Page 40 of Hunted By Darkness

“You said it, not me,” I teased.

Ryker snickered next to me as the two men stayed weirdly quiet in front of the one we were determined to use to find Rilas. Thankfully, our antics were ignored by the other three. The one they called Bones had barely noticed us. His concern lied with the other two. As far as he knew, we were just tagalongs meant to beef up their numbers.

It was better that way.

“Have it your way,” Bones finally murmured. “Who do you want me to find?”

Salvator offered Silas a cursory glance. My mercenary gave him a curt nod, and it was all he needed to go on. “Rilas.”

18

Nika

The bone-masked mercenary froze, and silence hung between us for nearly a minute. My two didn’t appear bothered by it, though. They stayed silent with their arms crossed and eyes set on Bones, waiting for him to say something.

“He’s dead,” Bones argued, a bit breathless. “What do you mean find him?”

“He’s back,” Silas rebuked.

Bones visibly stiffened. “Back? That…then…”

“He’s a demon,” Salvator confirmed. “Reaper and the others brought him back despite knowing what he’d do. And now they’re all dead.”

I wasn’t sure how much we should be telling this stranger, but it didn’t appear to worry Silas or Salvator that he was getting more details than most.

I’d heard about blood contracts before and how potent they were, but I wasn’t sure what all they could do, or what it meant to have one. It was an unwritten rule never to enter a blood contract, and if you did, breaking it was a death sentence. But that was all I knew about them.

“You want me to track a fucking demon, and one with Rilas’s knowledge and power? Are you crazy?” Bones growled behind the concealment of his mask. “That’s a death sentence.”

“It’s death whichever direction you go, Bones. All you have to do is find us a general location, and we’ll do the rest. Call in a few favors. Ask around. No one’s telling you to put yourself directly in his path,” Salvator reasoned with the cloaked stranger, but his tone left no room for argument.

Silas spoke up next, taking a few steps around Bones. “Come now, Bones. A demon is bad for business. They only know how to destroy, and this one comes from our side of the world, yeah? He’ll come after all his contacts eventually.”

Silas edged closer, behind Bones now, and it appeared our new friend wasn’t as confident with the assassin at his back. Even without seeing his expression, I picked up on his fear.

“If I remember correctly, you worked with him for a short time. What happens if he comes calling? Think you can fight a demon as powerful asmy brother?You think your blood magic will hold a candle to what he can do now with the power of the After behind him?” He tutted the rigid man with a finger. “Believe me, Bones, you should be chuffed it was us and not him who found you first. Get his location, and we’ll take care of that pesky demon before he has any reason to find you. Or I might just tip him off and use you to lay the trap, yeah?”

Silas’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper, silver eyes glowing from behind his mask. The man had adopted a whole new level of ominous around this bone-masked stranger. It was hard to imagine my goofy brute when he threatened and killed without mercy.

“They say he can steal souls. Wonder what awaits the ones he steals…” Silas hummed low in his throat. “Nothing good, I bet.”

A breath escaped Bones before he cleared his throat, eyes jerking from Silas to Salvator. “You’re crazy if you think just the two of you can win against a demon with the power to steal souls.” His chuckle was humorless. “It took armies and a Soul Collector the last time. You have neither.”

The last time?

I was tempted to ask, but I kept my mouth shut. I’d pick Silas’s brain about it later. I’d been aware there were other demons, other Soul Collectors, but Grandmother never went into detail. Every demon was different, and she’d argued that Rilas was exceptionally different from the rest. That his earthly ties hadn’t been severed like the others. It made him both powerful and vulnerable, though she never explained why despite the numerous times I asked.

“You’ll know when the time comes, darling. You’ll understand what it is you have to do, I promise,”was all she had said.

Laughing like Bones had told the funniest joke he’d ever heard—probably because we did have a Soul Collector—Silas clapped the red-eyed man on the shoulder. “You let us worry about that, yeah? Just run along and get us what we asked for.”

Without waiting, Bones disappeared.

The carnage was everywhere I looked—the ground, the walls, and the two men who’d been covered in it in some way or another. We’d need to leave before anyone could stumble on the massacre.

“What about the bodies?” I asked, peering around at the devastation still bleeding into the asphalt. “We’re not leaving it like this, right?”

I practically heard the smirk on his face as Silas navigated the carnage. “Leave it, love. It’ll send a nice message for the ones who took note of us in the city. This will remind them why they’d better forget they ever saw us. Mercenaries are a self-preserving lot. I don’t doubt they’ll understand what it means to cross us.”

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