Surviving Demon Island Part 33

'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?

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.