Carnal (Her Dark Desires #1) (24 page)

“That
sounds lonely.”

“It’s
a small price to pay.” He lifted my chin and kissed me gently. “She told me
what to expect, from the touching to the intense attraction to the mating, and
how it worked. I was skeptical, having had my heart ripped out once, until the
day I saw you in the elevator.”

I
remembered that moment clearly. “Wait, you mean you saw me in a vision or
something?”

He
smiled. “Down to the clothes you were wearing that day. I couldn’t believe my
eyes and thought maybe I was imagining things until I touched you. At first, I
tried dismissing the tingling to my imagination. But when you came to Elysian
and I started to spend more time with you, I knew you were the one.”

“Destined
to be together,” I murmured, lost in thought for a moment.

Hector
studied my face with worry. “You look stressed.”

I
laughed. “Well, I never much believed in fate, and you just told me we were
destined to meet. It’s a lot to take in.”

“So
you’re not opposed to that? You don’t feel manipulated?”

I
thought about it, then shook my head. “No. Actually, I like the sound of it, of
a love that’s meant to be.”

“Me
too.”

Lying
there in Hector’s arms, all felt right with the world. For a rare night, I
could pretend my life was perfect. That it wasn’t wrong to love, a demonic
force wasn’t after my soul, and I was just a woman who’d fallen in love with a
man.

I
closed my eyes, content for the first time in a long while.

That
is, until Damien appeared in my dream later that night.

Chapter
18

MY
FIRST INCLINATION THAT something was wrong was when I suddenly felt like I’d
been dunked in ice-water. I’d never been so cold in my life.

I
stood – no, floated – in complete darkness.

“Hello?”
I called out, only to hear my voice echo back at me, like I was standing in a
cavern.

The
sky, or at least, I thought it was the sky, started to lighten to indigo,
revealing the outline of a great tree. Its gnarled branches reached toward the
sky, so dense they nearly blocked what meager light there was.

I
squinted.

The
branches had an odd shape to them, and it took a moment to figure out why.

They
almost looked like human hands.

A
chill crept up my spin, but it wasn’t from the cold. It came from that sixth
sense that told you you were somewhere you definitely didn’t want to be,
someplace dangerous.

I
needed to run. I don’t know how I knew that. Call it fight-or-flight or whatever,
but either way, I was hauling ass out of here, pronto.

I
went to take a step – and couldn’t.

“The
hell…?”

My
feet were literally frozen to the ground, encased in blocks of ice.

The
ice started threading up my leg, coming for me, spreading the coldness into my
clothes, then my skin.

In
a moment, I would be frozen solid, and yet that wasn’t what frightened me most.

Things
were skittering
in the darkness.

My
heartbeat picked up its pace. I fought again to break free, but I might as well
have been encased in cement.

I
tried shifting into something strong enough to break the ice, but that ability
was apparently gone too.

I
was out of options.

I
shivered, hearing my teeth rattle, when big dark wings enclosed around me. They
were veined, like a bat’s, completely encasing me in their darkness.

A
sensual voice whispered into my ear as strong arms wrapped around my waist,
pulling me to the muscular, bare torso at my back. “No matter how far you run,
no matter where you go,” Damien said, “I promise you, Sally, I will find you.”

I
should have screamed. I should have done a lot of things, like try to break
free and run. But I was sick of that. I was tired of hiding and being scared
all the time.

In
what I would agree was not one of my wisest moments, I instead smiled and
hissed, “Then come and get me, you pussy.”

The
dream shattered when Damien roared, his fangs tearing into my flesh.

I
awoke with a start, sitting up so fast I saw stars. I gritted my teeth and
closed my eyes until the room stopped spinning.

Hector
had a hand at my back, and he was trying to pull my hands away so he could see
my face. “Sally, what happened? Talk to me.”

“It’s
okay,” I finally said, relaxing with a deep breath. “I’m fine. Just a
nightmare.”

He
tensed. “Damien?”

I
nodded. “Can demons by chance find you in your dreams?”

“They
can,” he said darkly, his hand fisting in the sheet. “And there’s no way to
block them out. When you dream, you’re not entirely on this plane anymore. You
enter their realm.”

It
made me never want to go to sleep again. “He said he’d find me.” I looked at
Hector, and he cupped my face. “He’s never going to leave me alone, is he?”

Hector
kissed my forehead and held me close. “Demons don’t like to chase for long.
He’ll eventually grow bored and leave.”

“But
what if this demon lives for the chase? Agent Harris said every demon has its
fetish.” I paused. “Maybe I should let him find me.”

“Sally,
we went through this,” Hector said, his voice hardening.

I
sat back and looked at him. “Hector, do you honestly believe this thing will
just grow bored and give up searching for me?”

His
hesitation spoke for him.

“That’s
what I thought.” I took his hands in mine. “I know you don’t want me to do
this, because you’re a protector, and you’re scared this is the one thing you
can’t protect me from.”

“Sally-”

“And
I know that sucks,” I said, talking over him, “but if we don’t try to face
this, we’ll never be rid of him. I know that in my gut.”

Hector’s
gaze turned sad.

I
reached up and cupped his cheek. “You said we’re connected. I don’t think fate
or a love spell or a crazy Red Witch would have brought us together only to
tear us apart. It’s just not right.” I set my jaw. “And dammit, I won’t let it.
I refuse to run from this or any other obstacle that comes our way. If Damien
wants a fight, then he’s damn well going to get one.”

Something
sparked in Hector’s eyes as he watched me stand up. It looked a lot like hope.
And bloodlust. “Where are you going?”

I
gave him a bloodthirsty smile. “To get us an angel.”

AGENT
HARRIS WASN’T KIDDING when she said we’d have an entourage of some of the most
powerful witches and warlocks I’d ever met. Wind, fire, water, earth, they were
all here, trailing us as we left the hospital and accompanying us to Elysian.
They never left our side. If people didn’t stare at me before, they sure as
hell did now.

Even
a rare White Witch, gifted with the power of life and light, was there. She
looked of Oriental descent, with smooth, ivory skin and beautiful dark hair
that flowed to her petite waist. I learned her name was Yasmine, and the jolt
of power I felt from shaking her hand nearly floored me. If she couldn’t help
take out Damien, I didn’t know who could, except for maybe Alistair Hex, and
I’d just assume to deal with as few Hex men as possible, thank you very much.

Angela
was intrigued yet nervous when we approached her. Once we knew we were going
through with the entrapment ritual, we contacted the D.P.I. at once, and they
sent a team out to Elysian to help us prepare. They’d already pulled some
strings and found a holy object - a prayer box that belonged to a saint - and
then all we needed was our angel.

Angela
swallowed hard. “If it will help you get rid of this asshole, I’ll do it for
you,” she told me.

I
hugged her. “Thanks, girl. I owe you one.”

“You
owe me several cold ones. We’re going to get so drunk we can’t remember our own
names when this is all said and done.”

“Sounds
good to me.”

Hector
muttered something under his breath I was pretty sure I didn’t want to hear
anyway. He had tried his best to talk me out of it every possible chance he
got, and each time, it became harder to refuse. The odds were stacked against
us. I was a hell of a lot more powerful than I’d been when I came here, thanks
to training with Hector and taking in bits of his energy when we touched, but
it didn’t mean it’d hold up for long against a demon.

Harris
made me aware of that at every turn. “If he takes you to his realm, we won’t be
able to retrieve you,” she said as I suited up. I looked like I was auditioning
for
Underworld
, with all the silver, knives, throwing stars, and other
assortment of weapons I had on me. I’d had two weeks of the most grueling
training in weaponry, and while I was now comfortable with the basics, I still
didn’t feel nearly prepared to take on a demon alone. All the weapons had been
blessed, as silver wouldn’t slow him down, but silver doused in holy water,
prayers, and White Magic would. All I had to do was distract him long enough to
stab him, then Angela and Yasmine would do their magic. They’d been preparing
relentlessly for the ritual, and it’d taken a lot out of Angela at first
because she wasn’t accustomed to using so much of her White Magic, but she grew
stronger. Or rather, as strong as we could hope for, seeing as we were about to
initiate Operation Demon Catcher.

I
tried ignoring the hammering of my heart as I strapped up. “I understand you can’t
help me if he drags me to hell or wherever he takes his victims,” I said with
more bravado than I felt. “But I guess that’s a risk I have to take.”

Harris
squeezed my shoulder and tapped her ear. “We’ll be listening to you the entire
time. Just try not to make it obvious you’re wired.”

I
rolled my eyes. “As you’ve reminded me for the umpteenth time.”

She
gave me what was probably meant to be an encouraging smile but came out as a
grimace and walked away. The others took turns hugging me, and when Hector came
up, I damn near lost my will to follow through with this.

We
stared at each other, lost for words. How did you tell someone everything you
felt when it may very well be the last time you’d ever see him?

When
I couldn’t stand the tension any longer, I said, “Oh, to hell with it,” and
wrapped my arms around him and kissed him.

Astonished
gasps went up around us, but all I was focused on was the taste of Hector and
the feeling of absolute love wrapping around me.

When
I released him, we were both breathless. I looked around at the surprised and
stern faces around us and shrugged. “Hey, you only live once,” I said
flippantly, hoping that would deter them from reading any more into it, then
turned and strolled away.

The
plan was simple enough - I’d walk out into the courtyard alone and call to
Damien. Yasmine and her comrades had already set up the perimeter with a Circle
of Safety and a Cage of Light to keep him contained once he showed. That is, if
he didn’t sense it beforehand.

My
stomach flipped with nerves as I came to a stop in the middle of the
lantern-lit courtyard. It would have been a romantic spot, with its rosehedges
and cobblestone pathways, had it not been about to be the location for a
bloodbath.

“Ready
when you are,” Agent Harris said in my ear.

I
knew Hector was listening. That thought alone gave me the strength to do this.

I
love you, Hector.

Not
giving myself time to chicken out, I inhaled a deep breath and called, “Damien!
You want me, come and get me!”

Nothing
happened for several long seconds. The student body had been cleared out by
security, locked down in their dorms until the show was over, so the courtyard
and the empty surrounding countryside was silent.

I
heard it first in the hedges, a rustling of leaves, followed by a chilly draft
laced with rose perfume and the telltale scent of sulfur.

I
knew he was behind me without having to look. “Took you long enough,” I said,
starting to turn. “For a moment, I didn’t think you had the balls to-”

I
stopped dead. “Mia? What are you doing here?”

Angela’s
creepy hybrid roommate gazed back at me with her overly large, unblinking eyes.
I’d only met her once, but that had been more than enough. That whole thing
about faeries looking like Tinkerbell was a load of crap, not unless she had
pale white skin, vines for clothes, and teeth like a piranha.

“I’m
looking for Angela,” she said in her eerie, reed-like voice. “Have you seen
her?”

I
hesitated, caught off guard. “I… think she went for a walk.”

Mia
cocked her head to the side, looking like a hawk eyeing its prey. “A walk?”

I
nodded carefully. “Yes. A walk.”

Mia
licked her lips, her black tongue moving in a tantalizingly slow motion.
“You’re such a liar, Sally,” came Damien’s voice through her. “Demons can smell
lies like perfume.” He smiled. “It makes your nervousness taste even sweeter.”