Their Dark Hunter (Masters of Darkness) (14 page)

“
But what happens with us once we return?”

Vex sighed.  “
I don’t know. The way I see it is you’re free, Trace…at least for now. I’m obviously not your master, anymore. We can all stay at the penthouse, and we’ll figure something out.”

“Wait.” The demon shook his head. “No one can know that
you’re not master anymore.”

“Why not?
” He pulled the door open, readying to go wake Melody. “I’m done, Trace. I’m not going to pretend to be something I’m not. Plus, the demons will pick up on it anyway. The façade might last a while, but the moment one tries to defy me or leave, I won’t have the mind pull I had with them before. Yeah, I could hurt them and order them to listen, but I don’t want to.”

A frustrated sound filled the air. “Vex, you can’t just walk away from everything. You say I’m free, but I don’t know anyone
besides you and Mel. What would I do? I can’t get a job or anything, I don’t have skills.”

The air conditioning felt good. Vex walked into the kitchen and pulled down a coffee cup. He placed his hand over the opening and watched as the steamy liquid appeared. At least he hadn’t lost his gift to materialize. “Trace, I don’t know what to tell you. Mingle. Find some friends. Hang out with Malcolm and Dray. Pick up a damn hobby.”

“Are you at least going to open the club back up so I can continue to work there?”

“Sure.” Vex shrugged. “You can run it for me. That’ll give you something to do.”

A sense of contentment went through the room and Vex narrowed his eyes. He’d always been able to detect emotions and energy, but the strength he’d just felt went beyond what he was used to. Dizziness hit him hard and his arms reached for the countertop for stability.

“Whoa, buddy, you okay?” Trace caught him before he hit the floor.

“Vex?” Melody rushed over, but his sight was all wrong, sideways and in black and white. Voices filled the room, but they were blurred together and slowed to an unrecognizable jumble.

Dark spots began to take over.  Vex blinked hard, trying to focus. The cold beneath his back penetrated into his bones, and he could feel himself shaking. God,
was he dying? Probably. Maybe Hell wanted him back to punish him for his betrayal.

As he looked up at his mate’
s distorted form, he didn’t care. If he were going to go, at least he’d have memories of the best week of his life to keep him company for however long he’d be gone.

***

Melody’s fingers barely had to cover the pulse point on Vex’s wrist to feel his heart racing. Sweat drenched his body while he lie there, unconscious. Her eyes went to Trace. “What happened?”

The demon shook his head. “I don’t know. He was fine, and then,” his hand gestured to Vex.

“Think, Trace! Did he say anything that might indicate he wasn’t feeling well?”

“Well
, yeah. He came down, freaking out. He’s lost the position as master of the city.” Trace pointed to his chest. “The lettering is gone. Status is still there, but not over a territory.” He took a deep breath. “He mentioned something about feeling achy. But so do I.”

“A
ll right.” Melody swallowed hard. She may have been a nurse, but when it came to the paranormal, she was lost. The same rules didn’t apply, by far. “Let’s get him to the bed. I don’t want him on the floor.” Her hands were trembling as she looked around. Just the thought that something was happening to her mate was downright terrifying.

Trace lifted him and headed for the stairs. As Melody followed she wracked her brain. There had to be something she could do.
Trace swayed as he lowered Vex to the bed. Melody rushed forward. “Are you okay? Trace, talk to me.”

His eyes were big while
he was looking around. Slowly, he lowered to sit on the bed. “Mel, I don’t feel so well. I feel really dizzy.” He swayed again, and she helped him lie down next to Vex.

“Trace, keep talking to me.”

“I can’t see anything clearly.” His hands rubbed down his face. “Fuck.
I’m seeing spots
.” His breathing increased and she watched his eyes roll back.

“Trace!”

His head fell to the side and she slapped at his face. Her hand automatically reached to his pulse. It was pounding away like Vex’s was. What should she do? Call 911? What the hell would she tell them, her demon mates had passed out and they needed to be rushed to the hospital?

“Dammit!” She knew there
were no medical supplies here. Melody rushed into the restroom and wet some washcloths to press against their heads. For three hours they lie in a comatose state. She had no idea how long they were going to be out, but she knew without any supplies, she’d be screwed if something worse happened. A sinking feeling took over. There was only one place to go, and that was home. She had supplies she’d collected over the last year of demon hunting and there had to be something she could use.

Melody grabbed Vex’s keys from the nightstand and rushed to his Maserati. She sped down the dirt road and hit the highway. Immediately, she took advantage of the speed of the car.
The land stretched out for miles to the side of her once she rushed through the town of Tivoli. Within half an hour she was entering the outskirts of her town. The traffic wasn’t anywhere as thick with tourists as it usually was. By the time she got on the bypass, it didn’t take but a few minutes before she was hauling ass down her dirt road. The sight of her home didn’t bring the relief she thought it would. All she could focus on was getting back to Vex and Trace.

Melody threw the car in park and left it running as she burst through the front door. At the sight of Leon sitting on the couch
, eating a bowl of popcorn, she felt her heart drop.

“Mel.” He slowly stood and put up his hands. “I’m not going to hurt you. Please, don’t run.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I’m not running anywhere. You have explaining to do. What the hell were you thinking trying to take me away from my mates?”

Weird vibes pushed against Melody’s skin
, causing red
caution
flags to go off in her mind. The time to run was near. She could feel it. For the first time, ever, she feared her friend. The supplies overpowered the emotion and all she needed to do was get to the kitchen.

Melody watched him from the corner of her eyes while she walked to the cabinets and grabbed down her box.

“We immortals are at a turning point in our earthbound lives. Demons have always been our enemies, but now we have a new one. A breed so powerful that they need to be stopped before it’s too late.”

Melody rested the box on the kitchen table. “What are you talking about, Leon? None of this makes sense. One minute you’re my friend, and we’re going over plans to figure out who put the picture of Helix in my drawer. The next, you’re barging into Vex’s club and demanding that I leave with you and Harvey. You turned your back on me. Why? What happened after you left?”

He sighed. “Nothing much. I started dropping hints about you a lot, hoping someone would start showing interest. Then I was talking to Harvey and I happened to mention that Vex had changed since the last time I saw him, and you two were mated. When I told him you were mated to Trace too, he flipped. Then he let me in on a secret that changed my life and made me open my eyes.”

“And, what was that?
” Melody could feel her heart racing.

Leon collapsed to the couch, but
he continued to stare at her. “I just told you.” He sighed. “Let me put it this way. I saw Helix, Mel. He
is
your father.”

Numbness raced through her legs as the adrenaline pumped through her veins. She made her way to the couch, barely feeling herself walk. “Where
did you see him?”

“Gonzales. He runs the territory there, I think. At least that’s the impression I got when he was staring at me. The eternal is so damn powerful. I—
“

Melody held up her hand. “Wait. Eternal? What is that?”

A shuttering breath came from Leon and he stood. “They’re demons who’ve broken the connection with Hell. They’re too good to be demons, and too bad to be angels. They’re like Hell’s substitute of the immortal.”

“Vex
and Trace.” Melody looked around the room realizing what must have been happening to them. Every night they’d been together, she could feel herself sucking something from them. It had to have been her good, cleansing them of their evil. Was she already an eternal? Was that why the men couldn’t place her scent? “I’ve got to go.” She raced and grabbed the box. Leon was suddenly standing before her.

“I can’t let you leave
, Mel. If Helix finds them, or vice-versa, we immortals are screwed. I need your mates to stay demons. The only way for that to happen is for them to be separated from you. Which actually works out perfectly for me. You see … I’ve been doing some thinking. I was stupid to ever leave here.”

Fear consumed her as she looked into Leon’s eyes. They were starting to illuminate and she knew what that meant. Tingling erupted in her palm and she concentrated on calling the light she held within.

“Move, Leon.”

“Not gonna happen.”

Melody wedged the box against her side, holding it with one arm. The moment Leon reached for her she let the power from her free hand explode against his chest. The immortal crashed into the wall and she took off running for the door as fast as she could. She hadn’t even made it half way there before he had his arm wrapped around her waist.

“When the hell did you get powers?” Leon said, pulling her into his body.

“Who cares? Let go of me.”

He knocked the box out of her hand and pulled her into her room. “I told y
ou, you’re not going back to them. You belong with me now.” He grabbed her belt and pushed her to the bed on her stomach. Melody instantly started to thrash and fight the pressure of the hand that rested in the middle of her back. Leon definitely was a lot stronger than she’d ever realized. The arm braced against her was not movable.

“I hate that it has to be this way, but let’s face it, this is a long time coming. You see
––I’m never going to make it to heaven. This is where I’m meant to be, and now I have you.” The belt wrapped around her wrists tightly. Melody screamed as she pulled against the restraint.

Leon flipped her over and she started kicking at him. “You’ll never have me, Leon. Not like that.”

“Probably not, but I still technically
have
you, right?” He grabbed another belt and caught her feet, easily binding them together. “I’ll just grab you some clothes, and then you and I can take a little trip. How does that sound?”

“Like bullshit,” Melody said. “You’ve obviously lost it.”

“Nope. I’ve never felt more right about anything in my life.” He pulled clothes from the hanger and stuffed them into the bag she had sitting at the bottom of her closet. “We always talked about taking a road trip. Where should we go first? California? Colorado? I hear the mountains there are to die for.”

Melody shut her eyes tightly, praying she had the gift
to dematerialize. She imagined the room her mates were in. With every ounce of her strength she willed herself to appear there.

Nothing.

“I think that’s it.” Leon leaned down and pulled her over his shoulder. “Cheer up. It’s going to be fun, Mel. Trust me.”

“Trust
you! You’re kidnapping me, for Christ’s sake.” She tried kicking her legs, but it was a pathetic attempt. Sliding against gravel brought her head towards the road. A white SUV came to an abrupt stop. Harvey got out, his eyes glaring at Leon. A sling was wrapped around his arm, and he had multiple cuts to his face.

“So, you survived.”

“
Give her to me
,” Harvey yelled as he stalked toward them.

Vibrations crawled against Melody’s skin. From the angle she was at, she couldn’t see
him anymore.

“I can’t do that, Harvey
––you see, Mel and I are taking a trip. We’re going far away from all this madness to where no one can find us. Right, Melody?”

When it came to staying with Leon or Harvey, she knew she had a better chance escaping if she got Leon to trust her. “Yep. We’re taking off. Nice seeing you, Harvey.” Leon laughed and she tried picking up her head. The pressure from the blood collection was becoming too much. “Can you put me down now
? This is extremely uncomfortable.”

“Oh
, right.” Leon opened the passenger side door of the Maserati and set her on the seat. She took in Harvey. “My father do that to you?”

He sneered, and turned to Leon. “Helix may have wiped out my other immortals, but he couldn’t catch me.”

“Looks like he did to me,” Melody said, taking in his wounds.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” His eyes went back to Leon. “I need her with me. Why don’t you both come back to the mansion? She’ll be safe there.”

If Harvey convinced Leon to take her there, she’d never get free. Plus, she didn’t like him using her as a pawn against her father. Didn’t he see that if he had her, it would only bring her father to him? She paused in her thinking. Was that the route she needed to take, then? Both had possibilities, and if she was at Harvey’s, at least she wasn’t out of state. Ugh, she was conflicted.