Something in his flat tone struck her. “And you don’t?”
Again, he ignored her. Reyes and company were masters at evasion, she was coming to realize. They answered those questions they wanted to and discarded everything else as if it had never been uttered.
“You should know that my family means everything to me and I will decapitate any immortal who even thinks about hurting them.”
“Spoken like a true Hunter,” he said with a shake of his head. “Well, guess what. Cut off their heads and you can kiss your pretty world goodbye. Their demons will be loosed, a source of havoc unlike any you have ever seen.”
“Saving my loved ones is worth any price.”
“I feel the same about mine.” There was another warning in his voice. “I protect mine, though.”
My family is on the run because of me. The stray thought slithered through Danika’s mind, and she blanched. Was she completely responsible? Maybe she could have done more, fought harder during the abduction.
If they die, it will be my fault.
Tears suddenly burned her eyes. Tears of shame and horror. She was responsible. She’d been so scared the night Lucien and Aeron had come to her hotel room, she had frozen. She hadn’t screamed. She had let them bundle her up, gather her family and cart them here.
How could she have been so…passive?
Sabin gave her a look of total understanding. “Perhaps you’ll take care of matters on your own, huh? Save me the trouble.”
Meaning, perhaps she would kill herself. He didn’t know her very well. Suicide would never be an option for Danika. Too vividly she recalled the strain her grandmother’s attempt had placed on her family. She remembered her mother’s tearstained face, remembered seeing her quietly sob in a darkened corner. She remembered the lies everyone had told her, shame whispering in their voices and glowing from their eyes. Your grandmother had an accident. She’s going away for a few months to recover.
Behind closed doors, they’d said something else entirely. Why would she do something like that? She has a great life, no reason to end it.
Now that Danika thought about it, that was funny coming from her dad. He’d had a great life, but not long after her grandmother’s breakdown, he’d packed up and moved on to a new one. God, where were these depressing thoughts coming from?
The door suddenly banged closed, jolting her. A scowling Reyes had entered the room, the scarred Lucien on his heels. Seeing her beautiful nemesis, her breath caught in her throat and her traitorous heart skipped a beat.
Enemy, she reminded herself. How many times would she be forced to do so? Why could her mind not get the message? She tried to look away from him, but her gaze snagged on an ugly cut decorating his cheek.
The two men must have fought. Both of them sported bruises on their faces, bleeding scratches and savaged lips. Mud streaked their skin. There were crimson splotches on Reyes’s T-shirt, as though he’d taken the brunt of the beating.
I will not be concerned about Reyes.
They carried the scent of roses and…old eggs? Her nose wrinkled in distaste. Ugh.
Reyes spied Sabin and his scowl intensified. He glanced from the warrior to Danika, from Danika to the warrior. Fury blazed over his expression as he stalked to Sabin, his hands fisted. “What are you doing here?”
The two men faced off.
“Someone needed to question her,” Sabin said, brows dancing into his hairline. “You refused to do it, so I got it done.”
“You were not to come near her.”
Their muscles bulged, their bodies tensed. If Danika hadn’t been so torn between fear and disgust, she would have enjoyed the view.
“She’s alive, isn’t she? So what’s the problem?”
Reyes licked his lips, the action somehow menacing. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” Sabin said dryly. “Thanks for asking.”
“Not you. Danika, are you hurt?” Reyes never removed his lethal attention from Sabin.
Physically? “I’m fine.” Her throat constricted around the words.
Reyes shoved Sabin, and the warrior stumbled backward. “Don’t come near her again.”
Danika gasped, expecting the narrow-eyed man to launch himself at Reyes and for the two to roll on the ground in a bid for dominance. He didn’t. He popped his jaw, ran his tongue over his teeth.
“I did you a favor, boy. You’d do better to thank me.”
Danika stepped toward them. What she planned to do or say, she didn’t know. In the end, she didn’t have to think about it. Lucien moved in front of her, blocking her forward progress.
“Enough,” he said to the men. “Sabin, get your team ready. We leave for Rome in the morning.”
“This isn’t over,” Sabin said.
“I know.” A weary sigh.
“Why did the plans change?” Reyes asked Lucien.
“Researching was getting us nowhere,” his friend said. “We’ll go back to the temple, see if we find anything there.”
Anticipation sizzled and snapped along Reyes’s olive skin. Truly flickering, making him look like a walking electrical socket. His dark hair even stood on end. Why anticipation? The thought of having her alone? Then Danika’s eyes widened. Did it matter? The supernatural occurrences were stacking one on top of the other. Pretty soon, she might leave normalcy behind forever, unable to return.
When have you ever been normal?
When she was a child, the girls in her class had wanted to play Barbie. Danika had wanted to play angel. So many times she’d pretended to have wings, pretended to fly through the playground and battle evil. And yet, when evil truly did knock on her door, she hadn’t battled. She’d curled into a fetal ball and cried for her mommy.
Never again.
“This isn’t over,” Sabin said again, and stalked from the room. The door slammed shut behind him.
Danika gulped. Alone with Reyes and Lucien. Don’t you dare lose your courage. She raised her chin.
Slowly Reyes turned to face her. His dark eyes were haunted, his features strained. “You had tears in your eyes when I entered.” A muscle ticked in his temple. “What did Sabin make you doubt?”
That ticking usually meant a storm brewed inside of him. She might not know much about him, as she’d told him earlier, but she did know that. “Doubt?”
Reyes nodded, the action clipped. “He made you doubt something about yourself.”
“No. He warned me not to hurt you.”
“He wouldn’t have spoken the doubts aloud. You would have heard them in your mind.”
“What are you talking about? The only thing I doubted was—” Dear God. She gasped. “That’s his demon? That’s his power? Making people doubt themselves and their actions? Making them feel terrible about what they’ve done or haven’t done?”
Another nod.
All the grim thoughts that had snaked through her mind in Sabin’s presence echoed once more. “That bastard! I’ll kill him.” Growling, she lunged for the door. She’d track him down and—
Reyes caught her by the arms and held her until she stilled. “What did he use against you?” He moved his hands up, slowly, gently, and cupped her cheeks.
A tremor slid down her spine. She couldn’t pull away. He offered comfort from her shame, and she gladly accepted. His palms were warm, calloused with scabs, giving her exactly what she needed. “M-my family. My fault.”
He shook his head violently. “Not your fault. The gods’ fault, our fault, but never yours.”
Tears again burned her eyes. That’s all she seemed to do lately, start to cry then stop it from happening. “I didn’t fight.”
His grip tightened. Not hurting, but no longer gentle. “We are warriors. Immortal, no less. We have been trained to slay, to hurt. What could you have done against us?”
“More,” she said simply. God, it felt good, being touched by him. Why had she ever thought to deny herself this bliss?
“Nothing would have changed.”
> “No way to know that now.” How wonderful would it feel to burrow into the hollow of his neck? Inhale his scent? Remaining still proved one of the most difficult things she’d ever done. “Is there?”
His mouth curved in a gradual smile. “You are stubborn.”
The sight of that smile nearly melted her bones. Every time she’d been with him, he’d frowned, he’d raged, he’d cursed, but he had never smiled. The glorious expression lit his entire face, softening his eyes to a warm honey.
Another shiver trekked down her spine, and she forced herself to rip away from him. No more stimuli. No more being near him, taking comfort when she knew better. Softening. Hungry. You deny yourself the bliss because it could be your downfall, she reminded herself.
If she had stayed close, she would have reached for him, perhaps fallen into the cradle of his body. Perhaps tangled her hands in his hair and kissed the breath right out of him.
His arms fell to his sides, and he sighed. Danika dug her nails into her palm to remind herself that this was reality. A reality fraught with pain, desperation. Determination. There was no time for romance. Especially with Reyes.
“Here’s the Ty-lenol,” Ashlyn stuttered, having walked into the room and spied them. Her palm was extended, two red-and-white pills resting in the center. In her other hand, she clutched a glass of water. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
“You’re fine,” Lucien assured her as Reyes backed away from Danika.
Damn, she’d forgotten Lucien was still in the room. “Thank you for the pills,” Danika told Ashlyn, glad for the reprieve. She closed the distance between them and took the offered items. Her head might not have been hurting earlier, but it was throbbing now. She tossed the medicine back with a single gulp of the water.
“Ashlyn,” Reyes said. “Thank you for caring for my—for Danika.”
“My pleasure.” Ashlyn shifted her focus between the two warriors, as though she wondered what was going on but didn’t want to be rude and ask. “I’m sorry I took so long. I ran into Maddox, and well…If there’s anything else I can do…?”
Danika shook her head. Part of her wanted to glom onto her friend, leave this room and never look back. “I’m good.”
“Sorry I’m late. Ashlyn tells me—” Another woman strolled into the room, tall, pale and utter perfection. She wore a short blue dress that veed low between her breasts and matching heels that laced up her calves. Her equally blue gaze performed a single sweep of the area, and she grinned. “Cool. A secret gathering. I’m Anya, by the way.”
“Nice to meet you,” Danika told her. Ashlyn had mentioned her, but not which warrior the woman belonged to. Whoever it was obviously treated her well. Never had Danika seen a happier female.
Lucien released a sigh. “What are you up to, Anya? You only grin like that when you have something planned.”
Scarred Lucien was her man? Wow. A true beauty and the beast.
The gorgeous woman twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, throwing the warrior a come-and-get-me look. “Just wanted to do a little girl bonding, that’s all.” Those electric blues slid back to Danika. “These boys treating you well, sugar?”
“I—I—” Didn’t know how to answer that. They were, with the exception of Sabin, but she didn’t want to admit it. Every minute that passed, something new seemed to rise up and stop her from wanting to act against these men. These demons.
“They don’t, you just tell little ol’ Anya and I will personally cut out their hearts,” Anya said. “That’s a promise. Not that I can be trusted. Lying is a hobby of mine. Lucien, honey, you gonna be long? I wanna throw William a welcome-to-the-fortress party and I’d like your help picking the decorations.”
Lucien closed his eyes and shook his head, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“I’m thinking masked ball with a creatures of the night theme.”
Anya changed directions faster than Danika could keep up, but Ashlyn took everything in stride. “No party. Not with the box and the artifacts and Hunters and God knows what else hanging over our heads. Danika, you call me if you need anything, okay? Anything at all.” With that, she dragged a protesting Anya from the room.
Such sweet women. Smart, too. So what were they doing with these warriors? What am I doing with these warriors? Danika sighed. What artifacts had Ashlyn meant? “I’m ready,” she said, bringing everyone back to Topic One. “Where’s Aeron?”
Reyes and Lucien shared a dark look.
“What?” she demanded.
Reyes faced her again, his expression blank. “Here,” he said. “Aeron is here, in the fortress.”
Anticipation rushed through her with dizzying speed. “Take me to him.” She had to know. For better or worse, she had to know. “Right now. Please. I want to see him.”
“He is chained, but you cannot go near him. In his case, chained does not mean helpless. Promise me you will remain at a distance.”
At the moment, she would have promised him the moon and the sky. “I promise.” But if Aeron refused to answer her questions, Danika thought she might leap at him and attack. Maybe even add a number two to her kill list. If only her former self-defense instructor could see her now.
Reyes glanced up at the ceiling, as if praying for guidance. Then, “Very well. Come. I hope you receive the answers you wish.”
CHAPTER NINE
WHILE A WARRIOR FOR THE GODS, Reyes had battled heavenly creatures now only whispered about in books and fables. Cerberus—a three-headed dog thought to have stood watch at the gates of hell. Chimera—human/animal hybrids. Harpies—half woman, half demented bird. All had left him bleeding and in agony. Back then, pain had not been a pleasure.
His first few years in ancient Greece, the demon had churned inside him, pulling his strings, leading him to slaughter and maim. When the humans finally started fighting back, war had reigned, destruction in every corner. He’d lost limbs, regrown them only to lose them again, had nearly been decapitated several times. And yet he had never experienced fear as potent as this.
Danika would soon be face-to-face with Aeron. A man whose demon urged him to kill her with the same kind of relentless persuasion that always plagued Reyes. A man who had clearly tried to gnaw his way through his own wrist to free himself of the chains that bound him. Thankfully, he’d only gotten through the first layer of muscle when Reyes and Lucien arrived.
But what if Aeron managed to slip free while Danika was nearby? What if his strength increased exponentially and he snapped his wrists off in a blink, launching forward, teeth bared—Stop!
Reyes wanted to sweep Danika up and carry her away from the fortress, but she wanted answers, so he would get them for her.
It was that simple. Her wants came before his own.
He descended a flight of stairs to the lowest level of the dungeon, Danika behind him and Lucien behind her. They journeyed from homey to slightly cared-for to completely neglected. The stone walls were crumbling and broken bits coated the floor, digging into the soles of his boots. Reyes could not even tell if he walked upon wood planks or marble, the rocks and dust were piled so high. His guilt returned, increased. How can I treat my friend this way?
So what that Aeron, the real Aeron, didn’t want to kill the women. So what that Aeron yearned for death. The man didn’t deserve to suffer like this, bound and locked away as if he were disposable. In a place Anya had proclaimed even gloomier than the godly prison Tartarus.
Damn the gods for reducing Aeron to a killer and Reyes to a jailer!
Thankfully, none of the other warriors were around. They were too busy packing and gathering supplies for the upcoming trip to Rome. A trip Reyes wasn’t sure he would take. He wanted to find Pandora’s box and defeat the Hunters once and for all, but he didn’t want to cart Danika all over the world.
She might run again. He might not be able to find her. The Hunters might decide she was better off dead and come after her.
More and more, he
was beginning to think his existence depended on hers. He didn’t understand it, didn’t like it, but there it was. He was still amazed that every time he neared her, he and the demon both calmed.
Danika coughed.
He rounded a corner, tossing a glance over his shoulder. She was waving a hand in front of her face. Dust sparkled around her hair like a halo. Some of her tresses had been washed of the dye, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of blond. First time he’d seen her, he remembered thinking her hair was like the sun, bright and radiant. “Want to return to my room?” he asked. “I would be very unhappy if you sickened.”
She offered him an exaggerated frown, an expression of dry amusement. “I coughed. I’ll live. Keep going.”
A man’s irritated grumblings echoed off the walls. “I don’t want to play Wrists-and-Blood anymore. I told you, stop.”
At least Aeron was not screaming.
Reyes turned another corner and barred cages came into view. He stopped abruptly, holding out his arm so that Danika would not pass him. For a split second, her breasts pushed into his forearm, soft and full, and her damp hair slapped at his skin.
He swallowed a curse; she stumbled backward as though she’d been shoved. His entire body suddenly felt engulfed by white-hot flames. Her scent filled his nose, thunderstorms and innocence.
“Stay here.” The raspiness of his voice embarrassed him. He didn’t mind if others—and even Danika herself—knew he desired her. There was no hiding that fact. What he did mind was anyone knowing the intensity of that desire. The knowledge could be used against him.
“Why can’t I go farther?” she asked.
He was pleased to note her voice shook.
“I want to see him first, discover if his mood has changed since I left him.” And check to see if his wrists had healed and were no longer in danger of detaching, but Reyes didn’t add that part. “If he’s relatively calm, you may approach the bars. You will not enter the cell at any time. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“You may ask him questions, but do not insult him and incite his…wrath.”
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