Covetous: An Urban Fantasy Romance (The Marked Mage Chronicles, Book 2)

by Victoria Evers

  “Screw you!” the Hound growled, writhing in his hold.

  “Is that honestly the best you could come up with? Not particularly clever, are you?” The stranger plucked out something from the inside of his jacket and drove the shimmering object into the assailant’s chest. The beast barely grunted before disintegrating into ash, something a Hellhound only did when stabbed in the heart—with silver.

  My powdered-faced friend staggered back, clearly not liking his new odds. He turned to flee down the alley when that same shimmering object sliced through the air, finding itself right at home in the left side of his back. It must have been a clear shot, because yet again, the Hellhound turned to ash before he even hit the ground.

  “You alright?” asked the stranger. He couldn’t have been more than a couple years older than me, and that English brogue of his would have melted Roxy into a puddle on the floor. His thick, layered charcoal-streaked mane, five o’clock shadow, and bronzed skin only made his intensely icy blue eyes pop all the more in the limited light of the alleyway.

  This guy couldn’t be real.

  Standing at a cut and athletic six-feet, his attire made him stand out like a sore thumb in these parts. Everyone here was what one might politely refer to as a roughneck, flannel and tattoos galore, while this Brit sported a conspicuously half-unbuttoned white dress shirt, a long sleek frock coat, and an unbound black silk neck tie.

  Amid my confusion and fascination, I managed to nod.

  A wavy lock of black hair escaped from behind the stranger’s ear, falling onto his chiseled cheekbone as his gaze drifted down. He scowled, wiping at the flecks of blood that now tarnished his immaculate shirt.

  Before I could speak, my name sounded off in the distance.

  “Scar? Scarlett!”

  The stranger’s lips pulled into a sly smile. My attention was ripped away from him as the back door banged open, seeing Nick race outside. I turned back to the stranger, only to face an empty alleyway.

  Where did he go?