Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter 9)

Ravyn released a heavy breath. His exhaustion and sadness reached out to Susan. She wanted to place a comforting hand on him but decided that wouldn't be prudent. Unlike Cael and Amaranda, they weren't a couple. And she didn't know him well enough to gauge if Ravyn would welcome her comfort or resent it.

"At least we know Cael's safe, so we can relax there." Ravyn narrowed his eyes on the other Dark-Hunter. "Stay in touch and remember what I said. Sooner or later, this battle will come to your door."

Worry darkened Amaranda's brow as she looked up at her husband. "What battle?"

He took her hand into his. "Nothing, baby. They're just paranoid."

Otto scoffed at his words. "And cockiness kills."

"C'mon," Ravyn said, pushing Otto toward the stairs. "We have other places to go and other people to annoy."

Otto shrugged his grip off as he headed down the hallway, away from Cael and Amaranda. Ravyn followed after him.

Susan pulled up the rear, but as she reached the stairs, she turned back to see Amaranda drop the sack of food on the floor as Cael pulled her into his arms and cupped her face in his large hands, before he gave her a passionate kiss.

Gone was all of his toughness and in its place was the gentleness of a man who was obviously head over heels in love with his wife.

"You need to eat something," Amaranda said as she pulled back from his lips.

He gave her a teasing smile. "Trust me, I'm going to eat now... the food can wait till later. "

Amaranda laughed as he picked her up and headed back into their bedroom.

A bittersweet pain sliced through Susan at the sight of them. God, what would it feel like to be that in love? She couldn't even imagine it. The closest she'd ever been to it had been Alex back when she'd been a reporter. He'd worked for a competing paper and they had dated for almost three years-they'd even talked about getting married.

Until she'd been disgraced. Then he'd left her life so fast, she still had a skid mark on her heart.

I can't stay with you, Sue. Can you imagine the gossip? No one would ever trust me. You ruined your career. I won't let you ruin mine, too.

The truly sad thing was, she understood it and, honestly, she'd rather have him gone if he didn't love her enough to stand by her.

But understanding didn't stop it from hurting, even after all this time. How she envied Cael and Amaranda for being able to love even when everyone else condemned them for it.

But that was tempered by what would happen to Cael next year when his wife was destined to die...

Her heart heavy for them, Susan dashed up the stairs after Ravyn and Otto, who'd already policed up Leo. The club was still thumping as college students and Apollites mixed and danced. She walked past a group of tall blonds whose black eyes watched them with tangible malice. Susan felt like a guppy in a shark tank. There was something extremely disconcerting about the way the blonds watched them, and the reporter in her went on full alert.

"Ravyn?" She pulled him to a stop. "I've got a bad feeling."

"About what?"

"I don't know. Something's not right. I can't explain it..."

A teasing light came into his eyes. "Don't worry, my spidey-sense is going off, too. I think it best we get out of here as quickly as we can."

She nodded as they followed Leo and Otto out of the club, back to the street.

Ravyn couldn't shake the bad feeling Susan had mentioned. He hadn't been kidding. There was a scent on the air that he couldn't place. It wasn't Daimon or Apollite. Nor was it human. It was something else... something sinister and powerful, and that concerned him. He needed to get the humans back to safety before whatever it was made its presence known to them.

"What now?" Leo asked as soon as they were outside the club.

"Were all the other Dark-Hunters notified about what's going on?" Ravyn asked.

Leo nodded.

"Then-" Ravyn's voice broke off as he felt a sharp stab in his shoulder. The sting of it made his arm start to tingle and burn immediately. "What was that?"

He met Otto's scowl.

"What?" Leo asked.

Ravyn couldn't speak. It felt as if his tongue was swollen so large that it wouldn't move. His head started throbbing. His vision blurred and dimmed.

"He's hit!" Otto shouted. He handed Susan the keys for his Jaguar before he grabbed Ravyn around the waist and pulled him toward the car. "Get us out of here. Now. Leo, take Ravyn's car and run."

Susan fished the keys from Ravyn's pocket and tossed them to Leo.

Leo dashed off to comply.

Susan barely had time to recover before she saw the brigade of five Daimons coming out of the alley to their left. Four men and one woman, they walked with determined strides in a killers' formation with the sharp Seattle wind billowing out their long coats. Each one wore a pair of dark wraparound sunglasses and held a sharp, stern face that said they were out for blood.

Their blood.

Her heart hammering, she got into the car and turned the key in the ignition at the same time Otto shoved Ravyn into the backseat. Something hard struck the hood.

Startled, she looked up to see a male Daimon standing on the hood, baring fangs at her as he drew a gun out of the folds of his coat to shoot through the windshield.

"Screw you, asshole," she snarled, putting the car in reverse and cutting the wheel even though Otto still had the car door open. The Daimon went flying as the car slung sideways. She laid her weight on the brakes, causing the car door to slam shut as Otto let out a foul curse from the backseat.

"Buckle up and hang on," she warned him, dropping the gearshift into drive. She stomped the gas and headed for the others, who quickly dove out of her path. "Damn, I missed them."

"Where did you learn to drive like that?" Otto asked.

"I was a reporter, Otto. You ever notice that reporters rank up there with lawyers and politicians in terms of public opinion? There's a lot of people in the world who'd like to hurt us. As soon as I got my first job out of college, Jimmy made me take self-defense classes in both martial arts and driving. Believe me, I can J- and K-turn with the best of them." She glanced into the rearview mirror to see Ravyn trying to stay awake. "What happened back there? Is he okay?"