Hunt the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #11)(19)

“We can’t keep running. It’ll be dawn soon.”

He brushed a kiss over the top of her head, so light she couldn’t sense the fleeting caress.

“Don’t tell me you’re concerned I might be sizzled into a pile of ash?”

“Of course I am,” she muttered. “I’m the only one allowed to make me a widow.”

His lips twitched. “I’m touched. Unfortunately, there aren’t many hotels in this area. Unless you know something I don’t?”

He leaped over a large boulder, briefly debating the possibility of taking the direct path over the edge of the cliff, only to instantly dismiss it. There might be caves they could use to wait out the daylight hours and the surging tide would hopefully wash away their trail, but Sally was only half demon and he wasn’t about to risk injuring her.

“Maybe.”

Not expecting a response to his teasing, Roke came to an abrupt halt to study her guarded expression.

“Are you going to share?”

She refused to meet his searching gaze. “My mother was paranoid to the point of obsession. Probably because she was hated by most people who met her.” She grimaced. “She has at least half a dozen safe houses in the area.”

Safe houses? Anger surged through him. “Why didn’t you mention them earlier?”

“I forgot about them.”

“No,” he snapped. Dammit. He’d known that she was hiding something from him earlier. Now it was obvious what she was plotting. “You intended to run from me as soon as the sun rose.”

She knew better than to try to lie, but a stubborn expression settled on her delicate face.

“I won’t be forced to go to your clan.”

“I told you . . .” He bit off his furious words. It was less than an hour before sunrise and they were on the run from a demon who could make the very air a weapon. Now wasn’t the time for this particular argument. “Which way?” he demanded through clenched fangs.

She kept her gaze averted. “Just keep heading south.”

In silence, he carried her down the steep bluff, entering the thick grove of trees. Sally shivered and he wrinkled his nose at the frost coating the underbrush and the sharp stones that cut into his moccasins.

He might be annoyed as hell with the female in his arms, but he couldn’t halt his instinctive concern. A vampire was impervious to the elements, but Sally was clearly uncomfortable in the chilled air.

“I don’t suppose your mother’s safe house is a penthouse suite at The Ritz-Carlton?”

She lifted her brows. “This from the vampire who lives in the middle of the desert?”

He shrugged, in no mood to admit his concern was for her welfare.

Sometimes she annoyed the shit out of him.

“I wouldn’t say no to a hot shower and a bottle of Remy Martin Louis XIII Black Pearl cognac.”

She grimaced. “Let’s just say that it has more of a Bear Grylls vibe to it.”

He swallowed a curse, silently reassuring himself that it would only be for a few hours. As soon as night arrived he intended to take her far away from this frigid, desolate spot.

“At least tell me that it’s sunproof.”

“You won’t roast. I promise.” She pointed toward an overgrown trail between the trees. “Follow that path.” They traveled over a mile before she pointed again. “There.”

Roke lowered Sally to her feet, frowning as he searched the small clearing.

“Is it an invisible safe house?”

“Something better,” she assured him, lifting a warning hand. “Stay back.”

“Why?”

“There are spells we have to avoid.”

He watched as she cautiously inched her way forward, her eyes closed as she concentrated on the invisible magic surrounding the small clearing.

“What kind of spells?”

“Most of them are simply to repel stray trespassers. But there are a couple that are dangerous.” She held up a hand, speaking soft words that carried a power even he could feel. After several tense minutes she finally opened her eyes. “I’ve created a small pathway. Follow my footsteps.”

She was forging forward before he could halt her, leaving behind Roke to mutter his opinion of impulsive witches who charged into dangerous situations without concern for the sanity of the poor vampire who was stuck trying to keep her alive.

Carefully following in her path, he battled his way past the relentless weaves of revulsion that managed to leak through Sally’s barriers. The spell was strong enough that he had to physically fight the urge to turn and flee, reminding him just how much power Sally had to expend to keep them from being harmed.

She needed rest and food.

Two things he intended to ensure she had plenty of once they were safe.

Concentrating on the slender form in front of him, Roke pressed forward until they were at last through the magical barriers.

He shook off the lingering strands of magic, moving to stand at Sally’s side as she knelt in the middle of the clearing. She muttered another spell and the ground parted to reveal a large hole.

“This is it?” he muttered.

“Yep.” She swung her legs over the edge of the hole. “Let me go first.”

“Why?”

“I haven’t been here since I was sixteen and I can’t be sure whether or not my mother left behind any painful surprises.”