Collector: City In Embers Part 3

But he was the one who captured my attention. A large battle axe stuck up over his shoulder, harnessed across his back. The blade was so sharp it glinted under the streetlight. His dark blond hair looked long, but lines of tight braids were snug on either side of his head, causing the top to look like a Mohawk. His face was thick with stubble and hard cheeks and bones. He had a tattoo on one side of his neck, disappearing under his shirt. Scars lined both his eyebrows, causing me to wonder if they were on purpose. The man had to be at least six-three and two hundred pounds of solid muscle. He was harsh and terrifying-a modern Viking.

The man turned, his pale eyes stared through the window and locked with mine. Breath halted in my lungs. His irises were so light blue they looked white. The pinp.r.i.c.k of the black pupils secured the middle of the stormy sea. His focus caused me to shiver, and I closed my eyes under his intense gaze. When I opened them... the couple was gone.

FOUR.

"What the h.e.l.l?" My lids blinked to clear my version. Emptiness filled the s.p.a.ce the man and woman had taken up a moment earlier.

Daniel leaped out of the car and spun in every direction, his trained eyes searching for the vanished threat. His hand grasped his dart gun, his fingers twitching to respond. I jumped from the van, mimicking Daniel on the other side.

"You saw them, right?" Daniel touched the dent on the hood. "Where the h.e.l.l did they go? I've never seen fae disappear like they did."

I saw the Viking man briefly, but it was enough to imprint deeply in my mind. The outline he left was still in my sight, the fae magic thick and overpowering in him. With my familiarity of fae and different levels of magic each one held, I had never experienced anything close to him. It almost hurt to look. Not in the way it hurt to peer at the sun, but that he almost couldn't be held within my vision. It was a strange pressure. Visually, I had seen scarier creatures, but something about this man terrified me. He was not one you wanted to mess with.

The girl held magic, too, but compared to him, hers appeared dim. It was her beauty that sucked the air from you. She had worn skintight black pants and a long black sweater, which hung slightly off her shoulder. Her over-the-knee black boots only added to her sleek model frame. Even though she looked toned, she was tiny-boned, giving the appearance of being fragile. She seemed a little taller than me, but I had a lot more substance to my build. I was in shape and healthy from training, where a gust of wind might have knocked her over. She looked like she could be from someplace in the eastern block of Europe. She was exotic and beautiful, and I felt very ordinary in comparison.

An unsettling feeling wormed its way into my gut, and I reached into the car and grabbed my phone out of my bag, stuffing it into my pocket. We always kept them on us in case of emergencies or if we got separated. My feet led me away from the van, an impression telling me to head down an unlit alley.

"You sense something?" Daniel called. Sometimes I felt like a trained bloodhound. "You got their scent, girl?" I was waiting for him to pat me on the head.

With my dart gun ready, I nodded and followed my seer intuition. We reached opposite walls before peering down the gloomy lane. Clouds were rolling in, covering the light from the moon. Extra energy crackled in the air, hinting at rain and a possible thunderstorm. A dim light above the back door of a closed store at the end of the lane gave a little depth to the pa.s.sage. It was empty, but something told me to venture in. Without question, Daniel trusted my instincts and followed. We crept slowly down the way. The hair on the back of my neck p.r.i.c.kled in warning the farther we advanced. We were more than halfway along the alley when my skin tingled, the feeling of magic enveloping me. I had denied my sight for so long. But now I had let it out, it was like floodgates. It would never go back in.

I stopped.

"What?" Daniel whispered.

I bit on my lip and shook my head as I searched for the source of all the magic. My focus shifted to the wall we had been following. Something was off. My vision zeroed in on it, and slowly the wall broke away, evaporating into air. There was another small alleyway leading at a right angle from this one.

"Glamour." My hand reached for the wall, going through it.

Daniel's eyes widened. He blinked several times and shut his lids to rub them.

"Extremely powerful." Glamour was magic fae used to influence a person's mind. Other humans would not question the dead-end alley. Their mind would trick them into trusting what they saw. But if you had the sight, you could see through it. Once you stopped believing it was there, it broke the spell. One word from me put doubt in Daniel's mind, and now the illusion was broken for him, too.

"That will always disturb me." He stepped into the s.p.a.ce where the wall used to be. It was disturbing to be so certain of something, then find you were wrong, and your senses were misleading you.

We moved together down the narrow pa.s.sage. Everything in me was on high alert. The energy in the air and our surroundings unsettled me. It twisted in my gut; the feeling was not right. I was about to suggest we abort the mission and go for coffee and a slice of cake at the diner near the s.p.a.ce Needle when I heard voices-a lot of them.

Daniel touched my arm, taking a step in front of me. His protective civility kicked in when going into unknown territory-part special-ops training and part him. As the voices grew closer, their tone sounded angry and low. Slowly, outlines appeared. Fae had better sight and hearing than humans, so it was difficult to sneak up on them. With so many of them in one spot, we could have been in trouble. Daniel pushed us behind a dumpster and crouched low.

"This doesn't feel right," I whispered into his ear. He nodded but put up a finger-our sign for I want to check it out. I nodded but swallowed back the fear in my throat. I slipped my hand in my pocket, my fingers grazing my phone. It helped my nerves.

Daniel tapped at his ear and did a V-sign to his eyes. Listen and watch. We peeked around the bin. I instantly recognized the two fae from earlier. The scary Viking and the model stood opposite a smaller but toned red-headed man. Actually, anyone seemed small next to the Viking. The redhead had a matching beard covering his features. He appeared to be the leader. He had a dozen men, splitting their count on either side of him. As with most fae, they were all beautiful. They were unique and different from humans but not enough you could pinpoint.

"Give it to us, Ryker. You have done your job. Now hand over what the boss paid for," the man with the red hair said, his Irish accent so heavy I almost needed a translator.

The Viking's name was Ryker. Of course it was.

"Why won't he meet me in person?" Ryker shot back.

"You know he doesn't do business like that," Red said, patience thin in his voice. "Stop playing games and give us what is rightfully ours."

"Rightfully yours?" Ryker exclaimed. "I'm not stupid. I know what it is. It is something no one owns."

"Your intelligence is certainly in question if you think you can renege on our deal."

"Listen to yourself, Garrett," Ryker scoffed. "You are his trained lapdog, not his partner."

Garrett clasped his hands. "My patience is thinning, Ryker. Give us the stone."

Stone? Like a jewel?

Ryker's shoulders shifted back, fists clenched. In one movement, in a blink of an eye, everything shifted. Ryker shoved the woman back, drawing his broad axe from his back. At the same time Garrett screamed, "Cadoc, grab her!"

The brown-haired man farthest from Garrett and closest to the girl leaped out, a sword already drawn. The rest of the men jumped for Ryker.

The Viking swung, his huge arms flexing as he tried to control the blade's angle. It veered toward the group of men coming for him. All managed to escape the fierce blade heading their way. With a roar Ryker swung again, connecting with one of the men. Blood sprayed. A hoa.r.s.e scream curdled the night, and a body fell to the ground.

"Stop!" Garrett yelled. "You have already lost, Ryker." Garrett snapped his fingers, and the man named Cadoc moved from behind Ryker. Another form came with him as he held a knife to the girl's throat. Cadoc drew the two of them out of Ryker's reach. "Are you willing to sacrifice Amara's life for your stubbornness?"

Ryker froze, except for his arm. His axe went to his side. "Garrett, she has nothing to do with this."

A slow smile etched up Red's features. Then he looked at the wounded guy on the ground. "Get him up." Two of his men helped the groaning man. When they lifted him, half of his arm stayed where it was. My stomach constricted at seeing the detached body part. They dragged him back, surrounding him as they turned and faced the Viking.

"What's it going to be?" Garrett widened his arms in question.

Ryker shifted, looking at Garrett, then at Amara.

"Ryker, don't," she cried.

The Mohawked man's gaze was glued on the girl. "Amara." He stepped toward her. Her purple hair tangled around her arms as she reached for him. Cadoc tipped the edge of his knife deeper into her neck. Blood trickled off the blade. She grunted, forcing Ryker to stop in his tracks.

"This knife is goblin welded. If you want her to live, Ryker, you'll give us what we want." Cadoc gripped her tighter to him. "The stone is ours." He grinned and sniffed Amara's hair. "Right, sweetheart?"

Hatred narrowed her eyes, but she kept silent.

A rumble rolled over the increasing clouds. Lightning tore across the sky. A boom sounded where the light contacted with the earth. I couldn't see where it hit, but it was close enough to rattle the ground.

What the h.e.l.l?

"We got to get out of here," Daniel whispered in my ear, his gaze studying the sky.

I agreed wholeheartedly. This entire mission felt wrong from the start. Daniel's warm body stepped away from mine. The current stirring between our two forms when we were pressed together did not diminish when he moved away. The hair on my arms sang with the electricity in the air. Magic was growing denser.

Daniel touched his halter and held up two fingers, flipping them. Switch. I shoved my dart gun back in my belt and drew my fae gun.

"Leaving so soon?" a voice spoke above us, causing me to jump. "Look what we have here. Human spies." One of Garrett's men stood on top of the dumpster we were hiding behind, peering down at us. He had shoulder-length wavy blond hair and soft brown eyes filled with mischief. But not the fun kind. He was tall and lean and like most fae, very good looking. "You can't go. The party just got started."

Daniel whipped around and withdrew his real gun in one fluid movement.

The light-haired fae laughed. "That is so adorable."

Irritation spurred in my chest. Daniel and I had captured hundreds of fae during the last couple of years. This one was acting like we were no threat at all. My gun was out and pointed at the man. "Back off."

The man held up his hands and jumped down from the bin, landing silently. A smirk danced on his face. Daniel shifted around the guy, pressing the barrel to his back.

"We don't want trouble. I only want to get her out of here. Safe," Daniel said.

"No trouble?" The fae scoffed, his arms still up. But it didn't feel like he meant his surrender. "I know what you are. You create trouble."

"Maxen, we don't have time for you to play with them." Garrett sighed.

Maxen winked at me, then with speed hard to track he twisted and s.n.a.t.c.hed the gun from Daniel. With one hand he claimed his prize and with the other he punched Daniel. Hard. Daniel stumbled back but did not fall. His training had him jumping forward to fight the fae. We had gotten into plenty of fights with fae. We always won.

I kicked, connecting with Maxen's stomach. He folded over as Daniel's elbow crunched down on his back, hitting his kidney. Daniel's gun fell from Maxen's hand, clattering to the ground. Daniel swiped it up, smashing it into the back of the fae's head. The man fell, unconscious. Daniel was impressive in a fight. He was clean, controlled, and swift. Daniel pointed his gun at the rest of the fae and moved us back toward exit.

"I'm impressed. That never happens." Garrett clapped his hands slowly. His form now fully faced our way. We had captured his complete attention.

The sky flashed again, and lightning zigzagged across the dark, furious sky. Lightning storms were nothing new to Seattle, but everything about this one tickled at my seer senses. Its energy p.r.i.c.kled the back of my neck, triggering my intuition.

"Not here for your amus.e.m.e.nt." Daniel's voice broke through my fixed scrutiny of the storm. "Let's all leave here unharmed." My neck craned to look at him. He was motioning with his head for me to move toward the exit.

Garrett laughed and took a step toward us. My mind tried to evaluate the scene and figure out how we could escape. Running seemed to be our only option. It was a feeble plan, as we would have to run like h.e.l.l and hope they stayed behind with Ryker and his girlfriend.

My hand quaked only slightly as I held my handgun on Garrett. "Don't get any closer." Sometimes I sounded like a cop drama. "The bullets are fae-made. I will shoot to kill."

His eyebrow curved up. "The human has come to play, huh?" His accent again was so thick it was like walking through mud trying to make out what he was saying.

Daniel pushed his gun forward, the muzzle never wavering. "If you move one more step, I will show you how much we like to play."

The Irishman's smile curled the side of his mouth. "I love when your kind thinks they are on the same level as us." He winked at me.

It was my fault. I should have noticed Garrett was trying to distract me. If I had been doing my job, watching Daniel's back, I would have seen Maxen was not actually unconscious.

The body lying on the ground lurched up, his outline hazy with speed, and moved behind Daniel. It was a split second, but it felt more like years pa.s.sed, because my brain suddenly understood what was happening.

"Daniel!" I took a step toward him. "Noooooo..."

The man's hands s.n.a.t.c.hed Daniel's neck and twisted. The sound of a spine snapping echoed in my ears, each vertebrae popping like bubble wrap. Daniel's eyes widened with realization before his life fled from him. His body fell in a heap.

A blood-curling scream rang in the air-the sound of my heart being sliced in half. As if the storm felt my pain, a bolt of lightning hit the building next to us. The roof ignited with fire. Heat swept down on our group, but none of them seemed to notice.

My body was paralyzed; my eyes locked on Daniel. My mentor, the man I loved, my partner. Dead.

Chaos broke out around me in an indistinct blur. Yelling and movement circled me, but nothing mattered. I found myself on my knees beside Daniel, screaming at him to wake up. Irrationality took over. He'd be mad at me for letting my guard down. For not taking my chance and running. I was going to die. These men would kill me. But without him, I no longer cared. He had been my whole world.

Lexie. You have Lexie. I could hear him respond. The dream of him and me taking Lexie away and starting our family far away from this life had been the reason I kept getting up in the morning. Now the dream was gone.

A body landed next to me as the Viking tried to get to his girlfriend. "Ryker, get out of here," the girl repeated over and over. His answer was to growl and dive deeper into the throng of men. There were more of them than him. He was fighting a losing battle. The dozen men finally halted him with guns and knives pointed at his head and chest.

"Ryker, give us what we want, and you can go." Garrett strode to him, ignoring me. I was clearly little threat to Garrett, but I also knew he would not let me walk away from here. My gaze darted around the alley. My only escape was behind me, and I was sure I wouldn't get far. "You have my word."

"Your word is what I wipe my a.s.s with each morning, Garrett." Ryker's lip hitched up in a snarl.

Garrett's eyes glinted in amus.e.m.e.nt. "You don't trust me? I am so hurt." He took a methodical step closer to Ryker. "Where is the stone?"

Ryker's expression gave nothing away. He kept staring back like Garrett was a brick wall.

The reality of Daniel's death and my situation was sinking in. My fingers shook as I touched his face, lowering his lids. "I love you," I whispered. I never told him in words. I knew he knew, but the regret of never actually telling him sat heavy on my heart.

As the fae continued to argue, I a.s.sessed my escape options. I had been trained for situations like this, but if Garrett wanted me, I had no chance. If I must join Daniel, I would go down fighting. I gripped the b.u.t.t of my gun tighter. I was a collector, not a killer, but if I had to shoot every person in this alley to get Daniel's body out. I would do it.

My legs straightened to bring me to full height. I drew and aimed at Garrett's heart, using the huge Viking as a shield, my finger ready to pull the trigger. The special bullets were designed to kill fae. Eventually. Going straight into their blood stream, ultimately poisoning them.

Lightning continued to flare across the sky. Sirens blazed over the wind, the air crackling with energy. The top of the s.p.a.ce Needle peeked over the roofs of the alley we were in. The air was suffocating with a force and power I'd never felt. As I looked up, a rod burning with flames of blue and green ripped across the sky, slamming into the iconic monument.

A roar deafened me as the electricity hit the metal and reflected off the tower, directly for us. The bolt fixated on Ryker, slamming into the middle of his chest and throwing him back. It burrowed through him, exiting his back, and found its new target. Me.

My body was thrown in the air. Screams of agony wiggled in my throat, but never made it out. Pain so unreal shredded every nerve, every fiber of my being. White blinding light took over my eyesight. Something slammed into me and flung me to the ground. The sensation felt far off. Everything did.

I could not see or feel, but my hearing recovered enough to catch the shrill sound of metal tearing, bending, and twisting against itself. The whining torment of the structure went silent for a brief second before screams and frantic footsteps vibrated my eardrums.

"The Needle is coming down!"

"Run."

These were the only things I could hear before my body felt the ground move underneath. In the distance, I could make out a hazy outline of Seattle's s.p.a.ce Needle crashing in large chunks, heading for the earth below.

There were no words to explain the sound or the violence as the world shook and Seattle's icon made contact with the ground. The only thing I knew with certainty was I was going to die here.

I closed my eyes and waited for the end.

FIVE.