Immortals After Dark 10 - Demon From the Dark

she hadn't. "Um, it's a peninsula of land."
    "You're gonna make traps?" Ruby asked with wide eyes. "Can I see?"
    "Honey, I'm sure he'll be busy."
    "The child can come with me."
    "She doesn't have to go, Malkom. It could be dangerous."
    He glowered. "I would never let her get hurt."
    "I know that." She trusted him implicitly, especially after he'd gotten her safely back to Carrow last night, a miracle in itself. "I just--"
    "We will be back in an hour or so." He motioned for Ruby, who ran to him so fast she almost forgot her rain jacket.
    Carrow wasn't invited? Leaving the little lady back at the homestead? Bite your tongue. She forced a smile that made him frown again.
    At the doorway, he paused and asked over his shoulder, "Do you need anything?"
    You. Being loving again. "I'm good for now." When they left, she glanced around the cabin.
    I wonder if I can fit in that tub.

Chapter37

    Information. He wanted it and thought the girl could give it to him--though he hadn't encountered a child in centuries and had no idea how to deal with one.
    But how difficult could it be?
    As he strode down a natural trail, she jogged to keep up, out of breath, yet still chattering. She reminded him of the witch in Oblivion, talking to herself as they'd hiked to his mine.
    What doesn't remind me of the witch? He'd spent the morning fruitlessly searching for a more defensible position, all the while thinking about Carrow until he'd wondered if he could go mad from it.
    In his dank mine, Malkom had stared at her for hours, trying to determine what she reflected on when her eyes had grown soft. He'd found it so damned exciting to be with her. Rewarding.
    Now what he felt for her was so raw it frightened him.
    "Find a place to sit," he told the girl. "I'm digging here." A pit trap would do nicely on this path.
    If not for the concentrated number of immortal enemies, he'd have considered this island a good place to live. Mist cloaked the sun, and even if it emerged as it had the day of his capture, Malkom could keep beneath the cover of trees. The vast forest surrounding them teemed with animals, sluggish creatures that seemed to go out of their way to be seized. Even more jumped in the water, taunting him to catch them.
    Already, he'd drunk more blood than he would have over several days in Oblivion....
    The child sat on a root that grew above the ground. "Why're you digging there?"
    "Good place for a trap. So others cannot get to the ... peninsula. "
    "Why?"
    "Anyone who wants to come to the house will have to walk on either this path or one other."
    "Why?"
    Ignoring her questions, he began shoveling. "So tell me about Carrow--"
    "You really can't swim? What's your job? You look like a fireman." Her eyes lit up. "Firemen have deaf dogs." She sighed. "I want a dog."
    She must have caught her breath. Malkom tried to keep up with her words, growing more alarmed by her each second. "Ruby," he said, injecting a note of sternness into his tone. "I want you to answer some questions about Carrow. Does she have a man?"
    "Like a boyfriend? Crow's got tons of boyfriends. They're always coming around the coven."
    He clenched the shovel handle, just preventing himself from rendering it to dust. I will put their heads on pikes.
    "Crow's one of the most beautiful witches we've got in our coven." Getting a sly look about her, Ruby said, "You think she's pretty, too."
    "She is"-- beyond compare --"appealing enough," he said. "Do others think well of her?" Or was she as hated as he'd been?
    "Everybody loves her because she's fun. Everybody wants to be friends with her."
    Malkom knew how much fun she was. He'd seen her disrobing for hundreds of males, was certain any one of them would want to befriend her.
    He stabbed the shovel down. "How long have you known her?"
    "I've known Crow forever. She's always bringing me things," she said. "But she's rutterless."
    "What does that mean?" he asked, astonished when water began to trickle up from the bottom of his hole. 'Twas everywhere here. Malkom was beginning to love this place of plenty.
    When he was young he'd wanted three things. A home that no one could ever force him to leave. As much food and water as he could ever enjoy. To be noble and respected like Kallen.
    Here he could satisfy at least two of those desires.
    "It means she didn't have anything," the girl said, then added proudly, "Not until me."
    Malkom began to put it together. Carrow's own parents had treated her so callously that the idea of