Hunted by Darkness (Darkness #4) (22 page)

Ignoring him as he talked, she strode over to his minibar and eyed the bottles. Knowing it would annoy him more than anything, she made a drink for herself. Vodka on the rocks with a slice of fresh lime.

Tumbler in hand she sat in one of his uncomfortable chairs and crossed her legs. “Are you quite done?” she asked, cutting him off midsentence.

He just stared at her, wide-eyed, his blue eyes so much like her own, it annoyed her. She hated that she’d gotten most of her looks from him. Not his height though, because the male was truly tall in the way the fae were. All elegant and willowy.

“I’m most certainly not done,” he snapped. Before he could continue, the door opened and Kato strode in, his expression grim.

“Apologies, sire. Three of your males have been…killed. The Stavros Alpha cut off all their heads.”

Nyx snorted, earning a glare from both of them. “You should have asked for permission to enter his territory. You broke the common rule of pretty much all supernatural beings. If you attempt to retaliate you will go to war with not only his pack but the Marius vampire coven.”

Because Finn had mated a powerful bloodborn. It didn’t matter that Lyra wasn’t part of her coven anymore, the vamps who now ran it would do anything she asked. And if she requested they go to war with some fae. They’d do it. Gleefully. Because fae tended to be snobbish assholes. It was no wonder her mother had mated with a fae prince. They really were cut from the same cloth.

“You need to speak to the prince with more respect,” Kato snapped, straightening to his full six foot three height.

“Oh, get off your high horse,” she snapped, letting the leash of her control go. Using her growing gift, she flung him back against a case of built-in wood bookshelves. They cracked under the impact.

The only thing she felt remotely bad about was that she might have damaged a couple books.

Kato snarled. “You stupid—”

“Enough!” Linos pointed at the door. “Get out. Nyx is royalty and no matter your feelings, you will speak to her with respect.”

Nyx wasn’t exactly surprised. Her father was all about the class system. He wasn’t ordering Kato out because of a sense of any type of loyalty to her specifically.

Kato shot her a dark glare and shut the door behind him. Nyx stood, downing her drink in a gulp because she knew it would offend her father. She slammed the glass onto his desk with a rude flourish. Apparently she simply didn’t have the capacity to be diplomatic today.

“I’m going to leave and neither you nor anyone under your purview will come after me ever again. I’m cutting our ties completely today. I will not be marrying anyone you choose, or living in the fae realm, or anywhere you think I should.”

When he flew to his feet, his face mottled with rage, she placed her hands on his desk, leaned forward. “I’ve put up with your tiresome demands because I couldn’t be bothered by you.” Not exactly true, she’d been worried he would come after Bo or others she cared for.

Now that she’d started to come to terms with what she could do, no one was going to hurt the people in her life. Not while she still had breath in her lungs. All around the office priceless vases and other glass pieces started shattering as she stared at him. “You’ve never treated me like a daughter. You’ve never treated me like anything that matters.”

“Your mother and I had a deal!”

“You didn’t have one with me. If you bother me again I will raze this house to the ground. Then I will destroy the rest of your properties, in
every
realm. After that, I’ll start getting creative.” She mentally ripped one of the bookshelves from the wall, inwardly smiling when he jumped back, flinching from the destruction.

“Are we clear?”

He didn’t respond, just stared at her with a new kind of horror.

The sight of it made her way happier than it should have. “Answer me.”

“You are just like your mother,” he spat.

Nyx narrowed her eyes. “I’m nothing like
either
of you.”

He drew a deep breath, straightened. “I will not bother you again.” He was going for neutral, but she heard the rage underlying his words.

“Swear it.” Because the fae were big on promises. If he gave his word and then broke it she’d be within all her legal rights to pretty much destroy him and everything he owned.

“I swear. You’re a fool for throwing away such a prized marriage. Don’t think I don’t know it’s for that half-demon. He’ll use you and discard you in less than a month. Demons are not capable of being faithful,” he spat. “Now get out of my sight.”

Feeling an immense sense of relief, she didn’t respond, just transported back to the parking lot of Bo’s club. She’d only been gone for about an hour.

Even though she knew he’d be mad she was so glad she’d finally taken care of her father. He might try to get back at her later, but she’d be ready for him. She wasn’t going to live her life in fear.

Malloy opened the front door, smiling when he saw her. “Bo’s gonna be so glad to see you. You okay?” He ran a quick gaze over her.

“I’m good. Where is he?”

“Behind the red door. In room five.” He tapped his ear. “I’d tell him you’re here but he doesn’t have his earpiece in.”

After murmuring “thanks” she made her way around the crowd so she wouldn’t have to fight her way through everyone. She would not jump to any conclusions about him being behind the red door. He owned the place, of course he’d have to take care of work-related issues. Still, that insecure little voice in the back of her head told her she’d never be good enough. Her father’s words rang in her head, but he was wrong. Bo would be faithful.

* * *

Ten minutes earlier

“What?” Bo demanded as Cal, one of his vampire employees, stuck his head in the doorway of Bo’s office.

“There’s been an incident in one of the private rooms.”

“Take care of it,” he snarled, his cell phone up to his ear. He’d called in too many favors to count in the last hour trying to get a bead on Nyx’s family. Turned out her father owned property all over the world and was, according to Drake’s mother, in the human realm right now. Bo was going to catch a flight out as soon as he could make it. Victoria said they could use her pack’s private jet, but he was going to see if he could get out of here faster.

“It’s Janae and Myla. Some asshole cut up Myla pretty bad. Janae’s a wreck and—”

Ah, hell. “I’m coming,” he said as Victoria said, “Hey…what?” on the other end of the line.

Bo nodded at Cal as he rounded the desk, but continued talking to Victoria. “I wasn’t talking to you. How long will it take to get your pack’s pilot ready to go?”

“Already done. Finn said he’s on the way to the airport now. Want us to pick you up? It’s on the way.”

“Yeah, thanks. Meet you outside in ten.” He disconnected as he exited into the club from his private hallway of offices and storage rooms. “What happened?” he demanded.

“They brought in a new partner tonight, never been to the club before. But he knew the rules. Guess he thought he could get rough with the girls and we wouldn’t do anything. Myla’s healing fine, but they’re both upset.”

“Where’s the asshole?” Bo glanced out at the club, scanned it for any trouble as they headed to the red door.

“Cynara’s got him in holding,” Cal said, his voice grim.

Good. “Species?”

“Vampire.”

“He knew the rules for certain?”

“Yep. Malloy went over everything with him since he was a newcomer. Had him sign a disclaimer, we ran his full background. He agreed to everything on video and signed in blood. Knew the room would be monitored since he was new.”

So the dumbass thought he could hurt someone on Bo’s property? Rage surged through him. “Coven?” he asked, yanking open the private, red door.

He didn’t have time to deal with this shit, but Myla and Janae were two avian shifters and regulars. He wasn’t certain of their exact species but they weren’t as strong as most shifters and they were sweet. Though they were mates, they liked to come to his club and pick up a third member to join them. They only used his place because they felt safe here. Everyone knew his reputation, knew what would happen if they broke the rules. It was why he had people sign in blood.

“None.”

“Have Cynara dispatch him. Or you can do it.” He didn’t care who killed the male. Normally he’d take care of it himself, but there wasn’t time tonight. Considering the mood Cynara seemed to be in tonight maybe it’d make her feel better to kill some bastard.

When they reached room number five, Bo didn’t have to open the door since it was already half-open.

Cal stood back and tilted his head back to the way they’d come. “I’m gonna help Cyn take care of this guy. We’ll make an example out of him.” His expression was dark, unforgiving.

Bo didn’t blame him. Myla and Janae were adorable shifters who never caused any trouble. Hurting one of them was the equivalent of hurting a freaking puppy. When he stepped inside, one of his security guys was standing near the bed, murder in his gaze.

He stepped forward. “Boss—”

“It’s being taken care of,” he murmured as he crouched down in front of the females who were half-naked, crying and holding on to each other on the edge of the bed. They didn’t need to hear one of his employees going on a rage-fueled rant. Even if Bo could totally relate.

When Myla looked up at him, he had to forcibly push his own anger back when he saw the claw marks across the left side of her face. “I’m so sorry, Myla.” He lifted a hand to his security guy, but didn’t take his gaze off the females. “Get a first aid kit. Now.” They’d be healed within the next hour or two but he still wanted to take care of this as much as he could.

“He seemed like such a nice guy.” Janae wiped at wet cheeks with her free hand, keeping her other arm around Myla’s shoulders.

Myla sniffled and swiped at her own tears. “Until I told him that we wouldn’t be tied up. We didn’t know that freak well enough…” More tears spilled down her cheeks and she turned into Janae’s embrace.

Ah, hell. “I’m so sorry, guys. That fucker is being taken care of as we speak. He won’t hurt anyone again.” Bo reached out, pulled them both close into an embrace. His demon half didn’t particularly like touching another female, but he needed to comfort them both right now. They needed to know they were safe, okay.

His hug seemed to calm them down. He kissed the top of Myla’s head, then Janae’s—and turned at a shuffling sound.

Nyx stood there, her eyes wide with hurt and full-on anger like he’d never seen. Her normally ocean blue eyes were storm clouds.

“Nyx—”

“Fuck you!” She transported faster than he’d ever seen, leaving a wake of destruction in her path. The ceiling and door splintered, plaster and wood raining down on them until he stopped everything midair, moved the pieces back into place on autopilot.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. He had to get out of here. Find Nyx. Now.

“Oh, Bo…”

He turned to see Myla and Janae looking at him with horrified, sympathetic expressions. “Everything’s okay,” he said as Dmitry returned, first aid kit in hand.

“Oh God, please don’t let Nyx think…”

He shook his head, standing. “Don’t worry about anything else except yourselves right now. I’ve gotta go but I’ll see you guys soon. I’ll make up for what happened to you here, I promise.” It didn’t matter that everyone signed an agreement, that they understood the risks of using his rooms, he still looked out for his people.

The hurt he’d seen in Nyx’s eyes was worse than the anger. It sliced at his insides deeper than anything he’d ever experienced. Worse than the pain he’d felt the first time he’d met his father and realized what a monster the male truly was, worse than getting the shit beat out of him by the bastard. Instead of going through the club, he used one of the back exits. He’d just pulled the door open when his phone buzzed in his pocket. Cool, spring air rushed over him as he stepped outside.

He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now but when he saw the number of one of his burner phones on the caller ID, he answered. It had to be one of his brothers. “Yeah?”

“Hey,” Rory murmured. “Your girl is here and she’s upset. Damn near destroyed your kitchen in her transport. Won’t say what’s wrong but she headed upstairs. Is everything okay?”

“Don’t let her leave. No matter what. If you have to, hold on to her. You and Ian both.” Ian had headed back to Bo’s place not long after Nyx had left an hour ago. “She can’t transport without taking you.” He hung up, not bothering to tell his brother anything else. Mainly because he was barely hanging on to his control right now, was barely hanging on to his human form.

Nyx could literally go anywhere she wanted in the blink of an eye. She could leave him. Forever. Panic pulsed through him with every breath he dragged in, with every step he took.

He’d get to her before she left. He had to.

Chapter 17

“Rough transport?” Ian’s raspy voice made Nyx look up from her open suitcase.

Normally she was a freak about keeping things organized but she was just tossing things in, barely keeping her chaos in check. For a moment she thought the room was trembling, that she’d completely lost it and Bo’s house would soon crumble around her—but it was just her hands shaking.