Wild Hunt (12 page)

M
y apartment was
dark and cold when I pushed the key into the lock and let the door swing inwards. Drawing my jacket a little tighter around my body, I stepped inside and stared at the windows that sat wide open.

I certainly didn’t remember leaving them open and, well, if I hadn’t done it, then it meant someone else had been here. It wasn’t a comforting thought and a whisper of fear wound its way down my spine. Pulling my gun from its holster, I held it in a two-handed grip and moved further into the apartment.

Nic followed, his silence telling me he’d picked up on sudden tension and the unholstering of my gun.

The living room was clear, as was the kitchen, and I made my way down the hall to where my bedroom lay. The windows in the bedroom sat wide open as did my closet doors, the clothes that I’d kept within spread around the room as though someone had been searching for something and had rifled through every ounce of clothing I had.

“Nothing in the bathroom,” Nic said and he reappeared in the doorway. “Well, I know you’re not the tidiest person on Earth but this, even for you, is a little excessive,” he said with a smile, but I could tell from his voice that it was all an act.

“They’re just clothes,” I said, holstering my gun once more and scooping up the items that were strewn across the top of the plastic covered mattress.

“You still haven’t unwrapped your bed?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

“I can’t say I have much time to be the domestic goddess you expect me to be when I’m out hunting monsters all day,” I said, flopping down on the end of the bed.

Nic studied me for a second before crossing the room and dropping down next to me; his arm snaked around my shoulders and I let my head fall against his shoulder. In his arms was where I felt safest. For so long, I’d done it all on my own; kept my secret and made sure everyone around me was at arms’ length. With Nic, I didn’t need to do that anymore. Part of me felt as though I could have told him anything….

“You know I won’t ever hurt you,” he said, pressing his lips to the top of my head.

“You don’t need to explain to me. Madeline likes to play games. This is probably just another of hers.”

I felt the curl of his smile and his grip on me tightened. “I know what she does best, but still….”

Lifting my face to his, I cut him off in the only way I knew how. Pressing my lips to his, I tasted him gently, wrapping my hands around his neck and into his hair.

Nic responded instantly, his arms sliding around me as he half dragged, half lifted me into his lap. His hands ran across my back until they found their way beneath my jacket and T-shirt; the second his skin touched mine, I felt my body jolt with the electricity of his touch.

He deepened the kiss, drawing me into him as he drew me back onto the bed. I gasped as his mouth left mine and trailed down over my jaw and onto my neck. He nipped gently at the soft skin that covered my collarbone as I pushed his shirt up until I could run my fingers along his chest.

His body was hard; his muscles corded and flexed as he held his body above mine. But that wasn’t all I could feel; my fingers found a knot of scars just above his heart and Nic stilled against me.

“What did this?” I asked, pushing the shirt up until I could see the faded marks.

“Devil dog,” he said quietly.

“The pastry?” I asked with a small smile.

“No,” he said sarcastically, “the creature.”

“And this one?” I asked, sliding my hand down to the scars I’d felt along his side.

“Barbed wire fence,” he said quietly, his eyes searching mine.

“How?”

“When I thought Jason was dead, I went after the ones I believed were responsible….”

“You went after the rogue shifters?”

He nodded and pressed his body a little tighter to mine, crushing my hand between us. “I got a couple of them before the Alpha returned with the rest of the pack…. I barely got out alive and caught myself on the fence in my rush….”

“Why would you go after them alone?” I asked, holding him gently as my fingers traced the outline of the marks.

“Guilt. I was supposed to help him. I should have been there when….” He trailed off and rolled off me, the plastic crinkling loudly beneath his movements.

“It wasn’t your fault,” I said, following him.

“Part of me knows that now, but at the time…. I was destructive back then. Bitter and angry at the world, all I wanted to do was cause the same kinds of pain to those who had hurt me.”

Nodding, I pressed my head to his chest, the steady thump of his heart beneath my ear bringing me a sense of peace I hadn’t known was possible.

“But it doesn’t bring the peace you want it to,” I said quietly.

“No, it doesn’t…” Nic answered, before he shifted, forcing me to lie down on the mattress as he propped himself up on an elbow over me. His hand slipped beneath my T-shirt once more and splayed across my soft stomach. “You’re the first bit of peace I’ve found in years,” he said, his declaration surprising me. “The first bit of happiness I’ve felt in what feels like forever,” he confessed, dropping his head until it was pressed to my chest.

I held still and bit my tongue. What was I supposed to say to him? What he had described was the very last thing I was. I wasn’t peace, not for anyone.

“Amber,” he said, stirring against me and lifting his head until he could stare down into my face.

“I’m going to go and get cleaned up,” I blurted out. I needed space to clear my head, time to get my thoughts in order, and that definitely wasn’t going to happen with him pressed to me.

If I didn’t then he would kiss me and I wasn’t sure how much more I could resist him. I didn’t want to resist him and yet it was all I found myself doing lately.

Nic nodded, his mouth forming a harsh line as he rolled away, releasing me from his hold. I’d hurt him. He’d made this huge declaration and I had pushed him away.

Climbing from the bed, I felt like dirt, but there was nothing I could do to change it. If I was going to go through with this, then I needed time to think.

Coward.

The voice in the back of my head piped up, and maybe it was right. Perhaps I was a coward, but what else was I supposed to do?

Glancing back at Nic, I remembered the feel of his lips on mine, the taste of his skin and the hard press of his body. I ached for him and rather than giving into the one thing in my life that actually felt right, I was going to walk away and potentially blow the whole thing….

“Amber?” he said, the husky desire in his voice cutting through my doubts, and I climbed back over the bed toward him.

Leaning down, I pressed my lips to his, giving in to the all-consuming desire that threatened to ignite inside me and burn us both to nothing more than cinder and ash.

Nic’s strong arms wrapped around me, his hands making short work of my clothes. I fought against the restraints of material that covered him, keeping us from having the skin-on-skin contact I so badly craved. His hands covered mine, moving quickly to shed the last of his clothes onto the floor where mine already lay discarded.

His mouth found mine once more and I gave in to the feel of his skin on mine, the press of his hips, the way his hard body slotted against my softer one. I gave up all the reservations I’d felt, the fear and panic, letting it wash away with each languid move we made together until there was nothing but bliss remaining.

As though he could sense it, Nic’s kiss became hungry, seeking what only I could give him, and in that moment as we lay tangled in one another in the dark, I gave him everything that I was and in return he poured a balm across my battered soul, his body offering me a sanctuary I’d long thought I neither deserved nor would ever reach.

In his embrace, I found home, and it was everything I’d ever dreamed it could be.

I
awoke
, tangled in the sheets, Nic’s still-naked body draped across my own. Heat flooded into my cheeks as I remembered what we’d done, the sweet ache in my body telling me it had been as good a workout as I would ever get in any gym.

Sliding across the bed, Nic’s arm tightened on my waist, pulling me closer.

“I need to go and get cleaned up,” I whispered and he sighed.

“No you don’t, you need to rest….” His voice was half muffled by sleep and the fact that his face was pressed against my shoulder.

“You weren’t thinking of rest earlier,” I said with a laugh.

“I had to get you to stay in bed somehow,” he said. “Doctor’s orders, and you know I’m a stickler for following orders.” I felt him smile against me and when he raised his face, he grinned down at me.

“I still need to go and get cleaned up. I can feel hospital all over me….”

“I’d have thought we did a pretty good job of getting rid of that,” he said, raising his eyebrows.

Pushing playfully at his shoulder, I wriggled against him and he groaned, his eyes darkening once more. “Maybe the shower can wait?” he said, and I shook my head.

“No can do—as much as staying here with you all day seems like a good idea, there’s still a lunatic out there murdering innocent people. I need to get down to Elite and find out if anyone has made any more progress….”

Nic nodded and reluctantly released me from his grip. “I suppose that’s as good a reason as any to let you out of bed…. I suppose the faster you catch this bastard, the faster I can get you back into bed,” he said, his grin widening causing the dimple in his cheek to suddenly appear.

Laughing, I climbed out of the bed and made my way to the bathroom. I tried not to run; feeling self-conscious now after everything we’d done together seemed a little ridiculous, but I couldn’t help but pick up my pace a little more than usual.

Slipping into the bathroom, I turned on the shower and stepped beneath the scalding spray, allowing it to soak my bruised and weary body. When all of this was through, I needed a holiday. Time to get my head on straight and allow my body to heal. At the rate I was going since Graham had let me out on the field, I wouldn’t manage a whole year without at least some of the damage becoming serious.

I could certainly hold my own, but my luck would run out eventually if I didn’t start doing more to protect myself, especially where my magic was concerned.

Beneath the flow of the water, I searched within for my magic. It certainly felt stronger than it had after whatever had happened in Madeline’s but it still didn’t feel right and no matter how hard I concentrated on calling it forth, nothing seemed to happen.

Disappointed, I switched off the flow of water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping the towel around my body as I paused in front of the fogged mirror.

Grabbing the hand towel, I scrubbed at the surface of the mirror, but the fog remained. I opened the door and let the worst of the steam pour out into the bedroom, my eyes lingering on Nic; he lay spread across the bed, the early morning light dancing across his skin and the scars he’d kept hidden for so long.

The light overhead flickered and I glanced up, but second I stared at it, the light returned to normal. When I dropped my gaze back down to Nic, I stumbled backward into the bathroom.

The ghost from the forest, the one I’d first seen in the graveyard, stood in the door, fear etched into every line in her face as she stared at me and mouthed something I couldn’t understand.

The sound of nails on what sounded like a chalkboard met my ears and I clamped my hands over them in an attempt to blot out the sound. She lifted her hand and pointed frantically in the direction of the mirror and from the corner of my eye I saw something move in the surface, a surface that was no longer reflecting my bathroom.

“Nic!” I screamed, as something grabbed me and jerked me toward the mirror with enough force to slam me into the marble sink.

I heard him hit the floor, his feet crossing the bedroom as I fought against the hands that held me. The hands jerked me again, my feet sliding on the tile floor as my fingers slipped off the sink.

The ghost reached out for me, her hands passing through me as she fought to drag me back. But she wasn’t really there; she was nothing more than a trapped soul, and her fingers slipped through my arm, leaving the hairs on my arms standing on end.

Nic appeared in the door as the Fae’s face appeared in the mirror, his grip on me tightening. I had just enough air in my lungs to scream as he gave one last violent tug, dragging me through the surface of the mirror and into the darkness that lay beyond.

T
he darkness felt absolute
, but I knew I wasn’t alone. I could feel him, feel him stalking me, circling slowly like some sort of predator, simply waiting for me to make a mistake.

Reaching within, I called forth my magic, but it spluttered and then went dark.

My ears felt blocked and my stomach rolled uncomfortably as something large and hairy brushed against my legs. It didn’t help that I was naked, the towel I’d been wearing gone in the struggle. Damp tendrils of my hair stuck to my back as I turned in a slow circle and tried to make out something, anything, in the pitch dark that surrounded me.

It was practically suffocating, and with each breath I sucked in through my nose and mouth, I felt the darkness slide deeper inside, permeating ever cell of my body.

Reaching out in front of me, I took a tentative step forward, the ground smooth beneath my bare feet.

Fingers brushed mine and I recoiled, almost tripping over the thing that brushed against my legs a little more insistently this time.

Red eyes blinked up at me and my heart came to a stuttering halt, fear causing my still-damp skin to break out in goose-bumps. I turned and ran, my feet slapping against the floor.

Something grabbed me, wrapping around my body, and I fought its hold. As it dragged me in close, I realised it was a man, taller than I was and stronger, his body solid beneath my skin as he crushed me to his chest.

“I’ve waited so long for this, a sorceress of my very own,” he said, his voice utterly familiar; it filled me with dread.

“I am not yours,” I said, my voice stronger than I actually felt.

Don’t lie dear, we both know that isn’t true,
he whispered inside my head, and I fought his hold harder.

I’d felt him crush my will beneath his own before and I didn’t want it to happen again. Casting within, I searched for the demon, the one who had taken such complete control of me before and thrust out the Fae.

Nothing.

Panic soared, sending my heartbeat into overdrive as the darkness lifted, the light growing brighter until it burned my eyes. The Fae standing before smiled, an expression filled with such hunger and malice I was left with the urge to run.

Forcing myself to stand a little taller, I met his gaze, but unlike Darcey and Victoria, his eyes had nothing to them. There was no beautiful spiral, nothing to lose myself in, and for that, I was grateful.

“You’re a little shorter than I would have liked,” he said, circling me slowly, his fingers brushing my naked skin here and there, causing me to jump. It only made him laugh and I clenched my hands into fists. “But I must say, you look much better without that ugly tattoo,” he said, coming to a halt behind me.

I glanced down; the demon mark that had covered my shoulder was gone. Not entirely; I could still make out its fake outline buried beneath my skin, but it was so faint that it faded in and out of sight.

Was that why I couldn’t feel the demon anymore? The darkness that had helped me fight off the Fae’s will every time before was no longer where it had been.

“What happened to it?” I asked, trying to hide the panic from my voice and failing miserably.

“Demons only have dominion in their own realm and in the human world. Here, they mean nothing, and their power cannot reach beyond the veil…” he said, his tone suggesting just how bored he was.

“And we’re beyond the veil?” I said, my heart sinking. If I was in Faerie, then I was seriously screwed. There was no way in Hell Nic or Graham would be able to find me.

Hell, I wasn’t even sure I could remember the route out of Faerie myself. It had been years since my mother had told me the story, which was really her way of trying to teach me about all the things that went bump in the night.

And then there was the little issue of getting away from the Fae standing behind me.

His hand snaked over my shoulder and I broke free of his touch, turning to face him once more, tightening my fists in an attempt to hide the tremors that raced through my limbs.

“And still you fight? This is inevitable; you and I will do great things together…. You will be my queen, and together, we will rule all of Faerie.”

“I have no interest in ruling anything,” I said through gritted teeth.

He laughed, a sound that cut at my ears and caused my eyes to water as he threw his head back and allowed it to wash over him.

“Well, you don’t exactly have a choice in it; your will is mine. When I’m done with you, you will beg to be my queen, to rule at my side … and when you bear me a son….”

His words sent a shiver of icy terror down my spine. There was no way in Hell I would bear him anything unless ill will counted.

He took a step toward me and I moved back until my legs bumped something. Glancing back over my shoulder, my terror grew as my eyes fell on the huge bed draped in animal fur. It seemed Master of the Hunt meant he kept trophies.

“Stop fighting it, Amber. When you love me, you will enjoy my touch,” he said, reaching out and brushing his hands against my cheek.

“I will never love you,” I said, spitting the words out and slapping his hands away.

“Never say never,” he said, and lunged, pinning me beneath him on the bed, his hands holding my head still as he stared down at me.

Just like before, I felt his magic as it crawled beneath my skin. I called my own, but as it had always been, he crushed it, my power not even putting up a fight as he took hold.

I felt my will slipping away and the darkness I’d sought crept forward, but it was far too small to do anything, the demon’s voice little more than a whisper in my head, a whisper I couldn’t hear over the sound of my silenced screams.

“Sit up,” the Fae said, and I did. “Kiss me.” I leaned over, pressing my lips to his. He tasted of raw meat and wine; my stomach revolted, and I broke away in time to vomit on the floor.

“You’re strong, but that will wear with time … I can make you happy, Amber, if only you’ll let me.”

He held his hand out to me and my body betrayed me by slipping my fingers through his. I fought to take back my control, to fight the hold he had over me, but nothing I did worked.

I wanted to shake free of his hold, to run as far from him as my legs would take me, but all the commands I sent to my head did nothing at all. Nothing moved except when he wanted it to.

He spun me away from him and I wasn’t naked anymore, my body covered in a dress spun from the finest silver gossamer threads. It was beautiful, moving around me as though it had a life of its own, and I hated it, hated everything it represented. It scratched against my skin and I wanted to tear at it with my fingers, to rip and shred it until it was nothing more than tiny pieces.

The darkness faded further and the ground beneath my satin slippered feet was chequered, the red and white marble glittering beneath the light from the chandeliers overhead.

“Do you like it?” he whispered against my ear as he drew me close once more. “I created it especially for you,” he said.

“No—” I said, beginning to speak, but he shook his head at me and just like with everything else, his will became mine. “It’s so beautiful,” I gushed, the words tripping off the tip of my tongue.

Inside my head, I screamed, lashing out at the magic holding me prisoner, and as I watched his face, there was a flicker of discomfort, but it was gone so quickly I couldn’t even be sure if I’d seen it or if my desire to be free of him had caused me to imagine it.

As he spun me around the floor, his body leading mine in some sort of complicated dance, I caught sight of the people watching. Where had they come from?

The gold gilt on the walls was exquisite, convoluted art on the walls that I couldn’t quite make out as he spun us faster around on the floor. The faces blurred one into the other and my head spun faster than his movements.

“Please,” I whispered, staring up into his cold, impassive face.

“They’re watching; I want to make them jealous,” he said, the steps getting faster until my legs and feet burned with the effort of keeping up with him.

I wanted to stop. Catch my breath. My lungs burned, each breath I took agony, and I could feel the heat in my cheeks increasing. If he kept this pace up, I wasn’t going to survive the day, never mind live long enough for me to bear his children.

He had me and he could do what he wanted with me; there was nothing I could do to stop him. The realisation hit me like a punch to the stomach and my eyes began to water, the tears trailing down my cheeks involuntarily.

“Stop crying,” he ordered and still the tears fell. There was nothing I could do to stop them; I certainly hadn’t been the one to cause the tears. In fact, nothing would have revolted me more; the last thing I wanted this monster to know was that he hurt me, that I was afraid of him. However, there was one silver lining in the tears that dripped down my cheeks. If I could cry and he couldn’t stop me, then perhaps there was hope after all. Perhaps this cage of silver and violet threads he’d locked my mind inside with his power could be broken. And if it could, then I would take great pleasure in ending his life.

His cold expression changed, growing harsher; the anger flooding his gaze made me want to cower away from him. Or at least my physical body longed to cower. The real me, the me caged inside my own head, wanted nothing more than to wipe the floor with him.

“Stop crying!” He barked the order, his power lashing around me, and I felt it pulse within my skin, causing me to cry out.

He jerked us both to a halt sudden enough that my head snapped back on my neck. I’d had whiplash once before and it had felt just like this….

The back of his hand caught me across my face, the blow sending me reeling backward until my legs went from underneath me. Stars exploded behind my eyes and the fact that my head was still spinning after the frantic dance we’d just done around the ballroom floor didn’t help.

I clutched at the floor, fighting just to keep my balance despite the fact that I was sitting on my ass.

“Get up!” he commanded, and my body struggled to respond, but my legs were exhausted and no matter how hard I tried to climb to my feet, they simply wouldn’t hold me upright.

Time and again they buckled beneath me, driving me back toward the red and white marble with more and more frantic frustration.

“I said get up,” he said, standing over me, his anger beating against my skin like the desperate beat of a moth’s wing.

“I’m trying,” I said, pushing up onto my knees.

His hand closed around my throat, drawing me up until my toes brushed the floor. His hand spasmed around my throat momentarily, cutting off my air supply as he held me aloft.

“Try harder; you’re making a fool of me.” He gritted his words out through a false smile.

Lowering me toward the floor, my legs still refused to cooperate and the part of me that was caged couldn’t help but rejoice. I didn’t want to please him. I didn’t want to make him look good. If I could make him look like a fool, all the better. I wanted those watching to hate him, despise him.

His grip on me released as suddenly as it had appeared and I dropped to the marble floor once more, the jolt of hitting the ground rattling up through my spine and causing my teeth to snap together.

He stared down at me, the anger in his eyes causing even the caged part of me to feel afraid.

I would see him dead, but I could see the things he would do to me given the opportunity reflected in his eyes. The pain he would cause. He would break me if he could, but I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. No matter what happened, I would still be me; he wouldn’t take that from me … not now, not ever.

Reaching down, he grabbed my hair and jerked me across the floor. I slapped at his hands, fighting his grip, and it only caused him to tighten his hold but he didn’t try to stop me. He let me struggle as he dragged me back into the centre of the room.

From the corner of my eyes, I spotted the marble pillar with two manacles positioned near the top. It hadn’t been there when we had been dancing; I was certain.

He dragged me toward it and I fought harder. I could still feel his magic, but he didn’t utter a word of reproach as he lifted me in his grip and forced my arms above my head. The manacles snapped around my wrists with a finality that had me tearing and dragging at them. Chained up was not what I wanted.

“Come friends, taste the sweet magic she wields…. An offering to those of you, my closest allies,” he called out to the crowd gathered in the ballroom.

A young man stepped forward, slender and tall; his long dark hair flowed down his back and his blue eyes watched me with a hunger that sent spasms of fear racing through my gut.

“Fionn, the gift is more than we ask, but it is graciously accepted,” the other Fae said, addressing the one who held me captive. “She is a little wild; might I subdue her a little before tasting her?”

His use of the words “subdue” and “taste” sent my mind into turmoil. Reaching within, I tried to drag my power up and into my arms. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d used my magic to get out of bonds and it wouldn’t be the last, and now that Fionn didn’t seem to be that bothered about bending my will to his, I had my opportunity.

My magic was sluggish, barely responding to my call, and when it did come it was little more than a flicker of light.

Fionn nodded and I watched the strange Fae step up next to me, his hand sliding down over my cheek as I bucked and heaved to escape his touch. His hands reached my throat and closed around my neck, his grip forcing me back against the post I was chained to.

He leaned in toward me, his breath whispering against my cheeks, and I jerked my head away.

“Amber, you must kiss him if he is to taste your power.” Fionn’s voice rang out strong in the room and my stomach fell as his magic crashed over me hard enough to cause my knees to buckle. His power hung around my neck like a physical weight and no matter how hard I fought to escape, I couldn’t shake free of him.

Fionn’s words reminded me of what Madeline had asked me to do the first time I’d met her. She had wanted me to kiss her then, too,
a mere taste
, she had said, but she had tried to drag my magic out of my body and I’d subconsciously rebelled.