The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(35)

"You should know that my family means everything to me and I will decapitate any immortal who even thinks about hurting them."

"Spoken like a true Hunter," he said with a shake of his head. "Well, guess what. Cut off their heads and you can kiss your pretty world goodbye. Their demons will be loosed, a source of havoc unlike any you have ever seen."

"Saving my loved ones is worth any price."

"I feel the same about mine." There was another warning in his voice. "I protect mine, though."

My family is on the run because of me. The stray thought slithered through Danika's mind, and she blanched. Was she completely responsible? Maybe she could have done more, fought harder during the abduction.

If they die, it will be my fault.

Tears suddenly burned her eyes. Tears of shame and horror. She was responsible. She'd been so scared the night Lucien and Aeron had come to her hotel room, she had frozen. She hadn't screamed. She had let them bundle her up, gather her family and cart them here.

How could she have been so...passive?

Sabin gave her a look of total understanding. "Perhaps you'll take care of matters on your own, huh? Save me the trouble."

Meaning, perhaps she would kill herself. He didn't know her very well. Suicide would never be an option for Danika. Too vividly she recalled the strain her grandmother's attempt had placed on her family. She remembered her mother's tearstained face, remembered seeing her quietly sob in a darkened corner. She remembered the lies everyone had told her, shame whispering in their voices and glowing from their eyes. Your grandmother had an accident. She's going away for a few months to recover.

Behind closed doors, they'd said something else entirely. Why would she do something like that? She has a great life, no reason to end it.

Now that Danika thought about it, that was funny coming from her dad. He'd had a great life, but not long after her grandmother's breakdown, he'd packed up and moved on to a new one. God, where were these depressing thoughts coming from?

The door suddenly banged closed, jolting her. A scowling Reyes had entered the room, the scarred Lucien on his heels. Seeing her beautiful nemesis, her breath caught in her throat and her traitorous heart skipped a beat.

Enemy, she reminded herself. How many times would she be forced to do so? Why could her mind not get the message? She tried to look away from him, but her gaze snagged on an ugly cut decorating his cheek.

The two men must have fought. Both of them sported bruises on their faces, bleeding scratches and savaged lips. Mud streaked their skin. There were crimson splotches on Reyes's T-shirt, as though he'd taken the brunt of the beating.

I will not be concerned about Reyes.

They carried the scent of roses and...old eggs? Her nose wrinkled in distaste. Ugh.

Reyes spied Sabin and his scowl intensified. He glanced from the warrior to Danika, from Danika to the warrior. Fury blazed over his expression as he stalked to Sabin, his hands fisted. "What are you doing here?"

The two men faced off.

"Someone needed to question her," Sabin said, brows dancing into his hairline. "You refused to do it, so I got it done."

"You were not to come near her."

Their muscles bulged, their bodies tensed. If Danika hadn't been so torn between fear and disgust, she would have enjoyed the view.

"She's alive, isn't she? So what's the problem?"

Reyes licked his lips, the action somehow menacing. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Sabin said dryly. "Thanks for asking."

"Not you. Danika, are you hurt?" Reyes never removed his lethal attention from Sabin.

Physically? "I'm fine." Her throat constricted around the words.

Reyes shoved Sabin, and the warrior stumbled backward. "Don't come near her again."

Danika gasped, expecting the narrow-eyed man to launch himself at Reyes and for the two to roll on the ground in a bid for dominance. He didn't. He popped his jaw, ran his tongue over his teeth.

"I did you a favor, boy. You'd do better to thank me."

Danika stepped toward them. What she planned to do or say, she didn't know. In the end, she didn't have to think about it. Lucien moved in front of her, blocking her forward progress.

"Enough," he said to the men. "Sabin, get your team ready. We leave for Rome in the morning."

"This isn't over," Sabin said.

"I know." A weary sigh.

"Why did the plans change?" Reyes asked Lucien.

"Researching was getting us nowhere," his friend said. "We'll go back to the temple, see if we find anything there."

Anticipation sizzled and snapped along Reyes's olive skin. Truly flickering, making him look like a walking electrical socket. His dark hair even stood on end. Why anticipation? The thought of having her alone? Then Danika's eyes widened. Did it matter? The supernatural occurrences were stacking one on top of the other. Pretty soon, she might leave normalcy behind forever, unable to return.

"The Darkest Pleasure"

When have you ever been normal?

When she was a child, the girls in her class had wanted to play Barbie. Danika had wanted to play angel. So many times she'd pretended to have wings, pretended to fly through the playground and battle evil. And yet, when evil truly did knock on her door, she hadn't battled. She'd curled into a fetal ball and cried for her mommy.