Hunted by Darkness (Darkness #4) (26 page)

Bo ignored the sting, dropped his own blade and released his other talons. With one hand he grabbed the fae’s good arm, pulled him close. Simultaneously he shoved his talons into the male’s chest. He ripped through bone, flesh and cartilage, and pulled out the male’s heart. Vesa’s face was frozen in shock, his mouth slightly open, his eyes unblinking with abject terror. Like he was shocked this had been the outcome. Fool.

Blood poured out of the male’s chest. Bo held the heart up, then kicked at the male’s body, letting his corpse fall at his feet with a resounding thud.

Knowing it was barbaric, he threw the heart at the stunned fae males. He could see murder in their gazes, knew they wanted to attack. But he’d seen enough damn death to last a lifetime. Even if his demon craved the blood and war, he’d give them a chance to leave.

“Your leader wanted this fight, we all followed the rules. I’ll allow you to take his body and go. But if any of you attack, we’ll kill you and we’ll hunt down your families and do the same.” The last part was a total lie, but he was done with this. And he didn’t want his mate to have to kill anymore either. She’d done enough of that the last week. “And,” he didn’t look as he pointed behind him, his hand bloody, “what she’ll do to you is worse than what I just did.” Let them stew on that.

As if on cue, the ground started to rumble again.

Only when the males sheathed their swords did it stop.

Bo stood back, watched as they lifted the dead fae’s body and practically raced to the end of his long, winding driveway. If the humans saw that little scene once they left the boundaries of his property, then that was just something he’d have to deal with later if cops came sniffing around his place.

Once he was sure they were gone, he turned to Nyx, a part of him still fearful she’d reject him because of all the violence. The second he focused on her, he knew the fear was unfounded. She rushed at him, uncaring about all the blood as she embraced him.

He held her close, closed his eyes against the top of her head, inhaled deeply. This female meant everything to him.

“I need to go see my father again, make some things clear to him,” she finally murmured, pulling back to look at him.

“You’re not going without me.” That wasn’t even up for debate.

“I know.”

He pushed out a breath, surprised she wasn’t arguing.

“But first we need to see a dragon about a favor.” She looked down at her top, now ruined, and winced. “And…we definitely need a shower.”

Chapter 19

“Thank you again for coming with me,” Nyx said to Arya Petronilla. The female was in full-on warrior mode, as her daughter Keelin liked to put it. Wearing heavy boots, cargo pants, and a fitted long-sleeved T-shirt, she looked ready to kick ass.

“We’re happy to.” Arya glanced back at her mate, Dragos, and Bo, who were standing behind them on the huge porch with oversized columns. “We’ll always be grateful for what you did for Keelin. I…don’t even know if we’ll ever be able to repay you.”

Nyx felt bad for even asking Arya to ‘return the favor’ but she needed to show her father what would happen if he came after anyone in her life again. Not that she was certain Linos had known what Vesa had done. She was about to find out though.

“Let me try again,” she said, ready to knock on her father’s door. She wasn’t certain he was even in London still. And while she could have just transported directly into his home she’d wanted to do this with a little bit of decorum. He hadn’t returned her calls in the last couple hours though so she wondered if he was even here.

“No.” Arya stopped Nyx from knocking with a gentle hand. “I scent fae behind the door. They’re ignoring us.” At that, she just kicked the door, sending the heavy thing flying into the foyer of her father’s mansion. It splintered down the middle skidding across the polished marble tile.

Two fae males wearing black slacks, white shirts and black jackets went for their weapons. Guns, not blades. Annoyed, Nyx sent a heavy vase flying off a nearby pedestal, knocking both males on their asses.

As they scrambled to their feet, going for their weapons again, Dragos and Bo moved into action, subduing them on their stomachs. To give the males credit, they didn’t whine.

A female stepped out of the entryway of a sitting room, cleaning supplies in hand, her eyes wide.

“Please tell my father I’m here,” Nyx said quietly.

The female nodded and hurried away, her shoes soundless as she disappeared down a hallway.

Moments later multiple sets of footsteps snapped against the hallway. When her father appeared with two of the males who’d been at Bo’s behind him, she saw red.

“You sent them?”

“No!” he shouted even as the males shook their heads.

“We came here to inform him of what happened,” one said, stepping forward. He even bowed his head slightly, as if in respect.

She nearly snorted. Fae and their politics. “Did you know Vesa was coming?”

“No.” But something flickered in his eyes. Nyx didn’t think her father had been foolish enough to send Vesa directly, but she also didn’t think he was completely innocent. As a fae prince he’d know a lot about what his people were up to.

She decided to let it go though. Mostly. “I told you what would happen if you bothered me again.”

He flicked a very nervous glance at Arya, but straightened. “I had nothing to do with Vesa’s attack on your…mate.” He said the word with unconcealed disgust.

“From this moment forward our relationship is severed. If you or any fae come after me or anyone I care about you’ll go to war with me and the Petronilla clan.” She glanced at Arya, grateful for her and Dragos’ presence. It was one thing to make threats, but another completely to bring in this kind of backup. And there were witnesses, which was even better.

Last time she’d gotten her father’s promise but they’d been alone. This time, she was getting a contract. Signed in blood.

“Yes, little prince,” Arya practically purred, her dragon clear in her gaze. Sweet Lord, the woman was scary. “I’m already annoyed you’ve been ignoring my phone calls.” She made a tsking sound. “So rude.”

“I wasn’t informed you’d been trying to contact me.” He frowned, his expression
almost
sincere.

Arya just lifted a shoulder, smiled, though it was more of a baring of teeth. “It’s okay. I destroyed your house in Morocco. There were no casualties. I allowed everyone to exit the premises.” She said it matter-of-factly, as if what she’d done by allowing his people to live was so very magnanimous. “I also informed them if they contacted you about it I’d come back and kill them all.”

Nyx fought to keep her expression neutral as Linos looked at Arya in horror. “What?”

Arya simply nodded. “It’s ash.”

Nyx cleared her throat, wanting to stay on topic. “We’ll just call that a casualty of your rudeness. I’m here to officially relinquish my title of princess and any claim I have on anything under your lineage. In this realm or any other.” She didn’t want anything from him anyway, but this was a big thing to the fae. She was giving up her claim to everything her family had to offer, divorcing herself from them. Well, they could keep everything. She had Bo, friends, a real life.

“In exchange we’ll sign a contract, in blood, stating that you and all fae will leave me and anyone in my life alone. Anyone and
everyone
. If I’ve spoken to someone once, they’re off limits.” She knew it was a ridiculous demand, but wanted to get her point across. “If you don’t, you’ll deal with me. You’ve barely seen a fraction of what I can do.”

“And she has the full support of my clan. Nyx saved my daughter, Prince Linos. You know how my kind feel about their children. If you are her enemy, you are my enemy.”

That simple statement was enough to make Nyx’s father nod stiffly. “I agree.”

“All of us will sign in blood, including Bo.” She looked over at Bo then, who was standing next to Dragos. The two males from earlier were a few feet away, arms crossed over their chests, weaponless. Sulking. “Your agreement will be with the both of us.” That way if something ever happened to her, Bo had an iron-clad contract protecting him. She didn’t know that he’d even need it, but she wanted it for her own peace of mind. She needed to protect him the same way he wanted to protect her.

“We will sign, then I never want to see your face again. If you come to any of my homes, it will be war. No questions asked,” he snapped out, anger and truth in his voice.

Nyx nodded, surprised when she didn’t feel an ounce of sadness or pain. Just sweet, sweet, relief that she was about to be completely free from her father’s side of the family. Soon, she was going to deal with her mother, but she could only deal with one crisis at a time. “Let’s do this then.”

“We’ll wait out here.” Arya made that purring sound again, eyeing the prince as if she wanted to fry him to a crisp then eat him for a snack.

Nyx linked her fingers through Bo’s and headed back to her father’s office. After this was over, she was taking her mate back to their place and they weren’t leaving their bedroom for days. Weeks maybe. She was done with all the drama. She just wanted to hole up with the male she loved and start the life they deserved together.

* * *

Bo kept his arm around Nyx’s shoulders as they walked Arya and Dragos out to his backyard. After transporting everyone from London they’d returned to his place because Arya had wanted to speak more with Nyx without nosy fae listening, as she’d put it.

The ancient dragon seemed to have a very soft spot for Nyx since she’d helped save Keelin. Which definitely wasn’t a bad thing as far as Bo was concerned. He was surprised she’d even revealed her existence to the fae prince but since she and her mate had woken from their Protective Hibernation apparently they’d decided that their clan—and subsequently others followed suit—had come out to more of the supernatural world. For so long dragon shifters were more myth than anything. Now more and more supernatural beings knew they lived and were very powerful.

“I can just transport you over to Finn’s mansion,” Nyx said as they reached the middle of the expansive lawn.

“No, we need to spread our wings,” Dragos said, the most he’d said at once all day. “But we thank you.”

“Yes, thank you. I’ve had so much fun today. Burning down that obnoxious male’s home and scaring him in one of his homes has made me very happy. And now we get to see my sweet son and his mate.” Arya smiled, a real one, the action softening the female’s face, as she spoke of Drake and Victoria. “Today has been perfect.”

“How long are you in town?” Nyx asked.

“A few days maybe. We’ll be going back whenever Drake decides to. Plus I’m getting to know my other son’s future mate.”

“Conall is getting mated?” Bo asked, surprised no one had said anything before now.

Dragos’ expression turned wry as he shook his head. “No one is getting mated. My own mate thinks she can meddle in our other son’s life.”

“It’s not meddling. I’m simply getting to know the female he is interested in. She is worthy and strong.”

Bo had a pretty good idea who Arya was talking about and agreed. He bit back a smile at the thought that an ancient dragon shifter felt the need to interfere in her Alpha son’s life. Arya reminded him of his own deceased mother. Though different species and very different ages, his mother had tried to meddle in his love life until the day she died. She’d just wanted him happy, married. He shelved that thought for now. Thoughts of his mother always left him feeling bittersweet. She’d had a good, long life, and had never blamed him for the circumstances of his birth. If anything, she’d been a fierce protector.

“Oh, tell your brother Ian I’d like to speak to him before we leave. Maybe we can meet at your club for drinks if he’s willing to talk to me.”

Arya, Dragos and Ian had met briefly when the four of them had returned from London, and Bo had seen the recognition in Arya and Dragos’ eyes when they were introduced. It solidified what Bo had suspected about Ian—his other half was a dragon. “I’ll let him know. Will tomorrow night work?”

“Yes, thank you.”

He nodded once and stepped back with Nyx as they started to undress. They didn’t need to stick around for this. Shifters didn’t care much about nudity, and while he didn’t care either, he didn’t want Nyx seeing some other male’s junk.

Once inside, he guided Nyx to his office downstairs so they’d have privacy. He wasn’t sure where his brothers or Liberty were but he knew they wouldn’t be in here.

Nyx sat on the edge of his desk instead of one of the chairs. She wiggled against it, her smile playful. “Is this where we’re starting tonight?”

“That’s not why I brought you in here, but yes. Definitely.” He was already hard thinking about it. He cleared his throat, feeling suddenly nervous as he came to stand in front of her.

Cupping her cheek, he ran his thumb over her soft skin. “I love you, Nyx. More than anything I ever thought possible. I don’t think I ever told you, but my mom died of old age, happy and peaceful in her bed. She had such a good life. God knows she deserved it after everything she went through. She wasn’t even sad to die, just…worried for me. Worried I’d never find someone to spend my life with. If it wasn’t for Cynara, I think I would have been completely lost in the world. At least completely alone.” He never opened up like this to anyone, but with Nyx he knew he could be himself. She’d shown that to him.