Chapter Eleven

R yder swore under his breath. The woman did not go easily, and he was in a damn hurry. Though hybrid demons didn’t move fast, he needed to get her out of the cave before the demons discovered them. The bad news? He had no idea where the demons were, and trying to wrestle the struggling wildcat meant he couldn’t exactly make a stealthlike exit.

She wasn’t a weakling, and she had one hell of a kick. She was slowing him down. But he couldn’t hoist her over his shoulder because that meant he’d have to release his hold over her mouth and she’d start screaming. Which would alert the demons, and that he wouldn’t risk. He wasn’t about to get killed over an uncooperative woman.

So he’d deal with the painful shins and just drag her. Hand clamped over her mouth, the other around her waist, he focused around him and moved as fast as possible through the cave, hoping the foul smell would decrease in the direction he was going. That would mean he was heading away from the demons, not toward them.

As he proceeded down a narrow tunnel, the demon smell didn’t grow stronger, nor did he hear the familiar shuffling of slow hybrid feet. Good. But it didn’t mean the demons weren’t going to pick up their scent and start heading in their direction, so speed was vital.

If she’d cooperate just a little he could get them out sooner. Then again, why would she? She didn’t know he was trying to save her life.

Finally he saw light. The cave entrance. He picked up the pace and hauled her outside, but didn’t stop once they got out. He turned around, backing into the brush, keeping his eyes peeled for signs of demons following. He wasn’t going to take any chances until they were well out of sight.

Moving into a thick grouping of trees and bushes that he felt offered protection, he stopped, resting his back against a thick trunk. He caught his breath and leaned his head against the woman’s.

“Don’t scream or they’ll know we’re here. I’m going to remove my hand. You let out anything but a whisper and I’ll knock you out cold. You got it?”

A short nod. Good enough. He let loose and she tilted her head back to look at him.

Wide-eyed shock mixed with fierce anger emanated from her eyes. “Who are you?”

Damn, she was pretty. “Your rescuer.”

“Bullshit. Let me go.”

Mouthy, too. And she had an accent. Something odd and unrecognizable. A mixture of cultures. American and maybe a tinge of French. “Sorry. Can’t do that.”

She pushed against him, trying to break his hold on her. He had to give her points for effort. She was a fighter. And as long as she wasn’t screaming, he could handle her struggles.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but you need to let me go.”

“You’re safer here with me. You’ll just have to trust me.”

She elbowed him in the stomach. He grunted, then maneuvered her so that wouldn’t happen again. Nice shot.

“I don’t trust you and there’s obviously no danger in the cave, so why don’t you tell me what you want? I don’t have any money on me, so if your plan is to rob me you’re wasting your time.”

She was tough, but there was an edge of fear in her eyes she was trying hard to mask. He’d done enough combat duty to recognize it. She couldn’t hide it from him. “Look. I’m not going to hurt you, but I can’t let you go.”

“Then you need to start talking because I’m not going to let you hold me.”

“Darlin’, you don’t have a choice.” Where was Derek? He could handle her. Or Gina. Another woman around would be much better. Women knew how to deal with women. Ryder’s experience with women was limited to one thing only, and that wasn’t conversation.

She was about to open her mouth to argue, but they both turned their gazes toward sounds coming from the mouth of the cave.

Low mumbling. Shuffling sounds.

Shit. Demons.

“Oh, my God, there is something in there,” she said, her surprised gaze flitting to him.

Ryder resisted the urge to say “I told you so.” “We need to move. Now.” He grabbed her arm and dragged her along the path, away from the cave.

This time she didn’t resist. “Who’s in there?”

He didn’t answer, just took her by the hand and pulled her farther into the brush. In the darkness, he could easily see with his night-vision shades. She couldn’t. He knew she would have to rely on him, and without him, she’d be lost. He hoped that would be enough impetus for her to come along willingly. That, and the unknown entity in the cave.

He stopped, held his fingers to his lips to signal the woman’s silence, and listened.

There were enough twigs and leaves on the ground for demons to make noise if they were following. He didn’t hear anything.

This was good enough. They’d stay put for now.

“Okay, you want to tell me now what’s going on?” she whispered, her gaze darting around the brush.

“No.”

She heaved a frustrated sigh. “I don’t know who you are. I don’t know why you dragged me out of that cave other than someone else was in there. For all I know they could be after you and you’re some kind of thief, or murderer.”

She was right. He was, just not that kind of killer. “I’m not going to hurt you. If I was, don’t you think I’d have already done that?”

“I don’t know what to think because you’re not telling me anything.”

“The less you know the better.”

“Mon Dieu, you’re difficult. What’s your name? Can you at least tell me that?”

“Ryder.”

“I’m Angelique.”

Definitely French, her name rolled off her tongue. Sexy, like her voice. If he’d met her under different circumstances he’d be interested.

Oh, hell, who was he kidding? He was interested now, and that was bad.

“So tell me something, Ryder. Anything, besides your name.”

It was bad enough he’d told her that. “Why don’t you tell me what you’re doing wandering around these caves at night by yourself?”

Her eyes widened. “It was you last night. You were the one who chased me.”

“How did you know that?”

“It’s not like I’m always interrupted or that there are a lot of people in this remote area. I’ve been working completely undisturbed around here for weeks. Now suddenly two nights in a row there are people around? Besides, I watched you and your friends from the ridge after I took off. It was you. What are you after?”

Don’t tell her anything. Yeah, right. “I was just checking out the cave. Saw you. You ran so I went after you. Do you have something to hide?”

“No, I don’t have anything to hide. You scared the shit out of me. Of course I ran. You jumped out of the bushes like the bogeyman. What did you expect me to do? Stand around and wait to see what you wanted?”

Good point. Still, he wanted to know what a woman was doing in a cave all alone. It didn’t seem…normal.

Then again, what the fuck was normal?

“You still haven’t told me what you’re doing out here all alone.” He wanted to keep her talking, so he didn’t have to give her answers.

“I’m doing my job.”

“Which is?”

“I’m an archaeologist.”

“Ah.” That told him nothing. “What are you looking for?”

Her gaze narrowed, suspicion evident in her frown. “That’s between me and my employer, and I don’t know who you are.”

He hoped she’d never find out. “I’m the guy who saved your ass.”

“So you keep telling me. For all I know it could have been the authorities back there in the cave, looking for you.”

He snorted. “It wasn’t.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you…why?”

“You can believe whatever you want to believe.” God, he really needed to offload this woman and soon. He killed things. He didn’t offer up explanations.

Her gaze narrowed. “Who hired you to come after me? I haven’t found it yet but I will, you know. Did Isabelle send you? I can’t believe she’d do that. She usually does her dirty work herself.”

She’d started pacing. And Ryder had no idea what the hell she was talking about. But now he was curious.

“No one hired me to come after you, I don’t know Isabelle, and what is this ‘it’ you’re referring to?”

She glared at him. “You can stop pretending. I’m not stupid and I don’t believe in coincidence. Izzy and I have played this game for too many years for me to be fooled.”

Okay, she’d lost him, but as long as she was rambling and the suspicion was cast somewhere else, he was fine with that.

Where the hell were Derek and Gina?

“Derek, are you going to be getting here anytime this millennium?” he commed. “This baby-sitting thing is getting old.”

No answer.

Shit.

He signaled again, but got no response.

Great.

“I don’t need to be baby-sat. You can let me go. And who are you talking to?”

“The people I work with. And I can’t let you go. You’re in danger out here by yourself.”

Hands on hips, she tilted her head to the side. “Uh-huh. So far I haven’t seen much evidence of danger. Except from you.”

He’d really like to set her straight. Too bad he couldn’t show her just how much danger she was in.

He also wasn’t going to lurk out here in the bushes all night. No telling when a demon or a dozen of them were going to pop out of the ground, and he wasn’t prepared to take care of Angelique and fend off demons at the same time. He had to find the others and figure out what to do with her.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“We’re going to find my friends.”

“Then can I get some answers?”

“Sure.” Whether that was true or not, he didn’t know, but once he found the others, Angelique would no longer be his problem.

 

Angelique had no idea why she was following Ryder, other than she had no clue where she was and wasn’t too thrilled with the thought of being left out in the pitch-black darkness alone.

Though she doubted he’d just leave her there anyway. And something about him made her doubt he was going to do her harm. Like he said, if he wanted to he’d have done it by now. He dragged her out of the cave in a hurry. And something had been in there, but what? Or who?

If Isabelle had hired Ryder to come after her in the hopes of stealing the black diamond, this would be the last straw. She had put up with her sister’s scheming for years, mainly because she loved her. And yes, in many ways she understood Izzy’s motivations.

Typically, Isabelle’s antics were harmless. Irritating, but harmless. She could put up with it. But not this. Not resorting to kidnapping to prevent Angelique from doing her job. That she wouldn’t abide.

She’d promised Mother she would look after Isabelle. That didn’t mean she’d let her sister run amok and do what she pleased. It also didn’t mean she’d allow Isabelle to interfere in Angelique’s career.

Blood ties were sacred, but that only went so far. Isabelle had always been devious, but would she really do this? Angelique didn’t want to think so, but the past few years had seen a change in Isabelle. Not good changes, either. Treasure hunting had always been a game to Izzy. She’d never taken archaeology seriously—not like Angelique and their mother had. To Isabelle the finds were loot, to be held only until she found the highest bidder.

What had started out an amusing game between the sisters had turned into something else entirely—a competition. Who would get the prize first? Angelique and her clients, typically a museum or private foundation who would showcase artifacts and share them with the world? Or some rich benefactor, Izzy’s clients, who would profit monetarily, as would her sister?

Angelique wrinkled her nose in disgust, following along behind Ryder. She held tight to his hand, wishing she didn’t have to be so tied to this stranger, but having no choice at the moment. This darkness and unfamiliar territory was not where she wanted to be lost, but he’d taken her out so far she’d lost her bearings. Without her bag, her GPS, she might never find her way out. She didn’t even have water with her. She had to make her way back to the cave and grab her things.

God help you if you’re playing me, Isabelle. On our mother’s grave, if you’re involved in this, I’ll make you pay.

“Are we going back to the cave?” she asked as Ryder moved her along at breakneck speed. Where was he going in such a hurry?

“Not yet.”

“All my things are in there. Important things. I need to retrieve them.”

“You’ll get them, I promise.”

She’d better. She couldn’t afford to lose her equipment. She was hardly a rich woman, though the finder’s fee her client promised for locating the black diamond was significant. Not that the money mattered. It bought basic things to help her do her job, and that was all. The money never mattered. The find was what counted.

Finally, they came out of the brush and trees and into the clearing. The row of caves was like a welcome home, but Ryder was veering away from the cave—her cave.

“Ryder, please.” She tugged on his hand. “I need my things.”

He shook his head and kept walking. “We can’t go back there right now. Too dangerous. The dem—they might still be in there.”

“Who might still be in there?” Again, she resisted his pull on her hand. “Please tell me.”

He stopped and turned to her. Now that she had a moment to look at him, her breath caught. Such a fierce, handsome man. Tall, though she already knew that from walking beside him. And solid, because her body had been pressed intimately against his when he’d held her. He had very dark hair and equally dark eyes. Rugged chin with a day’s growth of beard stubble. Mustache. Very sexy. Full lips. He didn’t smile, and seemed to appear as if a growl would spill from his throat any second. She wondered what made him so angry?

Her mother had always told her she liked people way too much, that Angelique had never known a stranger. She couldn’t help it. She studied living things as much as she analyzed those that were buried under ancient dirt and rock. Everything made her curious, including people. Especially mysterious people.

And Ryder was gorgeous, rugged packaging clouded in mystery. What was he doing wandering around out here? What was he after?

“I can’t tell you. Sorry. We need to keep moving.”

He made her curious, all right. He was also really irritating her. She didn’t see danger. There was no one else about. And he had an iron grip on her hand that was becoming rather annoying.

“Let me go. I’ve had enough.”

“You’re coming with me.”

“No, Ryder. No more. I’m not going.”

He stopped and heaved a disgusted sigh. So he was unhappy. Not her problem. She had a job to do and he was preventing her from doing it.

“You don’t get it, do you?” he asked, his brows knit in a tight frown as he cast a quick glance at her before turning away and continuing his forward progress.

“Obviously not, since you won’t tell me anything.”

“You’re in danger out here by yourself.”

“Prove it.”

“I can’t.”

“Then let me go. I can take care of myself.”

“You can’t be out here at night by yourself anymore.”

“I work just fine alone, and it’s too damn hot to be in the caves during the daylight hours.”

“Angelique, you don’t understand—”

“Then help me understand, Ryder. I’m a reasonable person. Explain it.”

She heard his frustrated exhale. Good. She didn’t want to be the only one.

“There they are.”

She froze and scanned the area, saw nothing. “Who?”

“My…friends.”

Angelique didn’t know whether to be relieved or worried. Now she was really outnumbered, though she hadn’t been doing such a hot job of wrestling away from one man.

She saw them coming now. Five of them. Three younger guys, one woman, and an older man. All carrying the same strange-looking weapons as Ryder had. And staring her down like she was the enemy.

A very tall, dark-haired man approached, inclining his head toward her but speaking to Ryder. “This the same woman you chased out of the cave last night?”

“Yeah,” Ryder said.

The man looked her over. “Let’s talk,” he said to Ryder, pulling him off to the side and away from her.

Angelique couldn’t hear what they were saying. The rest of them surrounded her in a semicircle, cutting off any chance she had of running.

Ryder and the guy talked for a few minutes, every now and then looking in her direction, then headed back toward her.

“We’ll escort you back to the cave to get your things, then you can get back in your Jeep and head out,” Ryder said.

She lifted her chin. “I don’t know who you people are, but I have as much right to be here as you do.”

The dark-haired man said, “Angelique, is it?”

She nodded.

“My name is Derek and I’m in charge here. I wish we could tell you more, but there are bad…people running around here. People who will hurt you if they find you. That’s really all I can say.”

“Who are you?”

“My name is Louis,” the older man said. “We’re with an international government organization that I’m sorry we cannot identify for security reasons. The…people we are after are armed and extremely dangerous, and we have to cordon off this area. You will have to leave, and right now. That’s all we can tell you. Ryder, Dalton, take her back to the cave, let her gather her belongings and escort her to her vehicle, and see that she gets safely off.”

Angelique wanted to object. Something wasn’t right about this. She felt it deep in her bones.

But they had the weapons and Ryder had hold of her arm, leading her toward the cave. She glanced over her shoulder at the group of them standing there, weapons held, looking around as if they expected someone, or something, to spring out at them any second.

They really were on the lookout for someone. Maybe they were legitimate.

But she was curious. Damned curious, now. Who were they after? Who the hell would be out here in the middle of nowhere and on the run?

Ryder held on to her arm, stopping her as they entered the cave. “Let me go in first. Stay between Dalton and me.”

Shrugging, she let him go in ahead. Right now she just wanted her bag. When he led her to where he’d grabbed her, she picked up her things, loaded everything in her canvas bag, and hauled it over her shoulder.

“Is that everything?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Where’s your vehicle?”

“Back side of the cave.”

He led the way until they got to the opening of the cave. Then he and the other man—were all these guys impossibly tall and muscular?—walked her to her Jeep and surrounded her until she got in and started it up.

“Stay away from this area, Angelique,” Ryder warned. “It’s for your own safety. I’d hate to see something bad happen to you.”

She gave him a curt nod and floored it, angry and still curious.

Mystery was her livelihood, and she’d just left a huge secret back there.

She wasn’t finished with Ryder and his crew. Not by a long shot.

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