Seducing the Hunter (Mills & Boon Nocturne)

by Vivi Anna

  “We’re going to make it out.”

  “When did you become an optimist?”

  He smiled. “The moment I met you.”

  The tears came then. As they rolled down her cheeks they mingled with the icy water that was still rising.

  Looking upward, Daeva lifted her hands and touched the hole. It wasn’t even a foot wide. Not big enough for a full body to squeeze through. She gripped the sides and started to dig and pull at the dirt and rock while Quinn held Leanne. Bits and pieces fell into the water around her, but it still wasn’t enough. Soon the water level would rise higher than the hole and they would lose room to breathe. They might be able to stick their faces out the hole for air, but how long would that last?

  She settled her hands along the sides and forced the tiny sparks inside her to rise to the surface. They came quickly but they were not strong. She fed the fire into the rock. Gritting her teeth, she pushed it harder and harder. A tooth cracked in her mouth and blood started to pool in her throat. She swallowed it and continued to manipulate the demon magic inside her.

  She gave it one final push and, finally, the hole gave. Substantial pieces fell on top of her head and rolled into the frigid waters.

  “Get her out,” she said to Quinn.

  He floated to the wide hole and pulled himself up, wiggling his body until he was completely out. He reached down to Leanne. Daeva lifted her up to him, trying to be careful of Leanne’s injuries but knowing that if they didn’t force her through she would die.

  With one final tug, he was able to pull her body out. Then he reached down for Daeva.

  “Your turn, baby.”

  She let him grip her arms and she kicked when he pulled. She managed to squirm through with Quinn’s help. When she was out, she rolled onto her back and took in deep cleansing breaths of the fresh cool air. Water bubbled out of the hole next to her. A few more minutes under and they would’ve all drowned.

  But now they were safe.

  “Well, look what the mine puked out.”

  Or not.

  Daeva blinked up into the sun, and into the shadow of a sorcerer.

  Chapter 28

  Quinn tried to get to his feet but the boot in his gut forced him down again. He rolled onto his side and looked up into the face of Richter Collins.

  “We meet again, Quinn. How fortuitous. For me.”

  “How’s the leg? Still limping?”

  Richter smiled but there was no humor or warmth there. His expression was cold and calculating. “Where’s the chest?”

  “Back in the hole you just filled up.”

  A muscle in his jaw ticked. Quinn could easily tell that the sorcerer was pissed off that his plan had backfired.

  “Well, I guess one of you is going back in to retrieve it.”

  Richter nudged Leanne with the toe of his shoe. Her head lolled back and forth.

  “Don’t touch her. She’s badly injured.”

  “I noticed.” Then his gaze narrowed on Daeva, who was also lying on her back, arms splayed out, her face pale, her chest barely rising and falling. “Then the demon bitch. She can do it.” He reached down to grab her by the hair.

  Quinn was up and on him in seconds. “Get off her!”

  But he was still so winded and exhausted from the journey that Richter easily backhanded him, sending him sprawling back to the ground. It helped that the sorcerer had magic to back him. Quinn could feel the telltale burn of it across his face.

  “Do yourself a favor, exorcist, and stay down.”

  Another sorcerer stood over Quinn, his hands glowing green, ready to launch an attack at Richter’s command.

  Richter finished reaching for Daeva and yanked on her hair to pull her up. She was like a rag doll in his hand.

  Fury rolled through Quinn but he couldn’t see a way to get to the sorcerer without being fried by the fiery magic balls of doom. Then he saw the miraculous glint of steel at Leanne’s hip. He just had to get over there.

  Richter dragged Daeva across the dirt by her hair. “What’s the matter with your demon, Quinn? Is she broken?”

  “She’s injured, you dick.”

  Richter frowned down at her, then waggled her head back and forth. “How can she be injured? Demons can regenerate.”

  Quinn didn’t want to tell the sorcerer that he’d made her mortal by binding her to him and the Earth. It was best that Richter still thought she was a demon. But what if he did something to her that couldn’t be taken back?

  Richter dropped her by the hole in the ground that they’d just come out of. Water had stopped gushing from it. The ground around it was muddy and slick.

  “The water level is going down. So she can go back and get me that chest.” He nudged her toward the hole.

  It took everything Quinn had not to bolt across the ground, wrap his hands around Richter’s throat and squeeze the life out of him. But he had to time it right—he was going to get one chance to kill this guy and he wasn’t going to blow it.

  As if privy to his thoughts, Daeva opened her eyes and looked at him. Her lips twitched up into a sad smile. Was she telling him something? He kept watching her, then she mouthed the word...now.

  She reached up and grabbed Richter’s wrists with her hands. Her dark magic absorbed his hands and diminished his own green, glowing sparks.

  His eyes widened and he cried out.

  Quinn kicked the sorcerer looming over him between the legs and knocked him unconscious with a right hook to the jaw. He then rolled twice to Leanne, and unsheathed her knife. He was on his feet in seconds and moving towards Richter.

  The sorcerer pulled Daeva up and slammed her back down to the ground. She relinquished her hold on him, but it was too little too late. Quinn was already on him.

  With all the power he could muster, Quinn jammed the knife into the sorcerer’s throat. Surprise widened his eyes and his hands came up to his neck. But it was pointless. There was no way he could stem the flow of blood.

  “Told you, asshole, that I’d ram it into your throat next time I saw you.”

  Gurgling nonsensically, Richter dropped to the ground, blood gushing from his wound and soaking the dirt beneath him. Ignoring him, Quinn rushed to Daeva’s side, cradling her to his chest.

  “You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.” He rocked her back and forth.

  She blinked up at him. “Liar.” She coughed, her whole body convulsing with the sheer power of it.

  He smoothed a hand over her hair, trying hard not to let tears flow. He vowed he wouldn’t cry. But the emotion inside him was bubbling up too hard and too fast.

  “Stay still, now.”

  She lifted her hand and touched his cheek. “You’re sweet.” Then her hand fell to the side. She turned her head to look at Leanne. “How is she?”

  Quinn glanced at the Cree woman. “Not good. I don’t think she’s going to make it. I don’t know how to get her out of here without killing her.”

  “Move me closer to her.”

  He frowned. “Why?”

  “Because maybe I can do one last thing in this life that’s good.”

  He didn’t argue with her. Lifting Daeva gently, he pulled her over to Leanne and settled her down again. Daeva reached over and grabbed Leanne’s hand.

  “If she wakes, will you tell her I’m sorry about everything?”

  He nodded. “Yes, I’ll tell her.”

  “Good.” She smiled at him. “Will you always remember me?”

  The tears came then. He let them fall, too distraught to wipe them away. “Always and forever.”

  “I wish we could’ve had more time together. We had some good times didn’t we?”

  “The best.”

  “Liar,” she murmured. “Kiss me one last time, Quinn Strom. Let me go into the abyss with the taste of you on my lips.”

  He leaned down to her mouth and gently brushed his lips against hers. They kissed, and it was slow and gentle and full of everything they’d yet to experience together. F
ull of regret for a life they’d never have.

  He broke away and looked down at her, brushing his hand over her clammy face. Her skin was like ice now. Her lips were turning blue. It was difficult to watch but he couldn’t turn away. He wouldn’t let her go without some comfort.

  “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.” He kissed her forehead one last time.

  She closed her eyes and gripped Leanne’s hand tight. He watched as her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. He watched and waited, until the last deep breath she took didn’t come out. Her face went slack and her fingers uncurled from Leanne’s.

  Trying hard not to sob, he lifted her body and cradled her against his chest. He nuzzled his face into her hair and breathed in deep. Her smell was still the same. The feel of her in his arms, so right, so perfect.

  But gone. Forever.

  As he held her tight, rocking back and forth, he sensed movement beside him. He looked over at Leanne as she opened her eyes.

  “Quinn?”

  “Are you all right?” he asked, unbelieving.

  “I think so.” She moved her arms. “What happened?”

  “Daeva gave you the last of her life to save you.”

  Slowly, Leanne sat up and looked at Daeva in his arms. She reached over and touched her cheek. “I saw her in my dream. She kissed me, then I felt warm.”

  He nodded, more tears rolling down his cheeks. The love of his life was dead. He didn’t know how to go on without her.

  Leanne put a hand on his shoulder. “You will see her again, Quinn.”

  “When?” he blubbered. “When I die?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know when, but do not give up on her.”

  He pressed his lips to Daeva’s cheek, inhaling her in, needing her to be. But knowing she’d never be again.

  Chapter 29

  The darkness was heavy and cloying. It clung to her like too-thick cobwebs. She tried to shake the feeling loose, but it failed. In fact, she wasn’t certain she could even move. She tried to shrug her shoulders, but didn’t get a sense of any movement. Maybe she didn’t have a body anymore.

  Am I dead?

  Daeva pondered that. Is this what death was? A vast stretch of nothingness?

  She really hoped not, as it was going to get pretty boring in the afterlife if all she had to look forward to was absolute darkness. It’s not that she expected pearly gates and harps, considering her species, but this nothingness was really quite the disappointment.

  To her relief, the darkness eventually faded and she was floating in a sea of twinkly lights. She looked down and saw her form, weightless. She lifted her arm, inspecting her skin. The scar was gone. Her skin was flawless. But she still couldn’t feel her arm moving.

  She grabbed one of the twinkly lights with her hand. She held it there until it warmed her skin. She opened her hand and watched as the light danced on her palm, changing color from white to green to black. Then it exploded and a thousand shards of black glass shot through the colorless sky around her.

  She tracked one of the shards through the air as it zoomed away. It seemed to be following someone. She swore she could see a dark form shimmering on the horizon.

  Flapping her arms, she tried to move through the emptiness. It seemed to be working because the dark form in the distance was getting larger and more defined.

  The closer she got, the clearer the form became. Daeva could see the long, silky, black hair of the Cree woman whose family she’d cursed.

  Leanne? Are you dead, too?

  She turned and smiled at Daeva. She shook her head, then held out her hand. Daeva took it, feeling the woman’s skin vividly against her own.

  Come with me.

  Where are we going?

  You will see.

  Smiling, Daeva let Leanne guide her away from the twinkly lights and down to a bridge. Her feet touched down and she could almost feel the structure under her soles.

  Holding hands, the two women strolled down the bridge toward a bright white light.

  Will I see Quinn again?

  Leanne smiled and nodded. Yes. In time. But not yet. He has to learn to release you first.

  Although Daeva was sad she wouldn’t see Quinn soon, she still felt a lightness inside she’d never experienced before. It was nice and unexpected.

  Leanne led her forward, pulling on her hand. At first they were in stride, but eventually Leanne pulled ahead. She yanked on Daeva’s hand. Finally, they were going so fast, everything became a blur. It was as if they were traveling through the ether. Like teleportation. But that wasn’t possible, was it?

  It went faster and faster, until Daeva couldn’t even see herself. Everything was one big white blur. She opened her mouth to scream, to tell Leanne to stop.

  And then it did.

  Daeva blinked open her eyes.

  Chapter 30

  The house hadn’t been nearly as bad as Quinn thought it was going to be when he returned. Ivy’d had something to do with that, he was sure. He’d called her when they’d been on the road and she promised to take of it. And she had.

  There was no police tape, and the living room had been tidied a bit, as had been his bedroom. Minus the hole in the wall. He’d have to take care of that himself. When he got around to it. Right now he didn’t feel like doing much of anything.

  He stood in the basement and stared at the pentagram still chalked in white on the floor. He’d been staring at it for the past twenty minutes. But he couldn’t leave, he couldn’t move. Maybe if he looked at it hard enough or long enough, she would magically appear.

  He twisted the chalk in his fingers and considered doing another summons. Maybe she was just waiting for him to call her home. Maybe she’d been wrong about dying. Surely a demon could never die. Not even one that was bound to the Earth.

  He nudged the open book on the cement floor. It was one of his summoning books. He’d poured over it for the past hour looking for something, anything, that would tell him that she didn’t really die. Even a grain of hope would have been enough. But he couldn’t find anything.

  His last bit of hope had faded when he’d turned the last page.

  He shoved the chalk back into his pocket and took out his cell phone. He scrolled through his contacts and dialed a number. Quianna answered on the fourth ring.

  “Hey, Quinn.”

  “I have it, Q.”

  An hour later he parked in the university visitor’s lot and made his way to the faculty building. The backpack weighed heavy on his shoulders. All that was inside was the book, but it was heavier than anything he’d ever carried before. It had cost him so much.

  He knocked on her door, waiting for her to tell him to come in. When she did, he went inside and stood by the leather visitor chair. She sat behind her desk, glasses perched on her perky nose.

  “So, do you have it?”

  Quinn nodded and reached into his backpack, pulling out the fabric-wrapped package. He handed it to her.

  She took it gingerly and set it on the desk. Hands shaking, Quianna unfolded the shirt. Inside was the book. “The grimoire that King Solomon used to summon his demons.”

  She traced a finger over the old black leather. “Amazing. I can feel the power radiating from it.” She looked up at him. “I can’t believe you found it.”

  “It wasn’t me who found it.” He kept his shoulders straight although he wanted to sag forward. The weight of losing Daeva pressed heavily on his mind, body and soul. He wasn’t sure he’d ever recover from her loss.

  Quianna sat back in her chair, taking off her glasses. “Who was it then?”

  “A friend.”

  “By the look in your face, I’d say more than a friend.”

  He nodded. “Yeah, she was.”

  “I’m sorry, Quinn.”

  “So am I.” He got to his feet, swinging the pack over his shoulder. “Well, I’ll see you.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Home.”

  S
he nodded. “Thank you for bringing it to me. I’ll take care of it now. You go rest. You deserve a break.”

  He turned and walked out of her office, shutting the door firmly behind him.

  With that behind him, maybe now he could move on with his life. The pain in his chest told him it would be an uphill battle all the way. He was one for challenges, but just getting out of bed this morning had been a struggle.

  His cell phone thumped from his pants pocket. He fished it out. “Strom.”

  It was an old friend and hunting partner, Jake. “I have a job for you.”

  “I’m taking a break from that for a while.”

  “I think you’ll want this one.”

  Quinn paused, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. Did he really want another job? Is this what he really needed to forget Daeva? “I’m listening.”

  “I got a lead on Todd Sheppard. Haven’t you been looking for him for a few years?”

  “What’s the address?”

  “I’ll text it to you.”

  “Great.”

  “Do you want some extra help on this? Gi and I could be backup.”

  “No, thanks, Jake, but I got this. I need this.”

  “I understand. Take care, buddy.”

  “You, too.” Quinn ended the call, then waited for the text with the address.

  This was closure, in a way. Going full circle to the beginning of it all. It would be good for him to end it. Maybe that would help him move on. Or maybe it would just help him deal with the anger still churning inside him.

  *

  It didn’t surprise Quinn that Todd was hanging out in a nightclub. It was the sorcerer’s usual MO. The guy had no imagination—he was as predictable as they came.

  Because of that, it didn’t take Quinn long to track him down inside the club. The sorcerer was sitting with a group of women. Quinn searched the table for red hair. For one second his heart thudded expectantly, then it faded when he saw only blondes sitting in the group. Instead of coming at the sorcerer from behind, Quinn decided to approach the subject head on.

  He walked up to the table, grabbed an empty chair and sat in it, facing Todd. The sorcerer was about to jump to his feet, but Quinn grabbed his arm and held him in place.