Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark #6)(65)

“I think they believed you were hurting me, or forcing me to the bridge,” she said. “They’re probably sensitive about aggressive males dragging females around out here.”

He surveyed the area warily. “Thanks for the save, pet.” When he tried to stand, he gritted his teeth in pain, his hand clamping his ribs. “But with that big brain of yours, you couldn’t have figured this out sooner? Preferably, before they broke a slab of my ribs?”

“Oooh! I should have let the ghosts—the female ghosts—spank you like a moppet some more!”

An arrow lodged into the iron between them, vibrating there with a loud twang. Their heads whipped around in the direction of the car. But she couldn’t see who’d fired it—

“Go! Into the fog!” Within a split second, Cadeon had her hauled up and running in the other direction, putting himself between her and the enemy.

“I thought some more factions would want to breed with me!” she cried as she ran. “Where are they, Cadeon? Huh? Because it seems like most just want to kill me!”

“If they’d wanted to kill you, they wouldn’t have missed!” A torrent of arrows flew at them. Two plugged into his back.

“Cadeon!”

“Keep—running!”

Just before they reached the other end of the bridge, two more hit him. He tossed her behind a boulder on the side of the road, then ducked down with her.

Twisting around, he gave her his back. “Pull them out!”

“Oh, God.” They were so deep. She grasped one of the shafts as far down as she could. With a swallow, she yanked until it tore free. Blood dripped down from the wound, and for an instant, she thought there was a bluish cast to it. She blinked her eyes, and it was gone. “Who are they?”

“Fey archers.”

“I thought they were the good guys,” she said, pulling the next arrow free.

“They are.” He glanced out from behind the rock, then jerked his head back just as an arrow whizzed by his face. “And they believe we’re the bad guys. Remember? You’re possibly the source of the ultimate evil, and I’m a demon mercenary.”

She wrapped her fist around the third arrow and yanked. Nothing. “Cadeon?”

“It’s stuck in the bone. Pull harder.”

Glancing out again, he murmured, “How the hell did they find us?” He craned his head over his shoulder, giving her a narrow-eyed look. “You took off your pearls, didn’t you?”

“I’m not an idiot.” She wrested the arrowhead free, and blood welled.

With his jaw clenched in pain, he grated, “Not sayin’ you’re an idiot. But how else would they find us? No one’s followed us.”

Arrows began to hit the boulder—some bouncing off, others actually implanting into the solid rock.

“Just fess up, halfling. You made a mistake. It happens. Even to the best of us. But I need to know if—”

“I didn’t freaking take them off!”

If possible, his expression darkened even more. “Then you called your f*ckwit tosser of a boyfriend and told him where we were going!”

She took hold of the final shaft. “If I was going to reveal that to Tim, I would have told him in our own code.”

Sounding gruffly hurt, Cadeon said, “You two have a code?”

“Maybe your female, Imatra, threw us under the bus. Huh?”

“Imatra’s not my female!”

“Hmm. You sound pretty sure of yourself. Yet you said you couldn’t be one hundred percent certain unless you attempted her. Finally, you come clean!”

“I did not attempt her! Finally, you’re jealous.”

She pulled on the arrow shaft—nothing. “Not jealous, just sick of you lying to me. What else would you have been doing in there for an hour?”

“Damn it, Holly, to the gods, you frustrate me. She bloody slowed time!” he bellowed so loudly, even the shots paused before resuming. His fangs were lengthening, his eyes darkening.

“Awfully convenient! Just admit it.” When she snatched the fourth arrow free, a plug of skin came out with it, making him growl in pain. “You’re so sure because you gave her a try—”

“I know she’s not my bloody female—because you are!” He turned to her.

“Oh, like I’m . . .” She trailed off at the look on his face.

The volley continued. Bow strings sang in the distance. The fog swirled, and yet she and the demon stared at each other.

“Cadeon?” He was being serious. “When . . . how . . . You’ve known this?”

He exhaled and gazed away. “From the day I first saw you. Been watching over you ever since.”

As if a final puzzle piece clicked into place, her mind saw the whole picture clearly. He was the comforting presence she’d felt for so long. He’d been jealous of Tim right from the beginning. The first night when Cadeon had saved her, his big fingers had patted her face, comforting her as he’d taken bullets for her. “Shh, female,” he’d said.

“I don’t know what to say.” This immortal warrior’s wanted me for a year? Holly could scarcely believe it.

And he hadn’t been with Imatra.

An arrow sailed from above, plummeting down to jut from the ground between their legs.