Hunted by Darkness (Darkness #4) (14 page)

A burst of rage fired through him. This female had been abused in ways he didn’t want to think about. And for a long time. He clamped his jaw shut, shoving back the primal roar he wanted to let loose and looked over at Ian who’d pulled the other female from the cage.

“She’s dead,” he murmured, his expression as dark as Bo felt. “I still can’t leave her here.”

Bo nodded once, understanding. No one deserved to be left here. “If we don’t kill everyone today I’m coming back.” Right now getting Nyx and any survivors to safety was the most important thing but if there were any survivors Bo would come back.

“I’m right there with you.” Ian’s voice was savage.

Maybe his half-brothers were all right after all. He nodded once in the direction of the biggest tent. It was in the middle of six smaller ones spread out into a half circle. According to Rory it was where another captive was being held.

Bo held the female close to his chest, silently praying for Nyx’s safety as they hurried across the open encampment. He was pretty certain no one would listen to his prayers but at this point, he’d try anything.

A move like this was ballsy, but also so damn unexpected that it might work. No, it
would
work.

He refused to accept anything less.

Ian set the dead female down outside the tent door so Bo did the same with the other female. Wincing, she sat up and drew her legs to her chest. He gave her his blade in case she needed to defend herself. He wasn’t certain she could even do that but he needed to give her a weapon, give her hope. Moving quickly he stripped off his tunic as well, handed it to her.

He held a finger to his lips before turning to Ian. They’d have one chance to disable the guard before he made a distress call to the others. That was if he was even alone.

Bo counted down from three with his fingers and they rushed in. The doors flapped open.

Two males were standing over a table looking at something. A female was in the corner curled up on a cot. She sat up when she saw them, her eyes wide as she held a blanket up to her neck.

He dismissed her for now and rushed at the males without letting loose the instinctive battle cry building in his throat.

One grabbed a horn from the table, blew into it. Bo slammed into him, cutting off the shrill warning sound as he tackled the male to the ground.

“I’ll gut you!” the male shouted, slicing out at Bo with sharp talons similar to his own.

He ignored the threat, ignored everything as he slashed at the male’s throat, cutting deep enough to take his head halfway off. Why bother with threats when he could just kill the guy? Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ian disembowel the other Koighan with a grunt of satisfaction, before ripping his head off.

The ground was rumbling and fearful cries filled the air from outside. That meant Nyx was alive to create her chaos. It was the only thing keeping Bo sane right now when he wanted nothing more than to be out there protecting her.

“We’re here to help you,” Ian said holding his hands up in a calming gesture. It probably didn’t help that his hands were covered in blood and other gore. The Irish lilt to his voice was a little thicker as he moved toward the female. Definitely human.

She shoved her blanket off to reveal she was mostly naked except for loose, sheer harem pants. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a braid and she was cleaner and in better shape than the other females but her dark eyes held fear. Her gaze darted to the tent opening then back to them.

“You can leave on your own, we won’t stop you, but the Koighans are out there. And we’re leaving this realm tonight.” He motioned to Bo. “Come with us if you want a chance to live.”

He could see the indecision on her face, but after a long moment, she nodded.

“If I carry you we’ll go faster,” Ian said again.

Bo tamped down his impatience, that growing need to rush out of here and find Nyx. It was easy to hear that the place was falling apart outside.

The female nodded and Ian picked her up as if she weighed nothing.

“I’ll carry you like this until we reach the woods. I need an arm free to fight,” he explained gently as he slung her over his shoulder.

“I’m going out first,” Bo murmured. He needed to retrieve the other female and though he hated the thought of leaving the dead woman here they would simply have to come back to bury her later. He couldn’t carry them both and fight his way out.

He slashed the tent door completely off with his talons in case someone was waiting to attack. His gut twisted at the sight in front of him. The female he’d taken from the cage had stabbed his blade straight through her heart. Without testing her pulse he already knew she was dead.

Ian touched his arm. “We’ll come back for them later.”

“Take her to the woods. I’ll meet you at our rendezvous point.”

Ian’s jaw clenched, clear he wanted to argue, but Bo wasn’t going with them. Ian would be escaping with the female through the back of the encampment and circling back using the woods as cover. It was the securest escape route since there were no Koighans in the way. Bo couldn’t do safe now, however.

Not when he had to make sure Nyx was alive. She was his to protect, no matter what. He would prove to her and himself that he was worthy of mating her.

“Go.” Then Ian was gone, a flash of movement sprinting toward one of the fallen walls.

Ignoring the twinge of regret in his chest, Bo pulled the blade free from the dead woman and raced toward the front of the ruins. He dodged a falling boulder, jumping into a smoldering fire pit to avoid it. The coals burned his feet but he ignored the pain, ignored everything as he raced through the fray of running Koighans.

Their leader was a mess of blood and body parts and they were all running around like buzzing bees. Typical of their kind. Without someone to lead them and without a visible enemy to fight they revealed their true cowardly nature.

With his left hand he slashed out at the nearest enemy, cut his throat. With his right, he used his blade to slice and dice anything in his way.

Wrong or right, the killing of these monsters let out his aggression in a much needed way.

Up ahead he saw the shimmering flash of Nyx’s wings before they disappeared into the line of trees. His relief was short lived as he saw the yellow flash of a Koighan fleeing into the woods. Maybe the male wasn’t going after Nyx, but it didn’t matter.

The male was dead.

On a burst of speed, Bo gave into his savagery, gave into everything that made him a half-demon. He let the darkest part of himself take over until he was barely in control.

It seemed as if only a second had passed from the time he exited the ruins to when he flew through the line of trees.

The male was ahead, racing full speed. A blade was in his hand.

Bo could see the shimmer of Nyx’s wings through the thick foliage. The other male had to see it too. She was like a beacon to anything and everything in this realm.

And they were about out of time before darkness fell. The sun wouldn’t set like it did on earth. It would be an abrupt change from light to darkness.

Closer, closer, the male was almost within reach. Bo reared back, threw the knife with all his force. It made a soft singing sound as it flew through the air.

The male started to turn, but it was too late.

Thud.

It embedded in the back of the enemy’s neck, right where his head and spine joined. Bo slowed a few paces as he reached the fallen male, yanked out the blade and kept running.

His feet barely touched the ground as he gained speed, jumping over roots and fallen trees. Only when he spotted Nyx standing on her own two feet next to Rory, and Ian and the other female at their rendezvous point, did he allow himself the smallest breath of relief.

Nyx was safe. Alive.

His.

As he reached them he pulled her into his arms, holding her close. He was vaguely aware of the other female making a distressed sound and when he saw her face realized the female thought he was hurting Nyx.

Not in this lifetime. Not in any lifetime. But he forced himself to loosen his grip and pull back. He was covered in the thick blood of some of his victims and other grime, but couldn’t find it in him to care. “You’re okay?”

She nodded, looking him over as if making sure he was okay. He wasn’t used to a female other than family caring about him. It was jarring, but he liked it—craved it from her. Probably too much. “The leader’s dead. There weren’t any others?”

His lips pulled into a thin line. He’d tell her later. Now he just shook his head.

“We need to go. Now.” Rory scooped up the other female in an oddly possessive way, baring his teeth at his very surprised brother before racing off toward the stream they’d come from.

“Come on.” Ian fell behind his brother, moving at a fast clip.

“You want me to carry you?” Bo asked Nyx. “We’ll go faster.”

Thankfully she nodded. Relief slid through him that she was letting him care for her. The need to hold her, protect her, was overwhelming. Instead of tossing her over his shoulder as he’d done before, this time he scooped her up and held her to his chest. She curled into him, laying her head against him in a way that said she trusted him completely.

The action and feel of her so close to him soothed the primal need to destroy he’d felt when she’d headed into that camp without his protection. Now she was safe in his arms, he wasn’t letting her go. Soon he’d make her his completely.

“I had no idea half-demons could move this fast,” she murmured against his chest.

She sounded almost glad he was a half-demon. Yep, he was going to imprint himself on every inch of her body so that she never forgot the feel of him, the scent of him. He was going to bind her to him in the most primal way so that she’d never want to leave.

* * *

“I don’t mind going in first,” Nyx said, frowning at Bo as he tried to completely bar the entrance to the small opening of the cave.

He just snorted and crouched down before managing to squeeze his big body through the opening.

Their group was on the side of a small mountain and they had about ten minutes before it was dark. Since it would take about an hour to reach the realm exit—and according to Ian and Rory would be difficult to find at night—they’d decided to find shelter for the evening. She just hoped this cave worked because right now they all needed to recharge. Rory said he’d been in it before and it didn’t have another exit, but Bo wanted to check it out before they all entered. She knew Bo could take care of himself, but she still wanted him to get some rest. After the day they’d had, he needed it and she knew he’d never admit it. The male was too stubborn.

Less than a minute later he called out. “It’s empty.”

Rory nodded at Nyx and the other female who still hadn’t spoken. They’d given her a tunic, which swallowed her, but she didn’t seem to mind. Nyx didn’t want to think about what she’d been through.

“You two go first. We’ve got your back,” Rory said.

Nyx motioned to the female. “You can go first.” When she hesitated Nyx asked, “You want me to go instead?” The female nodded, relief in her dark eyes.

She couldn’t exactly blame the female for not wanting to enter a cave with a male she didn’t know. Bo was big and scary and even though Ian and Rory were too, Rory seemed to have taken up the role of the female’s protector.

The opening was small and close to the ground, but she slid through easy enough. The light from Bo’s eyes lit up the small enclosure. There wasn’t much to it. The cave was about two feet higher than Bo and wide enough that they could all rest for a few hours. Any longer though, and the place would get cramped.

A chill raked over her skin, making her shiver. Bo was at her side and had his arm wrapped around her shoulders before she could blink. She leaned into him, not caring about anything that had happened between them over the last couple of days. At least not at the moment. She just wanted to get everyone in here and hope they were safe until morning. Survival trumped everything at the moment.

And Bo made her feel safe. Curling up with him and crashing sounded like the best idea she’d ever had. She just hoped the male had finally pulled his head out of his ass.

When everyone was inside, Ian and Bo simultaneously moved to a pile of rocks as if they’d choreographed the movement and shifted some to the opening, blocking it off.

“I’ll stay up for first watch,” Ian said, turning to everyone.

The only light in the cave was from the brothers’ eyes. The combined multicolored glow was dim, but enough that she could clearly see everyone.

“I’ll take the second,” Bo said.

Rory nodded at him. “I’ll take the last. We can break it up so that we each take only three and a half hour shifts.”

Nyx thought that maybe she should be offended that they weren’t including her in the shifts but she really didn’t care because it meant she’d get more sleep. The thought made her feel bad though. “I can easily take a shift—”

“No,” the three said, practically simultaneously.

“Is this like a sexist thing?” She’d never really dealt with sexism until entering the human realm. In her mother’s realm and even with her father’s people, power was all that mattered. Gender didn’t come into the equation.