A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(56)

Dara dropped to the floor, and the concrete exploded around Demon-Chloe, knocking her back, but the whip still wrapped around her arm tugged her back toward Dara and the waiting dagger.

Demon-Chloe grabbed hold of Dara’s wrist as the metal whip snaked up around her neck and began to choke her.

Dara avoided another blast of energy and kept the pressure on, tightening the metal around Demon-Chloe’s neck. Elias had managed to drag himself back to his feet and watched with glee as a thin trickle of red dripped down her neck.

Dara took a step toward Demon-Chloe and easily avoided a weak punch, kicking her in the chest and sending her to the floor. Demon-Chloe’s hands clawed at the whip as it tightened, a futile attempt to stop the inevitable. She swung another punch toward Dara, who avoided it again and laughed at the weakness of her enemy. Elias couldn’t hear what Dara said, but she raised the dagger to plunge down into Demon-Chloe.

But before she could hit the target, Demon-Chloe grabbed hold of Dara’s arm, twisted the dagger around, and drove it up into Dara’s chest. Elias could see the look of shock on Dara’s face as it cut into her, and the world slowed for him. He jumped over the side of the boat and began swimming to the nearest pontoon. Dragging himself out of the water, he ran as quickly as he could toward Dara, who had dropped to her knees, the dagger in her heart.

By this time, Chloe had disappeared, presumably so she could run off to report to Tommy. Getting Layla would be a lot more complicated now. But that could wait; Dara’s injury was of more immediate concern.

He hurried to her side, but Dara was already gone. The dagger had punctured her heart and killed her almost instantly. He picked up her body and carried her back to the car. He didn’t notice anyone watching until a man came up to him while he was trying to put Dara in the rear seat of the Range Rover.

“I think she needs an ambulance,” the man said.

Elias exploded with rage, grabbing hold of the man and repeatedly smashing his head into the corner of the open car door until the metal was slick with blood. He dropped the dead man onto the ground and stomped on his head over and over, until the rage was spent. Only then did he climb into the front seat and set off, driving over the corpse he’d just created.

He didn’t look at the back seat during the drive toward the abandoned farm that he’d had his people go to after they’d left the compound. Once there, Elias stopped the car and carried Dara’s body into the main building. The farmhouse was two stories high and contained over a dozen rooms, not to mention the stables and pens.

Elias ignored the stares from the blood elves standing guard around the property as he took Dara through the farmhouse to the living room.

Shane and Reyes were both in the room when Elias walked in carrying their dead comrade. Neither of them said anything; they just stood and stared at Dara.

Elias laid the body on the nearest sofa and, his hands still covered in blood, walked over to the sink and started washing them. Only when he was done, and his hands were clean and dry, did he speak. “We need to bury her.”

“What happened?” Shane asked.

“Chloe is an umbra. We were unprepared. She was more formidable than I’d anticipated, and we paid for that mistake. It won’t happen again. Layla is at the General Hospital. No doubt in a secure ward. We’re going to need more blood elves; Chloe killed three of them. I’ll talk to Nergal. In the meantime, I want you both there watching the hospital. They’ll either try to move Layla to safety, or they’ll shore up the security. Either way, find out, and get back to me.”

“Are we to engage?” Reyes asked.

“No. But take note of where Chloe is and where she goes. I need to feed—I haven’t done it in so long that I’m getting weak; at full strength I might have been able to kill her. I need to go back to my home to do it, though, so it’ll have to wait for a few days. In the meantime, bring me someone from outside. Someone who won’t be missed in a hurry. Do you happen to have anyone in the compound you’ve taken for yourself, Shane?”

Shane’s grin would have normally made Elias feel dirty, but right now he needed sustenance more than he needed to worry about Shane’s recreational activities.

“I picked one up the other night. I don’t think she’s even made the news yet. I can give her to you, if you like. She’s barely hurt.”

Elias nodded reluctantly. “You have your jobs. Go do them.”

Reyes paused. “Sorry about Dara.”

Elias nodded absentmindedly. “I’m going to hurt her killer. I’m going to prolong her agony until I feel the debt has been settled.”

When Elias was alone, he opened the laptop and contacted Nergal, who appeared on screen a moment later. Elias gave his report, leaving nothing out. Nergal sat in his office without comment. Eventually Elias finished and sat back, waiting for Nergal’s reply, waiting for his boss to tell him that Dara’s death was his fault and he was clearly incompetent.

“I’m sorry for Dara’s passing,” Nergal said. “She was good at her job.”

Elias nodded.

“And for the loss of three blood elves. They are not an unlimited resource, Elias. Please be more careful with them.”

Elias nodded again.

“I will send you another six. That’ll put your total at twenty?”

Another nod.

“I’m also going to ask an associate of mine to join you. Her name is Masako. She’s a jikininki. She knows Thomas Carpenter quite well and should be an asset for you should an attack on him become necessary. She will answer to you and only you, but warn your people to stay away from her. The human-flesh-eating aspect of her kind extends to anything humanoid. She won’t differentiate between her need and your team.”