The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(51)
Author: Gena Showalter

Reyes caressed her arm, hoping to relax her. Thankfully she did not erupt at the admission.

"Yours wore off a lot quicker than it was supposed to," Torin continued. "Don’t know if it was because you were scared and sweating more or what. The dye was supposed to remain in your system for months. Still, your sister dropped off next, then your grandmother and then your mother. I haven’t seen a glimpse of any of you in weeks. Don’t worry, I know what you’re thinking. I should have placed a tracking chip in your shoes, but didn’t think of it until now. Live and learn."

Reyes doubted that was what Danika had been thinking, but he remained quiet.

"Anyway, I’ve been at the computers for hours, searching for even the slightest glimmer. Nothing."

Danika had stiffened in expectation – and hope? – only to sag in disappointment. He released her hand and wound his arm around her waist, willing his strength into her body. She sank against him. For comfort?

"Until," Torin added, fingers tapping over the keyboard, "this."

Danika stiffened again. "What?" Excitement dripped from the word, saturating the air.

Without glancing up from his monitor, Torin waved a hand in the air. "You’ve seen Paris bake cookies, right? His skills are pathetic, I know, but that’s beside the point. When you eat those cookies, they break down and seem to disappear into your system. Only, they don’t disappear. There are lasting effects. Fat, cholesterol and so on.

"The Darkest Pleasure"

"Our dye is a special blend of ingredients that modifies a human’s body chemistry so each individual gives off a signal all her own. The lasting effects are far stronger than that of a cookie. Better, I remembered they’re still traceable even when the dye itself has worn off."

Now Reyes was the one to stiffen. Ashlyn had almost died when she’d ingested an "ingredient" meant only for immortals.

Realizing the path his mind traveled, Torin added, "I wouldn’t have used it on the women if Sabin hadn’t already tested it on a few Hunters."

Slowly Reyes relaxed. Danika, he realized, was breathing heavily. He squeezed her tight.

"Five minutes," Torin said, "and I’ll have a printed map of their current location. You can call me later when you’re close to them, and I’ll tell you if they’ve moved."

Now a tremor swept through Danika’s slight frame. "My grandmother, do you know where she is, as well?"

A pause. A stiff nod. "I’ve already backtracked the program to see where she’s been, but there’s been little activity from her signal this week."

Hope lit Danika’s angel face, brightening the entire room. "She’s alive, then. She’s really alive! Aeron was wrong. If she was dead, she wouldn’t be trackable. Right?"

Torin answered without hesitation, his expression dead-pan. "Right."

Eyes widening, she tented her hands over her mouth. "Oh, my God. This is…this is…this is the best day of my life!"

With a brilliant laugh, she threw herself at Reyes, her cheek burrowing into the hollow of his neck. Her skin was petal-soft, fragrant with the scent of night skies. "I’m so happy right now I could burst."

Reyes held her, but kept his gaze on Torin. His friend gave a clipped nod in response to Reyes’s unspoken question. A dead body, it seemed, could still give off a signal.

Inhaling deeply, Reyes closed his eyes. He held her, loving the feel of her, every muscle he possessed straining toward her. He shook with the effort to remain still, though he could not stop his nails from elongating, his teeth from sharpening. The two only happened when the demon’s hunger spiked.

I’ve already fed you. Just…enjoy her.

They might not have her much longer.

When she learned that a dead body could indeed be tracked…Dread consumed him, and he closed his eyes. She had been offered hope, such evil hope. The same he’d tried to give her earlier. He would not take it away. Yet.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

"THIS TIME, stay here," Reyes said.

He deposited Danika inside his bedroom and left to do God knew what, shutting the door firmly behind him. She waited several long, agonizing moments before sitting on the edge of the mattress, her gaze never leaving the entrance. When he failed to reappear, she relaxed and tugged the tiny cell phone from her jeans pocket.

Stefano had figured the Lords would search her and take it, maybe use it to try and track him, but he had thought giving her a phone worth the risk. So had she. Everyone carried phones nowadays and she hadn’t thought the Lords would automatically assume she’d gotten it from the Hunters. Now, she almost wished Stefano hadn’t tucked it into her pocket before drugging her, or that the warriors had found it. Then she wouldn’t have had a choice to make: to check in or not to check in?

In theory, it was an easy decision. Family won. Always. Things were not always that simple, as she was coming to realize. The Lords had known her family’s location but had never struck. A point in their favor. Then again, the Hunters had never tried to hurt her family – but what if she chose to help the Hunters, and they failed to stop the Lords? After all, they had failed all these centuries. The warriors would – perhaps – learn she helped their enemy and they would – definitely – come after her with more fervor.

If she failed to check in, though, the Hunters might try to sneak inside the fortress and save her. There might be a fight. If Ashlyn returned, she could be hurt, and thereby the baby. Anya, too. Reyes.

Her gaze lowered to her hands. The cell’s keypad blurred. Reyes had taken such good care of her. Tomorrow, he was escorting her to her family. Oh, God, her family. All of her conflicting thoughts melted away, her mind focusing completely on her loved ones.

Danika’s lips curved in a happy grin. They were alive, and they were together. She didn’t know why Grandma Mallory had left her friend’s house without word yet had remained in Oklahoma, and she didn’t care. She didn’t know why the three women had decided to risk capture and stay together; she didn’t care. They were alive! That was all that mattered.

She would have to call Stefano and buy herself a little more time to figure this out. And she would have to do it now, before Reyes returned. Tamping down a wave of dread, she dialed the number. Her hand shook as she placed the phone at her ear.

"Happy House," a deep voice said.

"It’s…me."

There was an energizing pause, and the faux overworked-employee persona faded. "You’re still alive."

"The Darkest Pleasure"

"Yes. They’ve been good to me," she admitted.

"The devil always smiles before rendering the final blow." Static crackled over the line. "What have you learned?"