“I suppose.” She hedged. “But really, this is the only sane plan. You can’t just show up on their doorstep in the middle of the night. Will you let me do this?”
He leaned over so their mouths nearly brushed. “Yes, but I want it noted,” he breathed, “that I trusted you first.”
“Noted,” she agreed, swallowing hard.
“If I think you are in danger, I will break that house apart to find you.”
She could point out she was pretty good at taking care of herself, but for a second she liked the girly flutter in her stomach.
“I’ll be fine,” she promised.
“You’d better be.” He pressed a light kiss to her lips before pulling away.
With a last smile to her partner, Darcy grabbed her bag and slipped from the car.
The street was quiet as she walked toward the house. She hoped Sarah’s mother could be persuaded to listen to reason. If not, her demonic backup would make this trip very unpleasant for them all.
She was almost at the house when the shadows around the gate moved. One moment she would have sworn she was alone in the street and the next a woman stepped into her path.
A woman she knew very well.
“Kerilyn,” she breathed. For a moment she wanted to run toward the woman she’d thought lost to the hunters forever. But then she noticed the differences in Kerilyn that had not been present when last they met. The other hunter watched her with strange reflecting eyes. Eyes Darcy had only seen on spirits.
Her clothes were different too. Gone was the usual black gear of a hunter. In its place were looser robes made of a dark material Darcy couldn’t name. But though her appearance may have changed, the weapons strapped around her hips made it clear she was still not a woman one wanted to mess with.
“Why are you here?” Kerilyn demanded.
Darcy arched a brow. “I’m here to fix the mess you left.” She had hoped Kerilyn wasn’t behind all this but there was no welcome in the other woman’s eyes. The hope that she’d been wrong about Kerilyn’s actions dwindled. Looked like the hunter had flipped sides after all.
“You are not going anywhere near my family.”
“Your bloodline is the only thing that can fix all our worlds. Screw the spirits if you want, Kerilyn, but don’t pull the rest of us down with you.”
Kerilyn’s fingers traced the hilt of the dagger at her waist. “All grown up and fighting the good fight, hmm, Darcy Snow?”
“I’m protecting humans, or did you forget that’s supposed to be our purpose in life? Tell me, Kerilyn, how’s it feel to flip sides?”
The other woman bared her teeth. “I’m still a hunter.”
“Yeah? Tell it to the bodies piling up because of your mistake. Half our people would merrily gut you for what you’ve done.”
“Try it.”
Darcy stiffened at the new voice. Undeniably male and dangerous. A man stepped from the shadows behind Kerilyn. The newcomer stood tall, completely at ease with his reflecting eyes and foreign robes that matched Kerilyn’s. An aura of danger clung to him, making Darcy want to go for her weapons despite the man’s disarmingly handsome looks. When he put his hand on Kerilyn’s shoulder the pieces started to fall into place. The former hunter looked at ease with such a lethal man at her back. Which meant there was only one person he could be.
“Lord of the Spirits,” Darcy greeted. Her heart hammered as she stared at the couple watching her with distrust. Kerilyn she could handle, even in her new spirit form. But taking on the spirit lord as well? Adrenaline surged through her veins. This was far more than she’d bargained for. She didn’t even want to think of what would happen if she didn’t return to Jaral in time. Throwing Abaddon’s trusted son into this mix was all she needed. They’d decimate the neighborhood for sure.
“Make a move against my mate and you will regret it, hunter.”
Kerilyn slashed her hand through the air. “Back off, Arawn. This is between her and me.”
“Not if she threatens what I’ve fought so hard to protect,” he replied.
Disbelief filled Darcy as the dreaded spirit lord pressed a soft kiss to Kerilyn’s cheek, one hand sliding around her waist.
“So the stories are true,” she said. Kerilyn really was shacked up with the boogeyman.
“Walk away, Darcy. I have no desire to see you hurt. Arawn received a report that demons were after Sarah, though they made no mention of hunters aiding the creatures. I don’t know why you are working with the enemy but if you leave my family alone I’ll have no quarrel with you.”
She shifted back into a fighting stance. “I can’t.”