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pulled to a stop beside Crocker’s sister’s cabin. When Luc stepped out of the SUV, an oppressive blanket of terror and death almost took him to his knees. He slanted Rice a glance. “Looks like Earl’s gotten a head start on his... fun ?”
    “If the guy were a half-breed like Farley, I’d say they were twins.”
    “Yeah, twins like DeVito and Schwarzenegger.” He snorted. “Let’s hope the healer’s alive. If she isn’t, I get Earl.”
    “I can smell her life force.” Rice’s nostrils twitched. “Strong but quiescent. Protect her. I’ll take care of the bastard.”
    “You’re a regular saint.” Luc sneered, secretly relieved. He didn’t need the burden of another death laid on his soul. Not right now. Let the do-gooder daemon kill off these bastards.
    Maybe if he saved the healer, found the blasted princess, and returned Allana to Otherworld unharmed, it would lessen his penance before the guardian at Summerland’s pearly gates.
    Yeah, like it would make a difference given the length and volume of his sins. He gave a mental shrug. It didn’t matter. He planned to leave this plane of existence once he completed this final mission. Here was hoping Druid beliefs were correct, that death was merely a point of change in perpetual existence. Unfortunately, if they were wrong, by ending his own life he would erase his soul from the timeline of future lives. At this point, never to feel or to have to experience such deep-seated anguish again wasn’t a bad alternative.
    Luc, I’m about fifty feet in from the tree line with the bodies. Get rid of the bastard guarding the healer.
    Rice said she’s okay. You agree?
    Yes, for now. The rage inside the creature guarding her is close to escaping. He may not know it, but somewhere in his family’s past, a daemon mated with a norm .
    Luc elbowed Rice and nodded toward the woods. “Fritz is waiting over there with the other two.” As they stepped onto the porch, a loose board creaked. Fuck, there went the element of surprise.
    The door banged opened. Earl stood in the doorway, an old Ruger Model 44 aimed at Rice’s head. “’bout time ya got here.”
    At the doorway, Luc sniffed, unable to hide his scowl as he inhaled the sour mix of blood, urine, and death. “You kill someone?”
    “The husband. The bitch saved the girl and sent her and the ma somewhere. Don’t know where.” He studied the yard. “Expect company right soon, though. The kid’s ma ain’t gonna keep quiet. She’ll run her mouth and then we’ll have the militia on our asses.” He moved back as they entered.
    “Sonuvabitch. You’ve single handily screwed this in-and-out operation.” Luc scanned the room. His lips tightened at the sight of the healer secured on the bed, her left eye swollen. The hot pounding of his heart blazed at the delicate woman’s damage. He gritted his teeth to keep from launching at Earl and finishing him there and then. His gaze met Rice’s as they both surveyed the damage. The daemon’s brown eyes turned black with their flickers of red, boiling rage had bypassed simmer without a pause.
    Luc faced Earl. “She put up a fight?” He needed to hear him say the words, needed the time to control the darkness bubbling so close to the surface.
    “Nah. One tap on the head and she was out. Hogtied the gal after roughin’ her up a bit. Farley don’t care what we do, just wants her breathin’ when we dump her at his feet.” Earl moved to the doorway with Rice and glanced back to the bed, then to Luc. “That gal’s got some serious magick. Feared she’d join the kid and her ma, so I col’ cocked her.”
    He didn’t doubt subduing her wasn’t all Earl had in mind. Fortunately, they had arrived in time to curtail further violence.
    Luc eased past him, careful not to allow Earl’s black aura, riddled with gray lesions, to touch and further soil his already decrepit soul. He turned from Earl and scanned the cabin. “Where’s the husband.”
    “In the shed.