Page 39 of Hunted By Darkness

It was lucky we were far from the hustle and bustle of the inner city, or their bickering would give us away before anything else did. The whole point of luring these men here was so we kept it out of the public eye. Any louder, and the place would be swarmed with curious bystanders in no time.

Sighing, I leaned against Lev, and he patted my head with a raspy laugh. Neither of us intervened. It wouldn’t do us any good. The two had some ongoing rivalry between them, and nothing we said could put an end to it. After another few seconds, the only people left breathing were the ones in our group.

“Well, that was quick,” Lev murmured, the body parts of the six slain Shadow Pirates strewn about. “And…messy.”

Ryker clapped his hands together in giddy joy. “It’s such a mindfuck to watch my wolf from this angle. I’m so damn pretty.”

“You are no longer that wolf,” Tometi said, grief-stricken. He wasn’t just talking to Ryker. He was admitting that he was no longer the bear he’d always been, and I had to stop myself from putting a hand on him in support.

The air shifted, and I went rigid. The other two men sensed the change. Dark magic crawled across the floor before Silas’s cerulean power cut across it, easily constructing a wall of blue to stop the magic from coming any closer.

“Silver and Bear Claw? That’s a duo I never expected to see again,” a man said, appearing in the middle of the alley.

Silas had explained the night before that everyone in the dark, seedy underworld of paid killers knew him as Silver, not the Shimmering Assassin. The infamous and uncatchable assassin identity was never connected with the name Silver or Silas. It was only a handful of people who knew it, and most of them were dead.

The newcomer wore a mask of bones over his face with a cloak concealing the rest of him. Red eyes, the mark of blood magic, beamed from two eyeholes. Thick gloves covered his hands, but otherwise, there was very little about him on display. Even his overall figure was distorted by the layers he wore. It was meant to hide his identity the same way Silas hid his.

I’d gathered quickly that this was Salvator’s contact since neither side had attacked.

Tometi was already towering over the cloaked mercenary, bent almost half his height, sniffing him. Ryker had that proud look of a father on his face as the bear looped the stranger several times, disgruntled but determined. He didn’t like the smell of this asshole, but that was a given. Even I caught a whiff of the pungent aroma of blood magic. It wasn’t a pleasant scent at all.

I didn’t relish the idea of working with someone who used blood magic, but we were fighting a demon. Compromisesneeded to be made, and Salvator seemed confident whoever this was could help us find Rilas.

The giant phantom left the newcomer and returned, keeping close to my side. “Your scent never fails to wash away the putrid stench of others, even blood magic, Nika.”

Smirking, I kept my eyes trained on the figure looming in shadow, regarding the two men in front of him with a frigid stare. “Thanks, Tometi. That’s high praise coming from you.”

Lev stole a glance at me, eyebrow raised. “What’d he say?”

“That I’m essentially a scent palate cleanser,” I whispered as our two stared down the cloaked figure, gesturing between them in a silent code I didn’t understand.

Lev grinned and looked the direction he thought Tometi was in. Which was hilariously off the mark, because Tometi had left my side for his and was currently leaned over and sniffing him, too. “What a sweet guy. Tometi, you’re one in a million.”

“I do not think the bear population is at a million. Evil humans have kept our numbers low,” the giant grumbled, nose still close to Lev’s blue hair.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. “He says thank you.”

Salvator, naked except for the blood that covered his body, sneered at the bone-masked mercenary. “What are the Shadow Pirates doing here? Are you breaking our blood contract already, Bones?”

It wasn’t easy to discern this new asshole’s expression with the mask on, but I got the sense he wasn’t bothered by the threat. “Just a little insurance, though it seems I didn’t bring enough.”

The shifter growled low in his throat, a beastly snarl punctuating every word. “You’re on thin ice already. I can find someone else, but that means our contract terms are broken. Your choice, asshole.”

The blood magic user swayed in his cloak, finally showing a little discomfort. He’d put on a good show, but Salvator’s laststatement got to him. “Once I fulfill my part, I ask that you put an end to this blood contract business,” he said in a low hiss. “I think I’ve delivered more than enough over the years.”

Salvator folded his arms across his chest, the muscles in his back rippling in agitation. “Not a fucking chance, but I can let the contract boil you from the inside out tonight if you want to put an end to it sooner rather than later.”

It took a concerted effort not to stare at the blood-covered shifter’s naked ass. Thanks to Ryker and several comments he’d made about pert butts, my eyes naturally went there every time Salvator was naked. Which was a lot more than I’d like. If not for Silas, he wouldn’t wear clothes at all. He didn’t seem to like them very much, wearing as little as possible whenever he was forced to.

Lev didn’t have the same qualms I did staring at the naked shifter in front of us. His eyes were openly ogling. When I offered him a saucy glance, he shrugged and grinned. “It’s a nice backside.”

I didn’t manage to hide my smile. “I didn’t realize butts were your thing.”

Lev’s eyes glimmered with amusement. “Even if they aren’t, you can’t argue that’s a nice one. It’d make anyone a butt person.”

“I hadn’t noticed. I haven’t been openly ogling it,” I partially lied. I had noticed, but other than Silas’s, I didn’t care.

“What, a guy can’t admire another guy’s butt without it being weird?” Lev pretended to be affronted, but his adorable smirk gave his real motive away. He was absolutely attracted to the shifter and wouldn’t mind a hands-on approach to appreciating said butt. Seemed like the two of us were beyond help when it came to the morally grey men in our lives.

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