Beyond the Darkness Read online

  “You already spoke to Salvatore?”

  “It was a brief discussion.”

  “What else did he say?”

  “He mentioned that far from wanting me and my sisters dead, he has been trying to save us.” She deliberately paused. “From you.”

  His false laughter echoed through the hallway. “That bastard. He would say anything to save his worthless hide. You weren’t stupid enough to believe his lies, were you?”

  “Of course not.” Harley smiled, able to lie with the best of them.

  At the moment, she didn’t know what she believed.

  She didn’t trust Caine. And she sure as hell didn’t trust Salvatore.

  All she knew for certain was that she wanted answers.

  “Good.” He brushed the back of his hands down her cheek, allowing his fingers to linger on the curve of her neck. “He’s dangerous, Harley. You need to stay away from him.”

  “If he’s so dangerous, why don’t you just kill him?”

  “And have every Were in the world wanting to nail my ass to the wall?” he smoothly demanded. “No, thank you.”

  Yeah, right. She narrowed her gaze.

  “Holding him captive isn’t going to make the Weres any happier.”

  “Who will know that I’m holding him?” His hand deliberately encircled her throat. “He was alone, wasn’t he? I assume you would have mentioned if he had his pack of curs with him.”

  Harley abruptly recalled the tiny gargoyle. After capturing Salvatore, he’d slipped her mind.

  She knocked Caine’s hand from her throat. “Yeah, completely alone.”

  “There you go then.”

  “The vampire chasing you will suspect you’re involved in Salvatore’s disappearance.”

  She could sense him scrambling for a suitable lie. “Not if I force the dog to call his pack and assure them that he’s fine and on my trail. By the time they figure it out, we’ll be long gone.”

  She snorted at his ridiculous boast. Caine might be a bad-assed cur, but he was a pale imitation of Salvatore Giuliani.

  “You think you can force the King of Weres to do anything?”

  Without warning he moved forward, his pride clearly pricked by her patent disbelief. He crowded her against the wall and lowered his head until he was speaking directly against her mouth.

  “Never underestimate my powers of persuasion.”

  She lifted her hands and pressed them against his bare chest. “If you want to keep those lips, then you’d best remove them.”

  He stepped back with a mocking smile. “Someday, sweet Harley.”

  “Don’t you have a phone call to make?”

  “I want your promise you’ll stay out of the basement.”

  She met his gaze squarely. There was something going on, and she suspected she was involved, whether she wanted to be or not. She intended to discover what the hell it was.

  “Fine.”

  “Your promise.”

  She brushed her fingers over her chest. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

  “Be careful of your words.” His low voice was thick with warning. “Death can lurk in the most unexpected places.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “That sounded very much like a threat, Caine.”

  “More of a friendly warning, pet.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  He patted her cheek, his smile insulting as he turned to make his way down the hall.

  “Behave yourself.”

  “Creep,” she muttered.

  Waiting until she heard Caine climbing the staircase to his study on the second floor, Harley turned to shove open the door behind her.

  She didn’t give a damn about her promise.

  If Salvatore had answers, she wanted them.

  Salvatore was seated on the cement floor in the middle of the cell, as far from the silver bars as possible.

  Not that it truly mattered.

  The silver was a bother, but the true danger was the debilitating weakness caused by Harley.

  Cristo. He understood the scientific logistics of a Were mating. Although the attraction was mutual, it was always the female who had the final choice of whether or not to accept the bond. The male’s power was restrained to prevent him from taking the female by force.

  Of course, when the powers returned after the mating was complete, it was rumored they were even more potent. He became the perfect weapon to protect his family.

  It all made perfect sense.

  And it was a royal pain in the ass.

  Why him? And why Harley? And why now?

  The matings had faded away, along with the Weres’ ability to control their shifts during the full moon. No doubt a biological necessity for females to mate with as many men as possible, in the hopes of obtaining a viable pregnancy.

  Salvatore groaned as the scent of vanilla flooded the air, warning of Harley’s imminent return.

  His brain might not comprehend the inconvenient mating, but his body was fully on board with the program.

  Just having her in the same room was enough to make him hard and aching.

  Rising to his feet, he watched as Harley slipped into the room and closed the door, leaning against it with a resentful expression.

  A slow smile curved Salvatore’s lips. Harley might consider him the enemy, but she was as helpless as he was to deny the smoldering attraction that crackled between them.

  Her awareness filled the air like the finest perfume.

  “I knew you’d be back,” he drawled.

  “Right.” She rolled her eyes. “Because you’re so frigging irresistible?”

  “I am to you.” His smile widened as her fists clenched and she looked like she was considering punching him in the nose. Dangerous women turned him on. “Besides, you have questions that only I can answer.”

  “Did you ever consider the possibility I came back to kill you?”

  “No.”

  “So arrogant.”

  He shrugged. “You wouldn’t want me if I were a doormat.”

  “I don’t want you, period.”

  Salvatore arched a brow at her blatant lie. “You’ve never been around another pureblood, have you?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Why?”

  “Because if you had, you would know I can smell your physical response.” He breathed in deeply, his body tingling in response. “It fills the air.”

  An astonishing blush touched her cheeks before she was roughly pushing away from the door and pacing toward the cage.

  “Why doesn’t Caine just kill you?”

  He paused, struck by her pertinent question. “I don’t know.”

  “I thought the King of Weres knew everything?”

  He cast a disgusted glance toward the locked door of his cage.

  “Obviously not.”

  She unconsciously rubbed her arms, as if trying to rid herself of the tangible electricity that pulsed between. His lips twisted.

  Ah, if only it were that simple.

  “You said that my sisters and I were stolen from a nursery?” she demanded.

  “Si.” Salvatore grimaced. Far too late he realized he’d been played the fool. “At first I assumed it was traditional baby snatchers who were out to make a quick buck on the black market. Now I suspect it’s a calculated plot intended to destroy the Weres.”

  “And you think Caine’s involved?”

  “Without a doubt.”

  She nodded, as if not particularly surprised by Caine’s treachery.

  “What happened in Hannibal?”

  “Short or long version?”

  “Short.”

  “After years of searching, I tracked your sister Regan to a psychotic imp named Culligan who’d been torturing her for the past thirty years.” He shrugged. “Not surprisingly, she went a bit homicidal when I released her, and she tracked Culligan to Hannibal where Caine’s minions first tried to capture her, and then tried to kill her.”

  “Which minions?”

  Sh
e was testing him. Whether it was to discover if Caine was lying or he was, it was impossible to say.

  “Sadie was the leader. Regan killed her. Then there was Duncan, who intended to lead me to this lair.” His jaw tightened. “Unfortunately, Caine and his pet jinn got there first.”

  Her lips parted, no doubt with yet another question, then there was the sound of a click and abruptly she was spinning on her heel and rushing back to the door.

  She grasped the door handle and futilely attempted to pull it open.

  “Shit,” she muttered.

  Salvatore was on instant alert. “What?”

  Before his companion could answer, the sound of Caine’s voice echoed through a speaker set in the corner of the ceiling.

  “I did warn you, sweet Harley,” the cur mocked. “I wanted to keep you out of this, but you wouldn’t listen.”

  “No…” She pounded her fists against the steel door. “Caine.”

  “Harley, what the hell is going on?” Salvatore demanded.

  “Damn you.” She pointed a finger toward Salvatore. “This is all your fault.”

  Salvatore snorted. His fault? He was locked in a damned silver cage in the middle of nowhere, and it was his fault?

  It wasn’t until he caught the first whiff of gas that he at last understood Harley’s outrage.

  Something was being pumped into the basement.

  Something powerful enough to make his knees buckle and the world go black.

  Although the large wooden cabin was less than fifty miles north of St. Louis, it would have taken more than a GPS to find the house.

  Not only was there acres of thick trees and a high fence that protected the estate, there was also a spell of Concealment that had been woven by the local coven of witches. If that wasn’t enough, there were large lethal wolves that prowled the outer perimeter and ate anyone who accidentally stumbled too close.

  Caine had deliberately chosen this cabin to hide his unconscious prisoners. Beyond being close enough to his previous lair not to have to worry about Salvatore waking up prematurely, it was his most heavily guarded compound.

  He could no longer trust Harley, or what she had told him.

  If someone had been with Salvatore, then he wanted to make damned certain they couldn’t follow.

  No one, absolutely no one, could sneak up on him here.

  Of course, he would feel a great deal happier if he weren’t currently standing in the cramped tunnels that ran beneath the estate. He was tired, stressed on an epic scale, and in no humor to meet with the ancient Were who stood in the depths of the shadows, his eyes glowing an eerie crimson and his body wrapped in a heavy cape.

  Christ, the man was nasty. Caine shivered, for the first time realizing that rather than the usual heat that radiated from Weres, the air was filled with an unpleasant chill.

  Like his companion was a damned corpse.

  Or a bloodsucker.

  Clearing the fear from his throat, Caine tilted his chin. The Were had demanded this meeting the moment Caine had revealed that he had captured Salvatore. He had no idea how the Were had arrived so swiftly, and in truth, he didn’t want to know. But since his arrival, the arrogant dog had done nothing but complain and criticize.

  Typical.

  The bastard was never satisfied with Caine’s efforts.

  Which was precisely why Caine tried to limit the number of reunions to one or two a decade.

  “I told you I would take care of Salvatore and I did,” he said, tired of being a whipping boy for the Weres.

  “You also promised you would make sure that he didn’t find the female Weres until I was prepared to act,” his companion taunted, his voice oddly hoarse, as always.

  “It wasn’t my fault.”

  “It never is.”

  Caine’s skin prickled as he battled against his snarling wolf. When he was tense, it was always more difficult to control his shifts.

  “If you think you can do better, then you take him.”

  “It’s not time yet, you fool.”

  “Time for what?”

  “Destiny to be fulfilled.”

  “Well, screw it. I’ve waited thirty years for this supposed destiny to happen,” Caine snapped. “I’m getting tired of empty promises.”

  The Were released a warning growl. “Are you questioning my authority?”

  Caine bit back his angry words, realizing he had gone too far. Swallowing his pride, he knelt in a gesture of submission.

  For now, he needed the disturbing Were.

  But someday…

  “No.”

  “Remember this, cur, if something happens to Salvatore before my plans are complete, I’ll skin you alive and feed you to the vultures.”

  There was a blast of cold air and a hair-raising scent of evil, then the Were seemed to simply melt into shadows.

  Caine counted to one hundred, then added another fifty just in case.

  Once he was certain he was alone, he turned his head to spit in the dirt.

  “Someday, I’m going to kill that bastard.”

  Harley woke to a pounding head, a dry mouth, and her body wrapped firmly in the arms of a warm, delicious Were.

  For a demented moment, she snuggled closer, lured by the heat and rich male musk that would entice any poor woman into helpless stupidity.

  It was only when Salvatore’s hands slid down to cup her ass and he pressed her against his hardening erection that she painfully came to her senses.

  Was she completely mental?

  With a shove that sent Salvatore flying onto his back, she scrambled to her feet and glared down at his smug smile.

  “Do you always grope unconscious women?”

  He folded his hands over his stomach and crossed his legs at the ankle. He should have looked ridiculous lying on the cement floor, with his raven hair tousled and his expensive suit wrinkled. But he didn’t.

  He looked…edible.

  The bronzed, stunningly beautiful features. The full, sensual lips. The whiskey-gold eyes.

  A delectable male, from the top of his raven hair to the tips of his Italian leather shoes.

  “Only those who crawl all over me in their sleep,” he said. “If anyone was violated, it was me.”

  The worst part was that Harley couldn’t be certain she hadn’t been violating him. Her body seemed to have lost its connection to her brain.

  “God,” she muttered, as annoyed with herself as with Salvatore. “Get over yourself.”

  In one fluid movement, he was on his feet and standing directly in front of her.

  “I’d rather be over you.”

  “Enough.” She abruptly turned from the smoldering invitation in his eyes, her palms sweating. “I have more important things to worry about than a dog in heat.”

  She felt him step back, although it didn’t help much. His power swirled through the small space with crushing force.

  “Do you know where we are?” he demanded.

  She turned and glanced around the six-by-six cage made of silver bars that was set in the middle of a barren cellar. There was nothing to identify the cramped prison beyond a narrow door and bare lightbulb in the center of the ceiling. There were no windows, no furniture, not even a blanket, but the muted scent of wooden logs gave away their location.

  “In Caine’s cabin near St. Louis.”

  Salvatore closed his eyes, testing the air. “It’s dusk.”

  “Do you have a point?”

  “Levet becomes a statue during the day.” His eyes opened, a hint of frustration shimmering in the golden depths. “He should be waking any moment to follow our trail.”

  Harley shook her head, Salvatore’s frustration echoing deep inside her. She might be furious with Caine, but she wasn’t stupid enough to underestimate him.

  “There won’t be a trail to follow.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “One of Caine’s lovers is a witch. He never moves from one lair to another without her casting a spell to c
over his scent, as well as anyone with him.” She grimaced. “No one’s going to be able to find us.”

  “One of his lovers?” Salvatore arched a brow, ignoring the most pertinent point of her explanation. “How many does he have?”

  She made a sound of impatience. “I’ve never bothered to keep count. Why? Are you interested in joining the bimbo brigade?”

  “My only interest is in knowing whether or not you share his bed.”

  “It’s none of your damned business.”

  His lips twisted, an odd yearning flaring through his eyes. “Ah, if only that were true.”

  A melting heat threatened to weaken her knees and Harley gave a sharp shake of her head.

  She wasn’t going to be distracted.

  “I don’t know what your damage is, but in case you’ve failed to notice, we’re in a little bit of trouble here. Can you focus on something other than trying to get into my pants?”

  His lips curled. “I can multitask.”

  No crap.

  “Fan-frigging-tastic,” she groused. “Then get us out of here.”

  Chapter Four

  Salvatore glanced toward the locked door of the cell, folding his arms across his chest.

  “And just how do you expect me to perform that particular miracle?”

  “I thought you were some sort of uberking,” she taunted. “Don’t you have any special powers?”

  Salvatore smiled, unruffled by her sharp tone. She could snap and snarl all she wanted, but she couldn’t conceal the scent of her arousal.

  And when he’d awakened to discover her snuggled in his arms…

  Dio, it had almost made this whole kidnapping thing worthwhile.

  Almost.

  “None that involve B and E,” he admitted.

  Her gaze narrowed. “B and E implies entering. We want to exit.”

  He folded his arms over his chest. “What about you?”

  “Me?”

  “You obviously know Caine…” His jaw tightened as a flare of savage possession speared through him. “Intimately. You better than anyone should be familiar with the weaknesses in his security.”

  “I know nothing about Caine.” Her lips curled in a sneer, but Salvatore didn’t miss the bitterness that edged her voice. “He’s done nothing but lie to me since I was a baby.”