Chapter Seventeen

N ic felt great. Weird, but great. He wasn’t sure what had happened back there with the demon, but he didn’t really care. He was exhilarated, full of energy, and ready to kick more demon ass as they made their way toward the cave.

The others were giving him pretty strange looks. Except for Shay. She was smiling at him.

“What?” he asked as she stepped up beside him.

“You amaze me.”

“I do?”

“Yes. What were you doing back there?”

“Fighting demons?”

“We don’t fight demons that way.”

He shrugged. “It just felt natural to me. The damn thing kept coming at me. After I killed the first two, the other one got too close so I threw down and went after it.”

“You’re not supposed to wrestle with them.”

“Huh. I must have missed that section in the demon handbook.”

“Smart-ass.”

“Better than being a dumbass.”

She snickered.

They entered the cave and found no demons lurking just inside or around the mouth of the cave. Derek halted their progress for weapons check.

Nic did his inventory, reloaded, and was ready to go. Admittedly, he realized he was into this demon-hunting thing. He enjoyed killing them. He didn’t know what it was, but some internal force told him what he was doing was right. Eliminating the bad guys—that’s what he was supposed to be doing. And every time he killed a demon, he felt more powerful, almost like he gained in strength throughout the battle, as if he was absorbing their energy in some way.

Odd. And probably baseless. It was just an adrenaline rush and nothing more. Though he didn’t understand it, he wasn’t about to turn down these sensations flowing through him.

He liked feeling a part of the Realm of Light. If his father was truly evil, and if Nic carried that blood within him, he was determined to fight it. He wasn’t going down on the dark side of this game. No way. And if his father had lied to him all these years—the thought of it made his blood boil.

He may not have spent his life as a Boy Scout, but he’d never hurt anyone. From what he’d been told, his father had.

Demons. Christ, it was still hard to wrap his head around it all, but he had to believe it. He’d seen it with his own eyes.

And now that he’d been given the keys to the demon-hunting kingdom and realized he was pretty damn good at it, he figured he might as well pump himself up in any way he could. He’d always had strength; had always enjoyed sports and physical activities. If that meant he could fight these demons one-on-one, then that’s the way he was going to do it. He’d never been much of a rule follower, anyway.

“Little brother.”

Nic sized up Derek as he approached. The man wasn’t happy, the muscles of his jaw clenched. Uh-oh. Lecture time. “Yeah.”

“Don’t do that again.”

“Do what?”

“Put yourself within reach of the demons.”

“Why not?”

“Did Shay explain to you about their claws and fangs and the toxic substance that can paralyze you if they bite or scratch you?”

“She mentioned it.”

Derek slanted a glare in his direction. “Isn’t that enough?”

“I didn’t let it touch me.”

“Which doesn’t mean one won’t next time. That’s why we have weapons.”

“I like the hands-on better.”

“Maybe you’re not listening. I’ve been at this a long time. I know what I’m talking about. Hands off. We use weapons to maintain distance, for protection, and so we can keep moving.”

Nic could tell Derek was going to be hardheaded about this. “In case you didn’t notice, I handled that demon just fine.”

“And what if four or five of them had surrounded you? What then?”

Nic shrugged. “That hasn’t happened yet. I guess I’ll see what goes down when the time comes.”

“No, you’ll do it my way, and now.” Derek’s nostrils flared and a spark of memory sailed across Nic’s mind. A strange bedroom, and Nic was arguing with a boy who had the same angry expression on his face that Derek sported right now. They were fighting over some toy. Nic wanted that toy; wanted it really bad. So did the other boy. Tension was high and a fight was about to break out. Nic started yelling and the boy yelled back. A woman came into view. She leaned against the doorway, her arms crossed as she watched them argue. She shook her head and told them to work it out without bloodshed, then she smiled.

She had a nice smile. Warm, comforting, like a blanket in the winter. She made him feel safe.

The vision evaporated.

Sonofabitch! Nic blinked and rubbed his temples, shaking his head to clear the dusty memories.

What the hell was that?

“Are you listening to anything I say?”

Derek’s voice penetrated, but Nic kept it at bay, not wanting to deal right now. Not after what he’d just experienced.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“This is for your safety, Nic.”

Derek’s voice had softened, no longer laced with the hard edge of anger it had held earlier. Nic looked up, and instead of fight in Derek’s eyes, he saw only concern.

“I just found you again. I don’t want to lose you.”

He could tell Derek wasn’t comfortable saying it, any more than Nic was comfortable hearing it.

Nic nodded. Derek pivoted and walked away, thankfully, before this entire scene got any weirder. He thought for a minute his brother was going to hug him.

His brother. Was Derek really his brother? Had the vision he’d just experienced been a memory of the two of them from his childhood? Had the woman been their mother? Nic’s mother? He fought to regain the memory, to visualize the woman’s face again, but it was lost.

“Are you okay?”

Nic shuttered his eyelids at the sound of Shay’s soft voice behind him. “I’m fine.”

“I heard you and Derek arguing.”

He sucked in a deep breath and turned around, shrugging. “And?”

She blinked. “You want to talk about it?”

“Not particularly.” He shouldered his weapons and looked ahead. “We’re gearing up to explore this cave. I think the psychoanalysis will have to wait.”

She laid her hand on his forearm. “Something else happened while Derek was talking to you. You had this expression on your face like you were somewhere else, and then like you were in some kind of pain. I could feel these weird vibes—”

“Hey, you know what? I’ve had enough,” he said, cutting her off before she came too close to the truth. “First you want to analyze me, now you want to practice your newfound psychic powers on me? Go find another test dummy, Shay. I’m not in the mood.”

Her face showed the pain he caused with his words. Pain he couldn’t deal with right now. Yeah, he was harsh, but he couldn’t handle her sympathy and he sure couldn’t let her delve too deeply into his psyche. Not when even he didn’t know what was going on in his head. So she’d just have to deal with him being an ass.

She should be used to that by now.

He pushed past her and moved into the middle of the group next to Ryder, who looked him up and down but didn’t say a word.

Perfect. Just the right guy to walk next to while they trekked through the cave. Ryder wouldn’t want to talk to him. He might glare, but there’d be no arguing, no psychoanalysis and no discussions.

Which was exactly what he wanted.

 

Okay, so something happened back there. Shay didn’t know what it was, but it had been something profound. She and Nic had been getting along fine. In fact, he’d been working double time to make up for his mistakes. No way would he take two steps backward by acting like a complete moron.

Which was what he’d just done.

Irritation prickled her skin, but she fought it back, refusing to believe he was simply being a dickhead for no reason. Instinct told her something major had happened to him while he was arguing with Derek, but what? Maybe the danger he was in when he fought that demon just hit him. Or was it something else?

She wished he’d talk to her, open up. Keeping his feelings bottled inside wasn’t helping him. Or her. Or them.

If there was, in fact, a “them.”

She should never have become involved, should never have started caring about him. The problem was, she did care. She was wrapped up in the who, what, where, when, and why of Dominic Diavolo and had taken it upon herself to help him delve into his past, present, and future, whether he liked it or not. Demon or no demon, brother of Derek, what did he remember or not remember, how dangerous was he?

Yeah, that was the operative word here. He was dangerous all right. To her. Hazard signs flashed in her head, warning her to remain aloof and uninvolved, just as she’d been with every other man in her life so far. She’d escaped heartache because she’d never let anyone get close enough. She’d never had to worry about a guy wriggling his way deep enough into her heart to cause her any pain.

But the one man she shouldn’t get involved with was the one who melted her butter and made her want to know more, the one she was literally melded with, psychically. Didn’t it just figure?

She should leave him alone, let this thing go between them. But she couldn’t. Something told her he was worth fighting for. And she’d learned over the past few years to start listening to that little voice inside her head when it talked to her.

You don’t walk away from people you care about. She was just going to have to risk the hurt. And he was going to talk to her. Sooner or later.

But he was right. Now wasn’t the time. Not when they had caves to explore, demons to kill, black diamonds to find.

How was a girl supposed to have a decent romance in the midst of all this chaos?

They explored the inner recesses of the cave. This one was rocky and uneven. Their footing was unsure as they moved along narrow corridors one by one.

“This doesn’t feel stable,” Shay said, not sure whether it was vibes or her own equilibrium making her feel so uneasy. The ground felt mushy under her feet, though the cave ceiling was solid. No water from the rain was getting in. The floor was dry, so it wasn’t mud causing the wayward tilt of the ground.

“No, it doesn’t,” Derek said. “Keep your eyes sharp and watch where you’re walking.”

They moved along, one person barely able to squeeze through the narrow opening. No way could hulking hybrid demons fit through here. Pure demons could, though, so they had to check it out.

Derek held up his hand. “I heard something.”

They stopped, raised weapons. Shay readied her finger on the trigger of her laser. As they moved out of the passage, the cave opened into three tunnels.

“Split up. Ryder, I don’t want you going in alone. Take Shay and Nic with you. Comm if you find anything.”

 

Ryder led the way into the tunnel on the right. “This floor sucks,” he mumbled. It felt like they were walking on marshmallows.

“Do you think there’s something under this floor?” Nic asked.

“Possibly,” Ryder said. “I just know I don’t like it.”

They moved along much more slowly than normal. He felt like he was going to fall through the dirt, which didn’t make any sense at all. It was eerie.

“We’re not alone in here,” Shay said.

Ryder stopped, made a half-turn. “You picking something up?”

“Yeah, but I don’t know what it is. It’s not an evil presence, but there’s definitely someone else in here with us.”

“Great. Just what we need. Stay sharp.” Shay’s advance signaling system was better than nothing. Ryder turned back and headed down the tunnel again. They didn’t have to wait long. There was a light in one of the channels off the tunnel.

“You see that?” Nic asked.

“Yeah. Let’s see who it is,” Ryder said, lifting his laser.

He peered around the corner, his body relaxing as he stood upright and lowered his gun. He wasn’t surprised to find Angelique standing there, pickax in hand.

“Shit. You again?” He shook his head.

“You scared the hell out of me!” She dropped the ax, wiped her hands on her pants, and crossed her arms.

“What are you doing here?” Obviously the woman didn’t grab a clue from the other night. She was still here, working alone.

“I’m working. I can’t believe you’re here,” Angelique said with a sharp frown. “I’m not even in the same cave as the other night, so you have no excuse to pull me out of here.”

“Wanna bet?” Ryder strode toward her, throwing a glance over his shoulder at Shay and Nic as they entered. “Guard the entrance.”

“Who’s she?” Shay asked.

Ryder sidled her a glance. “Her name’s Angelique. She’s an archaeologist.”

Nic shrugged and turned toward the tunnel entrance. Shay kept her eye on them.

“I told you this area wasn’t safe,” Ryder said. “Pack up your things. You’re leaving.”

She didn’t move. “Do you get off on giving people orders? Because that’s all you seem to do.”

“For good reason.” Ryder slung his rifle over his shoulder and bent down, tossing Angelique’s things into her bag.

“Stop that,” Angelique said, bending down with him and taking them out.

Ryder grabbed her hand. “You’re leaving.”

“Unless you give me a compelling reason to, I’m not. Your telling me there’s danger isn’t going to stop me from doing my job.”

“I’ve got a pretty damned compelling reason heading in this direction.”

Ryder’s head shot up at Nic’s statement. Shay moved to Nic’s side.

“Oh, shit,” Shay said, looking at Ryder. “We’ve gotta go. Now.”

Ryder knew what that meant. Demons. They couldn’t get stuck in this room with no exit. He grabbed Angelique’s hand and hauled her to her feet. With one look he communicated to her that this was no time to argue.

She was smart and caught on quick. She flew out of the room with him, Shay and Nic right behind them. Ryder made a quick turn around the corner in the opposite direction of the approaching demons.

“Derek, we’ve got company bearing down on us,” he commed.

“We’ll catch up,” Derek commed back.

He had to put some distance between the demons and them. He didn’t want to be cornered in these narrow tunnels or rooms with no exits.

They couldn’t get out the way they came in, since that’s where Nic had spotted the demons. Ryder hoped there was another exit.

Nothing like all hell breaking loose. His pulse raced as his feet tore up the soft dirt underneath his boots. He turned his head every few seconds to gauge the distance between them and the demons.

They weren’t hybrids. They were moving fast. Damn.

“We’ve got to find an exit or a place to stop and fight, Ryder,” Shay commed.

“What do you think I’m doing? Looking for a picnic spot?”

He still had hold of Angelique’s hand. She hadn’t screamed or said a word, nor had she tried to fight Ryder’s grasp, thankfully. He had enough to think about right now.

They all did. He wasn’t sure how many demons were behind them, but there were only three hunters. And he had an idea there were more than a handful of demons after them. He just hoped they didn’t run into a dead end, because then they’d be really screwed.

They came out of the tunnel into a room with two exits. Ryder stopped and pulled Angelique behind him. Shay halted, Nic drawing beside her. Everyone pulled weapons.

“This is as good a spot as any,” Ryder said. “Let’s do it.”

He turned to Angelique. “Don’t move.”

She nodded and backed up against the wall, a look of fear on her face.

Fear was good right now. It might keep her alive. Ryder turned back to the tunnel where the demons were coming. Nic and Shay were positioned to his left. Ryder stayed in front of Angelique. Dammit, he didn’t want to have to worry about her and battle demons at the same time, but it looked like he had no choice. He had to keep her safe. She was unarmed and untrained.

The ground rumbled under his feet. Christ, how many demons were coming?

This was bad. Really bad. The tremors were increasing. He rebalanced his body as the cave floor shook with the intensity of the approaching horde.

Then he looked down, saw the dust rising.

Where were the demons? And why was the ground moving under his feet now? He backed up toward Angelique, not sure what was happening but wanting to protect her in case demons were coming up from the ground. She moved in beside him and he wrapped an arm around her.

What the hell was going on?

“Ryder, you still there?” Derek commed.

“Yeah.”

“This whole place is falling down. Get the hell out of there!”

Ryder rolled his eyes. Yeah, easier said than done.

“Derek’s right,” Nic said. “I don’t even see the demons anymore. Let’s move.”

Move where? The whole place was pitching, dirt from the ceiling raining down on top of them. He supposed the best tactic was to turn tail and run, look for an exit. He grabbed Angelique’s hand, shouldered his rifle, and took off down one of the tunnels, hoping he had made the right choice. This tunnel was wider, so he and Angelique were side by side, crashing into each other as the floor pitched up and down like ocean waves. Keeping their balance was damned difficult.

But he finally saw light. The exit!

A fraction of a second too late, as the floor underneath them gave way and the fast clip they were running at didn’t allow him to stop in time.

He had a millisecond to grab on to Angelique as they pitched straight down into the open hole.

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