Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter 9)

In spite of her resolve, she felt the tears starting to fall. Wiping them away, she hated herself for the weakness. They had something to do and here she was crying like a little girl.

"Susan?"

She jumped at the deep voice in her ear. "Ravyn! Don't startle me like that." She felt a muscular arm wrap around her and pull her close to his hard body. The scent of him soothed her even while it tickled her nose.

"It's okay."

But she knew it wasn't. It would never be okay that they were gone. Yet it was kind of him to try to offer comfort.

Then again, if anyone knew pain, it was the man holding her. He, too, had lost everything. Grateful for his presence, she leaned back against his hard chest and hugged his steely arm against her breasts. She was silent as she fought down the tears and drew a shaky breath.

Clearing her throat, she gave his arm a gentle squeeze, then stepped away. "Did you get it?"

"Yeah. It was just where you said. Now let's get out of here before someone sees us."

He adjusted the small box under one arm, then took her hand and led her back outside, to the deck. They crossed the yard silently, and headed back down the street to where they'd left the car. Every single step of the way, she kept expecting someone to catch them. She held her breath, waiting for the police or the Daimons to somehow discover where they were.

By the time they reached the Porsche, she was afraid her nerves were completely shot.

She got in first and buckled up before Ravyn placed the box on her lap. She frowned as he shut the door and walked over to the other side. At least until she saw what was on top...

Grief and joy mixed inside her and closed her throat into a tight knot. It was a framed picture of her, Angie, and Jimmy from last summer when they'd been deep-sea fishing. She and Angie were pointing to the giant swordfish Jimmy had caught and he was standing there like a he-man with his arms up.

Clutching the picture to her, she looked over at Ravyn and was overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness. "Thank you."

He simply inclined his head to her as he started the car and headed them toward the Serengeti.

Susan put the picture back in the box and just tried to keep it together as her anger built over the injustice of their deaths. She wanted revenge. You've got to keep yourself calm, Sue. But it was hard. She'd always hated emotional basket cases, and yet that was what she felt like tonight. "I'm sorry, Ravyn."

"For what?"

"That you're stuck with the neurotic Susan. I'm usually much more together than this."

To her surprise, he reached over and took her hand into his. "Babe, don't you dare apologize to me. I have nothing but respect for the grace and strength you've had today. I don't know many men who could have held up as well as you have."

Those words made her heart pound. "Thank you."

He squeezed her hand before he let go to shift gears. Susan wiped at her eyes as she watched the streetlights cut across his face, bringing out his features. He was exceptional. But it made her wonder what he'd be like if he was just an average guy on the street.

No, she couldn't imagine that. He was so much larger than life. A guy like this could never be average. And it was why she knew a woman like her could never dare to have more than a moment with a guy like him.

Ravyn didn't speak as he drove them through the quiet Seattle streets. But he could feel Susan with every inch of his being. The Dark-Hunter inside him could hear her heart beating. Could feel her blood flowing through her veins. The predator sensed her unease and sadness. The man just wanted to kiss those lips she had parted and hold her until she smiled at him again.

It was hard to think straight with her so close to him. He'd never seen any woman more beautiful.

He dropped his gaze to the hand she had on the box. A hand he wanted to nibble and then guide down to cup him until she stroked the part of him that ached for a taste of her lush body. But an animal like him could never dare to touch something as precious as she. Susan was one of the very few decent humans he'd ever met. And she deserved much better than something like him. Shifting in the seat, he clenched his teeth. This wasn't the time to let his hormones lead him.

Sure it is....

He wanted to growl at himself. Instead, he pushed the accelerator, needing to put some distance between them before he gave in to the feral need he had to have sex with her.

Not soon enough for comfort's sake, he parked the car right where Phoenix had left it. He helped Susan out of the car and headed back inside the club. The hallway wasn't as loud as it'd been earlier. No doubt the club was winding down a bit, but it still had a good-sized crowd. He could hear the thumping beat of the dance music. The air was thick with the smells of alcohol, cheap perfume, and greasy food. Ravyn kept waiting for one of his "family" members to appear and try to drive him out.

As they rounded a corner, they were almost run over by Erika.

"Sorry," she said as she started past them.

"Where are you going?" Ravyn asked. Her father would have Ravyn's head if something happened to her while he was in Hawaii.

"Out."

"Out where?"

She sighed heavily. "To the dance floor, if you must know. I want to boogie till I puke."

He gave her a suspicious glare. "Don't you have school tomorrow?"

"Relax, Dad. Leo said that I should stay here until the threat is over. They're afraid I might get nabbed by one of the Doulosi."

"The what?" Susan asked.

Ravyn turned toward her. "It's a term for the humans who help the Apollites or Daimons."

"Oh."

Erika took a step toward the door that led to the club, then paused. "Oh hey, if you guys get hungry, tell the woman in the kitchen, Terra, and she'll make you something. I have to say the burgers here are delish."

"Thanks," Susan said, but Erika was already gone.

Ravyn took the box from Susan's hands. "Why don't you get us something to eat and I'll get this laid out in our room below so we can examine it. "

"Okay."

Susan watched as Ravyn headed down the stairs, then followed the sounds of pans and glasses clanking until she located the kitchen. She wasn't sure if the people working in here were human or not. It was really weird to never know anymore.

"Can I help you?"

She turned to see a tall brunette woman. She reminded Susan of a chic model with extremely intense eyes. Crystal blue, they seemed to glow as they watched her like a predator in the wild.

Susan refused to be intimidated even though the woman was doing her best. "Erika said we could get something to eat."

The woman looked a bit reluctant as she glanced around the room in a very catlike manner. After a minute, she slid her gaze back to Susan. "All right, but don't let Dori know I fed you. The last thing I want is to hear about it from him. "

This must be Terra and she was grateful that Terra had a heart. "Thanks."

"No problem."

Susan stood back as the woman made two plates of burgers and fries for them. "Are you part of the Kontis family?"

She held her palm up to show Susan a really cool geometric sign on her palm. "Dorian's my mate. I'm Terra."

So that's what the sign looked like. It was lovely. "Nice to meet you."

Terra snorted. "Yeah, right. You don't like being here any more than we like your being here-I can smell your emotions bleeding out of your pores. But that's okay. At least we all know where we stand." Terra handed her the plates. "You want a couple of beers?"

"That would be heaven."

Terra brushed her hands off on her apron, then pulled out two bottles from an ice tub behind her. She put them on the tray and indicated for Susan to place the plates there, too.

As soon as Susan did, Terra handed the tray to her. "You got it?"

"Yes, thanks."

Terra nodded before she went back to instructing one of the waiters to take an order of pretzels out to a table.

Susan took the tray and headed back downstairs to their room. Ravyn was already booting up the laptop. When he saw the beers, his face actually lit up like a child seeing Santa for the first time.

"You must have read my mind."

Susan smiled at him as she handed him a beer. "Terra did."

"Terra?"

"It appears your brother Dorian has a mate."

His jaw actually dropped. "Really?"

"Yep. She's an interesting woman. Kind of rough around the edges, but at least she fed us."

"I won't argue that, especially as good as it smells."

Susan set the tray on the floor before she pulled Jimmy's laptop toward her. "So what all did you find in his office?"

"Not too much. Some letters, a few file folders, a couple of leather journals, and the laptop."

And one picture that he didn't mention. Disregarding that thought, she started looking through his laptop file folders, but as she did so a wave of unbelievable pain engulfed her. These were Jimmy's private files. His whole life was on this computer. His tax records, family photos, e-mails to friends, jokes...

Everything.

She felt Ravyn's hand on her shoulder. "You want me to do it?"

"No," she said past the stinging lump in her throat as her anger returned. "I owe this to him."

Ravyn was amazed by her strength and resolve. He'd never seen anything like it. "Okay, while you search, I'm going to call the other Dark-Hunters and check in with them."

She nodded.

Not sure if she'd really heard him or not, he pulled his phone out and called Acheron. As before, there was no answer. Damn. He could really use some advice from the head honcho about how to handle this situation. If there was one thing in life Acheron seemed to understand, it was the Daimon mind-set.

Then one by one, Ravyn called the rest of the Seattle-based Dark-Hunters to find out that they were all on patrol, being vigilant.

The only one who didn't answer was Aloysius. A Scottish Dark-Hunter who'd been in Seattle since 1875.

Ravyn cursed.

"You okay?"

He looked at Susan and nodded even though he felt ill about it. "I think I know who they killed... he was a good man." Shaking his head in disgust, he moved closer to her. "Have you found anything?"

"Not yet. Just a few notes about things that disappeared out of his files at work. Some missing evidence. But no theory about who's behind it or why. "

Ravyn leaned forward to read, but before he could, he heard something slam shut above.

More than that, he felt a wave of mass rage and fear in the air. The scent of it was overwhelming.

There was serious trouble above...