me.”
“What kind of feeling?”
“Anger. I saw that thing grab you by the throat and I was furious. I stood right in front of it, weapons in hand, and instead of coming at me, it skirted around me as if I didn’t exist and headed straight for you.”
Ryder resisted the urge to smile. “It pissed you off that the demon didn’t come for you?”
“Hell, yes, it did. It went after you with a vengeance, as if you were the only threat. What am I? Week-old moldy lasagna? I’m not without skills, you know.”
He snickered at her taking offense at not being attacked by the demon. “Darlin’, I appreciate your thought process, really. And thanks for coming to my defense. That bastard had me by the throat and my arms pinned. I couldn’t get at my weapons or slash at him.” She’d saved his life.
She shrugged. “I have no idea what I did. It was as if something took me over. Almost like flipping a switch inside me. I felt this burst of anger, then an incredible surge of immense power. I was on autopilot after that. Is it dead?”
“I think so. At the least, it’s gone.”
“Good enough.” She looked down at her hands. “So now I suppose I’ve added to your problems.”
“In what way?”
“You have to figure out what happened to me to make me like. . that. Do you suppose touching the black diamond in Australia did something to me?”
“Maybe. I don’t know the answer to that.”
“Neither do I. It’s scary. But exciting, too. I liked that power.” She lifted her head and he read the truth in her eyes. “It’s both exhilarating and terrifying and I’d like to know the answer myself.”
She was right about that. He would have to figure out what had happened to her. But one thing had happened.
She’d surprised him. She could have run like hell when he’d been engaged with the demons. Instead, she’d stayed and fought. She’d even had his back, killing a demon in order to save his life.
“You killed your first demon.”
She grinned. “I have to admit, it feels good to know that, even if the method was bizarre. If we did, in fact, kill them.”
He shrugged. “Who knows. Either way, they’re gone. And so are we.”
“What do you mean?”
“They found us again. I don’t know how, but they obviously know where we are.” He stood and gathered up the weapons he’d used to fight the demons. Angelique bent down to help him.
“So where are we going?”
He took the daggers to the kitchen to clean them off. “The one place we’re not going is where the black diamond is hidden.”
“Because the Sons of Darkness will be able to find it then.”
“Yes. They’ve tracked you to every location where you’ve hidden.”
“Based on what happened with me, do you think I’m connected to them somehow?”
He turned and studied her. She asked the question matter-of-factly, as if she really didn’t know the answer. He didn’t think she was trying to hide anything. It seemed as if she was as much in the dark about her newly demonstrated power as he was.
“I don’t know. It’s possible that you have some kind of connection to the Sons of Darkness. Either way, I’m not going to risk the black diamond by letting you lead me to it. Not right now, anyway.”
He turned off the water and grabbed a towel, pivoting around to lean against the sink so he could face her.
“Where are we going?” she asked again.
He knew the question she wasn’t asking. She wanted to know if he was going to take her to her sister. Now more than ever he was convinced that was a colossally bad idea.
“I’m not sure. But we’ve gotta keep moving, and hope we can stay a step ahead of the Sons of Darkness until I can figure out what the hell is going on.”
“Okay.”
“Better get packing. I want to leave now.”
She nodded and headed into the bedroom. Ryder jammed his few things into his bag, pausing when he was finished to stare down the hall into her room.
Okay, she amazed him. Infuriated and frustrated him. But she was an exceptionally strong woman. She didn’t scare easily, she was a fighter, and she didn’t run. A lot of women, and men, would have buckled under what had just happened. Angie accepted it, played the possible scenarios over in her mind, and came up with possible outcomes.
She’d make a good hunter. And an ally. And a partner.
It was going to really suck if she turned out to be a demon, because he was starting to care what happened to her.
