THE MEPHISTO COVENANT, Page 2

  No way was she sticking around, and for sure she wasn’t going anywhere with Alex Kasamov.

  Turning, she darted between Missy and David and booked it for the door, but she’d barely gotten through and made it a few steps into the warehouse before Alex caught her, clamped one arm around her neck and the other around her waist, squeezing until she could barely breathe. He dragged her backward, into the smaller room, into a chorus of insults from the others.

  While Alex held her, Missy tied her hands behind her back and hobbled her ankles.

  The Ravens stepped back, widening their circle, and that’s when she saw the rocks. A pile of them in the corner. Single file, the Ravens went past and gathered up two or three rocks each, then returned to the circle. David sucked spit through his teeth and grinned. “Ready for some fun, Sasha? Maybe you’ll enjoy this as much as I liked getting pantsed every goddamn day of my life!”

  She stared at him and said nothing. He knew. He remembered. She was the one who stuck up for him.

  His grin faded. “Yeah, you think I wanted that? You think I liked you acting like Joan of Fucking Arc, cutting off my balls in front of the whole damn football team?” He hurled a rock, and it hit her in the face, glancing off of her cheek.

  She couldn’t protect herself, and the next stone hit her nose, a third hit her breast, square on the nipple. With a shriek of pain, she fell to her knees, but one of the boys hauled her to her feet again. “Get up, angel.”

  They pelted her with the rocks, coming at her from every direction, bruising and cutting. Nothing had ever hurt this bad. One eye began to swell, but she could see Alex through the other, standing just behind Missy, laughing.

  “Where’s the God Squad now, Sasha?” Amy Lee shouted.

  It was maybe the hardest thing she’d ever done, but she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of crying, or begging for mercy. She didn’t say a word. Somewhere in the midst of awful pain and blind fear, her mind checked out and she thought of Dad, remembered his laugh, his smiley eyes, his big hands that fixed the plumbing, cooked pancakes, and petted her hair when he came to say good night.

  She began to pray, desperately pleading to God. If he’d get her out of this alive, she’d be a better person. She’d work at the soup kitchen. Build houses for Habitat. Become a nun.

  Please, God, help me!

  Suddenly, as if someone hit a pause button, the shouts and laughter stopped. Dead quiet. Everyone in the room was frozen, some with an arm raised in midthrow, some with eyes half closed in midblink. They were each still as a statue.

  Everyone except Alex. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost, his eyes wide with fright as he looked past her. Seconds later, he shifted his focus back to her. “I should have killed you the night I discovered you’re Anabo.”

  It was like a nightmare where she had a chance to save herself, but couldn’t because of her inability to move. Tied up, bleeding, with one eye almost swollen shut, she had no prayer of escaping Alex when he wove around the frozen Ravens, rushed toward her, picked her up, and threw her over his shoulder. With her head hanging down, all she could see was the back of Alex’s pants as he ran for the door into the warehouse. Her whole body hurt, and bouncing on his shoulder was agony. She saw blood drip to the concrete and realized it was hers.

  Jarring her, he skidded to a stop. “Get out of my way!”

  Who was he talking to? All the Ravens were frozen.

  “There’s no way out,” a deep voice said. “Give up and give me the girl.”

  Who was it? How did he get here? The door hadn’t opened.

  She felt hands around her waist, felt the tug and pull between Alex and the one with the deep voice. “Let go. Now.”

  “Back off. I’m taking her to Eryx.”

  “No,” the voice said calmly, “you’re going to Hell on Earth, and I’m keeping the girl.”

  Who belonged to the voice? Where was Hell on Earth? Was it a joke? A metaphor?

  Just after the hands at her waist went away, a pair of black boots and long legs in black leather pants came into her line of vision, along with a large hand holding a lethal-looking switchblade. She cringed when it plunged into Alex’s back, heard him grunt, felt his hold loosen and her body slip from his shoulder.

  She landed in confident arms, cradled against a very warm and broad chest. Alex crumpled to the floor. “Is he dead?”

  “No, just out of commission. I’d love to kill him, slowly and painfully, but I can’t. Be still and quiet now, and I’ll fix you.”

  “Who are you?” She tried to see his face, but the way he was holding her, with her head pressed against his shoulder, she couldn’t really get a good look. It didn’t help that her right eye was swollen almost shut.

  “My name is Jax. Hush now, and close your eyes.”

  She did as he said and tried to be calm, but it was no use. He was a stranger, and after what just happened, her fear factor was way over the top, making her stiff with anxiety. “The others … if they wake up …”

  “They won’t.”

  “Did you … was it you who froze them like that?”

  “Yes. Just stay calm.”

  While she fought shock, a slow invading warmth spread through her, starting at her feet and moving upward, all the way to her face. She didn’t need to look to know the bruises disappeared and the cuts healed. The binding rope fell away, and within a matter of moments she felt no pain at all.

  “Better?” he asked.

  She nodded. “Thank you. How did you do that?”

  “I’m not sure. It’s just something I can do.” He pressed her closer to his body for an instant, then slowly set her on her feet and stepped back, allowing her to get a look at him.

  Her mouth went dry. “Holy …”

  He was young, maybe eighteen or nineteen, dressed in black from head to toe—black leather trench coat swirling around his black boots. His face was hard, square, shadowed with the beginnings of a beard; his cheeks were high, his chin firm, his hair black as midnight, messy and too long. She met his eyes—ebony, fathomless eyes—and she knew, without a doubt, he was not of this world. Inhuman. A specter of Hell. No wonder he hadn’t come through the door.

  As carefully as she was checking him out, he was just as obviously looking her over. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” he said in a raspy whisper.

  “Ditto,” she murmured. She didn’t think it was possible for anything to be more bizarre than frozen Ravens and instant healing, but she was way wrong. An entire colony of butterflies had landed in her stomach, which could mean only that she was crushing on a guy whose eyes were so disturbing, he looked like he was straight from Hell.

  Time to go. “Thanks for saving me, Jax, but I’ve gotta run. Peace out.” Turning, she hauled ass for the door, slipping when she hit a puddle of blood.

  Before she crashed to the floor, he caught her and set her back on her feet to face him, steadying her with warm hands. “Don’t go yet. Just tell me who you are. What’s your name?”

  “Sasha.”

  “Is that short for Anastasia?”

  “Alexandra. I’m Alexandra Annenkova. Everyone calls me Sasha.” He smelled like cinnamon and cloves. Considering the warehouse smelled like saltwater, old fish, and something mildewed, the scent of him was incredibly inviting, and she had to force herself not to lean closer.

  Startling her, five more guys appeared out of thin air, just behind him, all dressed identically, with the same eyes, the same midnight-black hair. Their faces were different, but they were obviously brothers. They looked surprised to see her, and one of them, a guy with a ponytail, said, “Well, I’ll be damned,” at the same time another, who wore a diamond stud in one ear, said, “Lucky bastard.”

  Great. A whole family of Hell Boys. She had to get out of here. Turning, she headed for the door, swearing to herself that if she made it home, she’d never, ever do anything this stupid again.

  “Wait!” His hands grasped her arms, spinning her around to
face him. “Don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you. Please, just stay a minute and talk to me. Tell me why you came here tonight.”

  She shrugged off his hands and took a step back. “I was told that if I joined the Ravens, their leader, Eryx, could tell me who killed my father.”

  “And you believed it?”

  “Not really, but I had to try.”

  “Is it that important to find out?”

  “It’s all that matters.”

  “Eryx won’t help you. Whatever you were told about him, it was a lie.”

  “You know him?”

  “A long time ago, he was our oldest brother.”

  “If he was your brother then, he’s your brother now.”

  Jax shook his head slowly. “Maybe biologically, but not in any way that matters. He’s our enemy, and our only purpose is to keep him from taking over Hell.”

  Sasha stared at him, wishing that he was insane, or that she could rationalize everything that just happened by blaming it on a hallucination, brought on by the stoning. But the truth was, he didn’t look even slightly unhinged. And maybe she was rattled, but she was completely conscious. “Why would Eryx want to take over Hell?”

  “It’s his nature. He has no hope, no compassion, no light in his soul. He’s like a machine, his only goal to collect the souls of people he can sucker into following him. If he ever has enough, he’ll take Hell from Lucifer, and that will be an end to free will. Humanity will lose all hope, and the dark side will take over. It’ll be anarchy. The end of the world.”

  She’d heard enough. Moving back again, desperate to get some distance, she managed a small smile. “Then I guess it’s a good thing Eryx didn’t show up. Hey, look, it’s been real nice to meet you, and like I said, thanks for saving me, and for healing me, but I’ve really got to get going. My mom’s probably worried about me.” Probably not, but he didn’t have to know that.

  Momentarily diverting her attention from leaving, she noticed he looked almost sad. Like he was disappointed.

  “I swear I won’t hurt you. I just want to talk to you.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you’re who you are. Because you’re Anabo.”

  She’d never, ever heard of Anabo. Didn’t it make sense, then, that she couldn’t be that, if she’d never even heard of it? “Why do you think I’m Anabo? You’ve never seen me before now.” She frowned. “Have you?”

  “No, never until I popped into this room. You’re a wonderful surprise.” He tilted his head to one side and looked her up and down, his lips curving into a slight smile. “I know you’re Anabo because, to us, the Anabo have an aura around them, sort of a golden glow.”

  “I’m glowing?”

  “Trust me. You’re Anabo. Even if you didn’t have the glow, I’d know you’re not ordinary because you didn’t freeze like the rest of them.”

  Her gaze fell to Alex, lying at an odd angle on the concrete floor. “He didn’t freeze, either. Why?”

  “He’s Skia.”

  “If that means evil, it totally fits.”

  “Skia is Greek for shade, or shadow. Alex isn’t just a lost soul. He’s also immortal, with certain powers the others don’t have. To us, his eyes are shadowed because he has no soul. He gave it to Eryx.”

  The whole concept of giving a soul away was hard to believe, but what she knew of Alex made it easier. Soulless was a good way to describe him. “If I’m Anabo, and Alex is Skia, what are you?”

  “I’m Mephisto. My brothers and I capture the Skia and the lost souls, people who’ve pledged their souls to Eryx. Like the Ravens.”

  “Are you going to kill them?”

  He shook his head. “Once people pledge their souls to Eryx, they give up any chance of Heaven or Hell. If we killed them, their souls would be released to him, increasing his power, so we take them to a deep cavern, carved out by Lucifer, where their spirits can’t escape after they die. Our job is to find the Skia and lost souls, take them to the gates of Hell on Earth, and send them down.”

  So Hell on Earth wasn’t a metaphor. She turned her head and saw the stones scattered across the floor and the puddles of blood. Her blood. Then she looked at the frozen faces of people she’d known most of her life. All strangers now. Turning back, she met his gaze. “The people you capture just disappear? That’s so cruel for their families.”

  “We stage their deaths and leave doppelgängers. Tomorrow, you’ll hear about a sailing accident that took fourteen people.”

  She looked at Missy, her face frozen in a mask of rage. “Can’t you get them back?”

  “Not unless Eryx agrees, and in the thousand years of his existence, he’s never released anyone from their pledge.” His expression was curious. “Did you really intend to join them?”

  “I figured I’d pretend, so I could find out what happened to my dad.” She glanced down at the blood, almost black in the dim candlelight. Like oil. “Even if I’d been serious, it didn’t matter. They asked me here because they hate me, not because they wanted me to join.”

  “They can’t help hating you. It’s not personal. It’s because of what you are, because you’re a threat to them and their purpose. Kasamov probably egged them on so they’d get you here tonight and he’d have a scapegoat to take the blame when you disappeared.”

  A shiver slid up her spine. “Did he start the Ravens just to suck in more people?”

  Jax nodded. “The Skia form groups like the Ravens and teach them how to recruit. They start with two or three, make sure they get what they want so they’ll buy in and understand how to play on others’ wants. They go out and find new people, who in turn find other new recruits, and so on, growing converts exponentially.”

  She thought of Missy, losing all that weight. And skinny, short Casey Mills. He had made the football team this year and everyone had been shocked. “I wonder why Alex didn’t find somebody popular to start the Ravens, someone who has some pull?”

  Jax shot a disgusted look toward them. “This is the first time we’ve seen a group this young, which means this is new territory for Eryx. I imagine he had no clue about the best way to recruit kids and Alex’s Ravens are a trial run. Wherever they try again, they’ll do it better.”

  One of the others spoke up. “Jax, we have five minutes before the freeze fades.”

  He glanced away, but didn’t respond, turning back to look at her with a funny expression on his amazing face.

  “Why can’t you freeze Skia or Anabo?” she asked.

  “There are certain things we can’t do to an immortal soul that belongs to Eryx, or to an Anabo soul that belongs to God.”

  “There are certain things we can do to you, Jax, if you don’t hurry up,” ponytail brother said, “and you’re not going to like any of them.”

  He looked torn, hesitant. “I don’t want to leave her.”

  “Later,” the one with a goatee said. “You’ll have to come back for her later. Besides, you can’t just take her.”

  He frowned. “Why not?”

  “Because she has to want to go. Free will, bro. Can’t f’ around with free will. You know that.”

  “But I have her scent. She’s mine.”

  She blinked. “I’m sorry … what?”

  “I’m Mephisto—you’re Anabo. Since I’m the one who caught your scent, it means you’re intended for me.”

  Was he serious? Why would she be meant for a guy from Hell? If there was such a thing as destiny, she was supposed to find a quiet, smart guy, one who wasn’t over six feet tall, with midnight hair and a face she couldn’t stop staring at. He’d be Russian Orthodox. Or Episcopalian. He might even be Jewish. But he wouldn’t be from Hell.

  “Maybe she’s meant for you,” goatee brother said, “but there are over three billion males on this planet, and she gets to pick which one she wants. Maybe that’s you. Maybe not.”

  “Remind me to kick your ass when we get home.”

  Sasha looked from his beautiful face to the others, lined in a semicir
cle behind him. “Do you mean … are you wanting to … if I went with you, would we be going to Hell? The real one?”

  His smile was incredible. “We don’t live in Hell. We live in Colorado.”

  “Come on, Jax. Erase her memory and let’s get on with it.”

  “You can erase my memory?” She was alarmed all over again.

  “Only the memory of me. Of us. You’ll remember everything until the Ravens froze.”

  “Why can’t I remember you?”

  “Because I don’t want you to. If I have any chance at all with you, it’ll have to be as a normal guy.” He nodded toward the Ravens and his brothers. “This is not normal.”

  “Jax, shut up already and put her to sleep before we lose the freeze.”

  “Dammit, Phoenix, I can’t leave her! What if I can’t find her again? What if she dies before I can come back?”

  “It’s a risk you have to take.”

  His expression was frustrated and desperate. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

  In her dreams, Tyler Hudson asked her out and they fell madly in love. In real life … she shook her head.

  “So, when I come back, even though you won’t remember me, do you think … would you …” He stopped and swallowed. “If you thought I was normal, and I asked you out, would you say yes?”

  He was terribly earnest, actually looked worried she might say no. That a guy like him had even the tiniest bit of self-doubt blew her mind. “I’m sure I would, but how do you know I wouldn’t say yes now?”

  Surprising her, he stepped back, his expression anxious. “Are you saying you’d go out with me, knowing what I am?”

  She hesitated, not willing to lie, but not entirely sure of the truth.

  “No,” he answered for her, “you wouldn’t. Of all those three billion guys, why would you pick me? I’m a freak.”

  “Maybe we wouldn’t even like each other, so it wouldn’t matter.”

  “I like you now, so really, it’s all about you.”

  “How can you like me? You don’t even know me.”

  “I know enough.” He was thoughtful for a moment, then said, “What’s the one thing a guy could say to you that would be irresistible?”