He’d long ago vowed to never be like his old man. The old man had just enjoyed inflicting pain. Ryder figured his father had done it to release his own internal demons.
Whatever. Ryder preferred being grounded in reality. And reality meant a laser in his hand, a demon he could see, and a kill he could verify. His reality was demon body count-not some mental bullshit that screwed with a warrior’s reality. He could overcome the weird stuff. He wasn’t at all like his father. Hadn’t he spent his entire adult life proving that?
As long as he remained aloof, his focus on killing demons, he’d be okay. There was no emotion involved in demon hunting, which suited him just fine.
He’d screwed up with Angelique. He’d let her get close. He’d talked to her. He’d kissed her.
Angelique made him think, made him feel. She’d brought out emotion in him.
That made her dangerous.
He’d convinced Lou, their leader and a Keeper of the Realm of Light, that he could handle this-find Angelique, figure out where the black diamond was, and bring her, and it, back to the Realm of Light.
Ryder had never failed on a mission before. He didn’t intend to now. All he had to do was wait it out. Angelique would lead him to the black diamond.
One way or the other.
Just as he started to relax, one of the curtains moved downstairs and Angelique’s face appeared, peering through the window. This was the first time he’d seen a glimpse of her since she’d arrived in her car this afternoon and gone straight inside.
He peeked through the foliage, hoping like hell she wouldn’t walk outside.
Nothing. The curtain was back in place, the light was on, and all he could see now was her shadow within the house.
The shades were all drawn and he watched her silhouette moving about in one of the rooms downstairs. He had blueprints of the floor plan of the house, so he knew the layout. Downstairs kitchen and living room. Upstairs one bedroom and bath. Small, cozy, room for one or two people, max. His audio equipment picked up everything going on inside. There wasn’t anyone else in there with her, and she hadn’t used the phone, because he was tracking her cellular calls, too. She didn’t even talk to herself.
He heard the sounds of cooking, the shower running, then all the lights went out about eleven P.M., so she obviously went to bed.
He glanced down at his watch. Almost midnight. Good thing it was warm outside. He crawled out and parked it on a thick slab of rock, figuring his equipment would alert him if anything happened. He had to get at least a little sleep or he’d be useless. Though he could go a day or two max without any rest, he preferred to maintain mental alertness, since he had no idea what to expect. As far as the Realm of Light knew, Angelique may have already made contact with her sister, Isabelle, and the two of them had planned to do something with the black diamond. And since none of them had managed to find Isabelle yet, they were hoping Angelique would lead them to her. Though the hunters were out searching for Isabelle, too.
Maybe they’d find Isabelle first.
It was a waiting game now. Ryder hoped he didn’t have to wait too long.
He jerked awake at a sound, immediately glancing down at his watch. It was three in the morning. Shit. Blinking away the fog of sleep, he listened intently, wondering if Angelique was up. No lights. So what had he heard?
Something crashed inside, like a lamp. He shot up to a standing position, saw a flicker of light, then darkness again. His senses on full alert now, he wondered if maybe she’d just gotten up and knocked the lamp over. Maybe she had a bad dream.
He knew all about nightmares. He’d lived through a few of them. The shit going down around him the past six months seemed like a living nightmare. Sometimes he didn’t want to close his eyes.
He didn’t hear anything now. Not wanting to reveal his hand and go running in there, he paused, but grabbed his weapon and readied himself, just in case.
He wished he’d had time to install surveillance cameras inside, but that was going to have to wait until the next time she left the house. Then he’d have eyes and ears. Still, his skin prickled with unease, and whenever that happened it meant something bad was going on.
He didn’t like this. Something wasn’t right. He moved through the bushes, into the vineyard and toward the house, making no sound. Approaching the back door first, he made a slight turn on the knob. It was locked. That was a good thing. He moved to the window, peering in through the sheer drapes, using his night vision shades to help him discern objects in the pitch blackness.
No activity. Angelique wasn’t downstairs. His ear comm was connected to his audio equipment, and he could hear her breathing now.
But it wasn’t normal, restful breathing like she was sleeping.
It was deep and ragged.
The breaths of terror. She wasn’t speaking, as if her mouth was covered. He didn’t know how the hell he knew this; he just did. She was being restrained, and she was petrified.
Goddamit. He had to get in the house now.
So much for surveillance.
Though he’d like to kick the damn door down and rush upstairs, he couldn’t do that. Not without assessing the situation first. Which meant he had to take the time to pick the lock.
Precious seconds ticked by as he grabbed his pick and worked the simple lock. Thankfully, she didn’t have major armor installed on the door. Bad move on her part, really good for him. In a few seconds, the lock clicked. He winced at the sound and pushed the door open, hoping it wouldn’t creak.
