The Darkest Pleasure (23 page)

“What do you know, Danika? Tell me.”

“Nothing,” she said, head lolling forward. She was going to fall and couldn’t stop herself. Part of her didn’t want to stop.

Reyes was suddenly there, his arm around her waist keeping her upright. He was strength and heat and chased away the cold. “That is enough, Lucien.”

“Reyes,” Lucien snapped, and it was the most callous she had ever heard the man.

“No,” Reyes replied, equally harsh.

“I didn’t betray you,” she said. She rested her cheek against his chest, praying he believed her. She’d allowed herself to care for him. She couldn’t lose him. Not now.

“I know.” His fingers rubbed her hip, up and down.

“Wait. What? You know?”

“Yes.”

She tossed up her arms. “Well, why were you angry with me?”

“Angry? I was not angry.”

“You stormed away from me. You barely even looked at me.”

“Angel,” he said on a sigh. His hand lifted and he cupped her jaw, angling her to face him. “I am new to this sense of…caring. I hated that you were speaking to a Hunter, I worried for your safety and I did not want to scare you away with my fervency. Also, I knew you were trying to protect me when you lied to the Hunter about the number of warriors here. But I also knew you had created problems for us that you didn’t intend.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Now they think we are all here, when there are only a few. They will send more men, bring more weapons.”

The heat drained, totally and completely. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think…I just thought…Like Lucien said, Stefano doesn’t trust me,” she said. “He might assume I was lying. He might think only a few of you are here.”

“I can bring the others here,” Lucien said. “We’ll be prepared for the worst.”

Oh, God. There was going to be a fight, after all.

“Don’t worry,” Reyes said. “All will be well. Now. The painting,” he reminded her. “Get it for us. Please. We need to see if what you created means anything or can help us.”

She nodded just as a phone rang, the sound echoing off the walls.

Frowning, Lucien dug inside his pocket. He barked a quick, “Yes,” when the phone was next to his ear.

A moment passed.

His frown deepened as he hung up. “Sabin is impatient.”

“I’ll be right back.” Danika rushed into the studio and lifted the second painting she’d done from its place against the wall. She studied it, taking in first the bright colors and then the complex cast of characters. At the top of the canvas, two men and one woman, all garbed in white robes, sat upon thrones and stared regally down. At the bottom, a breathtakingly beautiful man with angel wings
and
devil horns led a human army across a sea of blood.

There was a butterfly tattoo on his lower stomach, the same type of menacing brand Reyes and the other warriors possessed.

The colors had yet to dry completely, so she was careful as she carted it into the bedroom. There, she propped the canvas on her legs. “Here.”

Both men gaped when they saw it.

“What?” she said.

“Do you have any idea who those beings are?” Lucien asked her, his voice strained.

“No.” And she didn’t. Other than what she’d painted, she knew nothing about them. “But I’ve seen them in my nightmares,” she admitted. “Many, many times.”

“Cronus, the king of gods, sits in the center throne. Atlas and Rhea are beside him. At the bottom, those men are Hunters.”

“And at the head of the army,” Reyes said, sounding choked, “is Galen. Keeper of Hope.”

The two men shared a heavy look.

“I cannot believe this. If this painting tells us true, he is leading the Hunters.” Lucien gave a shake of his head. “I never suspected…never thought…Why would Hunters willingly follow him? A demon?”

Reyes reached out to trace a fingertip over the winged man’s face, realized the paint was still wet and dropped his arm. “Danika and I spoke of him earlier, yet I still cannot wrap my mind around this.”

“We will have to deal with it later. There is no time to do so now. I must transport the rest of the warriors here.” Lucien’s gaze flicked briefly to Danika. “Tell her. She needs to know.” With that, he disappeared.

“Tell me what?” Dismay thickened her blood, and her fingers tightened on the canvas.

Grim determination suddenly radiated from Reyes. “Ashlyn heard something. About certain artifacts we are searching for. We knew the second had the power of sight,” he said, “something that could see into heaven and hell.”

Her brow wrinkled in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“It’s you.” His gaze collided with hers and held, a black pit beckoning her to fall. “
You
are the artifact, Danika. You are the All-Seeing Eye. That is why the gods want you dead. That is why Hunters are even now on their way. Everyone wants a piece of you. And I fear no one will rest until they get it.”

B
Y THE TIME
Sabin arrived in the fortress, Hunters were already scaling the mountain. Lucien had flashed him inside Torin’s bedroom, a wall-to-wall computer system consuming most of the space. All of the other warriors but the still-imprisoned Aeron surrounded the technological genius, staring at the many screens. No, not true, he realized. Pain was also absent. Again.

“Explosion?” Torin asked, glee in his tone.

“Yes. Blow them to hell,” Maddox growled, fingers clenched around a serrated blade. “The only good Hunter is a dead one.”

“No.” Lucien tugged at his earlobe. “If they manage to bypass the pits, nets and arrows, let them inside. An explosion will draw innocent humans to the hill, and that we cannot allow.”

Maddox’s nostrils flared. “Ashlyn—”

Lucien gave another of those tugs. “I’ve already flashed the women to safety, though neither went peacefully. With Anya as her guard, your female will be fine.”

The heat of Maddox’s anger died, his shoulders slumping. “Very well.”

“We let them inside and our home will be painted red,” Paris said. “I, for one, will not enjoy cleaning. And with Aeron locked up, I know that duty will fall on my shoulders.”

“I’ve fought Hunters a lot longer than you have,” Sabin piped up. “Believe me, it’s better to kill them here than to fight
them in the city where innocents can be harmed and used against us. And they
will
use innocents. Women and children make wonderful shields.”

“All for the greater good,” Cameo mocked sorrowfully, and he cringed. Someone needed to put a muzzle on her. No matter how much time they spent together, he would never get used to her voice.

“This is fun,” the immortal named William said, rubbing his hands together.

Sabin stared over at him, wondering who the hell had invited him. Making new friends wasn’t on his agenda. “What are you doing here?”

Lucien pinched the bridge of his nose. “The warrior is our welcome guest and might be an asset in the coming battle.” His tone was anything but happy, though Sabin was willing to bet he hoped the “welcome guest” was maimed in the fray. “We are dealing with more than we ever imagined.”

“What are you talking about?” Sabin demanded.

“I am talking about our old friend Galen. I have just learned the Hunters are led by him.”

“Galen?” Sabin laughed. “Surely you’re joking.”

The other warriors laughed, as well, but there was unease beneath their mirth.

Sabin slapped Lucien’s shoulder. “We haven’t heard from him in thousands of years.”

A shake of Lucien’s head, those mismatched eyes intense. “This is not a joke. As Ashlyn informed us, Danika is the All-Seeing Eye. One of her paintings has revealed it as so. They asked her to go to the roof. They want to steal her from us.”

The words, spoken so calmly, were lethal to Sabin’s disbelief. Galen. Responsible for all of his torment. His greatest enemy. Once a trusted friend.

Galen had been the one to suggest they distract Pandora and open that cursed box. Galen had been the one to laud the merits
of showing the gods their mistake. Galen had been their ally—or so they’d thought.

The gods did not trust us with the safekeeping of the box
, Galen had said.
Have we not proven our strength, over and over again? Have we not bled for them? Have we not protected them, all these many centuries? And yet they choose a female over us. She has not half our strength!

Cameo had taken offense at that and clawed Galen’s face. The demented man had laughed. Cameo had also taken offense that Pandora had been the female chosen, rather than herself. So the warriors had rallied together, confident in their success.

But Galen had planned to betray them all along, jealous for a reason that had nothing to do with the box. Lucien had been chosen by the gods as Captain of the Guard; he had not. Only later had they learned that Galen had used them to do his dirty work, the actual opening of the box. While they were carrying out his brilliant idea, he was mobilizing Pandora’s army to help him cut down his “friends” so he could capture the demons himself, take credit for saving the world—and usurp Lucien’s role.

At first, everything had gone smoothly. Paris had managed to lure Pandora away, for even then females had not been able to resist him. The others had stealthily approached the box. But when they reached it, a cadre of soldiers rushed them—Galen among them.

A battle quickly ensued. Bloody, violent. In the end, the box was indeed opened, the demons released—all those demons, finally free. But despite Galen’s best efforts—despite
their
efforts—there’d been no catching them. The demons were stronger than any of them had assumed. Worse, the box had vanished like a phantom of the night as the demons devoured the flesh of Pandora’s guards, piranhas who’d been starved and desperate. The screams…they haunted Sabin still.

Though Galen had turned on them and “helped” Pandora, he
had
played a role in the box’s opening, and so the gods pun
ished him alongside the others. Hosting the demon of Hope didn’t seem like a harsh enough punishment to Sabin, but Sabin had been unable to deliver his own brand of justice. In the turbulent aftermath of their demon-curse, Galen had disappeared and Sabin had been both glad and furious. Vengeance would have been nice. Perhaps now he’d have his chance.

“How dare he do this?” Strider snapped. “Wasn’t one betrayal enough for him?”

“If he’s controlling the Hunters, could he also be pulling the strings at that Hunter-infested Institute Ashlyn used to work for? She once mentioned that no one had ever seen its president because he never went out in public.” Maddox glanced around the room. “Galen, do you think?”

“Maybe.” Sabin shrugged. “Ironic that a facility that prides itself on human superiority could be secretly run by a half demon, half immortal. How do you think he manages to keep the Hunters from knowing the truth about him? They cannot know or they would revolt. And why would Galen want us dead, anyway?”

“Why did he convince us to open the box, and then turn on us?” Strider asked. “He had to win, always, no matter the price.”

“Look who’s talking, Defeat,” Maddox said.

“Perhaps he always planned to try to crush us, to rise above us—even the gods—and win the heavens.”

Sabin gripped the dagger sheathed in his weapon belt. “Whatever his reasons, if you’re right and we’re about to have a cozy little family reunion, I’m going to take his head. His skull will look nice on my nightstand. Save me from having to get up to use the bathroom at night.”

Paris flicked him a wry glance. “I tell the jokes here. Anyway, I wouldn’t get my hopes up that he’ll make an appearance.”

Grinning like the insane freak that he was, Torin clapped excitedly. “Hopes up. Galen is Hope. Funny. Too bad I think you’re right. For whatever reason, Galen hasn’t yet revealed himself to us. He doesn’t know that we know he’s the leader of the Hunters.”

“Then let’s send him a warm fuzzy card and invite him over. And by
card
I mean all of his Hunters in body bags,” Strider said.

“Oh, that’s so wrong.” Meaning, it was right. Gleeful, Gideon rubbed his hands together. “This is going to be absolutely yawn inducing.”

“So,” Torin said, fingers flying over the keyboard. “Did we decide to let the Hunters inside or not? They want Danika, the All-Seeing Eye, and they’ll be desperate because they think she’ll be able to help them find the box, ending us. Letting them inside will place them closer to her.”

Sabin shook his head. “Nope, not closer. Reyes is escaping with her. She’ll be moving farther away, while the Hunters close in on us.”

“How’s she an artifact, anyway?” Cameo grumbled.

“Gods, woman,” William said. “Your voice is like death. Can you shut it until I leave the room? Please. Seriously, you’re like the one woman in the world I
want
to resist.”

She glowered over at him.

“
You
had better ‘shut it,’” Torin snapped at the warrior, no longer grinning, “or you’ll find yourself in one of Strider’s body bags.”

Cameo’s glare became the closest thing to a grin Sabin had seen on her face in centuries. “Ashlyn said the artifacts are guarded by the monster Hydra, and Anya later confirmed it. No one has been guarding the girl.”

“Perhaps Hydra
used
to guard her,” Sabin said. “Danika’s had to be around since ancient times, but obviously isn’t immortal so has had to be reborn. Maybe reincarnated. Or maybe the ability is passed through her bloodline, which is why, according to the gods, the entire family has be annihilated. Or perhaps Hydra simply lost her. Hell, maybe
Reyes
is Hydra. You’ve seen how he is with her.”

There was a beat of silence, then someone chortled, “Reyes
is Hydra,” then Lucien said, “Let them in. We’ll fight them here. Safest that way.”

Torin nodded, his fingers never slowing on the keyboard.

Itching with the desire to fight and fight now, Sabin studied the monitors, eight screens that spanned the entire hillside. Nighttime had long since fallen, moonlight allowing only the barest hint of light past the canopy of trees.

All of the Hunters were wearing black and had even painted their faces. But they couldn’t hide from the heat sensors or even Sabin’s trained eye. Besides the red blur, every rustle of leaves, every scattering of dirt gave them away.

“Shit. They’re like locusts,” William said. “I mean, seriously. Bugs. There’s probably a hundred of them out there.”

“Scared?” Sabin asked.

“Hell, no. I think I just came.”

Sabin’s kind of man.

“How long till they hit?” Strider asked. He shifted from one booted foot to the other, anticipation humming from him.

Torin shrugged, his long white hair shifting on his wide shoulders. “Four minutes. Maybe three. Depends on how smart they are. Some already fell in our pits, and some were killed by the hidden arrows.”

As long as
I
get some, I’m happy,
Sabin thought. “They won’t storm through the front door all at once. They’ll split up. They know
we
know they’re out there, so they’re not going to try to be quiet much longer. Some will stay at ground level. Some will climb through windows. Some will probably come down from helis, just in case Danika obeyed orders and went to the roof.”

“Then we’ll split up, as well,” Lucien said. “My men and William will take the hill. Yours can have our leftovers.”

Sabin grinned. “What you mean, is we’ll fight the bulk of Hunters. I knew I loved you for a reason.”

A chorus of chuckles rang out, just as he’d intended. Lucien
and his men took off then, grinning as they headed outside. They had lived here for hundreds of years. They knew the best places to lie in wait, knew every secret passage to secure.

Unfortunately, Sabin did not. “Should we free Aeron? Let him join the fight? He’s a good man to have at your side.”

“Hell, no,” Torin said. “He’ll go for our heads, as well as the Hunters. What’s the matter? You scared? Well, don’t be. I’ll have a monitor trained on every floor of the fortress. Program your cells to vibrate and I’ll alert you as the Hunters enter, telling you where they are.”

“How did I ever let you go?” Sabin asked him.

“You didn’t,” Torin said dryly. “I left you to follow Lucien.”

“Semantics.” He turned to his warriors and motioned to the hall with a tilt of his chin. “Let’s do this.”

Each of them nodded and stalked from the bedroom, withdrawing their phones as they walked. Sabin was behind them but quickly pulled ahead, his stride long and purposeful.

“Good day to die,” Kane said.

For Hunters, it certainly was. Sabin shoved his phone back into his pocket and filled a hand with his 9 mm. He stretched the fingers of his free hand, popping his knuckles.

“Which faction do you think we’re dealing with?” Strider asked. “Stefano, still?”

“It so matters,” Gideon replied at the same time Kane said, “Any. All. Who cares?”

“Stefano, beyond any doubt. Late-night attack, overeager army and semiautomatics. Besides, he’s the one who first captured Danika. He didn’t yet know she was the Eye or he wouldn’t have let her go,” Sabin said, adding tightly, “He’s mine. You see him, you leave him alive.”

The man wanted to punish Sabin for the part he’d played in his wife’s suicide. That was fine, understandable even. But Stefano kept coming after his men, would never leave them alone, and that wasn’t. Sabin might have turned his back on
love, but he valued his men over himself and he would not allow them to be hunted like this. “Gideon, entertainment room. You know what to do.”

“Nope. I don’t.” Gideon branched off from the group.

“Kane, north hallway.”

With a nod, Kane swerved at the next corner. One of the lightbulbs in the chandelier shattered the moment he did so, spraying glass in every direction. There was a hiss, a muttered curse. Then, of course, another bulb exploded.

Disaster. Couldn’t take him anywhere, and gods knew there was no way to avoid explosions with him around. Poor Lucien.

“Cameo—” Sabin had tossed a glance over his shoulder. Cameo wasn’t among his remaining warriors. Where the hell was she? Irritated, he ran his tongue over his teeth. The woman had been disappearing more and more lately. “Amun, south hallway.”

No response. Not even a nod, but Amun changed directions.

“Two minutes more,” Strider said, “and then the real fun begins. I doubt Lucien and his crew can kill them all outside.”

Sabin flicked him a glance. “Why two minutes? How do you know?”

“Internal radar.”

Before the last word left Strider’s mouth, the sound of glass breaking echoed through the house. Sabin and Strider shared a grin. “Your radar sucks. Begins now, I’m thinking.” He palmed his other gun, the metal a welcome weight in his hand. “West hallway for you, my friend. I’ll take east.”

Strider nodded, turned on his heel.

“Be careful.” Sabin rushed forward, steps eating up the distance. Another window shattered, this one just ahead of him. His cell phone vibrated in his pocket.
Little late, Torin,
he thought. A moment later, three men swinging from rappel wires sailed through the now paneless window on a gust of wind.