Nik tightened his grip, preventing her escape, too aware of a very feminine body pressed up against him. The scent of wildflowers with a hint of woodsmoke crowded his nose—
It was her.
Five months had passed since she’d fled from the castle, and he hadn’t seen hide nor hair of her. And here she was. Finally, he would find out who—what the hell she was—and why she pulled such a visceral reaction from him. He swung her around, keeping her wrists cuffed.
“Lemme go!”
Her husky voice crawled through him, searing his mind once more.
Despite the hoodie blocking her face, he could clearly see another ugly purple contusion marring her jaw, and the bruise he’d seen months ago made sense. Not abused, just doing shit she damn well shouldn’t. “You’re hurt.”
“Hitting the wall face-first during a fight, it’s gonna happen,” she retorted, tugging at her hands again. “Let me go, you inked weasel!”
He studied her delicate chin and flat mouth. “Not until we’ve had a little chat.”
She continued to fight him, trying to break free of his iron-clad grip. At this rate, she’d cause more bruises to herself.
“Stop fighting me.” He hardened his tone and tightened his hold fractionally, making his point. “You won’t escape, but you will hurt yourself. Explain why you ran from the castle?”
A low, very feminine snarl erupted. “I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. I didn’t run. I simply left.” The next second, she moved, her knee shot up—
Fuuuck! Pain exploded. Nik stumbled back, agony shredding his balls. She took off across the roof and dropped from the edge of the building in a free fall.
Struggling to inhale air back into his lungs, Nik dematerialized and went after the little terror, anger, and lust warring in him. When he got his hands on her, he would—
He stopped dead. The sloped rooftop of the shorter building below was empty. Nothing moved, not even the vermin in the dark silent alley.
Again, she’d disappeared like the damn breeze.
I likesss her, his usually silent, serpent companion suddenly hissed.
“Shut up,” Nik muttered.
Her heart in her mouth, Shadow hid under the eave of the lower warehouse roof. After several minutes, she peered up at the taller building. Clear. No sign of the big tattooed Neanderthal.
Dammit. He remembered her.
Too bad, she had no plans to be caught again.
She took off in a hard run across the rooftop, leaped from the building to the gabled roof of the next one with the inborn agility of a cat burglar. Heck, her parents would be sooo proud. If she knew who they were, she’d inform them of her great accomplishment.
Breathing hard, Shadow slid down the sloping roof to the gutter and drainpipe where she’d stashed her backpack when she’d sensed demoniis about. Couldn’t fail to miss the disgusting sulfuric odor of the decaying shitheads.
Tossing her bag down to the asphalt, she swiftly glided down the pipe to the ground, grabbed her backpack, and sprinted through the narrow alley. A few minutes later, she slowed and cast another quick look around. Clear. Groaning, she doubled over, pulling in much needed air into her burning lungs.
Talk?
Yeah, right. She spoke to no one.
Shadow sped off to one of the many manholes she used as her getaway.
Five years ago, running from demoniis, she’d fallen into a maintenance hole that had saved her hide. Jeez, Alice fell down the rabbit hole and into Wonderland, and her? Straight into a dark and twisted reality—a world of demons and otherworldly creatures where she was always on the run—a life she could never escape.
With a quick look around, Shadow pushed the heavy iron lid aside and slipped down onto a rickety metal rung. She dragged the rusty cover over the hole again before jumping down, landing in an inch of putrid, bile inducing sludge. Ugh.
Keeping her breaths shallow, she took off through the dimly lit, graffitied tunnel, her footsteps echoing eerily in the dank silence—
Hands seized her. Her heart near exploding from her chest, she spun around. The blade still strapped to her wrist released, and she lashed out.
“Whoa, lassie—” The older man stumbled back, hands flying up, knocking her weapons away.
“Darn it, Eddi,” she snapped, her voice reaching a shrill decibel. “I could have killed you!”
“I still breathe, lass. Don’t fret.” He laughed, flashing teeth stained from the roll-up cigarettes he smoked like he breathed air. He swiped the trickle of blood on his neck with the back of his hand. “But good strike. All I taught you years ago, and you’ve grown better.” His dark eyes crinkled in approval in his leathery brown face.
“Only you’d think so,” she grumbled.
Eddi still guarded these places. If she hadn’t been so shaken from what happened topside, he wouldn’t have taken her off guard. Her gaze lowered to the twin iron daggers he kept sheathed on his belt. “What are you doing out here?” She did a quick search of the tunnels but didn’t pick up anything. “Demoniis?”
Those damn plagues stole mortal souls so they could survive, killing many innocent humans. The gloomy tunnels sometimes became a hiding place during daylight hours for the pests since sunlight, as she’d witnessed, would eviscerate them.
“Just one. Took care of it. But what’s got you all worked up, lass?” he asked as they navigated the tunnels.
“Nothing.”
Eddi scratched his close-cropped graying hair. “You know the rules we abide by, Shadow. We can’t draw attention to ourselves. It’s why we live in this part of the underground pisspot.”
He was only half right. The gangs left them alone because Eddi had gained a certain reputation with his penchant for hunting the supernatural. He wasn’t that old, somewhere in his mid-forties, but living this life had taken a toll. Oh, he could still fight like a terror, but his slowness in stopping her attack troubled her.
“Eddi, I can do the daylight watch around here—”
“No,” he cut her off like he usually did. “It keeps me busy… Rent’s coming up, lass.”
Her lips tightened. In the last couple of months, Rough’s thugs had been around, demanding “rent” for living on the outskirts of his domain. No, not from the migrating homeless, but from those who actually had some kind of home base here. The damn cretin. As if she had money falling into her lap. She and Eddi would have to find another place soon.
“Yeah, no worries. I’m good. I’ll get the money. Gotta go. See ya later, Ed.”
“Shady, wait.” He hurried after her, his footsteps squelching in the rancid water. “What happened? You look a little rattled.”
Much as she liked him—heck, he’d taken her in after she’d fallen down the manhole all those years ago. He’d given her shelter, protection, and taught her how to fight, but right now? He was like a barnacle.
She shrugged. “Usual crap. I was minding my own biz—” He snorted, and she cast him an innocent look and continued. “Demoniis crossed my path. Anyway, I killed them, then it all went to hell real fast. The air literally ripped apart, and huge scaly demons lumbered out, then really tall men in black appeared out of nowhere. Man, I’ve seen a lot of weird stuff, but that…” Shadow shook her head, unable to forget the absolute nightmare stepping out of a portal. Or the fight that took place, the black swords gleaming beneath the moonlight. It was like a movie set or something.
And then there was him.
She sidestepped more puddles of muck. Guilt plagued her for kneeing him in the nuts. But never threaten a girl who’d just seen the worst kind of evil barging into her world. And much as she wanted to linger and find out how to kill those vile demons like those huge deadly men had so effortlessly done, she didn’t want to draw attention to herself out in the open. Not if she wanted to stay alive. Even the streets had eyes, and she preferred remaining undetected.
Besides, she didn’t think she could take on those mammoth monsters and survive.
“I still can’t get over the portal ripping open and those horrible things stumbling out. Their jaws jutted, and their scales appeared like coagulated blood, a mixture of black and red.”
“Giant demons here?” Lines creased Eddi’s brow. “Someone’s stirring up the Guardians.”
Her gaze snapped to him, her stomach doing a relentless yo-yo-ing at his words. “The Guardians?”
“Aye, told ya about ‘em, lass. They’re warriors who protect this realm from supernatural evil. Immortals and real dangerous, with only one purpose—to kill evil. Demons.”
“Oh, right.” She’d never come across them while trying to help the homeless, but then she avoided anyone she sensed was otherworldly. Her throat dried out at her close encounter with one of them.
“If they suddenly turned up in full force,” Eddi continued, “then those demons must be real bad.”
“They could be working for the FBI, you know some unnamed, secret squad?”
Eddi snorted. “I have a few demon friends. They keep me informed. Those Guardians are an antisocial lot. Avoid humans like the plague. Aye, Shady lass, no chance of us lowly creatures catching sight of them, not unless they want you to. Mercifully, we aren’t demons. It’s them they hunt. If they sense evil in you, and I mean like the ones from Hell, you run.”
Well, she had. Yay for her survival instincts.
She removed her wrist blades, careful not to touch the iron metal—the darn thing made her skin itch—and shoved them into her backpack. So, he was a Guardian.
And she’d called him a weasel.
She bit her lip, stopping a smile as she sidestepped the stinky water running along the pitted ground. She didn’t want the questions that were sure to follow.
When she’d first seen this inked Guardian in the castle, all those months ago, she’d been grazed by a bullet, her mind foggy. But she’d sensed he was different, and she’d thought he and the blond guy who saved her belonged to some kind of secret task force—they certainly looked it. Heck, she’d left the very next day since she trusted no one.
“For now, it’s best to stay away from the topside, Shady.”
Oh, she planned to lay low for a while. “Did they kill Halen?” She asked about his demon partner who’d died a year after she’d moved in with them.
Eddi shook his head, a flash of melancholy crossing his face. “No, he got in with the wrong lot, his own kind.”
She knew that much but hoped he would say more. Eddi didn’t, so she let him be. They were all entitled to their secrets.
A single light bulb blinked. The tunnel wavered. She swayed. Crap, not the tunnel—her.
“Lass?” Eddi grabbed her arm as the wave of dizziness swept through her. “You okay?” His voice came from afar, his brow furrowing in concern.
“Yeah. A little woozy after the fight.” She kneaded her temples, casting him a guileless smile.
A little woozy? If only.
She was weakening. Eddi was right to worry, not that he knew why.
To deflect him, she added with a cheeky grin, “The adrenaline rush is fantastic. Burnout, however, is a pain in the ass.”
He dropped his hand and sighed, shaking his head wearily. “You are trouble, Shady.”
“Hey, it was a good fight…” Until he distracted her.
“Just be careful, okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
As they neared the area where the gloomy tunnel split east and west, he stopped. “You’re going to The Refuge?”
He mentioned the place where the migrating homeless stayed a short while.
“Yeah. Need to convince Joyce to move to The Shelter—she’ll never last in this dump.”
“Here ain’t good for a young, defenseless woman,” Eddi agreed, expression grim.
“It’s why I’m glad I have you.”
A smile chased away his bleakness. “Same, lassie.”
“Catch ya later, Eddi.” Her fingers clenching the straps of her backpack, she hurried through the gloomy labyrinths, then entered a dark, musty-smelling tunnel leading to The Refuge.
Despite it being summer, down in these parts, it was always damp and cold. Several pockets of homeless crouched around a fire in a sawed-off metal drum, but she didn’t see anyone with Joyce’s petite build and wild, spirally hair around, or her little boy, though they’d sought sanctuary here a few days ago.
A dark-haired demon seated near a fire, glanced up as she approached, then lowered his head. Eddi had said his name was Lex…no, Laex. He’d shown up a few weeks ago, badly beaten, after escaping from prejudiced humans and certain death. She couldn’t blame him for keeping to himself.
Some distance from the crowd, she turned another corner and entered a dank area in the old tunnel. She didn’t need light and could see well enough in the dark. An anomaly that had awakened in the last couple of years, along with her heightened sense of smell and hearing, and a gut instinct about certain things. Eddi called it her sixth sense. She thought it a pain in the ass.
She hurried for their basement. Thankfully, no one came to these parts, believing the place to be haunted. It suited her and Eddi.
Her mind slipped back to the inked Guardian.
So, he protected this world from evil?
Now it all made sense. Sheesh, she’d seen him summon ice lances from thin air and kill those huge scaly demons…and she’d nailed him in the balls. She wanted to smile, but wariness crept through her. Sure, he was dauntingly handsome with those sculptured features, shorn hair, and otherworldly ice-green eyes, but it was the cold beauty of a ruthless killer.
A shiver rushed down her spine.
Heck, she’d seen him in action. If he found out what she was, without a doubt, she’d end up like those monsters, with an ice-stake in her heart.
Sooo not her idea of fun.
If she wanted to keep breathing, she’d better stay far, far away from the fascinating but deadly Guardian.
Chapter 3
Nik leaned against the back wall in the archangel’s compact study, arms folded over his chest while the others filled Michael in on what had occurred the previous night.
The open French doors let in a cool breeze. He focused on Bob, the chubby, smoke-gray feline stalking the birds in the garden, his thoughts veering back to the vexing female from last night.
She’d nailed him in the fucking balls.
It still irritated him that she’d taken him unaware.
Hell, if she could scale the damn building like a spider monkey and take down demoniis like a pro, her agility shouldn’t surprise him. He was the idiot, thinking of her as fragile.
“What exactly are those red demons?” Aethan asked, dragging his attention back to the meeting.
“They’re called Narakas,” Michael said, leaning back in his chair behind his L-shaped desk. “They’re found in Gehenna, the deepest level of the Dark Realm. They usually come when summoned by someone powerful but can only stay for short periods before they’re pulled back. Did anyone get a fix on what they’re after?”
“No, it happened too fast,” Dagan replied as Bob wandered indoors, slunk between the Celt’s legs, then leaped onto the Arc’s lap. “Couldn’t neutralize one and pry into his mind to find out.”
Michael’s jaw hardened as he stroked Bob. “You killed them all?”
“Some,” Aethan murmured, leaning an arm on the unlit fireplace mantel and raking back his multi-hued blue hair. “The rest disappeared back into the portal.”
“Aaand shit just got better.” Týr rubbed his palms in elation. “Finally, a fight to look forward to—demoniis night after night gets a little boring.”
“Norse, you’ve got a mate to keep you busy and entertained, and I still don’t get your penchant for bloodshed.” Blaéz shook his head.
Týr’s grin became feral. “That will never change, bringing down those fuckers of the Dark Realm.”
“Someone must have directed those creatures here.” Dagan straightened from the inner doorjamb, brow creasing. �
��Probably as a distraction for whatever they have planned.”
Michael gave a slow nod. “Perhaps.”
“Think it could be related to Tomas’ abduction last winter?” Týr mentioned the homeless boy who’d been captured by demons, who he’d eventually rescued.
“With the Narakas, anything’s possible. Nik?” Michael glanced his way. “I know I haven’t approved your permanent return to Romania, but this new development requires everyone here.” Let me know when it gets too close for you again, he telepathed Nik. “Race can handle things for a little longer. If this gets any worse, I might just have to bring him in, along with the other warriors I have stationed elsewhere.”
Nik’s thoughts focused inward. Even now, with the perilous demons’ blood moon mere days away, he could feel its tug straining his mental shields. Yeah, he would have to be as far away as possible from the living soon.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Aethan muttered.
“Yes…” The Arc’s eerie blues slid over them. “But back to the other problem. One of you has to infiltrate the underground gang before another child or woman is lost. The human authorities are too damn close to discerning otherworldly involvement in this. If they get an inkling, we’re in a shitload of trouble. Best is to get underground, get near someone there, and unearth the scourge behind this.”
“Let me.” Elytani straightened in her chair opposite Týr, eyes brightening in anticipation. “Since they’re abducting females and young, I should go and be a decoy. I mean, I can take care of myself and fight Others.”
“No.” Michael shook his head. “Not for this.”
Yeah, Nik agreed with the Arc. Coming from a race of angel-like beings—the Empyreans—Elytani was too noticeable with her flaxen hair, six-foot height, and striking looks. She would instantly put the demons involved on the alert.
“I’ll go,” Blaéz said.
“You?” Týr reared back, faking shock. “The pin-up for Healthy Living, Glamour, and GQ? Yeah, rrright.”
Nope, the Celt didn’t fit. He was the antithesis of a gangster with his well-trimmed black hair and smooth looks, even if he currently narrowed his cobalt blues.
Shattered Dawn (Fallen Guardians Book 5) Page 3
