Dark Stranger Immortal (The Children of the Gods #3)(44)

“Pampered brat,” Dalhu mumbled under his breath.

“I heard that!” she said, flushing the toilet.

“Good!” He answered loudly this time, following her up the rickety stairs and dropping the bags he had carried up on the dusty bed cover. In need of the facilities himself, he waited for her to get out.

But then, a squeak of an old faucet, followed by the sound of water hitting the bottom of a tub, made him realize that the selfish woman had started a bath without considering that he might need to use the bathroom as well.

No big deal; he could take care of business outside.

Once that most pressing need was satisfied, Dalhu finished unloading the Honda and drove it off the driveway, hiding it in the thicket. He made sure it was well covered with heavy greenery, in case someone thought to do an aerial search for the missing car. The keys went under the floorboards of the porch, safely hidden, and out of Amanda’s reach.

Back in the cabin, Dalhu took a calculating look at the thick layer of dust covering every exposed surface and the spider webs hanging from ceiling corners and between furniture legs. No matter how dirty the place was, it was small enough for him to have it cleaned before the spoiled princess finished taking her bath. And hopefully, by the time he was done, he would manage to work up a little sweat…

Imagining Amanda’s lustful response to his half-naked, glistening body, he felt a surge of arousal. Now that he knew her weakness, he planned to exploit it.

“Game on, Professor.” With a wicked smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, Dalhu took off his shirt and went to work.





3 9

K I A N

O utside Syssi’s room, Kian found most of the Guardians keeping vigil, sitting or sprawling on the hallway’s thinly carpeted floor.

The only two absent were on their way to escort his mother when she arrived.

“Any news?” he asked Onegus.

“William is still working on hacking every relevant security camera in the area that’s connected to the web. He even mobilized his geek squad to help.”

“His geek squad?”

“You know, the class he’s teaching. You should see it, it’s like a fucking war room down in his lair.”

“What about the police; did you talk to the chief?”

“Yeah, I impressed upon him that our continued contributions are contingent upon the level of attention he’s going to dedicate to this case.

Every cop in the state has Amanda’s picture by now and is searching for any possible clues. Someone must’ve seen something, it’s not like she could’ve disappeared into thin air or went unnoticed. Amanda doesn’t exactly blend in.”

“That’s why I’m so worried. She could disappear into thin air if someone thralled everyone who had seen her getting nabbed. If the Doomers got her…” Kian couldn’t finish his sentence. The horrific implications of that eventuality were just too much for him to bear.

He knew he was starting to crack, the fissures becoming longer and deeper with every passing hour without a shred of good news on either front.

He held on because he had to; because there was no one else to shoulder the responsibility and relieve him of his burden.

It was absurd, but Kian had the feeling that the moment his mother arrived, he would just let go and shatter to pieces.

And how fucking pathetic was that?





4 0

A M A N D A

T he racket Amanda heard coming from beyond the bathroom door sounded as if Dalhu was tearing the place apart instead of cleaning it up.

She heard him hauling the mattress outside and then beating the hell out of it with what sounded like a bat. Wincing, she imagined the clouds of dust that were billowing out of the old, dirty thing. Then came the sound of the noisy, cheap vacuum going on and on as Dalhu battled the dust on the rest of the stuff.

Soaking in the bathtub that she had to clean with her own two hands, Amanda had to admit Dalhu had been right to call her a spoiled, pampered brat. This was the first time she had done anything even remotely domestic.

Ever. Unfortunately, there had been no way around it if she wanted to use the deep, but dirty claw-foot tub.

Now, as the water was cooling, she also realized she’d forgotten to bring in the toiletries and a towel. At her home, Onidu was the one who made sure they were on hand for her. She never had to bother with something so trivial herself.

She was stuck.

Okay… her options were to either run out naked and dripping or call Dalhu for help. Both sucked.

She was about to make a run for it, when the vacuum’s incessant drone stopped, replaced by the sound of Dalhu’s heavy footfalls going up the creaking wooden steps.

Forcing the door open, he walked right in. “Hello, princess.” He grinned like the cat who was about to swallow Tweety Bird.

When she didn’t gasp or try to cover herself as most women would, the surprised look on his face was priceless. But why would she? She was nothing like what he was used to.

Not even close.

Amanda was the daughter of a goddess, for fate’s sake.

Her naked body, boldly displayed in the bath’s clear water, rendered Dalhu speechless and drooling. He wasn’t the only one affected, though. As he devoured her with his hungry eyes, her body responded, her small nipples growing taut under his hooded gaze.