Shades of Darkness (Redemption Series) (22 page)

Anya’s throaty groan sent him into his own spiraling release, and for those last stolen moments, nothing existed but Haden and his mate. In a few short hours, when the sun fractured the midnight sky to birth a new day, he’d be leaving her, saying good-bye to go fight her demons—to slay the wicked dragon, and with any hope, he’d return to her before nightfall. If not, then he wasn’t coming back at all. He’d be dead, because he wasn’t leaving Sheol without their freedom.

With a tortured sigh, he kissed his female one last time and pulled away from her. She caught his arm and tugged him back. Not ready to leave, he let her draw him down, taking care to shoulder the majority of his weight. The gentle swell of her abdomen brushed against the muscled ridges of his stomach.

As he bent down to kiss her, he felt a fluttering bump against his stomach, and Anya smiled against his lips. “Did you feel that?” she asked, lacing her arms up around his neck to pull him closer.

“Yeah, I did.” It was a bittersweet moment, feeling his child for the first, and what he now knew was the last time.If it’d been hard to leave before, now the task felt impossible. His heart literally ached with desperation. If he thought, for one minute, there was someplace they could go where he could hide them—be safe—he’d swallow his arrogant male pride and run with her in a heartbeat. But he knew Gahn, and if he tried to flee, the hunter would become the hunted, and Gahn would never quit.

“See, I’m not the only one who wants you to stay.” She kissed his neck, lightly trailing her fingers down his back. “Just one more day… Please stay one more day.”

The pain in his chest made his voice harsher than he’d intended. “I can’t, Anya. We’ve discussed this. Already I’ve tarried too long getting you settled in with your uncle and his family. I have to go before Gahn sends another legion. If all goes well, I’ll be back by tonight.”

“And if it doesn’t?” she challenged, tears now streaming down her face.

Damn, it nearly killed him to see her cry. “Shhh…” he soothed, bending down to kiss her face, tasting every place her tears touched—her eyes, her cheeks, and neck. But soon his kisses turned from comforting to demanding as his body sparked the plea for one last time.

Anya must have felt it, too, because her body welcomed his demands and issued a few of her own. Maybe some sixth sense inside her knew he wasn’t coming back to her, at least not alive…

Three days… Three days he waited while Gahn—the bastard—refused to see him. By the time an audience was granted, Haden was murderously pissed off. He knew Gahn was fucking with him, giving him a little payback for all those summons he’d ignored over the past five months. And each hour that passed didn’t bode well for the demon’s amicability. By the time Haden walked in through the doors of the Dark Court, he knew he had about a snowball’s chance in hell of walking out of there, so he didn’t even try to pull his punches.

“I want out!” Haden demanded as he stormed into the chamber. One of the hounds standing near the entrance leapt to its feet, the animal’s eyes glowing red in the dim lighting. Froth hung from its jowls, its sharp teeth flashing a menacing snarl as it snapped at his ankle.

Haden paused long enough to drive his booted heel into the side of the animal’s head. A loud yelp echoed throughout the chamber as Haden continued to stride purposefully toward Gahn, who watched him with a look of surprised amusement.

“So…the Prodigal Son returns at last.”

The sickly sweet cadence of his voice almost gave Haden a glimmer of hope that Gahn would release him.

“Tell me, my boy, where have you been?”

“You ask me that as if you don’t know.”

Gahn shrugged and cast him a blasé glance before feigning interest with something stuck under his long, gnarled nail. But Haden wasn’t buying the act. Gahn was furious—livid. He could see it in the flashes of red sparking the demon’s coal black eyes.

“You’re an ungrateful shit, you know that?” he snapped, locking his menacing glare on him. “You want out? After all I’ve done for you? You want out!” he bellowed, slamming his fist onto the arm of his chair. “You stupid son of a bitch! The only reason you’re alive is because
I
allow you to live. I own you and don’t you ever fucking forget it! If you want mercy, then you came to the wrong throne, boy! I’ve raised you from a pup, and this is the thanks I get!”

“I have served you for thousands of years! Without fail!” Haden yelled back. “Do you know how much blood I’ve spilt for you?”

“Not enough,” came Gahn’s cold, detached reply, momentarily rendering Haden speechless.

“Not enough?! Will you damn me to an eternity of murdering for you? Seventy-five years, that’s all I ask—one mortal lifetime. And then I’ll return to you faithfully in service, forever in your debt.”

“You are forever in my debt right now, and if I thought there was a chance you’d redeem yourself and return to that petulant shithole in Africa to do what I sent you there to do…” Gahn shook his head. “Seventy-five years,” he scoffed. “And what of the young she carries in her womb? And their young, and their young after that? All of them—sighted Nephilim! Did you honestly think, for one second, that I’d allow you to breed your own race and make yourself a god? Haden, even if there was a small measure of kindness inside me and I would have agreed to grant you your mortal’s lifetime, you killed her the moment you fucked her and infected her with your seed.”

In that moment, Haden knew. He knew why Gahn had refused to see him for three days and he knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Anya was dead. Grief ripped the denial from his throat as he prayed to a God who must truly hate him. “Noooo!!!”

“This seat taken?”

Haden jumped. Holy hell, he hadn’t even heard anyone sneaking up on him. When he opened his eyes, he knew why. Shit…

“For you, it is,” Haden replied in a bored, don’t-start-with-me growl.

“Good.” Liam swiped at Haden’s legs like a mother bear cuffing her cub, knocking them off the chair. They hit the floor with a sold
thud,
and Liam slid into the seat across from him. He didn’t speak. The irritating bastard just sat there staring at him like some science experiment gone wrong.

“I’m surprised you found me so easily without that demon’s stench to follow. Damn, they do stink, don’t they?”

Liam’s brow arched questioningly. Still he didn’t speak.

“Look, you can either speak, or you can pantomime this shit out, but I am not, nor will I ever be, a mind reader.”

“How are you tracking Olivia?” Liam finally asked.

 “Lucky guess?”

“Bullshit.”

“You’re right. Luck has never been on my side—”

“What are you?” Liam demanded.

Haden let out a sarcastic snort. “What do
you
think I am?”

Liam scowled. “If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking, asshole. I know you’re not one of them. Your energy is different—”

“Ahh…but a force to be reckoned with, no less.”

Liam tensed and his energy spiked, throwing off reflections of crimson and amethyst that coincidently matched the color change in his eyes. “Who are you? What are you?” he rephrased the question. “You’re not demonic, but your soul is as black as theirs.” He refused to look away, the warrior’s eyes remained cold and calculating. “What do you want with Olivia?”

“Tell you what,” Haden said, picking at his eyetooth with his tongue in bored interest. “You have questions and I have answers… I’ll play you for them.”

“What?” Liam snapped, looking at Haden like he’d just lost his mind.

Maybe he had… “Pool,” he said, getting up from his seat and snatching the Tequila off the table. He tipped the bottle back and took a long pull, abandoning the glass as he sauntered to the gaming corner. “You sink a ball, I’ll answer a question. I sink a ball, you answer one of mine.”

Liam rolled his eyes and slid from the booth, following him to the back. He didn’t miss the lithe grace in which the warrior moved—completely fluid and in control. Yeah, he could take Rowen, easy. The only regret Haden had was that he was going to miss the show.

“Where are Rowen and his legion?”

Haden slid the quarters in the slot, shoved the lever forward, and jerked it back, releasing a cascade of balls. He pulled the white one out of the rack and tossed it at Liam with enough speed and stank to test the warrior’s reflexes. He snatched it out of the air with a reflexive flick of his wrist. Impressive… An approving grin spread across Haden’s face. “I think
that
constitutes a question. Rack ‘em up. And no angelic magic. You’ll play me fair and square,” he said, pulling a stick off the wall and chalking it up.

Liam shot him an irritated glare, snatching the triangle off the hook on the wall and slamming it down on the table. He racked the balls and grabbed the stick closest to him. Haden watched as he lined up the cue and drove it into the balls. A loud
crack
rang out in the empty bar as pool balls ricocheted off the side bumpers, scattering across the table. Two solid-colored balls rolled into the right corner pocket, and Liam looked up at Haden expectantly.

“Nice…” Haden said, nodding approvingly.

Liam didn’t reply. He stood near the table, staring at Haden with an amethyst glow in his deep violet eyes.

“Evercrest…” Haden answered, casually. “Cale and Rhen are in Evercrest. I expect they’ll be rollin’ in sometime tomorrow morning. Not sure where Rowen is at the moment. Of course, if I were you, I’d be makin’ it my priority to find him right quick. He’s got a hard-on for that female of yours and his only orders are to kill her, don’t matter to the Dark Court how she gets that way.”

Now, that got the warrior’s blood boiling. Haden bit the inside of his cheek to keep the satisfied smirk off his face.

“Yeah, he’s around here, somewhere. I told him to piss off this morning.” He took another swig of Tequila. “That one really tries my patience. He can be a real asshole, in case you didn’t know.”

Liam let out a sarcastic laugh. “Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?”

Haden shrugged. “‘S’pose it is,” he replied, offering Liam the bottle of Tequila.

He shook his head. Of course he would. No self-respecting Ronnin would be caught dead sucking from the same bottle as a Nephilim. “Suit yourself. Just bein’ friendly, is all.”

Liam walked over to the bar and came back a minute later with a Beck’s in his hand. He took a sip and set the bottle on the rail. Lining up another shot, he slammed a solid into the left corner pocket. “What do you want with Olivia?” he asked, swiping his beer and tipping it back.

Haden smiled. “She certainly is a beautiful little thing, isn’t she?”

The muscle in Liam’s jaw twitched, his eyes flashing jade with an amethyst hue. Haden was quickly finding that he rather enjoyed pushing the warrior’s buttons. His eyes were like a damn Lite Brite.

“I don’t recall my question having anything to do with her appearance,” he growled.

Haden chuckled. “No, that one was a gimme. Don’t worry, if I wanted that female dead, she already would be. Of course, don’t get me wrong. I’m not above it, if this doesn’t go down the way I need it to.”

“Meaning…?”

 “Meaning, she has something I want.” He chugged a pull of Tequila, gauging the warrior’s reaction. The color in his eyes intensified, along with his energy spike, and that’s when he realized the colors changed with emotional triggers. That was…pretty freaking awesome, if you asked him, and a whole hell of a lot of fun to mess with.

“What
do
you want?” Liam growled, looking like he had a mind to crack that Beck’s upside Haden’s skull.

Haden held up his hands in surrender and chuckled. “Take it easy, soldier. I’m not gonna lift my skirt and drop my panties for you just yet. What fun would that be? It’s still your shot,” he said, nodding to the pool stick in Liam’s hand.

Liam grumbled something foul and foreign-sounding under his breath and shot again, sinking another solid ball. “What do you want from her?”

He gave Liam a flippant wave of his hand. “Pleading the Fifth, ask another question.”

That earned him another flash of amethyst. So apparently that color meant step-the-fuck-back. “What are you?” he asked, glaring at Haden from across the table.

“Hey, that’s three in a row.” He nodded at the table, ignoring the question. “You sure this is all you?” he asked doubtfully.

Liam grabbed his beer off the table and drank it half down. “It’s all me. Now, answer the damn question.”

He sighed dramatically. “I’m a hunter. But then again, I’m sure you already know that. I’ve been assigned to track Olivia for Rowen and his band of bastards.”

“How are you tracking her?”

He laughed. “Now if you want me to answer that one, you’re going to have to buy me dinner and a movie first. I’m not that easy.”

“Then tell me something I don’t know.”

Haden shrugged. “I like the color purple,” he replied flippantly. “It looks good on you.”

“You son of a bitch!” Liam growled, leaping over the table with surprising speed and agility. He flipped his pool stick sideways and crashed into Haden, using it to leverage him back. They didn’t stop until he crashed against the wall. He took the hit, letting the warrior muscle him around, getting a feel for the angel’s strength while revealing none of his own. Just as he thought, the Ronnin was strong—powerful—and he suspected he was only getting a small taste of it.

“This is not a game!” Liam growled. “Olivia is not a game! Whatever you are, it doesn’t really matter, because you all die the same!”

The thin thread of Haden’s temper snapped—playtime was over. Self-righteous son of a bitch! Reaching up, he grabbed the stick and shoved it off his windpipe. “Not all of us got to choose sides in this war,” he hissed with contempt. “Some of us were unfortunate enough to be born into it!”