He couldn’t ignore Isabelle.
So what was it about this woman-this flawed, screwed-up woman-that made him want to fold her in his arms to protect her one minute, and throw her down and fuck her brains out the next? What made him want to drag his mouth across hers, to bare her body, to touch and kiss and lick every part of her, to bring out the passionate side he’d witnessed only once but craved to see again?
Did he think that was going to save her? He knew damn well it wouldn’t; in fact, it would only complicate things even more. He had to be her friend, not her lover. He might have to hurt her, not care for her, in order to save her.
This was messed up. What the hell had he been thinking bringing her here? What made him think he knew what was best for her?
But what was the alternative? Destroying her?
He’d eliminated plenty of demons, hadn’t given it a second’s thought.
Isabelle was a demon. He’d seen the darkness in her, knew there probably wasn’t hope to save her. So why the hesitation? The Realm of Light knew what they were doing. What the hell made him think he knew more than they did?
Okay, maybe. If he didn’t kill Isabelle in the process, or kill himself trying for this redemption he placed in such high esteem.
He hoped to God it was all worth it. It had to be. It was all he had left now.
It was a chance. She was his chance.
And he was going to take it. Even if it killed them both.
CHAPTER TWO
Sequestered at one of the Realm’s secret headquarters, Michael leaned against the doorway of the operations center and surveyed his new team. They were deathly quiet, some whispering in small groups, others staring down at their hands, alone with their thoughts. And he knew damn well not a single one of them had their minds on work. Weapons hadn’t been touched since that night in Sicily.
It was time that changed, and he was going to have to be the one to kick their asses. He was their Keeper now, assigned to them since their leader, Lou, had been killed. He knew none of them were overjoyed they had a new Keeper. At least one of them wasn’t at all happy that it was him.
In the two weeks since Lou’s death, he’d tried to give them all space to mourn. They’d had a funeral, of sorts, though there wasn’t much left of Lou to bury after the hunters had blasted him with laser fire in order to destroy the demon that had insinuated itself inside him.
Lou had done what was necessary to destroy a powerful demon, one that could have wreaked havoc against the Realm. Michael knew these hunters felt guilt that Lou had died by their hands, but there had been no other choice. Lou had wanted it that way, knew his people would get the job done, no matter the cost. Lou was a hero to the Realm. So were the hunters who had done their jobs.
But from the pain ravaging their faces, he could tell they were hurting, and Mandy seemed to be taking it the hardest. She had been brought into the Realm when she was a young teen, had been practically raised by Lou. Lou was like a father, and she’d had to take part in his destruction.
This would be a lot easier if they would all look upon this as their job and quit taking it so personally. He’d lost people, too. A lot of them. But he picked up and went back to work. Death was part of the business of being a hunter. You had to harden your heart.
Michael had seen death too much. He knew how to avoid the heartache. It was his job to teach his new team how to overcome the pain.
Might as well start now.
“Okay,” he said, moving to the front of the ops room. Eyes snapped to attention. “Let’s talk about what we know.”
Gina stood, tossing her dark ponytail over her shoulder. “Dalton used fake identities for both Isabelle and himself, switching passports each time they entered a new country throughout Europe. He moved them through Italy and into France, then Spain, and on to Portugal before they hopped a flight to JFK. From the scans we got it looks like they altered their appearances, but we have a pretty good idea it was them.”
“And?” Michael asked, casting his gaze around the room.
Blank stares. His frustration level grew. He leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. “So I’m trying to decide if all of you just don’t give a shit enough to push this investigation, or if you’re deliberately trying to let Dalton go free.”
“That’s bullshit,” Punk said. “We do our jobs.”
Michael smiled. “Doesn’t look to me like you’re doing much of anything these days, other than feeling sorry for yourselves.”
“That’s a low blow, Michael,” Mandy grumbled from the back of the room. She sat with her bare feet propped up on the table. “Even for you.”
“Lou’s the one who died,” he reminded them. “Not any of you. So maybe it’s time the rest of you came back to the land of the living and started working for the Realm of Light again.”
“What the fuck?” Derek pulled his long, muscled frame out of the chair and dragged his fingers through his hair. He shoved the chair back with his legs and pressed his palms on the table, his eyes spitting fury. Gina grasped his arm.
“Don’t, Derek.”
“We don’t need this shit, Michael,” Derek said.
Undaunted by the fury pressing in on him from all sides, Michael kept his voice level. “I can appreciate that you all cared for Lou. But we have a job to do. It’s time to go back to work.”
“Last time I looked we have been working,” Trace said. “We got this far, didn’t we?”
Michael didn’t bother to state the obvious, that it was mostly the tracking work he and the Realm of Light had done that brought them to New York. Instead, he stayed silent, staring them down. They knew.
“You’ve lost an entire team before, Michael,” Derek said, barely even moving, his dark gaze boring into him. “How much downtime did you take?”
Ignoring the pangs of remembered guilt, Michael said, “None. My job isn’t to mourn fallen comrades. My job is to track and kill demons, to find and destroy the Sons of Darkness. I don’t have the luxury of time, and neither do any of you.”
“Your heartfelt emotions move me to tears.” Mandy’s sarcastic tone almost made him smile. Almost. But he didn’t think that would help the situation.
He knew he was going to provoke angry responses, but that was his intent. Even anger was better than apathy.
“Look, I understand your pain. Lou was a Keeper, a valued member of the Realm. His loss is felt deeply among us all and I share your sorrow. But the bottom line is, you are hunters and we need to hunt. We have to find Dalton and Isabelle, and it’s not like the demons or the Sons of Darkness are going to take any downtime just because you’re grieving. Lou wouldn’t want you to stop doing the work he fought so hard for. In fact, knowing Lou, he’d be damn angry to find you all moping instead of getting out there and continuing to fight. Do you want his death to count for nothing?”
He paused, letting his words sink in before continuing on. “As I see it you have two choices. You either light a fire under your asses and start working again, or I’ll wipe your memories of your time with the Realm and you can leave here, go out and live a normal life, free of all responsibilities as a demon hunter.”
“You’re certainly a lot different from Lou.”
That from Olivia, petite, always quiet and soft-spoken. She had been one of Lou’s newer recruits. He’d spoken
