Hell Kat Page 5

  Kat watched her, caution ringing a few bells in her mind. “Is she sick? Does she have some disease?”

  “Not a disease. It’s like she’s allergic to the sun’s rays.” Damian stroked her hair like a parent with a child or a lover with his mate.

  Uneasiness twisted her gut as Kat watched him soothe her. “Did she tell you how she got like this?”

  Damian shook his head and continued to stroke Darquiel’s white hair.

  “Just don’t let her drink all the water.”

  Damian glared at her. “You’re really cold, you know?”

  “Oh, please, Damian, don’t tell me you just figured that out.”

  Kat walked away and followed the trail down to the little stream. Kneeling, she cupped the fresh water in her hands and took a little sip. It was cool and tasted untainted. Of course, she couldn’t be absolutely sure. Some poisons had no taste. She splashed the rest over her face and neck.

  A black boot came into her frame of vision. She glanced up while Hades wrapped a white kerchief around his head.

  “What do you think?” he asked.

  She stood up and rubbed her wet hands on her shirt. “I think she’ll be more trouble than she’s worth.”

  “Maybe.” He bent down and splashed water over his face and head.

  “I’m sorry, Hades, I just can’t believe in ghoulies. She must have been born that way.”

  He picked up a rock and skipped it across the water. “Radiation can do a lot of damage. Mutations are normal. You know that. It’s just been in the last twenty years that the cattle have been normal. When I was a kid I saw a cow give birth to a two-headed calf.”

  She chuckled. “Did you get to name it?”

  He stood up and wiped at his face. “I didn’t get a chance. It went nuts and tried to tear me apart.” He turned over his arm. A long, white scar dissected his forearm, from elbow to wrist. “It also had fangs. I had to stab it in the throat with a stick before it ripped me apart.”

  “How old were you?”

  “Nine.”

  Kat looked from his injury to his face to study him for a moment. There was more to him than she realized. More than she wanted to imagine. The thought made her uncomfortable and she dropped her gaze to stare across the stream.

  “Sorry.”

  “For what?”

  “That you didn’t get a chance to have a two-headed cow as a pet.”

  Hades chuckled. “Yeah, that would have been cool.”

  “We should go back and eat and then rest. We’ve got at least six good hours left on the road before we stop to camp.”

  Before she could ascend the hill, Hades touched her arm to halt her movement. “We have to talk about the possibilities. We need to be prepared for anything.”

  “I know.” And that fact caused shivers of dread to race down her spine. There was more than treasure waiting for them in the dark of the Vanquished City.

  Hades watched as she scrambled up the embankment. She was a tough and disciplined woman. Her reputation as a hunter was unparalleled—even with his own. But behind all that bravado, Hades could still see the fear, the uncertainty. It was the same feeling he had. That the point they were so desperately trying to get to might be the one place they all secretly feared. Hell itself.

  He never expected to hook up with Kat when he walked into that bar in Burnsbow. His intentions had been to outbid her offer of payment, steal the guide from her, and eventually get the big score. She had taken him by surprise. He didn’t expect to see a woman like her, with darkly sexy looks and a killer body. Nor did he expect to be completely stunned by everything about her. No woman had had that effect on him before. He was quickly learning that Hell Kat was not just any woman.

  Kat glared down at Darquiel as she slept. The girl’s face twitched erratically, and she moaned as if in pain. Damian sat beside her and stroked her hair.

  “We should leave her,” Kat prompted. “She’s too much of a liability.”

  Damian jumped to his feet. “You want to leave her here? She’ll die.”

  “She’ll endanger us all. We could all die because of her…her fragility.”

  “It’s not a flaw, Kat. She can’t help the way she is.”

  “It is a flaw. A detrimental one. There’s no room in this world for weakness, Damian. You of all people should realize that.” Kat regretted the words even before they came spewing out.

  Damian flinched. “You’re right, Kat, as usual. But if it were not for my weakness, who would you have at your command? No one. My weakness ensures your strength. Remember that.”

  Pain flashed across Damian’s pale, angular, face. She hadn’t meant to hurt him. He’d been nothing but loyal to her. A lover and a friend. He didn’t deserve her cold appraisal. Neither did the frail, sickly girl groaning at his feet. But she could not allow them to jeopardize the mission.

  The Monolith was her link to the freedom she craved. The freedom to escape the desolate wastelands and find her way north to a cleaner, more sanitized way of life. A place where she could settle down in a little cabin in the middle of forgotten land. Where disease and violence had, long ago, evaporated in the cool fresh air of a land reborn. But this dream cost money. And the Monolith would grant her those riches.

  Damian sat back down beside Darquiel and continued to caress her sweaty brow. As he murmured soft words to her, her face calmed and her twitching ceased.

  “If you leave her, I’m staying, too,” Damian stammered.

  Watching him with Darquiel produced a strange twinge in Kat’s gut. Was this jealousy? Damian had never touched her like that. Never murmured soft words or touched her with such tenderness. She supposed she had never let him. Her brick walls were erected high and thick. No one had ever gotten in.

  “Fine. Keep your pet. But she’s your responsibility.”

  Kat picked up her pack and found another spot in which to hunker down in the shade, away from Damian, distancing herself as she always did. Before they continued on their journey, she would require rest. She suspected that she was going to need all her wits and strength if she was going to survive this hunt.

  6

  A fter rest and food, Kat and Hades drove for another six hours, stopping only for water and small bits of dried meat. When the sun went down, they pulled off the road and made camp for the night against a couple of large, jagged boulders that blocked out the chilled wind. Kat and Hades each had a small nylon tent. They set them up side by side and close to the fire Hades had constructed out of twigs and moss. The smoke stank, but the flames would serve their purpose. The night would get cold, and predators would soon be in search of a hearty meal.

  Kat, Hades, and the others ate dried fruit and meat in silence around the fire. Darquiel seemed to have perked up since the sun went down. She no longer appeared sickly. She was still pale, translucent almost. Glowing would be an exaggeration, but it was close to the truth. Close enough to be unnerving.

  Kat watched her. The girl made her nervous. She was unpredictable with her changes in physical condition, and that made Kat apprehensive and on edge. The attraction Damian seemed to have for Darquiel also bothered her. It seemed unnatural. During the time they’d been together, Damian had had other lovers, as had she. The women he usually went for were full-bodied and empty-headed. This girl was neither. It was possible that he liked her because she was everything Kat was not: pale, delicate, submissive. Maybe their time together had finally ended. Kat was a firm believer that nothing lasted forever.

  After this job, Kat was certain of one thing. Their relationship would never be the same.

  Glancing up, Darquiel caught Kat’s stare and held it. “Something the matter?”

  “You seem different.”

  “How so?”

  “Bolder, more alive.”

  “The sun makes me…” Darquiel paused, as if searching for the right word, “…sick. At night I feel much more myself, whole.”

  Kat tossed a stick into the fire, sending sparks into the a
ir. “It’s more than that. You’re even different from when we saw you in the bar.”

  Darquiel smiled. “Must be the outdoors. Nature obviously agrees with me.”

  “Yes, obviously.” Kat stood. “Time for sleep. We’ll need to be up and gone by sunrise. It’s still another day’s ride until we reach the wastelands. I’ll be first watch.” Picking up her shotgun, she cradled it against her side. She felt more secure with it in her hands.

  Hades pushed to his feet. “Sounds good to me. Wake me in a few hours to relieve you.” He unzipped his tent and crawled in. “Sure you don’t want to join me and let them keep watch?”

  Kat shook her head. “Tempting but not likely.”

  He winked and then did up the flap.

  Damian glanced to the other tent and then back to Kat. He studied her for a moment and then looked away, turning to Darquiel. “I guess we’ll share the other one.”

  They both stood and moved to the nylon structure. Damian unzipped it and Darquiel crawled in. Before he slid through, he regarded Kat. “G’night.”

  “Sure,” she responded, avoiding his gaze.

  “Kat, I…”

  She put up her hand to stop his next words. She didn’t want to hear any apologies. Regrets only made things more complicated. From day one, she had told him he was free to be with whomever he wanted. That they were not a married couple and never would be. Still, to see him with this particular woman twisted Kat’s insides.

  Without another word, Damian went through the opening, zipping it up behind him.

  Kat tossed some more sticks onto the waning fire and settled down beside it. She didn’t want to be too comfortable or she might doze off. The predators in the surrounding trees weren’t the only things that worried her.

  She had a dreadful feeling that their guide, Darquiel, was hiding something. Something that could prove to be more dangerous than any starving, vicious four-legged beast.

  Hades startled awake. Sitting up, he strained to listen. Had something outside woken him, or was it the dreams again? He rubbed a hand over his face to scrub away the residuals of the images he had been fighting with for the past few nights. Nightmares. The same ones he’d been having since the night before meeting up with Kat in the bar.

  He replayed the twisted images of his sleeping mind. A dark, damp room, lots of blood, and an exquisite naked woman hanging in chains from the lofty ceiling. Every time he could only see her back, but whoever it was, she had the nicest, roundest ass he’d ever seen. The dream must have been triggered by having Kat’s leather-clad backside against his groin.

  He hoped the dreams weren’t like the others he’d had through his life. His mother used to call him a Dream Seer because of the premonitions he’d had as a boy. Hades didn’t believe in spooks and ghouls and witchcraft, but he couldn’t deny that as a boy he’d had many dreams of things that did come true. The events didn’t always happen exactly as he imagined, but were close enough that he would sometimes fear going to sleep.

  The last one he’d had was in his thirteenth year, when he had dreamed of his mother. Two months later, she died, just as he’d predicted. Ever since then, having agonized over the pain of his mother’s death, Hades had subconsciously chosen not to believe in his premonitions.

  He rubbed his eyes again. As long as he was awake, he might as well relieve Kat.

  He crawled out onto the ground and studied the fire, noting the low flickering flame in desperate need of attention. Eyes wide and alert, Kat sat cross-legged beside it, staring off into the darkness. Moving toward her, he noted the glossy look in her dark green eyes. A trance, possibly? She hadn’t made any notice of his presence.

  “Kat?” He snapped his fingers in front of her. She didn’t flinch. “Kat!” he repeated close to her ear. Still no response.

  He hunkered down in front of her and searched her face. She stared straight ahead, right through him. Touching her neck, he found her pulse, relieved to discover it strong. Certain drugs could send a person into la-la land. But this seemed different. It was if she were in a state of suspended animation. He had not heard of anything that could do that.

  “This is going to sting, babe.”

  Hades slapped her hard across the face. As she fell over onto her side, her eyes closed and she went limp. Unsure of what to do, Hades stood over her and frowned. Did he hurt her? He hadn’t hit her that hard. She had taken worse, he was sure.

  Bending over, he touched her on the shoulder and shook her. “Kat?”

  Her eyes flashed open and she grabbed his hand. While she sat up, she twisted his wrist into an impossible position. Cringing from the pain, Hades dropped to his knees.

  “Kat, it’s me, Hades.”

  She looked at him, eyes focusing, and then she narrowed them and wriggled her jaw back and forth. “You hit me.”

  “I had to. You were in some sort of trance.”

  “What time is it?”

  “At least three hours have gone by since you’ve been on watch.”

  Abruptly Kat let go of his wrist. “Are you sure?”

  He examined the clear night sky and nodded. “Pretty sure.”

  Jumping to her feet, Kat rushed over to Damian’s tent. She unzipped the flap and stuck her head in to find it empty.

  “They’re gone.”

  Hades peered into the opening. “Maybe they went for a walk. For privacy.”

  “Possibly. But someone put a hex on me, and I don’t think it was Damian.”

  She picked up her shotgun and slung it over her shoulder. Before she could march into the outlining trees, Hades grabbed her arm, pulling her back.

  “You’re going to get someone killed.”

  She yanked her arm away. “Yes, that’s the whole idea.”

  “What if Damian gets in the way? Do you want to kill him, too?”

  Kat stared up at him, her brow furrowed.

  “Well?” Hades prompted.

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Damnit, Kat. I’m going in first. You follow behind. I will assess the situation and determine the best course of action.”

  “Like hell you will.” She pushed past him.

  He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her back. She yelped indignantly. “You will do as I say, or you will wish you never met me.”

  “I already do.”

  Pulling her head closer, he stared into her upturned face. Her full, parted lips begged him to kiss her. She was the sexiest and most aggravating woman he had ever met.

  “Liar.” He pushed her away.

  Kat rubbed her head and frowned. “You didn’t have to pull so hard.”

  Before he entered the trees, Hades turned and grinned. “Yes, I did.”

  They crept through the trees, listening for any sign of Damian and Darquiel. Kat was unsure which way they went, but the woods were not that large; she and Hades would easily be able to cover every inch of it before sunrise. If Damian and Darquiel were in there, they’d find them.

  As Hades scanned the surrounding area, Kat watched him. She resented his earlier assessment but had to agree. She was angry and would let her emotions dictate the outcome of any altercation. If Damian got in the way of her attack on Darquiel, she might not kill him, but she would surely injure him.

  Betrayal pricked her heart. He had allowed his new pet to do something to her. Not once in the last three years of their relationship had Damian allowed any harm to come to her if he could prevent it. One time a year ago he had been offered a disgusting amount of money to deceive her, and he had refused. Treachery over money, she could almost understand, but this, over this woman, she could not and would not comprehend.

  Almost at the edge of the woods, Hades stopped and kneeled down. Kat followed his lead and crawled up to his position. He touched his eyes and pointed to the small clearing. Kat squinted into the dark. The full moon illuminated the area and she could clearly see two figures lying in the grassy meadow. Damian was on his back, his pants pushed to his ankles. Darquiel knelt over him, his
erect cock in her long, slim hand.

  “You see, I was right,” Hades whispered.

  Kat didn’t answer but kept watch on the couple. Darquiel bent forward and put her lips to his cock, kissing it. Kat could hear Damian moan. Darquiel opened her mouth and slid him in, moving up and down in quick strokes.

  Hades turned to her and winked. “Give you any ideas?”

  Fuck you, she mouthed.

  “That’s the idea.”

  Kat punched him in the arm. It had no effect. It was like punching a wall. Her hand stung, but wasn’t about to let him know. Her dignity stood in the way.

  Hades leaned in close to her, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. “Let’s leave them and go back and have our own fun.”

  This close, she could smell him. Sweat, leather, and male. A delicious combination. She cringed and tried to pull away, but landed on her ass. He moved closer and touched her leg. Even through the leather of her pants, she could feel his heat. If she didn’t move soon, she’d be in trouble.

  The moans that drifted across the clearing didn’t help in squashing her libido. In fact, the erotic sounds revved it up. She felt her insides tighten and her sex dampen. She could not deny her attraction to Hades. He was just the type of guy she liked. Big, strong, and mean. But there was just one problem—he would not be her toy. In fact, they would struggle in the bed for supremacy. She was not quite sure if she wanted to win. And that fact kept her from taking him right there, right now.

  “Don’t.” She scooted away from him.

  “I can smell you, Kat. I know you want me.” He cupped her cheek and rubbed a thumb over her quivering lips. “And I want you, too, more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.”

  Kat took in a deep breath as Hades leaned forward. They were inches apart. She could feel his hot breath on her face. She didn’t pull back when he pressed his lips to hers. Kat’s restraint broke and she accepted what he offered.