Free The Hunter by Theresa Meyers Page A

that connects to this one.” He pointed at the shifting dust clouds. “There’s still air flowing this way.”
    He offered the demon his hand to help her from the ground. She stared at it for an instant, then took it reluctantly. “So what’s behind the door we’re looking for?”
    He gave her a sly grin. “Good try.” He took off his hat and dusted it, then patted himself down coughing at the dust that billowed up from his clothes.
     
     
    Lilly huffed. While she could understand that he didn’t trust her any more than she trusted him, it galled her all the same. It was difficult at best to find something when you knew what you were looking for, but damned near impossible when you didn’t. Until they found that door she wasn’t going to get any closer to escaping Rathe.
    “You know, I have different senses you don’t. If I knew what we were looking for, I might be actually able to help you find it faster.”
    “You mean you’d find it faster with or without me.”
    “That’s not what—”
    Colt whirled, grasping her in a firm but gentle, no-nonsense grip on her upper arms. The coil illuminator still in his hand threw light up toward the ceiling, giving an eerie uplit cast to his rugged features, and exposing the dark stubble growing thicker on his jaw and chin. He pulled her close enough to him that her breasts brushed his chest. “Coy doesn’t become you. I know you’re smarter than that just by looking at you.”
    Her skin and hair were coated with a fine powdering of dust leaving them feeling gritty. Beneath the hems of her skirt, her bruised knees throbbed. They’d gotten scraped and her fishnet stockings torn on the rough floor of the cavern when the blast had propelled her forward. As succubi went, she was sure she looked like hell.
    Lilly tried to pull back from his magnetic touch. It was causing small sparks to fire just under her skin in a most distracting manner. Despite her own misgivings, she wanted him to kiss her again. Not because of some pact, but out of pure desire.
    She wet her lips, tasting the dust that lingered on them. “We have a pact. I’m going to help you find whatever it is you are looking for by opening this door you’re seeking.”
    “True. But that doesn’t mean you’ll forget the pact you’ve made with your master either, does it?”
    “ You summoned me , remember?”
    The thumb of his right hand brushed over her upper arm in a slow back-and-forth skimming movement that tightened her skin in an all over body shiver.
    “Just look for the door and you’ll find out what’s behind it the same time I do. Deal?”
    Exactly how annoyed would he be when he discovered that she already knew. And how quickly would he renege on his promise to let her go free or, more importantly, help her disappear once he knew she wanted the piece of the Book of Legend as much as he did?
    “Fine. I’ll stop asking.”
    “Good.”
    Colt dropped his hands from her, making her feel noticeably cooler. He pulled the map out of his pocket where he’d stuffed it and shook it out.
    “Looks like there’s another branch in the shaft up ahead.”
    Lilly peered over his shoulder at the page. “How much farther?” His long, blunt-tipped finger ran along a crooked line following it across the page.
    “Another mile, maybe mile and a half. The map isn’t exactly to scale. Winn said when the temperature got warmer, we’d be getting close.”
    Not surprising. If the crudely drawn compass points in the corner were anywhere close to true, they were headed south, closer to the rim of the Darkin realm, rather than away from it. No wonder the Scoria had been waiting for them. They might as well have danced right across the welcome mat to Hell itself.
    “I suppose you’ll want these back now,” she said, holding the saddle packs out to him. Colt slung them over his shoulder, turned on his heel without a word of thanks and started walking.
     
     
    At the next turn, the trail descended steeply, and a