Darkness Hunts (Dark Angels 4)

“What have you done to the poor man?”

I snorted softly. “He’s neither a man nor poor, and you should be on my side, not his.”

She shook her head, amusement tugging at her lips as she headed for her bedroom. I opened the fridge to study the contents, then decided on lamb sandwiches.

I glanced up at Jak. “You want a sandwich?”

“Yep.” He propped his butt up on the counter. “What sort of accident did Tao have?”

“That is none of your damn business.” I slapped thick slices of lamb between slices of bread and handed it to him.

“Huh.” He bit into his sandwich, then added, “So what is going on between you and Azriel?”

“Nothing. He’s a reaper.” I squashed my sandwich down with a little more force than necessary. “They don’t do love or life.”

“Which, interestingly enough, does not preclude them doing sex.”

I pointed the knife at him. “Drop it. Now.”

He grinned and held up his hands again. “A little too close to the mark, huh?”

“More wide of the mark, and still none of your business.”

Thankfully, Ilianna chose to call me into her bedroom at that moment. It was a cool green and normally very calming, but it didn’t do a lot to ease the tension suddenly coursing through me. She closed the door, then crossed her arms and said, “Out with it.”

I plopped down on the edge of her enormous bed. “Is it possible that some sort of attraction spell has been placed on me?”

Surprised flitted across her features. Whatever question she’d been expecting, that obviously hadn’t been it. “Why on earth would you think something like that has happened?”>“Maybe, but that was the past. Let it go.”

She snorted. “Is that what you’re doing? Letting it go and forgiving? I thought you had more sense than that.”

“Uh, hello?” Jak said, his voice a little hoarse. “Remember me? Still stuck to the door here, and it’s getting rather uncomfortable.”

I gave her a pointed look, and she sighed. “If you insist.”

She made another flicking motion, and there was a thunk as Jak was released from the door.

“So nice of you,” Jak muttered in a dark voice.

Ilianna snorted again. “Trust me, if it weren’t for the rule that states whatever harm I do to you will be returned to me threefold, I would have done a whole lot worse than try to force you out the door.”

He climbed slowly to his feet, then rotated his shoulders, as if trying to work out a kink. “Look, I can’t take back the past—”

“And you wouldn’t, even if you could,” she snapped.

“True, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have regrets—”

“The only thing you regret is not being able to unleash the second part of that damn story because you were under the threat of jail time—or worse—from her uncle.”

“Well, yeah, but—”

“Guys,” I interrupted before things could get more out of hand. “Let it go. That’s not what we’re here for.”

Ilianna gave me a somewhat cross look. “I don’t care what he’s here for.”

I walked over and caught her hands in mine. “Thank you,” I said softly, “for caring so much. But right now we need all the help we can get, and I’m afraid that means using Jak. Just trust me, okay? I know what I’m doing.”

Her gaze searched mine, concern evident in those rich depths. “No, I don’t think you do.”