No Mercy (Dark-Hunter 18)

Before she could ask him what he meant, he'd conjured a bowl of water and a washcloth.

Sam backed away as he reached for her with that cloth. "Test. Test!" she shouted when he didn't get the hint. "Don't stick that on me until we know for a fact that you have the same power Acheron does to keep cooties off that stuff."

"Cooties? You did not go there. Now who's being the big baby, huh?" He put one corner of the cloth on her arm. "There. You hallucinating yet?"

She took a minute to make sure before she answered. "No and you're lucky I'm not or I'd skin you and turn you into a rug."

Smirking at her, he wrung out the excess water and gently cleaned her injury while she lay on his bed.

Sam didn't speak as she let the heat of his skin soothe her. His hands were large and calloused, his knuckles scarred from centuries of fighting, yet at the same time his touch was gentle, soothing as he pushed up her shirt, baring her completely to his gaze. She didn't know why it made her feel vulnerable, but it did. He traced the cloth over her breasts, removing the blood before he bandaged her.

It seemed incongruous that a man so tough could be like this. That he'd been so tender earlier when he made love to her.

She'd been sure she was dead when the Daimon had picked her up to carry her through his portal. But for Dev, she'd be in Kalosis right now at their mercy. No doubt being tortured and killed. She owed him.

Big time.

"Thank you, Devon, for rescuing me."

He paused to look at her. "Dev is short for Devereaux, not Devon."

Wow, she'd never been wrong before. It was a weird sensation after all these centuries to not be able to pull out information like that when she needed it. "Devereaux Peltier." She savored the syllables of his name that flowed and rolled from her tongue. "It's very soft sounding."

He made a sound of disgust in the back of his throat. "Oh thank you so much. That's what every man wants to hear about his name. You might as well call me 'Little Pecker' while you're at it and tell me you'd love to have me go shopping with you for feminine hygiene products. Oh and by all means, carry a big, sparkling pink bag with flowers on it and make me hold it."

She laughed at the images he described, then winced as it sent a wave of pain through her chest. "I didn't mean it that way. It's a beautiful name and I doubt even an oversized pink purse could erode your tough machismo."

"Mmm-hmm. Too late. You've emasculated me. There's no coming back from it now."

"None at all?"

"No. I've been relegated to gay friend status. It's all right though. They have a cool bar down on Canal and I have a lot of friends there. I'm sure they'd let me watch the door for them. Probably pay me more than my family does, too, so you've actually done me a favor. Thanks."

Dev got up and went back to his chest of drawers. He pulled out another T-shirt and brought it to her. "I'll leave you alone to change 'cause you might share your cooties with me and I haven't had a recent vaccine against them." He vanished before she could say a single word.

"You are so weird, Dev Peltier." He was an absolute nut and yet she found him strangely entertaining.

What is wrong with me? She was never really attracted to a man, not even when she'd been human. Ioel had been the lone exception. As a Dark-Hunter, she'd taught herself that the only male companionship she needed came with batteries.

But Dev made her rethink that lifestyle. He made her remember what it was like to laugh with someone she cared about.

Don't go there. She didn't really care about Dev. She barely knew him.

Still...

Herding her wayward thoughts, Sam changed her torn, blood-soaked gown for the shirt he'd given her, then leaned back wishing she'd thought to grab her cell phone on her way out. It actually angered her that she hadn't thought about it at the time.

You are insane. Getting out alive definitely trumped getting more injured trying to grab her iPhone.

True, but she needed to warn the others and to do that, she needed her phone.

Dev came back a few minutes later with a laptop. "Out of curiosity. How do you eat?"

She paused as she remembered that she'd been able to eat the food he'd given her...strange. But why didn't that extend to the other things?

With no answer, she moved to his question with what the truth had been prior to this morning. "There's a reason I'm thin. I live on a lot of salads that I grow in a garden behind my house. You ever try gardening at night? Really sucks."

"Man...I'm sorry."

She appreciated his sympathy, but there was no need for it. It was what it was. "You get used to it."

"I don't know, Sam. I can't imagine life without steak. I think I'd rather be dead. Why didn't you tell me this at your house?"

"Because it was my stuff in my house and I don't have anything there that will cause me pain. Here, I'm not so lucky."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and held it out to her. "No one's touched it but me so it should be safe for you."

If only it were that simple. "Thanks, but someone put it together. It too is kryptonite."

"All right then. I'll get started notifying Acheron and crew." He called Ash while she leaned back to listen and mull over everything that'd happened since last night. It was almost more than she could even follow. How could so many things be crammed into so little time?

But what amazed her most was that she couldn't even overhear Dev's phone conversation as he talked to Acheron. For the first time in five thousand years, she felt normal. It was so peculiar.

At least that was her thought until she saw the look on Dev's face.

"You sure?" he asked Acheron.

She frowned at his tone. There was a hint of anger in it. What had happened to trigger it? Had a Dark-Hunter already been killed by the Daimons?

Or something worse?

She bit her lip in trepidation as she listened.

After a few minutes he spoke again. "I'll tell her.... Yeah, you too." He hung up the phone and stared at the wall for several heartbeats as if trying to come up with the right words.

A sick, cold knot formed in her stomach. "What?"

"Two demons were found drained this morning and left out on the Moonwalk for the humans to see. Apparently there's been a rash on demon slayings lately and Ash thinks it's a harbinger for us, saying we're screwed."