Page 16 of The Darkness

Chapter Seven

“What is it?” Darius asked again.

She lifted her head. They were so close now. “Can’t you hear them?” she asked.

Across the room, the air shimmered and wavered. She held her breath as a portal formed, and a pair of hounds leaped through, snapping and snarling.

Darius shot upright. “What the hell are they?” he said, staring at the creatures standing poised, red eyes glowing, low growls trickling from gaping jaws. They were so close she could smell the fetid stench of their breath.

“Hellhounds,” she said.

They were huge creatures. Bearing only a vague resemblance to dogs, they stood almost shoulder high, with rough, russet coats and a thick black stripe down their backs. Powerful legs ended in long, savage claws. Their heads were misshapen, with pointed ears and razor-sharp teeth.

Darius rolled off the bed in one fluid move. Keeping his eyes on the hounds, he reached down, picked up his pants, and pulled them on, then placed himself between the hounds and Gina.

“No, Darius!” She stumbled to her feet, clumsy in her need to protect him. He carried no weapons. Even a vampire couldn’t last long against the hounds under those conditions.

“Get back,” he snarled.

“They won’t hurt me, Darius.”

He ignored her, pushing her behind him. “Can you get me a weapon?”

A moment later, a long, silver dagger appeared in his hand. He nodded his thanks but didn’t turn. “Just stay out of the way.”

She frowned but stepped back. She whispered another spell, and she was dressed, a knife in her own hand. She would intervene if she was needed. The hounds wouldn’t harm her; at least she was pretty sure they wouldn’t. They belonged to her sister Regan, and they knew Gina.

She bit back a gasp as the first of the hounds leaped for Darius. Its talons raked his shoulder, and the sharp, metallic scent of blood filled the room. He growled, his own fangs showing as he reached out and gripped the rough fur of the beast’s head. He raised the knife high as the second hound pounced, and he crashed to the floor under the combined weight. She stepped toward them, knife raised.

“Stop!”

Gina whirled around. Her sister Regan stood at the portal. Gina shot her a furious glare, then turned back to the fight. Neither the hounds nor Darius had taken the slightest notice of the command. The knife flashed crimson now, and one of the hounds was hurled across the room. It lay quietly, but Gina could see the heaving of its flanks. The other was still rolling on the floor with Darius.

“Regan, call your hound off,” she said sharply. “If you want it to live, that is.”

“Diablo!” Regan snapped.

∞∞∞

One minute the hound was fighting for its life, the next it went still. Darius lifted the knife, but something held him back. The animal stared at him, and then whined softly. Darius met its red eyes, and their gazes locked as it backed slowly away. He lowered the weapon.

He rose to his feet, the knife dangling from his hand, ready if he needed it. He glanced across at Gina, needing to know she was still safe.

A woman stood beside her—tall, beautiful, with Gina’s silver witch’s eyes and long, dark-red hair that hung like a cloak to her waist. Darius recognized her immediately, and a flash of hatred gripped him, only to be washed away by a wave of despair. This was the end. She was here to take Gina away, and like the last time, Gina would go with her.

He glanced down at himself. He was covered in blood. Some of it was the hound’s, but more of it was his own, and he couldn’t seem to care. The knife dropped from his fingers and clattered to the floor. What was he supposed to fight?

He caught Gina’s gaze and saw the same anguish reflected in her eyes. For a brief second, a savage wave of satisfaction washed through him, but it passed quickly, and he knew he would do anything to take that sadness from her.

He turned away. Picking up his shirt, he used it to wipe the blood from his shoulder. The cuts were deep and stung viciously, but he relished the pain.

“Darius,” Gina said softly. She reached out a hand to him, then dropped it, as though she, too, knew the futility of any gesture at this point. “This is my sister Regan.”

“Oh, we’ve met,” he said, keeping his voice clear of emotion.

“You have?”

She wrinkled her brow, and he realized they had never spoken of his visits to her sisters. “I went to find you, after you’d disappeared the first time. She”—he nodded at the redhead, who was bent over the fallen hound—“threatened to set the dogs on me. Then later, she brought Raven to the Council.”

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