174075.fb2
"Janie—!" Quinn's voice was strangled. "Don't!"
But she didn't listen to him. Couldn't listen to him. There was only one thing she could do. She leaned over and grabbed the Eye off the ground.
"I have to destroy this," she told him. "Let's go."
He nodded and turned to the door, Janie followed, but something thick and wet shot out and wrapped around her ankle. She looked down. It was part of her Boss. His hand, still morphing, still changing. It held on to her so tight that it felt like it would snap her in two. It burned her ankle and up her leg. She screamed.
"Janie!" Quinn turned back.
"Take this," she threw the Eye at him. "Go!"
"You're obviously not a very good listener." He shoved the staff into his waist band and grabbed her hands. "Don't let go."
The floor caught fire from where the Boss lay. The red material on him and surrounding him was actual hellfire. The bed ignited next. Janie's leg felt as if it was burning. Her eyes filled with tears of pain.
"Dammit." Quinn put his arms fully around her and held her against him. Then he kicked at the burning arm. "Let go of her, you bastard."
The demon didn't loosen its grip. If possible, it got even tighter.
Quinn grabbed the Eye and, using the end of it, jammed it into the thing's head. There was a muffled scream and suddenly Janie was loose.
She didn't think. She just ran through the burning room, Quinn clinging to her arm. She took a last look over her shoulder in time to see the huge demon rise to its feet behind them.
In the elevator, Quinn inspected Janie's leg, yanking at the denim to pull it up. It was raw and red and bleeding, but at least it was still attached.
He felt great relief. "I hope you have some of that healing balm left."
"I think I'm all out." She gently touched his throat where Gideon had threatened him with his blade earlier. "You're hurt, too."
"Just a scratch. We'll both heal before too long. One of the perks of being a vampire."
The elevator shuddered as a roar sounded out that shook the hotel's foundations, and they braced themselves against the railing.
Quinn cleared his throat. "So maybe when this is over we can go for a drink. Maybe see Wayne Newton?"
"Sounds great." She blinked slowly. "How are we going to stop him?"
"You may not believe me, but I actually do have a plan."
"You do?" Her eyes widened. "What?"
"It partly involves us getting out of here very quickly."
The doors opened at ground level, and he grabbed her arm and they raced outside.
Quinn turned slowly to look at the tenth-floor balcony. A large red thing stood there, its hands braced against the railing, looking down at them and roaring so loud it hurt his ears. It seemed to be on fire, as was the room behind him.
He could see its long, sharp teeth as it smiled.
The thing was huge. Probably five or six hundred pounds, ten feet tall. It had large white horns that protruded from either side of its skull.
Basically what he would have expected a demon to look like.
The hotel was on fire, a fire that quickly began to consume the rest of the building.
Janie's grip on his hand was very tight, and they looked at each other.
"Wayne Newton, you said?" she managed. "I'm actually more of a Tom Jones fan. Is he in town right now?"
"We can check it out."
"Parker!" the demon screamed with a sound that painfully reverberated through Quinn's skull. "I will destroy you! I will destroy all of you!"
He felt her body tense. "What are we going to do? When he gets to full strength, he's going to destroy everything!"
He shook his head. "It's already taken care of."
"Why do you sound so damned confident?"
"Do I? I'm not really, but I'm very hopeful."
"That will get us all killed. But it's a nice sentiment."
"I'm a romantic."
"Is that it?" a voice said from beside him.
He looked over at Gideon and nodded. "It is."
A smile spread over Gideon's handsome features. "Nice."
When he'd been faced with Gideon earlier, he'd quickly told the hunter all about the demon who would likely be making an appearance very soon. He was counting on Gideon's passion for adventure and difficult challenges. And he'd been absolutely right. Gideon had salivated at the thought of getting the chance to slay a true demon.
Gideon was flanked with five large men, all of whom looked ready for battle, gazes focused on the burning El Diablo Hotel.
He blinked. One of them was… Barkley?
"Barkley, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Quinn managed.
Barkley grinned. "Hey, Quinn. I've joined up. For one night only. I'm a hunter. I'm going to help vanquish this demon."
"Like hell you are."
He shifted the huge gun he carried to his other shoulder. "This is the chance I've been looking for. I'm going to prove I'm not a coward. That I can be alpha. It's a total metaphor for my life. I slay a demon,
I'm slaying my own demons."