The Darkest Night (Lords of the Underworld #1)(33)
Author: Gena Showalter

Danika’s shoulders relaxed slightly, and she cast a determined glance at her family. Each woman was shaking her head no. Danika nodded.

Reyes frowned, not understanding the byplay between them. Did she, too, lie? Finally, Danika turned back to him. He forgot his confusion as their gazes locked. Or he simply didn’t care about the answer. Her angelic beauty was more enthralling than Pandora’s box, promising absolution it couldn’t possibly deliver. And yet, a part of him wished that it could. Just for a moment.

She closed her eyes, released a long, heavy breath and said, "Yes. I’m a healer."

"Come with me, then." He didn’t take Danika’s hand, too afraid of what would happen if he touched her. Afraid of a mere human? Coward. No, smart. If he did not know what she felt like, he could not miss the sensation when she was dead.

What if Lucien thought of a way to save her? What if –

"Come." Refusing to waste any more time, Reyes pivoted and strode from the room, forcing Danika to follow. He locked the other women inside, then sprang into motion, trying to maintain a healthy distance between himself and the angel.

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod, Danika Ford chanted in her mind. Her heart was trying to fight its way out of her chest, banging on her ribs as if they were a door with frozen hinges. Why did I do this? I’m not a healer.

She’d taken an anatomy class in college, yeah. She’d taken a CPR class in case Grandpa had a heart attack in front of her, sure. But she wasn’t a nurse or a doctor. She was just a struggling artist who’d thought a vacation would help heal the grief and sorrow brought on by her grandfather’s death.

What was she going to do if this hard, steely-eyed soldier – clearly that’s what he was, a soldier – wanted her to perform surgery of some sort? She wouldn’t do it, of course. She couldn’t put someone’s life in jeopardy like that. But anything else…maybe. Probably. She had to save her family. It was their lives in jeopardy now.

Ohmygod. Trying to find a measure of tranquility, she studied her captor’s back as he paced in front of her. He had tanned skin and black-as-midnight eyes. He was tall with the widest shoulders she’d ever beheld. She’d seen him once before, and he hadn’t smiled then, either. There’d been pain in his eyes, then and now. There’d been fresh cuts on his arms, then and now.

Ohmygod, ohmygod. She didn’t even think about running away from him. He’d only catch her, and then he’d be pissed. Maybe attack. And that was scarier than braving a haunted house at Halloween with chainsaws, coffins and all. Alone.

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod. She wanted to talk to him, to ask him what would be expected of her, but she couldn’t find her voice. There was a baseball-sized lump in her throat, preventing speech. She didn’t know why she’d been kidnapped, nearly didn’t care anymore. She just wanted to leave this drafty, creepy castle with its freaky, overly muscled owners and fly home to the safety of her apartment in New Mexico.

Suddenly stabbed by a sense of desolation and homesickness, she almost sobbed. Would this soldier keep his word if she helped? She doubted it, but hope was a silly thing. She’d do her best, no matter what, and she’d pray for a miracle.

Too bad she couldn’t convince herself a miracle would happen. You’ll probably get knifed by the big brute if anything goes wrong.

Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod. If she failed, there was no question in her mind that she and her family would die – very soon.

CHAPTER NINE

When Reyes strode into Maddox’s bedroom with the angelic-looking blonde Aeron was supposed to kill in tow, Maddox almost wept with relief. Ashlyn had vomited over and over again, until there was nothing left in her stomach. And then she had vomited some more.

Afterward she’d fallen back onto the mattress and stopped breathing. Desperate, Maddox had hailed the Titan again, but the god had done nothing whatsoever. Once Maddox had agreed to repay him for any aid rendered, the all-powerful entity had abandoned him.

The Titan had raised his hopes and then dashed them completely. Maddox had wondered at the being’s intentions, and now he knew: utter cruelty, sadistic amusement.

Reyes stepped out of the way and the little blonde rushed forward.

"Help her," Maddox commanded.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod," she chanted. She paled as she knelt at the side of the bed. She was trembling, but gave Maddox an accusing glare. "What did you do to her?"

Guilt intensifying, Maddox tightened his hold on the fragile, sick, dying Ashlyn. He barely knew the woman, but he wanted her to live more than he wanted to avoid hell’s hottest flames. It was too sudden to feel this strongly, yes.

It was completely out of character, yes. That, too. He could ponder his foolishness later.

"She’s not breathing," he rasped. "Make her breathe."

The blonde’s attention returned to Ashlyn. "She needs a hospital. Someone call 911. Now! Wait, crap. Do you have emergency service here? Do you even have phones? If so, we need to call immediately!"

"No time," Maddox snapped. "You must do something."

"Just call. She’s – "

"Do something or die!" he roared.

"Oh God." Absolute panic filled her eyes. "I need – I need to do CPR. Yes, that’s right. CPR. I can do it. I can," she said, more to herself than anyone else. She jackknifed to a stand and leaned down, hovering directly over Ashlyn’s lifeless face. "Lay her flat and then get out of my way."

Maddox did not even think of protesting. He rolled Ashlyn to her back and hopped onto the floor, crouching beside the bed. He refused to release her hand, however, retaining a tight clasp. The girl stood there for a moment, unmoving, panic still lighting her eyes.

"Danika," Reyes said, a warning.

The girl – Danika – swallowed and flicked Reyes a nervous glance. The warrior’s dark eyebrows winged into his hair as he stared at her and asked, "Are you sure you know what you’re doing?"

"Of – of course." Rosy color seeped into her cheeks as she once again returned her attention to Ashlyn. Flattening her palms just below Ashlyn’s br**sts, she pushed once, twice, and said shakily, "Don’t worry. I’ve practiced. A dummy is the same as a human, a dummy is the same as a human." Then she meshed her parted lips over Ashlyn’s.

For the next several minutes, surely an eternity that was worse than the hours Maddox spent burning each night, she alternated between pumping on Ashlyn’s chest and blowing air into her mouth. He’d never felt so helpless. Time became an enemy more hated than ever.

Reyes waited by the door, still and silent. His arms were crossed over his chest. He wasn’t watching Ashlyn, but Danika, his expression shuttered. Maddox rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, his own breathing so labored he could hear every exhalation echoing in his mind.