Chapter 10
Blaéz sethis whiskey glass down on the table and rubbed his stubbled jaw, restlessness crawling through him like ants. He glanced at the door Darci had disappeared through again. Even though Aethan was with her, a sense of dread continued to roil through him.
Icy pinpricks suddenly coasted over his psyche. His mystical tattoo stirred, pulsing in warning. Shit, demoniis! —Darci!
Blaéz shot to his feet and sprinted for the door as a commotion started somewhere in the distance— outside. One his heightened hearing easily picked up. Screams followed, then it all went quiet again. As he reached for the door, Echo and Kira hurried inside.
Fear swept through him at not seeing his mate, his words rumbled out in a low growl. “Where is Darci?”
“You came for her a moment ago.” Echo’s eyebrows drew together. “Didn’t you say something about your brother being around and that you wanted to leave?”
No—no!Fuck no!His gut loosened. His lungs threatened to shut down. The bastard! He’d taken her—taken his mate! “No,” he rasped, struggling to breathe, “I didn’t…”
“Oh, no!” Echo’s eyes went wide with shock.
You were right!Aethan telepathed him.A fucking demonii horde near the parking lot. Dagan’s here. You and Týr remain there, keep them safe.
“Celt—” Týr appeared at his side, putting a hand on his back as if to steady him. His tone low, terse. “I heard. We’ll find her. And shit’s flying outside.”
Blaéz didn’t respond—couldn’t with his jaw clenched so hard as terror and rage tore through him. He’ll rip Finnén apart if he so much as touched a hair on Darci’s head!
He scanned outside the restaurant, but only the faint sounds of clanging swords and guttural growls reached him. He picked up nothing of his mate or his damn brother. Desperation gnawing at his gut, he wanted to charge into the night, but with no idea where to find her, he mind-linked with Darci.Speak to me, a leannan.
Only unending silence echoed in his mind.
Finnén must have knocked her out. It was the only way she wouldn’t respond to his telepathy.
Declan appeared in front of him, looking like a thundercloud. Daniel and Grace hurried behind him. Shit! He couldn’t deal with this now. Týr stepped in smoothly. “It’s going to be okay,” he reassured them.
Declan cut Blaéz a cold stare. “This is why I didn’t want her with you. You bring her back, now!”
“Dec, don’t. Blaéz will find her.” Grace tugged at her mate’s arm.
Without a word, Blaéz headed for the door, pulling his rage deep into his gut. Oh, he would find Darci, and that fucker who took her. Blood would flow this night.
“What’s going on—where’s my aunt?” Daniel demanded.
“Why don’t we go and sit down while Blaéz looks for her?” Týr said quietly, a compulsion to obey underscoring his tone as he ushered Darci’s family back to their seats.
From the silent corridor, Blaéz dematerialized, taking form outside, in the back parking lot lined with trees. Icy air enclosed him in a freezing embrace while light snow continued to fall. He barely felt it as he walked the dimly lit lot, scanning the area for a scent, the fallen snow crunching beneath his booted feet. But only the faint reek of garbage drifted to him, the dumpsters hidden behind an old Chevy truck parked off to the side.
Blaéz pivoted and strode back. Immortals usually left behind a hint of their psychic energy, but not his damn kin because of his current job as a fucking law-keeper.
A sudden whiff of sulfuric stench burned his nose. Running footfalls echoed. A lanky figure lumbered around the restaurant corner toward him. Blaéz grabbed the scourge by the neck.
Neon red eyes glowed like lights in his pallid face. If desperation had a true scent, the demonii would positively reek of it. He snarled, revealing stained, pointy canines. “I’m going to drink you dry and take your sssoul.”
Blaéz shoved him against the building wall. “Who sent you?”
The demonii kicked out, catching him in the knee. Blaéz ignored the sharp pain spearing through him and rammed the fucker’s face into the brick wall. Bones crunched. A guttural roar ripped through the air.
His Guardian senses prickled like barbed wire grating him. Another was nearby.
Blaéz glanced back, keeping the one he held pinned to the wall. This asshole grinned as he pilfered the earth of its natural energies. Before he turned them into deadly bolts, Blaéz thrust into the demonii’s head with his mind and let loose his lethal ability. The scourge’s eyes bulged from its sockets. A wet crack resounded and his skull exploded. Blood, bone, and gore flew everywhere, turning into ash before drifting back onto the snow-covered asphalt and disappearing along with the deflating body.
“Noooo,” the trapped demonii moaned. Booted steps pounding the asphalt rang out, and a tall, familiar figure sporting warrior braids rounded the corner. Blaéz turned to his prisoner. “Who sent you here? Lie, and you’ll end up like your friend.”
“I don’t know,” he whimpered, black blood still seeping from his broken nose. “He said lotsssa souls here...” Desperation to live darkened his aura even more. “Lemme go…need a sssoul.”
