Hunted by Darkness (Darkness #4) (9 page)

Cynara’s fangs extended, her already bright eyes flaring star-bright for a moment before she got herself under control. “Bo’s been to different realms before, but he prefers this one. Regardless, he would never take Nyx to another realm. Never. He cares for the female.”

Drake, Finn and even the ghoul snorted. The male didn’t just care for her, he was obsessed.

“Do you know anything about traveling to and from realms? Maybe have an idea where they were sent?” Victoria gave her the name of the cemetery in case she knew where that portal led to.

But Cynara’s frown deepened. “I didn’t know there was a portal in the city so I have no idea where it might lead to.” She glanced at Malloy. “We’ll ask around though. We’ve made a lot of contacts over the years. Maybe someone will know something. I’m surprised you don’t though,” she said, looking back at Finn.

As Alpha of the territory, if there’d been a well-known portal he should have known about it. Which made Victoria think it might be a temporary opening. If there was such a thing. Her research was a little fuzzy so far. “Could it be a temporary opening? Triggered by something?”

Cynara blinked suddenly. “Yes. It definitely could be. I didn’t even think of that but…crap, yes. And if it was a temporary portal, I can’t even follow them.” She let out a short, colorful curse.

“No one will be attempting to use that portal,” Finn snapped in his Alpha voice.

Cynara just raised an eyebrow. “You’re not my Alpha and Bo is my…friend.”

“We
know
who he is to you,” Victoria said. “That doesn’t mean jumping into a portal to run after them without a solid plan is a good idea.” Even if Victoria wanted to do the same thing.

The half-demon, half-vampire’s head tilted to the side just a fraction. “You know what exactly?”

Victoria didn’t know if the ghoul knew anything so she didn’t respond—until Malloy said, “I’m gonna go out on a limb and say they know he’s your half-brother.”

Her gaze flew to the ghoul’s. “You know too?”

“Call it an educated guess. When he first hired me, he threatened to cut off my dick if I so much as looked at you wrong. He didn’t say anything about anyone else on staff and I knew you two weren’t boning so yeah, I figured you had to be blood-related. Plus you’re both half-demons. Doing the math wasn’t too hard.”

She scrubbed a shaky hand over her face and for the first time since Victoria had met the female, she looked scared as she collapsed on one of the cushy chairs. “Bo can take care of himself but if he’s with Nyx, he’ll do anything to protect her. The male simply can’t think straight around her which means he could make seriously stupid decisions. My kind can get…very territorial when it comes to their mates. I’m talking worse than you guys,” she said, looking at Finn and Drake.

Worse than shifters? Victoria wasn’t sure that was even possible.

“We’re going to get them back.” There was no doubt in Drake’s voice as he spoke for the first time. “My family owes a debt to Nyx and Bo is good people.”

Victoria smiled. She’d taught him that phrase. “If you have contacts who might be able to help us with anything to do with realms, give us their information. We can work a lot faster if we’re researching together.”

Cynara nodded, all her worry fading to be replaced by determination. “I’ll start making a list.”

* * *

Nyx picked up the black tunic from the kitchen countertop, Bo mere feet away. It didn’t matter that his back was turned to her while she changed into the clothes Ian had given her. She was very aware that she was mostly naked in the same room with Bo right now.

“Do you trust them?” she whispered, the ‘them’ she referred to clear.

He lifted a broad shoulder. “They’re half-demons.”

She frowned at the way he said it. “So? You’re a half-demon. What do you think about them? Don’t you think it’s weird they live here?”

“I don’t trust anyone completely right now. I just want you safe. And…no. Not weird. I’m lucky I have my businesses and friends. If I didn’t, I’d probably be in a realm like this too.” His huge body was tense, his words tight.

She stared at his broad back for a long moment, wishing he didn’t have that tunic on. Now that she knew how amazing things could be between them, how wickedly talented he was with that tongue, she kept replaying everything they’d shared in her mind. Kept remembering how he’d stroked her to orgasm as she grinded against his face. And she wanted to do it again.

“Do you realize that you gave me the best orgasm of my life and we haven’t even kissed?” The words were out before she could stop herself. Definitely not the next question she’d planned to ask.

Bo’s huge body jerked once and she could tell he wanted to turn around, but he didn’t.

She hadn’t planned to bring up anything about them, especially not now, but if things went south she wanted to know what had happened last night to make him pull away. Gah, that seemed like an eternity ago. Technically it was still daytime back on their realm if her sense of time was correct, but time was always altered in various realms.

She almost wished he would turn around. With just a bra and her jeans on, she wanted him to see all of her. The brothers had given them privacy so she wasn’t worried about them walking in.

He cleared his throat, but didn’t say anything.

Which infuriated her. “Why is that?”

“Why is what?” His voice was raspy, unsteady.

“Why haven’t you kissed me? Why did you pull back from kissing me in your kitchen? What…did I do wrong?” Now she was actually glad he was turned away from her because he wouldn’t be able to see the embarrassment on her face. She quickly tugged the tunic over her head, letting it fall loosely around her. It was long and fell against her like a dress, but Ian had told her it would be better for her to travel in it when they left.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Bo snarled. His words were savage, uncontrolled and more than a little sexy.

She crossed the distance between them, gently touched his back. His muscles twitched and though it was subtle, he sucked in a breath. At least she affected him somewhat. Whenever she touched him, she ached all over. She wanted to feel what it was like to have him pressed up against her with no clothing between them, to feel him sink deep inside her. He still didn’t turn, feeding into her insecurities even more. “Then what happened?”

“I…we need to find Ian and Rory, discuss the sleeping arrangements.” His words were as stiff as his posture.

After they’d eaten, Ian had mentioned that they should all sleep in close proximity in case the house was attacked.
Because of her
, had been the unspoken sentiment. Then they’d be able to fight back with a stronger force. “Bo, I just…” Ugh, she was no good at this. She didn’t know how to get the words out, wasn’t even sure what she wanted to say. Especially when it was clear Bo was dismissing her questions.

Dismissing
her
.

Pain slid through her but she locked her feelings down tight. She didn’t want to start breaking everything in the house again. “I’m dressed,” she murmured.

He turned and relief bled into his bright eyes. “Your wings are covered at least.”

She hadn’t even been thinking of that, but she glanced over her shoulder, saw the material of the tunic did cover her wings. Something she found interesting since her wings normally pushed through everything. “Great.” She couldn’t even muster a smile.

Bo gave her one of those heated looks that just confused her more before turning and heading from the kitchen. The other two males were waiting for them and while she wanted to have a real conversation with Bo it wasn’t as if she could force him to talk to her about them.

Not that there was a “them” anyway. He’d made that perfectly clear.

Which should be a good thing since she knew she couldn’t be with him. It would just put him in danger. That didn’t seem to stop her insane libido and heart from wanting him though.

In the living room/library she eyed the huge masculine furniture. The pieces looked to be custom made. Maybe they’d stolen those too, just like the food from earlier. One wall was lined with built-in bookshelves and the books to fill them. There was also a chaise and two oversized leather couches. Rory was stretched out on the chaise, a book in his hand and Ian was on one of the couches.

Nyx noticed a pile of blankets and pillows stacked next to the other couch. Ian stood when he saw them, nodded at her. “Glad it fits.”

“Thanks. How does it cover my wings?”

He shot his brother a look, shrugged at her. “The material.”

“Thank you, captain obvious.” She’d heard Victoria use the phrase more than once and it amused her. “I
know
it’s the material, but…what is it?”

“Not really sure.”

She couldn’t tell if he was lying and really, it didn’t matter. If they were going to leave whenever it was daylight, she wanted to get some rest. The events of the day had taken their toll and demigod or not, she was tired.

“You’re more than welcome to take the guest room or you can sleep in here with us. I’m just bunking on this couch and Rory is taking the chaise. You guys can have the other couch.”

“Why are you being so accommodating?” Bo asked.

Ian frowned. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“You’re a half-demon.”

Both males snorted. “So are you,” Rory said.

“But I don’t live in a Hell realm. Why aren’t you in the human realm?”

Nyx was surprised he was asking the same things she’d asked moments before. And she didn’t understand why the fact that they were half-demons would matter. He was a half-demon after all, and he was one of the best males she knew.

Rory looked away, focused on his book. “Fuck humans. They’re weak.”

“They’re also wonderful,” Nyx said before she could think about censoring herself. They were so incredibly mortal but some lived as if they’d have forever.

Rory didn’t look up from his book, just shrugged and made a noncommittal sound.

“We got tired of the human world. It’s easier to fight our…urges here, anyway,” Ian said.

Bo just nodded, as if he understood exactly what Ian meant.

“What does that mean?” she asked.

Bo didn’t answer, just grabbed a blanket and pillow from the stack. “You can lean against me.”

Hurt filtered through her that he wouldn’t answer her. It just reminded her that she didn’t mean as much to him as she’d originally thought. It didn’t matter that he was attracted to her, that he wanted her. She knew he’d been with plenty of women. Throat tight with emotion, she sat on the couch when he did, but didn’t lean on him when he placed the pillow against his chest for her.

She didn’t care what the others thought of her dismissing Bo. She grabbed her own blanket and laid her head against the other end of the couch and curled up on her side, not wanting to touch him.

Bo let out a sound of frustration but she ignored him, closed her eyes. Right now she just wanted to close out everything, pretend none of this was happening.

Because in a few hours they’d have to get up and make a trek into the unknown. Given what little she’d seen of this realm so far, that wasn’t promising.

Chapter 8

“You don’t have to come with us.” Bo looked between the two males as they set four backpacks on the floor of the huge foyer. He wanted to trust them, found he liked them a little—maybe more than a little—but they had his father’s blood in their veins.

It made him wary.

He knew that was unfair since he had the same blood, but he wasn’t exactly rational when it came to Nyx’s safety. He’d never felt like this before, the obsessive need to protect her. He’d always felt protective but in this realm it was at a heightened level. She was in danger simply by being here and it was making his demon side edgy and irrational.

He knew he was hurting her with his silence about what had happened between them but he couldn’t tell her how he felt about her. Not here. He couldn’t even contemplate kissing her here either. Because if he did, he was afraid he wouldn’t stop, that he’d be consumed with the need to mate with her, to claim her.

He wouldn’t be in the right frame of mind if that happened. No, he’d be out of control, just like he’d been in his kitchen when he’d tasted her, had felt her come against his mouth. He hadn’t been thinking of anything else then, just the burning need to bring her pleasure.

He’d take her wherever and whenever she’d let him into her sweet body. That would put her at risk. Because if he was inside her he wouldn’t be thinking of anything else. It would leave them open to an attack.

He couldn’t allow himself to be weak or distracted here. Not when it could get her killed. He just hated that she thought she’d done something wrong. He’d told her it wasn’t her, couldn’t believe she even thought that. He rolled his shoulders once. Once they got out of here, he’d make things right between them.

“No one here knows you. They know us. They’ll be less likely to attack. And she…will draw attention,” Ian murmured, his voice going even lower at the sound of soft footsteps on the stairs.

Nyx flicked a nervous glance between them as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She’d taken her ripped jeans off this morning, had changed into loose black pants of the same material as the tunic. She’d had to roll up the cuffs half a dozen times. Everything was much bigger on her so she’d found something to cinch the tunic—drawing attention to her slim waist. It didn’t matter that her wings were cloaked, everything about her was soft and delicate-looking. She wouldn’t blend with them no matter what.