Page 40 of Night Play (Dark-Hunter 5)
There was nothing about her he would change. He loved the way she looked at him as if he were crazy. The way she hummed quietly to herself while she dusted her shelves. The way she always made sure to split her food with him.
The way she felt in his arms as she came for him, and the sound of her breathless voice as she said his name while in the throes of her orgasms.
Hell, he even liked the way she hogged the covers.
"Oh, fuck this," he snarled. He wasn't going to just let her go. He loved her and he wasn't going to just up and leave. Not without a fight and not without at least telling her.
He turned and headed back toward the house.
"Vane! Come quick."
He paused at Kyrian's deep voice. At the urgency he heard in the former Dark-Hunter's tone.
Flashing back to the house, Vane materialized in the foyer to find Kyrian there with his daughter and Tabitha. Bride was nowhere to be seen.
A bad feeling consumed him. "Where's Bride?"
"The demon took her," Tabitha said.
The animal inside him snapped and snarled with vengeance. He reached out and found nothing in the air. No scent, no trace.
It didn't matter. Alastor had taken his mate.
Vane would find her, and when he did, there would be one less demon in the universe. Bride wanted to scream, but couldn't. Her vocal cords seemed to be paralyzed.
Sight came back to her so suddenly that it hurt her eyes.
She blinked to find herself inside what appeared to be an old cabin or house of some sort. It was long and narrow with an old-fashioned fire blazing out in the open with no fireplace or real confinement.
"Don't be afraid," the demon said, releasing her.
He stepped around her. Instead of the good-looking blond he had been earlier, he was now hideous. His skin was a deep, dark purple shade and he had flaming red hair and eyes.
His feet were twisted and looked more like overgrown clubs. He limped as he walked toward the door and opened it.
"Bryani!" he called out, then he looked back at her and sniffed like an animal. His large teeth were too big for his mouth, and when he spoke he lisped. "No one is going to hurt you, bobbin."
Bride was getting seriously tired of people telling her that. "Where am I?"
He wiped at his nose. "Don't worry yourself, bobbin. You're safe here."
"I was safe where I was." Sort of, anyway.
What kind of screwed-up delusion was this? If she was going to lose her mind, she much preferred losing it with Vane than with an ugly monster thing who could barely speak.
The demon stepped back to make way for a beautiful woman who reminded Bride of a young Grace Kelly, only this woman had three vicious scars on her face and neck that made a mockery of Tabitha's.
Underneath the scars, the woman bore a red tattoo very similar in design to Vane's. She looked to be no older than her mid-twenties and yet the woman carried herself with the bearing of a regal queen. She entered the room as if she owned it and dared anyone to question her authority.
Blond braids were wrapped around her head in an elegant design that was held in place by a gold circlet decorated with what appeared to be very large diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.
Bride frowned at the woman's clothes. She wore what appeared to be something out of an episode of Xena. It was gold body armor that covered her torso, but left her arms bare, except for gold arm- and wristbands. Her vibrant red and dark green plaid skirt was voluminous and many-layered.
Most impressive, the woman had a sword, bow, and quiver of arrows strapped to her back.
Oh yeah, Bride was definitely nuts, she decided. Her mind had snapped completely. Maybe she was even dead.
Right now, she was game for just about any explanation.
Grace Kelly, or Bryani as the demon had called her, scrutinized Bride. "Has he hurt you, child?"
Bride looked at the demon. "Define 'hurt'? I mean, I didn't really want to be brought here, wherever here is."
"Not Alastor," Bryani snapped in an accent unlike anything Bride had ever heard. "The other one. The bastard wolf. Did he hurt you?"
Bride was twice as confused. "You mean my pet wolf or my boyfriend who thinks he's a wolf?"
Bryani grabbed her hand and held it up to her face. "The one whose hand matches yours. Did he rape you?"
"No," Bride said emphatically as she wrested her arm from the woman's grasp. "He didn't do anything."
Bryani let out a relieved breath, then nodded at the demon. "You got to her in time. Thank you, Alastor."
The demon inclined his head to Bryani. "We are done now." He vanished instantly and left them alone.
Bryani didn't seem the least bit concerned by the oddity of that action.
She held her hand out to Bride. "Come, child. I would have you at the hall where we can all protect you while you bear the mating mark."
Her first instinct was to pull away, but Bride forced herself to take the woman's hand. What the hell? She'd already lost her mind. The least she could do was see where this psychotic episode was going to take her.
Hopefully it would be someplace nicer and warmer than this spartan room. Bride laughed at the thought. "Have you ever seen that episode of Buffy where Sarah Michelle Gellar flashes between the insane asylum and her life in Sunnydale as the Slayer?"
Bryani cocked her head. "What is Buffy? Is she a Lykos too or another kind of Katagaria?"
Bride was a bit miffed that her conjured escort had no idea who Buffy was. "Never mind. Obviously this is my Sunnydale version and I'll be waking up real soon in my padded cell."
Bryani released her as they left the room behind.
Bride followed her out of the hut only to find herself in the middle of what appeared to be a green valley with mountains rising up around them. It was lovely, albeit rather cold for her taste.
How she had gotten here, she had no idea. This wasn't New Orleans, which was where she'd been five minutes ago.
Even odder, everyone around her was dressed in ancient clothing and spoke a language she couldn't even begin to understand.
And every person near them paused to stare as they walked past. Silence settled instantly. Eerily. The women at the makeshift well. Those who were carrying baskets and chatting. Even the children stopped playing.
But it was the men who captured Bride's attention, especially since every one of them stopped and turned to stare at her as if she were their target or prey.
She realized that with the exception of the demon, every person in this village was literally a gorgeous, stunning specimen of human physiology. This was definitely a dream or delusion of some kind.
Not even Chippendales had this much bodacious muscle. And never mind the women.
They were the epitome of why Bride refused to buy fashion magazines. If she didn't know better, she'd think she'd fallen down the rabbit hole of Hollywood extras.
Bride followed Bryani into a large wooden building that reminded her of something out of a low-budget King Arthur movie. Made of wattle and daub, it was spartan inside except for the large fire blazing in the center of the hall, surrounded by long tables and wooden benches. Something that looked like dried weeds and herbs were scattered over the earthen floor.
As soon as Bride entered, she found herself surrounded by gorgeous men, some of whom actually sniffed her.
