The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(63)

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Reyes asked him.

Torin's gaze swept over Danika, intent, before returning to Reyes. "Something you want to tell me?"

"No."

"Well, there's your answer. Why are you here?"

"My family," Danika said, urgency now humming from her. She stepped forward, caught herself and inched back. "Do you know where they are? Aeron mentioned a small town in Oklahoma."

"That info could have been useful a few hours ago." Torin turned and faced his computers. His skill with them was the reason the warriors were so well moneyed. "The guys and I had a chat this morning before they left. Lucien asked me to look for that very same information. See, when you and your family were last here, I placed dye in your food."

Reyes caressed her arm, hoping to relax her. Thankfully she did not erupt at the admission.

"Yours wore off a lot quicker than it was supposed to," Torin continued. "Don't know if it was because you were scared and sweating more or what. The dye was supposed to remain in your system for months. Still, your sister dropped off next, then your grandmother and then your mother. I haven't seen a glimpse of any of you in weeks. Don't worry, I know what you're thinking. I should have placed a tracking chip in your shoes, but didn't think of it until now. Live and learn."

Reyes doubted that was what Danika had been thinking, but he remained quiet.

"Anyway, I've been at the computers for hours, searching for even the slightest glimmer. Nothing."

Danika had stiffened in expectation - and hope? - only to sag in disappointment. He released her hand and wound his arm around her waist, willing his strength into her body. She sank against him. For comfort?

"Until," Torin added, fingers tapping over the keyboard, "this."

Danika stiffened again. "What?" Excitement dripped from the word, saturating the air.

Without glancing up from his monitor, Torin waved a hand in the air. "You've seen Paris bake cookies, right? His skills are pathetic, I know, but that's beside the point. When you eat those cookies, they break down and seem to disappear into your system. Only, they don't disappear. There are lasting effects. Fat, cholesterol and so on.

"The Darkest Pleasure"

"Our dye is a special blend of ingredients that modifies a human's body chemistry so each individual gives off a signal all her own. The lasting effects are far stronger than that of a cookie. Better, I remembered they're still traceable even when the dye itself has worn off."

Now Reyes was the one to stiffen. Ashlyn had almost died when she'd ingested an "ingredient" meant only for immortals.

Realizing the path his mind traveled, Torin added, "I wouldn't have used it on the women if Sabin hadn't already tested it on a few Hunters."

Slowly Reyes relaxed. Danika, he realized, was breathing heavily. He squeezed her tight.

"Five minutes," Torin said, "and I'll have a printed map of their current location. You can call me later when you're close to them, and I'll tell you if they've moved."

Now a tremor swept through Danika's slight frame. "My grandmother, do you know where she is, as well?"

A pause. A stiff nod. "I've already backtracked the program to see where she's been, but there's been little activity from her signal this week."

Hope lit Danika's angel face, brightening the entire room. "She's alive, then. She's really alive! Aeron was wrong. If she was dead, she wouldn't be trackable. Right?"

Torin answered without hesitation, his expression dead-pan. "Right."

Eyes widening, she tented her hands over her mouth. "Oh, my God. This is...this is...this is the best day of my life!"

With a brilliant laugh, she threw herself at Reyes, her cheek burrowing into the hollow of his neck. Her skin was petal-soft, fragrant with the scent of night skies. "I'm so happy right now I could burst."

Reyes held her, but kept his gaze on Torin. His friend gave a clipped nod in response to Reyes's unspoken question. A dead body, it seemed, could still give off a signal.

Inhaling deeply, Reyes closed his eyes. He held her, loving the feel of her, every muscle he possessed straining toward her. He shook with the effort to remain still, though he could not stop his nails from elongating, his teeth from sharpening. The two only happened when the demon's hunger spiked.

I've already fed you. Just...enjoy her.

They might not have her much longer.

When she learned that a dead body could indeed be tracked...Dread consumed him, and he closed his eyes. She had been offered hope, such evil hope. The same he'd tried to give her earlier. He would not take it away. Yet.

"THIS TIME, stay here," Reyes said.

He deposited Danika inside his bedroom and left to do God knew what, shutting the door firmly behind him. She waited several long, agonizing moments before sitting on the edge of the mattress, her gaze never leaving the entrance. When he failed to reappear, she relaxed and tugged the tiny cell phone from her jeans pocket.

Stefano had figured the Lords would search her and take it, maybe use it to try and track him, but he had thought giving her a phone worth the risk. So had she. Everyone carried phones nowadays and she hadn't thought the Lords would automatically assume she'd gotten it from the Hunters. Now, she almost wished Stefano hadn't tucked it into her pocket before drugging her, or that the warriors had found it. Then she wouldn't have had a choice to make: to check in or not to check in?