Courting Darkness

by Melynda Price

  The frustration in his voice knotted her gut, the reality of unfiltered truth sending a surge of bile up her throat. She was going to be sick. A wave of dizziness washed over her as she felt the blood drain from her face. Her hands flew up, covering her mouth as she drew in a deep breath, trying to resist her rebelling stomach.

  “Stop! I don’t want to know this,” she cried, her plea a muffled request as she shook her head in denial. “Why are you telling me this?” She didn’t want to hear the list of Haden’s crimes. She didn’t want to think that the same hands that had caressed her, touched her—comforted her, had also spilt so much innocent blood.

  “It’s not a secret, Olivia. And it’s nothing you didn’t know before. I think you should understand whose life you saved yesterday lest you’re inclined to make the same mistake twice.”

  “Don’t tell me anymore,” she pleaded, the sting of tears burning her eyes.

  “If you can’t handle the truth, then perhaps you’re not ready to get your memory back. Be careful what you wish for, Olivia. Maybe I did you a favor after all.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Liam never did tell her where they were going. In fact, he’d said very little in the last nine hours they’d spent traveling from Missouri to Mississippi. Of course, he’d been courteous enough to stop frequently, letting her stretch her legs, empty her bladder, and provide her with plenty of food and drink. What she didn’t expect, however, was for their journey to lead them down a secluded one-lane road deep in the heart of bayou country.

  “Seems like a waste of years to end it like this.”

  Liam cocked his brow and briefly glanced her way. “What are you talking about?”

  “This.” She swept her arm toward the dense foliage crowding both sides of the dirt-packed road, if one could even call it that. Swampy marshes and towering Cyprus trees were home to any number of predators—no doubt, two and four-legged alike. “We’re one flat tire from Deliverance here. Where are we going and how will this help me get my memory back?”

  “Where we’re going isn’t easy to explain and I’m not certain I’ll even be able to take you there. If the plantation is blocked from your sight, I can’t risk crossing over with you. The property in supernaturally protected, it borders the dimensions between your world and mine. Your body can’t cross into the spirit world without dying, so if you can’t see Landaketa, it’s too risky for you to enter. My hope is that if we are able to pass through, the veil over your memories will lift because you’ll no longer be anchored to this world.”

  Well, that sounded…dangerous. “Sooo, then, what will I be anchored to?”

  He turned to look at her, possessiveness burning in his dark violet gaze. “Me.”

  At his husky reply, Olivia’s pulse quickened, her stomach doing a little flip at the, oh so many ways, she could interpret that response.

  “You cannot enter or exit without my escort.”

  So, essentially, he was imprisoning her. Not exactly what she’d been referring to when she’d said she wanted to get to know him better. She’d just spent the last three days detained and wasn’t entirely keen on trading one captor for another.

  Then again, this was Liam she was talking about, not some revenge-obsessed killer. And a little one-on-one time with him was exactly what she’d been hoping for—figuratively and literally—so maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad deal after all. And if there was a chance she’d get her memory back?—well, there wasn’t much she wouldn’t be willing to do or try.

  Liam must have mistaken her silence for pensiveness. His brows tightened with concern as he reached up, cupping the side of her face. His thumb brushed against her cheek and she automatically inhaled, drawing his spicy scent deep into her lungs. She just barely resisted the urge to turn her lips into his palm and trace the creases of his war-calloused hand with her tongue.

  “Try not to worry, Olivia. I promise to keep you safe.”

  Reaching up, she took his hand, intertwining their fingers, and kissed his knuckles before setting his hand in her lap. “I know you will. I just hope it works. If we can enter, how long do you think it will take?”

  “I’m not sure if the release will be immediate or gradual. Or if at all. We can only try.”

  An unwelcomed thought suddenly hit her, but she was remiss to lay voice to her concern. As if Liam had sensed her growing apprehension, he gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “What’s wrong, Olivia?”

  She didn’t want to mention Haden’s name. After this morning, he’d quickly become a topic of conversation she’d rather not discuss ever again. It seemed the Nephilim brought out the worst in both of them. But still, she needed to know…she needed to know if she would finally be someplace where she could let her guard down. Would Landaketa be a place where she could find some much-needed rest and peace from the trials of living in a world where she was forever hunted?

  “Liam? If Haden is following us, do you think he’ll be able to enter this place?”

  He didn’t answer right away, but the tightening in his jaw seemed to be an automatic response to the mere mention of the Nephilim’s name. After a moment of considerable thought, he replied, “I honestly don’t know. Perhaps there is enough angelic blood in him that he could pass through Landaketa’s shield. Because he’s the last of his kind, there is much I don’t understand about him or his gifts.”

  They turned down another road, this one worse than the last. Two torn strips of tire marks separated a long patch of overgrown grass between them. The tops of the canary grass scraped beneath the undercarriage of the vehicle as they crawled along. The SUV’s suspension was being put to a rigorous test as the tires frequently dropped into water-filled potholes, splashing stagnant pond water against the windshield.

  Liam flipped a lever along the steering wheel, and the wipers did their best to clear the mud and green slime off the glass. All the bouncing action was making her sick. As if it would do any good, she pressed her palm against the flat of her stomach and tried not to hurl.

  “We’re almost there,” he encouraged, a grumbled oath spilling from his lips as they hit another swamp mine. A moan of misery escaped from her throat. She squinted through the smeared windshield, hoping to see…something. Liam wasn’t sure if her sight would be blocked to Landaketa, but if the long, winding road ahead was any indication, then the odds didn’t look in her favor, because she couldn’t see shit.

  “I hope this isn’t it, because I don’t see anything but swamp.”

  “It’s up ahead, just past that turn.”

  As the SUV crawled closer to the bend, the knot in Olivia’s stomach wound tighter. Tension mounted with each passing second, her breath stalling in her lungs as she anxiously waited to see her shot at getting back her memories materialize before her eyes. She clutched Liam’s hand so tightly, her fingers were going numb. Reluctant to take her eyes off the road, she glanced at her white-knuckled grip as if he were a lifeline and she was about to drop off the edge of a cliff.

  “What does it look like?” she asked, worrying at her bottom lip.

  “You’ll know it when you see it.”

  She frowned at his response. The least he could do was give her a hint. Liam’s thumb brushed across the top of her hand—a failed attempt to reassure her. The only thing that could ease her anxiety now was the sight of…

  They rounded the bend in the road and the air left her lungs in a pent-up gasp. Olivia blinked several times to clear her vision, suddenly blurred with tears. Her hand flew up to muffle her sob. “This can’t be happening…” she whispered.

  “This can’t be happening…” Haden groaned, glancing up to Heaven and praying to a God who’d never done him any favors, for just a little bit of help here.

  Tracy was still naked, except now she was on the floor, knees pressed to the age-worn carpet as she clutched his hand in a surprisingly strong grip of desperation, looking up at him with those mascara-stained cheeks, hot pink lipstick smeared around her mouth in a bad Joker impers
onation. “You don’t understand! He’s going to kill me!” the woman pleaded, as if she thought that would somehow change his mind.

  What that skanky bitch didn’t realize was that if she didn’t let him the fuck go, he was going to kill her. If she knew what was good for her, she’d get dressed and take her chances with her boyfriend.

  “I love you!” she cried.

  Oh, for crissake! “You don’t even know me!” he growled, trying to shake her loose, but damn, that female was stuck to his arm like super glue.

  “I can’t go back. I just can’t…” Shaking her head, she repeated the mantra over and over, whether trying to convince him or herself, he wasn’t sure, nor did he give a shit.

  Haden turned toward the dresser and grabbed his keys. He was done trying to rationalize with the crazy chika. She’d have to let go of him eventually. It wasn’t like she could cling to his arm like an anchor, bare ass dragging across the cement as he walked to his car. Then again, this woman was clearly nuts. She’d been carrying on for the last half-hour. If she didn’t deescalate soon, the cops were going to be banging his door down. Another complication he didn’t particularly want to deal with.

  Scenarios flipped through his mind as he decided how to play this out. One: He could snap her neck. Quick. Quiet. No mess. But then he’d have to dispose of the body—time consuming, and just…ick. He didn’t want to touch her alive, and he sure as hell didn’t want to carry her around dead. Two: He could ride this thing out, get the woman to shut the fuck up and quit causing a scene, put her in the shower, and then give her the slip. A little more effort on the front end, but—

  The front door slammed open with all the finesse of a freight train as a male easily topping six-eight, three-hundred pounds, filled the doorway. Haden shot an impatient glare at the kneeling woman and groaned. You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me…

  An Incubus? She was fucking an Incubus? What was with those bastards? For real, they were coming out of the damn woodwork these days, and by the size of this bastard, he was getting more than his share of crotch-time with this woman. No wonder she was terrified to go home. The demon absolutely would kill her—with sex.

  It was no mystery how the beast had found his wayward female—the freak-show had no doubt blooded her. Haden was just pissed off he’d been too wasted last night to spot the—yep, there they were, fang marks on the side of her neck. How in the hell could he have missed that?

  Because her neck wasn’t where your face was...

  Thanks, that’s real fucking helpful, he monologued.

  There wasn’t anywhere in the world this woman could hide from her lover now. No wonder she’d left with Haden so quickly—why she refused to leave this morning. “I love you” my ass. She wanted him to protect her, or die trying, and since he’d fucked this female, he was now inconveniently obligated to oblige her, because now there was a big-ass target on his back.

  The bitch had used him—and somehow, the pot calling the kettle black did nada to ease the flare of his ferocious temper. Not one little bit. This sitch was quickly turning into a nightmare of FUBAR proportions.

  Had Haden been of sober mind and body last night, the thought might have occurred to him as to why a fairly attractive woman he’d just met would just up and leave with him. It wasn’t like he had the most trusting look about him. Well, at least he knew she wasn’t crazy—manipulatively clever, yes, but definitely not in love with him, which honestly had freaked him the fuck out.

  “That’s my female,” the Incubus growled, stepping through the door.

  His female let out a frightened shriek and released Haden’s wrist, scrambling behind him. Her arms wrapped around his leg, breasts crushing against his calf. For shit’s sake, the female was going to hobble him if he didn’t shake her loose.

  There were few things he was willing to die for, and this female was not one of them. “Get off me,” he growled, giving his leg a kick that sent her tumbling on her ass. Her terror-filled eyes locked on the demon entering the room. She scrambled back on all fours, and Haden stepped forward, ready to do some aggressing of his own. A well-fed Incubus was one hell of a force to tangle with. The one who’d attacked Olivia a few nights ago had been starved, looking for a mate, and Haden had easily overpowered the beast, taking little damage.

  As it was, he was less than twenty-four hours out from a vicious tangle with Liam and running at about seventy-five percent. Note to self: Don’t fuck stray women from bars. They’re not worth it.

  Haden stepped up to the giant who easily had a few inches and fifty pounds on him. Meeting those coal black eyes, he cocked his head and pulled back his top lip in a snarl that promised no measure of mercy and a whole lot of suffering was coming this demon’s way.

  “You don’t know who I am, do you,” he growled. It wasn’t a question, but more an implication that Haden couldn’t believe this asshole could be so stupid.

  The demon paused, a degree of viciousness dropping from his scowl as his brows furrowed in concentration.

  “Think about it…” Haden coached, confident the answer would soon dawn on the dumb ass.

  Finally, a flicker of fear crossed those soulless eyes.

  Bingo…

  “Fuck…you’re Gahn’s son,” he exclaimed, taking an immediate step back.

  Haden didn’t temper the malicious grin that promised this bastard’s death would be slow and painful. “The one and only.”

  Haden took another step forward that was immediately countered by the Incubus. “So, you gotta ask yourself, big guy, is this piece of ass really worth dyin’ for?” He nodded his head toward the naked woman behind him. “In case you’ve gotta think about that, the answer is ‘no.’ Been there, done that, and I wasn’t all that impressed.”

  He wasn’t sure why the following words left his mouth. Truly, he cared not whether the woman lived or died, yet he found himself moving in front of her, blocking the demon’s path. “If I were you, I’d move on and leave this female alone. Women start showing up dead, looking like Holocaust victims because your kind fucked the life out of ‘em, people are gonna start asking questions. And then Gahn will start asking questions. And then guess what, asshole? I’m going to point him in your direction.”

  It didn’t matter that Haden had severed ties with his father—adoptive, that was. Most of the fallen weren’t privy to the family drama that had gone down between him and Daddy Dearest, and the devastating chain of events that had set Haden on a course of vengeance. Those who’d known about it had been dispatched to kill him, and seeing how he was still alive…well, those bastards weren’t tellin’ anyone.

  “That female’s maybe a hundred and fifteen pounds. So she’s got what, two…maybe three weeks of fuck left in her? Move on. Find another mate.”

  The Incubus seemed to consider what Haden was saying, which actually surprised the shit out of him. Since when was he the rational one?—the diplomat?—the negotiator? What in the hell was happening to him? Ever since Liam had hit him with that blast of energy in Vegas, paralyzing and nearly killing him with those damn shadows until he’d repented, something inside him just wasn’t right. At first, he’d expected the feelings to go away. When they didn’t, he set about ignoring them. Yet, he’d be damned if that stirring in his chest didn’t crop up at the most inconvenient times—like now—or whenever he was around Olivia.

  “Goddamn Liam…” he grumbled under his breath. It was just like that angel to fuck with him. “Listen, I don’t have all day,” he snapped impatiently. “So are you gonna back the hell off, or are we gonna do this?”

  After another moment of hesitation, the Incubus finally canted his head. “Fine. You can have her.”

  I don’t want her… But Haden bit his tongue just short of voicing those words. The Incubus was trying to show him respect—respect Haden had damn well earned through a lot of blood, sweat, and well…tears. He deserved his props and they’d come at a damn high price—too high, if anyone asked him.

  “Go on, get
out of here,” he growled, nodding at the door. “And you,” he said, grabbing the dress off the bed and turning to the woman. “Get dressed.” He threw it at her—again—and this time, she scrambled to put the thing on. “If you two aren’t out of my sight in the next sixty seconds, someone’s going to die.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Olivia lifted her hand, wiping her cheeks dry. She wasn’t a crier, at least she didn’t think she was, but the relief that flooded her veins at the sight of the majestic plantation was a moment she would never forget. Although it was hazy, she could make out the details of the long, winding driveway leading to a house that appeared to be straight out of the eighteen-hundreds, yet miraculously un-aged.

  Six white pillars proudly stood across the entryway of the two-story mansion. An upper-level balcony spanned the front with three sets of French doors encased in black trim, as were all the windows. As they drew closer and the driveway curved, she could see the vast estate sported manicured lawns, a fruit orchard, and white picket-fenced pastures. Outbuildings dotted the rear of the property. Those, too, although small and much simpler, were meticulously cared for and in pristine condition.

  “I can see it!” she cried. In her excitement, she leaned over the console and placed a hasty kiss to his cheek. “Liam, this place is…breathtaking.”

  His smile softened the hard lines of his handsome face, making her wonder if he wasn’t equally relieved by her revelation. The brakes let out a high-pitched protest as they gradually ground to a halt halfway up the driveway. Why were they stopping?