The Darkest Surrender

their usual M.O.

Capture, torture and now kill to steal the demon from inside him, that was what they lived for. This made no sense. Made him uneasy, as if he might not be dealing with who he thought he was dealing with.

He wasn’t going to take time to question them. They’d proven their intentions when they’d pulled their little “look at my pretty bomb” routine. He just had to figure out the best place for his demon to work. Their final destination, most likely—in more ways than one. The “gate.” The deeper they were, the less likely innocents were to be in the way.

In the distance, he heard the click of a hammer being cocked. No one around him seemed to notice. The guards continued chattering. Was someone about to shoot Kane? Or the guards? His demon prowled through his skull, ready to act, to destroy something, someone.

Not yet. Not yet.

The laughter grew in volume. Pretty soon, Disaster would strike, no matter what Kane did or said.

If the gunshot was meant for him, he’d survive. But he didn’t want to act just in case his friends were here to rescue him. Hope blasted him. When the crack reverberated, his guard grunted. Kane’s left side was released, sagging toward the ground. The guard on his right cursed. The chatter ceased. “What the—”

“Who was—”

Another crack.

Kane’s right side was released as well and he smacked into the dirt-laden floor. He lay still, even when a heavy weight slammed into him, pushing the air from his lungs in one mighty heave. One of his guards, he thought, was now unconscious, probably dead.

Yep. Warm liquid pooled on his back, dripping down his sides.

Crack, crack, crack. There was no time for the men around him to prepare or hide. They fell, lifeblood gushing from the bullet holes in their chests, ending them. The entire gunfight lasted less than a minute, over and done without any resistance.

A rescue, yes, but still he didn’t move or speak. He simply waited. Cautious…

Footsteps pounded. He recognized the heavy thud of boots.

“You see him?” someone called. A male, unfamiliar.

Shit! Hope withered, died. Not his friends. So who the hell did that leave?

“I got him! He’s here.”

The guard was rolled off him.

“He alive?”

A rustle of clothing, then hard fingers were digging into his neck. “Yep, sure is. Maybe not for long. His pulse is thready, so we’ll have to act fast.”

“That doctor is one lucky bitch. If he’d died before we got here…” Rage and hate layered the man’s voice. “I might knock her around, anyway, for disobeying her orders.”

“No, you won’t. She’s not one of us, and besides, her hubby would have your head. Let’s just take the guy to Stefano and let him decide what to do.”

Stefano. Galen’s right-hand man, a Hunter top dog, and an all around pain in the ass. Too bad the bastard wasn’t here. But just like that, Kane began to understand. Hunters had blown up the house. Hunters had taken him to that female doctor, who was not a Hunter but married to one, ensuring he survived. Hunters had not had him carried down here. The female had, against her husband’s orders.

The husband must have found out and killed her accomplices.

“Demon animal,” the guy who’d checked his pulse muttered as he straightened. A booted foot slammed into Kane’s stomach, rubbing a few of his organs against his spine.

Kane willed his eyelids to remain shut. Willed his muscles to remain lax. Meanwhile, Disaster churned in his head, now a seething cauldron. Not yet, he repeated. If they planned to cart him to Stefano, he could finally, at long last, destroy the bastard, taking out as many of his enemy as possible—even if it meant taking out himself, too. That’s what he’d planned to do here, anyway. A change of location hardly mattered on that score.

Of course, when Kane kicked it, his body would no longer be able to contain the evil inside him and his demon would be unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. Disaster would escape, crazed, hungry, desperate to create tragedy after tragedy.

That had happened to Kane’s friend, Baden. He’d died—beheaded by Hunters—and his demon, Distrust, had roamed the earth unfettered. Perhaps that was why nations had fought each other for so long. They always suspected the other of foul deeds and even fouler intentions. Perhaps that was why so many marriages had failed over the years.

Then, not long ago, the Hunters had somehow managed to find Distrust and pair the demon with a new host, one of their choosing. A female. She had yet to challenge the Lords, probably still too lost to the evil inside her to do more than moan and writhe and beg for relief.

“Diego?” someone muttered.

“Yeah,” a man with a slight Spanish accent replied.

“You ready?”

“Yes, sir.” There was a nervous tremor to the words.

“Markov, Sanders, hold his arms. Just in case he wakes up before he dies. Billy, cut deep and cut fast. There’s no room for error.”

“I’m not stupid. We’ve gone over this a thousand times,” was the belligerent reply from the man who’d kicked Kane.

“Yes, we have, but this is go time, our one and only chance. If we aren’t careful, his demon will escape the cave before Diego can absorb it.”

O-kay. There would be no waiting, no reaching Stefano, Kane decided. They were going to murder him and try and pair his demon with a Hunter, thinking to control Disaster and use the demon to fight for their cause. To destroy his friends. To rule the world.

Cue evil overlord laugh, Kane thought dryly, then sobered. This was serious business.

Get ready, he told his demon.

The churning quickened, quickened, and the entire cave shook. Just a little. Just enough to cause dust to plume in the air and pebbles to fall from the ceiling, thudding on the ground.

“What’s that?”

“Doesn’t matter. Just hurry. Let’s get this done. Knife?”

“Here.”

Strong hands suddenly gripped Kane’s arms and flipped him over so that he was lying on his back. Those same hands pushed, hard, pinning him in place. Kane didn’t wait a second longer.

Now!

The shaking increased swiftly, the falling pebbles becoming falling boulders. Boom, boom. Boom! Someone screamed in pain. Kane was released. There was another scream, a round of curses.

Finally, Kane opened his eyes. Just in time, too. A boulder was heading straight for him. He rolled out of the way, coughing as his mouth filled with dirt and debris. The abrupt movement tore the stitches riding the curve of a rib.

His gaze panned his surroundings in one swoop. He was in a cave, just as he’d suspected, though it was more spacious than he would have believed possible, branching in several different directions. No wonder the Hunters had so easily overpowered his original captors. Not even an army could protect itself from ambush here. There were too many places to hide.

The Hunters scrambled for cover. The shaking continued and the rocks rained down. Another scream, a grunt. The crunch of breaking bone.

Kane lumbered to his feet. That’s the way, buddy. Keep at it.

“Don’t let him escape,” someone shouted.