Seduce the Darkness (Alien Huntress #4)(21)
Author: Gena Showalter

With the passenger door open, Devyn was able to catch a glance of Dallas in the driver’s seat. The agent was indeed grinning, white teeth gleaming. He wore a hat that shadowed his eyes, camo pants, and a camo shirt that revealed the new (and scabbed-over) skull-and-dagger tattoo on his right forearm.

Devyn had a matching tattoo on his own arm. They’d drunk too much last night and had thought the identical marks would be funny.

They weren’t.

"Nice outfit," Devyn said with a grin of his own. "Planning on hunting the clones on government land while you’re out and about?" Clones. Animals.

"Maybe." He was also chewing gum. "You guys ready to chase down a bloodsucker or what?”

“Let’s do this," Macy said, slapping Dallas’s head rest.

There would be hell to pay when this was over and the truth revealed. Macy would be pissed that he’d used her to capture her friend, which would piss off Breean, which would in turn piss off Mia, because Breean was a powerful warrior and her new favorite.

Devyn could call things off now and prevent the reaming he would surely receive.

Without pause, he shut the door and waved them off. He was whistling as he strolled inside the building.

Bride slunk through the unfamiliar apartment, remaining in the shadows. Her eyes cut through the darkness with the precision of a knife, taking everything in and weighing her options.

Thankfully there wasn’t any furniture, so she didn’t have to worry about knocking anything down. The air was musty, as if the room hadn’t been occupied for some time. Where are you, Leah Leah, and why did you come here?

Aleaha’s scent was all over the building and had led directly to this room. After Bride had caught the familiar fragrance a few blocks down, she’d given up her fruitless search for that bastard playboy Devyn and concentrated on her friend instead.

She was embarrassed to admit she almost hadn’t switched gears. The urge to find Devyn, to gloat about her victory, to spar with him again, was strong. Besides, she was almost positive he couldn’t be as decadently handsome as her memory painted him. Couldn’t be nearly as witty or flirtatious. Yet only when she’d smelled his scent mixed with Aleaha’s had she finally changed her objective.

What were the two doing together? Were they lovers, as she’d first thought? Did they live together? Devyn’s flirtations had seemed so practiced, Bride hadn’t thought him capable of commitment. Not that having Aleaha as a semi-permanent or even permanent lover equaled commitment. But if they were together, he was definitely a cheater and Aleaha needed to know.

In and out Bride breathed, as quietly as possible. There was a window, but it was closed, blocking out the night’s symphony of racing cars, pedestrians braving the streets, and criminals hiding in corners. The deeper she maneuvered through the apartment, the weaker Aleaha’s scent of sky and pine became and the stronger Devyn’s, like sun-dried sheets and rain.

Damn it! Her grip tightened on her daggers. A halfway strong grip, too, now that she’d eaten. Well, some. As before, she’d kept down the first few sips but had thrown up the rest.

Mind on the task at hand. You more than anyone know the price of inattention. That’s how those policemen had caught her sneaking inside those mansions all those years ago. That’s why she’d had to hide Aleaha. Why she’d lost Aleaha.

Okay. So. Time to regroup. Aleaha had been here, but she hadn’t stayed for long. Ten minutes, tops. Was little Devyn not as skilled a lover as he clearly liked to believe? Was he a slam-bam-thank-you type?

Bet there was a piece of furniture here. A bed. Proof of his priorities.

There was a fire in Bride’s blood, burning her veins, scorching each of her organs. A fury that had nothing to do with the thought of Devyn sleeping with her friend and everything to do with her friend’s future happiness. Really. Clearly Devyn was the kind of guy who left only heartbreak in his wake.

That fury also poked and prodded at that molten, thorny place inside her, the place her powers were buried, the intense heat of its flames making her anger seem comprised of ice. She had to stifle a pained moan. She knew better than to let herself become too worked up. When she did, those flames spread and those thorns grew branches, each destroying her bit by bit. If she wasn’t careful, she would soon be praying for death.

I’m calm. I’m happy. After all, I found Devyn. She would finally get to gloat.

Remaining smashed against the wall, Bride angled her body and peeked down the hall. Empty. Darkness. Silence. Devyn’s scent—stronger than ever. There were two doorways. As she breathed deeply, her heart pounding erratically in her chest, she tiptoed forward. He was here. He had to be.

She passed the first doorway, giving the bedroom only a cursory glance. Empty, as well. Finally she reached the farthest entrance and paused. The door was closed. Was Devyn inside? Sleeping, holding some little tramp in his arms? Waiting for her?

She’d warned him, told him she would- be coming for him, and he was obviously a warrior, used to strategy and battle. He was even working for AIR in some capacity. An agent, perhaps? He was daring enough. Nervousness joined the lingering thrums of fury.

Lord, she’d picked a hell of a target. One that could lock her away or kill her, no questions asked, she thought, a cold sweat beading over her skin. You knew the consequences. You came here anyway. Don’t wuss out now. Answers are worth any risk.

He had to be expecting her, had to know she’d find him again. So how should she do this? Bust inside, knives at the ready? Sneak inside and try to catch him unaware? There was no time to reason it out.

In the snap of fingers, her mind separated from her body, her limbs no longer hers to command. Of their own accord, her fingers released their grip on the blade hilts and the weapons thumped to the ground. One of her arms reached out and pressed the button that opened the door. Her feet moved one in front of the other, forcing her to enter the darkened space.

He was awake, and he was controlling her. She’d known this could happen, but had come anyway. Worth the risk, she reminded herself, gritting her teeth and trying with all her might to petrify her muscles and lock herself in place.

If only she could fight past the thorns and the flames to see what other abilities were buried inside her, rather than waiting every few years for one to spring up on its own. She suspected the others were strong, stronger than Devyn’s, desperate to explode, to overtake her. But she just couldn’t get to them, even now, when they probably would have saved her.

"You certainly took your time," a familiar voice said huskily. Without a rustle of clothes or a single movement, the overhead light switched on, golden beams chasing away the shadows. "Black becomes you, pet. It’s like you’re enveloped by storm clouds."