Part 33 (2/2)

And in what condition? Was Nic human or demon? There was so much they still didn't know.

G.o.dd.a.m.n, he needed answers.

'You can't die,' Gina urged. 'You have to find him. You have to go to Sydney.'

'Nic's a demon.' He had to be. No way could Nic have lived with Ben, with the rest of the demons all these years, and not be. That's why Ben had taken him. That's what his father had wanted, to turn both his sons and make them like him.

Gina squeezed his arm and shook her head. 'But what if he's not? What if Nic never knew about his demon side, or managed to fight it off like you have?'

'You're grasping at straws, Gina.' It pained him even to think about it. For all these years it had been so much easier to imagine the demons had killed his little brother, not that he had become one of them. 'You and Lou and the rest of the hunters can find him and take care of him. I can't risk it.'

But just saying the words hurt inside. Just to see Nic again brought him hope. And what if Gina was right? What if Nic had found a way? What if Nic wasn't a demon? What if he didn't even know about the Sons of Darkness? He hadn't been down here with Ben. He hadn't been part of allthis.

'You don't know that for certain, Derek. If Dominic is anything like you, he's tough and a fighter. What if he's resisted? What if there's hope for you, too? I won't let you give up yet.'

He looked down at her and his heart squeezed. G.o.d, he wanted to believe. 'And what if Nic is just like my father?'

'And what if he's not?' she argued, desperation hardening her voice. 'You don't know, do you? Isn't it worth staying alive to find out?'

He swept the back of his hand along the softness of her cheek. Her hope was like a beacon, and for the first time since Ben told him what he was, Derek allowed himself to feel a small drop of that optimism. Yes, there was darkness within him, but he'd lived all his life with demon blood running through him and somehow managed to fight its effects. Surely he could hang on long enough to find Nic and figure out whether he, too, had kept it at bay, or whether he'd accepted the Sons of Darkness.

Could he kill his brother? He'd have to if Nic had embraced the evil inside him. And then he'd take care of himself, too.

But in the meantime, Gina was right. Now wasn't the time.

'Let's go.' He took Gina's arm.

'You're going with me, right?' she asked as they moved through the pa.s.sageway.

He looked at her, at the light that seemed to glow from within her. She was his hope, his goodness. Her love would give him strength to fight the darkness. He paused for a second and realized what he'd just thought. G.o.d help him, he'd almost become poetic. Christ, that would have to stop.

He allowed his lips to quirk in a half smile. 'Yeah, baby, I'm going with you.'

Chapter Twenty-Four.

O nboard s.h.i.+p, Derek closeted himself with Lou in one of the cabins. Lou listened while Derek revealed what he had thought about doing. nboard s.h.i.+p, Derek closeted himself with Lou in one of the cabins. Lou listened while Derek revealed what he had thought about doing.

Lou leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest. 'Why would you want to die?'

'I'm a G.o.dd.a.m.ned demon, Lou!' Jesus, didn't anything rattle the man?

'You are still the same man you were before, just with more knowledge. You didn't give in to the evil, you didn't join your father. Instead, you fought the beast inside yourself and came out stronger. I'd say you had a good day.'

'For Christ's sake, Lou. It wasn't wasn't a good day. It was a s.h.i.+tty day. I could have killed Gina. h.e.l.l, I could have killed you or any of the other hunters. And frankly, I expected more from you.' a good day. It was a s.h.i.+tty day. I could have killed Gina. h.e.l.l, I could have killed you or any of the other hunters. And frankly, I expected more from you.'

'Like what? You want me to be afraid of you now? You want me to be shocked that you're a demon? Or perhaps you want me to kill you.'

Maybe he expected just that. For Lou to take the decision out of his hands. 'I don't know. Maybe.'

Lou smiled. 'Not today, son. Not tomorrow, either. I know you. Sometimes better than you know yourself. I know your strengths and your weaknesses. I've pushed you harder than you ever pushed yourself, and I know your limits. I also know what you are capable of doingand not doing. You could no more kill Gina than you could kill me.'

Derek looked at the floor, threading his fingers through his hair. 'You have no idea how close I came. The urges inside me, they were so intense. The darkness, the hunger. I wanted toG.o.d, Lou, it scares me how much I wanted to hurt her.'

'But you didn't, did you? You battled it back, you controlled it. Have you taken the time to a.n.a.lyze your reactions, as I taught you?'

'a.n.a.lyze? h.e.l.l, the last thing I want to do is think about it. I want to bury it and pretend it doesn't exist.'

'And you know that's the wrong thing to do. Do what I trained you to do.'

Sometimes he hated Lou. Especially when he was right. 'I don't know. I was kind of too busy for any self-psychoa.n.a.lyzing.'

Lou's lips lifted. 'Then do it now.'

Derek straddled the chair across from Lou and scrubbed his hand over his face. How did did he feel about it? 'I was instrumental in the death of my own father, and yet thatthing wasn't my dad. I didn't feel a blood connection to Ben. Working with Gina to kill him felt like destroying a demon. Like any of the other demons I've killed. Should I feel so G.o.dd.a.m.ned dispa.s.sionate about it?' he feel about it? 'I was instrumental in the death of my own father, and yet thatthing wasn't my dad. I didn't feel a blood connection to Ben. Working with Gina to kill him felt like destroying a demon. Like any of the other demons I've killed. Should I feel so G.o.dd.a.m.ned dispa.s.sionate about it?'

Lou shrugged. 'Yes, I think you should. You never looked on Ben as a father figure. Why would you? Even as a child he never represented a parent to you. And meeting him down there and being told he was your father is no different from being introduced to a human male you had never met as a child and being told that man was your father. You had no emotional ties to Ben. Ben was a demon. Killing him should have no profound impact on you.'

'Well, that's good to know.'

'And what about the power inside you?'

'I can feel it surging through me. But I can control it now. It's almost as if I have the ability to summon it at will. It's manageable.' At least for the moment, anyway. How long would that last?

'Good. Then quit worrying. You did what you had to do. You fought the demon side of yourself and came out on top. What happened to you down there has given you strength and power. Harness it and figure out how to use it to fight them. You've become a powerful enemy to the Sons of Darkness. That's a very good thing to the Realm of Light.'

'But what if I can't control it at some point? What if I feel it slipping?'

'Then talk to me, and I'll help you. You forget you're not alone anymore, Derek. And you haven't been for a while now. You have always had me and the other hunters. Your brothers and sisters. Now you have Gina. Draw your strength from us and let us help you.'

Derek felt the warmth and affection that he'd never allowed himself to feel before. He supposed he had Gina to thank for that. Now he recognized that Lou had been more of a father to him over the years than Ben had ever been. He nodded, grateful for the comfort he had needed more than he could ever express.

'Thanks. I need to go blow up the tunnels now.'

Lou's lips quirked. 'All in a day's work for a demon hunter, my boy.'

Gina leaned against the railing of the s.h.i.+p and looked at the island, waiting for Derek to push the b.u.t.ton that would obliterate the rest of the demons. The sun rose, a perfect pink backdrop against the emerald green hills and crystal blue waters. Such picturesque beauty above, such ugliness below.

They'd found no more demons in the tunnels, tracking them back for about a mile. Then they were blocked off. Had the demons cut them off? Or had they appeared right where the tunnels ended?

More mysteries they didn't have time to solve. Either way, Derek and Lou wanted the demon underground on the island destroyed.

'You ready?' Derek asked, looking down at her with a half smile.

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