I suck as a human being.
She hated that it came to this. That she was forcing him to compromise everything he held dear to be with her and risk his life. It was so unfair.
Yet he never said a word.
She looked at the bodies and cringed. How could he not hate her? That was her worst fear. That one day he’d wake up and realize she wasn’t worth this.
In that moment, Phoebe was truly humbled by what she had. It was rare to find anyone in life who would be loyal to you. Brother. Sister. Parent. Friend. Even a spouse or child. Betrayal was a natural part of life.
To find someone who would actually kill to protect you? Who would risk and sacrifice their life every single day to keep you safe, without question, and without asking anything in return, and to never, ever throw it in your face? Not even on those days when she was bitchy for no reason …
She wasn’t worthy of a love so pure, and in her heart she knew that. As much as she loved him, she didn’t know if she could do what he did with the courage he showed.
Damn.
Suddenly, she heard whispering and the sound of feet shuffling in the darkness.
Terrified it might be her psycho father-in-law, she darted into a small closet to hide. Thus proving to herself just what a coward she was and why if anything ever happened to Urian, she’d be lost.
Worse? She’d be dead.
Slowly, she heard something scraping and moving around like some kind of giant sewer rat that brought up images of Willard in her head. For that matter, every horror movie with giant rodents she’d ever seen. So help her God, if anything furry with whiskers came scurrying out, she was going to scream like a B movie actress and cause an avalanche! She’d break the sound barrier. She would!
There better not be rats in this place …
Then all of a sudden, there was no more motion or sound.
Still panicking, Phoebe held her breath. Was it a trick? Had the little bastards frozen to death? It was cold out here.
Or maybe it was a trap to lure her out? Stryker could be treacherous that way. She’d heard all kinds of stories from Urian about things his father had done to people over the centuries. She wouldn’t put anything past him.
Still there was no motion in the room. No sound of someone or something walking about. She bit her nails in nervousness as she scanned the shadows with her sharp Daimon eyes, trying to detect anything at all.
Yet the only thing she could hear was the creaking of the ice and the howling wind outside the building. And of course, the stupid human voice in her head whining about being trapped there. That made her want to scream! But she was kind of used to that going on.
Just as she was about to leave her closet to find Urian, she heard someone moving just in front of her again.
Oh holy crap, they were coming up through the floor only a few feet from where she was hiding!
If that was Stryker or one of his Illuminati, she was dead!
Terrified, she tried to think of what to do, but unlike Urian, she didn’t know how to teleport. Crap, crap, crap! Trying to control her breathing, she pressed herself as far back into the shadows as she could and prayed they didn’t see her.
To her absolute horror, the hole opened and sure enough something furry and whiskered came out. Only this bastard was six and a half feet tall. Well muscled. And he was the mortal enemy of her people. Christ almighty! He looked like Sasquatch!
Phoebe felt her eyes bugging out of her head at the lumbering sight of him. Scared and furious, she looked around for a harpoon gun to spear the whale. Just as she was about to grab a flare, she realized he was pulling her sister up to stand beside him.
Joy replaced her fear as tears blinded her and froze in her eyelashes. She hadn’t seen Cassie in years. She was so fixated on her that she barely registered the other two people who came up behind her sister. She was tempted to rush forward, but the giant with Cassie terrified her.
“Okay,” Sasquatch whispered. “It looks good so far. I want you”—he said to Cassandra—“and Chris to stay back. If anything happens, you two dodge back into the tunnels and press the red button to lock the door behind you.”
“What about you and Kat?” Cassandra indicated Sasquatch and the tall blond woman who’d climbed out with them.
“We’ll take care of ourselves. You and Chris are the important things.”
Phoebe frowned. So this was the Muppet Dark-Hunter. Now that she heard his accent, Urian’s nickname for him totally made sense.
He gestured at the boats that were trapped in chains, suspended over the ice. “It’ll take a couple of minutes to lower the airboat from its harness down to the ice.” He glanced around. “Let’s hope the Daimons don’t hear it.”
Cassandra nodded and kissed him lightly. “Be careful.”
Phoebe gaped at her sister’s lack of taste. Sure, Muppet was cute and all, but seriously?
He was a Dark-Hunter! How disgusting was that? What kind of Apollite could even think of crawling into bed with one of those animals who’d been hunting and stalking their race for thousands and thousands of years? One who’d been heartlessly slaughtering them for generations!
Gah! Her sister was an idiot! If their mother were still alive, she’d be the first to beat her!
Wulf hugged her sister gently, then opened the door. He took a step out, then acted weird.
Ah, crap, he must have found the bodies Urian had dumped there. Which meant he’d panic and do something stupid. Because that was what Dark-Hunters did.
Something stupid that got her kind killed.
I have to do something. And quick before he exposed them and caused Urian to be harmed.
She was running through her options when he pulled his retractable sword from his boot. Now or never, Pheebs …
With a deep breath for courage, she came out of the shadows and moved toward him. He prepared to attack.
“It’s okay,” Phoebe said quickly, praying he didn’t stab her. “I’m a friend.”
The look on his face said he wasn’t buying it at all.
But thankfully, Cassie recognized her. Gasping, she stared at her in utter disbelief.
Time stopped as Phoebe took in her sister’s long strawberry-blond hair and those features that were way too close to their mother’s. She’d missed her family so much!
“Phoebe?” Cassie breathed. “It’s really you?”
Tears blurred her vision as she choked on her tears. “It’s me, Cassie. I’m here to help you.”
Her sister stepped back and collided with the much smaller dark-haired guy who stood behind her. He was eyeing Phoebe with all kinds of malice. And so was the tall blond woman who looked like she ought to be on an island somewhere shooting the bikini issue of Sports Illustrated rather than locked in a boathouse being chased by Daimons.
But it was the doubt in Cassandra’s eyes that stung. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“I am dead,” Phoebe whispered.
“You’re a Daimon.” There was no missing the accusation and judgment in the Dark-Hunter’s tone.
Phoebe nodded.
“Oh, Phoebe…” Cassandra’s voice was thick with disappointment. “How could you?”
Seriously? Her, too? Like she had any room to talk given the company she was in? At least Phoebe hadn’t turned traitor. “Don’t judge me. I had my reasons. Now we have to get you to safety.”
Cassandra gaped. “Like I’m going to trust you?” She actually bowed up on her and acted as if she’d attack. “I remember Uncle Demos.”
So did she. There was no forgetting a trelos when they turned and came after you with that kind of fury. It was terrifying and now that she had the demons in her head, she understood. But still … “I’m not Uncle Demos and I have no intention of turning you into me.”
Phoebe took a step toward her, but that hulking, irritating Dark-Hunter prevented her from getting any closer to Cassandra.