The Dark-Hunters, page 570
“I’m here to keep you safe.”
Why didn’t she believe that? Oh wait, because she was a prisoner being held by a man who didn’t even have the guts to show his face. She pulled a finial off the bed—that should serve to put a pack in her punch if she had to fight her way out of here. And yet again, nothing came to her from the cold metal.
“Then let me go.”
He laughed. “Are we really going to have this conversation? If I were going to let you go, you wouldn’t be here. That would suck for both of us. So just make yourself comfortable, Dark-Hunter. You’re going to be here for a while.”
She felt the presence leave. Oh, this is great. She was trapped in a fluffy, frothy hell and there was no exit in sight. At least you’re not pulling images or emotions from the stuff in here.
Yeah, but for once, she needed to. She had to know what she was dealing with.
Closing her eyes, she summoned her powers from deep within and tried to find out who and what held her hostage.
At first there was nothing. Not even a trace. Then a thick fog swirled and she began to see images through it.
In the back of her mind, she saw a gorgeous man with dark blond hair and perfect features. Dressed in medieval armor, he led an army that appeared to have been forged from hell itself. At full speed, with his bloodred pennant rippling in the wind, he raced down a hill and straight into the heart of his enemy to battle them.
Only his enemy wasn’t human. It was a legion of demons who were bent on his total annihilation. They tore at him and pulled him off his demon horse, which reared, slashing at them with its black hooves that sent their blood spurting like in a Quentin Tarantino film. Still, even wounded and on foot, he fought them with a rage that would have made him a Dog of War had he been a Dark-Hunter.
He let loose a fierce battle cry as he cut his way through their number, slashing and hacking with his sword. He was a warrior without rival.…
Sam pulled back. Why was she seeing that demon knight? Was he the voice she’d heard?
If he was her captor, she was thoroughly screwed. Defeating a man like that would not be easy. If even possible.
Then suddenly the image was gone. She tried to call it back to further understand who and what she’d seen, but it didn’t work.
Instead her vision turned to another blond.…
Dev. She saw him as a young man with two older men who could have almost passed for his twins. By their clothes, she knew it had to be the late Georgian period. There were the three men and one bear cub hunkered down in the stall of some barn. It was pitch-black and the horses around them were going wild as they tried to escape.
Dev’s long hair had begun to come loose from his queue and hung in unruly curls around his teenaged face. His black vest was missing two buttons and there was red blood smeared on his white shirt. “I can fight the Arcadians.”
The older bear shook his head. “You’re too young, Devereaux. We need you to get Aimee to Papa and Maman. She is our only female. You know she has to survive. We can’t let anything happen to her.”
“But—”
Gilbert grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and shook him hard. “Don’t argue with me. We’re depending on you, mon frère. Don’t let us down.”
Dev scooped up the cub, who whined in protest. She was too young to be teleported with their powers. They couldn’t use them on her without the risk of killing her. Solid black, she was huge in Dev’s arms as he cradled her to his chest.
Gilbert buried his face in the cub’s fur. “Stay safe, ma petite.” He kissed her on the ear.
Bastien stood up and it was then Sam realized he was the twin brother of Zar … the father to Yessy and Josie. Poor Dev, to have stared into the face of the brother he’d lost.…
And poor Nicolette.
“I’ll draw their fire.” Bastien glanced down to Aimee and Dev. “Bon chance. Je t’aime.” Good luck. I love you.
Then he was gone so fast Dev couldn’t even say good-bye. A heartbeat later, Dev heard the sound of gunfire. He clutched Aimee harder as fear ate at his insides.
Please don’t be dead.…
“Go!” Gilbert snapped.
Dev didn’t want to. He knew the human-Arcadian bears would kill both of his brothers. That he’d never see them again. His heart shattered as he was torn between the loyalty he had for his sister and that he had for his brothers.
How could he choose between them?
They’d only come here this afternoon to pick blackberries and let Aimee roam away from humans while his brothers had helped him train and hone his magick. It was supposed to be a perfect, happy afternoon. And it had ended when the Arcadians had come for Gilbert.
Not because he’d done them wrong.
Because he’d been mated by the Fates to the Arcadian bears’ sister. They wanted Gilbert killed before he completed the ceremony so that their sister wouldn’t be forced to lie down with an animal Kattagari.
For that, Bastien and Gilbert would die. And the worst part was that Bastien was an Arcadian too. Those bastards were about to commit murder even in the eyes of the Omegrion.
And they didn’t even care. So long as they took out Gilbert, the rest of them were simply collateral damage. Animals to be slaughtered.
If Dev told them he was an Arcadian, they would spare him because he was one of them. But not his sister. The Arcadians would kill Aimee too and use her fur for boots. Gods, it was so unfair.
He heard Bastien cry out—a cry that was cut short to a silence so foul it tore through him. An instant later, the Arcadians cheered. “Is it the right animal?”
“No. It must still be inside.”
Gilbert gripped Dev’s shoulder. “You must go now. Protect Aimee for us.”
Dev nodded as his brother stood up and slipped from the stall to turn into a bear—Gilbert’s weakest fighting form, but it would distract the Arcadians and give Dev more time to escape. The Arcadians knew there were four of them. Once they killed Gilbert, they’d seek out him and Aimee.
I have to go.
Tears flowed down his cheeks as he buried his face in Aimee’s fur. Holding her close, he slipped out the back while Gilbert fought their enemies. It was so cold outside.
He heard more gunshots and then a loud shout of jubilation from the Arcadians.
Gilbert was dead.…
The Arcadians cursed as they realized Gilbert was human and that they had just committed a murder that would cost them their lives. “Find the other two. We have to kill them before they tell what we’ve done.”
Aimee let out a baleful cry.
Dev held her close as he covered her mouth with his hand to muffle her wail. “I’ve got you, Aimee. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. I swear. I’ll never let anyone hurt you.” And with that vow, he slipped out the back and into the trees that surrounded the farm where they’d taken temporary refuge.
It took him an entire night to make it back to the small house in London his family called home. He was completely exhausted. Weak. His wounds were bleeding profusely.
But Aimee was unharmed.
The moment he opened the door, his mother was there in her gown and bathrobe. Beautiful and blond, she was a study of grace as she looked past his shoulder, into the dawning sky. “Mon Dieu, Devereaux! Where have you been? Have you any idea of the hour? We’ve been trying to track you and…” She paused as he came in and locked the door. The panic in her eyes tore through him. “Where’s Gilbert and Bastien?”
Dev choked on the words he didn’t want to utter. He’d used his powers to mask his scent so that the Arcadians wouldn’t be able to track him. He’d never thought about the fact that his parents wouldn’t have been able to do so either.
His mother moved past him to look out the door. “Are they in tending horses? What keeps them?”
Dev laid his sister’s sleeping body down before he turned to face her. “They’re dead, Maman.”
The look on her face emblazoned itself on his heart. It was a look of pure agony … a look Sam knew far better than she’d ever wanted to.
All the color drained from Nicolette’s cheeks. “What?”
“We were attacked and—”
She slapped him hard across his face. “You left them to die?”
Dev wiped his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood that ran from his busted lip and nose. “I protected Aimee.”
Nicolette screamed out, waking up the rest of the house. Aimee went running to hide under the table while their mother seized Dev by his shirt and shoved him back against the wall. “You’re the one who wanted to go. You lured them there.”
“No, Maman. I would never have gone had I known.”
Still she screamed at him, accusing him of leaving them to die while he ran like a coward.
“Nicolette!” his father snapped as he pulled her away from Dev. “What’s happened?”
“My sons are dead.” She gestured to Dev. “That mongrel bastard ran and left them there to die.” She sneered at Dev. “You worthless human! I wish it’d been you who’d died!”
Dev sucked his breath in and held it as his father picked her up and carried her out of the room. The rest of his siblings followed, wanting to comfort their mother. They left Dev there shattered as her words echoed in his ears.
“I wish it’d been you who’d died.”
It should have been me. It should have been me.… Guilt and agony ripped him apart as his tears flowed. Why had he bothered coming home? It would have been so much easier had he died with them.
Aimee came out from under the table. She licked his hand before she crawled into his lap and licked his chin. Dev held her then and let out all the pain inside him.
But it was a pain that he still carried with him and it broke Sam’s heart. His mother had never really forgiven him for that night. Yes, she’d been grieving and hurting. But for the rest of her life, he’d seen the darkness in her eyes when she’d looked at him. Had heard the sharp tone in her voice that hadn’t been there before.
It was why he’d tried so hard to please her and why he’d never left Sanctuary.
Aimee had been his tie that kept him there, and for his sister, he would do anything.
Sam wanted to weep for her bear. Dev was such a good man. Not that she’d doubted it, but now she knew his scars were every bit as harsh as hers. He blamed himself for their deaths and for tearing out his mother’s heart. Every time he’d overheard her crying over her children had been like a knife through his soul. He believed that he’d caused it all.
It was why he’d never tried to mate. He didn’t want a woman to turn on him, or worse, have her family come for his. So he’d avoided sleeping with his own kind, knowing that it was rare for a Were-Hunter to be mated to a human. Yes, it happened, but it wasn’t a common occurrence, and even if it did, a human would never be able to hurt them. So he’d played those odds, even though the one thing he really wanted was a family of his own.…
Sam swallowed the lump in her throat as she wished Dev was here for her to hug. She wanted to take his pain away from him and tell him the one thing no one in his family had ever said. Not even the sister he’d risked his life for. The sister he’d hand-carried through the darkness to make sure she was safe.
I’m so glad you survived.
She blinked back her tears, angered over the fact that she felt them. Tears were weakness.
They accomplished nothing.
“Why am I channeling his memories?” She couldn’t sense them at all when she was around him. So why were they here now?
And as she contemplated that, she swore she could feel Dev with her. Feel his panic that she’d been ripped out of his arms and that he hadn’t been able to stop it. Right now, he was in turmoil. Every part of him was desperate to get her back.
For that, he was willing to bust hell itself wide open if that was what it took.
Tenderness spread through her in a way it never had before. And with that warmth came an awful realization.…
She was falling in love with him.
I can’t be.
But there was no denying the emotions inside her. It was a feeling she knew well and one that had filled her every day she’d been with Ioel.
There was no doubt in her mind. Because right now, when her life was in danger, she wasn’t thinking about herself. She didn’t care what they did to her. Whatever it was, she’d go down swinging. What was on her mind was the fear of what her death would do to Dev.
She didn’t want to die because she had a reason to live. She didn’t want to die because it would destroy her bear.…
“And that’s why you’re here.”
She tensed as that disembodied male voice came back. “Excuse me?”
“You have to let Dev go.”
“Why?”
“Because if you don’t, it will get him killed.”
Chapter Thirteen
Dev paused in the doorway of Sanctuary’s office. His stomach clenched as it always did whenever he walked in and saw his mother’s empty desk. No one had moved anything on it. They hadn’t had the heart. Even the last pen his mother had used was right where she’d laid it by the phone. It was so eerie and as long as it stayed that way, he kept expecting to see her there, looking at him over the rim of her glasses as she waited for him to say something.
He had such mixed emotions where she was concerned. He’d loved her more than anything and yet …
She hadn’t been all that lovable. A true mother bear in every sense of the word, she’d been fierce and stern. While she could show affection—especially toward those she favored, such as Griffe, Bastien, Kyle, and Aimee—it hadn’t been easy for her. She’d expected only the best out of them and she’d been real quick to let them know when they failed her. Most of all, she’d never refrained from severely punishing any of them, including her favorites, when she thought they’d screwed up or jeopardized the family.
But that wasn’t why he was here and he was in a hurry. The only thing that needed to be on his mind right now was Sam.
He’d come here seeking Aimee. She sat at her desk along the wall just like she did every day when she did the paperwork. Like their mother, she could be pretty nasty when crossed or interrupted, but there was an innate kindness to her that took the edge off even her worst moods.
“Hey, babe,” she said with a smile when she looked up and saw him. Somehow she’d always been able to tell him apart from his identical brothers. “How are you guys doing over at Club Charonte?”
“We were doing great until a demon broke in and snatched Sam out.”
She gasped.
“Have you seen Fang? I tried to call, but it keeps going straight to voice mail.” Which was what had brought him back to Sanctuary. They needed to get Fang on the demon’s trail as quickly as possible.
“He’s with Remi helping to unload a shipment into the freezer. You need me to help look for her?”
That explained the crappy phone reception. The steel of the freezer was so thick, not even a nuke would be able to penetrate it. “Thanks, but I’d rather you sit on the sidelines with this one. I don’t want to be pulling you out of another demon realm anytime soon and I’m pretty sure Fang feels the same way.”
She made a sound of petty annoyance.
As he started to leave, she stopped him. “Dev?”
“Yeah?”
“You okay?” He saw the concern on her face as she studied him. “You look … strange.”
Strange? He felt awful. He didn’t know why but he kept reliving the night his brothers had died. He was eaten up with that same helpless feeling and he hated it. He couldn’t stand the thought of someone he cared about being in harm’s way.
Sam’s nothing to you. Not really. They were barely more than strangers.
It didn’t feel that way. There was a part of her that lived inside of him even though he knew they could never be anything more than friends.
Maybe the occasional booty call.
Don’t go there. Especially not with his sister looking at him. That was just creepy as hell.
“I’m fine.” He’d never let Aimee know the truth. Then again, he never let anyone know his emotions. He hid them behind wisecracks and sarcasm.
It was safer that way.
Closing the door, he flashed himself to the freezer where Remi and Fang were stocking meat.
Hefting a box onto a shelf, Remi curled his lip at Dev’s unexpected appearance. “It figures you’d show up after all the hard work’s done. You always had an uncanny knack for that.”
Dev ignored him as he walked over to where Fang was standing on a stepladder. “Fang. I need your demon expertise.”
Fang pulled back from the steak boxes he was rearranging to look down at him. “For what?”
Dev gave him a “duh” stare. “Demons, obviously.”
Fang flipped him off as he came down the ladder. “Why do I live here with you people again?”
Remi snorted. “’Cause you love our sister and she won’t leave. Believe me, I know. I’ve been trying to run her off for years.”
Fang shook his head at him as he turned back to Dev. “What’s going on?”
“One of the empusae took Sam and we can’t find her. I need you to tell me where to look.”
Fang let out a low whistle. “An empusa isn’t an easy thing to track. Are you sure that’s what got her?”
“That’s what Chi said.”
“She would know.” Fang scratched his chin. “Damn. This isn’t good. Give me a minute to consult with my people and I’ll get back to you.”
“Could you kind of rush it? I have a bad feeling that the empusa who took her is the same one who came here disguised as Nick. If I’m right, then he’s working with Stryker, and if he is, you can bet Sam’s not being treated well at Hotel Daimon Central.”
* * *
Lazaros roared through Kalosis in his dragon form. Fury burned deep inside him as he used his powers to find Stryker, who was alone in his study in the main hall. He flew at the building’s wall without slowing. Right as he would have slammed into it, he used his powers to go through it.
The Daimon lord arched a brow as Lazaros manifested in his true demon form in front of his ornately carved desk. But other than that, he had no real reaction.
