Dark Side of the Moon (Dark-Hunter 9)

Ravyn squeezed her hand reassuringly before she got up. Ironically, Nick took two steps for the door before he must have remembered that he was no longer a Squire. He was a Dark-Hunter.

There was so much agony in his gaze that it stole her breath as he returned to his chair. Feeling for him and for Dave she followed the men out of the room.

She paused to look back at Ravyn, who gave her a small smile. That smile warmed her and gave her strength as she closed the door and headed back downstairs to start her research again.

"All right, " Leo said as soon as the Dark-Hunters were alone in the room with him. "We have a unique problem here. We not only have to avoid the Daimons, but the police, too. Anyone have a suggestion?"

"Bend over and kiss your ass good-bye," Nick said.

They ignored that oh so not helpful comment.

"Don't we have some cops on the Squires' payroll?" Zoe asked.

Leo shook his head. "Not in Seattle. We have some in Internal Affairs and with the DA's office, but none on the force itself. "

Belle made a sound of disgust. "Why not?"

"The last one retired," Leo said irritably. "The other one died a year ago of a heart attack. We haven't had a chance to replace them."

"Well, that blows." Belle reached for the tequila bottle and didn't bother with her glass. She took a giant swig. "No offense, but I don't want to be barbecue."

Zoe gave her a pointed stare. "None of us do."

"Has anyone been able to get a hold of Ash?" Dragon asked.

One by one, they shook they heads.

Except for Nick. "You won't hear from him until it's too late. Any time he vanishes, the Daimons go wild. I told you, they're linked somehow."

Leo cleared his throat. "That doesn't help us, Nick."

"And neither does staying together like this," Ravyn added. "We've been together too long. We need to break."

"Yeah," Menkaura agreed.

Belle set the half-empty bottle back on the table. "I just wish we knew what they were up to!"

"That's a no-brainer," Nick said snidely. He looked around the table as if they were all morons, and honestly, Ravyn was getting a little tired of his attitude. Train him, hell, the man would be lucky if Ravyn didn't kill him.

"Care to enlighten us blind sheep?" Zoe asked.

"Most of you are ancient warriors. Can't you figure it out? Think about it. All through history, what has brought down every great civilization or people?"

"War," Cael answered.

"No," Zoe whispered. She looked around the table at them. "It's what has brought all of us over to Artemis."

Ravyn nodded as he understood what they meant. "Betrayal. Sabotage. None of us were brought down by the enemy who attacked us in the open. We were brought down by the enemy within. By the traitor we didn't see coming at our backs."

"That's right." Nick's gaze went back to Cael. "It's always the one you least expect who does it, too. We won't be destroyed by the Daimons. We're going to be destroyed by one of our own."

Ravyn stiffened at words he knew were all too true. It was why, as Erika had pointed out, he didn't let anyone near him. He'd had enough of trusting people. God, he'd been killed by his own brother. A brother whose life he'd saved only a year before Phoenix had taken his.

Zoe stood up. "And on that sobering thought, I'm going to patrol."

Menkaura fell in behind her.

"Watch your backs," Leo called.

Zoe paused at the door. "Don't worry. It's what I'm best at."

"And beware of the phones," Nick said. "I don't know how the Daimons do it, but not even the caller ID works right."

She scoffed at him. "Yeah, thanks."

Dragon and Belle went next, leaving Cael, Ravyn, Nick, and Leo alone in the room.

Cael met Ravyn's gaze. "August 14, 2007."

"What's that?"

When he spoke, his tone was barely a whisper. "That's the day I need you to help me do the right thing. "

Ravyn's heart clenched as he realized it must be Amaranda's birthday. That more than anything else told him that Nick was wrong to accuse Cael. He was the one person Ravyn had faith in. "I'll be there."

Cael nodded and then passed a hostile glare toward Nick before he headed to the door.

As soon as it closed, Ravyn sighed as he looked at the Cajun. "Well, you certainly know how to win friends and influence people. No wonder Savitar wanted you off his hands."

"Don't start with me, Katagari. Out of all of them, you know I'm telling the truth."

How he wanted to deny it, but yeah, he could feel it. His animal senses picked up on it with an eerie accuracy. There was something highly out of the ordinary here. "For the record, I'm Arcadian, not Katagaria. Jeez, you've been hanging around Talon too long."

Nick sneered. "For the record, I don't give a shit."

Turning away from the angry man, Ravyn looked at Leo. "So what's our next move?"

"You have to stay hidden," Leo said as he handed him the folder he'd been thumbing through.

"What's this?"

"A file I was collecting. About a year ago, I got a call from a hysterical woman who said she'd seen her neighbor come home one night with blood on her clothes. A neighbor with fangs. I investigated it and found out the woman was on all kinds of medication, so I wrote it off. "

"Okay, so why give it to me?"

"Open the folder."

Ravyn did. His gaze went straight to the third paragraph where Leo had underlined four words that leaped out at him. Chief of police's wife.

"That's who she lived next door to."

Ravyn narrowed his eyes as those words went through him.

"Give it to Susan. Believe me, if anyone can find the truth, even while the cops are hunting her down, it's her." Leo patted him on the arm and left.

Alone now with Nick, Ravyn closed the folder. "Just so you know, Cael would never betray us."

"Yeah, and two years ago I thought Ash was a friend of mine. You know what that got me? A bullet to my brain."

"I don't know how you died, but I know Ash didn't kill you."

Nick gave a bitter laugh. "I wish I still had your blind faith. Unfortunately, mine was stripped from me the night I died."

Ravyn felt sorry for the man. What he had inside him was actually very typical for a new Dark-Hunter. That sense of outrage and of being wronged. The need to strike out at everyone around you. Hell, he'd even attacked Acheron when the Atlantean had shown up to train him. But then, he hadn't really needed training. Unlike a human warrior, he was used to his powers and used to fighting preternatural beings.

"When do you want to start your training?"

"I don't need training," Nick said. "I was a Theti and I know how to stake a Daimon. "

As a former Squire, Nick also knew the basics for Dark-Hunter survival.

"Fine. I guess for the first time in history, Savitar was wrong."

"He wasn't wrong. He just wanted an excuse to get me off the island. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

Ravyn didn't even want to go there. He didn't say anything as Nick left the room. That was one troubled man. But until he was willing to let go of the bitterness, there was nothing Ravyn or anyone else could do for him.

As Ravyn started for the door, he froze. There was something strange in the air... a whispering.

Closing his eyes, he summoned his powers of cognition and tried to hone in on it. But for his life, he couldn't. Instead, it settled as an uneasy feeling deep in his gut. Something bad was about to happen. He just couldn't tell what it was.