No Mercy (Dark-Hunter 18)

For that, Bastien and Gilbert would die. And the worst part was that Bastien was an Arcadian too. Those bastards were about to commit murder even in the eyes of the Omegrion.

And they didn't even care. So long as they took out Gilbert, the rest of them were simply collateral damage. Animals to be slaughtered.

If Dev told them he was an Arcadian, they would spare him because he was one of them. But not his sister. The Arcadians would kill Aimee too and use her fur for boots. Gods, it was so unfair.

He heard Bastien cry out--a cry that was cut short to a silence so foul it tore through him. An instant later, the Arcadians cheered. "Is it the right animal?"

"No. It must still be inside."

Gilbert gripped Dev's shoulder. "You must go now. Protect Aimee for us."

Dev nodded as his brother stood up and slipped from the stall to turn into a bear--Gilbert's weakest fighting form, but it would distract the Arcadians and give Dev more time to escape. The Arcadians knew there were four of them. Once they killed Gilbert, they'd seek out him and Aimee.

I have to go.

Tears flowed down his cheeks as he buried his face in Aimee's fur. Holding her close, he slipped out the back while Gilbert fought their enemies. It was so cold outside.

He heard more gunshots and then a loud shout of jubilation from the Arcadians.

Gilbert was dead....

The Arcadians cursed as they realized Gilbert was human and that they had just committed a murder that would cost them their lives. "Find the other two. We have to kill them before they tell what we've done."

Aimee let out a baleful cry.

Dev held her close as he covered her mouth with his hand to muffle her wail. "I've got you, Aimee. I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I swear. I'll never let anyone hurt you." And with that vow, he slipped out the back and into the trees that surrounded the farm where they'd taken temporary refuge.

It took him an entire night to make it back to the small house in London his family called home. He was completely exhausted. Weak. His wounds were bleeding profusely.

But Aimee was unharmed.

The moment he opened the door, his mother was there in her gown and bathrobe. Beautiful and blond, she was a study of grace as she looked past his shoulder, into the dawning sky. "Mon Dieu, Devereaux! Where have you been? Have you any idea of the hour? We've been trying to track you and..." She paused as he came in and locked the door. The panic in her eyes tore through him. "Where's Gilbert and Bastien?"

Dev choked on the words he didn't want to utter. He'd used his powers to mask his scent so that the Arcadians wouldn't be able to track him. He'd never thought about the fact that his parents wouldn't have been able to do so either.

His mother moved past him to look out the door. "Are they in tending horses? What keeps them?"

Dev laid his sister's sleeping body down before he turned to face her. "They're dead, Maman."

The look on her face emblazoned itself on his heart. It was a look of pure agony...a look Sam knew far better than she'd ever wanted to.

All the color drained from Nicolette's cheeks. "What?"

"We were attacked and--"

She slapped him hard across his face. "You left them to die?"

Dev wiped his hand across his mouth, smearing the blood that ran from his busted lip and nose. "I protected Aimee."

Nicolette screamed out, waking up the rest of the house. Aimee went running to hide under the table while their mother seized Dev by his shirt and shoved him back against the wall. "You're the one who wanted to go. You lured them there."

"No, Maman. I would never have gone had I known."

Still she screamed at him, accusing him of leaving them to die while he ran like a coward.

"Nicolette!" his father snapped as he pulled her away from Dev. "What's happened?"

"My sons are dead." She gestured to Dev. "That mongrel bastard ran and left them there to die." She sneered at Dev. "You worthless human! I wish it'd been you who'd died!"

Dev sucked his breath in and held it as his father picked her up and carried her out of the room. The rest of his siblings followed, wanting to comfort their mother. They left Dev there shattered as her words echoed in his ears.

"I wish it'd been you who'd died."

It should have been me. It should have been me.... Guilt and agony ripped him apart as his tears flowed. Why had he bothered coming home? It would have been so much easier had he died with them.

Aimee came out from under the table. She licked his hand before she crawled into his lap and licked his chin. Dev held her then and let out all the pain inside him.

But it was a pain that he still carried with him and it broke Sam's heart. His mother had never really forgiven him for that night. Yes, she'd been grieving and hurting. But for the rest of her life, he'd seen the darkness in her eyes when she'd looked at him. Had heard the sharp tone in her voice that hadn't been there before.

It was why he'd tried so hard to please her and why he'd never left Sanctuary.

Aimee had been his tie that kept him there, and for his sister, he would do anything.

Sam wanted to weep for her bear. Dev was such a good man. Not that she'd doubted it, but now she knew his scars were every bit as harsh as hers. He blamed himself for their deaths and for tearing out his mother's heart. Every time he'd overheard her crying over her children had been like a knife through his soul. He believed that he'd caused it all.

It was why he'd never tried to mate. He didn't want a woman to turn on him, or worse, have her family come for his. So he'd avoided sleeping with his own kind, knowing that it was rare for a Were-Hunter to be mated to a human. Yes, it happened, but it wasn't a common occurrence and even if it did, a human would never be able to hurt them. So he'd played those odds, even though the one thing he really wanted was a family of his own....

Sam swallowed the lump in her throat as she wished Dev was here for her to hug. She wanted to take his pain away from him and to tell him the one thing no one in his family had ever said. Not even the sister he'd risked his life for. The sister he'd hand carried through the darkness to make sure she was safe.

I'm so glad you survived.

She blinked back her tears, angered over the fact that she felt them. Tears were weakness.

They accomplished nothing.

"Why am I channeling his memories?" She couldn't sense them at all when she was around him. So why were they here now?

And as she contemplated that, she swore she could feel Dev with her. Feel his panic that she'd been ripped out of his arms and that he hadn't been able to stop it. Right now, he was in turmoil. Every part of him was desperate to get her back.

For that, he was willing to bust hell itself wide open if that was what it took.

Tenderness spread through her in a way it never had before. And with that warmth came an awful realization....

She was falling in love with him.

I can't be.

But there was no denying the emotions inside her. It was a feeling she knew well and one that had filled her every day she'd been with Ioel.

There was no doubt in her mind. Because right now, when her life was in danger, she wasn't thinking about herself. She didn't care what they did to her. What ever it was, she'd go down swinging. What was on her mind was the fear of what her death would do to Dev.

She didn't want to die because she had a reason to live. She didn't want to die because it would destroy her bear....

"And that's why you're here."

She tensed as that disembodied male voice was back. "Excuse me?"

"You have to let Dev go."

"Why?"

"Because if you don't, it will get him killed."