The Darkest Touch

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Dalton pivoted and fired a silver bullet into the chest of a charging demon, feeling a sense of satisfaction when smoke poured out of the wounds and the demon dematerialized.

He hadn’t yet figured out if those silver bullets killed the new demons, or if they just disappeared to regenerate. That was for the Realm to figure out, not him.

When the smoke cleared, he charged forward, lasering and shooting demons in his wake, until he moved to the front where the line of the Sons of Darkness stood, unmoving, their arms crossed.

In front of the demon Lords was Isabelle, holding Angelique against her chest. Her claws were nearly embedded in Angelique’s throat.

Shit. Not good. Come on, Isabelle. This isn’t you. Fight. It wasn’t too late for her. But did she know that?

She’d better figure it out soon, because he caught Ryder out of the corner of his eyes, barreling toward them. Dalton flung out an arm to stop him.

“Don’t. You’ll kill Angelique.”

Ryder dug his heels in, panting from the exertion of the battle and no doubt panic on Angelique’s behalf. He lifted his head and shot Dalton a venomous glare. In this, Dalton was his enemy and he knew it. “Isabelle is going to kill her.”

“Let me talk to Isabelle. I can reach her.”

Ryder considered it, then said, “You’ve got thirty seconds, then I’m taking her out.” He leveled his laser and took aim at Isabelle’s head. And Ryder was a damn good shot.

Dalton gave a quick nod. “Understood.” He inched toward Isabelle. She stared at him, her eyes cold.

“Isabelle. Let Angelique go.”

Isabelle grinned. When she lifted her upper lip, he saw the fangs. “She’s mine now. Either she becomes one of us or she dies.”

“You’d kill your sister?”

Isabelle shrugged. “My loyalty lies with the Sons of Darkness. They’re my family now.”

Dalton slanted a glance at Tase, who nodded in satisfaction.

Bastard. They’d deal with the Sons of Darkness later.

“I would rather die than join those scum-sucking, lower-than-life, dirt-eating bastards of the devil,” Angelique said, her eyes rimmed in red, her own claws digging into Isabelle’s arm. Blood dripped where Angelique embedded her nails into Isabelle’s flesh. But Isabelle hadn’t yet drawn blood from Angelique’s throat. That was a good sign. She’d hesitated. Dalton didn’t think even Isabelle realized that.

Isabelle didn’t register emotion at Angelique’s venomous tirade. “Are you sure, dear sister? Because they can offer you much more than the human world ever could. They’ve promised me immortality, power, riches. I will live among humans and rule in the darkness. I’ll have everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m going to be their queen.”

“But you’ll lose your soul. I’d rather see you die than let them have you, Izzy. I’m sorry.” Tears ran down Angelique’s cheeks as she struggled, finally breaking free of Isabelle’s tight hold on her throat. Angelique bent her head and bit down on her sister’s forearm.

Isabelle growled in pain, then lashed out, grasping Angelique by the throat with one hand. She raised the other, her claws held high as if preparing to swipe them across Angelique’s exposed throat.

Dalton knew he had only a split second to save Isabelle’s life, because Ryder was going to shoot her.

He slipped in between Ryder’s weapon and Isabelle, latching on to her upraised arm. A risky move given Isabelle’s demon strength, but one that stunned her. She let go of Angelique, who stumbled back and fell to her knees.

“Don’t do that, babe,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Come back to me.”

She frowned, blinked.

“I need you, Isabelle. We need each other.”

She tilted her head, studying him.

“We’ll figure a way out-together. Let me help you. And maybe-” he paused, moved into her, whispered against her so only she could hear. “Just maybe, you can save me, too.”

The only way he could reach her was to be honest.

And he just had been.

He did need her to save himself, even if that was the most selfish act of all. But if it saved Isabelle’s life, her soul, then it was worth it.

Her eyes widened. In an instant, she changed, the demon in her gone. Then he saw it.

Hope. Desperation. Apology. She hadn’t said a word, but Dalton had heard her cry for help.

He knew then that he had her. For a split second, he had her. The real Isabelle. The human one.

He hated doing this, but it was the only way. Grabbing the Taser, he shoved it hard into her side, shocking her. Her eyes widened and she shuddered as the voltage entered her body. She had no time to change back, no time to adapt to the sudden shock and call upon her demon strength. She went limp in his arms. He swept her up and cradled her against his chest.

It worked.

Angelique looked up at him, still fighting for breath.

“Thank you,” she said, the tears still falling down her cheeks. “Thank you for saving her life.”

“No!”

Tase’s booming voice thundered over the noise of battle.

“You are not worthy to touch her,” Tase said. “You are lower than her, one of the beasts of the earth. She will grind you under her feet.”

Dalton ignored Tase. He’d heard it all before. The demon couldn’t hurt him. Like it or not, Isabelle had made her choice.

“Get her the hell out of here before she comes to,” Ryder said, stepping between Tase and Dalton. “We’ll take care of them.”

Dalton nodded and backed away. The hunters rushed forward and formed a line in front of him, but as he turned, Michael and Lou were there.

“You might have temporarily halted what she was about to do, but she’s lost,” Michael said.

Dalton knew better, but said nothing.

“I’m afraid I have to agree with Michael,” Lou said. “Darkness has overtaken her.”

“You know what you have to do,” Michael continued, searching for Angelique. She had lifted a weapon and stood in line next to Ryder.

“Don’t let her sister see it,” Michael said. “Take her away and deal with it. We’ll keep the demons occupied.”

Dalton nodded and turned, running with Isabelle in his arms, his feet pounding the dirt, his clothes tearing as he zoomed by bushes and tree limbs. He held Isabelle close, not wanting her to suffer any harm from his careless run through the thick vegetation.

When he reached the church parking lot, he grabbed the keys to the SUV. He unlocked the vehicle and slid a still unconscious Isabelle inside, buckled her up. He skirted the front end of the vehicle and turned around to take a look back at where he’d come from.

He was too far away now. They couldn’t even see him, though it was possible Lou or Michael could feel. .

No, they were too occupied with the battle. It would be a while before they knew. They’d just assume he really was taking her far enough away to. . get the job done, so that Angelique wouldn’t bear witness to it.

He slid into the driver’s seat and glanced over at Isabelle. Asleep, she had the face of an angel. So innocent in all this.

For a moment back there, he’d seen the light in her eyes, the pleading for help.

She’d wanted out, an escape from the darkness.

A chance for redemption. And he was going to give her every chance to crawl out of the hell the Sons of Darkness had put her in. Even at the cost of his own future, possibly his own life.

Because he knew what it was like to walk in darkness, to be one of the damned.

He refused to allow Isabelle to suffer the same fate.

Angelique couldn’t let her concern about her sister blind her to the task at hand. There were still Sons of Darkness to battle, demons to take down, and the black diamond, which continued to pulse and hum at Tase’s feet.

She blamed the black diamond for transforming her sister into a monster. It had to be destroyed. Which meant the hunters had to wrest it away from the Sons of Darkness.

From her position on the ground, she was only a few feet away from it. The hunters were engaged in battling the demons. No one paid attention to her.

She stayed crouched, inching her way closer. Smoke and bodies danced around her, giving her the diversion she needed.

Chancing a glance upward, she could see the demons doing all the work, maintaining a front line of defense to protect the demon Lords. But that line was dropping, dropping. .

She covered her head just as a barrage of electricity and laser fire slammed into the Sons of Darkness. They raised their hands to ward off the assault, and Angelique took the opportunity. She pushed off and ran like hell to the black diamond, snatched it up and, without pausing to see if anyone noticed, turned and dashed in the opposite direction.

The diamond’s power pulsed against her as she held it cradled tight to her chest. The rock was definitely alive.

Angelique skirted the battle and made it to the back of the group of hunters. Lou waited there for her with his hands held out.

“Give it to me.”

She was more than happy to hand it over, since she’d needed all her power and strength to fight the lure of the diamond for the short period of time she’d held it. It was like a sickening sweet temptation. Did it have some kind of hypnotic power? Was that what had happened to Izzy?

She hated that thing. “What’s in there?”

Lou held the black diamond up, palming it, his eyes narrowed. “A demon.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’ll explain later. Right now you need to back away, Angelique. We’re about to do battle.”

Battle? What kind of battle?

She stepped away, pulled her laser in case she needed to shoot it, and watched as Lou grasped the diamond between his palms.

Did the diamond actually growl, or was that her imagination?

“What the fuck is going on?” Derek asked, moving up to stand beside Angelique. So did the rest of them, Ryder on her other side.

“There’s a demon inside the black diamond,” she said, turning around. “Where are the Sons of Darkness?”

“We hit ’em with everything we had and they just disappeared,” Ryder said. “Vanished.”

“Pussies. They couldn’t handle the heat,” Punk added with a satisfied nod.

“They’re not defeated,” Michael said, his brows knit in a tight frown. “They never are.”

“They’ll be back?” Trace asked.

Michael shook his head. “For now, no. They’ve done what they came to do.”

Angelique didn’t understand Michael’s words.

“There’s really a demon in the black diamond?” Mandy’s gaze was focused on Lou. “What’s he doing with it?”

“I have no idea,” Angelique said.

The black diamond’s light grew, seeming to glow beyond its surface now, the hum growing louder until her ears hurt. The light it put off was blinding-still blue, but now more luminous, so bright Angelique had to shield her eyes from the intensity.

The area around them grew colder. Lou’s hands were covered in ice and the ground around him was sprinkled with white crystals.

“Is that thing trying to get out?” Trace asked.

“Yes,” Michael said. “The demon is attempting to break free.”

“What kind of demon is it?” Angelique asked, unable to tear her gaze away from it.

“Powerful.”

“As strong as the Sons of Darkness?” she asked.

“More so. Why do you think they wanted someone or something that would activate it?”

“So why now? Isabelle spent all that time with it. I thought she was the trigger.”

“Isabelle was the catalyst to bring it out of dormancy,” Michael said. “Keepers have the power to actually release the demon from the black diamond.”

Angelique’s jaw dropped. “Why would we want to do that?”

“Just watch,” Michael said.

The blue light surrounded the outside of the black diamond now. Lou moved his hands, palmed the bottom of the diamond and raised his hand over the top of it. As he did, the light lifted to meet his hand, seeming to dance underneath his palm. He crouched and laid the diamond on the ground, then slowly lifted, the light following his hand as he stood.

It was like watching a genie appear from a bottle, a sinuous, seductive dance against Lou’s hand, swirling between his fingers, wrapping around his forearm.

Angelique was transfixed. This was the demon that had been hiding inside the black diamond? She had been carrying a demon around with her all that time after she’d escaped the caves in Australia? She shuddered at the realization.

The light began to materialize into shape, grow larger and form into a body, blue mixing with white as the object undulated before Lou’s raised hands. Legs, hips, the curve of a waist, long, blue-white hair. .

The demon inside the black diamond was female!

“Do you see that?” she asked Ryder.

“Yes.”

“I’ll be goddamned,” Derek muttered. “It’s a girl.”

“Most definitely feminine,” Gina said with a nod.

“Did you know this, Michael?” Angelique asked.

“Yes.”

She supposed it didn’t really matter what gender the demon was. Or maybe it did matter. It was just damn odd that the demon inside the black diamond was female.

And did it ever seem to have a thing for Lou. Or maybe Keepers in general? As soon as its arms and hands materialized, it reached out for him.

Shockingly, Lou held his arms straight from his sides as if in surrender. It came toward him, floating like a ghostly specter, surrounding him, touching his face, his shoulders.

She was beautiful, her face like porcelain, her features perfection, as was her body. Angelique held her breath as the demon caressed Lou’s face, pressing herself against him in a way that could only be described as. . affectionate, almost like a hug.

What on earth was going on?

Lou wore no expression, just nodded, his arms still outspread as the demon held on to his shoulders.

“I don’t like this,” Derek whispered.

Lou closed his eyes, and a strong wind kicked up, blowing his hair back, pressing his clothes to his body. The demon mimicked Lou’s stance and it was like looking at two mirrored objects.

Suddenly, the demon moved closer to Lou, then against him. They were face-to-face now. Lou’s eyes were still closed, their noses were almost touching.

And then the demon disappeared.

Inside Lou!

Angelique blinked, so shocked it took her a few seconds to find her voice. She looked over at Ryder, who seemed as stunned as she was.

“What just happened?” she asked, turning to Michael.

“Lou absorbed the demon,” Michael said, his mouth set in a grim line.

From the grimace on Michael’s face, whatever had just happened wasn’t good. Yet Michael had done nothing to stop it.

“What the hell does that mean?” Mandy asked, frowning. “That thing just slid right into him.” Mandy went to Lou, who still had his eyes closed, still hadn’t moved yet. She turned back to Michael. “Is he. . all right?”

“Leave him alone, Mandy,” Michael said.

“Now what?” Ryder asked.

“Now we wait. It shouldn’t take long.”

Wait for what? “Is the demon actually inside him?” Angelique asked.

Michael nodded.

Lou opened his eyes. They were as blue as the demon had been, no longer Lou’s natural eye color.

Lou laid his arms at his sides, breathed deeply in and exhaled. “I don’t have much time,” he said, his gaze focused on Michael.

“Understood,” Michael said.

“What’s he talking about?” Mandy asked. “We need to do something.”

“We are going to do something. We need to kill him.”

“What?” Angelique couldn’t believe what Michael had just said.

“No.” Mandy shook her head. “That’s not what we do.”

Michael lowered his head. “In this instance, it’s what we must do.”

Pain stabbed Angelique’s stomach. She looked at Lou, who seemed to wear an expression of utter calm and peace. Surely he didn’t expect them to. .

“I don’t fucking think so,” Derek said, leveling his gun, then lowering it again. He turned to Michael. “How do we get that thing out of him?”

“We don’t,” Michael said. “Not while Lou’s alive.”

“This is bullshit,” Mandy said, her gaze flitting from Michael, then back at Lou. “Surely you don’t expect us to-”

Mandy reached out and touched Lou’s arm. A zap of something blue, like electricity, shot from Lou onto Mandy’s hand. The shock made her cry out, snatch her hand back.

“What the hell?” Mandy asked, looking down at the redness on her hand, then back at Lou.

“I’m sorry,” Lou said, his jaw clenched tight. “I can’t help it. It’s very strong. I can’t hold out much longer.”

“Lou retrieved the demon from the black diamond,” Michael said, his voice picking up a sense of urgency. “It was the only way. Now we have to destroy it.”

“By killing him, and the demon along with it,” Ryder finished for him.

“Yes.”

Angelique refused to believe this. Destroying a Keeper? They were rare and valued.

“Do it.” Lou’s voice was filled with strain, the same he showed on his features. “Hurry.”

“We all know that our jobs aren’t always easy,” Michael said. “But we do what’s necessary to destroy the Sons of Darkness and all they represent. Lou knew it might come to this someday. He’s accepted it.”

“No.” Mandy croaked the word.

“I’m not doin’ it,” Punk said.

“Please,” Lou pleaded. “I can’t hold it in here much longer.”

“It’s now or never,” Michael said.

“You do it,” Derek said, his jaw tight.

Michael shook his head. “I can’t. As a Keeper, it’s forbidden.”

“Goddamit. Lou?” Derek turned to him.

Lou shook his head, his body shuddering now.

With a deep sigh, Derek raised his gun. Punk muttered a curse and did the same. Mandy followed suit, her eyes filled with moisture. Reluctantly, they all pointed their lasers at Lou, but no one seemed willing to pull the trigger. Angelique already knew she wouldn’t be the one to destroy a human.

Lou was sweating with the effort to hold the demon inside him. His chin rested on his chest, his hands clenched into tight fists.

“Please.”

Lou’s single word was a whispered plea.

Maybe it was her imagination, but she saw that demon shimmering inside him. Trying to get out, maybe?

Oh, no. That couldn’t happen.

Angelique didn’t know who shot first. Maybe that was a good thing. A split second later, they were all firing, blue light hitting Lou square in the chest. He jerked back, his entire body shuddering violently with the impact.

Tears streaked down Angelique’s face as she watched the destruction of a human being. She wanted to cover her face and not watch, to sob at the savagery of the act, but she knew what was being done was necessary in order to kill a demon. Lou had made the ultimate sacrifice, one she wasn’t sure she’d have been able to make.

When they stopped, there was nothing left of Lou, or the demon that had taken up residence inside him.

Afterward, there were no words. With zero emotion showing on her face, Mandy shouldered her weapon, pivoted, and walked away. Derek dropped his head down and Gina laced her fingers with his, tears streaming down her face.

The grief was palpable.

It was over. Lou was dead. And so was the demon inside him. The black diamond sat on the ground, now a lifeless dark rock.

Ryder wrapped his arm around her and lifted her chin.

“Are you all right?”

“No. I’m miserable. Why did this have to happen?”

“I don’t know, darlin’. It sucks. But at least that thing inside the black diamond is dead.” Ryder turned to Michael. “It is dead, isn’t it?”

Michael nodded, his expression grim. “The demon’s dead.”

And so was Lou. She hated even thinking it. It made her hurt all over.

“Let’s go,” Michael said. “I’ll debrief you all when we get back to the Realm headquarters.”

Angelique inhaled on a shudder, then allowed Ryder to lead them back to the vehicles.

One of the SUV’s was missing. “Where’s the other car?” she asked.

“Dalton. . took Isabelle away so the Sons of Darkness wouldn’t get to her,” Michael said.

There was something vague about his response, but she pushed it away. She’d ask him about it when they got back to headquarters. There were too many other things occupying her mind right now.

After they said their good-byes to Father Vintaldi, they piled into the one remaining SUV, crushed together like sardines. Angelique stared out the window at the church, still unable to fathom what had just happened.

Ryder put his arm around her shoulder and she laid her head there, comforted by his presence and wanting to comfort him, too. Killing Lou had to have hurt him, and yet he was the one soothing her. He kissed the top of her head and she relaxed against him. The only thing she could do was be there for him, love him, just as he loved her. And maybe they had a couple things to be grateful for.

The Sons of Darkness had disappeared, but they hadn’t taken Isabelle. And the hunters had killed a lot of demons. The black diamond was obliterated.

There was sadness, though. Isabelle had shown how much darkness she possessed. They didn’t even know if she could come back from it.

And they’d lost one of their own in the process. A kind, wonderful man she was just beginning to get to know.

Really, they had won nothing.

“We’ve lost.”

“We were supposed to emerge triumphant, and look at us. Not only did we not keep Isabelle, we lost the black diamond, and Drucilla within it.”

Tase paced back and forth in front of his brothers, listening to them lament. He shook his head at their stupidity.

They could never see the big picture.

“You are all fools. Don’t you see how much we’ve won?”

They ceased their wailing and focused on him.

“How can you say that?” Badon asked.

“Easy. If you’d stop your blaming and bickering long enough, you’d see how much we really did profit from all that happened.”

Kal crossed his arms. “Do explain it to us, brother.”

“Isabelle is in darkness, lost to the human world. We saw to that. You all felt it. She is still one with us and will remain so, regardless of her location.”

“That is true,” Aron said with a reluctant nod. “She was immersed.”

“We will someday use that to our benefit. Everything doesn’t have to occur right now. You all must learn patience. Isabelle will have her time of usefulness.”

Now that he had their rapt attention, he went on.

“Yes, we lost Drucilla. But great things sometimes come at great sacrifice. Though it would have been beneficial to have her as one of us and wielding her power at our sides, she served her purpose.”

“In what way?” Badon asked.

“She died, but she took a Keeper of the Realm of Light with her. And a very powerful Keeper at that. Louis has been a nemesis of ours for years. Now he’s gone, and we have once again taken something the Realm holds dear. We have sliced into their power.”

There were nods of agreement all around.

“Our new demons, though not without flaws, are working out well. With each new generation our goal is coming to fruition. Soon they will be doing our bidding without detection.”

“True,” Badon said. “We are closer than ever in our quest to have our brethren walk among the humans.”

“And there is one more thing,” Tase said, his heated stare making them all decidedly uncomfortable.

“What is that?” Kal asked, his frown showing his confusion.

They didn’t know. They simply weren’t aware. Tase smiled, his grin showing his superiority over his brothers.

“Dalton, one of the hunters, has once again stepped into darkness. He has fallen again.

“The Realm is fractured, falling apart. They will soon pit their own against each other. And we will reap the rewards.”

The Sons of Darkness had won this skirmish.

And soon, they would win the war.