The Darkest Pleasure

trained their weapons on him and raced forward.

'He's mine. When he recovers from my blows, he's yours.'

'I will hurt him. Now, later. This is for my son, demon!'

A barrage of bullets slammed into him: shoulder, stomach, next to the fresh wound in his thigh. He'd known better than to allow himself to be distracted. Pushing past the pain, he launched forward with a roar. He fired his semiautomatics until the magazines were emptied, dropped them and spread his arms, bullets continuing to hit him.

He and the Hunters met in the middle of the hall.

They crashed together and tumbled to the floor. One of the Hunters cracked his skull into the marble so hard he didn't move again. The other three withdrew blades and tried to slice at various places on Sabin's body. But he'd expected the attack and had palmed his own during the fall.

Humans, no matter how smart, were no match for an immortal's strength and speed.

He had their necks gushing before they managed more than a few incisions. Panting, Sabin lumbered to his feet. Dizziness battered against his brain like a drum, and he swayed. This rate, and he might not live to fight Stefano. Much less Galen, if the coward ever showed his face.

He closed his eyes for a moment, fatigued, weak.

He must have blacked out, because when he refocused, a human was standing just in front of him—though out of striking distance, he noted. Not just any human, either. Stefano.

Hate rose like a tidal wave in his chest, but he didn't have the strength to rise.

'Knew it was you,' Sabin said. His throat felt raw, as if blood and acid had played Search-and-Destroy with his voice box.

Stefano tsked under his tongue. 'Look at you, Doubt. You must be in pain. How sad.'

Sabin slowly moved his good arm behind his back, where a dagger dangled from a chain. He could feel the cold metal against his skin.

'Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you,' Stefano said, lifting his own arm and aiming a gun at Sabin's face.

Sabin stilled. 'We both know you're not going to kill me.'

'Perhaps we do. But I have no problem hurting you, taking you to the brink of death. My team includes doctors who know how to save a man who's only a heartbeat away from extinction.'

'Aren't you a sweetie?' Damn, but his head was filled with a sickening fog. A fog that had nothing to do with weakness but everything to do with…drugs? Had Stefano injected him with something while he was unconscious? Sabin wouldn't put it past the fucker.

'Yes. Yes, I am. I didn't slice off your limbs as I wanted. I didn't carve Darla's name in your chest.'

Hearing his lover's name from this man's lips was foul. 'She hated you, you know? You think I lured her away from you, but the truth is, she ran willingly into my arms.'

Stefano's nostrils flared. 'Liar! She loved me! She would never have betrayed me. But you and your demon messed with her mind, changed her.' His breath was sawing in and out with the force of his fury. 'The last eleven years I've prayed and hoped you would take a lover so I could take her from you, but you never did and I'm through waiting. I'll take your friends, your dignity instead. And ultimately, I'll take your life.'

'And such violence will make the world a better place?' he asked dryly. 'What of peace and harmony?'

A tongue over teeth. A change of expression, from anger to composure, as if Sabin's questions reminded him of his purpose. 'Where's the girl?'

'Maybe we sold her.' Sabin straightened his fingers, and they brushed the tip of the knife. 'Maybe cut her up and had her for breakfast.' Sabin envied Gideon just then, hating that he himself passed out cold every time he tried to lie. Hated that the only way around it was speaking in terms of 'maybe' and 'probably.' Anyone who knew him knew his tricks.

Stefano knew him. 'Where is she, demon? She has to be nearby. You knew she'd been with us, and wouldn't want her far from your side.'

Another wave of dizziness swept the corridors of his mind. Don't lose control of yourself. Don't give Stefano the upper hand.

You're wounded. He already has the upper hand.

His jaw clenched. Didn't we talk about this? If you want to live, demon, you had better turn the waterworks on the Hunter.

He's closed his mind. Needs a distraction. Make him think.

A distraction. 'This brings back memories, doesn't it?' Sabin asked. 'We've been in this position before, only you were the one wounded. You and your men raided my home in New York, thought to sneak in and take us while we slept. You soon learned the error of your ways. Won yourself a personal introduction to my favorite blade. Got you in the stomach, yes?'

Stefano's nostrils flared. 'Yes, and you assumed I was dead. Packed up your stuff and moved on, leaving me there to heal, my hatred only growing.'

Got him, Doubt crowed, then whispered into the Hunter's mind, All this planning, the loss of men, the expense of firepower, but what if it's not enough? What if the Lords escape unscathed once again?

'Tell me about the girl. The truth this time,' Stefano barked. 'You wouldn't have killed her. She is the Eye.'

'The what now?' He'd known the Hunters had learned of Danika's ability, but now he wondered just who had told them. 'Did you just say she was an eye? Her peepers were nice, but I wouldn't define the girl by them.'

Even as he spoke, Doubt continued to fill Stefano's head. She could be leading the Lords to the third artifact even now. If they find the box first, there will be no way to contain the demons. Sabin will live, and you will one day die.

Stefano's eyes narrowed, the hand holding the gun shaking. 'Stop that!'

Sabin blinked innocently, fingers secretly wrapping around his blade. 'Stop what?'

'Stop filling my head with those poisoned thoughts. Is that what you did to Darla? Is that how you killed her?'

'She killed herself.' He had to be careful. He didn't want to strike Stefano and cause the man to shoot him in the face. That kind of wound could maim him for eternity. Maybe even kill him. 'You look as if your head is about to explode. Anything I can do to help? Like tell you you're working for a demon?'

Stefano's lips pulled back from his teeth in a snarl. 'Play dumb if you desire. In the end, it won't save you and it won't save the girl. And don't try to sway me with your filthy lies. My leader is an angel and our cause ordained by the heavens.'

Sabin saw the muscles in the man's finger twitch and knew the Hunter was only a heartbeat away from pinching the trigger. Angry as he was, he probably didn't care about keeping Sabin alive any longer.

His next words confirmed it. 'I don't care what happens to your demon when you're dead. I want you gone. Punished. Once and for all.'

Nope, he didn't care.

Sabin summoned a reservoir of might, twisted and rolled—and none too soon. A pop echoed, a bullet whizzing past his shoulder, burning, cutting, but thankfully not lodging. Before his opponent had time to squeeze another shot, he jumped up, kicked out his leg and connected with Stefano's ankles. When the man stumbled to the floor, landing with a thud, Sabin booted the gun out of his hand.

Somewhere in the background, he could hear the scuff of shoes against marble. Enemy? Or ally?

Stefano scrambled backward. So badly Sabin wanted to stride forward, slam his palm into the bastard's nose, cut his neck, something. But the last of his strength had all but deserted him. He was panting, still dizzy, and his muscles were clamping down on his bones, holding him immobile. He could only wait, praying it was his friends who would round the corner.

'We aren't finished,' Stefano spat, standing. He looked down the hallway and paled.

Thank the gods. That meant it was Sabin's friends who were headed their way. Or one of them, at least. From his periphery he saw Gideon, who was in the process of raising a gun.

'Sabin,' Gideon called. 'Shit! I'm not here for you, man.'

Obviously seeing no other exit, Stefano raced for the window and dove out. Unless there was a mat waiting