Page 67 of Hunted By Darkness

Breathing a relieved sigh, I opened the pouch and read the note. Like I remembered, the first part was about knowing when to use it, then I read the final part.

“What’s been stolen can always be found with the right compass”—Nero

That diabolical bastard had it all planned out, down to the last bloody minute. I clasped the little clear marble in my hand and returned to the frantic wolf bastard who’d left our bird outside. His head would be on a bleeding pike if not for those head-squatting wankers and this enchanted lifeline planted by a bloody fucking genius.

I passed the pacing wanker and grim bugger on the sofa, left with nothing to do but worry, and headed straight to the bench my bird disappeared from. I tossed the enchanted marble on the ground, and it exploded into a cloud of glittery smoke. The other two flanked my sides as image after image came and went, then the ash reshaped into a compass.

“Is that…” the lad murmured.

The wolf bastard grunted in surprise. “I haven’t seen one of those since that obnoxiously powerful asshole, Nero, was alive.”

My face was split in two by a feral grin. “Because this is one of his, I imagine.”

Bear Claw’s eyebrows pinched together. “But how?”

“Bane,” was all I replied before picking up the compass. “He was the one who killed him.”

Cerulean magic swirled around me, changing my clothes to everything I needed to hunt a demon fuckwit. Mask in place, I caught the lad’s stray gaze. He’d put on a jacket, and the wolf bastard next to him had a bag tossed over one shoulder. The compass spun and then magic fled out of it.

“Time to get our stolen princess back and send a demon to Hell,” I told them, white-hot rage boiling my blood.

28

Nika

Iwas laid out on a table, still paralyzed. He’d left me there for nearly ten minutes. My magic wasn’t reacting no matter how much I tried. I heard the demon moving around the room. Without being able to turn my head, I had a limited view.

The place looked decrepit. The ceiling was water damaged and falling apart. The walls, too. Paint had chipped off in several places, but I couldn’t see much else.

Dark hair dashed in and out of view as Rilas set up whatever ritual he planned to use. I only got a good look at him when he bent over and cut my cheek with a small knife. Blood slid down the left side of my face as he disappeared again.

I had so many questions, but I couldn’t ask a single one. I was a hostage inside my own body. But I wasn’t completely alone. The whispers of the dead were all around me, as if calling to something. They weren’t calling to me. It was tough to explain, but they were beckoning someone to where we were.

“Bollocks,” I heard Rilas curse, the wavering firelight catching his shadow. “This won’t do.”

I heard the demon leave, and it felt like the first time since I’d been kidnapped that I could breathe. I tried my magic again, but it didn’t respond. Nothing did. I wanted to call out to the voices. Maybe I could reach out to Tometi and Ryker. I sensed a connection between us. There had to be. I was the only one who could see, hear, and touch them.

But nothing happened. I still couldn’t move.

I was so frustrated by how unresponsive my body was and how I’d let my guard down. There were ways to counteract enchanted items, but whatever hung around his neck was too powerful for me to fight in my current state. It’d take more than sheer will to break it down. I’d need to dig deep, and that was exactly what I’d been trying to do the entire time I was prisoner to this cold-as-shit metal table.

I searched for my magic or the lurking abilities that he’d locked away with the necklace he wore. I couldn’t sense the usual spark. If I hadn’t known better, I’d think he’d stolen that, too.

The guys had to know by now. Had Tometi and Ryker told Salvator? But Rilas had used a traveling stone. They wouldn’t be able to track us. They’d honestly need a miracle to get here before the asshole broke the bond and ruined everything we’d been working to do.

No. I wasn’t allowed to give up. Silas wouldn’t, so I couldn’t. I just needed to think out of the box. Father always said you were doomed the minute you gave up. I’d fight to the very end. Too much was at stake if everything went Rilas’s way now.

I focused on what information I could gather, like what I could see. Were we underground? It should be almost dawn by now, but I didn’t see any sunlight coming through. It was only firelight that kept us out of complete darkness. Or maybe he’d traveled to another part of the world where it was still the middle of the night. That was also a possibility. Something told me he’d gotten hold of a powerful traveling stone.

What I did gather was Rilas had been setting the stage for a blood ritual. He could’ve taken me at any point, but he didn’t until now. It meant he’d found something to break the bond, and it didn’t require his usual magic. Blood magic was the next best, and magic like that always required a sacrifice.

Without access to my magic, I couldn’t sense who or what he’d brought to serve as the ritual’s blood sacrifice, but depending on the rarity, he might need several. The most important part about using blood magic like this was I’d need to be an active participant. Meaning, he’d have to give me some range of motion. Could he control what parts were paralyzed with the gem? Would he drop the hold he had over me under threat?

I could give the impression of compliance and wait until his guard was down, but I couldn’t send him back without achieving balance, and I didn’t have anything that could put Rilas in permanent stasis.

Unless…

Maybe I could do something as a Soul Collector. Maybe I could hold him long enough to get word out to the guys. I hadn’t attempted to take his soul. He was a demon, so I’d been worried to try. It could make everything a hundred times worse, or maybe it’d buy us time. I cycled through different angles to try in my head as I continued to home in on anything to help me.

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