Isabelle.
Knowing Isabelle, it made sense.
Bart had chosen the wrong sister.
And if the Sons of Darkness wanted Isabelle and the black diamond, the Realm of Light would want her, too.
She couldn’t let that happen. She and Izzy might have spent their lives at odds with each other, but she’d promised their mother she would protect Isabelle.
Her heart clenched at what she had to do. It felt like a betrayal. Ryder had asked her to wait for him, and she wasn’t going to.
She was taking the black diamond with her, but she didn’t see any other way. She had to go, had to hide the diamond, keep it away from the Sons of Darkness.
Dear God, even from the Realm of Light.
And from her sister.
She was in this alone. Ryder couldn’t help her. For all she knew he could be dead. They could all be dead in there, and the Sons of Darkness could, at this very moment, be looking for the black diamond.
She felt a sharp stab of pain in her middle at the thought of Ryder lying in a pool of blood on the floor of that cold, dark cave, then shoved it aside, refusing to face it.
Quit thinking. Move!
She glanced over her shoulder at the yawning cave entrance. “I’m sorry, Ryder,” she whispered, fighting back tears.
She pushed away from the wall of the cave and started running.
CHAPTER ONE. Two months later
Ryder was hunting again, and damn, it felt good. To be on his own, with no one to tell him what to do and when or how to do it.
It was like being back in the military again-Special Forces-the best of the best and in charge of his own destiny. He’d loved the life back then, and he’d done it for ten years before deciding all the killing was just a little too enjoyable. That’s when his loner status had ended. He’d gotten out, gone back home a hero, and then shortly thereafter been recruited for the so-called reality show that had made him a demon hunter.
Now he was killing again. But this time, he killed demons for a living, and he didn’t work alone anymore. He liked the other demon hunters just fine, but he was used to this isolation, to a one-man operation, and this is what he preferred-stalking his prey one-on-one.
His lips curled as he thought about that prey-Angelique. Out of all the demon hunters, he was the most suited to find her. Ryder knew more about Angelique than any of the others, could complete this assignment better than they could. He’d touched her, gotten inside her head, had spent more time with her than they had.
He knew her lies.
And now that he’d found her, had her cornered, it was just a matter of sneaking up on her and grabbing her and the black diamond.
Providing she had it on her, which if she did would be really stupid.
Angelique might be a lot of things, but Ryder didn’t think for one second that she was stupid. So she probably didn’t have it there at the tiny house she’d rented.
It was isolated, but in an open area. He had good camouflage, though, since there was an abandoned, thickly covered vineyard behind the house, with dense trees and bushes, which was where he’d set up. The house was located in the midst of all this foliage. If not for the narrow road and driveway, the average person might never locate this place. Perfect spot for someone who didn’t want to be found.
Ryder was good at finding people who didn’t want to be found. He’d vowed to unearth every bit of dirt on her if he had to work twenty-four hours a day to do it. She’d screwed him, and not in the fun way. She’d used him to get her hands on the diamond, and then she’d run.
But not nearly far enough, because he’d found her. And now that he had, he wasn’t going to let her go again.
Once he located her house, he’d hidden out, waiting to see how populated this area was.
It wasn’t. At all. No traffic traveled this road, so he’d waited until nightfall, then hid his car within a dense area of bushes behind the property.
He’d followed a seldom-used footpath leading up toward the house. Thick with shrubbery along each side, it kept him shielded from the back of the house. He could see no light through the windows, so he hoped she was asleep.
The path wound around parallel to the curved drive-easy enough to keep watch for cars, though judging from the lack of traffic he didn’t expect anyone to come this way. He finally found a spot where the house came into view, and he settled there. It was on higher ground, giving him a great vantage point to see everything. He could see the back door of the house, and keep his eye on the drive in case Angelique left.
He leaned against a tree, figuring he’d just watch for a while, see what she did, get a handle on her routine for a day or so. He’d been single-minded in purpose since Lou had given him the assignment. Single-minded with a vengeance, in fact.
And angry. Damned angry.
It was time to back off, gather a little distance from his subject, and make sure he remained detached from what he was doing.
Just a job, Ryder. She’s just a job.
Yeah, right. He was thinking about his job. He was thinking betrayal, anger. They seethed inside him. He recognized them for what they were. Emotions. That was bad shit. He liked it better when emotion didn’t enter the equation at all, when he could go about his business and not think about anything or anyone but his work. He wasn’t his father, imagining slights and insults that weren’t there, barreling through life with a tornadic fury of anger that was almost visible, all of it imagined, internal demons his old man fought no doubt his entire life. His father had been fucked-up for as long as Ryder could remember. Probably insane, but never got treatment, instead set loose upon his family to wreak whatever havoc he chose. And it had been bad havoc. Frightening. Ugly. Painful, both physically and mentally.
He’d long ago vowed to never be like his old man. The old man had just enjoyed inflicting pain. Ryder figured his father had done it to release his own internal demons.
Whatever. Ryder preferred being grounded in reality. And reality meant a laser in his hand, a demon he could see, and a kill he could verify. His reality was demon body count-not some mental bullshit that screwed with a warrior’s reality. He could overcome the weird stuff. He wasn’t at all like his father. Hadn’t he spent his entire adult life proving that?
As long as he remained aloof, his focus on killing demons, he’d be okay. There was no emotion involved in demon hunting, which suited him just fine.
He’d screwed up with Angelique. He’d let her get close. He’d talked to her. He’d kissed her.
Angelique made him think, made him feel. She’d brought out emotion in him.
That made her dangerous.
He’d convinced Lou, their leader and a Keeper of the Realm of Light, that he could handle this-find Angelique, figure out where the black diamond was, and bring her, and it, back to the Realm of Light.
Ryder had never failed on a mission before. He didn’t intend to now. All he had to do was wait it out. Angelique would lead him to the black diamond.