Page 37 of Hunted By Darkness

Coming over, Nika lifted the food in her hand and offered me a bite. “It’s delicious. You should try some, Silas.”

Catching Bear Claw’s stare, I bent over, bypassing the taco altogether, and stole a long, passionate snog. My hand wrapped around her nape, bringing her lips harder into mine, and I drove my tongue deep inside her gasping mouth. Nika couldn’t fight me off out of fear of losing her meal, so I luxuriated in making the wolf bastard watch how good I gave it to her.

“Saw that one coming,” Lev complained, but I didn’t spare the cute wanker a thought.

It didn’t take long for her to kiss me back and mewl her pleasure. It was the sound of another victory. Another thing that cemented the fact that she was mine and no one else’s. Let these bastards drool and pine for it to be their lips instead of mine. Let them covet this goddess who chose me, not them.

I’d never take it for granted.

Pulling back, I took a bite out of her savory treat. “Delicious.”

Her lips thinned and she flipped me the bird before catching Lev’s arm and walking off ahead. Proud of myself, I wiped the sauce from my mouth and followed.

It was another several blocks before we arrived at our destination. The street was lined with different establishments—restaurants, pubs, and places of entertainment. Normies crowded the streets, slinking from one place to another. The night was in full swing, swarmed by the loud and the plastered.

Nika and Lev had stopped to comment on one of the posters taped to a nearby window when Bear Claw stiffened, eyes searching the street. My magic crackled and sparked, sensing something nearby, and my head whipped the direction it came from.

Jaw clenched, he gestured across the street and leaned in. “I should’ve guessed he’d bring them.”

I caught sight of three mercenaries who pledged allegiance to a group I’d thought long gone. At least, last I’d heard they’d been wiped out. “Those nutters who like to unironically call themselves Shadow Pirates? Didn’t think they’d still be alive and operating after—”

“Waging war with Vapor?” Bear Claw supplied, grunting. “They got lucky. They offered a trade he couldn’t refuse, so they got to keep their lives.”

If they were here, that meant…

“Bones is your contact? Wasn’t he the one who put a price on your head back when I was in the Brotherhood?”

I was genuinely taken aback by the idea that the two of them talked at all after Bear Claw spent the better part of a year evading mercenaries bent on claiming the bounty on his head. To put a price on anyone’s head in this business was a grave offense—and one that rarely ended with both living, let alone working together.

Shrugging, Bear Claw’s dark gaze found Nika who’d pinned the two of us with a curious look. “We have a blood contract. If he doesn’t make good on this favor—”

“He forfeits his life,” I finished for him. “Can’t say I’m not impressed you got him to agree to one of those. Must’ve been a hell of a fight.”

Brushing back his dark hair, the wolf bastard huffed. It’d been the first time neither one of us was looking to antagonize the other. “You’re not wrong, but it bothers me that you’d be surprised at all. I was on the Death Team for a reason, same as you. Bones learned not to forget it.”

He sighed and stole a glance at my rebel again, killing whatever amenable air had grown between us. The way this wolf bastard looked at her like a lad in the throes of his very first love was bloody obnoxious, and he’d be lucky if I didn’t pluck his eyes out by the night’s end.

“They’ll need to be dealt with. I don’t doubt for a fucking second Rilas owns them,” he growled their direction.

Nostrils flared, I grumbled my reluctant agreement. “Those nitwits still dabbling in blood magic?”

“Not like they used to.” Bear Claw cracked his neck from side to side. “They’d dabbled a little too much, and it ended up killing half their crew.”

I chuckled, tickled by the idea. “That’s one way to do it.” Scanning the street, I counted off the ones I saw. “So that leaves…seven? Eight?”

“Six. Vapor killed one before they cut a deal.” Bear Claw’s smirk was diabolical. “That was one of his more amusing kills, I’ll admit.”

I ignored the pang of intrigue.

“We’ll need to get them isolated,” Bear Claw started, his eyes moving from Nika to Lev. “There’s no clean way to kill them out here.”

Guessing his line of thought, I shook my head. “Every paid mercenary knows her face and that Silver was in her employ. Pains me to admit it, but they aren’t cotton-headed ninnies. They’ll figure it out.”

The other two started to come closer.

“Not her,” Bear Claw rumbled, his eyes tracking Lev. “Him.”

The blue-haired son of Yuma stopped in front of us, a perfect eyebrow raised. “Should I be worried that the two of you are talking instead of fighting?”

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