Within The Darkest Hollows, page 18
part #2 of The Demon Hunters Series
“We all feel that way, Cassidy,” Killian emphasized and then turned toward the group. “We help Cass train and we keep her safe from demons, the two things we do best. I also want any demons caught on patrols questioned. We need to know why Rya wants Cassidy.”
“What about Tyler?” Everyone looked at me and then to Killian for his answer. “You promised.”
“I did.” He said only loud enough for me and those closest to us to hear, he stood and faced his team. “I’ve decided we will go after Tyler. Anchor, how is the cell coming along?”
“It’ll be done in the next day or so,” he answered.
“I want a group of six on the rescue mission. Any volunteers?”
Casper, Jet, and Anchor raised their arms.
“Jackson, take Skylar and…”
“I’ll go.” Sean raised his hand. He seemed overly anxious to join the team.
“Very well, we have our team.”
My hand went up into the air. “I’ll go.”
“No.” Killian used his Demon Hunter voice, but it didn’t stop me from arguing.
“Serena just said that I have this powerful Holy Flame thing. I can help.”
“We will discuss this later, alone.” His face was stern, but his voice was soft.
I knew we’d have the best chance at safely getting Tyler to the compound if I went with, but arguing with Killian in front of the others would be testing his leadership, and that’s not what my end goal was. He was a strong leader who made good choices for his Clan, but he also was consistently overprotective of me.
“We’ll meet in my quarters after morning meal. That’s all.” The group finished their meals and slowly filed out of the room until only Killian and I remained.
“I want to go.”
He shook his head.
“Twice he tried to save me. It’s the least I can do to repay him.”
“Except Rya is hunting you, which means you going with the group will mark a giant bull’s eye on our backs. You’ll do more harm than good.” There had to be a way. “Have you thought about why she wants you alive?”
I shook my head. I hadn’t thought about it. All I could think about was the small dark cell that I had spent so many days in.
“Demons eat souls, tortured ones are preferred, but the best are those of powerful people.” He grabbed my arm and turned it so the white star faced up. “This new power has made you a bigger prize to the demon’s hunting you.”
I pulled my arm out of his grip and snapped. “It also makes me a deadly weapon.”
He softened his tone. “Cass, I know you want to help get him back. You being brave enough to face your fears…that was your way of helping. Because of what you accomplished and our deal, we will do our best to get him back.” I turned away from him, not wanting to see his face when he said the next part. “But you can’t be a part of the rescue team.”
This was what Killian did. He was the “no” man, always blocking my chance to help and contribute to this Clan. I left the room without looking back. I did not want to put the lives of the team at risk, but I also had confidence in my new abilities. Walking down the hall I saw Lena and Casper in a small dead end hallway, standing close and talking quietly, lovingly. I tried to walk by without interrupting them.
“Cass, hey, you talk to Killian?” Casper saw me anyway.
“Yeah, he won’t let me go.”
“I’m not surprised.” Casper looked sorry to hear the news.
“It’s infuriating.”
“But Cass, the powers you possessed with the ring were inconsistent. How do you know this power will be any different?” Lena asked.
“I guess I don’t know for sure, but it feels different, like someone flipped a switch and everything inside me turned on. Here, stand back a sec.” Lena and Casper took a few steps back. I faced the stone wall, shut my eyes, and thought about the white heat covering my hands.
“Do you see that?” Casper whispered.
I raised my hands and placed them on the rock before me. When I opened my eyes, white flame covered my hands. The rock beneath my palms began to smoke. I pulled them off and took a slow long breath to quiet the adrenaline rush.
“Your eyes were white. All white.” Lena looked shocked.
“Yeah, but she controlled it.” Casper looked at me with pride.
Lena shook her head. “But Casper, they’re looking for her. Hunting her. Sending Cass with the team would endanger everyone on the mission.” She pointed her finger at me and said, “If you want Tyler back alive, you need to sit tight, stay off the radar, and let Killian and the team do their jobs.” Neither Casper nor I challenged Lena on this. “I know you are eager to help, so let’s work on mastering your new powers. I’ll work with you tomorrow after the mid-day meal, okay?”
“That’d be great. Thanks Lena.”
“I’m gonna walk Cass to her quarters. I’ll come by the med unit later.” Casper placed a quick but loving peck on Lena’s lips. It was surprising to see the outward display of affection.
Lena smiled as they separated and she headed to her job.
“I can’t believe you kissed her out in the open!” I whispered.
Casper laughed. “Turn around.” I did as he said; there was no one in this dim hall besides us. “No one besides you saw. We know all the hidey holes of the compound.”
“You’re like two sneaky love-sick teenagers.” I laughed.
“That we are. Come on, I think your room is how you left it last time you were here.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Tyler
“What do you mean you came back empty handed? You went with a team of my guards and you return, alone, saying that my guards have been melted by some white fire, yet you managed to escape.” Jace stood before Rya and I, his head hung low as she lashed him with her verbal assault. “Tyler was just asking me why I bother keeping you around.” She stood and walked down to face him. “Look at me.” She said quietly. Jace did not move his head. “I said look at me!” Her voice thundered through the cavernous hall. He raised his head; shame filled his eyes. “You disappoint me. I’ve cared for you, trained you, gave you all this power…How hard is it to capture one shattered girl?”
“I’m sorry,” Jace murmured.
“Is this your ploy? Yes, that must be it. You are so jealous of Tyler that you will do anything to sabotage him becoming my mate.”
“No Rya. I swear.”
“You tried to push him at the cliff. How hard would it have been to come back empty handed and claim some mystical white fire was to blame?” She dragged her nails along Jace’s chest, ripping his shirt. Blood seeped from the wounds, wetting his shirt tatters.
He winced in pain. “You’re right.” Rya stopped to listen to Jace. “I don’t want him to become your mate. But I live to please you, and I know bringing Cassidy is important to you.” He looked at me and then at Rya. “What will you do to her once she’s here?”
“Not me. I won’t be doing anything to her. Now Tyler, on the other hand, is another story. Tyler’s last challenge is to take the life and soul of someone he loves.”
The irregular scar on my chest ached as Rya spoke of this.
Kill Cassidy. She was the only thing standing in my way of possessing great power and forging a future with my demon queen.
“And then that’s it. You two will be together?” Jace said in a disgusted tone.
Rya curled in close to Jace and hissed in his ear. “Jace, my love, don’t you know you are special to me? I count on you for so many important tasks. You need not doubt your role in our future.”
“Rya!” My voice did not sound like my own, but seeing her wrapped around him and speaking so lovingly to him did not sit well with me.
“Tsk. Tsk. Until you transform, you have no ownership over me, Tyler.” She gave me a wickedly seductive smile. “Consider it motivation, my love.”
My anger propelled me to lunge toward them.
Rya yelled, “Jace. Leave us. Now!”
Jace fled the room, with me gaining fast. Rather than pursuing him into the hall, I slammed shut the large wooden doors and set the lock.
“Tyler, calm down, love.” Rya urged as she held her hands out before her defensively.
I flew at her and shackled her wrists in my grip. The anger in my veins made me feel powerful. “You are mine. Only mine.”
“Not till you kill her.” Rya corrected me in a cautioning voice that lacked her usual confidence.
“You doubt I’ll be able to do it, don’t you?” I hissed in her ear.
“Of course. Many fail,” she answered as she squirmed beneath my grasp.
“But I won’t fail.” I released her hands and pinned her to the wall with my hips. My left hand wrapped around her waist while my right hand traced her lips. “You are such a sensual creature—confident, powerful.” Her eyes closed at my words. “And gorgeous.” My lips closed around hers, and the floor fell away from me as she took me under her dark spell. I pulled away, leaving her breathless and wanting more. “You and I are destined to be together. You know it.” My mouth twisted up in a smile as Rya twisted under my hold. “You want it. Why else would you have done this to me?” I held up my scarred arm.
“Because I’m sadistic.” Her forked tongue licked my cheek.
“Uh huh. While that may be true, you know I’m right.”
She stared at me with a stubborn look.
“It’s okay, I don’t need you to say I’m right.”
“For someone so confident in himself, you certainly acted jealous,” Rya teased me.
“You were testing me.” It wasn’t a question. I punched the wall next to Rya in frustration and turned away to calm down. I hated being played with.
Her arm coiled into the crook of mine and she turned me to face her. “Not testing…motivating. I want you by my side; you were right about that. But if you fail to kill Cassidy, you need to remember that Jace is the runner up.”
Her hands gripped my hair and pulled me down to meet her lips in a kiss. Inside, I was still raw and angry at Jace. He was a threat to my future with Rya, and I wanted him out of the picture.
“Choose me.” She breathed in between kisses. “Choose us.” My lips softened to hers as she lured me into her heart with her words. “Kill Cassidy. And Jace will never come between us again." She was mine and I would fight for our future together.
I would kill Cassidy. And then I would kill Jace.
***Sneak Peek***
Beneath a
Sinister Moon
The Demon Hunter Series, Book 3
Chapter One
Casper
When Killian announced the rescue team would leave in two days, I took the opportunity to visit with my mom. It had been a few months since I’d last seen her, and I knew that once we rescued Tyler, I’d be back on guard duty again till we found a way to help him. I walked up the front steps that I had sat on countless times growing up, waiting for the bus, waiting for Billy Stevens to come over to play. The house looked exactly as when I had lived here, neat and well maintained.
I walked to the corner of the front porch and lifted the medium sized blue flowerpot to find the house key. I unlocked the front door; the house was dark and quiet. “Mom?” The front hall was unchanged from the last time I visited. “Mom?” I continued into the kitchen and found my mom sitting at the table, a small cast iron pan with a smudge stick smoldered before her. “Mom?” Her eyes were closed. She was so still…
"Ghuahh!!" her eyes opened in horror as she sucked in a sharp breath. It scared the crap out of me, kicking my heart into high speed. Her hands shook as they raised up to grab her head. “I saw him, that beast you seek.” Her eyes looked straight ahead, as though she were still entranced. “He is strong and loyal to Her.” Mom’s head shook and her eyes squinted. "So much anger within him. The darkness consumes him, pulling him deeper each day. Like an intoxicating and addictive drug. It rules him, motivates him. It makes him lust for Her.” She turned toward me. Her eyes were sharp—clear of the trance that had held her a moment ago. “The beast must kill Cassidy in order to transform. Casper, he will kill her. And if she dies…the game is over and evil will reign.”
This changed everything. “I have to go. I have to warn Killian.”
I ran out of the house and back toward Blaylock Grove. Killian had vocalized his concern about the risks associated with rescuing Tyler, but some of us, including myself, were adamant about going after him.
I believed that Tyler was a good human that had been dealt a crap hand with the half demon card. He didn’t chose the evil that was within him, and he worked hard to fight it. Surely he deserved a chance to be rescued, saved from what had now surfaced.
Mom’s gift of premonition had prevented several wars and saved a few lives in the times that she’d tapped into it. I only found this out during a sparring session with Jackson. When he made the connection and realized who my mom was, he excitedly told me of all the good her abilities had done for the Clan. Mom would have never divulged those stories to me as she had tried to hide the Demon Hunters from me. And once I was “called” to them, she did not glorify them. She truly wanted me and herself removed from the conflict and battles. She wanted us safe.
But there was no hiding from the war that was coming, and I was going to do everything I could to fight against the demonic evil force that threatened to consume humanity.
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Acknowledgments
Thanks:
To my family and close friends for keeping in touch, supporting me, and reading my books even though you "don’t like demon things." You all make me feel so incredibly loved.
To my editor, for bringing out the best in my story. Trisha, you make me fall in love with my stories all over again.
To my dedicated readers who support me and share how my stories touched them. Your feedback helps me push on and write my next book. You all are invaluable to me!
To my street team, you all are my online family that I have come to care for and I am so glad to know each of you & I am so appreciative of your support and help.
To Madi W. for being a great PA and team lead. You have done so well with organizing, setting things up, and helping me find new audiences. Thank you for being the amazing person that you are and for all you do.
To Kimberly V. for keeping me sane, making me laugh, and providing your wise consultation.
Google and Wikipedia for being amazing resources.
About the Author
D.A. Roach has been telling stories since she was a young girl in the suburbs of Chicago. In college she met the man of her dreams, her happily ever after, and married him 2 weeks after graduating. They have 3 kids together and two pet cockatiels named Gimli and Poppy. D.A. did not find a love for books until after college. Her parents were immigrants from Lithuania and found tv and radio easier ways to hear stories so they did not do much reading or encourage it. But once she finished college and D.A. had free time, she discovered how amazing it was to get lost in a story.
D.A. is a full time mom and wife. When she is not doing domestic things (laundry, bills, etc) she is writing, reading, creating mixed media art, and helping beautify her kids’ school landscape. Oh, and she is ALWAYS listening to music. Her favorite authors include Rebecca Donovan, Richelle Mead, Larissa Ione, Stephanie Meyer, E.L. James, and Sylvia Day. Reading great works from authors like these has motivated D.A. to write her own stories. She hopes to make positive changes in the world with her art and writing.
“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.”
―George Bernard Shaw
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D. A. Roach, Within The Darkest Hollows
