The Darkest Night
It had to be that way, though. To protect their secrets, the warriors did not allow humans inside the fortress, forcing Maddox to take the women outside in the surrounding forest. He preferred them on their hands and knees, facing away from him, a swift coupling that would not rouse Violence in any way or compel him to do things that would haunt him forever and still another eternity.
Afterward, Maddox would send the females home with a warning: never return or die. It was that simple. To allow a more permanent arrangement would be foolish. He might come to care for them, and he would definitely hurt them, which would only heap even more guilt and shame upon him.
Just once, though, he would have liked to linger over a woman as Paris was able to do. He would have liked to kiss and lick her entire body; he would have liked to drown in her, completely losing himself, without fearing his control would snap and cause him to wound her.
Finally reaching Torin’s quarters, he blocked those thoughts from his mind. Time spent wishing was time wasted, as he well knew.
He glanced at his surroundings. He’d been in this room before, but he did not remember the wall-to-wall computer system or the numerous monitors, phones and various other equipment lined throughout. Unlike Torin, Maddox eschewed most technology, for he had never quite gotten used to how quickly things seemed to change—and just how much further each new advancement seemed to pull him from the carefree warrior he’d once been. Though he would be lying if he claimed not to enjoy the convenience such gadgets provided.
Survey complete, he faced his friend. “Taking over the world?”
“Nope. Just watching it. It’s the best way to protect us, and the best way to make a little coin.” Torin plopped into a cushioned swivel chair in front of the largest screen and began typing on the keyboard. One of the blank monitors lit up, the black screen becoming intertwined with grays and whites. “All right. Here’s what I wanted you to see.”
Careful not to touch his friend, Maddox stepped forward. The indistinct blur gradually became thick, opaque lines. Trees, he realized. “Nice, but not something I was in dire need of viewing.”
“Patience.”
“Hurry,” he countered.
Torin flicked him a wry glance. “Since you asked so nicely…I have heat sensors and cameras hidden throughout our land so that I always know when someone trespasses.” A few more seconds of tapping and the screen’s view shifted to the right. Then there was a swift flash of red, there one moment, gone the next.
“Go back,” Maddox said, tensing. He wasn’t a surveillance expert. No, his skill lay in the actual killing. But even he knew what that red slash represented. Body heat.
Tap, tap, tap and the red slash once again consumed the screen.
“Human?” he asked. The silhouette was small, almost dainty.
“Definitely.”
“Male or female?”
Torin shrugged. “Female, most likely. Too big to be a child, too small to be a grown man.”
Hardly anyone ventured up the bleak hill at this time of night. Or even during the day. Whether it was too spooky, too gloomy or a sign of the locals’ respect, Maddox didn’t know. But he could count on one hand the number of deliverymen, children wanting to explore and women prowling for sex who’d braved the journey in the last year.
“One of Paris’s lovers?” he asked.
“Possibly. Or…”
“Or?” he prompted when his friend hesitated.
“A Hunter,” Torin said grimly. “Bait, more specifically.”
Maddox pressed his lips together in a harsh line. “Now I know you’re teasing me.”
“Think about it. Deliverymen always come with boxes and Paris’s girls always race straight toward the front door. This one looks empty-handed and she’s gone in circles, stopping every few minutes and doing something against the trees. Planting dynamite in an attempt to injure us, maybe. Cameras to watch us.”
“If she’s empty-handed—”
“Dynamite and cameras are small enough to conceal.”
He massaged the back of his neck. “Hunters haven’t stalked or tormented us since Greece.”
“Maybe their children and then their children’s children have been searching for us all this time. Maybe they finally found us.”
Dread suddenly curled in Maddox’s stomach. First Aeron’s shocking summons and now the uninvited visitor. Mere coincidence? His mind flashed back to those dark days in Greece, days of war and savagery, screams and death. Days the warriors had been more demon than man. Days a hunger for destruction had dictated their every action and human bodies had littered the streets.
Hunters had soon risen from the tortured masses, a league of mortal men intent upon destroying those who’d unleashed such evil, and a blood feud had erupted. The battles he then found himself fighting, with swords clanging and fires raging, flesh burning and peace something of lore and legend…
Cunning had been the Hunters’ greatest weapon, however. They had trained female Bait to seduce and distract while they swooped in for the kill. That’s how they managed to murder Baden, keeper of Distrust. They had not managed to kill the demon itself, however, and it had sprung from the decimated body, crazed, demented, warped from the loss of its host.
Where the demon resided now, Maddox didn’t know.
“The gods surely hate us,” Torin said. “What better way to hurt us than to send Hunters just when we’ve finally carved out a somewhat peaceful life for ourselves?”
His dread intensified. “They would not wish the demons, crazed as they would surely be without us, loose upon the world. Would they?”
“Who knows why they do any of the things that they do.” A statement, with no hint of a question. None of them really understood the gods, even after all these centuries. “We have to do something, Maddox.”
His gaze flicked to the wall clock and he tensed. “Call Paris.”
“Did. He’s not answering his cell phone.”
“Call—”
“Do you really think I would have disturbed you this close to midnight if there were anyone else?” Torin twisted in the seat, peering up at him with forbidding determination. “You’re it.”
Maddox shook his head. “Very soon, I’m going to die. I cannot be outside these walls.”
“Neither can I.” Something murky and dangerous shimmered in Torin’s eyes, something bitter, turning the green to a poisonous emerald. “You, at least, won’t obliterate the entire human race by leaving.”
“Torin—”
“You’re not going to win this argument, Maddox, so stop wasting time.”
He tangled a hand through his chin-length hair, frustration mounting. We should leave it out there to die, Violence proclaimed. It—the human.
“If it is a Hunter,” Torin said, as if hearing his thoughts, “if it is Bait? We can’t allow it to live. It must be destroyed.”
“And if it’s innocent and my death-curse strikes?” Maddox countered, tamping down the demon as best he could.
Guilt flashed over Torin’s expression, as though every life he was responsible for taking clamored inside his conscience, begging him to rescue those he could. “That is a chance we have to take. We are not the monsters the demons would have us be.”
Maddox ground his teeth together. He was not a cruel man; he was not a beast. Not heartless. He hated the waves of immorality that constantly threatened to pull him under. Hated what he did, what he was—and what he would become if he ever stopped fighting those black cravings and evil musings.
“Where is the human now?” he asked. He would venture into the night, even if it cost him terribly.
“At the Danube border.”
A fifteen-minute run. He had just enough time to weapon up, find the human, usher it to shelter if it was innocent or kill it if circumstances demanded, and return to the fortress. If anything slowed him down, he could die out in the open. Anyone else foolish enough to venture onto the hill would be placed in danger. Because when the first pain hit, he would be reduced to Violence and those black cravings would consume him.
He would have no other purpose but destruction.
“If I don’t return by midnight, have one of the others search for my body, as well as Lucien’s and Reyes’s.” Both Death and Pain came to him each night at midnight, no matter where Maddox was. Pain rendered the blows and Death escorted his soul to hell, where it would remain, tortured by fire and demons almost as loathsome as Violence, until morning.
Unfortunately, Maddox could not guarantee his friends’ safety out in the open. He might hurt them before they completed their tasks. And if he hurt them, the anguish he would feel would be second only to the agony of the death-curse that visited him every night.
“Promise me,” he said.
Eyes bleak, Torin nodded. “Be careful, my friend.”
He stalked out of the room, his movements rushed. Before he made it halfway down the hall, however, Torin called, “Maddox. You might want to look at this.”
Backtracking, he experienced another slap of dread. What now? Could anything be worse? When he stood in front of the monitors once more, he arched a brow at Torin, a silent command to hurry.
Torin motioned to the screen with a tilt of his chin. “Looks like there are four more of them. All male…or Amazons. They weren’t there earlier.”
“Damn this.” Maddox studied the four new slashes of red, each one bigger than the last. They were closing in on the little one. Yes, things could indeed be worse. “I’ll take care of them,” he said. “All of them.” Once more he leapt into motion, his pace more clipped.
He reached his bedroom and headed straight to the closet, bypassing the bed, the only piece of furniture in the room. He’d destroyed his dresser, mirror and chairs in one fit of violence or another.
At one time, he’d been foolish enough to fill the space with tranquil indoor waterfalls, plants, crosses, anything to promote peace and soothe raw nerves. None of it had worked and all had been smashed beyond repair in a matter of minutes as the demon overtook him. Since then he’d opted for what Paris called a minimalist look.
The only reason he still had a bed was because it was made of metal and Reyes needed something to chain him to as midnight drew near. They kept an abundant supply of mattresses, sheets, chains and metal headboards in one of the bedrooms next door. Just in case.
Hurry! Quickly, he jerked a black T-shirt over his head, pulled on a pair of boots and strapped blades to his wrists, waist and ankles. No guns. He and Violence were in agreement about one thing—enemies needed to die up close and personal.
If any of the humans in the forest proved to be Hunters or Bait, nothing could save them now.
CHAPTER TWO
ASHLYN DARROW SHIVERED against the frigid wind. Strands of light brown hair whipped in front of her eyes; she hooked them behind her throbbing ears with a shaky hand. Not that she could see much, anyway. The night was black, thick with fog and snowflakes. Only a few golden slivers of moonlight were strong enough to peek through the towering, snowcapped trees.
How could a landscape so beautiful be so damaging to the human body?
She sighed, mist forming in front of her face. She should have been relaxing on a flight back to the States, but yesterday she’d learned something too wonderful to resist. Hope had filled her, and earlier this evening she’d raced here without thought, without hesitation, seizing her first chance to find out if it were true.
Somewhere in the vastness of this forest were men with strange abilities no one seemed able to explain. Exactly what they could do, she didn’t know. She only knew that she needed help. Desperately. And she’d risk anything, everything, to speak with those powerful men.
She couldn’t live with the voices anymore.
Ashlyn had only to stand in one location to hear every conversation that had ever taken place there, no matter how much time had passed. Present, past, any and all languages, it didn’t matter. She could hear them in her mind, translate them, even. A gift, some assumed. A nightmare, she knew.
Another chill wind beat against her and she leaned against a tree, using it as a shield. Yesterday, when she’d come to Budapest with several colleagues from the World Institute of Parapsychology, she’d stood in the center of town and begun hearing tidbits of dialogue. Nothing new for her…until she’d deciphered the meaning of the words.
They can enslave you with a glance.
One of them has wings and flies when the moon is full.
The scarred one can disappear at will.
As if those whispers had opened some sort of doorway in her mind, hundreds of years of chatter had slammed into her, a blend of old and new. She’d doubled over from the intensity of it, trying to sort the mundane from the essential.
They never age.
They must be angels.
Even their home is creepy—straight out of a horror movie. Hidden on a hilltop, shadowy corners, and damn, even the birds won’t go near it.
Should we kill them?
They’re magical. They eased my torment.
So many people, present and past, evidently believed these men operated beyond human ability, that they possessed extraordinary skills. Was it possible the men could help her? Eased my torment, someone had said.
“Maybe they can ease mine,” Ashlyn muttered now. Over the years and in all corners of the world she’d listened to rumors of vampires, werewolves, goblins and witches, gods and goddesses, demons and angels, monsters and fairies. She’d even led the Institute’s researchers to many of those creatures’ doorsteps, proving they did, in fact, exist.
The whole purpose of the Institute, after all, was to locate, observe and study paranormal beings and determine how the world could benefit from their existence. And for once, working as a para-audiologist might prove to be her salvation, as well.
Oddly enough, she hadn’t led the Institute to Budapest, as was usually the case with a new assignment. She hadn’t heard a word about Budapest, in fact, in any of the recent conversations she’d tapped into. But they had brought her here anyway, asking her to listen for any discussions about demons.
She knew better than to ask why. The answer, no matter the question, was always the same: classified.
When she had done as ordered, she’d learned that a few of the locals considered the men living atop this hill to be demons. Evil, wicked. Most, however, considered them angels. Angels who kept to themselves—all but one, that is, who reputedly liked bedding anything female and had been dubbed the Orgasm Instructor by a giggling trio who had spent a “single, glorious” night with him. Angels who, through their presence alone, kept the crime levels low. Angels who poured money into the community and made sure the homeless were fed.
Ashlyn herself doubted such do-gooders were possessed. Demons were invariably malicious, unconcerned with those around them. But whether the men were angels living on earth or simply ordinary people capable of doing extraordinary things, she prayed they could help her as no one else had been able to. She prayed they could teach her how to block the voices or even help strip her of her ability completely.
The thought was intoxicating, and her lips lifted in a slow smile. That smile quickly faded, however, as another blast of wind cut through her jacket and sweater and seeped into her skin. She’d been out here for more than an hour, and she was chilled to the bone. Stopping to rest (again) hadn’t been the smartest of plans.
Her gaze climbed the hill. Through a break in the clouds, a sudden ray of amber light poured down and illuminated the massive charcoal-colored castle. Mist curled from the bottom, beckoning her with ghostly fingers. The place looked exactly as the voice had said, she mused, shadowed and spiked along the top, a horror movie come to life.
That didn’t deter her. Quite the opposite. I’m almost there, she thought happily, once again trudging uphill. Her thighs already burned from dodging limbs and jumping over elevated roots, but she didn’t care. She kept moving.
Until, ten minutes later, she found herself stopping for the thousandth time, unable to walk another step as her shaky, tired thighs morphed into blocks of ice. “No,” she moaned. Not now. Rubbing her legs to warm them, she studied the distance again. Her eyes widened when she realized that the castle didn’t appear any closer. In fact, it might have been farther away.
Ashlyn shook her head in astonished despair. Damn it! What did she have to do to reach the place? Sprout wings and fly?
Even if I fail, I don’t regret coming here. The no provisions and no planning part, yeah, she regretted that, but she’d had to try. No matter how foolish, she’d simply had to try. She would have made the journey naked and barefoot if necessary. Anything for a chance at normalcy.
She loved that she helped safeguard the world with her—gag—gift, but the torment she endured was too much. Surely there was another way for her to help. With a little silence, she might be able to think of how. Deep-breathing exercises and meditation only did so much for her peace of mind.
She rubbed her legs more frantically, the ministrations finally melting some of the internal ice and spurring her back into motion. Ök itt. Tudom ök, she heard as she stepped past a hunched, gnarled tree. They’re here, her mind instantly translated, I know they are.
Then someone else said, Aren’t you a pretty thing?
“Yes, I am, thank you,” she said, hoping the sound of her own voice would overshadow the others. It didn’t. Deep breath in, deep breath out.
As she continued to slog forward, different conversations from different time periods drifted into her awareness, stacking one on top of the other in her mind. Most were spoken in Hungarian, some in English, and that made them all the more jumbled.
Yes. Yes! Touch me. There, yes, there.
Bárhol as én kardom? En nem tudom holvan.
One more taste of his lips, and I’ll forget him. I just need one more taste.
Ashlyn stumbled over twigs and rocks, the words blending together, growing louder. Louder still. Her heart drummed in her chest and she barely refrained from screaming in frustration. Deep breath in, deep breath—
If you knock on the door, you’ll be fucked like an animal and I guarantee you’ll love every minute of it.
She covered her ears, even though she knew that wouldn’t work, either. “Keep going. Find them.” More wind. More voices. “Keep going,” she repeated, the words chiming in harmony with her footsteps. She’d come all this way; she could make it a little farther. “Find them.”
When she’d told Dr. McIntosh, vice president of the Institute as well as her boss and mentor, what she’d learned about the men, he’d given her a brief nod and a brisk “Well done”—his highest form of praise.
Then she’d asked to be taken to the chateau atop this imposing hill.
“Not a chance,” he’d said, turning away from her. “They could be the demons some of the locals paint them.”
“Or they could very well be the angels most of the locals consider them.”
“You’re not going to risk it, Darrow.” That’s when he’d ordered her to pack her bags and readied a car for her departure to the airport, just as he always did when her part of the job—providing the ears—was done.
It was “standard agency procedure,” he always claimed, yet he never sent the rest of the workers home. Just her. McIntosh cared about her and wanted her safe, she knew that. After all, he’d seen to her care for more than fifteen years, taking her under his wing when she’d been a scared child whose parents hadn’t known how to ease their “gifted” daughter’s torment. He’d even read her fairy tales to teach her that the world was a place of magic and endless possibilities, a place where nobody—not even someone like her—had to feel odd.
While he did care, she also knew her ability was important to his career, that the Institute would not be half as effective without her and that as a result, she was something of a pawn in his eyes. That’s why she didn’t feel (too) guilty for sneaking here the moment his back was turned.
Fingers numb, Ashlyn once again smoothed her hair from her face. Maybe she should have taken the time to ask the locals for the best route, but the voices had been too loud, too incapacitating in the heart of the city. More than that, she’d been afraid an Institute employee would see her and take her in.
Might have been worth taking her chances, though, to avoid this debilitating cold.
There’s one way to learn the truth. Stab one in the heart and see if he dies, a voice said, snagging her attention.
Oh, that feels good. Please, more!
Distracted, Ashlyn tripped over a fallen limb. Down she tumbled, landing with a pained gasp. Sharp rocks abraded her palms and scratched at her jeans. For a long while, she didn’t move. Couldn’t. Too cold, she thought. Too loud.
As she lay there, her strength seemed to drain completely. Her temples throbbed, the voices still bombarding her. Closing her eyes, she pulled the lapels of her jacket tight and managed to crawl to and huddle against the base of a tree.
We shouldn’t be here. They see everything.
Are you hurt?
Look what I found! Isn’t it pretty?
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” she shouted. Of course, the voices didn’t listen to her. They never did.
Dare you to run through the trees naked.
Éhes vagyok. Kaphatok volamit eni?
A pop and whiz suddenly sounded, and her eyelids sprang open. Next there was a tortured scream. A man’s scream, quickly followed by three others.
Present. Not past. After twenty-four years, she knew the difference.
Terror snaked her in an iron grip, squeezing the breath out of her. Even through the chattering of voices, she heard a sickening thud. She tried to stand, to run, but a sudden whoosh of air held her in place. No, not air, she realized a second later, but a blade. Her entire body jerked in surprise as the hilt of a blood-coated knife swayed just above her shoulder, embedded in tree bark.
Before she had time to scramble away, to scream, there was another whoosh. Another jerk. Ashlyn’s attention swung to the other side. Sure enough, a second blade was rooted just above her left shoulder.
How—What—The thoughts hadn’t yet fully formed when something burst from a nearby thicket. Brittle leaves clashed together in an ominous dance, the snow that had covered them sprinkling to the ground as limbs slapped and shook. Then the something raced past a ray of moonlight and she caught a glimpse of black hair and radiant violet eyes. A man. A big, muscled man was charging toward her at top speed. His expression was pure brutality.
“Ohmygod,” she gasped out. “Stop. Stop!”
Suddenly he was there, right in her face. Crouching, pinning her in place, sniffing her neck. “They were Hunters,” he said in lightly accented English, his voice as harsh and rough as his rugged features. “Are you?” He grabbed her right wrist and peeled back the material of her jacket and sweater. He ran his thumb over the pulse there. “No tattoo, like they had.”
They? Hunters? Tattoo? A tremor cartwheeled down her spine. The intruder was huge, hulking, his muscular frame surrounding her with menace. A metallic tang drifted from him, mixed with the fragrance of man and heat and something she couldn’t identify.
Up close, she could see the splatter of red on his too-harsh face. Blood? The biting wind seemed to slither past her skin and into the marrow of her bones.