A DANGEROUS BARGAIN (The Sentinel Demons) (7 page)

Every muscle in his face tensed and his expression turned tormented. Kat wanted to soothe him, hold him until his pain went away. Yes, Zach’s soul was dark, but it wasn’t all caused by his demon heritage. Kat knew he was hanging on to some sort of remorse, something festering inside him that needed to be healed.

“Nothing.” Zach dropped his hands from her shoulders and shook his head. “Nothing can happen. You’re under a demon bargain, compulsions that you can’t deny. You don’t want me, Kat. You don’t want to be the
radiant
to a demon. I lost control earlier. I’m sorry,” he told her softly, his voice resigned. “You look exhausted. Let’s get some sleep.”

As he turned to walk away, Kat’s entire being rebelled, clamoring for her to comfort him, to take away the emptiness inside him that gnawed at her until she almost couldn’t bear it. Following behind him, she acknowledged that her need had nothing to do with his wants or his compulsions. They were completely and utterly her own.

Kat stood between the two demons, her whole body trembling with confusion. Neither demon was touching her, leaving a few feet of space on each side, but both were trying to gain control of her. Her decision should have been easy. Zach was on her right, and a large evil demon, bigger than Dwarf or Goblin but just as hideous, was on her left.

She stepped toward Zach, but every emotion inside her rebelled, telling her not to let him take her. Why? She trusted Zach completely. He’d saved her life. She had no reason to fear him. But as she tried to move again, she was bombarded by the same internal alarms, her body stopping after a slight step in his direction.

Something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

Kat’s eyes flew to Zach’s face, and then she knew. It was Zach…yet not. His eyes were bloodshot and glowing a dull red. The difference was subtle, but it was there.

Tearing her eyes away from Zach’s beckoning form, she looked at the Evil, his eyes glowing amber, drawing her to him for some unknown reason.

Panicked, she looked from one demon to the other; what she saw was completely different from what her gut was telling her. How was it that the Evil actually felt safe while Zach repulsed her?

“Come with me. Offer your life and I’ll make sure your nephew is safe. Agree now,” Zach demanded, his voice grating and so unlike his usual smooth, husky baritone.

Kat took a small step in the other direction, toward the Evil, but no alarm bells were going off in her head, no shiver traveling down her spine. The closer she moved toward the troll demon, the safer she felt.

It made no sense, and she shook her head, unable to decipher why she wasn’t moving toward Zach, getting away from the Evil. She’d give her life for her nephew without regret, but she needed to be certain that it would keep him safe, and she wasn’t so positive that giving her life for Stevie’s was going to keep him alive. Hadn’t Zach already told her that her nephew was safe? Why was he asking her for something more?

Knowing her gut feeling was correct, she said aloud, “No. You’re not Zach. He’d never ask that of me. And I can sense you’re not him.”

“Stupid bitch,” the pseudo-Zach snarled. He lunged toward her, arms reaching out to grab her. Scrambling to avoid his grasp, she tripped and fell on her ass right beside the Evil.

The Evil suddenly moved for the first time, vaulting into action by yanking her behind him, and springing toward the Zach look-alike, putting himself between her and the demon trying to attack her. It was as if the Evil were actually trying to protect her.

Disoriented, dazed and terrified, Kat let loose a bloodcurdling scream as the two demons collided, not even completely sure which one she wanted to win the battle.

*****

Zach woke from his nightmare to the sound of Kat’s scream. His heart was pumping as he tried to shake off the bad dream he’d been having, a common occurrence that plagued Sentinels, his main concern being what was happening to Kat.

Transporting himself to the guest room, his chest heaving with fear and from the residual adrenaline from his nightmare, he arrived at Kat’s bedside scared shitless. Her body was thrashing violently on the bed as she whimpered, her eyes still closed.

Fuck.

“Kat.” Sitting down on the bed, he grasped her arms and sat her up, shaking her gently. She remained asleep, her head tilting sideways, and Zach got more desperate. “Kat. Open your eyes,” he repeated sternly, bellowing the command.

Her eyes popped open suddenly, as she gave an audible gasp, and Zach frowned as she looked at him with obvious terror and started struggling to break his hold.

“Stop. Kat. You were dreaming,” he told her in a soothing voice, not at all liking her beautiful green eyes filled with trepidation as she looked at him.

“Zach? Is it really you?” she asked, her voice soft and hesitant.

“Yeah.”
Who in the hell did she think he was?

“Can you turn on the light?” she requested quietly. She had stopped struggling, but she was tense, her body stiff.

Zach activated the light by the bedside with his magic, momentarily forgetting that Kat didn’t have perfect sight in the dark. Still, he would have thought she would recognize his voice.

And my touch.

He could understand her waking up confused and scared from a bad dream, but she seemed terrified
of him.
“Kat, I would never hurt you,” he told her gravely, disappointed that she would have any doubts about him, but he supposed she had good reason after the scene in the kitchen.

She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light, her gaze flying up to meet his, searching for…something. “Oh, thank God. It’s you,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck with a sigh of relief.

His arms tightened around her reflexively, his protective, possessive instincts barely held in check as he cradled her soft, feminine body against him. “Who the hell else would I be?” he asked her in a disgruntled voice. Granted, they had only known each other for less than a day, but it still bugged him that she wasn’t as hyper-aware of him as he was of her. “What were you dreaming about?” he asked her in a gentler voice as he felt her trembling in his arms.
Jesus, it must have been some fucking nightmare.

“I was dreaming about you, except it wasn’t you. You were an Evil and the Evil was you,” she answered in a muffled voice against his shoulder. “You asked me to give my life for my nephew. But it wasn’t you. And it didn’t make any sense. You said Stevie was safe.” She was babbling, her explanation confusing, but it was obvious that she meant every word she uttered.

“He is safe.” Zach should have discounted what she was saying as complete nonsense, but his body tensed as he realized that she had been having much the same dream as he. Except the Evil had been an ancient, the gray tufts of hair and larger size identifying his age. The ugly bastard had looked exactly like what it was…a very old Evil. Still, it was strange that Kat had been experiencing a similar dream, one where an Evil had been trying to get her to agree to a life bargain. In his dream, Kat had been hesitant, not immediately choosing to come to him. He had been mute, unable to speak, the helplessness nearly driving him insane. He had also been paralyzed, unable to move until Kat had chosen not to accept the bargain. All he had been able to do was observe until she had rejected the Evil. “You refused the Evil. You chose me. Even though I looked like an Evil?”

“I didn’t choose you. I moved toward the Evil and fell,” she said, her voice confused. “Were you there?”

Drew said that the Evils were somehow taking humans under Sentinel protection. Was it possible that they were doing it through the dream realm? Could I have been pulled into the dream as a Sentinel witness?

It sounded implausible, but how could he and Kat be having such a similar dream without it being more than coincidence?

Zach’s arms tightened around Kat. The possibility that what they had both experienced being more than just a bad dream was scaring the shit out of him. What if it had been more? What would have happened had Kat not refused? “Are you saying that the demon offering to take your life for your nephew’s looked like me?”

She pulled back and looked at him. “Yes. He looked exactly like you, except his eyes were glowing red and I sensed it wasn’t you. The Evils have come to me through dreams before, but not quite like this. They were showing me scenarios of what could happen to Stevie, breaking me down through my nightmares.”

“Fuck.”
The bastards.
Somehow they
were
manipulating dreams.

He manifested his cell phone and drew one hand away from Kat to punch in Kristoff’s number, keeping his other arm tightly around her.

When Kristoff answered in an irritated voice, the call clearly having woken him, Zach simply grumbled, “I need all of you. Now.” Punching the Off
button, he got rid of the phone, and waited, his body tense.

“Zach, what’s happening?” Kat questioned, her voice frightened.

He ran a hand down his face in frustration, hoping his suspicions were wrong. “I’m not sure. I need to talk to Kristoff, Drew, and Hunter.”

“Zach?” she murmured.

“Yeah?” He tightened his arms around her, needing to reassure himself that Kat was okay and comfort her fears, even though they may very well be justified.

“Do you realize you’re…um…naked?” She drew her hand down his bare back slowly and to his hip, caressing his naked flesh.

“Am I now?” he answered hoarsely, his eyes closing for a brief moment while he savored the feel of her soft hand drifting over his bare skin, the sensation having nothing to do with her being his
radiant
and everything to do with the fact that Kat lightened his heart as well as his soul. Years of loneliness and regret faded in her presence and the feel of her hands on his body was pure bliss.

He could feel her warm breath against his ear as she whispered, “Feels like it to me.” She stroked again, moving slower this time, her touch soft and light.

Zach slammed his mind closed, unwilling to let Kat sense that her touch was making him want…and…want…and…want.

Clothing himself instantly, he mourned the feel of her softness against his naked flesh and sighed before answering, “Don’t want the guys to get jealous of my superior man parts.”

Kat laughed softly, the light feminine sound vibrating against his ear.

Mine. My radiant. My mate.

Zach tried to shove down his demon instincts that were clawing to the surface. He wanted Kat more than he had ever wanted anything, but it was a selfish need, and he knew it.

I’m not bonding her to me. I’m not making her my radiant. She’s had enough darkness in her life. She doesn’t need any of mine.

“I thought you said you needed us.” His king’s voice was displeased, but as Zach pulled away from Kat to look at Kristoff and his two brothers flanking their ruler, all of them had concerned looks on their faces.

Zach turned toward the arrivals, but he wrapped an arm around Kat, keeping her cradled protectively at his side. “I think the Evils are making life bargains in the dream realm with people under our protection, nullifying our bargains and stealing them away,” he told them, watching as his two brothers looked at him in disbelief. Hell, he couldn’t blame them. It sounded crazy to him too, but he had experienced it. They hadn’t.

“Not possible. Nothing nullifies a Sentinel bargain,” Hunter grumbled.

“Are you sure you’re okay, Zach?” Drew mumbled, his brows drawing together, examining Zach as though trying to assess his mental state. “You know that’s not possible.”

“Actually…it is possible,” Kristoff muttered, stepping forward and crossing his arms in front of him. “Highly unlikely, but not exactly impossible.” He moved then, crouching down next to Kat and bringing her eyes level with his. “I’d like to look at your dreams, Kat. I’m Kristoff, king of the Sentinels. I want to see if this was just a dream or if it could be an Evil dream invasion. Will you let me?”

“It’s not the first time the Evils have invaded her dreams. Her visions of what could happen to her nephew were actually nightmares manifested in the dream realm,” Zach informed Kristoff, his fury at the fact that the Evils had invaded her sleep, a time when she was so incredibly vulnerable, making him nearly insane.

“I’d like to look, Kat. See the dreams from your perspective. May I?” Kristoff queried gently.

Zach knew his king could simply take the memories, invade Kat’s mind without asking permission, but as much as Kristoff might annoy him at times, Zach admired the Sentinel demon king’s inherent kindness with innocent humans.

“I didn’t know you had to ask. Zach doesn’t. But if it will help you, be my guest,” Kat replied, staring at Kristoff with a little more admiration than Zach liked.

“You’re Zach’s
radiant
and your thoughts flow to him automatically. It’s natural,” Kristoff replied. “But I’ll have to probe and look in your mind, and it might be a little uncomfortable, but it won’t be painful. I promise.”

Zach’s chest ached as Kat looked up at him for reassurance, her trust in him nearly taking his breath away. He nodded and took her fragile hand in his, twining their fingers together, wishing that Kristoff could just take the information from him. Unfortunately, his king wouldn’t see the dream the way Kat had experienced it. “He can’t get the information from me,” he told her flatly. “I’m sorry.” He could read her memories easily because she was his
radiant
, but Kristoff needed to see the information firsthand.