“The Realm? Why?”
“A couple reasons. I trust Lou. I want to feel him out, find out what’s going on there.”
“You mean, related to me.”
“Yes.”
“Won’t they be able to track us down once you call him?”
“No. I’ve rigged this cell phone so it’s untraceable.”
She looked at the phone and frowned. “You hope.”
He offered an encouraging smile. “I know.”
“I guess you know what’s best.”
“Trust me.”
“Famous last words.”
He laughed, but he realized he was asking a lot of her. “I’ve brought you this far. I won’t let you down.”
“I know you won’t. And I do trust you. I’d be dead if not for you.”
The way she looked at him, like he was wholly responsible for her life, made him decidedly uncomfortable for a lot of reasons. So he focused on the phone instead, finished rigging it and put the pieces back together, then stared at the buttons.
“Are you going to call him?”
He lifted his gaze to hers. “Yeah.”
She pushed her chair back. “Do you want me to leave?”
He reached out and grasped her hand, holding her there. “No. I don’t have any secrets from you.” Which was a huge lie, but he could only reveal so much. She wasn’t ready. Not yet. She’d already dealt with enough.
He punched in the buttons, dialing Lou’s number, then brought the phone to his ear, listening to it ring once, twice, three times, then four.
“Hello?”
That wasn’t Lou’s voice.
“Hello?”
It wasn’t anyone’s voice he recognized. None of the other hunters.
“Is someone there? Who is this?”
Dalton clicked to end the call and laid the phone on the table.
“What’s wrong?” Isabelle asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Did Lou answer?”
“No. Someone else did.”
“Who?”
He dragged his fingers through his hair. “I didn’t recognize the voice.”
“Is that unusual? I mean, for someone else to answer his phone?”
“Yes. Lou’s a Keeper, in charge of other hunters. He always had to remain in contact with his team. He would never leave his cell unattended or give it to someone else. He’s a decision maker. It would be one thing for him to not answer if he’s indisposed, another entirely for someone I don’t know to answer it.”
“Maybe they’ve brought on new hunters since you’ve been gone.”
He sidled a glance at her. “I haven’t been gone that long. And I know all the hunters on Lou’s team.”
He stared down at the phone again.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I’m thinking I need to call Derek.” Before he changed his mind, he picked up the phone and dialed Derek’s number. It rang once, twice …
“Yeah.”
Dalton hesitated.
“Hello?”
“Derek. It’s Dalton.”
Now it was Derek who hesitated. “Dalton. Where the hell are you?”
“I’m not ready to tell you that just yet. Where’s Lou?”
Derek didn’t say anything.
“Dalton, you need to come in. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I tried to call Lou’s cell but someone else answered. A voice I didn’t recognize.”
“Shit. Dalton, you really need to come in. Where are you?”
Ignoring Derek’s plea, he asked again, “Where’s Lou, Derek?”
“Lou’s dead.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
What?” Dalton’s chest tightened. He wanted to believe he’d heard wrong, that Derek hadn’t said what he thought he’d said.
“He’s dead.”
“When? How?”
Dalton felt Isabelle next to him, her hand squeezing his.
“That night, after you took Isabelle away. The black diamond held a demon inside it. Lou took the diamond and coaxed the demon out of it. It … absorbed inside him.”
Dalton fought to control his breathing, concentrating instead on Derek’s voice. “The demon went inside him?”
“Yeah. It was a powerful demon. Equal to the Sons of Darkness. The only way to kill the demon was to … destroy its host.”
Dalton pushed back from the chair and paced the room, his heart pounding. This couldn’t be real. “How did it happen?”
“We had to do it,” Derek said, his voice low.
Shock lanced him. “What?”
“We had to do it,” Derek said again. “All of us. With lasers.”
“Why?”
“Because Lou asked us to.”
“Christ.” That had to have cost them all, emotionally. “He’s gone? He’s really gone?”
“Yeah, man. He is.”
He couldn’t process this. Lou, gone.
“Dalton, come in.”
He shook his head. “I can’t talk right now.” He clicked off and laid the phone down, and immediately felt a warm body pressed against his back.
“Lou’s dead?” Isabelle asked, her voice soft.
“Yes. The night we left Sicily. There was a demon inside the black diamond and Lou took it on. To destroy the demon inside him the hunters had to kill Lou.”
She laid her head against his back. “Dear God. I’m so sorry.”
Sadness emptied him from the inside out. Lou had been so understanding, so wise; he had been Dalton’s mentor. Incredibly kind and smart, he knew demon hunting, had understood the Sons of Darkness with a keen insight. Dalton had always been able to go to Lou with anything.
Lou had been his friend.
Devastation tore a hole in him.
“Come sit down with me.”
Warm fingers entwined with his, an equally warm body pressed up against his side. Like a robot, he followed Isabelle to the sofa and sat. He looked over to find her sitting next to him, tears filling her beautiful eyes.
“I’m so sorry, Dalton.”
