The Darkest Pleasure (7 page)

“Just a bit more…” Anya breathed, excited. There was no better replacement for Maddox. Anya adored violence.

A large trash can burned ahead, the golden flames flickering, smoke billowing. Four men stood around it, one holding out a spoon, melting a small, solid mass into bubbling liquid. With his free hand, he used a syringe to suck that liquid up. The others awaited their turn.

Drugs. How Reyes wished they worked on him. But he’d tried all of them, from smoking to pills, drowning in liquids, injecting his veins with needles. Nothing had dulled his need for pain.

Anya stopped abruptly at the end of the alley. Lucien was there, stepping from the shadows. He and Anya shared a kiss, Lucien’s arm automatically winding around her waist as it did every time they were together.

Reyes glanced away from them, the sight of their love too much to witness at the moment.
Who are you trying to fool? It’s too much at
every
moment.

The alley forked into three sections: left, straight and right. Five buildings glared at him in a half moon. He didn’t need to ask which held Danika. Suddenly he could smell her thunderstorm scent. He could feel her fear all the way to the marrow of his bones, as if it pulsed from the redbrick shop in front of him.

A weapons store. How appropriate. And ironic. With all their talk of peace, the Hunters should have picked a church.

“There are private rooms above the public one. She is up there,” Lucien said, his tone grim. “The men have been strangely silent, almost as if they knew I was there, waiting.”

Bile rose in Reyes’s throat. “Is she…still alive?” The words would barely form.

“Yes.”

He gulped. Something about Lucien’s inflection did not settle well inside him. “But?”

“She is still sleeping.”

His fingers clenched around his weapons. “How many Hunters are in the building now?”

“Twelve. Several have already left.”

“Their leader?”

“One of the absent.”

Bastard. Reyes would find him, though. Soon. Once Danika was safe, there would be no stopping his wrath.

“There
is
a man who appears to be guarding her,” Lucien said. “He has barely left her side. He’s there now, watching her sleep.”

“Has he…did he…touch her?”

“Not in anger.”

Then in what? Lust? “Was she raped?” Reyes’s teeth gnashed together with a dark need to strike.

“I do not know.”

“He is mine.” Despite the false calm in his voice, he left no doubt of his intention. “No one else even approaches him.”

Lucien nodded. “Very well. The time for battle has arrived.”

Ready, Reyes pushed past his friends and stalked to the building. When he entered, a bell tinkled merrily, announcing his presence. The human behind the counter was in the process of smiling—until he spotted Reyes’s harsh countenance. The smile froze midway and hate filled the Hunter’s eyes.

To Reyes’s knowledge, they had never met, but they instantly recognized each other for what they were: enemies.

“Where is she?”

“You killed my son, demon.”

“I’ve never met your son, Hunter.”

“You’re a cancer upon this earth, all of you, and you’re responsible for
every
death. Not for much longer, though. Long live the Hunters!” As though he’d been expecting Reyes all along, the man lifted a semiautomatic with a silencer.

Reyes lifted his own gun. They fired at the same time. Reyes, to savage. The Hunter, to injure. Killing him would have freed his demon, and the Hunters would do anything to prevent that. The knowledge was as good as a weapon.

A bullet slammed into Reyes’s shoulder, and he laughed at the wonderful sting. The Hunter’s brains splattered onto the wall behind him; the man didn’t laugh. Reyes felt a moment of sorrow, but reminded himself there could be no peace as long as Hunters lived to spread their hate.

One down. Eleven to go.

“Jeez. Try to save some for the rest of us,” Sabin muttered, moving around Reyes, past the counter of guns to a door. He kicked it open, revealing a narrow staircase.

“Good job, Painie.” Anya slapped him upside the head. “Now the others know we’re here.”

With that, she flew up the stairs, right behind Sabin.

Blood dripped from Reyes’s wound as he climbed.

“May I join my dear wife and watch your destruction from above,” a human shouted, but he was silenced as another muted gunshot sounded. There was a scream. A gurgle. A thump as a body hit the floor.

Footsteps. “See you in hell, demons,” another human yelled, but he, too, was soon silenced.

“She’s in the third room on the right,” Lucien said, suddenly beside Reyes.

They reached the top and raced in different directions. Reyes encountered only one other Hunter before he reached Danika’s room. That Hunter shot at him, too, nailing him in the stomach.

Reyes never paused, his adrenaline too high, his demon too happy.

Smiling, he reached the human and sliced his throat. Then he was in front of the bedroom door. He kicked it open, not bothering with the lock. Too time-consuming.

A
pop
and
whiz
crackled in his ears as another bullet hit him, this one in the thigh. His limbs trembled as weakness tried to set in, but he managed to remain upright. Blood poured, the demon sang and Reyes scanned the room, taking stock. Danika
lay in bed, bound, motionless. A human stood at her side, trembling and pale as he aimed a gun at Reyes.

“I’ve waited for this moment a long time,” that human said hoarsely. “Dreamed of it. Craved it. Now here you are.”

Reyes zeroed in on the man’s tattoo: the mark of infinity, symmetrical, black. “Here I am. Did you touch her?”

“As if you care what’s been done to a human.”

Another shot. Reyes leapt to the side. He would enjoy the pain, but didn’t want to lose any more blood. The next five minutes were too important.

This blast sailed past him, and he raised his own gun. Aimed.

“Whatever you do to me, staying here, watching the woman, was worth it,” the man said as Reyes squeezed the trigger. Another head shot. The Hunter collapsed onto the carpeted floor and didn’t rise.

Reyes was at Danika’s side in the next instant, snapping the bands apart and liberating her wrists and ankles. He gathered her sleeping form in his arms, his blood dripping onto her stained white shirt and too-pale face. Her dark hair was matted to her scalp and temples, her cheeks hollow—how much weight had she lost?—and her eyelashes cast ghostly shadows that blended with the bruises under her eyes before branching into menacing spikes. There was another bruise on her jaw.

“Danika.” Her name was both a prayer and a curse.

She didn’t stir.

Her arms hung limply at her sides, her head lolled. Awake, she would have shoved him away. He would rather that happen than this…inactivity. This nothingness.

Behind him, the sounds of battle ceased, replaced by the wail of sirens. He could hear his friends filling the doorway, shuffling inside the room. He didn’t care. He tightened his hold on Danika—too long, it had been too long since he’d last seen and held her—resting her cheek against his neck.

Her skin was cold, so cold. Like ice. Her heartbeat was slow against his chest.

“Lucien?” The name croaked from his throat. Hot tears blurred his vision.

“I am here, my friend.” A hand settled on his shoulder. “Somehow they knew we were coming and were prepared, but they have now been dispatched.”

“Never mind that. Take us home.”

D
ANIKA HAD BEEN COLD
for so long that the blazing-hot blanket draped over her shocked her out of the death-sleep. Her eyelids popped open, and a gasp shoved past her lips. Remnants of her nightmare refused to fade, however, preventing her from seeing what surrounded her. She saw only a darkness slashed with crimson, the night bleeding from lethal wounds. She heard swords clanking, demons laughing evilly and the whoosh of heads as they rolled.

Death, death,
her every breath proclaimed.

Calm down, just calm down. This isn’t real. You know better
.

Her grandmother had once suffered from dreams like these. Dreams where demons ruled and evil reigned. Dreams that had driven the frail woman to try and kill herself at the age of sixty-five.

The dreams were not premonitions of the future, for they never came true. Until Reyes and his friends had entered her life, that is. But the dreams
were
real enough to terrify, so Danika understood her grandmother’s pain.

Most of them were turbulent, screams and fatality infusing every macabre scene. All her life, that’s how it had been. Bloody death. Used to be, she would awaken from those painful nights and paint what she’d seen in an attempt to draw the madness from her subconscious—and keep it out.

Once, before she’d known any better, she had shown her parents one of the paintings. They’d been so frightened and
upset, looking at her as if she were one of the monsters she’d painted, that she had never let another person see them. Besides,
she
didn’t even like to look at them.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, though, her dreams were sometimes utter serenity. Angels, their wings spread in white-feathered glory, would float through the bright azure skies. Their beauty always amazed her, and she would awaken smiling and full of verve rather than sweating and trembling as she was now.

“I’m here, angel, I’m here.”

That deep, rich voice belonged in her nightmares
and
those angelic glimpses, both heaven and hell rolled into one mesmerizing seduction. As she lay there, the bad dream quieted and the darkness faded, light pushing its way into her mind.

A bedroom came into view, but it wasn’t the one she remembered falling asleep in. Weapons adorned the walls, from throwing stars to swords to daggers. Even axes. There was a polished vanity, but no chair. The owner didn’t sit there? Didn’t study his reflection or brush his hair?

His?
How do you know this room belongs to a man?

In and out she breathed, the familiar scent of sandalwood and pine filling her nose. Oh, she knew. A man, definitely, and one in particular. The knowledge rocked her to the core.
Maybe you’re wrong. Please be wrong.

The bed was swathed in black cotton; turning her head, Danika saw that she was draped by a half-clothed man. He possessed skin of chocolate and honey, taut muscle and ripped sinew. No hair marred his chest, but there was a menacing butterfly tattoo that stretched from one shoulder to the other and up his neck.
Menacing butterfly
—two words that could be used together to describe only one man.

Reyes.

“Oh, God.” She bolted upright, dislodging him. Panting, she scrambled to the edge of the mattress, never turning her
back to him. A snippet of her conversation with Stefano played through her mind.

“What if they try and kill me?”
she’d demanded.

“They won’t,”
he’d answered confidently.

“How do you know? You can’t be sure.”

“They are men. You are a woman. Think about it. Besides, they could have hurt you before, but didn’t.”

“They warned me to stay away from them.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Find out. Find out everything you can. Their weapons, their weaknesses, their plans, their likes and dislikes. You’ll take a cell phone. It’s small, easy to hide. I’ll give you a day to settle in. After that, we’ll talk every night if possible.”

“What about you?”
she’d asked, not wanting to consider the dangers of spying just yet.
“You’re not a woman. By your rationale, they’ll kill you if they find you here.”

“By the time they arrive, I’ll be gone, watching from another location if I can. Others will be here to guard you, to make sure the Lords don’t intend to harm you, so don’t fret. These men are willing to give their lives to ensure the downfall of those demons. Don’t let their sacrifice be for naught.”

“What? Oh, hell no. I don’t want anyone sacrificing anything.”

“Would you feel better if I told you they’ll run as soon as the Lords arrive?”

“Yes.”

“Then they’ll run.”

Had they, though?

Slowly Reyes sat up, and their eyes met in a heated clash, his as dark as his skin. Turbulent. Hers, a little watery. His lips pulled in a tight frown. Her gaze dropped and she studied the rest of him. His nipples were hard enough to cut glass; three wounds were healing, one scabbing on his shoulder, one on his sternum and one marring his stomach.

“Where am I?” she asked, the words a mere whisper.

“My home.”

“In Buda?”

“Yes.”

Her eyelids narrowed, her mind a black hole that couldn’t provide a single memory of being moved from one location to another. “How did I get here? How did you find me?”

He looked away, hiding his gaze under his lashes. “You know I am not human. Don’t you?”

Knowledge she wished she didn’t possess and a conversation it was best not to start.
Why, yes, Reyes, I do know you’re a demon. Your greatest enemy gave me the scoop and now I’m here to help him destroy you.
“You came for me,” she said, changing the subject. Part of her had hoped for just such a thing; part of her had feared it.

“Yes,” he repeated.

“Why?” Without the heat of his gaze holding her captive, she was able to scan her own body. She was still clothed, thank God. Her sweater had been removed, but her white T-shirt was still stained with grease and now blood—hers, the man she’d hurt—her jeans ripped from her struggle with her assailant. She…smelled. How long had she been wearing these clothes?

Suddenly the bed bounced, and her eyes jerked back to Reyes. He had propped his back against the headboard, widening the distance between them. That should have pleased her. Yes, it should have.

“I have a feeling I will always come for you.” His angry voice whipped through the silence, his accusing expression laying the blame at her feet.

Once again her eyelids narrowed to tiny slits. “Let me guess. You’ll always come for me because you like hurting me. Well, why didn’t you just kill me while I slept? I wouldn’t have been able to fight. You could have cut my throat, quick, easy. That
is
what you ultimately plan to do, isn’t it? Or have you changed your mind?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. He remained silent.

“Have you captured the rest of my family?”

Again, no reply. Only that increasingly erratic tick.

“Answer me, damn you!” She slammed her fist into the mattress. The frustrated and panicked action offered no relief from the sudden horror in her chest. “Do you know where they are? If they’re alive?”

Finally he deigned to speak again. “I have done nothing to them. You have my word.”

“Liar!” She’d sprung across the bed before she even realized what she was doing, slapping his face, pounding her fists into his wounds to cause maximum pain. “You know something. You have to know something.”

His eyes closed and a blissful smile lifted the corners of his lips.

Her fury intensified. “You think this is funny? Well, what about this?” Seething, not knowing where the desire came from, she launched forward and sank her teeth into his neck, incisors digging so deep she immediately tasted blood.

He moaned. His hands tangled in her hair, not jerking her away but urging her closer. She offered no resistance; she couldn’t. Embers of her anger and helplessness were twisting, breaking apart and realigning into something infinitely sweeter. The heat of him…so good, so damn good. He burned her soul-deep, flames licking at her, consuming her. She liked it, liked hurting him, liked having her mouth on him, and the knowledge shamed her.

Between her legs, his shaft swelled and hardened. When he moaned a second time, it blended with the sound of hers. He arched into her—
yes, like that
—and she scraped her nails up his chest, to his nipples.

A harsh animal growl filled her ears as his hands settled on her waist, squeezing. His hips writhed against her. Again. She wanted him to do it again. But a moment later, he stilled.

“Stop, Danika. You have to stop.”

No, she didn’t want to stop. She wanted—
what the hell are you doing
?
Nibbling on the enemy?

Her jaw went slack. Gasping for breath, she jolted backward. His arms fell to his sides, his features hard, tight. She wiped her mouth with the back of a shaky wrist. Her entire body was shaking. Her nipples were pearled and aching, her stomach clenched. A metallic tang coated her tongue.

Reyes shifted, covering his jean-clad, swollen cock with the sheet. His cheeks glowed a rosy pink shade. Was he embarrassed? Blood trickled from his neck and swirled down his chest like a tiny, winding river. As she watched, the blood dried and the bite marks partially healed, already scabbing.

Monster,
she reminded herself.
He’s a monster.

Horror—at her feelings, her actions, and his—washed through her. Must have coated her expression, too, because he said, “Do not touch me again, and I will not touch you.”

“Don’t worry.” A violent tremor overtook her, and she crossed her arms over her middle. She’d wanted to hurt him, had
liked
it even.
Seriously, what the hell is wrong with me?
“I won’t come near you.”

“Good.” He paused, his eyes perusing her body. Checking for injuries or something more erotic? “What did those men do to you?” He sounded unemotional now, her answer clearly of no importance.

That nonchalance irritated her. She hated him, so why did she want him to care? “They—” A wave of dizziness suddenly attacked her. A groan pierced the air. Hers, she realized. Her eyelids closed, so heavy she could no longer hold them open. Her adrenaline had crashed, she supposed, draining her strength.

How long since she’d eaten? Stefano hadn’t fed her, had only given her sips of water every few hours. And he’d injected her with something. Something that had spun her mind out of con
trol, tossing it into the sky before dropping it into a churning ocean to be ripped into a thousand pieces.

“We can’t make it too easy for them,”
Stefano had said.
“We knew the demon of Death would follow the trail we left him, and that he’d have no idea we were expecting him. We worked hard to make this abduction look real and I won’t fail in that endeavor now. No food, no fresh clothes. We can drug you or we can beat you. Which do you prefer?”

“Neither.”

“Choose or I’ll choose for you. Don’t forget, Danika, you’re doing this for your family.”

“So much for my training,”
she’d laughed resentfully.
“Drug me. Again, apparently.”

“Danika, what did those men do to you?”

Present collided with past, tearing her from those surreal musings.
Stupid girl
.
Do
not
relax your guard in front of Reyes!

She pried her eyelashes apart. The world around her was blurred, Reyes nothing more than a dark slash directly in front of her. His fingers were gripping her shoulders and urging her down…gently…softly. As her vision cleared, she saw that his usually harsh features now seemed almost tender with concern.

“No touching,” she told him, the words slurred. Delicious heat once again enveloped her. Perhaps the demon blood she’d ingested was responsible. “We agreed.”

“Shhh.” His breath caressed her cheek, as warm as his touch. “Relax. We will talk later.”

“Go to hell.”

He had no trouble understanding her. “Didn’t we once have this very conversation? I’m already there.”

Fight this
.
Fight him!
She tried, she really did, but a dark tunnel beckoned her, dragging her closer and closer to the edge. “Where is…my mom? My sister? Grandma?”

“I’m sure they are fine.” Fingers brushed her brow, softly smoothing her hair behind her ears.

“I want…to see…them. I won’t…sleep. Can’t make me. Hungry.”

“I’ll feed you.” A petal-soft press of…lips? Yes, lips against the corner of her mouth.

She inhaled deeply, suddenly drowning in the scent of man and spice and inexplicably happy for it. “Hate you,” she said, wishing she meant it.

“I know.” He whispered directly in her ear, his warm breath traveling inside. “Sleep now, angel. You are safe. I will allow nothing else to happen to you.”

She sagged. The cool mattress pressed against her back. Flames on top, ice beneath. Unable to fight any longer, she fell into the tunnel. Oblivion claimed her.

S
HE WAS HERE, IN HIS BED
.
His bed.

Waiting for her to awaken had been a lesson in self-control and Reyes had begun to grow fearful that she would sleep forever. Then she had pulled herself from slumber, those long lashes cracking open to reveal bright emerald eyes, and he’d gotten a
real
lesson in self-torture.

Pain didn’t like that Reyes was in the process of tiptoeing from the room.
More, want more teeth and nails and hurt.
“No.”

The demon roared inside his mind.

Reyes pressed onward, only throwing one backward glance over his shoulder. Danika’s black locks were splayed over his pillow, her face where his often rested. That knowledge filled him with pride. Even now, she might be breathing in his scent, making his essence a part of her.