Page 17 of Love At the Gates of Hell (The Seven Sinners Trilogy #1)

ten

Gideon

Well, the whole night went to shit real fast.

Someone fired. Gideon couldn’t be sure who, but a bullet whizzed right past his head, leaving him with a faint ringing in his right ear.

Dust and gravel kicked up all around them and he could hardly make out who was who in the ensuing madness.

Someone swung at him. He dodged it, and was able to land a heavy blow into the other man’s neck.

Not exactly where he’d hoped to aim but it would do. He heard a faint grunt and then a hiss.

Vampire.

Great .

He was an ugly sucker, veins popping bright red under pale skin, eyes like pools of blood.

It was the same vampire with the ponytail he saw approach Cleo as they were pulling into the quarry.

The hit came fast, right into Gideon’s gut, and he staggered back.

It was like blunt force with a fucking brick.

He wasn’t sure he’d ever get used to their strength.

He clutched at his side as he tried to dodge another hit.

The success was short-lived as the vampire lunged, pushing into Gideon’s shoulders and taking him down into the gravel. There was that ringing again.

Fuck, this was gonna hurt in the morning.

They wrestled, Gideon struggling against the sheer force of him as he scraped at the ground, gathering dirt into his palm.

He swung hard, letting the dust and gravel do their job as they hit the vampire square in the eyes.

It gave him the briefest of moments to grab his gun and aim a bullet directly at his forehead.

The vampire went flying back.

Gideon didn’t waste any time as he staggered back to his feet.

He blinked and Luke came into his vision, his brother whaling into another vampire, sending him soaring through the air just as Cleo took a shot at another one from behind her car.

But what he couldn’t see was the whereabouts of the goddamn witch he was supposed to be protecting.

She’d fought him tooth and nail to come to the quarry instead of staying behind with Harker where it would be safe, and he was regretting ever letting her get into his car.

But he found it was hard to say no to her.

“Come now, pretty girl,” a scratchy voice hissed. “Don’t make it so hard—”

Benny.

Mack, the one who talked a lot, had her hands behind her back, a tight hold on her wrists.

Gideon could see the gun on the ground at her feet and he cursed under his breath.

How did she get so far from him? She had just been there, right beside him, hovering so close Gideon could hardly think straight.

Let alone formulate a fucking plan. A seemingly recurring problem since they’d found her.

It was hard to imagine it had only been a week since she’d walked into their lives.

And now goddamn gunshots were ricocheting off goddamn quarry walls.

But Benny didn’t look scared. She had dug her heels into the earth, her chin raised high as Mack tried to yank her back toward one of the SUVs.

Gideon managed to catch her attention, his brow furrowing in a confusing mixture of concern and aggravation.

She stared back and for a fleeting moment, fear flashed across her features. But just as quickly it was gone.

Not so fucking fast, buddy, he thought.

He swung his arm left and took out both front tires, one-two shot, his gaze never leaving her.

That was when a small burst of light filled the space between them. The man let out a yelp of pain, and she slammed her heel back onto his ankle with a sickening crack, taking the opportunity to pull herself free from his hold. Gideon was already crossing toward her, relief coursing through him.

“Benny—” Gideon reached for her, his hand curving around her shoulder.

“I’m okay,” she said, brushing dirt from her chin.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” he snapped, the words stumbling from his lips without thinking. “I told you to stay behind me.”

“I can take care of myself,” she bit out as she picked the gun up from the ground. “I don’t need you to play bodyguard.”

“If that were the case, we wouldn’t be in this situation would we?”

The look on her face was scathing and he felt a fleeting stab of regret.

“Hey, a little help here?” Luke shouted.

A wooden stake came barreling at his face, and Gideon caught it just in time to sink it through the chest of a very poorly dressed vampire coming at his right side.

By the time it burst into ash, Benny was gone.

Again. Gideon bit back a groan as he trudged along after her, his eyes scanning the quarry.

Suddenly an engine revved, and Gideon realized one of the SUVs was taking off.

Two of them were making a run for it, Mack and the vampire he shot in the forehead.

It was just a regular bullet, nothing wooden.

He hadn’t been able to switch out the clip before everyone started shooting.

He really hated not having a plan.

Cleo and Luke stood side by side, their guns aimed directly at the back tires.

But the SUV was too far too fast and their shots hit the dirt.

“Fuck,” Luke muttered. “We could’ve gotten one of them to talk.”

“We still can,” Benny said, tucking his gun in the waistband of her jeans.

“What? How?” Cleo asked.

“The half dead guy over there,” she said, gesturing to one of the men propped up against a large boulder, a gunshot wound staining his shoulder a deep red.

“Can he even talk?” Gideon asked.

Cleo nudged him with the toe of her boot.

He moaned but said nothing, the blood loss leaving him nearly comatose.

“He doesn’t need to,” Benny said as she approached him. “I can speak for him.”

But before Gideon could ask what she meant, she was kneeling on the ground in front of him, resting back on the heels of her sneakers. She considered the man for a second, her face screwed up in concentration as she flexed the fingers on both her hands.

“Luke, can you hold him down?” she asked.

His brother stepped forward, his eyes sparing Gideon the briefest of glances, but he did exactly what Benny asked, pressing the man’s uninjured shoulder firmly against the boulder, locking him in place.

“Once I’m in,” she said, looking back at them all, “We’ll get the truth.”

“How will we know?” Cleo asked.

She offered them a wonky smile, and it cut right through Gideon. “Your blood never lies.”

She leaned forward and pushed two fingers into the gunshot wound in the man’s shoulder.

Gideon couldn’t help but grimace at the strangled cry that emitted from the man’s throat, watching as he struggled against Luke’s grasp.

With her face screwed up in concentration, Benny used the man’s blood to draw something on her left forearm, four symbols Gideon didn’t recognize.

She repeated the process with her other hand, her other forearm filled with four new symbols.

He was transfixed.

They were all watching with bated breath, the quarry silent save for the man’s whimpers.

Benny’s forehead wrinkled as she considered him, like she felt sorry for him, but it lasted only a moment before she closed her eyes and held her arms out in front of her body, palms facing up.

All at once, a small wisp of light appeared in the center of each palm.

Her lips spoke words Gideon didn’t understand in a language he didn’t know, and the light seemed to sink back into her skin, the symbols on her arms starting to glow.

The man’s whimpers stopped. His eyes opened, and they were glowing the same bright white light that was just hovering in her palms.

“Holy fuck,” Luke breathed.

“Master is gonna be real pissed,” Benny said in a strange tone. “He wants the witch.”

Gideon hadn’t expected this to be the result, and frankly had no idea how to go about an interrogation this way, but he didn’t seem to have much of a choice.

He ran his tongue over his teeth as he crouched down across from Benny, his eyes meeting his brother’s, the two of them sharing the same brow raise.

They were a long fucking way from bank robberies.

“Right, so—” he began, considering how to phrase this question without sounding like a total asshole. “Can you tell us about this ‘Master’ of yours?”

“He is a powerful man. With abilities that deserve loyalty and our respect.”

Gideon sighed. “Sure, yeah.”

“Why does he want Benny?” Luke asked.

“The witch is crucial to the ritual. He needs her blood in order to complete the final step of the transformation. To become Halmanthoran .”

It was fucking unnerving to see Benny speaking in a voice so unlike her own. So flat, so devoid of the attitude he’d already become so used to. But this was finally getting them somewhere, wasn’t it? Even if nothing made any goddamn sense to him.

“What else does he need for the ritual? How many more steps are there?”

“Master has to bathe in untouched blood,” she said.

A look of disgust flashed across Luke’s face.

“The kids,” he said, looking at Gideon. “Benny’s right about the sacrifices.”

“And then there are the offerings,” she continued. “The sacrifice for the blood moon. The Strega to appease Hell. The stone heart of the sun to give Halmanthoran life.”

“The stone heart of the sun?” Cleo repeated.

“The stone heart of the sun is a jewel that burns so bright it can boil oceans.”

There was a hazy smile that lingered on her face, an empty gesture as it didn’t reach her eyes.

But it lasted only a moment before Benny began to cough.

Her body doubled over, her hands flat on the ground as the man seemed to crumble, Luke hardly needing to hold him back.

Gideon reached for her, but she waved him off, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. She righted herself slowly as she tried to catch her breath. “I lost him.”

She coughed again, and Gideon swore he saw blood drip from her lips.

Benny rested back on her heels, her chest heaving in and out.

“The spell doesn’t work if the host is too weak. Did we get anything?”