Page 60 of Hunted By Darkness

My eyes lifted and caught on Silas’s silver ones. He came over and helped me to my feet as the reality of what I needed to do came crashing down on me.

“We’ll sleep on it for a night, yeah? No sense in overthinking it when we don’t know where he is. It’s as the lad said, maybewe’ll do a little soul collecting before our clash with that bastard brother of mine.”

I didn’t have strength in my legs, so Silas swept me up in his arms and carried me upstairs without making a single comment about it.

25

Nika

Out of a dead sleep, I inhaled a sharp breath and shot into a sitting position. Voices murmured and whispered around me. Sweat covered my body, but I couldn’t remember the dream. Or was it a nightmare? It was an ominous feeling in my gut.

In a frantic moment, I looked for Silas or my phantoms, but I didn’t see them anywhere. Reactive magic coiled around my arm as I got to my feet, pulled on a jacket and pair of jeans, then made my way out of the room with several daggers on hand.

The chorus of the dead beckoned the same way they had in my previous dream, but when I peered into Lev’s room, he wasn’tthere. His blanket was wrapped like it had been in my dream, but he wasn’t hugging it in his sleep.

Heart hammering, I took the hallway all the way to the front room. Bottles were left out from the boys sharing drinks. Another pissing contest they swore was to keep my mind off things, but I suspected they’d just wanted a reason to get drunk.

The way the bottles were left out was different from my dream. The kitchen, too. Still, the whispers beckoned, and it felt strikingly similar despite the differences. It was the same sensation as walking through my dream, the voices in my ears and the unease of something amiss.

I hurried over to the door and pulled on my boots. After ensuring no one was coming back, I left the house and stomped across the wet grass.

It wasn’t as cold as the night before, and definitely not as icy as it had been in a few places we’d stayed, but I couldn’t stop myself from shaking. It was all too similar. I took the same streets, walked the same path, the whispers intensifying and guiding me the same way as my dream. I followed their call to a stretch of pavement I immediately recognized, eyes landing on the looming figure in the dark.

Licking my lips, I paused and tried to pick out the differences. It was the same, but also not. Silas wasn’t wearing the same outfit as he had in my dream, but the wind whipped at his hair the same way. The city’s illumination gave the large man a terrifying shape in the dark. Had I not been concerned this was a vision brought to life, I might’ve enjoyed the view more.

Silas was dangerously gorgeous when no one was watching. Who was I kidding, he was gorgeous no matter what.

The silver-haired mercenary turned, the side of his lip lifted along with a shapely brow. “Hello there, love. Fancy meeting you out here. Hurried all this way to join me in a little moonlight liaison, have you?”

I sucked in a sharp breath. It was the same words as my dream. So had it been a vision? I gripped my dagger, and his eyes dropped to it before lifting in question. He was definitely confused, but he didn’t seem worried.

“Planning to punish me for talking the lad into another drinking match, is it?” His smile suggested he didn’t regret anything. “No one was off their face tonight. I should be rewarded for my boundless restraint, little rebel.”

I let loose a breath. It was different from my dream. Rubbing my lips together after pocketing the hand-sized dagger in my jacket, I peered around. The whispers continued as I carefully walked over to him, not sure what the red eyes in the dream meant. He was grinning like a goddamn thief when I finally stood next to him.

“Where’s Bear Claw?” It was the exact same thing I’d asked him in my dream, but I wanted to see if anything else would be different. I was desperate to find the differences. I didn’t want this moment to be a vision come to life.

“Oh, he and the lad went to meet Bones,” he said, surprising me stupid for a second.

The whispers quieted. I no longer heard them. Too much was already different. He hadn’t answered me when I first asked in my dream. He’d ignored me and kissed me instead. If it’d been a vision of some kind, more would align. Like my mother’s, unmovable pieces existed in every one I had.

I breathed a sigh, shoulders relaxing. I hadn’t breathed much since I woke up hearing the voices.

Misreading my silence, the babbling oaf went on, if not a bit grumbly, “It wasn’t my idea, love. I mean, it wasn’t mine at first. That wolf bastard insisted it’d be better this way. As much as I hate to admit it, he worries about you. After everything, he thought it was too dangerous for you to be out in the city again.And I agreed, little rebel. But that cute wanker fought on your behalf.”

I let loose a small laugh. “On my behalf?”

“Said you’d be raving mad if Bear Claw went alone. So he insisted he go with him or he’d wake you up to make the decision for them.” Silas crossed his arms and grinned. “Put like that, that wolf bastard couldn’t really refuse him, could he?”

Proud of my friend and his infinite ingenuity, I giggled and nodded. “So they’ve gone to meet Bones? Does that mean he’s found Rilas?”

Silas turned and tucked the hair that had blown across my face behind my ear. “It’s anyone’s guess, love. It could be as simple as a check in or a bit of information he collected. Bones is well connected, but chasing a demon requires a bit more…delicacy. He’s not daft. Bones knows the degree of difficulty required for tracking an opponent as powerful as a demon, and one with Rilas’s power.”

I nodded and brushed back the wild curls whipping across my eyes. “What brought you out here, anyway?”

A mischievous grin split Silas’s handsome face, his shirt fluttering in the wind and exposing a sliver of taut waist. “Ihadbeen doing a little perimeter check, but now that you’re here…”

“No.” I pivoted, looking for a quick escape, but he caught my arm and dragged me over to a nearby building, practically giddy.

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