Part 9 (1/2)

She tilted her head up and shot him a look of utter confusion. 'What? Of course he was human.'

'No. He wasn't.'

'I don't understand.'

At least she wasn't fainting on him. Bewildered, definitely. But not about to pa.s.s out. They were making headway. Now he just had to get her back to base camp without having to answer a lot of questions.

'Derek?'

'Yeah.'

'What the h.e.l.l is that mess over there? Really.'

Christ. Explanations were Lou's area. And they didn't have time for this anyway. 'A demon.'

Her brows lifted. 'You mean one of the guys portraying demons in the game?'

'No. A demon.'

She moved away from him then, though he noticed she didn't move toward the smoking pile of liquid demon garbage, but rather away from it. 'Seriously. Did you just kill someone?'

'No. I killed something.' He scratched his brow. 'Look. It's complicated. I mean really really f.u.c.king complicated. And there are probably more of these things out here. Our prime objective right now is to get back to base before we run into any more of them. I suggest you save the questions until we get back. Lou will tell you everything. I promise.' f.u.c.king complicated. And there are probably more of these things out here. Our prime objective right now is to get back to base before we run into any more of them. I suggest you save the questions until we get back. Lou will tell you everything. I promise.'

Her eyes were wide and searching as if she expected another one to jump out of the bushes. But she hadn't screamed or fainted or puked. He gave her big points for that.

'Okay. I really would like to get out of here now.'

'I'm with you there. Let's go.'

They trekked back to camp in virtual silence, Gina walking close enough to brush shoulder to shoulder with him. Okay, she was still spooked. He reached for her hand. She clasped onto his like it was a lifeline in a squall, d.a.m.n near cutting off his circulation. When he glanced over at her, she offered up a tentative, apologetic smile.

Even if it was terror on her part that made her reach out to him, it made good sense to hold her hand. He had to lead the way through the path.

Oh, screw it. He just d.a.m.n well liked feeling her hand in his. He didn't get to play the protective sort very often and he found himself enjoying it.

Especially protecting Gina.

They arrived back at base camp in about ten minutes without incident. Whatever attack had occurred was apparently over, at least for now, because they didn't run into any more demons along the way. Though he kept his weapon up and ready for any potential encounter.

Now it was time to count heads and figure out who was missing.

The new people were all there, looking sh.e.l.l-shocked and confused as h.e.l.l. After a quick count, he noted two of his hunters were missing, no doubt the two Gina had spoken of being attacked.

G.o.ddammit. They couldn't afford to lose any.

'We're two down, Lou. Griffith and James. They were with Gina,' he reported, keeping his weapon close as they entered the tent where everyone was gathered. He a.s.signed four of the hunters to stand guard at the perimeter.

They had until sunup. Once dawn hit, they were safe.

Lou cast his gaze downward, his shoulders slumped as he sighed. 'That is deeply unfortunate.' When he looked up again, his eyes were filled with sorrow. 'I didn't know they were here.'

'I know.' Which was unusual. Lou always knew.

Derek almost asked Lou if he was slipping, but withheld his question.

'I had feelings, but I brushed them aside. I just didn't think they'd show up here,' Lou said. 'I should have been ready for anything.'

'You're not infallible, Lou. None of us are.'

'I should be.'

Derek shook his head. Lou was harder on himself than anyone he knew. Sometimes it made Derek feel better just to know Lou was human and able to make mistakes like the rest of them.

Gina slumped into one of the chairs around the table, looking just as exhausted as the rest of the new people. Even the other hunters were wiped out, confused by all this. Derek jammed his fingers through his hair and looked at Lou. 'Game's over. We have a real problem here. We were ambushed, hit unarmed. This shouldn't have happened.'

'Someone going to tell us what the h.e.l.l is going on?' Ryder asked.

He knew that one was coming.

'Give us a minute here, Ryder. We'll explain it all.' He looked to Lou. 'We've got to get these new folks up to speed, and now. The time for deciding whether or not they're in the game is over. They're in the game or they're not. And if they're not, you need to do your thing and get them off this island so we can go after the demons.'

'Demons? What demons? Aren't the guys playing demon standing right here?' Shay looked around at the hunters in designated demon attire.

'No. They're hunters.'

'Hunters. Okay, I don't understand any of this,' Shay said, looking around at the others. 'Did I miss something?'

Lou stood and held his hands up. 'Please, everyone, hold your questions for now. I promise to explain everything about what happened tonight.'

Gina braced herself for what was to come, though she already knew she wasn't going to like it.

'You were brought here under false pretenses,' Lou started.

Two of the men on the other team, Rafe and Dalton, fired up the lanterns, the flickering lights not helping one bit. Instead, shadows loomed as giant specters over the tent, hovering like creatures about to pounce. Despite the humidity that refused to dissipate, Gina s.h.i.+vered.

Louis's lips formed a thin line. He lifted his chin, circling the main table to stand in front of the group. 'The show was a setup. The cameras and filming were brought in to fool you into thinking you were doing a reality show. We didn't expect to find actual demons here. They weren't supposed to be here. It was just supposed to be training, testing to see if you could handle the real thing.' Louis skimmed his hand through his thick white hair and stared at the tabletop. 'It wasn't supposed to happen yet.'

Gina frowned, this whole nightmare of the unknown making her skin crawl. She could barely sit still. 'You mean demons?'

'Yes.'

Jake snorted. 'Get serious. There's no such thing.'

'You didn't see what I saw tonight,' Gina shot back.

'Then why don't you tell us what you saw?' Jake challenged, his voice rising with a nervous tremble.