by Sharon Kay
“Fuck!” Rhys vaulted toward her and grabbed on to one ankle, just above her tennis shoe. Damn if he was going to let her get away. Her colleagues had opened this portal, and if she was jumping into it, so was he.
CHAPTER 2
ENZA SCREAMED AS THE CITY DISAPPEARED, replaced by pitch black. She was falling. No, rocketing into space as if jets were attached to her arms. A bright white light flared for a nanosecond, seeming to race toward her, and she ducked. Screamed again. Could barely breathe. Her lungs burned from her crazed run down the alley.
Where was she? Everything was dark. She reached out and couldn’t see her hands. Tried to walk, but only one foot was free. Her other was stuck—no! Something was holding her foot. Something warm, clamped down securely. Oh god, what is that?
Her hair whipped around her face as she flew, though she had no idea how or where she was moving. The thing gripping her didn’t let up. Over and over she tumbled through dizzying darkness, connecting with nothing. Am I dead? Her arms flailed. Please make this stop! Her stomach churned, threatening to lose the chocolate almond croissants she’d worked so hard on. Her ears pounded and blood rushed to her head, her only clue that she was upside down once again. At this rate, she would pass out.
Suddenly a rush of cool wind met her skin. The air shifted, and the black turned to gray. It was still dark but she wasn’t in nothing. She was falling, and this time, her body felt the familiar leaden effects of gravity. New panic burst in her mind. She was going to slam into something.
“Nooo!” she yelled in terror, twisting to see a forest beneath her...and a man holding on to her leg. A man? She shrieked and kicked.
Her efforts had no effect. With steady movements, he grabbed her other ankle. His grip moved to her knees, then thighs. “I’ll help you land,” he yelled. “Grab on to my shoulders.”
What? “No!” A branch grazed her cheek. Oh god, she was going to die. She was going to fall to her death and be lost in some forest, and no one would ever find her body.
Except this strange man, who seemed to know what was going on. Was he from the alley?
He cursed and grabbed her waist, pulling her close to his body. With a twist, he switched their positions so he was beneath her, still holding on to her.
Slam!
Enza’s breath whooshed out of her lungs as they hit the ground.
Her heart pounded a wild rhythm against her ribs. How many bones had she broken? Could she walk? Run? She had to get away from this madman. Terror fueled her muscles to scramble off him-
“Not so fast, female.” His arms tightened around her waist. “I have questions and you’re going to answer them.”
“W-what?” Her voice came out as a squeak, throat sore from screaming. And she was painfully aware of how he was holding her, connected from shoulders to hip, so close her breasts crushed against a wide chest. His whole body was hard and unforgiving—and had apparently broken her fall.
She gulped a shaky breath. Wait, had he saved her? Was he hurt? Jumbled thoughts fired through her mind in a rapid burst of confusion.
“We can stay like this. I wouldn’t mind.” His voice was calm, managing not to be creepy, though anyone who saw their position would think they were making out. “Or I can let you up. But if you run, all bets are off.”
“Let me up,” she squeaked. The last thing she wanted was to lay on top of this guy.
He unlocked his hands from her lower back and she got up awkwardly, trying not to touch him anywhere. She ended up sliding to the side and pushing off from the grass. His legs were so damn long, thick thighs encased in jeans.
“What the hell was that?” She tried to sound demanding, but her voice was so gone it came out raspy and broken. Not strong at all.
He rose to a wary crouch and then stood, eyeing her as if she could possibly harm him. She had to look up, and then up some more as he unfolded his big body. He didn’t appear injured in any way, despite whatever had dropped them here. Shit, she could barely hurt a fly, let alone this guy. Thick biceps and shoulders. Dark hair cut so short it was buzzed. She couldn’t tell what color his eyes were but they studied her with hard suspicion. His voice held a casual drawl, but she wasn’t about to stick around to get to know him.
He set his hands on narrow hips and stared at her. “That’s what I need to ask you.”
Why did he look wary of her? “What just happened? What was that thing we were in? And where are we now?”
“You didn’t know you jumped into a portal?” Sarcasm oozed from his deep voice. “Remember that big ring? You bee-lined for it like hellhounds were on your tail. You headed right for it after your partner opened it up.”
“My partner? Meena?” Enza blinked. Did he know Meena? And did he say hellhounds? This guy had to be delusional. “She wasn’t there. Just you and your friends fighting.”
“Think those were your friends, not mine.” He took a step closer.
Oh, no. She backed up. Just because he hadn’t attacked her didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill her. “No. I’ve never seen them before. And what’s a portal?”
“Seriously?” He narrowed his eyes. “Who’s Meena?”
Shit, now he thought she was deliberately messing with him. And she had stupidly mentioned Meena’s name. This was bad, so bad. She backed up and dared a glance around. Nothing but trees and darkness. Far off, the sky held a dull gray glow, the kind you get from streetlights reflecting off clouds. Directly overhead, stars shone brighter than what she was used to in the city. “Look, um…I don’t know what was going on in that alley, or who you were with. Three guys cornered me.” Her voice cracked on the last word at the terror she had avoided, only to face the big, hulking new problem before her. She swallowed. “I-I don’t what they were going to do. I was running for my life. That’s all. And now I’m here, and I don’t know where ‘here’ is.”
He gave her a withering glare. “You’re a bad liar, and good thing I don’t need you to tell me where your goddamn portal sent us.” He pulled out a phone and started tapping the screen.
Phone. Enza’s hands flew to her pockets in a frantic pat-down. She still had her apartment keys, buried securely in one pocket, but no cell. Her purse was gone too. “Shit!” No way to call for help. Trapped in strange woods with a strange man who thought she was a liar.
“The Arboretum?” He quirked an eyebrow. “Interesting place for you and those elves to hang out.”
“Elves?” Her jaw dropped. Maybe he was on drugs. Had to be. Crap. Should she play along to placate him?
“The ones who sent us here.” His tone was matter-of-fact, like everyone ought to know about elves on Earth.
Okay, forget the elf issue for a minute. Focus on where I am. “We’re in The Arboretum?” Enza stared at their surroundings. That explained the trees and lack of other people, but... “That makes no sense. How could we get here so fast? Isn’t this place, like, way west of the city?”
“Yes, and you know exactly how we got here.” He spoke as if he were talking to a five-year-old.
“No. No I don’t.” She lowered her voice, not wanting to antagonize him. And god, those huge muscles. He could probably break her arms. She needed to work with whatever weirdness he was going to spout off.
He scrubbed a hand over his square jaw and glowered. “What are you hiding?”
“N-nothing.” Was that a knife holstered to his arm? Shit! Despite the muggy night, a cold sweat broke out on her forehead and she pushed back a wave of dizziness.
A noise escaped his throat that sounded a lot like a growl. “Tell me what you were doing back there.” In the darkness, his eyes seemed to get a little brighter.
Those eyes…his talk of elves…Memories of fairy tales and nightmare creatures rushed back at her from childhood stories that were supposed to be, well, stories. But sudden awful questions loomed in her mind. Fear uncurled, raw and powerful, and she couldn’t stand there a minute longer.
She turned and bolted.
And got about ten feet a
way before strong hands gripped her waist. “Don’t try to run from me.” Warm breath ghosted over her neck. “You will never, ever, succeed. Are we clear?”
She gulped. He was fast. And his arms locked around her body felt as solid as iron. She wouldn’t get away by speed alone. “Please don’t hurt me,” she whispered, fighting back a sob. “I really don’t know what’s going on. If I did, I would tell you, I swear.”
He released her and she whirled, on edge and not wanting to turn her back on him again. Her leg muscles wobbled but she fought to stay upright, too much adrenaline zooming through her veins to allow her to relax. God, why hadn’t she gone to that kickboxing class with Meena? Or at least gone to the self-defense sessions that her college had offered periodically?
His eyes narrowed. “You okay?”
“Sure,” she replied cautiously. “For getting flung through a weird black hole and dumped somewhere thirty miles away, then being called a liar and restrained by a stranger.”
He scowled. “You done?”
She lowered her gaze to his hands. “Can you call someone to come get me? I um, I must have lost my phone.”
“I can.” He ran a hand through his short hair. “But not yet.”
Oh no. What did he want? “Please…” Instinctively she backed up.
“I won’t hurt you. I just need some answers.” He scanned the trees. “I can stay here all night.”
Her jaw dropped. All night? “I…”
“It’s warm. No predators. Unless you have more friends lurking out here. Though I wouldn’t advise siccing them on me.” A threatening note crept into his tone.
All night. Predators or non-human, fantastical creatures. Enza’s vision swam and she couldn’t fight the jello effect that took over her legs. She dropped awkwardly to the grass. “Need to lay down for a…” She gulped air. No. She couldn’t do this. What the hell was going on? Her heart pounded heavily and her eyelids refused to stay open. “F-for a minute.” Her hands slid along the soft grass as blackness washed over her field of vision.
CHAPTER 3
“AH, FUCK.” RHYS DARTED TO THE female, catching her before she face-planted in the thick grass. Gently he rolled her to her side. Her skin was clammy. Long eyelashes fluttered as shallow breaths escaped her lips. He wasn’t sure if she’d passed out, but seemed like she was halfway there.
Conscious or not, she wasn’t going anywhere. Not that she would succeed if she tried. She couldn’t out run him, and he doubted she had the energy to hike out of this place. He crouched next to her and pulled out his phone. All the Watchers had an app that could quickly identify a creature’s race. And rarely had Rhys not been able to ID a female, but this one confounded him. Her scent was more human than supernatural. She claimed to know nothing, yet she’d locked on to the portal like a lifeline. He’d seen her. Then there was the screaming fact that she smelled like a bakery, and not from a brief stop to pick up sweets and dash out the door. No, the scents of sugar, butter, and dough layered heavily around her like an aromatic mist. Something didn’t add up.
He held up his phone and swiped to start the app. Seconds ticked as she lay, eyes closed. His screen flashed. “Deserati.”
Interesting. Deserati demons were among the few predatory demons that could walk unobtrusively among humans. Though they had small horns and a tail, they also had the ability to “hide” them as if they weren’t even there. His eyes flicked to the female in the grass.
The phone abruptly went dark and he glared at it. “What the—” But the thing blinked on with a new word. “Human.”
Rhys stared. Made on Torth, his phone didn’t glitch like the ones on Earth. The display darkened, then lit up again. “Deserati.”
Then again. “Human.”
He shifted his focus to her as surprise drop-kicked his earlier suspicion. Not what he expected…
The demonic and fae species from Torth could cross mate. And if they had any children, the kiddos would be either one species or the other—not a blend of the two.
But when human physiology entered the mix, all bets went out the window. A demon and human, or a fairy and a human, could produce a half-breed offspring. No one knew how many existed, since they could blend in among Earth’s population. Some may not even know their true heritage. He studied the soft curve of her lower lip, and that mouth that had just sworn up and down that she didn’t know how they got here.
The female let out a sigh and flexed her fingers into the grass. Rhys fought an insane, out-of-nowhere urge to comfort her. She could be an enemy. She could be a liar…though her confusion had seemed real enough. And he’d seen plenty of creatures scared shitless, usually on the other end of his sword or demonfire. He recognized fear.
But what he couldn’t tell from her was if it was fear of being caught, or fear of the unknown. He wasn’t always the best judge of character, especially when it came to females asking questions.
He scowled and dialed Brenin, who answered on the first ring. “Yo. Where are you?”
“The fucking Arboretum.”
“Huh. Not where I would think to look for dark elves.”
“No shit.”
“The female there with you?”
Rhys looked down at her pale skin, clear to him with his enhanced night vision. “Yeah. She passed out. We need a pick up.”
“You’re not that far. I’ll bring an extra amulet—”
“No. Bring the Escalade.”
“Why?”
“Something’s off. She claims she didn’t know shit about the elves or the portal. And get this—when I scanned her just now, my phone kept flashing back and forth between Deserati and human.”
Brenin let out a whistle. “No shit.”
“Yeah.” He paused. “She might be telling the truth.” He hoped she was, because the idea that she may have made up a bunch of innocent—act lies pissed him off.
“Dude, she ran straight for that portal.”
“I fucking know that,” Rhys growled. “Listen, I’ll wake her up and try to get her to talk while you’re driving out here.” He gave Brenin his coordinates.
“See you soon.” Brenin ended the call.
Rhys tilted his head at the female lying in the grass. She was pretty, with thick dark hair cascading halfway down her back. He chanced touching her, threading his fingers into the tresses above her ears to check for horns. If she was hiding them magically, he’d be able to feel them even if he couldn’t see them.
No horns. Only the softest hair he’d ever touched. As the silken strands slid through his fingers, the scents of sugar and bread wafted to his nose.
Shit. He yanked his hand back. No horns. All Deserati had them. All full Deserati…
Mystery pulsed around her like a tangible thing. But whatever she was, he had no business thinking about her hair when she could be an enemy.
Yet something told him she wasn’t. She was completely vulnerable right now, another trait that predators usually had drilled out of them. A simple portal trip shouldn’t have caused this reaction. He reached for her hands, turning them over. No scars or callouses from a habit of wielding a blade. Just soft hands, with a sliver of…flour under one fingernail. Flour? He forced down a smile. Predatory demons didn’t need to eat every day.
Her face held a fear before and now in near-unconsciousness, a sweetness that he didn’t think a lying, spying demoness would have. Her body wasn’t fat or thin. Not muscular and toned, like most predatory females. Just soft, with curves he tried not to think about.
He shifted back. The last thing he wanted was for her to come to and see him ogling her.
A sharp intake of breath drew his attention back to the moment. She blinked up, dark eyes wide as recognition and then fright flared in their depths. With a yelp, she scooted back on her ass.
He watched her movements. Awkward. A trained Deserati demoness would have leaped up into a fighting stance. Rhys wasn’t about to let his guard down, but his wariness made way for a wide streak of curiosity.
>
“Please don’t hurt me.” Her whispered words trembled.
“I won’t.” He kept his voice neutral, not reassuring, not harsh. She was still a big question mark. “Unless, like I said, you give me a reason to.”
“Me? W-what could I do?” She shoved a hand through the thick mass of her hair. “I-I just want to go home.”
Rhys settled on the grass, one knee bent. “And where’s that?”
“Wicker Park.” She slowly pushed up to a sitting position, eyes cautious.
A warm night breeze caught a lock of wavy hair and blew it across her lashes. The gentrifying Chicago neighborhood wasn’t the answer he expected. Somewhere in the demon realm, maybe, but not the mix of new and run-down buildings not too far from that alley. “Wicker Park. You walk home to that neighborhood alone at night?”
She frowned. “Yeah, so? What about you? You were the one fighting in the scary alley.”
He raised an eyebrow. Thought about pointing out that she was the one running like the wind in that same scary alley, but then he paused. If she was a halfling, if she thought she was human, then she wouldn’t necessarily have the strength to fight off one man, let alone three. She would be terrified and yeah, would run exactly like she had. He decided to just answer her question without mentioning anything supernatural. “My friend and I came across some guys fighting. Two were smaller than the rest, at a disadvantage, so we intervened.”
She scrunched her nose. “Why get involved in someone else’s fight? You could get killed. Gangs have all kinds of knives and guns.”
He held her gaze. “You know, we didn’t really think about it. We just did it.” She didn’t need to know it was their job—yet.
“Hmm.” Her eyes roamed his arms and chest. “You’re lucky. You don’t look like you got hurt.”
Because the stab wounds had already healed. “Nope. And the two smaller dudes ran off.” And damn, he liked her eyes on him.
A flicker of caution curled through his brain. Liked her eyes? Where had that come from?
