Chapter Four

S hay was disappointed when Nic grabbed her bag and said he’d changed his mind, that he wanted to go out to eat. And that she could follow him so she wouldn’t have to come back here afterward for her car.

She was being dumped.

Man, did that ever suck. Something was bothering him in a big way. They went to a restaurant overlooking the ocean, but he was quiet and withdrawn, hardly saying a word throughout dinner. Whatever information she thought she could drag out of him wasn’t going to happen.

After the incident in the pool today he’d pulled away from her, both physically and emotionally.

Something scared him, but what?

She laid her hand over his. “Nic, something’s wrong. What is it?”

He smiled. “Nothing’s wrong. Probably just a little tired. I’m sorry I’m not good company tonight.”

“You’re fine company, and I don’t require entertaining. I’m just worried that I might have said or done something to offend you.”

He cupped his hands over hers and leaned forward. “You didn’t do anything, okay? It’s just me.”

She didn’t want to do it, but she had no choice. She opened her senses and let the visions in while he was touching her.

Darkness swirled around her. Scary darkness, a black void that blinded her. It was cold, so cold her teeth chattered. Nic stepped up behind her, his warmth like a blanket. He turned her to face him. He was the only light in the room. Where were they? She felt the evil surrounding them, trying to get at them, trying to get at Nic. They wanted him desperately.

She had to keep them away. But what could she do?

He bent down and kissed her, and it was just like earlier today. A rush of passion, sucking her into a vortex of hungry need. Nic was communicating his desperate need for her, as if only she could save him.

She felt the same desperation, knowing she had to have him, that she belonged to him, that if she didn’t do this the monsters would get them both.

When he pulled back, his eyes were red, glowing in the darkness around them. Demon eyes. He smiled at her and said she belonged to him. Now she could see—demons all around them, on their knees, bowing to their king.

Nic was that king.

The strange thing was, she felt no fear.

“Shay? Are you listening?”

She blinked and the vision evaporated. “What? I’m sorry. What did you say?”

“I said I think we need to call it an early night if you don’t mind. I have a headache.”

“Oh. Oh, sure, I understand.” Shit. That she hadn’t counted on. Okay, time to think fast. “Can you give me a second? I need to use the restroom.”

“Sure. I’ll take care of the bill.”

She stood, shaking off the vision, filing it away to study later. On her way out to her car she grabbed her phone and called Derek, letting him know she’d be bringing Nic back, that it was time. She tampered with the car to make sure it wouldn’t start, then slipped back into the restaurant, meeting Nic at the table. He was signing the credit card slip and stood as she approached.

“I’m sorry to cut the night off early.”

“Oh, that’s no problem,” she said. “I’m sorry your head hurts.”

He shrugged. “Too much sun and fun today, probably.”

She followed him outside and opened her car door, making sure to try the ignition before he got into his. She turned it and nothing happened. She cranked it again and nothing happened.

Nic frowned. “Pop the hood.”

She did, stepping out with him and pasting on her own concerned look. “See anything?”

“No.”

Thank God for the tip from Punk on how to make the car not start.

“I can call for a taxi back to my house.”

He slammed the hood down. “I’ll drive you home and have someone pick up your car tomorrow and fix it.”

“That’s not necessary.”

“I want to.”

“Okay. Thanks.” She grabbed her bag and slid into his SUV, giving him directions to the house.

This was it. The no-turning-back point. Once they had him, everything was going to change for Nic. Everything between the two of them was going to change, too.

Shay felt a hard stab of regret. In about ten minutes Nic was going to hate her for deceiving him.

 

Nic was surprised at the house, well lit as they climbed the hill leading to its location. Though small, it was set off from the other houses in the area, with a stellar view of the beach.

“You stay there by yourself?”

“Yeah. A friend from college owns it and is letting me use it for the month.”

“Hell of a deal. Prime property.”

She grinned. “She’s a great friend.”

He pulled into the driveway and got out, then came around and opened Shay’s door, walking with her to her front door.

Part of him didn’t want this to be the last time he saw her. The other part of him couldn’t wait to put some distance between them. He didn’t want to endanger her, and being around him for too long could be hazardous to Shay.

“Would you mind stepping inside with me?” she asked. “I know it’s kind of childish, but it’s dark in there and it’s still kind of unfamiliar territory. As long as you’re here…”

He smiled and nodded. “Not at all.”

She slipped the key in the lock and turned it, then stepped inside, flipping the switch.

“Well, damn. No power.”

She moved inside and he followed, though she disappeared and it was damned difficult since his eyes hadn’t adjusted, all the shades were closed, and he didn’t know the layout of the rooms.

“Shay?”

“In the kitchen. Straight down the hall.”

Great. So much for her being afraid to wander through the house alone. He made a beeline for the hallway and followed it, feeling his way along the walls to make sure he didn’t bump into any furniture. When he felt the doorway, he assumed he was in the kitchen.

“Are you in here?”

“Yeah, come on in. I’m looking for a flashlight so we can go find the circuit box.”

He stepped in and followed the sound of her voice, but was blinded by a flash as the lights flipped on.

Shay turned around, her expression one of sadness and regret. But she wasn’t alone. There were a half-dozen beefy-looking guys and a couple women flanking her.

Dread turned his heated body cold. His gaze shot to Shay. “What the hell’s going on?”

“Welcome home, Nic.”

He started to turn at the deep voice behind him, but the prick of a needle sliding into his bicep made him jerk.

“Hey! What the…”

He never got the words out as he began to crumple to the floor. Strong arms circled him before he crashed in a heap. Nausea rolled in his stomach as he fought the dizziness brought about by whatever drug they’d injected him with.

He heard them talking, but it was fuzzy, like an echo chamber.

“Derek, is that going to hurt him?”

Shay’s voice. Then the guy’s voice behind him responding with “No. Just put him to sleep for a while so we can move him.”

Shit, shit, shit. This wasn’t good. Kidnapping…or something worse? He was losing it, couldn’t stay conscious.

He’d been ambushed.

Ah, hell. He knew his dick would get him in trouble one day.

 

They’d done it. Nic was out cold, bound and seated comfortably—well, she had to assume he was comfortable since he wasn’t conscious to say otherwise—on the sofa while they finished the plan. Shay was filling Derek and Lou and the others in on what she knew, which frankly was very little. She’d told them she didn’t think Nic was involved with the demons, though she couldn’t be certain since they had had to cut their time short. She was going on her gut feelings, even though her visions told her otherwise. She wasn’t going to tell them about the visions.

But he admitted his father was missing, and it didn’t appear that he knew what had happened to Ben. She’d seen no sign of demonic activity during the time she spent with him at his house. By all signs he was normal and human.

She took another glance into the living room. Nic still hadn’t moved, and it had been several hours.

“Derek, is he going to be okay? He hasn’t budged an inch.”

“He’s fine, Shay. He’s just knocked out, the way we want him to be.”

She scrunched her nose, studying Nic’s chest, watching the rhythmic rise and fall as he breathed. So she was worried for nothing. The sooner he was conscious and she could be sure he wasn’t harmed, the better she’d feel.

Or maybe less guilty that she’d been the one to bring all this about.

He didn’t ask for this. What if he was just a normal human guy and they’d just ripped his life apart? She knew what it felt like to have the rug pulled out from under you. It sucked.

Then again, Nic wasn’t just a normal human guy. He had demon blood in him. Just like Derek. They had to know what side he was on. Light or dark, good or bad. He couldn’t be left just wandering around. She shouldn’t worry about whether or not he was going to be happy about this. It wasn’t her concern.

Oh, who was she kidding? She already knew she was connected to Nic through her visions. Dammit, she didn’t like it, either.

 

Lou stood and faced them. “The first thing we have to do is get Nic out of here before his uncle comes hunting for him and brings demons with him. Derek and I, along with Gina, Shay, Ryder, Trace, and Dalton, will take Nic to the northwest territory, on the outskirts of where the Diavolo mine is. There, we’ll work on Nic, explain things to him, try to get him to help us. The rest of you will stay here and see if you can keep an eye on what’s happening at the Diavolo mansion. There’s a strong demon vibe coming from there, so I know something’s going on. Linc, you manage the situation from here.”

Linc nodded.

“There’s a plane standing by. We need to go—and go now, before Nic wakes up.”

They moved fast. Gear had already been packed and stowed in the two SUVs waiting for them. The ones remaining behind would take care of hiding Nic’s car and retrieving hers from the restaurant.

Once in motion, everything went down smoothly and they were on board the plane in less than two hours.

She cast her gaze toward Nic, wondering how he was going to react after he was told everything. She couldn’t even imagine having her life turned upside down.

Well, yeah, she could. That had already happened to her. Years ago, when her mother disappeared. And again a couple months ago, when Lou revealed her mother hadn’t been kidnapped, hadn’t disappeared without a trace or abandoned her and her father, but had been taken by demons.

Yeah, she could commiserate with Nic. She’d had a few considerable shocks in her life, and she’d managed to weather them.

Fasten your seat belt, Nic Diavolo. It’s going to be one hell of a roller-coaster ride for you.

 

Bart paced the marble floors of the Diavolo mansion, glaring at the men who were supposed to have kept watch on his nephew.

He could not abide ineptitude. They had lost him.

He turned his anger on those who’d been charged with watching him.

“Why did you let him go with her?”

His voice boomed out over the silence.

They directed their gazes to the ground. “It was a woman. He’s done it in the past. He’s often gone out to clubs to party. We assumed that’s where they were going.”

Fury boiled within him, the urge to strike these two down so strong he had to take a step back. Now, more than ever, they needed to keep Dominic close, to make sure he didn’t disappear. He’d put his two best on watching him.

But he should have known better. Over the past year Nic had changed his patterns. How could these imbeciles fail to notice he didn’t take up with random women anymore?

Idiots. Morons. Such incompetence in his ranks. Oh, they would suffer mightily for their mistake. Of that, there was no doubt. But first, he needed information. “Tell me of this woman,” he said, purposely lowering his voice, trying to project calm. The magnitude of his displeasure would hit them later.

“Average height. About five foot four. Curves. Beautiful. Blond hair, shoulder-length. Blue eyes. Drove a compact car registered to one of the airport rental agencies under the name Susan Mitchell. We couldn’t track an address anywhere that was verifiable. She and Nic spent the day together surfing, then came here, hung out by the pool, and left early this evening. We tried to follow, but—well, you know how Nic drives. We lost him on one of the turns.”

Fucking imbeciles. Assuming was their first mistake. They checked all Nic’s regular haunts and he was nowhere to be found. Bart tried his cell phone, but there was no answer.

Nic had been taken. And Bart knew by whom.

Damn Louis and the Realm of Light. Bart knew the Sons of Darkness should have snatched Nic as soon as Derek and that woman of his killed Ben. But he hadn’t known they’d discovered Dominic was alive. He hadn’t expected them to trace Nic to Sydney.

He had underestimated the Realm of Light. Now the Realm had Nic, and the Sons of Darkness needed to get him back.

But where had they gone? The Sons of Darkness would figure it out, and they’d get Dominic back. They had to. They needed him. After Ben’s death, there was only one choice. Find the black diamond and conduct the ceremony immediately. But they needed Nic to do that.

He was the key.

 

Nic had never felt so hungover in all his life. His mouth was so dry it felt like it was stuffed with cotton, his head pounded like a thousand hammers were beating against his skull, and the roar in his ears was deafening. Every part of his body thrummed with vibration. No, more like a jolt, a pitching wave of nausea he couldn’t stop.

What did he have to drink last night? Even worse, what day was it, anyway? And where the hell was he? Judging from the sharp pain slicing through his head, he wasn’t even sure he wanted to know. He slitted his eyes open, then went wide-eyed, his synapses firing as shock waves of awareness slammed into him.

Memories flooded back. He wasn’t hung over. He’d been drugged. Kidnapped.

Shay.

Was she here? He winced as he moved to stand and realized he was bound against a chair. He looked around, gauging his surroundings, pinpointing his focus to the tiny square windows across from him, the clouds just outside. Moving clouds. Pitching and rolling.

He was on an airplane.

Goddammit!

He counted about a half-dozen people on the plane, all focusing on him. He stared back at their menacing faces. Unruly lot, too. They looked like thugs. Or ninjas, dressed in dark clothes with strange-looking weapons strapped to their bodies, all of them well muscled and looking mean and wary.

Even the women were in prime physical shape, including Shay, who looked a hell of a lot different from the way she had the last time he saw her. Now she wore the same dark camouflage pants as her counterparts on the plane, along with a snug black tank top. A belt slung across her hips was loaded with some kind of ammunition that didn’t look like bullets. She had daggers strapped to holsters tied to her thighs.

The female Lara Croft. Sexy but lethal.

She’d screwed him over but good. He couldn’t believe he’d fallen for it. And he wasn’t buying the look of concern—of guilt—on her beautiful face.

“Who the hell are you people?”

“I’m Derek.” That spoken by the one sitting directly across from him. Big, steely-looking guy with gray eyes and dark hair. “Do you remember me at all?”

Nic studied him, tilting his head to the side, searching for any sign of recognition. “No. Should I?”

Derek’s chest expanded with the force of his indrawn breath. Then he exhaled, disappointment washing across his features. “No, I guess not. But I kind of hoped you would.”

“Why?”

“Let’s take this slowly, shall we?”

That statement came from an older guy with a thick head of white hair. He left his seat and moved to the empty one across from Nic. “Shay, come over here, please. You’re the only face Nic recognizes.”

Yeah. The face of the woman who was responsible for him being kidnapped. Did this guy think having her close would offer him some kind of comfort? Fat chance. She sat next to him, still sporting that look of concern.

Earlier, she’d been all smiles and sex appeal. But damn if she still didn’t exude sex, with laced-up boots and weapons strapped to her hips. She looked like a warrior. He wanted to be freed of these ropes and see how well she’d tussle with him one-on-one. He’d like to tie her up and make her pay for this.

“Sit next to Nic. Why don’t you open a bottle of water and offer him a drink?” He turned to Nic. “You must be thirsty. I’m sorry about the drug, but it was necessary to subdue you so we could get you on the plane. I’m afraid it probably gave you a nasty case of dry mouth.”

Shay grabbed a bottle from the minifridge next to her chair and unscrewed the top. She slid a straw in it and thrust it under his nose. Nic regarded the water for a second, then figured, screw it. He was dying of thirst. They’d already drugged and kidnapped him. If they wanted him dead they’d have done that by now. He took the straw between his lips and guzzled the water down.

“I’m sorry we can’t untie you yet, Dominic,” the white-haired man said. “My name is Louis. Most people call me Lou.”

He’d said “yet.” Okay, that implied Nic had a chance to be let loose of these bonds, which meant the possibility of escape. Though why they had him tied up on an airplane was beyond him. What was he going to do? Jump out?

“Who are you people? Why am I on this plane? If you want money, my family will gladly pay it to get me back, and we can get this over with.”

“This isn’t a kidnapping for ransom, Nic,” Derek said.

That’s not what he wanted to hear. “Then what is it?”

“More like a rescue,” Derek replied with an upward quirk to his lips.

Nic arched a brow. Were these people insane? Maybe he’d fallen into some weird cult. Maybe they felt he partied too much and needed saving. Hell, who knew with weirdos like that. One of the drawbacks with being in the public eye. The Diavolo diamond mine was well known. Capitalism and all that. “I didn’t need rescuing. But thanks. You can take me home now.”

“Actually, you do,” Derek said. “We need to ask you some questions.”

Nic snorted. Like he was going to give them any information?

“Nic, it’s not what you think,” Shay said, her voice soft and meant to soothe.

He didn’t feel soothed. His nerve endings were on fire, anger and betrayal making him wish he had super strength so he could break these bonds and wrap his hands around her lying throat.

“Yeah? What do I think?”

“That you’ve been kidnapped for money, or because we want to do you harm. That isn’t the case. Trust me.”

“Trust you? That’s a laugh.”

Her lashes drifted down and her face colored pink before she looked back up at him again. “I’m sorry. I did what I had to do.”

“You did it really well, too. Were you intending to fuck me as part of your job? Because you didn’t appear to want me to stop in the pool.”

The pink of her cheeks turned red, the concerned expression on her face turning to anger.

“Hey,” Derek said. “Enough. Nic, do you know where your father is?”

Nic turned his head to Derek. “What about my father? Did Shay tell you he was missing?” God, he couldn’t believe he’d confided in her. That was stupid.

“You tell me. Where is he?”

This was about his dad? Did they kidnap his father? “I don’t know where he is. Did you take him, too?”

“He doesn’t know, Derek,” Lou said, shaking his head. “I really don’t think he has any idea.”

“Then let’s tell him what we know and see where we stand.” Derek let out a long sigh.

“Yeah, why don’t you do that, since I have no fucking idea what you’re talking about.” And he hated being in the dark. If he was armed with some information, it might help him escape. Or at least figure how to get out of this predicament.

“It’s a long story and you’ll just have to listen.”

Nic nodded at Derek. “Not like I have much choice. So start talking.”

Derek looked to Lou, who nodded and said, “Go ahead. You take the lead and tell him.”

Derek turned back to Nic. “You’re not going to believe some of this.” He blew out a breath, looked down at his feet, and shook his head, then jammed his fingers through his hair. “Hell, you’re probably not going to believe most of it. If I were in your shoes I wouldn’t.”

“Great. Then don’t waste my time.”

He held up his hand. “Just…listen, okay?”

The guy was frustrated. Not angry, not mean, but frustrated. Kind of weird for a kidnapper.

Derek lifted his head and stared at Nic. A spark of something familiar hit him in the stomach, but Nic couldn’t place it. He was sure he’d never met this guy before.

“Nic, I’m your brother.”

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