Hour of Darkness Read online

  Marina walked toward him. “Cain, it doesn’t matter what you saw. If my fate’s decided, neither one of us can change it. Your vision doesn’t scare me.”

  “It should. Christ, it sure as fuck scares me.”

  “So, you’re just going to walk away? It’s that easy for you?”

  He shook his head. “No, it’s not easy. Staying away from you will be the hardest thing I’ll ever do. But I’ll do it, if it means preventing what I saw from coming true.”

  Understanding settled on her, but it brought little relief. He was leaving her because he hadn’t been able to save Abbie.

  “I’m not her, Cain.”

  “I know that.” His reply was sober, as grim as his gaze. “You’re not her, and I never wanted you to be. I never wanted Abbie the way I want you, Marina. I never loved her like this . . . not like you. Christ, not even close. There’s never been anyone the way I feel about you. There never will be.”

  She wanted to take comfort in those choked words. With all of her heart, she wanted to believe he meant them.

  Yet he stepped out of the room, saying nothing more as he closing the door behind him and left her standing there alone.

  CHAPTER 20

  Standing in the private bathroom of his quarters, Cain fastened a bandage around his midsection to stanch the fresh bleeding. In the mirror in front of him, his reflection stared back like a mask of anger and loathing. All of it self-directed and well-deserved.

  He’d walked out on Marina like a fucking coward just now.

  Lots of noble talk about doing what was best for her—sacrifices he was committed to making in hopes of altering the fate he’d seen in his latest vision—when deep down it was his own pain he wanted to avoid.

  The pain of losing the woman who had not only broken down all his strongest defenses, but had ensured no other would ever be able to take her place in his heart.

  She had nearly wrecked him with her tenderness tonight. He had gone to see her out of concern for her well-being, and instead she had been the one to take care of him. She’d been through hell tonight. A gauntlet that would have leveled even the most stalwart of his kind. Instead, she’d offered him her body, her sweetness . . . and her love.

  She had offered him her blood.

  Her eternal bond.

  Holy hell.

  Cain stared at the haggard face in the mirror. Glowing irises. Sliver-thin pupils. Fangs filling his mouth, their points razor-sharp and pulsing with the need to feed.

  His wounds were serious, but they would fade. Mainlining a human carotid would fast-track his healing. If he was lucky, it might also take the edge off the savage thirst he had for Marina. Since she’d entered his life, everything Breed and male in him seemed caught in a gravitational field that pulled him inexorably toward her.

  If he stayed in the Darkhaven any longer, especially while his body needed nourishment and veins were still vibrating with want of everything Marina had offered him, he didn’t trust his honor to hold.

  He got dressed and swung past Razor’s room, where the low murmur of his brothers’ conversation filtered out to the corridor. Lana had gone, but Bram and Logan were crowded around Raze at the monitors where another collection of JUSTIS covert operative files were open on the display. Knox stood apart from the other Hunters, one thick shoulder leaned against the wall.

  The male’s flat gaze met him as he entered the room. On a scale of contemptuous to homicidal, Knox’s guarded stare pushed the needle somewhere near the middle. Their wary truce of the past few hours was nowhere near affirmed, but it was a start.

  Cain gave his brother a slight nod of acknowledgment as he entered the room. Knox didn’t return it.

  “You look like shit.” The male gave him a disapproving once-over, his nostrils flaring. “And you smell like roadkill.”

  Bram glanced his way. “Your wounds worse than you let on?”

  Cain shook his head. “I’m fine. Just got a little careless and tore myself open again.”

  Razor pivoted away from the keyboard, a knowing smirk on his face. “I have a feeling it was worth it.”

  Hell, yeah. As much as he wanted to bust his brother’s balls for the remark, Cain’s voice dried up as his thoughts snagged on the image of Marina bent forward in the shower as he buried himself in her heat. And then there was the equally erotic memory of her crouched in front of him, her soapy hands caressing him while her wicked mouth took him deep into her throat.

  He got hard just recalling it, even as regret for how he’d left things with her weighed him down.

  “How’s she doing?” Bram asked.

  “Better than most, considering her whole world just blew up in her face tonight.” The pain in her voice over her uncle’s betrayal would haunt him for as long as he lived. And there was still work to be done—a price to be paid—by Anatoly Moretskov for that betrayal. “I told her we need to bring JUSTIS in on all of this, including her uncle.”

  Logan met his gaze. “How’d she take it?”

  “She knows that’s what has to be done, but she’s hurting over it. Her uncle has been her sole family for most of her life. It’s not going to be easy for her to start over.”

  Bram nodded, contemplative. “Well, we can help her do that. You know Lana won’t let her feel like a stranger. She’s already talking about Marina as if she’s been here forever.”

  “Thank you for everything you’ve done.” Cain reached for his brother’s hand and clasped it briefly. “I mean that, man.”

  He couldn’t deny the gratitude he had for Bram and his mate, particularly for how generously they had welcomed him back into the Darkhaven and made Marina feel comfortable and accepted too. Razor and Logan had picked up with him right where they’d left off eight years ago, almost as if no time had passed at all.

  As for Knox, the rift Cain had caused between them would take time to heal, but he could feel some of the rawness of that old wound fading already.

  A shame he wouldn’t be staying at the Darkhaven much longer.

  He’d meant what he said with Marina. He wasn’t going to jeopardize her future by staying in it. The danger her uncle had put her in was over now. JUSTIS could take care of Anatoly Moretskov however they deemed fit.

  Marina would have a home here at the Darkhaven for as long as she wanted with good people who cared about her.

  Bram studied him as if he knew the direction of Cain’s thoughts. The shrewd male never missed a thing, and he didn’t now, either.

  “Why am I getting the feeling you’re coming in here after laying a goodbye speech on that female?”

  Razor frowned at Cain. “Nah. He can’t be that stupid. Anyone with eyes in his head can see our man’s in love with her.”

  He wasn’t going to pretend his brother was wrong. Not on either count.

  “I’ve spent the better part of my life chasing every itch that needed scratching. I even had myself convinced I was enjoying it.” He shrugged. “I’ve been solitary by choice, keeping my life simple, no complications. Then she came along and showed me how empty my existence has been.”

  Logan let out a low whistle. “Damn, you really do have it bad for this girl.”

  Bram nodded. “And it’s not a one-way street, either. Seeing you two together leaves no doubt about that.”

  “Nope,” Razor said. “So, why are you here wasting time with us instead of sealing the deal with Marina?”

  “Because he’s scared.” Knox’s deep voice cut through all of the levity and well-meaning advice. “Hell, you’re fucking terrified of something.”

  Cain met the penetrating stare of his brother and one-time closest friend. There were few people would dare accuse him of letting fear rule his actions. Knox was one. Another was the beautiful blonde he would do anything to protect. “You’re right. I’m scared, Knox. Because I know if I stay with Marina any longer, it’ll be to watch her die.”

  “You’re talking about a vision?”

  “Yeah. And the only way I can be
sure that the horror of what I saw never happens is to let her go.”

  “That’s some damn heroic thinking, brother. Some fine fucking sense of honor you got there.” Knox’s reply was clipped, and not a little cutting. “Too bad you had none when it came to Abbie.”

  The jab delivered with marksman skill, Knox stalked out of the room without saying another word.

  Cain stood there in the silence that fell over the room, knowing he deserved all of the rancor his brother threw at him. It didn’t make him feel any less of an asshole.

  Nor did his spike of anger do anything to curb the blood thirst still running hot through his veins for a woman he was never going to have.

  “I’m heading out for a while,” he announced in a growl.

  If he stayed cooped up in the Darkhaven any longer, he was either going to end up at Knox’s throat . . . or Marina’s.

  CHAPTER 21

  Cain wasn’t in his quarters.

  After getting dressed and pacing her guest room in a fog of conflicting, draining emotions, Marina had finally decided she’d had enough. Enough hurting. Enough waiting for him to come back and tell her he was wrong, that he couldn’t simply walk away and live his life without her.

  That he wanted a future with her, no matter how soon it might end or in what manner.

  She kept hoping he would change his mind, barge into her guest room and ask her to be his forever. Because she already was his. She would be whether he accepted that truth or not.

  But he didn’t come back.

  Not for several long minutes. Not for an hour and counting.

  So, she was taking this fight to him instead.

  Except he wasn’t there. She stood in the quiet of his empty living area of his quarters, her breaking heart pounding out of her chest, girded for battle. One she couldn’t deliver.

  No sign of him anywhere at all.

  “Dammit.”

  She spun around to leave the room and found the open doorway filled with the immense bulk and palpable power of a Hunter. Just not the one she wanted to see.

  She felt awkward, caught chasing after Cain like a lovesick fool. “Do you know where he is, Knox?”

  “Nope.” Blue eyes the shade of a dark thunderhead gave away no emotion at all as he stared at her. “I do know he left the Darkhaven a while ago. Razor and Logan went with him.”

  He left. The fact that he had gone with his two carousing brothers wasn’t the kind of news she wanted to hear, especially coupled with the fact that Cain was injured and needed blood to help him heal.

  Any blood but hers.

  She tried not to think about what he might be doing—or with whom. She tried to pretend she didn’t remember how casually he had talked about slaking his thirsts on nameless, faceless females. Would it be that easy for him to return to that way of life?

  As much as she wanted him, she didn’t know if she could live with the idea that he would turn so quickly and easily to another woman for sustenance . . . or anything else.

  “How are you holding up?” Knox’s question took her aback.

  “Fine,” she said, an automatic response.

  She didn’t imagine he actually cared. But he was still standing there, soberly watching her when it would have been the most natural thing in the world for him leave her to her misery.

  “Actually, I’m not fine.” She shook her head and glanced down at her feet, hating how broken she sounded. “I’m in love with your brother.”

  A low, contemplative sound rumbled in his chest. “Well, there’s no accounting for taste.”

  She glanced up, astonished to hear the wry note in his voice. She couldn’t laugh, but humor from a male like Knox made it seem as though maybe the whole world wasn’t crumbling around her. Maybe there was a little hope to be had.

  “I’ve only known him for a few days, Knox. Now, I can’t imagine what my life would look like without him in it. How is it possible to fall so deeply for someone so fast? It just doesn’t happen.”

  “It does,” he said quietly. “It’s rare, but it happens. The hell of it is, sometimes it slips right through our fingers. If Cain’s smart, he’ll hold you close for as long as he can.”

  Knox stepped away from the open doorway, about to head back into the corridor.

  “He didn’t betray you with Abbie.”

  Her words halted the big male, but he didn’t turn around. Marina pushed on, wanting him to know the truth because it seemed that both of the stubborn, hard-headed brothers needed a little help to bridge the divide that had separated them for too long.

  “He cared for her, Knox, but as soon as he realized you and she had something special between you, Cain stepped back. He kept watch over her only in the hopes of thwarting the vision he saw, to try to protect her. He didn’t want to see either of you in pain.”

  Knox absorbed the information in silence, without turning around to face her. When he finally spoke, his voice scraped out of his throat. “He should have said something. He should have told me what he saw.”

  “He knows that,” Marina said. “It’s a regret he’s lived with ever since. But he wasn’t betraying you or trying to undermine what you had with Abbie. You need to know that.”

  He nodded once, standing there for a moment. Then he continued on his way.

  Marina let out her breath. She didn’t know if she had done the right thing, trying to patch up the rift between the brothers. Cain might be furious to learn she had inserted herself into their private business, but it was a chance she was willing to take. She only wished she knew how to convince him that what they shared was worth keeping together.

  Hard to do when she wasn’t even certain where he’d gone.

  And she had too much pride to sit and wait for him to return.

  She started across the room, but her feet slowed when she spied the satellite phone resting on the table beside Cain’s bed. The message light was blinking.

  She walked over and picked up the device. The log showed three recent missed calls. All in the past half hour.

  All from her uncle.

  She sat on the edge of the bed holding the phone in numbed state of inertia. As much as she wanted to make Uncle Anatoly explain what he’d done, in her heart she knew there was nothing he could say to make this right. He was a monster, and she hoped she never had to see him again as long as she lived.

  Marina flinched when the phone began to ring in her hand. She didn’t want to answer, didn’t want to hear his voice or give him the opportunity to tell her more lies. But her finger hovered over the screen as the chime continued to bleat with his call. On an inhaled curse, she took the call.

  “Hello, Uncle.”

  “Marina? Oh, thank God!” The current of panic in his voice sounded authentic. “Are you all right? Where are you? Why haven’t you answered my calls, moya radost?”

  My joy. The endearment that used to make her feel safe and cared for now grated over her senses like the lie it was.

  “Say something, Marina. I’ve been hearing news that Ernesto Fuentes has been assassinated in America. What the hell is going on?”

  “It’s true,” she said. “Fuentes is dead. He was killed a few hours ago on his yacht.”

  Anatoly swore in stunned, vivid Russian. “How is that possible? Who would do this?”

  “He was shot by a JUSTIS sniper. The same one who attempted to kill me in Miami.”

  Silence fell over the line for a long moment. “JUSTIS. Is that what the news is reporting over there?”

  “No, Uncle. I saw it with my own eyes tonight. Fuentes and all of his men were killed moments after I arrived to meet with him and deliver the disk for you.”

  “You . . . what? You were there when it happened?” He practically sputtered the words. “You’re making no sense, my darling. How is it you sound so calm? Were you injured? Tell me where you are and I will send for you immediately—”

  “That won’t be necessary.”

  “Not necessary? Marina, what are you talk
ing about?”

  Anatoly Moretskov was no fool, and as he spoke, Marina sensed the moment when he began to understand that his niece was no fool, either. He took a breath. Then another.

  A strange hesitation crept into his voice. “Do you still have the disk, moya radost?”

  “Yes, Uncle. I have it.”

  “Good . . . good. That’s very good news, Marina.” Another inhalation hissed over the line. “You will come home at once. Bring the disk.”

  He was dangerous now. She knew him too well to think otherwise. But she was dangerous too. He’d made her so.

  “That’s not going to happen,” she replied. “That data belongs to JUSTIS. I’m turning it over to them.”

  A cold silence held for an instant. Her uncle’s voice was pure ice. “I have copies, Marina. I can sell those files to someone else even before this call is over. Do you really want that on your conscience?”

  God, he didn’t even pretend to be confused about what was on the flash drive or the real cost of it in terms of good people’s lives. Nausea rose inside her, but her outrage kept it at bay.

  “You lied to me. You used me.” Even though his reasons no longer mattered, she had to ask. “Why?”

  “Because I knew you were the only one I could trust to carry this through.” It was the same thing he’d told her initially, only now his deception had manipulated her trust into a weapon. One he’d turned on her. “Fuentes and I had it all worked out. I give him lucrative JUSTIS data to use—or cash in on—as he saw fit. In turn, he would arrange to take out Boris Karamenko, clearing the way for me to assume control of Karamenko’s fortune and his seat at the head of the table.”

  Marina struggled to find her voice. “You were never going to leave the Bratva.”

  “And you were never going to stop trying to persuade me to,” he answered tonelessly. “Sooner or later, you might even try using that damnable gift of yours to bend me to your way of thinking. I couldn’t have that, Marina.”

  She sat back, the coldest realization finally settling on her. “You knew the risks involved in me carrying that data. You had to know if anyone in JUSTIS was tipped off to your plan, your courier was as good as dead. You sent me on a likely suicide mission.”