HunterUndone Read online

  “Me.” Wincing at the ache in the arm she’d forgotten his mother had slashed open, she absently wrapped her free hand around it. “This conversation might require alcohol.”

  His gaze snagged on her arm, temper flashing in his eyes. “You still haven’t explained that.”

  She followed him as he led her out of the room, and toward the main hospital entrance.

  “When a spirit stays on this plain too long, they start to become angry.” At his look, she wrinkled her nose, and then lifted a brow at the three nurses who’d stopped walking to stare at him. “Okay, I know you know that, but your mother is at that stage. She attacked me for not telling you about the vision right when it happened.”

  He scowled when he nearly walked straight into one of the nurses, who was too busy gawking at him to realize she was being rude.

  Stepping around her, he shook his head, and then turned that dark look on Shay. “Why didn’t you tell me right away?”

  He wrapped his hand around hers, linking their fingers as they headed toward the parking lot. Her heart stuttered in her chest at the sweet gesture. “Because I was trying to protect you, damn it.”

  “Shay—“

  Frustrated, she stopped walking and tugged on his hand so he’d realize she wasn’t moving any longer. “I know, Ty. I do. You’re the big, scary demon hunter who can eat people like my family for breakfast.” Glaring at his amused look, she sighed and moved so they were toe to toe, before grasping his shoulders and raising herself up until she was as close to his face as she was going to get. “But I didn’t just see you die. I felt the way you cared about me while we were having sex. I felt like my heart was going to explode with how much I felt for you. And then we were in the forest. You were begging me. The scariest man I’ve ever met was begging me not to do this, and you were breaking my heart. I was sure I was dying, it hurt so much to be the one to hurt you. Then, before I could figure it out, before I could find the words to promise that whatever it was that I was doing, whatever it was you didn’t want me to do, I’d stop. I’d have done anything to erase that pain in your eyes. But I couldn’t, and you died begging me.”

  His arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling her into his chest as tears she hadn’t been aware of soaked his shirt.

  “Hey.” His voice was too low, like he’d swallowed gravel when she hadn’t been looking. “I’m right here, honey.”

  Swiping her finger tips over her cheeks, she nodded, and then stepped back so she could see his face again. “I wasn’t thinking logically, Ty. I reacted. You were in my room and I just wanted you safe, and I knew exactly how to protect you.”

  She braced for the fight over her protecting him.

  He pressed his lips to the top of her head, before tilting her chin up to kiss her mouth. “Thank you for protecting me, gypsy.”

  She couldn’t do anything but gape at him. She had to have heard him wrong. Men didn’t thank women for protecting them. They got pissed and had to show some sign of their superior power that would make her puny efforts laughable.

  But Tyler was hugging her, and he didn’t look pissed. He looked worried, and tired, but there was no hint of bruised ego anywhere in those striking sapphire eyes. And damned if she didn’t fall for him a little more.

  “Shay.” Jackson’s voice fell over her like a shroud.

  Cold shot through her veins. Tyler snarled and moved in front of her, his eyes scanning the empty parking lot. He had no way of knowing the living embodiment of her nightmares stood right behind her, murmuring in her ear.

  “Go away, Jackson,” she whispered.

  A ghost-like shadow stepped around her, his too-pretty face twisted in rage as he stuck it in hers.

  “I don’t think so.” His hand became solid, digging into the flesh of her wound. “I came to collect what I was promised.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Rage blinded Tyler. The presence of pure, undiluted evil crawled along his skin, but the parking lot was empty of human, tangible threats.

  “Come on, fucker,” he snarled, leaning over to pull a knife out of his ankle holster, his eyes scanning the shadows. “Show yourself.”

  “Tyler, behind—” Shay’s voice cut off on a strangled scream.

  He spun around to see a grinning man flickering erratically behind her. She fought viciously, using teeth, feet, and free arm to get to any inch of him she could, but every blow went straight through him. The bastard laughed. Despite his inability to hold completely to a solid form, his grasp around Shay dug in until blood dotted her bandage.

  “Let me go, Jackson!”

  Tyler leapt forward, ready to slice this fucker’s throat, tangible or not. He hit an invisible barrier that sent violent shockwaves through his nervous system.

  He staggered back, shook his head, and narrowed his gaze. “Oh, I’m going to kill you for this, fuckface.”

  “Tsk tsk tsk. No need to be crude.” The voice was stronger than it should have been, considering the bastard probably sat in a room somewhere miles away from the hospital. Putting up a force field from that distance was either an effect costing him energy, or he was powerful as fuck. “You’re not hearing me, darlin’. I want what I was promised.”

  Shit. That couldn’t be good.

  “You heard her, asshole.” Keeping his stance casual, Tyler flipped the knife in his hand and judged the timing of the asshole’s appearances. He didn’t have much hope it would work, but his only option at the moment was to strike when he wasn’t visible and hope the force field would be weakened at the same time. “Let her go.”

  “You.” Jackson solidified for a moment, hatred burning through his black eyes as he shifted his gaze to Tyler. “You, I’m going to kill slowly. Painfully.”

  Rolling his eyes at the familiar, generic threat, he stepped to the side. He took a step closer, testing the boundary. When nothing sent him to his ass, he took another step forward.

  “Have we met? Usually people only want to kill me that badly if we’ve met in person.” He flexed his free hand, grinning. “But I’m thinking you’re too chicken shit for that. Or you’d be here like a real man.” The color leached out of Shay’s face when Jackson’s hand visibly tightened on her arm, and Tyler let out a string of violent curses. He lifted his hands, palms out, the blade in his right hand pointed down. It was slightly less threatening, because no way was he dropping his weapon.

  “All right, fine,” he snarled. “What the hell do you want?”

  “I killed your mother, you know.” He grinned, before his look turned savage. “I held up my end of the bargain, and now I want my reward.” His appearance flickered once more, longer this time.

  Long enough for Tyler to realize the jackfuck wasn’t much older than him. Mid-thirties, maybe. But there was something really wrong with this dude’s eyes. He flickered, and when he appeared again, he was closer to Shay than before. He hauled her back, away from Tyler. Almost absently, his free hand scooped the hair out of her face, before pressing her head against his chest.

  “You see, I have plans. I’m dying, you know. And I don’t have a lot of time.” He lifted his gaze from Shay’s face to Tyler. “But I’m not here to hurt anyone. Just to tell pretty little Shay that I won’t be avoided forever.” He leaned down until his lips were closer to her ear. “You don’t have to come to me now, but darlin’, you will come to me. I’ve seen to it. By tomorrow night, you’ll be crawling to me on your knees, begging for me to take you in.”

  She yanked on her arm, struggling like a she-devil. “Go to hell, Jackson.”

  Jackson fisted her hair and yanked it back, then bent over and kissed her.

  Tyler’s roar of temper rattled inside his head. He ran toward them, and when he didn’t hit that invisible barrier, he threw himself at Shay. He hit the ground on his back, Shay cradled to his chest. He was on his feet in the next instant, hauling her up and pushing her behind him.

  He braced for a strike, but the fucking bastard
was already gone.

  ***

  Tyler didn’t seem in a hurry to let Shay go.

  “What the fuck was that?” Tyler kept one hand wrapped around Shay’s wrist as he turned them in a full circle, a vicious growling sound rumbling through him.

  Every line of his rugged face looked homicidal, and there was a glint in his eyes Shay had never seen before. In anyone.

  Considering how bad her insides were quaking, he should have scared her. Before she could put her finger on why he didn’t, she found herself off her feet and crushed against a chest as wide as a mountain. Despite his obvious rage, and his inherent roughness, he was gentle as he curled her into him and carried her to her car.

  His lips brushed against the top of her head before he opened the passenger door. Their eyes met as he put her in the seat, and her arms wound around him as tight as she could hold on.

  He pressed their brows together and drew in a ragged breath. “Fuck, Shay. Tell me that bastard didn’t hurt you, and you’re all right.”

  “I’m fine.” Her hands fisted in his hair. She’d never been the hysterical female type, but everything about Jackson chilled her to the bone. “The timing can’t be a coincidence, can it?”

  “No. We’re talking about your family and you have a run in with my mother, then this idiot shows up.” Growling, he kissed her brow before crouching to set her in the seat. His already pissed-off expression turned near psychotic when his gaze landed on her arm. “You’re not okay.”

  It was his voice that broke her. That this big, homicidal-looking badass could suffer so much from her being hurt.

  She scooted forward, then fisted her hand in his shirt to pull him closer and this time, she rested her forehead against his. “It’s just a flesh wound.”

  He closed his eyes on a harsh laugh. “Really? Monty Python jokes?”

  “Yes.” She nodded against his head. “It made you laugh, didn’t it?”

  He kissed the top of her nose.

  “Come on, I need to get you out of here.” He grasped her knees and turned her so he could close the door, before he jogged around the MINI. When he was behind the wheel and they were headed away from the hospital, he glanced over at her. “Who the hell is this Jackson fucker? What is he?”

  A yawning pit opened in her stomach. Now was the part he ran screaming from town. “The men in my family are very old fashioned. Traditional. My marriage has been arranged since I was a child.”

  His jaw ticked once. Twice. “You’re engaged?”

  “No.” At his bland, half-pissed off, half-confused look, she raised her hands, palms up, her dozens of metal bracelets jangling. “At least I’m not. Jackson is.”

  “You’re telling me this asshole thinks he’s your fiancé?”

  Aware of just how messed up her life was, she nodded slowly. “I’m not marrying him, Tyler.”

  “No shit.” He sighed and pushed a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry. This situation just keeps getting more screwed up.”

  She snorted. “You’ve lived with it for a day.” At his narrowed gaze, she could have kicked herself for saying those words out loud.

  She wasn’t—and would never be—the ‘pity me’ girl. Considering how pissed off Tyler already was, she didn’t need to throw more gasoline on the temper he was barely keeping banked as it was. “But something he said, Ty—he mentioned your mother. He would have only been about ten years old when your mother went missing.”

  Turning into her small driveway, Tyler didn’t say anything until he parked the car and went around to help her out.

  “Yeah, I heard that, too. So either he started whatever fucked up thing he’s into very young, or we’re playing with dark magic.” He waited while she opened the front door to her house, before leaning down to kiss the top of her head. “I need to make some phone calls. Give me a few, okay?”

  Turning so she faced him fully, she went on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. She meant it to be just a hug to show him how grateful she was that he was here, but then his arms banded around her, so tightly she nearly lost her breath. Closing her eyes, she pressed herself into him, her face buried in his shoulder, as every inch of her tried to absorb his strength.

  Then he trembled against her—just one, hard shake of that massive warrior’s body, and she felt it. She actually felt the moment her heart left her own body and transferred to his.

  Wrapping his hand around her hair, he gently tugged her head back and rubbed his lips over hers. “Do me a favor, and just stop scaring me, all right?”

  He was scowling as he kissed her again. Untangling her arms from his neck, he gently nudged her into the house, before shutting the door between them.

  Good gods, what was he doing to her?

  Slumping against the door, she let her eyes close as she tried to pinpoint the exact moment her chaotic world had splintered, and the only answer she could come up with was the second Tyler Wade had walked back into Willow Creek.

  He didn’t make sense. She knew that was exactly why she couldn’t get her bearings around him. Why she constantly found herself giving him more of her than she’d ever given anyone. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he’d reveal another chink in his armor. The badass who liked to snuggle. The warrior who looked gutted every time she was hurt.

  The one, brief second of absolute confusion on his face whenever he showed her even the slightest weakness.

  She sighed, forcing herself to straighten and go get ready for work. She was only twenty-four hours into knowing him, and he’d knocked down ever wall she’d spent her life so carefully trying to erect.

  After stripping and considering burning the clothes she’d just been wearing, she grabbed her cell phone out of her purse. She flopped back on her bed and called Hayden.

  “Hi, it’s Hayden. I can’t come to the phone right now, but if you leave a message, I’ll probably call you back. Unless it’s Deacon Stone. In that case, don’t bother, buddy. You’re not forgiven yet.”

  Despite herself, Shay closed her eyes and grinned at her friend’s soft, purely feminine voice.

  The voicemail beeped.

  “Hay, it’s me. I’m kind of losing it over here, and I was thinking we could do a Practical Magic/midnight margaritas thing tonight. Call me.”

  Setting her phone aside, she yawned and covered her eyes with one arm, exhaustion suddenly dragging at her.

  The mattress dipped a second before lips skimmed over her jaw, making her shiver. Suddenly exhausted, she lifted her hand to trail it up his powerful back, before slipping her fingers into his long hair—that wasn’t there.

  Her eyes flew open. A twisted, monstrous beast crawled on top of her before he slapped his blackened, gnarled hand over her mouth, blocking her scream. She bucked against it, her fists pounding uselessly against his leather-like skin. He was huge, with sharp, pointed teeth dripping with something too pink to be saliva, and broken horns sprouting out of his ugly, demon-like head.

  His grip was cruel as he fisted her hair and yanked her head back until she stared up into eyes that were a sickening shade of yellow. He grinned.

  “You are sweet. I will enjoy defiling you. But you, I think, will not enjoy it so much.” Leaning down, he dragged his misshapen nose along her throat. Then he licked her, and she shuddered, hoping the bile that wanted to rise in her throat stayed down. With her luck, he’d let her choke on it.

  Using the only defense she had, and hoping he had a groin for her to aim at, she raised her knee and slammed it home.

  He jerked backward, howling in outrage. She shoved her way from beneath him and flew out of the room. By the time she made it to the hallway, Tyler was there. He pushed her into the bathroom across the hall and shut her in. He murmured something before locks that didn’t exist on the door clicked into place.

  CHAPTER 16

  As Tyler squared off with the demon, all he could think was a-fucking-gain. He’d fought demons like t
his so many times, he could no longer remember all of them. Hell, it didn’t even surprise him.

  What it did do was piss him off. That something so evil had gotten near Shay, let alone touched her, sent spikes of rage right through his skull. The bastard was as big as he was ugly, a mess of charred skin, piss-yellow eyes, and wart-like bumps. A more fucked-up version of the demon he’d killed in the bar the night before. The spelled metal chain around it’s thick, bulging neck confirmed Tyler’s deepest suspicion—not only had someone sent it, but whoever it was, held its leash.

  The demon’s odd, lip-less mouth stretched wide in a snarl, showing off gnarly, poison-tipped teeth. It dropped its shoulders and charged, closing the distance before Tyler could move out of the way. The impact of that horned head sent him flying backward. He crashed through the drywall of Shay’s bedroom and straight into the hallway.

  Before the horn could skewer him, he scrambled out of the way and flung himself on its back. Hooking his arm around a horn, he yanked on the head. The demon staggered back, slamming Tyler against the wall so hard stars burst behind his eyes. When Tyler held on anyway, it shook its head violently, roaring as it tried again to dislodge him.

  Shifting his grip on his specially made knife, he jammed the holy water-blessed blade into the creature’s throat, slicing upward. Black, oily blood spurted out. Instead of falling over, the demon reached behind him, one meaty hand grabbing Tyler by the head and tossing him across the hall.

  Cursing as he hit the bathroom door, he shouted at Shay to call Deacon. Throwing his other knife, he hit the beast dead between the eyes. It lurched crookedly, those ugly eyes rolling back in its gnarly head as it gripped the blade’s hilt, trying to yank it free. It swept out blindly with his other arm.

  When it finally managed to pull the knife out, it lumbered forward. Grabbing Tyler by the throat and lifting him clear off his feet.

  The second they were at eye level, Tyler gave in to the urge and head-butted the freak. “Et daemonium exisse.”