Shades of Darkness (Redemption Series) (45 page)

“Get out!” she yelled for the second time, pointing her arm toward the door just in case he didn’t know the way.

Pushing away from the doorway with his shoulder, he swaggered toward her. He held his hands up. She wasn’t buying the defensive gesture for one second. Liam was right. Mitch was nothing more than a self-serving asshole that cared more about his ego than he did her.

“You son of a bitch!”

He stopped a few steps shy of her. “Whaaat? Why are you pissed at me?”

His puzzled frown didn’t fool her. “You climbed into bed with me, Mitch! Naked! You knew I was asleep, and you knew he would find us together!”

Mitch scowled, his icy blue eyes taking on a sharp edge. “I was drunk, Olivia! I passed out! What the hell do you want from me?”

“I want you to get dressed for starters, and then get out! Go home, Mitch! Before you get yourself killed—”

“I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“Oh, yes you are! This is me officially breaking up with you. Liam was right, you don’t even know me! Don’t you get it? I see demons—they’re everywhere, Mitch. Do you have any idea what that’s like? I walk around every day, pretending that I’m normal and that I don’t see them, because I know the second they realize I can, they’re going to try to kill me. Every second of every day I have to trust that angel,” she pointed to the door Liam had just stormed out, “is there protecting me. For just one second, can you even try to imagine the faith it takes for me to walk out the door every morning? Liam is my life, Mitch! Without him, I’d be dead by the end of the day! We share a bond I can’t even begin to try to explain to you. I’m sorry I never told you the truth about myself. It wasn’t fair to you, but then, it sounds like you haven’t exactly been honest with me, either. But I’m going to be completely honest with you right now. I can’t marry you, because I am and forever will be in love with Liam. I am so sorry, Mitch.”

He stood there a moment, his expression inscrutable—and then he erupted. “You’re sorry?” he growled. “You’re sorry!” His eyes narrowed. His bare chest rose and fell with panting breaths of rage. “I risked my life for you and that’s what you have to say to me? ‘I’m sorry!’”

Of all the asinine things for him to say… “I never asked you to come here!” she shouted back indignantly. “In fact, I specifically told you
not
to follow me! I said it wasn’t safe! Clearly, you’re beyond being reasonable here, and I’m done trying to explain myself to you. I want you to get dressed and get out!”

Perhaps it was harsh, but to give him any hope of reconciliation would only delay Mitch’s departure. He needed to leave, and she needed to find Liam before it was too late, before he found Cale and Rhen, ended this, and left her—again.

She turned away, and Mitch grabbed her arm, halting her retreat. His fingers bit into her arm as he growled, “Where the hell do you think you’re going? We’re not done here.” He jerked Olivia toward him, and she tripped, slamming into the wall. Her shoulders connected first, followed by the back of her head.

Small bursts of light momentarily blinded her, when the door suddenly flew open, rattling the wall she was pressed against.

“Oh, I think you’re done here.”

She recognized that voice, but it wasn’t Liam’s. The menacing growl lacked his smooth, rich cadence. The undeniable edge of malevolence sent goose bumps prickling up her arms. With blurring speed, Mitch’s grip was ripped off her arm and the crash vibrated against her back as Haden slammed Mitch against the wall beside her. Haden’s forearm barred his throat, locking him in place.

Now free, Olivia stumbled away, looking up at her “savior” in wide-eyed shock. Haden spared her a brief, sweeping glance. The set of his hard jaw and scowl of his tawny brows were nothing new, but for the briefest moment, something indescribable and…disturbing flickered in those pale sea green eyes. It was gone as fast as it came. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear she imagined it. Then again, the fact that Haden had “saved” her from Mitch’s scornful wrath was, in itself, unbelievable.

“Get out of here,” he barked at her.

There was no hint of kindness or affection in his command. No, she definitely must have imagined it.

“Now, Olivia!”

His snarl set her feet into motion. She swiped the keys off the counter and bailed out the door to go find Liam. She didn’t doubt, for one minute, that Haden wouldn’t hesitate to kill Mitch, and knew she was helpless to stop him. The only thing she could do was find Liam and pray she wasn’t too late.

Just because she didn’t love Mitch didn’t mean she wanted him to die. It was her fault he was here in the first place, and if anything happened to him, she’d blame herself. Barring the fact that she was sporting a headache, courtesy of his foul temper, she didn’t honestly believe Mitch would ever intentionally hurt her. He was obviously upset she was breaking up with him, which was totally understandable, and he’d become a bit too emotional. But she hadn’t truly thought he was going to harm her.

What made absolutely no sense was why Haden would give a shit either way. He’d done the same to her and worse over that stone. In fact, she was still sporting the bruises on her neck from his fit of rage.

“Liam!” She ran down the hall, racing for the lobby.
Please be here, please be here!
Reaching the balcony, she stopped, scanning the foyer below. “Liam!”

People stopped and stared, but none of them were him. He was gone! She raced down the stairs two at a time. People parted like the Red Sea as she dashed through the lobby and out the front door.

***

   
Crack!
“I said get me the stone, not beat the shit out of her!” Haden nailed Mitch with another punch. This one was a kidney shot that effectively brought the bastard to his knees.

Mitch spit a mouthful of blood on the floor at Haden’s feet. “What the fuck do you care?” Reaching across his stomach to splint his side, Mitch staggered to his feet, shooting Haden a hateful glare.

That was a good question. Why
did
he care? He shouldn’t—he didn’t. Maybe he just didn’t want Mitch burning his bridge to the stone. Yeah, that was it. Liam nearly had him convinced he couldn’t lie. He vowed the female didn’t have the stone—that she didn’t know where it was, but then, what kind of a fool would he be if he didn’t check it out for himself. For Olivia’s sake, he almost hoped the angel was telling the truth.

When Haden entered her room, he hadn’t expected to find Mitch slamming the female up against the wall. The instant reaction to intervene had caught him off-guard, and even now, the possessive burn in his veins unsettled him. He’d felt a similar impulse once before where the female was concerned—the first time he’d seen her in that bar, and a particularly nasty breed of demon had wanted her for himself. But the urge had been weaker then and he’d dismissed it as one too many gin and tonics.

“I don’t care,” he denied, “except who do you think her guardian will come after when he finds her banged up?” Haden waved his hand as if to say “Hello? Think about it, dumb ass.” “If I want her hurt, I’ll do it myself,” he grumbled.

“She doesn’t have the stone.” Mitch wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, casting Haden a wary scowl.

“So I’ve heard.” Haden arched his brow in interest and folded his arms across his chest, leaning his hip against the kitchenette.

“It’s at a place called the Grotto.”

Fuck…
“And you know this how?”

“Because she told me.” Favoring his left side, Mitch gingerly gimped toward the bedroom, and disappeared around the corner.

So the angel
had
lied. Big surprise there—had he really expected more from the warrior? Disappointingly, he realized—yes. It would have been nice to know there was still some ethical code of honor somewhere that someone lived by. He had to hand it to the angel, he certainly was convincing. And since he’d lied about the stone, had he also lied about being in love with the human? No, that had been true. Salting his lies with truth was the seasoning that had made his deception so palpable.

Mitch came out a few minutes later wearing clothes, which was a bonus. In fact, he’d like to know how they’d gotten off in the first place. He hadn’t figured Olivia for a whore, perhaps he’d figured wrong. No doubt, Liam was righteously pissed when he showed up this morning and found those two together. The thought of it rankled his own nerves just a little bit—which made zero sense.

If he wasn’t entirely sure he wouldn’t need Mitch later, he’d kill the bastard right here and now. The urge burned in his veins like an itch that needed scratched. But given the dawning details of Liam’s clever deception, he may end up needing Mitch, after all.

“So did Olivia tell you exactly
where
the stone would be in the Grotto?”

Mitch shook his head and winced as if the movement rattled his still pickled brain. “She didn’t specifically say.”

“Of course she didn’t. And given the fact that you just
Bobby Browned
her, I’m pretty sure she isn’t going to tell you anytime soon.”

“Perhaps if you hadn’t tried to
OJ
her, she would have told you herself.”

Haden’s teeth ground together as he bit back a response. This stupid human had no idea how close he was to meeting his maker.
One more word, just one more word…
C
ocky little bastard.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Liam was gone. Olivia had searched for him everywhere she could think to look in a city she didn’t know. And over the last two hours, she’d come to realize two very important things. One, Mitch was probably dead by now, and two, there was a good chance she was never going to see Liam again.

No doubt, he was hunting for Cale and Rhen. And when he found them, he’d kill them before reclusing back into his world just as he had after killing Max three years ago. Except this time, there would be no good-bye. No whispered words of endearment or promises of a forever. When had things become so complicated between them? How had this happened? How had things gone so terribly wrong? And despite how bad it looked, how could he ever think she’d sleep with Mitch?
Because you threatened to marry the guy if Liam took your memories, you idiot!
Oh yeah…there was that. But she hadn’t meant it, and he should have known she couldn’t marry Mitch.

She loved Liam—desperately. And it was out of that desperation that she made the not so rational decision to force his hand. Perhaps if she’d taken the time to think it through, she would have chosen a less suicidal way of bringing him back. Then again, just the thought of losing him, of never seeing him again, sent such a stabbing pain into her chest that, at the moment, she honestly didn’t care if she lived or died. At least if she was dead, there’d be nothing separating him from her…

Turning down a side street she must have trolled a half-dozen times, she searched for the bar she’d yet to enter. There it was—The Sidh. Now, if that didn’t say “dark and foreboding,” nothing did. She’d passed the bar several times in her failed search, reluctant to enter. The name alone screamed “demon bar.” Since her last experience at The Wrath, she’d sworn she’d never enter another, but she knew if she did, it was only a matter of time before Liam showed up to drag her out—if she lived that long.

Ignoring her inner voice screaming what a terrible idea this was, she parked the Camaro and walked into the bar. Even if she couldn’t see the shades of darkness surrounding the men, confirming their true otherworldly existence, the fact that it was morning and the bar was still hopping was another big clue she’d come to the right place.

After getting a 7-Up and cranberry juice, Olivia sat down at an empty table to wait. She didn’t have to wait very long before the front door burst open—except it wasn’t Liam who stormed in like hell on wheels.

Within two seconds, a pair of furious pale green eyes locked on her. Like a guided missile, Haden marched over to her table, yanked a chair back, and dropped down on it. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” he demanded.

Well, that didn’t take long.
Too bad the wrong male showed up. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m having a drink.”

“In a bloody demon bar!” he growled, keeping his voice hushed to a dull roar.

To avoid attracting attention...?

“Does Liam know you’re here?”

Why does he care?
“Does it look like Liam knows I’m here?”

“It looks like you’ve lost your fucking mind, that’s what it looks like!”

“And it looks like you all of a sudden give a shit? What’s with that? You sure you don’t want to take me in the back and strangle me again?” Now, that would bring Liam back—instantly. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear he winced—surely not with regret?

“I never intended to kill you, Olivia. If I had, you’d be dead by now.”

His matter-of-fact statement sent a shudder racing up her spine.

Haden leaned forward, fixing his sea green eyes on her and said, “Besides, if you’re dead, who’s going tell me where the stone is?”

Ahhh…so
that’s
why he cares—makes total sense now. “I can’t tell you what I don’t know, Haden.”

He didn’t look like he believed her. “Your lies are almost as convincing as your boyfriend’s.”

Oh no! Mitch!
She opened her mouth to ask Haden if he’d killed him when he added, “Yeah, that’s right, I know about you and your little love affair with your guardian. Got a thing for the supernatural, do ya?”

He’d been talking about Liam? “How do you know about us?” she demanded, her head starting to spin. If he knew, then—

Haden gave her a cocky grin. “Because he told me.”

What?
Now she knew he was lying. Liam would never admit to—

“Told me he was in love with you, he did.” And then Haden added, almost as an afterthought. “Of course, that
was
before he found your naked fiancé in bed with you this morning. But I am dying to know, did you cheat on Mitch with Liam?—or on Liam with Mitch? And when you’re done fucking them over, why don’t you come and see me. I’ll give you a toss. At least you won’t have to worry about me falling in love with you.”