The Darkest Touch

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Isabelle woke in the darkness, shooting straight up to a sitting position. Fear snaked its way around her, along with the certain realization she was alone. The only sound she heard was her own breathing.

She remembered the church, the feeling of claustrophobia and sickness and needing to escape. Then the cooling mist and cold hands over her, bringing relief from the heat blistering her body. After that, only blackness and waking up here.

But where was here?

“Angie?”

Instinct told her she wasn’t back at the Realm’s castle. She shuddered. Something bad had happened to her. But what? It was so dark. She couldn’t even see her hand in front of her. She felt around, underneath her. Cloth, kind of scratchy. Some kind of bed. No, not even that. A ledge, hard underneath. With tentative movements she swung her leg over the side, feeling for the floor.

Cold. Everything in here was icy cold. She pulled the blanket around her for warmth, afraid to leave the relative safety of the ledge, not knowing what was out there in the darkness.

Damn. She hated this. Where was Angelique? Dalton? Anyone.

What had happened to her back at the church?

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a faint outline of a table in front of her. She squinted, wishing for light so she could see better.

As if someone had heard her wish, faint light began to appear, illuminating the room. But there were no overhead lights, not even any fixtures, so she had no idea where it was coming from.

There was a long gray stone table, crude and ancient as if hand-carved. At the end of the table nearest her was a misshapen rock about the size of a small boulder.

The room itself was large, with rough rock walls and nothing else in it but the ledge she sat on and the table. The floor was made out of the same rock, though it was smoother than the jagged walls, so if she walked on it she wouldn’t cut her bare feet.

She glanced to the side of the ledge and found her shoes, slipped them on, scanned the room again, and looked for a door. There was one at the far end of the room. She pushed off the ledge and made her way to the door.

No doorknob. Just a smooth slab. She pushed on it but it wouldn’t budge. She pushed it again, digging her feet into the ground, using every ounce of strength she had, but she knew her efforts were fruitless.

Her stomach knotted and she laid her forehead against the cool stone door, tears welling in her eyes.

“Please, someone let me out of here.”

The door began to vibrate and Isabelle jumped, backing against the wall as the door pulled away.

Frustration was replaced with abject fear as men filled the doorway. Large men clad in all black.

She backed into the room as they stepped in, their faces devoid of expression, their eyes dark and cold as they focused on her.

They were huge, extreme power vibrating off them as they filled the room, surrounding the table. Isabelle moved back to the ledge, every nerve ending in her body shaking with fear.

Who were they?

One in particular, his long, black hair pulled back in a queue, his eyes dark with menace, smiled at her as he stood at the opposite end of the table. He made a slight bow of his head toward her.

She felt heat in the room, barely contained, but it was coming from that one man.

“Isabelle.”

Oh, shit. He knew her name. She could barely breathe, couldn’t move. She’d never been more scared in her entire life.

“Don’t be afraid,” he said, his voice deep, yet not at all menacing. “We’re not going to hurt you. My name is Tase.”

She swallowed, her throat so dry it hurt. Her fingers clutched the blanket in a tight grip.

“I am the leader of the Lords of the Sons of Darkness. These are my brothers, and we welcome you.”

Oh God, oh God, oh God. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t real. She was dreaming. And yet she knew it was true. She felt the power in the room. Suffocating. Overwhelming. Dark. Her throat was dry. She felt sick.

“I know what you must be thinking, but rest assured no one in this room will harm you. On the contrary, we wish only for you to join with us. You have the opportunity to be our queen, to have power that most can only imagine.”

Isabelle swallowed again, unable to speak. What would she say if she could? She wanted no part of this. This was evil. It was hell. It was the nightmares of childhood dreams. The bogeyman coming to get her. She pulled the blanket up to her chest, as if it could somehow shield her from this evil.

Tase tilted his head to the side, studied her, and nodded.

“I understand your fear. This is all too much for you. We will leave shortly, so relax, child. We only need you to lay your hand upon the black diamond, and we will make our departure.”

He inclined his head toward the dark rock at her end of the table.

That was the black diamond? The one Dalton had told her about? The thing they were supposed to test, to see if she had any reaction with it. How did the Sons of Darkness get it?

“Where’s my sister?” she croaked.

“She is safe.”

Oh, no. They had Angie. “Please don’t hurt her.”

“Anything you wish for can be yours to command. All you have to do is merge with the black diamond.”

Merge. She didn’t like that word at all. It sounded like some kind of ceremony. She pulled her knees up to her chest and shook her head.

Tase inhaled sharply. She felt a whiplash of anger, then his shoulders relaxed and he once again gave her a benevolent smile. But that smile didn’t reach his eyes. “No hurry. There’s plenty of time. We’ll leave it with you, and you will change your mind. Soon enough, you won’t be able to resist its lure.”

“I don’t want anything to do with that thing.”

His lips curled. “Isabelle. You have your father’s blood in you. He was a magnificent demon-a Lord with all the power of darkness at his command. One of our brothers. You and I-all of us-we are family.”

“No. I have a family. And it’s not you.” She wouldn’t play his game, refused to let them brainwash her.

“You are meant to be with us.”

“What about my sister?”

“She doesn’t have the strength you do. She is of no use to us. You. . you are the one with the power. We need you at our side. It is you who will rule with us, Isabelle.”

Tase motioned to the other men and they began to file out. After they had gone, Tase stared at her, his eyes glowing a dark red, seeming to shoot straight into her mind.

He really was a demon. His eyes. His face, changing shape right before her.

She felt heat, singeing her, burning her from the inside out. It was both frightening and seductive as she saw what could be hers. Power, money, fame. Everything she’d ever wanted. All she had to do was think about what she wanted, and it would materialize.

“Yes, Isabelle. It could all be yours. Just touch the diamond and let it empower you. You have a legacy to fulfill. It is only a matter of time.”

Tase turned and walked out, the stone door closing in place behind him.

Shaken, Isabelle was frozen to the ledge, unable to move. They were playing with her mind. They knew her weaknesses, tortured her with talk of her father.

Was her father really one of the Sons of Darkness? Did she have a legacy? Was it preordained that she would become one of them? Was it true that she and Angelique were different?

Didn’t she already know the answer to that? Hadn’t she always known?

She stared at the black diamond. It was just a hunk of rock. How could it be so powerful? What secrets did it hold? Did she dare touch it? Did she have the power that Tase mentioned, or was that all mindwash bullshit?

She wished Dalton were here. Of all people, he was the one to offer her comfort. She felt safe with him. She could crawl into his lap and his arms would wrap around her, shield her from this hurt, from the evil.

Dalton could protect her. She didn’t understand why, but she knew he could. He’d betrayed her, and yet she felt comforted whenever he was near. How fucked-up was that?

Still, there had been. . something between them. A spark, a connection. He seemed to understand the darkness. And he didn’t judge her for it.

She needed to talk to him. Why hadn’t she let him help her? Why had she let her pride and hurt get in the way of reaching out to him? Now she needed him and he wasn’t here.

“Help me,” she said to the empty room, clutching the sides of her head.

Find your way back to Dalton. He’s your salvation.

No. Look at the diamond. Touch it. See how close it is? Everything you’ve wanted can be yours. Think of Atlantis. You can have it all. Everyone who said you couldn’t-all you’ve been denied-will be yours. Fame, riches, all the dark delights you desire.

Don’t do it, Isabelle. Find Dalton. Dalton can save you.

“Stop it!” She cupped her ears, trying to drown out the voices.

Pain ripped inside her, tearing her in two. And still, the voices inside her head wouldn’t go away. Conflicting, they pulled at her, leading her down different roads.

She lifted her head, studied the black diamond. From an archaeological standpoint, it wasn’t at all remarkable. It looked like a huge chunk of coal, a disappointing lump in her stocking at Christmas, albeit a rather oversized one.

Why did everyone place such importance on it? It was just a rock. A dead, lifeless hunk of granite and sand. Void of life or any magic, it couldn’t do her any harm. They were wrong. Nothing was going to happen. She’d prove it.

Then they’d let her go.

She stood, tossed the blanket to the ledge, refusing to let fear rule her. She’d never been afraid-of anything-and refused to start now.

Okay, so she’d never been faced with demons before. Dear Lord in heaven, could they really be evil incarnate? Had she actually stood alone in a room with sons of the devil? And where was she, anyway?

Too many questions. Focus on one task at a time, Isabelle. Just like you’re working a dig. Back to the rock.

She took one step, waiting to see if it would. . come to life.

Nothing happened. It sat there on the table, lifeless.

What did she expect? For it to jump at her?

Honestly.

Approaching the table, she rested her hip against it.

There. Now she was inches from it, and felt no spark, no life emanating from the black diamond.

“This is ridiculous.” She reached out and placed her hands over the rock.

She could have sworn it moved, but that had to be her imagination.

But then she heard a distinctive hum, low at first, then gradually growing in intensity. And under her palms, a vibration.

She hadn’t imagined that. It was real.

Her hands were glued to the black diamond, her gaze mesmerized as the lifeless rock began to glow from within. First the tiny pinprick of a sapphire blue light, then as it spread throughout the stone, brightening to an ocean blue.

It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen. And when she felt tiny electric sparks shooting out from the diamond into her hand, felt the power of it enter her, she sensed no fear.

It was giving her energy, empowering her, welcoming her. How could she be afraid of something like that?

And yet, something within it both compelled and repulsed her, as if there were a life force buried within this rock that wanted out.

Wanted her.

Was this the prophecy her mother had spoken of in her diary? That she would one day take that final step into darkness?

Her mother feared that evil would consume her.

As Isabelle watched, mesmerized by the swirling blue light within the diamond, feeling its strength merge with hers, she was afraid her mother was right.

Because while the light absorbed into her, she was engulfed by darkness.

And she liked it.

Angelique paced the tiny room, wondering if this was going to be her prison, anticipating the moment demons would walk through the door and. .

And what? Kill her? Use her and Isabelle to make the black diamond spring to life? She didn’t think that was why she was there. She had a suspicion, and she didn’t like it.

She wrapped her arms around her middle and resumed her pacing, trying to stay focused, to imagine the possibilities of rescue by the Realm of Light. They were going to find her. They weren’t going to just leave her here in this. .

Wherever here was. She remembered walking out of the church, the black diamond in the bag on her shoulder. Then demons attacked, and she backed up to give Ryder room to fight. In an instant, demons surrounded her with their icy hands, pulling her with them until everything went dark.

Then nothing else until she woke in this cold, barren room with no windows and no freaking door. How did she even get in here? She wished she knew something, had contact at least with Isabelle.

But that wasn’t going to happen. Her sister wasn’t here. Whatever building this was, Izzy wasn’t here. She felt it, knew it to be true.

And the darkness in her sister was growing.

The black diamond had roared to life again.

The sudden realization shocked her, raising goose bumps on her already chilled skin.

Isabelle was with the black diamond. Her sister had touched it, had brought it to life.

How did Angelique know this? How could she feel her sister, and more important, the black diamond?

Because she’d laid her hands on it in the cave when it was alive and glowing? Had that made her somehow. . part of it?

She shuddered at the thought. There was evil in that thing. She remembered how it felt to lay her hands on it, the seductive sense of power it held. She hadn’t wanted to let go; she was both enraptured and horrified by the gem. Thank God Ryder had been there to pull her away from it.

But had she been somehow linked to it? Or was her link to Isabelle, and that’s how she knew?

Because this was way more than simply a feeling. She could almost see her sister, her eyes wide with a sense of power and madness as she laid her hands over the black diamond. And whatever force lived within the black diamond was trying to embed itself within Isabelle, sharing its power with her.

Please, Isabelle. Fight it. Don’t give in.

Angelique leaned against the wall and sank to the floor, wishing she could summon the same powers she’d used against that demon who’d tried to kill Ryder. Where was all that strength now? She’d pounded and pushed against the wall for hours, with no success.

Had that whole manifestation of demon power been a onetime thing? A blood rush of her father’s genetics that she had no control over? It would be nice if she could figure out how to harness it and use it when she wanted to.

Like now would be a good time.

She needed to get out of here and find Isabelle. Before it was too late for her sister.

They were graced with a moonless night and a thick cover of clouds overhead. It was about damn time luck was on their side.

“Ready to storm the castle?” Punk raised his weapon and waggled his brows.

Ryder nodded, anxious to just get in there, kill some demons, and get Angelique out. They all had their assignments, knew what to do. His fingers clenched and relaxed on the trigger while he waited for Michael and Lou to give them the go-ahead.

He preferred working alone. If it had been up to him, they’d be in there by now. But he was also realistic enough to know that this demon hunt wasn’t a one-man operation. Not if you wanted to come out of it alive.

“Thermal imagery points to at least forty demons in there,” Lou said, his features showing what the rest of them felt.

The situation was grim. There was an area under the castle heavily occupied with demons. They assumed that’s where the women were being held, but Lou hadn’t been able to pick them up on the scanners. It didn’t mean they weren’t in there, just probably being held in a room that was either too thick or too cold. Either would prevent their scanning equipment from picking up their images.

Ryder had gotten what he needed to know, though. The layout of the castle, and where the bulk of the demons were located. Sure enough, they were aboveground.

Really strange for subterranean dwellers.

“We take out the ones above floors first,” Michael instructed. “Then we head downstairs. No one goes down there until I give the signal. Understood?”

Once everyone checked in with an affirmative, they moved.

About damn time, too. Ryder and Dalton took the lead, inching forward on bellies and elbows through the cactus patch.

“Careful,” he commed. “Some of the stickers are low. And if you get stuck, just suck it up and don’t holler like a baby.”

No less than thirty seconds later, he heard Punk growl and whisper a string of obscenities.

“Guess I’ll have to take the tweezers to you later, huh, Punk?” Mandy teased.

His only response was another low growl.

Getting through the cactus was slow and tedious. Ryder and Dalton made sure to stop and survey the house, but it was completely dark. Not that demons needed the light to see. He figured they were expecting them, so he had to make sure not to give the Sons of Darkness any heads-up that the hunters were on the way. And that meant low to the ground, no matter how painful it was for everyone.

Besides, the crawl through the cactus was only about twenty yards or so, though one would think listening to all the griping that they’d been in there for hours. Ryder was first out, crawling into the middle of a field of thick bushes.

“Stay low,” he ordered through his mic, settling into a crouch and grabbing his binoculars as he waited for the others. “Make sure you don’t pop your heads up over the tops of the vegetation after you’re clear of the cactus field.”

They moved just as slowly through the brush and toward the front of the castle. No one was stationed outside the entrance. That was a good thing. The teams split as they had been previously assigned. Ryder went to the side door kitchen entrance and set the explosive, then hid in the bushes with his team and waited for the signal from the front that would be his cue to enter.

“We’ll sweep the main floor first,” he said to Mandy and Trace. “After we’re clear, we’ll head downstairs with the other teams. Stay close.”

They nodded and braced themselves for the cue, waiting for Gina and Derek to do their thing.

The explosion from the front thundered around them, making the ground underneath their feet tremble.

That was the signal. Ryder blew the door, jumping up and rushing inside. Smoke filled the kitchen, but he’d studied the layout, moving expertly past every object in the room, weapon drawn and ready to fire. He had one thought in mind as he made his way through the smoke-filled rooms-finding Angelique and getting her the hell out of there. He didn’t even want to think about what she’d been going through since she’d been there.

Anger soared inside him, so when he spotted the first demon heading toward him, he leveled his weapon and fired, a rush of satisfaction zipping through him when it howled and began to melt. Demons appeared from every room, both hybrid and pure, all around them. The hunters formed a tight circle and began battling outward. Fury guided him, the need to exact vengeance for their taking her, and for his own failure to protect her.

He fired round after round of UV light, sending demons into melting heaps. The closer they got to him, the more he advanced, putting out wave after wave of the blue light that turned them into nothing but molten jelly. He didn’t take time to ponder why it felt so damn good to kill them, he just added to the body count, pushing his way forward, circling around the lightning-fast pure demons that lunged at him, only to pivot and fire at them before they could turn and come at him again.

With machinelike precision he cut through their numbers, wishing he could touch them, feeling this fierce need to go one-on-one, wanting to make them pay for taking what was his. If he could, he’d wrap his hands around their evil throats and squeeze the life out of them.

“We’ve got the numbers managed here,” Michael commed. “Derek, Gina, Punk, Mandy, you stay with me. Ryder and Dalton, lead your team underground.”

“Got it.” Now was Ryder’s chance to rescue Angie and her sister, to grab the black diamond so they could destroy it.

And maybe, if he was lucky, they’d find the Sons of Darkness, too.

He was so ready to take them all down.

“Let’s go,” Dalton said, nudging him on the shoulder.

Ryder turned and moved with Dalton to the door leading down into the cellar. It was locked. Ryder studied it. Wood. Yeah, whatever. “No time to pick the lock.”

“Ready?” Dalton asked.

Ryder nodded, and together they reared back, then kicked the door. It splintered and banged against the wall as it flew open.

“Okay,” Ryder said to the others. “Stay close. There might be a lot more of them down here.”

They took a set of narrow cement stairs that led down quite a ways. It was pitch dark down there. Ryder felt for a light switch, found it, and flicked it, but nothing happened. Figured. At least their glasses gave them perfect night vision.

Once they had all come down, he held up his hand, listening, breathing in to determine the presence of the foul-smelling hybrid demons.

“No hybrids down here,” he said. The room was empty. No doors or other rooms, but there was a hallway that led into what looked like a tunnel. “Okay, we’re heading down here. Get ready to back up in a hurry if we get rushed by demons.”

“You think they’re down this way?” Dalton asked.

“No idea,” Ryder said. “But where else could they be?”

“Underground.”

Ryder grimaced. He hoped that wasn’t the case, because finding them then would be difficult, if not damn near impossible, and would require explosives and some heavy-duty tunneling. “Let’s just hope this leads us to them.”

He and Dalton walked side by side, the rest of the hunters close behind. Other than the sounds of their footsteps on the cement floor, Ryder heard nothing. No voices, no movement. With as many demons as Lou had picked up on his image scanner, Ryder had figured there would be movement, some sound.

“There’s light up ahead,” Dalton said, pointing with the barrel of his laser to the end of the tunnel.

“Yeah, and I just saw a shadow to the right of the tunnel exit. Get ready, everyone.”

They crowded together, and when Ryder gave the signal, they rushed the tunnel exit. Ryder pivoted to the right and Dalton to the left, the rest of them following suit, weapons ready to fire.

No one was there.

“They’ve gotta know we’re here,” Trace said.

“They do.” The room was long, with doors along each side. They looked like they might be the kind used for storage. There were chains and locks on each door.

“Okay, let’s start busting open these doors,” Dalton said.

Ryder nodded. “I’ll take the right, you take the left.” He took half the team with him, the others went with Dalton. “Be ready.”

Lasering the locks open was easy. They pulled the chains, and drew open the heavy doors. Once inside, they found nothing but empty rooms. Ryder and his team checked all six of the rooms on their side, and found them empty.

Shit.

Ryder turned to see Dalton busting open the last room on his side of the corridor. He checked it and came out, shaking his head.

Well, sonofabitch. Where were the women? And the black diamond?

And the goddamn demons?

They gathered in the center of the hallway. “Now what?” Rico asked.

“We missed something,” Ryder said, frowning. “They have to be here.”

“Maybe they left when they heard us coming,” Punk said.

“Could be.” Ryder didn’t like this. If they left, did they take Angie with them?

“What about upstairs?” Dalton suggested.

Ryder shrugged. “That’s as good a suggestion as any. I’m out of ideas. Let’s go. I’ll bring up the rear.”

The others began filing up the stairs, but something stopped Ryder.

A noise. Faint, but enough to make him turn and move back to the center of the room again. When the sounds of the other’s footsteps quieted, he crouched down and listened again.

“Ryder, what are you doing?” Dalton commed. He stood at the top of the stairs, looking down.

“I hear something, Dalton. Give me a minute of quiet.”

“Demons?”

“Don’t think so. Just need a sec.”

“You got it. If you have demons down there, yell and we’re back there.”

“Yeah. I’ll let you know.”

As soon as it quieted down again, he took his ear comm out, craned his head from side to side.

He heard it again, looked down at the floor.

Yelling. Someone was yelling. The sound was muffled, but he could definitely hear it.

It definitely wasn’t demon. It was human.

And it was coming from beneath the floor.