The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld #1)(43)

"I'll take too long," Reyes said, looking anywhere but at Danika. "Aeron is going to escort the female into town. He says he's fine right now, that he has no desire to hurt her."

"Oh, no. No, no, no. I don't want to leave without my family," Danika rushed out on a panicked breath.

Aeron ignored her and pulled his shirt off over his head. "Let's get this done." He was tanned and muscled, a testament to his warrior's soul. He sported so many tattoos it was hard to distinguish one from the other.

Maddox only recognized two: the black butterfly that flew along the waves of his ribs and the demon that stretched ugly wings over the contours of his neck. Just looking at him, anyone could tell he was a good man to have at your side and a bad one to have at your throat.

"Stop. There's no reason to undress." Danika shook her head violently. "Put your shirt back on. Right now, damn it!"

Grim determination emanated from Aeron as he approached her.

Danika locked her wild gaze on Reyes. "Don't let him rape me. Please. Reyes, please."

"He's not going to touch you that way," Reyes gnashed out. "You have my word."

There was something very odd about him, Maddox noted. His black eyes were edged with scarlet, a color-match to the scarlet butterfly tattooed on Maddox's back. Pain, it seemed, was working himself into a fit of violence. Over Danika?

The girl wasn't pacified by his words, but Aeron continued his approach anyway. Danika scrambled from one side of the room to the other, strange noises emerging from her throat. Small, raspy pants, as desperate and feral as Reyes's suddenly quickened breathing. Maddox felt certain that at any moment, Pain was going to leap at Wrath and attempt to claw it to death.

"Stop," Ashlyn said.

Finally Aeron trapped the frantic woman in a corner.

She screamed as her arms and legs lashed out, trying to keep him at a distance. "Don't touch me. Don't you dare touch me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you," Aeron said calmly.

She kneed the sensitive flesh between his legs. He gasped, hunched a little, but gave no other reaction.

"Fuck you," she snarled, a wildcat that wouldn't be tamed. "I won't let you rape me. I'll die first."

"No rape. But if I must, I will knock you out. And you won't like my methods, that I promise you."

Far from subduing her, the threat merely enraged her further. She fought harder, slamming her elbow into Aeron's stomach, kicking him in the groin a second time. Obviously growing weary of her struggles, Aeron raised his fist.

Ashlyn stiffened, moaned. "Stop this. I don't need the pills. I don't."

"Do not hurt her," Reyes growled.

Aeron didn't strike. Yet. He ran his tongue over his teeth. "She made her choice."

If he hit her and Ashlyn witnessed it, Maddox feared she would want to leave again, would once again insist he take her home. "Calm down," he told Danika. "He only needs to accompany you into town."

"Liar!" Snarling, she used her leg to boot Aeron in the stomach.

The warrior didn't budge. Disgust fell over his features, and he tightened the fist he still held in midair. "I warned you."

"Stop," Ashlyn called hoarsely.

Maddox opened his mouth to utter his own command. He needn't have bothered. Reyes beat him to it. One second Reyes was on the far side of the room, the next he was at Aeron's side, gripping the man's wrist. The two glared at each other for a long, silent moment.

"No hitting," Reyes said, and Maddox had never heard a more lethal tone.

A battle raged in Aeron's eyes before he lowered his arm. Had he lied? Was the gods' decree already taking root? Was he fighting the need to hurt Danika? "Calm her down, then, or I will knock her out."

Reyes didn't move, just shifted the direction of his gaze. Tears poured from Danika's eyes, making the terror banked there glisten.

"Don't let him do this," she whispered in that same broken tone Ashlyn had used. "I helped you, just like you wanted. Don't let him do this," she repeated.

As quickly as Reyes had leapt to her defense, Maddox half expected him to give in to her plea. He was mistaken.

"Stop fighting him," Reyes commanded, showing no mercy. "We need that medicine, and he is the only one who can take you to get it. You won't even scratch him because you can't afford to anger him. We clear?"

A look of betrayal passed over her face. "Why can't he go into town alone? Why can't he buy the pills at the nearest drugstore?"

"Maddox," Ashlyn said. "I'm better. Swear. I don't - "

He squeezed her shoulder gently, but did not reply. Interrupting the trio would only increase the tension. Besides, he knew Ashlyn was lying. Pain still lingered in her eyes, glowing brightly.

"Aeron is taking you into the city," Reyes continued. "He will not rape you. You have my word." A muscle ticked below his left eye. "He would not know what to buy on his own - you must go."

Silent, shaking, Danika studied his face through the watery shield of her lashes. Searching for truth? Or for comfort? Finally she nodded, a single, nearly imperceptible incline of her head. She straightened and took a wobbly step toward Aeron.

Without a word, Aeron grabbed her wrist and stalked to the room's only window. Its arching glass led onto a wide terrace. Danika did not protest, even as he unlatched the pane with his free hand, the glue Maddox had used earlier nothing to his superior strength. Cold air instantly blustered inside, virginal snowflakes swirling through the room. He released her wrist only to grip her waist and lift her onto the window ledge.