going to die. She’d never felt bett—Oh
crap, she just drank his blood.
Gross
.

“Your power and I have guaranteed the
werewolf will not bother you again,” he said. “But if the demons
get hold of you,
they
will. I have told you repeatedly to
leave. This time, listen to me.” Before she had a chance to tell
him about losing the key, he disappeared, back to join the other
idiots still fighting.

On wobbly legs, she looked for something to
hide behind. The drapes were no good. She’d be charcoal if the fire
came to this side. The chairs wouldn’t keep a blind man from
finding her. There was no safe place. She shook Dawn awake enough
to do an assisted stagger while she pulled the unconscious woman to
a tiny alcove. The demons seemed to be focused on the action around
the doors—avoiding attacks by Rhyse and others while still being
free to abuse beings as they tried to flee.

Addison turned the woman over to check if she
was still breathing and recognized the seer she’d spoken to
earlier. “Parker.” Addison helped Dawn scoot as close to the wall
as they could get and then propped Parker against it, tucking her
legs underneath her so they wouldn’t be sticking out. Then, she
crouched down in between the two seers and prayed.