The Darkest Touch dh-3

by Jaci Burton

  He left her for only a second. She was reluctant to let go of him. “I promise. I’m just going to get us some light.” She finally released her death grip on him. He found the switch, pulled off his glasses, and bathed the room in soft light.

  Holy Christ. Her hair was a tangled dark mess around her face and shoulders, her eyes wide green pools of fear. The sheet had fallen to her waist, revealing small, upturned breasts-damn perfect, too-pink nipples and golden skin. His gaze shot back up to her stricken face and he hurried over to her side of the bed again. She was still shaking. He grabbed his jacket out of the bag at his feet and lifted her arms, sliding her into it, though he wasn’t sure if it was to warm her or cover her body from his gaping gaze.

  “What. . what was that?” she asked, her voice a croaking whisper. “A demon?”

  “I don’t know. I guess. Never seen one like that.”

  “Me, either.” She was still breathing hard. He slid his fingers over her pulse. Too damn fast. He rubbed his thumb over her wrist. God, her hand was cold.

  “He. . it wanted the black diamond.”

  “I figured. Is it here, in this house?”

  She shook her head, pieces of her hair sliding across her cheek as she dropped her head to her chin. “No. It’s not here.”

  He should be pissed. He had a million questions to ask her, should tell her she got what she deserved after taking off with the black diamond. He had come for the same thing-to get it back. Now was the time to figure out where it was.

  But looking at her shaking like this, he couldn’t do it. He had to get Angie out of this house, away from that thing and whatever else the Sons of Darkness were going to send her way. He had to contact the Realm of Light, report what he’d seen, gather some intelligence.

  He had to protect Angie, before another of those creatures came back. Or something worse.

  He was assigned to find and retrieve the black diamond. Find Angie and Isabelle.

  He’d found Angie, so one step accomplished. But damn, he’d just stepped into a whole hell of a lot more.

  Pandora’s box had opened, and he had a feeling he and Angie had just climbed right inside of it.

  And despite his anger, his determination to keep his emotional distance, here he sat, with his arms wrapped around Angelique.

  And dammit, it felt right.

  Not good. Not good at all.

  He pushed away and stood, looking down at her. “You okay now?”

  She nodded, swung her legs over the bed. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Get dressed. Pack what you can in five minutes. We’re getting out of here now before the Sons of Darkness send in round two.”

  He pivoted and walked away from her, needing the distance. He’d do his job. He’d protect her and he’d bring back the black diamond.

  But that’s all he was going to do with Angelique. He wasn’t going to care about her.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Ryder had found them a new place to stay-clear across the island from where they had been.

  This house was as remote as one could get. Like a stronghold on top of a hill, it was a tiny stone cottage, one story, with jutting rocks surrounding it and brush weaving in and out as camouflage. No other houses in the vicinity, either. None for miles, actually.

  Angelique was glad for Ryder’s company, because they would be utterly isolated here.

  When they’d first arrived to case the area, instead of using the driveway, Ryder had walked them down to the water’s edge and examined the cliffs. Definitely inaccessible enough and only one way in, and it wasn’t via the steep cliffs. Without adequate climbing gear, no one could get up the back way and hide deep within the rocky crags. One slip and they’d be dead meat.

  It was a perfect house to hide out. And it had been vacant. Ryder had contacted the rental agent first thing in the morning, and offered up an obscene amount of money for an immediate move-in. Maybe the place was so remote no one wanted it. The rental agent had given them the keys, and an hour later they were back at the house.

  Ryder had been strangely silent while she packed up her essential things last night, then shoved her and them in his car along with his gear. She’d stayed silent as well, though she knew it was only a matter of time before Ryder would demand information.

  She’d slept only fitfully in the car while Ryder had done all the driving. She’d been way too keyed up, too afraid of monsters jumping out at her around every corner. She’d sleep when she calmed down.

  Or maybe never. Would she ever get the vision of that creature waking her up out of her mind? Its cold hand slamming down over her mouth to drown out her scream? The threats of cutting her throat, the powerful strength of its body pressing down upon her as she lay helpless in her bed?

  What if Ryder hadn’t been there? What would have happened?

  She shivered and pulled her sweater around her chest. Despite the warmth of the sun pouring in through the open windows of the vehicle, she could still feel the demon’s icy fingers touching her.

  She might never be warm again.

  Ryder drove into the open garage and they hopped out, unpacked and stepped through the door leading from the garage into the house.

  “This is lovely, Ryder.”

  He seemed to be paying no attention to the inside of the house, only peering outside before looking back at her. “Uh-huh.”

  She, however, was looking her fill. “It’s quaint and small and intimate. And the garden is lovely. There’s even a small pool out back.” She wandered through the kitchen and out the back door.

  The pool was small, but it was sunny, and well guarded by the high stone wall and lots of greenery. Beyond the edge of the wall was the cliff. No way someone could come at them. Unless they materialized in a puff of smoke.

  She shuddered at the memory.

  How had they found her, anyway? Both the demon and Ryder? Another question she filed away for later.

  The living room had two sofas. Stone sofas, actually, with thick pillows like futons. Stone coffee table and end tables to match the rock walls. It would stay cool in here without air-conditioning.

  One bedroom and a king-sized bed.

  “You can take the bedroom,” he said to Angelique over her shoulder as she leaned against the doorway to the room.

  “Where will you sleep?”

  She turned around to face him, noticing he backed up a step.

  He shrugged. “I don’t sleep much. When I need to conk out I’ll use the couch.”

  She wrapped her arms around her middle, confused by the distance he put between them. “I see.”

  “We’ll have to share the one bathroom, though.”

  “Of course. Unless you want to bathe in the pool.”

  “I’ll pass.” He walked away and out the back door.

  Okay, so her attempt at humor had failed. Ryder wasn’t in a good mood. Not that she could blame him. She probably wasn’t his favorite person right now, considering her theft of the black diamond. He’d no doubt been assigned to retrieve it, and her, and hadn’t expected to fight demons in the process.

  She hadn’t expected to be awakened by one in her bedroom last night. Memories of those glowing eyes in the darkness still made her stomach twist. Shaking her head to block out the visual, she walked outside and joined Ryder. He leaned against the post on the covered porch. She took a seat in the white rocker, enjoying the bliss of the warm day, the fragrant flowers, wishing this were a vacation, that she had no cares in her life. She wished a lot of things were different.

  But that wasn’t the case.

  “How did the demon find me, Ryder?”

  He continued to look out toward the sea. “I don’t know. You must have left them some clue to your whereabouts.”

  “I didn’t leave any clues.”

  He turned his head and looked at her. “I found you, didn’t I?”

  “You’re human. And you have the Realm of Light to help you along.”

  His gaze narrowed. “And they�
�re demons. They have connections even I don’t have. Don’t ever underestimate them.”

  “Point taken.”

  “Where’s the black diamond, Angie?”

  She shook her head, not at all surprised. “That didn’t take long, did it?”

  “Did you really expect me to beat around the bush?”

  She pulled her knees up to her chest, too tired to do battle with him but knowing it was inevitable. “I guess not.”

  “Answer my question.”

  “I don’t have it.”

  “Obviously. I searched the house last night. So where is it?”

  His voice was cold, his tone clipped. She bristled, wishing for the warmth, the patience he had shown her last night. “It’s safe.”

  “Where?”

  “I can’t tell you.”

  “You mean you won’t.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  He inhaled, then let it out in an audible sigh that spoke of frustration. Tough. She was frustrated, too, and had been for months now. She had questions for which there were no answers; she had been searching endlessly for her sister, with no results. So he could just join her in her disappointment party.

  He chose a seat on the chair across from hers, though he wasn’t relaxing. Tension coiled in the way he balanced on the edge of the cushion, as if he expected to leap to his feet at any second. His dark gaze probed her. “Do you remember what happened in Australia?”

  She nodded.

  “And you still think you can control the black diamond?”

  “I’m not controlling it. I’m hiding it.”

  Ryder dragged his fingers through his hair, then shook his head. “You can’t hide it from the Sons of Darkness, Angie. They’ll find it. They found you, and it’s only a matter of time before they locate the diamond. We can’t let that happen.”

  “They won’t find the diamond. Trust me.”

  His response was to snort. Rather loudly. Okay, so he had no reason to trust her, she’d give him that. Still, his attitude hurt.

  “Ryder, I have it hidden someplace safe. Somewhere the Sons of Darkness can’t get to.”

  “You don’t know that. It’s safer with the Realm of Light.”

  “Oh, right. So you can use it, and my sister?”

  His frown sharpened. “The Realm of Light doesn’t want to use the black diamond or your sister.”

  She looked past him, where the sunlight filtered through the trees. “I can’t be sure of that. I’m the only one who can protect her.”

  “Where is Isabelle?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t been able to locate her yet.”

  “I’d have thought you’d have been in contact with her.”

  “Uh, no.”

  “Why not?”

  “I have no idea. She doesn’t answer her cell phone. I managed to track her here because she was scheduled to do a dig somewhere in the south of Italy. That’s as far as I’ve gotten. I’ve hunted down every ongoing archaeological dig in the area. No one can confirm she’s on a site.”

  “Do you think someone could be covering for her?”

  She shrugged. “It’s possible, but I don’t know why she’d hide from me.”

  “Maybe she’s hiding from someone else. Does she have enemies?”

  Angelique laughed. “Izzy makes a lot of enemies. When you hunt treasure for financial gain, you always manage to piss someone off. I’ve run interference for her in the past, so I know she’s irritated buyers, local governments, you name it.”

  “Why would she avoid you?”

  “I don’t know.” That’s the question Angelique had been asking herself ever since she arrived in Italy and started tracking her sister. She and Izzy hadn’t always gotten along. Okay, who was she kidding? That was an understatement. Isabelle knew that Angelique didn’t approve of her treasure hunting. But they’d always been in contact. In fact, Angelique typically couldn’t make a move without finding Isabelle underfoot and in her business. In business, they were competitors. That meant where Angelique was, Izzy usually showed up. And Angelique always kept an eye on her sister’s digs to make sure she didn’t get in trouble.

  Because where Izzy went, trouble usually followed; something typically went wrong. And Angelique sometimes had to come to the rescue. Izzy counted on Angelique to be there for her. So she always let Angelique know where she was.

  So why the disappearing act now? Something wasn’t right about that.

  “Is it unusual for you to be unable to contact her?” Ryder asked.

  “Yes.” She could at least be honest about that much. “Isabelle is always within reach. We tend to work in the same areas. She’s always in my business. More often than I want her to be, usually. That’s what I don’t understand. She wasn’t in Australia, and I can’t make contact with her.”

  When she looked up, Ryder was staring at her, his dark eyes showing that warmth she had grown accustomed to seeing.

  “You’re worried about her.”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you have any reason to suspect something’s happened to her?”

  Angelique fought back tears, refusing to speculate on the worst possible scenario. “No. I’d feel it if something had happened to her.”

  “The twin connection?”

  She nodded. “Discounted by professionals, but it’s true. When we were kids and one of us was hurt, the other would always know it. And we could sense each other’s moods and anxieties.” It annoyed them both when they got older, having that close a tie to each other. They had both wanted separation and individuality, but the tie had still been there.

  “But you don’t sense that your sister is. .”

  Even though Ryder had trailed off, Angelique knew what he’d avoided saying, so she finished it for him. “No. She’s not dead. She’s probably into something she shouldn’t be and she doesn’t want me to know about it. That has to be the reason for the lack of contact, and she’s pissing me off because she’s avoiding me.”

  Angry was better than worried. Anger kept her going. If she thought about the alternative, she’d drown in a sea of despair. She couldn’t lose her sister. Isabelle was all the family she had left.

  Ryder leaned forward. “Don’t worry. The Realm of Light has hunters spread throughout the country looking for her, too. It’s only a matter of time before she’s found.”

  Angelique didn’t know whether that was a good or bad thing. She wanted to find Isabelle, wanted to assess her condition, both physical and mental. Angelique had questions, concerns. Major concerns, after what she’d seen and learned in Australia.

  If the Realm of Light found Isabelle first, what then?

  Once again, the situation was out of her hands, and she didn’t like it one bit.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Isabelle Deveraux needed a boat. Like right now.

  Unfortunately, funds were short and she didn’t think she could rent one on her looks alone, though if the situation became desperate, she wasn’t above putting on a short skirt, doing her hair, slapping on some lipstick, and vamping it up for one of the many wealthy yacht owners in the harbor.

  Provided she didn’t end up shot, stabbed, or strangled by some rich guy’s wife or-even worse-mistress. No, there had to be another way.

  How would Angelique handle a situation like this?

  The right way, of course.

  Her sweet sister. Even now, she could feel her, that sense of goodness, like the beacon in a lighthouse, showing her the way. Thinking of Angelique was always like feeling a warm blanket pulled over her, protecting her, sheltering her from everything bad.

  Everything dark.

  She shook it off.

  Angelique couldn’t help her.

  Not in this, and not anymore. She was on her own.

  What she needed was to be out in the water, and by God she was going to get there one way or the other. There was treasure out there just waiting for her. Her entire body tingled in anticipation. If she could, she’d walk off the
sandy beach nearby and straight into the sea in order to get to it. It was out there-the find of the century. And it was hers for the taking, if only she could get to it.

  Walking into the ocean wasn’t very practical, though.