Hunted by Darkness (Darkness #4) (15 page)

Ian lifted a shoulder. “Maybe, I don’t know. Don’t care either. You’re not taking a shift.”

She blinked at his authoritative tone and glanced at Bo who simply nodded in agreement. “He’s right. You need rest. So does she.” He tilted his chin at the female who’d basically collapsed against the hard ground in a sitting position. “And we all need to eat.”

Since it wasn’t worth arguing over, Nyx nodded and moved to one of the backpacks as the males did the same with theirs. She snorted as she pulled out a plastic jar. The brothers had packed supplies for everyone, but she hadn’t seen what they’d included until now. “Peanut butter? And…beef jerky?”

“I gave you teriyaki flavor,” Rory said without looking at her as he moved quietly and quickly to sit directly next to the female.

“Did you steal this from that chef guy too?” she asked.

Ian’s wicked grin was answer enough.

The food seemed a little weird but it would give them energy and calories. Nyx watched as Rory awkwardly held out his jar of peanut butter and a canteen of water to the female. Nyx wanted to ask her so many questions; like what her name was, who the other women had been, where she was from, how long she’d been stuck here. But none of that mattered and it was clear the female didn’t want to speak. Nyx certainly wasn’t going to push her. She was, however, going to make sure she got medical attention once they got back to the human realm. Ophelia, the Stavros pack healer, would see the female immediately, Nyx had no doubt. Or Victoria too, if she was still in Biloxi.

“You want mine?” Bo handed her his bag of sweet ‘n spicy jerky.

She grinned, took his bag. “Thanks. You want mine?”

Nodding in relief, he took hers and sidled up next to her. She noticed Ian had moved and was eating by the rocked-off exit, quietly watching Rory with what looked like…concern. She wasn’t sure though. And she wasn’t going to worry about it.

As she chewed the jerky, she laid her head against Bo’s shoulder. She liked touching him. It grounded her. “I’m glad you’re okay,” she murmured. Clearly the male could take care of himself, but that hadn’t stopped her from worrying about him. She didn’t think anything could do that.

“Right back at you.” A shudder seemed to go through him. “It was difficult to let you go. And I’m not questioning your ability to protect yourself,” he tacked on quickly. “Especially not after what you did to the Koighan leader.”

She looked up at him, half-grinned. That male had deserved the death he’d gotten, had probably deserved worse. “It was grosser than I’d imagined.” Seeing him pretty much explode had been, well, there were no words for it. It was like something out of a science fiction movie.

“He’s dead?” the female asked, the first words she’d spoken.

Nyx looked over at her, surprised by the soft southern accent. “The leader? Yes.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks and she set down her jar of peanut butter. “Good.” She turned away from them then and simply laid down on the rocky ground.

Rory whipped off his tunic and rolled it up into a makeshift pillow before sliding it under her head. He looked so confused, as if he didn’t know what to do. But there was a simmering anger under the surface she could see clearly in the way his eyes had brightened.

Appetite gone, Nyx closed up her jerky bag. She wished she could leave the cave and finish off the rest of the monsters from that camp. None of them deserved to live. She glanced at Bo. “You want to get some sleep before your shift?”

He simply nodded and stretched out, using the backpack as a pillow before pulling her own backpack close to his. He patted the ground next to him. As if she’d consider sleeping anywhere else. Not after everything they’d been through. For tonight, she would shelve everything and just sleep next to the sexy, sometimes frustrating male. She needed to feel his warmth against her, needed to know he was alive and safe.

“I want you to sleep next to me,” he murmured, his voice almost unsure.

Eyelids heavy, she turned around so that her back curved against his stomach and chest. She wasn’t surprised when his arm snagged around her and pulled her closer. “I wouldn’t sleep anywhere else.” A sense of peace rolled over her as his grip tightened. Being with him calmed her in the best way possible. Made her feel safe, wanted, protected.

He’d managed to clean off most of the blood when they’d raced through the stream and change into a clean tunic, but they were all filthy. And she didn’t even care.

With the exception of everyone’s breathing, the cave was mostly silent. Rory hadn’t laid down yet, but seemed to be humming with energy as he hovered near the female. He looked so damn lost. Ian was casually leaning against the wall next to the blocked-off entrance, quietly eating his jerky.

Even though she and Bo didn’t have privacy, she didn’t care. There was something that had been on her mind and after today, she trusted Ian and Rory to overhear their conversation. “I’ve been thinking about something,” she murmured.

“What?” Bo’s grip tightened just a fraction.

“It can’t be a coincidence that we ended up in the same realm your half-brothers live in. Technically I guess it could, but…I don’t believe in coincidences that huge. What if the person the trap was set for wasn’t me?”

Bo’s breathing was a steady rise and fall against her back. “I thought about that too.” His voice was just as quiet as hers had been. “But I can’t imagine why someone would want to send me here to meet my relatives. If anything, if we ended up becoming friends, it just strengthens us. Not sure how that benefits anyone looking to harm me.”

“Not even your father?”

He snorted and so did Ian, a reminder she didn’t need that the others could hear their conversation. “It’s probably a disadvantage to him for us to become friends.”

“Hmm, yeah.” That made sense. Frowning, she closed her eyes, trying to figure out why whoever had sent them here—and she was leaning toward it being her mother because it was the only thing that made sense with that stupid package delivery—and why. She couldn’t imagine why her mother would have sent Nyx here though. Unless she’d just wanted Nyx to suffer or die? That thought…hurt. No matter how much she tried to tell herself she hated her family.

“Does my demon form…disturb you?” Bo asked a few minutes later, his voice so quiet she almost didn’t hear him.

The question surprised her, but she didn’t have to think about it. “You’re the most magnificent, beautiful being I’ve ever seen,” she murmured, her words drowsy. Even the creepy animal cries from outside the cave barely phased her. She was too exhausted to be worried.

“I don’t think males are supposed to be beautiful.” She could hear the smile in his voice now.

“You are, something I think you already know.” She reached back and patted his hip once, ignoring the feel of his erection against her back. Even if it pleased her that he was affected by her.

He covered her hand with his bigger one, slid his fingers through hers and tucked their hands in front of her stomach, keeping her close to him.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and forgot about everything else except for the way Bo was holding her. Whatever had happened between them before, whatever had scared him away from her, they would work out. She had to believe that.

* * *

Rory couldn’t stop the energy humming through him as he stared up at the ceiling of the cave. He’d tried sleeping, but he couldn’t do it. Not when he scented the pain rolling off the quiet, nameless female curled up into a ball on the ground a foot away from him. He’d put another tunic over her as a makeshift blanket when she’d finally dozed and hated that he couldn’t do more for her.

The scent of her emotions and her unique scent, it was doing something strange to him. As a half-demon, half-shifter, he had naturally heightened senses, but this was different than anything he’d ever experienced.

His wolf was clawing at him, demanding he do something for the female. Something more than a pathetic covering. In this realm he was more in control than the human realm, but even so, his wolf wanted out.

Now.

He wanted to hunt and destroy.

They’d be leaving in the morning and it would be too late then. Now, when the Koighans were weak and without a leader he could destroy them all. Eradicate them completely from this realm. They wouldn’t have gone far from their encampment considering the time of day they’d been attacked. Some might still even be there.

Didn’t matter. He’d be able to scent them.

Quietly he pushed up and looked around the cave. Bo was keeping watch by the entry and the others were all sleeping.

Moving on silent feet he hurried to his half-brother, crouched down. “I need out.”

Bo’s eyes flashed brighter, his expression of annoyance so similar to Ian’s it took Rory off guard for a moment. “Out of the cave?” The underlying question was “are you crazy?” Maybe he was.

“I need to hunt down the rest of the Koighans. I need to do it for her.” He wished he knew what her name was. “She won’t be able to move on if…” He couldn’t finish the words, could barely talk. It didn’t matter that the leader was dead, they all needed to die. His brother had told him what condition those two other females had been in; one even taking her own life instead of being rescued.

Bo was silent as he watched him. Then to Rory’s surprise, his half-brother simply nodded and hefted up one of the stones. As soon as he did a rush of fresh air filled the cavern. “We leave at daybreak.”

He nodded and stripped, leaving his clothes in a pile inside the cave. For this hunt, he was shifting to his wolf.

As his natural instincts to hunt kicked in, his wolf completely taking over, the only thought he was aware of was that he would avenge his female. Those males would all die for what they’d done.

Chapter 12

Even though she wasn’t particularly hungry, Nyx scooped out some peanut butter from her jar with a plastic spoon. They’d be leaving soon and she’d need all the energy she could get for the exit. She’d already put her tunic back on, covering her wings. As soon as Rory returned—from wherever he’d disappeared to—they’d be heading out.

“Are you from the human realm, uh, Earth?” Nyx asked the female who was quietly eating beef jerky.

She nodded. Her blonde hair had come slightly loose from the braid during the night and she had dark circles under her eyes.

“That’s where we’re going soon.”

The female’s dark eyes lit up with something that looked a lot like hope before she quickly masked it. She just tore into the dried meat and kept chewing.

Nyx wished there was something she could do to alleviate the woman’s suffering. She was a demigod but absolutely useless. “I’m Nyx, by the way. I know we weren’t technically introduced.”

No response, but the female nodded and gave her a half-smile as she continued eating.

Bo and Ian were in the corner near the entrance talking in tones so low she couldn’t hear them, but it was clear Ian was annoyed. Maybe about where Rory had gone?

When one of the heavy stones blocking the entrance starting moving inward, both Ian and Bo tensed, their talons sliding out as they faced off with the intruder.

Nyx started to channel her energy when Rory’s muffled voice filtered through the opening. “Some help with this thing?”

The two males tugged it toward them, letting Rory in. Daylight trickled inside. A burst of hope bloomed inside Nyx. They’d be going home soon. Even if she didn’t technically have a home, they wouldn’t be in this hell anymore. Sure she was staying at Bo’s, but…she wasn’t even sure what was going on with them at this point.

Rory crawled through and stood—completely naked, covered in healing nicks and bruises and a little blood. She didn’t think it was his though. He nodded at the female, his expression fierce. “All the Koighans are dead. Every single one.”

The woman didn’t respond as Rory dressed, but surprise and relief flickered in her dark gaze.

Nyx stood, picked up her backpack, but Bo was faster, plucking it from her. “Hopefully we won’t need these pretty soon.”

“No kidding.”

Moving slowly, Bo reached out and cupped her cheek. He gently rubbed his thumb against her skin, his gaze unreadable. The effect of him touching her, even in this hell, was potent. He didn’t say anything, just gave her an intense look that said he wanted to strip her naked and do wicked, wicked things to her, before he turned to face his brothers. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”

She swallowed hard, trying to keep focused but it was hard when her thoughts were all over the place thanks to Bo. Nyx wondered if the other two males were coming with them through the exit. They’d never actually said, but from the way they’d been acting since leaving that camp, she thought they might be. Especially considering the possessive looks Rory had been giving the rescued female.

By the time they’d trekked to the exit point, slower this morning, since they had a human with them and she’d walked part of the way, it had taken two hours.

But they were here, on the outskirts of the forest in front of a lagoon.

Nyx wanted to do freaking cartwheels.

“So where’s the exit?” Nyx asked, looking out at the crystal clear lavender lagoon from the shoreline.

The whole place was too peaceful. Too…weird. The lagoon area was surrounded by a high, sharp-faced mountainside to the west and a jungle on the other side of it. But there wasn’t much noise and no wind. The shoreline was rocky instead of sandy.