The Darkest Whisper (Lords of the Underworld #4)(79)
Author: Gena Showalter

Her first thought? She hoped the Lords in Chicago were okay. Her second? Sabin, choose her? Not likely. “He could have had my help, but he doesn’t trust me.”

“He trusts you. He just used that as an excuse to protect you. Even I know that, and I’m not that close to him.” Heavy pause, breath crackling. “Well, you’d better make a decision fast because your sisters are indeed carrying guns and are closing in on their targets.”

SABIN CROUCHED in the shadows. Kane was at his left, Cameo at his right; they were loaded down with enough weapons to take out a small country. Sadly, that might not be enough for the coming battle.

Hunters were everywhere. Coming out of shops, striding down the sidewalks, eating at outdoor cafés. Like flies, they swarmed and buzzed and annoyed the hell out of him.There were average-looking women, the bulge of knives and guns giving them away. Tall, muscled men who looked like they’d just come from war and were eager for another were positioned on the rooftops of buildings, gazing down at the town’s happenings. Beside them, to Sabin’s dismay, were children, ranging in age from roughly eight to eighteen. Sabin had already watched one of those teens walk through a wall. Walk through it, as if it weren’t even there.

What could the others do?

He was outmanned, and he knew it. And even as depraved as he was, he also knew he wouldn’t hurt the kids. Hunters had probably banked on that. Could have used a Harpy right about now.

His fingers curled tightly around his guns, his bones brittle. Don’t go there. He’d been surveying the scene for a while, trying to decide, to work up a plan. Rather than feeling empowered, though, he felt more helpless than ever. He just didn’t know what to do.

The worst part was that he’d left Gwen locked up—looked like he was going there, after all—and so another battle awaited him at home. Stupid. He’d allowed his concern for her to overrule his common sense. That was the danger of softening toward a woman. Emotions screwed with your thought processes, made you do stupid things. But he couldn’t go back for her, apologize and ask for her aid. He’d hurt her sisters. Loyal and loving as they were with each other, she would never be able to forgive him.

Over and over he tried to tell himself that it was better this way. That he’d fought Hunters and won before her, and he could fight Hunters and win after her. And anyway, she was related to Galen. Sabin couldn’t trust Gwen’s motivation now. He couldn’t trust her to help him and not also help her family.

Gwen could be your family. He scowled at the wayward thought, scowled further when Doubt chimed in.

You don’t deserve her. Not now. Maybe not even before. She wouldn’t want you anyway, so this is moot.

“Shut up,” he muttered.

Kane flicked him a glance. “Your demon giving you trouble?”

“Always.”

“So what are we going to do about the current situation? It’s just the three of us.”

“We’ve fought with worse odds,” Cameo said, and Sabin cringed. Her voice always had that effect on him. Strangely, though, it didn’t affect him as badly as usual this time. Maybe because he was already miserable. How could he have done that to Gwen?

I just wanted to protect her.

Well, you failed.

“No, we haven’t,” he said. “Because this time we have to make sure no kids get hurt in the fray.”

Her finger flexed on her gun. “Well, we have to do something. We can’t leave them out there unfettered.”

Sabin studied the melee again. Just as crowded, just as dangerous. Those kids…shit. They complicated everything. Decision time. “Okay. Here’s what we’re gonna do. Split up, head in different directions, stay in the shadows, damn it, and take out the adults one by one. Kill on sight. Just…don’t get yourselves killed. Do me a favor and—” His words stopped abruptly, his gaze slamming into the camo-clad Hunters stuffing two unconscious men into their van at the end of the street. Several of the kids surrounded them, forming a wall.

Cameo followed the line of his gaze and gasped. “Is that…”

The chunk of earth underneath Kane split, and he fell into the widening hole. “Aeron and Paris? Shit. Yes. That’s them.”

Sabin cursed under his breath. “New plan. Kill as many of the men around them as possible, and I’ll take care of the kids. If you can, drag Aeron and Paris back to the fortress and I’ll meet you there.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

GWEN HAD LOCKED her sisters up. I’m as bad as Sabin.

She was inside Torin’s room, standing behind him, arms crossed over her chest. He kept his back to her, as if he didn’t have to worry about her approaching. He didn’t. But at the very least, he should have feared a bullet in the brain. She was a Harpy, after all.“I think I just made the biggest mistake of my life and it’s too late to fix it.” If her sisters forgave her, and if she forgave Sabin, they’d still want to punish her for her actions. Oh, who was she kidding? Everyone she loved—well, kind of liked, sometimes, in Sabin’s case—was stubborn to their very cores. There’d be no forgiveness.

Her gaze landed on one of the monitors, the one that showed her sisters. They were pacing, cursing and beating at the bars, to no avail. They were fast healers, so she had perhaps a few days before they were able to bust out. And punish her for betraying them, of course. Gwen’s chest constricted.

Taliyah had put up the greatest fight, and Gwen still bore the wounds. There were multiple gashes riding her ribs and neck. She couldn’t believe she’d actually beaten them, even weakened as they’d been. All her life, they’d been the pinnacle she’d longed to reach. Stronger, prettier, smarter. Better. She’d constantly compared herself to them and always came up lacking.

Now, here she was, a warrior to the core. If she succeeded with the Hunters, would they be proud of her?

On one of the other monitors, Maddox and William paced, both weighed down with too many weapons to count. Ashlyn and Danika were behind them, wringing their hands.

“I’m worried,” Danika could be heard saying. “The dream I had last night…I saw Reyes trapped in a dark box, his demon screaming and screaming and screaming for release.”

Ashlyn rubbed her rounded belly, her features pale. “Maybe we should travel to Chicago. I can listen, learn whether Hunters have hidden them and where.”

“No,” Maddox said.

“Good idea,” Danika said, speaking over him. “But what about what Torin told us? Hunters are out there in Buda even now.”