Chapter Sixteen

N ic estimated that the hundreds of diamonds they’d seen in the cave were worth millions. The demons had dug through enough depth of rock to uncover a rich vein.

But they’d left it all. And that was the strangest thing. He sat in the living room and listened to Lou and the others hypothesize about the find and what it meant. They’d searched the other caves and the surrounding area, but had come up empty, so they’d returned to the house, showed Lou the diamonds, and grabbed a bite to eat.

“All these diamonds,” Nic mused. “Do you think that’s what they’re after?”

Lou shook his head. “They’re after something called the black diamond.”

“Which is?”

“Some kind of gem that brings a mystical strength to the Sons of Darkness. Their search is for power, not riches.”

“They sure as hell left a lot of riches behind.”

Lou nodded.

“Maybe the demons we happened upon were the tail end of the cleanup team,” Derek suggested.

“Could be. You saw no other evidence of them?”

“Nothing. In that cave, the other caves on the hill, or the entire area. It was like the demons disappeared completely.”

“Maybe they found the black diamond so they had no reason to remain,” Ryder suggested.

Lou shook his head. “I don’t think so. If they had, something major would be happening by now.”

Ryder scratched his head. “Well, that’s good to know, I guess. So now what?”

“We track them. It’s a given they’re not underground here, because there is no portal signature. We’ll have to track them aboveground, the old-fashioned way.”

Lou was skirting glances in Nic’s direction, and so was Derek. Then it hit him. “Diavolo Diamonds. You think it’s in the mine.”

“The thought has occurred to us, yes,” Lou admitted.

“That’s why you wanted me.” He was so stupid. He knew they were near the mines, searching the caves in the area, but for some reason it hadn’t clicked. Of course.

“Partly,” Derek said. “And also because you’re my brother, you’re half demon, and we needed to know whose side you’re on.”

“I’m on your side. Or haven’t you figured that out yet?”

Derek shrugged. “Jury’s still out.”

Nic shook his head but didn’t argue the point. He knew he still had to prove himself. “So what do you need from me?”

“Not sure yet. I still think we need to explore the caves. The presence of demons means something. I want to get out there and figure out what they’re after. But we might need to get into the diamond mine. Can you do that?”

“If we need in, I’ll get us there.”

Derek’s lips curled into a smile and he nodded. “You said ‘us.’”

“Well, yeah.”

“That’s a good thing.”

Nic stared at him, confused.

Derek laughed. “Let’s get some sleep. We have a long night ahead of us and the sun’s coming up.”

Nic stood and started upstairs.

“Nic.”

He turned at the sound of Derek’s voice. “Yeah.”

“You did good out there.”

“Thanks.”

“How are you handling all this?”

Nic shrugged. “As well as I can, and one day at a time.” Which was the truth, surprisingly. He headed upstairs, not feeling too bad. He’d proven himself fairly adept at fighting demons. Or at least he’d managed to hold his own without being killed. Admittedly, he’d felt a surge of pure excitement when he battled the demons. And not an ounce of fear—only the typical adrenaline rush he felt when surfing or skydiving or any one of the other types of sports or physical activities he engaged in. Anything to let off steam or break the boredom.

He got to expend energy, which he’d needed badly. He’d been pretty wound up after what happened this morning with Shay.

Something about the vision she had really freaked her out. That had to be why she’d pulled away from him and run back to her room. Had she told him everything, or had she held something back? Because after the vision she’d looked scared as hell—and he didn’t want her looking at him that way.

He took a quick shower…a cool one, letting the water wash away the sweat and dust that clung to his body. He palmed the tile wall and lingered, not wanting to get out.

After she left his room this morning, the scent of her shampoo filled the room—hell, the scent of her filled him. He smelled her in his bed, on his pillow, and it made him crazy. He could still feel her skin—it was like surfing across satin. He could still taste her on his lips, a particular flavor of cinnamon that lingered in her mouth. But the worst torture was that he clearly remembered what it felt like to be inside her. Every sound she’d made was burned in his memory.

He might have to stand under the cold shower all day. Maybe he could sleep in here.

“Hey, you gonna be in there forever?”

Her soft voice penetrated his thoughts, reminding him that even in here, she could get to him.

“Sorry. Be right out.”

Except now he was hard, the cold shower doing nothing to eliminate that problem. Sonofabitch, he was screwed. He shut the water off and thought about stinking demons in an effort to make his erection go away, then brushed his teeth and tossed on a pair of shorts. By the time he unlocked the bathroom door on her side, he was in a pretty foul mood.

“All yours,” he grumbled, returning to his room.

She popped open the door. “Thanks. Sorry to bother you. I thought maybe you’d drowned in there.”

He should be so lucky. He shut his side of the bathroom door, fell onto the bed and pulled the pillow over his head, trying to muffle the sounds of her showering. His imagination was wild enough without going into hyperactive overdrive and visualizing her soaping her naked skin, rivulets of bubbles snaking their way down the valley between her breasts, continuing on toward her belly, making a slow trek as they disappeared into the cleft between her legs.

He groaned, his cock rising in appreciation of his fantasies.

How old was he, anyway? Twelve? He rolled over on his side and faced the wall. The shower turned off and he imagined her stepping out and drying off. He heard her door open. God, his hearing was so damn acute lately. The rustle of sheets was followed by a sigh.

Did he have to hear every sound she made? Were the walls that paper-thin? He needed rest, dammit. Or at least to stop thinking about her. Pretending to be asleep was a start. If she fell asleep and stopped moving in there, maybe he could, too.

Yeah, right. His blood rushed south and stayed there, parts of his anatomy demanding things that weren’t going to happen.

Maybe he’d count demons in his head and hope for oblivion. Even the nightmares were preferable to this torment.

 

Shay wasn’t even tired. Pent-up, anxious, needy—yeah, she was all those things. But definitely not sleepy.

Nic was right next door, no doubt sleeping naked with only a sheet on him. Maybe he wasn’t even wearing the sheet. Yesterday weighed heavily on her mind.

Loneliness wrapped around her like a blanket, nearly smothering her in its intensity. She hadn’t felt it in a long time, had successfully pushed it away, but tonight it crept in and surrounded her and she couldn’t escape it. Pushing Nic away yesterday brought it all back again. She hadn’t even realized how close she’d gotten to him until she separated from him. Without her anger at him as a shield, she really felt it now.

She was tired of being lonely; of feeling isolated. From the time her mother disappeared and her father retreated into his shell, she’d been on her own, independent, making her own decisions. Even as a child she remembered making her own meals, taking care of her father when he should have been taking care of her. She’d learned to be self-sufficient and street-smart, to make choices based on no one’s opinion but her own.

Doing the reality show on the island had been her choice. Becoming a demon hunter had been her choice. She had no family, no friends besides the other hunters. She had no lovers…none that were long-lasting, anyway. No one had ever appealed enough to make her want to tie herself down, and the visions always made her keep her distance from men. She was afraid of what would happen if she allowed herself to get too close.

She’d held her secret inside her entire life, had told no one. Until Nic. What was it about him that drew her, that made her feel like he was the right thing? She wanted him. Like right now. Wanted to go over to his room, crawl in his bed, and wrap her arms around him. She ached for the feel of his mouth of hers, wet and hot, taking her to places no man ever had. She wanted to make love with him, and this time, she wanted to stay with him.

Why couldn’t she stop thinking about him? She’d always spent way too much time thinking; that was her biggest flaw. She knew what she wanted at this moment—why didn’t she just take it? She’d never once in her life waited for things to happen to her. Not since her mother disappeared. From that moment on she’d been fully in charge of her life. Yet for some reason she’d been sitting back and reacting, instead of acting, like she should be.

Instinct. She’d always relied on it and it had never been wrong. Instinct was screaming at her right now—to be bold, to take what she wanted instead of being afraid of getting hurt. Her life had changed in the past couple months. It was fleeting. She could die. If she wanted something, she had to make it happen.

But the vision…it still haunted her, made her pause. Damned frustrating. In her heart she knew it wasn’t Nic that she’d seen in her vision. It couldn’t be. He wasn’t a coldhearted demon.

She exhaled, wondering if she’d be able to sleep at all. The draw toward Nic was increasing, as if there was some kind of magnet pulling her toward him. Not that she was complaining about it. She clearly wanted him. And she knew he wanted her. It was in every look he gave her, in his body language, in his voice. His message was clear.

So why did she hesitate? She could wake him; he wouldn’t mind.

Shay hadn’t feared anything in years. Even the demons, thoughts of death, didn’t frighten her.

So why did one man scare the hell out of her?

She tossed over onto her back and exhaled, knowing the answer. Because she was falling in love with Nic. And he might very well be turning into a demon—the bad kind. If his destiny, the one she saw in her visions, proved true, she was falling in love with a man she might have to kill.

But was that enough to keep her away from him? Even knowing what could happen in the future, she still ached for him. Her heart was invested, her connection to him too strong.

It might already be too late.

 

The rains started that night.

Trace told them the light rain outside was just the beginning of what would undoubtedly become a downpour, making their search for both demons and the black diamond even more difficult. With the roads becoming treacherous and heavy rain expected, the hunters packed up heavy, knowing they probably weren’t going to make it back before dawn and would have to camp out.

Shay just prayed the rain would cool things off while they hunted.

It didn’t. She and the others were still sweltering hot, only now they were wet, too. The rain came down in a mist, the air around them still thick with heat, and Shay felt like she was walking through a steam room. She might die of suffocation before the night was over.

They traveled by vehicle as far as they could, but the roads at higher elevations were washed out and they had to head out on foot after that. They parked on a precipice overlooking a fast-moving river, which just yesterday had been a dry, empty gulch. And even though there was only a light rain falling here, the creek beds were already swollen from the rains up north. From what Trace told them, those rains were headed their way, and fast. They had to be on the lookout for flash floods and lightning storms.

Wasn’t this going to be fun? Not only could they be killed by demons, but it was also possible they could drown or be struck by lightning. So either God or the devil could destroy them out here. Nothing like having the odds stacked against you.

Though they’d managed to kill some demons, they hadn’t found the black diamond. Shay was getting frustrated. She could well imagine the others were, too.

Each of them loaded down with supplies, they moved on foot for over three hours. The rains steadily increased, the path the hunters traveled becoming more treacherous. Wet dirt became slippery mud and they were forced to slow their forward progress. Shay’s boots were sinking, the mud sucking them down. She no sooner extracted one foot from the muck than the other one sank down deep.

“We’re getting nowhere here,” she commed, frustrated, tired of stair-stepping through this stuff and standing ankle-high in another hole.

“No shit,” Derek shot back. “There are caves up ahead though. Can everyone make it?”

Caves were better than sinking in the mud. It took another hour to make it to the caves, which of course just had to be uphill. Climbing up the rain-slickened slopes was damn near impossible, though with ropes they managed it. By the time the hunters reached the top of the hill, they were all covered in mud.

Shay longed for a bath. There was mud in places on her body that had no business having mud in them. The rains were coming down so hard now she could barely see the person in front of her. Tiny rivers had formed in the grooves on the path. Everything was filling up with water; the hunters were slipping and sliding like they were in a water park.

At least they were on level ground now, not that it did much good. But the cave ahead promised dry shelter, and that was the closest thing to heaven Shay had seen in hours. She didn’t even care if there were demons in there. At least there wouldn’t be rain and mud.

“Stay alert,” Derek commed. “We’re heading in.”

With the rain blinding them, they’d long ago abandoned their night-vision shades, relying instead on their shoulder lights. Once they entered the dry cave, the lights went out and Shay slipped on her glasses, illuminating the darkness around her. The only sounds she heard were the movements of the hunters and the pouring rain. She inhaled, trying to scent hybrid demons. Nothing. They moved farther inward, weapons raised and ready. This time she decided to keep her psychic senses open, but she didn’t pick up anything but dead airwaves.

The cave was long, but this one didn’t descend like the others they’d inspected. It did have quite a few channels, though. They broke into teams and searched each one. No sign of demons or any activity. And it was dry. Completely and utterly dry, with the exception of an opening at the top of one of the tunnels that allowed rain to create a lovely pool of clear water in a deep, hollowed-out basin. It looked like a giant bath. Shay had fantasies of jumping in and rinsing off.

“We’ll set up base in this cave since it’s clean,” Derek said. “Take turns guarding the entrance and rear of the cave to make sure no demons enter from either side. We’ll have to sleep during daylight. We may be out here for a couple days.”

Oh, joy of joys. Sleeping in a cave.

Derek assigned teams. Trace and Dalton stayed behind in the cave with Lou to guard the base. The rest of them went out together.

Back in the rain, which still came down as hard as before. And the caves weren’t as close to each other as they had been in the other location, which meant trekking a bit. Because of the rain the hunters chose the cave closest to their home base, and even that one was going to take a while to get to.

They slugged through the thick glop of runny muck at a snail’s pace. Nic stayed close to Shay’s side the entire time. She didn’t even question why, grateful to have him nearby. Twice he’d pulled her up by her belt when she slipped and nearly fell face first. Nothing like demonstrating grace in motion. Her boots were weighed down with water, so heavy she could barely raise them with each step.

“Having fun?” Nic asked, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She tossed a grimace his way. “A ball.”

Glancing ahead of her, she saw that Derek was helping Gina along the trail, too.

“I could think of a lot of things I’d rather be doing right now,” Nic said.

“Me, too. Starting with a bath.”

“I thought women loved mud baths. You pay good money at those fancy spas for what you’re getting for free out here.”

“Very funny. And not at all the same. Or at least I don’t think it’s the same. I wouldn’t know.”

It seemed strange to be toting high-tech weaponry and at the same time having Nic’s arm around her. It was like being on some kind of rainy, muddy, romantic, futuristic date. Oddly comforting, actually. This was the first time she’d felt relaxed in a while. Was it having Nic’s body pressed against hers that did it? Because it sure as hell couldn’t be the ambience of their surroundings.

An ambience that changed in an instant when she felt blanketed by a sensation of evil. She shivered, goose bumps pricking her sweltering skin. She halted and raised her weapon, aiming it toward the darkness around her.

“What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, focusing on the feelings, trying to pinpoint the location.

“Derek,” she commed. “Demons.”

Derek stopped, let go of Gina. Ryder halted, too. They raised their weapons, each of them swiveling to survey the area. “Where?” Derek asked.

“I’m not sure. Close.”

“Be more specific,” he cut back.

“I don’t know!” She turned a full three-sixty.

“Lou,” Derek commed. “You got anything?”

“No,” Lou returned. “I’m picking nothing up as far as portals, but as we discussed they’re probably not underground.”

“Fuck.” Derek looked to Shay. “You sure?”

“Yes!”

“Then concentrate and tell us where.”

“I just sense them,” she said. “I don’t know where they are.”

“Anybody see anything?” Derek asked.

“Nothing,” Ryder said. “Just a lot of fuckin’ rain.”

“Keep moving then,” Derek commed. “But maintain weapons ready and eyes sharp.”

Shay felt like an idiot. They didn’t believe her. She knew demons were here. She could feel them watching her. But a careful scan of the terrain showed nothing. Then again, who could see a damn thing through all this rain? If they were, in fact, headed toward a cave, she hoped Derek knew where it was, because she couldn’t see a thing in front of her other than the hunters.

Step by achingly slow step they trudged along, and Shay still felt as though they were being watched. Though she tried to shake off the sensation of demons hiding in the nearby brush and behind every tree, she couldn’t. At least the hunters were keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings. Weapons raised, heads turning in both directions, they made their way down the slick path toward the cave, which finally came into view—a shadow in the distance.

Finally—refuge from the pounding elements.

Shay sighed in relief as they drew closer to the cave. Maybe she was just tense about being out here, the rain, her thoughts about Nic—everything piling up and screwing with her senses. There were probably no demons around and she was just stressed.

“Shit. Demons!” Gina commed.

“Where?” Derek asked.

“Coming out of the cave.”

Shay squinted, trying to see through the rain that seemed to have increased in intensity.

“I see them, too,” Ryder added. “More of them coming around from outside the cave. Look over on the eastern side.”

“Western side, too,” Derek said.

“They’re behind us,” Nic commed. “And there’s a lot of them.”

Shay pivoted, seeing only a blob of dark shapes moving in slow motion toward the hunters.

Hybrids. The rain had masked their foul stench. Oh, God.

“Sonofabitch. We’re surrounded,” Ryder growled.

“Move! Into positions,” Derek commed. “Back each other up and get ready.”

As they drew near, the demons came into focus. Huge, lumbering, slow and steady. Hybrids were meaner, tougher to kill, and their stench alone could knock you over. As they got closer, Shay was overwhelmed with their smell, fighting back the nausea that always assailed her when the creatures came in such high numbers.

God, they reeked. Like decay—and death. Every time Shay saw these things she wondered what her mother had endured. Did she have to live with these hybrids, too? Captured and forced to coexist with demons, used as nothing more than a breeding machine to create half-human monsters…She shuddered at the thought, her hatred of the creatures renewing her strength.

This is what she’d dedicated her life to after Lou had dropped the bombshell revelation that her mother had been taken by demons. To destroy as many of them as she could, so they couldn’t take another child’s mother away. No child should have to live the life she had—the uncertainty, the feeling of abrupt loss, the loneliness. These bastards were going down, and she was taking their brethren with them. As many as she could hunt and kill, for as long as she lived.

Frustration ate away at the last of her patience. The hybrids were slow. She was tired of waiting. She wanted them dead.

“You okay?”

She didn’t look at Nic, just nodded. “Fine.”

“Take deep breaths. Visualize melting these fuckers—what they look like all gooed down to nothing but jelly. It’ll make you smile.”

Despite the irritation boiling up inside her, she did allow her lips to curl upward. Then she shot a glance at Nic. “How do you do that?”

“What?”

“Make me smile in a situation like this?”

He shrugged. “You dig me, baby. You can’t help it.”

Then she laughed, shook her head, and refocused on the approaching demons.

“Now they’re close enough,” Derek commed. “Move forward, but keep your positions tight. Stay together. You need help, I better hear you holler for it.”

Finally. She forced her mud-laden boots through the slime. This battle wasn’t going to be easy with the elements against them. Then again, even the demons’ progress seemed to be slowed by the rain. But now she could do something. She could see them, visualize her targets, plan her attack.

She was excited to be in battle.

“There are six within our line of sight,” she said to Nic. “Focus on the three to your left; I’ll take the other three.”

“Got it.”

The laser took down the first one with ease, melting it. She had a little internal chuckle at Nic’s reference to goo. Yeah, that described what it looked like, all right. The other two demons ducked behind the trees, making it difficult to hit them with the laser. Shay reached into her hip pouch.

“Grenade!” she commed as a warning to the hunters. She pulled the pin and launched a sonic grenade. Sound waves sent the demons running, their arms flailing as they lumbered and grimaced before falling to the ground. The ear protection the hunters wore, which also doubled as their communication system, protected their hearing, rendering them immune to the disastrous effects of the sonic waves. Not the demons, though. The two began to liquefy and disintegrate from the inside out, just as if she’d fired the sonic bullets into them.

God, she loved technology. Gross, but very effective.

She turned her attention to Nic, who’d managed to melt down two of his three demons. The third had come close. Too damn close. And Nic wasn’t backing away. Instead, he was moving forward, an expression of pure malice and intensity on his face.

“Nic. Back off.”

He didn’t listen, still heading toward the demon. Shay raised her laser to fire, but now Nic and the demon were too close to each other. She risked hitting Nic.

“Nic, you need to step back. I can get a clear shot.”

“Hold this,” he said, tossing his rifle at her.

She grabbed the laser in midair. Oh, God, he’d engaged the demon. It came at Nic, claws outstretched. Nic swung his torso under the demon’s arms and barreled into its chest. Shay couldn’t believe Nic’s strength. The demon went flying backward, losing its balance in the mud and nearly toppling over. She made a quick turn to see if the others had noticed. The battle raged on, everyone involved in their own fight. Nic was on his own, with only Shay as his backup.

There were no other demons about to threaten Nic. Shay decided that rather than joining the others, she was going to stay here and guard Nic. If he’d break away from the demon long enough to gain some distance, she could fire her laser at the demon and free Nic from its hold.

The strange thing was, she didn’t think that’s what Nic wanted. It was as if he wanted to fight with the demon. But that couldn’t be, could it? So what the hell was he doing?

Holding his own, amazingly. The demon was twice Nic’s size and had to be double his strength, yet Nic was tossing kicks and punches at the demon and the demon was reacting as if in pain, raising its arms to ward off Nic’s blows. And Nic was adeptly avoiding the demon’s claws and fangs, the parts that secreted paralyzing toxins. Either that or the demon was deliberately not biting or scratching him, which made no sense.

“Shay, what the hell is Nic doing?” Derek commed.

Shay arched a brow as she watched. “It looks like he’s kicking the shit out of this demon.”

“Tell him to back away so you can shoot it!”

“You tell him to back away.” She didn’t know what was possessing Nic, but she wasn’t going to tell him a thing.

Derek was by her side in an instant. Shay tore her gaze from Nic long enough to see Derek’s openmouthed look of astonishment.

“He really is beating the hell out of that thing.”

Shay glanced behind her. Piles of melted demon flesh sizzled in the rain. The hunters were starting to assemble to watch Nic.

She had had no idea he was so surefooted, so adept, so damn strong. But it was more than human strength, she realized. The same fierce determination, the odd surge of superhuman strength and abilities they’d all witnessed in Derek on the island, was manifesting itself in Nic now. Pride shone on Derek’s face.

“Is this what happened to you?” Shay asked Derek.

“Sort of. But I didn’t go hand-to-hand with them. I can’t believe he’s strong enough to fight a hybrid with his hands and body.”

So Nic’s demon side, the part of him that made him different from humans, was surfacing. And he was turning those strengths against the demons.

“Do you think you should step in and pull Nic away from that thing?”

“No. Leave him be. I want to see what he’s got.” Derek hefted his rifle and kept it aimed at the demon.

Gina laid a hand on Shay’s shoulder “Trust Derek. He’ll stop this if it gets dangerous for Nic.”

Shay knew that Derek would look out for his brother. And he probably did know what was best, because as the demon reached for Nic again, it became obvious that Nic was merely toying with it. He even laughed and kicked it away.

“Rifle, Shay,” Nic hollered, half turning toward her.

She tossed his UV rifle to him and he grabbed it with one hand, backing a short distance away from the demon.

“Time for you to die, fucker.” Nic aimed, fired an array of laser light, and melted the creature on the spot.

The satisfaction on Nic’s face was priceless as the demon’s body slid to the ground, reduced to nothing but gelatinous mass.

This was why they had traveled to Australia. To find Nic, to determine which side he was on. Maybe the Realm of Light hadn’t made that determination yet, but Shay had. She knew. She felt it. Nic wasn’t evil. No one who took such joy in killing one of the demons could be with the Sons of Darkness.

Her vision was wrong.

Nic shouldered his weapon and turned toward the hunters, his breath sawing in and out with exertion. “Are we done here?”

Derek nodded. “You have fun?”

“Hell, yeah. Are there any more?”

“Not at the moment. Let’s keep moving.”

They headed onward. Derek didn’t say any more, but Shay had the idea there was plenty he wanted to talk to Nic about later.

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