Page 7 of Knight’s Absolution

The last place Roc had seen his female.

Rocco lay back beside an air-conditioning unit, one arm under his head, the other holding one of his knives, spinning and catching it over and over. He looked even rougher than the night before. But at least he’d showered and changed his demon-blood-soaked clothes.

Rocco’s navy blue eyes slid to him when he landed. “Back so soon?”

Gunner shrugged, tucked in his wings, and sat beside his brother. “Chaos still wants you home…”

“No.” Rocco spun the blade again.

“Told him as much. Where you been staying?”

“Got somewhere nearby.”

Gunner leaned against the heavy steel behind him and rested his forearms on his knees. “Do you…have you sensed her at all?” Gunner usually tried to avoid talking about Kyler, but it wasn’t as if talking about her could make things worse. Who knew, maybe it would help?

His brother's throat worked. “No…yes.” He shoved his fingers through his overgrown hair. “Fucked if I know. Sometimes, I think I do…but only when I’m asleep.”

Gunner stilled. “What happens? You see her, hear her, what?”

He fisted his hair roughly, his breathing growing ragged. His eyes darkened, black swallowing the blue of his irises, his demon showing through.

“We don’t need to talk about it, Roc.”

“I can’t,” he growled out.

Gunner stayed where he was, sitting in silence with his brother.

No, they didn’t need to talk.

Wherever this pair of demons were going, they were in a hurry. Gunner glanced over at Rocco. His brother hadn’t needed any convincing to hunt with him tonight, and he’d taken it as a good sign.

But looking at him now, Gunner wasn’t so sure.

Roc’s eyes were all predator, black and focused on their prey. The skin over his face was taut and lined, at odd angles, as if his Kishi demon was right there below the surface ready to explode through.

“You solid?” Gunner asked as they flew above the two leathren demons.

He gave him a sharp nod. “Something’s not right.”

Roc was right. Leathren preferred their own company. Two together like this was unusual. They fed off other people’s pain and suffering. They were scavengers in Hell, absorbing the screams and cries of the damned. On Earth, they followed pain and suffering wherever they could find it. But they weren’t known to share.

There had to be suffering close by, and for these demons to willingly put up with each other, the payoff—feeding off the suffering of whoever was providing these fuckers with their dinner—had to be big, which meant someone was in some serious pain.

Roc slipped his blade free, angling his body, preparing to swoop down.

“Wait,” Gunner said. “Someone could need our help. You kill these demons now, we might not be able to find them.”

Rocco growled low but did as Gunner asked. A month ago, hell, a week ago, there would have been no stopping him. He would have already questioned, tortured, and slaughtered both demons as soon as he’d seen them, convinced they might know something about his female.

So far, his efforts to learn anything about Kyler and what had become of her in Hell had been fruitless.

They turned onto a street. It was a swank part of town, lots of mini-mansions and big yards. An empty lot was up ahead, and the demons picked up pace when they saw it. They headed toward a cordoned-off mound of topsoil and—

Vanished.

“Fuck.” Things had been quiet since they’d raided a warehouse—a fucking prison—a few months ago. Gunner and his brothers had freed a bunch of demi-demons being held against their will by a powerful demon on Diemos’s payroll. Somehow the current ruler of Hell was communicating with the demons here on Earth, and he and his army had abducted demi to exploit their powers, to use them as weapons, to help grow his army and have them ready and waiting when Diemos finally escaped Hell and took over Earth.

Grace, Chaos’s mate, had been one of those demi, and if it wasn’t for her little goth friend, Grace would probably still be a prisoner. The other female had helped Grace escape, and then she’d texted with details of where to find the rest of the demi who had been abducted.