Lords of the Underworld Bundle (88 page)

“Saving my loved ones is worth any price.”

“I feel the same about mine.” There was another warning in his voice. “I protect mine, though.”

My family is on the run because of me.
The stray thought slithered through Danika's mind, and she blanched. Was she completely responsible? Maybe she could have done more, fought harder during the abduction.

If they die, it will be my fault.

Tears suddenly burned her eyes. Tears of shame and horror. She
was
responsible. She'd been so scared the night Lucien and Aeron had come to her hotel room, she had frozen. She hadn't screamed. She had let them bundle her up, gather her family and cart them here.

How could she have been so…passive?

Sabin gave her a look of total understanding. “Perhaps you'll take care of matters on your own, huh? Save me the trouble.”

Meaning, perhaps she would kill herself. He didn't know her very well. Suicide would never be an option for Danika. Too vividly she recalled the strain her grandmother's attempt had placed on her family. She remembered her mother's tearstained face, remembered seeing her quietly sob in a darkened corner. She remembered the lies everyone had told her, shame whispering in their voices and glowing from their eyes.
Your grandmother had an accident. She's going away for a few months to recover.

Behind closed doors, they'd said something else entirely.
Why would she do something like that? She has a great life, no reason to end it.

Now that Danika thought about it, that was funny coming from her dad. He'd had a great life, but not long after her grandmother's breakdown, he'd packed up and moved on to a new one. God, where were these depressing thoughts coming from?

The door suddenly banged closed, jolting her. A scowling Reyes had entered the room, the scarred Lucien on his heels. Seeing her beautiful nemesis, her breath caught in her throat and her traitorous heart skipped a beat.

Enemy,
she reminded herself. How many times would she be forced to do so? Why could her mind not get the message? She tried to look away from him, but her gaze snagged on an ugly cut decorating his cheek.

The two men must have fought. Both of them sported bruises on their faces, bleeding scratches and savaged lips. Mud streaked their skin. There were crimson splotches on Reyes's T-shirt, as though he'd taken the brunt of the beating.

I will not be concerned about Reyes.

They carried the scent of roses and…old eggs? Her nose wrinkled in distaste. Ugh.

Reyes spied Sabin and his scowl intensified. He glanced from the warrior to Danika, from Danika to the warrior. Fury blazed over his expression as he stalked to Sabin, his hands fisted. “What are you doing here?”

The two men faced off.

“Someone needed to question her,” Sabin said, brows dancing into his hairline. “You refused to do it, so I got it done.”

“You were not to come near her.”

Their muscles bulged, their bodies tensed. If Danika hadn't been so torn between fear and disgust, she would have enjoyed the view.

“She's alive, isn't she? So what's the problem?”

Reyes licked his lips, the action somehow menacing. “Are you hurt?”

“I'm fine,” Sabin said dryly. “Thanks for asking.”

“Not you. Danika, are you hurt?” Reyes never removed his lethal attention from Sabin.

Physically? “I'm fine.” Her throat constricted around the words.

Reyes shoved Sabin, and the warrior stumbled backward. “Don't come near her again.”

Danika gasped, expecting the narrow-eyed man to launch himself at Reyes and for the two to roll on the ground in a bid for dominance. He didn't. He popped his jaw, ran his tongue over his teeth.

“I did you a favor, boy. You'd do better to thank me.”

Danika stepped toward them. What she planned to do or say, she didn't know. In the end, she didn't have to think about it. Lucien moved in front of her, blocking her forward progress.

“Enough,” he said to the men. “Sabin, get your team ready. We leave for Rome in the morning.”

“This isn't over,” Sabin said.

“I know.” A weary sigh.

“Why did the plans change?” Reyes asked Lucien.

“Researching was getting us nowhere,” his friend said. “We'll go back to the temple, see if we find anything there.”

Anticipation sizzled and snapped along Reyes's olive skin. Truly flickering, making him look like a walking electrical socket. His dark hair even stood on end. Why anticipation? The thought of having her alone? Then Danika's eyes widened. Did it matter? The supernatural occurrences were stacking one on top of the other. Pretty soon, she might leave normalcy behind forever, unable to return.

When have you ever been normal?

When she was a child, the girls in her class had wanted to play Barbie. Danika had wanted to play angel. So many times she'd pretended to have wings, pretended to fly through the playground and battle evil. And yet, when evil truly did knock on her door, she hadn't battled. She'd curled into a fetal ball and cried for her mommy.

Never again.

“This isn't over,” Sabin said again, and stalked from the room. The door slammed shut behind him.

Danika gulped. Alone with Reyes and Lucien.
Don't you dare lose your courage.
She raised her chin.

Slowly Reyes turned to face her. His dark eyes were haunted, his features strained. “You had tears in your eyes when I entered.” A muscle ticked in his temple. “What did Sabin make you doubt?”

That ticking usually meant a storm brewed inside of him. She might not know much about him, as she'd told him earlier, but she did know that. “Doubt?”

Reyes nodded, the action clipped. “He made you doubt something about yourself.”

“No. He warned me not to hurt you.”

“He wouldn't have spoken the doubts aloud. You would have heard them in your mind.”

“What are you talking about? The only thing I doubted was—” Dear God. She gasped. “That's his demon? That's his power? Making people doubt themselves and their actions? Making them feel terrible about what they've done or haven't done?”

Another nod.

All the grim thoughts that had snaked through her mind in Sabin's presence echoed once more. “That bastard! I'll kill him.” Growling, she lunged for the door. She'd track him down and—

Reyes caught her by the arms and held her until she stilled. “What did he use against you?” He moved his hands up, slowly, gently, and cupped her cheeks.

A tremor slid down her spine. She couldn't pull away. He offered comfort from her shame, and she gladly accepted. His palms were warm, calloused with scabs, giving her exactly what she needed. “M-my family. My fault.”

He shook his head violently. “Not your fault. The gods' fault, our fault, but never yours.”

Tears again burned her eyes. That's all she seemed to do lately, start to cry then stop it from happening. “I didn't fight.”

His grip tightened. Not hurting, but no longer gentle. “We are warriors. Immortal, no less. We have been trained to slay, to hurt. What could you have done against us?”

“More,” she said simply. God, it felt good, being touched by him. Why had she ever thought to deny herself this bliss?

“Nothing would have changed.”

“No way to know that now.” How wonderful would it feel to burrow into the hollow of his neck? Inhale his scent? Remaining still proved one of the most difficult things she'd ever done. “Is there?”

His mouth curved in a gradual smile. “You are stubborn.”

The sight of that smile nearly melted her bones. Every time she'd been with him, he'd frowned, he'd raged, he'd cursed, but he had never smiled. The glorious expression lit his entire face, softening his eyes to a warm honey.

Another shiver trekked down her spine, and she forced herself to rip away from him. No more stimuli. No more being near him, taking comfort when she knew better. Softening. Hungry.
You deny yourself the bliss because it could be your downfall,
she reminded herself.

If she had stayed close, she would have reached for him, perhaps fallen into the cradle of his body. Perhaps tangled her hands in his hair and kissed the breath right out of him.

His arms fell to his sides, and he sighed. Danika dug her nails into her palm to remind herself that this was reality. A reality fraught with pain, desperation. Determination. There was no time for romance. Especially with Reyes.

“Here's the Ty-lenol,” Ashlyn stuttered, having walked into the room and spied them. Her palm was extended, two red-and-white pills resting in the center. In her other hand, she clutched a glass of water. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt.”

“You're fine,” Lucien assured her as Reyes backed away from Danika.

Damn, she'd forgotten Lucien was still in the room. “Thank you for the pills,” Danika told Ashlyn, glad for the reprieve. She closed the distance between them and took the offered items. Her head might not have been hurting earlier, but it was throbbing now. She tossed the medicine back with a single gulp of the water.

“Ashlyn,” Reyes said. “Thank you for caring for my—for Danika.”

“My pleasure.” Ashlyn shifted her focus between the two warriors, as though she wondered what was going on but didn't want to be rude and ask. “I'm sorry I took so long. I ran into Maddox, and well…If there's anything else I can do…?”

Danika shook her head. Part of her wanted to glom onto her friend, leave this room and never look back. “I'm good.”

“Sorry I'm late. Ashlyn tells me—” Another woman strolled into the room, tall, pale and utter perfection. She wore a short blue dress that veed low between her breasts and matching heels that laced up her calves. Her equally blue gaze performed a single sweep of the area, and she grinned. “Cool. A secret gathering. I'm Anya, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” Danika told her. Ashlyn had mentioned her, but not which warrior the woman belonged to. Whoever it was obviously treated her well. Never had Danika seen a happier female.

Lucien released a sigh. “What are you up to, Anya? You only grin like that when you have something planned.”

Scarred Lucien was her man? Wow. A true beauty and the beast.

The gorgeous woman twirled a strand of her hair around her finger, throwing the warrior a come-and-get-me look. “Just wanted to do a little girl bonding, that's all.” Those electric blues slid back to Danika. “These boys treating you well, sugar?”

“I—I—” Didn't know how to answer that. They were, with the exception of Sabin, but she didn't want to admit it. Every minute that passed, something new seemed to rise up and stop her from wanting to act against these men. These demons.

“They don't, you just tell little ol' Anya and I will personally cut out their hearts,” Anya said. “That's a promise. Not that I can be trusted. Lying is a hobby of mine. Lucien, honey, you gonna be long? I wanna throw William a welcome-to-the-fortress party and I'd like your help picking the decorations.”

Lucien closed his eyes and shook his head, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

“I'm thinking masked ball with a creatures of the night theme.”

Anya changed directions faster than Danika could keep up, but Ashlyn took everything in stride. “No party. Not with the box and the artifacts and Hunters and God knows what else hanging over our heads. Danika, you call me if you need anything, okay? Anything at all.” With that, she dragged a protesting Anya from the room.

Such sweet women. Smart, too. So what were they doing with these warriors?
What am
I
doing with these warriors?
Danika sighed. What artifacts had Ashlyn meant? “I'm ready,” she said, bringing everyone back to Topic One. “Where's Aeron?”

Reyes and Lucien shared a dark look.

“What?” she demanded.

Reyes faced her again, his expression blank. “Here,” he said. “Aeron is here, in the fortress.”

Anticipation rushed through her with dizzying speed. “Take me to him.” She had to know. For better or worse, she had to know. “Right now. Please. I want to see him.”

“He is chained, but you cannot go near him. In his case, chained does not mean helpless. Promise me you will remain at a distance.”

At the moment, she would have promised him the moon and the sky. “I promise.” But if Aeron refused to answer her questions, Danika thought she might leap at him and attack. Maybe even add a number two to her kill list. If only her former self-defense instructor could see her now.

Reyes glanced up at the ceiling, as if praying for guidance. Then, “Very well. Come. I hope you receive the answers you wish.”