Daederich cursed as a large bullet was pulled out of the bone in his thigh. The hunter playing doctor wasn’t gentle, smirked every time Daederich made a sound, and hadn’t said a word since he’d pulled out the scalpel. Daederich had tried to bite his tongue at first, but fuck these pretentious assholes. He hadn’t asked them to bring him here.

He had to go back. Lydia was still alive. Still with Cyrus.

And getting her away from him wouldn’t be easy.

The hunter who’d pulled him out of the line of fire stepped into the room, nodding to the ‘doctor’ as he dropped the last bullet in the trashcan by the bed. Once he’d left, Daederich faced his rescuer. The man was young, almost as tall as Daederich, but lean. And he wasn’t immortal. Daederich wasn’t quite sure what the man was. He had dark brown eyes with the same cold stare of every hunter.

Every one except Elah. Elah whose death was on Daederich. He should have reacted faster. Should have stopped Rosali. He’d assumed she’d enjoyed toying with Elah too much to end his life so suddenly, but she’d used him as one final way to break Lydia. One that might have been more efficient than anything Cyrus had ever done.

“They still haven’t found her…” Shit, Daederich hadn’t gotten the man’s name.

“Jase. And no, but the man she stabbed lived, so those still looking might not kill her when they do.” Jase’s jaw ticked. “She could be free now. Why save Cyrus?”

Bringing his hand up to rub his face, Daederich sighed. “I don’t know. He’s had her for months. There’s no telling what he did to her.”

“He can’t be controlling her.”

“Can’t he? Don’t you train your hunters to endure torture for that exact reason? So pain can’t be used to manipulate them?” Daederich eyed the IV bag hanging from a nail in the wall next to his temporary bed. The last of the blood coated the sides of the tube. He jerked the needle out of the vein in his inner wrist. “She’s tough, but she’s endured so much. And she’s desperate to protect my son. Cyrus knows exactly how to get inside her head.”

“So do you.” The hunter pulled up a chair, turning it backward before straddling it. “You might be pissed that I dragged you here, but you’ve had time to heal. You won’t be a liability when we send a team to take them both. You can force her to cooperate.”

“Not unless I have no other choice.” Daederich pushed off the bed, reaching for the clean black shirt and jeans the ‘doctor’ had left for him. Now all he needed was to get his hands on a weapon. “I can feel her, but faintly. I won’t be able to track her down.”

“You won’t need to. We’ll find them the same way we found the mansion.” Jase grinned when Daederich glanced over at him. “Cyrus has been a target for a very long time. One of our contacts spotted him in the area, so I set up shop a few weeks ago, hoping to catch his attention. Our intel says I’m his type.”

Daederich grunted. Cyrus’s type was anyone who’d make his sick games interesting. The hunter must have played his role very well. Most hunters didn’t have what they considered weaknesses. Pain didn’t faze a hunter, so Cyrus wouldn’t have had much fun with this one. For a mortal, Jase was as impervious as the rest. Sure, the guy was easy on the eyes, but looking at him now, Daederich couldn’t figure out why Cyrus would have even noticed the hunter. Not when there was more ‘entertaining’ prey out there.

“So he just picked you out of the crowd because you’re cute?”

“No.” Jase folded his arms over his chest. An oddly defensive posture. “She did.”

Inhaling slowly, Daederich leveled his gaze with the hunter’s. “She chose you.”

The hunter inclined his head. “He forced her to pick someone to play with for the night. I assume she figured I was more expendable than the sweet young lovers strolling around the park—I could tell she didn’t want to choose at all. But I was alone. Suitably pathetic.”

“She wouldn’t have looked at you that way. But she might have considered your life less valuable than my son’s.”

“I would have told her he was safe—as I told you when I pulled you off that stage.” Jase gave Daederich a hard look, as though to make sure Daederich believed him. Daederich wouldn’t be here if he didn’t. He motioned for the man to go on. “But the priority was tracking Cyrus.”

“You could have killed him that night.”

“And lost the chance to eliminate a dozen fuckers just as bad—if not worse—than him.” Jase sighed. “I know Cyrus seems like the ultimate evil to you, but he’s just another monster. He will die. This is nothing but a delay.”

A…delay. Daederich went still. He closed his eyes. Saw Elah, wasting away, forcing Daederich to cut off his hand in a last desperate attempt to free them all. Saw him dragged onto that stage for the last time, his final moments nothing but pain, more pain Daederich had given him because there was no way out.

Only, there had been a way.

Elah’s own people had known exactly where they were.

They’d been in the crowd.

Waiting.

He stepped up to Jase and cracked his fist into the hunter’s jaw. Jase hit the wall. The door opened. Two hunters rushed at Daederich.

Jase held a hand up and they stopped. He didn’t even glance over at them. “Leave us.”

The door clicked shut as Daederich glared at Jase, ready to hit him again.

“I wouldn’t. The first one’s free.” Jase rubbed his jaw. “The next will cost you.”

“Elah is dead.” Daederich snarled, grabbing the front of Jase’s shirt. “Because of you. You could have saved him.”

Blood trickled from the corner of Jase’s mouth. Dripped off his chin onto Daederich’s arm. The hunter didn’t seem to notice. And he didn’t try to pull away.

“I know.” Jase’s stoic expression cracked. Just for a split second, but Daederich could see the pain in the man’s eyes, even after he schooled his features. “I could have saved him if I’d come sooner. If the priority hadn’t been saving your son because Elah wouldn’t have cooperated if we’d tried to extract him without securing the boy first. I could have saved him if those girls weren’t in the way. He taught me to put the protection of the most vulnerable above my own life. Above his. The man who was my mentor, who was the closest fucking thing I had to family, ensured I’d make the same damn choice he would have and I will regret that until the day I die.” He let out a cold laugh. “But it doesn’t matter because I’m a hunter and I do the fucking job I was trained to do. All that matters is that you lost him. And I’m very sorry.”

Releasing Jase, Daederich backed away, shaking his head. “I’m grateful that you got my son out of harm’s way, but you fucking hunters… Elah mattered. His life was worth something.”

“After what you did to him?” Jase’s tone went cold. “I doubt he felt the same.”

“I had no choice.”

“You could have kept your promise. But you didn’t.” Jase’s lips slanted. “And that’s something you’ll have to live with.” Jase leaned close, speaking low. “I hope it haunts you. I hope you spend every damn night with visions of what you put him through in the back of your mind.”

A chill slid down Daederich’s spine. He clenched his jaw, refusing to retreat any further. “If you hate me so much, why let me live?”

“Because this is all I can give him. You, her, and the boy.” Jase lifted his shoulders and headed for the door. “He died because he thought you were worth giving up everything he’d worked for. I plan to make sure it wasn’t a complete waste.” He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “But I’m still a ‘fucking hunter’. If you can’t get her away from Cyrus, if she puts any of my men at risk—”

“She won’t.”

Jase hesitated, then shrugged. “You have the power to make sure she doesn’t. Whether you use it or not is up to you. Be ready to go in fifteen.”

“I’m ready now.” Daederich didn’t want to wait. If he could find Lydia on his own, he’d leave. Ahead of the hunters. Give her some warning.

But there was no way to do that without alerting Cyrus as well.

“Fifteen minutes.” Jase smirked, as though reading Daederich’s uncertainty. And taking pleasure in it. “You might not want to mention Elah in front of the other hunters. They’re not as nice as I am.”

After Jase walked out, Daederich glared at the door, resisting the urge to go after the man. Maybe punch him again. He punched the wall instead, absorbing the sharp pain slashing up from his knuckles into his arm. Again and blood smeared the wall. Again and something inside him shattered.

He choked back the broken sound that tried to escape, refusing to give the hunters another reason to mock him. He was trapped, no better off, no more in control, than he’d been in his cell. Lydia’s life was in danger and he was powerless to help her. He’d have one chance to get through to her, but what would she see when she looked at him?

She’d see the man who’d raped Elah.

Who’d severed his hand.

Who’d whipped him bloody moments before he died.

He’d promised her she’d be free.

He’d promised Elah he’d kill him rather than let him be captured.

He’d made so many fucking promises.

All absolutely worthless.

Forcing himself into Lydia’s mind was one more thing he’d promised never to do again. He’d already lost her trust. Maybe he’d never deserved it in the first place. Any more than he’d deserved her love.

But whatever he had to do, he’d make sure she survived this.

He’d take her hatred over having nothing at all.