The Darkest Touch dh-3 Page 9

  Then it struck her. “You’re doing this to punish me because I won’t tell you where the black diamond is hidden.”

  His narrowed gaze showed his anger at her statement. “No, I’m doing this to keep you safe.”

  She didn’t believe him. “Ryder, I have to see Isabelle. I need to talk to her, to find out where she’s been, what’s been going on with her. Something’s wrong.”

  “Dalton said she’s fine. He’s watching over her.”

  “Dalton doesn’t know her like I do.”

  “He doesn’t need to know her to keep her safe.”

  Panic bubbled through her bloodstream, a sense of urgency the likes of which she’d never felt before. Even though they were outside in the open air, she felt closed in, like she couldn’t breathe. She had to get out of here, and to Malta. The need to see Isabelle was overwhelming, the sense of danger multiplying by the second.

  But what could she do? Ryder would never let her leave.

  She knew then what she’d have to give up. “I’ll give you the black diamond if you take me to Isabelle.”

  He looked at her like she’d just sprouted two heads. “What?”

  “I’ll take you to the black diamond. The Realm of Light can have it. I just want to see my sister.”

  He stood, walked a few steps, then turned to her. “I don’t believe you. What kind of game are you playing now, Angie?”

  She rose from the chaise and followed him. “I’m not playing any game. I need you to understand how important this is to me. I’ve been looking for Isabelle for months. I need to be with her.”

  “Enough that you’re willing to give up the black diamond, just like that.”

  “Yes.”

  “Bullshit.”

  Frustration made her stomach hurt. “What can I do to convince you? Let’s leave now. I’ll take you to the black diamond immediately, then once we retrieve it we can go to Isabelle.”

  She could tell from the look on his face he thought she was lying, that she was playing some kind of angle in order to get him to release her from the house. Did he have so little faith in her?

  Of course. Because of Australia. Because she’d left with the black diamond after he’d asked her to wait.

  Would she have to pay for that forever?

  “Look. I understand you don’t trust me anymore. I’m sorry about Australia, about hiding the black diamond. But you have to understand that my sister comes first. I was afraid for her then, and I still am. I don’t know who to trust, Ryder.”

  “Did I ever give you a reason not to trust me? Did I ever hurt you or betray you, Angie?”

  Damn. “No.”

  “Then why did you run?”

  “Because I was afraid. I thought you might be dead, that I was alone. And I knew the black diamond was important. I couldn’t just leave it there. It has some connection to me, or to Isabelle, and I couldn’t just walk away knowing the Sons of Darkness wanted it so badly. I’ve been doing this on my own for so long, I didn’t know how to ask for help.”

  “Yes, you are the self-sufficient woman, aren’t you?”

  “Don’t you understand anything about family?”

  He snorted. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, Angie. Don’t talk to me about family, because I’m as clueless as they come.” He walked away.

  She followed, refusing to be dismissed. She grabbed his arm and spun him around. “Don’t walk away from me, goddamit. Look, I don’t know what your issues are with family, with trust and responsibility. But I love my sister.”

  “Oh, right. You’ve been singing her praises to me.”

  “I might not agree with the way she lives her life, or her motivations and the way she acts, but I still care what happens to her. I need to know she’s okay. She’s the only family I have left.”

  “Sometimes family isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sometimes it’s best to walk away.”

  “Who in your family hurt you, Ryder? Who made you so bitter?”

  He grabbed her arms and jerked her to him. “Don’t.” His voice went low, dangerous, the anger radiating through him shocking her. The darkness in his gaze was menacing, but she didn’t feel threatened despite his steely grip. She stared him down.

  “I’m not frightened of you, Ryder. You might be all tough on the outside, but you’d never hurt me.” As she said the words, she knew they were true.

  He released her and stepped back. “Don’t play at psychoanalysis, Angie. Not with me. Not ever. Now go inside. We’re done talking.”

  She felt chilled at the loss of his touch, despite the warmth of the sun on her skin.

  What had happened to make him hate family so much? What had his family done to him?

  And did he think so little of her that he figured one tough-guy exhibition and she’d run for the house and lock the doors? She knew him better than he thought she did.

  She followed him to the ocean ledge, slid her hip onto the wide stones, close enough that her thigh touched his. He didn’t flinch or move away.

  “Family is tough sometimes,” she started.

  He didn’t reply.

  “My mother was an incredible woman. So giving and warm. She loved Isabelle and me so much, even though we were so different from each other. But she knew how to handle us. When she got sick and knew she was dying, she told me I was the stronger one, that I had to watch out for Isabelle, because Mother was. . concerned.”

  That got his attention. He turned to her. “Concerned about what?”

  Angelique shrugged. “She didn’t elaborate. I figured she was afraid Isabelle would get in trouble. Mother wanted me to keep an eye on her, and I promised I would.”

  Ryder nodded. “A deathbed promise. Kind of a tough burden.”

  “Not really. It was just a promise. And despite my constant disagreements with Isabelle, I have always watched over her, as much as I could, anyway. As much as she’d allow.”

  “Does she need watching?”

  “Yes,” she admitted. “Over the years I’ve realized that she does.”

  “Because?”

  “Like I told you, Izzy has a dark side.”

  “And that worries you.”

  “Of course it worries me. I always thought it was just greed, a personality quirk. Now I’m certain it’s much more than that.”

  He gave her a quick nod, and she hoped he at least listened to her, that in some way he understood how important it was that she get to her sister.

  “Ryder, she’s all I have.”

  There was nothing more she could say. She stood and walked toward the house, hoping it was enough to convince him.

  Well, hell. Ryder knew Angie wasn’t up to something. She really was concerned about her sister.

  But he was being honest with her when he told her that getting her together with Isabelle was a bad idea. It was best to keep them separated for now.

  Was she serious about giving up the black diamond, though? Wasn’t that his goal, to get the diamond from her? Could he trust that she meant what she said, that she’d lead him right to it in exchange for his taking her to Isabelle?

  He had to weigh the options. Maybe she was right. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to take her to Isabelle. Hell, maybe she could find out information about Isabelle better than Dalton could. Then again, it might do more harm than good. Dalton was working on Isabelle without her knowing who he was. The last thing he wanted to do was blow Dalton’s cover by marching in there with Angelique in tow and having Angie spill all their secrets.

  Then again, it would solve a lot of their problems to have the black diamond-if Angie was being honest about leading him to it. Could he really trust her?

  Shit. He was going to have to consider his options, then make a decision by tomorrow morning. He went inside. Angie was in the tiny kitchen.

  “There’s chicken salad. Eat,” she said, keeping her gaze averted.

  They ate, neither one of them talking. After, he helped her with the cleanup and she went to the bedroom without a
word or a look.

  She wasn’t angry, though.

  He supposed there wasn’t any more she could say to him.

  Or, for that matter, that he could say to her. They’d both said it all and they were at a stalemate. At least until he figured out what the next step would be.

  He sat back on the sofa and stared down the hall at the closed door to the bedroom. A couple hours later, the light was still on. He worked on the weapons, occasionally glancing toward her bedroom door.

  The light stayed on. Maybe she’d fallen asleep. Maybe she was reading.

  Maybe he shouldn’t care.

  He finally lay down on the sofa, making sure he was positioned so he wasn’t looking toward her room, since he felt ridiculous enough wondering what she was doing.

  But he wasn’t at all tired-which is why he heard the click of the door opening to her room. Senses on full alert, he wished he hadn’t been so goddamned stubborn and had turned around to watch her bedroom. Was that her coming out, or someone going in?

  He tightened his grip on the hilt of the knife at his belt, waiting and listening. Whoever or whatever it was crept closer to him. He could hear breathing, low to the ground, approaching the sofa where he lay.

  In two seconds someone or something was going to be face-to-face with him.

  He clenched the knife.

  He was ready.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Ryder.”

  He exhaled when he realized it was Angelique. He took his cue from her and didn’t move. “Yeah,” he whispered back.

  “I heard something at the window to my room.”

  “Back up.”

  She inched over and he took a slow roll off the sofa, using his hands to break his fall so he made no noise. They lay side by side, flat on their bellies, while Ryder studied the hallway and her room.

  Deathly silence filled the air, the two of them barely breathing. He strained to hear noises around them, anything that would signal something out of the ordinary.

  He waited for a crash through the window or door, but it didn’t happen. Instead, a mist began to materialize at the bedroom door, a slow appearance of white smoke, drifting upward from the floor.

  “Do you see that?” Angelique asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “I need a weapon.”

  He pulled a blade out from his stash and handed it to her. “If anything comes at you, use this. There are more weapons around the house.”

  “I know where they are,” she said.

  He felt the steeled tension in her body as they both raised up on their knees.

  “Get behind me. Until we know if there’s just one or more, let me handle this.”

  She moved, and he was glad he wouldn’t have to argue with her. He was pretty sure that after the last time she faced one of these new demons, she wouldn’t want to go another round unless she had to. At least now she was armed, which gave him a bit of comfort and worried him at the same time.

  If she had a weapon it could be used against her. He hoped there was only one demon, but who could tell from the white tornado swirling up in the middle of the hallway.

  He noted it didn’t happen in an instant. That was a good thing for demon hunters. They’d at least know these fuckers were coming.

  One demon materialized, the same kind as he had fought before, its pale eyes glowing in the semidarkness.

  It didn’t move at first, just made a slight turn of its head from side to side, as if sensing the air around it. Then it zeroed in on their direction and moved forward.

  Ryder snapped to his feet, Angelique scrambling to do the same. He drew his weapons, a dagger in each hand, and stepped toward the demon.

  “Stay out of the way, and always behind me,” Ryder warned.

  “Got it.”

  The demon ignored Ryder, seemingly intent on getting to Angelique. Exactly what he expected, so he stepped in front of it each time the demon made a motion toward Angie.

  When the demon raised its arm to push Ryder out of the way, Ryder sliced it with one of the daggers, feeling a sense of satisfaction when the demon snatched its arm back, hissing in pain. The wounded skin sizzled and began to deteriorate immediately. The demon focused first on its own melting skin, then turned a menacing glare on Ryder.

  Emotion. Odd for a demon. This one was damned pissed off, too. Growling, snarling, holding its wounded arm as if in pain.

  This was good stuff. Anger and pain were distractions to the demon.

  And working out perfectly, since its attention was on Ryder now and not Angelique.

  “Come on, fucker. Come at me.” Ryder felt his own rage building and used it to shore up his strength.

  The demon lunged at him, this time maneuvering to avoid the daggers. It was strong, grasping Ryder’s left arm and applying a tight, painful squeeze. Ryder stabbed the demon with the dagger in his right hand and the demon let go, backing away again.

  The only problem was that even though he was wounding the creature, the skin around the injury began to regenerate.

  That sucked.

  “Ryder, there’s another one coming,” Angelique said.

  He didn’t have time to look, his attention only on the demon he fought. “Let me know when it’s fully formed,” he said, his back turned to her. His primary objective was keeping the demon focused on him, and away from Angelique. Hopefully he could get this one down in time to battle the next one.

  With renewed effort, he lunged and attacked the demon, stabbing with the daggers and wishing he’d pulled one of the swords instead so he’d have a longer weapon reach. The demon feinted back at every swipe of the knife, then surged forward to grab at Ryder again. Sometimes it missed, sometimes it didn’t, grabbing Ryder in its bone-crushing grip.

  What kind of Wheaties were they feeding these demons anyway? This sonofabitch was superstrong, and being on a hardwood floor wasn’t helping. The demon was pushing, and Ryder had nothing to dig into with his boots. He was sliding backward. The demon gave a hard shove and Ryder went flying, slamming against the stone wall. He grunted at the pain, but filed it away for later, pushing off the wall to go after the demon again.

  He caught sight of the next demon, its mist continuing to rise up from the kitchen floor. Angelique, armed, moved toward it.

  “Don’t,” he warned her. Her gaze shot to his but he didn’t have time to hold it, his attention turning back to the demon he fought. This one had to die, before Angie tried to engage the other one. With renewed effort, he went low and embedded the dagger in the demon’s midsection. With a look of surprise the creature stilled, using both hands in an attempt to pull the dagger out.

  Oh, yeah. Got you now.

  Ryder used that momentary advantage to swing the other dagger up and jab it deep in the demon’s chest, right where its heart should be. The demon’s eyes widened; it tilted its head back and howled, an unholy sound.

  The demon began to shudder, both hands still around the dagger in its stomach. It dropped its head and stared at Ryder.

  “You can’t kill me.”

  Its voice was hoarse, filled with frustrated anger.

  “Heard that one before,” Ryder replied, stepping back as the demon began to disappear, reforming into its original mist.

  He didn’t know if he’d killed it, but at least the damn thing was going away. Soon the demon was invisible, nothing but white smoke, then gone.

  “Ryder!”

  Ryder pivoted at Angelique’s warning tone and raised his daggers, but too late. The demon was on him and grabbed him by the throat, shoving him back against the wall.

  Trapped and his breath cut off, Ryder struggled for air and fought to break free. The demon had his arms pinned against his sides so he couldn’t raise the daggers to stab the monster.

  Shit. White spots flickered in front of his eyes. He was losing consciousness, felt himself weakening as his airway was cut off.

  He didn’t have much time left, nor the strength to fight the demon.

&nbs
p; Where was Angie? He closed his eyes, trying to summon the last ounce of his strength, but the demon was too strong.

  Then the demon abruptly released its hold around his neck. Ryder sucked in massive gulps of air, blinking to clear his field of vision. As soon as he could focus again he took in the scene in front of him, certain he had to be delusional. What he saw couldn’t be right.