Part 33 (1/2)

'Okay.' She started to turn away, then what he said sank in. She turned back to him. 'Wait a minute. All of us us?'

'Just go do what needs to be done.'

'You're coming with us when we head back up, right?'

'I've got to blow this place. The portal, this cave, the entire tunnel.'

He wasn't answering her question. And she didn't like the distant look in his eyes, as if he was already closing himself off from her. 'What are you thinking? Tell me.'

'You all need to get everything set, then get out. I'm going to set the charges down here and make sure they go off.'

'Make sure theyYou're planning to stay here while the explosion occurs, aren't you?'

When he didn't answer, her heart sank. He intended to die along with the demons because he thought himself one of them.

'Derek, don't do this.'

When he looked at her, his gaze was cold. 'You saw the change that went through me, Gina. You know what I am now. I could barely control it. I can't let what's inside me loose up there,' he said, lifting his eyes to the ceiling. 'I have to die with them.'

A knifelike pain stabbed through her. Nausea rolled and pitched in her stomach and she placed her palm there, forcing a calm she didn't feel. 'No. I won't let you do this.'

'Babe, I have to. And you need to let me. You know what I've become.'

'I don't need to let you. I'm not going to let you. This can't happen.'

He brushed his fingers along her cheek, the sadness in his eyes tearing her apart. 'There's no other choice. I won't run the risk of turning into a demon and hurting other people, especially you.'

She squeezed her eyes shut for a second, forcing back the tears. How could he ask this of her? How could she leave him, knowing he was going to die? She refused to let him go. She was not going to lose another person she loved. He asked the impossible. 'I can't.'

He came to her then, pulling her into his arms and dragging his lips over hers, deepening the kiss until she couldn't hold back the tears. She grabbed onto his s.h.i.+rt, slipping her hands inside to touch the warmth of his skin. She'd opened her heart, finally allowed someone in. Would fate be so cruel to do this to her again? To rip away someone she loved?

She'd never survive it.

The kiss ended way too fast. Derek pulled away. Walked away, actually, turning his back on her.

'There's got to be another alternative,' she whispered.

'There's no way to change what I am. Don't make this any harder than it already is.'

Her mind, her heart, refused to accept this. But did either of them have a choice? She didn't want to lose him, didn't even want to think about him dying down here. But what if Derek was right? What if he did did turn into one of those things and couldn't control it? G.o.d, he was right. He didn't want to die, either, and her whining about it wasn't going to make it easier on him. Emptiness surrounded her, yet she went through the motions. They didn't have much time. turn into one of those things and couldn't control it? G.o.d, he was right. He didn't want to die, either, and her whining about it wasn't going to make it easier on him. Emptiness surrounded her, yet she went through the motions. They didn't have much time.

'What do you need me to do?'

'Help the others search the rooms down here, then hightail that sweet a.s.s of yours to the surface with the rest of them.'

Casting him a lingering look of regret, she nodded and headed down the hallway. There was only one door at the end of the hall she was a.s.signed to. Carefully pus.h.i.+ng the door open with the b.u.t.t of her gun, she was surprised to find some kind of mainframe computer and communication device. A fax machine whirred, spewing out a printed message, the entire room working like a normal business office. She half expected to see a bespectacled secretary or receptionist appear to ask if she needed a.s.sistance. The entire setup down here was just too odd.

Maybe Ben had some kind of alter ego on the surface. Mild-mannered businessman by day, vicious demon by night. Or something along those lines. Who knew? She re fused to discount anything anymore, casting aside forever the words 'impossible' and 'unbelievable' from her vocabulary. Curious, she paused and waited for the message to finish printing, unable to resist taking a peek.

She pulled the paper from the tray and her stomach dropped to her feet. Dear G.o.d! Her hands shook and hope filled her as she pocketed the message, then set the charge and wire, anxious to hurry back to Derek.

He couldn't die now. He wouldn't want to. Not after he read what was on this page.

The message changed everything! She grinned and finished up the wiring, her pulse racing.

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Derek twisted the wires together and waited at the entrance to the pa.s.sageway back to the surface. Everyone else had gone up except Gina. He was counting on her to deliver the message to Lou. Once he sent her up, he'd cause a cave-in. They wouldn't have time to dig him out. Lou would save the others, knowing Derek would put a timer on the device.

Lou would have to take the launch and get to the s.h.i.+p in order to preserve the lives of the other hunters before the whole island went up.

It would be perfect. One b.u.t.ton push of the remote, kaboom, end of demons.

End of him.

End of him and Gina.

Dammit. His insides churned. He missed her already, didn't want to let her go.

But he had to. He had had to do this! His own wants didn't matter. to do this! His own wants didn't matter.

'Derek!' Gina whipped around the corner and threw her arms around him.

s.h.i.+t, she was really making this a lot harder. 'Gina, don't.'

'You don't understand!' She pulled a piece of crumpled paper out of her pocket and shook it in front of his face. 'Look at this!'

He opened the paper and scanned what looked like a fax. His blood heated as he read the words on the page.

Ben: Nic has returned to Sydney. Thought you'd want to know your son finally made his way home. Will see you at the house as planned. know your son finally made his way home. Will see you at the house as planned.

'Where did you get this?'

'In the room with all the office machines.'

There was no name on the fax, no indication where it came from, and no originating fax number printed on the paper. But it was addressed to Ben. And though he read the words, it didn't seem real. Could this really be Nic? It had to be! His brother DominicNic was alive. After all these years, what he'd hoped for was true. His mind swirled with the possibilities.

Ben had been so cryptic, but this was living proof that Nic was still around. In Australia. At some kind of house, which meant aboveground? It had to be.

'That's your brother, right?'

'Yeah.' He rubbed his finger over his forehead and read the words again. They'd been so close when they were kids.

'You have to find him, Derek.'

Derek tore his gaze away from the paper and stared at Gina, his mind a jumbled mess of contradicting thoughts. He had to blow these tunnels, had to eliminate the demons and himself in the process. But what about Nic? Could he die knowing his brother was still out there somewhere?