His Darkest Embrace (11 page)

Her fragrant scent hung in the air, teasing him. His eyes darkened and he felt the animal inside begin to make noise. Oh, he’d enjoy making her talk.

Her delicate throat moved as she swallowed and he could see the internal struggle that was taking place. Her eyes shifted from his and then moved back again. She opened her mouth to speak, closed it and turned away before inhaling raggedly. She then looked him straight in the eye.

Skye squared her shoulders and seemed to have come to a decision.

“What do you want to know?” she asked softly, though her voice was still rough and dry.

Jagger’s eyes narrowed and his gaze was piercing. Skye didn’t flinch. There was a clarity present that brought a spark of life to the shadows that dulled the blue of her eyes.

“What the hell is your involvement with Cormac O’Hara?”

Revulsion, pain, and anger washed over her face as she bit her lip. She shook her head. “I’m not
involved
with Cormac, at least not in the way you think.”

“Well, why don’t you enlighten me? If you’re not screwing him, what exactly is your relationship with the bastard? And what the hell is his connection to the DaCostas?”

He watched as Skye bit her lip, felt the snarl that rippled along inside of his mouth.

“Cormac is working with the DaCostas because they’re both looking for something.” She paused for a second, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips. “A valuable Aztec artifact that my people have guarded for eons.”

Jagger looked at her, surprised. “Aztec?”

Skye frowned. “You really have no clue what I am or the history between our people, do you?” she snorted, and muttered, “Why does that not surprise me?”

“I deal in the here and now,” Jagger whispered hoarsely, not liking her condescending attitude at all.

“Really.
So that’s why you disappeared for three months? Felt like a break from the here and now, did ya?”

“How the hell would you know any of that?”

“I was there last night for your family reunion, remember?”

Jagger moved so fast she had no time to react and his fingers dug into her arms cruelly. “We are not talking about me,” he hissed. “Understand? My situation or anything about me is no concern of yours.”

The small whimper that fell from her lips alerted him to the fact that he was on the verge of crushing her bones beneath his iron-clad grip.

“Take your hands off me,” she said, her voice low and controlled. Her hand started to shift, and he looked down at the deadly talons that were quickly replacing her fingers. Jagger threw her from him, disgusted in both himself and the anger that she provoked. Mostly because, deep down, he knew she was right.

He took a second, calmed himself and turned back to Skye. Her hand was back to its human form. “What exactly is this Aztec artifact?”

Jagger watched her closely, noticed the stain that crept up over her cheeks. Saw the way her eyes shifted away and then back to his.

“It’s a small round disc,” she said softly before looking away again.

“A small round disc? That’s it? What the hell is so important that both the DaCostas want it, and a scumbag like Cormac?”

“I’m not sure exactly.”

Liar,
Jagger thought. He continued to watch her in silence. He’d bet his last bottle of Canadian whiskey that she knew exactly why they wanted the disc.

“My father hid it here in the jungle,” she continued haltingly. “It was ours to protect. Cormac murdered him because he wanted to get his filthy hands on it.”

Skye looked at him square in the face, her body trembling, but her voice was strong. “I will not let it fall into their hands. I need to find it before they do. Before anyone does.”

Jagger took a few minutes, his mind shrewdly going over what she’d just revealed. The pain on her face was unmistakable, and God help him, he believed her when she said she wasn’t working with Cormac or the DaCostas. But there were still a hell of a lot of loose ends that needed tying.

“Why did the DaCostas have Libby?” he shot at her.

She shook her head. “I don’t know. They had some kind of grudge against your brother, I think.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I wasn’t there nearly as long as Libby, and truthfully, it’s not like bonding was on our minds. We were focused on surviving.”

“Who’s Azaeil?” His eyes narrowed as her face whitened. Skye looked away.

“Where did you hear that name?” she asked finally. The fear in her eyes made Jagger’s stomach muscles clench.

“From your lips. This morning.” He moved closer to her, noting how she was trembling. Her hand rose shakily to push the thick rope of hair behind her ears.

“I … I don’t—”

Jagger exploded, cutting her off. “You’re treading on soft ground here. Don’t play me. I will accept some of your half truths,
for now.”
He glared at her, totally pissed. “But I want to know who the hell this fucker is. Because
he was
here, this morning, and if I’m going to have a hope in hell of protecting you from whatever shit you’ve gotten yourself into, I need to know everything.”

Skye swallowed thickly and drew in a shaky breath. “He was here?” She blanched at his curt nod. “Did you see him?”

“There wasn’t much to see, actually, but yeah, there was something here and I’m assuming it’s Azaiel, since you mumbled something about him coming.”

She closed her eyes and shuddered. “He’s real,” she said incredulously, shaking her head.

“What the hell is he?”

Skye opened her eyes and he felt a wave of trepidation run through him. She looked scared shitless. She looked resigned. But to what fate?

“He’s visited me on and off since I was a child. I always thought he was a figment of my imagination. A bad dream that never went away.” Her eyes were luminous, huge in her face as she turned to him. “But things have changed and I can’t be sure, but I think he’s a …
demon,”
she said softly and then looked away before muttering something under her breath.

Only the keen sense of hearing Jagger possessed enabled him to hear. A few words spoken and the ominous ring to them left a hollow feeling deep in his gut.

“And he’s coming for me.”

Chapter 10

F
ear, thick, malicious, and pungent clogged her airways. The taste of it was bitter and Skye turned from Jagger. He’d already seen and heard enough. He didn’t need to know that she was shaking in her boots.

She glanced down at her bare toes and grimaced as her tummy rolled over for the hundredth time. That’s if she actually
had
boots on. She needed to get dressed and get organized.

Skye focused on her satchel and tried to shake the hopelessness and anxiety that she felt. She would not think of Azaiel. Not now.

The bag hung from a tree not more than a few feet from her. The soft leather was well worn. It had been a gift from her father when she was a teenager.

Slowly she crossed the remaining space, her fingers reaching out to touch it. The feel of its softness tugged at the bittersweet place in her heart and the ache in her chest intensified.

It was snatched from her grasp before she was able to grab hold of it, and she turned around, a snarl erupting from between her clenched teeth.

“This goes with me,” Jagger said, his voice commanding with a take-no-shit kinda attitude. “It’s the only way I can keep you from spreading your wings and flying away.”

The arrogant son-of-a-bitch. Skye wanted nothing more than to slam her fist into his perfectly sculpted nose.

“Fine,” she said.
Fuck you,
she thought.

Skye whirled around, her eyes searching the immediate area, before turning back to him. “I need my clothes. I’m not trucking through the entire jungle in a T-shirt that barely covers my ass.”

She felt the blush rising in her cheeks again as Jagger’s eyes moved over her slowly. Too slowly. “Where are they?”

She watched in silence as he opened her satchel and withdrew the clothes she’d been wearing the day before. He tossed them over and she clutched them tightly to her chest, waiting for him to either turn around or get the hell off the platform. When he did neither she raised her eyebrows.

“I’d like a little privacy, if you don’t mind.”

Jagger laughed softly, his eyes glinting like emeralds in the early-morning light. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Skye’s mouth went dry in less time than it took for him to speak. His voice was low, rough, and the expression on his face was dangerous. The air literally crackled with energy. Her heart skipped a beat, several in fact, and she felt light-headed once more.

Angrily she shoved aside all emotion. “Whatever,” she said, and reached for the bottom of the T-shirt, intent on changing regardless of whether she had an audience or not. “It’s not like I expect a jaguar to behave like a gentleman, anyway.”

She turned around and began to lift the shirt from her body, ignoring the heat that scalded her skin as she thought of his sexy eyes devouring her naked flesh. She doffed the top as a mischievous smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

Two could play this game.

Slowly she bent over, knowing that the roundness of her butt was on display at an angle that was both teasing and erotic. She grabbed her shorts and slowly pulled them up over her hips and then she grabbed her tank top, turning around as she pulled it over her head. She knew her breasts were on display, their fullness emphasized as she moved her arms up over her head.

But the smile that still lay on her lips disappeared in an instant as she pulled the top all the way down, and was greeted by nothing more than silence and empty space.

He’d climbed off the platform.

Annoyance shot through her but was quickly pushed away. It was for the best. No need to rile the jaguar. He was one complication she could do without.

Skye quickly lowered herself off the platform and seconds later was standing at the base of the large tree. Jagger’s dark gaze swept over her and he held up one of the supply bags.

Bitterly, she noted her satchel slung across his shoulders.

She crossed over to him and grabbed the supply bag, hefting it onto her shoulders. She turned and looked up past the canopy of trees, closing her eyes as she welcomed the first true rays of sunlight that penetrated the thick jungle ceiling. The warmth awakened the eagle deep inside of her, and she felt the same joy she did every morning as the sunlight caressed her cheeks.

Melancholy grabbed at her hard and she would have given anything to shift and greet the sun’s kiss.

“We need to move out. I can smell the DaCostas. Their stink is riding the wind and we don’t have much time.”

Skye hunched her shoulders at Jagger’s words, feeling the tension cloak her like a blanket. There was no escaping her situation. She couldn’t just fly away and pretend that everything was peachy. In fact it was rotten as all hell.

She shot him a look. “I need to find the disc.”

Jagger nodded. “I’ll help you find this disc, and when we do I expect to hear the truth.” He smiled softly, his teeth a fierce slash of white against his tanned skin. “I will accept nothing less.”

He turned and indicated they head to the right, back to where they’d come from the night before. “We need to hook up with the others first.”

“No!” Skye uttered the word before she had time to filter her mouth.

Jagger frowned and crossed over until they were merely inches apart. His male scent, a tantalizing musk, tickled her nostrils, awakening something inside of her that was totally inappropriate, considering the circumstances.

She wanted to look away but found that she couldn’t.

And that pissed her off.

“We have a posse of fucking DaCosta warriors on our tail, not to mention the whole Cormac connection. Who knows what the hell he has up his sleeve. Seems to me we need all the help we can get.”

Skye looked away and said nothing. She knew it was a huge waste of time to argue with the man. She’d have to be smart. Bide her time.

Why not let them help her find the portal? Once she had it in her hands she’d escape. It was probably best that no one be around when she sealed it, however.

“Fine. I just don’t trust Declan, is all. He does have Cormac’s blood running through his veins.”

Jagger exhaled before he spoke and when he did, the deadly serious tone indicated just how passionately he felt about the men. “Declan, Cracker, and my brother are honorable men. I don’t give a rat’s ass who Dec’s father is. He’s one of the good guys, and that’s something you shouldn’t forget.”

Skye shrugged her shoulders and remained silent, pushing aside her anger at the impossible situation she’d found herself in. Christ, who would have thought, forty-eight hours ago, that she’d be working with a couple of jaguars, a sorcerer, and some dude named Cracker?

Skye actually giggled, earning a surprised glance from the jaguar. Her smile widened as she headed into the thick, already hot jungle.

Good,
she thought. I’ll have to do my best to keep him on his toes.

They hiked through the dense foliage for well over an hour, bypassing the waterfall and pond from the night before. Skye refused to look at it and tried her best to banish the image of their bodies sliding through the cool liquid. Her naked flesh against his hard body.

What the hell was wrong with her? She was in crisis. The world was on the verge of destruction from demon forces unimaginable and she was getting all hot and bothered over some attractive man-meat?

He was a jaguar warrior to boot, an enemy, even if at the moment he seemed to be on her side. Most were not to be trusted. She’d have to be careful.

Skye pulled out another granola bar and grudgingly ripped it from the wrapper, shoving the entire piece into her mouth without thinking. She chewed it hard, ignoring the man beside her.

It was difficult, but she managed to focus her thoughts and eventually relaxed enough, so that the tight band of tension along her shoulders disappeared altogether.

They climbed higher and the air changed as the sun encroached and kicked the moon out of the sky. It was still early morning but the humidity carried with it the hint of rain. Skye inhaled deeply, loving the scent of the Caribbean Sea that drifted on the breeze.

She was secretly hoping the others had taken off and felt a huge stab of disappointment as they crossed a small river to find the three men waiting for them on the other side.

All of them looked at her as if she were an insect that should have been crushed beneath Jagger’s boots.

She lifted her chin and met their gazes full on. She addressed them, her voice nonchalant. “Gee, I was hoping your manners would have improved a bit with a full night’s sleep, but I can see that would be mistaken.”

Cracker’s pale eyes regarded her in silence. She held his gaze even though there was something about the man that put her on edge. He made her nervous in a way the others didn’t.

She could tell he was still pissed that she’d escaped from them before, after they’d rescued her from the DaCosta compound. But there was no time for bruised egos. She needed to take the bull by the horns, so to speak.

She needed to gain their trust.

Skye took a few extra seconds, even as the silence became a heavy weight that made the air hard to breathe.

“How is Libby?” she asked finally, noticing the whiteness around Cracker’s mouth as he tightened his lips.

She refused to look away.

The older man spit to the side and answered gruffly, “Libby is fine. She’s in Canada with Jaxon and their boy, Logan.”

“Good. I’m glad to see she got her happy ending.”

And she was happy for Libby. Happy enough that it hurt deep inside because she knew there was no such silver lining for her. Her happy ending was nothing more than a fantasy. How could it be anything but? She would seal the portal and spend eternity in the hell realm.

Yeah, some happy fucking ending.

Not for the first time Skye felt a tug of resentment rush through her, but she pushed it away quickly. There was no time for a pity party.

“You gonna share with us what went down at Carocal?” Declan shot at her.

Skye turned to him and spoke calmly. “I asked Libby to tell all of you that Cormac had killed me. I didn’t want him or any of the DaCostas to know I’d survived.”

Declan’s eyes narrowed and he studied her so intensely that she began to feel uncomfortable. “It’s you my father wanted, not Libby,” he said softly, and Skye took a step back as the tall man crossed over to her.

A growl, low and angry, fell between them and Declan halted as Jagger shoved his way in front of her. “You will step back.”

Declan raised his hands, a smirk grazing his handsome face. “Hey, I’m not interested in touching her. I just want to know what the hell my father wants with her.” He shrugged his shoulders. “That’s all.”

The heat from Jagger’s body washed over her suddenly cold frame and Skye felt a ripple of frustration run through her. She had no time for these games. The demon realm was knocking hard and it was up to her to slam it shut.

“Jagger says that I can trust all of you.” She looked at each of them. “I don’t. Unfortunately, I have no choice. Time is running out.”

“Why don’t you stop being so cryptic and tell us what the hell is going on?” Declan shot back.

Skye ignored him and kept her eyes focused on Cracker and the tall, brooding jaguar that stared at her from several feet away. He was Julian. She remembered him from three months ago. The resemblance between him and Jagger was unmistakable.

She spoke calmly, though inside her heart fluttered and she felt sick to her stomach. Even though she would tell these men only the bare minimum of what was going on, it still went against everything that she believed in.

“Cormac is after a disc, an ancient Aztec artifact that my people have guarded for thousands of years.”

“Who exactly are your people?” Cracker asked. His eyes had narrowed but she sensed a sincerity in him that set her mind somewhat at ease.

“I am an eagle knight,” she answered softly. “A what?” Declan snorted.

Jagger shot a look at him. “Let her speak.” His tone brooked no argument and Declan raised an eyebrow but remained quiet. He gestured with his hands for her to continue. “By all means.”

“I’m a shifter, one of a few left.” It was hard to keep the bitterness from her voice, and Skye didn’t even try. “My people were hunted to near extinction hundreds of years ago.” She glared at all of them. “By the magicks and the jaguars.”

“Why?” Cracker’s one-word question caused such a well of emotion to churn inside of her that Skye closed her eyes and drew on the strength deep within her.

“My people have been charged since the dawn of time to keep watch over certain artifacts, and for that reason we’ve been hunted. Destroyed by the likes of you.”

Jagger made a sound at her side and for the first time she let her vision wander to him. He stood looking down at her with an expression that was hard to read. Did he believe her? Or did he think she was full of crap?