Page 63 of Hunted By Darkness

We met the other two back at the safe house, and by the grin on Lev’s face, they’d come home with good news. I couldn’t even be angry about how I’d been left out of everything again.

The two men sat like victors on the couch, sharing secret glances and making plans for how to best assault Rilas’s hideout. I was filthy, so I left them to it to take a quick shower. When I came out, Silas was waiting on the bed for me. His hulking form was slouched over in contemplation, eyes on the floor.

He’d let me shower alone, the first sign of something wrong. He hadn’t followed me into our room when I left, only came inminutes after I got under the warm spray. Silas never passed up an opportunity to torment me anywhere private.

His downward cast eyes shot up when I huffed and ran the towel over my head, drying my hair instead of wrapping it around my body. I didn’t bother to cover up after confirming Ryker and Tometi were still downstairs. The wandering spirits could go anywhere they pleased. I’d discovered that tonight.

They’d followed Salvator and Lev in case anything went wrong so they could come back and report. I’d been beyond grateful for their quick thinking. Despite getting information, it did appear the guys were greeted in style with a fight.

Another group sent by the Brotherhood was out on the hunt for me. Lev recounted the scuffle in excruciating detail because the ambush wasn’t the biggest surprise of the night. It was the fact that Bones helped them fight off the assholes sent by Rilas. Guess he wasn’t a fan of what a demon meant for business.

Naked and in front of the never-satisfied menace, I expected a comment or two—even for the brute to dance over like he hadn’t fucked my brains out barely a half-hour ago—but to my ongoing confusion, he stayed seated and silent.

Head cocked, I waited. When he said nothing, I turned and rummaged through the dresser. It didn’t take long to find what I was looking for. I put on a cute bra and pair of underwear. I didn’t bother with the rest. The uncharacteristically silent man on the bed had stolen my focus.

Turning, I leaned against the dresser. His gaze had dropped to his hands, so I waited for him to look at me again. When he did, I raised an eyebrow in question. I waited patiently for him to say what was bothering him. I didn’t think it had anything to do with what the guys discovered.

The location, while unexpectedly close, wasn’t anything we didn’t expect. We’d already assumed we’d have a fight on ourhands. It was in the heart of Brotherhood territory, but it didn’t feel like that was what was bothering him.

“You were worried about something tonight, love, and it had nothing to do with where Bear Claw and Lev had gone off to. I’ve seen that spooked expression before. Did you have another vision?” Silas beckoned me over, patting his thigh.

I pretended as if I planned to sit on him but took a seat next to him instead. The big brute pouted, and when I laughed, he snatched me up and sat me on his lap. He kissed my neck and wrapped his arms around me like I was the thing that grounded him. And maybe I was. As much as it pained me to admit it, he grounded me, too. He made me feel safer than anyone ever had.

It was a relief that he was being more like the obsessed man I’d come to love, as silly as it sounded. Silas acting out of character made me incredibly uncomfortable. I much preferred this version of him.

I turned on his lap. Brushing the light hair out of his pretty eyes, I let my fingers linger across his forehead, then over the strong curve of his cheekbone and jaw. “It felt like that dream I had the other night.”

His eyes fluttered a little with the delicate way I touched him, and a little sigh escaped his mouth. “Felt like your dream?”

“My dream started the same way. I woke up alone, hearing voices, and walked the same path. I found you on the same street as the one tonight. It was all so similar,” I admitted, pulse considerably calm now that my dream hadn’t manifested into reality. “But in my dream…you weren’t you.”

Silas’s eyes found mine, his expression darkening. “What do you mean by that, love?” He pushed wet hair away from my face, concern etched into his brow.

I kissed it and tossed the towel on the bed. Grinning, I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and decided how best to describe it. “You had red eyes for starters. But it’s not just that.You…didn’t feel like you. It’s hard to explain, but I’m sure in my dream you were someone else. You hadn’t been you from the start.”

“Red eyes? Someone else?” he asked more to himself than me. “And tonight felt like that dream, is it? Are you worried I’m someone else, little rebel?”

I grabbed his face and dropped a little kiss on his mouth, denying it with a shake of my head. “No, of course not. I know it’s you. It’s tough to explain, but I feel it here.” I touched my chest, and his sneaky grin made me laugh.

I was glad that he wasn’t brooding and bothered anymore. He’d eased back into his usual smarmy glances. It didn’t suit him. Silas wasn’t Silas if he wasn’t finding the terrible humor in it all.

“Besides, things were already different when I walked through the house. So many little things weren’t the same as they had been in my dream. It just scared me at first. I don’t know why I thought you might’ve been Rilas in my dream—”

“Rilas,” he growled, grabbing my hand hanging over his shoulder. “Love, you remember what I told you about my brother and what he could do before he became a demon.”

I racked my brain for the conversation. He’d talked about it before, but briefly. I also remembered Ryker and Salvator mentioning something similar. I hadn’t thought about it at all until he mentioned it. “He’s…a shapeshifter?”

“Right.”

“He can take anyone’s shape?”

“He can.”

“With the blood he takes? But it’s not just that, right? It’s impossible to know if it’s him or the person he’s shifting as,” I added slowly, remembering what he’d told me. “Do you think that’s what my dream was about? Are you worried he’ll shapeshift as you? Seems a bit silly since it’s really only the hairand eyes he’d have to alter. There are plenty of items he could use to do that.”

His eyes fell away, and he dragged a hand through his hair, searching for the words. “It’s not that simple, love. It’s a deception most seasoned mercenaries can’t see through, and the ones who can don’t notice until it’s too late. I never mentioned it because I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but when you last fought him and he took your nan…”

My pulse thumped loudly in my ears.

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