The Darkest Pleasure (Lords of the Underworld #3)(68)
Author: Gena Showalter

Torin nodded, his fingers never slowing on the keyboard.

Itching with the desire to fight and fight now, Sabin studied the monitors, eight screens that spanned the entire hillside. Nighttime had long since fallen, moonlight allowing only the barest hint of light past the canopy of trees.

All of the Hunters were wearing black and had even painted their faces. But they couldn’t hide from the heat sensors or even Sabin’s trained eye. Besides the red blur, every rustle of leaves, every scattering of dirt gave them away.

"Shit. They’re like locusts," William said. "I mean, seriously. Bugs. There’s probably a hundred of them out there."

"Scared?" Sabin asked.

"Hell, no. I think I just came."

Sabin’s kind of man.

"How long till they hit?" Strider asked. He shifted from one booted foot to the other, anticipation humming from him.

Torin shrugged, his long white hair shifting on his wide shoulders. "Four minutes. Maybe three. Depends on how smart they are. Some already fell in our pits, and some were killed by the hidden arrows."

As long as I get some, I’m happy, Sabin thought. "They won’t storm through the front door all at once. They’ll split up. They know we know they’re out there, so they’re not going to try to be quiet much longer. Some will stay at ground level. Some will climb through windows. Some will probably come down from helis, just in case Danika obeyed orders and went to the roof."

"Then we’ll split up, as well," Lucien said. "My men and William will take the hill. Yours can have our leftovers."

Sabin grinned. "What you mean, is we’ll fight the bulk of Hunters. I knew I loved you for a reason."

A chorus of chuckles rang out, just as he’d intended. Lucien and his men took off then, grinning as they headed outside. They had lived here for hundreds of years. They knew the best places to lie in wait, knew every secret passage to secure.

Unfortunately, Sabin did not. "Should we free Aeron? Let him join the fight? He’s a good man to have at your side."

"Hell, no," Torin said. "He’ll go for our heads, as well as the Hunters. What’s the matter? You scared? Well, don’t be. I’ll have a monitor trained on every floor of the fortress. Program your cells to vibrate and I’ll alert you as the Hunters enter, telling you where they are."

"How did I ever let you go?" Sabin asked him.

"You didn’t," Torin said dryly. "I left you to follow Lucien."

"Semantics." He turned to his warriors and motioned to the hall with a tilt of his chin. "Let’s do this."

Each of them nodded and stalked from the bedroom, withdrawing their phones as they walked. Sabin was behind them but quickly pulled ahead, his stride long and purposeful.

"Good day to die," Kane said.

For Hunters, it certainly was. Sabin shoved his phone back into his pocket and filled a hand with his 9 mm. He stretched the fingers of his free hand, popping his knuckles.

"Which faction do you think we’re dealing with?" Strider asked. "Stefano, still?"

"It so matters," Gideon replied at the same time Kane said, "Any. All. Who cares?"

"Stefano, beyond any doubt. Late-night attack, overeager army and semiautomatics. Besides, he’s the one who first captured Danika. He didn’t yet know she was the Eye or he wouldn’t have let her go," Sabin said, adding tightly, "He’s mine. You see him, you leave him alive."

The man wanted to punish Sabin for the part he’d played in his wife’s suicide. That was fine, understandable even. But Stefano kept coming after his men, would never leave them alone, and that wasn’t. Sabin might have turned his back on love, but he valued his men over himself and he would not allow them to be hunted like this. "Gideon, entertainment room. You know what to do."

"Nope. I don’t." Gideon branched off from the group.

"Kane, north hallway."

With a nod, Kane swerved at the next corner. One of the lightbulbs in the chandelier shattered the moment he did so, spraying glass in every direction. There was a hiss, a muttered curse. Then, of course, another bulb exploded.

Disaster. Couldn’t take him anywhere, and gods knew there was no way to avoid explosions with him around. Poor Lucien.

"Cameo – " Sabin had tossed a glance over his shoulder. Cameo wasn’t among his remaining warriors. Where the hell was she? Irritated, he ran his tongue over his teeth. The woman had been disappearing more and more lately. "Amun, south hallway."

No response. Not even a nod, but Amun changed directions.

"Two minutes more," Strider said, "and then the real fun begins. I doubt Lucien and his crew can kill them all outside."

Sabin flicked him a glance. "Why two minutes? How do you know?"

"Internal radar."

Before the last word left Strider’s mouth, the sound of glass breaking echoed through the house. Sabin and Strider shared a grin. "Your radar sucks. Begins now, I’m thinking." He palmed his other gun, the metal a welcome weight in his hand. "West hallway for you, my friend. I’ll take east."

Strider nodded, turned on his heel.

"Be careful." Sabin rushed forward, steps eating up the distance. Another window shattered, this one just ahead of him. His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Little late, Torin, he thought. A moment later, three men swinging from rappel wires sailed through the now paneless window on a gust of wind.

His hands whipped up, wrists crisscrossed, his fingers hammering at the triggers as his arms moved, left going right, right going left. Boom, boom, boom. The men jerked, screamed and then sagged onto the floor.

Seeing their dying bodies, a sense of satisfaction filled him. Yet blended with it was the impatient rumble of his demon. Doubt wanted in on the action.

"Have fun," he mumbled, and could almost picture the demon rubbing its gnarled hands together in glee.

His mind was ripped open as the spirit reached across the mental plane, searching for weak thoughts to pounce upon. Well used to the experience, Sabin didn’t even grimace. Good thing. The distraction could have cost him.

Two other Hunters flew through the window. He shot them as quickly and as effortlessly as he had the others. This was his life – this had always been his life. Fighting, warring, killing. From his earliest memory, he’d known enemies were not to be tolerated. That’s why he’d been created, after all: fighting, warring, killing. And that’s damn sure how he would take his last breath when he finally reached the end of the line. Fighting, warring, killing.

A rustle sounded behind him.

Spinning, he fired in quick succession. Two more Hunters fell, collapsing forward, shouting in pain. One of their hands reached out and touched his boot. A grenade rolled from those now-lifeless fingers. The pin had already been pulled. Shit. Quick as a blink, Sabin grabbed it and hurled it out the window, praying he didn’t hurt his friends. But better it detonate outside than in.