Jaci Burton - Taken by Sin

And as always, to Charlie, for his love and patience.

Acknowledgments

To my agent, Kimberly Whalen, for her patient assistance with this book and my general hysteria.

To my editor, Shauna Summers, and to Jessica Sebor, for editorial guidance. I appreciate all youve done for this series.

To the Writeminded Readers Group, for my daily dose of fun and where everybody knows my name. Heh. You guys rock.

To all those who put up with me, whove shared my love and angst about the demon world and the writing world in general-Lara Adrian, Steph Tyler, Larissa Ione, Maya Banks, Jackie Kessler, Lauren Dane and, as always, to Angie, Mel, Shan, and Mandy

SICILY, ITALY

Hell was chasing them.

Dalton should stay and fight-there was only one mission occupying his world right now-save Isabelle. The only way he could do that was to get her out of here, away from the demons.

Away from hell.

As he jammed the accelerator and steered the SUV full-speed away from the cemetery he caught sight of the blue lines of laser fire in his rearview mirror. They wanted to kill her. His own people. He couldnt let that happen.

His gut clenched. He was part of the Realm of Light, demon hunters sworn to defeat the Sons of Darkness and their demon minions. He should be back there, fighting. His brothers and sisters of the Realm were right now engaged in battle with demons, and he was deserting them, running off with the woman hed been assigned to terminate.

There was so much fucked-up about this scenario. Hed never walked away from a fight before.

But he had something more important to do. Instinct told him this was the right thing-the only thing he could do, given the circumstances.

He glanced over at Isabelle slumped over in the passenger seat. A woman he barely knew, yet he was screwing his entire future for her-okay mostly for her. Unconscious, her head resting against the window, she looked so innocent, almost angelic. Her hair fell in soft waves over her shoulders; her lips were half open as she breathed rhythmically. Her hands rested in her lap. There was no fight left in her-unlike a short while ago when shed battled like a demon.

Because she was a demon. Half demon, anyway, and a part of the Sons of Darkness.

Dalton had been ordered to destroy her, and he couldnt do it. Which was why he was heading away from the battle instead of standing side by side with the other hunters. Hed been told to remove Isabelle from the scene because her sister, Angelique, was there, and Lou, the Realms leader, didnt want Angelique to witness Isabelles destruction.

Lou had ordered Dalton to take Isabelle away and kill her.

But how could he? He was responsible for much of what had happened to her. Hed started this chain of events that had led to Isabelles downfall. Hed handled it all badly, from the time he stole her diary, to making love to her when he shouldnt have. It hadnt been part of his mission, yet hed found her irresistible.

Hell, he hadnt wanted to resist. Thered been something about her that called to his dark side. Now he knew why. It still didnt excuse what hed done.

When he fucked up, he fucked up big, didnt he?

So instead of terminating her, he was ignoring Lous orders, taking Isabelle away, abandoning the Realm of Light.

All to save Isabelle.

He could never go back to the Realm now. Theyd come looking for him and Isabelle. Theyd want to destroy her, to do the job he couldnt. She represented a danger to the Realm. Yeah, there were other half demons within the Realm, but they had proven they could control the demon side of themselves. The others had never taken that step into darkness like she had. Isabelle had embraced the demon within her, had tried to kill her sister, Angelique. Isabelle had sided with the Sons of Darkness. To the Realm of Light, she was nothing more than another demon now.

To Dalton, she was more. He didnt understand it all himself, but as soon as Lou had given him the order, hed known it was wrong. For a second back there when hed stood in front of Isabelle, shed changed. Hed seen the human side of her warring with the demon side. In an instant, hed known.

She was just like him. Straddling both light and darkness. Hed seen her look of helplessness, the pleading in her eyes. What he would have given for someone to offer him a second chance all those years ago. It might have made a difference in the turn of events, the direction of his destiny. Now he had the chance to offer Isabelle what he hadnt been. And at that moment hed known hed do whatever it took to bring the human part of her back.

Now he just had to stay one step ahead of the Realm, had to keep the two of them moving and in hiding long enough to come up with a plan to save her. If he could bring Isabelles humanity back before the Realm of Light caught up with them, theyd never hurt her. Hed prove to them that the demon inside her had been banished.

Isabelle stirred, moaned, reached up to her temple with her fingertips.

Isabelle?

He was prepared to pull over, had a weapon at his side. He hoped he wouldnt have to use it.

Her eyes drifted open. She frowned, angled her face in his direction, then looked at him like she had no idea who he was.

Are you all right? he asked.

She opened her mouth, her bottom lip trembling. Her gaze drifted to the laser lying across his lap. Her eyes widened and he saw recognition in them. She snapped her gaze to his.

Tears filled her eyes. She shook her head, shrank against the window.

Im not going to hurt you, Isabelle. Im taking you away from all of this. From them. Do you understand?

She drew her arms across her chest as if to ward off an attack.

Shit.

Dalton pulled over to the side of the darkened country road. He put the car in park and half turned in the seat, sliding the laser to his left side, out of her sight but still in reach. He didnt know yet whether he could trust her. Her eyes were clear-human clear-but he knew from experience that could change in an instant.

I needed to get you away from there. Do you remember what happened?

She studied him for a few seconds, then gave a quick nod.

Were going to get out of here. Just you and me. And then were going to figure it all out. Im going to fix this. Understand?

She looked so petrified he wanted to fold her in his arms and comfort her. That would be such a bad move right now. Or ever.

Im scared, Dalton.

Isabelle had always been so strong and confident. Now? Lost. Broken. Confused. Her voice, ragged and soft, cut through him like a blade. I know. Ill take care of you. Trust me.

She shuddered out a sigh. Her lids drifted and her body sagged. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back against the seat.

In less than a minute, she was out again. Obviously, this had all been too much for her to process. But at least she hadnt gone demon on him again. A good sign.

Now he really had to get moving. He mentally processed the To Do list-fake passports, a private flight, access to cash, and making sure their whereabouts werent tracked. The Realm had their fingers in everything, so hed have to be careful not to leave traces. He was good at hiding his identity.

Hed already been doing that for a long damn time. He could do it for a few more months.

NEW ORLEANS

Two weeks later

Dalton felt more at home in the bayou than anywhere else. Moss providing a drapery of darkness, the dank smell of stagnant water, the humidity and the feeling of being closed in all suited his nature. Well-hidden, a place where no one could find him. No one knew about this place, no one would connect him here, so he knew it was safe to bring Isabelle.