The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(84)

She glowered over at him.

"You had better 'shut it,'" Torin snapped at the warrior, no longer grinning, "or you'll find yourself in one of Strider's body bags."

Cameo's glare became the closest thing to a grin Sabin had seen on her face in centuries. "Ashlyn said the artifacts are guarded by the monster Hydra, and Anya later confirmed it. No one has been guarding the girl."

"Perhaps Hydra used to guard her," Sabin said. "Danika's had to be around since ancient times, but obviously isn't immortal so has had to be reborn. Maybe reincarnated. Or maybe the ability is passed through her bloodline, which is why, according to the gods, the entire family has be annihilated. Or perhaps Hydra simply lost her. Hell, maybe Reyes is Hydra. You've seen how he is with her."

There was a beat of silence, then someone chortled, "Reyes is Hydra," then Lucien said, "Let them in. We'll fight them here. Safest that way."

Torin nodded, his fingers never slowing on the keyboard.

Itching with the desire to fight and fight now, Sabin studied the monitors, eight screens that spanned the entire hillside. Nighttime had long since fallen, moonlight allowing only the barest hint of light past the canopy of trees.

All of the Hunters were wearing black and had even painted their faces. But they couldn't hide from the heat sensors or even Sabin's trained eye. Besides the red blur, every rustle of leaves, every scattering of dirt gave them away.

"Shit. They're like locusts," William said. "I mean, seriously. Bugs. There's probably a hundred of them out there."

"Scared?" Sabin asked.

"Hell, no. I think I just came."

Sabin's kind of man.

"How long till they hit?" Strider asked. He shifted from one booted foot to the other, anticipation humming from him.

Torin shrugged, his long white hair shifting on his wide shoulders. "Four minutes. Maybe three. Depends on how smart they are. Some already fell in our pits, and some were killed by the hidden arrows."

As long as I get some, I'm happy, Sabin thought. "They won't storm through the front door all at once. They'll split up. They know we know they're out there, so they're not going to try to be quiet much longer. Some will stay at ground level. Some will climb through windows. Some will probably come down from helis, just in case Danika obeyed orders and went to the roof."

"Then we'll split up, as well," Lucien said. "My men and William will take the hill. Yours can have our leftovers."

Sabin grinned. "What you mean, is we'll fight the bulk of Hunters. I knew I loved you for a reason."

A chorus of chuckles rang out, just as he'd intended. Lucien and his men took off then, grinning as they headed outside. They had lived here for hundreds of years. They knew the best places to lie in wait, knew every secret passage to secure.

Unfortunately, Sabin did not. "Should we free Aeron? Let him join the fight? He's a good man to have at your side."

"Hell, no," Torin said. "He'll go for our heads, as well as the Hunters. What's the matter? You scared? Well, don't be. I'll have a monitor trained on every floor of the fortress. Program your cells to vibrate and I'll alert you as the Hunters enter, telling you where they are."

"How did I ever let you go?" Sabin asked him.

"You didn't," Torin said dryly. "I left you to follow Lucien."

"Semantics." He turned to his warriors and motioned to the hall with a tilt of his chin. "Let's do this."

Each of them nodded and stalked from the bedroom, withdrawing their phones as they walked. Sabin was behind them but quickly pulled ahead, his stride long and purposeful.

"Good day to die," Kane said.

For Hunters, it certainly was. Sabin shoved his phone back into his pocket and filled a hand with his 9 mm. He stretched the fingers of his free hand, popping his knuckles.

"Which faction do you think we're dealing with?" Strider asked. "Stefano, still?"

"It so matters," Gideon replied at the same time Kane said, "Any. All. Who cares?"

"Stefano, beyond any doubt. Late-night attack, overeager army and semiautomatics. Besides, he's the one who first captured Danika. He didn't yet know she was the Eye or he wouldn't have let her go," Sabin said, adding tightly, "He's mine. You see him, you leave him alive."

The man wanted to punish Sabin for the part he'd played in his wife's suicide. That was fine, understandable even. But Stefano kept coming after his men, would never leave them alone, and that wasn't. Sabin might have turned his back on love, but he valued his men over himself and he would not allow them to be hunted like this. "Gideon, entertainment room. You know what to do."

"Nope. I don't." Gideon branched off from the group.

"Kane, north hallway."

With a nod, Kane swerved at the next corner. One of the lightbulbs in the chandelier shattered the moment he did so, spraying glass in every direction. There was a hiss, a muttered curse. Then, of course, another bulb exploded.

Disaster. Couldn't take him anywhere, and gods knew there was no way to avoid explosions with him around. Poor Lucien.

"Cameo - " Sabin had tossed a glance over his shoulder. Cameo wasn't among his remaining warriors. Where the hell was she? Irritated, he ran his tongue over his teeth. The woman had been disappearing more and more lately. "Amun, south hallway."