The Darkest Secret (23 page)

Move with me, Haidee. Now!
Amun leapt forward, straight into the center of one of those beams. Haidee remained directly behind him. One second, two, he waited.
Again!

They leapt once more, following the light to its next destination. On and on they continued, jumping, pausing, jumping again. For hours. He knew Haidee was tiring, could feel the tremble in her slight form.

You're doing great, sweetheart,
he praised her.

Before she could reply, a thick, cloying darkness once again enveloped them. No longer were there any pockets of light. No more fangs, either. Thank the gods. He stilled, Haidee pressing into his back. They could rest for a moment, decide what to do.

Secrets prowled through his mind, agitated, and suddenly Amun knew. More shadow-dwellers were coming. Close…closer…

Be ready,
he told Haidee.

“For?”

Something worse.
He didn't yet know what a shadow-dweller was, but he knew that much. At least with the total cessation of sight his other senses kicked into hyperdrive.
His ears picked up the whistling sound of wind. Or was he hearing…screams? His nose scented sulfur, and his mouth tasted copper. His palms tingled, sensing a spike of aggression in the air.

Demons,
he said. Shadow-dwellers were demons. Minions, like the ones he'd absorbed. They approached, and dread detonated inside him. Would he absorb them?

Haidee first, his sanity second, he decided, switching direction. Rather than moving forward, he inched to the side until he encountered the solid length of the wall. He placed himself in front of her, offering what shelter he could.

“What are you doing?”

He wouldn't lie to her. She needed to know the danger they were in.
I told you. Demons approach. I won't let them reach you.

“I can help you fight,” she replied, far from scared.

I won't risk you.

A growl of menace sounded beside him, followed by another. And another. Haidee stiffened. So did he. A jumble of thoughts suddenly slammed into his head, each revolving around the taste of his organs. The demons had spotted him, were utterly starved and looked forward to eating every part of him.

And then, suddenly, they were there, attacking from every angle. Amun swiped out with his arms and knew he'd made contact with several of the creatures. Maybe he'd delivered killing blows, maybe not, but it didn't matter how many he felled. There were so many, they converged on him en masse.

He threw off as many as he could, continually slashing, kicking his legs to dislodge those who were chewing through his pants. Like the shadows, they had fangs. Only theirs were a lot sharper. And they had claws, such diamond-hard claws. But at least their evil remained with
them, rather than being sucked into him, becoming a part of him.

Despite the rapid movement of his arms, several managed to attach themselves to his biceps. He felt what seemed to be a thousand prickly stings, not just in his biceps, but all over his body.

Warm blood leaked from him, and the scent of it tossed the creatures into a feeding frenzy. They snapped, growled and ripped out hunks of muscle. That quickly, he was losing the battle, weakening, and shit! He didn't know what to do. Didn't know where to find the light, or even how to use all of himself. Unless “all” meant offering his entire body up as a smorgasbord.

When Haidee screamed, the creatures working their way behind him to take little nibbles out of her, he stopped caring about the light and concentrated on killing—however necessary. No one hurt his woman. No one. And those who tried would suffer.

As rage suffused him, totally, completely, Amun bit back, clamping as many of the creatures as possible between his teeth and shaking like a shark that had finally snatched its prey. They were small, he realized, and easily breakable, those he held quickly going limp. He spit them out and snapped for more.

Secrets continued to prowl through his head like a caged lion, wanting to hurt, to destroy, and wipe all conscious thought from the primitive minds around them. Amun held tight to his other half, afraid the beast would hurt Haidee in the process. But when she released another scream, this one slightly weaker than the other, proving she was losing blood and deteriorating, Amun's guard dropped. The agitated demon roared, wrenching control from him and overtaking Amun completely. No longer were they man and beast. They were simply beast.

Some of those minds were indeed wiped, thoughts and
hungers slinking into Amun. Absorbed, as he'd feared. His mouth watered as he imagined tasting blood. Drinking…drowning in the flooding life-force…

The images and urges didn't last long. They quickly joined the muted chorus in the back of his consciousness.

More, he needed more. As his demon's hold on him strengthened, red flicked to life in his eyes, glowing, lighting up the cavern and illuminating hundreds of tiny, piranha-like creatures. They had white, hairless skin and pink-tinted gazes that looked as if they'd never glimpsed a single ray of light.

When they encountered the wash of red, they shrank back with a shriek, trying to escape it. Why would—

All of him, he thought then, understanding. All of himself, and all of his demon. So simple, so easy. He was ashamed he hadn't realized it sooner and saved Haidee from her newest injuries.

Another sin to place at his door.

Secrets continued to roar, out loud this time, frightening the creatures into backing farther away, and with the sound, Amun began to talk, unable to halt the words. Only he didn't reveal devastating truths and vile crimes, the things that had constantly swirled inside his head until Haidee entered his life. He spoke of something sweet and tender.

“I have to tell you something, sweet child.” Ancient Greek, a language he'd only recently heard when inside Haidee's mind.

“Mother?” she said now, awed and confused by what she was hearing from him.

Any time the demon spoke through him, revealing something, the voices of those involved were used, rather than his own. So what Haidee heard was indeed her mother.

“Listen well, for we will never speak of this again. You are special, my child. So special.”

There was a pause, his voice slipping into a softer, childlike timbre. “I don't understand.”

Another pause, the return of the huskier voice. “For years, I could not conceive, and so I prayed and prayed, beseeching the gods to bless my barren body with fruit. And one night, a being appeared to me in my dreams. She told me I had only to promise to relinquish rights to my firstborn, and I would have many children. I agreed. It was the hardest decision I'd ever had to make, but I was so desperate, I agreed, and nine months later you were born.”

Another pause, that switch of voices. “Me?”

Yet another pause, yet another switch. “Oh, yes, sweet darling. And soon after, your sister was born. And now, another babe grows in my belly.”

Pause. “I shall be a sister again?”

Pause. “Yes. But, darling, listen to Màna. The being has returned. She wants to take you from us.”

Pause. “I don't want to leave you.”

Pause. “And we don't want you to leave us. Therefore, you will not. We will pack our belongings and flee from this place. I don't tell you this to frighten you, only to warn you. If ever someone approaches you, intending to take you away from us, run, my darling, run. Run and hide, and we will find you.”

The voices continued, the mother easing the child with teasing stories and tickles, until both were laughing. The father and sister soon joined them, and their love for each other echoed in every word.

Real-life Haidee wrapped a trembling arm around Amun's waist. Distantly, he thought she might have taken one of his weapons from him, might have been slashing with her free hand to discourage the creatures from
approaching his side, where the red light didn't reach, but he wasn't sure.

“Come on, baby,” she urged between one of his pauses. “Keep your eyes on those little bastards, and I'll get us out of here, okay?”

He couldn't reply, could only weave the rest of the tale, the family spending what would be their last night together. Haidee never ceased dragging him away from the hungry fiends until finally, the shadows gave way and another cave surrounded them. This one was well-lit.

She eased him to the ground as gently as she could, and he lay there, still talking, unable to do anything else. His mind was consumed by his demon, by the images forming, but soon the memory took a darker turn, the murders clearly imminent.

Amun didn't want to go there, didn't want Haidee to hear their screams, their pleas for mercy. Somehow, someway, he managed to fight his way to the surface and peer up at her. The worst was yet to come, yet she was already staring down at him with horror. Horror she'd never before directed at him.

“Knock…me…out…” he managed between pauses. “Please.”

“No.”

“Please.”

She gulped, trembled as she reached down and clasped one of his blades. But when she straightened, she made no move toward him. “I—I can't, Amun. I just can't.”

“Please. Must. No other…way.” His eyes beseeched her, the memory trying to jerk him back down, escape him. Any second now, and the screams and pleas were going to burst from his mouth. “Please.”

“I—I—I'm sorry.” Something hard suddenly crashed into his temple.

But he was still awake, still talking. “Again.”

Once more, twice more, she hit him with the hilt of the blade. “So sorry.” A third time. Harder and harder.

Good girl.
He smiled as darkness consumed him, at last quieting his demon.

H
AIDEE STOOD OVER
A
MUN'S
unconscious body for a long while, content to watch him, guard him, as he had often done for her. His breathing remained deep and even, and the torment etching his features eventually smoothed out.

He looked like an innocent little boy, she mused, with his dark lashes curling out, his lips soft and parted. Only the dried blood on his temple ruined the illusion. Well, that, and his ginormous warrior frame. Such a beautiful man, and what the hell was dripping on him?

Her gaze narrowed on the red splatter now marring his cheek. Blood. Not his, though. Frowning, she moved her attention to her arm. She still held the blade she'd stuck him with, she realized. She dropped the weapon, heard the clatter of metal against rock, and looked at her hand. There were multiple puncture wounds.

Her frown intensified when she swayed, overcome by dizziness. Wasn't that just typical? She'd felt fine until she actually spotted the wound. But damn, she must have lost quite a bit of blood. Which made sense. Those piranha-like creatures had chomped on each of her limbs. And God, did she remember the pain. Like having acid-tipped pins drilled into her bones.

If she had suffered, shielded by Amun as she'd been, how much had
he
suffered, completely out in the open?

And how had she repaid him? By knocking him into a stupor.

He wanted you to do it,
she reminded herself, but that didn't ease her guilt. Maybe because, deep down, she had
wanted
to do it. She'd heard her mother's voice, her father's, her sister's, had known their deaths were approaching and had almost collapsed. If she'd had to listen to them die—again—she would have collapsed, no question.

Amun had known that, and had fought to spare her. Always he considered her well-being first, no matter the cost to himself. He'd known what he was saying, what he was about to say, and hadn't wanted her hurt by it.

Until that moment, she hadn't truly realized the constant burden he carried. He ascertained the dark thoughts and vile pasts of those around him and drew them inside himself. Unwittingly, yes, but rather than allow those poisons to spill from him, he held every drop inside himself. That way, no one else had to be tainted.

The strength of will such an act required… Haidee knew she would have crumbled long before now.

“What am I going to do with you, Amun?” she muttered. She hated that he hurt himself that way, that his only means of purging the darkness inside him came at such a high price. For him, for those he loved.

Sighing, she grabbed the backpack and gathered the supplies necessary to clean and bandage him, then herself. Then she ate a turkey sandwich and an apple and drained a bottle of water. Several more hours passed, but Amun didn't awaken.

Had she caused permanent damage?

Concern rocked her, and she paced the spacious cavern. Soon a sense of déjà vu overtook her. The enclosure looked exactly like the one the angel, Zacharel, had brought them to that first night: rocky walls splattered with red, bones in every corner. Had they made no progress?

This was hell. Maybe every cavern looked like this.

As she paced, her heart ached and swelled, any
resistance she still might have harbored toward Amun vanishing. He gave her what no one else had ever been able to give. A past to cherish. A present to enjoy. A future to anticipate.

And he wanted her, too. She knew he did. When he had pushed that image inside her head, the one of her in front of him, on her knees, his pants at his ankles and his hands in her hair, her mouth swallowing every inch of his massive erection, her own hands tugging at his testicles, she had nearly melted. She'd felt the raw need pulsing from him, the consuming hunger…the primal satisfaction.

She'd also felt his reasons for resisting her so steadfastly. Guilt, fear and remorse. Guilt for having inadvertently helped to kill her that first time—she'd known that already. Fear that he would hurt her again—that had been a surprise—and remorse for giving her up, even though it was for her own good. That wasn't going to be tolerated.

He didn't want her to regret what happened between them. Didn't want her to later hate him. He would learn. She wouldn't, couldn't hate him. Not for any reason.

There had to be some way to prove how wrong he was. That the only way he could hurt her was by giving her up. That she would
never
regret being with him.

Amazed, she ground to a halt. It was true, she realized. She would never regret being with him. The Hunters would view her as a traitor, and they would target her as they targeted the Lords, but she didn't care. And Micah, well, he would turn on her, too.

He would feel betrayed, personally and emotionally, but maybe one day, when he finally experienced
the sizzle
for himself, he would realize their split was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Now that she'd experienced it, she only wanted more. Would do whatever was needed to
have
more. Even seduce Amun within an inch of his life.

No more waiting to move forward until she broke things off with Micah. Yes, she still planned to call him, to tell him they were finished, but their relationship was already over, done. Amun had her loyalty now. Demon, immortal, whatever, he had her loyalty. He deserved her everything.

And really, she was operating under a limited amount of time. If she couldn't reach him before they left these caverns—if they ever left these caverns—he would dump her somewhere and take off. For her own good. That, she knew, as well. Somehow, some way, she had to prove they could make a relationship work before then.

Turning his vision into a reality would be a good start.

She gave herself a once-over. Her clothes were ripped, caked in dirt and dried blood, and she probably smelled like dead piranha. She could clean up with wet wipes from the pack, she supposed, but tiny towelettes could only do so much. And yeah, she could summon another angel robe and that would magically wash away every unwanted speck, but mentally, she would still feel dirty.

“I need a bath,” she murmured to the backpack. “A real bath. Can you fit a tub in there? Huh?”

A whoosh at her side had her twisting and reaching for the blade she'd dropped. Though there had been a rocky wall beside her only a few seconds ago, there was now a wide, bubbling spring of water.

Haidee's eyes widened with shock. How had…why…the backpack could manipulate the earth? Seriously? Then she thought, who the hell cared? The urge to soak and scrub overwhelmed her and left her trembling with anticipation.

“Soap, shampoo, conditioner,” she said giddily.

The backpack plumped at the sides, signaling it had filled with everything she had requested. After lining
the items along the edge of the spring—a real freaking spring!—she stripped herself, stripped Amun, and then shook him until his eyelids cracked open. His spirits needed this. Besides, she was still concerned about him, fearing she had struck him too hard, and if he'd just wake up for a few minutes, she could relax.

He moaned, the sound broken, his throat obviously tender. At least he was rousing.

“Shh,” she said, covering his mouth with her hand. “Don't talk out loud, baby. Okay?” Neither one of them was strong enough to deal with the consequences just yet.

His black eyes were glassy as he focused on her.
Something wrong?

“Something's right. Can you stand? We're going to take a bath.”

A bath?

“That's what I said,” she told him with a grin. And just then she knew; he was going to be all right. “Come on. On your feet, big boy.”

He lumbered to a stand and tripped his way to the edge. Then he just sort of fell over the side, splashing headfirst into the water. Haidee jumped in after him and dragged him to the surface before he drowned. His eyes had closed again, his head lolling to the side.

She chuckled as she settled against the rock and anchored him against her, chest to back. “You still awake, baby?”

Yes.
He uttered a soft sigh.
Just barely.

“I'm going to scrub us both. Tell me if I hurt you.”

You couldn't hurt me.

“You're injured and—”

And I'm in your arms. I'll be fine, I promise.

Darling man. She tried to be impersonal, she really did. He wasn't ready for the seduction she had planned. Yet.
Still, as her hands lathered the soap and spread the bubbles over his big arms, his corded chest, his strong thighs, her blood heated with desire, a reaction only he could cause.

His silky skin covered a body built for war, and she marveled. He made her desperate, hungry, mindless of anything except pleasure. Maybe because, when she was with him, she didn't belong to herself. She belonged to him. And that probably should have frightened her. Instead, it only made her trust him more. Amun would die before he hurt her—as he'd proven time and time again.

“Amun?”

He gave no response. Poor baby must have fallen asleep again.

“I love your body,” she admitted, bold because he couldn't hear her. “Did you know that? Everything about you seems custom-made for me. I mean, it's almost like I ordered you from a catalog. And I wouldn't change anything about you. You'll probably never believe that, but it's the truth.”

One day, she hoped he would feel the same about her.

After she shampooed his hair, breathing in the scent of sandalwood, she tilted him backward and rinsed every strand. When she finished with him, she gently shook him awake. Or maybe he'd been awake the entire time. His eyes were no longer glassy; they were blazing.

Her cheeks flushed. “Can you get out on your own?”

Yes.
He climbed out and settled back on the floor, lying on his side to peer over at her.
Your turn to scrub up.

The flush spread as she washed herself from top to bottom. Despite her embarrassment, the water soothed the little aches and pains that continuous walking and sporadic fighting—and nearly being eaten alive—had left.

Haidee?
Amun said after she'd rinsed her hair.

The water splashed as she straightened. She leaned over the edge and stared down at her mighty warrior. His eyes
were closed again, lines of tension branching from them. “Yes?”

Come here and hold me.

For a heartbeat of time, she could only gape at him. He had just
requested
her touch? No, not requested. Demanded. Such sweet progress already, and his true seduction hadn't even begun.

“Anything you want,” she rushed out before he could change his mind. Naked and dripping, she moved out of the water. She didn't bother drying off but curled into his side, spooning him, resting her cheek on his outstretched arm.

He didn't draw her closer.

She didn't let that irk her. Much. She linked their fingers, and though the action wasn't meant to arouse either of them, it did exactly that. His penis grew and hardened against the crease of her bottom, and liquid need pooled between her legs. God, she wanted to arch back, grind into him, beg him to grind into her, but she didn't. Not even when his heat wrapped around her, far headier than it had been in the water, the force of it causing her to tremble.

Not yet, girl. Not yet.
He wasn't ready for her seduction to begin. That tension… Soon, though. Please, God, soon. “You're not mad at me for bashing your skull in, are you?”

She didn't expect an answer, but a soft chuckle wafted through her mind.
I'm grateful. I'm just too weak to show you how much.

Show her, he'd said. How? “I'm glad,” she said, suddenly breathless. “Now go to sleep and rebuild your strength.”
You're going to need it.
She kissed the inside of his wrist. “I'll be here when you wake up.” And by that time, she would be doing things to his body that he would never be able to forget—things he wouldn't want her to stop doing.

Unaware of the sensual assault he would soon experience, he obeyed her, his breathing evening out as he drifted back to sleep.

 

A
MUN'S MIND JOLTED
into sudden awareness, three things instantly, absolutely certain to him. His body was on fire, his cock was being iced and he was loving the hell out of both. He jerked upright, panting, wondering if he'd had an erotic dream and embarrassed himself.

When he saw a lusciously naked Haidee planted between his legs, licking his hardened shaft from root to tip, then swirling her tongue over the slit, then moaning as if she'd tasted something sweet, he realized he hadn't been dreaming. He hadn't embarrassed himself, either, but was probably going to.

He wanted to come. Desperately.

Secrets was eerily silent, and hiding in the back of his mind. The other demons were silent and hiding, as well. Again. That icy chill of hers must truly scare them. That, or they feared she'd start doing that tugging thing and they were trying not to draw her notice.

Sweetheart?

Haidee paused, lifting her head away from him, and every cell he possessed screamed in protest. Cool breath tickled his skin as she offered him a wicked smile, her breasts firm and taunting, her nipples hard and pouting, almost close enough to rub against his thighs.

“Yes, baby?” she asked throatily.

I—I—Shit! He didn't know what to say to her. Except, maybe,
continue
. But he couldn't allow her to do this. She would regret it, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

“You're awake, right? You're not in danger of falling back asleep?”

I'm only in danger of dying.

“Too weak, then?”

No.

The huskiness of her laugh echoed between them. “Do you want me to stop?”